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Rabbi Charles Freshman
The
whole religious training of the child was strict in the extreme. He was
obliged to pray out of the Jewish Prayer Book every morning and evening, and
was not allowed to eat or drink anything without first asking a blessing upon
it with his head covered. Charles Freshman made rapid progress. and at the age of eight years he could read Hebrew well
and translate every word without difficulty, requiring a dictionary but
seldom. He could also repeat from memory many choice passages of the Old
Testament and whole Psalms in the Hebrew language. Even the Chaldaic he knew a little. and
could read and write the Aramaic language. Being naturally very ambitious and
proud, his mind became fully possessed of the one determination of becoming a
Rabbi, not an ordinary Rabbi, such as one meets every day, but a great Rabbi.
such as those who had immortalized their names and
imprinted their thoughts upon the pages of the Talmud. Fired with this
desire. he studied the Talmud day and night and soon
became so proficient in it that he was able to assist his fellow students and
thus earn a little money for himself. At the age of eleven he was admired for
his astounding knowledge and also for his manifest piety. He used to read and
pray a great deal in secret, fast very often, and be very strict and
scrupulously exact in the discharge of all religious duties. Plus, he was
very proud and overbearing claiming that he knew more than the teacher
himself. But
"a haughty spirit Goes before a fall”. An
unaccountable change came over the boy, now entering upon his twelfth year.
He became mischievous and to some extent, positively wicked. Prayers were no
longer offered; the Sabbath was desecrated; bad books were diligently sought
and read; and, on occasion, of all sins to a strict Jew, an attempt was made
to read the New Testament m secret! The words, "I and my father are
one," however exasperated the boy so much that he hurled the book across
the room and hated Christianity. He also neglected his books, played truant
from school, and finally left school altogether. Then he got into the habits
of Idleness and lost taste for further study and loitered around and got into
mischief, no longer desiring to be a Rabbi. But
God brought the prodigal to himself. His father met with a misfortune in
business which involved the loss of everything. There was hardly bread enough
left in the house to satisfy the present demands of the large family. The
sudden misfortune and still more the appeal of the father to his boy to help
in the work caused Charles to resolve not to be mischievous any more, but to
become a pious lad again. He now went to school again and was being prepared
for confirmation by a private teacher. But alas! when
the time for confirmation came, he could not be confirmed, for the father was
again so poor that he could not spare enough money to purchase the necessary
phylacteries and nice clothes. The proud boy was extremely humiliated and
resolved to leave his father's house and enter some Jewish theological
institution in some distant city. With only a few cents in his possession,
the boy said goodbye to parents and home and started out into the wide, wide
world alone. After many hardships he reached a place called Namensdorf where the Rabbi received him kindly, and after
satisfactory examination permitted him to become a student in the Talmudical School. The means of the new student were
quite limited, and he often went hungry, but he was comparatively happy and
studied diligently. Still, he was no nearer the obtaining of phylacteries and
confirmation. Hence he resolved to go to Poland where famous colleges for the
training of young Jews were found. So off he started. In
Bialla he found an old friend of his father, who
offered to send him to College if he would like to become a Roman Catholic
priest. The young Jew refused the offer and turned to go away. Then the man
gave him a little money and Charles Freshman departed in great happiness, for
he escaped from being swallowed up by the Christian Church he thought and had
at last the means of procuring the phylacteries for which he had longed so
long. He lost no time in procuring them, and then laid out a plan to go to
the great Jewish College of Helleshan in Moravia.
After five days of weary tramping he arrived at Helleshan
and at once became a student in the College. Here he remained over two years,
attaining honorable distinction as a student; then ,
he returned to his parents, traveling on foot. as
usual. He quickly discovered that his parents were not well satisfied that he
had left College, but he had no desire now to return to it and for a short
time taught at a small school near Micklosh. Then
he again left home and resolved to go to the great city of Prague to complete
his education as a Rabbi. Again he felt the pressure of hard times as he
prosecuted his studies, but he persevered five years; there his education was
pronounced complete, He was thoroughly acquainted with the Hebrew language
and the Jewish literature, but he had also acquired a good knowledge of
languages, of history, philosophy, and science in general. He received his
diploma and other credentials of the highest class, and returned home prouder
than ever, because he was now a Rabbi and, in his own estimation, a Rabbi of
no mean importance. Instead
of looking around for a congregation, the young Rabbi began to look around
for a wife, which he found at last. He was married when only 21 years old.
Over a year the young couple remained with his wife's wealthy parents, then,
instead of looking for a congregation, started in business. Twice he failed,
and after officiating occasionally as Rabbi in some of the small synagogues,
he was induced to leave his native country for the New World. He came to
Canada, accompanied by his wife and five children. Dr. DeSola,
the Rabbi of the Portuguese congregation in Montreal, recommended the young
Hungarian Rabbi very strongly to the congregation of Quebec, and soon after
his arrival in the New World, Charles Freshman was duly installed as Rabbi of
a Jewish congregation in Quebec. He at once began to learn the English
language, in which he made slow progress however. The congregation in which
Mr. Freshman now ministered was composed of mixed nationalities of Jews, but
chiefly German and English. He used to officiate in the Hebrew and German
languages, and it was not until he had been a long time among the people that
he conducted his first service in English. These Jews had little regard for
their Sabbath day. Many of them would attend the services of the synagogue
and immediately afterward would repair to their places of business or go to
the pursuit of pleasures. The Rabbi, strictly orthodox, was horrified at this
impiety, and remonstrated with many of them, reproving them severely for
their conduct, but he had little or no influence. Slowly
the Spirit of God began to work upon the mind of the Jewish Rabbi. Often, as
he would pass through the streets & see the large congregations thronging
toward the various Christian churches, or returning from the services, his
mind would be variously exercised toward them. At one time he would think,
"what a pity that such a multitude of people will so easily believe such
falsehood, and blasphemously worship a bad man. "
But again, he would reflect, "Here are men of intelligence, men
educated, men of a profound acquaintance with human nature, men who have the
Old Testament Scriptures as well as I have, men who are accustomed to
exercise their reason and Judgment in regard to their worldly affairs, and
men who, I am sure, do not place implicit confidence in the Christian
religion without some strong foundation upon which to base it. What if, after
all, I have only examined one side of the question? What if, after all, they
should be right and I should be wrong? These kinds of thoughts he usually
dismissed without an effort, as a temptation of the deve1,
but they would frequently recure again, in spite of
himself. On one occasion, after preaching to his
congregation about the restoration of the people of Israel; his mind became
more beclouded than ever, & he felt he did not fully believe all he had
told his people. In
this state of dissatisfaction and perplexity, he went to his desk and carefully
unlocked it, and all the while trembling as if he were about to commit a
great crime. Hidden in that desk was a neatly bound edition of the Old and
New Testaments. Years before that time, during the last years of his sojourn
in Hungary, a Jewish missionary of the Scottish Church met the Jewish Rabbi
in a hotel in Cashaw and persuaded him to the
purchase the book. He never looked into it. When he came to Quebec and
unpacked his books, he found among them his Bible which he thought he had
left in Hungary. He took it and locked it up among his pinnate papers, lest
his own wife or ch1ldren, or some of his
congregation should find out that he had such a book in his possession. He
felt like a guilty person because he did not destroy it at once, but undoubtedly
God directed him to preserve it that He might bring about the final result.
For now, in the hour of deepest anxiety and doubt, he unlocked his desk, took
out the Bible and went into his library, locking the door securely. Then,
secure from all interruption and disturbance, he opened the New Testament,
and commenced hastily to read a few pages. After a very short time he threw
it away in disgust, exclaiming, "This cannot be." Soon. however, he took it up again - read awhile, and again
threw it from him. So he continued for about an hour. At last he became so
excited that again taking up the book and reading a while, he threw it on the
floor with such violence that several leaves were torn from their places. In
a moment he was seized with remorse, and gathering up the loose leaves and
placing them in their proper places, he carried the book to its former hiding
place and locked it up, firmly resolving never to look into it again. Evening
came, but his mind was so greatly disturbed that he could scarcely perform
his routine duties in his synagogue. A sleepless night followed, then another
day of anxious, perplexing thought, and at last made a resolution to
carefully study the prophets, especially those having reference to the coming
of the Messiah. While engaged in this occupation, a Jewish Rabbi from
Jerusalem visited Rabbi Freshman, who, at once embraced the opportunity to
ask the learned man concerning their Messiah. The poor Rabbi from Jerusalem
could not answer the questions, and Rabbi Freeman began to think seriously
that there was something wrong with the Jewish belief and that the Christians
might be right. He even commenced to speak his thoughts aloud to some members
of his congregation, and he read the New Testament with great care,
notwithstanding all his prior resolutions. A pious Christian neighbor, Mr.
Hinton spent hours with the inquiring Jew in conversation about religious
topics, but the light did not resolve all the issues. Days
and nights he searched the Bible, but conviction came not. He remained torn
by doubts, neither believing in the Jewish religion fully nor yet being
convinced of the truth of Christianity. He wanted to resign his Rabbi-ship at
once, but his good wife was altogether against it, declaring, "I will never become a Christian." The Jewish
Passover was approaching, and the Rabbi had to prepare a special sermon for
the occasion. The text he chose was Genesis 49:10. During the writing of the
sermon doubts overcame him so that he determined not to preach it. He called
in his wife and told her that he believed in Jesus as the Messiah. She
commenced to weep bitterly, and the elder children, learning the state of
affairs, joined in with their mother. There was lamentation and mourning, and
the Rabbi himself wept. Being unable to endure the sight of misery he had
thus brought upon his family, Freshman 1eft his
home and repaired to a solitary place beyond the barracks of Quebec. Without
human eye to witness his grief and in an agony of soul, he threw himself,
upon the ground and cried mightily to God. Still, relief did not come, and
with a heavy heart he retraced his steps homeward. Without saying a word to
his still weeping family, he went into his bedroom where he again prayed and
read his Bible. At last after midnight, nature became exhausted, and he fell
asleep in his chair. Then he beheld in a dream an
image of the Savior on the cross, and over his head were inscribed the words,
"I am thy Savior". He awoke firmly resolved to give in his
resignation, but again his moral courage failed him and he put it off again. At
last, on the day before the Passover, he once more prayerfully pondered over
Genesis 49:10, then read Isaiah 53, and suddenly, became fully convinced that
Jesus is the expected Messiah. Without the least hesitation he now wrote out
his resignation and sent it to the president of the congregation. But now the
storm burst upon him in all its new fury, his wife and children wanted to
celebrate the Passover as usual, while he had no desire to engage in its
celebration, The Jews declared that the Rabbi was insane and dangerous, and
tempted his wife and children to leave him, his friends forsook and avoided
him, and a story that he had received ten thousand dollars for renouncing his
faith was circulated. But, worst of an, Mr. Freshman had not yet full light.
He believed in Jesus as the Messiah, but knew nothing of justification or
saving faith, and had no clear conception of his condition as a sinner in the
light of God, nor of the necessity of a, change of heart. His conversion was
of the head, but not of the heart. Many ministers and members of churches in
Quebec called on him, but the darkness continued. In
this state he continued several weeks then, while he was listening to a
sermon by Rev. Elliott of the Wesleyan Methodist Church, the Spirit of God
commenced to operate on his heart, and he wept, although he could hardly tell
for what. He again studied his Bible most diligently. commenced
to attend churches of different denominations. and
prayerfully sought the Lord with all his heart. One night he was crying to
God in deep, earnest prayer and was in greatest agony as he saw himself
clearly as a lost sinner, unworthy of anything but condemnation. In very
self-despair he cried out, "Lord. save me or I
perish," and saw no other hope but Christ. At that moment the shadows
fled and the burden rolled from his troubled soul. Prayer now gave place to
praise, and a marvelous change was wrought in him. He was born again. Mr. Freshman began at
once to show others what God had done for his soul. He commenced with his own
family. His wife though slow of heart to believe. consented to accompany him to church. and
the children attended the Sabbath school and read the New Testament. thus imbibing the principles of Christianity. One by one.
the members of his family fell in with the doctrines of the cross as revealed
by God and taught in the New Testament, Rabbi Charles Freshman, his wife arid
seven children, were baptized in the Wesleyan Methodist Church in Quebec,
Ministers of other denominations were present and took part in the remarkable
exercises, which were, witnessed by a vast assemblage of Christ and by some
of the members of the Jewish congregation which Rabbi Freshman had officiated
the three years preceding his baptism. Having spent some time as a lecturer
on Jewish subjects, Mr. Freshman was appointed a missionary of the Wesleyan
Methodist Church in Canada. He was ordained and served the Master faithfully
until his death. The congregations which were organized chiefly through his
effort were located at Hamilton, Ontario and in its neighborhood; Many souls
were led to Christ through his efforts, among them several Jews, -- The Glory of Israel. For further information contact:
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