Category: Biographies
My grandfather, Heimann Joseph, was farmer of some villages in the neighbourhood of the town of Mir, in the territory of Prince Radzivil.[7] He selected for his residence one of these villages on the river Niemen, called Sukoviborg, where, besides a few peasants' plots, there...
with really resplendent power, and actually forces the language, even plays with it, in turns of expression that take you by surprise. But a German author he never became; and a...
19. CHAPTER XIX.About this time I became acquainted with a sect of my nation, called the _New Chasidim_, which was then coming into prominence. _Chasidim_ is the name generally given by the Heb...
15. CHAPTER XV.To render intelligible that part of the story of my life, which refers to my sentiments regarding religion, I must first give in advance a short practical _history of the Jewish...
25. CHAPTER XXV.My aversion at first for belles lettres, and my subsequent conversion--Departure from Berlin--Sojourn in Hamburg--I drown myself in the same way as a bad actor shoots himself--A...
28. CHAPTER XXVIII.When I came to Berlin, Mendelssohn was no longer in life,[61] and my former friends were determined to know nothing more of me. I did not know therefore what to do. In the great...
14. CHAPTER XIV.Cabbalah,--to treat of this divine science somewhat more in detail,--means, in the wider sense of the term, _tradition_; and it comprehends, not only the occult sciences which m...
27. CHAPTER XXVII.On my arrival in Berlin I called upon Mendelssohn, as well as some other old friends, and begged them, as I had now acquired some knowledge of languages, to employ me in some oc...
22. CHAPTER XXII.In the evening I came to an inn, where I met a poor tramp who was a Jewish beggar by profession. I was uncommonly pleased to meet one of my brethren, with whom I could talk, and...
24. CHAPTER XXIV.The name of Mendelssohn is too well known to the world, to make it necessary for me here to dwell long on the portraiture of the great intellectual and moral qualities of this c...
26. CHAPTER XXVI.I return to Hamburg--A Lutheran Pastor pronounces me to be a scabby Sheep, and unworthy of Admission into the Christian Fold--I enter the Gymnasium, and frighten the Chief Rabbi...
1. CHAPTER I.My grandfather, Heimann Joseph, was farmer of some villages in the neighbourhood of the town of Mir, in the territory of Prince Radzivil.[7] He selected for his residence one of...
23. CHAPTER XXIII.As I came to Berlin this time by post, I did not require to remain outside the Rosenthaler Gate to be examined by the Jewish elders; I proceeded without any difficulty into the...
20. CHAPTER XX.After the account of the secret society in the last chapter, this seems the most appropriate place to state, for the examination of the thoughtful reader, my opinion about _myst...
21. CHAPTER XXI.My external circumstances were becoming worse and worse. I was unwilling any longer to adapt myself to my ordinary occupations, and found myself therefore everywhere out of my s...
3. CHAPTER III.In my sixth year my father began to read the Bible with me. "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." Here I interrupted my father, and asked, "But, papa, who cre...
12. CHAPTER XII.In my fourteenth year I had my eldest son, David. At my marriage I was only eleven years old, and owing to the retired life common among people of our nation in those regions, a...
10. CHAPTER X.Meanwhile the domestic circumstances of my father became every day worse. He saw himself, therefore, compelled to make a journey to the town of Nesvij, and apply for a position...
17. CHAPTER XVII.In the place where I resided I had a bosom friend, Moses Lapidoth by name. We were of the same age, the same studies, and nearly the same external circumstances, the only differ...
18. CHAPTER XVIII.The place, where I first occupied the position of family-tutor, was at the distance of a league from my residence. The family was that of a miserable farmer in a still more mise...
6. CHAPTER VI.We wandered about therefore in the country, like the Israelites in the wilderness of Arabia, without knowing where or when we should find a place of rest. At last we came to a v...
4. CHAPTER IV.My brother Joseph and I were sent to Mir to school. My brother, who was about twelve years old, was put to board with a schoolmaster of some repute at that time, by name Jossel....
16. CHAPTER XVI.In my youth I was of a somewhat strong religious disposition; and as I observed in most of the rabbis a good deal of pride, quarrelsomeness, and other evil qualities, they becam...
7. CHAPTER VII.After this digression on the study of the Talmud I return to my story. As already mentioned, I was sent to school at Iwenez. My father gave me a letter to the chief rabbi of thi...
9. CHAPTER IX.In my youth I was very lively, and had in my nature a good deal that was agreeable. In my passions I was violent and impatient. Till about my eleventh year, as I had the benefit...
8. CHAPTER VIII.My father's condition had thus externally an improved appearance, but so much the more doubtful did it appear internally on that account. My mother, notwithstanding her unwearie...
11. CHAPTER XI.On the first evening of my marriage my father was not present. As he told me at my departure that he had still to settle some articles on my account, and therefore I was to wait...
5. CHAPTER V.My father, who, as already mentioned, traded with Königsberg in Prussia, had once shipped in a vessel of Prince Radzivil's some barrels of salt and herrings which he had bought...
13. CHAPTER XIII.By means of the instruction received from my father, but still more by my own industry, I had got on so well, that in my eleventh year I was able to pass as a full rabbi. Beside...
2. CHAPTER II.In this manner my grandfather lived for many years in the place where his forefathers had dwelt; his farm had become, as it were, a property of the family. By the Jewish ceremon...