AN AMERICAN WRITER IN EUROPE Being wealthy, it was common for the children of such families to take a ship to Europe. On the ship to Europe, Emma would meet many other distinguished travelers. They included artists, writers and musicians, and she made friends with many of them. JEWISH AWAKENING Emma and her family were not religious Jews, which means she traveled on the Sabbath and ate non-kosher food. But never-the less she and her family were very proud of their Jewish/Sephardic heritage. They were known as “secular Jews”. She and her family belonged to a Sephardic Synagogue called “SHEARITH ISRAEL”. Being wealthy, she and her family spent summers in the rich community of Newport, Rhode Island, and she belonged to the famous TOURO SYNAGOGUE located there. Something terrible was happening in the world at the time. In Russia Jews were being persecuted, and they were being killed in “pogroms”, rampages against Jews….and here in America there was much “Anti-Semitism”. These things troubled young Emma. This did not make her more religious, but it made her more conscious of her Jewishness. It was an “Awakening”. ANTI-SEMITISM AND THE CHALLENGE OF AMERICA The Pogroms in Russia alerted Emma to the Anti-Semitism in Russia and in other parts of the world as well, including America. Emma worked untiringly to expose anti-Semitism and help immigrants who sought to escape it. AUTHOR AND ADVOCATE…INSIDER AND OUTSIDER Emma was in a strange position. As a fourth generation American she and her family were well established and very comfortable in her life in America. But…her heart went out to the poor immigrants who arrive in America without money, without jobs, without language, and often without friends or family. She tried her very best to help these unfortunate people. One of her great accomplishments was the establishment of a Hebrew Trade School to teach the immigrants skills they can use to earn money. |