his religious faith. At times the issue of Jewish peoplehood as opposed to
Jewish religion, particularly with regard to Zionism, generated contradic-
tions and ambiguities in his words and actions. Nor did he successfully in-
still loyalty to religious faith or ritual practices in his children and grand-
children. Lacking both his Frankfurt training and a serious Jewish
education in America, Frieda and Mortimer were given only private les-
sons in Bible readings, which neither enjoyed, and Morti celebrated his bar
mitzvah at Temple Emanu-El.^50 Their father’s own religious conduct also
failed to impress them. Ritual observance as defined by Schiff was the en-
forced norm for the household, but to the untrained it was bound to appear
unintelligible and unappealing.
In 1900 the American Hebrew ran a symposium on whether HUC and
the pre-Schechter JTS should merge. The time seemed ripe; both institu-
tions were in desperate need of funds, and neither had appointed a suitable
replacement for its first president (Morais of JTS and Isaac Mayer Wise of
HUC). Schiff favored a merger, and he made public his criticisms of HUC.
Again he urged unity. A seminary need not be either Reform or Orthodox,
“especially not in this country, with its constant shifting movements, and
where the orthodox Jew of to-day is to-morrow found in the reform camp.”
Far more important was “how can Judaism be maintained as an active force
in the daily life of our people, so that they may not become swamped by
materialism and indifference, as is seriously threatened.” In that effort Or-
thodox and Reform “can, should and must join hands.” Schiff may have
correctly assessed currents on the Jewish religious scene, but he underrated
the genuine ideological commitments that doomed the idea of merger.^51
A few months after the symposium, at an informal gathering of friends,
Cyrus Adler happened to remark that New York’s Jews were allowing the
Conservative seminary, the city’s only Jewish institution of higher learning,
to die. Schiff was struck by the comment and its implicit challenge. In short
order, with the help of Adler and Louis Marshall, he mobilized a few
wealthy Reform laymen, like Leonard Lewisohn and Daniel and Simon
Guggenheim, to establish an endowment of $500,000 for reorganizing the
institution.^52 The venture appealed to other individuals as well, traditonal-
ists and reformers alike, who were drawn principally by the call for
Americanization. Some, again irrespective of religious affiliation, also in-
tended that “this institution is... to be the seat of Jewish learning and
scholarship in this country.” Their stand reflected a deep respect or even a
personal commitment to Jewish studies. Marshall, for example, the attor-
ney, communal worker, and president of Temple Emanu-El, devoted lei-
sure time to the translation of Hebrew prayers and to the study of the Book
of Job.^53
Enthusiasm mounted when Schechter arrived in New York—in Schiff’s
words “eine grosse Acquisition” for America. The banker took an instant
102 Jacob H. Schiff