 Berman recounts a story that during the Civil War , Benjamin was called to the Torah at Beth Ahabah synagogue in Richmond . However , there is no proof of this , nor does Benjamin 's name appear in any surviving record of the Jews of that city . " But whether or not Benjamin practiced Judaism overtly or contributed to Jewish causes , to the Jews of the South , he was a symbol of a coreligionist who was a man among men " . According to Evans , " Benjamin survives , as he willed it : a shadowy figure in Civil War history " . Kahn noted that Benjamin " is epitomized as a foremost orator , lawyer , and statesman , without a peer at the bars of two of the world 's greatest nations " . Meade questioned whether Benjamin 's character can ever be fully understood : 
