Some Jewish Witnesses For Christ
for his simple, unswerving faith, and some of them, it is believed,
became Christians. He continued his occupation, but at the same time was
an active worker in St. Jude's parish, until his appointment under the
Society. He was a man of one book and that book the Bible, which he knew
almost by heart. Many a Jew was struck by his intimate knowledge of the
Word of God, and none ever doubted his being a true believer, however
much they disliked his invariably holding up Christ before them. Many of
the poor Jews, both converted and unconverted, missed him, after his
death, as a friend in need, who often used to minister to their
necessities out of his scanty earnings. At one time, he was known to
have lived for weeks on sixpence a day, to save up the money which he
had borrowed and advanced to a Jew who either could not, or would not,
repay. No wonder that so many Christians learned to love and respect him
as "an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile."
SAPHIR, Rev. Adolph, D.D. We learn from him the story of his conversion
in one short sentence: "I, at that time, a lad in my twelfth year, was
the first of our family to accept the Gospel." Mr. Wingate, who gives
an account of the event, says that the Jews testified to Adolph's being
born again from on high. "We heard that the Jews were saying that the
Holy Ghost had fallen on Saphir's son, and that he expounded the
Scripture as they had never heard it before." In the autumn of 1843,
Adolph went to Dr. Duncan in Edinburgh, that he might perfect his
knowledge of English, where he remained six months, and then went to
Berlin, and studied at the Gymnasium from 1844 to 1848, acquiring a
thorough knowledge not only of German literature, but also of German
philosophy. In 1848-49, he was tutor in the family of Mr. William Brown
in Aberdeen. In 1854, after finishing his theological studies, he was
ordained to the Presbyterian ministry, and licensed as a preacher in
Belfast. He then laboured as a missionary to the Jews in Hamburg for one
year. Then he had the charge of a church in South Shields, and in 1861
he received a call to Greenwich, where people from various churches
flocked to hear him. In 1872 a church was purchased for him at Notting
Hill, where his ministry was always attended by all sorts of earnest
Christians, especially his Thursday morning lectures. This was also the
case wherever he went to preach. Saphir's love and devotion to his
people and to the cause of missions was boundless. He died April 4,
1891, a few days after his wife. His last sermon was on the text, "And
Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him." The following
are some of Saphir's works: (1) "Who is a Jew?"; (2) "Who is an
Apostate?"; (3) "Expository Lectures on the Epistle to the Hebrews";
(4) "The Hidden Life"; (5) "Our Life Day"; (6) "Found by the Good
Shepherd"; (7) "Life of Faith"; (8) "The Compassion of Jesus"; (9) "The
Everlasting Nation"; (10) "Christian Perfection"; (11) "The Unity of the
Scriptures"; (12) "Christ and the Scriptures"; (13) "The Lord's Prayer";
(14) "Israel's Present and Future"; and (15) "All Israel shall be
Saved."
SAPHIR, Israel, brother of the famous satirist at Vienna, was living in
Pesth in the first half of the nineteenth century, where, owing to his
erudition and character, he exercised great influence upon the Jewish
community, and was regarded by them as another Gamaliel. Coming in
contact with the Scotch missionaries, Dr. Duncan, Mr. Wingate, Mr. Smith
and Dr. Schwartz, he heard the Gospel from them, and when convinced of
its truth he did not hesitate to embrace it. This is described by his
son in a few words: "Through the instrumentality of the Scotch
missionaries my father saw the truth as it is in Jesus, and was received
into the Christian Church in 1843 at the age of sixty-three years."
SAPHIR, Philipp, an elder brother of Adolph, was rather inclined to
worldliness, but became serious when there was an inundation in Pesth,
and he had tried to save life. In 1842 Rev. Dr. Schwartz passed through
Pesth on his way to Constantinople, and Philipp heard his addresses to
Jews, and was impressed, becoming conscious of sin and the need of
pardon. He was baptized in the Calvinistic Church of Pesth, in 1843, by
Superintendent Paul Török. He wrote afterwards to Mr. Schwartz: "I was
admitted into the Church of Christ. I cannot describe my feelings to
you. Ah! the infinite love of God! He has given me much peace, nothing
will deprive me of it. I am happy, joyful; my soul is with God. I praise
Christ every hour." He then, being nineteen years of age, went to
Carlsruhe to be trained as a teacher, and on his return to Pesth in
1845, at once set to work and organized a Y.M.C.A. Becoming ill, he
taught poor Christian and Jewish children gratis from his sick bed "The
Evangelical doctrine as he found it in the Word of God." He died
September 27, 1849, whilst his father knelt by his side with two friends
engaged in prayer. The daughters of Israel Saphir all became devoted
Christians. One was married to Rev. Dr. Schwartz, and the other to Rev.
C. A. Schönberger, both well known in the Christian Church.
SAUL, Aaron, was baptized by the L.J.S. missionaries in 1812. Lewis Way
took him to his Seminary. He however did not become at once a
missionary, but engaged in business and held the office of Clerk in
Palestine Place Chapel, and taught in the Sunday School for twenty-seven
years. He devoted himself especially to the care of enquirers and to the
circulation of the "Old Paths" and other missionary literature among the
Jews in London. From 1841 to 1843, he laboured as missionary at
Brussels, and died in London, Jews following his funeral.
SARGON, Michael, was born of Jewish parents at Cochin in 1795, and died
about 1855. He was converted in 1818, through the preaching of J.
Jarrett of Madras, and became the first missionary of the L.J.S. to the
Jews in India. In 1820 Sargon visited his parents at Cochin, who
received him kindly, and for a time the Jews there seemed to have no
objection to discussing with him his new faith. A local committee was
found in Madras with Sargon as the representative missionary. Madras
became the centre of the Society's work in India. In 1822 Sargon had 116
Jewish children under his charge at Cochin, but in 1824 he was
transferred to Bombay, where he opened, under the auspices of the
L.J.S., a school exclusively for Jews. In Cochin Sargon baptized a Jew
and two Jewesses in 1828. He and his brother Abraham continued their
educational activity for nearly thirty-nine years after the Society had
ceased to give a grant to the Bombay mission. (Report of L.J.S., 1821.)
SCHAPIRO, B. A. M. One summer morning in the year 1890 there visited the
reading room of the Hebrew Christian Mission, 17, St. Mark's Place, New
York, a Hebrew lad of nineteen years, with bright eyes and curly black
hair. He had just arrived there from Germany, although he was a native
of Poland. The boy's keen, intelligent countenance attracted the
attention of the Rev. Jacob Freshman, Superintendent of the mission, and
as several Jewish men were having a lesson in English, that gentleman
suggested that the young Jew should become a member of the class. The
stranger knew no English, the teacher had no knowledge of Polish or
Russian, consequently their conversation was carried on mainly by
pantomime, and with the help of one of the scholars, who acted as
interpreter. Jews are naturally fine students, grasping knowledge with
avidity. The new arrival proved no exception to the rule, and so before
the forenoon ended he had learned the English names of the articles of
furniture in the room, the days of the week, the numerals from one to
ten, and also how to write his name, "Benjamin Aaron Moses Alexander
Schapiro", in English script. Long after, when he had learned to speak
English with ease, we asked: "Why did your parents burden you with such
a number of names?" "Because," was his answer, "they hoped and wished
that I might combine in my character, when I came to manhood, the
qualities of patriarch, priest, prophet and king." He was a fine Hebrew
scholar, and carefully followed in a Hebrew Bible the Psalms which the
other pupils read in English. We found at our next visit the new pupil
awaiting our coming. His countenance glowed with pleasure, as he
cordially grasped our hand and proceeded to dispose of our satchel and
umbrella. That morning he read several pages in an English primer. When
we went again we found that Benjamin had taken his departure, though
urged by the superintendent and his kind wife, for they both had become
greatly interested in him, to make their house his home for an unlimited
period. His proud, ambitious spirit chafed at the thought of becoming a
burden on the hands of strangers, so he started out to earn his own
living, an entirely new experience in his case. Hitherto he had never
been called upon to solve the three vital problems: "What to eat,"
"What to drink," "Wherewithal to be clothed." His brief stay at the
mission proved, however, a very important epoch in this young life. The
seeds of Gospel truth were sown in his heart, and afterwards quickened
by the Holy Spirit, sprang up, budded, blossomed, and ultimately bore
the fruitage of earnest work for the Master. Two years had elapsed since
our first meeting. One evening, at the close of the service in a Hebrew
Christian Church, we were cordially greeted by a young man. The native
dress had been changed for American, the hair arranged in a different
style, etc. So great was the transformation that at the first glance we
failed to recognize our quondam pupil and friend. He then told us what
had befallen him since we last met. He had, soon after leaving the
mission, found employment with Mr. Benjamin Clayton, a butcher at
Jamaica, L. I. Imagine, if you can, what a trial it must have been to
one brought up to a strict observance of the tenets of orthodox Judaism
to have to handle "Gentile" meat, especially the abhorred pork. A
Christian man who dealt at the shop became interested in the young
stranger, seeing him to be the possessor of talents which ought to be
improved and developed. This kind friend placed him under Christian
tutors.
Eventually Mr. Schapiro was converted, and publicly confessed Christ,
and united with a church in Brooklyn. Soon after taking this important
and decisive step he was convinced that it was his bounden duty and
glorious privilege to tell the story of a Redeemer's love to his own
people. Very visionary seemed the project. How could he, a youth who had
not yet attained his majority, a stranger, a foreigner, a "despised"
Jew, without means, with few friends, accomplish this mighty
undertaking? Faith laughs at impossibilities. Enthusiasm is ever
contagious. A few friends became interested, amongst others Mr. Horatio
S. Stewart, the gentleman who had previously provided him with a
scholarship at Pennington Seminary. The first Jewish mission work in
Brooklyn was inaugurated in that part of the Twenty-sixth Ward known
commonly as "Brownsville." Here a colony of Polish and Russian Jews had
taken up their abode. A small hall was hired and services held on
Saturday afternoon. Great was the excitement, tremendous the opposition.
Jews gathered in crowds, anxious to hear what the youth might have to
say concerning his apostasy from the faith of his fathers. Men thrice
his age plied him with questions regarding Christianity, quibbles
mostly; occasionally, perhaps, an enquirer might have been moved with a
genuine desire to know the truth. The young missionary, however, was
enabled to possess his soul in patience, and with quiet dignity to repel
their attacks. The following incidents will serve as representative