liking to Schechter, an academic who fused eastern European roots and
Western scholarship and who preached against religious extremism of both
left and right. Just as Schechter illustrated Schiff’s ideal of an American
seminary, so did the charter of the newly incorporated JTS spell out objec-
tives that the banker had long endorsed: “the perpetuation of the tenets of
the Jewish religion... the pursuit of biblical and archaeological research;
the advancement of Jewish scholarship; the establishment of a library, and
... the education of Jewish rabbis and teachers.” To complete the frame-
work, Schiff purchased land near Columbia University and erected a build-
ing for the school and its library. A literal and figurative symbol of the up-
ward move from the ghetto, the choice of Morningside Heights, along
with tighter requirements for admission and for faculty appointments, tes-
tified to his expectations of a scholarly institution. An appreciative Mayer
Sulzberger, a fellow director of JTS and himself a devotee of Jewish schol-
arship, congratulated his friend with the biblical verse “How goodly are
thy tents, O Jacob!”^54
The theme of a seminary dedicated to a Judaism transcending denomi-
national differences echoed in Schechter’s inaugural address of 1902. Schiff
picked up the same idea a year later at the dedication of the new building.
Again he talked of “an institution which should appeal to all desiring to
prepare for the Jewish Ministry.” It wasn’t long, however, before vicious at-
tacks on the school from both the Reform and the Orthodox aired in the
Jewish press. Schiff comforted Schechter, encouraging him to stand firm
and disregard the attacks, while he, Schiff, pressured representative relig-
ious leaders to call off the more outspoken critics. The “very undignified
and very unjustifiable jealousy and intolerance” on the part of HUC sup-
porters “will and must cease,” he warned Kaufmann Kohler, president of
the Reform college. And with an appropriate verse from the Book of Exo-
dus he reminded Orthodox rabbi H. P. Mendes that God’s blessing applied
to the seminary too.^55 Nevertheless, under the weight of the opposition the
dream of an all-inclusive seminary evaporated.
Schiff became a familiar figure at JTS, and as with Montefiore he ex-
pected frequent visits by other directors. Board meetings were held at his
home and the school’s investments were handled in his office, but students
and faculty met him at social affairs and at the annual commencements.
With Schechter he discussed issues of all sorts, and despite occasional
clashes, notably over Zionism, the two quick-tempered men enjoyed each
other’s company. Schiff’s Reform affiliation aroused little reaction. To be
sure, Dr. Mordecai Kaplan, dean of the school’s Teachers Institute, mocked
Schiff’s plea for Jewish religion after he saw him at a non-kosher dinner,
but Kaplan’s jaundiced comments about JTS figures were not unusual. For
his part, Schiff respected the seminary’s traditionalist conduct. When he
attended holiday or Sabbath services, his driver let him off two blocks away;
The New Immigrants 103