Manchester University Press
16 ‘By the grace of the Almighty’
Abstract
Of all the reversals of attitude which followed the changing international situation after March 1938, the most dramatic was that of the Manchester Yeshiva. The admission of refugees contributed to an already critical financial deficit and was accompanied by fresh campaigns against such long-term latitudinarian opponents as the Talmud Torah. The explanation lies rather in the Yeshiva's open and unapologetic defiance of financial logic, communal policy and Home Office regulations, even of what might have seemed the reasonable caution of some of its own committee men, to pursue a campaign of rescue based as much on the humanitarian dictates of Jewish orthodoxy as its more routine battles for the religious integrity of the community.
Abstract
Of all the reversals of attitude which followed the changing international situation after March 1938, the most dramatic was that of the Manchester Yeshiva. The admission of refugees contributed to an already critical financial deficit and was accompanied by fresh campaigns against such long-term latitudinarian opponents as the Talmud Torah. The explanation lies rather in the Yeshiva's open and unapologetic defiance of financial logic, communal policy and Home Office regulations, even of what might have seemed the reasonable caution of some of its own committee men, to pursue a campaign of rescue based as much on the humanitarian dictates of Jewish orthodoxy as its more routine battles for the religious integrity of the community.
Chapters in this book
- Front matter i
- Contents v
- Abbreviations vii
- Glossary ix
- Preface xi
- 1 Introduction 1
- 2 Speak no evil 9
- 3 'Displaced scholars’ 34
- 4 ‘Refugees and Eccles Cakes’ 58
- 5 ‘Something ought to be done’ 80
- 6 The forgotten refugees 99
- 7 ‘The work of succouring refugees is going forward’ 143
- 8 ‘Serious concern’ 170
- 9 ‘Our remaining comrades in Czechoslovakia’ 193
- 10 ‘Not because they are Jews’ 208
- 11 ‘Inspired idealism’ 217
- 12 The Harris House girls 225
- 13 ‘A haven of safety’ 237
- 14 ‘Outposts of Jewish Palestine’ 246
- 15 ‘The most difficult boys to handle’ 271
- 16 ‘By the grace of the Almighty’ 288
- 17 ‘From slavery and persecution to freedom and kindness’ 300
- 18 ‘Bright young refugees’ 308
- 19 ‘Humanitarianism of the greatest value’ 325
- 20 The saved and the trapped 343
- 21 ‘The Dutch orphans’ 359
- 22 Pacifism and rescue 379
- 23 Conclusion 394
- Bibliography 405
- Index 414
Chapters in this book
- Front matter i
- Contents v
- Abbreviations vii
- Glossary ix
- Preface xi
- 1 Introduction 1
- 2 Speak no evil 9
- 3 'Displaced scholars’ 34
- 4 ‘Refugees and Eccles Cakes’ 58
- 5 ‘Something ought to be done’ 80
- 6 The forgotten refugees 99
- 7 ‘The work of succouring refugees is going forward’ 143
- 8 ‘Serious concern’ 170
- 9 ‘Our remaining comrades in Czechoslovakia’ 193
- 10 ‘Not because they are Jews’ 208
- 11 ‘Inspired idealism’ 217
- 12 The Harris House girls 225
- 13 ‘A haven of safety’ 237
- 14 ‘Outposts of Jewish Palestine’ 246
- 15 ‘The most difficult boys to handle’ 271
- 16 ‘By the grace of the Almighty’ 288
- 17 ‘From slavery and persecution to freedom and kindness’ 300
- 18 ‘Bright young refugees’ 308
- 19 ‘Humanitarianism of the greatest value’ 325
- 20 The saved and the trapped 343
- 21 ‘The Dutch orphans’ 359
- 22 Pacifism and rescue 379
- 23 Conclusion 394
- Bibliography 405
- Index 414
