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Hibernians Versus Hebrews? A New Look at the 1902 Jacob Joseph Funeral Riot1
by Edward T. O'Donnell, College of the Holy Cross
On July 29, 1902 a massive funeral procession for Jacob Joseph, the esteemed Chief Rabbi of the Orthodox community, wound its way through the streets of New York's Lower East Side. The solemn occasion was marred, however, when the procession was attacked by a group of factory workers. As the melee blossomed into a full-scale riot, a contingent of New York City policemen arrived and proceeded to pummel and arrest the mourners rather than the instigators. Historians have consistently cited this ugly incident as a vivid example of Irish Catholic antisemitism, noting that both the workers and policemen were "predominantly Irish." Indeed, it was a quest to learn more about the roots of Irish Catholic antisemitism that drew this historian to the subject. And yet, a thorough examination of the incident produced a startling result: a dearth of Irish defendants and a flawed historiography that ultimately call into question the validity of the Jacob Joseph Funeral Riot as an example of Irish Catholic antisemitism.
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"Ireland, they say, has the honour of being the only country which never persecuted the Jews....And do you know why?...Because she never let them in."
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| —from James Joyce, Ulysses |
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"I don't know anything about it, but I think he's guilty. He's a Jew."
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| —Hennessy, in Finley Peter Dunne's "Mr. Dooley," commenting on the Dreyfus Affair. |
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The history of Irish-Jewish relations in America has always been complex, featuring both examples of cooperation and conflict. More often than not, the latter has seemed more commonplace. Anecdotally, the memoirs and oral histories of Jews who grew up in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, and elsewhere are replete with references to clashes with Irish toughs.2 Other works note how Irish machine politicians worked to garner the Jewish vote while simultaneously thwarting attempts by Jews to acquire political office or patronage.3 And, of course, populists Ignatius Donnelly and Father Charles Coughlin expressed virulent antisemitism.4 By their very pervasiveness, clashes between the Irish and Jews represent an important theme in urban and ethnic history, one that tells us much about how, among other factors, political power, popular culture, shifting neighborhood demography, and European traditions played a role in interethnic conflict. |
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In chronicling this troubled relationship, historians have long cited one incident above all others as the supreme example of antagonism between the Irish and Jews, the 1902 Jacob Joseph funeral riot. For more than sixty years historians have used it to demonstrate the prevalence of antisemitic attitudes among the Irish. While the fact that such antisemitism existed and at times flourished among the Irish is beyond refute, the validity of the Jacob Joseph funeral riot as a stellar example is not. A close re-examination of the riot allows for both a new interpretation of the event and a fruitful inquiry into the nature of its subsequent historiography.
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Rabbi Jacob Joseph was no ordinary man, and his funeral was no ordinary event. Born in Kovno, Russia, in 1840, he became one of Eastern Europe's most respected Talmudic scholars. He arrived in New York City in 1888 after accepting an invitation from the Association of the American Orthodox Congregations to serve as their Chief Rabbi. That group hoped he would bring unity and peace to the notoriously fractious Orthodox congregations of the Lower East Side, especially in regard to the kosher meat industry, where charges of corruption, impropriety, and fraud were rampant.5 |
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