Whiskered Jews.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 27 June 1910, Page 4

Whiskered Jews.

How many English hoi'ii, Jews ivow-a-days wenr -hvnnh? nsks a

writ it in tlm JiMyisli World. It is a <|iie.sti(Hi that forced it.sell' on mv as I looked round the crowded synon the Jirst day <>t : Vii.ssovcr. Statistics, if it were possible to collect Mi irm. would be inten.'.sti'.iiff, but without collated figures iit is .sa.fe to say bbat the board is disappearing among -Jews in modem laiul.s. I do 11.0-1 suppose Itilisvt T shall l>e far urong il'J iiKiintain tlififc Hie vast majority 'of .Jews born in England--say !)0 per cent.— do not wear beards. A fair proponttion—say •10 pel' ct'iiit.—still favours the nvoiistaclip. More beards arc seon in the T'jn.s-t End of London than i- the west; fewer in JJirmiiigliam than in Leeds or Manchester.

Among the .Se-mitic peoples, Egyp-tln-11 and Arab, as woll as Jowislr, t-ho beard w.as regarded as the sign ■and ornament of 'manhood. The modern Oriental still so considers it, and swears picturesquely by his beard, touching it; tha>b is," lie swears by ill is manhood. Tt is a question now how long the Jewish board persist among Kussutn Jews. TTitTn the Galicians it may bo expected to remain longer. The. beard is disappearing as prosperity increases. Apart from :tlie matter ol the ohservance of ithe Taiinudic law, the disappearance of these natriarchnl ibe-ards will nr;t 1)P entirely welcome to those who li.ave had aii eye for picturesque dignity.