By Dr. Yitzchok Levine - personal.stevens.edupersonal.stevens.edu/~llevine/six_rabbis_stiles.pdf ·...

18 TAMMUZ 5770 Community JUNE 30, 2010 HAMODIAC8

Special Feature / By Dr. Yitzchok Levine

Introduction

On September 12th, 1781,the Christian ministerReverend Ezra Stiles

(1727-1795), who was then thePresident of Yale College,delivered “An Oration uponthe Hebrew Literature.” In thisspeech, Stiles extolled “thewisdom of Israel as it wastransmitted from generation togeneration, beginning withEzra the Scribe and there-after.” He then proceeded togive “an overview of Jewishlearning as conveyed by theTalmud, the Targums, theZohar, Maimonides and theBible commentators.” He fur-ther stated, “This kind oflearning is worthy to be soughtafter and transplanted into theColleges of America,” and thathe desired to see “it illuminat-ing the Scholars of YaleCollege, and also the Literatiof different Cities ...”

Stiles mentioned his debt ofgratitude to various“Rabbinical Authors of pastages” and expressed his appre-ciation for enlightenment tosix rabbis whose acquaintancehe had made — Rabbi MosesMalchi in 1759, Rabbi Mosesbar David [Ashkenazi] in 1772,Rabbi Chaim Isaac Karigal

(Carigal) in 1773, Rabbi Tobiahbar Jehudah in 1773, RabbiBosquila in 1774 and RabbiSamuel Cohen in 1775.

Who was this Christian rev-erend, and how had he man-aged to meet six rabbis beforethe Revolutionary War, giventhat the first Orthodox rabbi tosettle in the Americas, RabbiAvraham Rice, did not arriveuntil 1840?

Sketch of the Life of Ezra StilesEzra Stiles was born in

Connecticut on November 29,1727, and graduated from whatwas then Yale College in 1746.After graduation, he studiedfor the ministry and wasordained in 1749. After hisordination, he worked as atutor for a year at Yale andthen began some missionarywork among the Indians. In1752, ill health forced him togive up his missionary endeav-ors. He next studied law, whichhe practiced in New Havenfrom 1753 to 1755.

However, in 1755, afterbeing offered the position ofpastor of the SecondCongregational Church inNewport, Rhode Island, he

returned to the ministry, serv-ing there as pastor until 1776.

Stiles’s avid support of theAmerican Revolution led to hisleaving Newport when the citywas captured by the British inlate 1776. He then served aspastor of the CongregationalChurch in Portsmouth, NewHampshire. In 1778, he becamethe president of Yale College, aposition he held until his deathon May 12, 1795.

The Reverend’s Interest inJudaism

While in Newport, EzraStiles began studying Hebrew,because he felt he could notproperly understand theScriptures unless he could readthe “Hebrew Bible” in the orig-inal. It was only natural for himto turn to members ofNewport’s small but vibrantJewish community for assis-tance with his Hebrew studies.This led to his genuine interestin all things related toJudaism. In addition to aHebrew Tanach and Siddur,Stiles eventually acquiredcopies of the Talmud and theZohar, as well as some otherclassic sefarim. He got to thepoint where he was able to flu-ently translate Hebrew intoEnglish and understand atleast some of what he read inhis Gemara and Zohar.

Stiles became a frequentattendee at the religious serv-ices held on Jewish holidaysand Shabbosos at what isknown today as the TouroSynagogue. He attended thededication of the TouroSynagogue on December 2,1763, and wrote an elaboratedescription of the building andthe dedication ceremonies. His“Literary Diary,” which hebegan on January 1, 1769, pro-vides a fascinating window intoJewish religious life inNewport during the years 1769to 1776.

Stiles was especially inter-ested in discussing various reli-gious and theological matterswith the various rabbis who,from time to time, visitedNewport, and he recordedthese meetings in his diary.Below are some excerpts fromwhat he wrote about eachrabbi.

Rabbi Moshe Malchi of Tzfas Rabbi Moshe Malchi visited

Newport in 1759, ten yearsbefore Stiles began his diary.However, in an entry made onDecember 30, 1771, the rev-erend wrote:

“R. Moses Malchi of Saphatnear the Sea of Galilee in theholy land was in Newport AD1759, when I saw & conversedwith him. He had travelledamong all the Bodies of Jews inthe East, particularly inGreece, Constantinople,Smyrna, & Egypt & Syria. Hetold me that his mother tonguewas Spanish (tho’ born in theHoly Land) his Extraction

being from the Spanish Jewsthat settled in Saphat, once afamous University: He said,that in all his Travels he couldconverse with his brethren inSpanish, except in Grand Cairoin Egypt, where the SpanishJews did not settle.”

Rabbi Moshe bar DavidIt was not until thirteen

years later that a second rabbi,Moshe bar David, visitedNewport. An entry by Stilesmade on November 9, 1772,reads:

“This Forenoon I visited alearned Jew in Town and on hisTravels. He is really a Rabbi.His title is Mori Morenu RavRebbe Moshe bar Ashkenazim’Polin Katan m’K”K Apta,[which Stiles wrote in Hebrew]‘The Doctor our Doctor thegreat Rabbi, Moses the Son ofDavid of little Poland, of theholy Synagogue of Apta.’ He isnow AEt. [Anno aetatis suae,i.e., aged] 52 born at Apta inPoland 17 German miles fromCracow. Has studied in all theJew Colleges Bais Medrash inPoland: — received the Title ofRabbi at Barot which was con-firmed in Glogau 36 or 38 yearsago.”

Rav Moshe bar David hadbegun his travels at age 20, andover a period of 14 years hehad visited “Jerusalem, Cairo,Tiberias, Saphat, Aleppo, Ur of

the Chaldees, the R[iver]Chebar [in Babylonia], Mosul

[situated 220 miles northwestof Bagdad], Bogdat [Bagdad ?],Mt. Ararat, Basara [in Iraq],Ispahan [in Iran], Capsan [?],Hamodan [in Iran] and Surat inIndia.”

Stiles soon discovered thatRabbi Moshe bar David wasknowledgeable in Talmud Bavliand Yerushalmi, as well as theZohar. He was also “wellacquainted” with the writingsof the Rambam and Rashi.Rabbi Moses admitted that hewas a Gaon. “As evidence of hisattainments, Rabbi Moses pro-duced for Stiles a letter of tes-timony from the Hakharn ofthe Spanish and PortugueseSynagogue of London.”

Rabbi Moses was an accom-plished Kabbalist, becauseStiles wrote:

“I shewed [showed] him theZohar, with which he was muchdelighted, speaking withRaptures of the Sublimity andMysteries of its Contents; hetold me if I could comprehendthe Book I should be a Masterof Jewish Learning & of theGreatest philosophy in theWorld. He explained severalPassages in it respecting theholy Name, and the tenSaphirots. Of the Saphirots hespake with Eyes turned upheavenward & with Fervor.”

Rabbi Raphael Chaim YitzchokCarigal (Karigal)

Rabbi Raphael ChaimYitzchok Carigal (1732/33-1777) arrived in Newport onMarch 3, 1773. When Stileslearned that a rabbi from theHoly Land had come toNewport, he made it a point onthe evening of March 8 toattend Purim services at theNewport Synagogue, where heknew he would see RabbiCarigal.

“As Rabbi Carigal stood onthe Bimah, Stiles, seated in apew, took his first impressionsof the man. He judged him tobe about forty-five.” Stilesdescribed his first impressionof Rabbi Karigal as follows:

“He was dressed in red

Garment with the usualPhylacteries and habilments,the white silk Surplice; hewore a high brown furr Cap,had a long Beard. He has theappearance of an ingenious &sensible Man.”

Rabbi Carigal and ReverendStiles met for the first time onMarch 30. It was not longbefore the two of them wereengaged in a discussion of cer-tain passages from the Zohar,and thus began a series ofmeetings that took place fre-quently during the rabbi’s four-and-one-half-month stay inNewport. Surprisingly, thesetwo men, who had very differ-ent backgrounds, becamefriends.

“Stiles learned that Carigalwas born at Hebron inPalestine in 1733, where hewas educated and ordained asrabbi at the precocious age ofseventeen. In 1754, Carigal setout on a series of voyages,remaining for periods of timein each of the places that hevisited. He traversed all of theMiddle East, visiting Egypt,Turkey, Syria and Greece.Carigal moved on to Europe,visiting Italy, Germany,Holland and England. In 1761,when he was twenty-eight, hearrived in Curacao to fill in forthe local rabbi, who hadreturned to Holland for further

studies. In 1764, Carigalreturned to Holland, eventual-ly making his way to Germanyand Italy and again back toPalestine. Four years later, in1768, he sailed for France andthen to England, where hetaught in London for over twoyears. In 1772, he arrived in theAmerican colonies, spendingtime in New York andPhiladelphia before coming toNewport.”

A highlight of RabbiCarigal’s visit to Newport wasthe drashah he gave on May 28,1773, the first day of Shavuos.“The congregation invitedtown and colony officials toattend worship that they mighthear Rabbi Carigal preach.Stiles took careful notes of thecontent and manner ofCarigal’s preaching. Carigal’ssermon ran forty-seven min-utes and was delivered inSpanish, interspersed withHebrew. Stiles noted:

“His Oratory, Elocution, andGestures were fine and orien-tal. It was very animated. Heexhorted them not to perplexthemselves with Traditions and

The Six Rabbis Whom Reverend Ezra Stiles Met

Rabbi Raphael Chaim YitzchokCarigal

PAINTING BY SAMUEL KING

Reverend Ezra Stiles, 1770-1771

“This kind oflearning is worthy tobe sought after andtransplanted into theColleges ofAmerica.”

In 1754, Carigal setout on a series ofvoyages, remainingfor periods of time ineach of the placesthat he visited.

Stiles soondiscovered thatRabbi Moshe barDavid wasknowledgeable inTalmud Bavli andYerushalmi, as wellas the Zohar.

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Criticisms, but to attend to cer-tain capital points and princi-pal points of Religion — heexpatiated upon the Miseriesand Calamities of their Nationin their present Captivity andDispersion and comfortedthem under their Tribulationsby the assured Prospect of theMessiah’s Kingdom — heexhorted them not to be dis-couraged but persevere &c. —he shewed them thatCalamities and sufferings werenot evidence of their being for-saken of G-d — that Adversityand Judgments were the com-mon Lot of all Nations,Kingdoms and Countries —and instanced in theDesolations made by the erup-tions of Mt. Vesuvius nearNaples in Italy which he saidhe had seen, and beheld thedeluge of liquid matter flowingand carrying all before it, over-whelming Villages, Houses,Temples, people &c — yetChristians did not consider thisas an evidence against theirReligion; neither was theDestruction of the Temple andthe City of Jerusalem by theRomans &c. any argumentagainst the Truth of the JewishReligion. They were chastisedfor their Sins but not forsakenof G-d ...”

At the end of July 1773.Rabbi Carigal left Newport tocontinue his journeys. It wasan emotional parting for thesetwo men who had become suchclose friends.

After Rabbi Carigal’s depar-ture, he and Reverend Stilescorresponded in Hebrew untilthe rabbi died in 1777 inBarbados. The reverend neverforgot Rabbi Carigal and evenrequested that a portrait ofhim be made from a small cray-on likeness made during hisstay in Newport. This portrait,shown above, was eventuallydelivered to Yale in 1782.

Rabbi Tobiah bar Jehudah The next rabbi to come to

Newport was Rabbi Tobiah barJehudah, who was fromCracow, Poland, and arrived inNewport in November 1773.Rabbi Tobiah, who was 48 atthe time, had been educated inAmsterdam, where he hadbeen sent at the age of 8. Hewas a direct descendant ofRashi.

Reverend Stiles, who had bynow developed a keen interestin Jewish mysticism and hadeven arranged for the purchaseof the Zohar from a Londonbook dealer in 1772, wasdelighted to learn that RabbiTobiah possessed extensiveknowledge of Kabbalah. Anentry he made in his LiteraryDiary, dated November 19,1773, reads:

“Visited this Afternoon byRabbi Tobiah bar Jehudah latefrom near Cracow in PolandAet [age] 48. We had much con-versation on the Zohar and par-ticularly the X Saphirots. Hesaid that the SapherHaujtzirah was now in thesame state as in Abraham’sTime; that Rabbi Akiba madeno change in it — only heselected it as a part of a largerBook called the Sapher Razael,which was communicated bythe Angel Razael to Adam,

from Adam to Seth, who deliv-ered it to Enoch, he toMethuselah, he to Noah, he toShem & Shem delivered it toAbraham.”

The two men had a numberof subsequent conversationsabout various Kabalistic mat-ters. An entry made by Stileson December 7, 1773 in his“Hebrew-Aramaic Notebook”reads:

“R. Tobiah bar Jehudah toldme that the Sapher Jatzirahwas a part of the Book of Rozelwhich the Angel Rozel gave toAdam which with Adams &other Writings came to Seth,Seth delivered it to Enoch;Enoch delivered it with hisAdditions to Methuselah — &he to Noah — Noah to Shem —Shem (who he said wasMelchizedek) to Abraham.Abraham selected that uponthe Creation in a Volume byitself. It came from Abraham tothe Patriarchs and is now inbeing in a Quarto Volume. Ihave since seen & perused it.”

(Quite probably Stiles wasshown the Book of Raziel pub-lished in Amsterdam in 1701,and misunderstood that RabbiTobiah had lumped togetherthe much-earlier Sefer Yetzirahwith the Book of Raziel.)

In an entry made in hisLiterary Diary dated November23, 1773, Reverend Stiles givesus his perception of a dinnerthat he ate at the home of IsaacTouro (1738-1783), the chazzanof the Newport Synagogue andthe father of the famed philan-thropist Judah Touro.

“The Rabbi visited me again... but I was not at home. In theEvening I visited him at Mr.Tauro’s — and supped withthem, the only Time I ever hap-pened at Meal with a Jew. Justbefore they sat down to supper,Water was brought by the Maid,in a white earthern Bottlewhich stood in a Vase or Bason:they two washed their hands,taking up the bottle and pour-ing the Water on the hand. I didnot wash, but sat down & eatwith them. After sitting each ina whispering voice said Gracefor himself.”

“Rabbi” Aaron BosquilaThe fifth “rabbi” whom

Stiles came to know in Newportwas Aaron Bosquila, whoarrived in that city in June1774. (It will become apparentwhy the word rabbi has beenput in quotation marks.) Anentry in Stiles’s Literary Diarydated June 15, 1774, reads:

“Yesterday visited by a newRabbi come to Town. RabbiBosquila from Smyrna in theLevant where he was born andeducated. He resided with hisFamily 14 years in London, isnow aet. [age] 61, for manyyears has followed Traffic &laid aside his rabbinicalStudies. He says, he has notread the Talmud which I wassurprized at, as by theCertificate under the hands ofa London Rabbi he appears tobe indeed a Rabbi — but he hasread the Zohar. The Bible andthe Zohar he is versed in andfew other Books. He is of a con-trasted and limited Literature— he is among the Rabbins.”

Obviously, Stiles was sur-prised that this “rabbi” had lit-

tle familiarity with the Talmudand may have even doubted theauthenticity of his “rabbinicalcredentials.” In truth, AaronBosquila may not have been arabbi. In the Minute Book ofCongregation Shearith Israel ofNew York, which he also visit-ed, he is referred to as “Mr.Aaron Bosqualo.”

Rabbi Samuel CohenRabbi Cohen arrived in

Newport in late June 1775. Hewas a 34-year-old kohen, whohad been born and educated inEretz Yisrael. Stiles found himto be a “very agreeable” manwith broad knowledge thatlacked depth.

Stiles’s diary contains only afew entries about Rabbi Cohen,and these are relatively brief.On August 16, 1775, he wrote,“Visited R. Samuel Cohen.” andnothing more.

“Somehow, so terse an entryas this last one was not at all inkeeping with Stiles’s approachto the previous rabbis withwhom he met. But a good clueto this brevity of treatment byStiles is to be found in the con-text of his Diary entries of thatperiod. Stiles was very muchpreoccupied with the volatilepolitical situation in thecolonies at the time. Most ofthe colonies were already in astate of rebellion against

England. There were Britishwarships in Newport harborwith their guns ominouslytrained on the town. His Diaryduring that period is full of thetension and concern that per-meated the country. Politicsand war moved to the fore. And,undoubtedly, for this reason,discoursing with Rabbi Cohenwas hardly of prime interestunder the prevailing circum-stances.”

Summary

Ezra Stiles had no furtherinteractions with rabbis after1775. He left Newport in 1776around the time the British cap-tured the city, residing first inPortsmouth, New Hampshire,and then in New Haven,Connecticut. Neither place had

Jewish communities that werelikely to attract rabbinical visi-tors. Furthermore, theRevolutionary War made travelbetween Europe and Americamore difficult, so few rabbiswere able to make the arduousjourney across the Atlantic atthis time. Still, it is clear thatReverend Stiles was deeplyinfluenced by his interactionswith the rabbis he met inNewport. The result was “akeen interest to learn as broad-ly and deeply as he could aboutJudaism. As Stiles put it him-self in his first public oration atYale’s commencement in 1781,‘this kind of Learning is worthyto be sought after …”

Note: All quotations are fromThe Rabbis and Ezra Stiles, byArthur A. Chiel, American JewishHistorical Quarterly (1961-1978); Sep. 1971-Jun. 1972; 61, 1-4. Please note that the originalpunctuation and spelling thatReverend Stiles used has beenpreserved in the quotations fromhis writings.

Dr. Yitzchok Levine retired in2008 from a forty-year career asa professor of mathematics atStevens Institute of Technologyin Hoboken, New Jersey. He iscurrently teaching at Stevens asan adjunct professor. He can becontacted at llevine@stevens.edu.

His Diary during thatperiod is full of thetension and concernthat permeated thecountry. Politics andwar moved to thefore.