THE JEWISH ADVOCATE.

JULY, 1847.

THE OPERATIVE JEWISH CONVERTS' INSTITUTION.

THIS interesting and important Institution was established in London in the year 1831, and has, by God's mercy, continued its useful operations uninterruptedly, and proved a great blessing to many Christian Israelites. It was first commenced on a very small scale, with only two Inmates, and carried on for two years in a hired house, in the Hackney-road; but was then transferred to two of the houses in Palestine-place, which the Committee of the London Society for Promoting Christianity amongst the Jews were kind enough to offer to that of the Institution, at a low rent, and has, ever since, gone on increasingly, until at the present period it has become a large establishment, and is one of the handsomest buildings in the neighbourhood. is close to the Episcopal Jews' Chapel, where the Inmates attend daily both morning and evening service, at seven o'clock. From its architectural structure, and, what is of far greater value, from its truly Christian object, it is an ornament to the place.

It

In former centuries there was little or nothing done by the Christian Church, to make known H 2

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unto the Jews, God's ancient people, the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ; until the London Society was established, by whose instrumentality this lack of service was partly supplied. Now the sacred Scriptures of the Old and New Testament were widely circulated among them in Hebrew and other languages; schools were established in different places for the instruction of the young; and Missionaries were sent forth as heralds of salvation, to preach "Christ and him crucified," to the dispersed of Judah. And because these things were done, and still are being done by that Society, the poor, neglected and despised Jews have now an opportunity of hearing that the Messiah has come already, and that by believing in the Lord Jesus as the Messiah, they may be saved, and also be restored as a nation to the favour of God. It is a pleasing fact to learn, from the monthly publications of that Society, how many Jews have already become Christians, and that a spirit of inquiry was called forth as soon as efforts were made to place before them the truths of the Gospel. But in consequence of the constant conversions that followed, by the blessing of God, the poor inquiring and baptized Jews were very frequently exposed to the severest persecutions, and were often thrown into the greatest danger of dying from starvation, unless they denied their faith and turned again to Judaism. This naturally suggested the necessity of an Institution, where the destitute Christian Israelite might find a home, and have an opportunity not only of receiving further instruction in the doctrines of Christianity, but also of learning some useful trade, by which he might be able to obtain an honest live

lihood. Such an Institution had been established in the earlier years of the London Society, but was abandoned in the year 1818, when a new rule was introduced, by which the operations of that Society were confined to the spiritual wants of the Jews. When, however, in the year 1828. the Committee were led, at the suggestion of many influential friends, to establish a home mission, in order that the numerous Jews in England might be visited, and the labours of the Rev. J. C. Reichardt, who was recalled from the Continent and appointed to this office, were signally blessed, it became soon apparent that, to give efficiency to the home mission, it was absolutely necessary to have an Institution for the admission of adult Christian Israelites. This was particularly felt, not only by the missionary, but also by those great and experienced friends of Israel, the late Rev. C. S. Hawtrey, minister of the Episcopal Jews' Chapel, the late Rev. C. Simeon, the Rev. Dr. Marsh, and especially the Right Hon. Sir George H. Rose. Only as such an Institution could not now be established in direct connection with the London Society, on account of the new rule excluding all temporal relief, it became necessary to establish a new Society for that particular purpose, not in opposition to the London Society, nor as a rival, but as a friendly and useful auxiliary, to follow up and to carry out its good work. And this led to the formation of the Operative Jewish Converts' Institution, the main object of which was to give more efficiency to the home mission, and to provide more effectually for the spiritual wants of believing Israelites, by introducing them into a Christian establishment, and by teaching them not only

more fully the truths of the Gospel, but also the way of adorning their Christian profession by habits of honest industry.

The first care was to form a committee of gentlemen who were friendly to the London Society, and to place the Institution under the superintendence of the home missionary, as also in the immediate vicinity of the Episcopal Jews' Chapel. The next step was the selection of a suitable trade, and a master to superintend it. Here the greatest difficulty presented itself, as it was necessary to fix on a trade that should be at the same time easy to learn, at a trifling cost, and also of general utility. At last the Committee were led to adopt shoemaking, which was carried on for seven years. This trade, however, was not generally approved of, and was therefore abandoned, and bookbinding substituted for it. This gave greater satisfaction, and was also one in which the London Society could and did render material assistance, by allowing their binding to be done at the Institution. The result, after a trial of nine years, has proved so encouraging, that the Committee of the Institution have been induced to extend its usefulness by introducing also the trade of printing, in all its branches; especially as the London Society kindly promised (which promise has already been carried into effect, as may be seen from this little publication) to allow their printing also to be done at the Institution. And this has led to the enlargement of the building, which has produced the beautiful establishment in which the work of the Institution is now carried on. May it go on prosperously!

Since its commencement, in 1831, it has re