Charities and Other Inatitutions.—The Jewish charities of the United States are un equaled in magnitude and efficiency, compared with the total Jewish population. Naturally enough, the enormous exodus of well-nigh in digent Jews to these shores has greatly increased the burden falling on their more fortunate co religionists. The amounts disbursed by the or ganized Jewish charities in New York city atone exceeds 0,000,4300 per annum and are of the most varied character. The pure milk de pots opened by Nathan Straus, at a heavy cost, in New York — an example which has been followed in other cities — is one of the most effective forms of charitable endeavor and has saved thousands of infant lives. Various Jews of the United States have contributed hundreds of thotisands of dollars at a time in individual instances to charitable purposes, best known among whom is Mr. Jacob H. Schiff. of New York, who is credited with observance of the old Jewish practice of giving a tithe of his income to charity. About $5,000,000 were raised by the Jews of the United States for the relief of their coreligionists in the war zone in 1914-18, besides large contributions to non-Jewish war relief funds. The arbitration movement for settling controversies between capital and labor, known as the Civic Federa tion, has enlisted several Jews in its directorate. The Jewish charities, of the United States are being systematized and organized more and more from year to year; aid is being afforded by the annual national conferences of Jewish charities and the Industrial Removal Office has opened offices throughout the United States to aid indigent immigrants after arrival, to seek locations for them in the interior of the corm, try and thus relieve the congestion of the large Eastern cities. Special efforts have also been made to promote agricultural pursuits among the Jews of the United States, and to encourage industrial activities them. Of course all the local New York charities deal particularly with recent arrivals, but the Baron de Hirsch Fund, the Hebrew Sheltering and IrmnigrAnt Aid Society, the Council of Jewish Women, the Clara de Hirsch Home, the Hannah Laven burgh Home and the Educational Alliance es pecially address their efforts toward them. In 1911 the United States abrogated her treaty with Russia, because Russia declined to. treat American citizens of the Jewish faith, holding our passports, on a parity with citizens of other faiths, and refused to permit them to enter Rus sia under the treaty concessions. In Secretary Hay's Rumanian note of _1902 and on other occasions, the United States sought to secure full rig ts for persecuted Jews abroad. See article JEWISH CHARITIES in this section.
A number of very large mutual benefit and mutual development societies, taking the form of fraternities and Jewish lodges, exist within the United States and do much good, chief among them being the Independent Order B'nai B'rith, Independent Order Abra ham, the Independent Order Free Sons of Is rael, the Arbeiter Ring and the Independent Order Sons of Benjamin. The recently organ ized Zionist movement has appealed greatly to many thousands of Jews in America, par ticularly to the more orthodox and they have organized numerous societies to aid in estab lishing a Jewish state, in Palestine or else where, for the benefit of the persecuted Jews of eastern Europe. Several Jewish theological
seminaries are maintained in the United States, one in Cincinnati, by the reform wing, called the Hebrew Union College, sustained by the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, which was founded by Isaac M. Wise, and of which Dr. K. Kohler is president, and an or thodox seminary in New York called the Jew ish Theological Seminary, of which the late Dr. Solomon Schechter was president. Be sides the Union of American Hebrew Congre gations, there exists an "American Jewish Com mittee," with branches in the various States, in which the orthodox Jews are more fully repre sented; for a number of years Judge Mayer Sulzberger of Philadelphia was president and he was succeeded by Louis Marshall of New York city. A Rabbinical Conference called to gether by Dr. K. Kohler in conjunction with Dr. I. M. Wise and Dr. S. Hirsch at Pitts burgh in 1885, adopted a Declaration of Prin ciples for the Reform wing in American Juda ism. A "Jewish Publication Society" was founded in 1888 and has issued many Jewish works, and the 'Jewish Encyclopedia' in 12 volumes was issued in America, with a new Jewish Bible translation as a close second, the most important Jewish work published in mod ern times. Numerous Jewish newspapers are issued, including a number of dailies in Yiddish.
Bibliography.— Bentheimer, C. S., 'The Russian Jew in the United States' (Philadel phia 1905) ; Blum, 1.,