The Jew in South African Literature By S. A. ROCHLIN.
IN THE fascinating field of South African literature, the
footprint of the Jew is easily discoverable and explainable. Striking and
portentous has been this place and function of the Israelite in the arena of
letters and publicity. Suggestive and enthralling has been the mission of the
Jew in an African environment, in consonance with his worldly progression and
universal outlook, to interpret unto humanity the visible markings of African—South
African—developments.
Above all, it is a story (as will be seen) worthy of
rational evaluation and the motivation of a people's earnestness to triumph for
the common welfare.
Such a narration has its roots deep in the soil and in the
evolution of African doings. Long before the Jews interested themselves in
South African affairs, Israel had its chequered history in other areas of this
varied and challenging continent.
Eminent Jews in Biblical or Talmudical or post Talmudical
ages did usually evince a keen interest in African activities. Evidence of it
is available, and its well-defined account is unique in the annals of a
believing world. Study the history of the Jews in Egypt or in the popular
Maghreb and there would be revealed to the student the eminent literary
contributions made by cultured and daring Israelites to civilisation.
But modern South Africa, too, since the day when a Jewish
navigator of the fifteenth century, Joseph Zapateiro de Lamego a collateral of
the Montefiore family—in company with Abraham of Bija, who first brought the
intelligence to an awakening Europe that there is a South Cape of Africa which
could be doubled, has a direct and impressionable attachment with the laudable
efforts of Jewish scholarship some six centuries ago.
Long before this epoch-making event occurred, we find that
the famous legend of Prester John (12th-14th century) undoubtedly owed its
origin to the literary labours of a 9th century Jewish traveller, Eldad Ben
Mahli ha-Dani. He professed himself to have been a citizen of an independent
Jewish state in East Africa. His ideas were early ridiculed by Jewish savants.
Among this company must be included the name of a great Jewish soul, Abraham
Ibn Ezra (1092-1167) on whose life Robert Browning penned his famous poem
"Rabbi ben Ezra." It is in his Commentary to Exodus ii. 22 that
Abraham Ibn Ezra challenges Eldad's viewpoint.
It was after the discovery of the Cape in 1486 that more
international interest was aroused in South African matters than was the case
hitherto. Jews did partially evince a desire to know more about this country
and its strange peoples. Some Marrano Jews hailing from Portugal or Spain, it
is known, while proceeding to the then new European settlements in India, did
actually write a word or two about the Cape. Their small literary output is now
hidden away in some archives in Europe or in Asia.
Correa in his Three Voyages of Vasco da Gama, issued
by the Hakluyt Society, London, in 1869, tells of the activities of one Gaspar
da Gama, a Marrano Jew, who, in 1500, accompanied the Franciscans to India as
interpreter. He had an unusual career, this Gaspar, and was evidently a man of
some learning. And Dr. J. G. da Cunha in his Historical and Archælogical
Sketch of the Island of Angediva et supra gives us a detailed account about
Gaspar da Gama's vivid life.
For close on two centuries after its discovery by Europeans,
South Africa, on the whole, was not widely known to the world at large. That is
to be seen, in one instance, in the work of one well known Jewish writer of his
generation.
Leo Africanus in his Geographical History of Africa,
published in Latin at Antwerp in 1556, which was translated into English by
John Pory in 1600, does not mention the Cape at all in his work. His was a
typical attitude of well-meaning publicists of those days in not describing
conditions at the Cape. And he is not the only individual to sin in this
respect. An eminent South African author once affirmed this statement by
declaring that "in spite of the visits of navigators from Bartholomew Diaz
(1486) to Sir Francis Drake (1595) very little was known of this
territory." So it passed for many a generation to come.
Moreover, even during the regime of the Dutch East India
Company in South Africa, Jews very rarely interested themselves in this country
and its doings. There are quite a number of plausible reasons for this state of
affairs. Nevertheless, at the headquarters of the Dutch East India Company in
Holland, Amsterdam was the centre of the Hebrew book trade from the middle of
the seventeenth century to the nineteenth. It was during this period that the
renowned Manasseh ben Israel (1604-1657), founder of the first Hebrew press in
Holland, was the champion of the readmission of Jews into a Cromwellian
England.
Thus, in one important sense, South African Jewry may be
linked with the historic course of events either in Holland or in English Jewry
at this juncture. Partly, it was due to this spirit that one of the earliest
bands of professing Dutch Jews arrived at the Cape in 1685-6 on their way to
India to inquire into the conditions of the dark-skinned Jews of Cochin, who
were then under the rule of the Dutch East India Company. As a result of this
investigation, a report appeared in 1697 at Amsterdam under the title Notisias
dos Judeos de Cochin Mandadas por Mosseh Pereyra de Paiva.
And, on the other hand, in The Voyage of François Leguat
of Bresse to Rodriquez, Mauritius, and the Cape of Good Hope, first
published in French in the year 1708, we find this remark: "If my voyage
was written in Hebrew, I am well assured it would at least succeed as well as
that of Rabbi Benjamin." This Rabbi Benjamin was none other than the
famous Rabbi Benjamin, the son of Jonas of Tudela, who travelled from Spain to
China during the years 1160 and 1173. Among Leguat's companions on this
adventure was one Isaac Boyer, a merchant, born near Nerac (France), whose
actions show that he must have been a Marrano Jew. Here, again, we have
evidence to suggest that many a far-famed adventurer of those days. rounding
the Cape did know a little Hebrew or Israelitical traditions.
One thing is certain that before the year 1800 the most
popular book at the Cape, apart from the Bible, was the well-known History
of the Jews by Josephus, the famous Jewish historian of Roman times. That
brilliant Swedish scientist, Dr. Andrew Sparrman, in his A Voyage to the
Cape of Good Hope (London, 1785), while visiting a farm-house in the Paarl
district, exclaims that "the good woman of the house was obliged to go to
bed alone, while her husband employed himself with the history of Josephus, in
order to convince me of his great attachment to study." (Volume 1, page
70.)
This attitude receives more support when we glean through
the work of one well-known Cape Colonist, who numbered among his friends Suassa
de Lima. This Cape Colonist was P. B. Borcherds, who published An
Auto-Biographical Memoir in 1861. Writing of the life lived by South
Africans before the dawn of the nineteenth century, he opined that “No
respectable family was seen without the Bible in its possession, some too with
books of prayer or hymns, which, with other religious books, were read with
attention and reverence. Some families owned a Flavius Josephus."
But another century had to pass away before Jews really
evidenced a feeling to make South Africa the home of their adoption and the
birthplace of their oncoming Kin and Kith. It was then that South Africa began
to realise that a newer and active force had carved its way into the life of
the land, effecting their cultural relationships in a manner which time alone
will clarify and substantiate.
II.
It is to the nineteenth century that we must now focus
attention, displaying a critical note of appreciation to those of the Jewish
nation who have rendered signal service to the cause of South Africa and to the
cause of intellectual Israel.
The nineteenth century in South Africa, at any rate, was the
century ushering in a period of real enlightenment and compelling advancement.
It was an era of pioneering literary contributions a true and well-laid
foundation for the South Africa of to-day. Brilliant names flourished during
this century and brilliant books written in a South African atmosphere were
added to the scanty shelves of South African literature.
And the Jews, small in number but devoted to the land of
their abode, rightfully delivered their share to the promotion of literary
ventures of an absorbing and permanent kind. It is a favourable comparison. The
quantity and quality of their works will stand the test for many years to come,
heightening its value and its erudition in no uncertain degree.
It undoubtedly paved the way for a new orientation on the
part of South Africa to regard the Jew as a welcome force in spreading light
and lustre to all concerned in the path of national honour and progress.
Possibly, one of the earliest instances in nineteenth
century South Africa of a Jew, who had such close connections with this country
in his later life, was that of Mr. Solomon, of St. Helena, a worthy progenitor
of the worthy and notable South African family of that name. He had long
settled in St. Helena, this Mr. Solomon, and can be considered in the
presentation of our case.
Apparently, early in life, Mr. Solomon was interested in
advancing literary matters. One fact stands out clearly against his name. In Extracts
from the St. Helena Records, compiled by a former governor of that Island,
H. R. Janisch, C.M.G., we find under the date 14th January, 1810, this
significant sentence: "Mr. Solomon, proprietor of the St. Helena Press, is
informed that objectionable remarks had appeared in the St. Helena Register
for the month of December, and is directed to print no more until the sheets
have been first submitted to the Secretary of the Government."
But, it was a relative of his, the adventurous and versatile
and youthful Nathaniel Isaacs, who is undoubtedly the first Jew in South Africa
to have given to the world a fine piece of literary craftmanship. His Travels
and Adventures in Eastern Africa—With a Sketch of Natal, published in two
volumes in 1836, is a splendid account of the then conditions in an uncolonised
Natal. Therein he pleads for the honour of England to interest itself in Natal.
And he propagated this idea to the very end of his unusual life.
Hailed by the late Dr. Theal as a valuable document of
historical importance and by Sir George G. Frazer in his monumental Folk-Lore
in the Old Testament (London, 1918) as a citable authority for some native
customs, Nathaniel Isaacs must be given due respect and credit. Even his
previous communications, to be found in the 1832 issue of the S.A.
Commercial Advertiser, must be acknowledged in this wise. It is well that
he has been called the "Knight Errant of Natal."
Another literary pioneer whom we claim as one of direct
Jewish descent was Joseph Suasso de Lima, LL.D. (1791-1858). Powerful in
intellect, eccentric in manners, courageous in defending his particular causes,
de Lima, lawyer by training and somewhat of a litterateur by avocation,
deserves some notice. He was also a pushful schoolmaster, having taught at the
Lutheran School in Cape Town. Apart from the several poems he penned early in
life and the many pamphlets he issued on different subjects, de Lima wrote the
first history book of South Africa. Entitled Geschiedenis van de Kaap de
Goede Hoop (1825) it is an interesting work. Dr. G. McCall Theal once
declared that "the work was prepared to suit the views of Lord Charles
Somerset; it is somewhat partial, and is of more value now as a curiosity than
as containing information." He was one of the earliest of
directory-compilers in South Africa. He edited a lively journal the Verzamelaar
in 1828 and following years. He was a remarkable linguist and did much work as
a sworn translator. And he wrote many dramatic pieces, laying a real foundation
stone for the development of literature in South Africa. Dr. F. C. L. Bosman in
his Drama en Toneel in Suid-Afrika (Pretoria, 1928) gives one of the
best accounts of the life of this remarkable character.
In the realm of science nineteenth century South Africa was
greatly honoured and advanced by the presence in this country, between the
years 1832 and 1837, of Sir John Herschel, the most famous astronomer of his
generation. Although he was not a Jew by conviction, Sir John Herschel was of
immediate Jewish origin. His father, Sir William Herschel, too, was the
greatest astronomer of his day, and was a Prussian by birth. The Herschels,
indeed, displayed the typical Jewish attitude towards learning and refinement.
While residents in South Africa, Sir John Herschel, apart from his classical
works on Cape astronomical investigations, took a serious interest in the
development of educational facilities in this land. Thus, he has left in a way
his indelible mark on the intellectual life of South Africa-a factor which will
be more enhanced in the years to follow.
About this time the greatest Palestinian geographer and
scientist of his day, Rabbi Joseph Schwartz (1804-1865), entertained the idea
that the Ten Tribes were to be found in Abyssinia, Central and South Africa,
Yemen, Tibet, and China. And when he visited America (about 1849), the famous
Isaac Leeser published in English Schwartz's Tebu'ot ha-Arez, which is
regarded as being the most important Jewish work printed in the U.S.A. up to
that time. In this edition, Leeser adds an interesting discussion on the above
topic. (pages 493-518). Further, we may affirm, that in this instance, there is
a mutual literary link between the Jewries of Palestine, South Africa, and the
U.S.A. The subject is a controversial one, and was discussed by South African
authorities antecedent to the appearance of Rabbi Schwartz's opinion.
Again, in the advancement of the Press in South Africa
during the past hundred years, the Jew has taken his part well. Occasionally,
before the 'forties of the last century, matters of Jewish interest, chiefly
theological, were published in the then growing journals of this sub-continent.
For the most part these Jewish notes were penned by Gentile contributors.
Possibly, the first professing Jew in South Africa to write
an article on the right of the Jew to settle here was that of De Pass in 1848.
It is to be found in Vol. II. No. 9 of the Cape of Good Hope Literary
Magazine, which was edited by a much-travelled Irishman, James L.
Fitzpatrick, who, it seems, was a sincere friend of the Jewish cause. A few
years after this effort of a Jewish contributor, his relatives. in Australia—John
De Pass & Co., of Adelaide—favoured the S.A. Commercial Advertiser
with reports of marketing conditions in that country. It was regarded as a
valuable service, and received commendation from Mr. John Fairbairn, the famous
editor of the Commercial Advertiser.
But one of the greatest pioneers of the Press in this
country was the brilliant and gifted Saul Solomon (1817-1892), the "Cape
Disraeli." He was a real publicist of South Africa in every sense of the
term. In the 'fifties’ of the nineteenth century he founded the Cape Argus,
a journal which was as influential in his time as it is now. He had, moreover,
established a well-conducted printing concern then, the leading one in the Cape
Colony, which produced many a publication invaluable in the cause of South
African literature.
Furthermore, another Jew, Harry Solomon by name, founded the
Port Elizabeth Observer in 1877, lasting for nine years. Locally, he was
known as the “People's Harry," and served his co-religionists and the
general public well. Across the waters, Mauritius, which was then closely
connected with this country, as is the case now, saw the birth of the Mercantile
Record and Commerce Gazette about the year 1859. Its first editor and
founder was J. I. de Lissa Cohen, who died on 31st May, 1879, at Curepipe. He
possessed an able pen and sane-minded programme, this de Lissa Cohen, and was
much admired by his adopted countrymen.
Then, during the Bechuanaland Expedition (1884), Julius
Mendes Price, an Anglo-Jewish artist and traveller, was the war correspondent
to the Illustrated London News, and eventually wrote a few notable
travel-books. And it appears that, contemporary with the above example, a Jew
edited an important Bloemfontein journal—De Express. M. J. Boon in his History
of the Orange Free State (London, 1885)—a most peculiar work—mentions it
(vol. 3, p. 56). Possibly its owner, a German, was also an Israelite.
Not only do we find Jews playing their role in the above
fashion, but performing such a duty. In 1879, we are told that Mr. Joseph Leon,
amongst other good acts has instructed his agents to hand over the sum of £20
to be appropriated to the acquisition by the South African Public Library of
works on the history and literature of his native Poland. Commentary on this,
the Cape Argus (15th July, 1879) declares: "The donation is the
more useful as the Library is very deficiently supplied with works of foreign
literature." Since then we have witnessed other Jews making similar
contributions.
It is interesting to note in this connection, that Karl
Marx, the famous economist and thinker, was supposed to have been for some time
a correspondent to one of Cape Town's important journals. In 1854, he is said
to have contributed a series of articles to the Zuid-Afrikaan. One of
his brothers-in-law was J. C. Juta, the bookseller and publisher. According to
some authorities this Juta came of Jewish stock. At any rate, Juta displayed
some interest in the growth of literary South Africa. Here is one early
evidence of his interest. “It will not be uninteresting to our readers to be
informed," wrote the editor of Zuid Afrikaan (19th June, 1854), “that
one of our social wants, to which of late the attention of the public has been
repeatedly solicited, is about to be supplied. An enterprising and intelligent
Dutch bookseller, Mr. J. C. Juta, of Wale Street, will, if duly supported,
start a periodical, which, being conducted in the manner contemplated by the
publisher, cannot fail to contribute largely to the intellectual as well as
material improvement of our Colonists.'
Jewish effort in theological enlightenment was also a
pronounced factor during the preceding hundred years. And as far as this
country is concerned, the famous modernist criticism of the Pentateuch from the
pen of an Anglican dignitary, Bishop Colenso, of Natal, aroused intense
interest everywhere.
From the Jewish side, much was written respecting him. There
were Dr. A. Benisch's Bishop Colenso's Objections Examined (1863), Chief
Rabbi Dr. N. M. Adler's Bishop Colenso Answered, and A Jewish Reply
to Bishop Colenso, issued by the Jewish Association for the Diffusion of
Religious Knowledge (1865). About this time the first minister to the Port
Elizabeth Hebrew Congregation, the Rev. Samuel Rapaport, wrote his popular Stories
and Sayings Translated from the Talmud, later to be followed by Tales
and Maxims from the Midrash.
But the principal polemical work in this century in South
Africa, which was published as a result of religious differences, was that of
the Rev. Joel Rabbinowitz and the converted Jew, the Rev. Frans Lion Cachet. In
the Cape Argus (1876) is to be seen the reply of this Rev. F. L. Cachet.
It was an interesting controversy and helped to inspire men's minds regarding
the truths of Judaism.
Before the close of the century, the Rev. A. P. Bender
published his important and scholarly Beliefs, Rites and Customs of the
Jews, Connected with Death, Burial and Mourning in the Jewish Quarterly
Review, Vol. VI. (1893-4) and Vol. VII. (1894-5). His contribution has been
acknowledged as authoritative by the well-known Rev. Morris Joseph, author of Judaism
as Creed and Life, in Hasting's Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics,
1911, and in the Jewish Encyclopedia respectively.
And it was about at this stage that the Rev. Dr. J. H.
Hertz, now Chief Rabbi of the British Empire, arrived in South Africa. In 1898,
there was published his Bachya, the Jewish Thomas à Kempis. With his
coming to this country a new period was commenced in the history of Israel in
South Africa, leading to events which had a decisive effect on the subsequent
life of the community. But that is another chapter in the story of the Jews in
the sub-continent.
In promoting knowledge and in scientific edification, Jewry
in South Africa as well as overseas have also helped to elucidate the foremost
scientific problems of this country.
In 1857, Julius Mosenthal published his pamphlet on the Angora
Goat. Twenty years later he, aided by J. E. Harting, produced his Ostriches
and Ostrich Farming, which, as it has often been admitted, is a leading
work in this sphere.
In mineralogy, one of the ablest authorities on the minerals
of South Africa was that of Prof. Dr. E. Cohen, of Heidelberg University. His Ueber
enige eigen-thüraliche Melaphr-Mandelsteine aus Süd Afrika appeared in
1875. There is an interesting discussion on this volume in the Cape Monthly
Magazine, 1875 issue. In 1883 he published a pamphlet on Ueber der
Südafrikanischen Diamandfelden. He was followed by, among others, Charles
S. Goldmann's standard works on the Transvaal gold mines in 1892 and in 1895-6
and F. Pollak's Les Mines d'or du Transvaal (1894)—a prelude to similar
studies undertaken by Jews during the twentieth century.
Furthermore, in this regard, we must include the name of
Professor Edwin E, Goldman, born at Burghersdorp on 12th November, 1862. A
great pathologist, he succeeded the famous Ehrlich as one of Germany's leading
authorities on his subject. Before the close of the century, he, in company
with Middeldorp, presented his Croup und Diphterië to the world.
Probably, the other noted medical savant, who was also born in South Africa,
Professor Albert Hoffa, was a relative of the famous German-Jewish philologist
and archæologist, Joseph Hoffa (1803-1843). Apart from these instances, there
are extant several pamphlets on South African scientific subjects read or
written by Jews before 1900. They all served to show how, in other aspects of
South African life, many a Jew evinced a keenness and an enthusiasm to inquire
into those conditions of our South African society worthy of thought and
improvement.
Making known South Africa to humanity was another field of
activity chosen by Jews. The case of the courageous Nathaniel Isaacs has
already been commented on. And during the nineteenth century several pioneering
Israelites—many of their names are hardly known in present-day South Africa—did
some extraordinary labour in exploring the lesser-known parts of the country.
In a German periodical, Globus, for the years 1866-7,
there is to be found, for example, a fine description of South Africa from the
pen of Ludwig Heinrich Holländer, Professor of Dental Surgery, Halle
University. He was a German Jew, and was resident in South Africa from
1856-1865. Following him was Emile Mann-heimer's Du Cap au Zambéze
(1884), giving an account of a journey through South Africa, Julius
Falkenstein, in 1885, issued his Afrikas Westkunde: von Ogowe bis zum Damara
Land—an arresting book on the topographical description of what is now
known as South-West Africa. Then the late Captain Eduard Foa—his career is now
almost forgotten—traversed the whole of South and Central Africa in the early
90's. As a result of this, he lost his life in a tragic way. He may still be
regarded, like Emin Pasha, as a real explorer in matters African. His books,
written in French, deserve consideration on our part. Among others, they are Traversée
de 1, Afrique équatoriale du Zambéze au Congo les grand lacs and After
Big Game in Central Africa, 1894-7. This Captain Foa came of a well-known
Franco-Jewish family. His pedigree can be traced back to the eighteenth
century, and even earlier.
On the lives of the two great Gentile travellers, David
Livingstone and H. М. Stanley, we gather that Arthur Montefiore, a member of
the well-known Montefiore family in England, wrote about them (c. 1890),
praising their works and their legacies to civilisation. Finally, in 1895,
Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild in his Three Weeks in South Africa: a
Diary gave a traveller's impressions of this country in his own fashion. And,
as the century closed, more Jews were to be found writing about the country
than was the case before. It was in connection with the Boer War.
In Afrikaans literature, too, several persons of distinct
Jewish ancestry have added their portions to its growth. The two brothers, Jews
by birth and Christians by religious convictions, Frans Lion Cachet and Jan
Lion Cachet, both wrote in Afrikaans and in Netherlands, and are accorded no
mean position in Dr. G. Besselaar's Zuid-Afrika in de Letterkunde, pages
170-172. Frans in De Worstelstryd der Trans-vaalers renders us the early
history of the Transvaal. Jan, in a series of popular stories, did much to
influence the progress of Afrikaans in literary circles. Incidentally, Jan's
teacher in Holland was the famous converted Jew, Isaac da Costa.
An eminent poet and theologian, one of his longer verses
found its way into R. J. Stapleton's Poetry of the Cape of Good Hope
(1828), probably translated by Suasso de Lima. Of this da Costa, Dr. Kayserling
expressed his viewpoint as follows in the Jewish Encyclopedia:
"Although he wrote much on missionary matters, he is distinguished from
many other converts in that, to the end of his life, he felt only reverence and
love for his former co-religionists, and often took their part."
On the whole, the relation of Gentile South Africa to
Israel, as it was expressed in its nineteenth century literature, was
favourable. There are certain reasons for it. In the main, the non-Jewish
publicists of South Africa, following in the wake of Lord Macaulay and his
friends, endeavoured to treat the Jew, both in the Press and in private life,
disinterestedly and humanly. It was the age of liberalism in its newest guise.
And it gave the Jew in South Africa a feeling of security, a sense of gratitude.
III.
The next important period of our study, say from 1900-29,
commenced its career in a battle-like era of chaos and suffering. The
Anglo-Boer War was the cause of it. For a time such an affair stifled the
freedom and progress of true literary South Africa. Men's minds and hearts were
then intent on an unfortunate war. But it had its results. It brought a new
orientation into South African literature, and the Jew, in this respect, has
been a conspicuous figure in this movement. And the past quarter of a century
has seen this particular movement grow in strength and in vitality, leaving its
impressions in no unstable manner.
Apart from contemporary periodical contributions made by
Jews, the earliest years of the new century witnessed the interest taken by
Jews concerning the Anglo-Boer War.
Rabbi Dr. J. H. Hertz's timely pamphlet on The Jew as a
Patriot: a Plea for the Removal of the Civil Disabilities of the Jews in the
Transvaal denoted how Israelites viewed the cause of the War. Another
example was that of M. Rabinowitz, whose name is well-known in the S.A. Press,
who published in 1900-2 his strongly-worded letters, which were reprinted from S.A.
News. But that was not all. Jewish interest, on the whole was not weak. S.
M. Gluckstein in Queen or President (1900) and F. Hertz in Recht und
Unrecht in Boerenkriege (1902) argued the cause effectively for both sides.
Again, C. S. Goldmann in With General French in South Africa and Kisch
in The Siege of Ladysmith gave a descriptive account of the various
battles. And George Levy in Après la Guere: Problem es Sud Africains
(1905), among others, told of the post-war questions then affecting the rise of
South Africa to nationhood.
Possibly, the next literary event which had an important
bearing on Jewish relationship was the famous communication made by the late
Mrs. Olive Schreiner. Her Letter on the Jew (1906) came from a sincere
and human heart, breathing a spirit of toleration which has been acknowledged
by Dr. J. H. Hertz in his Book of Jewish Thoughts. Mr. S. C.
Cronwright-Schreiner in The Life of Olive Schreiner (1924) informs us of
the fact that this great genius was of Jewish ancestry. She was proud of it. In
one or two of her novels, Mrs. Olive Schreiner has drawn a character or two of
the Jewish type she knew. She played her part well, and holds a place in the
affections of the Jewish people.
The writing of the history of the Jews in South Africa took
a more determined course in this century than was the case previously. The
earliest notable effort made in this direction was that of the late Rev. Joel
Rabinowitz in the London Jewish Chronicle (1894-5). He was followed by
Dr. J. H. Hertz's The Jew in South Africa (1905), Sydney Mendelssohn's Jewish
Pioneers of South Africa (1912), and N. D. Hoffman's pioneer Yiddish work
on the subject (1916). All these are in pamphlet form, and there are others to
be found in various journals.
But it is to Sydney Mendelssohn's name that we must pay
respect. A lover of books, a patron of learning, Sydney Mendelssohn has left
other similar works behind him. The Jews of Africa and the Jews of
Asia (1920) show what scholarship he possessed Even his printed lecture on Judaic
Legends Amongst S.A. Natives (1914) revealed his devotion to study. And
from the pen of Sir John de Villiers, of the British Museum, who is a Jew of
South African birth, we have his Holland and Some Jews (1908). Therein
he furnishes some interesting information on a well-known historical subject.
In spreading the Jewish viewpoint in matters religious and
otherwise, the current century has seen energy and enthusiasm evinced in this
respect of our presentation. The community, as yet, has not produced great
scholars, clerical and laymen. Nevertheless, the coming years may evidence a
change in this connection. So far there have appeared these books and pamphlets
on general Jewish topics.
In 1914, the Rev. A. P. Bender, M.A., delivered a course of
lectures on Hebrew Music at the S.A. College, now the University of Cape
Town. The late Rev. D. Wasserzug, B.A., in 1913, wrote The Messianic Idea
and its Influence in Jewish Ethics, which was well received. Again, in 1918
and in 1916, he published his important sermons on Tolstoi, an Essene
and Why I am Orthodox, and his occasional articles in the Press have
added to his previous reputation. But it is Dr. J. L. Landau, who has been most
prolific in his literary activities, who demands our attention. An erudite
scholar and a forceful personality, Dr. Landau, apart from his many
contributions to the Ozar Israel (Hebrew Encyclopedia) is widely known
as a pioneer of the modern Hebrew drama. Besides, he has written many works on
other sections of Hebrew thought. He has also published his lectures of Jewish
interest which he delivered at the Witwatersrand University as well as several
pamphlets on Zionism.
Another South African Jew who has received recognition for
his literary endeavours is Mr. D. Mierowsky ("Ben Eliezer"). His Letters
of a Jewish Father to His Son (1928) [published originally in the Zionist
Record.—Editor] has certainly achieved acclamation in many circles. Apart
from these instances, there are several other co-religionists, who, although
they have not published books on specific Jewish subjects, are active in
promoting the ideals of Judaism in the popular Jewish or non-Jewish journals.
Studies in South African politics or economics are another
region of local life to which Jews, in a minor degree, have given their share.
Some of their works are now considered to be of authoritative value. Beginning
with David Goldblatt's informative pamphlet Yiddish: Is it a European
Language (1905), let us say, which was written to a great extent for
political purposes, other co-religionists have closely followed in his wake.
This David Goldblatt, who was formerly a Yiddish journalist in South Africa, is
now in New York, and has some important newspaper connections. Contemporary
with him there appeared S. M. Gluckstein's Black, White or Yellow. Here
the author discusses the Chinese question in South Africa in all its phases.
Next we find Mr. H. S. L. Polak publishing his Indians of
South Africa in 1909. His book, too, was also reckoned as prominent in his
specialised field of activities. Many of his articles on Indian questions, here
or overseas, are to be found in popular Indian and English journals.
In 1912, Miss S. R. Rostowsky issued her concise History
of the Emancipation of Women.
Nathan Levi, who is one of the best-known journalists in
South Africa, wrote his Jan Smuts in 1917. Herein he gives many
interesting details of Gen. the Hon. J. C. Smuts' private life. It is highly
laudatory. He has also translated Dr. F. V. Engelenburg's Louis Botha
into English.
A brilliant New York journalist visited this country in
1921, and the result of his impressions was his book on An African Adventure.
Isaac Marcosson in this work supplies piquant comments on the various facets of
South African society.
Morris Kentridge, in 1923, wrote his Unemployment in
South Africa: A Simple Solution. It is a valuable document on one of the
leading economic issues in this country.
Aside from these, other well-known South African Jews have
written, either in the Press or in pamphlet form, theses on contemporary
questions.
A book which has been much praised by leading journals and
people in this country is that of Dr. Frankel's one on The Railway Policy of
South Africa (1928). It is a welcome addition to the shelves of local
economic works. It gives a succinct account of the financial and economic
aspects of our railways. Its importance will be stressed in the years to come.
To illustrate the growth of literary consciousness amongst
us has also been the function of Jews in producing several worth-while
publications. Commencing with Mendelssohn's two portly volumes on South
African Bibliography (1910), which is one of the greatest efforts in its
field of study, a new light was shed on literary South Africa. Its introduction
is written by Ian D. Colvin, admitting the seriousness and the immensity of
Mendelssohn's self-appointed tasks.
Then we have Dr. Manfred Nathan, author of many standard
works on South African law, who has written several important books. His South
African Commonwealth (1919), South Africa from Within (1925) and his
manual, S.A. Literature: a General Survey (1925) may be recognised as
informative contributions to our small realm of letters. In this field, too, we
may add the name of Dr. Julius Herman, whose pseudonym is "Herbert
Skimpole”. Author of a noted Bernard Shaw: The Man and His Work (1918),
Dr. Julius Herman, in 1926, produced his Music of S.A. Life in its Relation
to the Culture of Europe. Written in an argumentative spirit, the author
has some quite original theories on the past and on the future development of
South African literature.
Harry J. Mandelbrote, M.A., LL.B., in another sphere, has
translated from German into English Mentzel's Beschreibung des Vorgebirges
der Guten Hoffnung (1785). He has edited it for the Van Riebeeck Society,
and received commendation for his labours. Also, in 1927, F. B. Adler published
his History of the Transvaal Horse Artillery, supplying details of the
past life of this regiment, making it interesting and valuable.
Then, we find many younger South African Jews displaying an
interest in purely scientific matters. Among them we may note, among others,
the promising career of Isaac Shapera. He specialises in the anthropological
questions of South Africa. Some of his learned articles on Bushmen lore have
appeared in Bantu Studies (Johannesburg) and in Africa, the organ of the
International Institute of African Languages and Culture (London) and in other
similar periodicals.
Anent this subject, L. Weinthal has translated from German
into English R. Weismann's The Bawenda of the Spelonken (London, 1908).
This is a treatise in connection with the psychology and folk-lore of an
important Transvaal native tribe.
In other departments of modern South African literature,
namely, in issuing popular addresses and books, we find the Jew also active.
When Dr. J. H. Hertz was in this country, he delivered popular lectures on
Kant, Spinoza, and so forth. Some of these addresses have been printed. His one
on The Place of the University in Modern Life (1905) is full of
constructive thought and powerful in its tone. In 1911, Vera Friedlander
published her Diary of a Motor Car on a Journey from Durban to the Cape.
Then the Rev. A. P. Bender, M.A., who has oft-times published his popular
addresses in contemporary newspapers in 1915, gave a significant lecture on Thought
on the Times. Eloquent in its plea, the lecture in question attracted much
notice at the time of its publication. There are others who have performed
similar works, and in this region the influence of the Jew cannot be gainsaid.
Several also have written plays of a South African
atmosphere. Here the Jew plays a minor role. It is simply a reflection of
general South African conditions, and no great play or drama of typical South
African life has, as yet, been written. And except what Mr. J. Langley Levy,
the well-known editor of the Sunday Times (Johannesburg), had produced
in this line, the only ones who have written, in so far as South African Jewry
is concerned, are Mr. I. M. Goodman and Mrs. Bertha Goudvis, and Mr. D. Dainow,
who has recently penned a play on a Zionist theme.
In 1923, I. M. Goodman wrote a comedy, "Sugarman the
Shadchan," which has been produced by amateurs in most of the larger towns
of South Africa. It is a successful piece of work of its kind, and gained
notice in Dr. Manfred Nathan's South African Literature.
Mrs. Goudvis has written playlets, “The Way the Money
Goes," "Patriots," “The Sergeant in Charge," "A
Husband for Rachel," and one of her plays was encouragingly approved by
the Jewish Drama League of England.
No eminent poet of Jewish descent has arisen in South
Africa. A few Jews have written poetry. With only one younger modern Jewish
poet is South African Israel linked up. He is Isaac Rosenberg, a young English
poet killed in the last war. He was recognised as a coming poet, and for some
years was resident in South Africa. His collected poems have been edited by
Gordon Bottomley, with an introductory memoir by Lawrence Binyon, himself a
well-known present-day poet. While in this country, Isaac Rosenberg wrote some
splendid verse, and contributed a story to one of our leading women's journals.
Had the World-War not intervened, Isaac Rosenberg may have become one of South
Africa's leading muses.
Biographical sketches of some Jews who have made their mark
in this country, although few in number, suggest how, in several niches of our
national life, Jews have risen to no mean height. One of the earliest of such
studies is that of the late B. I. Barnato by Harry Raymond (London, 1897). In
1911, Louis Cohen published his Reminiscences of Kimberley, which had an
interesting court sequel. Again in 1924, Louis Cohen supplemented this volume
by his Reminiscences of Johannesburg and London.
About the same time Sir Lionel Phillips issued his Some
Reminiscences, giving an account of some historic episodes of his earlier
life in South Africa, particularly in connection with the exciting pre-Boer War
days in the Transvaal. Sir Lionel Phillips is also the author of Transvaal
Problems (1905).
Jews also have been prominent, since the beginning of this
country in promoting journalistic ventures or as writers with a national
reputation.
In the early days we found the Standard and Diggers News
(Johannesburg) owned and edited by Jews. Emanuel Mendelssohn was the proprietor
and Joseph van Gelder its editor. E. Goldreich founded the Reef in 1902.
Leopold Graham controlled the destinies of the Transvaal Financial Record
some twenty-five years ago. Harry Freeman Cohen, who died in 1904, was, for
some time, one of the owners of the Rand Daily Mail. In 1905 there died
de Hass who edited the one-time important Het Land en Volk.
In the Boer War period Mr. Richard Goldmann was
correspondent for several leading journals overseas. There are others who have
also acted in a similar capacity. Even to-day Jews are to be found directors of
several of the leading newspapers in this country. As a contributor to our
daily organs of public opinion, the name of the Jew is familiar, and, in
several instances, the leading ones in their particular lines of thought.
Among others, the following names are well-known in the
current South African Press: Leo Weinthal, editor of the African World
(London), Nathan Levi, J. Langley Levy, Ruth S. Alexander, Arthur Shacksnovis,
Bertha Solomon, Irene Antoinette Geffen, Greta Bloomhill, J. Alexander, L.
Pekarsky, Aaron Goodman, Eric Rosenthal, Emil Millin, and L. Hotz, editor of
the Union Government's Social and Industrial Review.
For the most part these persons contribute to the
English-written journals. But some co-religionists also write for the Afrikaans
Press, especially those who are residents in the country districts.
Occasionally, one notes in Die Huisgenoot and other Afrikaans newspapers
articles written by Jews.
In addition to the above examples, the Jew in South Africa
is also remembered for the few novels and books for children he has produced.
Some of them are still treasured by lovers of South African literature. Leah
Guinsberg in her Fairies, Wind and Rain (1920) has written a delightful
book for children. Annette Joelson, whose first novel, The Dancing Girl of
Gilead, has just been published, has also performed a similar labour in her
book of children's stories issued in 1927. While L. Cohen in Shloma Levy and
other Vagaries (1913) and C. A. Lowenthal (Low Lathen) in Anna Strelitz
(1912) and in A Victim of Circumstance (1913), showed the lighter side
of life.
And in Afrikaans, Sarah Goldblatt in Liefdes-Kransie
(1919) and Wolf en Jakhals Versies (1920-1) revealed, in rather a small
way, that she had some passion and gift in entertaining her readers. She has
also been praised by the well-known champion of Afrikaans literature, Senator J
Langenhoven. More than this, we find in various South African periodicals
similar reading matter presented by Jews. It is a wide field, and should become
more accentuated in future.
But the greatest inspiration to-day in literary South
Africa, whether it be Jewish or Gentile, is Mrs. Sarah Gertrude Millin. She
stands, par excellence, in a class by herself. A singularly-compelling
novelist, an incisive thinker, accompanied by a directness of outlook, Mrs. S.
G. Millin has won her way to world-wide fame, and has, incidentally, by her own
exemplary attitude, shown what the Jew or Jewess can do for South Africa when
he or she has been allowed freedom and liberty to exercise his or her accepted
vocation in life. It is a recognised factor in historical relationship between
Israel and non-Israel. In all her books, Mrs. Millin has treated and tackled
the outstanding problems of South Africa in a serious manner a decidingly leavening
force for the country at large. Since 1919, she has published the following
novels: The Dark River (1919), Middle Class (1921), Adam's
Rest (1921), God's Stepchildren (1924), Mary Glenn (1925), An
Artist in the Family (1928), and The Coming of the Lord (1928), the
last four universally considered her best efforts in her appeal and
craftsmanship as novelist. Her other volume, The South Africans (1927),
is a striking piece of work. Therein she handles the various social, economic,
and political questions of this country in quite a thrustful fashion. In one
chapter of The South Africans she discourses on the position of the Jew
in South African society. It is argumentative. Said Leonard Merrick, the famous
novelist: "The South Africans is a classic that will be read as long as
South Africa lasts." So, too, will the majority of her other works receive
their place in the hall of fame.
Above all, there is a future for the Jew in the development
of South African literature. He will certainly emerge from his swaddling
clothes, and deliver his legitimate goods to the land of his birth or abode. He
is no mean agent, and, assuredly, with his cultural background, the Jew will
deepen his mark in this regard. He will, in this wise, strengthen the contact
of South African Jewry with the best of modern Jewish cultural forces in other
areas of the earth. It is a mission-a worthwhile mission. Then the function of the Jew in South African literature will be real and secure.
