THE

CHILDREN'S JEWISH ADVOCATE.

JULY, 1855.

THE JUDENGASSE AT FRANKFORT.

On the frontispiece our readers will see an engraving of one of the most remarkable streets in the world. It is the "Judengasse;"—the Jewish street, or Jewish quarter, in the town of Frankfort-on-the-Maine. Any one passing through it would see at once that it is very old, and that there seems to be something peculiar about the houses, which is not observed in any other part of the city.

If we take our stand at the top of the street, where one of the old houses has been pulled down, we can see all the way down to the very bottom of it. Then we might make a guess as to the number of houses that there are in the whole street, and we think that there must be about seventy or eighty. And how many people

do our young friends think used to live in this street? Well, they may perhaps think, if ten people used to live in one house, that is a great number, and it would make in the whole about seven or eight hundred. But how surprised they will be when we tell them, that there was a time when five thousand poor Jews used to live, or we should rather say, used to be cooped up in this one street! They will, we are sure, say that this is as bad as the stories they hear about some of the poor people in London. And so it is; and it is shocking to think that all these Jews were obliged to live in this street at one time, and were not allowed to live in any other part of the town. This they were forced to do, whether they were rich, or whether they were poor. Indeed it will surprise many to hear, that the house on the left hand side, next to that in which old clothes are being sold, is the house in which the great and wealthy Baron Rothschild was born. And when he became a very rich man, and the laws which obliged the Jews to live in this street were done away with, he went to a beautiful large house in one of the great streets in the town. But his mother would not leave the place in which she had dwelt all the days of her life. Although her son became such a great man, she remained there, and died in her old dwelling only a few years ago.

At the present time, in some of the houses, Gentiles reside; and when we passed through the streets, it being the Jewish Sabbath, the shops of the Jews were closed, and those of the Gentiles were open. When we looked at the doors, we observed on the sides of all of them something which was very curious. There was a small plate of iron let into the door-post, with two round holes bored through it. Underneath this, was a piece of glass, talc, or horn; and through this could be seen a bit of parchment, with some Hebrew writing on it. This is what the religious Jews do to their houses, as they say, in obedience to the command, "Thou shalt write them (the words of God's law) upon the door-posts of thine house, and upon thy gates." (Deut. xi. 20.)

Our kind friend,-the Society's missionary, Mr. Poper, then began to call to our remembrance some of the things which happened in former days to the poor Jews who lived in this street. They were not allowed to do what the other people of the town did. There were gates at

each end of the street, and when a certain hour of the evening came, all the Jews were obliged to go in, and the gates were locked. On Sundays and other great days, the gates were not unlocked at all. The Jews were not allowed to come out during the whole day. How dreadful this must have been with five thousand people, pent up in

such a small space! It was required, too, that they should wear a cap, or hat, of a peculiar shape, and on market or fair days they were to wear something else besides, by which they should be known as Jews. When they went to market, if they touched anything, they must buy it; for people thought that the Jews polluted anything they touched. Many kind of trades they were not allowed to learn. None of them were permitted to employ a Christian as a nurse, or servant. There was another hardship which they had to bear. Only six Jews were allowed to come from other places, and settle in Frankfort during a whole year; and during all that time, only twelve marriages were allowed to take place among them. Oh, how great has been the oppression and persecution which poor Israel have had to endure, from those who call themselves Christians! Now, most of these trials have passed away. The Jews may live anywhere they like in Frankfort, and learn any trade they please. They are now building a handsome synagogue, near the place where a pair of the iron gates once stood.

A SUNDAY SCHOOL FOR THE CHILDREN OF PROSELYTES.

THERE is no means of doing good that we like better than a Sunday School. It is a blessed