By Donald H. Harrison  

SAN DIEGO —The presentation two nights ago by the History Channel  titled simply, Lincoln, was fascinating in that it revealed many hidden aspects of his character, particularly the effects that the tragic deaths of his mother, girlfriend, and two children may have had in contributing to his melancholia and thoughts of suicide and how the abusiveness of his father spurred within him a quest for justice.

As one distinguished author after another was interviewed on  Lincoln's life, I could not help but notice how many of these dozen experts were Jews.  You can pick out their names yourself from the roll call of historians in the order that they appeared in the 3-hour documentary: Gore Vidal, Andrew Solomon, Jay Winik, Josh Shenk, Michael Burlingame, Harold Holzer, Jan Morris, Jennifer Fleischner, Matthew Pinsker, Ted Widmer, Douglas Wilson and Jean Baker.

Many of us Jews have been drawn to Lincoln—and the ideals he represented—from the time he became a political figure in the United States, and remain fascinated by him right through the present.  Everybody to some extent collects Lincoln memorabilia — particularly the kind that come in rounded copper or in folded green paper.  I'm pleased to also have some books and reproductions of Lincoln sculptures in my collection.  

Additionally, our family was very proud when a cousin of my wife Nancy—the late writer of children's books, Beatrice Schenk de Regnier—presented our daughter, Sandi, with The Abraham Lincoln Joke Book that she copyrighted in 1965. Beebee, as we knew her, quoted Lincoln as saying that most of the jokes credited to him were ones he remembered hearing or reading and liked to retell.  Apparently one such favorites was a riddle that the humorist Artemis Ward made up for Lincoln's son, Tad:

Ward: Why was Goliath surprised when David hit him with a stone?

Tad:  Why?

Ward: Because such a thing had never entered his head before.

I couldn't resist picking that one out.  It's a delight to me when people like Abraham Lincoln savor stories from Hebrew Scriptures, or interact with other aspects of Jewish culture. Even though he was not one of us Jews, it would have been so nice if he were.  The way Lincoln overcame adversity, his sense of justice, his accomplishment in ending slavery, even his first name of Abraham—there is so much about him with which we can identify.

That was why I was not surprised when the History Channel program delved into the question of whether Lincoln's close relationship with  Joshua Speed, and other incidents in his lifetime when he shared a bed with men, has prompted some people in the gay community to hope Lincoln was homosexual.  Whoever you are, you feel elevated somehow by association with this mythic figure. 

As for whether Lincoln had homosexual relationships, the experts interviewed by the History Channel were divided.  In the 19th century, beds were scarce, and  it was not at all uncommon for people to share them, sometimes, at inns, several people at one time.  Whereas 21st century minds may think first in sexual terms, 19th century minds may not have leapt to such conclusions.

Perhaps the best-known story about Abraham Lincoln and the Jews concerned his quick action countermanding General Ulysses S. Grant's infamous General Orders No. 11 which commanded Union Army officers to expel all Jews from the Mississippi territory based on his suspicion that Jews were engaged in smuggling goods between Northern and Southern troops.  

A Jewish delegation led by Cesar Kaskel of Paducah, Ky., visited Lincoln at the White House, and pled for the order's repeal.  Author Naphtali J. Rubinger in his book, Abraham Lincoln and the Jews,  retells the well-known story as follows:  "When Kaskel finished, Lincoln smiled and said: 'And so the children of Israel were driven from the happy land of Canaan?'  To which Kaskel responded, 'Yes, and that is why we have come unto Father Abraham's bosom asking protection.'  Lincoln thereupon retorted, 'And this protection they shall have at once."

As with the gays, there are those in the Jewish community who claim group membership for Lincoln—a claim that Rubinger traced back to the eulogy for Lincoln given by Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise, in which the leader of Reform Judaism said, "Brethren, the lamented Abraham Lincoln believed himself to be bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh. He supposed himself to be a descendant of Hebrew parentage. He said so in my presence." 

In his book, copyrighted in 1962, Rubinger commented: "While no historical evidence has ever been discovered to substantiate this bold assertion, the available documents do show that in his relationship with the Jewish people of his day, Lincoln displayed friendship, generosity, charity and justice."  It should be stated for the record, however, that Lincoln's father and stepmother both were members of the Baptist Church.

Whatever his own religion may have been, Lincoln wanted soldiers in the Union Army to be able to follow their own religious sensibilities.  On September 18, 1862, Lincoln signed the commission of Rabbi Jacob Frankel of Philadelphia as the U.S. Army's first Jewish chaplain.

When we Jews retell the story around our seder tables this coming week of our passage from slavery to freedom, we might also remember and honor Abraham Lincoln, who served as Moses for the African Americans enslaved in the United States.  We might also remember that the April 14, 1865, night on which he was fatally wounded came during the week of Passover.