THE SUFFERING JEWS IN PALESTINE.

New Zealander, Volume 11, Issue 959, 23 June 1855, Page 3

THE SUFFERING JEWS IN PALESTINE.

(From the ••Sydney Morning Herald,” May JO.) The following report of the result of the appeal made in behalf of these sufferers from the tyranny nd ambition of Nicholas will be perused with interest, A sum of £18,614 is acknowledged ns having been received at the date of the report; and the trustees acknowledge that by far the largest contribution was made by Australia, “ where a noble emulation in the cause of humanity among the Israelites and the members of other creeds has resulted in the munificent contribution of between £7OOO and £8000.” The trustees state —■ In the month of May, last year, the Rev. Dr. Adler and Sir Moses Montefiore, Bart., addressed an appeal to their co-religionists to induce them to succour their famishing brethren in the Holy Land. They have now to discharge the pleasing duty of rendering some account of their operations in the promotion of this object. With the most profound gratification they have to announce that their appeal was generously responded to by all classes of different creeds in all parts of the world. Not alone have their co-religionists come forward with liberality and munificence, but the Christian community has also displayed its sympathy towards the destitute Jews in a most gratifying and touching manner. Many local committees, spontaneously organised, have lent their valuable assistance ; several associated bodies have contributed weekly penny subscriptions; niinisters of various churches have made collections in aid among f heir congregations ; and the eloquent advocacy of the public press has powerfully promoted the great purpose by rousing the public exertions in this noble cause. America has remitted considerable contribution# collected through the zealous and unwearied

exertions of the Jewish ministers ami others. I The colony of Jamaica has followed that bright ! example and, notwithstanding tlie present com- • mercial depression, has realised a subscription of above 1000/. But the largest sum haa teen received from Australia, where a noble emulation in the cause of humanity among the Israelites and the members of the other creeds has resulted in the munificent contribution of between 7000/. and 8000/. To all these different bodies and classes, congregations and individuals, who have listened in the true spirit of charity to the cry of unparalleled distress from such a distance, the trustees of the fund, Dr. Adler and Sir Moses Montefiore, desire to tender their most coidial and heartfelt thanks. But it is needlesss ns it would be vain, to attempt any verbal expression of their gratitude, as the consciousness of sucli noble actions will afford to the donors a far deeper satisfaction than words could convey. The trustees, anxious to afford the most immediate temporary assistance to their distressed coreligionists, remitted so early as the 25th of May, for instant relief to the four cities of the Ho'y Lund—Jerusalem, Hebron, Tiberias, and Zafed—the sum of 1000/. Special local committees were appointed, with strict instructions to distribute this amount among all the poor of different congregations, without any distinction, m equal amounts to each individual ; to require a receipt from eacli head of a family, with his name in full and the number of His children ; and to form a list of the recipients, certified by the several European consuls of the different localities. A second remittance was made on the Bth June, of 800/.; a third on the 14th of August, of 560/.; subsequently to which further sums, for the like purpose, amounting to about 900/., have been remitted. The instructions sent out have been carefully carried info effect, and it is most grat'fying to contemplate the amount of good which these remittances have conferred upon the poor. It would be impossible to describe in the necessarily limited state of this report, the acknowledgments appreciation, and gratitude evinced in all the various documents received from the Holy Land, communicating the feelings of the recipients, although the assistance afforded to them was only about five shillings eacli; but one or two expressions of the Elders of the largest congregations may give a truthful though inadequate idea of the emotions which this has excited. In mentioning the opportune arrival of the first remittance, they say “ Surely, a noble spirit from Heaven must hare inspired your benevolent hearts thus to hasten yout generous gift unto us. Our distressed and poverty-stricken brethren were looking out with anxiety, longing for your succour, on which their very life depended. But for your compassion, they must have sunk to destruction, for their strength had nearly departed.” In another letter they say, *• By the efforts of your hearts, you have invigorated our feeble hands, and strengthened our tottering knees. Yea, in this dreadful time of dire distress, when all of us well nigh despaired of the possibility of dwelling any longer in the Holy Land, or even among the living, when we believed the glory of Israel was about to he laid low in the dust, our generous benefactors saved our lives, raised and helped us, and inspired us again with hope, and caused our eyes, dimmed by hunger, again to become bright with joy and gladness. You have rescued thousands of us, and especially our poor innocent children, from the billows of the railing waters of distress ; and into a starving population you have breathed again the breath of life.” Again, in another letter, they say, “When your letters arrived, we placed them as precious diadems on our heads, and all of us, young and old, assembled in the house of God to invoke blessings on the donors, and lie whose name is * Holy,’ who dwelleth with the contrite and humble of spirit, lie surely will have favourably accented our supplication. He will be, benevolent brethren, your help and your protector. He will prolong your days in happiness and your years in unceasing delight. You will have reason to rejoice whilst still young in years, and bloom in vigour when in ola age. You will live to see the Holy Land re-peopled, behold the glory of God enter into the divine sanctuary when the captivity of His people will return to Zion, and you shall see the Citv of God rebuilt. Again we beseech you not to forsake us; cease not to preserve our life. With tears in our eyes, we implore you to procure for us an honourable maintenance. All of us will work at whatever kind of labour you may suggest, and will faithfully adhere to the urgent injunctions of our holy religion, to eat our bread in the sweat of our brow. Let us no more become a prey to famine and destruction ot body or mind,”

Besides the bestowal of this temporary assistance, the trustees have been, from the commencement of their operat ions, most anxious, by stemming its very source, to prevent the recurrence of such frightful suffering; an object, the accomplishment of which might best be promoted by avoiding the evils of indiscriminate almsgiving, and by discouraging a reliance on adventitious aid, so destructive to habits of forethought and industry. With this view a benevolent Loan Society has been established in each of the four Holy Cities, under special local committees, and with a code of laws authorising small loans of from 100 to 1000 Turkish piastres, to bo advanced, without interest, to industrious poor, who can procure security, and have probable means of weekly or monthly repayment. The sum ot 1050/. has been remitted to Palestine for these charities, in order to test their utility and operation These loans are not only a great spur to future activity but will ho beneficial in another respect, as the inhabitants generally buy their supplies of corn in summer for the entire winter, and arc obliged to borrow the means of purchase under great disadvantages. Another institution, the Lying-In Chanty, established in Jerusalem, and in the three other holy cities, some years since by Lady Montefiore, under the name of “ Bekoor Cholitn,” for assisting the poor in general when in a state of illness, and for succouring poor women during their confinement, and supplying them with baby-linen and other necessaries, has been now enlarged. The sum of 450/. has been remitted for that purpose ; and numerous acknowledgments from individuals who have participated in that charity have already been received. With a view to encourage Industry among the female population, and to provide, at the same time, necessary clothing for the poor in general, and for the above-mentioned charity in particular a society has been established in each ot the four cities with proper rules and regulations ; and materials for clothing, &c., have been sent, to the amount of 700/., which includes the sums remitted to the needlework. Recent accounts show that in Jerusalem more than 200 women, some of whom, belonging to families of great respectability, were engaged in this work ; and that proportionate numbers have found similar employment in the other holy cities, lo the eredit of the daughters of Israel in the Holy Land, this fact sufficiently absolves them from the imputation of idleness recently laid to their charge ; whensoever work can be found they are the first to seek it. In the present instance, although the local committee had only the means of paying them three Turkish piastres for the making of two articles of clothing, yet so great was the number of applicants that the committee could not give employment to them all. For the purpose of giving young men an opportunityof earning their livelihood by manual labour, it has been deemed expedient to open an industrial adult school in Jerusalem, for teaching hand-loom weaving, an object the more desirable as cotton and silk are products of Palestine, and its neighbourhood. Aided by the kind advice of practical oeutlemen in Manchester, the trustees have engaged, for the term ot two years, a weaver of great ability, who has proceeded to Jerusalem, provided with a number of complete looms (including ! Head's), reeds, shuttles, pickers, warping frames, | and looming frames. A local committee has been I appointed in Jerusalem, with instructions to supervise the work-people, to pa}’’ the wages, and to dispose of the produce, and there is every reason to trust that, by the assistance of Cod, this j undertaking upon which the stun of 4400 has ' already been expended, will prove a successful source of activity uml enterprise. Although the

existing war, and the unsettled state of Palestii e, render it Impossible to open, at the presem, moment, a wider scale of operation in agriculture and other extensive schemes for the amelioration of the physical and moral condition of the poor, which are, nevertheless, under consideration, if has been thought ad visible to prepare plans by sending out printed forms for statistical information, and fur making elucidatory inquiries front those who are well acquainted with the soil, and its several relative branches of industry. The trustees have received from the Holy Land very able reports on these subjects, and others <si ulated to promote the welfare of the poor in Palestine, and it is (D.V.) the intention of Sir Mis>s Montefiore to proceed shortly, via Constantinople accompanied by Ludy Montefiore, to the Holy Land, for the fourth time, to ascertain by personal inspection, and examination of the several charities, the extent to which the temporary and provisional relief already administered has proved effective, and to organize the' host means which may be devised for the appropriation of the remainder of the fund, with the view to the utmost permanent benefit of the supplicants, and at the same time to the utmost effectual accomplishment of the noble wishes and intentions of the benevolent and generous contributors. The trustees will not fail hereafter to report the further results of their exertions, on which they most devoutly and humbly implore the blessing of Almighty God. N. Adler, Df., Chief Rabbi, Moses Moxtepiork. Croaby-square, London, 23rd February, 5015.