By Rabbi Rachel Esserman 

Many American Jews are unaware that in 1888 a group of New York City Orthodox congregations brought Rabbi Jacob Joseph from Europe to the United States to be the first and only American chief rabbi. This attempt to establish one leader for the entire Jewish American community was not a success, as Scott D. Seligman shows in “The Chief Rabbi’s Funeral: The Untold Story of America’s Largest Antisemitic Riot” (Potamac Books/University of Nebraska Press). Seligman, a writer and historian, writes accessible and well-researched historical looks at small, but telling, moments in Jewish history (*). His latest work discusses what has been called the largest antisemitic riot in American history, something he feels is particularly relevant today with the increase in American antisemitism. 
The book features a large cast of characters: Its “Dramatis Personae” is five pages long and includes members of the East Side Vigilance League, government officials, officers of the New York Police Department and rabbinical figures, to name only a few. Numerous Jewish organizations and Jewish newspapers are also listed. However, Seligman writes so well and his descriptions are so clear that readers will rarely need to consult the list, something that is a major accomplishment. 
Although Joseph was not successful in uniting the various branches of Judaism or establishing kashrut standard throughout New York City, when he died in 1902, he was mourned as if he had been a beloved leader. An estimated 50,000 people gathered in the morning to view the funeral procession. That number increased to at least 100,000 during the funeral procession. When the procession passed the R. Hoe and Company building, the mourners were attacked by Hoe employees, something that was not unusual because they often threw objects from the building at any Jew passing by. However, this time, the Jewish response was different: a group of Jews struck back at their attackers. The chaos became worse when members of the New York Police Department arrived and began attacking Jews, brutally beating many and arresting others.
To help readers truly understand why the riot was significant and how the response to it changed the Jewish community, readers must first learn about New York politics, including immigrants’ relationship to the police and the attempts being made at that time to weed out corrupt politicians and policemen. Seligman notes political corruption was rampant in New York City at that time, with positions – including those in the police department – being bought and sold. Rising through the police ranks was not based on ability or worth, but on cold, hard cash. However, the police used their position in the community to turn a blind eye to many criminal enterprises by demanding cash payments from those breaking the law. Those who refused to pay were arrested and jailed, often after standing before equally corrupt judges. While the police disliked most immigrants, they were especially hard on Jews whom they saw as troublemakers – particularly those who were involved in unions. During this time, the police were always on the side of the factory owners, who would use them as a personal strikebreaker force.
But the relationship between the Jewish community and the police was a complex one because, as Seligman notes, the Jewish population knew they needed the police to keep order in the city and for protection from crime or other attacks. However, the antagonism between the groups was clear. Seligman writes, “There was no denying that many in the heavily Irish police – by 1902, Irish cops made up upward of 50 percent of the nearly eight thousand men on the force compared to only 140 Jews – nurtured a particular dislike to Russian and Eastern European immigrant Jews. Or that they often treated them harshly.” That means the police assumed that the Jews were the troublemakers during the riot and refused to believe their testimony, accepting the lie told by Hoe employees that they had not started the fight.
The reason Seligman considers the riot so important is the way the Jewish community handled the attack. Not only did Jews fight back physically, but afterward they worked through the political system to rid the city of police corruption. It’s impossible to do justice to Seligman’s descriptions of the depth of corruption or the actions of those who opposed cleaning up New York City politics, a difficult thing to do because many people benefitted from the system. Votes were basically bought and sold, with politicians offering help to those in the immigrant communities who voted for them. The riot had a long-lasting effect on the Jewish community, as it was the beginning of the formation of Jewish communal organizations that worked against discrimination. In the end, the riot mobilized the Jewish community to protect itself in ways that had never been done before.
“The Chief Rabbi’s Funeral” is easy to read even for those with no knowledge of the era in which it takes place; those already familiar with the period will find Seligman’s research offers new and intriguing material. He manages to tell the personal stories of those involved, while still offering a larger historical and sociological look at this little-known part of American history. The author also hopes that his work will serve as a reminder of the continuing need to fight racism and antisemitism, noting that “in 1902, [the New York Jewish community] served notice on all who would attack them that what they could expect in return was to be doggedly pursued and brought to justice.”
*Seligman’s previous works include “The Great Kosher Meat War of 1902: Immigrant Housewives and the Riots That Shook New York City” (see The Reporter review at Off the Shelf: Women and the war over kosher meat prices) and “Murder in Manchuria: The True Story of a Jewish Virtuoso, Russian Fascists, a French Diplomat, and a Japanese Spy in Occupied China” (see The Reporter review at Off the Shelf: Jews in Manchuria).