Part 13

Though the literary matter contained and discussed in _Die synagogale Poesie_ is extremely copious and interesting, it is impossible to do more, within the limits of a short essay, than to refer to it briefly. Beginning with the Psalms the author describes the process of the gradual development of psalmody into the so-called _Agadah_, and that of the latter into the various kinds of prayers usually read in the synagogue, including the “Penitential Poems,” called _Selichoth_. These, containing, as they do, some of the most heartrending incidents in the mediaeval history of the Jews, Zunz discusses with special warmth and feeling. One particular passage excited the admiration of George Eliot, who printed a translation of it in _Daniel Deronda_. It runs as follows:—

“If there are ranks in suffering, Israel takes precedence of all the Nations;—if the duration of sorrows, and the patience with which they are borne, ennoble, the Jews are among the aristocracy of every land;—if a literature is called rich in the possession of a few classical tragedies, what shall we say to a national Tragedy lasting for fifteen hundred years, in which the poets and actors were also the heroes.”

When some later writers, including Professor Paul Legarde, criticized the _Synagogale Poesie_ adversely, asserting that Zunz had wasted his time and energy in the preparation of an elaborate work on the _Piyutim_, most of which are admittedly valueless, the late Professor David Kaufmann defended his friend, the author, in a remarkable pamphlet. He says, _inter alia_, that in writing about the _Piyutim_ Zunz was chiefly actuated by the desire to display before the eyes of the world the unexampled miseries and sufferings, which the Jewish people endured during a period extending over more than a thousand years. Thus it was obvious that, whether the _Piyutim_ have by their existence enriched Hebrew literature or not, Zunz has, at all events, by his long dissertation on them, brought to light a piece of history of his people which, for various reasons, was worthy of a permanent record.

Another noteworthy point connected with the _Synagogale Poesie_ is, that it contains a considerable number of versified German translations of pieces of liturgical Hebrew poetry, which renders them more intelligible to the ordinary reader than would otherwise have been the case. The following example may serve here as an illustration. One of the dullest liturgical pieces composed by the Hebrew writer Kaliri (about 700 A. D.) is no doubt the Hebrew hymn beginning with the words, _Adam-u-behemah_ (‪אדם ובהמה‬), which is read in most of the synagogues on _Hoshanah Rabbah_. Yet Zunz translated it into excellent German. A free English translation is appended:—

On all that lives and moves Look down, O Lord, with grace; Preserve in health and strength The feeble human race. Oh, let the earth again In spring-like aspect shine, Producing lovely flowers, Delicious figs and vine. Let rain bedew the fields, The mountains high and low, That plants, and herbs, and trees Luxuriously grow. Arouse anew to life All that abides on earth, And let our hearts rejoice In lively songs and mirth.

It may be mentioned here, in passing, that some of Zunz's poetical German translations are in style and form hardly inferior to the specimen renderings of Eastern poetry found in the works of Goethe, Herder, Rückert, and Bodenstedt. In fact, it is not too much to say that Zunz's German poetry and prose are classical. His style is praised by Varnhagen von Ense, who describes it in his _Diary_ as being in many places most elegant and attractive.

As already stated, it was in 1859 that Zunz published an additional volume to the _Synagogale Poesie_, called _Die Ritus des synagogalen Gottesdienstes_, which mostly consists of inquiries into synagogal rites. He alludes to the varied rites that had been in vogue among Jews living in different countries, and he points out certain customs adopted by the synagogue which had their origin in the Christian Church. To these, he says, belong the customs of making monetary offerings in the synagogue during the reading of the Law, which had, however, long been in use in the Gallic Church. There, in return for such offerings, the officiating priest was wont to read a prayer, called in Latin _Oratio post nomina_. This prayer corresponds, according to Zunz, to the one still recited in some synagogues by the precentor on mentioning the offerings made by the person “called-up” to the reading of the Law, which is well known by the name of _Mi-Sheberach_ (‪מי שברך‬). Zunz also thinks that the usage practised in the synagogue of reciting prayers in memory of the souls of departed parents and near relations, likewise originated in the Christian Church, as mention is made of it in the early Christian liturgy.

The third volume forming part of the _Synagogale Poesie_ was, as already stated, published by Zunz in 1865 under the title of _Die Literaturgeschichte der synagogalen Poesie_. Though a small supplement was added to it about two years later under the heading of _Nachträge zur Literaturgeschichte der synagogalen Poesie_, it virtually closed the series of Zunz's three epoch-making works that deal almost exhaustively with the most important branches of Jewish science and literature. In this particular field of study and research, Zunz proved himself to be a first-rate critic and investigator, and there he also attained conspicuous success. But, while admiring in Zunz his many-sided talents, and more especially his extensive knowledge of earlier and later Hebrew literature, credit must also be given him for the honesty with which he records the obligations he owed to his literary friends for their aid in the preparations of his literary compositions. Among them may be specially mentioned Delitzsch, Rapoport, Luzzatto, Sachs, and Dukes, with all of whom Zunz for many years carried on a lively correspondence. This helped him greatly in his researches. Thus, for instance, in 1832, Zunz was only aware of the existence of 200 _Selichoth_, but from the information supplied by his friends he was enabled to add to the list of these liturgical poems until they had reached the large number of 1,816.

It is natural that Zunz had many admirers among men of education, who were able to read and appreciate his German works. Yet it is interesting to note that a great many Jews, who were only slightly acquainted with German, but had an extensive knowledge of Hebrew and the Talmud, held him in great esteem as a Hebrew scholar. This distinction Zunz owed to his mastery over the Hebrew style, examples of which are to be found in the preface to his edition of Krochmal's _Morè Nebuche Ha-Z'man_ (‪מורה נבוכי‬ ‪הזמן‬), and likewise in the Hebrew periodical _Kerem Chemed_. The latter contains a biographical sketch of the famous Jewish critic, Azariah de Rossi (1514–98), which is not only remarkable for its learning, but also for the excellence of its composition. Zunz also wrote some pretty Hebrew verses, specimens of which he gave in his metric Hebrew translation of Klopstock's _Die Sommernacht_, which appeared (in 1819) in Heinemann's Annual, called _Yedidja_.

It is to be regretted that Zunz, when at the height of his fame, and already advanced in years, thought fit to write an essay published in the _Zeitschrift der deutsch-morgenländischen Gesellschaft_, vol. XXVII, pp. 669–89, embodying the views of Biblical criticism of the advanced school. There he tries to prove, for instance, that Leviticus and certain parts of Deuteronomy were composed at a much later date than tradition has assigned to them, and that the Day of Atonement and the festivals of New Year and Purim were unknown to the early composers of the Pentateuch. These views naturally aroused the anger of all strictly orthodox Jews, and they also brought him in conflict with his ultra-radical friend Geiger, who censured him for his obvious inconsistency, because in another essay (published in the second part of his _Gesammelte Schriften_) Zunz spoke of the practice of wearing phylacteries as a noble and sacred institution which ought to be rigorously observed, while here he questioned the sanctity of the holiest day in the Jewish calendar. But, though Zunz subsequently defended his apparently antagonistic views to the accepted traditions of the Jews, it would certainly have been better for his reputation had he left Biblical criticism alone.

Zunz was undoubtedly filled with a deep love for his people. By his labours he showed to the world that the Jews had, like other nations, a history, a science, a philosophy, and a remarkable literature, on the strength of which they were entitled to claim equal rights and privileges with their fellow men in all that concerned their intellectual, social, and political life. In this point his aims and ideals were somewhat akin to those of his great prototype and predecessor Moses Mendelssohn. In fact, they had much in common both in respect of their life and their character. Both being of humble origin, they had both at the outset of their scholastic career to contend with poverty and want. They were both deeply attached to their people, and did what in them lay to remove their disabilities, and especially to encourage them in the correct use of their native tongue. It is true that in religious matters neither of them exercised a favourable influence on his surroundings. But this at least will be universally admitted that the admiration entertained by Heine for Hebrew literature was chiefly due to his long and friendly intercourse with Zunz, which no doubt gave rise to those laudatory expressions found in his _Perlen des Romancero_, his _Rabbi von Bacharach_, and more especially in his book entitled _Heine über Börne_.

Was Zunz ever really happy? This question, if raised, could hardly be answered affirmatively. Long before and after his marriage he experienced constant disappointments; and as for the state of his mind subsequent to the death of his wife—who, by the way, left him childless—we learn from the correspondence he then carried on with Professor David Kaufmann, how completely overcome he was. The fact is, that Zunz fancied that he and his works were not sufficiently known to, and appreciated by, his co-religionists and the literary fraternity of the day, and on this account he once sent to Kaufmann the following characteristic lines:—

Bist du mit Grafen nicht verwandt, Und Börsenrittern unbekannt— Du wirst—sei immerhin ein _Kant_— Von Zeitungsschreibern nie genannt.

On another occasion, when writing to him, Zunz complains of the indifference manifested towards him and his works by the Jews, and with bitter irony he goes on to say that they would no doubt have established an annual fast-day in his memory had he been the Gedaliah of the Bible, a governor of a Jewish province, and murdered by an assassin's hand^[153-1].

Zunz considered himself, and more especially in his declining years, a disappointed man; but if the extent of a man's happiness is to be measured by the amount of useful work he has done for the benefit of others, then Zunz deserves more to be envied than to be pitied. He has certainly not lived and laboured, as he himself fancied, in vain. He will always occupy a foremost place in the annals of Jewish history and scholarship, and will ever be honoured as the Nestor of Jewish science and literature.

Footnotes:

[140-1] A sketch of the “Life and Works” of Zunz by the writer of this article has appeared in German (in 1890) in Dr. Rahmer's _Literaturblatt_.

[140-2] In one of his letters to the late Prof. David Kaufmann, Zunz explains the origin of his name by saying that it was originally “Zons,” having been adopted by an ancestor of his from his little native town, which was situated somewhere on the banks of the Rhine.

[141-1] In another of his letters to Prof. Kaufmann, Zunz mentions the names of two works, the reading of which especially inclined him to the serious study of Jewish historical and literary works. These were the Jewish historical book ‪צמח דוד‬, by David Gans (1641–1718), and the _Bibliotheca Hebraea_, by Wolfius (1689–1739).

[142-1] He also was Moses Mendelssohn's Talmudical teacher.

[142-2] In one of his letters to Prof. Kaufmann, Zunz mentions that he had in his chest many old missives from Heine.

[147-1] In Geiger's _Jüdische Zeitschrift_ (1868) Zunz has an article containing several other amusing mistakes made by Christian scholars, when translating Hebrew phrases into Latin, or into the vernacular. The following is a characteristic specimen: The well-known Hebrew phrase, occurring in the Passover Hagadah, ‪זו פרישות דרך ארץ‬, is translated by Rittangel by _Dispersio per omnem viam terrae_!

[153-1] This letter to Kaufmann was written at Berlin, and dated Sept. 10, 1877.

XIV

SAMUEL DAVID LUZZATTO AND ZACHARIAH FRANKEL

I

The nineteenth century is remarkable in the annals of Jewish history and bibliography on account of the many eminent Jewish scholars it has produced, men who greatly enlarged the field of what is known in modern phrase as the science of Judaism. They threw new light on diverse Jewish subjects of much importance, such as the Mishna, the Talmud, the Midrash, and likewise on general Jewish history and literature. Especially notable were Zunz, Rapoport, Geiger, Munk, Jost, Fürst, Jellinek, Luzzatto, and Frankel.

The two last-named savants form the subject of the present essay, and are here treated together, not merely because the centenary of their birth was some time ago celebrated in several Jewish communities within the same year, but because they were the renowned heads of two Rabbinical colleges, which brought about a revival of Talmudical and general Jewish studies.

Samuel David Luzzatto was born at Trieste, in Austria, in August, 1800. He belonged to an old Italian Jewish family, several members of which occupied conspicuous places in the annals of Jewish history and scholarship. The most noted among them were Moses Hayim Luzzatto (1707–40), the well-known author of two delightful Hebrew dramas, entitled _La-Yesharim Téhilla_ and _Migdal Oz_, and Ephraïm Luzzatto, who (in 1768) published in London a collection of charming little Hebrew poems and songs^[154-1], which is spoken of in eulogistic terms by Franz Delitzsch, in his _Geschichte der_ _jüdischen Poesie_. Samuel D. Luzzatto received his early education at the excellent Jewish Free School of his native town, where he studied Biblical and Talmudical subjects, general science, and ancient and modern languages. On leaving school, Luzzatto chose literature as his future calling, and with that purpose in view he applied himself with the utmost zeal to the study of the Italian language and literature, which he in later years knew almost to perfection. At the age of nineteen he became, by mere chance, known throughout the whole of Italy as a talented writer of Italian verses. It so happened that the then Austrian Crown Prince, who subsequently became Emperor of Austria, paid a flying visit to Trieste, and that the leaders of the local Jewish community commissioned young Luzzatto to write an Italian sonnet in commemoration of the royal visit. The Prince expressed his appreciation of its excellence by causing it to be published in several leading papers of the country.

But a far more substantial recognition of his attainments was accorded to Luzzatto a few years later in the shape of a professorship at the Collegio Rabbinico, which, at the instigation of the Austrian government, had been established at Padua in the year 1829. A little before this Luzzatto had married the daughter of one of his former masters, and having just finished his first important literary work on _Targum Onkelos_, called _Oheb Ger_, he bestowed upon his firstborn son the name of “Philoxenes,” which was a literal translation of the title of his book. The book was not printed for some time, as the only publisher who was willing to produce it, made the curious stipulation that the author should bind himself to buy 200 copies of his own work! This was the _honorarium_ offered at the beginning of last century to a Jewish scholar for an epoch-making work. Undaunted by this discouragement Luzzatto continued his literary occupation, and the fruits of his labours ultimately appeared in print, partly during his lifetime and partly after his death. They dealt with a great variety of subjects, more especially with Biblical exegesis, homiletics, Jewish history, philosophy, and poetry. Poetry was one of Luzzatto's favourite subjects, and he enriched it with many valuable contributions of his own, which mostly appeared in his two volumes entitled _Kinnor Naïm_ (‪כנור נעים‬). To Luzzatto credit is also due for having unearthed a great number of Hebrew MSS. containing poems and songs, which had Ibn Gabirol, Jehuda Halevi, the two Ibn Ezras, and other famous Hebrew writers of the Middle Ages for their authors. Luzzatto devoted a great deal of his time and attention to editing them, although he knew very well from past experiences that work of this kind was a labour of love only, and nothing more. He was always most willing to assist, in a literary sense, any one who asked him for the loan of a copy of a rare Hebrew MS., which he happened to possess, and would himself very often copy it out with his own hands. Writing to Luzzatto, Zunz once reproached him for his generosity to unknown persons, who often took advantage of his kindness and abused it. In his reply to Zunz he said: “It lies in my nature to act in literary matters just as I do. If to-day Satan himself were to come to me and ask for a MS., which he wished to have printed in Hades, I would kiss his hands and cheerfully comply with his request. For surely I do not work for my own benefit, nor for any ambitious purpose of my own.”

For many years Luzzatto carried on a correspondence with some of the most renowned savants of his time, such as Rapoport, Zunz, Steinschneider, the Christian professors Delitzsch, Rosenmüller, and Martinet, in addition to whom might also be mentioned Geiger, Sachs, Dukes, Jellinek, Fürst, Kirchheim, Reggio, and Ghirondi. They all profited more or less from the literary contents of his letters, which they frequently utilized in their own work. Luzzatto wrote Hebrew, Aramaic, Latin, French, and German with a certain amount of ease and fluency, but he was a master of Italian prose and verse. A renowned Italian poetess, Eugenia Pavia Gentilomo by name, thought so much of his taste that she always submitted her poems in MS. to him before she sent them to the press for publication.

Though Luzzatto's general correspondence was large the bulk of it was with Rapoport and Geiger. It is a well-known fact that Geiger was greatly helped by Luzzatto in the preparation of his excellent German version of Jehuda Halevi's Hebrew poems and songs. On one occasion, when Geiger delayed in answering a long letter of Luzzatto's, the latter reminded him of his omission in a poem consisting of four stanzas, each of which was composed in another language. One stanza, written in French, is worth reproducing:—

Monsieur le Grand-Rabbin, Abraham Violoniste^[157-1] Avez-vous tout d'un coup cassé le violon? Ne donne-t-elle plus votre main le doux son, L'aimable mélodie, ranimant l'esprit triste?

Equally interesting is a German poem by Geiger to Luzzatto, accompanying a copy of Jehuda Halevi's works, in which he gratefully acknowledges his many obligations to Luzzatto. It runs as follows:—

Aus frommer Dichter Stamm, selbst frommer Dichter, Ein Weiser, Edler, mild zugleich als Richter, Ein Nil, der überströmend Segen spendet, Doch Deines Wissensfluth nicht Schlamm aussendet. Hast meine Fluren auch getränket, Dort edle Reben eingesenket. Die Frucht ist reif, lass sie Dir reichen, Nimm sie als treuer Freundschaft Zeichen.

In spite of his multifarious literary occupations Luzzatto devoted particular care and attention to his professorial duties in the Collegio Rabbinico. It was his ambition to make it a model for all Rabbinical colleges. His disciples, consisting as they did of Italians, Germans, Poles, and Russians, loved and revered their master, who, in his turn, treated them as if they were his personal friends, and took the liveliest interest in their affairs. He took a special pride in noting in his own works any clever idea suggested by his pupils in the course of his lectures, and he thus encouraged them to literary enterprise on their own account. If the question were asked what the leading feature of Luzzatto's character was, it might unhesitatingly be answered that it was conscientiousness. When it is remembered how he had to struggle against absolute poverty for many years, and how frequently his home was visited by sickness and death, his whole-hearted devotion to his duties, his enthusiasm in his literary pursuits, and his universal kindness become intensified. It was this conscientiousness which led him to decline the post of _Haham_ to the Spanish and Portuguese congregation in London, because he thought that he could not acquire sufficient mastery over the English language to enable him to preach in it satisfactorily.

It is interesting to note that Luzzatto's literary activity continued almost till his death. His very last literary production was a Hebrew sonnet composed in commemoration of the sixth centenary of the birth of Dante. Luzzatto died after a short illness, on the eve of the Day of Atonement, in 1865.

The limits of an essay do not permit of entering on any detailed account of Luzzatto's multifarious books and treatises. Suffice it to say that, if put together, they would occupy a large space in a small library. It is, however, not the quantity but rather the quality of his writings that commands our close attention. This is specially the case with those which deal with the exposition of the Bible. To this particular branch of study Luzzatto devoted much time, and to his credit it must be said that he was one of the first Jewish scholars of the nineteenth century who took it up seriously and with conspicuous success.

It would be idle to ignore altogether Luzzatto's faults and inconsistencies, which resulted in a rupture with some of his best friends. As an instance may be mentioned his quarrels with Rapoport, Geiger, and some other friends. Again, he sometimes expressed the most radical views concerning the _Massorah_, and, on the other hand, attacked the works of Maimonides and Ibn Ezra on account of their liberal ideas in the exposition of certain Biblical subjects. But, in spite of all this, we cannot and must not diminish our admiration for a man like Luzzatto, whose self-sacrificing efforts were always directed towards the advancement of the interest of Jewish literature generally.

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II

ZACHARIAH FRANKEL

In the first part of this essay reference was made to the similarity between Luzzatto and Frankel in respect of their mental training, their vocation, and the first success, which they both achieved therein. It is now proposed to give a short sketch of Frankel's life, from which it will be seen that he, like Luzzatto, was ever animated by the noble desire of promoting the interests of Judaism, and its ancient and modern literature.