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diff --git a/15921.txt b/15921.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3755ab6 --- /dev/null +++ b/15921.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9638 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Haskalah Movement in Russia, by Jacob S. +Raisin + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: The Haskalah Movement in Russia + + +Author: Jacob S. Raisin + +Release Date: May 27, 2005 [eBook #15921] + +Language: En + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HASKALAH MOVEMENT IN RUSSIA*** + + +E-text prepared by Juliet Sutherland, David King, and the Project +Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 15921-h.htm or 15921-h.zip: + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/5/9/2/15921/15921-h/15921-h.htm) + or + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/5/9/2/15921/15921-h.zip) + + + + + +THE HASKALAH MOVEMENT IN RUSSIA + +by + +JACOB S. RAISIN, PH.D., D.D. + +Author of _Sect, Creed and Custom in Judaism_, etc. + +Philadelphia +The Jewish Publication Society of America + +1913 + + + + + + + + _And the "Maskilim" shall shine + As the brightness of the firmament ... + Many shall run to and fro, + And knowledge shall be increased_. + --Dan. xii. 3-4 + + + +[Illustration: TOBIAS COHN +1652-1759 +FROM THE FRONTISPIECE OF HIS MA'ASEH TOBIAH] + + + + +TO AARON S. RAISIN + +Your name, dear father, will not be found in the following pages, for, +like "the waters of the Siloam that run softly," you ever preferred to +pursue your useful course in unassuming silence. Yet, as it is your +life, devoted entirely to meditating, learning, and teaching, that +inspired me in my effort, I dedicate this book to you; and I am happy to +know that I thus not only dedicate it to one of the noblest of Maskilim, +but at the same time offer you some slight token of the esteem and +affection felt for you by + +Your Son, + +JACOB S. RAISIN + + + + +CONTENTS + + +PREFACE 11 + +CHAPTER I. THE PRE-HASKALAH PERIOD 17 + +CHAPTER II. THE PERIOD OF TRANSITION 53 + +CHAPTER III. THE DAWN OF HASKALAH 110 + +CHAPTER IV. CONFLICTS AND CONQUESTS 162 + +CHAPTER V. RUSSIFICATION, REFORMATION, AND ASSIMILATION 222 + +CHAPTER VI. THE AWAKENING 268 + +NOTES 305 + +BIBLIOGRAPHY 331 + +INDEX 339 + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + + +TOBIAS COHN (1652-1759) Frontispiece + +ISAAC BAeR LEVINSOHN (1788-1860) facing page 64 + +MAX LILIENTHAL (1815-1882) " " 120 + +ALEXANDER ZEDERBAUM (1816-1893) " " 175 + +PEREZ BEN MOSHEH SMOLENSKIN (1842-1885) " " 220 + +MOSES LOeB LILIENBLUM (1843-1910) " " 280 + + + + +PREFACE + + +To the lover of mankind the history of the Russo-Jewish renaissance is +an encouraging and inspiring phenomenon. Seldom has a people made such +rapid strides forward as the Russian Jews. From the melancholy +regularity that marked their existence a little more than two +generations ago, from the darkness of the Middle Ages in which they were +steeped until the time of Alexander II, they emerged suddenly into the +life and light of the West, and some of the most intrepid devotees of +latter-day culture, both in Europe and in America, have come from among +them. Destitute of everything that makes for enlightenment, and under +the dominion of a Government which sought to extinguish the few +rushlights that scattered the shadows around them, they nevertheless +snatched victory from defeat, sloughed off medieval superstition, and, +disregarding the Dejanira shirt of modern disabilities, compelled their +countrymen to admit more than once that + + Tho' I've belted you and flayed you, + By the livin' Gawd that made you, + You're a better man than I am! + +Similar movements were started in Germany during the latter part of the +eighteenth century, and in Austria, notably Galicia, at the beginning of +the nineteenth, but none stirred the mind of the Jews to the same degree +as the Haskalah movement in Russia during the last fifty years. In the +former, the removal of restrictions soon rendered attempts toward +self-emancipation unnecessary on the part of Jews, and the few Maskilim +among them, satisfied with the present, devoted themselves to +investigating and elucidating the past of their people's history. In +Russia the past was all but forgotten on account of the immediate duties +of the present. The energy and acquisitiveness that made the Jews of +happier and more prosperous lands prominent in every sphere of practical +life, were directed toward the realm of thought, and the merciless +severity with which the Government excluded them from the enjoyment of +things material only increased their ardor for things spiritual and +intellectual. + +In its wide sense Haskalah denotes enlightenment. Those who strove to +enlighten their benighted coreligionists or disseminate European culture +among them, were called Maskilim. A careful perusal of this work will +reveal the exact ideals these terms embody. For Haskalah was not only +progressive, it was also aggressive, militant, sometimes destructive. +From the days of Mordecai Guenzburg to the time of Asher Ginzberg (Ahad +Ha-'Am), it changed its tendencies and motives more than once. +Levinsohn, "the father of the Maskilim," was satisfied with removing the +ban from secular learning; Gordon wished to see his brethren "Jews at +home and men abroad"; Smolenskin dreamed of the rehabilitation of Jews +in Palestine; and Ahad Ha-'Am hopes for the spiritual regeneration of +his beloved people. Others advocated the levelling of all distinctions +between Jews and Gentiles, or the upliftment of mankind in general and +Russia in particular. To each of them Haskalah implied different ideals, +and through each it promulgated diverse doctrines. To trace these +varying phases from an indistinct glimmering in the eighteenth century +to the glorious effulgence of the beginning of the twentieth, is the +main object of this book. + +In pursuance of my end, I have paid particular attention to the causes +that retarded or accelerated Russo-Jewish cultural advance. As these +causes originate in the social, economic, and political status of the +Russian Jew, I frequently portray political events as well as the state +of knowledge, belief, art, and morals of the periods under +consideration. For this reason also I have marked the boundaries of the +Haskalah epochs in correspondence to the dates of the reigns of the +several czars, though the correspondence is not always exact. + +Essays have been published, on some of the topics treated in these +pages, by writers in different languages: in Russian, by Bramson, +Klausner, and Morgulis; in Hebrew, by Izgur, Katz, and Klausner; in +German, by Maimon, Lilienthal, Wengeroff, and Weissberg; in English, by +Lilienthal and Wiener; and in French, by Slouschz. The subject as a +whole, however, has not been treated. Should this work stimulate further +research, I shall feel amply rewarded. Without prejudice and without +partiality, by an honest presentation of facts drawn from what I regard +as reliable sources, I have tried to unfold the story of the struggle of +five millions of human beings for right living and rational thinking, in +the hope of throwing light on the ideals and aspirations and the real +character of the largely prejudged and misunderstood Russian Jew. + +In conclusion, I wish to express my gratitude and indebtedness to those +who encouraged me to proceed with my work after some specimens of it had +been published in several Jewish periodicals, especially to Doctor +Solomon Schechter, Rabbi Max Heller, and Mr. A.S. Freidus, for their +courtesy and assistance while the work was being written. + +JACOB S. RAISIN. + +E. Las Vegas, N. Mex., + +Thanksgiving Day, 1909. + + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE PRE-HASKALAH PERIOD + +?-1648 + + +"There is but one key to the present," says Max Mueller, "and that is the +past." To understand fully the growth and historical development of a +people's mind, one must be familiar with the conditions that have shaped +its present form. It would seem necessary, therefore, to introduce a +description of the Haskalah movement with a rapid survey of the history +of the Russo-Polish Jews from the time of their emergence from obscurity +up to the middle of the seventeenth century. + +Among those who laid the foundations for the study of this almost +unexplored department of Jewish history, the settlement of Jews in +Russia and their vicissitudes during the dark ages, the most prominent +are perhaps Isaac Baer Levinsohn, Abraham Harkavy, and Simon Dubnow. +There is much to be said of each of these as writers, scholars, and men. +Here they concern us as Russo-Jewish historians. What Linnaeus, Agassiz, +and Cuvier did in the field of natural philosophy, they accomplished in +their chosen province of Jewish history.[1] Levinsohn was the first to +express the opinion that the Russian Jews hailed, not from Germany, as +is commonly supposed, but from the banks of the Volga. This hypothesis, +corroborated by tradition, Harkavy established as a fact. Originally the +vernacular of the Jews of Volhynia, Podolia, and Kiev was Russian and +Polish, or, rather, the two being closely allied, Palaeo-Slavonic. The +havoc wrought by the Crusades in the Jewish communities of Western +Europe caused a constant stream of German-Jewish immigrants to pour, +since 1090, into the comparatively free countries of the Slavonians. +Russo-Poland became the America of the Old World. The Jewish settlers +from abroad soon outnumbered the native Jews, and they spread a new +language and new customs wherever they established themselves.[2] + +Whether the Jews of Russia were originally pagans from the shores of the +Black and Caspian Seas, converted to Judaism under the Khazars during +the eighth century, or Palestinian exiles subjugated by their Slavonian +conquerors and assimilated with them, it is indisputable that they +inhabited what we know to-day as Russia long before the Varangian prince +Rurik came, at the invitation of Scythian and Sarmatian savages, to lay +the foundation of the Muscovite empire. In Feodosia there is a synagogue +at least a thousand years old. The Greek inscription on a marble slab, +dating back to 80-81 B.C.E., preserved in the Imperial Hermitage in St. +Petersburg, makes it certain that they flourished in the Crimea before +the destruction of the Temple. In a communication to the Russian +Geographical Society, M. Pogodin makes the statement, that there still +exist a synagogue and a cemetery in the Crimea that belong to the +pre-Christian era. Some of the tombstones, bearing Jewish names, and +decorated with the seven-branched Menorah, date back to 157 B.C.E.; +while Chufut-Kale, also known as the Rock of the Jews (Sela' +ha-Yehudim), from the fortress supposed to have been built there by the +Jews, would prove Jewish settlements to have been made there during the +Babylonian or Persian captivity.[3] + +Though the same antiquity cannot be established for other Jewish +settlements, we know that Kiev, "the mother of Russian cities," had many +Jews long before the eighth century, who thus antedated the Russians as +citizens. According to Joseph Hakohen they came there from Persia in +690, according to Malishevsky in 776. It is certain that their influence +was felt as early as the latter part of the tenth century. The Russian +Chronicles ascribed to Nestor relate that they endeavored, in 986, to +induce Grand Duke Vladimir to accept their religion. They did not +succeed as they had succeeded two centuries before with the khan of the +Khazars.[4] Yet the grand duke, who had the greatest influence in +introducing and spreading Greek Catholicism, and who is now worshipped +as a saint, was always favorably disposed toward them. + +There were other places that were inhabited early by Jews. There are +traditions to the effect that Jews lived in Poland as early as the ninth +century, and under the Boreslavs (992-1278) they are said to have +enjoyed considerable privileges, carried on a lively trade, and spread +as far as Kiev. Chernigov in Little Russia (the Ukraine), Baku in South +Russia (Transcaucasia), Kalisz and Warsaw, Brest and Grodno, in West +Russia (Russian Poland), all possess Jewish communities of considerable +antiquity. In the townlet Eishishki, near Vilna, a tombstone set in 1171 +was still in existence at the end of the last century, and Khelm, +Government Kovno, has a synagogue to which tradition ascribes an age of +eight hundred years.[5] + +The Jewish population in all these communities was prosperous and +respected. Jews were in favor with the Government, enjoyed equal rights +with their Gentile neighbors, and were especially prominent as traders +and farmers of taxes. Their monoxyla, or one-oared canoes, loaded with +silks, furs, and precious metals, issued from the Borysthanes, traversed +the Baltic and the Euxine, the Oder and the Bosphorus, the Danube and +the Black Sea, and carried on the commerce between the Turks and the +Slavonians. They were granted the honorable and lucrative privilege of +directing and controlling the mints, and that of putting Hebrew as well +as Slavonic inscriptions on their coins.[6] In the Lithuanian Magna +Charta, granted by Vitold in 1388, the Jews of Brest were given many +rights, and about a year later those of Grodno were permitted to engage +in all pursuits and occupations, and exempted from paying taxes on +synagogues and cemeteries. They possessed full jurisdiction in their own +affairs. Some were raised to the nobility, notably the Josephovich +brothers, Abraham and Michael. Under King Alexander Jagellon, Abraham +was assessor of Kovno, alderman of Smolensk, and prefect of Minsk; he +was called "sir" (jastrzhembets), was presented with the estates of +Voidung, Grinkov, and Troki (1509), and appointed Secretary of the +Treasury in Lithuania (1510). The other brother, Michael, was made +"fiscal agent to the king." In the eighteenth century, Andrey +Abramovich, of the same family but not of the Jewish faith, was senator +and castellan of Brest-Litovsk.[7] They were not unique exceptions. +Abraham Shmoilovich of Turisk is spoken of as "honorable sir" in leases +of large estates. Affras Rachmailovich and Judah Bogdanovich figure +among the merchant princes of Livonia and Lithuania; and Francisco Molo, +who settled later in Amsterdam, was financial agent of John III of +Poland in 1679. The influence of the last-named was so great with the +Dutch States-General that the Treaty of Ryswick was concluded with Louis +XIV, in 1697, through his mediation.[8] + +That Russo-Poland should have elected a Jewish king on two occasions, a +certain Abraham Prochovnik in 842 and the famous Saul Wahl[9] in the +sixteenth century, sounds legendary; but that there was a Jewish queen, +called Esterka, is probable, and that some Jews attained to political +eminence is beyond reasonable doubt.[10] Records have been discovered +concerning two envoys, Saul and Joseph, who served the Slavonic czar +about 960, and an interesting story is told of two Jewish soldiers, +Ephraim Moisievich and Anbal the Jassin, who won the confidence of +Prince Andrey Bogolyubsky of Kiev, and afterwards became leaders in a +conspiracy against him (1174).[11] Henry, Duke of Anjou, the successor +of Sigismud August on the throne of Poland and Lithuania, owed his +election mainly to the efforts of Solomon Ashkenazi. Ivan Vassilyevich, +too, had many and important relations with Jews, and his favorable +attitude towards them is amply proved by the fact that his family +physician was the Jew Leo (1490). Throughout his reign he maintained an +uninterrupted friendship with Chozi Kokos, a Jew of the Crimea, and he +did not hesitate to offer hospitality and protection to Zacharias de +Guizolfi, though the latter was not in a position to reciprocate such +favors.[12] + +In addition there are less prominent individuals who received honors at +the hands of their non-Jewish countrymen. Meir Ashkenazi of Kaffa, in +the Crimea, who was slain by pirates on a trip from "Gava to Dakhel," +was envoy of the khan of the Tatars to the king of Poland in the +sixteenth century. Mention is made of "Jewish Cossacks," who +distinguished themselves on the field of battle, and were elevated to +the rank of major and colonel.[13] While the common opinion regarding +Jews expressed itself in merry England in such ballads as "The Jewish +Dochter," and "Gernutus, the Jew of Venice," many a Little Russian song +had the bravery of a Jewish soldier as its burden. In everything save +religion the Jews were hardly distinguishable from their neighbors. + + There are--writes Cardinal Commendoni, an eye-witness--a great + many Jews in these provinces, including Lithuania, who are not, + as in other places, regarded with disrespect. They do not + maintain themselves miserably by base profits; they are landed + proprietors, are engaged in business, and even devote themselves + to the study of literature and, above all, to medicine and + astronomy; they hold almost everywhere the commission of levying + customs duties, are classed among the most honest people, wear + no outward mark to distinguish them from the Christians, and are + permitted to carry swords and walk about with their arms. In a + word they have equal rights with the other citizens. + +A similar statement is made by Joseph Delmedigo, who spent many years in +Livonia and Lithuania as physician to Prince Radziwill.[14] + +In his inimitable manner Gibbon describes the fierce struggle the Greek +Catholic Church had to wage before she obtained a foothold in Russia, +but he neglects to mention the fact that Judaism no less than paganism +was among her formidable opponents. The contest lasted several +centuries, and in many places it is undecided to this day.[15] The +Khazars, who had become proselytes in the eighth century, were +constantly encroaching upon Russian Christianity. Buoyant as both were +with the vigor of youth, missionary zeal was at its height among the two +contending religions. Each made war upon the other. We read that Photius +of Constantinople sent a message of thanks to Archbishop Anthony of +Kertch (858-859) for his efforts to convert the Jews; that the first +Bishop of the Established Church (1035) was "Lukas, the little Jew" +(Luka Zhidyata), who was appointed to his office by Yaroslav; and that +St. Feodosi Pechersky was fond of conversing with learned Jews on +matters of theology.[16] On the other hand, the efforts of the Jews were +not without success. The baptism of the pious Olga marks an era in +Russian Christianity, the beginning of the "Judaizing heresy," which +centuries of persecution only strengthened. In 1425, Zacharias of Kiev, +who is reputed to have "studied astrology, necromancy, and various other +magic arts," converted the priest Dionis, the Archbishop Aleksey, and, +through the latter, many more clergymen of Novgorod, Moscow, and Pskov. +Aleksey became a devout Jew. He called himself Abraham and his wife +Sarah. Yet, strange to say, he retained the favor of the Grand Duke Ivan +Vassilyevich, even after the latter's daughter-in-law, Princess Helena, +his secretary Theodore Kuritzin, the Archimandrite Sosima, the monk +Zacharias, and other persons of note had entered the fold of Judaism +through his influence. + +The "heresy" spread over many parts of the empire, and the number of its +adherents constantly grew. Archbishop Nikk complains that in the very +monastery of Moscow there were presumably converted Jews, "who had again +begun to practice their old Jewish religion and demoralize the young +monks." In Poland, too, proselytism was of frequent occurrence, +especially in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The religious +tolerance of Casimir IV (1434-1502) and his immediate successors, and +the new doctrines preached by Huss and Luther, which permeated the upper +classes of society, rendered the Poles more liberal on the one hand, and +on the other the Jews more assertive. We hear of a certain nobleman, +George Morschtyn, who married a Jewess, Magdalen, and had his daughter +raised in the religion of her mother. In fact, at a time when Jews in +Spain assumed the mask of Christianity to escape persecution, Russian +and Polish Christians by birth could choose, with little fear of danger, +to lead the Jewish life. It was not till about the eighteenth century +that the Government began to resort to the usual methods of eradicating +heresy. Katharina Weigel, a lady famous for her beauty, who embraced +Judaism, was decapitated in Cracow at the instigation of Bishop Peter +Gamrat. On the deposition of his wife, Captain Vosnitzin of the Polish +navy was put to death by auto-da-fe (July 15, 1738). The eminent "Ger +Zedek," Count Valentine Pototzki, less fortunate than his comrade and +fellow-convert Zaremba, was burnt at the stake in Vilna (May 24, 1749), +and his teacher in the Jewish doctrines, Menahem Mann, was tortured and +executed a few months later, at the age of seventy. But these measures +proved of little avail. According to Martin Bielski, the noted +historian, Jews saved their proselytes from the impending doom by +transporting them to Turkey. Many of them sought refuge in Amsterdam. +For those who remained behind their new coreligionists provided through +collections made for that purpose in Russia and in Germany. To this day +these Russian and Polish proselytes adhere steadfastly to their faith, +and whether they migrate to America or Palestine to escape the +persecution of their countrymen, they seldom, if ever, indulge in the +latitudinarianism into which many of longer Jewish lineage fall so +readily when removed from old moorings.[17] + +That the Russian Jews of the day were not altogether unenlightened, that +they not only practiced the Law devoutly, but also studied it +diligently, and cultivated the learning of the time as well, we may +safely infer from researches recently made. Cyril, or Constantine, "the +philosopher," the apostle to the Slavonians, acquired a knowledge of +Hebrew while at Kherson, and was probably aided by Jews in his +translation of the Bible into Slavonic. Manuscripts of Russo-Jewish +commentaries to the Scriptures, written as early as 1094 and 1124, are +still preserved in the Vatican and Bodleian libraries, and copyists were +doing fairly good work at Azov in 1274. + +Jewish scholars frequented celebrated seats of learning in foreign +lands. Before the end of the twelfth century traces of them are to be +found in France, Italy, and Spain. That in the eleventh century Judah +Halevi of Toledo and Nathan of Rome should have been familiar with +Russian words cannot but be attributed to their contact with Russian +Jews. However, in the case of these two scholars, it may possibly be +ascribed to their great erudition or extensive travels. But the many +Slavonic expressions occurring in the commentaries of Rashi (1040-1105), +and employed by Joseph Caro (ab. 1140), Benjamin of Tudela (ab. 1160), +and Isaac of Vienna (ab. 1250), lend color to Harkavy's contention, that +Russian was once the vernacular of the Russian Jews, and they also argue +in favor of our contention, that these natives of the "land of +Canaan"--as the country of the Slavs was then called in Hebrew--came +into personal touch with the "lights and leaders" of other Jewish +communities. Indeed, Rabbi Moses of Kiev is mentioned as one of the +pupils of Jacob Tam, the Tosafist of France (d. 1170), and Asheri, or +Rosh, of Spain is reported to have had among his pupils Rabbi Asher and +Master (Bahur) Jonathan from Russia. From these peripatetic scholars +perhaps came the martyrs of 1270, referred to in the _Memorbuch_ of +Mayence. It was Rabbi Moses who, while still in Russia, corresponded +with Samuel ben Ali, head of the Babylonian Academy, and called the +attention of Western scholars to certain Gaonic decisions. Another +rabbi, Isaac, or Itshke, of Chernigov, was probably the first Talmudist +in England, and his decisions were regarded as authoritative on certain +occasions. These and others like them wrote super-commentaries on the +commentaries of Rashi and Ibn Ezra, the most popular and profound +scholars medieval Jewry produced, and made copies of the works of other +authors.[18] + +Soon the Russo-Polish Jews established at home what they had been +compelled to seek abroad. Hearing of the advantages offered in the great +North-East, German Jews flocked thither in such numbers as to dominate +and absorb the original Russians and Poles. A new element asserted +itself. Names like Ashkenazi, Heilperin, Hurwitz, Landau, Luria, +Margolis, Schapiro, Weil, Zarfati, etc., variously spelled, took the +place, through intermarriage and by adoption, of the ancient Slavonic +nomenclature. The language, manners, modes of thought, and, to a certain +extent, even the physiognomy of the earlier settlers, underwent a more +or less radical change. In some provinces the conflict lasted longer +than in others. To this day not a few Russian Jews would seem to be of +Slavonic rather than Semitic extraction. As late as the sixteenth +century there was still a demand in certain places for a Russian +translation of the Hebrew Book of Common Prayer, and in 1635 Rabbi Meir +Ashkenazi, who came from Frankfort-on-the-Main to study in Lublin, and +was retained as rabbi in Mohilev-on-the-Dnieper, had cause to exclaim, +"Would to God that our coreligionists all spoke the same +language--German."[19] Even Maimon, in the latter half of the eighteenth +century, mentions one, by no means an exception, who did not "understand +the Jewish language, and made use, therefore, of the Russian."[20] But +by the middle of the seventeenth century the amalgamation was almost +complete. It resulted in a product entirely new. As the invasion of +England by the Normans produced the Anglo-Saxon, so the inundation of +Russia by the Germans produced the Slav-Teuton. This is the clue to the +study of the Haskalah, as will appear from what follows. + +Russo-Poland gradually became the cynosure of the Talmudic world, the +"Aksanye shel Torah," the asylum of the Law, whence "enlargement and +deliverance" arose for the traditions which the Jews carried with them, +through fire and water, during the dreary centuries of their dispersion. +It became to Jews what Athens was to ancient Greece, Rome to medieval +Christendom, New England to our early colonies. With the invention and +importation of the printing-press, the publication and acquisition of +the Bible, the Talmud, and most of the important rabbinic works were +facilitated. As a consequence, yeshibot, or colleges, for the study of +Jewish literature, were founded in almost every community. Their fame +reached distant lands. It became a popular saying that "from Kiev shall +go forth the Law, and the word of God from Starodub." Horodno, the +vulgar pronunciation of Grodno, was construed to mean Har Adonai, "the +Mount of the Lord." A pious rabbi did not hesitate to write to a +colleague, "Be it known to the high honor of your glory that it is +preferable by far to dwell in the land of the Russ and promote the study +of the Torah in Israel than in the land of Israel."[21] Especially the +part of Poland ultimately swallowed up by Russia was the new Palestine +of the Diaspora. Thither flocked all desirous of becoming adepts in the +dialectics of the rabbis, "of learning how to swim in the sea of the +Talmud." It was there that the voluminous works of Hebrew literature +were studied, literally "by day and by night," and the subtleties of the +Talmudists were developed to a degree unprecedented in Jewish history. +Thither was sent, from the distant Netherlands, the youngest son of +Manasseh ben Israel, and he "became mighty in the Talmud and master of +four languages." Thither came, from Prague, the afterwards famous +Cabbalist, author, and rabbi, Isaiah Horowitz (ab. 1555-1630), and there +he chose to remain the rest of his days. Thither also went, from +Frankfort, the above-mentioned Meir Ashkenazi, who, according to some, +was the first author of note in White Russia. + +From everywhere they came "to pour water on the hands and sit at the +feet" of the great ones of the second Palestine.[22] + +For Jewish solidarity was more than a word in those days. "Sefardim" had +not yet learned to boast of aristocratic lineage, nor "Ashkenazim" to +look down contemptuously upon their Slavonic coreligionists. It was +before the removal of civil disabilities from one portion of the Jewish +people had sowed the seed of arrogance toward the other less favored +portion. Honor was accorded to whom it was due, regardless of the +locality in which he happened to have been born. Glueckel von Hameln +states in her _Memoirs_ that preference was sometimes given to the +decisions of the "great ones of Poland," and mentions with pride that +her brother Shmuel married the daughter of the great Reb Shulem of +Lemberg.[23] With open arms, Amsterdam, Frankfort, Fuerth, Konigsberg, +Metz, Prague, and other communities renowned for wealth and learning, +welcomed the acute Talmudists of Brest, Grodno, Kovno, Lublin, Minsk, +and Vilna, whenever they were willing or compelled to consider a call. +The practice of summoning Russo-Polish rabbis to German posts was +carried so far that it aroused the displeasure of the Western scholars, +and they complained of being slighted.[24] + +The reverence for Slavonic learning was strikingly illustrated during +the years following the Cossack massacres, when many Russo-Polish rabbis +fled for safety to foreign lands. Frankfort, Fuerth, Prague, and Vienna +successively elected the fugitive Shabbatai Horowitz of Ostrog as their +religious guide. David Taz of Vladimir became rabbi of Steinitz in +Moravia; Ephraim Hakohen was called to Trebitsch in Moravia and to Ofen +in Hungary; David of Lyda, to Mayence and Amsterdam, and Naphtali Kohen, +to Frankfort-on-the-Main in 1704, and later to Breslau. No less +personages than Isaac Aboab and Saul Morteira welcomed the +merchant-Talmudist Moses Rivkes of Vilna when he sought refuge in +Amsterdam, and they entrusted to him the task of editing the _Shulhan +'Aruk_, his marginal notes to which, the _Beer ha-Golah_, have ever +since been printed with the text. In addition to rabbis, Lithuania and +other provinces furnished teachers for the young, melammedim, who +exerted considerable influence upon the people among whom they lived. +Their opinions, we are told, were highly valued in the choice of +rabbis.[25] + +It must not be supposed that supremacy in the Talmud was secured at the +cost of secular knowledge, or what was then regarded as such. Their +familiarity with other branches of study was not inferior to that of the +Jews in better-known lands. Not a few of the prominent men united piety +with philosophy, and thorough knowledge of the Talmud with mastery of +one or more of the sciences of the time. Data on this phase of the +subject might have been much more abundant, had not the storm of +persecution suddenly swept over the communities, destroying them and +their records. What we still possess indicates what may have been lost. +The Ukraine was famous for its scholars. Among them was Jehiel Michael +of Nemirov, reputed to have been "versed in all the sciences of the +world."[26] Several of them were poets and grammarians. Poems of a +liturgical character are still extant in which they bemoan their plight +or assert their faith hopefully. Such were the poems of Ephraim of +Khelm, Joseph of Kobrin, Solomon of Zamoscz, and Shabbatai Kohen. The +last, eminent as a Talmudist, the author of commentaries on the _Shulhan +'Aruk_ approved by the leading rabbis of his generation, is also known +as a very trustworthy historian. His _Megillah 'Afah_, written in +classic Hebrew, is a valuable source of information on the critical +period in which he lived. He won the esteem of the Polish nobility by +his secular attainments. To judge from his correspondence, he must have +been on intimate terms with Vidrich of Leipsic.[27] Of the grammarians, +Jacob Zaslaver wrote on the Massorah, and Shabbatai Sofer was the author +of annotations and treatises.[28] Our taste in poetry and grammar is no +longer the same, but the polemic and apologetic writings of those days, +called forth by the discussions between Rabbanites and Karaites and by +the constant attacks of Christianity, are still of uncommon interest. +Specimens of the former kind are the polemics of Moses of Shavli, which +caused consternation in the camp of the Karaites. Of the apologetic +writings should be mentioned the reply, in Polish, of Jacob Nahman of +Belzyc to Martin Chekhovic (Lublin, 1581), and the _Hizzuk Emunah_ of +the Karaite Isaac ben Abraham of Troki. In the latter the weakness of +Christianity and the strength of Judaism are pointed out with trenchancy +never before reached. The work stirred up heated discussions among the +various Christian sects, with the tenets of which the author was +intimately acquainted. It was translated into Latin (1681, 1705), +Yiddish (1717), English (1851), and German (1865, 1873). Voltaire says +that all the arguments used by free-thinkers against Christianity were +drawn from it.[29] + +In philosophy, mathematics, and medicine, the three main branches of +medieval knowledge, many Slavonian Jews attained eminence. Devout +Karaites as well as diligent Talmudists found secular learning a +diversion and a delight. For the lovers of enlightenment Italy, +especially Padua, was the centre of attraction, as France and Spain had +been before, and Germany, particularly Berlin, became afterwards.[30] +Towards the middle of the sixteenth century we find young Delacrut at +the University of Bologna, the philosopher and Cabbalist, known for his +commentaries to Gikatilla's _Sha'are Orah_ (Cracow, 1600) and Ben +Avigdor's _Mar'eh ha-Ofanim_ (1720), and his translation of Gossuin's +_L'image du monde_ (Amsterdam, 1733). His famous disciple Mordecai Jaffe +(Lebushim) spent ten years in the study of astronomy and mathematics +before he occupied the rabbinate of Grodno (1572)[31] At the request of +Yom-Tob Lipman Heller, Joseph ben Isaac Levi wrote a commentary on +Maimuni's _Moreh Nebukim_, which was published with the former's +annotations, _Gibe'at ha-Moreh_ (Prague, 1611). Deservedly or not, +Eliezer Mann was called "the Hebrew Socrates"; and many a Maskil in his +study of mathematics turned for guidance to Manoah Handel of +Brzeszticzka, Volhynia, author and translator of several scientific +works, who rendered seven Euclidean propositions into Hebrew.[32] + +Polyglots they were compelled to be by force of circumstances. When the +exotic Judeo-German finally asserted itself as the vernacular, the +language in which they wrote and prayed was still the ancient Hebrew, +with which every one was familiar, and commercial intercourse with their +Gentile neighbors was hardly feasible without at least a smattering of +the local Slavonic dialect. "Look at our brethren in Poland," exclaims +Wessely many years later in his address to his countrymen. "They +converse with their neighbors in good Polish.... What excuse have we for +our brogue and jargon?" He might have had still better cause for +complaint, had he been aware that the Yiddish of the Russo-Polish Jews, +despite its considerable Slavonic admixture, was purer German than that +of his contemporaries in Germany, even as the English of our New England +colonies was superior to the Grub Street style prevalent in Dr. +Johnson's England, and the Spanish of our Mexican annexations to the +Castilian spoken at the time of Coronado. But we are here concerned with +their knowledge of foreign languages. We shall refer only to the +Hebrew-German-Italian-Latin-French dictionary _Safah Berurah_ (Prague, +1660; Amsterdam, 1701) by the eminent Talmudist Nathan Hannover.[33] + +In medicine Jews were pre-eminent in the Slavonic countries, as they +were everywhere else. They were in great demand as court physicians, +though several had to pay with their lives "for having failed to effect +cures." Doctor Leo, who was at the court of Moscow in 1490, was +mentioned above. Jacob Isaac, the "nobleman of Jerusalem" (Yerosalimska +shlyakhta), was attached to the court of Sigismund, where he was held in +high esteem. Prince Radziwill's physician was Itshe Nisanovich, and +among those in attendance on John Sobieski were Jonas Casal and Abraham +Troki, the latter the author of several works on medicine and natural +philosophy.[34] + +Medieval Jewish physicians were prone to travel, and those of +Russo-Poland were no exception. We find them in almost every part of the +civilized world, and their number increases with the disappearance of +prejudice. Some were noted Talmudists, such as Solomon Luria and Samuel +ben Mattathias. Abraham Ashkenazi Apotheker was not only a compounder of +herbs but a healer of souls, for the edification of which he wrote his +_Elixir of Life_ (_Sam Hayyim_, Prague, 1590). To the same class belong +Moses Katzenellenbogen and his son Hayyim, who was styled Gaon. In 1657 +Hayyim visited Italy. He was welcomed by the prominent Jews of Mantua, +Modena, Venice, and Verona, but he preferred to continue the practice of +his profession in his home town Lublin.[35] Nor may we omit the names of +Stephen von Gaden and Moses Coen, because of their high standing among +their colleagues and the honors conferred upon them for their +statesmanship. Stephen von Gaden, who with Samuel Collins was +physician-in-ordinary to Czar Aleksey Mikhailovich, was instrumental in +removing many disabilities from the Jews of Moscow and in the interior +of Russia. Moses Coen, in consequence of the Cossack uprising, escaped +to Moldavia, and was made court physician by the hospodar Vassile Lupu. +But for Coen, Lupu would have been dethroned by those who conspired +against him. To his loyalty may probably be attributed the kind +treatment Moldavian Jews later enjoyed at the hands of the prince. Coen +also exposed the secret alliance between Russia and Sweden against +Turkey, and his advice was sought by the doge of Venice.[36] + +The personage who typifies best the enlightened Slavonic Jew of the +pre-Haskalah period is Tobias Cohn (1652-1729). He was the son and +grandson of physicians, who practiced at Kamenetz-Podolsk and Byelsk, +and after 1648 went to Metz. After their father's death, he and his +older brother returned to Poland, whence Tobias, in turn, emigrated +first to Italy and then to Turkey. In Adrianople he was +physician-in-ordinary to five successive sultans. In the history of +medicine he is remembered as the discoverer of the _plica polonica_, and +as the publisher of a Materia Medica in three languages. To the student +of Haskalah he is interesting, because he marks the close of the old and +the beginning of the new era. Like the Maskilim of a century or two +centuries later, he compiled and edited an encyclopedia in Hebrew, that +"knowledge be increased among his coreligionists." His acquaintance with +learned works in several ancient and modern languages of which he was +master, enabled him to write his magnum opus, _Ma'aseh Tobiah_, with +tolerable ease. This work is divided into eight parts, devoted +respectively to theology, astronomy, pharmacy, hygiene, venereal +diseases, botany, cosmography, and chemistry. It is illustrated with +several plates, among them the picture of an astrolabe and one of the +human body treated as a house. From the numerous editions through which +it passed (Venice, 1707, 1715, 1728, 1769), we may conclude that it met +with marked success.[37] + + * * * * * + +To understand the _raison d'Etre_ of the Haskalah movement, it may not +be superfluous to cast a glance at the inner social and religious life +of the Slavonic Jews during pre-Haskalah times. The labors of the farmer +are crowned with success only when nature lends him a helping hand. His +soil must be fertile, and blessed with frequent showers. Nor would the +Maskilim have accomplished their aim, had the material they found at +hand been different from what it was. + +The Jews in the land of the Slavonians were fortunate in being regarded +as aliens in a country which, as we have seen, they inhabited long +before those who claimed to be its possessors by divine right of +conquest. If their position was precarious, their sufferings were those +of a conquered nation. As the whim and fancy of the reigning prince, +knyaz, varied, they were induced one day to settle in the country by the +offer of the most flattering privileges, and the next day they were +expelled, only to be requested to return again. Now their synagogues and +cemeteries were exempt from taxation, now an additional poll-tax or +land-tax was levied on every Jew (serebshizna); one day they were +allowed to live unhampered by restrictions, then they were prohibited to +wear certain garments and ornaments, and commanded to use yellow caps +and kerchiefs to distinguish them from the Gentiles (1566). + +But all this was the consequence of political subjugation. Judged by the +standard of the times, they were veritable freemen, freer than the +Huguenots of France and the Puritans of England. They were left +unmolested in the administration of their internal affairs, and were +permitted to appoint their own judges, enforce their own laws, and +support their own institutions. Forming a state within a state, they +developed a civilization contrasting strongly with that round about +them, and comparing favorably with some of the features of ours of +to-day. Slavonic Jewry was divided into four districts, consisting of +the more important communities (kahals), to which a number of smaller +ones (prikahalki) were subservient. These, known as the Jewish +Assemblies (zbori zhidovskiye), met at stated intervals. As in our +federal Government, the administrative, executive, and legislative +departments were kept distinct, and those who presided over them +(roshim) were elected annually by ballot. These roshim, or elders, +served by turns for periods of one month each. The rabbi of each +community was the chief judge, and was assisted by several inferior +judges (dayyanim). For matters of importance there were courts of appeal +established in Ostrog and Lemberg, the former having jurisdiction over +Volhynia and the Ukraine, the latter over the rest of Jewish +Russo-Poland. For inter-kahal litigation, there was a supreme court, the +Wa'ad Arba' ha-Arazot (the Synod of the Four Countries), which held its +sessions during the Lublin fair in winter and the Yaroslav fair in +summer. In cases affecting Jews and Gentiles, a decision was given by +the _judex Judaeorum_, who held his office by official appointment of +the grand duke. + +So far their system of self-government appears almost a prototype of our +own. The same is true of their municipal administration. The rabbi, who +had the deciding vote in case of a dead-lock, stood in the same relation +to them as the mayor holds to us, only that his term of office, +nominally limited to three years, was actually for life or during good +behavior. Yet the power vested in him was only delegated power. A number +of selectmen, or aldermen, guarded the rights of the community with the +utmost jealousy, and tolerated no innovation, unless previously +sanctioned by them. There were also several honorary offices, with a +one-year tenure, which none could fill who had not had experience in an +inferior position. The chief duties attached to these offices were to +appraise the amount of taxation, pay the salaries of the rabbi, his +dayyanim, and the teachers of the public schools, provide for the poor, +and, above all, intercede with the Government.[38] + +Still more interesting and, for our purpose, more important were their +public and private institutions of learning. Jews have always been noted +for the solicitous care they exercise in the education of the young. The +Slavonic Jews surpassed their brethren of other countries in this +respect. At times they wrenched the tender bond of parental love in +their ardor for knowledge. With a republican form of government they +created an aristocracy, not of wealth or of blood, but of intellect. The +education of girls was, indeed, neglected. To be able to read her +prayers in Hebrew and to write Yiddish was all that was expected of a +mother in Israel. It was otherwise with the boys. Every Jew deemed +himself in duty bound to educate his son. "Learning is the best +merchandise"--_Torah iz die beste sehorah_--was the lesson inculcated +from cradle to manhood, the precept followed from manhood to old age. +All the lullabies transmitted to us from earliest times indicate the +pursuit of knowledge as the highest ambition cherished by mothers for +their sons: + + Patsche, patsche, little tootsies, + We shall buy us little bootsies; + Little bootsies we shall buy, + To run to heder we shall try; + Torah we'll learn and all good ma'alot (qualities), + On our wedding eve we shall solve sha'alot (ritual problems).[39] + +To have a scholarly son or son-in-law was the best passport to the +highest circles, a means of rising from the lowliest to the loftiest +station in life. + +It is no wonder, then, that schools abounded in every community. At the +early age of four the child was usually sent to the heder (school; +literally, room), where he studied until he was ready for the yeshibah, +the higher "seat" of learning. The melammedim, teachers, were graded +according to their ability, and the school year consisted of two terms, +zemannim, from the first Sabbath after the Holy Days to Passover and +from after Passover to Rosh ha-Shanah. The boy's intellectual capacities +were steadily, if not systematically, cultivated, sometimes at the +expense of his bodily development. It was not unusual for a child of +seven or eight to handle a difficult problem in the Talmud, a precocity +characteristic to this day of the children hailing from Slavonic +countries. Their 'illuyim (prodigies) might furnish ample material for +more than one volume of _les enfants celebres_. + +Nor were the children of the poor left to grow up in ignorance. Learning +was free, to be had for the asking. More than this, stringent measures +were taken that no child be without instruction. Talmud Torahs were +founded even in the smallest kehillot (communities), and the students +were supplied, not only with books, but also with the necessaries of +life. Communal and individual benefactors furnished clothes, and every +member (ba'al ha-bayit) had to provide food and lodging for an indigent +pupil at least one day of each week. The "Freitisch" (free board) was an +inseparable adjunct to every school. Poor young men were not regarded as +"beggar students." They were looked upon as earning their living by +study, even as teachers by instructing. To pray for the dead or the +living in return for their support is a recent innovation, and mostly +among other than Slavonic Jews. It is a custom adopted from medieval +Christianity, and practiced in England by the poor student, who, in the +words of Chaucer, + + Busily 'gan for the souls to pray + On them that gave him wherewith to scolay. + +For a faithful and vivid description of the yeshibot we cannot do better +than transcribe the account given in the pages of the little pamphlet +_Yeven Mezulah_ in which Nathan Hannover, mentioned above, has left us a +reliable history of the Cossack uprisings and the Kulturgeschichte of +his own time. + + I need bring no proof for the statement that nowhere was the + study of the Law so universal as in Russo-Poland. In every + community there was a well-paid dean (rosh yeshibah), who, + exempt from worry about a livelihood, devoted himself + exclusively to teaching and studying by day and by night. In + every kahal, many youths, maintained liberally, studied under + the guidance of the dean. In turn, they instructed the less + advanced, who were also supported by the community. A kahal of + fifty [families] had to provide for at least thirty such. They + boarded and lodged in the homes of their patrons, and frequently + received pocket-money in addition. Thus there was hardly a house + in which the Torah was not studied, either by the master of the + house, a son, a son-in-law, or a student stranger. They always + bore in mind the dictum of Rabba, "He who loves scholars will + have scholarly sons; he who welcomes scholars will have + scholarly sons-in-law; he who admires scholars will become + learned himself." No wonder, then, that every community swarmed + with scholars, that out of every fifty of its members at least + twenty were far advanced, and had the morenu (i.e. bachelor) + degree. + + The dean was vested with absolute authority. He could punish an + offender, whether rich or poor. Everybody respected him, and he + often received gifts of money or valuables. In all religious + processions he came first. Then followed the students, then the + learned, and the rest of the congregation brought up the rear. + This veneration for the dean prompted many a youth to imitate + his example, and thus our country was rendered full of the + knowledge of the Law. + +What became of the students when they were graduated? Let us turn once +more to Hannover's interesting narrative. The "fairs" of those days were +much more than opportunities for barter; they afforded favorable and +attractive occasions for other objects. Zaslav and Yaroslav during the +summer, Lemberg and Lublin in the winter, were "filled with hundreds of +deans and thousands of students," and one who had a marriageable +daughter had but to resort thither to have his worries allayed. +Therefore, "Jews and Jewesses attended these bazaars in magnificent +attire, and [each season] several hundred, sometimes as many as a +thousand, alliances were consummated." + +That the rabbi, living in a strange land and recalling a glorious past, +should have indulged in a bit of exaggeration in his sorrowful +retrospect, is not more than natural; and that his picture on the whole +is true is proved by similar schools which existed in Russia till +recently. The descriptions of these institutions by Smolenskin as well +as writers of less repute are graphic and intensely interesting. They +constituted a unique world, in which the Jewish youth lived and moved +until he reached man's estate. In later years, when Russian Jewry became +infected, so to speak, with the Aufklaerungs-bacilli, they became the +nurseries of the new learning. But in the earlier time, too, a spirit of +enlightenment pervaded them. The study of the Talmud fostered in them +was regarded both as a religious duty and as a means to an end, the +rabbinate. Even in the Middle Ages Aristotle was a favorite with the +older students, and Solomon Luria complained that in the prayer books of +many of them he had noticed the prayer of Aristotle, for which he blamed +the liberal views of Moses Isserles![40] + +Another typically, though not exclusively, Slavonic Jewish institution +was the study-hall, or bet ha-midrash. As the synagogues gradually +became Schulen (schools), so, by a contrary process, the bet ha-midrash +assumed the function of a house of prayer. Its uniqueness it has +retained to this day. It was at once a library, a reading-room, and a +class-room; yet those who frequented it were bound by the rigorous laws +of none of the three. There were no restrictions as to when, or what, or +how one should study. It was a place in which originality was admired +and research encouraged. As at a Spartan feast, youth and age +commingled, men of all ages and diverse attainments exchanged views, and +all benefited by mutual contact. + +Those whose position precluded devotion to study availed themselves at +least of the means for mutual improvement at their disposal. They +organized societies for the study of certain branches of Jewish lore, +and for the meetings of these societies the busiest spared time and the +poorest put aside his work. It was a people composed of scholars and +those who maintained scholars, and the scholars, in dress and +appearance, represented the aristocracy, an aristocracy of the +intellect. + +Such was the pre-Haskalah period. From the meagre data at our disposal +we are justified in concluding, that, left undisturbed, the Slavonic +Jews would have evolved a civilization rivalling, if not surpassing, +that of the golden era of the Spanish Jews. But this was not to be. +Their onward march met a sudden and terrific check. Hetman Chmielnicki +at the head of his savage hordes of Russians and Tatars conquered the +Poles, and Jews and Catholics were subjected to the most inhuman +treatment. The descendants of those who, in 1090, had escaped the +Crusaders fell victims in 1648 to the more cruel Cossacks. About half a +million Jews, it is estimated, lost their lives in Chmielnicki's +horrible massacres. The few communities remaining were utterly +demoralized. The education of the young was neglected, both sacred and +secular branches of study were abandoned. And when the storm calmed +down, they found themselves deprived of the accumulations of centuries, +forced, like Noah after the deluge, but without his means, to start +again from the very beginning. Indeed, as Levinsohn remarks, the wonder +is that, despite the fiendish persecution they endured, these +unfortunates should have preserved a spark of love of knowledge. Yet a +little later it was to burst into flame again and bring light and warmth +to hearts crushed by "man's inhumanity to man." + +(Notes, pp. 305-310.) + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE PERIOD OF TRANSITION + +1648-1794 + + +The storm of persecution that had been brewing in the sixteenth century, +and which burst in all its fury by the middle of the seventeenth +century, was allayed but little by the rivers of blood that streamed +over the length and breadth of the Slavonic land. Half a million Jewish +victims were not sufficient to satisfy the followers of a religion of +love. They only whetted their insatiable appetite. The anarchy among the +Gentiles increased the misery of the Jews. The towns fell into the hands +of the Lithuanians, Poles, Russians, and Tatars successively, and it was +upon the Jews that the hounds of war were let loose at each defeat or +conquest. Determined to exterminate each other, they joined forces in +exterminating the Jews. When Bratzlav, for instance, was destroyed by +the Tatars, in 1479, more than four hundred of its six hundred Jewish +citizens were slain. When the city was attacked by the Cossacks in 1569, +the greater number of the plundered and murdered were Jews. The same +happened when Chmielnicki gained the upper hand in Bratzlav in 1648, +again when the Russians slaughtered all the inhabitants in 1664, and +when the Tatars plotted against their victorious enemy, Peter the +Great.[1] Swedish attacks without and popular uprisings within rendered +the Polish pan (dubbed among Jews poriz, rowdy or ruffian) as reckless +as he was irresponsible. The Jew became for him a sponge to be squeezed +for money, and a clown to contribute to his brutal amusements. The +subtle and baneful influence of the Jesuits succeeded, besides, in +introducing religion into politics and making the Jew the scapegoat for +the evils of both. The _Judaeus infidelis_ was the target of abuse and +persecution. It was only the fear that the Government's exchequer might +suffer that prevented his being turned into a veritable slave. His +condition, indeed, was worse than slavery; his life was worth less than +a beast's. It was frequently taken for the mere fun of it, and with +impunity. An overseer once ordered all Jewish mothers living on the +estate to climb to the tree-tops and leave their little ones below. He +then fired at the children, and when the women fell from the trees at +the horrible sight, he presented each with a piece of money, and thanked +them for the pleasure they had afforded him.[2] + +In the cities, though the pan's excesses were bound to be somewhat +bridled there, the lot of the Jews was equally gloomy. They were treated +like outlaws, were forbidden to engage in all but a few branches of +trade or handicraft, or to live with Christians, or employ them as +servants. In 1720 they were prohibited to build new synagogues or even +repair the old ones. Sometimes the synagogues were locked "by order +of ..." until a stipulated amount of money bought permission to reopen +them. We of to-day can hardly imagine what pain a Jew of that time +experienced when he hastened to the house of God on one of the great +Holy Days only to find its doors closed by the police! + +Their status was no better in Lithuania and Great Russia. The accession +of Ivan IV, the Terrible (1533-1584), dealt their former comparative +prosperity a blow from which it has not recovered to this day. As if to +remove the impression of liberalism made by his predecessor and +obliterate from memory his amicable relations with Doctor Leo, de +Guizolfi, and Chozi Kolos, this monster czar, with the fiendishness of a +Caligula, but lacking the accomplishments of his heathen prototype, +delighted to invent tortures for inoffensive Jews. He expelled them from +Moscow, and deprived them of the right of travel from place to place. +During his occupancy of Polotsk he ordered all Jews residing there +either to become converts to Greek Catholicism or choose between being +drowned in the Dwina and burnt at the stake. + +But even the removal of the terrible czar and the dawn of the century of +reason and humanitarianism failed to effect a change for the better in +the condition of the Slavonic Jews. For a while it appeared as if the +Zeitgeist might penetrate even into Russo-Poland, and the Renaissance +and the Reformation would not pass over the eastern portion of Europe +without beneficent results. In Lithuania Calvinism threatened to oust +Catholicism, science and culture began to be pursued, and Jewish and +Gentile children attended the same schools. The successors of Ivan IV +were men of better breeding, and the praiseworthy attempts of Peter the +Great to introduce Western civilization are known to all.[3] But +Slavonic soil has never been susceptible to the elevating influences +that have transformed the rest of Europe. Every reformatory effort was +nipped in the bud. The lot of the Jews accordingly grew from bad to +worse. In 1727 they were expelled from the Ukraine and other provinces, +and they were recalled, "for the benefit of the citizens," only at the +instance of Apostol, the hetman of the very Cossacks that had massacred +them in 1648. Baruch Leibov was burned alive in St. Petersburg, in 1738, +for having dared "insult the Christian religion by building a synagogue +in the village of Zvyerovichi," an offence that was aggravated by the +suspicion that he had converted the Russian Captain Vosnitzin to +Judaism. The same fate was, in 1783, meted out to Moses, a Jewish +tailor, for refusing to accept Christianity, and in 1790 a Jew was +quartered in Grodno, though the king had declined to sign his death +warrant. In some places Jews had to contribute towards the maintenance +of churches, and in Slutsk the law, enacted there in 1766, remains +unrevoked to this day. Elizabeta Petrovna did not imitate Ivan III. When +she discovered that Sanchez, her physician, was of the Jewish +persuasion, she discharged him without notice, after eighteen years of +faithful service. Similarly, when the Livonian merchants remonstrated, +maintaining that the exclusion of Jews from their fairs was fraught with +disastrous consequences to the commerce of the country, she is reported +to have replied, "From the enemies of Christ I will not receive even a +benefit."[4] + +But worse things were yet to come, the worst since Chmielnicki's +massacres. The bitterness of both Poles and Russians against the Jews +grew especially intense as the days of the rozbior, the Partition of +Poland, drew near (1794). The Poles, forgetting the many examples of +loyalty and self-sacrifice shown by Jews in times of peace and war, +suspected them of being treacherous and unreliable; while the Russians, +though denying the patriotism of their own Jews, persisted in the +accusation that Polish Jews spent money lavishly in fomenting rebellion +and anarchy. The pupils of the Jesuits found great delight in attacks +upon the Jews, which frequently culminated in riot and bloodshed and the +payment of money by Jews to Catholic institutions. "What appalling +spectacles," exclaims a Christian writer, "must we witness in the +capital [Warsaw] on solemn holidays. Students and even adults in noisy +mobs assault the Jews, and sometimes beat them with sticks. We have seen +a gang waylay a Jew, stop his horses, and strike him till he fell from +the wagon. How can we look with indifference on such a survival of +barbarism?" The commonest manifestations of hatred and superstition, +however, were, as in other countries, the charge that Jews were +magicians, using the black art to avenge themselves on their +persecutors, and that they used Christian blood for their observance of +the Passover. The latter crime, the imputing of which was sternly +prohibited by an edict of the liberal Bathory, in 1576, was so +frequently laid at their door, that in the short period of sixty years +(1700-1760) not less than twenty such accusations were brought against +them, ending each time in the massacre of Jews by infuriated mobs. Even +more shocking, if possible, was the frequent extermination of whole +communities by the brigand bands known as Haidamacks. They added the +"Massacre of Uman" (1768) to the Jewish calendar of misfortunes, the +most terrible slaughter, equalled, perhaps, only by that of Nemirov in +1648.[5] + +That all this should have left a marked impression on the mentality and +intellectuality of the Jews, is little to be wondered at. The marvel is +that they should have maintained their superiority over their +surroundings, and continued to be a law-abiding and God-fearing people. +While among the Russians and Poles the nobles who learned to read or +write formed a rare exception, there was hardly one among the Jews, the +very lowliest of them, who could not read Hebrew, and even translate it +into the vernacular. Maimon tells us that in his early youth he became +the family tutor of "a miserable farmer in a still more miserable +village," who yet was ambitious of giving his children an education of +some kind. + + Fortunately for the Jews of those times--says a writer--their + civilization was by far superior to that of the Christians. The + rabbi, though in no way inferior to the priest mentally, was + immeasurably above him morally. The students of the yeshibot, + despite their exclusive devotion to the study of the Talmud, yet + were better equipped for intellectual work, were of broader + minds and better manners, than the pupils of the Jesuits. And + the Jewish ba'ale battim, with an education as good as that of + the Gentile shlyakhta, had a more ennobling and elevating object + in life.[6] + +It is remarkable how quickly they recuperated from the blows they +received. In 1648 thousands of people were killed, whole communities +exterminated, Volhynia, Podolia, and a great part of Lithuania utterly +ruined. In 1660, in those very places, we hear again of Jewish +settlements, with synagogues and schools and a system of education of +the kind described in the preceding chapter, and we hear of the Council +of Lithuania struggling to re-establish and cement the shattered +foundation of their self-government. Yet all their efforts improved the +demoralized condition of the country but little. As always in national +crises, the individual was sacrificed to the community, and deprived of +the few rights remaining to him. The kehillot became brutally +oppressive. There were no longer men of the stamp of Abraham Rapoport, +Solomon Luria, Mordecai Jaffe, and Meir Katz, to put their feet on the +neck of tyranny. Without special permission no one could buy or sell, or +move from one place to another, or learn a trade or practice a +profession. Rabbinism became synonymous with rigorism, the coercion of +untold customs became unbearable, and the spirit of Judaism was lost in +a heap of innumerable rites. The Jew's every act had to be sanctioned by +religion. He knew of the outward world only from the heavy taxes he paid +in order to be allowed to exist, and from the bloody riots with which +his people was frequently visited. + +What could result from such a state of affairs but poverty, material and +spiritual, with all the suffering it engenders? Those at the head of the +kehillot, being responsible solely to the Government, often had to +deliver the full tale of bricks like the Jewish overseers in Egypt, +though no straw was given to them. On one occasion Rabbi Mikel of Shkud +was arrested because the kahal could not pay the thousand gulden it +owed. In 1767, the whole kahal of Vilna went to Warsaw to protest +against intolerable taxation. Such protests were usually of little +avail. On the other hand, a few powerful families throve at the expense +of their oppressed coreligionists. This aroused a spirit of animosity +and a clamor for the abolition of the kahal institution. Jewish autonomy +was more and more encroached upon. Rabbinates were bought and sold, and +the aid of the Government was invoked in religious controversies. A +question regarding the preferable form of prayer was submitted to the +decision of Paul I. In 1777, Prince Radziwill decided who should +officiate as rabbi in so important a centre of Judaism as Vilna,[7] and +in 1804 the Government issued a "regulation" depriving the kahal of its +judicial functions altogether. + +What was even more disastrous was the spiritual poverty of the masses. +Seldom have the awful warnings of the great lawgiver been fulfilled so +literally as during the eighteenth century: + + And upon them that remain of you, I will send a faintness into + their hearts in the land of their enemies; and the sound of a + shaken leaf shall chase them; and they shall flee as fleeing + from a sword; and they shall fall, when none pursueth. And they + shall fall one upon another, as it were before a sword, when + none pursueth: and ye shall have no power to stand before your + enemies (Lev. 26: 36-37). + + But the Lord shall give thee there a trembling heart, and + failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind. And thy life shall hang in + doubt before thee; and thou shalt fear day and night, and thou + shalt have none assurance of thy life (Deut. 29: 65-66). + +Having learned from sad experience that there was no crime their foes +were incapable of perpetrating, they gave credence to every rumor as to +an established fact. A report that boys and girls were to be prohibited +from marrying before a certain age resulted in behalot (panics), during +which children of the tenderest ages were united as husband and wife +(1754, 1764, 1793). Mysticism became rampant. "Messiah" after "Messiah" +"revealed" himself as the one promised to redeem Israel from all his +troubles. Love of God began to be tinged with fear of the devil, and +incantations to take the place of religious belief. The _Zohar_ and +works full of superstition, such as the _Kab ha-Yashar_, _Midrash +Talpiyot_, and _Nishmat Hayyim_, the first studied by men, the others by +both sexes, but mostly by women, prepared their minds for all sorts of +mongrel beliefs. "In no land," says Tobias Cohn, "is the practice of +summoning up devils and spirits by means of the Cabbalistic abracadabra +so prevalent, and the belief in dreams and visions so strong, as in +Poland."[8] All this, though it strengthened religious fervor in some, +undermined it in others. Sects came into being, struggled, and, having +brought added misery upon their followers, disappeared. Jewish criminals +escaped justice by invoking the power of the Catholic priesthood and +promising to become converted to Christianity.[9] And now and then even +Talmudists left the fold, as, for instance, Carl Anton, the Courland +pupil of Eybeschuetz, who became professor of Hebrew at Hamsted, and +wrote numerous works on Judaism. Others hoped to win the favor of the +Gentiles by preaching a mixture of Judaism and Catholicism. In many +places, especially in the Ukraine, the seat of learning that had +suffered most from the ravages of the Cossacks, the state of morals sank +very low, owing to the teaching of Jacob Querido, the self-proclaimed +son of the pseudo-Messiah Shabbatai Zebi, "that the sinfulness of the +world can be overcome only by a super-abundance of sin." This paved the +way for the last of the long list of Messiahs, Jacob (Yankev Leibovich) +Frank of Podolia. His experiences, adventures, and hairbreadth escapes, +his entire career, beginning with his return from his travels in Turkey, +through his conversion to Catholicism (1759), to the day of his death as +"Baron von Offenbach," would furnish material for a stirring drama. As +if to counteract this demoralizing tendency, a new sect, known as +Hasidim, originating in Lithuania and headed by Judah Hasid of Dubno and +Hayyim Malak, taught its devotees to hasten the advent of the Messiah by +doing penance for the sins of Israel. They were so firmly convinced of +the efficacy of fasts and prayers that they went to Jerusalem by +hundreds to witness the impending redemption (ab. 1706). But the ascetic +Hasidim and the epicurean Frankists were alike doomed to disappear or to +be swallowed up by a new Hasidism, combining the teachings and +aspirations of both, the sect founded by Israel Baal Shem, or Besht (ab. +1698-1759), and fully developed by Bar of Meseritz and Jacob Joseph of +Polonnoy. + +[Illustration: ISAAC BAeR LEVINSOHN, 1788-1860] + +Time was when all writers on the subject, usually Maskilim, thought it +their duty to cast a stone at Hasidism. They described it as a Chinese +wall shutting the Jews in and shutting the world out. It is becoming +more and more plainly recognized and admitted, that it was, in reality, +an attempt at reform rendered imperative by the tyranny of the kahal, +the rigorism of the rabbis, the superciliousness of the learned classes, +and the superstition of the masses. Its aim was to bring about a deep +psychologic improvement, to change not so much the belief as the +believer. It insisted on purity rather than profundity of thought. +Unable to remove the galling yoke, it gave strength to its wearers by +prohibiting sadness and asceticism, and emphasizing joy and fellowship +as important elements in the fabric of its theology. + +Hasidism was thus a plant the seeds of which had been sown by the +various sects. Like the former Hasidim, or even the Assideans of nearly +two thousand years before, their latter-day namesakes rigidly adhered to +the laws of Levitical purification, and, to a certain extent, led a +communistic life. In addition they accepted, in a modified form, certain +customs and beliefs of the Catholic church that had been adopted by the +followers of Frank. The prayers to the saints (zaddikim), the conception +of faith as the fountain of salvation, even the belief in a trinity +consisting of the Godhead, the Shekinah, and the Holy Ghost, these and +other exotic doctrines introduced by the Cabbala took root and grew in +the vineyard of Hasidism.[10] + +The founder of the sect has an interesting history. In his childhood he +gave no evidence of future greatness. His education was of a low order, +but his feeling heart and sympathetic soul won him the esteem of all +that knew him. The woods possessed the same charm for him as for +Wordsworth or Whitman. With the latter especially he seems to have much +in common. While a child, he absented himself frequently from the narrow +and noisy heder, and spent the day in the quiet of the neighboring +woods. When he grew up, he accepted the menial position of a school +usher. His office was to go from house to house, arouse the sleeping +children, dress them, and bring them to heder. But the time soon came +when humble and obscure Israel "revealed" himself to the world. Owing to +his tact and knowledge of human nature, combined with the conditions of +the times, his teachings spread rapidly. He was speedily crowned with +the glory of a "good name" (Baal Shem Tob), and in the end he was +immortalized. + +From such a man we can expect only originality, not profundity. Indeed, +his whole life was a protest against the subtleties of the Talmudists +and the ceremonies, meaningless to him, which they introduced into +Judaism. His object was to remove the petrified rabbinical restrictions +(gezerot) and develop the emotional side of the Jew in their stead. He +was primarily a man of action, and had little love for the rabbis, their +passivity, world-weariness, and pride of intellect. It is said that when +he "overheard the sounds of eager, loud discussions issuing from a +rabbinical college, closing his ears with his hands, [he] declared that +it was such disputants who delayed the redemption of Israel from +captivity." Men like these, who study the Law for the sake of knowing, +not of feeling, cannot claim any merit for it. They deserve to be called +"Jewish devils." Only he is worthy of reward who is virtuous rather than +innocent, who does what he is afraid to do, who, as Jacob Joseph of +Polonnoy puts it, "acquires evil thoughts and converts them into holy +ones." No asceticism for him. All kinds of human feelings deserve our +respect, for it is not the body that feels but the soul, and the soul, +"being a part of God on high, cannot possibly have an absolutely bad +tendency." Men may not be heresy-hunters and fault-finders, for none is +free from heresy and faults himself: the face he brings to the mirror, +he finds reflected in it. Yea, even the followers of Abraham possess +evil propensities, and noble qualities frequently belong to the +disciples of Balaam himself.[11] + +These democratic principles put the most ignorant Jew in Russia on an +equality with the erudite Lithuanian. No wonder that they obtained such +strong hold on the people of the Ukraine, the province shorn of all its +glory. Hasidism invaded Podolia and Volhynia, swept over Galicia and +Hungary, and found adherents even in many a large community in Western +Russia and Prussia. It brought cheer and happiness in its wake, and +rendered the unfortunate Jew forgetful of his misery. Gottlober +maintains that the inspiring melodies of the Hasidic hymns were largely +responsible for the spread of the movement, even as Moody attributed the +success of his revivals to the singing of Sankey. For, as Doctor +Schechter has it, "the Besht was a religious revivalist in the best +sense, full of burning faith in his God and his cause; convinced of the +value of his teaching and his truth."[12] + +One province there was to which the Besht could not penetrate, at least +not without a long siege and great losses. In Lithuania the inroads of +Hasidism were strenuously opposed, and its advance disputed step by +step. The Lithuanian Jews, to whom the Talmud was as dear as ever, could +not countenance a movement sprung, as they believed, from the seed sown +by Shabbatai Zebi, an opponent of the Talmud, and by Jacob Frank, at +whose instigation the Bishop of Kamenetz ordered the Talmud to be +publicly burnt.[13] + +The opponents (Mitnaggedim) of Hasidism were headed by a leader who was +as typical an exponent of the cause he espoused as the Besht was of his. +Among the students of Jewish literature since the close of the Talmud, +few have surpassed, or even equalled, Elijah of Vilna (1720-1797). Not +inappropriately he was called Gaon and Hasid, for in mental and moral +attainments he was unique in his generation. As the Besht was noted in +his early life for dulness and indifference, so Elijah was remarkable +for diligence and versatility. His life, like the Besht's, became the +nucleus of many wonderful tales, which his biographer narrates with +painstaking exactness. They present the picture of a man diametrically +different from Israel Baal Shem Tob. Every year, we are told, added to +the marvellous development of the young intellectual giant. When he was +six years old, none but Rabbi Moses Margolioth, the renowned Talmudist +and author, was competent enough to teach him. At seven, he worsted the +chief rabbi of his native city in a Talmudic discussion. At nine, there +was nothing in Jewish literature with which he was not familiar, and he +turned to other studies to satisfy his craving for knowledge. And at +thirteen, he was acknowledged by his fellows as the greatest of +Talmudists.[14] He had neither guide nor teacher. All unaided he +discovered the path of truth. He held neither a rabbinical nor any other +public office. He was as retiring as the Besht was aggressive. +Nevertheless his word was law, and his influence immense. The centenary +of his death (1897) was celebrated among all classes with the solemnity +which the memories of "men of God" inspire.[15] + +Now, this Gaon of Vilna, or Hagra, was perhaps no less dissatisfied with +prevailing conditions than the Besht, but his remedy for them was as +different as the two personalities were unlike. He did not desire to +abolish the Talmud, but rather to render it more attractive, by making +its acquisition easier and putting its study on a scientific basis. Even +in Lithuania, the citadel of the Talmud, the development of Talmudic +learning had been hampered. In accordance with a Talmudic principle, +mankind is continually degenerating, not only physically, but morally +and mentally as well. It holds that if "the ancients were angels, we are +mere men; if they were but men, we are asses." This high regard for +antiquity produced a belief in the infallibility of the rabbis on the +part of the Mitnaggedim, similar to that in their zaddikim by the +Hasidim. No scholar of a later generation dared disagree with the +statement of a rabbi of a previous generation. But as authorities +sometimes conflict with each other, the Talmudists regarded it their +duty to reconcile them or to prove, in the words of the ancient sages, +that "these as well as those are the words of the living God." +Similarly, the popes declared that, despite their contradictions, the +Biblical translations of Sixtus V and Clement VIII were both correct. + +It is true that Lithuanian Talmudists were not always the slaves of +authority which they ultimately became. A study of the works of the +early Slavonian rabbis, before and after Rabbi Polack, shows that they +were free from unhealthy awe of their predecessors, and sometimes were +audaciously independent. Neither Solomon Luria (Maharshal), Samuel Edels +(Maharsha), or Meir Lublin (Maharam) refrained from criticising and +amending whenever they deemed it necessary. But in the course of time +the casuistic method, originally a mere pastime, became the approved +method of study, and produced what is known as pilpul. Scholars wasted +days and nights in heaping Ossa upon Pelion, in reconciling difficulties +which no logic could harmonize. Here the Gaon found the first and most +urgent need for reform. The Talmudists, he declared, were not +infallible. Every one may interpret the Mishnah in accordance with +reason, even if the interpretation be not in keeping with the +traditional meaning as construed by the Amoraim.[16] + +His views on religion were equally liberal. The same process of +reasoning which, spun out to its logical conclusion, led to pilpul in +the schools, produced, when turned into the channel of religion, the +over-piety culminating in the _Shulhan 'Aruk_. This remarkable book, +with the euphonious name _The Ready Table_, prescribed enough +regulations to keep one busy from early morning till late at night. The +Jews found themselves bound hand and foot by ceremonial trammels and +weighted down by a burden of innumerable customs. The spirit of freedom +that had animated Slavonian Judaism during the Middle Ages had fled. The +breadth of view that had marked the decision of many of its rabbis was +gone.[17] Judaism was a mere mummy of its former self. Here, too, the +Gaon came to the rescue. Rightly or wrongly, he "established the +importance of Minhagim [religious ceremonies] according to their +antiquity or primitivism, regarding those which have originated since +the codification of the _Shulhan 'Aruk_ as not binding at all; those +which have been adopted since the Talmudic period to be subject to +change by common consent; while those of the Bible and in the Talmud +were to him fundamental and unalterable."[18] + +But the Gaon's influence on the Haskalah movement by far surpassed his +influence on the study of the Talmud or on the ceremonials of the +synagogue. Many, in point of fact, regard him as the originator of the +movement. As he was the first to oppose the authority of the Talmudists, +so he was the first to inveigh against the educational system among the +Jews of his day and country. The mania for distinction in rabbinical +learning plunged the child into the mazes of Talmudic casuistry as soon +as he could read; frequently he had not read the Bible or studied the +rudiments of grammar. The Gaon insisted that every one should first +master the twenty-four books of the Bible, their etymology, prosody, and +syntax, then the six divisions of the Mishnah with the important +commentaries and the suggested emendations, and finally the Talmud in +general, without wasting much time on pilpul, which brings no practical +result. "These few lines," says a writer, "contain a more thorough +course of study than Wessely suggested in his _Words of Peace and +Truth_. Though they did not entirely change the system in vogue--for +great is the power of habit--they produced a wholesome effect, which was +visible in a short time among the people." Furthermore, the Gaon +exhorted the Talmudists to study secular science, since, "if one is +ignorant of the other sciences, one is a hundredfold more ignorant of +the sciences of the Torah, for the two are inseparably connected." He +set the example by writing, not only on the most important Hebrew books, +Biblical, Talmudic, and Cabbalistic, but also on algebra, geometry, +trigonometry, astronomy, and grammar.[19] And his example served as an +impetus and encouragement to the Maskilim in spreading knowledge among +their coreligionists. + +Such was the man who led the crusade against the converts to Hasidism. +But even he could not stem the current. In their despair, the Lithuanian +Jews turned to their coreligionists in Germany, and implored their +assistance in eradicating, or at least suppressing, the threatened +invasion. The great learning and literary ability of the "divine +philosopher, Rabbi Moses ben Menahem" (Mendelssohn, 1729-1786), were +appealed to for help. Not a stone was left unturned to crush the new +sect (kat), so called. Volumes of the _Toledot Ya'akob Yosef_, in which +Rabbi Jacob Joseph of Polonnoy set forth the principles of the Besht, +were burnt in the market-place in Vilna. Intermarriage, social +intercourse of any kind, was prohibited between Hasidim and Mitnaggedim. +In Vilna, Grodno, Brest, Slutsk, Minsk, Pinsk, etc., the ban was hurled +against the dissenters by the most prominent rabbis. Israel was divided +into two hostile camps.[20] But soon everything was changed. Hasidim and +Mitnaggedim discovered that while they were fighting each other, a +common enemy was undermining the ground on which they stood. The +Haskalah was steadily drawing recruits from both, and it threatened +ultimately to become more dangerous to both than they were to each +other. + +From the South had come the impulse of religious revivalism through the +followers of the Besht, and the North was showing signs of awakening +through the reforms of the Gaon. At the same time a ray of enlightenment +from the West pierced through the night. To make the regeneration of +Slavonic Judaism complete, the element of estheticism had to be added to +emotionalism and reason. From the warm South came Besht, from the +studious North Hagra, and Rambman (Mendelssohn) made his appearance from +the enlightened West. The triumvirate was complete. + +Not that Mendelssohn ever visited or resided in Russo-Poland. But the +gentle, cultured little savant of Berlin, with whose lips, Carlyle tells +us, Socrates spoke like Socrates in German as in no other modern +language, "for his own character was Socratic," was at no period of his +life wholly cut off from influencing Slavonic Jews and from being +influenced by them. As a lad Mendelssohn was instructed by Israel Moses +Halevi of Zamoscz (ab. 1700-1772). This teacher of his, who is credited +with several inventions, and of whom Lessing says, in a letter to +Mendelssohn, that he was "one of the first to arouse a love for science +in the hearts of Jews," imbued him with love for philosophy. When +Mendelssohn emerged from obscurity, and, despite ill-health and +ignorance, attained culture and breeding, his associate, who was with +him the most important factor in German Haskalah, was the renowned +Naphtali, or Hartwig, Wessely, whose grandfather Joseph Reis had been +among the fugitives from the Cossack massacres in 1648. And when he +became famous, and took his place among the greatest of his age, he +still sought diversion and instruction among the Slavonian Jews, and +boasted of being a descendant of one of them, Moses Isserles of Cracow. +As formerly with the Talmud, the Haskalah seemed, at the time of +Mendelssohn, to be moving from the East westward, through the agency of +the Slavonic Jews pouring perennially into Germany. Positions, from the +lowly melammed's to the honorable chief rabbi's in prominent +communities, were filled almost exclusively by them. The cause of +Judaism seems to have been entrusted to them. Ezekiel Landau, whose +tactful intercession helped greatly to establish peace between the +Emden-Eybeschuetz factions, was rabbi of Prague for almost forty years +(1755-1793); the equally prominent, but at first somewhat less liberal +Phinehas Horowitz was rabbi and dean in Frankfort-on-the-Main for over +thirty years (1771-1805); his brother Shmelke, regarded as a saint, was +chief rabbi of Moravia (1775). Another Horwitz, Aaron Halevi, was rabbi +of Berlin, one of those who favored Mendelssohn's translation of the +Pentateuch; while the cultured and profound Talmudist Raphael Hakohen, +whose grandson, Gabriel Riesser, became the greatest champion of Jewish +emancipation Germany has yet produced, was offered the rabbinate of +Berlin (1771). He declined the post, and finally became chief rabbi +(1776-1803) of the united congregations of Altona, Hamburg, and +Wandsbeck. It is also recorded that Samuel ben Avigdor, the last rabbi +of Vilna, held the rabbinate of Koenigsberg,[21] and there certainly must +have been many more who, because of their inferior positions, cannot be +so easily traced. Besides, Germany, as we have seen, was the common +fatherland of the greater part of both Slavonic and Teutonic Jews. It +never remained a _terra incognita_ to the former for any length of time. +Its proximity to Russia, the business relations between the Jews of the +two countries, intermarriage, and, with a few insignificant exceptions, +the identity of language, made the Jews of both countries come into +closer contact than was possible with any other Jews. For the studious, +Germany possessed the attraction which the "land of universities" exerts +upon seekers after knowledge the world over. To whom, indeed, could the +profound and abstruse speculations of Leibnitz and Kant make a stronger +appeal than to the Jew who had been initiated into metaphysical +abstractions from his very childhood? It is no wonder, then, that +immigration from Russo-Poland into Germany was constantly on the +increase, until, under Alexander II, the advancement of Russian +civilization put a stop in a measure to these roamings, to be resumed +under Alexander III and Nicholas II. + +The Russo-Polish youth, therefore, found himself quite at home in the +country of Mendelssohn, and thither, in case of necessity, he would go. +In the eleventh century Jews had gone from Germany to Poland. In the +eighteenth they retraced their steps from Poland to Germany. +Outnumbering by far those who went there from choice or by invitation, +were those compelled to go in search of a livelihood. "When I reached +the age of twenty, peaceful and comfortable in my father's house, I +began to hope that henceforth I should pursue my studies uninterrupted. +But all at once my father lost his fortune, and I was forced to go +somewhere to provide for myself. So I became a melammed in Berlin." This +piece of autobiography in the preface to a Talmudic treatise by Reuben +of Zamoscz might have been written by many others, too. But there were +also the goodly number led thither by thirst for knowledge, whose +remarkable abilities attracted the admiration of Jew and Gentile alike. +Wessely the poet and Linda the mathematician more than once expressed +surprise at the amount of learning many of the poor immigrants were +found to possess.[22] + +Among these immigrants were two who may justly be regarded as the +conducting medium through which the Haskalah currents were transmitted +from Germany to Russo-Poland: Solomon Dubno, the indefatigable laborer +in the province of Jewish science, and Solomon Maimon, the brilliant but +unfortunate philosopher, both of them teachers in the house of +Mendelssohn. + +Solomon Dubno (1738-1813) was all his life a bee in search of flowers, +to turn their sweetness into honey. Having exhausted the knowledge of +his Volhynian instructors, he went to Galicia, where he became +proficient in Hebrew grammar and Biblical exegesis. Thence, attracted by +its rich collection of books, he left for Amsterdam, where he spent five +years in study and research. Finally he settled in Berlin, and earned a +livelihood by teaching among others the children of Mendelssohn. The +gentle disposition and profound learning of the Polish emigrant made a +favorable impression on the Berlin sage, who invited him to participate +in his translation of the Bible, which revolutionized the Judaism of the +nineteenth century more than the Septuagint that of the first century. +The result was the _Biur_ (commentary), which he, together with his +countryman, Aaron Yaroslav, also a teacher, wrote on several books of +the Bible. Comparatively few of Dubno's works have been published, but +judging from such as are known we may safely pronounce him a master of +the Massorah and a scholar of unusual attainments. Of his poems +Delitzsch says that they are "in the truest sense Hebrew in expression, +Biblical in imagery and subject-matter, medieval in rhyme and rhythm, +and in general genuinely Jewish in manner of treatment,"--laudation +which this exacting critic bestowed on no other Hebrew poet of his time. +It was mainly through the endeavors of Dubno that Mendelssohn's +Pentateuch, later regarded with suspicion, was everywhere bought and +studied eagerly.[23] + +One better known to the outside world than Dubno, and who has engraved +his name forever on the history of theology and philosophy, was Solomon +Maimon (Nieszvicz, Lithuania, 1754--Niedersiegersdorf, Silesia, 1800). +In his famous autobiography is mirrored the lot of hundreds of his +countrymen who, like him, left their homes and hearths, their nearest +and dearest, and led a wretched and miserable existence, all because +they were anxious to be _ma'amike be-hakmah_ ("delvers in knowledge"), +as he himself might have said, and avail themselves of the opportunities +for acquiring the truth and wisdom unattainable in their own land. + +But Maimon was doomed to suffer abroad even more than at home. He was +one of those unfortunates whose sufferings are regarded as +well-deserved. His exceptional ability was never to develop to its +fullest capacity. Great injustice has been done to him, not only by the +rabid orthodox, who denied him a grave in their cemetery, but even by +the enlightened historian Graetz. Fortunately he left behind him his +_Lebensgeschichte_, among the best of its kind in German literature, in +which, with the frankness of a Rousseau, he described the events of his +short and checkered career.[24] + +From this admirable work, in which he neither hides his follies nor +flaunts his talents, we learn that Maimon possessed rare virtues. His +sympathy for the poor, his ready helpfulness even at the sacrifice of +himself, rendered him as uncommon in moral action as in philosophic +speculation. To the English reader a striking parallelism suggests +itself between him and his contemporary Oliver Goldsmith. Both were +afflicted with generosity above their fortunes; both had a "knack at +hoping," which led frequently to their undoing; neither could subscribe +easily to the "decent formalities of rigid virtue"; and, as of the +latter we may also say of the former, in the language of a reviewer, "He +had lights and shadows, virtues and foibles--vices you cannot call them, +be you never so unkind." + +As Goldsmith came to London, so came Maimon to Berlin, "without friends, +recommendation, money, or impudence." His only luggage was two +manuscripts: a commentary on the works of Maimuni, whose name he had +adopted, and to whom he paid divine reverence; and a treatise in which +he attempted to rationalize the recondite doctrines of the Cabbala, and +which he always kept by him "as a monument of the struggle of the human +mind after perfection in spite of all hindrances which were put in its +way." The little bundle, which, to the zealot Jewish elders of that +community, seemed sufficient indication that Maimon was tainted with +heresy, and that his intentions were to devote himself to the study of +science and philosophy, proved a great impediment to entering Berlin; +and when, after a long, incredible struggle, he was finally admitted, he +found himself incapable of earning a livelihood. In his childlike +naivete he was betrayed by the very persons upon whom he relied most. +All this could not deaden his love for knowledge and truth. By chance he +obtained Wolff's _Metaphysics_, and this marked a new epoch in his life. +"Not only the sublime science in itself," says he, "but also the order +and mathematical method of the celebrated author, the precision of his +explanations, the exactness of his reasoning, and the scientific +arrangement of his expositions--all this kindled a new light in my +mind." + +So profound a thinker could not for long be a mere pupil. Wolff's +argument _a posteriori_ for the existence of God, in accordance with his +philosophic hobby, the "principle of sufficient reason," displeased him +wholly. A Hebrew letter to Mendelssohn, in which he shook the foundation +of the _Metaphysics_ by means of his irrefutable ontology, won him the +admiration of the Berlin sage, who invited him to become his daily +guest. + +Maimon's intellect unfolded from day to day, until, some time +afterwards, he astonished the philosophic world by his great work, _Die +Transcendentale Philosophie_ (Berlin, 1790), in reference to which Kant +wrote to his beloved disciple Marcus Herz: "A mere glance at it enabled +me to recognize its merits, and showed me, that not only had none of my +opponents understood me and the main problem so well, but very few could +claim so much penetration as Herr Maimon in profound inquiries of this +sort." He demolished the prevalent Leibnitzo-Wolffian system in it, and +proved that even the Kantian theory, though irrefutable from a dogmatic +point of view, is exposed to severe attacks from the skeptic's point of +view. + +Thenceforth he became a leading figure in philosophic controversy. In +1793 he published _Ueber die Progresse der Philosophie_; in 1794, +_Versuch einer neuen Logik_, and _Die Kategorien des Aristoteles_, and, +three years later, _Kritische Untersuchungen ueber den menschlichen +Geist_ (Berlin, 1797), wherein he originated a speculative, monistic +idealism, which pervaded not only philosophy, but all sciences during +the first half of the nineteenth century, the system by which Fichte, +Schelling, and Hegel were influenced. According to Bernfeld, he was the +greatest Jewish philosopher since the time of Spinoza, with whose depth +of reasoning he combined an ease and straightforwardness of illustration +characteristic of Benjamin Franklin.[25] + +With all this he remained an ardent lover of the Talmud to the last. In +fact, his philosophy is distinctively Jewish. Like Spinoza, he exhibited +the effects of the Cabbala and of rabbinic speculation, with which he +had been familiar from childhood. The honor of the Talmudic sages was +always dear to him, and he never mentioned them without expressing +profound respect. Persecuted though he was by his German coreligionists, +he never bore them a grudge. As a man he loved them as brothers, but as +a philosopher he could not subscribe to their views implicitly. But for +friends and benefactors his affection was unusually strong. With what +love he talks of Mendelssohn in the chapter dedicated to him in his +autobiography, even though "he could not explain the persistency of +Mendelssohn and the Wolffians generally in adhering to their system, +except as a political dodge, and a piece of hypocrisy, by which they +studiously endeavored to descend to the mode of thinking common to the +popular mind!" His devotion to his wife was not diminished even after he +had been compelled to divorce her because of his supposed heretical +proclivities. "When the subject [of his divorce] came up in +conversation, it was easy," says his biographer,[26] "to read in his +face the deep sorrow he felt: his liveliness then faded away sensibly. +By and by he would become perfectly silent, was incapable of further +entertainment, and went home earlier than usual." Of his Russo-Polish +brethren he speaks in the highest terms. He cannot bestow too much +praise on their care for the poor and the sick, and he always hoped once +more to see his native land, to whose king he dedicated his +_Transcendental Philosophy_. "For," says he, "the Polish Jews are, +indeed, for the most part not enlightened by science; their manners and +way of life are still rude, but they are loyal to the religion of their +fathers and to the laws of their country."[27] + +It is because I regard him as the greatest Maskil of his time that I +have dwelt on Maimon at such length. Mendelssohn's philosophy, if he had +an original system, has long since passed into oblivion; Maimon's will +be studied as long as Spinoza, Leibnitz, and Kant are in vogue. His +importance to us does not lie in the circumstance that his +autobiography--"that wonderful bit of Autobiography," as George Eliot +speaks of it, or "that curious and rare book," as Dean Milman calls +it--and the pictures drawn of him by Berthold Auerbach and Israel +Zangwill[28] have made him the hero of some of the world's best +biographies and novels. Over and above this, he is the prototype of his +unfortunate countrymen during the days of transition. He embodied the +aspiration, courage, and disappointments of them all, and if, as Carlyle +said, "the history of the world is the history of its great men," +Maimon's life should be studied by all interested in the Kulturkampf of +the Russo-Polish and of the German Jews in the eighteenth century. + +What could he not have accomplished, he to whom Kant and Goethe, +Schiller and Koerner paid tributes of unstinted praise, had he not been +doomed to suffer and to starve. Only at the last moment, before he was +silenced forever, was he able to say, _Ich bin ruhig_ ("I am at peace"). +Yet, in spite of the difficulties and impediments besetting him at every +step, his promise of greatness and usefulness was not belied. In the +Introduction to his commentary on Maimuni's _Guide to the Perplexed +(Gibe'at ha-Moreh)_, in which he attempted to reconcile his master's +system with that of modern philosophy--even as the master had tried to +reconcile Judaism with Aristotelianism--he gave a brief sketch of the +development of modern thought. This part of his work was assiduously +studied by his compatriots. Among his unpublished writings was found a +work on mathematical physics, _Ta'alumot Hokmah_, and in his Talmudic +treatise, _Heshek Shelomoh_, he inserted a dissertation, _Ma'aseh +Hosheb_, on arithmetic, like a skilful physician putting a healing, +though to some it may appear a repelling, balm into a delicious, +attractive capsule. + +The story of Maimon, as I have said, is the story of many of the +peripatetic apostles of Haskalah, and his experience was more or less +also theirs. Issachar Falkensohn Behr (or Baer Falkensohn, 1746-1796?), +without funds, friends, or rudimentary knowledge of the subjects +necessary for admission into a public school, left his native city of +Zamosez with the determination to enter the university of "Little +Berlin," as Koenigsberg was called. Too poor to carry out his plan, he +tramped to Berlin. Through the influence of his relatives and +countrymen, Israel Moses Halevi and Daniel Jaffe, he was introduced to +Mendelssohn, and was enabled to devote himself systematically to the +study of German, the alphabet of which he had learned from Wolff's +treatise on mathematics, and to French, Latin, physics, philosophy, and +medicine. In a very short time he mastered them all, especially German. +His _Gedichte eines polnischen Juden_ (Mitau and Leipsic, 1772) caused +no little stir among the poets. Lessing and Goethe, close observers of +symptoms of enlightenment among the Jews, expressed themselves +differently as to the real merit of the collection; but both concurred +with Boie, who, writing to Knebel, the friend of Goethe, remarked +concerning them, "You are right; the Jewish nation promises much after +it is once awakened."[29] + +For one reason or another we find that some Slavonic Jewish youths +preferred other places to Berlin for the pursuit of their studies. Such +were Benjamin Wolf Guenzberg and Jacob Liboschuets. The former was +probably the only Jew at the Goettingen University. It was from there +that he inquired of Jacob Emden "whether it was permissible to dissect +on the Sabbath," and his thesis for the doctor's degree was _De medica +ex Talmudicis illustrata_ (Goettingen, 1743).[30] Liboschuets studied at +the University of Halle. After graduation, finding that as a Jew he +could not settle in St. Petersburg, he established himself in Vilna, +where he became celebrated as a diplomat, philanthropist, and, more +especially, expert physician. When Professor Frank was asked who would +take care of the public health in his absence, he is reported to have +said, _Deus et Judaeus_, "God and the Jew" [Liboschuets]! + +In their deep-rooted love for learning, they sometimes ventured even +beyond the German boundaries, into countries whose language and customs +had little in common with theirs. Padua continued to be the resort of +Russo-Polish Jews that it had been before 1648. Moses Hayyim Luzzatto +found an ardent admirer and zealous propagandist of his principles in +the young medical student Jekuthiel Gordon (ab. 1729), who wrote +concerning his master to friends in Vienna and Vilna.[31] Judah Halevi +Hurwitz (d. 1797), whose work _'Ammude Bet Yehudah_ (Amsterdam, 1765) +was highly recommended by Mendelssohn and Wessely, was a graduate of the +same famous institution. In addition to his medical and philosophic +attainments, he wrote a number of poems, and he was among the first to +translate fables from German into Hebrew.[32] + +The story of Zalkind Hurwitz (1740-1812), "le fameux," as he was called +by a French writer, is interesting. Starting, as usual, by going to +Berlin, and succeeding, as usual, in gaining the friendship of +Mendelssohn, he then visited Nancy, Metz, and Strasburg, and finally +settled in Paris. Like Doctor Behr, he had to resort to peddling as a +means for a livelihood. The rudiments of French he acquired from any +book he chanced to obtain. Nevertheless, he soon became proficient in +the language of his adopted country, and wrote his excellent _Apologie +des juifs_, which, crowned by the Academy of Metz and quoted by +Mirabeau, was largely instrumental in removing the disabilities of the +Jews in France. Clermont-Tonnerre, the advocate of Jewish emancipation, +said of him, _Le juif polonais seul avait parle en philosophe_. He was +suggested as a member of the Sanhedrin convoked by Napoleon in 1807. +Though for some reason he never enjoyed the honor of membership in it, +he was, nevertheless, the ruling spirit in the august assembly, and +later generations have paid him the homage he deserves.[33] + +Where Hurwitz failed, another of his countrymen was to succeed. Judah +Litvack (1776-1836) removed from Berlin to Amsterdam, became prominent +among the Dutch mathematicians, and wrote a Dutch work, _Verhandeling +over de Profgetallen Gen. ii_ (Amsterdam, 1817), which appeared in a +second edition four years after the first. The author was elected a +member of the Mathesis Artium Genetrix Society, and appointed one of the +deputation sent to the Sanhedrin (February 12, 1807), before which he +delivered a discourse in the German language. + +The "distant isles of the sea," the British Islands, Russo-Polish Jews +seem to have frequented ever since the Restoration, probably +contemporaneously with the settlement of the Spanish Jews. The famous +mystic Hayyim Samuel Jacob Falk, one of the many Baal-Shems who +flourished in Podolia at the beginning of the eighteenth century, +settled in London before 1750, and became the subject of many wonder +stories. Sussman Shesnovzi, apparently a countryman of his, describes +him, in a letter to Jacob Emden, as "standing alone in his generation by +reason of his knowledge of holy mysteries." That this was the opinion of +many and prominent personages may be inferred from the fact that among +his callers were such distinguished visitors as the Marchese de Crona, +Baron de Neuhoff, Prince Czartorisky, and the Duke of Orleans. The +confidence of such as these brought Falk a considerable fortune, a large +part of which he bequeathed to a charity fund, the interest of which the +overseers of the United Synagogue still distribute annually among the +poor.[34] Shortly before "Doctor" Falk's death (1782), there settled in +London Phinehas Phillips of Krotoschin, the founder of the Phillips +family, which has furnished two Lord Mayors to the city of London. + +It was not merely because of its business facilities that England +appealed to the Slavonic Jews. Baruch Shklover, or Schick (1740-1812), +went thither to study medicine, and it was from English literature that +he selected the material for his _Keneh ha-Middah_ (Prague, 1784; +Shklov, 1793), on trigonometry. It would appear that the first Hebrew +book, _Toledot Ya'akob_, printed for a Jew in England, was, as the name +of the author, Eisenstadt, suggests, that of a Slavonic Jew. Although a +silversmith by profession, Israel Lyons (d. 1770) was appointed teacher +of Hebrew at the University of Cambridge. He acquired repute as a Hebrew +scholar, and published, in 1757, the _Scholar's Instructor_, or _Hebrew +Grammar_ (4th ed., 1823), and in 1768 a treatise printed by the +Cambridge Press, _Observations and Inquiries Relating to Various Parts +of Scripture History_. In the same chosen field labored Hyman Hurwitz +(1770-1844), the friend of Coleridge, who founded the Highgate Academy +(1799), and wrote an _Introduction to Hebrew Grammar_, _Vindica +Hebraica_, and _Hebrew Tales_, which were translated into various +languages. He finally became professor of Hebrew in University College, +London. + +A younger contemporary of Abrahamson, the Jewish German medallist, was +Solomon (Yom Tob) Bennett (1780-1841), the engraver of Polotsk, who +spent a number of years at Copenhagen and Berlin in perfecting himself +in his art. Among his works is a highly praised bas-relief of Frederick +II, which was much admired by the professors of the Academy. An ardent +lover of liberty, of which there was little more in Germany at that time +than in Russia, he left for England, where he spent the remaining years +of his life, in Bristol. Besides being an artist and an engraver he was +a profound theologian, anxious to defend the cause of Judaism against +enemies within and without. The enemy within he attacked in his cutting +criticism of Solomon Cohen's _Rudiments of Religion_, and the enemy +outside, in his other work, _The Constancy of Israel_ (_Nezah Yisrael_, +London, 1809). He also wrote expositions on many important Biblical +topics, such as sacrifices (1815) and the Temple (1824). Having pointed +out the defects of the Authorized Version (1834), he was ambitious of +publishing a complete revised translation of the Bible. Specimens +appeared in 1841. Death intervened and frustrated his plans. As Schick +was the first Jew to translate from English into Hebrew, so Bennett was +the first after Manasseh ben Israel to write in English in behalf of his +people.[35] + +If the contributions of Slavonic Jews to Latin, German, French, Dutch, +and English literature were not less considerable at that time than +those of the Jews residing in the countries where these languages were +respectively used as media, they excelled them in Hebrew literature. In +the renaissance of the holy tongue, they played the most important part +from the first. The striving for knowledge, not for the purpose of +obtaining a coveted privilege, but for its own sake, became an +irresistible passion, and it was accompanied by an unquenchable desire +to disseminate knowledge among the masses, to make learning and wisdom +common property. The Hebrew language being the best vehicle for the +purpose, it was soon impressed into the service of Haskalah. The pioneer +Maskilim learned to handle it with ease and clearness that would do +credit to a modern writer in a much more developed European language. + +From the middle of the fifteenth to the latter part of the eighteenth +century, Hebrew literature consisted, if a few scattered books on +philosophy, mostly translations from the Arabic, are excepted, mainly of +Talmudic disquisitions, written in the rabbinic dialect and in a +euphuistic style. Besides the great Maimuni, there were few able or +willing to write Hebrew "as she should be spoke." The early German +Maskilim, in trying to escape the Scylla of Rabbinism, fell victims to +the Charybdis of Germanism. They possessed originality neither of style +nor of sentiment, neither of rhyme nor of reason. Hebrew poetry was an +adaptation of current German poetry. The very best the period produced, +the _Mosaide_ of Wessely, was influenced by and largely an imitation of +Klopstock and others. Like English classic poetry, it is pretty in form +but poor in spirit. The element of nationality, or distinctiveness, the +life-giving and soul-uplifting element in all poetry, as Delitzsch +justly maintains it to be, was lacking in the German Maskilim, anxious +for naturalization as they were. It was the Slavonic Maskilim who +mastered Hebrew in its purity, as it had not been mastered since the day +of Judah Halevi. In those days of transition the diligent student can +find, in germ, what was later to develop into the resplendent poetical +flowers produced by the Lebensohns, the Gordons, Dolitzky, Schapiro, +Mane, and Bialik. + +The Slavonic contributors to the Meassef, the first Hebrew literary +periodical (1784-1811), were not conspicuous in number, but if quality +can compensate for quantity, they made up for it by the value of their +articles. Dubno and Maimon enriched the early issues, the one with +poetry, the other with philosophy; and when it began to struggle for its +existence, and was on the point of giving up the ghost, Shalom Cohen +(1772-1845) came to the rescue, and, as editor, prolonged its existence +by a few years. Among the best articles in the Meassef are those of +Isaac Halevi Satanov (1733-1805). This "conglomeration of contrasts," +whom Delitzsch regards as the restorer of Hebrew poetry to its primitive +beauty and purity, was the embodiment of the period in which he lived. +"He was," we are told, "a thorough master of Jewish traditional lore, +and at the same time a most advanced thinker, a profound physicist, and +an inspired poet; a master of the old school and at the same time the +founder of the new school, the national-classical, of Hebrew poetry." +His pure and precise style, his good-natured, Horace-like, delicate, yet +unmistakable, humor, he showed in a series of books bearing the name of +Asaf, which still must be counted among the gems of Hebrew +literature.[36] + +Satanov was greatly in favor of expanding the Hebrew language, but the +first to borrow expressions from the Talmud literature or coin words of +his own was Mendel Levin, also of Satanov, Podolia (1741-1819), the +friend of Mendelssohn while in Berlin, the inspirer of Perl and Krochmal +while in Brody, the companion of Zeitlin and Schick while in Mohilev. +The Meassefim, the name generally applied to all who participated in the +publication of the Meassef, were shocked by what they regarded a +profanation of the sacred tongue. Their idea was that Hebrew was to be +utilized as a means of introducing Western civilization. Afterwards it +was to be relegated once more to the holy Ark. To Levin Hebrew had a far +higher significance. Not only should Western civilization be introduced +into Jewry through its means, but Hebrew itself should be so perfected +as to take a place by the side of the more modern and cultivated +languages. It should find adequate expressions for the new thoughts and +ideas which the new learning would introduce into it directly or +indirectly. The medieval translations from the Arabic should be +retranslated into the new Hebrew, he held, and he furnished an example +by recasting the first part of Maimuni's _Moreh Nebukim_. His modernized +version, lucid and fluent, printed alongside of Ibn Tibbon's, presents a +striking contrast to the stiffness and obscurity of the Provencal +scholar's. Levin was also the first to write in the Yiddish, or +Judeo-German, dialect, for the instruction of the masses, which made him +the butt of more than one satire. But what was generally regarded as a +degrading task was fraught with the greatest consequences to the +Haskalah. To this day Yiddish has continued an important medium for +disseminating culture among Russian Jews, both in the Old World and in +the New.[37] + +The century remarkable among other things for encyclopedia +enterprises,--_Chambers' Encyclopedia_ in England, the _Universal +Lexicon_ in Germany, and that wonderful and monumental work, the +_Encyclopedie_ in France--saw, before its close, a similar attempt, in +miniature, in Hebrew and by a Slavonic Maskil. Whether the Hebrew +encyclopedist was influenced by the example of Dr. Tobias Cohn's +_Ma'aseh Tobiah_ mentioned above, or was unconsciously imbued with the +prevailing tendency of the times, it is impossible to tell. In any +event, he resorted to the same means, and presented the Jewish world +with a volume containing a little of every science known, under the +innocent name _The Book of the Covenant_ (_Sefer ha-Berit_, Bruenn, +1797). + +The book appeared anonymously. This, the author assures us, was due not +to humbleness of spirit, but to a vow. His diligence and constant +application had greatly impaired his eyes. He vowed that if God restored +his sight, and enabled him to finish his task, he would publish the book +without disclosing his authorship. God hearkened unto his prayers, and +the work was soon completed. But an unforeseen trouble arose. His book +was ascribed "by some to the sage of Berlin, by others to the Gaon of +Vilna, and by many to the united efforts of a coterie of scholars, for +it could not be believed that so many and diverse sciences could be +mastered by one person." Moreover, the author was censured for being +afraid to come out openly and boldly as a champion of Haskalah.[38] In +spite of obstacles and strictures, the book met with success surpassing +the author's expectations. It found its way not only into Russia, +Poland, and Germany, but even into France, Italy, England, Holland, and +Palestine. An edition of two thousand copies was entirely exhausted, +unusual at a time when books were costly and money was scarce, and +another edition was issued. What Phinehas Elijah (Hurwitz) of Vilna had +sown in tears, he lived to reap in joy. + +There was a crying need in Russia for a work of the sort. In Germany the +very Government encouraged organizations and publications aiming at +enlightenment. Accordingly, a Society for the Promotion of the Good and +the Noble was started, and the Meassef was published. In Russo-Poland +not even a Hebrew printing-press was permitted, and certainly no +periodical publications would have been tolerated. Phinehas Elijah, +therefore, grasped the opportunity, and showed himself equal to it. His +aim was, like that of the French encyclopedists, to lead his readers +"through nature to God." He gives an account of the various sciences, +natural and philosophical, as a prolegomenon to the study of theology, +even of the mystic teachings of Vital's _Gates of Holiness_. Withal he +evinces a sound intellect and refined, if rudimentary, taste. He decries +the "ancestor worship" that rendered the Jew of his day a fossil +specimen of an extinct species. The present is superior to the past, "a +dwarf on a giant's shoulder seeth farther than doth the giant himself." +He ridicules the base and degrading habit of dedicating books to +"benefactors, friends, lovers, parents, men, or women." His work was +written for the glory of God, and he dedicates it to eternal, +all-conquering truth.[39] + +All these Maskilim, so many hands reaching out into the light, were both +the cause and the consequence of the longing for enlightenment +characteristic at all times of the Slavonic Jew. Graetz and his +followers among the latter-day Maskilim delighted in calling them "they +that walk in darkness." Facts, however, prove that at no time before +Nicholas I was education per se regarded with the least suspicion, +though the Talmud was given the preference. As in the pre-Haskalah +period, the greatest Talmudists deemed it a sacred duty to perfect +themselves in some branch of secular science. When, in 1710, a terrible +plague broke out in his native town, Rabbi Jonathan of Risenci (Grodno) +vowed that, "if he were spared, he would disseminate a knowledge of +astronomy among his countrymen." To fulfil the vow he went to Germany +(1725), where, though blind, he devoted himself assiduously first to the +acquisition of astronomy, then to writing on it.[40] Baruch Yavan of +Volhynia, who more than any one exposed the impostures of Jacob Frank, +"spoke and wrote Hebrew, Polish, German, and probably French," and his +accomplishments and address won him the admiration of Count Bruehl, the +virtual ruler of Poland, and the favor of the highest officials at St. +Petersburg. His associate in the righteous fight, Bima Speir of Mohilev, +was also possessed of a thorough command of the language of Russia, and +was well posted in its literature, history, and politics. The Pinczovs, +descendants of Rabbi Polack, connected with the most eminent rabbinical +families, and themselves famous for piety and erudition, produced many +works on mathematics and philosophy. Mendelssohn's translation of the +Pentateuch was at first hailed with joy, and was recommended by the most +zealous rabbis. Doctor Hurwitz of Vilna did not hesitate to dedicate his +_'Ammude Bet Yehudah_ to Wessely, who was more popular in Russo-Poland +than in Germany. The whole edition of his _Yen Lebanon_, which fell flat +in the latter country, though offered gratis, was sold when introduced +into the former.[41] Joseph Pesseles' correspondence concerning Dubno, +with David Friedlaender, the disciple of Mendelssohn (1773), proves the +high esteem in which the liberal-minded savants of Berlin were held in +Russia. The rabbis of Brest, Slutsk, and Lublin gave laudatory +recommendations to Judah Loeb Margolioth's popular works of natural +science, which form a little encyclopedia by themselves. Margolioth was +the grandson of Mordecai Jaffe, himself rabbi successively at Busnov, +Szebrszyn, Polotsk, Lesla, and Frankfort-on-the-Oder (d. 1811). The +writings of Baruch Schick of Shklov, referred to above, were accorded +the same welcome. His translation of Euclid and his treatises on +trigonometry, astronomy (_'Ammude ha-Shamayim_), and anatomy (_Tiferet +Adam_) won the admiration of rabbis as well as laymen. Epitaphs of the +day contain the statement that the deceased was not only "at home in all +the chambers of the Torah," but also in "philosophy and the seven +sciences." And this, exaggerated though it may be, must be seen to +contain a kernel of the truth, when we recall that among Maimon's +intimate friends was the rabbi of Kletzk, Lithuania; that in the humble +dwelling of his father there were works on historical, astronomical, and +philosophical subjects; that the chief rabbi of a neighboring town, +Rabbi Samson of Slonim, who, according to Fuenn, "had in his youth lived +for a while in Germany, learned the German language there, and made +himself acquainted in some measure with the sciences," continued his +study of the sciences, and soon collected a fair library of German +books.[42] Saadia, Bahya, Halevi, Ibn Ezra, Crescas, Bedersi, Levi ben +Gerson (whom Goldenthal calls the Hebrew Kant), Albo, Abarbanel, and +others whose works deserve a high place in the history of Jewish +philosophy, were on the whole fairly represented in the libraries, and +diligently studied in the numerous yeshibot and batte midrashim. + +Thus the enlightenment which dawned upon France, Germany, and England +cast a glow even on the Slavonic Jews, despite the Chinese wall of +disabilities that hemmed them in. Unfortunately, this only helped to +render them dissatisfied with their wretched lot, without affording them +the means of ameliorating it. While the Jews in Western Europe profited +and were encouraged by the example of their Christian neighbors; while, +in addition to their innate thirst for learning, they had everywhere +else political and civil preferments to look forward to, in Russo-Poland +not only were such outside stimuli absent, but the Slavonic Jews had to +struggle against obstacles and hindrances at every step. No such heaven +on earth could be dreamed of there. The country was still in a most +barbarous state. Those who wished to perfect themselves in any of the +sciences had to leave home and all and go to a foreign land, and had to +study, as they were bidden to study the Talmud, "lishmah," that is, for +its own sake. This is the distinguishing feature between the German and +Slavonic Maskilim during the eighteenth century. The cry of the former +was, "Become learned, lest the nations say we are not civilized and deny +us the wealth, respect, and especially the equality we covet!" The +latter were humbly seeking after the truth, either because they could +better elucidate the Talmud, or because, as they held, it was _their_ +truth, of which the nations had deprived them during their long +exile.[43] They were unlike their German brethren in another respect. +Almost all of them were "self-made men," autodidacts in the truest +sense. Lacking the advantages of secular schools, they culled their +first information from scanty, antiquated Hebrew translations. Maimon +learned the Roman alphabet from the transliteration of the titles on the +fly-leaves of some Talmudic tracts; Doctor Behr, from Wolff's +_Mathematics_. But no sooner was the impetus given than it was followed +by an insatiable craving for more and more of the intellectual manna, +for a wider and wider horizon. "Look," says Wessely, "look at our +Russian and Polish brethren who immigrate hither, men great in Torah, +yet admirers of the sciences, which, without the guiding help of +teachers, they all master to such perfection as to surpass even a +Gentile sage!"[44] Such self-education was, of course, not without +unfavorable results. Never having enjoyed the advantage of a systematic +elementary training, the enthusiasts sometimes lacked the very rudiments +of knowledge, though engaged in the profoundest speculations of +philosophy. "As our mothers in Egypt gave birth to their children before +the mid-wife came," writes Pinsker somewhat later,[45] "even so it is +with the intellectual products of our brethren: before one becomes +acquainted with the grammar of a language, he masters its classic and +scientific literature!" + +Steadily though slowly, brighter, if not better, days were coming. +"Thought once awakened shall not again slumber." As Carlyle says of the +French of that period, it became clear for the first time to the +upturned eyes of the Jews, "that Thought has actually a kind of +existence in other kingdoms [than the Talmud]; that some glimmerings of +civilization had dawned here and there on the human species." They begin +to try all things; they visit Germany, France, Denmark, Holland, even +England; learn their literatures, study in their universities, and +contribute their quota to the apologetic, controversial, scientific, and +philosophic investigations "with a candor and real love of improvement +which give the best omens of a still higher success." Fortune, indeed, +has cast them also into a cavern, and they are groping around darkly. +But this prisoner, too, is a giant, and he will, at length, burst forth +as a giant into the light of day. + +(Notes, pp. 310-314.) + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE DAWN OF HASKALAH + +1794-1840 + + +A glimmer of light pierced the Russian sky at the accession of Catherine +II (1762-1796). This "Semiramis of the North," the admirer of Buffon, +Montesquieu, Diderot, and, more especially, Voltaire, whose motto, _N'en +croyez rien_, she adopted, endeavored, and for a while not without +success, to introduce into her own country the spirit of tolerance which +pervaded France. Her ukases were intended for all alike, "without +distinction of religion and nationality." Her regard for her Jewish +citizens she showed by allowing them to settle in the interior, +establish printing-presses (January 27, 1783), and become civil and +Government officers (April 2, 1785). In the edict promulgated by +Governor-General Chernyshev it is stated that "religious liberty and +inviolability of property are hereby granted to all subjects of Russia +and certainly to the Jews; for the humanitarian principles of her +Majesty do not permit the exclusion of the Jews alone from the favors +shown to all, so long as they, as faithful subjects, continue to employ +themselves, as hitherto, with commerce and trade, each according to his +vocation." That she remained true to her promise, we see from the +numerous privileges enjoyed by many Jews, who began to frequent Moscow +and St. Petersburg and reside there for business purposes. + +Paul (1796-1801), too, was kindly disposed toward the Jews, and +permitted them to live in Courland; and when Alexander I (1801-1825) +became czar, their hopes turned into certainty. Alexander I did, indeed, +appear a most promising ruler at his accession. The theories he had +acquired from Laharpe he fully intended to apply to practical life. Like +Catherine, he wished to rule in equity and promote the welfare of his +subjects irrespective of race or creed. He ordered a commission to +investigate the status of the Russian Jews (December 9, 1802). The +result was the polozheniye (enactment) of December 9, 1804, according to +which Jews were to be eligible to one-third of all municipal offices; +they were to be permitted to establish factories, become agriculturists, +and either attend the schools and colleges of the empire on the same +footing as subjects of the Christian faith, or, if they desired, found +and maintain schools of their own. The approach of the great Usurper and +the crushing defeat the Russians sustained at the battle of Friedland +(June 4, 1808) also favored the advance of the Jews. As the short, but +troublous, reign of Paul and his wars with Turkey, Persia, Prussia, +Poland, and Sweden had impoverished the country and depleted the +treasury, the shrewd Alexander was not averse from appealing to Jews for +help. Of course, as in many more enlightened countries and in more +modern times, most of the privileges were merely paper privileges. Few +of them ever went into effect. The noble intentions of the enlightened +rulers were steadily thwarted by bigoted councillors and jealous +merchants. Every favor shown the Jews aroused a storm of protests, which +resulted in numerous infringements. The Jews were compelled to pay for +the good intentions of Catherine with a double tax (June 25, 1794), and, +during Paul's reign, without the emperor's knowledge, a law was enacted +requiring of Jews double payment of the guild license. In spite of all +efforts, the Jews, instead of being emancipated politically, were +burdened with additional discriminations.[1] + +Had not the wheel of progress suddenly stopped revolving, Russian Jews +might have constituted one of the most useful as well as most +intellectual elements in the vast empire. As it was, the kindly +intention of czar or czarina sufficed to arouse them from the asthenia +to which they were reduced for want of freedom. The times were rife with +excitement, and the Jewish atmosphere with expectancy. The mighty +changes which were taking place in Russia and Poland; the dismemberment +of the latter; the annexation of Balta (1791), Lithuania (1794), and +Courland (1797) to the former; the short-lived yet potent German rule in +Byelostok (1793-1807), and the rude but memorable contact with France +(1807-1812), these and many other important happenings in a brief span +of time had a telling effect upon the diverse races under the dominion +of Russia, and among them not the least upon the Jewish race. Everywhere +the desire for "liberty, equality, and fraternity" began to manifest +itself. In Courland, the most German of Russian provinces, Georg +Gottfried Mylich, a Lutheran pastor at Nerft, made a touching appeal +(ab. 1787) in German on behalf of the Jews, insisting that the word Jew +"should not be taken to indicate a class of people different from us, +but only a different religious body; and as regards his nationality, it +should not hinder him from obtaining citizen's rights and liberties +equal to those of the people of Sleswick, the Saxons, Danes, Swedes, +Swiss, French, and Italians, who also live among us." In Poland, Tadeusz +Czacki, the historian, wrote his _Discourse on the Jews_ (_Rosprava o +Zhydakh_, Vilna, 1807), in which he deplores that Jews "experienced +indulgence rarely, oppression often, and contempt nearly always" under +the most Christian governments, and suggests a plan for reforming their +condition. But the main appeal for freedom came, as might have been +expected, from the Jews themselves. Contemporaneous with, if not before, +Michel Beer's _Appel a la justice des nations et des rois_, a Lithuanian +Jew, during his imprisonment in Nieszvicz on a false charge, wrote a +work in Polish on the Jewish problem,[2] while in 1803 Loeb, or Leon, +Nebakhovich, an intimate friend of Count Shakovskoy, published _The Cry +of the Daughter of Judah_ (_Fopli Docheri Yudeyskoy_), the first defence +of the Russian Jew in the Russian language. The followers of the +religion of love are implored to love a Jew because he is a Jew, and +they are assured that the Jew who preserves his religion undefiled can +be neither a bad man nor a bad citizen. + +But the Jews did not wait for their dreams to be realized. They threw +themselves into the swirl of their country's ambition, as if they had +never received anything other than the tenderness of a devoted mother at +her hands. They were "kindled in a common blaze" of patriotism with the +rest of the population. That in spite of all accusations to the contrary +they remained loyal to Poland, is amply proved by the history of that +unfortunate country. The characteristic kapota of the Polish Jew, his +whole garb, including the yarmulka (under cap), is simply the old Polish +costume, which the Jews retained after the Poles had adopted the German +form of dress.[3] "When, in the year 1794," says Czacki, "despair armed +the [Polish] capital, the Jews were not afraid of death, but, mingling +with the troops and the populace, they proved that danger did not +terrify them, and that the cause of the fatherland was dear to them." +With the permission of Kosciusko, Colonel Joselovich Berek, later killed +at the battle of Kotzk (1809), formed a regiment of light cavalry +consisting entirely of Jews, which distinguished itself especially at +the siege of Warsaw. Most of the members perished in defence of the +suburb of Praga. In the agony of death, Rabbi Hayyim longed for good +tidings, that he might die in peace. And when the fight was over, +Zbitkover expended two barrels of money, one filled with gold ducats and +one with silver rubles, for the live and dead soldiers who were brought +to him.[4] Indeed, Prince Czartorisky was so convinced of their +patriotism, that he always advocated the same rights for the Polish Jews +as were claimed for the Polish Gentiles, entrusted his children to the +care of Mendel Levin of Satanov, and instructed his son, Prince +Ladislaus, always to remain their friend.[5] + +But when, in spite of struggle and sacrifice, the doom "finis Poloniae" +was sounded, and a large portion of the once powerful empire was +incorporated into Russia, we find the Jews bearing their sorrow +patiently, and willingly performing their duties as subjects to their +new masters. Their attachment to their czar and country was not shaken +in the least when, in 1812, Napoleon made them flattering promises to +secure their services in his behalf. Rabbi Shneor Zalman, the eminent +leader of the Lithuanian Hasidim, hearing of the invasion of the French +army, spent many days in prayer and fasting for the success of the +Russians, and fled on the Sabbath day, not to be contaminated by contact +with the "godless French." When Napoleon was finally defeated, the event +was celebrated both at home and in the synagogue, and Russian soldiers +were everywhere welcomed by Jews with gifts and good cheer.[6] +Lilienthal relates that the Jews succeeded in intercepting a courier who +carried the plan of operations of the French army, and Alexander +declared in a dispatch that Jews had opened the eyes of the Russians, +and the Government, therefore, felt itself bound to them by eternal +gratitude.[7] It is to this proof of patriotism that some attribute +Alexander's interest in the Jews and his order that three deputies +should reside in St. Petersburg to represent them in Russia, and in +Poland a committee consisting of three Christians and eight Jews should +be appointed to devise ways and means of ameliorating their +condition.[8] + +The times were promising in other respects. In that critical period, the +Government, reposing but little confidence in Russian merchants, whose +business motto was "No swindle, no sale," allowed several Jews to become +Government contractors (podradchiki). These, while rendering valuable +services, amassed considerable fortunes. Notwithstanding the law +restricting Jewish residence to the Pale of Settlement, Catherine II +speaks of Jews who resided in St. Petersburg for many years, and lodged +in the house of a priest, who had been her confessor. Moreover, Jews +contributed not a little to the liberal policy of Alexander I. Among +them were Eliezer Dillon of Nieszvicz (d. 1838), who was honored by the +emperor with a gold medal "for faithful and conscientious services," and +was given an audience by his Majesty, at which he pleaded the cause of +his coreligionists;[9] Nathan Notkin, who mitigated the possible effect +of Senator Dyerzhavin's baneful opinions concerning Jews, as expressed +in his report (_Mnyenie_, September, 1800), and who suggested the +establishment of schools for children and for adults in Yekaterinoslav +and elsewhere; Abraham Peretz, the personal friend of Speransky, +Dyerzhavin, and Potemkin, and a brilliant financier, whose high standing +enabled him to be a power for good in the councils concerning Jews;[10] +and his father-in-law, Joshua Zeitlin (1724-1822). Zeitlin was a rare +phenomenon, reminding one of the golden days of Jewish Spain. His +knowledge of finance and political economy won him the admiration of +Prince Potemkin, the protection of Czarina Catherine, and the esteem of +Alexander I, who appointed him court councillor (nadvorny sovyetnik). +But his mercantile pursuits did not hinder him from study, and his high +living did not interfere with his high thinking. His palatial home at +Ustye, in Mohilev, became a refuge for all needy Talmudists and +Maskilim, whom he helped with the liberality of a Maecenas; he conducted +an extensive correspondence on rabbinic literature, and for many years +supported Doctor Schick and Mendel Levin. For Doctor Schick he built a +laboratory, and filled his library with rare manuscripts and works on +Jewish and secular subjects.[11] + +Even among the conservative Talmudists signs of improvement were not +wanting. The Gaon became the centre of a group of enlightened friends +and disciples, who continued in his footsteps after his death. His son, +Rabbi Abraham, who published and edited many of his works, a task +requiring no small amount of acumen and Talmudic erudition,[12] was also +the author of books on geography, mathematics, and physics. His pupils, +such as Doctor Schick and Rabbi Benjamin and Rabbi Zelmele, influenced +their contemporaries either directly, by bringing them in touch with the +new learning, or indirectly, by reforming the school system and the +method of Talmud study.[13] Of Rabbi Zelmele, who like his master became +the hero of a wonder-biography written by his disciple Ezekiel Feivel of +Plungian, we are told that he regarded grammar as indispensable to a +thorough knowledge of the Bible and the Talmud, pleaded for a return to +the order of study prescribed in the _Pirke Abot_, and complained that, +owing to the neglect of Aramaic, the benefits of comparative philology +were lost and unknown. He declared also that while he believed in all +the Bible contains, the stories in the Talmud are, for the most part, +legends and parables used for the purpose of illustration.[14] + +[Illustration: MAX LILIENTHAL, 1815-1882] + +Towering above all the disciples of the Gaon, the most outspoken in +behalf of enlightenment is Manasseh of Ilye (1767-1831). At a very early +age he attracted the attention of Talmudists by his originality and +boldness. In his unflinching determination to get at the truth, he did +not shrink from criticising Rashi and the _Shulhan 'Aruk_, and dared to +interpret some parts of the Mishnah differently from the explanation +given in the Gemara. With all his admiration for the Gaon, but for whom, +he claimed, the Torah would have been forgotten, he also had points of +sympathy with the Hasidim, for whose leader, Shneor Zalman of Ladi, he +had the highest respect. Like many of his contemporaries, he determined +to go to Berlin. He started on his way, but was stopped at Koenigsberg by +some orthodox coreligionists, and compelled to return to Russia. This +did not prevent his perfecting himself in German, Polish, natural +philosophy, mechanics, and even strategics. On the last subject he wrote +a book, which was burnt by his friends, "lest the Government suspect +that Jews are making preparations for war!" But it is not so much his +Talmudic or secular scholarship that makes him interesting to us to-day. +His true greatness is revealed by his attempts, the first made in his +generation perhaps, to reconcile the Hasidim with the Mitnaggedim, and +these in turn with the Maskilim. He spoke a good word for manual labor, +and proved from the Talmud that burdensome laws should be abolished. His +_Pesher Dabar_ (Vilna, 1807) and _Alfe Menasheh_ (ibid., 1827, 1860) are +monuments to the advanced views of the author. In the Hebrew literature +of his time, they are equalled only by the _'Ammude Bet Yehudah_ and the +_Hekal 'Oneg_ of Doctor Hurwitz.[15] + +This short period of enlightenment and tolerance, inaugurated by a +semblance of equality, indicates the native optimism of the Slavonic +Jew. For a while a cessation of hostilities was evident in the camp of +Israel. The reforms introduced by the Gaon, and propagated by his +disciples, began to bear fruit. Hasidism itself underwent a radical +change under the leadership of Rabbi Shneor Zalman of Ladi (1747-1813) +and Jacob Joseph of Polonnoy, who, unlike their colleagues of the +Ukraine, were learned in the Talmud and familiar with the sciences. +Protests by Hasidim themselves against the irreverent spirit that +developed after the death of the Besht, had in fact been heard before. +The saintly and retiring Abraham Malak (d. 1780) had denounced, in no +uncertain terms, the gross conception held by the Hasidim of the sublime +teachings of their own sect. He drew a beautiful picture of the ideal +zaddik, who is "so absorbed in meditation on the Divine wisdom that he +cannot descend to the lower steps upon which ordinary people stand."[16] +But the more active Rabbi Shneor, or Zalman Ladier, as he was usually +called, insisted on putting the zaddik on a par with the rabbi, whose +duty it is not to work miracles but to teach righteousness. Assuming for +his followers the name HaBaD, the three letters of which are the +initials of the Hebrew words for Wisdom, Reason, and Knowledge, he +furthered the cause of enlightenment in the only way possible among his +adherents.[17] How well he succeeded may be inferred from the fact, +trivial though it be, that the biography of the Besht, _The Praises of +the Besht_ (_Shibhe ha-Besht_), by Dob Baer, published in Berdichev +(1815), omits many of the legends about the Master included in the +version published the same year in Kopys. The omission can be explained +only on the ground that the editor, Judah Loeb, who was the son of the +author, did not wish to give offence, or he had outgrown the credulity +of his father.[18] + +The feeling of tolerance manifested itself also in the Jewish attitude +towards the Gentiles. "O that we were identified with the nations of our +time, created by the same God, children of one Father, and did not hate +each other because we are at variance in some views!" This exclamation +of Doctor Hurwitz[19] found an echo in the works of the other Maskilim +that wrote in Hebrew, but more especially of those who used a European +language. They were deeply interested in whatever marked a step forward +in their country's civilization. The opening of a gymnasium in Mitau +(1775) was a joyful occasion, which inspired Hurwitz's Hebrew muse, and +at the centennial celebration of the surrender of Riga to Peter the +Great (July 4, 1810), the craving of the Jewish heart, avowed in a +German poem, was expressed "in the name of the local Hebrew community to +their Christian compatriots." The last stanza runs as follows: + + Grant us, who, like you, worship the God above, + Also on earth to enjoy equality with you! + To-day, while your hearts are open to love, + Let us seal our happiness with your love, too![20] + +This desire for naturalization brought with it an attempt at +"Russification." To show the beauty of the Russian language, Baruch +Czatzskes of Volhynia translated some of the poems of Khersakov into +Hebrew, and others published manuals for the study of Russian and +Polish.[21] Among the first books issued from the newly-established +printing-press in Shklov, the centre of Jewish wealth, refinement, and +culture at that time, was the _Zeker Rab_ with a German translation +(1804). In an appendix thereto the Shklov Maskilim announced their +intention to publish a weekly, the first in the Hebrew tongue. Yiddish +was also resorted to as a medium for educating the masses, and as early +as 1813 some Vilna Jews applied to the Government for permission to +publish a paper in that language, though it was not until ten years +later (1823-1824) that a Yiddish periodical, Der Beobachter an der +Weichsel, appeared in Warsaw. Nor do we hear of any opposition to the +Government decrees, issued probably at the request of Dillon, Notkin, +Peretz, or Nebakhovich, that the elders of the kahals in and after 1808, +and the rabbis of the congregations in and after 1812, be conversant +with either Russian, German, or Polish. This sudden Russification of the +Jews amounted sometimes to no more than a superficial imitation of +Russian civilization, which pious rabbis as well as liberal-minded men +like Schick, Margolioth, Ilye, and Hurwitz, felt impelled to call a halt +to. Jews, especially the rich, aped the Polish pans. Their wives dressed +in Parisian gowns of the latest fashion, and their homes were conducted +in a manner so luxurious as to arouse the envy of the noblemen. Israel +waxed fat and kicked. Their greatest care was to become wealthy; they +pampered their bodies at the expense of the impoverishment of their +souls, and some feared that "with the passing away of the elder +generation there would not remain a man capable of filling the position +of rabbi."[22] + +The privilege of attending public schools and colleges further +stimulated the Russification of the Jews. As soon as these institutions +of learning were thrown open to them, numerous Jewish youths made +headway in all branches taught, especially in medicine. That Alexander's +benign decree of November 10, 1811, issued through the Secretary of +State Speransky, was not always executed by his officials goes without +saying. Simeon Levy Wolf, one of the first Russo-Jewish graduates, was +denied his degree of doctor of jurisprudence in Dorpat unless he +embraced Christianity.[23] When, in 1819, some of the Vilna graduates +applied for the privilege of not paying the double tax, they were told +that they must first renounce their faith, an exception being made only +in favor of Arthur Parlovich. Still the number of Jewish graduate +physicians was on the increase. Osip Yakovlevich Liboschuets, who was the +son of the famous physician of Vilna, took his doctor degree at Dorpat +(1806), became court physician in St. Petersburg, where he founded a +hospital for children, and wrote extensively in French on the flora of +his country.[24] The medical institute of Vilna (1803-1833), afterwards +transferred to Kiev, became the centre of attraction for the Russian +Jewry. Padua, Berlin, Koenigsberg, Goettingen, Copenhagen, Halle, +Amsterdam, Cambridge, and London were for a third of a century replaced +by the home of the Gaon and of Doctor Liboschuets. The first students +were recruited from the bet ha-midrash, and they frequently joined, as +in former days, knowledge of the Law with the practice of their chosen +profession. Such were Isaac Markusevich, whose annotations to the +_Shulhan 'Aruk_ (ab. 1830) were published fifty years later;[25] Joseph +Rosensohn, the promising Talmudist who became rabbi of Pyosk at the age +of nineteen;[26] and Kusselyevsky of Nieszvicz, a stipendiary of a +Polish nobleman and a great favorite with Professor Frank. Because of +his proficiency, he was exempted from serving as a vratch (interne), and +for his piety and learning he was addressed by Jews and Gentiles as +"rabbi."[27] + +With what dreams such happenings filled the Jewish heart! "Thank God," +writes a merchant of the first guild in reply to an inquiry from distant +Bokhara, "thank God, we dwell in peace under the sovereignty of our czar +Alexander, who has shown us his mercy, and has put us in every respect +on an equality with all the inhabitants of the land."[28] But a rude +awakening was soon to make the Jews aware that their visions of better +days were still far from realization. In 1815, Alexander I formed the +acquaintance of Baroness Kruedener, and since then, to the satisfaction +of Prince Galitzin, "with what giant strides the emperor advanced in the +pathway of religion!" His humanitarian deeds gave way to a profound +religious mysticism. He experienced a revulsion of feeling toward +reforms in his vast empire, and, as always, the Jews were the first +victims of an ill-boding change. The kindly monarch who, at Paris, had +said to a Russo-Jewish deputation, _J'enleverai le joug de vos epaules_, +began to make their yoke heavier than he had found it. The enlightened +czar, who, in striking a medal commemorating the emancipation of the +Jews of his empire, had anticipated Napoleon by a year, suddenly became +a bigoted tyrant, whose efforts were devoted to converting the same Jews +to Christianity. He who had claimed that his greatest reward would be to +produce a Mendelssohn, now resorted to various expedients, to render +education unpalatable to the Jews. The Jewish assemblymen, who, in 1816, +soon after the Franco-Russian war, had been convoked to St. Petersburg, +were not allowed to meet; and when, two years later, they did meet, +their every attempt was baffled by the Government. Jews were expelled +systematically from St. Petersburg (1818). They were forbidden to employ +Christians as servants (May 4, 1820), to immigrate into Russia from +abroad (August 10, 1824), and reside in the towns and villages of +Mohilev and Vitebsk (January 13, 1825). Several years after the double +poll and guild tax had been abolished in Courland (November 8, 1807), it +was restored with an additional impost on meat from cattle slaughtered +according to the Jewish rite (korobka). All this impoverished the Jews +to such an extent that they were forced to sell the cravats of their +praying shawls (taletim), in order to defray the expense of a second +deputation to St. Petersburg.[29] + +Had Alexander I been satisfied with merely restricting the Jews' rights, +the favorable attitude towards enlightenment we have noticed above would +probably have remained unaltered. Unfortunately, Alexander became a +fanatic conversionist. It was a time when missionary zeal became +endemic, and Baroness Kruedener's influence was strengthened. The +Reverend Lewis Way, having founded (1808) the London Society for +Promoting Christianity among the Jews, made a tour through Europe, +everywhere urging the Gentiles to enfranchise the Jews as an inducement +to them to embrace Christianity, the only means of hastening the advent +of the Apostolic millennium. His _Memoires sur l'etat des israelites_ +presented to the Congress of Aix-la-Chapelle (October 11, 1818) and his +visit to Russia resulted in an imperial ukase (March 25, 1817) +organizing a Committee of Guardians for Israelitish Christians +(Izrailskiye Christyanye). The members of this association were to be +granted land in the northern or southern provinces of Russia and to +enjoy special privileges. The bait proved tempting, and, as a +consequence, some prominent Maskilim, too weak to resist the +allurements, precipitated themselves into the Greek Catholic fold. +Abraham Peretz, financier and champion of Jews' rights, consented to be +converted, as also Loeb Nebakhovich, the dramatist, whose plays were +produced in the Imperial theatre of St. Petersburg and performed in the +presence of the emperor.[30] Equally bad, if not worse, for the cause of +Haskalah was the conduct of those who, disdaining, or unable, to profess +the new religion, discarded every vestige of traditional Judaism, and +deemed it their duty to set an example of infidelity and sometimes +immorality to their less enlightened coreligionists. What Leroy-Beaulieu +says of Maimon, "that type of the most cultured Jew to be found before +the French Revolution," might more justly be applied to many a less +prominent Maskil after him: "Despite his learning and philosophy he sank +deeper than the most degraded of his fellow-men, because in repudiating +his ancestral faith he had lost the staff which, through all their +humiliations, served as a prop even to the most debased of ancient +Jews."[31] + +Haskalah thus having become synonymous with apostasy or licentiousness, +we can easily understand why the unsophisticated among the Russian Jews +were so bitterly opposed to it from the time the sad truth dawned upon +them, until, under Alexander II, their suspicions were somewhat +dissipated. Previous to the latter part of the reign of Alexander I the +"struggle groups" in Russian Jewry were at first Frankists and +anti-Frankists, and afterwards Hasidim and Mitnaggedim. It was a +conflict, not between religion and science, but between religion and +what was regarded as superstition. Secular instruction, far from being +opposed, was, as we have seen, sought and disseminated. Long after the +pious element in Germany had been aroused to the dangers that lurked in +the wake of their "Aufklaerung," and had begun to endeavor to check its +further progress by excommunication and other methods, the Russian Jews +remained "seekers after light." They might have condemned a Maskil, they +had not yet condemned Haskalah. Mendelssohn's German translation was +welcomed in Russia at its first appearance no less than in Germany, but +when some of the children of Rabbi Moses ben Menahem embraced the +Christian faith, and their father, as was natural, was suspected of +skepticism, the _Biur_ and the Meassefim were pronounced, like libraries +by Sir Anthony Absolute, to be "an evergreen tree of diabolical +knowledge." So also with Wessely's Epistles, which were destroyed in +public, together with Polonnoy's _Toledot Ya'akob Yosef_. Haskalah +itself was not impugned, and as theretofore translations and original +works on science were encouraged, and the wish was entertained that +"many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased."[32] + +But the latest experiences in their own country put Haskalah in a very +different light from that in which they were wont to regard it. Formerly +the opposition to it had been limited to the very land that gave it +birth. Because of their determination to study, Solomon Maimon was +denied admission to Berlin, Manasseh of Ilye was stopped in Koenigsberg, +and Abba Glusk Leczeka, better known as "the Glusker Maggid," the +subject of a poem by Chamisso, was persecuted everywhere. It was Rabbi +Levin, of Berlin, who prohibited the publication of Wessely's works, and +insisted that the author be expelled from the city.[33] It was Rabbi +Ezekiel Landau of Prague who, though approving of Wessely's _Yen +Lebanon_, opposed the translation of the Pentateuch by Mendelssohn, +while Rabbi Horowitz of Hamburg denounced it in unmeasured terms, +admonishing his hearers to shun the work as unclean, and approving the +action of those persons who had publicly burnt it in Vilna (1782). Moses +Sofer of Pressburg adopted as his motto, "Touch not the works of the +Dessauer" (Mendelssohn),[34] and seldom allowed an opportunity to pass +without denouncing the Maskilim of his country. Now the clarion note of +anti-Haskalah, sounded by these luminaries in Israel, found an echo +among the Jews in Russia. They had discovered, to their great sorrow, +that like Elisha ben Abuya, the apostate in the Talmud, "those who once +entered the paradise [of enlightenment] returned no more." The very name +of the seat of Haskalah was an abomination to the pious. To be called +"Berlinchick" or "Deitschel" was tantamount to being called infidel and +epicurean, anarchist and outlaw. The old instinct of self-preservation, +which turned Jews from lambs into lions, holding their ground to the +last, asserted itself again. As the Talmudic rabbis excluded certain +books from the Canon, as the study of even the Jewish philosophers was +later proscribed by certain French rabbis, so the Russian rabbis laid +the ban upon whatever savored of German "Aufklaererei." + +Thus began the bitter fight against Haskalah, in which Hasidim and +Mitnaggedim, forgetting their differences, joined hands, and stood +shoulder to shoulder. For, after all, was not Judaism in both these +phases endangered by the new and aggressive enemy from the West? And did +not the two have enough in common to become one in the hour of great +need? Hasidism, in fact, was Judaism emotionalized, and since, beginning +with Rabbi Shneor Zalman of Ladi, it, too, advocated the study of the +Talmud, the distinction between it and Mitnaggedism was hardly +perceptible. The study of the Zohar and Cabbala was equally cultivated +by both; Isaac Luria and Hayyim Vital were equally venerated by both, +and hero worship was common to both. The _Ascension of Elijah_ (Gaon) is +as full of miracles as _The Praises of the Besht_. It is no wonder, +then, that the animosities, which reached their acme during the last few +years of the Gaon's life, were weakened after his death, and that the +compromise, pleaded for by Doctor Hurwitz and Manasseh Ilye, was somehow +effected. But it was otherwise with the Haskalah. "Verily," says the +zaddik Menahem Mendel of Vitebsk, "verily, grammar is useful; that our +great ones indulged in the study thereof I also know; but what is to be +done since the wicked and sinful have taken possession of it?" In the +same manner does Rabbi Hayyim of Volozhin inveigh against the followers +of Mendelssohn, because of the latitudinarian habits of the Maskilim, +who "despise the counsel of their betters, and go after the dictates of +their hearts."[35] Both saw in Haskalah a deadly foe to their dearest +ideals, a blight upon their most cherished hopes, and, like Elizabeta +Petrovna, they would not derive even a benefit from the enemies of their +religion. + +Still, Alexander I approached his object only tentatively. Haskalah +during his reign was like the Leviathan in the Talmud legend which +resembled an island, so that wayfarers approached it to moor under its +lee and find shelter in its shade, but as soon as they began to walk and +cook on it, it would turn and submerge them in the stormy and bottomless +sea. The Jews were invited or induced to forsake their religion, and +only the less discerning were caught in the snare. It remained for the +"terrible incarnation of autocracy," Nicholas I (1825-1855), or, as his +Jewish subjects called him, Haman II, to fill their cup of woe to +overflowing and employ every available means to convert them to his own +religion. + +Nicholas's one aim was "to diminish the number of Jews in the empire," +but not by expulsion, the means employed by Ferdinand and Isabella. He +knew too well their value as citizens to allow them to migrate. He would +diminish their numbers by forced baptism. Baptized Jews were exempted +from the payment of taxes for three years; Jewish criminals could have +their punishment commuted or could obtain a pardon by ceasing to be +Jews. But as these inducements could naturally appeal only to +comparatively few, more stringent measures were resorted to. Hitherto +the Jews had been excused from military service, paying an annual sum of +money for the privilege. On September 7, 1827, an ukase was issued +requiring them not only to pay the same amount as theretofore, but also +to serve in the army; and while Christians had to furnish only seven +recruits per thousand, and only at certain intervals, the Jews had to +contribute ten recruits for each thousand, and that at every +conscription. The only exception was made in the case of the Karaites, +who, according to Nicholas's decision, had emigrated from Palestine +before the Christian era, and could not therefore have participated in +the crucifixion of Jesus. Jews found outside of their native towns +without passports, and those in arrears with their taxes, frequently +even those who, having lagged behind in their payment to the Government, +eventually discharged their obligations, were to be seized and sentenced +to serve in the army, and this meant a lifetime, or at least twenty-five +years, of the most abject slavery imaginable. This grievous measure +caused the utmost misery. No Jewish youth leaving home could be sure of +returning and seeing his dear ones again. The scum of the Jewish +population (poimshchiki, or "catchers") made it their profession to +ensnare helpless young men or poor itinerant students suspected of the +Haskalah heresy, destroy their passports, and deliver them up as +poimaniki (recruits), to spare the rich who paid for the substitutes. To +form an idea of the time we need but read some of the numerous +folk-songs of that day. Here is one of many: + + Quietly I walk in the street, + When behind me I hear the rush of feet. + Woes have come and sought me, + Alas, had I bethought me. + + "Your passport," they ask. Alas, it is lost! + "Then serve the White Czar!" that is the cost. + Woe has come and sought me, + Alas, had I bethought me. + + There are many rooms, they take me to one, + And strip from my body the poor homespun. + Woe has come and sought me, + Alas, had I bethought me. + + They take me to another room, + The uniform,--that is my doom. + Woe has come and sought me, + Alas, had I bethought me. + + Rather than wear the cap of the czar, + To study the Torah were better by far. + Woe has come and sought me, + Alas, had I bethought me. + + Rather than eat of the czar's black bread, + I'd study the Scriptures head by head. + Woes have come and sought me, + Alas, had I bethought me. + +Yet this was not all. Knowing that it is easier to convert the children +than their elders, the Government of Nicholas I, out-Heroding Herod, +inaugurated a system so cruel as to fill with terror and pity the heart +of the most ferocious barbarian. Infants were torn from their mothers, +boys of the age of twelve, sometimes of ten and eight, were herded like +cattle, sent to distant parts of Russia, and there distributed as +chattels among the officers of the army. Many of these Cantonists, as +they were called, either died on the way, or were killed off when they +resisted conversion. Those who survived sometimes returned to Judaism, +and formed the nucleus of Jewish settlements in the interior of Russia. +These "soldiers of Nicholas" (Nikolayevskiye soldati), with their +uncouth demeanor and devoted, though ignorant, adherence to the faith of +their fathers, furnished much material for the folk-songs of the time +and the novelists of the somewhat happier reigns of Nicholas's +successors.[36] + +One of these Cantonists, the first to give a description of the life of +his fellow-sufferers, was Wolf Nachlass, or Alexander Alekseyev. For +many years he remained faithful to the religion of his forefathers, +though he had been pressed into the service at the age of ten. About +1845 he changed his views, became an ardent Greek Catholic, and +converted five hundred Cantonists, to the great delight of Nicholas I, +who thanked him in person for his zeal. He lost his leg, and during the +long illness that followed Nachlass settled in Novgorod, and wrote +several works on Jewish customs and on missionary topics. + +Less horrifying, but equally aiming at disintegration, was Nicholas's +scheme of colonization. What better means was there for "diminishing the +number of Jews" than to scatter them over the wilderness of Russia and +leave them to shift for themselves? This, of course, was necessarily a +slow process and one involving some expense, but it was fraught with +great importance not only for the Russian Church, but for Russian trade +and agriculture as well. + +"Back to the soil!" Was not this the cry of the romantic Maskilim in +Germany, in Galicia, and particularly in Russia? And have not country +life and field labor been depicted by them in the most glowing colors? +Here was an opportunity to save the honor of the Jewish name and also +ameliorate the material condition of the Russian Jews. The permission +given to them by Alexander I to establish themselves as farmers in the +frigid yet free Siberian steppes was greeted with enthusiasm by all. +Nicholas's ukase was hailed with joy. Elias Mitauer and Meyer +Mendelssohn, at the head of seventy families from Courland, were the +first to migrate to the new region (1836), and they were followed by +hundreds more. Indeed, the exodus assumed such proportions that the +Christians in the parts of the country abandoned by the colonists +complained of the decline in business and the depreciation of property. +The movement was heartily approved by the rabbis; the populace, its +imagination stimulated, began to dream dreams and see visions of +brighter days, and all gave vent to their hopefulness in songs of +gladness and gratitude, in strains like these:[37] + + Who lives so free + As the farmer on his land? + His farm his companion is, + His never-failing friend. + + His sleep to him is sweet + After a hearty meal; + Neither grief nor worry + The farmer-man doth feel. + + He rises very early + To start betimes his toil, + Healthy and very happy + On his ever-smiling soil. + + O blessings on our czar, + Czar Nikolai, then be, + Who granted us this gladness, + And bade the Jews be free. + +Alas, this joy was of short duration! Very soon Nicholas became +suspicious of his Siberian colonization scheme, that it was in reality a +philanthropic measure, and in place of saving the Jew's soul it only +promoted his physical well-being. This suspicion grew into a conviction +when he learned that the Jewish community at Tomsk, still faithful to +the heritage of Israel, applied for permission to appoint a spiritual +leader. The autocrat, therefore, signed an ukase checking settlement in +the hitherto free land, depriving honest men of the privilege enjoyed by +the worst of criminals, and enrolling the children of those already +there among the military Cantonists (January 5, 1837). + +Then began real misery. Believing at first that the czar's intentions +were sincere, many Jews had sold their hut and land and left for +Siberia. No sooner were they there than they were sent, on foot, to +Kherson. The decree of the "little father" was executed in--no other +phrase can describe it so well--Russian fashion. The innocent Jews who +had come to Siberia by invitation were seized, treated as vagabonds, and +deported to their destination. Want and suffering produced contagious +diseases, and many became a burden to the Jews of Kremenchug and such +Christians as could not witness unmoved the infernal comedy played by +the defender of the Greek Catholic Church. Help could be rendered only +secretly, and those who dared complain were severely punished. + +At the same time that this was taking place in the wilderness of +Siberia, a phenomenon of rare occurrence was to be witnessed in the very +heart of the Jewish Pale, in Lithuania. Aroused by the wretched +condition of his coreligionists, Solomon Posner (1780-1848) determined +to erect cloth factories exclusively for Jews. He sent to Germany for +experts to teach them the trade. These Jewish workingmen proved so +industrious and intelligent that before the end of three years they +surpassed their teachers in mechanical skill. But this attempt of Posner +was only prefatory to the greater and more arduous task he set himself. +It was nothing less than the establishment of a colony in which some of +the most Utopian theories would be applied to actual life. Ten years +after Robert Owen founded his communistic settlement at New Harmony, +Indiana, several hundred robust Russian Jews settled on some of the +thousands of acres in Lithuania that were lying fallow for want of +tillers. With these farmers Posner hoped to realize his Utopia. He +provided every family with sufficient land, the necessary agricultural +implements, as well as with horses, cows, etc., free of charge, for a +term of twenty-five years. In return, the members of the community +pledged themselves to use simple homespun for their apparel, black on +holidays, gray on week-days, not to indulge in the luxuries of city +life, and to avoid trading of any sort. As time passed, Posner opened +coeducational technical schools for the children and batte midrashim for +adults, and soon the homesteads presented the appearance of progressive +and flourishing farms. Posner's successful effort attracted the +admiration of Prince Pashkevich, and was both a living protest against +the accusation of Nicholas that Jews were unfit to be farmers and an +eloquent plea for the unfortunate victims of a capricious tyrant in +Siberia and Kherson.[38] + +In his efforts to curb the stiff-necked Jews by all manner of fiendish +persecution, Nicholas did not neglect to try the efficacy of some of the +plans advocated by Lewis Way. Undismayed by the failure of the Committee +of Guardians for Israelitish Christians, in which Alexander I had put so +much confidence, a "Jewish Committee," all the members of which were +Christians, was organized by imperial decree (May 22, 1825). This +committee established, in 1829, a school at Warsaw where Christian +divinity students were to be instructed in rabbinical literature and in +Judeo-German, in order to be fully equipped for missionary work among +the Jews. It appointed Abbe Luigi Chiarini to translate, or rather +expose, the Babylonian Talmud, to which undertaking the Government +contributed twelve thousand thalers. + +To do his work thoroughly, the abbe deemed it advisable to write a +preliminary dissertation, presenting his aim and views. This he did in +his _Theory of Judaism_ (_Theorie du judaisme_, Paris, 1830). He +endeavored to show how worthless, injurious, and immoral were the +teachings of the Talmud. Only by discarding them would the Jews qualify +themselves to enjoy the right of citizenship. He proved, to his own +satisfaction, that ritual murder was enjoined in the Talmud, and this he +did at a time when many a community was harassed by this fiendish +accusation. When early death cut short the abbe's effort (1832), the +Government, still persisting in its plans, engaged the services of +Ephraim Moses Pinner of Posen, who published specimens of his intended +translation in his _Compendium_ (Berlin, 1831). But the fickle or +restless emperor seems to have tired of the plan, or perhaps he found +Pinner too Jewish for his purposes. Of the twenty-eight volumes planned, +only one, which was dedicated to Nicholas, appeared during the decade +following Chiarini's death, and the work was abandoned entirely.[39] + +The crusade against the Talmud, thus headed and backed by the +Government, now broke out in all its fury. Anti-Talmudic works in +English, French, and German were imported into Russia, translated into +Hebrew, and scattered among the people. _The Old Paths_, by Alexander +McCaul, a countryman and colleague of Lewis Way, but surpassing him in +zeal for the conversion of Jews, was translated into Hebrew and German +(Frankfort-on-the-Main, 1839) for the edification of those who knew no +English. Jews themselves, either out of revenge or because they sought +to ingratiate themselves with the high authorities, joined the movement, +and openly came out against the Talmud in works modelled after +Eisenmenger's _Entdecktes Judenthum_. Such were Buchner, author of +_Worthlessness of the Talmud_ (_Der Talmud in seiner Nichtigkeit_, 2 +vols., Warsaw, 1848), and Temkin, who wrote _The Straight Road_ (_Derek +Selulah_, St. Petersburg, 1835). The former was instructor in Hebrew and +Holy Writ in the rabbinical seminary in Warsaw; the latter was a zealous +convert to the Greek Catholic faith, who spared no effort to make +Judaism disliked among his former coreligionists. + +All these desperate attempts proved of no avail. Judaism was practiced, +and the Talmud was studied during the reign of Nicholas I more ardently +than ever before. Their sacred treasures attacked by the Government +without and by renegades and detractors within, the Russian Jews +nevertheless clung to them with a tenacity unparalleled even in their +own history. Danzig's _Life of Man_ (_Hayye Adam_, Vilna, 1810), +containing all Jewish ritual ceremonies, was followed out to the least +minutiae. Despite the poverty of the Jews and the comparatively +exorbitant price the publisher had to charge for the Talmud, and, aside +from the many sets of former editions in the country and those +continually imported, and in addition to the Responsa, commentaries, +Midrashim, and other works directly and indirectly bearing on it, more +than a dozen editions of the Talmud had appeared in Russia alone since +the ukase of Catherine II (October 30, 1795) permitting Russian Jews to +publish Hebrew works in their own country. This ukase had been intended +originally to exclude seditious literature from Russia, but what was +unfavorable for the rebellious Poles proved, in a measure, very +beneficial to the law-abiding Jews. Under the supervision of a censor, +and with but slight interruptions, the Jews published their own books, +and in 1806 Slavuta, in Volhynia, saw the first complete edition of the +Talmud on Russian soil. Then followed another edition in the same place +(1808-1813), a third in Kopys (1816-1828), and a fourth in Slavuta +(1817-1822), and several others elsewhere. + +The story of the Vilna-Grodno edition of the Talmud is interesting as +well as illuminating. It depicts the relation of the Jews among +themselves and to the Government. Begun in 1835, at Ozar, near Grodno, +an imperial ukase directed the removal of the work to Vilna, the +metropolis of Russo-Poland. When the publishers, Simhah Ziml and Menahem +Mann Romm, had completed their work in the new quarters, the copies of +the book were destroyed by incendiaries (1840). After some time, an +effort was made by Joseph Eliasberg and Mattathias Strashun to continue +the publication, but the Warsaw censor prohibited its importation into +Poland, where the bulk of the subscribers lived. To add to the calamity, +a feud broke out between the head of the Slavuta publishing company, +Moses Schapira (1758-1838), and the Vilna publishers. The publication of +the Talmud had always been supervised by the prominent rabbis of the +land, and their authorization was necessary to make an edition legal. +This the rabbi never granted unless the previous edition was entirely +disposed of. The Slavuta publishers claimed that their edition had not +been sold out when the Vilna publishers started theirs. The litigation +continued for some time, and was finally decided in favor of the Vilna +firm. The publishers of Slavuta, however, having the Polish rabbis and +zaddikim on their side, continued to publish the Talmud, regardless of +the protests of Rabbi Akiba Eger and the "great ones" of Lithuania. But +a terrible misfortune befell the Slavuta publishers. On account of some +accusation, the two brothers engaged in the business were deported to +Siberia, and their father, the head of the establishment, died of a +broken heart. This cleared the field for the Romms of Vilna, who +continue to prosper to this day, and have now the greatest Hebrew +publishing house in the world. "It is the finger of God," the pious ones +said, and studied the Talmud with increased devotion.[40] + +The numerous Talmud editions indicate the demand for the work, and the +multiplicity of yeshibot explains the cause of the demand. We have seen +how the yeshibot destroyed by Chmielnicki were re-established soon after +the massacres ceased. Their number increased when the Hasidic movement +threatened to render the knowledge of the Talmud unpopular; and when the +Maskilim, too, made them a target for their attacks, there was hardly a +town in which such institutions were not to be found. But surpassing all +the yeshibot of the nineteenth century, if not of all centuries, was the +Yeshibah Tree of Life (Yeshibat 'Ez Hayyim) in the townlet of Volozhin. +There the cherished hopes of the Gaon were finally realized. Within its +walls gathered the elect of the Russo-Jewish youth for almost a century. + +The founder of this famous yeshibah was Rabbi Hayyim Volozhin, the +greatest of the Gaon's disciples (1749-1821). A prominent Talmudist at +twenty-five, he, nevertheless, left his business and household at that +age, and went to Vilna to become the humble pupil of the Gaon, whose +method he had followed from the beginning. When he felt himself +proficient enough in his studies, he returned to his native place, and +founded (1803) the Tree of Life College, with an enrollment of ten +students, whom he maintained at his own expense. But soon the fame of +the yeshibah and its founder spread far and wide, and students flocked +to it from all corners of Russia and outside of it. In response to Rabbi +Hayyim's appeal contributions came pouring in, a new and spacious +school-house was erected, and Volozhin became a Talmudic Oxford. To be a +student there was both an indication of superiority and a means to +proficiency. Rabbi Hayyim did away with the "Tag-essen," or "Freitisch" +custom, and introduced a stipendiary system in its stead, thus fostering +the self-respect of the students. But they did not as a rule require +much to satisfy them with their lot. They came to Volozhin "to learn," +and they well knew the Talmudic statement, that "no one can attain +eminence in the Torah unless he is willing to die for its sake." + +Rabbi Hayyim was succeeded by his son Rabbi Isaac, who united knowledge +of secular subjects with profound Talmudic erudition, was active in +worldly affairs, and played a prominent part in the Jewish history of +his day. He was of the leading spirits who, in 1842, attended the +rabbinical conference at St. Petersburg convoked by Nicholas I. The +number of students increased under his leadership, according to +Lilienthal, to three hundred. But Rabbi Isaac became so engrossed in +public affairs that he found he could no longer do justice to his +position. His two sons-in-law, therefore, took his place, and when the +older died, in 1854, Rabbi Naphtali Zebi Judah Berlin (1817-1893) +entered on his useful career, unbroken for forty years, as the dean of +the greatest seat of learning in the Diaspora. Under his administration +the Tree of Life College reached both the height of its prosperity and +the end of its existence (1892).[41] + +Thus all the schemes and machinations of the Russian Government +respecting the Jews proved ineffectual. Nicholas I, with the possible +exception of Ivan the Terrible, the greatest autocrat in Russian +history, at whose wish seemingly insuperable obstacles were instantly +removed, the wink of whose eye was sufficient to kill or revive the +millions of his crouching slaves--Nicholas I, with all his herculean +strength, yet found himself helpless in the presence of a handful of +wretched Jews. Furious at his defeat, he expressed the intention to +reduce all Jews to Governmental servitude or to make them, like the +Cossacks, lifelong soldiers. Being advised to postpone the execution of +this plan and to employ less severe measures meanwhile, he issued the +Exportation Law of 1843, ordering the expulsion of Jews from the +fifty-vyerst boundary zone and from the villages within the Pale, +thereby depriving fifty thousand families at once of their homes and +their support. + + Those from the country--writes a Russo-Jewish eye-witness of the + scenes following the enforcement of this inhuman law--move first + to the neighboring cities, and increase the existing poverty, + rendering the difficulty of finding profitable employment still + greater. God only knows how it will end when the congestion + increases still further.... I must also inform you--he + proceeds--that these past four months several imperial + commissioners have visited the frontier towns on the Lithuanian + border, from which the Jews are to be banished, in order that + the value of the real estate may be estimated. But how is the + valuation calculated? Even one who is acquainted with the + venality and unscrupulousness of Russian officers cannot form a + correct idea of how this business is conducted. If a man has no + connection with those in authority, or cannot obtain powerful + intercession, or is unable to give heavy bribes, his property is + valued at perhaps five per cent, or is set at so low a figure as + to make the appraisal differ little from downright robbery. We, + however, are used to such measures, for when they banished us + some time past from certain districts of the city of + Brest-Litovsk, where for centuries celebrated scholars of our + people dwelt, nothing better was done by the crown to compensate + us for our houses.[42] The same occurred at the expulsion from + St. Petersburg, Moscow, Kiev, Nikolayev, Alexandrov, Sebastopol, + etc., but as it did not affect so large a mass, nor injure us to + so great an extent, we bore the injury silently. Alas, this is + not the case at present. We should gladly quit the country, + gladly should we emigrate to America, Texas, and especially to + Palestine under English protection, if, on the one hand, we had + the means and, on the other, the Government would permit us.[43] + +This Exportation Law of Nicholas I, the result of a lawsuit between a +Jew and a nobleman living on the eastern frontier, which had been +decided by the supreme court in favor of the former, aroused much +excitement in every civilized country of Europe. It was before +anti-Semitism was in flower, and the people of the time were more +responsive even than during the later Kishinev massacres. Indignation +meetings were held. Both Jews and Gentiles, not only abroad, but even in +Russia, protested. Prayers were offered for the unfortunate. Cremieux in +France and Rabbi Philippson in Germany appealed to the public. All to no +effect. Grief was especially manifest among English Jews, always the +first to feel when their fellow-Jews in other countries suffer, and +Grace Aguilar, like Rachel weeping over her children, lamented over her +Russian brethren: + + Ay, death! for such is exile--fearful doom, + From homes expelled yet still to Poland chain'd; + Till want and famine mind and life consume, + And sorrow's poison'd chalice all is drained. + O God, that this should be! that one frail man + Hath power to crush a nation 'neath his ban. + +At this critical period, Moses Montefiore, encouraged by his success in +refuting the blood accusation at Damascus, and stimulated by the many +petitions he had received from Russia, Germany, France, Italy, England, +and America, undertook the philanthropic mission of interceding with the +czar on behalf of his coreligionists. It is natural to suspect that no +trouble is entirely undeserved; it is but human to sympathize with our +friends, and yet regard their suffering as a judgment rather than a +misfortune. But Montefiore's trip to Russia dispelled the last trace of +suspicion against the Russian Jews. In spite of their poverty, he saw +numerous charitable and educational institutions in every city he +visited. He found the Jewish men to be the cream of Russia. "He had the +satisfaction," Doctor Loewe, his secretary, tells us, "of seeing among +them many well-educated wives, sons, and daughters; their dwellings were +scrupulously clean, the furniture plain but suitable for the purpose, +and the appearance of the family healthy." To all his pleadings Count +Uvarov returned but a single answer: "The Russian Jews are different +from other Jews; they are orthodox, and believe in the Talmud"[44]--a +reason for persecution in Holy Russia! + +Montefiore's visit to Russia, from which so much had been hoped, did not +improve the situation in the least. For all his strenuous efforts, he +was compelled to leave the Jews as destitute as he had found them. Nay, +they might truthfully have said to the Moses of England what their +ancestors had said to the Moses of Egypt, "Since thou didst come to +Pharaoh, the hardness of our lot has increased." From the first of May +(1844) they were not allowed to continue to earn the pittance necessary +to maintain life, as, for instance, by the slavish labor of breaking +stones on the highways, with which three hundred families had barely +earned dry bread.[45] The great love and respect shown to the uncrowned +king of Israel proved to the czar's officials the existence of some +artful design on the part of the Jews, and convinced them especially of +the disloyalty of Montefiore. The latter, they maintained, was scheming +to set himself up as the Jewish czar. Hence every movement of his was +closely watched, every word he uttered carefully noted, and not a few +Jews were left with memorable tokens for doing homage to the English +baronet. Their disabilities were not removed, their condition was not +improved, the hopes they entertained resolved themselves into pleasant +dreams followed by a sad awakening.[46] + +Yet, though his visit did not, as Sir Moses had anticipated, "raise the +Jews in the estimation of the people," it was not without beneficent +effect on the Jews themselves. It cemented the "traditional friendship" +which has always existed between Anglo-Jews and Russo-Jews more than +between any sets of Jews of the dispersion. It disclosed to the latter +that there were happier Jews and better countries than their own; that +there were men who sympathized with them as effectively as could be. +Above all, it convinced them that a Jew may be highly educated and +wealthy, and take his place among the noble ones of the earth, and still +remain a faithful Jew and a loyal son of his persecuted people. "I leave +you," Sir Moses called to them at parting, "but my heart will ever +remain with you. When my brethren suffer, I feel it painfully; when they +have reason to weep, my eyes shed tears." Had Montefiore's visit +resulted merely in arousing his brethren's self-consciousness, he had +earned a place in the history of Haskalah, for self-consciousness is the +most potent factor in the culture of mankind. + +Jews from other lands also came to the rescue of their Russian +coreligionists. Jacques Isaac Altaras, the ship-builder of Marseilles, +petitioned the czar to allow forty thousand Jewish families to emigrate +to Algeria. Rabbi Ludwig Philippson, editor of the Allgemeine Zeitung +des Judenthums, appealed to his countrymen to help the Russian Jews to +settle in America, Australia, Africa, anywhere away from Russia. But all +attempts were ineffectual. Though Count Kissilyef assured Montefiore +that the czar "did not wish to keep them [the Jews], five or six hundred +thousand might leave altogether," emigration was next to impossible. +Russia was constantly playing the game of the cat with the mouse. Her +nails were set and her eyes fixed upon her prey, and yet she made it +appear to the outside world that she was anxious about the welfare of +the Jews. For Russian tactics have always been, and still are, the +despair of the diplomat, a labyrinth through which only they who hold +the clue can ever hope to find their way. + +The condition of the Jews in Russo-Poland was, if possible, even worse +than in Lithuania and Russia proper. Nothing, in fact, but the +auto-da-fe was needed to give it the stamp of medieval Spain. As before +the division of Poland, the Poles suspected the Jews of disloyalty to +Poland, while the Russians suspected them of disloyalty to Russia. +Hitherto too proud to soil his hand with a manual or mercantile pursuit, +the Polish pan, now that the glory of his country had departed, and he +was deprived of his lordly estates, began to engage in business of all +kinds, and, finding in the Jewish trader a rival with whose skill and +diligence he could seldom compete, he became embittered against the +entire race. This was the cause of the innumerable restrictions, the +extortion, and exploitation in Russo-Poland, which surpassed those of +Russia proper. + + The Jewish archives--said Doctor Marcus Jastrow, then Rabbi in + Warsaw--were humorously known as "California" or the "Mexican + Gold Mines." Jews had to pay at every step. They had to pay a + Tagzettel [daily tax] for permission to stay in Warsaw, which + permission, however, did not include the luxury of breathing. + The latter had to be purchased with an additional ten kopecks + per capita. The income from these taxations amounted to over a + million and a half, but in spite of all this the Jews were + regarded as parasites, as leeches feasting upon the life-blood + of their Christian compatriots.[47] + +Such is the background upon which the picture of Haskalah is to be +drawn--black enough to throw into relief the faintest ray of light. The +Russian Jews, during the reign of Nicholas I, found themselves in a +position possible only in Russia. They were not allowed to emigrate, nor +suffered to stay. In 1823 they were expelled from the farms, and had to +crowd into the cities; in 1838 they were expelled from the cities, and +forced to go back to the country. Then Siberia was opened to them, but +when it was found that even the land of the outcasts was hailed as a +place of refuge by the Jews, they were told to go to Kherson. At last +arrangements were perfected to allow them to colonize Lithuania--all at +once even this was interdicted. They had been conquered with the Poles, +yet were left unprotected against the Poles. Could they help suspecting +the tyrant of what he really intended to do--of seeking to diminish +their numbers by conversion? Is it surprising that when he determined to +open public schools and establish rabbinical seminaries, Jews looked +upon these, too, as the sugared poison with which he intended to +extirpate Judaism? Or can we blame them for being determined to the last +to baffle him? Nicholas did not understand the great lesson taught by +the history of the Jews and inculcated in the old song, + + To destroy all these people + You should let them alone. + +All that tyranny could inflict, the Russian Jews endured. Yet their +number was not diminished. No coercion could make them leave, in a body, +the old paths they were wont to tread. Nicholas's so-called reforms only +encouraged a reaction, and the more he afflicted the Jews, the more they +multiplied and grew. The behalot of 1754, 1764, and 1793 were repeated +in 1833 and 1843; the missionary propaganda only strengthened the +devotion of the faithful; and the denial of the means of support only +increased the stolidity of the sufferers. And if, like some +stepchildren, they were first beaten till they cried, and then beaten +because they cried, like some stepchildren they rapidly forgot their lot +in the happiness of home and the studies of the bet ha-midrash, and +could sing[48] without bitterness even of the behalah-days, when + + Little boys and little girls + Together had been mated, + Tishah be-Ab, the wedding day,-- + Not a soul invited. + Only the father and the mother, + And also uncle Elye-- + In his lengthy delye (caftan), + With his scanty beard-- + Jump and jig with each other + Like a colt afeared. + +(Notes, pp. 314-317.) + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +CONFLICTS AND CONQUESTS + +1840-1855 + + +The charges brought against the Jews of Russia by henchmen of the czar +were grave, indeed, only they did not contain a particle of truth. In +Russia itself, not only Jews and non-Russians but even many Christians +testified to the innocence of the Jews, and protested against their +oppressors. Bibikov, the Governor-General of Podolia and Volhynia; +Diakov, the Governor-General of Smolensk; and Surovyetsky, the noted +statesman, all write in terms of such praise of their unfortunate +countrymen of the Jewish faith that their statements would sound +exaggerated, were it not that many other unprejudiced Russians confirm +their views.[1] The fact that Nicholas thought the Jews reliable as +soldiers speaks against the imputation that they were mercenary and +unpatriotic. Neither was the conventional accusation, that they were a +people of petty traders, applicable to the Jews in Russia. Laborers of +all kinds were very common among them. It was they, in fact, who +rendered all manner of service to their Gentile neighbors, from a +cobbler's and blacksmith's to producing the most exquisite _objets +d'art_ and gold and silver engraving. They were equally well represented +among the clerks and bookkeepers, and the bricklayers and stone-cutters. +They took up with the most laborious employments, if only they furnished +them with an honest even though scanty livelihood.[2] + +But most unfounded of all was the allegation that Jews were opposed to +education. The _Memoirs_ of Madame Pauline Wengeroff indicate that even +among the very strict Jews of her time children were not denied +instruction in the German, Polish, and Russian literatures. We have seen +how they availed themselves of the permission, granted to them by +Alexander I, to attend the schools and universities of the empire. Nor +did they fail to open schools of their own. No sooner was the +Franco-Russian war over than Joseph Perl of Galicia founded a school in +Tarnopol (1813), then under the Russian Government, and two years later +he drew upon his own resources to build a school-house large enough to +accommodate the great, steadily growing number of students. In 1822 we +hear of a school that had been in existence for some time in Uman (the +Ukraine). It had been established by Meir Horn, Moses Landau, and Hirsh +Hurwitz, all of whom were indefatigable laborers in the cause of +Haskalah in the Ukraine. Perl's school was the pattern and model for a +multitude of other schools, among them the one founded by Zittenfeld +(1826) in Odessa, in the faculty of which were Simhah Pinsker, Elijah +Finkel, the grandson of Elijah Gaon, and Abraham Abele, the eminent +Talmudist. In 1836 a girls' department was added to it, and when +Lilienthal visited Odessa (ab. 1843) it had an attendance of from four +to five hundred pupils of both sexes, the annual expense being +twenty-eight thousand rubles. A similar school was opened in Kishinev by +Stern, and in the early "forties" there was hardly a Jewish community of +note without one or more of such Jewish public institutions. Several +well-to-do Maskilim not only founded but, like Perl, also maintained +such schools, and gave instruction in some or all of the subjects taught +in them.[3] + +The "forties" began auspiciously for Haskalah in Russia. On January 15, +1840, the Riga community, amid pomp and rejoicing, opened the first +Jewish school affiliated with a university. The teaching staff consisted +of three Jews and one Christian, with Doctor Max Lilienthal (1815-1882), +the young, highly recommended, and recently chosen local rabbi, as its +principal. In the same year, the indefatigable Basilius Stern succeeded +in forming a committee, of which Hayyim Efrusi and Moses Lichtenstadt +were members, to deliberate on founding rabbinical seminaries in Russia. +In 1841, forty-five delegates, representing the six chief committees of +the Lovers of Enlightenment, assembled in Vilna, and thence issued an +appeal in which they adopted as their platform the elevation of the +moral standards of adults by urging them to follow useful trades and +discouraging the Jewish proclivity to business as much as possible; a +reform of the prevailing system of the education of the young; the +combating, if possible the eradication, of Hasidism, the fountainhead, +as they thought, of ignorance and superstition; the establishment of +rabbinical seminaries, after the model of those in Padua and Amsterdam, +to supply congregations with educated rabbis. It was further agreed that +a Consistory be created, to supervise Jewish affairs and establish +schools and technical institutes wherever necessary. To these main +points were added several others of minor importance. The Maskilim of +Besascz insisted that steps be taken to stop the prevailing custom of +premature marriages. Those of Brest proposed that Government aid be +invoked to compel Jews to dress in the German style, to use authorized +text-books in the hadarim, and interdict the study of the Talmud except +by those preparing themselves for the rabbinate.[4] + +Even in Vilna and Minsk, towns which later put themselves on record as +opposed to Government schools, the Jews yielded gladly to the +innovations of such Maskilim as S. Perl, G. Klaczke, I. Bompi, and the +distinguished philanthropist David Luria, who took the initiative in +transforming the educational system of these cities. Under the +superintendence of Luria, the Minsk Talmud Torah became a model +institution; the training conferred there on the poor and orphaned +surpassed that given to the children of the rich in their private +schools. This aroused jealousy in the parents of the latter, and at +their request Luria organized a merchants' school, for the wealthier +class. He then established what he called Midrash Ezrahim, or Citizens' +Institute, in which he met with such success that he attracted the +attention of the authorities, and received a special acknowledgment from +the czar.[5] + +Russian Jewry was astir with new life. In many places secular education +was divorced for the first time from rabbinical speculation. Knowledge +became an end in itself, and learning increased greatly. An +investigation by Nicholas I convinced all who were interested that +though the Talmud remained the chief subject of study, the number of +educated Jews was far greater than commonly supposed. The upliftment of +the masses was the beau-ideal of every Maskil, and Hebrew and even the +much-despised Yiddish were employed to effect it. Ignorance was regarded +as the bane of life, and enlightenment as the panacea for all the ills +to which their downtrodden brethren were heirs. As their pious +coreligionists deemed it the universal duty to be well-versed in the +Talmud, so the Maskilim thought it incumbent upon everybody to be highly +cultured. No obstacle was great enough to discourage them. They were +willing martyrs to the goddess of Wisdom, at whose shrine they +worshipped, and whose cult they spread in the most adverse +circumstances. + +Had the Government not interfered with the efforts of the Maskilim, or +had it chosen a commission from among the Russian Jews themselves, among +whom, as soon became evident to Nicholas himself, there were more than +enough to do justice to an educational inquiry, the Haskalah movement +would have continued to spread, notwithstanding the obstacles put in its +way. But Nicholas was determined to reduce the number of Jews also by +"re-educating" them in accordance with his own ideas. Every attempt made +by the Jews to educate themselves was, therefore, checked. Even the +noble efforts of Luria were stopped, his schools were closed, and his +only rewards were "a gold medal from the czar and a short poem by +Gottlober." + +In Germany, since the time of Mendelssohn, the study of the Talmud had +been on the wane. The great yeshibot formerly existing in Metz, +Frankfort, Hamburg, Prague, Fiirth, Halberstadt, etc., disappeared, and +the reforms introduced in the synagogue and the numerous converts to +Christianity impressed the outside world with the idea that Judaism +among German Jews was writhing in the agony of death. If the same +disintegrating elements were introduced among the Russian Jews, the +Government believed that they would ultimately come over to the Greek +Catholic Church of their own accord. Hence it was anxious to learn the +secret of this power and beamed graciously on several learned Jews of +Germany. + +David Friedlaender (1750-1834) was then considered the legitimate +successor of Mendelssohn, whose friend he had been for more than twenty +years. He resembled his master in many respects, though he lacked both +his genius and his sympathy. Mendelssohn translated the Pentateuch and +the Psalms into German, Friedlaender translated the Haftarot (selections +from the Prophets) and the prayer book. Mendelssohn encouraged the +publication of the Meassef; he did likewise, and contributed several +articles to the journal. But, unlike his master, or, as he claimed, like +his master in secret, he held exceedingly latitudinarian views on +Judaism. In his later years he advocated abolishing the study of Hebrew +in the schools and discarding it from the prayer book. He even rejoiced +that by attending the services in Protestant churches many Jewish +families were becoming acquainted with the religion he himself would +have accepted on certain conditions.[6] + +It was to Friedlaender that Bishop Malchevsky, actuated, as he +maintained, by a desire to render the Jews worthy of the enjoyment of +civil rights, applied for suggestions, in 1816, when the missionary zeal +of Alexander I was first aroused. He responded in a pamphlet, _On the +Improvement of the Israelites in the Kingdom of Poland_,[7] in which he +declared that the quickest way of "civilizing" the Jews would be to +deprive their rabbis of power and influence, to force them to dress in +the German fashion, and use the Polish language, to admit them to the +public schools and other educational institutions, and, above all, to +abrogate the laws discriminating between them and their Gentile +countrymen. + +Friedlaender's advice regarding the removal of civil disabilities was +never executed, but his other suggestions were followed out with more +vigor than was necessary or good. To do away with the rabbis, and +consequently with the Talmud, was just what was desired. It was partly +with this end in view that Alexander I permitted, that is, commanded, +the establishment of the rabbinical seminary in Warsaw. But when it was +found that, although the seminary students were provided with all +necessaries, and notwithstanding the decree that six years from the date +of its opening none but seminary graduates would be eligible to the +rabbinical office, few students availed themselves of the opportunity +afforded, and none obtained positions, the whole plan fell into +disfavor.[8] The Government, nevertheless, remained as stubbornly +determined as ever, and unable to turn all the children into Cantonists, +it decided to have those who remained at home gradually converted by +means of a method worked out by the Minister of Education, Uvarov. They +were forced to attend what became known as Government schools, though +maintained exclusively with Jewish funds. In order to win the confidence +of the Jews for the project, Doctor Lilienthal, whose speech at the +dedication of the Riga School secured him a diamond ring as a token of +the czar's approval, was sent from St. Petersburg on a mission of +investigation, more especially of persuasion. + +For more than three years Lilienthal was one of the most popular +personages in Europe. The eyes of all who had the amelioration of the +lot of the Russian Jew at heart, it may be said the eyes of the +civilized world, were fixed upon him as an epoch-maker in the history of +the Jews. Nature had formed him, physically and mentally, to be a leader +among his people, and his training and temperament made it easy for him +to ingratiate himself into the favor of the great. It seemed that he was +just the man to be the successful executor of the czar's plan. + +The Maskilim, above all, hailed him as the champion of the cause of +Haskalah. He was their Moses or Ezra, the God-sent redeemer of their +benighted brethren out of the quagmire of fanaticism. From various +cities numerous urgent appeals came to him to hasten the execution of +his great plan. Wherever he went, he was enthusiastically received, a +truly royal welcome was extended to him. The Vilna community +appropriated five thousand rubles for the school fund, and pledged +itself to raise more if it were found necessary; and he was invited also +to Minsk by the kahal of the city. + +Unfortunately, Lilienthal's tactics exposed him to suspicion, and the +seed of discord was soon sown between him and his former admirers. He +tried to serve two masters, the czar and the Jews, and he alienated +both. The pious regarded him as a mere tool in the hands of the +Government, for, they maintained, _education without emancipation leads +to conversion_. The enlightened element also lost confidence in one who, +instead of boldly attacking superstition, preferred, while in Minsk, to +identify himself not only with the Mitnaggedim, but even with the +Hasidim. He was also too headstrong and too vain of his achievements. +Benjamin Mandelstamm, who, as he tell us in his letters, considered +Lilienthal "as wise as Solomon and as enterprising as Moses," complains +a little later of his arrogance, and at the last speaks of him with +contempt. His assumed superiority grieved the Maskilim, and their former +enthusiasm was rapidly replaced by hatred and persecution. He found it +necessary to put himself under the protection of the police while in +Minsk, and when he returned to Vilna his reception was far less hearty +than it had been before. + +In order to regain the confidence of the Russian Jews, Lilienthal +obtained a permit from the Minister of Education to call an assembly of +prominent Jews at St. Petersburg, to decide for themselves how to better +the condition of the existing schools and to consider the practicability +of establishing rabbinical seminaries. For he, too, like the Maskilim, +considered the rabbis the chief menace to Haskalah. Rabbinical authority +was supreme, and if the rabbis could be won over, all would be gained. +The bell-wethers once secured, the flocks were sure to follow. It took a +long time for Lilienthal, and still longer for the Maskilim, to find out +that what they regarded as the cause was in reality the consequence. +Eight years later Lilienthal himself admitted the sad truth, that the +rabbinical seminaries in Russia could not effect the coveted end. "It +must not be lost sight of," says he in his _Sketches of Jewish Life in +Russia_[9] "that the Russian Jews live strictly in accordance with our +received laws, and they are sufficiently learned in them to know that +the many cases of conscience which are of constant occurrence cannot be +decided understandingly by any one who has but a superficial knowledge +of the Talmud and of the decisions of the later doctors of the Law, but +that it requires the study of an entire lifetime to become thoroughly +acquainted with those stupendous monuments of learning and deep research +in the great concerns of life." + +[Illustration: ALEXANDER ZEDERBAUM, 1816-1893] + +After several busy months at St. Petersburg and frequent consultations +with Count Uvarov, Lilienthal returned to Vilna, and two weeks later he +published his circular letter, _Maggid Yeshiiah_ (_The Announcer of Good +Tidings_)[10] The "good tidings" were that an imperial ukase (June 22, +1842) would convene a council of distinguished Jews at St. Petersburg, +to deliberate how to "re-educate" the Jews. Accordingly, in the early +part of April, 1843, the notables, from different places and with +diametrically opposed views, assembled in the Russian capital. +Representing the Jews, there were Rabbi Isaac Volozhin, the dean of the +Tree of Life Yeshibah, perhaps the strongest man present; Rabbi Menahem +Mendel Shneersohn of Lubavich, leader of the Hasidic reform sect; Joseph +Heilprin, the financier and banker of Berdichev, and Bezalel (Basilius) +Stern, principal of the Jewish public schools of Odessa. Representing +the Government were Count Uvarov, Chevalier Dukstaduchinsky, and others, +with de Vrochenko, Minister of State, as chairman and Lilienthal as +secretary. Montefiore of England, Cremieux of France, and Rabbi +Philippson of Germany had been invited, but they failed to come. The +council decided to open Jewish public schools in every city where Jews +reside, and also two rabbinical seminaries, the one in Vilna, the other +in Zhitomir, the former being considered the Jewish metropolis of the +northwestern part, the latter, of the southwestern part, of Russia. They +also proposed to do away with the Judeo-Polish garb, and suggested +certain alterations in the prayer book. + +The delegates met, deliberated, and disbanded, but the tidings announced +in Lilienthal's epistle did not prove to be good. In one of the fables +of Kryloff, the Russian AEsop, we are told that once a swan, a pike, and +a crab, decided to make a trip together. No sooner had they started +than, in accordance with their nature, the swan began to fly, the pike +to shuffle along, the crab to crawl backward. It was so with the +delegation of 1843. Rabbi Isaac, the rabid Mitnagged, could find but +little to admire in the proposals of Rabbi Menahem Mendel, the ardent +Hasid, and both were bitterly opposed to the view preached by Doctor +Lilienthal, that the salvation of the Jews and Judaism would be brought +about by a system of education adopted in accordance with an ukase by +Nicholas. Stern, too, had little use for Lilienthal, whom he declared to +be ignorant of the condition of Russian Jews and incapable of working in +their behalf. From such discord nothing good could come. The fact is, +that the few resolutions mentioned had been drawn up beforehand by the +Government officials, and the time and trouble and expense which the +council involved were, _a la Russe_, for appearance sake. Finding his +efforts an utter failure, Lilienthal went to Odessa with letters of +recommendation from Uvarov to Vorontzov, the patron of Stern, and was +elected rabbi of that enlightened and wealthy community. But, for some +inexplicable reason, he suddenly left the city on the plea of visiting +friends in Germany, and went to the United States, where he remained to +the end of his life, and became one of the leading rabbis and communal +workers among his coreligionists whose lines had fallen in pleasanter +places than the fortunes of those he had left behind in Russia.[11] + +For Lilienthal's disillusionment came apace, and he finally recognized +the error of his ways. In his book, _My Travels in Russia_, published +both in English and in German, he admits that the opponents of the +schools he advocated were after all in the right. Education without +emancipation was indeed the straightest road to conversion. Witness the +thirty thousand Jewish apostates in St. Petersburg and Moscow alone, +most of whom hailed from the Baltic provinces, where the Jews were more +cultured, but not less oppressed, than their brethren. + + Those men--says he--who have acquired from study an idea of the + rights of man, and that the Jew ought to enjoy the same + privileges as every other citizen; those men who tried, by the + knowledge they had obtained, to open for themselves better + prospects in life, and now saw every hope frustrated by laws + inimical to them only as Jews, ran, from mere despair, into the + bosom of the Greek Church. The harassing care for a living, the + terrible difficulties in surmounting them forced them, in an + hour of distress, to deny their faith. I always compared them + with the Anusim [forced converts] of Spain. Among them there is + no religious indifference, as is the case in Western Europe and + Germany; and I have met with many converted Jews there, who, + with tears in their eyes, complained of heart-burnings and pangs + of conscience; and they look upon themselves as eternally lost. + Those tears will show a heavy balance against Czar Nicholas, + when, bereft of his earthly power, he stands before the eternal + tribunal. + + The other charge--he says again after refuting several + accusations of the kind stated above--the other charge, that the + Jews are averse to secular studies, rests upon an equally + erroneous foundation. For even in Germany Jewish parents have at + length found out that it is absolute folly to let their sons + devote themselves to the study of science, since they never can + hope for obtaining the least office; and since many a one, after + the best years of his youth are passed, tired of waiting, and + fearful of not having in his old age any means of support, finds + in the baptismal font the last anchor of his shattered hopes. + How much more must this consideration have weight in Russia? + Nicholas, instead of encouraging the Jews to study, ordered, on + the contrary, that all such of them as held offices and insignia + of distinction under Alexander should either resign or become + apostates. I know myself several collegiate councillors and men + attached to the court, who went to the synagogue on the Day of + Atonement with the insignia of the order of St. Anna around + their neck, and prayed there with devotion and fervor, who still + were forced into apostasy. Such instances are not calculated to + encourage Jewish parents to let their children study; and it is + but too true that many whose inclination led them to study were + carried thereby into the bosom of the Christian Church.[12] + +After almost half a decade of indefatigable labor, Lilienthal finally +came to understand the Russian State policy, "to assign a plausible +reason for every act done by the Government, in order to stand justified +in the estimation of Europe, whilst they, by throwing dust in the eyes +of the public, conceal their true purpose." The laws which seemed +favorable to the Jews, and apparently aimed at promoting culture among +them, went hand in hand with laws of the most rigorous character. It is +true that the Jews were not the only unfortunates whom the fanatic +autocrat wished to Russify, that is, compel to see the pure light of +Greek Orthodoxy. But they, of course, suffered the most. The slightest +laws were enforced by the chinovniks (officials) with the knout and the +leaden lash. When the Judeo-Polish gaberdine, the long side-curls +(peot), and the wig or turban (knup) fell into disfavor with the +Government, the miserable offender caught by an officer seldom saved +himself with the mere sacrifice of knup, coat, peot, and beard. And when +the time arrived for the execution of the more important laws, such as +the Exportation Act of April 20, 1843, no fiendish ingenuity could +surpass the cruelty of the Cossacks. This ukase more than any other, it +is claimed, embittered Lilienthal against Russia, and caused him to flee +to where he could say as one awakening from a nightmare: "The horrible +hatred against the Jews in Russia is nothing more to me than a hazy +remembrance. My soul is no longer oppressed by frightful pictures of +tyranny and persecution."[13] He was in the land of the free! + +The Lilienthal tragedy thus came to a premature close. The hero +disappeared at the beginning of the play. He had the potency, but he +lacked the conditions, for producing great results. His German birth and +training, the very qualities which recommended him to the Government, +operated against him when he came to deal with Russian Jews. Yet he +succeeded in giving a strong impetus to the Haskalah movement, and +builded better than he knew. The statement in his address at the +dedication of the Riga school,[14] "This hour we may call the hour of +the renaissance of the mental education of Israel," which reads like an +oratorical platitude, was not entirely visionary. The real history of +Haskalah in Russia commences with Lilienthal. + +Time helped greatly to restore, even to deepen, the affection of the +Maskilim for Lilienthal. A modern critic speaking of "life and +literature" in Hebrew, pictures him in glowing colors, and finishes his +description thus: + + I have presented to you, reader, a man of deep culture, known + and respected in the highest circles, and yet inseparably + connected with his race and religion, and ready to offer his + life for their welfare; a man who worked with might and main for + others at the sacrifice of his own comfort and advancement; an + orator whose exalted phrases shattered the pillars and + foundations of ignorance and superstition; a hero who in time of + peril was proof against the arrows and missiles of the enemy, + and who did not relax his hand from the flag. But what was the + fruit he reaped? Mostly ingratitude and persecution, a heart + lacerated with despair, a soul writhing under the pangs of + frustrated hopes. Such a personality with its fine shades, and + with the poetry of the artist superimposed, would afford + splendid material for the hero of a novel--a hero to captivate + the eye and heart of the reader by his nobility and + grandeur.[15] + +For a long time Russian officialdom discussed the question, whether the +establishment of exclusively Jewish schools would prove beneficial, but +nobody doubted the efficacy of rabbinical seminaries. Yet it was these +latter institutions that evoked the strongest protests from the Jews. +The advocates of Haskalah gradually came to recognize the truth, which +Lilienthal admitted afterwards, that for a Russian rabbi a thorough +knowledge of the Talmud was absolutely indispensable. But it was with +the object of discouraging such knowledge that the seminaries had been +suggested by Uvarov, and it was this study that was almost entirely +ignored in them. What congregation, many of whose members were profound +Talmudists, would accept a rabbi to whom unvocalized Hebrew was a snare +and a stumbling-block? Moreover, the whole atmosphere of the seminaries +was Christian, nay, military. Not a few members of their faculties or +boards of governors were discharged police officers or superannuated +soldiers, and at the head of the seminary in Vilna, the metropolis of +Russian Jewry, stood an apostate Jew! They became, as it were, +infirmaries of the bureaucracy, where, at the expense of the Jews, it +could stow away anyone who had proved a failure or was no longer useful. +The Government also undertook to provide the graduates with positions, +patronage which rendered the students insolently independent of their +coreligionists, and encouraged some of them to indulge in a _modus +vivendi_ distasteful to their future flocks. The graduates, therefore, +proved failures as rabbis, and the Government was forced to provide for +them by appointing them as teachers.[16] + +If this was the case with the rabbinical seminaries, we can easily +imagine the state of the subordinate schools. The Christian principals +were coarse and uneducated as a rule, and did their best to prejudice +the children against their religion. Scattered all over the Pale were to +be found Jews competent to fill positions not only as teachers in +inferior grades but as professors in the universities. Yet Lilienthal +was advised (1841) to advertise for three hundred teachers in Germany. +Finally the Government decided to employ Jews as teachers of Hebrew +only, the least important subject in the curriculum; for instruction in +the secular branches none but Christians were eligible. No Jews were +allowed to become rectors in their own schools, and their salaries were +so small that they could not support themselves without teaching an +additional class, which was prohibited. A Jew might, indeed, become an +"honorable overseer" (pochotny blyustityel), to mediate between pupils +and parents, but the title was the only pay attached to the office. +Respectable parents, therefore, kept their children at home, or rather +in the heder, and many a child's name was on the roll of attendance who +was not even aware of the existence of the school. "Every year in the +autumn," relates a writer a quarter of a century later, "there was a +kind of compulsory recruiting of Jewish children for the Government +school, accompanied sometimes by struggles between the victims and their +enemies,--scenes without a parallel, in some respects, in the civilized +world. I remember how poor mothers and sisters wept with despair when +some boy of the family was carried off or enlisted by the officers to be +a pupil of a Government school." Like the poimaniki, the poor and the +orphaned were compelled, or induced, to fill the class-rooms shunned by +the rich and respectable, and though the Government not only condemned +the ancient Hebrew institutions, but declared the twenty thousand +teachers who imparted instruction in them to be outlaws and criminals, +the melammedim pursued their vocation as ever, and the hadarim, Talmud +Torahs, yeshibot, and batte midrashim swarmed with students of the +prohibited learning.[17] + +Nicholas was paid measure for measure, and the cunning of his ministers +was made of no avail by the shrewdness of his Jewish subjects. The +report of the Minister of Education, at the end of 1845, shows +incredible progress. It states that since the ukase of November 13, +1844, i.e. in the course of a single year, more than two thousand +schools of different grades were established in various cities of the +Pale, with more than one hundred and eighty thousand pupils, not +including the technical schools in Odessa, Riga, Kishinev, Vilna, and +Uman, with their hundreds of students! The truth was that, instead of +the reported Russification, there had set in a vigorous reaction, which +rendered the position more critical. Both sides had become +desperate.[18] Some Maskilim, emboldened by the interest the Government +evinced in their efforts, had resorted to all manner of means to +accomplish their object, and frequently allied themselves with the +oppressors. The Slavuta publishing house, it is claimed, was closed, and +the Schapiras met with their tragic end, because "as printers they +scrupulously abstained from publishing Haskalah literature." Maskilim +were employed by the authorities as tax collectors, and these, as is +ever the case with rapacious farmers of taxes, besides executing the +harsh laws of the tyrant, looked also to their own aggrandizement, and +harassed their pious coreligionists in all ways conceivable. Many of +them even hindered the colonization movement, because, if allowed to +mature, it would deprive them of their income.[19] In addition to this, +the Jews were now burdened, through the instrumentality of the Maskilim, +with a tax on the candles lighted on Sabbath eve, yielding annually over +one million rubles, the greater part of which went into the coffers of +greedy officials. Another tax, also for the maintenance of the +newly-organized Government schools, was levied--one kopeck and a half +per page!--on text-books, whether imported from abroad or published in +Vilna or Zhitomir, and the text-books were published with unnecessarily +large type and wide margins to increase the number of pages. The +abridgment and translation of Maimuni's _Mishneh Torah_ (St. Petersburg, +1851), superintended by Leon Mandelstamm, cost the Russian Jews tens of +thousands of rubles, notwithstanding the expenditure of two or three +millions on their own educational institutions, and at a time when every +kopeck was needed for the support of the host of victims of fire, +famine, and cholera, which ravaged many a city. Hence the reaction +became more and more formidable. The cry grew louder and louder, _Znaty +nye znayem, shkolles nye zhelayem!_ ("We want no schools!"). The +opposition, which began in the latter years of Alexander I, reached its +culmination in the last decade of the reign of Nicholas I. "Israel," +laments Mandelstamm, "seems to be even worse than formerly; he is like a +sick person who has convalesced only to relapse, and the physicians are +beginning to despair." It was a struggle not unlike that all over Europe +at the beginning of the Renaissance, a struggle between liberty and +authority, between this world and other-worldliness, between the spirit +of the nineteenth century and that of the millenniums which preceded it. + +Here is a description, by Morgulis, of the struggles and conquests of +the new, small, but zealous, group of Maskilim in Russia at about that +time:[20] + + Those upon whom the sun of civilization and freedom happened to + cast a ray of light, showing them the path leading to a new + life, were compelled to study the European literatures and + sciences in garrets, in cellars, in any nook where they felt + themselves secure from interference. Neither unaffiliated Jews + nor the outer world knew anything about them. Like rebels they + kept their secrets unto themselves, stealthily assembling from + time to time, to consider how they might realize their ideal, + and disclose to their brethren the fountainhead of the living + waters out of which they drank and drew new youth and life. + Whatever was novel was accepted with delight. They looked with + envy upon the great intellectual progress of their western + brethren. Fain would they have had their Jewish countrymen + recognize the times and their requirements, but they could not + give free utterance to their thoughts. On the contrary, they + found it expedient to assume the mask of religion in order to + escape the suspicion of alert zealots, and gain, if possible, + new recruits. In many places societies were founded under the + name of Lovers of the New Haskalah, the members of which + observed such secrecy that even their kinsmen and those among + whom they dwelt were unaware of their existence. If through the + discovery of some forbidden book any of them happened to be + detected, he never betrayed his friends. Such a one was usually + compelled to marry, so that, being burdened with family cares, + he might desist from his unpopular pursuits. + +From which it would appear that though the opposition to Haskalah in +Russia was by no means as violent as had been the opposition to +enlightenment in France, for instance, or even among the Jews of Germany +and Austria,[21] it was a bitter and stubborn conflict between parents +and children in the adjustment of old ideals to a new environment. + +Aside from the hindrances which Haskalah encountered because of +Nicholas's conversionist policy, it was greatly hampered by the +geographical distribution of the Jews. Here again the czar defeated his +own end by segregating the three or four million of his Jewish subjects +in certain districts, technically called the Pale, the greatest ghetto +the world has ever known. It was a Judea in itself. The Jews there +seldom came in contact with outside civilization. The languages they +used were Hebrew as the literary tongue, Yiddish among themselves, and +the local Slavonic dialect with their non-Jewish neighbors. Russian was +strange, not only to the great majority of Jews, but to the Russians +themselves. It was merely the State language, and even the Government +officials fell back on their mother tongue whenever they were at liberty +to do so. It was this that made it very difficult for the Jews to be +Russified. + +But even if Russification had been a much easier process, Russian +civilization was hardly worth the having.[22] To become Russified would +have meant not only religious but also intellectual suicide. Whatever +was good in the Russia of that day was an importation. The language was +scarcely beyond the barbarous state. Its literature possessed neither +original nor adopted writings, no profound philosophical systems, no +Rousseau or Goethe, no Franklin or Kant, not even any practical +information with which to reward the student. The best writers were +Kryloff, Pushkin, Zhukovsky, and Dyerzhavin. The prices of books were so +high as to make them unattainable. Karamzin's _History of the Russian +Empire_ sold at fifty-five rubles per copy. The royal library, which had +been founded by the Jewish court physician Sanchez, contained only eight +Russian books during the reign of Alexander I, and not many more were +added by his successor. The dramatic art developed by the Jewish +playwright Nebakhovich remained for a long time in the same state as +when he ceased his work.[23] If Russia was the most powerful, it +continued to be the most fanatical and uncivilized country in Europe. +All who had occasion to visit and study it during the first half of the +nineteenth century testify to its deplorable intellectual status. +According to a very ingenious and observing writer, quoted by Buckle in +his _History of Civilization_, it consisted of but two ranks, the +highest and the lowest, or the nobility and the serfs: _Les marchands, +qui formaient une classe moyenne, sont en si petit nombre qu'il ne +peuvent marquer dans l'etat; d'ailleurs presque tous sont etrangers_. +The higher classes were distinguished for "a total absence of all +rational tastes on literary topics." + + Here [in Russia]--the same writer continues--it is absolutely + _mauvais genre_ to discuss a rational subject--pure _pedanterie_ + to be caught upon any topics beyond dressing, dancing, and a + _jolie tournure_. Military prowess is ranked far above scholarly + attainment, and a man in a uniform, no matter how depraved, + takes precedence of one in plain clothes, whatever his + achievements. All the energies of the nation are turned towards + the army. Commerce, the law, and the civil employments are held + in no esteem; all young men of any consideration betake + themselves to the profession of arms. Nothing astonished them + more than to see the estimation in which the civil professions, + and especially the bar, are held in Great Britain.[24] + +How different was the position of the Jews in other countries, +especially in Germany! Culture streamed upon them from all sides. As +their numbers were small, and as they lived, in most cases, in the +larger cities of the empire, their contact with the Christian world was +immediate and continuous. And then the irresistible fascination of +German literature, and the easy, almost imperceptible transition from +the Judeo-German to the Teutonic-German! All this and many minor +allurements were potent enough to draw even the heretofore callous +German Jews out of their isolation, and their Germanization by the +middle of the nineteenth century was an established fact. No wonder, +then, that, unlike Russian Jewry, the German Jews experienced an +unprecedented revolution; that the difference between the Mendelssohnian +generation and the next following was almost as great as that between +the modern American Jew and his brother in the Orient. No wonder, also, +that when Haskalah finally took root in Russia, it was purely German for +fifty years and more; that Nicholas's vigorous attempts, instead of +making the Slavonic Jews better Russians, merely helped to make those he +"re-educated" greater admirers of Germany. The most puissant autocrat of +Russia unwittingly contributed to the downfall of Russian autocracy, and +Gregori Peretz, the Dekabrist, son of the financier who became converted +under Alexander I, was the first of those who were to endeavor, with +book and bomb, to break the backbone of tyranny under Nicholas II.[25] + +Till about the "sixties," then, the Russo-Jewish Maskilim were the +recipients, and the German Jews were the donors. The German Jews wrote, +the Russian Jews read. Germany was to the Jewish world, during the early +Haskalah movement, what France, according to Guizot, was to Europe +during the Renaissance: both received an impetus from the outside in the +form of raw ideas, and modified them to suit their environment. Berlin +was still, as it had been during the days of Mendelssohn and Wessely, +the sanctuary of learning, the citadel of culture. In the highly +cultivated German literature they found treasures of wisdom and science. +The poetical gems of Goethe, Schiller, Lessing, and Herder captivated +their fancy; the philosophy of Kant and Fichte, Schelling and Hegel +nourished their intellect. Kant continued to be the favorite guide of +Maimon's countrymen, and in their love for him they interpreted the +initials of his name to mean "For my soul panteth after thee."[26] + +But more efficacious than all other agencies was Mendelssohn's German +translation of the Bible, and the _Biur_ commentary published therewith. +Renaissance and Reformation, those mighty, revolutionary forces, have +entered every country by side-doors, so to say. The Jewish Pale was no +exception to the rule. What Wycliffe's translation did for England, and +Luther's for Germany, Mendelssohn's did for Russian Jewry. Like the +Septuagint, it marked a new epoch in the history of Jewish advancement. +It is said that Mendelssohn's aim was chiefly to show the grandeur of +the Hebrew poetry found in the Bible, but by the irony of fate his +translation displayed to the Russian Jew the beauty and elegance of the +German language. To the member of the Lovers of the New Haskalah, +surreptitiously studying the Bible of the "Dessauer," the Hebrew was +rather a translation of, or commentary on, the German, and served him as +a bridge to cross over into the otherwise hardly accessible field of +German literature. + +The cities on the borders of Russia were the first strongholds of +Haskalah, and among them, as noted before, few struggled so intensely +for their intellectual and civil emancipation as those in the provinces +of Courland and Livonia. Though their lot was not better than that of +their coreligionists, yet, having formerly belonged to Germany, and +being surrounded by a people whose culture was superior to that of the +rest of Russia, they were the first to adopt western customs, and were +surpassed only by the Jews in Germany in their desire for reform. Their +strenuous pleadings for equal rights were, indeed, ineffectual, but this +did not lessen their admiration for the beauties of civilization, nor +blind them to its benefits. "Long ago," remarks Lilienthal, "before the +peculiar Jewish dress was prohibited, a great many could be seen here +[in Courland] dressed after the German fashion, speaking pure German, +and having their whole household arranged after the German custom. The +works of Mendelssohn were not _trefah pasul_ [unclean and unfit], the +children visited the public schools, the academies, and the +universities."[27] + +The beautiful city of Odessa, on the Black Sea, at that time just out of +its infancy and full of the virility and aspiration of youth, was also +in the full glare of the German Haskalah movement. With its wide and +straight streets, its public and private parks, and its magnificent +structures, it presents even to-day a marked contrast to other Russian +cities, and the Russians, not without pride, speak of it as "our little +Paris." In the upbuilding of this southern metropolis Jews played an +exceedingly important part. For, as regards the promotion of trade and +commerce, Russia had outgrown the narrow policy of Elizabeta Petrovna, +and did not begrudge her Jews the privilege of taking the lead. The +"enemies of Christ" were permitted, even invited, to accomplish their +"mission" also in Odessa, and thither they accordingly came, not only +from Volhynia, Podolia, and Lithuania, but also from Germany, Austria, +and especially Galicia. Erter, Letteris, Krochmal, Perl, Rapoport, +Eichenbaum, Pinsker, and Werbel became better known in Russia than in +their own land. As the Russo-Polish Jews had carried their Talmudic +learning back to the countries whence they originally received it, so +the Galician Jews, mostly hailing from the city of Brody, where Israel +Zamoscz, Mendel Levin, Joseph Hakohen, and others had implanted the +germs of Haskalah, now reimported it into Russia. The Jews of Odessa +were, therefore, more cultured than other Russian Jews, not excepting +those of Riga. Prosperous in business, they lavished money on their +schools, and their educational system surpassed all others in the +empire. In 1826 they had the best public school for boys, in 1835 a +similar one for girls, and in 1852 there existed fifty-nine public +schools, eleven boarding schools, and four day schools. The children +attended the Richelieu Lyceum and the "gymnasia" in larger proportion +than children of other denominations, and they were among the first, not +only in Russia, but in the whole Diaspora, to establish a +"choir-synagogue" (1840). "In most of the families," says Lilienthal, +"can be found a degree of refinement which may easily bear comparison +with the best French salon." Even Nicholas I found words of praise for +the Odessa Jews. "Yes," said he, "in Odessa I have also seen Jews, but +they were men"; while the zaddik "Rabbi Yisrolze" declared that he saw +"the flames of Gehennah round Odessa."[28] + +Warsaw, too, was a beneficiary of Germany, having been occupied by the +Prussians before it fell to the lot of the Russians. It was there that +practically the first Jewish weekly journals were published in Yiddish +and Polish, Der Beobachter an der Weichsel, and Dostrzegacz Nadvisyansky +(1823). There was opened the first so-called rabbinical seminary, with +Anton Eisenbaum as principal, and Cylkov, Buchner, and Kramsztyk as +teachers. The public schools were largely attended, owing to the efforts +of Mattathias Rosen, and a year after a reformed synagogue had been +organized in Odessa another was founded in Warsaw, where sermons were +preached in German by Abraham Meir Goldschmidt. + +But Riga on the Baltic, Odessa on the Black Sea, and Warsaw on the +Vistula were outdone by some cities in the interior. Haskalah lovers +multiplied rapidly, and were found in the early "forties" in every city +of any size in the Pale. "The further we go from Pinsk to Kletzk and +Nieszvicz," writes a correspondent in the Annalen,[29] "the more we lose +sight of the fanatics, and the greater grows the number of the +enlightened." With the establishment of the rabbinical seminaries in +Zhitomir (1848), this former centre of Hasidism became the nursery of +Haskalah. The movement was especially strong in Vilna, the "Jerusalem of +Lithuania," as Napoleon is said to have called it. From time immemorial, +long before the Gaon's day, it had been famous for its Talmudic +scholars. "Its yeshibot," says Jacob Emden in the middle of the +eighteenth century, "were closed neither by day nor by night; many +scholars came home from the bet ha-midrash but once a week. They +surpassed their brethren in Poland and in Germany in learning and +knowledge, and it was regarded of much consequence to secure a rabbi +from Vilna." Now this "city and mother in Israel" became one of the +pioneers of Haskalah, all the more because, in addition to the public +schools and the rabbinical seminary, the Jews were admitted to its +university on equal terms with the Gentiles. "Within six years," +exclaims Mandelstamm, "what a change has come over Vilna! Youths and +maidens, anxious for the new Haskalah, are now to be met with +everywhere, nor are any ashamed to learn a trade." The schools exerted a +salutary influence on the younger generation, and the older people, too, +began to view life differently, only that they were still reluctant to +discard their old-fashioned garb. There also, in 1847, the leading +Maskilim started a reform synagogue, which they named Taharat ha-Kodesh, +the Essence of Holiness.[30] + +It should not be forgotten that, if Lilienthal met with mighty +opposition, he also had powerful supporters. There were many who, though +remaining in the background, strongly sympathized with his plan. Indeed, +the number of educated Jews, as proved by an investigation ordered by +Nicholas I, was far greater than had been commonly supposed. Not only in +the border towns, but even in the interior of the Pale, the students of +German literature and secular science were not few, and Doctor Loewe +discovered in Hebron an exceptional German scholar in the person of an +immigrant from Vilna.[31] The tendency of the time is well illustrated +by an anecdote told by Slonimsky, to the effect that when he went to ask +the approval of Rabbi Abele of Zaslava on his _Mosde Hokmah_, he found +that those who came to be examined for ordination received their award +without delay, while he was put off from week to week. Ill at ease, +Slonimsky approached the venerable rabbi and demanded an explanation: +"You grant a semikah [rabbinical diploma] so readily, why do you seem so +reluctant when a mere haskamah [recommendation] is the matter at issue?" +To his surprise the reason given was that the rabbi enjoyed his +scientific debates so much that he would not willingly part with the +young author. + +Stories were told how the deans of the yeshibot were frequently found to +have mastered the very books they confiscated because of the teachings +they inculcated. Before the reign of Nicholas I drew to its end, +Haskalah centres were as numerous as the cities wherein Jews resided. In +Byelostok the Talmudist Jehiel Michael Zabludovsky was lending German +books to young Slonimsky, the future inventor and publicist; in +Vlotslavek Rabbi Joseph Hayyim Caro was writing and preaching in classic +German; in Zhagory, Hayyim Sack helped Leon Mandelstamm (1809-1889), the +first Jewish "candidate," or bachelor, in philology to graduate from the +St. Petersburg University (1844) and the assistant and successor of +Lilienthal, in the expurgation and German translation of Maimuni's +_Mishneh Torah_. When, in 1857, Mandelstamm resigned, he was followed by +Seiberling, for fifteen years the censor of Jewish books in Kiev, upon +whom a German university conferred the doctor's degree. The +poverty-stricken Wolf Adelsohn, known as the Hebrew Diogenes, formed a +group of Seekers after Light in Dubno, while such wealthy merchants as +Abraham Rathaus, Lilienthal's secretary during his campaign in +Berdichev, Issachar Bompi, the bibliophile in Minsk, Leon Rosenthal, +financier and philanthropist in Brest-Litovsk, and Aaron Rabinovich, in +Kobelyaki (Poltava), promoted enlightenment by precept and example. In +Vilna, Joseph Sackheim's young son acted as English interpreter when +Montefiore was entertained by his father, and Jacob Barit, the +incomparable "Yankele Kovner" (1793-1833) another of Montefiore's +hosts, was master of Russian, German, and French, and aroused the +admiration of the Governor-General Nazimov by his learning and his +ability. + +Yes, the Jews began to pay, if they had ever been in debt, for the good +that had for a while been bestowed upon them by Alexander I. Alexander +Nebakhovich was a well-known theatrical director, his brother Michael +was the editor of the first Russian comic paper Yeralash, and Osip +Rabinovich showed marked ability in serious journalism. In 1842 died +Abraham Jacob Stern, the greatest inventor Russia had till then +produced; and, as if to corroborate the statement of the Talmud, that +when one sun sets another rises, the Demidoff prize of two thousand five +hundred rubles was the same year awarded to his son-in-law, Hayyim Selig +Slonimsky (HaZas, 1810-1904) of Byelostok, for the first of his valuable +inventions. Stern's genius was surpassed, though in a different +direction, only by that of Elijah Vilna. His first invention was a +calculating machine, which led to his election as a member of the Warsaw +Society of the Friends of Science (1817) and to his being received twice +by Alexander I (1816, 1818), who bestowed upon him an annual pension of +three hundred and fifty rubles. This invention was followed by another, +"a topographical wagon for the measurement of level surfaces, an +invention of great benefit to both civil and military engineers." He +also constructed an improved threshing and harvesting machine and a +sickle of immense value to agriculture.[32] + +But it is scarcely possible, nor would it be profitable, to enumerate +either the places or the persons who were, so to speak, inoculated with +the Haskalah virus. In Grodno, Kovno, Lodz, Minsk, Mohilev, Pinsk, +Zamoscz, Slutsk, Vitebsk, Zhagory, and other places, they were toiling +zealously and diligently, these anchorites in the desert of knowledge. +Among them were men of all classes and callings, from the cloistered +Talmudist to the worldly merchant. The path of Haskalah was slowly yet +surely cleared. The efforts of the conservative Maskilim were not devoid +of some good results, nor even were those of Nicholas, though aimed at +Christianizing rather than civilizing, entirely wasted. With all their +shortcomings, and though producing but few rabbis acceptable to +Russo-Jewish congregations, the seminaries in Warsaw, Zhitomir, and +Vilna were powers for enlightenment. In them the future prominent +scientists, scholars, and litterateurs were reared, and there the +foundations were laid for the activities of Goldfaden, Gurland, Harkavy, +Kantor, Landau, Levanda, Mandelkern, Paperna, Pumpyansky, Rosenberg, +Steinberg, and others. Their fate was that of Mendelssohn's Bible +translation. The end became a means, the means, an end. But they not +only "brought forth" great men, they rendered no less important a +service in "bringing out" those already great. Had it not been for their +professorships, men like Abramovitsch, Lerner, Plungian, Slonimsky, +Suchastover, and Zweifel, who were not blessed with worldly goods like +Fuenn, Katzenellenbogen, Luria, or Strashun, would probably have sought +in private teaching or petty trading a source of subsistence, and +Judaism in general and Russian Jewry in particular would have sustained +a considerable loss. They helped to prepare the soil, even to implant +the germ, and + + Once the germ implanted, + Its growth, if slow, is sure. + +As the history of this period is incomplete without an acquaintance with +the lives of some of the Maskilim who sowed the seeds that burst into +blossom under the favorable conditions of the "sixties," I shall select, +as specimens out of a multitude, the two who, more than any others, +furthered the cause of Haskalah, Isaac Baer Levinsohn and Mordecai Aaron +Guenzburg.[33] + +Isaac Baer Levinsohn of Kremenetz, Volhynia (RiBaL, 1788-1860), was for +many years a name to conjure with, not only among the Maskilim of all +shades, but also among their opponents. Long before he reached man's +estate, he had entered upon the career to which he was to dedicate his +life. Even in those times of numerous child prodigies, Levinsohn was +distinguished for his intellectual precocity. At the age of three he was +ripe for the heder. At nine he was the author of a work on Cabbala. At +ten he mastered the Talmud, and knew the entire Hebrew Bible by heart. +But what singled him out among his classmates was his passionate love of +secular knowledge. The son of Judah Levin, an erudite merchant who knew +Hebrew and Polish to perfection, the grandson of Jekuthiel Solomon, +famed for wealth and refinement, he evinced unusual ability in selecting +and retaining what was good and true in everything he read. At fourteen +he was familiar with the literatures of several nations, so that during +the Franco-Russian war (1812) he easily secured an appointment as +interpreter and secretary in the local police department. But excessive +study caused ill-health, and at the suggestion of his physicians he went +to Brody in Galicia, a fortunate incident in the otherwise solitary and +gloomy life of the future reformer, for next to Germany Galicia played +an important part in the Haskalah movement in Russia. There he met +Joseph Perl, the noted educator; Doctor Isaac Erter, the immortal +satirist; M.H. Letteris, the distinguished poet; S.L. Rapoport, one of +the first and profoundest of Jewish historians, and Nahman Krochmal, the +saintly philosopher. Into this circle of "shining ones" Levinsohn was +introduced, and each and all left an impression, some greater, some +less, upon his plastic soul. It was there and then, in the congenial +company of friends of about his own age, that Levinsohn determined to +devote himself to improving the educational system of his people and +began to plan his work on _Learning in Israel_ (_Te'udah be-Yisrael_), +which procured for its author the foremost place in the history of the +Haskalah movement. + +The book was finished in 1823, but, owing to Levinsohn's pecuniary +circumstances, it remained unpublished till 1828. Meanwhile it +circulated in manuscript among the leading Maskilim of Russia, Austria, +and Germany, and established its author's reputation wherever it was +read. Levinsohn was one of those who understand the persuasive power of +the still small voice of sweet reasonableness. He knew that a few +convincing arguments couched in gentle language will accomplish more for +the furtherance of an ideal than the trumpet call of a hundred clamoring +militants, and Haskalah will make headway only when it can prove itself +to be a help, and not a hindrance, to religion. Accordingly, he aimed to +show that the Tanaim, Amoraim, Saboraim, Geonim, and rabbis of later +generations were versed in the sciences, were familiar with foreign +history, and interested in the affairs of the world. But these he quotes +only as exemplars of broad-mindedness, they must no longer be regarded +as authorities in secular knowledge. "Art and science," he says, "are +steadily progressing.... To perfect ourselves in them we must resort to +non-Jewish sources." This was a bold statement for those times, however +mildly expressed. The _Te'udah_ became a bone of contention. It was torn +and burnt by fanatics, exalted to the skies by friends. The new apostle +of enlightenment was forced to leave the city and reside for a while in +Berdichev, Nemirov, Ostrog, and Tulchin. But wherever he went, his +tribulation was sweetened by the enthusiasm of his admirers and the +consciousness that his toil was not entirely wasted. In Warsaw and in +Vilna his name was great, and Nicholas presented him with a thousand +rubles as a mark of appreciation of the book, the fly-leaf of which +bears the inscription "To science." + +In the midst of his more serious studies Levinsohn diverted himself +occasionally with lighter composition, in which many an antiquated +custom served as the butt for his biting satire. In his youth he had a +penchant for poetry, and his poem on the flight, or expulsion, of the +French from Russia was complimented by the Government. His muse dealt +with ephemeral themes, but his _bons mots_ are current among his +countrymen to this day. A novel sort of plagiarism was the fashion of +the time. Authors attributed their work to others, instead of claiming +the product of others as their own. Levinsohn's _Hefker Welt_, in +Yiddish, and _Sayings of the Saints_ and _Valley of the Dead_, in +Hebrew, belong to this category. But the deep student did not persist +long in this species of diversion. Wittgenstein, the field-marshal, and +professors at the Lyceum of his town, supplied him with books, and he, +an omnivorous reader, plunged again into his graver work, the result of +which was the little book since translated into English, Russian, and +German, _Efes Dammim_ (_No Blood!_). As the name indicates, it was +intended as a defence against the blood, or ritual murder, accusation. +It was the right word in the right time and place. In Zaslav, Volhynia, +this monstrous libel had been revived, and popular fury rose to a high +pitch. Several years later the Damascus Affair stirred the Jewish world +to determined action, designed to stamp it out once for all. To wage war +against this superstitious belief seems to have fallen to the lot of +several of Levinsohn's family. In 1757, when it asserted itself in +Yampoly, Volhynia, his great-uncle, by the unanimous consent of the +Council of the Four Countries, was sent to Rome to intercede with the +Pope. After six years of pleading, he returned to his native land with a +signed statement addressed to the Polish king and nobles, which declared +the accusation to be utterly false. Another uncle of his had performed a +similar task in 1749. True scion of a noble family, Levinsohn followed +in their wake, and his effort was declared to be a "sharp sword forged +by a master, to fight for our honor." + +Everything was against Levinsohn when he started on his third great +work, _The House of Judah_ (_Bet Yehudah_). He found himself poor, sick, +and alone, and deprived of his fine library. In those days, and for a +long time before and afterwards, Hebrew authors were paid in kind. In +return for their copyright they received a number of copies of their +books, which they were at liberty to dispose of as best they could. Now, +while Levinsohn's copies of his _Bet Yehudah_ were still at the +publisher's, a fire broke out, and most of them were consumed. + +The _Te'udah be-Yisrael_ had been prompted by a desire to prove the +compatibility of modern civilization with Judaism. Levinsohn's object in +writing his _Bet Yehudah_ was the reverse. The impetus came from without +the Jewish camp. The book represents the author's views on certain +Jewish problems propounded by his Christian friend, Prince Emanuel +Lieven, just as Mendelssohn's _Jerusalem_ was written at the instigation +of Lavater. Though there is a similarity in the causes that produced the +two books, there is a marked difference in their methods. Mendelssohn +treats his subject as an impartial non-Jewish philosopher might have +done. He is frequently too reserved, for fear of offending. Levinsohn, +in Greek-Catholic Russia, is strictly frank. He is conscious of the +difficulties under which he is laboring. To discuss religion in Russia +is far from agreeable. "It is," he says, "as if a master, pretending to +exhibit his skill in racing, were to enter into competition publicly +with his slave ... and at the same time wink at him to slacken his +speed." Of one thing he is certain: Judaism is a progressive religion. +It had been and might be reformed from time to time, but this can and +must be only along the lines of its own genius. To improve the moral and +material condition of the Jews by weaning them away from the faith of +their fathers (as was tried by Nicholas) will not do. On the contrary, +make them better Jews, and they will be better citizens. + +The _Bet Yehudah_ may justly be called the connecting link between the +_Te'udah_, which preceded it, and _Zerubbabel_, which followed it. The +latter, though written in Hebrew, was really intended exclusively for +the Gentile world, as the former had been mainly for the Jewish world. +It is a continuation, but not yet a conclusion, of the self-assigned +task of Levinsohn. The Talmud, we have seen, was at that time the object +of assaults of zealous Christians and disloyal Jews, and hostile works +against Judaism were the order of the day. Most of them, however, like +the fabulous snake, vented their poison and died. It was different with +McCaul's poignant diatribe against the cause of Judaism and the honor of +the Talmud, which had been translated into many languages. Montefiore, +while in Russia, urged Levinsohn to defend his people against their +traducers, and the bed-ridden sage, almost blind and hardly able to hold +a pen, finally consented. What _Zerubbabel_ accomplished, can be judged +from the fact that in the second Hebrew edition of McCaul's _Old Paths_ +(1876) are omitted many of the calumnies and aspersions of the first +edition, published in 1839. + +Levinsohn's life was a continuous struggle against an insidious disease, +which kept him confined to his bed, and prevented him from accepting any +prominent position. But though, as he said, he had "neither brother, +wife, child, nor even a sound body," he impressed his personality upon +Russian Jewry as no one else, save the Gaon, had before him. His breadth +of view and his sympathetic disposition gradually won him the respect +and love of all who knew him. The zaddikim Abraham of Turisk and Israel +Rasiner were his lifelong friends; the Talmudist Strashun acknowledged +his indebtedness to him, and Rabbi Abele of Vilna remarked jestingly +that the only fault to be found with the _Te'udah_ was that its author +was not the Gaon Elijah. He enjoyed prominence in Government circles, +and Prince Wittgenstein was passionately fond of his company. Above all +he endeared himself to the Maskilim. To him they looked as to their +teacher and guide; him they consulted in every emergency. Lebensohn and +Gottlober, Mandelstamm and Gordon, equally sought his criticism and +advice. For all he had words of comfort and encouragement. The younger +Maskilim he warned not to waste their time in idle versification, not to +become intoxicated with their little learning; and the older ones he +implored to respect the sentiments of their conservative coreligionists. +"Take it not amiss," he would say to the latter, "that the great bulk of +our people hearken not as yet to our new teachings. All beginnings are +difficult. The drop cannot become a deluge instantaneously. Persevere in +your laudable ambition, publish your good and readable books, and the +result, though slow, is sure." + +Thus lived and labored the first of the Maskilim, an idealist from +beginning to end. Persecution did not embitter, nor poverty depress him. +And when he passed away quietly (February 12, 1860) in the obscure +little town in which he had been born, and which has become famous +through him, it was felt that Russia had had her Mendelssohn, too. +Strange to say, he little suspected the tremendous influence he exerted +upon the Haskalah movement, but was quite sanguine of the success of his +fight for "truth and justice among the nations." His work he modestly +summed up in the epitaph which was inscribed on his tombstone at his +request: + + Out of nothing God called me to life. + Alas, earthly life has passed, and I must + Sleep again on the bosom of Mother Nature. + Witness this stone. I fought with God's + Foes, not with a Sword, but with the Word; + I fought for Truth and Justice among the Nations + And _Zerubbabel_ and _Efes Dammim_ testify thereto. + +Contemporaneous with Isaac Baer Levinsohn, and hardly less distinguished +and influential, was Mordecai Aaron Guenzburg (ReMAG, Salanti, Kovno, +December 3, 1795--Vilna, November 5, 1846). His family had been +prominent in many walks of life since the fourteenth century, and, +whether in the land of the Saxons or of the Slavs, represented the cream +of the Jewries in which they lived. His father was a Maskil of great +repute, who had written several treatises, in Hebrew, on algebra, +geometry, optics, and kindred subjects. He sought to supplement his son +Mordecai Aaron's heder education with a knowledge of secular sciences. +But at that time and in that place not many were the books, outside the +Talmud, accessible to a lad eager for learning, the only ones available +being such as the _Josippon_, _Zemah David_, and _Sheerit Yisrael_ on +Jewish History, the _Sefer ha-Berit_, and a Hebrew translation of +Mendelssohn's _Phaedon_ on general philosophy. But the precocious and +clear-minded youth did not need much to stimulate his love for history +and his inclination to philosophy, and his intellectual development +continued in spite of the untoward circumstances in which he happened to +be placed. + +Though he was "given" in marriage at a very early age, the proverbial +"millstone" weighed but lightly upon the neck of young Guenzburg. He +never discontinued the habit of secluding himself in his study for +hours, sometimes for days, at a time, and there writing down his +thoughts in painstaking penmanship. These productions, with all their +crudity, promised, according to a keen critic, the flowers which would +one day "ripen into delicious fruit, not only pleasant to the sight but +also delicious to the taste." In fact, even his religious views +underwent but slight modification in later and maturer years. Ceremonial +laws, or minhagim, were to him a social compact among the members of a +sect. He who transgresses them is, _eo ipso_, excluded from the sect, as +he who disregards the social code, though not immoral, is ostracized +from society. This led him to the logical conclusion that every Jew must +comply with the customs of his people, though his opinion as to their +moral value may differ from that of the rest. He believed in freedom of +thought, but would not concede freedom of action or even of expression, +and would say with Bolingbroke, "Freedom belongs to a man as a rational +creature, he lies under the restraint as a member of society." + +At these conclusions, Guenzburg arrived only after a long, severe, though +silent, struggle in the seclusion of his closet. His active mind would +not at first surrender unconditionally to the coercion of custom. But +his conception of ceremonialism served him in good stead on many an +occasion in his eventful life. Being an expedient to preserve harmony, +it may and must vary with change of conditions. Accordingly, Guenzburg +always accommodated himself to his environment. In Vilna he subscribed +to the regulations of the _Shulhan 'Aruk_, in Mitau he quickly and +completely became Germanized. Such adaptability rendered him conspicuous +wherever he went, and as early as 1829 his name was included among the +learned of Livonia, Esthland, and Courland in the Biographical +Dictionary then published by Recke and Napyersky. + +His claim to fame, however, consists in the influence he exerted upon +Russian Jews. Like Levinsohn, he was a constructive force. In his +younger days, he had inveighed against the benighted rabbis and the +antiquated garb, but moderation came with discretion. He would not sweep +away by force the accumulation of hundreds of years. Judaism needed +reforms of some sort, but these could not be brought about by the +Russo-German-doctor-rabbis, men who could rede the seven riddles of the +world, but whose knowledge of their own people and its spiritual +treasures was close to the zero point. "For a rabbi," writes he, "Torah +must be the integer, science the cipher. Had Aristotle embraced Judaism, +notwithstanding his unparalleled erudition, he would still remain a +sage, never become a rabbi." But he was as little satisfied with the +exclusively Talmudistic rabbis. "O ye modern rabbis," he calls out in +one of his essays, in which he stigmatizes Lilienthal's plans as the +"gourd of Jonah," "you who stand in the place of seer and prophet of +yore, is it not your duty to rise above the people, to intervene between +them and the Government? And how can you expect to accomplish it, if the +language and regulations of our country are entirely unknown to you?" + +The impress Guenzburg left upon Hebrew literature is of special +importance. Until his time, despite the examples set by Satanov and +Levin, Hebrew was stamped with the hallmark of medievalism. Like the +Spanish entertainment in Dryden's _Mock Astrologer_, at which everything +at the table tasted of nothing but red pepper, so the literature of that +day was dominated by the style and spirit of the Talmud and saturated +with its subtleties. Astronomy, philosophy, mathematics, and poetry +swarmed with puns, alliterations, pedantic allusions; they were +overladen with irrelevant notes and interwoven with quaint and strained +interpretations. Guenzburg was the first, with the exception of Erter +perhaps, to try to remedy the evil. "Every writer," he maintained, +"should guard himself against the fastidiousness or stiffness which +results from pedantry, and take great pains not only with the content of +his thoughts, but with the language in which these thoughts are +couched." Simplicity, perspicuity, and conciseness, these he taught by +precept and example, and though he was accused of "Germanizing" the +Hebrew language, he persisted in his labor until he attained the +foremost rank among the neo-Hebraic litterateurs. + +In Guenzburg we find the artistic temperament developed to a degree rare +among Hebraists of even more recent years. He wrote only in moments of +inspiration. At times he passed weeks and months without penning a line, +but when once aroused he wrote unceasingly until he finished what he had +begun. He was careful in the choice of his words, careful in the choice +of his books, and would recommend nothing but the best. "I may not have +genius enough," he would say, "to distinguish between better and best, +but I do not lack common sense, to differentiate tares from weeds." +Above all, he possessed a sense of honor, the greatest stimulus, as he +maintained, to noble endeavors. "For as marriage is necessary to +perpetuate the race, and food to sustain the individual, so is honor to +the existence of the superior man." + +Of the fifty years of his active life more than one-half was spent in +literary labor. His books obtained a wide circulation, and, though they +were rather expensive, became rare soon after their publication. Yet, +strange to say, this eminent Hebraist seldom, if ever, lauds the +beauties of the "daughter of Eber" (Hebrew) like his fellow-Maskilim +since the days of the Meassefim, nor does he even think it incumbent on +a Jew to be conversant with it. + + Three periods have passed over me--he writes to a friend--since + I dedicated myself to Hebrew. As a youth I loved it as a Jewish + lad loves his betrothed, not because he is enamored of her + charms, but because his parents have chosen her for him; as I + grew older, I continued to love it as a Jewish man loves his + wife, not because of real affection, but because she is the only + one he knows; now that I am old, I still love her, as an elderly + Jew loves his helpmate: he is aware that she lacks many of the + accomplishments of which more educated women can boast, but, for + all that, remembering her faithfulness in the past, he loves her + also in the present, and loves her till he dies. + +Guenzburg was different from most of his contemporaries in another +respect. He was a voluminous writer, but only a few of his books and +essays bear on what we now call Jewish science. Zunz, Geiger, and Jost, +seeing that Judaism was gradually losing its hold upon their Jewish +countrymen, resorted to exploring and narrating, in German, the +wonderful story of their race, in the hope of renewing its ebbing +strength. Levinsohn, living amid a different environment, deemed it best +to convince his fellow-Jews that secular knowledge was necessary, and +religion sanctioned their pursuit thereof. Guenzburg, the man of letters, +determined to teach through the vehicle of Hebrew the true and the +beautiful wherever he found it. He felt called upon to reveal to his +brethren the grandeur of the world beyond the dingy ghetto, to tell them +the stories not contained in the Midrash, _Josippon_, or the biographies +of rabbis and zaddikim. He translated Campe's _Discovery of the New +World_, compiled a history of ancient civilization, and narrated the +epochal event of the nineteenth century, the conflict between Russia and +France. He taught his fellow-Jews to think correctly and logically, to +clothe their thoughts in beautiful expressions, and revealed his +innermost being to them in his autobiography, _Abi'ezer_. As a writer he +appears neither erudite nor profound. We cannot apply to his works what +we may safely say of Elijah Vilna's and Levinsohn's, that "there is +solid metal enough in them to fit out whole circulating libraries, were +it beaten into the usual filigree." But he was elegant, cultured, +intelligent, honorable; one who joined a feeling heart to a love for +art; a Moses who struck from the rock of the Hebrew tongue refreshing +streams for those thirsting for knowledge; a most amiable personality, +and an altogether unusual character during the century-long struggle +between light and darkness in the Jewry of Russia. + +[Illustration: PEREZ BEN MOSHEH SMOLENSKIN, 1842-1885] + +(Notes, pp. 318-322.) + + + + +CHAPTER V + +RUSSIFICATION, REFORMATION, AND ASSIMILATION + +1856-1881 + + +The year 1856 will always be remembered as the _annus mirabilis_ in the +history of Russia. It marked at once the cessation of the Crimean war +and the accession of the most liberal and benevolent monarch Russia ever +had. On January 16, the heir apparent signified his consent to accept +Austrian intervention, which resulted in the Treaty of Paris (March 30), +granting the Powers involved "peace with honor"; and in August, in the +Cathedral of the Assumption at Moscow, amidst unprecedented rejoicing, +the czarevich placed the imperial crown upon his head. From that time +reform followed reform. The condition of the soldiers, who had virtually +been slaves under Nicholas I, was greatly improved, and a proclamation +was issued for the emancipation of the peasants, slaves not for a +limited time only, but for life and from generation to generation. It +cost the United States five years of fratricidal agony, a billion of +dollars, and about half a million of lives, to liberate five or six +millions of negroes; Russia, in one memorable day (February 19, 1861), +liberated nearly twenty-two millions of muzhiks (peasants), and gave +them full freedom, by a mere stroke of the pen of the "tsar +osvobodityel," the Liberator Czar, Alexander II (1856-1881). + +Other innovations, of less magnitude but nevertheless of far-reaching +importance, were introduced later. Capital punishment, which still +disgraces human justice in more enlightened states, was unconditionally +abolished; the number of offences amenable to corporal punishment was +gradually reduced, until, on April 29, 1863, all the horrors of the +gauntlet, the spur, the lash, the cat, and the brand, were consigned to +eternal oblivion. The barbarous system of the judiciary was replaced by +one that could render justice "speedy, righteous, merciful, and +equitable." Railway communication, postal and telegraph service, police +protection, the improvement of the existing universities, the opening of +many new primary schools, and the introduction of compulsory school +attendance, told speedily on the intellectual development of the people. +In the words of Shumakr, Russia experienced "a complete inward revival." +Old customs seemed to disappear, all things were become new. New life, +new hope, new aspirations throbbed in the hearts of the subjects of the +gigantic empire, and better times were knocking at their doors. _Joli +tout le monde, le diable est mort!_ + +This era of great reforms and the resuscitation of all that is good and +noble in the Slavonic soul brought about also a moral regeneration. The +colossus who, according to Turgenief, preferred to sleep an endless +sleep, with a jug of vodka in his clutched fingers, proved that he, too, +was human, with a feeling, human heart beating in his bosom. With the +restoration of peace and the abolition of serfhood, there began a +removal of prejudice even against Jews. Hitherto the foremost +litterateurs in Russia, imitating the writers of other lands, had +painted the Jew as a monstrosity. Pushkin's prisoner, Gogol's traitor, +Lermontoff's spy, and Turgenief's Zhid (Jew) were caricatures and +libels, equal in acrimony, and not inferior in art, to Shakespeare's +Shylock and Dickens's Fagin. But now the best and ablest men of letters +signed a protest against such unjust and impossible characters. + + Two thousand years of cruel suffering and affliction--said the + historian and humanitarian Professor Granovsky, of the + University of Moscow--have at last erased the bloody boundary + line separating the Jews from humanity. The honor of this + reconciliation, which is becoming firmer from day to day, + belongs to our age. The civic status of the Jews is now + established in most European countries, and even in the places + that are still backward their condition is improved, if not by + law, then by enlightenment. + +And law and enlightenment radiated their sunshine also upon the Jews of +rejuvenated Russia. The Cantonist system was abolished for good; the +high schools and universities were opened to Jews without +discrimination; and the Governments lying outside the Pale were made +accessible to Jewish scholars, professional men, manufacturers, +wholesale merchants, and skilled laborers (March 16, 1859; November 27, +1861).[1] Through the efforts of Wolf Kaplan, one of Guenzburg's noted +pupils, the persecution of Jews by Germans in Riga was stopped, and the +eminent publicist Katkoff undertook to defend them in the newspaper +Russkiya Vyedomosti. Nazimov, the Governor-General of Vilna, Mukhlinsky, +who inspected the Jewish schools in western Russia, Artzimovich, of +southern Russia, and many other prominent personages arose as champions +of the Jews.[2] + +The physician and pedagogue Nikolai Ivanovich Pirogov (1810-1881), the +superintendent of the Odessa and Kiev school districts, is especially +deserving of honorable mention in the history of Haskalah. Of all the +Russians of the period who gloried in their liberal convictions, he was +the most liberal. In him the last vestige of prejudice and race +distinction disappeared, and he conscientiously devoted himself to the +study, not only of the present, but also of the past of the Jews, to be +in a better position to lend them his assistance. To the Jews he +appealed to unite and spread enlightenment among the masses by peaceful +means. To the Gentiles, again, he did not hesitate to point out the good +qualities of the Jews, and in an article on the Odessa Talmud Torah he +held up the institution as a model for the public elementary schools. He +admired especially the enthusiasm with which Jewish youths devoted +themselves to the acquisition of knowledge. "Where are religion, +morality, enlightenment, and the modern spirit," asked he, "when these +Jews, who, with courage and self-sacrifice, engage in the struggle +against prejudices centuries old, meet no one here to sympathize with +them and extend a helping hand to them?" His liberality carried him so +far that he established a fund for the support of indigent Jewish +students at the University of Kiev, and he advocated strenuously the +award of prizes and scholarships to deserving Jewish students. Such as +he were rare in any land, but nowhere so rare as in Russia.[3] + +Pirogov took the initiative in reorganizing the Jewish schools. It +required little observation to understand that they had proved a +failure. Instead of attracting the Jewish masses to secular education, +they only repelled them. The remedy was not far to seek. "The abolition +of these schools" said Count Kotzebu, "would drive the Jews back to +their fanaticism and isolation. It is necessary to make the Jews useful +citizens, and I see no other means of achieving this than by their +education." Pirogov's first move was to order that Jewish instead of +Christian principals be put at their head, and he set an example by +appointing Rosenzweig to that office. The curriculum was changed, making +the lower schools correspond with our grammar schools, and adapting +their studies to the needs of those who must discontinue schooling at a +comparatively early age. The higher schools were arranged so as to +prepare the pupils for the gymnasium. The salaries of the teachers were +raised, and books and necessaries were provided for pupils too poor to +afford them. + +The Government's attention having been directed by General Zelenoy to +the Jewish agricultural colonies in southern Russia, Marcus Gurovich was +appointed to work out a plan to provide them with graded schools. He +proposed that secular and sacred subjects alike be taught by Jewish +teachers, and these were to be cautioned to be careful not to offend the +religious sensibilities of the parents. The plan appealed to the +colonists, and they looked forward anxiously to its fulfilment. Having +waited in vain till 1868, they offered to defray the expenses of the +schools involved, if the Government would advance the money at the +first. Accordingly, ten schools for boys and two for girls were opened +in that year. + +Such disinterested efforts on their behalf would have evoked the +gratitude of Jews at any time and in every country, how much more in +Russia, and following close upon the darkest period in their history! +The struggle for liberty all over Europe in 1848--the spring of +nations--had confirmed Nicholas in his policy of exclusion. The last +five years of his reign had surpassed the preceding in cruelty and +tyranny. The "Don Quixote of Politics," finding that his attempts to +quarantine Russia against European influences had proved futile, that +the nationalities constituting the empire remained as distinct as ever, +and the desired homogeneity was still far from becoming a reality, +finally had lost patience and had determined to execute his +conversionist policy at all hazards. He had increased the conscription +duties, already unbearable (January 8, 1852; August 16, 1852), +restricted the study of Hebrew and Hebrew subjects still further in the +Government schools, and, as if to embitter the lives of the Jew by all +means available, insisted on the use of the Mitnaggedic ritual even in +communities exclusively or largely Hasidic.[4] Even the blood accusation +had been revived, and the statements in the pamphlet entitled +_Information about the Killing of Christians by Jews for the Purpose of +Obtaining Their Blood_, which Skripitzyn, "the manager of Jewish affairs +in Russia," published in 1844, found many believers in Government +circles, and caused the Saratoff affair which, though suppressed, ruined +numerous Jewish families, and made the breach between Jew and Gentile +wider than ever.[5] + +Now all this was changed. Christians championed the cause of Jews. The +Government, too, appeared to be sincerely anxious for the welfare of its +Jewish subjects. It not only promised, but frequently also performed. +The Jews were allowed to follow their religious predilections +unhindered. The schools were reorganized with rabbinical graduates as +their teachers and principals. The Rabbinical Assembly, which, though +established by Nicholas (May 26, 1848), had rarely been called together, +was summoned to St. Petersburg, and there spent six months in 1857 and +five in 1861 in deliberating on means of improving the intellectual and +material standing of the Jews. The "learned Jew" (uchony Yevrey) Moses +Berlin was invited to become an adviser in the Department of Public +Worship (1856), to be consulted concerning the Jewish religion whenever +occasion required. Permission was granted to publish Jewish periodicals +in Russian, Polish, Hebrew, and Yiddish (1860), and on April 26, 1862, +the restriction was removed that limited Jewish publishing houses and +printing-presses to Vilna and Zhitomir. The Russia Montefiore saw on his +visit in 1872, how different from the Russia he had left in 1846! + +These auspicious signs renewed the hope of the Maskilim and intensified +their zeal. They were convinced of the noble intentions of the Liberator +Czar; they were confident that the emperor who emancipated the muzhiks, +and expunged many a _kromye Yevreyev_ ("except the Jews") which his +father was wont to add to the few privileges he granted his Christian +subjects, would ultimately remove the civil disabilities of the Jews +altogether. In a very popular song, written by Eliakum Zunser (Vilna, +1836-New York, 1913), then a rising and beloved Badhan (bard) writing in +Yiddish and Hebrew, Alexander II was likened to an angel of God who +finds the flower of Judah soiled by dirt and trampled in the dust. He +rescues it, and revives it with living water, and plants it in his +garden, where it flourishes once more.[6] The poets hailed him as the +savior and redeemer of Israel. All that the Jews needed was to make +themselves deserving of his kindness, and worthy of the citizenship they +saw in store for them. In Russian, in Hebrew, and in Yiddish, in prose +and in poetry, the one theme uppermost in the mind of all was +enlightenment, or rather Russification. From all quarters the reveille +was sounded. Abraham Baer Gottlober (1811-1899) exclaimed: + + Awake, Israel, and, Judah, arise! + Shake off the dust, open wide thine eyes! + Justice sprouteth, righteousness is here, + Thy sin is forgot, thou hast naught to fear.[7] + +More impressively still Judah Loeb Gordon (1831-1892) called: + + Arise, my people, 'tis time for waking! + Lo, the night is o'er, the day is breaking! + Arise and see where'er thou turn'st thy face, + How changed are both our time and place.[8] + +And in Yiddish, too, an anonymous poet echoed the strain: + + Arise, my people, awake from thy dreaming, + In foolishness be not immersed! + Clear is the sky, brightly the sun is beaming; + The clouds are now utterly dispersed! + +Rapid growth is sometimes the cause of disease, and sudden changes the +cause of disappointment. This was true of the swift progress of Haskalah +during the reign of Alexander II. To comprehend fully the tragedies that +took place frequently at that time, the disillusionments that embittered +the lives of many of the Maskilim, the breaking up of homes and bruising +of hearts, one should read _Youthful Sins_ (_Plattot Neurim_, 1876) by +Moses Loeb Lilienblum. The author lays bare a heart ulcerated and mangled +by an obsolete education, a meaningless existence, and a forlorn hope. +The hero of this little work, masterly less by reason of its artistic +finish than the earnestness that pervades it from beginning to end, is +"one of the slain of the Babylonian Talmud, whose spiritual life is +artificially maintained by a literature itself dead." His diary and +letters grant a glimpse into his innermost being; his childhood wasted +in a methodless acquisition of futile learning; his boyhood blighted by +a union with a wife chosen for him by his parents; his manhood mortified +by the realization that in a world thrilling with life and activity he +led the existence of an Egyptian mummy. Impatient to save the few years +allotted to him on earth, and undeterred by the entreaties and the +threats of his wife, he leaves for Odessa, the Mecca of the Maskilim, +and begins to prepare himself for admission into the gymnasium. "While +there is a drop of blood in my veins," he writes to his forsaken wife, +"I shall try to finish my course of studies. Though the physicians +declare that consumption and death must be the inevitable consequence of +such application, I will not desist. I will rather die like a man than +live like a dog." And on and on he plods over his Latin, his French, his +history, geography, and grammar. Two more years and the university will +be opened to him, and he will read law, and defend the honor of his +people. But in the midst of his ceaseless toil the spectre of his simple +wife and his former innocent life appears before him and "will not +down." Is Haskalah worth the sacrifices he and his like are daily +bringing on its altar? Is not the materialism of the emancipated +Maskilim often greater than the medievalism of the fanatical Hasidim? In +his native town, gloomy as it was, there was at least the glow of +sincerity. Haskalah had to be snatched by stealth, but it was sweeter +because thus snatched. In Odessa, where the fruit of the tree of +knowledge could be obtained for the asking, it turned into the apples of +Sodom. The "lishmah" ideal, the love of culture for its own sake, +yielded to the greed which changes everything into a commodity to profit +by. Yet, since life demands it, what a pity that his early training had +incapacitated him from following the beaten path! He concludes his +self-indictment thus, "I have taken an inventory of the business of my +life, and I am heartbroken, because I find that in striking the balance +there remains on the credit side only a cipher!" + +But the tide of Haskalah was not to be stemmed. The "blessed heritage of +noble passion," the burning desire for enlightenment and improvement +asserted itself at all hazards. The note of despair was lost in the call +for action. Odessa continued to be in the forefront. There technical +institutes for boys and girls were established in addition to the +previously existing public schools. A society by the name of Trud +(Labor) was organized (October 11, 1864), for the purpose of teaching +useful trades. Its school has ever since been the crown of the +institutions of the sort. It was provided with the most modern +improvements, a workshop for mechanics and an iron foundry, and it +offered a post-graduate course. A similar trade school (remeslenoye +uchilishche) had been in existence since May 1, 1862, in Zhitomir, +where, besides geometry, mechanics, chemistry, physics, etc., +instruction was given in carpentry, turning, tin, copper, and blacksmith +work.[9] Through the efforts of Rabbi Solomon Zalkind Minor a Sabbath +School and a Night School for artisans were opened in Minsk (1861), and +a reference and circulating library for the general public (1863), and +similar educational institutions were soon called into existence in many +other cities. + +Those were the days of organizing and consolidating among Jews and +Gentiles alike. At the time when Abraham Lincoln was proclaiming his +famous "United we stand, divided we fall," Julius Slovacki in Poland +pleaded the cause of the peasantry of his country, and the Alliance +Israelite Universelle issued a call to the entire house of Israel "to +defend the honor of the Jewish name wherever it is attacked; to +encourage, by all means at our disposal, the pursuit of useful +handicrafts; to combat, where necessary, the ignorance and vice +engendered by oppression; to work, by the power of persuasion and by all +the moral influences at our command, for the emancipation of our +brethren who still suffer under the burden of exceptional legislation; +to hasten and solidify complete enfranchisement by the intellectual and +moral regeneration of our brethren." A powerful movement for the +upliftment of the masses was also taking hold of the educated classes +among the Russians. Professor Kostomarov started a systematic campaign +for the education of the common people. A species of philanthropic +intoxication seized upon the more enlightened Russian youth. A society +of Narodniki, or Common People, so-called, was organized. Young men and +women renounced high rank, and students came out of their seclusion and +joined the people, dressed in their garb, spoke their dialect, led their +life, and, having won their confidence, gradually opened their minds to +value the blessings of education, and their hearts to desire them. These +examples from within and without resulted in a similar attempt among the +Russian Jews. An organization was perfected (December, 1863) which +exercised a great civilizing influence for almost half a century, the +Society for the Promotion of Haskalah among the Jews of Russia. + +To the credit of the Jewish financiers be it said that they were always +the banner bearers of enlightenment. It had been so with German +Aufklaerung, when Ben-David, Itzig, Friedlaender, and Jacobson, laid the +corner-stone of the intellectual rebirth of their people. It was more +especially so in Russia during the "sixties." Odessa was the most +enlightened, because it was the wealthiest, of Jewish communities, as +the benumbing poverty of the Pale was largely to blame for the +unfriendly attitude towards whatever did not bear the stamp of +Jewishness on its surface. The Society for the Promotion of Haskalah, +too, owes its existence to some of the most prominent Russo-Jewish +merchants. Its original officers were Joseph Yosel Guenzburg, President; +his son Horace Guenzburg, First Vice-president; Rabbi A. Neuman, Second +Vice-president; the Brodskys, and, the most active of them all, its +Secretary, Leon Rosenthal (1817-1887). Busy as he was with his financial +affairs, Rosenthal devoted considerable time to the propagation of +enlightenment among his coreligionists. Many a youthful Maskil was +indebted to him for material as well as moral support, and it was due to +him that Osip Rabinovich finally succeeded in publishing the Razsvyet +(Dawn, 1860), the first journal in Russian devoted to Jewish interests. + +The Society for the Promotion of Enlightenment was not unlike the +Alliance Israelite Universelle, only on a smaller scale. Its object was +"to spread the knowledge of the Russian language among the Jews, to +publish and assist others in publishing, in Russian as well as in +Hebrew, useful works and journals, to aid in carrying out the purposes +of the Society, and, further, to assist the young in devoting themselves +to the pursuit of science and knowledge." For several years, owing to +the indifference of the public, it had a hard struggle to live up to its +ideal. But continuously, if slowly, it gained in membership, so that in +1884 it had an affiliation of 545. During the first twenty years of its +existence its income amounted to 338,685 rubles, its expenditures to +309,998 rubles. In 1880 it endowed an agricultural college for Jewish +boys. When, in the same year, medical schools for women were opened, and +Jewish girls in large numbers took up the study of medicine, the Society +set aside the sum of 18,900 rubles for the support of the needy among +them. Many a young man was aided in the pursuit of his chosen career by +the Society. It directed its activities principally to the younger +generation, yet it did not neglect the older. With its assistance +Sabbath Schools and Evening Schools were opened in Berdichev, Zhitomir, +Poltava, and other cities; libraries were founded; interesting Hebrew +books on scientific subjects were published. Thus it had a two-fold +object: in those who were drifting away it aimed to reawaken knowledge +or love of Judaism by translating some of the most important Jewish +books into Russian (the Haggadah, in 1871, the prayer book, Pentateuch, +and Psalms, in 1872) as well as text-books and catechisms; and it +popularized science among those who would not or could not read on such +topics in Russian or other living tongues. In both directions it was a +power for good among the Jews of Russia.[10] + +These united efforts of the Government, the Maskilim, and the Jewish +financiers produced an effect the like of which had perhaps been +witnessed only during the Hellenistic craze, in the period of the second +commonwealth of Judea. Russian Jewry began to "progress" as never +before. In almost all the large cities, particularly in Odessa, St. +Petersburg, and Moscow, the Jews were fast becoming Russified. +Heretofore cooped up, choking each other in the Pale as in a Black Hole, +they were now wild with an excessive desire for Russification. What +Maimon said of a few, could now be applied to hundreds and thousands, +they were "like starving persons suddenly treated to a delicious meal." +They flocked to the institutions of learning in numbers far exceeding +their due proportion. They were among the reporters, contributors, and +editorial writers of some of the most influential Russian journals. They +entered the professions, and distinguished themselves in art.[11] + +The ambition of the wealthy was no longer to have a son-in-law who was +well-versed in the Torah, but a graduate from a university, the +possessor of a diploma, the wearer of a uniform. The bahur lost his +lustre in the presence of the "gymnasiast." This ambition pervaded more +or less all classes of Russo-Jewish society. A decade or two before, +especially in the "forties," orthodoxy had been as uncompromising as it +was unenlightened. "To carry a handkerchief on the Sabbath," as Zunser +says, "to read a pamphlet of the 'new Haskalah,' or commit some other +transgression of the sort, was sufficient to stamp one an apikoros +(heretic)."[12] Reb Israel Salanter, when he learned that his son had +gone to Berlin to study medicine, removed his shoes, and sat down on the +ground to observe shivah (seven days of mourning). When Mattes der +Sheinker (saloon-keeper) discovered that his boy Motke (later famous as +Mark Antokolsky) had been playing truant from the heder, and had hidden +himself in the garret to carve figures, he beat him unmercifully, +because he had broken the second commandment. This was greatly altered +in the latter part of the "seventies." Jacob Prelooker has a different +story to tell. + + A remarkable change--he says[13]--had taken place in the minds + of my parents since I had overcome all difficulties and become a + student of a royal college. Not only were they reconciled to me, + but they were distinctly proud of me. Old Rabbi Abraham now + delighted in conversation and discussion with his grandson, who + seemed to him almost like an inhabitant of another world, of the + _terra incognita_ of modern knowledge and science. In the town + inhabited chiefly by Jews the very appearance of the rabbi's + grandson in the uniform of a royal college created an immense + sensation, and I became naturally the hero of the day. The older + generation lamented that now an end would be put to the very + existence of Israel and the sacred synagogue, while the younger + people envied me and were inspired to follow my example. + +Such scenes occurred not only in Pinsk, but, not infrequently, in other +towns of the Pale as well. + +The striving for intellectual enlightenment manifested itself in the +refining of religious customs. Though Russian Jewry "has never +experienced any of the ritualistic struggles that Germany has +witnessed,"[14] yet reform and Haskalah always went hand in hand. The +attacks on tradition by the Maskilim of the "forties" and the early +"fifties" were mild and guarded compared with the assaults by the +generation that followed. With the appearance of the periodicals the +combat was intensified. Ha-Meliz, and, later, Ha-Shahar in Hebrew, and +Kol Mebasser in Yiddish were the organs of those who were dissatisfied +with the old, and sought to introduce the new. It was in the latter that +_Dos Polische Yingel_ (_The Polish Boy_), by Linetzky, first appeared, +and it proved so popular that the editor published it in book form long +before it was finished in the periodical. In an article on _The Ways of +the Talmud_, by Moses Loeb Lilienblum, the prevailing Jewish religious +observances were vehemently attacked. This was followed by another +article from the pen of Gordon, _Wisdom for Those Who Wander in Spirit_, +with suggestions for adapting religion to the needs of the times, and a +still more powerful one, _The Chaotic World_, by Smolenskin. The muse +ceased to content herself with "flame-songs that burn their pathway" to +the heart. She preferred to appeal to the head. She no longer tried + + In strains as sweet + As angels use ... to whisper peace. + +In cutting criticisms and biting satires she exposed time-honored but +time-worn beliefs and practices. Gordon was a militant reformer in his +younger days, and so were Menahem Mendel Dolitzky and the lesser poets +of the period. Needless to say, the Jewish-Russian press was an enemy of +ultra-orthodoxy. Osip Rabinovich, the leading Russo-Jewish journalist, +made his debut with an article in which he denounced the superstitious +customs of his people in unmeasured terms.[15] The motto chosen for the +Razsvyet (1860) was "Let there be light," and the platform it adopted +was to elevate the masses by teaching them to lead the life of all +nations, participate in their civilization and progress, and preserve, +increase, and improve the national heritage of Israel.[16] + +Yet journalists and poets were outdone by scholars and novelists in the +battle for reform. Lebensohn's didactic drama _Emet we-Emunah_ (_Truth +and Faith_, Vilna, 1867, 1870), in which he attempts to reconcile true +religion with the teachings of science, was mild compared with _Dos +Polische Yingel_ or Shatzkes' radical interpretations of the stories of +the rabbis in his _Ha-Mafteah_ (_The Key_, Warsaw, 1866-1869), and both +were surpassed by Raphael Kohn's clever little work _Hut ha-Meshullash_ +(_The Triple Cord_, Odessa, 1874), in which many prohibited things are +ingeniously proved permissible according to the Talmud. But the most +outspoken advocate of reform was Abraham Mapu (1808-1867), author of the +first realistic novel, or novel of any kind, in Hebrew literature, the +_'Ayit Zabua'_ (_The Painted Vulture_). His Rabbi Zadok, the +miracle-worker, who exploits superstition for his own aggrandizement; +Rabbi Gaddiel, the honest but mistaken henchman of Rabbi Zadok; Ga'al, +the parvenu, who seeks to obliterate an unsavory past by fawning upon +both; the Shadkan, or marriage-broker, who pretends to be the ambassador +of Heaven, to unite men and women on earth,--in these and similar types +drawn from life and depicted vividly, Mapu held up to the execration of +the world the hypocrites who "do the deeds of Zimri and claim the reward +of Phinehas," whose outward piety is often a cloak for inner impurity, +and whose ceremonialism is their skin-deep religion. These characters +served for many years as weapons in the hands of the combatants enlisted +in the army arrayed for "the struggle between light and darkness." + +The waves of the Renaissance and the Reformation sweeping over Russian +Jewry reached even the sacred precincts of the synagogues, the batte +midrashim, and the yeshibot. The Tree of Life College in Volozhin became +a foster-home of Haskalah. The rendezvous of the brightest Russo-Jewish +youths, it was the centre in which grew science and culture, and whence +they were disseminated far and wide over the Pale. Hebrew, German, and +Russian were surreptitiously studied and taught. Buckle and Spencer, +Turgenief and Tolstoi were secretly passed from hand to hand, and read +and studied with avidity. Some students advocated openly the +transformation of the yeshibah into a rabbinical seminary on the order +of the Berlin Hochschule. The new learning found an ardent supporter in +Zebi Hirsh Dainov, "the Slutsker Maggid" (1832-1877), who preached +Russification and Reformation from the pulpits of the synagogues, and +whom the Society for the Promotion of Haskalah employed as its +mouthpiece among the less advanced.[17] In the existing reform +synagogues, in Riga, Odessa, Warsaw, and Vilna, and even in more +conservative communities, sermons began to be preached in Russian. +Solomon Zalkind Minor, who lectured in German, acquired a reputation as +a preacher in Russian since his election to the rabbinate of Minsk +(1860). He was called "the Jellinek of Russia" by the Maskilim.[18] +Aaron Elijah Pumpyansky began to preach in Russian at Ponevezh, in Kovno +(1861). Germanization at last gave way to Russification. Even in Odessa, +where German culture predominated during the reign of Nicholas I, it was +found necessary, for the sake of the younger generation, to elect, as +associate to the German Doctor Schwabacher, Doctor Solomon Mandelkern to +preach in Russian. Similar changes were made in other communities. In +the Polish provinces the Reformation was making even greater strides. +There the Jews, whether reform, like Doctor Marcus Jastrow, or orthodox +like Rabbi Berish Meisels, identified themselves with the Poles, and +participated in their cultural and political aspirations, which were +frequently antagonistic to Russification. A society which called itself +Poles of the Mosaic Persuasion was organized in Warsaw, an organ of +extreme liberalism was founded in the weekly Israelita, and, with the +election of Isaac Kramsztyk to the rabbinate, German was replaced (1852) +by the native Polish as the language of the pulpit. + +Some champions of reform did not rest satisfied with mere innovations +and improvements. They went so far as to discard Judaism altogether and +improvise religions of their own. Moses Rosensohn of Vilna was the +first, in his works _Advice and Help_ (_'Ezrah we-Tushiah_, Vilna, 1870) +and _The Peace of Brothers_ (_Shelom Ahim_, ibid.), to suggest a way to +cosmopolitanism and universalism through Judaism.[19] In 1879, Jacob +Gordin founded in Yelisavetgrad a sort of ethical culture society called +Bibleitsy (also Dukhovnoye Bibleyskoye Bratstvo, Spiritual Bible +Brotherhood), which obtained a considerable following among the workmen +of the section. It advocated the abolition of ritual observances, even +prayer, and the hastening of the era of the brotherhood of man. It +preached, in the words of one of its leaders, that "our morality is our +religion. God, the acme of highest reason, of surest truth, and of the +most sublime justice, does not demand useless external forms and +ceremonies."[20] Following the organization of the Bibleitsy, and based +on almost the same principles, branches of a Jewish sect, which called +itself New Israel (Novy Izrail), were started almost simultaneously in +Odessa and Kishinev. In the former city, the organization was headed by +Jacob Prelooker, in the latter, by Joseph Rabinowitz. Prelooker, who +after graduating from the seminary at Zhitomir became a school-master at +Odessa, sought to bring about a consolidation between his own people and +Russian Dissenters (Raskolniki: the Molocans, Stundists, and +Dukhobortzi). The theme of his book, _New Israel_, is a "reformed +synagogue, a mitigation of the cleavage between Jew and Christian, and +recognition of a common brotherhood in religion." Rabinowitz went still +further, and preached on actual conversion to one of the more liberal +forms of Christianity.[21] + +These sects, which sprang up in church and synagogue during the latter +part of the "seventies," were the outcome of political and social as +well as religious unrest. Alexander II fulfilled the expectation which +the first years of his reign aroused in Jewish hearts no more than +Catherine II and Alexander I. Those who had hoped for equal rights were +doomed to disappointment. Most of the reforms of the Liberator Czar +proved a failure owing to the antipathy and machinations of his +untrustworthy officials. Russia was split between two diametrically +opposed parties, the extreme radicals and the extreme reactionaries, +waging an internecine war with each other. The former originated with +the young Russians that had served in the European campaigns during the +Napoleonic invasion, and who, in imitation of the secret organizations +which had so greatly contributed to the liberation of Germany, united to +throw off the yoke of autocracy in Russia. These secret orders, the +Southern, the Northern, the United Slavonian, and the Polish, Alexander +I had endeavored in vain to suppress, and the drastic measures taken by +Nicholas I against the Dekabrists (1825) proved of no avail. Nor did the +reforms of Alexander II help to heal the breach. On the contrary, seeing +that the constitution they expected from the Liberator Czar was not +forthcoming, and the democracy they hoped for was far from being +realized, they became desperate, and determined to demand their rights +by force. The peasants, too, sobering up from the intoxication, the +figurative as well as the literal, caused by the vodka drunk in honor of +their newly-acquired volyushka (sweet liberty), discovered that the +emancipation ukase of the czar had been craftily intercepted by the +bureaucrats, and their dream of owning the land they had hitherto +cultivated as serfs would never come true. Russia was rife with +discontent, and disaffection assumed a national range. The cry was +raised for a "new freedom." A certain Anton Petrov impersonated the +czar, and gathered around him ten thousand Russians. Pamphlets entitled +_Land and Liberty_ (_Zemlya i Volya_) were spread broadcast among the +masses, the mind of the populace was inflamed, and attempts on the life +of the czar ensued. + +The extreme reactionaries, consisting mostly of nobles who had become +impoverished by the emancipation of the serfs, grasped the opportunity +to point out to the bewildered czar the evil of his liberal policy. +Slavophilism was rampant. Men like Turgenief, Dostoyevsky, and Tolstoi, +were condemned as "Westernists," or German sympathizers, the enemies of +Russia. At the recommendation of Princess Helena Petrovna, the czar +engaged as the teacher of his children a comparatively unknown professor +of history, Pobyedonostsev, who later became the soul of Russian +despotism. This man, meek as a dove and cunning as a serpent, easily +ingratiated himself with the czar, and soon there began "a war upon +ideas, a crusade of ignorance." "Karakazov's pistol-shot," as Turgenief +says, "drove back into the shade the phantom of liberty, the appearance +of which all Russia had hailed with acclamations. From that moment to +the end of his life, the emperor devoted himself to the undoing of all +he had accomplished. If he could have cancelled with one stroke the +glorious ukase that had proclaimed the emancipation of the serfs, he +would have been only too glad to disgrace himself."[22] + +And again, as it had been during the reign of Alexander I after his +acquaintance with Baroness Kruedener, so it was with the reign of +Alexander II after his acquaintance with Pobyedonostsev. The status of +the Jews constituted the first indication of the ill-boding change. How +little the officials had been in sympathy with the reformatory efforts +of their czar, even when the atmosphere had been filled with peace and +good-will to all including the Jews, is shown by the fact that when, in +1863, through the efforts of Doctor Schwabacher, the Jewish community of +Odessa applied for a charter to build a Home for Aged Hebrews, the +charter, though granted by the higher authorities, was withheld for over +twenty years! The reaction flaunted its power once again, and sat +enthroned in Tsarskoye Syelo. The few rights the Jews had enjoyed were +rescinded one by one. Not satisfied with this, the Slavophils tried, +under every pretext, to stop the progress of the Jewish people. Every +now and then the Society for the Promotion of Haskalah would send some +of the brighter seminary students to complete their education in Breslau +or Berlin, but at the command of the Government this was soon +discontinued. It was the intention of the same organization, from its +very incipiency, to have the Bible translated under its auspices into +Russian, but it took ten long years before this praiseworthy undertaking +could be begun, because of the obstacles the Government placed in the +way of its execution. Fortunately, the indomitable courage of the +Maskilim could not be subdued. Young men went, or were sent, to Germany +to prepare themselves for the rabbinate as before; the Bible and the +Book of Common Prayer, too, were translated secretly by Wohl, Gordon, +Steinberg, and Leon Mandelstamm, and published in Germany, whence they +were smuggled into Russia.[23] + +More direct and equally inexplicable, save on the ground of animosity to +whatever was not Slavonic, was the ukase to close the Sabbath Schools +and the Evening Schools, the only means of educating the laboring men +(1870). In 1871, the first of a series of massacres (pogromy) took place +in the centre of Jewish culture, Odessa. In 1872, permission was denied +to the ladies of that city to organize a society for the purpose of +maintaining trade schools, to teach poor Jewish girls handicrafts. The +two rabbinical seminaries, of Vilna and Zhitomir, were closed in 1873, +and replaced by institutes for teachers, which were managed in the +spirit that had prevailed under Nicholas I. And in 1878 the absurd blood +accusation, against which four popes, Innocent IV, Paul III, Gregory X, +and Clement XIV, issued their bulls, declaring it a baseless and wicked +superstition, and which not only the Polish kings Boreslav V, Casimir +III, Casimir IV, and Stephen Bathory, but also Alexander I (March 18, +1817), branded as a diabolic invention--that dreadful accusation which +even the commission of Nicholas, despite Durnovo's efforts, had +denounced as a disgrace and an abomination, was revived by the newspaper +Grazhdanin. The ghost of medievalism began to stalk abroad once more in +erstwhile enlightened Russia and under the aegis of the Liberator Czar. + +As often before in Jewish history, the Jews helped not a little to +aggravate the untoward conditions. At the instigation of a number of +students of the Yeshibah Tree of Life, the doors of that noble +institution were closed (1879), to open again after two years of +untiring efforts on the part of its self-sacrificing dean, the renowned +Naphtali Zebi Judah Berlin. But at the worst this was the result of +mistaken zeal for the cause of Haskalah. What was more detrimental was +the disgrace brought upon the Jewish name by several converts to +Christianity. A certain Jacob Brafmann, having proved a failure in all +he undertook, tried at the last the business of Christianity, and +succeeded therein. He was appointed professor of Hebrew in the seminary +of Minsk, and the Holy Synod charged him with the duty of devising means +to promulgate Christianity among the Jews. Finding the times auspicious, +he devoted himself to writing libellous articles about his former +coreligionists, and wound up with a _Book on the Kahal_ (_Kniga Kahala_, +Vilna, 1869), in which he quoted forged "transactions," to the effect +that Judaism tolerates and even recommends illegality and immorality +among its adherents. In a conference of Jews and Gentiles convoked by +Governor-General Kaufman (1871), Barit proved the falsity and forgery of +Brafmann's documents. But, as usual, the defence was forgotten, the +charges remained.[24] A certain Lutostansky poisoned the public mind by +caricaturing the Jews, and aroused an anti-Semitic agitation among his +countrymen. The consequence was that even the liberals began to be +suspicious, and the prospect of better days was blighted by the hatred +which broke out in fiendish fury, in lightnings and thunders which +astounded the world under Alexander III. + +It was but natural that the Jews that had become completely Russified +should enlist in the ranks of the extreme liberals. They found +themselves in every way as progressive and patriotic as the Christian +Russians. The language of Russia became their language, its manners and +aspirations their manners and aspirations. They contributed more than +any other nationality to Russifying Odessa, which, owing to its great +foreign population, was known as the un-Russian city of Russia. +Proportionately to their numbers, they promoted the trade and industry, +the science and literature of their country more than the Russians +themselves. Yet the coveted equality was denied them, and the +emancipation granted to the degraded muzhiks was withheld from them, +because of a religion they hardly professed. They were like Faust when +he found himself tempted but not satisfied by the pleasures of life, +when food hovered before his eager lips while he begged for nourishment +in vain. The liberals, on the other hand, preached and practiced the +doctrine of equal rights to all. Socialism, or nihilism, also appealed +to the Jews from its idealistic side, for never did the Jews cease to be +democrats and dreamers. In the schools and universities, which they were +now permitted to attend, they heard the new teachings and imbibed the +novel ideas. + +Those, therefore, who disdained conversion allied themselves with the +secret organizations. "The torrent which had been dammed up in one +channel rushed violently into another." A Hebrew monthly, Ha-Emet +(Truth, Vienna, 1877), devoted to the cause of communism, was started by +Aaron Liebermann ("Arthur Freeman"), in which, in the language of the +oldest and greatest socialists, the doctrines of Karl Marx were +inculcated among the Hebrew-reading public. The more completely +Russified element took a leading part in the activities of the Narodnaya +Volya (Rights of the People), propagating socialism among the Russian +masses, either by word of mouth or as editors and coworkers in the +"underground" publications. Not a few went to Berlin, where, though +opulent, they sought employment in factories, the better to disseminate +socialism among the working classes. Others, like Aaronson, Achselrod, +Deutsch, Horowitz, Vilenkin, and Zukerman, fled to Switzerland, whence, +under the assumed names of Marx, Lassalle, Jacoby, etc., or united in a +League for the Emancipation of Labor, they directed the socialistic +movement in Russia.[25] Chernichevsky's _What to Do_, Gogol's _Dead +Souls_, Turgenief's _Virgin Soil_ and _Fathers and Sons_, the doctrines +of Pisarev and Bielinsky, and of the other writers who then had their +greatest vogue, were eagerly read and frequently copied by Jewish young +gymnasiasts and passed on to their Christian schoolmates. The +revolutionary spirit seized on men and women alike. Women left their +husbands, girls their devoted parents, and threw themselves into the +swirl of nihilism with a vigor and self-sacrifice almost incredible. +When a squad of police came to disperse the crowd clamoring for "land +and liberty" in front of the Kazanskaya Church in St. Petersburg, a +Jewish maiden of sixteen, taking the place of the leader, inspired her +comrades with such enthusiasm that the efforts of the police were +ineffectual.[26] By 1878, Russia became honeycombed with secret +societies. It fell into spasms of nihilism. One general after another +was assassinated. Attempts were made to wreck the train on which the +czar was travelling (1879) and blow up the palace in which he resided +(1880). Finally, on March 13, 1881, after many hairbreadth escapes, the +carefully laid plans of the revolutionists succeeded, and the Liberator +Czar was no more. + +Thus was the deep-rooted yearning for enlightenment finally let loose, +and the gyves of tradition were at last removed. The Maskilim of the +"forties" and "fifties" were antiquated in the "sixties" and +"seventies." They began to see that the fears of the orthodox and their +denunciations of Haskalah were not altogether unfounded. A young +generation had grown up who had never experienced the strife and +struggles of the fathers, and who lacked the submissive temper that had +characterized their ancestors. Faster and farther they rushed on their +headlong way to destruction, while the parents sat and wept. When, in +1872, in Vilna, the police arrested forty Jewish young men suspected of +nihilistic tendencies, Governor-General Patapov "invited" the +representatives of the community to a conference. As soon as they +arrived, Patapov turned on them in this wise, "In addition to all other +good qualities which you Jews possess, about the only thing you need is +to become nihilists, too!" Amazed and panic-stricken, the trembling Jews +denied the allegation and protested their innocence, to which the +Governor-General replied, "Your children are, at any rate; they have +become so through the bad education you have given them." "Pardon me, +General," was the answer of "Yankele Kovner" (Jacob Barit), who was one +of the representatives, "This is not quite right. As long as _we_ +educated our children there were no nihilists among us; but as soon as +you took the education of our children into your hands, behold the +result." The foundations of religion were undermined. Parental authority +was disregarded. Youths and maidens were lured by the enchanting voice +of the siren of assimilation. The naive words which Turgenief put into +the mouth of Samuel Abraham, the Lithuanian Jew, might have been, +indeed, were, spoken by many others in actual life. "Our children," he +complains, "have no longer our beliefs; they do not say our prayers, nor +have they your beliefs; no more do they say your prayers; they do not +pray at all, and they believe in nothing."[27] The struggle between +Hasidim and Mitnaggedim ended with the conversionist policy of Nicholas +I, which united them against the Maskilim. The struggle between these +anti-Maskilim and the Maskilim had ceased in the golden days of +Alexander II. But the clouds were gathering and overspreading the camp +of Haskalah. The days in which the seekers after light united in one +common aim were gone. Russification, assimilation, universalism, and +nihilism rent asunder the ties that held them together. Judah Loeb +Gordon, the same poet who, fifteen years before, had rejoiced with +exceeding joy "when Haskalah broke forth like water," now laments over +the effect thereof in the following strain: + + And our children, the coming generation, + From childhood, alas, are strangers to our nation-- + Ah, how my heart for them doth bleed! + Farther and faster they are ever drifting, + Who knows how far they will be shifting? + Maybe till whence they can ne'er recede! + +Amidst the disaffection, discord, and dejection that mark the latter +part of the reign of Alexander II, one Maskil stands out pre-eminently +in interest and importance,--one whom assimilation did not attract nor +reformation mislead, who under all the mighty changes remained loyal to +the ideals ascribed to the Gaon and advocated by Levinsohn,--Perez ben +Mosheh Smolenskin (Mohilev, February 25, 1842-Meran, Austria, February +1, 1885).[28] + +Smolenskin was endowed with the ability and courage that characterize +the born leader. He possessed an iron will and unflinching +determination, before which obstacles had to yield, and persecution +found itself powerless. His talent to grasp and appreciate the true and +the beautiful rendered him the oracle of the thousands who, to this day, +are proud to call themselves his disciples. To him Haskalah was not +merely acquaintance with general culture, or even its acquisition. It +was the realization of one's individuality as a Jew and a man. Gordon's +advice, to be a Jew at home and a man abroad, found little favor in his +estimation; for Haskalah meant the evolution of a Jewish man _sui +generis_. He equally abhorred the fanaticism of the benighted orthodox +and the Laodicean lukewarmness of the advanced Maskilim. To fight and, +if possible, eradicate both, he undertook the publication of The Dawn +(Ha-Shahar, Vienna, 1869), a magazine in which he declared "war against +the darkness of the Middle Ages and war against the indifference of +to-day!" + + Not like the former days are these days, he says in his foreword + to Ha-Shahar. Thirty or twenty years ago we had to fight the + enemy within. Sanctimonious fanatics with their power of + darkness sought to persecute us, lest their folly or knavery be + exposed to the light of day.... Now that they, who hitherto have + walked in darkness, are beginning to discern the error of their + ways, lo and behold, those who have seen the light are closing + their eyes against it.... Therefore let them know beforehand + that, as I have stretched out my hand against those who, under + the cloak of holiness, endeavor to exclude enlightenment from + the house of Jacob, even so will I lift up my hand against the + other hypocrites who, under the pretext of tolerance, strive to + alienate the children of Israel from the heritage of their + fathers! + +That the salvation of the Jews lies in their distinctiveness, and that +renationalization will prove the only solution of the Jewish problem, is +the central thought of Smolenskin's journalistic efforts. Jews are +disliked, he maintains, not because of their religious persuasion, nor +for their reputed wealth, but because they are weak and defenceless. +What they need is strength and courage, but these they will never regain +save in a land of their own. Twelve years before the tornado of +persecution broke out in Russia he had predicted it, and even welcomed +it as a means of arousing the Jews to their duties as a people and their +place as a nation, and that his conclusion was correct, the awakening +which followed proved unmistakably. + +For Smolenskin Jews never ceased to be a nation, and to him the Jew who +sought refuge in assimilation was nothing less than a traitor. He was +thus the forerunner of Pinsker, and of Herzl a decade later. Indeed, in +the resurrection of the national hope he was the first to remove the +shroud. According to him, "the eternal people" have every characteristic +that goes to make a nation. Their common country is still Palestine, +loved by them with all the fervor of patriotism; their common language +had never ceased to be Hebrew; their common religion consists in the +basic principles of Judaism, in which they all agree. + + You wish--thus he addresses himself to the assimilationists--you + wish to be like the other people? So do I. Be, I pray you, be + like them. Search and find knowledge, avoid and forsake + superstition, above all be not ashamed of the rock whence you + were hewn. Yes, be like the other peoples, proud of your + literature, jealous of your self-respect, hopeful, even as all + persecuted peoples are hopeful, of the speedy arrival of the day + when we, too, shall reinhabit the land which once was, and still + is, our own. + +But as the soil of Palestine, however regarded, is at present +inaccessible to Jews as a national entity, the language once spoken in +Palestine is so much the more to be cherished and cultivated by the +exiled people. + + You ask me--he calls out again--what good a dead language can do + us? I will tell you. It confers honor on us, girds us with + strength, unites us into one. All nations seek to perpetuate + their names. All conquered peoples dream of a day when they will + regain their independence.... We have neither monuments nor a + country at present. Only one relic still remains from the ruins + of our ancient glory--the Hebrew language. Those, therefore, who + discard the Hebrew tongue betray the Hebrew nation, and are + traitors both to their race and their religion. + +No less trenchant and outspoken was he against the serried array of +self-styled "reformers" of Judaism. He could not forgive the German +rabbis and Russian Maskilim for presuming to "dictate" to their +coreligionists what to select and what to reject in matters religious. +The whole movement he condemned as a mere imitation of Protestant +Christianity. To renovate Judaism! What a stigma on a religion that had +endured through the ages, and is rich in all that makes for holiness and +right living! The old garment needs no new patches. It still fits and +will fit "the eternal people" till time is no more. Since the reform +movement in Germany went back to the time of Mendelssohn, Smolenskin +hurled the missiles of his criticism against the Berlin sage, forgetting +that for more than half a century his example and encouragement had +served to awaken a love of knowledge in the hearts of his countrymen. +But he saw that in the home of Haskalah, the _Biur_, and the Meassefim, +apostasy increased, Hebrew was almost forgotten, and Judaism was +declining, and he blamed the pellucid water at the source of the stream +for the muddy pool at its mouth. Mendelssohn, however, lacked no +defenders among his Russo-Jewish coreligionists, and their sentiments +were voiced by Abraham Baer Gottlober in an opposition periodical, The +Light of Day (Ha-Boker Or, Lublin, 1876). "Why," exclaimed the editor, +"were it not for him and his reforms ... were it not for that grand and +noble personality ... neither you nor I should have been what we are!" +It was only the sad sincerity of Smolenskin that mitigated the errors he +had committed in regard to the history of his people and the theology of +its religion. + +But the militant editor of Ha-Shahan, who wielded his pen like a +halberd, to deal out blows to those of whose views he disapproved, +became as tender as a father when he set out to write about the people. +His love for the masses whom he knew so well was almost boundless. +Underlying their superstitions, crudities, and absurdities is the +"prophetic consciousness," of which they have never been entirely +divested. The heder is indeed far from what a school should be, and the +yeshibah is hardly to be tolerated in a civilized community; yet what +spiritual feasts, what noble endeavors, and what unselfish devotion are +witnessed within their dingy walls! Jewish observances are sometimes +cumbersome and sometimes incompatible with modern life, but what beauty +of holiness, what irresistible influences emanate and radiate from most +of them! Under an uninviting exterior and beneath the accumulated drift +of countless generations he discerned the precious jewel of +self-sacrifice for an ideal. It was this sympathy and broad-mindedness, +expressed in his _Ha-Toeh_, his _Simhat Hanef_, _Keburat Hamor_, _Gemul +Yesharim_, and _Ha-Yerushah_ that will ever endear him to the Hebrew +reader. + +Such, in brief, was the life of the man who bore the chief part in +framing and moulding the Haskalah of the "eighties," which was devoted +to the development of Hebrew literature and the rejuvenation of the +Hebrew people. Loving the Hebrew tongue with a passion surpassing +everything else, he censured the German Jewish savants for writing their +learned works in the vernacular, and was on the alert to discover and +bring out new talent and win over the indifferent and estranged. +Dreaming of the redemption of his people, he paved the way for the +Zionistic movement, which spread with tremendous rapidity after his +death. And his sincerity and ability were repaid in the only coin the +poor possess--in love and admiration. Pilgrimages were made, sometimes +on foot, to behold the editor of Ha-Shahar and the author of _Ha-Toeh_. +The greatest journalists in St. Petersburg united in honoring him when +he visited the Russian capital in 1881. And when he was snatched away in +the midst of his usefulness, a victim of unremitting devotion to his +people, not only Maskilim, but Mitnaggedim and Hasidim felt that "a +prince and a mighty one had fallen in Israel!" + +(Notes, pp. 322-327.) + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE AWAKENING + +1881-1905 + + +The reign of Alexander III, like that of Nicholas I, was devoid of even +that faint glamor of liberalism which, in the days of Alexander I and +Alexander II, had aroused deceptive hopes of better times. During the +thirteen years of Alexander III's autocracy (1881-1894) not a ray of +light was permitted to penetrate into Holy Russia. On May 14, 1881, the +manifesto prohibiting the slightest infringement of the absolute power +of the czar was promulgated, to continue unbroken till the +Russo-Japanese war. + +The liberal current which had carried away his predecessors when they +first mounted the throne was checked, the sluices of Slavophilism were +opened, the history of Russian thinkers became again, as Herzen said, "a +long list of martyrs and a register of convicts." + +Nicholas Ignatiev, a rabid reactionary, a second Jeffreys, became chief +of the Ministry of the Interior; Katkoff, a repentant liberal and exile, +was appointed the czar's chief adviser, the Richelieu behind the throne; +and Pobyedonostsev, whom Turgenief called the "Russian Torquemada," +obtained supremacy over Melikoff, and was appointed procurator of the +Holy Synod. With such as these at the head of the Russian bureaucracy, +there may have been some foundations for the rumor that an imperial +ukase decreed the pillage and slaughter of the Jews, and the muzhiks, +obedient to the behests of the "little father," and smarting under the +pain of disappointment, vented their venom on their Jewish compatriots. +Before the new czar had been on his throne three months, Russia was +drenched with Jewish blood. There began saturnalia of rape, plunder, and +murder, the like of which had been witnessed nowhere in Europe. For half +a year the pogroms which began in Yelisavetgrad (April 27, 28) swept +like a tornado over southern Russia, visiting more than one hundred and +sixty communities with fire and sword, resulting in outrages on women, +in the murder of old and young, in the ruin of millions of dollars of +property. The Black Hundreds of the nineteenth century put to shame the +Haidamacks of the eighteenth and the Cossacks of the seventeenth. In the +words of the Bishop of Canterbury to Sir Moses Montefiore, it looked "as +if the enemy of mankind was let loose to destroy the souls of so many +Christians and the bodies of so many Jewish people." + +But it would be a vain attempt, and out of keeping with the object of +this work, to describe in detail the "bloody assizes" and the infernal +tragedies that ensued upon the accession of Alexander III; the moral +degeneracy and the economic ruin that spread over the mighty empire; the +shudder that passed over the civilized world, and was expressed in +indignation meetings held everywhere, especially in Great Britain and in +the United States (February, 1882), to protest, "in the name of +civilization, against the spirit of medieval persecution thus revived in +Russia." Suffice it to say that even when the mob, tired of carnage, +ceased its work of extermination, the bloodthirstiness of those in +authority was not assuaged. Such a policy was inaugurated against the +Jews as would, according to Pobyedonostsev, "force one-third of them to +emigrate, another third to embrace Christianity, and the remainder to +die of starvation." With this in view, his Majesty the Emperor, +"prompted by a desire to protect the Jews against the Christians," was +graciously pleased to give his assent to the Resolutions of the +Committee of Ministers, on the third of May, 1882, i.e. to the notorious +"temporary measures," or "May laws," framed by Ignatiev, against the +will of the Council of the Empire. + +These "temporary measures" have remained in force to this day. With them +was resuscitated all the inimical legislation of the past, beginning +with the time of Elizabeta Petrovna. What was favorable was suppressed; +the unfavorable was most rigorously enforced. Jews living outside the +Pale were driven back into it on the slightest pretext and in the most +inhuman manner. To increase the already unendurable congestion, the Pale +was made smaller than before. In accordance with the first clause of the +"May laws," Jews were expelled from the villages within the Pale itself. +In 1888 the districts of Rostov and Taganrog, which till then had +belonged to the Pale, and had been developed largely through Jewish +enterprise, were torn away and amalgamated with the Don district, in +which Jews were not permitted to reside. This was followed by expulsions +from St. Petersburg (1890), Moscow, (1891), Novgorod, Riga, and Yalta +(1893), and the abrogation of the time-honored privileges of the Jews of +Bokhara (1896). Even those who, as skilled artisans or discharged +soldiers, had been privileged to reside wherever they chose, were +expelled with their wives and the children born in their adopted city. +Their only salvation lay in conversion. Converts were especially +favored, and were offered liberal inducements. By becoming a convert to +the Orthodox Russian Church, a Jew is immediately freed from all the +degrading restrictions on his freedom of movement and his choice of a +profession. Converts, without distinction of sex, are helped financially +by an immediate payment of sums from thirteen to thirty rubles, and +until recently were granted freedom from taxation for five years. If a +candidate for Greek Christianity is married, his conversion procures him +a divorce, and, unless she likewise is converted, his wife may not marry +again. By conversion, a Jew may escape the consequence of any misdeed +against a fellow-Jew, for, to quote the Russian code, "in actions +concerning Jews who have embraced Christianity Jews may not be admitted +as witnesses, if any objection is raised against them as such." The +penal code provides that Jews shall pay twice and treble the amount of +the fine to which non-Jews are liable under similar circumstances. Jews +were excluded from the professions to which they had turned in the +"sixties" and "seventies," and in which they had been eminently +successful; they were not allowed to hold any civil or municipal office; +they were forbidden even to be nurses in the hospitals or to give +private instruction to children in the homes. + +And still persecution did not cease. Not satisfied with starving the +bodies of five millions of Jews, Russian legislators were determined to +crush them intellectually. The Slavophils could not brook seeing +"non-Russians" surpass their own people in the higher walks of life. The +Jews, finally successful in emancipating themselves from the trammels of +rabbinism, had transferred their extraordinary devotion from the Talmud +to secular studies. They filled the schools and the universities of the +empire with zealous and intelligent pupils, who carried off most of the +honors. They contributed forty-eight pupils to the gymnasia out of every +ten thousand, while the Christians contributed only twenty-two. This was +regarded an unpardonable sin. "These Jews have the audacity to excel us +pure Russians," Pobyedonostsev is reported to have exclaimed, and +measures were taken to suppress their dangerous tendency. As early as +1875 a law was passed withholding from Jewish students the stipends they +had hitherto received from a fund set aside for that purpose. In 1882 +the number of Jewish students in the Military Academy of Medicine was +limited to five per cent, and later it was reduced to zero. Thereafter +one professional school after another adopted a percentage provision, +and some excluded Jews altogether. Finally, "seeing that many Jewish +young men, eager to benefit by a higher classical, technical, or +professional education," presented themselves every year for admission +to the universities, that they passed their examination and continued +their studies at the various schools of the empire, the Government +deemed it "desirable to put a stop to a state of affairs which is so +unsatisfactory." Consequently the ministry limited the attendance of +Jews residing in places within the Pale to ten per cent in all schools +and universities (December 5, 1886; June 26, 1887), in places without +the Pale to five per cent, and in Moscow and St. Petersburg to three per +cent, of the total number of pupils in each school and university. Of +the four hundred young Jews who had successfully passed their +matriculation examination at the beginning of the scholastic year +1887-1888, and had thus acquired the right of entering the university, +three hundred and twenty-six were refused admission, and in many schools +and universities they were denied even the small per cent the law +permitted. + +When, nevertheless, in spite of the many restrictions, the Jew at last +obtained the coveted degree, the Government rendered it nugatory by +depriving him of the right of enjoying the fruit of his labor and +self-sacrifice. He could not practice as an army physician or jurist, +nor obtain a position as an engineer or a Government or municipal clerk. +In the army, he was not allowed to hold any office, and, though he might +be an expert chemist, he could never fill the post of a dispenser (March +1, 1888). He was excluded from the schools for the training of officers, +and if he passed the examination on the subjects taught there, his +certificate could not contain the usual statement that there "was no +objection to admitting him to the military schools."[1] + +These restrictive measures were not relaxed when Alexander III was +succeeded by his son Nicholas II (1894). If anything, they were more +rigorously executed, and the mob was encouraged to multiply its outrages +upon the defenceless Jews. The closing years of the nineteenth century +wiped out the promises of its opening years. Blood accusations followed +by riots became of frequent occurrence. Irkutsk (1896), Shpola, and Kiev +(1897), Kantakuzov (Kherson), Vladimir, and Nikolayev (1899) gave the +Jews a foretaste of what they had to expect when the Black Hundreds, +encouraged by the Government and incited by Kruzhevan and Pronin, would +be let loose to enact the scenes that took place in Kishinev and Homel +before the Russo-Japanese war, and in hundreds of towns after it. The +difficulties in the way of securing an education were increased. Russia +did not believe in an "irreducible minimum" where the rights of her Jews +were concerned. Under Nicholas II the number of Jewish women admitted to +medical schools was put at three per cent of the total number of +students; the newly-established School for Engineers in Moscow was +closed to Jewish young men altogether; and the students of both sexes in +the schools were constantly harassed by the police because of the harsh +laws concerning the rights of residence. Some splendidly equipped +institutions of learning were allowed to remain almost empty rather than +admit Jewish students.[2] + +This was the worst punishment of all, the most relentless vengeance +wreaked on a helpless victim. "Of all the laws which swept down upon +them from St. Petersburg and Moscow," says Leroy-Beaulieu with +characteristic insight into the soul of Israel, "those which they [the +Jews] find hardest to bear are the regulations that block their entrance +to the Russian universities." The bloodless weighed heavier than the +bloody pogroms. Consumed with a desire for education, wealthy Russian +Jews made an attempt to establish higher schools of their own, without +even drawing upon the surplus money of the kosher-meat fund, which had +originally been created for such purposes. Baron de Hirsch, too, offered +two million dollars for the higher and technical education of the Jews. +But every attempt proved fruitless. Baron de Hirsch's munificence was +flatly refused. In the school which Mr. Weinstein opened at Vinitza, +Podolia, no more than eight Jews were allowed to attend among eighty +Christians, and in the one at Gorlovka, founded by another Jew +(Polyakov), only five per cent were admitted.[3] + +Writers are wont to speak of this as a reactionary period. The +description applies to the Russians; among the Jews it was a period of +reawakening.[4] They were disillusioned. They saw that Russification +without emancipation, as their unsophisticated fathers had told +Lilienthal, meant extermination. The first and worst pogroms were +perpetrated in those places where the Jews were like their Russian +neighbors in every respect, except in the eyes of the law, and with the +approval of some who were devotees of the Narodnaya Volya. The Jewish +consciousness reasserted itself. If Pobyedonostsev accomplished his +fiendish design as regards emigration, more than a million Jews having +left Russia within the last twenty years; if he has almost succeeded in +causing them to die of starvation; yet his hope of forcing a third of +them to conversion was a disappointment and a delusion. The Jews showed +that the traditional description applied to them, "stiff-necked," was +not undeserved. While the Roman Catholics, Lutherans, and Armenians have +undergone conversion in multitudes, they whose suffering by far exceeded +that of any other "non-Russian" nationality remained, with insignificant +exceptions, loyal to the religion of their fathers.[5] + + The Russian Jews--says Zunser--sobered down from the orgies of + assimilation, and its worshippers abandoned their idol. Those + who had almost forgotten that they were of the camp of Israel + began to return to its tents. The Jewish physicians, jurists, + technologists, and the entire so-called Jewish "intelligentia," + who heretofore had never cared to speak a word of Yiddish to a + Jew, resumed their native tongue; they began to send their + children to the Jewish hadarim, and adopted once more Jewish + ways and customs. Several hundred Jewish university students, + proverbially irreligious, sent to Vilna for tefillin + [phylacteries]! + +In many cities fasts were observed and prayers for forgiveness offered, +and the prodigal sons of Israel repaired to the synagogue, participated +in the services, and wept with their more steadfast though equally +unfortunate coreligionists. Many converts, too, began to feel qualms of +conscience, and endeavored to make up for their youthful indiscretions. +Some of them fled to places of safety, and returned to Judaism. The +gifted young poet Simon Yakovlevich Nadsohn died of a broken heart. +Sorkin, the classmate and friend of Levanda, committed suicide, while +Levanda, the great novelist of assimilation, was so affected by the +massacres and their consequences, that he became melancholy, and died in +an asylum for the insane.[6] + +If this was the fate of the assimilated and estranged, one may guess the +effect of the reaction on the religious. If the students of the +universities sacrificed their careers, their daily bread, for the +austere satisfaction of discharging their moral obligation to the best +of their knowledge, the students of the Law, always loyal to the +heritage of their people, became more zealous than ever. Lilienblum who, +in 1877, believed that life without a university education was not worth +living, became a repentant sinner. Russian Jewry seethed with religious +enthusiasm. Moses Isaac Darshan, "the Khelmer Maggid," preached for six +hours at a time to crowded synagogues. Asher Israelit, less trenchant, +but equally effective, exhorted crowds to repentance. Zebi Hirsh +Masliansky, a finished orator, went from town to town, and aroused a +love for whatever was connected with the history and religion of the +Jewish people. In Kovno those who were preparing themselves for the +rabbinate formed something like a new sect, the Mussarnikes (Moralists), +which practiced asceticism and self-abnegation to an extraordinary +degree.[7] + +[Illustration: MOSES LOeB LILIENBLUM, 1843-1910] + +Those, however, were most affected who had been misled by dreams of +assimilation. They suffered most, for they lost most. Their hopes were +blighted, their hearts broken. The leading-strings proved to be a +halter. They saw they had little to expect at the hands of those they +had believed to have become fully civilized, and they were embittered +toward civilization, which had showed them flowers, but had given them +no fruit. In a work, _Sinat 'Olam le-'Am 'Olam_ (_Eternal Hatred for the +Eternal People_, Warsaw, 1882), Nahum Sokolov proved, like Smolenskin +before him, that anti-Semitism was ineradicable, that the fight against +the Jews was a fight to the death, that even emancipation helps little +to remove the animosity innate in one people against another, and until +the "end of days" foretold by the prophets of yore there will never +cease the eternal hatred to the eternal people. This became the dominant +opinion. It dawned upon many that the only salvation for the Jews lay in +becoming a nation once more. A yearning for a new fatherland and a new +country seized young and old. The times were auspicious. Cosmopolitanism +was everywhere giving place to nationalism. The little Balkan States had +broken the yoke of Ottoman rule, and become self-governing nations since +1878. In Poland, Hungary, and Ireland, home rule was advocated with +fervor that threatened a revolution. Italy and Germany became united +under their own king or emperor. And the Russian Jews, tired of the +constant conflicts with the surrounding peoples, experienced the desire +which had prompted their ancestors to be like all the other nations. + +Sokolov's sentiments were reinforced in an anonymous pamphlet written by +Doctor Leo Pinsker (1821-1891), one of the foremost physicians of +Odessa. His _Auto-Emancipation_ (Berlin, 1882) is now recognized as the +forerunner of Herzl's _Judenstaat_, which appeared fifteen years later. +Pinsker accepts as an axiom what Sokolov had tried to demonstrate as a +proposition. Jew-hatred, he claims, like Lombroso in his work on +anti-Semitism, is a "platonic hatred," a hereditary mental disease, +which two thousand years' duration has so aggravated as to render it +incurable. As the Jewish problem is international, it can be solved only +by nationalism. He admits some of the charges brought against the Jews +by anti-Semites, but Jewish failings result from Christian intolerance. +In a land of their own they will develop into a Muster-nation, a model +people. + + The wretches--cries he--they mock the eagle that once soared + sky-high, and saw divinity itself, because he can no longer fly + after his wings are broken! Give us but our independence, allow + us to take care of ourselves, grant us but a little strip of + land like that of the Servians and Rumanians, give us a chance + to lead a national existence, and then prate about our lacking + manly virtues. What we lack is not genius (Genialitaet) but + self-consciousness (Selbstgefuehl) and appreciation of our value + as men (Bewusstsein der Menschenwuerde), of which we were + deprived by you! + +Of course, it requires many years and a great expenditure of money to +establish a nation on a firm basis. But in Pinsker's dictionary the word +"impossible" does not exist. "Far, very far," says he, "is the haven of +rest towards which our souls are turning. We know not even whether it be +East or West. But be the road never so long, it cannot seem too long to +the wanderers of two thousand years." + +Pinsker's impassioned appeal made a deep impression. It was obvious that +colonization would be the shortest road to renationalization. But as to +the place in which the colonies should be established, no agreement +could be reached. Pinsker, like Herzl after him, left the problem +unsolved. Some preferred America or even Spain. In southern Russia a +society, 'Am 'Olam (The Eternal Nation), was organized on communistic +principles. It sent an advance guard to the United States, where, as the +Sons of the Free, they established several settlements, the best-known +of which was New Odessa, in Oregon.[8] The majority, however, preferred +Palestine, the land which, in weal or woe, in pain or pleasure, remains +ever dear to the Jewish heart; the land to which the ancient exiles by +the waters of Babylon had vowed that sooner than forget her would their +right hands forget their cunning and their tongues cleave to the roofs +of their mouths; the possession whereof had been held out as the most +alluring promise, and to be deprived of which the prophets had regarded +as the severest punishment. + +Zionism, even Territorialism, among the Russian Jews is by no means +solely the result of modern anti-Semitism. At the same time that +Mordecai Manuel Noah was planning his Jewish state Ararat in western New +York (1825), Gregori Peretz, who, as a child, had been converted, with +his father, to the dominant religion, and had been advanced to the rank +of an officer in his Majesty's army, was dreaming of the +renationalization of his alienated brethren. As a leading figure in the +councils of the Dekabrists, he never ceased his efforts until his +comrades accepted the restoration of Israel to his pristine place among +the nations of the earth as part of their revolutionary programme. But +with the suppression of the Dekabrists by Nicholas I the scheme died +"a-borning," and sank into oblivion. Later, David Gordon revived the +yearnings of Judah Halevi by his articles in the weekly Ha-Maggid +(1863), which he edited in Lyck, Prussia. Smolenskin's writings resound +with a love for Zion from the very beginning of his literary career. And +a rising young Hebraist, Eliezer ben Yehudah, while still a student of +medicine, wrote, in 1878, and again in 1880, stirring letters to the +editor of Ha-Shahar, in which he advocated the return to the Holy Land +and the revival of the holy tongue as a _conditio sine qua non_ for the +realization of the Jewish mission. These views, at first advocated by +the Hebrew-writing and Hebrew-reading Maskilim, gradually filtered into +the various strata of Russo-Jewish society, and when the clouds began to +gather fast in Russia's sky, and the change in the monarch's policy +augured the approach of evil times, Zionism rapidly made enthusiastic +converts even among the most Russified of the Jewish youth. On November +6, 1884, for the first time in history, a Jewish international assembly +was held at Kattowitz, near the Russian frontier, where representatives +from all classes and different countries met and decided to colonize +Palestine with Jewish farmers. + +Since then Haskalah in Russia has become nationalistic and Palestinian. +Even those who were at first opposed to it gradually grew friendly, and +finally became "lovers of Zion" (Hobebe Zion). Among the Russo-Jewish +students in Vienna, Smolenskin, the militant Zionist, organized an +academic society, Kadimah, a name which, meaning Eastward and Forward, +contains the philosophy of Zionism in a nutshell. Seeing that the +Alliance Israelite Universelle encouraged emigration to America, both he +and Ben Yehudah published violent attacks on the French society, and +endeavored to thwart its plans as far as possible.[9] The Hebrew weekly +Ha-Meliz, published in St. Petersburg, was a staunch supporter of the +movement, and a little later Ha-Zefirah, published in Warsaw, which was +at first indifferent, if not antagonistic, joined the ranks. In Russian, +too, the Razsvyet and especially the Buduchnost spread Zionism among +their readers, while books, pamphlets, and poems were published in +Yiddish for circulation among the masses. In addition to the Hobebe Zion +societies formed in many cities, secret societies were organized, such +as the famous Bene Mosheh (Sons of Moses), which had for its object the +moral and intellectual improvement of the future citizens of the Jewish +Republic; the Bilu (initials of Bet Ya'akob leku we-nelekah, "O House of +Jacob, come and let us go"), formed by Israel Belkind, who went to +Palestine with his fellow-students of the University of Kharkov, and +founded the colony of Gederah; and the Hillul (Hereb la-Adonai +u-le-Arzenu, "A sword for God and our land"), the members of which +pledged themselves to remove any obstacle to the cause of nationalism, +even at the cost of their lives. The Bone Zion (Builders of Zion), a +sort of Masonic fraternity, was a very potent secret society, which +undertook to constitute itself a provisional Jewish Government, and +assiduously watched the Zionistic societies and their leaders in every +portion of the globe.[10] + +These dreamy youths, however, heartbroken and disgusted with a +civilization which had failed to redeem its promises, proved but poor +material for laying the foundations for a future nation. It was as with +the Darien Company organized by William Paterson when Scotland was +sorely distressed, and the Champ d'Asile, by the remnant of Napoleon's +grand army--a fine idea, but the men and the means were wanting to +execute it. The colonies in Palestine fared no better than those in +America. They were opposed by the Government from without and by many of +the orthodox Jews from within. The former, though claiming to be glad to +see the Jews emigrate, though declaring to the Jewish delegation that +pleaded for mercy, _Zapadnaya graniza dlya vas otkrita_ ("the Western +frontier is open to you"), was still, Pharaoh-like, reluctant to see so +many "undesirable citizens" leave, and prohibited the formation of +organizations to accomplish the end. The orthodox were against the +movement on religious grounds, because it was "forcing the end" of +Israel's trouble before the destined day of God arrived.[11] But with +the "nineties" the movement received a strong impetus. Alexander +Zederbaum, the publisher of Ha-Meliz, succeeded in obtaining a charter +(February 9, 1890) for the Association for the Aid of Colonization in +Palestine and Syria. Such eminent rabbis as Mordecai Eliasberg, his son +Jonathan, Samuel Mohilever, N.Z.Y. Berlin, and Mordecai Joffe espoused +the cause, and set the example for their less prominent colleagues. When +the question arose whether Jewish agriculturists in Palestine are +obliged to observe the Biblical injunction not to till the ground in the +seventh year (shemittah), Rabbi Isaac Elhanan Spector of Kovno, the +leading rabbi and Talmudist of his time, decided, in opposition to the +Jerusalem rabbinate, that the law had ceased to be effective with the +destruction of the Temple. Baron Edmond de Rothschild of Paris also came +to the rescue of the colonists, and, more important still, there began +an immigration of Russo-Jewish farmers into Palestine, of the class, +numbering about ninety-five thousand souls, whom Arnold White described +as "an active, well set-up, sun-burnt, muscular, agricultural people, +marked by all the characteristics of a peasantry of the highest +character." With them the colonies began to flourish, the debts were +paid off, and a better regime set in. "There was no crime or +drunkenness," says Bentwich, "in those settlements, and the only usurer +was a Russian peasant, who charged the Jewish borrowers thirty-six per +cent for loans. If ever I saw practical religion carried into daily +life, it was among those brave and sober Hebrew ploughmen."[12] + +Whatever may be one's views on Zionism, there can be no doubt that it +has proved a power for good in Russia. It introduced new ideals and +revived old expectations. It has accomplished, in a measure, the fond +hope of the Maskilim and awakened within the Russian Jew a feeling of +self-respect and a "consciousness of human worth." Different and +contending elements it has coalesced into one. It has, above all, +brought back to the fold the doubting Thomases and careless Gallios, +even the avowed scoffers, among the Jewish youth, and imbued them with +courage and pride,[13] and given them a new shibboleth, _Meine Kunst der +Welt, mein Leben meinem Volke_ ("My art for the world, my life for my +people"). + +"We have seen our youths return to us," writes Lilienblum,[14] "and our +hearts were filled with joy. In their restoration we found balm for our +wounds, and with rapturous wonderment we asked 'who has borne us +these?'" The poets welcomed them with songs. Gordon, whose sorrow had +silenced his muse, was inspired once more and called: + + Behold our sons, of whom we despaired, + Return to us, the great and the small; + God's grace is not ended, our power's unimpaired, + Again we shall live, and rise after the fall! + +Frug sang in Russian: + + My own Nation, + Thou art not alone; thy sons behold + Coming back in crowds as in days of old! + +And Zunser represented Rachel as soliloquizing in Yiddish: + + Through the windows what am I seeing, + Like turtle-doves hitherward fleeing? + Are my Joseph and Benjamin knocking at my door? + O Heavens, O mighty wonder! + Those are my children yonder! + Yes, my dearest and my truest coming home once more! + +But Zionism is not exclusively either a political or a religious +movement. It is both plus something else; it is eminently educational. +It has produced novelists and poets, whose writings are full of the +virility and beauty of a rejuvenated nation. In Jaffa it established a +high school (Bet ha-Sefer), it inspired Doctor Chazanowicz to establish +a national library, and ways and means are being considered to establish +a national university in Palestine. + +Even among the devotees of the arts it has given rise to a new romantic +school, young painters and sculptors who are depicting their +Judenschmerz. + + Their cunning hands--says Mr. Leo Mielziner--have mastered the + technique of their art, be it in Moscow or Munich, or Berlin, or + Paris, but the heart which inspires their brush or mallet + pulsates in Palestine. The wandering Jew in them pauses, not to + portray the impression of the foreign lands and stranger + customs, but to depict his own suffering, his own Heimweh, his + own aspirations. + +Struck, Ashkenasi, Maimon, Hirszenberg, Gottlieb, Epstein, Loebschuetz, +and Schatz are the leaders of this new movement. The last-named, +together with Ephraim Moses Lilien of Galicia, perhaps the greatest +Jewish illustrator of our time, has founded a national school, Bezalel, +to propagate Jewish art in Palestine, on the same principles on which +the great national art schools of other countries are based. The +language of instruction is Hebrew. + +Meanwhile the Society for the Promotion of Haskalah continued its work +of Russification and general civilization. After 1880 its activity was +greatly enhanced, and its members worked with renewed zeal. It opened +elementary schools, and expended large sums on stipends for students, +and the publication of useful and scholarly books. The branch in Odessa +secured two hundred and thirty-one new members in one year (1900), +making the total in that city alone nine hundred and sixty-eight. It +organized a bureau of information on pedagogic subjects, and through the +liberality of Kalonymos Wissotzky instituted prizes for original works +in Hebrew or Russian. Individual philanthropists did their utmost to +counterbalance the restrictions on education.[15] + +Trade schools were opened by the Committee for the Promotion of a +Knowledge of Trade and Agriculture among the Jews of Russia, in Minsk, +Vilna, and Vitebsk, besides fifteen manual training schools for boys and +twenty for girls, in which the indigent pupils are provided with food, +clothes, and books. In 1900 thirteen new schools were opened in Kherson +and Yekaterinoslav, to supply the educational demand of the thirty-eight +colonies existing in those Governments. In the vicinity of Minsk a +Junior Republic was organized, and in many cities art and choral +societies were formed.[16] + +The desire for self-help and the tendency towards organization, to which +Zionism gave an impetus, was rapidly reflected in every sphere of +Russo-Jewish activity. In a series of works and articles, Jacob Wolf +Mendlin, who studied under Lassalle, pointed out the importance of the +co-operative system. Accordingly, a union was organized by the Jewish +salesmen in Warsaw. In 1897 a conference of Jewish workingmen was held +in that city and Der allgemeine juedische Arbeiterbund in Littauen, +Polen, und Russland (Federation of Jewish Labor Unions in Lithuania, +Poland, and Russia) was perfected. It published three papers as its +organs, Die Arbeiterstimme, Der juedischer Arbeiter, and, in Switzerland, +Letzte Nachrichten. Soon workmen's associations and artisans' clubs +appeared wherever there was a sufficient number of Jewish tailors, +hatters, bookbinders, etc., for the purpose of increasing and improving +the value of their production, and to do away with middlemen and +money-lenders. They organized a tailors', dyers', and shoemakers' union +in Kharkov, and a carpenters' union in Minsk, for mutual support in the +struggle for existence, and for the construction of sanitary +workingmen's houses. The cultural desire of the handicraftsmen, +constituting twelve per cent of the Russo-Jewish population and +occasionally fifty-two per cent (Odessa), seventy-three per cent +(Kovno), and even ninety per cent (Byelostok), is phenomenal. Their +object is not only physical improvement. Their highest aim is that their +members be enabled, by means of efficient night schools and private +instruction, to acquire elementary and higher education; in the words of +the constitution of the carpenters' union of Minsk, "to protect their +material interests, raise their moral and intellectual status, and +foster efforts of self-help."[17] + +The Hebrew teachers, a class which, though more respected, underwent as +hard a struggle as the workingmen, banded themselves together in 1899 in +the Society for Aiding Hebrew Teachers of the Province of Vilna. Their +president was Michael Wolper, the inspector of the Hebrew Institute and +successor to Wohl as censor of Hebrew publications. Similar attempts +were made in Bessarabia. Rabbi Shachor, chairman of the Hebrew Teachers' +Association of Yekaterinoslav, was instrumental in opening a normal +school conducted on Chautauqua principles, and so advanced the cause of +education considerably.[18] + +With the establishment of the rabbinical seminaries and the ukase (May +3, 1855) that only such may officiate as rabbis as have completed a +prescribed course of study, Russian Jewry was placed in a sore +predicament. It was a very difficult task to find men who united secular +knowledge with that thorough mastery of Talmudic literature which the +Jews of Russia exact from their rabbis. Every community was compelled to +appoint two rabbis: an orthodox rabbi (dukhovny rabbin) and a "crown," +or Government, rabbi (kazyony rabbin). The people recognized only the +authority of the former, the Government that of the latter. The +consequence was that a man with a mere high-school education would apply +for, and would often receive, the position of crown-rabbi. His duties +consisted in merely keeping a register of marriages, births, and deaths, +administering the oath, and the like. The many lawyers and physicians +who were debarred from practicing their professions sought to become +candidates for the rabbinate. To avoid the unpleasant results which +followed, Rabbi Chernovich of Odessa and Rabbi I.J. Reines of Lyda +established seminaries in Odessa and Lyda, to take the place and to +continue the teaching of the Vilna and the Volozhin yeshibot, which had +been closed, and to furnish proper rabbis for the various +congregations.[19] + +The century-long struggle for enlightenment had a telling effect. What +the early Maskilim had only dreamed of finally came to be. The +metamorphosis was so great and so general as to be hardly credible. It +was shown by Mr. Landman, in a paper read before the Russo-Jewish +Historical Society of Odessa, that while among the Gentiles of that city +the reading public constituted seven per cent of the population, among +Jews it was no less than thirty-three per cent, and twenty-five per cent +of all readers were Jewish women.[20] By 1905 there were two Yiddish and +three Hebrew dailies, besides several weekly, monthly, and quarterly +periodicals and annuals in Yiddish, Hebrew, and Russian, notwithstanding +the fact that a numerous class depended on the general Russian literary +output for their mental pabulum. + +As the number of those who read Hebrew was still considerable, Abraham +Loeb Shalkovich (Ben Avigdor) began, with the assistance of a number of +Maskilim, the publication of "penny literature" (Sifre Agorah, Warsaw, +1893). Shortly afterwards the Ahiasaf Society and, a little later, the +Tushiyah Society were founded. The object was to edit and publish "good +and useful books in the Hebrew language for the spread of knowledge and +the teaching of morality and culture among the Hebrew youth, also +scientific books in all departments of learning." Both these +associations have done admirable work. They have published many good +text-books for teaching Hebrew and Jewish history, an illustrated +periodical for children, Olam Katan (The Little World), and numerous +works of interest to the adult. Among their publications were, besides +the original writings of Peretz, Taviov, Frischman, Berdichevsky, +Chernikhovsky, and others, also translations from Bogrov, Byron, Frug, +Hugo, Nordau, Shakespeare, Spencer, Zangwill, Zola, critical biographies +of Aristotle, Copernicus, George Eliot, Heine, Lassalle, Nietzsche, +Rousseau, and a great many equally famous men of letters, which followed +each other in promiscuous but uninterrupted succession, all handsomely +printed and prettily bound, and sold at a moderate price. + +One evil, however, remained, in the face of which both the Maskilim and +the financiers found themselves utterly helpless, the evil of the +exclusion of Jews from the universities. They could found elementary and +high schools for the young, night schools and Sabbath Schools for the +adult working-men, but to establish a university was an absolute +impossibility. Jewish youths were again compelled, as in the days of +Tobias Cohn and Solomon Maimon, to seek in foreign lands the education +denied them in their own. Austria, Switzerland, France, and chiefly +Germany, became once more the Meccas whither Russo-Jewish graduates +repaired to finish their studies, and where they formed a sort of Latin +Quarters of their own, and led almost a communal life. Their numbers in +the German universities grew to such proportions, and their material +condition became so wretched, that a society was organized in Berlin for +the express purpose of helping them. On the other hand, the authorities +protested (1906) against expending the funds granted each year for +German educational institutions on the education of non-Germans, and the +Akademischer Club of Berlin passed resolutions demanding a regulation +against their admission. In Leipsic alone, of the six hundred and +sixty-two foreign students who attended the university, three hundred +and forty, or over one-half, are Russian Jews (1906). Of the five +hundred and eighty-six students enrolled in the Commercial University, +three hundred and twenty-two are foreigners, among whom Russians +predominate, and of the eight hundred students who attend the Royal +Conservatory of Music, three hundred are foreigners, also mostly +Russians. Russians constitute two hundred and two of the three hundred +and forty-seven pupils in the Dresden Polytechnicum, and sixty out of +one hundred and thirty-seven in the Dresden Veterinary College, while in +the Freiberg School of Mines and in the Tharand Forestry Academy they +are in a majority, though they pay twice, and in some places three +times, the amount of tuition fee required from the native students. The +proportion is still greater in the Swiss universities of Basle, Berne, +Geneva, Lausanne, and Zurich, where they sometimes constitute +three-fourths of the entire student body in the medical schools (Geneva, +1907). + +And as for the progress made by the Russo-Jewish woman, it is wonderful, +indeed. It is hardly a quarter of a century since attention began to be +given to her mental development, and yet she has seldom lagged behind +her sisters in more enlightened lands, and has lately attained to a +proud height. Vilna, with her "many well-educated wives," attracted the +attention of Montefiore in the early "forties"; Tarnopol speaks in terms +of high praise of the Jewish women of Odessa in the "sixties"; they +"charm by their culture, by the ease and precision with which they speak +several European languages, by the correctness of their judgment, and +the beauty of their conversation."[21] The memoirs of Madame Pauline +Wengeroff throw a sidelight also on the accomplishments of her sisters +in the less enlightened districts of Russian Jewry. But in the last +quarter of the nineteenth and the early part of the twentieth century, +their advance was prodigious.[22] When decent Jewish women were +prohibited to reside in St. Petersburg, some of the Jewish female +students, at the risk of their reputation, secured the yellow ticket of +the prostitute rather than sacrifice their education. But the majority +went to other countries. The press has lately been interested in what +these seekers for light in foreign lands have accomplished, and reported +the successes of Fanny Berlin, who graduated from the University of +Berne as doctor of law _summa cum laude_, and of Miss Kanyevsky of +Zinkoff (Poltava), who was the first woman to take her degree as +engineer at the Ecole des Pontes et Chaussees, in Paris. + + It is a curious fact--remarks a correspondent in the Pall Mall + Gazette--the majority [of lady doctors practicing in Paris] are + Russian Jewesses, just as are the greatest number of young women + medical students. At a rough calculation there are three hundred + ladies pursuing medical studies at the various schools, and + working side by side with the male students. The reason of the + invasion of the Jewess is, of course, the disabilities that + exist in Russia for those of the faith of Israel ... + disabilities that are hardly lessened in Germany. Moreover, + there exists only one university in Russia, and that is in St. + Petersburg. Some of the women who graduate in medicine do + extremely well afterwards in practice, and are greatly in vogue + in the highest society in Paris.... The lady doctor who is also + a Russian subject has likewise found a field for her energies in + China, where Russian influence is so dominant at the present + moment. + +Another writer, in Harper's Bazaar, speaking of girl-students in Paris, +has this to say: + + The Russian students are an interesting class in Paris. There + are some one hundred and thirty of them in all, nearly all + Hebrews, as the Russian universities admit only about four Jews + to every hundred students. Their monthly allowance from their + families is often no more than twenty dollars, and out of that + they must pay board, room-rent, and all outside expenses. These + Russian "new women" are extraordinary students. Mlle. Lepinska, + one of the first to graduate in medicine, presented a thesis six + hundred and sixty pages long to her astonished professors. + +With pitying admiration the world looks on the struggle for +enlightenment of these brave sons and daughters of Judah. Their trials +and tribulations, their heart-burnings and disappointments, have +inspired poets and painters, novelists and playwrights. From Chamisso's +_Abba Glusk Leczeka_ to Korolenko's _Skazanye o Florye Rimlyaninye_, +czars have died or have been assassinated, statesmen have risen and +fallen, but the Russian Jew, like the heroes of the poem or novel, did +not wait to conquer by submitting. Thanks to his indomitable spirit he +has made unexampled progress. Within the last twenty-five years he has +not only emancipated himself, but he is now the most potent factor in +the struggle for the emancipation of his countrymen. Within these years +he has become the recognized torch-bearer of liberty and enlightenment +in darkest Russia. Uvarov justified his inhuman treatment of the Jews by +the plea that they are "orthodox and believers in the Talmud." The +latest excuse (1904) of von Plehve was that "if we admitted Jews to our +universities without restriction, they would surpass our Russian +students and dominate our intellectual life." But neither the former +prevails, nor the latter, nor their henchmen who fill the columns of the +Grazhdanin, Kievlyanin, Novoye Vremya, and the like. The words and +writings of such noble and world-famous Russians as Popoff, Demidov, +Strogonoff, Bershadsky, Shchedrin, Tolstoi, and the cream of the Russian +"intelligentia," as well as such foreigners as Mommsen, Gladstone, +Leroy-Beaulieu, and Michael Davitt, will have their salutary effect. The +consciousness of the Russian people will awaken. The attitude lately +manifested both in St. Petersburg and the provinces against the +_Kontrabandisti_, a libellous play written by an apostate Jew, Levin, +will become more and more general. Then the heroic effort and the +unexampled progress of the Russian Jews will be more fully appreciated, +and a patriotic nation will gratefully acknowledge its indebtedness to +that smallest but most energetic and self-sacrificing portion of its +heterogeneous population, the Jews, who have done so much, not only for +Jewish Russians, but for Christian Russians as well, to hasten the time +when "many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased." + +(Notes, pp. 327-330.) + + + + +NOTES + + +ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THE NOTES + +AZJ = Allgemeine Zeitung des Judenthums, Leipsic, 1837-- +FKI = Fuenn, Keneset Yisrael, Warsaw, 1860. +FKN = Fuenn, Kiryah Ne'emanah, Vilna, 1860. +FSL = Fuenn, Safah le-Ne'emanim, Vilna, 1881. +GMC = Ginzberg and Marek, Yevreyskiya Narodniya Pyesni, St. Petersburg, + 1901. +HUH = Harkavy, Ha-Yehudim u-Sefat ha-Selavim, Vilna, 1867. +JE = Jewish Encyclopedia, 12 vols., New York, 1901-1906. +LBJ = Levinsohn, Bet Yehudah, Warsaw, 1901. +LTI = Levinsohn, Te'udah be-Yisrael, Warsaw, 1901. +WMG = Wengeroff, Memoiren einer Grossrautter, i., Berlin, 1908. + + +CHAPTER I + +THE PRE-HASKALAH PERIOD + +?-1648 + +(pp. 17-52) + + +[Footnote 1: Mention might, indeed, be made of Dr. Zunz's pioneer work +in his Aelteste Nachrichten ueber Juden und juedische Gelehrte in Polen, +Slavonien, Russland (Gesammelte Schriften, Berlin, 1875, iii. 82-87), +and Firkovich, who, in his Abne Zikkaron (Vilna, 1872), threw much light +on the history of the Crimean Jews. The best contributions to the +subject, however, are those of Harkavy, Russ i Russkiye v Sred. Yevr. +Lit. (Voskhod, 1881), and Malishevsky, Yevreyi v Yuzhnoy Rossii i Kieve, +v. x-xii. Vyekakh, St. Petersburg, 1878.] + +[Footnote 2: LTI, p. 33, n. 2; LBJ, ii. 94, n. 2.] + +[Footnote 3: See JE, s.v. Azov, and Kertch. See also Fishberg, The Jews: +A Study of Race and Environment, New York, 1911, pp. 150, 192-194.] + +[Footnote 4: See Judah Halevi's Kuzari, Introduction.] + +[Footnote 5: Minor, Rukovodstvo, Moscow, 1881, iv; Ha-Pardes, St. +Petersburg, 1902, p. 155.] + +[Footnote 6: HUH, pp. 31-32, 69-76.] + +[Footnote 7: Yevrey Minister, Voskhod, 1885, v. 105 f.] + +[Footnote 8: JE, i. 112, 119, 223; viii. 652.] + +[Footnote 9: The synagogue in Brest-Litovsk, which Saul Wahl built in +memory of his wife Deborah, was demolished in 1836. WMG, p. 84.] + +[Footnote 10: HUH, pp. 77-134.] + +[Footnote 11: JE, x. 569.] + +[Footnote 12: The story of Zacharias de Guizolfi deserves to be given at +greater length. He was a prince and ruler of the Taman peninsula near +the Black Sea (1419). After he had been unsuccessful in a war against +the Turks, Czar Ivan III sent him a message sealed with the gold seal +(March 14, 1484) as follows: + +"By the grace of God, the great ruler of the Russian land, the Grand +Duke Ivan Vassilyevich, czar of all the Russias, to Skariya the Hebrew. + +"You have written to us through Gabriel Patrov, our guest, that you +desire to come to us. It is our wish that you do so. When you are with +us, we shall give you evidence of our favorable disposition toward you. +Should you wish to serve us, we will confer honors upon you. But should +you not wish to remain with us, and prefer to return to your country, +you shall be free to go." + +For some reason or other, Zacharias never accomplished his contemplated +trip, notwithstanding the many inducements repeatedly offered by the +czar during a period of eighteen years. Perhaps it was because of the +disturbances which rendered transportation dangerous; possibly because +he preferred to serve the khan rather than the czar, for we find him, in +1500, a resident of Circassia. See JE, vi. 107-108; vi. 12.] + +[Footnote 13: E.g. Barakha, the hero (1601), Ilyash Karaimovich, the +starosta (1637), and Motve Borokhovich, the colonel (1647). See JE, ii. +128; iv. 283; ix. 40.] + +[Footnote 14: See Czacki, Rosprava o Zhydakh, Vilna, 1807, p. 93; +Buchholtz, Geschichte der Juden in Riga, Riga, 1899, p. 3; Mann, Sheerit +Yisrael, Vilna, 1818, ch. 30; Virga, Shebet Yehudah, Hanover, 1856, pp. +147 f., and Graetz, Geschichte der Juden, ix. 480.] + +[Footnote 15: The Subbotniki, Dukhobortzi, and the other dissenting, but +non-Jewish, sects are not referred to here, though they may have +received their inspiration from Jews or through Judaism.] + +[Footnote 16: Voskhod, 1881, i. 73-75; JE, vii. 487-488; ix. 570; +Bramson, K Istorii Pervonachalnaho Obrazovaniya Russkikh Yevreyev, St. +Petersburg, 1896, pp. 4-6.] + +[Footnote 17: Sternberg, Die Proselyten im xvi. und xvii. Jahrhundert, +AZJ, 1863, pp. 67-68 (ibid, in L'univers Israelite, 1863, pp. 272 f.); +Mandelkern, Dibre Yeme Russyah, Warsaw, 1875, pp. 231 f.; Yevreyskaya +Enziklopedya, s.v. Zhidostvuyushchikh; Bedrzhidsky in Zhurnal +Ministerstva Narodnaho Prosvyeshchanya, St. Petersburg, 1912, pp. +106-122; Jewish Ledger, Jan., 1902, p. 3; Emden, Megillat Sefer, ed. +Cohan, p. 207, Warsaw, 1896. On Count Pototzki, see Ger Zedek, in +Yevreyskaya Biblyotyeka, St. Petersburg, 1892; Gershuni, Sketches of +Jewish Life and History, New York, 1873, pp. 158-224 (also +Introduction), and S.L. Gordon's ballad in Ha-Shiloah (Ger Zedek), i. +431. On Pototzki and Zaremba, see Gere Zedek (Anon.), Johannisberg, +1862. On modern Russian Gerim, see Die Welt, July 5, 1907, pp. 16-17 +(Palestine), B'nai B'rith News, May 13, 1913 (United States), and +Leroy-Beaulieu, Israel among the Nations, Engl. transl., New York, 1900, +p. 110, n. 1; Yiddishes Tageblatt, July 16 and 23, 1913, Gerim in +Russland, and Vieder vegen Gerim; JE, i. 336; vii. 369-370, 489.] + +[Footnote 18: HUH, pp. 3, 21 f.; Minor, op. cit., p. 4; Yevreyskiya +Nadpisi, St. Petersburg, 1884, p. 217; Sefer ha-Yashar, no. 522; Eben +ha-'Ezer, no. 118. On [Hebrew: Bn'n Hrogi] see Monatsschrift, xxii. +514.] + +[Footnote 19: Catalogue de Rossi, in. 200; Ha-Maggid, 1860, pp. 299-302; +HUH, pp. 33, 40.] + +[Footnote 20: Autobiography, p. 39.] + +[Footnote 21: LBJ, ii. 95, n.; Ha-'Ibri, New York, viii., no. 33; Lehem +ha-Panim, Hil. Nedarim, no. 228.] + +[Footnote 22: Nishmat Hayyim, Lemberg, 1858, p. 83a; Azulai, Shem +ha-Gedolim, s.v. Horowitz; FKN, p. 74, and Ha-Maggid, in. 159. Cf. +Sheerit Yisrael, ch. 32, and Edelman, Gedulat Shauel, London, 1854. +Reifman, in Ha-Maggid, claims that to Luria belongs the honor of being +the first-known Jewish author.] + +[Footnote 23: See Zikronot, ed. Cohan, pp. 62-66, 90, 313, 336, 380, +passim; Schechter, Studies in Judaism, Philadelphia, 1908, ii. 132.] + +[Footnote 24: Margoliuth, Hibbure Likkutim, Venice, 1715, Introduction.] + +[Footnote 25: Horowitz, Frankfurter Rabbinen, Frankfort-on-the-Main, +1883, pp. 30-35; FKN, pp. 73-91; Emden, op. cit, p. 125; and +biographies.] + +[Footnote 26: LTI, ii. 81, n.; Hannover, Yeven Mezulah, Warsaw, 1872, p. +7b.] + +[Footnote 27: Zunz, Literaturgeschichte, pp. 433-435, 442; Buber, Anshe +Shem, Cracow, 1895, pp. 307-309; Benjacob, Ozar ha-Sefarim, p. 396; JE, +xi. 217; Bikkure ha-'Ittim, 1830, p. 43. Jacob of Gnesen, I suspect, +must have lived in Russia.] + +[Footnote 28: Steinschneider, Jewish Literature, pp. 235, 240; Benjacob, +op. cit, p. 396.] + +[Footnote 29: JE, xii. 265-266: "Enfin les incredules les plus +determines n'out presque rien allegue qui ne soit dans le Rampart de la +Foi du Rabbin Isaac."] + +[Footnote 30: Nusbaum, Historya Zhidov, i. p. 180; Edelman, op. cit, +attributes the coming of Saul Wahl to this cause.] + +[Footnote 31: The Elim (Amsterdam, 1629), if not, as the Karaites +maintain, actually the work of Zerah Troki, was surely the result of the +problems submitted by him to Delmedigo.] + +[Footnote 32: JE, iv. 504; vii. 264; xii. 266; Ha-Eshkol, iii. and iv. +(R.M. Jarre); LTI, ii. 80; Benjacob, op. cit, no. 1428.] + +[Footnote 33: Zunz, Ritus, Berlin, 1859, p. 73, and Gottesdienstliche +Vortraege, Frankfort-on-the-Main, 1892, p. 452, n.a.; Wessely, Dibre +Shalom we-Emet, ii. 7; Benjacob, op. cit., no. 1187.] + +[Footnote 34: Voskhod, 1893, i. 79; New Era Illustrated Magazine, v.; +FNI, p. 28 f.; JE, i. 113; ii. 22, 622; xii. 265.] + +[Footnote 35: JE, vii. 454.] + +[Footnote 36: JE, i. 372; iv. 140; Ha-Yekeb, 1894, p. 68.] + +[Footnote 37: Bersohn, Tobiasz Cohn, Warsaw, 1872.] + +[Footnote 38: Cf. FKN, pp. 38-42 (Vilna constitution); Hannover, op. +cit., p. 23a; Ha-Modia' la-Hadashim, II. i. II, and JE, s.v. Council, +Kahal, Lithuania, etc.] + +[Footnote 39: See GMC, pp. 59 f., and compare with this Lermontoff's +Cossack Cradle-Song, which may be taken as a type: + + Sleep, my child, my little darling, sleep, I sing to thee; + Silently the soft white moonbeams fall on thee and me. + I will tell thee fairy stories in my lullaby; + Sleep, my child, my pretty darling, sleep, I sing to thee. + Lo, I see the day approaching when the warriors meet; + Then wilt thou grasp thy rifle and mount thy charger fleet. + I will broider in thy saddle colors fair to see, + Sleep, my child, my little darling, sleep, I sing to thee. + Then my Cossack boy, my hero brave and proud and gay, + Waves one farewell to his mother and rides far away. + Oh, what sorrow, pain and anguish then my soul shall fill, + As I pray by day and night that God will keep thee still! + Thou shalt take a saint's pure image to the battlefield, + Look upon it when thou prayest, may it be thy shield. + And when battles fierce are raging, give one thought to me; + Sleep, my darling, calmly, sweetly, sleep, I sing to thee. + + --Westminster Gazette. + +See Guedemann, Quellen zur Geschichte des Unterrichts, Berlin, 1891, pp. +285-286; Ha-Boker Or, i. 315 (on Dubno); Ha-Meliz, 1894, no. 254 (on +Mohilev); Zunz, Gottesdienstliche Vortraege, pp. 122g and 470a; cf. +Weiss, Zikronotai, Warsaw, 1895, pp. 53-83.] + +[Footnote 40: Cf. Guedemann, Geschichte des Erziehungswesens, iii. 94, +n., and see Dembitzer, Kelilat Yofi, Introduction, and Meassef, St. +Petersburg, 1902, p. 205, n.] + + +CHAPTER II + +DAYS OF TRANSITION + +1648-1794 + +(pp. 53-109) + + +[Footnote 1: JE, s.v. Bratzlav.] + +[Footnote 2: In the diary of a Polish squire we find the following item: +"Jan. 5. As the lessee Herszka had not yet paid me the rental of 91 +gulden, I went to his house to get my debt. According to the contract, I +can arrest him and his wife for as long as I wish, until he settles the +bill, and so I ordered him locked up in the pig-sty and left his wife +and his sons in the inn. The youngest son, however, I took with me to +the palace to be instructed in the rudiments of our religion. The boy is +unusually bright and shall be baptized. I already wrote to our priest +concerning it, and he promised to come to prepare him. Leisza at first +stubbornly refused to make the sign of the cross and repeat our prayers, +but Strelicki administered a sound whipping, and to-day he even ate ham. +Our venerable priest Bonapari ... is inventing all manner of means to +break his stiff-neckedness." Meassef, St. Petersburg, 1902, pp. +192-193.] + +[Footnote 3: See Wolkonsky, Pictures of Russian History and Literature, +Boston, 1897, p. 136.] + +[Footnote 4: Orshansky, in Yevreyskaya Biblyotyeka, ii. 207.] + +[Footnote 5: Meassef, St. Petersburg, 1902, p. 195; Beck and Brann, +Yevreyskaya Istoriya, p. 326; JE, iv. 155; xi. 113.] + +[Footnote 6: Meassef, p. 200. On Russia at the time of Peter the Great, +see Macaulay, History of England, ch. xxiii., where he describes the +"savage ignorance and the squalid poverty of the barbarous country." In +that country "there was neither literature nor science, neither school +nor college. It was not till more than a hundred years after the +invention of printing that a single printing-press had been introduced +into the Russian empire, and that printing-press speedily perished in a +fire, which was supposed to have been kindled by priests." When Pyoter +Vyeliki (Peter the Great), while in London, saw the archiepiscopal +library, he declared that "he had never imagined that there were so many +printed volumes in the world." See also Carlyle, History of Frederick +the Great, iv. 7.] + +[Footnote 7: FKN, pp. 126-132; Voskhod, 1893; on the Hasidim and +Mitnaggedim see below.] + +[Footnote 8: Ma'aseh Tobiah, p. 18; Meassef, pp. 206-209; Geiger (Melo +Hofnayim, Berlin, 1840, pp. 1-29) published Delmedigo's corroboration of +this statement.] + +[Footnote 9: Rapoport, Etan ha-'Ezrahi, Ostrog, 1776, Introduction.] + +[Footnote 10: Cf. Zederbaum, Keter Kehunnah, pp. 72-74, 84, 121, etc., +and Ha-Shiloah, xxi. 165; Schechter, Studies in Judaism, i., +Philadelphia, 1896, i. 17 f., and Greenstone, The Messiah Idea in Jewish +History, pp. 237 f. According to some, Judah he-Hasid and his followers +went to Palestine in the expectation, not of the Messiah, but of +Shabbatai Zebi, who was believed to have been in hiding for forty years, +in imitation of the retirement of Moses in Midian for a similar period +of years. "The ruins of Rabbi Judah he-Hasid's synagogue" and Yeshibah +in Jerusalem still keep the memory of the event fresh in the minds of +Palestinian Jews.] + +[Footnote 11: Among the many wonderful episodes in the life of the +master, his biographer mentions also that he could swallow down the +largest gobletful in a single gulp (Shibhe ha-Besht, Berdichev, 1815, +pp. 7-8). The best, though not an impartial work on Hasidism is +Zweifel's Shalom 'al Yisrael, 4 vols., Zhitomir, 1868-1872.] + +[Footnote 12: Ha-Boker Or, iv. 103-105: [Hebrew: H'fkormot Mn Nshmot +M'lh Hngon.]] + +[Footnote 13: Cf. Emden, op. cit., p. 185, and Shimush, Amsterdam, 1785, +pp. 78-80, with Pardes, ii. 204-214.] + +[Footnote 14: See Schechter, op. cit., pp. 73-93; Silber, Elijah Gaon, +1906; Levin, 'Aliyat Eliyahu, Vilna, 1856, and FKN, pp. 133-155.] + +[Footnote 15: Levin, op. cit., pp. 28-30.] + +[Footnote 16: See Ha-Bikkurim, i. 1-26; ii. 1-20; Ha-Zeman (monthly), +1903, ii. 6; Plungian, Ben Porat, Vilna, 1858, p. 33; Keneset Yisrael, +iii. 152 seq.] + +[Footnote 17: Sirkes (Bayit Hadash, Cracow, 1631, p. 40) decides that +Jews may employ in their synagogue melodies used in the church, since +"music is neither Jewish nor Christian, but is governed by universal +laws." See also Hayyim ben Bezalel's Wikkuah Mayim Hayyim, Introduction, +and passim.] + +[Footnote 18: See J.S. Raisin, Sect, Creed and Custom in Judaism, +Philadelphia, 1907, p. 9, and ch. viii.; Ha-Meliz, x. 186, 192-194.] + +[Footnote 19: See Ha-Zeman (monthly), 1903, ii. 7.; Shklov, Euclidus, +Introduction; Keneset Yisrael, 1887, and Hagra on Orah Hayyim, Shklov, +1803, Introduction.] + +[Footnote 20: See Graetz, op. cit, xi. 590, 604, 606. The Gaon, who as a +rule was very mild, lost patience with the Hasidim and wielded the +weapons of the kuni (or stocks and exposures) and excommunication +without mercy. The Hasidim were also accused of being not only religious +dissenters but revolutionaries. Zeitlin, quoted in Yiddishes Tageblatt, +from the Moment, March, 1913.] + +[Footnote 21: See Karpeles, Time of Mendelssohn, p. 297; Kayserling, +Mendelssohn, p. 12; Ha-Meliz, 1900, nos. 194-196.] + +[Footnote 22: Epstein, Geburat ha-Ari, Vilna, 1870, p. 29; Rabinovich, +Zunz, Warsaw, 1896; Wessely, op. cit., ii.; Linda, Reshit Limmudim, +Berlin, 1789, and Ha-Zeman (monthly), ii. 28.] + +[Footnote 23: Delitzsch, Zur Geschichte der juedischen Poesie, Leipsic, +1836, p. 118; Bernfeld, Dor Tahapukot, Warsaw, 1897, pp. 88 f. Dubno +also edited Luzzatto's La-Yesharim Tehillah, which, according to +Slouschz, marks the beginning of the renaissance in Hebrew +belles-lettres.] + +[Footnote 24: Published in Berlin in 1793. It was translated into +English by Murray (Solomon Maimon, Boston, 1888) and into Hebrew by +Taviov (Warsaw, 1899).] + +[Footnote 25: Bernfeld, op. cit., ii. 66 f. JE, s.v. Maimon; and +Autobiography (Engl. transl.), p. 217. For Maimon's system of philosophy +and also for a complete bibliography of his writings, see Kunz, Die +Philosophic Salomon Maimons, Heidelberg, 1912, pp. xxv, 531.] + +[Footnote 26: Wolff, Maimoniana, Berlin, 1813, p. 177.] + +[Footnote 27: How touching and suggestive is the word [Hebrew: Shbi]] in +an acrostic at the end of his Introduction to his Gibe'at ha-Moreh, a +commentary on the Moreh Nebukim: + + 'hobi ykr kor' + 'bi vshm shmi hd' + Shbi bmlt bhtboknn] + +[Footnote 28: See Murray's Introduction to the Autobiography; Auerbach, +Dichter und Kaufmann; Zangwill, Nathan the Wise and Solomon the Fool.] + +[Footnote 29: FKI, p. 196.] + +[Footnote 30: Maggid, Toledot Mishpehot Ginzberg, pp. 52-53; Emden, +Sheelat Ya'abez, Altona, 1739, p. 65 a.] + +[Footnote 31: FKN, pp. 109-114, 269; FKI, p. 300.] + +[Footnote 32: FKI, p. 394; Delitzsch, op. cit, p. 84.] + +[Footnote 33: L'univers Israelite, liii. 831-841: "C'est, vous le voyez, +un juif polonais qui contribua puissamment a l'emancipation des juifs de +France. Et je me demande si le Judaisme du monde entier ne doit pas +rendre hommage a notre coreligionnaire polonais autant peut-etre qu' a +Menasse ben Israel." FKI, p. 333; Ha-Meliz, ii. no. 50; Shulammit, iii. +425; Graetz, op. cit. (Engl. transl.), v. 443.] + +[Footnote 34: See Berliner, Festschrift, 1903, pp. 1-4.] + +[Footnote 35: See Ha-Meliz, viii. nos. 11, 22, 23; FSL, p. 139; +Monatsschrift, xxiv, 348-357.] + +[Footnote 36: Delitzsch, op. cit., pp. 115-118; Ha-Zeman (monthly), ii. +23 f.] + +[Footnote 37: See Meassef, 1788, p. 32, and Levin's ed. of Moreh +Nebukim, Zolkiev, 1829, Introduction.] + +[Footnote 38: Ha-Meassef, 1809, pp. 68-75, 136-171.] + +[Footnote 39: See Sefer ha-Berit, Introduction, and Weissberg, +Aufklaerungsliteratur, Vienna, 1898, p. 83.] + +[Footnote 40: FKI, p. 428.] + +[Footnote 41: See Emden, Torat ha-Kenaot, pp. 123-127, and Hitabkut +(Pinczov's letters); Voskhod, 1882, nos. viii-ix; FSL, pp. 136-137; +Friedrichsfeld, Zeker Zaddik, p. 12.] + +[Footnote 42: Maimon, Autobiography, pp. 106-107; FSL, p. 135.] + +[Footnote 43: See LTI, ii. 96, n. 1, and Yellin and Abrahams, +Maimonides, p. 160, and reference on p. 330, n. 72; Ha-Zeman (monthly), +i. 102-103; Margolioth, Bet Middot, p. 20. Heine's admiration for these +idealists or those who succeeded them is well worth quoting. In his +essay on Poland, he says: "In spite of the barbaric fur cap which covers +his head and the even more barbaric ideas which fill it, I value the +Polish Jew much more than many a German Jew with his Bolivar on his head +and his Jean Paul inside of it.... The Polish Jew in his unclean furred +coat, with his populous beard and his smell of garlic and his Jewish +jargon, is nevertheless dearer to me than many a Westerner in all the +glory of his stocks and bonds."] + +[Footnote 44: Op. cit. Letter ii.] + +[Footnote 45: Likkute Kadmoniot, Vilna, 1860, Introduction.] + + +CHAPTER III + +THE DAWN OF HASKALAH + +1794-1840 + +(pp. 110-161) + + +[Footnote 1: See Orshansky, in Yevreyskaya Biblyotyeka, ii. 240; +Drabkin, in Monatsschrift, xix-xx.] + +[Footnote 2: FKN, pp. 27, 303.] + +[Footnote 3: JE, iv. 301; Plungian, op. cit, p. 59.] + +[Footnote 4: FKN, p. 193.] + +[Footnote 5: JE, iv. 407.] + +[Footnote 6: FKN, p. 193; Jellinek, Kuntres ha-Rambam, pp. 39f.] + +[Footnote 7: Occident, v. 360.] + +[Footnote 8: Jost, Culturgeschichte, Berlin, 1847, p. 302.] + +[Footnote 9: Steinschneider, 'Ir Vilna, 1900, p. 146.] + +[Footnote 10: Voskhod, 1881, ii. 29-30; 1900, p. 55.] + +[Footnote 11: FKN, pp. 277-279.] + +[Footnote 12: See Rabinovitz, Ma'amar 'al ha-Defosat ha-Talmud, Munich, +1876, p. 112. Cf. Zweifel, op. cit., iv. 7.] + +[Footnote 13: FKN, pp. 277-279.] + +[Footnote 14: Toledot Adam, pp. 14 b, 16 b, 24 b, 75 b, 84 a.] + +[Footnote 15: See Plungian, op cit., pp. 46-47, 91; Voskhod, 1900, ix. +77; Ha-Zeman (monthly), 1903, iii. 22-30; see also Die Zukunft, New +York, July, 1913, pp. 713 f.] + +[Footnote 16: Voskhod, Dec., 1890, pp. 142 f.; Ha-Boker Or, Jan., 1881.] + +[Footnote 17: Voskhod, 1888, iii. 37 f; Rodkinson, Toledot 'Ammude +HaBaD.] + +[Footnote 18: Cohan, Rabbi Yisrael Ba'al Shem Tob, 1900, p. 67.] + +[Footnote 19: 'Ammude Bet Yehudah, xxvii., and see Ha-Zeman (monthly), +ii. 8-15.] + +[Footnote 20: Buchholtz, op. cit., Beilage 14, pp. 137-138.] + +[Footnote 21: See Weissberg, op. cit., p. 53; Talmud Leshon Russiah, +Vilna, 1825; Moda' li-Bene Binah, ibid., 1826; cf. Baer Heteb, +Introduction.] + +[Footnote 22: Helel ben Shahar, Warsaw, 1804, Introduction, and p. 81. +See Peri ha-Arez Yashan, Letter 2, quoted by Dubnow, Pardes, ii. +210-211.] + +[Footnote 23: Keneset Yisrael, i. 138; Morgulis, Voprosi Yevreyskoy +Zhizni, pp. 7-10.] + +[Footnote 24: Enziklopedichesky Slovar, St. Petersburg, 1895, xvii. +642.] + +[Footnote 25: Ha-Shahar, x. 44-52; FKN, p. 33; Ha-Boker Or, i. 145-146.] + +[Footnote 26: FSL, p. 164.] + +[Footnote 27: See Guenzburg, Ha-Debir, Warsaw, 1883, ii. 55; +Israelitische Annalen, 1840, p. 263.] + +[Footnote 28: Ha-Zeman (monthly), iii. 10.] + +[Footnote 29: Minor, op. cit, p. 46; Lerner, Yevreyi v Novorossiskom +Kraye, Odessa, 1901, p. 234; Monatsschrift, xviii. 234 f., 477 f., 551 +f.] + +[Footnote 30: Voskhod, 1881, i-iii; Ha-Zeman (monthly), iii. 11-14.] + +[Footnote 31: Op. cit, pp. 208-209.] + +[Footnote 32: Cf. Graetz, xi. 50; Kayserling, op. cit, p. 288; Fuenn, +Sofre Yisrael, Vilna, 1891, pp. 138-143; WMG, p. 135.] + +[Footnote 33: Graetz, xi. 590, 604, 606; Annalen, xx. 467; Kayserling, +op. cit., p. 307; Landshut, Toledot Anshe Shem, p. 85.] + +[Footnote 34: [Hebrew: Yd Tshlhu 'l Rm''d Bsfri]. Weiss, Zikronotai, p. +58, n.; Ha-Zeman (monthly), i. and iii. 18-19.] + +[Footnote 35: Zweifel, op. cit., pp. 35-40, and Ha-Hasidut we-ha-Musar +in Ha-Meliz, 1897; Toledot Mishpehot Shneersohn, in Ha-Asif, v. 35-40, +and Nefesh Hayyim, iii. 3.] + +[Footnote 36: Mandelkern, Dibre Yeme Russyah, iii. 98; American +Israelite, nos. 15, 18, etc. (My Travels in Russia); Gordon, Ha-Azamot +ha-Yebashot, Odessa, 1899; AZJ, 1854, p. 22; Zunser, Biography, New +York, 1905, pp. 15-19 (Engl. transl., pp. 14-18); Shenot Ra'inu Ra'ah, +in Ha-Meliz, 1860; Sefer ha-Shanah, iii. 82-101, and GMC, nos. 43-50. +One of these songs runs as follows: + + On the streets in tears we're wading, + In our bairns' blood we might be bathing; + What a misfortune, ah, wellaway-- + Will never dawn the better day? + + Little infants from heder are torn, + And forced to wear the soldier's uniform; + What a misfortune, etc. + + Our leaders, rabbis, and honored elders, + E'en help to impress them for the czar's soldiers; + What a misfortune, etc. + + Seven sons has Zushe Rakover, + Yet not a one for the army is over; + What a misfortune, etc. + + Leah, the widow, has an only son, + And for the kahal's sins he's gone; + What a misfortune, etc.] + +[Footnote 37: GMC, no. 42. On similar enthusiasm among the Galician +Maskilim, see Erter, Kol Kore, in Ha-Zofeh le-Bet Yisrael, Warsaw, 1890, +pp. 131-133.] + +[Footnote 38: Elk, Die juedischen Kolonien in Russland, +Frankfort-on-the-Main, 1886, pp. 28-53, 60-80, 119-140, 153-160, +205-208; Jastrow, Beleuchtungen, etc., Hamburg, 1859, pp. 109-113.] + +[Footnote 39: See Zunz, Gesammelte Schriften, Berlin, 1875, pp, 279-290; +Jost, Freimuethige Beleuchtung, Berlin, 1830; and Culturgeschichte, pp. +302-303.] + +[Footnote 40: Rabinovitz, op. cit., pp. 11-18.] + +[Footnote 41: On Volozhin, see Ha-Kerem, 1887, pp. 67-77; Bikkurim, +1865, pp. 6-45; Ozar ha-Sifrut, iii.; Ha-Asif, iii.; Ha-Meliz, 1900, +nos. 16-18; Schechter, op. cit., i. 93-98; Horowitz, Derek 'Ez +ha-Hayyim, Cracow, 1895. The yeshibah was reopened under the deanship of +Rabbi Raphael Shapira of Bobruisk, and still exists, though in a rather +precarious condition.] + +[Footnote 42: Read the vivid description in WMG, p. 147.] + +[Footnote 43: Occident, ii. 563-564.] + +[Footnote 44: Uvarov's opinion of the Talmud was "razvrashchal i +raz-vrashchayet" ("it has been degrading and is degrading"). Nicholas +granted special privileges to the Karaites, and claimed they were the +genuine Israelites, chiefly because they did not follow the precepts of +the Talmud.] + +[Footnote 45: Occident, ii. 562-563.] + +[Footnote 46: See Loewe, Diaries of Sir Moses and Lady Montefiore, +London, 1890, i. 100, 231, 311-312, passim; Guenzburg, Debir, ii. 99-108; +(Dick), Ha-Oreah, Koenigsberg, 1860.] + +[Footnote 47: Guenzburg, op. cit., pp. 115-117, 122-125; Leket Amarim +(suppl. to Ha-Meliz), St. Petersburg, 1887, pp. 81-86; AZJ, ix. nos. +46-50; x. nos. 5, 49, etc.; Jastrow, op. cit., p. 12, Lubliner, De la +condition politique .... dans le royaume de Pologne, Brussels, 1860 +(especially pp. 44-45).] + +[Footnote 48: GMC, no. 255.] + + +CHAPTER IV + +CONFLICTS AND CONQUESTS + +1840-1855 + +(pp. 162-221) + + +[Footnote 1: Diakov states that "when the population degenerated in West +Russia, business and industry declined, and the number of the rich +greatly diminished, while the nobles, embittered against the Government, +did absolutely nothing for their country, the Jews formed an +exception.... There is no doubt that they are doing their utmost for the +regeneration of our land, despite the restrictions heaped upon them +without any cause" (Elk, op. cit., p. 41 seq.). Surovyetsky likewise +maintains that "after the devastation of Poland because of the numerous +wars, the ruining of so many cities, and the almost total extermination +of their inhabitants ... the Jews alone effected the regeneration of our +trade. They alone upheld our tottering industries .... We may safely +affirm that without them, without their characteristic mobility, we +should never have recovered our commerce and wealth" (Jastrow, op. cit., +p. 12).] + +[Footnote 2: See AZJ, April 29, 1844, and Orient, 1844, P-224, in which +the correspondent adds: "It is a touching sight to see these laborers +(as longshoremen), for the most part aged, perform their fatiguing +duties in the streets during the hottest seasons, endeavoring to lighten +their heavy burdens by the repetition of Biblical and Talmudic +passages."] + +[Footnote 3: Ozar ha-Sifrut, 1877; Annalen, 1839, pp. 345-346, and 1841, +no. 31. Bikkure ha-'Ittim, 1821, pp. 168-172; FSL, p. 150; Paperna, +Ha-Derammah (Eichenbaum's letter); Ha-Boker Or, 1879, pp. 691-698; +Occident, v. 255; Pirhe Zafon, ii. 216-217; Ha-Maggid, 1863, p. 348; +Orient, 1841, p. 266; Lapin, Keset ha-Sofer, Berlin, 1857, p. 8, and +Morgulis, op. cit., p. 48.] + +[Footnote 4: Jost, Culturgeschichte, pp. 308-309; Morgulis, op. cit., p. +27; Atlas, Mah Lefanim u-mah Leaher, Warsaw, 1898, pp. 44 f.] + +[Footnote 5: Sbornik of the Minister of Education, iii. 140; Ha-Shahar, +iv. 569.] + +[Footnote 6: See An die Verehrer, Freunde und Schueler, etc., Leipsic, +1823, pp. 122-125.] + +[Footnote 7: Ueber die Verbesserung der Israeliten im Koenigreich Polen, +Berlin, 1819.] + +[Footnote 8: Zunz, Gesammelte Schriften, pp. 296-297; Jost, op. cit, p. +304; Jastrow, op. cit, pp. 41 f.; and Zederbaum, Kohelet, St. +Petersburg, 1881, p. 6.] + +[Footnote 9: Occident, v. 493.] + +[Footnote 10: Maggid Yeshu'ah, Vilna, September, 1842. It is reproduced, +together with many Haskalah reminiscences, by Gottlober in Ha-Boker Or, +iv. (Ha-Gizrah we-ha-Binyah). According to Gottlober the Hebrew is +Fuenn's translation from the original German. Yet Hebrew letters (Leket +Amarim, St. Petersburg, 1888) were published in Lilienthal's name.] + +[Footnote 11: See AZJ, 1842, no. 41; Mandelstamm, Hazon la-Moed, Vienna, +1877, pp. 19, 21, 25-27; Leket Amarim, pp. 86-89; Kohelet, p. 12; +Morgulis, op. cit, p. 55; Ha-Pardes, pp. 186-199; Nathanson, Sefer +ha-Zikronot, Warsaw, 1878, p. 70; Lilienthal, in American Israelite, +1854 (My Travels in Russia), and Juedisches Volksblatt, 1856 (Meine +Reisen in Russland), and Der Zeitgeist, 1882, p. 149.] + +[Footnote 12: Occident, v. 252, 296.] + +[Footnote 13: WMG, pp. 185-200; AZJ, 1844, pp. 75, 247; 1845, pp. +304-305; 1846, p. 18; American Israelite, i. 156.] + +[Footnote 14: Rede, etc., Riga, 1840, p. 5.] + +[Footnote 15: Ha-Pardes, i. 202-203. See Bramson, op. cit., pp. 26-27; +WMG, p. 118.] + +[Footnote 16: Ha-Kokabim, 1868, pp. 61-78; Ha-Kerem, 1887, pp. 41-62; +Zweifel, op. cit, pp. 55-56.] + +[Footnote 17: Ha-Mizpah, 1882, p. 17; Kohelet, p. 16; Sbornik of the +Minister of Education, 1840, pp. 340, 436-437, and Supplement, pp. +35-38; Prelooker, Under the Czar and Queen Victoria, London, pp. 4-5; +cf. AZJ, 1846, p. 86.] + +[Footnote 18: Elk, op. cit, ch. iii.] + +[Footnote 19: Occident, v. 493; Nathanson, Sefat Emet, p. 92; +Mandelstamm, op. cit., pp. 31-32, and Morgulis, op. cit, pp. 102-147. + +On tax collectors, cf. the English ballad quoted by Macaulay (History of +England, ch. iii.): + + Like plundering soldiers they'd enter the door, + And made a distress on the goods of the poor, + While frightened poor children distractedly cried; + This nothing abated their insolent pride. + +And the Yiddish folk song (GMC, no. 55): + + The excise young fellows, + They are tremendously wild: + They shave their beards, + And ride on horses, + Wear overshoes, + And eat with unwashed hands. + +Their lack of confidence in the permanence of the schools is expressed +in the following song (GMC, no. 53): + + May we soon be released from the Jewish Goless, + When we shall be expelled from the Gentile Scholess (schools). + +On the struggle to retain the so-called Jewish mode of dress, see I.M. +D(ick), Die Yiddishe Kleider Umwechslung, Vilna, 1844.] + +[Footnote 20: Op. cit., pp. 12-13; cf. Letteris, in Moreh Nebuke +ha-Zeman, Introduction, pp. xv-xvi; Bramson, op. cit., pp. 34-35, 43-44, +and Levanda, Ocherki Proshlaho, St. Petersburg, 1876.] + +[Footnote 21: Cf. Buckle, History of Civilization, New York, 1880, ii. +529-538.] + +[Footnote 22: "Fifty years ago," says Mr. Rubinow (Bulletin of the +Bureau of Labor, no. 72, Washington, Sept., 1907, p. 578), "the +educational standard of the [Russian] Jews was higher than that of the +Russian people at large is at present."] + +[Footnote 23: Mandelkern, op. cit., iii. 33.] + +[Footnote 24: Buckle, op. cit., pp. 140-142, notes 33-37.] + +[Footnote 25: The same phenomenon was witnessed to a certain extent also +in Galicia, where for a while Haskalah flourished in great splendor. +There, too, the charm and fecundity of German literature, the similarity +of Yiddish to German, and the privileges the Austrian Government +accorded them, proved too strong a temptation for the Jews, and many of +those who became enlightened were rapidly assimilated with their Gentile +countrymen. While, therefore, in Galicia the Haskalah movement lasted +longer than in Germany, it had ceased long before it reached its fullest +development in Russia. Austrian civilization accelerated the +assimilation of the educated, Polish prejudice retarded the progress of +the masses. So that though Erter, Letteris, Krochmal, Goldenberg, +Mieses, Rapoport, Perl, and Schorr exerted a great influence in Russia, +their own country remained unaffected. Many of them, like A. Peretz, +Eichenbaum, Feder, Pinsker, Werbel, and Rosenfeld emigrated to Russia, +where they found a wider field for their activities, while others, like +Professor Ludwig Gumplowicz, the sociologist, Marmorek, the physician, +and Scheps, the litterateur, became alienated from their former +coreligionists.] + +[Footnote 26: Keneset Yisrael, iii. 84; Gottlober, Za'ar Ba'ale Hayyim, +Zhitomir, 1868: [Hebrew: T'rng Nfshi 'lid Ki] (comp. Ps. xlii, and Shir +ha-Kabod, last verse).] + +[Footnote 27: Occident, v. 243. Cf. Buchholtz, op. cit., pp. 82-116.] + +[Footnote 28: Occident, v. 255; Yevreyskaya Biblyotyeka, ii. 207-210.] + +[Footnote 29: 1840, no. 9.] + +[Footnote 30: Emden, Megillat Sefer, p. 5; Guenzburg, Debir, ii. 105-106; +Mandelstamm, op. cit, i. 3-4, 11; Annalen, 1841, no. 31.] + +[Footnote 31: FKN, pp. 246-247; Guenzburg, op. cit., i. 48. Moses Reines +also points out the fact that the prominent rabbis did not withhold +their approval of the most typical Haskalah works when their authors +were not suspected of heresy, as shown by Abele's haskamah on +Levinsohn's Te'udah be-Yisrael, Tiktin's on Guenzburg's Toledot ha-Arez, +and Malbim's on Zweifel's Sanegor (Ozar ha-Sifrut, 1888, p. 61).] + +[Footnote 32: Ha-Boker Or, 1879, no. 4; FKI, pp. 537-538, 1132; +Ha-Lebanon, 1872, no. 35; Ha-Zefirah, 1879, no. 9; Jewish Chronicle, May +4, 1877; Keneset Yisrael, 1887, pp. 157-162; Ha-Meliz, ix. (1889), nos. +198-199, 201, 232; Jost, op. cit., p. 305. Da'at Kedoshim, St. +Petersburg, 1897, pp. 19, 22, 27.] + +[Footnote 33: These biographical sketches, first published respectively +in the New Era Illustrated Magazine (1905, pp. 387-396) and the American +Israelite (April 25, 1907), are drawn from the following sources; +Houzner, I.B. Levinsohn (Russian), Odessa, 1862; Nathanson, Sefer +ha-Zikronot (Heb.), Warsaw, 1878; Yiddishe Bibliotek (Yid.), Kiev, 1888; +also Annalen, 1839, no. 17; Ha-Maggid, 1863, p. 381; Ha-Zefirah, 1900, +p. 197; Maggid, op. cit., pp. 86-115; Guenzburg, Debir, i. and ii., +Warsaw, 1883; Kiryat Sefer, Vilna, 1835 (esp. Letters 85-93, 101-102); +Abi'ezer, Vilna, 1863; Lebensohn, Kiryat Soferim, Vilna, 1847; Pardes, +i. 192; Recke und Napyersky, Allgemeines Schriftsteller und Gelehrten +Lexicon der Provinzen Livland, Esthland und Kurland, Mitau, 1829, pp. +147-148; and the works referred to in the text.] + + +CHAPTER V + +RUSSIFICATION, REFORMATION, AND ASSIMILATION + +1856-1881 + +(pp. 222-267) + + +[Footnote 1: San Donato, The Jewish Question, St. Petersburg, 1883, p. +36.] + +[Footnote 2: Ha-Meliz, 1888, nos. 95, 163; Gordon, Iggerot, Warsaw, +1894, ii., and Russky Vyestnik, 1858, i. 126.] + +[Footnote 3: Scholz, Die Juden in Russland, Berlin, 1900, pp. 102-107; +Hessen, Galeriya, p. 23; Voskhod, 1881, v. 1893; viii; Russky Yevrey, +1882, i.] + +[Footnote 4: Second Complete Russian Code, xxv, nos. 24, 768; xxvii. +nos. 26, 508.] + +[Footnote 5: Voskhod, October, 1881; Chwolson, Die Blutanklage, +Frankfort-on-the-Main, 1901, p. 117.] + +[Footnote 6: Zunser, Biography, p. 28.] + +[Footnote 7: Kol Shire Mahallalel, i. 79-91.] + +[Footnote 8: Kol Shire YeLeG, i. 43.] + +[Footnote 9: Bramson, op. cit, pp. 52-54; Russky Yevrey, 1879, nos. +16-17.] + +[Footnote 10: Rosenthal, Toledot Hebrat Marbe Haskalah, i. 3, 19, 103, +158-159; ii. Introduction.] + +[Footnote 11: How happy the Maskilim of that time were to save their +fellows from the darkness of ignorance can be seen from the following +anecdote told by a Maskil in a retrospective mood (Ha-Shiloah, xvii., +257-258): "Among the first of our young men to enter the gymnasium of my +native town of Mohilev were Ackselrod and the Leventhal brothers. The +former began to give instruction while he was still in the third grade +.... One morning he suddenly disappeared. After several days of anxious +search it was discovered that he had left on foot for Shklov, a distance +of about thirty vyersts, and while there he succeeded in persuading +fifteen boys to leave the yeshibah and come with him to Mohilev, where, +like a puissant warrior returning in triumph, he went with his little +army to the different homes to secure board and lodging for them while +they were being prepared for admission into the gymnasium."] + +[Footnote 12: Op. cit., p. 35 (Engl. transl., p. 26).] + +[Footnote 13: Op. cit., p. 9.] + +[Footnote 14: Max Raisin, The Reform Movement, etc. (reprint from the +Year Book of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, xvi.), +Introduction.] + +[Footnote 15: Odessky Yevrey, 1847 (Novaya Yevreyskaya Synagoga v +Odessa).] + +[Footnote 16: Hessen, op. cit., p. 68; Voskhod, 1881, p. 132.] + +[Footnote 17: Rosenthal, op. cit., p. 70; Gordon, Iggerot, nos. 60-62; +Ha-Meliz, xx, nos. 8, 11, 13.] + +[Footnote 18: Voskhod, 1900, v.; Sefer ha-Shanah, ii. 288-290.] + +[Footnote 19: Ha-Meliz, 1899, no. 39.] + +[Footnote 20: Ben Sion, Yevrey Reformatory, St. Petersburg, 1882. In his +manifesto (Ha-Meliz, April 21, 1881) Gordon declared: "We have discarded +the dusty Talmud. We cannot rest satisfied, in questions of religion, +with the worm-eaten carcass, with the observances of rabbinical +Judaism." See Ha-Shiloah, ii. 53. See also Kahan, Meahore ha-Pargud +(reprint from Ha-Meliz, 1885), St. Petersburg, 1886.] + +[Footnote 21: Prelooker, op. cit., pp. 24 f.; Voskhod, Feb. 3, 1886; +Razsvyet, 1881, no. 25.] + +[Footnote 22: Duprey, Great Masters of Russian Literature (Engl. transl. +Dole, New York, 1886), p. 151.] + +[Footnote 23: Rosenthal, op. cit, i. 66, 103, 158-159; Ha-Maggid, 1868, +p. 18. Cf. McClintock and Strong, Biblical, Theological and +Ecclesiastical Cyclopedia, New York, 1891, ii. 805. The beautiful +synagogue which the Jews began to erect in Moscow at the cost of half a +million rubles was declared by Pobyednostsev to be "too high and +imposing," and they were compelled to destroy the cupola and deform the +interior. Nevertheless it had to remain a "dead" synagogue, until +Nicholas II was pleased to give permission to open it.] + +[Footnote 24: Shereshevsky, O Knigie Kahala, St. Petersburg, 1872; +Seiberling, Gegen Brafmann's Buch des Kahals, Vienna, 1881; Ha-Shahar, +iv. 621; xi. 242.] + +[Footnote 25: Prelooker, Heroes and Heroines of Russia, London, p. 120; +Ha-Shiloah, xvii. 257-263.] + +[Footnote 26: Zederbaum, 'Ayin Zofiyah, Warsaw, 1877, pp. 7-8; +Prelooker, Under the Czar, etc., pp. 8-21.] + +[Footnote 27: It may not be superfluous to quote here the vivid picture +given of the period I am now describing by Eliakum Zunser in his +interesting autobiography; the more, as it is depicted very much in the +style of the Maskilim of to-day: + +"It is an accepted law in hygiene that the digestive system must not be +overburdened at any one time by too much food, that eating must not be +done hastily, and, above all, great care must be taken to choose +wholesome and digestible food. These principles are still more important +to one who is hungry, who has abstained from food for any length of +time. He should select the healthy and light foods, and partake of +little at first until the powers of digestion are fully restored. Should +he neglect to observe these simple rules, he will ruin his digestive +system, the food will turn into poison, and he may contract a stubborn +disease which no physician will be able to cure. + +"This is exactly what happened to our Russian Jews from 1860 to 1880. +For many long centuries they had endured an intellectual fast. The +Government had debarred them from the world's culture. They were closely +packed together in the narrow and dark ghettos. They knew of their +synagogues, yeshibot, and prayer-houses (Kloisen) on the one hand, and +of their little stores on the other. That there was a great world beyond +and without, a world of culture, education, and civilization, of this +they had only heard. A great many of them strove to break through the +bounds that confined them and step into the world of light and life; but +the Cossack, lead-laden whip in hand, stood there ready to drive them +back. + +"The thirst for education and civilization became daily more intense, +and reached the utmost limits of endurance. Five million Russian Jews +raised their hands to the Government and pleaded for mercy: 'Release us +from this ghetto! We, too, are human beings! Give us breathing space! +Give us light! We are faint and starving!' And the Cossack promptly +answered 'Nazad ('Back!') Here you are and here you remain--not a step +further!' + +"And all at once, lo! there came a light! Alexander II, as soon as he +ascended the throne, opened wide the doors of the ghetto, and the +Russian Jews, young and old, men and women, rushed to the new culture. +All crowded to the dainty dish, and no time was lost in making up for +the intellectual fast. + +"But here happened what usually occurs after a long fast. The wiser +partook of food with discretion. They selected the ingredients which +were wholesome, and which their system could digest. All unripe, +objectionable food they rejected; their main object was to select the +food which the Jewish system could assimilate. The governing principle +was to unite Jewish learning with the new culture. They knew that among +the new delicacies there were many that were injurious and unhealthy, +though the defects were disguised by alluring spices; but those who had +not lost the innate, unerring Jewish scent found no difficulty in +distinguishing that which was sound from the injurious, and they remain +strong and faithful Jews to this day. + +"Others, and they formed the greater part of the Russian Jews, seized +things as they came. Nay, the more dangerous the delicacy, the more the +relish with which it was devoured. And these delicacies were gorged at +such a rate as to cause constitutional disorder. They who were a little +wiser somehow shook off the objectionable matter, and became 'whole' +again; and a great number 'died,' and a still greater number are +dangerously 'sick' to this very day. + +"The sick among our Russian brethren, those who partook in dangerous +quantities of the unwholesome delicacies, believed that they would solve +all difficulties by 'Russification,' that is, by abandoning the old +Jewish culture and adopting Russian mannerisms and customs--by ceasing +to lead Jewish lives and by leading the lives of Russians. A great +number of Jewish literary men of those times believed that if the +Russian Jews would become 'Russified,' and would adopt modern +civilization, they would receive full and equal rights, on the same +terms as the other nationalities. These literary men were dazzled by the +little liberty Alexander II granted the Russian Jews, and they did not +understand that he pursued the same object as his father, Nicholas I. In +the days of Alexander II, many more Jews were converted to Christianity +than in the bitter days of Nicholas I; and many who were not converted +remained but caricatures of real Jews. + +"The so-called 'Jewish Aristocracy' in Russia, and especially the +wealthy Jews of North Russia, of St. Petersburg, Moscow, and Kharkov, +Russified at top speed. They removed from their homes and their +home-life anything that was in the least degree Jewish. They shattered +all that for thousands of years had been holy and dear to the Jew. Like +apes they imitated the manners and customs of the Christians. The +younger children did not even know that they were descended from Jews, +as was the case in the first 'pogroms,' when the children asked their +parents: 'Why do they beat us? Are we, too, Jews (Razve vy tozhe +Yevrey)?'"] + +[Footnote 28: For a full biography see Brainin, Perez ben Mosheh +Smolenskin, Warsaw, 1896; Keneset Yisrael, i. 249-286; Ha-Shiloah, i. +82-92, and his works, especially Ha-Toeh be-Darke ha-Hayyim, Vienna, +1876.] + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE AWAKENING + +1881-1905 + +(pp. 268-303) + + +[Footnote 1: Most of this is based on Persecution of the Jews in Russia, +Philadelphia, 1891, pp. 8-18, 22, 35, 51-82, 184-185; Frederick, The New +Exodus, London, 1892, pp. 192-208; Errera, Les juifs russes, Brussels, +1893, pp. 29, 43 f., 89-90, 188-189. Between 1883 and 1885, the Mining +Institute and Engineering Institute for Public Roads adopted the five +per cent limit, the Kharkov Technical Institute a ten per cent limit, +and the Veterinary Institute, of the same city, the only one of the sort +in Russia, excluded Jews altogether. + +"My zemlyakes" (countrymen), says a reminiscent writer, "soon after they +had finished their course in engineering, had taken each a different +road. One became a crown-rabbi, one a flour merchant, a third a +bookkeeper, but none of them could, on account of his religion, legally +pursue his chosen vocation" (Yiddishes Tageblatt, New York, May 13, +1908).] + +[Footnote 2: Urussov, Memoirs of a Russian Governor (Engl. transl., New +York, 1908), pp. 70, 90-91. "Out of 266 students admitted to the Kharkov +University in 1901, only 8 were Jews, though at least 12 had 'finished +the gymnasium,' not only with the 'highest possible' marks, but with +gold medals. At the Technological Institute of the same city, 7 were +Jews in a total of 240, though 12 applying for admission had received +the 'highest possible' marks. At the Kiev University, of 580 new +students, 32, all of them medallists, were Jews. How many applied for +admission, the daily and weekly press, from which these figures are +taken, did not report."] + +[Footnote 3: Ner ha-Ma'arabi, vii, 27.] + +[Footnote 4: "He who claims that a spirit of reaction has affected our +people as a whole," says Moses Reines (Ozar ha-Sifrut, ii. 45), "is +greatly mistaken. That the children of the poor from whom learning +cometh forth still forsake their city and country and acquire knowledge, +... that societies for the spread of Haskalah are formed every day, ... +that strict and pious Jews send their sons and daughters to where they +can obtain enlightenment, that rabbis, dayyanim, and maggidim urge their +children to become proficient in the requirements of the times ... write +for the press ... and deplore the gezerot (restrictions) regarding +admission to schools--all this proves convincingly that they do not see +right who complain that our entire nation is going backward."] + +[Footnote 5: See Ha-Maggid, 1899, no. 160. While in 1848 there were 2446 +and in 1854, 4439 converts, in 1860-1880 there were from 350 to 450 per +annum, in 1881, 572, in 1882, 610, and in 1883, 461 converts. With the +spread of Zionism conversions continued to diminish, and, while there +were relapses during the renewed pogroms of 1891 and 1901, they +decreased materially, though the Jewish population is constantly on the +increase.] + +[Footnote 6: Autobiography, pp. 42-51. See also Kahan, Meahore +ha-Pargud, pp. 15-17.] + +[Footnote 7: Ha-Meliz, 1900, no. 123; Luah Ahiasaf, 5696, p. 312; +Zablotzky and Massel, Ha-Yizhari, Manchester, 1895, Introduction; +Ha-Meliz, xxxvii, no. 36; The Menorah, April, 1904.] + +[Footnote 8: Yalkut Ma'arabi, 1904, pp. 46 f.] + +[Footnote 9: Ha-Shahar, x. 511, 30; Habazelet, 1882, no. 2.] + +[Footnote 10: Ha-Le'om, 1906, nos. 21-22; Belkind, in Ha-Zefirah, no. +46, 1913; Lubarsky and Lewin-Epstein, Derek Hayyim, New York, 1905.] + +[Footnote 11: Greenstone, The Messiah Idea in Jewish History, ch. viii.] + +[Footnote 12: The Progress of Zionism, pp. 3-4; cf. Voskhod, 1895, iv.] + +[Footnote 13: Zamenhof's new universal language was primarily intended +to be the international language of his people, "who are speechless, and +therefore without hope, scattered over the world, and hence unable to +understand one another, obliged to take their culture from strange and +hostile sources."] + +[Footnote 14: Ahiasaf, iv.; Gordon, op. cit., i. xxi; Razsvyet, 1882, +i.; Magil's Kobez (Collection), no. 3, p. 45.] + +[Footnote 15: Ha-Meliz, 1899, no. 256; 1901, no. 2; weekly Voskhod, +1893, no. 40; monthly Voskhod, 1894, iv. Some Jewish financiers erected +gymnasia in Vilna and Warsaw, improved the condition of the hadarim, and +turned many Talmud Torahs into technical schools. Of the Lodz Talmud +Torah a writer says that "no Jewish community, even outside of Russia, +possesses such an institution, not excepting the Hirsch schools in +Galicia."] + +[Footnote 16: London, Unter juedischen Proletariern, 1898, pp. 81-83; +Bramson, K Istorii, etc., pp. 63-69, 71-74; Ha-Meliz, xli., no. 246 +(1901, no, 35); Ha-Zefirah, xxix., no. 285; and the Jewish Gazette, July +16, 1909 (Kunst und Nationalismus). The Ha-Zamir (a choral society), +founded in Lodz by Nissan Schapira, counts its members by the +thousands.] + +[Footnote 17: London, op. cit, pp. 64-74; Ha-Meliz, 1900, nos. 192-193; +Rubinow, op. cit., pp. 530-532, 548-553, 561-566.] + +[Footnote 18: Ha-Meliz, 1901, nos. 20, 27, 36, 54, 95.] + +[Footnote 19: Atlas, Mah Lefanim u-mah Leaher, pp. 53 f.; Ha-Meliz, +1900, no. 47; 1901, no. 27.] + +[Footnote 20: Ha-Meliz, 1901, no. 87.] + +[Footnote 21: Reflexions sur l'etat des israelites russes, Odessa, 1871, +pp. 121-122.] + +[Footnote 22: Kayserling, Die juedischen Frauen, Leipsic, 1879, pp. +306-313; Rubinow, op. cit., p. 581. The Russian Jewess has already +produced several writers above the average (Einhorn, Mosessohn, Ben +Yehudah, Sarah and Eva Schapira) in Hebrew, has given Russian literature +at least one novelist of note (Rachel Khin), has furnished leaders in +the movement for the emancipation of women (Maria Saker), and especially +for the liberation of Russia (Finger, Helfman, Levinsohn, Novinsky, +Rabinovich). According to Mr. Rabinow, the Russo-Jewish "women and girls +use every available means" to obtain an education, and at least fifty +per cent of them possess a knowledge of Russian in addition to their +vernacular Yiddish.] + + + + +BIBLIOGRAPHY + + +An asterisk (*) marks a book or periodical of especial importance. + + +Antin, The Promised Land, Boston and New York, 1912. + +Atlas, Mah Lefanim u-mah Leaher, Warsaw, 1898. + + +Baskerville, The Polish Jew, New York, 1906. + +Ben Sion, Yevreyi Reformatory, St. Petersburg, 1882. + +Bentwich, The Progress of Zionism, New York, 1899. + +Bernfeld, Dor Tahapukot, Warsaw, 1897. + +Bershadsky, Zhurnal Ministerstva Narodnaho Prosvyeshchaniya, St. +Petersburg, 1912. + +Bersohn, Tobiasz Cohn, Warsaw, 1872. + +Blaustein, Memoirs, New York, 1813, pt. I. + +*Brafmann, Kniga Kahala, Vilna, 1869. + +*Brainin, Perez ben Moses Smolenskin, Warsaw, 1896. + +*Bramson, K Istorii Pervonachalnaho Obrazovaniya Russkikh Yevreyev, St. +Petersburg, 1896. + +*Buchholtz, Geschichte der Juden in Riga, Riga, 1899. + + +Chwolson, Die Blutanklage, Frankfort-on-the-Main, 1901. + +Cohan, Rabbi Yisrael Ba'al Shem Tob, 1900. + +Cohn, Ma'aseh Tobiah, Venice, 1707. + +*Czacki, Rosprava o Zhydakh, Vilna, 1807. + + +Delitzsch, Zur Geschichte der juedischen Poesie, Leipsic, 1836. + +*[Dick], Ha-Oreah, Koenigsberg, 1860. + +*D[ick], Yiddishe Kleider Umwechslung, Vilna, 1844. + +*Dob Baer, Shibhe ha-Besht, Berdichev, 1815. + +Duprey, Great Masters of Russian Literature (Engl. transl.), New York, +1886. + + +Edelman, Gedulat Shauel, London, 1854. + +*Elk, Die juedischen Kolonien in Russland, Frankfort on-the-Main, 1886. + +Emden, Megillat Sefer, ed. Cohan, Warsaw, 1896. + +Epstein, Geburat ha-Ari, Vilna, 1870. + +*Errera, Les juifs russes, Brussels, 1893. + +Erter, Ha-Zofeh le-Bet Yisrael, Warsaw, 1890. + +Ezekiel Feivel, Toledot Adam, Warsaw, 1854. + + +Firkovich, Abne Zikkaron, Vilna, 1872. + +Fishberg, The Jews: A Study of Race and Environment, New York, 1911. + +*Frederick, The New Exodus, London, 1892. + +Friedlaender, An die Verehrer, Freunde, und Schueler, etc., Leipsic, 1823. + +*Frledlaender, Ueber die Verbesserung der Israeliten im Koenigreich Polen, +Berlin, 1819. + +Friedrichsfeld, Zeker Zaddik, Amsterdam, 1809. + +*Fuenn, Keneset Yisrael, Warsaw, 1860. + +*Fuenn, Kiryah Ne'emanah, Vilna, 1860. + +Fuenn, Safah le-Ne'emanim, Vilna, 1881. + +Fuenn, Sofre Yisrael, Vilna, 1891. + + +Geiger, Melo Hofnayim, Berlin, 1840. + +Gershuni, Mein Entrinung vun Katorga, New York, 1907. + +Gershuni, Sketches of Jewish Life and History, New York, 1873. + +Ger Zedek, Yevreyskaya Biblyotyeka, St. Petersburg, 1892. + +*Ginzberg and Marek, Yevreyskiya Narodniya Pyesni, St. Petersburg, 1901. + +*Glueckel von Hameln, Zikronot, ed. Cohan, 1896. + +Gordon, Ha-Azamot ha-Yebashot, Odessa, 1899. + +*Gordon, Iggerot, Warsaw, 1894. + +Gordon, Kol Shire YeLeG, Vilna, 1898. + +*Gottlober, Ha-Gizrah we-ha-Binyah, in Ha-Boker Or, iv. + +Gottlober, Za'ar Ba'ale Hayyim, Zhitomir, 1868. + +Gottlober, Zikronot mi-Yeme Ne'urai, Warsaw, 1800. + +Graetz, Geschichte der Juden, Leipsic, 1866-1882, 11 vols. (also in +Hebrew, Dibre Yeme Yisrael, Warsaw, 1905). + +Greenstone, The Messiah Idea in Jewish History, Philadelphia, 1906. + +*Guedemann, Geschichte des Erziehunghswesens und der Cultur der +abendlaendischen Juden, Vienna, 1880 and 1884. + +Guedemann, Quellen zur Geschichte des Unterrichts, Berlin, 1891. + +*Guenzburg, Abi'ezer, Vilna, 1863. + +*Guenzburg, Ha-Debir, Warsaw, 1883. + +Guenzburg, Ha-Moriah, Warsaw, 1878 ("Kikayon Yonah"). + +Guenzburg, Kiryat Sefer, Vilna, 1835. + +Guenzburg, Maggid Emet, Leipsic, 1843. + + +*Halevi, Kuzari, Introduction. + +*Hannover, Yeven Mezulah, Warsaw, 1872. + +*Harkavy, Ha-Yehudim u-Sefat ha-Selavim, Vilna, 1867. + +*Harkavy, Russ i Russkiye v Srednikh Yevropeyskaya Literatura, Voskhod, +1881. + +Horowitz, Derek 'Ez ha-Hayyim, Cracow, 1895. + +*Houzner, I.B. Levinsohn (Russian), Odessa, 1862. + +Hurwitz, 'Ammude Bet Yehudah, 1765. + +Hurwitz, Hekal 'Oneg, Grodno, 1797. + +Hurwitz (Phinehas Elijah), Sefer ha-Berit, Bruenn, 1897. + + +Ilye, Alfe Menasheh, Vilna, 1827. + +Ilye, Pesher Dabar, Vilna, 1807. + +Izgur, Shalosh Tekufot, Niezhin, 1898. + + +*Jastrow, Beleuchtungen, etc., Hamburg, 1859. + +*Jewish Encyclopedia, 12 vols., New York, 1901-1906. + +Jost, Culturgeschichte, Berlin, 1847. + +Jost, Freimuethige Beleuchtung, Berlin, 1830. + + +Kahan, Beerot Nishbarim, St. Petersburg, 1879. + +Kahan, Meahore ha-Pargud, St. Petersburg, 1886. + +Katz, Le-Korot ha-Yehudim be-Russyah, Polin, we-Lita, Berlin, 1889. + +Katz, Toledot Haskalat ha-Yehudim be-Russyah, Ha-Zeman, St. Petersburg, +1903. + +Klausner, Novo Yevreyskaya Literatura, Warsaw, 1900. + +Kohen, Megillah 'Afah, in Aben Virga, Shebet Yehudah, ed. Wiener, +Hanover, 1856. + +Kohn, Hut ha-Meshullash, Odessa, 1874. + +Kovner, Heker Dabar, Warsaw, 1865. + +Kovner, Zevov Perahim, Odessa, 1868. + +Kunz, Die Philosophie Salomon Maimons, Heidelberg, 1912. + + +Lapin, Keset ha-Sofer, Berlin, 1857. + +Lebensohn, Emet we-Emunah, Vilna, 1867, 1870. + +Lebensohn, Kiryat Soferim, Vilna, 1847. + +Leket Amarim, supplement to Ha-Meliz, St. Petersburg, 1887. + +*Lerner, Yevreyi v Novorossiskom Kraye, Odessa, 1901. + +Levanda, Ocherki Proshlaho, St. Petersburg, 1876. + +*Levin, Aliyat Eliyahu, Vilna, 1856. + +*Levinsohn, Bet Yehudah, Warsaw, 1901. + +*Levinsohn, Te'udah be-Yisrael, Warsaw, 1901. + +Lilienblum, Derek La'abor Golim, Warsaw, 1899. + +Lilienblum, Derek Teshubah, Warsaw, 1899. + +*Lilienblum, Hattot Ne'urim, Vienna, 1876. + +*Lilienblum, Kehal Refaim, Odessa, 1870. + +*Lilienblum, 'Olam ha-Tohu, in Ha-Shahar, 1873. + +Lilienblum, Orhot ha-Talmud, in Ha-Meliz, 1868. + +*Lilienthal, Maggid Yeshu'ah, Vilna, 1842. + +Lilienthal, Meine Reisen in Russland, Juedisches Volksblatt, 1856. + +*Lilienthal, My Travels in Russia, American Israelite, 1854. + +Lilienthal, Rede, Riga, 1840. + +Lilienthal, Sketches of Jewish Life in Russia, The Occident, v. + +Linetzky, Dos Polische Yingel, Lemberg, 1880. + +*Loewe, Diaries of Sir Moses and Lady Montefiore, London, 1890. + +*London, Unter juedischen Proletariern, 1898. + +Lubarsky and Lewin-Epstein, Derek Hayyim, New York, 1905. + +*Lubliner, De la condition politique... dans le royaume de Pologne, +Brussels, 1860. + + +*Maggid, Toledot Mishpehot Ginzberg, St. Petersburg, 1899. + +*Maimon, Autobiographic, Berlin, 1793; Engl. transl., Boston, 1888; Heb. +transl., Warsaw, 1899. + +*Malishevsky, Yevreyi v Yuzhnoy Rossii i Kieve v. x-xii. Vyekakh, St. +Petersburg, 1878. + +Mandelkern, Dibre Yeme Russyah, Warsaw, 1875. + +*Mandelstamm, Hazon la-Moed, Vienna, 1877. + +Mann, Sheerit Yisrael, Vilna, 1818. + +*Mapu, 'Ayit Zabua' Warsaw, 1873. + +Margolioth, Bet Middot, Prague, 1786. + +Minor, Rukovodstvo, Moscow, 1881. + +*Morgulis, Voprosi Yevreyskoy Zhizni, St. Petersburg, 1889. + + +Nathanson, Sefat Emet, Warsaw, 1887. + +*Nathanson, Sefer ha-Zikronot, Warsaw, 1878. + +Nusbaum, Historiya Zhidov, Warsaw, 1888-1890, 5 vols. + + +Orshansky, Yevreyskaya Biblyotyeka, ii. + + +Paperna, Ha-Derammah, Odessa, 1867. + +*Persecution of the Jews in Russia, Philadelphia, 1891. + +Pinsker, Auto-Emancipation, Berlin, 1882. + +Pinsker, Likkute Kadmoniot, Vilna, 1860. + +Plungian, Ben Porat, Vilna, 1858. + +*Polonnoy, Toledot Ya'akob Yosef, Lemberg, 1856. + +Prelooker, Heroes and Heroines of Russia, London. + +*Prelooker, Under the Czar and Queen Victoria, London. + + +Rabinovitz, Ma'amar 'al ha-Defosat ha-Talmud, Munich, 1876. + +Rhine, Leon Gordon. An Appreciation, Philadelphia, 1910. + +Rodkinson, Toledot 'Ammude HaBaD, Koenigsberg, 1876. + +Rosensohn, 'Ezah we-Tushiah, Vilna, 1870. + +Rosensohn, Shelom Ahim, Vilna, 1870. + +*Rosenthal, Toledot Hebrat Marbe Haskalah, i., St. Petersburg, 1885; +ii., ibid., 1890. + +*Rubinow, Bulletin of the Bureau of Labor, No. 72, Washington, Sept., +1907. + + +*San Donato, The Jewish Question, St. Petersburg, 1883. + +Sbornik of the Ministry of Education, in., St. Petersburg. + +Schechter, Studies in Judaism, i., Philadelphia, 1896; ii., ibid., 1908. + +*Scholz, Die Juden in Russland, Berlin, 1900. + +*Seiberling, Gegen Brafmann's Buch des Kahals, Vienna, 1881. + +Shatzkes, Ha-Mafteah, Warsaw, 1866-1869. + +*Shereshevsky, O Knigie Kahala, St. Petersburg, 1872. + +Silber, Elijah Gaon, New York, 1906. + +Slouschz, La renaissance de la litterature hebraique, Paris, 1903. Heb., +Warsaw, 1906; Engl. transl., Philadelphia, 1909. + +*Smolenskin, Ha-Toeh be-Darke ha-Hayyim, Vienna, 1876, 4 vols. + +Smolenskin, Keburat Hamor, ibid., 1874. + +Sokolov, Sinat 'Olam le-'Am 'Olam, Warsaw, 1882. + +*Steinschneider, 'Ir Vilna, Vilna, 1900. + +Sternberg, Die Proselyten in Polen im xvi und xvii Jahrhundert, AZJ, +1863, pp. 67-68; L'univers Israelite, 1863, pp. 272-273. + + +*Tarnopol, Reflexions sur l'etat des israelites russes, Odessa, 1871. + +Troki, Hizzuk Emunah, Leipsic, 1857. + + +*Urussov, Memoirs of a Russian Governor, Engl. transl., New York, 1908. + + +Weiss, Zikronotai, Warsaw, 1895. + +Weissberg, Aufklaerungsliteratur, Vienna, 1898. + +Weissberg, Le-Toledot ha-Sifrut ha-'Ibrit ha-Hadashah be-Polin +we-Russyah, Mi-Mizrah u-mi-Ma'arab, Berlin, 1895. + +*Wengeroff, Memoiren einer Grossmutter, i., Berlin, 1908. + +Wessely, Dibre Shalom we-Emet, Berlin, 1782. + +Wiener, The History of Yiddish Literature, New York, 1899. + +*Wolf, Maimoniana, Berlin, 1813. + +Wolkonsky, Pictures of Russian Life and Literature, Boston, 1897. + + +Yevrey Minister, Voskhod, 1885, v. + +Yevreyskaya Enziklopedya, St. Petersburg, 14 vols. + + +Zablotzky and Massel, Ha-Yizhari, Manchester, 1895. + +*Zederbaum, 'Ayin Zofiyah, Warsaw, 1877. + +Zederbaum, Keter Kehunnah, Odessa, 1868. + +Zederbaum, Kohelet, St. Petersburg, 1881. + +*Zunser, Biography, Yiddish (and Engl. transl.), New York, 1905. + +*Zunz, Aelteste Nachrichten ueber Juden und juedische Gelehrte in Polen, +Slavonien, Russland. Gesammelte Schriften, Berlin, 1875, iii. 82-87. + +Zweifel, Sanegor, Warsaw, 1894. + +*Zweifel, Shalom 'al Yisrael, Zhitomir, 1868-1872, 4 vols. + + + + +INDEX + + +Abele, Abraham, Talmudist, 164, 199. + +_Abi'ezer_, by Guenzburg, 220. + +Abraham, son of Elijah Gaon, 119. + +Abramovich, Andrey, statesman, 22. + +Abramovitsch, Solomon Jacob, novelist, 203. + +Adelsohn, Wolf, "the Hebrew Diogenes," 200. + +Aguilar, Grace, on Russo-Jewish misery, 154. + +Ahiasaf Society, 296-297. + +Aleksey (Abraham), proselyte-priest, 25. + +Alexander I, during his period of tolerance, 111-113; + during his period of intolerance, 127-138, 140, 144, 163, 170, 192, 201, + 249, 251, 253. + +Alexander II, referred to, 11, 79, 261; + reign of reforms, 222-226; + favorable attitude towards Jews, 224-225, 229-231; + the Narodniki, 236; + change of policy, 248-255; + plotted against and assassinated, 255-258. + +Alexander III, referred to, 80, 255; + restrictions, 268-270; + pogroms, 269; + "May Laws," 270-273; + Jews excluded from schools by, 273-275. + +Alexander Jagellon and the Jews, 21. + +Allgemeine juedische Arbeiterbund, Der, in Littauen, Polen, und Russland, +293. + +Alliance Israelite Universelle, programme of, 236; + criticism of, 285-286. + +Altaras, Jacques Isaac, philanthropist, 157. + +America. See United States, the. + +'Am 'Olam Society, 283. + +Amsterdam, referred to, 22; + a place of refuge for Russo-Polish proselytes, 27; + elects Russo-Jewish rabbis, 33-34; + place of study, 81, 93, 109, 126, 165. + +Antokolsky, Mark, sculptor, 241. + +Anton, Carl, author, 64. + +Apostol, Cossack hetman, 57. + +Apotheker, Abraham Ashkenazi, author, 40. + +Arbeiterstimme, Die, 293. + +Aristotle, 50, 216, 297. + +_Ascension of Elijah_, 134. + +Ashkenazi, Meir, envoy of the Khan of the Tatars, 23. + +Ashkenazi, Meir, rabbinical author, quoted, 31, 33. + +Ashkenazi, Solomon, statesman, 23. + +Assemblies, Jewish, under Alexander I, 117, 128; + under Nicholas I, 151, 173, 174-176; + in Vilna, 165; + under Alexander II, 230; + at Kattowitz, 285. + +Auerbach, Berthold, on Maimon, 88. + +Austria, Haskalah in, 12, 188; + influence on Russian Maskilim, 195; + place of study for Russian Jews, 285, 298. + See also Galicia. + +_Auto-Emancipation_, 281-283. + +_'Ayit Zabua'_, 244-245. + + +Baku, antiquity of, 20. + +Barit, Jacob ("Yankele Kovner"), scholar, 200, 255, 259. + +Bathory, Stephen, 59, 253. + +Beer, Michel, champion of Jewish rights, 114. + +Behalot, 63, 161. + +Behr, Issachar Falkensohn, poet, 90-91, 108. + +Belkind, Israel, Zionist, 286. + +Belzyc, Jacob Nahman, author, 36. + +Bene Mosheh Society, 286. + +Bennett, Solomon, of Polotzk, engraver, champion of Jewish rights in +England, 95-96. + +Bentwich, on Jewish colonists in Palestine, 289. + +Ben Yehudah, Eliezer, Hebraist, 284-285. + +Beobachter, Der, an der Weichsel, 124, 196. + +Berdichev, 123, 175, 200, 206, 239. + +Berek, Joselovich, colonel, 115. + +Berlin, 37, 78, 80, 81, 84, 85, 90, 91, 93, 120, 126, 132, 192, 245, +251, 257, 291, 298. + +Berlin, Moses, uchony Yevrey, 230. + +Berlin, Naphtali Zebi Judah, dean of Yeshibah, 152, 254, 288. + +Bernfeld, on Maimon, 86. + +Besht, Israel Baal Shem [Tob], referred to, 65, 122, 123; + his life, 66-69; + opposition to rabbinism, 67, 70, 71, 75; + his influence, 76; + his biography, 134. + +Bet ha-Midrash, description of the, 50-51. + +Bet ha-Sefer, in Jaffa, 290-291. + +_Bet Yehudah_, by Levinsohn, 209-210. + +Bezalel, school of art, 291. + +Bibikov, on Russian Jews, 162. + +Bible, the, ancient Russo-Jewish commentaries on, 28; + customs of (according to Elijah Vilna), 74; + the _Biur_ on, 81, 82; + Mendelssohn's translation, 105, 131, 193, 203 + translated into Russian, 239, 252. + +Bibleitsy (Dukhovnoye Bibleyskoye Bratstvo), 247-248. + +Bielski, on Jewish proselytes, 27. + +Bilu Society, 286. + +_Biur_, commentary, collaborators on, 81; + welcomed, 82; + banned, 132; + studied, 193; + referred to, 265. + +Blood-accusation, 59, 115, 145, 155, 208, 213, 229, 253, 275-276. + +Bogdanovich, Judah, merchant, 22. + +Bokhara, 127, 271. + +Bolingbroke, quoted, 215. + +Bompi, Issachar, bibliophile, 166-167, 200. + +Bone Zion Society, 286-287. + +Book of Common Prayer, old translation of, 30; + suggested changes in, 175; + new Russian translation, 239, 252. + +Brafmann, Jacob, delator, 254. + +Bratzlav, 53-54. + +Brest-Litovsk, Jewish community in, 20; + granted privileges, 21; + Talmudists of, 34; + persecution of Hasidim in, 76; + Haskalah in, 105, 166, 200. + +Brody, 195. + +Buchner's _Der Talmud in seiner Nichtigkeit_, 146. + +Buckle, on Russian civilization, 190; + referred to, 245. + +Buduchnost, 286. + +Byelostok, 113, 199, 201, 294. + + +Calvinism, in Poland, 56. + +Cantonists, 138-139, 142, 171, 225. + +Carlyle, quoted, 88, 109. + +Caro, Joseph Hayyim, rabbi, 200. + +Casal, Jonas, physician, 39. + +Casimir IV, Jews under, 26, 253. + +Catherine II, favors the Jews, 110-111, 112, 147, 249. + +Chamisso, on "the Glusker Maggid," 132, 302. + +Chaucer on "beggar students," 48. + +Chazanowicz, Joseph, Zionist, 291. + +Chernichevsky's _What to Do_, 257. + +Chernigov, Isaac of, Talmudist, 29. + +Chernyshev, Governor-General, proclaims religious liberty, 110. + +Chiarini, Abbe Luigi, anti-Talmudist, 145, 146. + +Chmielnicki, Cossack hetman, 48, 52, 53, 54, 58, 64, 77, 149. + +Chozi Kokos, statesman, 23, 55. + +Chufut-Kale (Rock of the Jews), 19. + +Clement VIII, pope, 72. + +Clement XIV, pope, 253. + +Clermont-Tonnerre, on Zalkind Hurwitz, 93. + +Coen, Moses, court physician and statesman, 40-41. + +Cohen, Shalom, litterateur, 99. + +Cohn, Tobias, physician, 41-42; + on Polish Jews, 64; + referred to, 101, 298. + +Coins, with Hebrew inscriptions, 21. + +Colonists, under Nicholas I, 140-144, 160; + under Alexander II, 228; + in America, 283; + in Palestine, 283, 286-289. + +Commendoni, on Lithuanian Jews, 24. + +Converts to Christianity, 25, 26, 64, 130, 136, 139, 146, 168, 177-178, +248, 254, 260, 270-273, 278-279, 303. + +Cossacks, Jews as, 23-24. + +Costume, Jewish, origin of, 115; + opposition of Maskilim to, 166, 175; + Friedlaender opposes, 170; + enforced change of, by Government, 179; + in Courland, 194. + +Council of the Four Countries, 44, 208. + +Courland, Jews admitted into, 111; + annexed to Russia, 113; + taxes in, 129; + colonists from, 140; + stronghold of Haskalah, 193-194. + +Cracow, 27, 78. + +Cremieux, Adolphe, statesman, 154, 175. + +Crimea, the, 19, 23. + +Crusades, the, 18, 52. + +Cyril, apostle to Slavonians, 28. + +Czacki, Tadeusz, Polish historian, defends Jews, 114; + praises them, 115. + +Czartorisky, Prince, and the Polish Jews, 94, 116. + +Czatzskes, Baruch, translator, 124. + + +Dainov, Zebi Hirsh, "the Slutsker Maggid," 246. + +Damascus Affair, the, 155, 208. + +Danzig's _Hayye Adam_, 147. + +Darshan, Moses Isaac, "the Khelmer Maggid," 280. + +_Dead Souls_, by Gogol, 257. + +Delacrut, philosopher, 37. + +Delitzsch, on Dubno, 81; + on Hebrew poetry, 98; + on Satanov, 99. + +Delmedigo, Joseph, physician, 24. + +_Derek Selulah_, by Temkin, 146. + +Diakov, on Russian Jews, 162, 318 (n. 1). + +Dillon, Eliezer, financier, 118, 125. + +Dob Baer, biographer of Besht, 123. + +Dolitzky, Menahem Mendel, poet, 98, 243. + +_Dos Polische Yingel_, by Linetzky, 242, 244. + +Dostrzegacz Nadvisyansky, 196. + +Dubno, 65, 200. + +Dubno, Solomon, grammarian, 81-82, 98, 105. + +Dubnow, Simon, historian, 17. + +Dyerzhavin's _Mnyenie_, 118. + + +Edels, Samuel (Maharsha), Talmudist, 72. + +_Efes Dammim_, by Levinsohn, 208, 213. + +Efrusi, Hayyim, communal worker, 165. + +Eger, Akiba, rabbi, 149. + +Eisenmenger's _Entdecktes Judenthum_, 146. + +Eishishki, antiquity of, 20. + +Eliasberg, Jonathan, rabbi, 288. + +Eliasberg, Mordecai, rabbi, 288. + +Elijah Gaon, 70-76; + his curriculum of study, 73, 74; + his appreciation of science and influence on Haskalah, 74, 75; + reputed to be the author of _Sefer ha-Berit_, 102; + his disciples, 119-121, 126, 150; + his biography, _Ascension of Elijah_, 134; + referred to, 164, 197, 201, 212, 220. + +Eliot, George, on Maimon's Autobiography, 88; + referred to, 297. + +Elizabeta Petrovna, 57, 135, 195. + +Emden, Jacob, Talmudist, 78, 91, 94, 197. + +England, Russian Jews in, 29, 93-96, 109; + sympathy of, 154-157, 270. + +_Entdecktes Judenthum_, by Eisenmenger, 146. + +Erter, Isaac, satirist, 205, 217. + +Esterka, Polish Jewish queen (?), 22. + +Euclid, in Hebrew, 105. + +Exportation Law of 1843, 152-154, 179. + +Eybeschuetz, Jonathan, Talmudist, 64, 78. + + +Falk, Hayyim Samuel Jacob, Baal Shem, 93-94. + +_Fathers and Sons_, by Turgenief, 257. + +Finkel, Elijah, educator, 164. + +Folk Songs, 137-138, 141, 161, 232, 316 (n. 36), 320 (n. 19). + See also Lullabies. + +France, Russian Jews in, 29, 92-93, 96, 109, 298, 300-301. + +Franco-Russian war, 116-117, 204. + +Frank, physician, 91, 127. + +Frank, Jacob (Yankev Leibovich), founder of the Frankists, 64-65, 66, +69, 104, 131. + +"Freitisch," 47, 151. + +Friedlaender, David, scholar and philanthropist, referred to, 105, 237; + on the improvement of Jews in Poland, 169-170. + +Frug, Simon, poet, 290, 297. + +Fuenn, Joseph, historian, 106, 203. + + +Gaden, Stephen von, court physician and statesman, 40. + +Galicia, Haskalah in, 12, 321 (n. 25); + Hasidism in, 69; + referred to, 163, 195, 205, 291. + See also Austria. + +Germany, Haskalah in, 12; + emigration from, 30; + Russo-Polish rabbis in, 33-34; + Russo-Jewish Maskilim in, 77-91, 104, 106; + Hebrew poetry of, 97-98; + object of Maskilim in, 99-100, 107; + Haskalah encouraged by the Government, 102; + by Jewish financiers, 237; + opposition to Haskalah in, 105-106, 131-133, 188; + state of Judaism in, 168-169; + reason for speedy Germanization of Jews in, 191; + Jewish science in, 219; + influence of, on Russian Maskilim, 192-198; + a place of refuge, 252; + restrictions against refugees in, 298-299, 301. + +Gibbon, Edward, referred to, 24. + +Ginzberg, Asher (Ahad Ha-'Am), and Haskalah, 13. + +Glueckel von Hameln's _Memoirs_, 33. + +"Glusker Maggid, the," 132, 302. + +Goethe on Maimon, 89: + on Behr, 90; + referred to, 189, 192. + +Gogol's Jewish traitor, 224; + influence of his _Dead Souls_, 257. + +Gordin, Jacob, ethical culturist, 247. + +Gordon, David, litterateur, 284. + +Gordon, J.L., and Haskalah, referred to, 13, 252, 261; + poetry of, 98; + and Levinsohn, 212; + on the new era, 232; + attacks the Talmud, 243; + laments the effect of Haskalah, 260; + on Zionism, 290. + +Gordon, Jekuthiel, scientist, 92. + +Gottlober, Abraham Baer, on Hasidism, 69; + on Luria, 168; + and Levinsohn, 212; + on Russification, 231; + defends Mendelssohn, 265. + +Graetz, on Maimon, 83; + on Slavonic Jews, 103. + +Granovsky, on Jewish emancipation, 228. + +Grazhdanin, 253, 302. + +Gregory X, pope, 253. + +Grodno, Jewish community in, 20; + a Talmudic centre, 32, 34; + scene of martyrdom, 57; + persecution of Hasidim in, 76; + Talmud published in, 148-149; + Maskilim, 201. + +Guizolfi, Zacharias de, statesman, 23, 55, 306 (n. 12). + +Guenzberg, Benjamin Wolf, student, 91. + +Guenzburg, Horace, financier, 237. + +Guenzburg, Joseph Yosel, financier, 237. + +Guenzburg, Mordecai Aaron, 13, 204, 225; + his life, 213-221; + on Minhagim, 215; + his impress on Hebrew literature, 217-219; + his _Abi'ezer_, 220. + +Gurovich, Marcus, educator, 228. + + +HaBad, reform sect of Hasidim, 122. + +Ha-Boker Or, 265. + +Ha-Emet, 256. + +Haggadah shel Pesah, Russian translation of, 239. + +Haidamacks, 59, 269. + +Hakohen, Ephraim, rabbi, 34. + +Hakohen, Joseph, rabbi, 19, 195. + +Hakohen, Raphael, rabbi, 78. + +Ha-Maggid, 284. + +Ha-Meliz, 242, 286, 288. + +Hannover, Nathan, his _Safah Berurah_, 39; + his _Yeven Mezulah_, quotation from, 48-49. + +Harkavy, Abraham, Orientalist, 17, 29, 203. + +Ha-Shahar, 242, 261-262, 265, 267. + +Hasidim, 65; + their teachings, 66, 67, 150; + spread, 69; + persecuted by the Mitnaggedim, 76, 131; + efforts at reconciliation with Mitnaggedim, 120-121, 260; + reformed, 122; + united with Mitnaggedim against Haskalah, 134; + fought by Maskilim, 168. + +Haskalah, definitions of, 12-13; + writers on, 14; + regarded differently in Germany and Russia, 103-108, 131; + opposition to, 132-150, 185-188; + in the "forties," 164-197; + influence of Germany on, 191-199; + in Galicia, 205; + Levinsohn's advice on, 212; + Guenzburg's opinion of, 216; + spreads under Alexander II, 230-248; + disappointments of, 232-234; + and Reform Judaism, 242-248; + cosmopolitan, 255-257; + romantic and pessimistic, 278-281; + Zionistic, 283-291. + +_Ha-Toeh be-Darke ha-Hayyim_, 266, 267. + +_Hattot Ne'urim_, 232-234. + +_Hayye Adam_, by Danzig, 147. + +Ha-Zefirah, 286. + +Hebrew literature: style, 96, 97, 217-218; + poetry, 98; + Reform Judaism in, 242-248; + necessity of (Smolenskin), 264. + +Heder, 46, 184. + +Hegel, 86, 192. + +Heilprin, Joseph, financier, 175. + +Heine, referred to, 297; + on Polish Jews, 314 (n. 43). + +Helena, Princess, proselyte, 26. + +Heller, Yom-Tob Lipman, rabbi, 37. + +Herz, Marcus, disciple of Kant, 85. + +Herzl, Theodore, Zionist, 263, 281, 283. + +Hillul Society, 286. + +Hirsch, Baron de, 277. + +_Hizzuk Emunah_, Voltaire's opinion on, 37. + +Hobebe Zion, 285, 286. + +Horn, Meir, educator, 164. + +Horowitz, Isaiah, Cabbalist, 33. + +Horowitz, Phinehas, rabbi, 78. + +Horowitz, Shabbatai, rabbi, 34. + +Horowitz, Shmelke, rabbi, 78. + +Horwitz, Aaron Halevi, rabbi, 78. + +Hurwitz, Hirsh, educator, 164. + +Hurwitz, Hyman, professor, 95. + +Hurwitz, Judah Halevi, translator, 92, 105, 121, 123, 125, 134. + +[Hurwitz], Phinehas Elijah, encyclopedist, 101-103, 214. + +Hurwitz, Zalkind, champion of Jewish rights in France, 92-93. + +Huss, influence of, in Poland, 26. + +_Hut ha-Meshullash_, by Kohn, 244. + + +Ibn Ezra, Abraham, commentaries on his works, 30, 106. + +Ignatiev, Nicholas, 268. + +'Illuyim, 47. + +Ilye, Manasseh of, Talmudist, 120-121, 125, 132, 134. + +_Information about the Killing of Christians_, etc., by Skripitzyii, +229. + +Innocent IV, pope, 253. + +Inventions, 201-202. + +Israelit, Asher, Maggid, 280. + +Israelita, Polish weekly, 247. + +Isserles, Moses, rabbi, 50, 78. + +Italy, a place of attraction for Russian Jews, 37, 40, 91-92, 126, 165. + +Ivan the Terrible, 55-56, 152. + + +Jacob Isaac, court physician, 39. + +Jaffe, Daniel, scholar, 90. + +Jaffe, Mordecai (Lebushim), Talmudist, 37, 61, 105. + +Jastrow, Marcus, rabbi, 159, 246. + +Jekuthiel, Solomon, financier, 204. + +_Jerusalem_, by Mendelssohn, 209. + +Jerusalem, pilgrimage to, 65. + +Jesuits, in Poland, 54, 58. + +Joffe, Mordecai, rabbi, 288. + +Joseph ben Isaac Levi, philosopher, 38. + +Josephovich, Abraham, statesman, 21-22. + +Josephovich, Michael, nobleman, 21-22. + +Judah Halevi, poet and philosopher, 28, 98, 106, 284. + +Judah Hasid, mystic, founder of the original Hasidim, 65. + +Judaizing heresy. See Proselytism. + +_Judex Judaeorum_, 44. + +Juedischer Arbeiter, Der, 293. + + +_Kab ha-Yashar_, referred to, 63. + +Kadimah Society, 285. + +Kahal, 44; + oppression by, 61; + denunciation of, 254. + +Kalisz, antiquity of, 20. + +Kamenetz-Podolsk, antiquity of, 41. + +Kant, favorite with Maskilim, 79, 192; + on Maimon, 85, 88, 89; + referred to, 189. + +Kant, the Hebrew, 106. + +Kaplan, Wolf, educator, 225. + +Karaites, discussions with Rabbanites, 36; + with Christians, 37; + Nicholas I on, 136. + +Katkoff, defends Jews under Alexander II, 225; + becomes a reactionary under Alexander III, 269. + +Kattowitz, conference of, 285. + +Katz, Meir, Talmudist, 61. + +Katzenellenbogen, Hayyim, Talmudist, 40. + +Katzenellenbogen, Moses, 40. + +Kaufman, Governor-General, convokes conference, 255. + +Kertch, Archbishop of, tries to convert Jews, 25. + +Kharkov, 286. + +Khazars, 18, 20, 25. + +Khelm, antiquity of, 20. + +Khelm, Ephraim of, liturgist, 35. + +Kherson, 28, 142, 144, 160, 292. + +Kiev, early settlement of Jews in, 19-20; + their influence, 23; + proselytism in, 25; + Talmudists of, 29, 31; + University of, 126; + expulsions from, 153; + referred to, 200, 226, 227, 275. + +Kishinev, 154, 164, 185, 248, 276. + +Kissilyef, on emigration, 158. + +Klaczke, G., educator, 166. + +_Kniga Kahala_, 254-255. + +Kobrin, Joseph of, liturgist, 35. + +Kohen, Naphtali, rabbi, 34. + +Kohen, Shabbatai, rabbi and historian, 35-36. + +Kohn's _Hut ha-Meshullash_, 244. + +Kol Mebasser, 242. + +Koenigsberg, 33, 79, 90, 120, 126, 132. + +_Kontrabandisti_, by Levin, 303. + +Koerner, on Maimon, 89. + +Korobka, 129. + +Korolenko's _Skazanye O Florye Rimlyaninye_, 302. + +Kovno, Government of, 20; + city of, 21; + Talmudists of, 34; + Maskilim in, 201, 246; + Mussarnikes in, 280; + referred to, 288, 294. + +Kramsztyk, Isaac, rabbi, 247. + +Krochmal, Nahman, philosopher, 205. + +Kruedener, Baroness, 127, 129, 251. + +Kruzhevan, 276. + +Kryloff, 175, 189. + +Kuritzin, Theodore, proselyte, 26. + +Kusselyevsky, physician, 127. + + +Ladi, Shneor Zalman of, 116, 122-123. + +Landau, Ezekiel, rabbi, 78, 133. + +Landau, Moses, educator, 164. + +Lassalle, 257, 293, 297. + +Lebensohn, Abraham Dob Bar, poet, 98, 212, 244. + +Leczeka, Abba, "the Glusker Maggid," 132, 302. + +Leibnitz, 79, 88. + +Leibov, Baruch, martyr, 57. + +Lemberg, court of, 44; + fair at, 49. + +Leo, the court physician, 23, 39, 55. + +Lermontoff's spy, 224. + +Leroy-Beaulieu, Anatole, on Maimon, 130; + on university restrictions, 276-277; + referred to, 303. + +Lessing, Ephraim, on Israel Zamoscz, 77; + on Behr, 90; + referred to, 192. + +Letteris, Meir Halevi, poet, 205. + +Letzte Nachrichten, 293. + +Levanda, Lyev, novelist, 203, 279. + +Levin, Judah, merchant, 204. + +Levin, Mendel, Hebrew and Yiddish author, 99-101, 116, 119, 195, 217. + +Levin's _Kontrabandisti_, 303. + +Levinsohn, I.B., and Haskalah, 13; + on the settlement of Jews in Russia, 18; + on the effect of Chmielnicki's massacres, 52; + his life, 204-213; + _Te'udah be-Yisrael_, 205-207, 209, 210, 221; + _Efes Dammim_, 208, 213; + _Bet Yehudah_, 209-210; + _Zerubbabel_, 210-211, 213; + referred to, 219-220. + +Liboschuets, Jacob, physician and philanthropist, 91. + +Liboschuets, Osip Yakovlevich, court physician, 126. + +Lichtenstadt, Moses, communal worker, 165. + +Lieberman, Aaron ("Arthur Freeman"), socialist, 256. + +Lieven, Prince Emanuel, 209. + +Lilien, Ephraim Moses, artist, 291. + +Lilienblum, Moses Loeb, skeptic, 232-234; + attacks the Talmud, 242; + repentant, 279; + Zionist, 289-290. + +Lilienthal, Max, referred to, 14, 117, 151, 164, 183, 277; + opens school in Riga, 165, 170; + his personality, 171-172; + his _Maggid Yeshu'ah_ and his efforts in behalf of Russian Jews, 174-176; + his disillusionment, 177-180; + his opinion on Russia, 179; + how regarded by Maskilim, 172-173, 180-181; + on the Jews of Courland, 194; + on the Jews of Odessa, 196; + his supporters, 198-199, 200; + Guenzburg on, 216. + +Linetzky's _Dos Polische Yingel_, 242, 244. + +"Lishmah" ideal, 107. + +Lithuania, Magna Charta of, 21; + Jewish merchants of, 22; + description by Cardinal Commendoni and by Delmedigo, 24; + Talmudic centre, 31-35; + status of Jews of, under Ivan the Terrible, 55; + after the massacres, 60; + opposition to Hasidism in, 65, 69; + method of study in, 71-72; + inclination to Haskalah in, 105-109; + annexed to Russia, 113; + Russified, 124-125; + colonization in, 143-144, 159; + Talmud published in, 148-149; + referred to, 195. + +Litvack, Judah, deputy, 93. + +Livonia, Jewish merchants of, 22; + Gentiles remonstrate on behalf of Jews of, 57; + stronghold of Haskalah, 193-194. + +Loewe, Louis, Orientalist, quoted, 155, 199. + +London, 94, 126, 129. + +Louis XIV, and the Treaty of Ryswick, 22. + +Lover of Enlightenment societies, 165. + +Lublin, 31, 34, 40; + fair at, 49; + Haskalah in, 105. + +Lublin, Meir (Maharam), Talmudist, 72. + +Lukas, "the little Jew," 25. + +Lullabies, Russo-Jewish, quoted, 46, 309 (n. 39). + See also Folk Songs. + +Luria, David, philanthropist, 166, 168, 203. + +Luria, Solomon, Talmudist, 40; + censures the liberality of Isserles, 50; + opposes the kahal, 61; + his method of study, 72. + +Luther's doctrines in Poland, 26. + +Luzzatto, Moses Hayyim, poet, 92. + +Lyons, Israel, grammarian, 95. + + +_Ma'aseh Tobiah_, 42. + +Macaulay, on Russian civilization, 310 (n. 6). + +McCaul's _Old Paths_, 146, 211. + +_Maggid Yeshu'ah_, by Lilienthal, 174-176. + +Maimon, Solomon, 81-89; + quoted, 31, 60, 106; + Autobiography, 83, 88; + his philosophy, 84-87; + his contributions to the Meassef, 98; + referred to, 108, 130, 132, 192, 298. + +Maimuni, commentators on his _Moreh Nebukim_, 38, 84, 89; + retranslated by Levin, 100; + his _Mishneh Torah_, translated, 186, 200; + his Hebrew style, 97. + +Malak, Abraham, Hasid, 122. + +Malak, Hayyim, Hasid, 65. + +Manasseh ben Israel, 32; + his _Nishmat Hayyim_, 63; + his activity, 96. + +Mandelkern, Solomon, rabbi, 203, 246. + +Mandelstamm, Benjamin, on Lilienthal, 173; + quoted, 186; + on Vilna, 198; + and Levinsohn, 212. + +Mandelstamm, Leon, graduate from University of St. Petersburg, 186, 200, +252. + +Mane, Mordecai Zebi, poet, 98. + +Mann, Eliezer, "the Hebrew Socrates," 38. + +Mann, Menahem, martyr, 27. + +Manoah, Handel, mathematician, 38. + +Mapu, Abraham, novelist, 244-245. + +Margolioth, Judah Loeb, rabbi, 105, 125. + +Markusevich, Isaac, physician, 127. + +Marx, Karl, his teachings promulgated, 256; + his name assumed, 257. + +Masliansky, Zebi Hirsh, Maggid, 280. + +May laws, 270-275. + +Meassef, contributors to, 98-100; + condemned, 132; + referred to, 265. + +_Megillah 'Afah_, 36. + +Meisels, Berish, rabbi, 246. + +Melammedim, in Germany, 35, 78, 80; + in Russia, 47, 294. + +_Memorbuch_ of Mayence, 29. + +Mendelssohn, Meyer, communal worker, 140. + +Mendelssohn, Moses (Rambman, "Dessauer"), appealed to by Mitnaggedim, 75; + his contact with Russiam Jews, 76-78; + his friends and followers, 81-90, 135; + his philosophy, 88; + referred to, 92; + presumed to be author of _Sefer ha-Berit_, 102; + his translation of the Pentateuch, 78, 81, 105, 132, 133, 203; + post-Mendelssohnian period in Germany, 168; + in Russia, 192, 193; + his _Jerusalem_, 209; + his _Phaedon_, 214; + Alexander I's ideal Jew, 128; + the "Russian Mendelssohn," 213; + Smolenskin and Gottlober on, 265. + +Mendlin, Jacob Wolf, socialist, 293. + +Meseritz, Baer of, promoter of Hasidism, 65. + +_Midrash Talpiyot_, 63. + +Mielziner, Leo, on Zionist artists, 291. + +Mikhailovich, Czar Aleksey, 40. + +Milman, on Maimon's Autobiography, 88. + +Minhagim, according to Elijah Vilna, 73-74; + according to M.A. Guenzburg, 215. + +Minor, Solomon Zalkind, "the Russian Jellinek," 235, 236. + +Minsk, 21; + Talmudists of, 34, + persecution of Hasidim in, 76; + schools in, 166-167, 292; + reception of Lilienthal in, 172, 173; + Maskilim of, 200, 201-235, 246; + referred to, 292, 293. + +Mirabeau's reference to Hurwitz, 92. + +Mitau, 123, 216. + +Mitauer, Elias, communal worker, 140. + +Mitnaggedim, opposition to Hasidism, 70, 131; + efforts of, at reconciliation with Hasidim, 120-121; + make common cause with Hasidim against Maskilim, 134, 260. + +_Mnyenie_, by Dyerzhavin, 118. + +Mohilev, 31, 104, 119, 128, 202. + +Moldavia, 40-41. + +Molo, Francisco, economist, 22. + +Montefiore, Sir Moses, visits Russia, 155-157; + invited to Russia, 175; + entertained, 200; + visit of 1872 to Russia, 230; + on the pogroms, 270; + on Russo-Jewish women, 299. + +Morgulis, Manasseh, litterateur, 14, 187-188. + +Morschtyn, George, proselyte (?), 26. + +_Mosaide_, by Wessely, 98. + +Moscow, proselytism in, 25, 26; + expulsions from, 56, 153, 271; + Jews admitted to, 111; + converts in, 177; + Russification in, 240; + restrictions in the University of, 274, 276; + referred to, 291. + +Moses, martyr, 57. + +Mussarnikes, 280. + +Muzhiks, emancipation of, 222-223; + education of, 236-237; + restlessness of, 249-250; + socialism among, 257. + +Mylich, George Gottfried, Lutheran champion of Jewish rights, 113-114. + + +Nachlass, Wolf, Cantonist, 139. + +Napoleon, convokes the Sanhedrin, 93; + his invasion of Russia, 112, 113; + his defeat, 115-117, 128; + on Vilna, 197. + +Narodnaya Volya Society, 257, 278. + +Narodniki, 236-237. + +Nazimov, Governor-General, champion of Jews, 201, 225. + +Nebakhovich, Alexander, theatrical director, 201. + +Nebakhovich, Leon (Loeb), first defender of Russian Jews in Russian, 114, + 125, 130; + dramatist, 189. + +Nebakhovich, Michael, editor of comic paper, 201. + +Nemirov, 59. + +Nemirov, Jehiel Michael of, scholar, 35. + +Nestor's Chronicles, 20. + +Nicholas I, referred to, 104, 202, 222, 229, 246, 249, 253, 260, 268, 284; + his policy, 135-160; + his recruiting, 135-139; + his colonization scheme, 140-143; + attempts at conversion of Jews, 144-147, 188; + his Exportation Law, 152-154; + his accusations refuted, 162-164; + investigates number of learned Jews, 167, 168, 198; + outwitted, 184; + on Jews of Odessa, 196. + +Nicholas II, referred to, 80, 192; + persecution of Jews under, 275-277. + +Nieszvicz, 82, 114, 118, 127, 197. + +Nisanovich, Itshe, physician, 39. + +_Nishmat Hayyim_, by Manasseh ben Israel, 63. + +Noah, Mordecai Manuel, statesman, 284. + +Nomenclature, Russo-Jewish, 30. + +Notkin, Nathan, diplomat and philanthropist, 118, 125. + +Novgorod, 25, 139, 271. + +Novy Israil Society, 248. + + +Odessa, schools in, 164, 185; + Lilienthal in, 176; + Jewish influences in, 194-197; + Talmud Torah of, 226; + Haskalah in, 233-235; + Russification of, 240, 246, 255; + assimilation in, 248; + pogromy in, 253; + referred to, 251, 292, 294, 295, 296; + Jewish women of, 299-300. + +'Olam Katan, 297. + +_Old Paths_, by McCaul, 146, 211. + +Ostrog, 44, 206. + + +Pale, the Jewish, 188, 199, 271, 274. + +Palestine, rehabilitation of, 13; + settlers from, in Russia, 18, 27; + longing for, 153, 283; + Smolenskin on, 263-264. + +Parlovich, Arthur, physician, 126. + +Patapov, Governor-General, convokes a conference, 259. + +Paul I, 62, 111, 112. + +Paul III, pope, 253. + +Pechersky, St. Feodosi, 25. + +Peretz, Abraham, diplomat, 118, 125, 130. + +Peretz, Gregori, Dekabrist, 192, 249, 284. + +Perl, Joseph, educator, 163, 164, 205. + +Perl, S., educator, 166. + +Persia, immigrants from, 19. + +Peter the Great, conquers the Tatars, 54; + his attempts to civilize Russia, 56; + surrender of Riga to, 123. + +_Phaedon_, by Mendelssohn, 214. + +Philippson, Ludwig, rabbi, 154, 158, 175. + +Phillips, Phinehas, founder of the Anglo-Jewish family, 94. + +Pinczows, the, scholars, 104-105. + +Pinner, Ephraim Moses, Talmudist, 145. + +Pinsk, 76, 197, 202, 242. + +Pinsker, Leo, nationalist, 263, 281-283. + +Pinsker, Simhah, scholar, 108-109, 164, 195. + +Pirogov, Nikolai Ivanovich, liberal school superintendent, 226-228. + +Plehve, von, on restrictions, 302. + +Plungian, Ezekiel Feiyel, Talmudist, 119, 203. + +Pobyedonostsev, influences Alexander II, 250-251; + procurator of the Holy Synod, 269; + his policy regarding Jews, 270; + on Jewish superiority, 273. + +Podolia, 60, 64, 69, 162, 195, 277. + +Pogodin, on early Russian Jews, 19. + +Pogromy, 253, 269-270. + +Poimaniki, 136-138, 152, 162, 184. + +Poimshchiki, 137. + +Polack, Jacob, Talmudist, 72, 104. + +Poland, early settlement of Jews in, 20; + political eminence of, 22-23; + proselytism in, 26; + after Chmielnicki's massacres, 53-55; + influence of Calvinism in, 56-57; + during the rozbior, 58; + after the annexation, 113; + Jewish loyalty to, 115-116; + under Nicholas I, 158-159; + use of Polish in, 196; + sympathy with, and adoption of language of, 246-247. + +Polonnoy, Jacob Joseph of, follower of Besht, 65; + his _Toledot Ya'akob Yosef_ burnt in Vilna, 76; + mentioned, 122, 132. + +Polotsk, 55, 95. + +Poltava, 200, 239, 300. + +Popes, 72, 253. + +Posner, Solomon, philanthropist, 143-144. + +Pototzki, Count Valentine, proselyte, 27. + +Prayer book. See Book of Common Prayer. + +Prelooker, Jacob, 241-242, 248. + +Printing-press, permission to establish, 110; + first publications from, 124; + restrictions removed from use of, 230. + +Prochovnik, Abraham, Jewish king of Poland (?), 22. + +Proselytism, 18, 20, 24-28. + +Public schools, admission of Jews to, 111, 118, 125; + exclusion of Jews from, 273-275. + +Pumpyansky, Aaron Elijah, rabbi, 203, 246. + +Pushkin's prisoner, 224. + + +Querido, Jacob, mystic, 64. + + +Rabbinical seminaries, 144-145, 165, 170, 173, 182, 196, 202-203. + +Rabbis, position of, in Russo-Poland, 44-45; + required to know Russian, German, or Polish, 125; + opposed by Maskilim, 173; + Lilienthal on, 174, 181; + Guenzburg on, 216-217; + dukhovny and kazyony, 295-296. + +Rabinovich, Osip, litterateur, 201, 238, 243. + +Rabinowitz, Joseph, assimilationist, 248. + +Rachmailovich, Affras, merchant, 22. + +Radziwill, Prince, 24, 39, 62. + +Rapoport, Solomon Loeb, rabbi, 205. + +Rasiner, Israel, zaddik, 211. + +Raskolniki, 248. + +Rathaus, Abraham, merchant, 200. + +Razsvyet, 238, 243-244, 286. + +Reform Judaism, and the Haskalah, 242-248; + sermons in Russian, 246; + Smolenskin on, 264-265. + +Reform synagogues, in Odessa, 196; + in Warsaw, 197; + in Vilna, 198. + +Reines, Isaac Jacob, rabbi, 295. + +Reis, Joseph, grandfather of Wessely, 77. + +Revolutionaries, 192, 248-251, 255-258. + +Riesser, Gabriel, champion of Jewish emancipation, 78. + +Riga, 123, 164, 170, 180, 185, 195, 197, 225, 246, 271. + +Risenci, Jonathan of, rabbi, 104. + +Rivkes, Moses, commentator, 34. + +Romm, Menahem Mann, publisher, 148-149. + +Rosensohn, Joseph, rabbi, 127. + +Rosensohn, Moses, reformer, 247. + +Rosenthal, Leon, financier, 200, 237-238. + +Rothschild, Baron Edmund de, 288. + +Rurik, Varangian prince, 19. + +Russia, Haskalah in, contrasted with Haskalah in Galicia and Germany, 12; + arrival of German Jews in, 18; + antiquity of Jews in, 19; + privileges of Jews in, 21; + Jewish envoys to, 22; + mentioned by medieval scholars, 28-29; + Sefardim and Ashkenazim resort to, 33-34; + scientists in, 37-39; + physicians in, 39-42; + status of Jews of, before Chmielnicki's uprising, 42-45; + Jewish self-government, school system, and mode of living in, 45-52; + under Ivan the Terrible, 55-56; + under Peter the Great, 56; + under Elizabeta Petrovna, 57; + state of civilization of, 60, 107; + favorable conditions in, under Catherine II, Paul I, and Alexander I, + 110-128; + Jewish patriotism toward, under Alexander I, 117; + Russification of Jews of, 124-125; + opposition to Haskalah in, 133 f.; + Jewish colonization in, 140-144; + crusade against the Talmud in, 145-147; + opinions of prominent Gentiles on Jews of, 162, 224-225; + literature and civilization of, under Nicholas I, 189-190; + under Alexander II, 222-226; + Jewish contribution to civilization of, 201-202, 255; + sermons in, 246; + defenders of Jews in, 302-303; + Macaulay on civilization of, 310 (n. 6). + + +Sack, Hayyim, financier, 200. + +Sackheim, Joseph, merchant, 200. + +_Safah Berurah_, by Hannover, 39. + +St. Petersburg, Imperial Hermitage in, 19; + scene of martyrdom, 57; + referred to, 91, 104, 267, 276, 286, 300; + Jews permitted in, 111, 117, 126; + expelled from, 128, 153, 271; + deputation to, 129; + rabbinical conferences, 151, 173, 174-176, 230; + converts in, 177; + first graduate of University of, 200; + restriction of students in, 274; + Russification in, 240; + revolutionaries at, 258. + +Salanter, Israel, rabbi, 241. + +Samuel ben Avigdor, rabbi, 79. + +Samuel ben Mattathias, Talmudist, 40. + +Sanchez, Antonio Ribeiro, physician, 57. + +Sanhedrin, the, and French Russian Jews, 93. + +Satanov, Isaac Halevi, litterateur, 99, 217. + +Schapira, Moses, publisher, 148. + +Schapiro, Constantin, poet, 98. + +Schechter, Solomon, on Hasidism, 69. + +Schick, Baruch (Shklover), scientist, 94, 96, 105-106, 119, 125. + +Schiller, on Maimon, 89; + referred to, 192. + +Schools, secular, 163-165, 182-185, 195-196, 227-228, 229, 235, 239, + 253, 273-274, 276-277, 290-292, 297. + +_Sefer ha-Berit_, 102. + +Seiberling, Joseph, censor of Hebrew books, 200. + +Shabbatai Zebi, pseudo-Messiah, 64, 69. + +Shalkovich, Abraham Lob (Ben Avigdor), 296. + +Shatzkes' _Ha-Mafteah_, 244. + +Shavli, Moses of, writer of polemics, 36. + +_Shibhe ha-Besht_, 123, 134. + +Shklov, 105, 124. + +Shkud, Mikel of, rabbi, 61. + +Shneersohn, Menahem Mendel, zaddik, 175, 176. + +Shmoilovich, Abraham, merchant, 22. + +_Shulhan 'Aruk_, commentators on, 34, 36; + its effect on Jewish life, 73; + Elijah Vilna on, 74; + criticism of, 123; + annotations to, 127; + referred to, 215. + +Siberia, 140-143, 160. + +_Sin'at 'Olam le-'Am 'Olam_, 280-281. + +Sixtus V, pope, 72. + +_Skazanye O Florye Rimlyaninye_, by Korolenko, 302. + +Skripitzyn's _Information about the Killing of Christians_, etc., 229. + +Slonim, Samson of, rabbi, 106. + +Slonimsky, Hayyim Selig, inventor and editor, 199, 200, 201-202, 203. + +Slutsk, 76, 105, 202. + +"Slutsker Maggid, the," 246. + +Smolensk, 21, 162. + +Smolenskin, Perez, and Haskalah, 13; + his descriptions of the heder and yeshibah, 50, 266; + his life, 261-267; + his conception of Haskalah, 261; + on nationalism, 262-263, 284; + on reformers, 264-265; + attacks Mendelssohn, 265; + on the prophetic consciousness of the Jewish masses, 266-267; + his popularity, 267; + organizes the Kadimah, 285; + opposes the Alliance Israelite Universelle, 285. + +Sobieski, John, 39. + +Society for the Promotion of Haskalah among the Russian Jews, 237-239, +246, 252, 291-292. + +Sofer, Moses, rabbi, 133. + +Sofer, Shabbatai, rabbi, 36. + +Sokolov, Nahum, publicist, 280. + +Sosima, monkish proselyte, 26. + +Spector, Isaac Elhanan, rabbi, 288. + +Speir, Bima, of Mohilev, opponent of Frank, 104. + +Spinoza and Maimon compared, 86, 88. + +Stern, Abraham Jacob, inventor, 201. + +Stern, Bezalel (Basilius), pedagogue, 164, 165, 175, 176. + +Strashun, Mattathias, Talmudist, 203. + +Surovyetsky, on Russian Jews, 162, 318 (n. 1). + +Switzerland, 257, 298, 299, 300. + + +_Talmud, Der, in seiner Nichtigkeit_, by Buchner, 146. + +Talmud, the, the study of, 31, 71-72; + burnt in public, 70; + customs of, according to Elijah Gaon, 74; + attacks on, 145-147, 170, 242-248; + published in Russia, 147-149; + neglected in Germany, 168. + +Talmud Torah, the, 47, 184. + +Talmudists, ancient Russo-Jewish, 28-30; + opposed by Hasidism, 66; + in Vilna, 197-198. + +Tarnopol, on Russo-Jewish women, 299-300. + +Taz, David, rabbi, 34. + +Temkin's _Derek Salulah_, 146. + +_Te'udah be-Yisrael_, by Levinsohn, 205-207, 209, 210, 212. + +_Toledot Ya'akob Yosef_, by Jacob Joseph Polonnoy, 65. + +Tolstoi, 245, 250, 302. + +Troki, city, 22. + +Troki, Abraham, author and physician, 39. + +Troki, Isaac ben Abraham, Karaite scholar, 36. + +Turgenief, on Russia, 224; + his Zhid, 224; + referred to, 245, 250; + on Alexander II, 251; + his _Virgin Soil_, and _Fathers and Sons_, 257; + his Lithuanian Jewish character, 259-260. + +Tushiyah Society, 296-297. + + +Ukraine, the, Jewish community in, 20; + famous for scholars, 35-36; + Jewish self-government in, 44; + expulsions from, 56-57; + state of morality in, 64; + Hasidism in, 69, 122; + first school in, 164. + +Uman, 59, 164. + +United States, the, 158, 220, 270, 283. + +Uvarov, on persecution, 155, 302; + on "re-education," 171, 174, 175, 182. + + +Vassile Lupu, hospodar of Moldavia, 40. + +Vassilyevich, Ivan, 23, 26. + +Vernacular, the, 18, 29, 30-31, 38, 188, 194, 255. + +Vilna, scene of martyrdom, 27; + Talmudists of, 34; + kahal of, 62; + persecution of Hasidim, 76; + the last rabbi of, 79; + notables of, 91, 92, 124, 150; + first graduates from University of, 126-127; + opposition to Haskalah in, 133; + first publication of the Talmud in, 148-149; + first assembly of Maskilim in, 165; + innovations in, 166; + reception of Lilienthal in, 172, 173; + rabbinical seminary at, 175, 186, 202; + yeshibot of, 197; + Haskalah in, 198, 200, 206, 246; + champions of Jews in, 225; + referred to, 230, 292, 295. + +_Virgin Soil_, by Turgenief, 257. + +Vital, Hayyim, Cabbalist, 103, 134. + +Vitebsk, 128, 202, 292. + +Vitebsk, Menahem Mendel of, zaddik, on Haskalah, 135. + +Vladimir, grand duke, 20. + +Volhynia, jurisdiction over, 44; + massacres in, 60; + Hasidism in, 69, 81, 104; + first complete edition of the Talmud published in, 148; + referred to, 162, 195; + blood accusations in, 208. + +Volozhin, Hayyim, dean, 135, 150-151, 175, 176. + +Volozhin, Isaac of, dean, 151. + +Volozhin, yeshibah of, 150-152, 245, 295. + +Vosnitzin, Captain, martyr, 27, 57. + + +Wahl, Saul, Jewish Polish king (?), 22. + +Warsaw, Jewish community in, 20; + persecution in, 58; + protest at, 62; + defended by Jewish soldiers, 115; + first Yiddish paper in, 124; + rabbinic college of, 144-145, 170, 202; + censor in, 148; + condition of, 159; + German influence in, 196; + Maskilim of, 202, 206, 246; + referred to, 286. + +Way, Lewis, English missionary, 129-130, 144. + +Weigel, Katharina, proselyte, 27. + +Wengeroff's _Memoirs_, 163; + on Russo-Jewish women, 300. + +Wessely, Naphtali Hartwig, quoted, 38; + course of study prescribed by, 75; + his ancestry, 77; + his opinion on Russo-Jewish students, 80, 92, 108; + his _Mosaide_, 98; + his _Yen Lebanon_, 105; + his Epistles and _Yen Lebanon_ banned, 132, 133, 192. + +_What to Do_, by Chernichevsky, 257. + +White, on Jewish farmers, 288. + +Wissotzky, Kalonymos, philanthropist, 292. + +Wohl, censor of Hebrew books, 252, 294. + +Wolf, Levy, jurist, 126. + +Wolff's _Metaphysics_, 84-86; + _Mathematics_, 90, 108. + +Wolper, Michael, educator, 294. + +Women's education, 45-46, 253, 258, 259, 276, 296, 299-301. + +_Words of Peace and Truth_, by Wessely, 75. + +Workingmen, Russo-Jewish, 163, 293-294, 318 (n. 2). + + +Yankele Kovner. See Barit, Jacob. + +Yaroslav, fair of, 49. + +Yaroslav, Aaron, friend of Mendelssohn, 81. + +Yavan, Baruch, diplomat, 104. + +Yelisavetgrad, 247, 269, 292. + +_Yen Lebanon_, by Wessely, 105, 132, 133, 192. + +Yeralash, 201. + +Yeshibat 'Ez Hayyim, 150-152, 175, 184, 254. + +Yeshibot, 32, 46-49, 168. + +_Yeven Mezulah_, by Hannover, 48-49. + +Yiddish, as spoken by Russian Jews, 38; + first used for secular instruction, 100-101, 124; + first weekly in, 123, 196; + studied for missionary purposes, 145; + employed by Maskilim, 167, 232; + by Zionists, 286. + + +Zabludovsky, Jehiel Michael, Talmudist, 199. + +Zacharias, monkish proselyte, 26. + +Zacharias of Kiev, missionary, 25. + +Zaddikim, 66, 122, 220. + +Zamoscz, city, 90, 202. + +Zamoscz, Israel Moses Halevi, instructor of Mendelssohn, 77, 90, 195. + +Zamoscz, Reuben of, quoted, 80. + +Zamoscz, Solomon of, liturgical poet, 35. + +Zangwill, on Maimon, 88; + referred to, 297. + +Zaremba, proselyte, 27. + +Zaslav, fair of, 49; + blood accusation in, 208. + +Zaslaver, Jacob, Massorite, 36. + +Zbitkover, Samuel, financier, 116. + +Zederbaum, Alexander, publisher, 288. + +Zeitlin, Joshua, financier, 118-119. + +_Zeker Rab_, 124. + +Zelmele, Talmudist, 119-120. + +_Zerubbabel_, by Levinsohn, 210-212, 213. + +Zhagory, 200, 202. + +Zhitomir, rabbinical seminary at, 175, 186, 197, 202, 248; + printing-press in, 230; + trade school in, 235; + Evening and Sabbath schools in, 239. + +Zionism, 267, 284-287: + difficulties of, 287-288; + effect of, 289-291. + +_Zohar_, 63, 134. + +Zunser, Eliakum, badhan, on Alexander II, 231; + on Orthodoxy, 240-241; + on the "intelligentia," 278; + on Zionism, 290; + on the awakening, 324-327 (n. 27). + + + +The Lord Baltimore Press +Baltimore, Md., U.S.A. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HASKALAH MOVEMENT IN RUSSIA*** + + +******* This file should be named 15921.txt or 15921.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/5/9/2/15921 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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