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C H A P T E R 8 Henry Hurwitz : Editor , Gadfly , Dreame r Ira Eisenstein The ten s o f thousand s o f Jew s wh o reache d thes e shore s a t th e beginning o f this century, "yearnin g t o breathe free, " di d no t fin d a goldene medinah. Th e adult s struggle d t o mak e a living ; an d th e children wer e awar e o f the fact that , i n the eye s of their peers, the y were strangers , wh o cam e withou t cultur e o r knowledg e o f th e civilized canon s o f behavior . Th e youn g people , t o b e sure , soo n made thei r wa y i n thi s land , an d man y o f them , Henr y Hurwit z included, mad e i t t o college s an d universities . (H e ha d arrive d i n the Bosto n area , wit h hi s parents an d sisters , i n the earl y 1890s. ) I n 1904, Hurwit z wa s admitte d t o Harvard . Bu t mos t o f these student s were b y no means happ y wit h thei r newl y elevate d status . Horace Kallen , a contemporar y o f Hurwitz , wrote , som e year s later: I a m incline d t o thin k tha t feeling s o f inferiorit y an d insecurity , together with resentment at the condition which bred them—'Jewish self-hatred' a s it cam e t o be called—was a t wor k in th e few Jewish college student s o f m y day . I t consiste d o f th e effor t t o kee p one' s Jewish derivatio n an d Jewis h connection s below th e threshol d o f visibility; even, wherever possible, to dissociate oneself from them altogether . l Professor Harry Wolfson described this state of mind a s one of "escaping Judaism."2 Hurwitz ha d n o intention o f escaping Judaism. I n fact, h e was determined fro m th e start t o lead a renaissance of Judaism throug h th e 191 192 IR A EISENSTEI N zeal an d energy of fellow students who felt a s he did. I n a loving portrait o f hi s mothe r (publishe d posthumously ) Hurwit z reveal s hi s deep attachment t o Jewish learning in the Litvak tradition of dedication t o study , inspired , i t appears , b y thi s wonderfu l woman . H e studied Humash an d Rashi an d davened ever y day in pious devotion. He writes of Bella Wolfson Hurwitz : She doubtless abetted my early zeal for piety and praying (a s a boy I davened to beat the band from rising up in the morning to lying down at night , enoug h fo r a lifetime) . Late r sh e sough t t o moderat e m y excesses i n prayin g an d fastin g an d certainl y whe n I gav e u p al l rituals an d prayin g an d fasting , n o syllabl e o f reproac h cam e fro m her, nor can I imagine that her affection wa s in the least abated . . .3 Obviously, youn g Henr y experience d neithe r th e indifferenc e o f ignorant parent s no r th e hars h demand s mad e upo n youn g peopl e by fathers an d mother s whos e rigidit y turne d thei r childre n agains t Judaism altogether . At Harvard , Hurwit z wa s deepl y impresse d b y me n lik e Willia m James, Georg e Santayana , an d other s o f that brillian t faculty , wh o opened u p t o hi m a ne w world , broader , mor e humane , mor e uni versal . I t is not surprisin g tha t Hurwit z wa s dazzled b y this array o f educated men , eve n thoug h h e ha d alread y bee n expose d t o Lati n and Gree k i n hig h school . So , whil e h e stoppe d davening an d fast ing...

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