patience for the belief that the ghetto exacerbated anti-Semitism. The so-
cial status of the Jewish immigrants was higher than that of many other na-
tionalities, and besides, the newcomers were Americanizing rapidly. A sec-
ond and much longer article by Rubinow, for a Russian Jewish journal,
doubtless had few American readers, but it too expressed some of
downtown’s feelings. Here Rubinow again soft-pedaled the issue of anti-
Semitism: there was no “Jewish Question” in New York. As for the con-
tempt of the Germans for the eastern Europeans, he denied the insults
hurled by uptown at the newcomers in the antiprostitution campaign of
1901.^66
Efforts at conciliation—reminders to the Germans of the prejudice they
had met at the hands of the early Sephardim, calls to remove the barriers
that separated the two groups, even an article on the children’s page of the
American Hebrew on the evil of prejudice—had little effect on the antago-
nism of uptown and downtown. Compounding the bitterness, downtown
did not care to acknowledge the role of the Germans as their defenders
against hostile elements (immigration restrictionists, missionaries, dishon-
est ticket agencies, hoodlums) in the non-Jewish society, while uptown
held back on sheer human understanding. Marshall, quoting a downtown
spokesman, admitted that the latter’s words rang true: “The difficulty with
the new Russian immigrant was that... he was looked after, so far as his
material wants were concerned, by his German brethren, but they never-
theless held themselves aloof and refrained from giving him the brotherly
advice which he required more than he did the material assistance.”^67
Projects in which Schiff was involved, like the Baron de Hirsch Fund,
settlement houses, and the JTS, received a fair share of criticism from
downtowners,^68 but personally the man escaped virtually unscathed. His
wealth and status commanded the immigrants’ deference and respect; his
generosity, their gratitude. Most important to them were his accessibility
and genuine concern. More than a donor who mailed out checks from his
Fifth Avenue mansion, the banker became a familiar and trusted figure on
New York’s Lower East Side, one who, contrary to popular lore, didn’t
hold his nose in the company of immigrants. Although he despised their
“enslavement” to Yiddish, he participated in their meetings, listened sym-
pathetically to individual tales of hardship, supported their schools and li-
braries, and even attended funerals of prominent downtowners. The
masses were largely ignorant of his work against Jewish crime^69 and Chris-
tian missionaries, but they did know that they could turn to him to combat
discrimination in employment and on the campus or to ask their employers
to excuse their absence on the Jewish high holy days. Downtowners appre-
ciated Schiff’s encouragement of their efforts for economic independence
and mutual self-help as well as his work with their independent philanthro-
pies like the Free Loan Society. They also saw a man who publicly touted
108 Jacob H. Schiff