Benjamin Feigenbaum | |
|---|---|
 Feigenbaum in 1892 | |
| Born | (1860-08-12)August 12, 1860 |
| Died | (1932-11-10)November 10, 1932 |
| Resting place | Mount Carmel Cemetery,New York |
| Occupation |
|
| Language | Yiddish,English,Polish |
| Subjects | Socialism, secularism |
| Spouse | Mathilda Feigenbaum |
| Children | 4 (includingWilliam, Henry, Belle Kanin and R. Ganetkin) |
Benjamin Feigenbaum (August 12, 1860 – November 10, 1932) was aPolish-bornJewishsocialist, newspaper editor, translator, and satirist. Feigenbaum was an associate editor of theYiddish languageThe Forward, its predecessorDi Arbeter Tsaytung, and the literary monthlyDi Tsukunft, co-founder of theWorkmen's Circle, and a pioneer of theSocialist Party of America.[1]
Benjamin Feigenbaum was born to a prominentChassidic family inWarsaw,Poland. He went toYeshivah, but became a free-thinker. According to colleagueIsrael Joshua Singer, Feigenbaum's "conversion" to secularism happened when his teacher, theGerer rebbe discovered that Feigenbaum was not wearingtsitsit, a ritual garb. Therebbe beat him as a punishment.[2][3]
After moving to Belgium, he attended his first socialist protest inAntwerp in 1884.[4] He contributed to the local Flemish socialist newspaperDe Werker [nl].[5]
On December 25, 1886, his wife Matilda (née: Kaminsky) gave birth to their sonWilliam Morris Feigenbaum, who also later became a prominent socialist. Benjamin had two daughters and two sons, named Kanin, R. Ganetkin, William, and Henry.[1]
As a young socialist in 1887, Feigenbaum considered starting a socialist Yiddish newspaper. To his delight, he discovered the newly created London-basedArbeter Fraynd. He contacted them immediately. Feigenbaum moved with his wife toLondon towards the end of 1888, to join their editorial board.[4][6]
During the Jewish Holiday ofYom Kippur in 1888, Feigenbaum hosted the first publicYom Kippur Ball.[7] In 1889 at another Yom Kippur Ball, Feigenbaum famously declared "If there is a God and if he is Almighty as the clergy claims he is, I give him just two minutes' time to kill me on the spot, so that he may prove his existence!". After two minutes he declared "See! There is no God!". He then announced a location for the workers to eat instead offasting, as traditionally done during Yom Kippur.[8]
Feigenbaum immigrated toNew York in 1891 to work on New York's first Yiddish-language socialist weekly,[9]Di Arbeter Tsaytung (The Workman's Paper) along with the dailyDos Abend Blatt (The Evening Paper) as an associate-editor.[10] He contributed toForward andMorgen Zhurnal.[5]
He co-founded theWorkmen's Circle, serving as its first general secretary.[9] In New York, Feigenbaum developed a relationship withBolesław Miklaszewski, a representative of the London affiliate of thePolish Socialist Party (PPS), named the Union of Polish Socialists Abroad (ZZSP). After vetting Feigenbaum's circles to ensure they did not have "a gravitational pull" to Russia, ZZSP announced the creation of a "Jewish Socialist Post from America to Poland" in 1896 to publish and disseminate Yiddish socialist literature.[11]
In 1909, Feigenbaum chaired a meeting of predominantly Jewish womenshirtwaist workers on whether tostrike, held inside the Great Hall ofCooper Union. After hours and multiple speakers cautioned against striking, a Yiddish-speaking shirtwaist worker namedClara Lemlich made her way to the podium and declared "I move that we go on ageneral strike!" to which the crowd roared enthusiastically. Feigenbaum asked the crowd to take anbiblically inspired oath "If I turn traitor to the cause I now pledge, may my hand wither from the arm I now raise",[12] which subsequently led to thelargest women's strike in US history.[13]
Feigenbaum was frequently a candidate for public office on the Socialist ticket, running forState Assembly seven times between 1906 and 1918, in addition toState Senate once in 1912.[14] In his last election, he ran alongside his sonWilliam, who was also a candidate for the Assembly in a neighboring district.[15]
Feigenbaum was arrested during a brawl with the police on October 29, 1892, shortly after giving a speech inPhiladelphia. He was charged with inciting to riot, assaulting an officer andbreaching the peace after allegedly hitting an officer with his cane. He was held on $600 bail.[16]
InProvidence, he was charged with inciting to riot, charges which were later dismissed by a judge during trial in a higher court.[17] In January, 1905, Providence police received a tip that an "anarchist provocateur" was scheduled to speak. Police surrounded the designated venue, disabled the gas and cited the lack of permit to shut the event down. The sponsors of the lecture, the Providence branch of theWorkmen's Circle obtained the relevant permits and scheduled another venue for Feigenbaum to speak at. Hyman Goldsmith was a Yiddish-speaking undercover police officer assigned to Feigenbaum. Had Feigenbaum mentioned anything related to "Emma Goldmanism" or "bomb throwing", Goldsmith would have had the halls cleared immediately by the other undercover police in the crowd. Instead, Feigenbaum orated for two hours and 15 minutes about the compatibility ofreligion and socialism, in sharp contrast with his pastanti-theist recitals. The police were ridiculed the following day byThe Daily Journal,The Evening Bulletin, andThe Providence Telegram.[3][18]
Feigenbaum was highly critical ofZionism and the usage of biblical scriptures in promoting "socialist spiritualization". In the Yiddish article,'Materialism in Judaism or Religion and Life' (1896), Feigenbaum criticized using theBible as "propaganda", noting that ifJeremiah did not knowMarx, then it was disingenuous to claim that Marxism is part of a prophetic tradition. In'Vi Kumt a yid tsu sotsyialismus' (How does a Jew come to socialism?), Feigenbaum wrote "Yes, brothers, socialism is redemption for us, the Jews. Socialism will rescue all the unfortunate people, Jews as well, and give them equal rights... Socialism's victory would spell the only effective defeat of the forces of antisemitism". He further maintained that he met socialistGentiles who "ridded themselves of antisemitism upon discovering socialism. The enemy is the capitalist, whether Gentile or Jewish; and the Jewish poor are his friend."[19]
Feigenbaum rejected Zionism as utopian and urged Jews to reject the notion ofGoles as exile fromPalestine. Instead, exile should be understood as the state of persecution, from which socialism can redeem them.[11]
Feigenbaum died on the morning of November 10, 1932, at theHome for Incurables inNew York. He had been ill for the previous ten years, the last three of which he was paralyzed. Funeral services were held in Forward Hall, on November 13, 1932. Feigenbaum is currently buried in theWorkmen's Circle section ofMount Carmel Cemetery, inQueens, New York.[9]
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