MYSTERY, PROPHECY, SERVICE, FREEDOM

Lazarus, Josephine [Emma Lazarus]; Hazard, Caroline

Published by No Place [New York?] Privately printed, 1910

No Date: [1910?] 1st edition. Original printed boards, 12mo 73 pages. 17 cm. Introduction signed: C.P.H. [Caroline Hazard?] Preceded by a sonnet ("Dear Soul") signed in the print: "Caroline Hazard 1890". The introduction notes that "Josephine Lazarus planned . a series of . connected essays . Only the four now printed were written," almost certainly indicating that this book was published shortly after Lazarus' death in 1910. Josephine Lazarus, a poet in her own right, was the editor and biographer of her more famous sister, Emma Lazarus, editing, for example, "The Poems of Emma Lazarus" (1889) and penning the biographical sketch at the beginning of the collection. Josephine Lazarus (1846-1910) "was an American essayist, book critic, transcendentalist, and Zionist.In 1895, six of her essays on Jewish subjects, which had appeared from 1892 to 1895 in The Century Magazine and The Jewish Messenger were collected and published in book form under the title The Spirit of Judaism. The plea addressed to Jews in these essays was to acquire a larger knowledge of the Jewish situation, to emerge from their spiritual isolation, and to enter into fellowship with those among whom they live; and the plea addressed to Christians was for a more liberal attitude toward Jews and Jewish thought. Lazarus was a featured speaker at the Jewish Women's Congress in conjunction with the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893 with her essay, â The Outlook of Judaism'. Between 1897 and 1902 Lazarus wrote, in The American Hebrew, The New World, and The Maccabaean four articles on aspects of the Zionist movement, with which she was in sympathy. Besides, she published, in 1899, a book entitled Madame Dreyfus; and for many years she was a contributor of numerous book-notices to The Critic" (Wikipedia). The Jewish Women's Archive notes that her "life and work provide important insights into a pattern of Jewish identification and assimilation in late nineteenth-century America. She wanted to identify with Judaism and Jews, but, like her sister [Emma] and many contemporaries, had little in common with the Eastern European immigrants flooding America's shores. While she decried Jews' ignorance of the rich spiritual heritage of Judaism, she herself was unable to draw upon classical texts or traditional sources for her own spiritual nourishment. She mistakenly understood rabbinic Judaism, which she rejected, to be the only source of spiritual sustenance for Jews, while claiming that contemporary Reform Judaism was spiritually bankrupt. While she was not a systematic thinker, her work reflects her deep sense of obligation to respond to the pressing issues of the day. Josephine Lazarus's legacy is of a woman yearning for a Judaism that satisfies both the intellect and the spirit, a Judaism that can connect the past with the present and the future. " (Jewish Women's Archive). OCLC: 14082574. Very light shelf wear, Very Good Condition, a beautiful copy (AMR-67-34-D-'b+). Seller Inventory # 42406

Bibliographic Details

Title: MYSTERY, PROPHECY, SERVICE, FREEDOM
Publisher: No Place [New York?] Privately printed
Publication Date: 1910
Binding: Soft cover
Signed: Signed by Author(s)
Edition: 1st Edition