Constitution of the Female Hebrew Benevolent Society of Philadelphia.
[Judaica]. Gratz, Rebecca. The Constitution of the Female Hebrew Benevolent Society of Philadelphia. Philadelphia: Printed for the Society, 1825.
8vo.; 12 pp.; plain green-grey wrappers, string-tied; faded; large chip to bottom tip and top fifth cut away; else very good. In a specially made quarter-morocco slipcase.
A foundational document of the Philadelphia Philanthropic organization that would provide a national model for similar societies, such as the Hebrew Benevolent and Orphan Asylum Society of the City of New York. Rosenbach 270, Singerman 0428, Shoemaker 20505. The number of copies printed is unknown, but is likely less than 150—perhaps substantially less. The Society had been in existence a full five years before, we speculate, the size of the membership justified the expense of a published annual report, though annual accountings of their affairs had been presented beginning in 1820, per Article V of the Constitution. The Society’s membership in 1825 included approximately 125 individuals from about 100 families. This remarkable survival of a painfully fragile document prints the constitution; “rules and regulations”; subscriber list, including the amounts contributed by each for an annual subscription ($2), a life subscription ($7), and additional donations; and the first annual report.
The first annual report of the Society—likely written by Gratz in her role of secretary—concerns itself with the use of patron dollars and other, non-monetary forms of support the Society sought among its membership. Gratz acknowledges that as the Society is new, they have a great deal to look forward to in the coming years, assuring their patrons that their money is very carefully dispersed:
…every application for assistance has been attended to by the visiting committee. One or two cases may have been attended to with disappointment to the applicants, as upon investigation it was thought necessary to reject one altogether, and to give but little to another…The funds elicited by charity they [the Board members] consider a sacred trust, to be distributed only where the purposes of charity can be effected. They could not, consistently with this bestow upon the idle and improvident, although their poverty may excite to pity…It is to modest worth, pining in obscurity; to the indigent who are “ashamed to beg;” to the sick, and to the infirm, that the assistance of this society will be most freely given. …
The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia explains this Society’s inception, describing Gratz, named Secretary in 1820, as the “prime mover in this venture”:
With the gradual growth of the Jewish community [in Philadelphia]—to an estimated 2500 in about 1850—philanthropic and cultural needs began to be felt. A group of women, among whom were Rebecca Gratz, Mrs. Aaron Levy and Hannah Levy, formed the Female Hebrew Benevolent Society in 1819. It was as the result of the initiative taken by this group that the first [Hebrew] Sunday school in the United States was formed, in 1838. (UJE 8, p. 477)
The other officers, also named among the thirteen managers, included co-directors Rebecca J. Phillips and Bell Cohen, and treasurer S. Bravo.
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