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Title: History of the Jews, Vol. VI (of 6)

Containing a Memoir of the Author by Dr. Philip Bloch, a Chronological Table of Jewish History, an Index to the Whole Work

Author: Heinrich Graetz

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HISTORY OF THE JEWS


HISTORY OF THE
JEWS

BY
HEINRICH GRAETZ

VOL. VI

Containing a Memoir of the Author by Dr. Philip Bloch
A Chronological Table of Jewish History
An Index to the Whole Work

Publisher’s logo

PHILADELPHIA

The Jewish Publication Society of America
5717—1956


Copyright, 1898, by

THE JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher: except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review to be printed in a magazine or newspaper.

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA


v

PREFACE TO THE INDEX VOLUME.

With the Index Volume, the Jewish Publication Society of America brings to a close the American edition of the “History of the Jews” by Professor H. Graetz. A glance at the title-page and the table of contents will show, that the celebrated historian cannot be held directly responsible for anything this volume contains. The History proper, as abridged under the direction of the author and translated into English from the eleven volume German edition, is complete in five volumes. In compiling this additional volume, the Publication Committee was prompted by the desire to render the work readily available for pedagogical purposes. To be of value to the general reader as well as to the scholar, a work containing upwards of three thousand pages needs to be equipped with indexes, tables, and helps of various kinds.

The importance of indexes can hardly be over-estimated. The English jurist and writer who considered them so essential that he “proposed to bring a Bill into Parliament to deprive an author who publishes a book without an Index of the privilege of copyright” was not too emphatic. In books of facts, such as histories, indexes are indispensable. This has been fully recognized invi the Society’s edition of Graetz’s “History of the Jews.” Each of the five volumes, as it appeared, was furnished with an adequate index. Yet there are two reasons justifying and even requiring the compilation of a general index to the whole work. The first is the reader’s convenience. All who use books to any extent know the annoyance of taking volume after volume from the shelf to find the desired information only in the last. In fact, the separate indexes were compiled only because circumstances compelled the publication of the single volumes at rather long intervals. The other consideration is that Professor Graetz is the historiographer par excellence of the Jews. His work, at present the authority upon the subject of Jewish history, bids fair to hold its pre-eminent position for some time, perhaps decades. A comprehensive index to his work is, therefore, at the same time an index to the facts of Jewish history approximately as accepted by contemporary scholars--a sufficient reason for its existence.

To make it a worthy guide to Jewish history in general, the index necessarily had to be more than a mere compilation of the five separate indexes. In the matter of the names of persons and places, accordingly, the general index excels the others in the fullness and completeness of the references. But its chief title to superiority over them lies in its character as an Index of Subjects, illustrated by such captions as Blood Accusation; Conversions, forced; Coins; Emancipation of thevii Jews; Bulls, Papal; Apostasy and Apostates; Messiah and Messianic; Bible under the headings Law, Old Testament, Pentateuch, Scriptures, Septuagint, Translations, and Vulgate; Education under the headings, Colleges, Rabbinical and Talmudical, Law, Schools, Talmud, and Talmud Torah. These summaries will be suggestive, it is hoped, to the teacher of Jewish history and to the student with sufficient devotion to the subject to pursue it topically and pragmatically as well as in its chronologic sequence. As an illustration of what use may be made of it, the compiler has prefixed to the index a guide to the study of Jewish history by means of the biographies of its great men, an apostolical succession, as it were. Under the class-names there given, the names of all persons of each class will be found grouped in the index. Again, if it is desirable to trace out a topic, as, for instance, the development of Hebrew grammar, or the cultivation of medicine among Jews, etc., the index is helpful by means of its lists of names of grammarians, physicians, astronomers, historians, poets, etc., under these and similar heads.

To facilitate its use, the student is urged to read the directions preceding the index. Great difficulties attach to the systematic arrangement of the names of persons connected with ancient and mediæval history of all kinds. In Jewish history, even down to recent times, these difficulties are largely increased by the comparatively late introduction among Jews of family names in the acceptedviii modern sense, and by their introduction among Spanish Jews earlier than among the others. The scheme adopted by Zedner, in his British Museum catalogue, has been followed as far as the peculiarities of our author and his subject, and its presentation in a modern language, permitted it. The arrangement is not ideal, but every effort has been made to minimize the difficulties.

In this preface, precedence has been given to the index, because, in spite of the consensus of opinions among connoisseurs, the importance of indexes and their usefulness are in some quarters still held to stand in need of vindication. In the book, however, the first place is occupied by a contribution whose value will be disputed by none, namely, the Memoir of the author, the greatest historian of the Jews. The Committee believes, not only that the public has a taste for biographical studies, but that in this instance it will be pleased with the choice of biographer, Dr. Philipp Bloch, rabbi of Posen, a disciple of Graetz and for more than a quarter of a century his intimate friend. Although not quite seven years have elapsed since Graetz passed away, and many that were closely associated with him are still among the living, it was not easy to find the man qualified for the task of writing his biography. Graetz was not inclined to be communicative about his early life or his emotional experiences. He had met with disappointments that emphasized the reticence of his nature. The venerable wife of the deceased historian was kind enough to put all herix husband’s literary remains at the disposal of the biographer, who herewith acknowledges his deep obligation to her for the help thus afforded his work. The greater part of material of this kind, especially in the form of letters, Graetz burnt before his last change of residence. But his interesting diary was spared. It was kept with more or less regularity from 1832 to 1854, though for the latter part of this period it is hardly more than a bald summary of events, and the disappearance of loose leaves curtails the information that might have been gathered from it. The biographer’s thanks are due also to the Board of Curators of the Fränkel Bequests for kindly putting at his service the documents in their archives bearing on Graetz’s connection with the Breslau Jewish Theological Seminary, thus enabling him to verify facts long in his possession. Dr. Bloch furthermore availed himself of Dr. B. Rippner’s interesting brochure, “Zum siebzigsten Geburtstage des Professors Dr. Heinrich Graetz,” and of Professor Dr. David Kaufmann’s eloquent eulogy of his teacher, “H. Graetz, der Historiograph des Judenthums.” The Committee believes, that in securing the co-operation of Dr. Bloch it has been the instrument of eliciting an important original contribution to Jewish biographical literature.

The Chronological Table is another feature of the volume to which attention must be called. In the eighth volume of the German edition of the “History,” Professor Graetz introduced a similarx table, reciting the succession of events from the Maccabæan struggle to the Expulsion of the Jews from Spain and Portugal. The present analysis includes the whole of Jewish history up to the year 1873 of this era. It assumes to be nothing more than a summary of the “History of the Jews” by Graetz. As no attempt has been made to indicate whether his conclusions are endorsed by the scholars of our day, it becomes a duty to refer to the vexed question of Biblical chronology. Since the time of Archbishop Ussher (1580–1656)--not to mention the Talmudic Seder Olam Rabba--it has been the subject of dispute, which is complicated by the various eras, the Seleucidæan, the Roman, and the Era of the World, in use among the Jews at different times. Even now the most diversified opinions are held by scholars, and no system has met with general acceptance. Graetz discusses the matter exhaustively in Note 19 of Vol. I of the German original of his “History.” His researches led him to oppose the results of the historians Niebuhr, Ewald, and Movers, and of the Assyriologists Brandes, Smith, and Schrader. He inclines to the views of Oppert, who applied the information derived from the Assyrian inscriptions to the vindication of the Biblical chronology nearly as determined by Ussher. Since Graetz wrote his note (1873), almost amounting to a treatise, evidence for the one or the other opinion has been strengthened or invalidated by the more minute and extended study of the monuments, inscriptions, and otherxi records of Egypt, Babylonia, and Assyria. The reader interested in the subject is referred to the works of such scholars as Duncker, Oppert, Kamphausen, and Eduard Meyer.

Finally, it is hoped, that the four maps accompanying the Index Volume will meet with favor and frequent use. They have been inserted in a pocket and not bound with the book, so that they may be removed readily for reference in connection with any volume the student may be reading. The two maps of Palestine and that of the Semitic World are reproduced, with modifications, from Professor George Adam Smith’s forthcoming Bible Atlas. The one of the Jewish-Mahometan World was made for the Society by Mr. J. G. Bartholomew of the Edinburgh Geographical Institute, the cartographer who drew the other three maps. The maps of the Jewish-Mahometan World and the Semitic World are general reference maps; the two of Palestine represent the political divisions of the land, the one at the time of the Judges, the other at the time of Herod the Great.

The Committee expresses the hope that this sixth volume, an epitome of Jewish history, may “manifest its treasures,” “facilitate the knowledge of those who seek it, and invite them to make application thereof.”

March, 1898.


CONTENTS.

Memoir of Heinrich Graetz 1
Tables of Jewish History.
Chronological Table 89
Table of the Kings of Judah and Israel 127
Table of the High Priests (from the Captivity to the Dispersion) 128
Genealogical Table of the Hasmonæan Dynasty 130
Genealogical Table of the Herodian Dynasty 134
Index.
Index to the whole work 139

1

HISTORY OF THE JEWS.


MEMOIR OF HEINRICH GRAETZ.

I.
YOUTH.

The disruption and final partition of the Polish kingdom by its three neighboring states occurred in 1795. With its dissolution a new era began in the history of the numerous Jewish communities in that part of the Polish territory which passed under Prussian and Austrian sovereignty. The event that thus ushered them into the world of Western civilization may justly be considered as marking for them the transition from the middle ages to modern times. Prussia allowed no interval to elapse between the act of taking possession of her newly acquired domain and its organization. It was incorporated into the state as the provinces of South Prussia and New East Prussia. But after 1815 the Prussian crown remained in possession only of the Grand Duchy, or the Province, of Posen, the district that had constituted the kernel of Great Poland. This piece of land was of extreme importance to the Jews, being the home of the most numerous, the oldest, and the most respectable congregations. It was situated at only a short distance from the Prussian capital, to which it appeared to have been brought still nearer by the organic connection established with the older parts of the state. It was natural to expect that, in consequence of the political union, the economic relations2 with Berlin, always close, would become more intimate and more numerous, and would develop new business advantages. On the other hand, the capital was viewed with distrust as the home of the movement radiating from Mendelssohn and his school, which aimed at something beyond the one-sided Talmud study then prevalent, and strove to bring modern methods of education and modern science within reach of the younger generation.

The rigorous system of organization by which the Polish districts were placed upon a Prussian basis induced so radical a transformation of all the relations of life that the Jews experienced great difficulty in adjusting themselves to the new order of things. Opposition to the state authorities and the economic conditions was futile; there was nothing for it but to try to adapt oneself without ado. By way of compensation, the efforts to keep religious practices and traditional customs pure, untouched by alien and suspicious influences, in the grooves worn by ancient habit, were all the more strenuous. Talmudic literature was to continue to be the center and aim of all study and science, and religious forms, or habits regarded as religious forms, were not to lose an iota of their rigidity and predominance. The urgent charge of the Prussian government to provide properly equipped schools to instruct and educate the young in a manner in keeping with the spirit of the times was evaded, now by subterfuges, now by promises. But in the long run the influences of the age could not fail to make themselves felt. Sparks from the hearth of the emancipation movement were carried into the Province, and burst into flame in one of the great congregations, that of the city of Posen, particularly proud and jealous of the Talmudic renown and the hoary piety of its Ghetto.

The position of rabbi in Posen had become vacant, and in 1802 it was proposed to fill it with3 Samuel ben Moses Pinchas from distant Tarnopol, the brother of the deceased rabbi. He was the author of בית שמואל אחרון {Hebrew: Beyt Shmuel Acharon}, and an arch-Talmudist of the old stamp. Under the shelter of assumed names, a number of the younger men ventured to send the government a protest against the choice of an “uncouth Polack.” It was alleged that the mass of the people favored him on account of

“the Kabbalistic fable which constructs a genealogy for this Podolian that makes it appear that he belongs to the stock from which the Jewish Messiah is to spring, etc.”

The government took the petition into consideration, and so informed the signers. On account of the fictitious names the answer went astray. Instead of reaching the petitioners, it fell into the hands of the directors of the congregation and into those of the deputy rabbis, the B’ne Yeshiba.

“They immediately assembled all so-called scholars and Talmud disciples after the manner of the ancient Synhedrin, and invited the parents, parents-in-law, and relatives of all persons suspected of harboring heterodox ideas. Then they summoned each of us singly, put him into the center of a terrifying circle of rough students, and upbraided him in the following words, accompanied by the most awful curses: ‘Thou devilish soul that hast vowed thyself unto Satan! Thy appearance gives evidence of thy antipathy to our statutes; thy shaved beard, thy apparel (thy Jewish garb is only a sham), everything proves thee, thou impious one, a betrayer of Jewish mysteries to Christians. Thou readest German books. Instead of holy Talmud folios, thou keepest maps, journals, and other heathenish writings concealed in thy attic. Therefore, confess thy sin, that thou art one of the authors of the accursed memorial! Do penance as we shall direct. Deliver up to us thy unclean books immediately. Subscribe without delay to this sacred election of our rabbi; else, etc., etc.’”1

The hotly contested election of the rigidly Talmudic yet none the less gentle rabbi was carried, but no effort availed to check the spread of the new spirit. Steadily though slowly modern views gained the upper hand, and in 1816 a Jewish private school4 of somewhat advanced standing was successfully established in Posen. Now and again men of independent fortune mustered up courage to send their children to the Gymnasium or to the higher Christian schools, of which, to be sure, not a large number existed at the time. In 1824 the state interfered, and ordered the establishment of German elementary schools in all the Jewish communities of the Province giving evidence of vitality. The situation now assumed a peculiar aspect. General culture, acquaintance with the classic literature of Germany, France, and England, came to be esteemed an accomplishment and a personal charm; yet beyond the three R’s the rising generation was not given the opportunity of acquiring a general education. On the contrary, the desire was to limit study to that of rabbinic and Hebrew writings. In the larger communities, like Posen and Lissa, the centers of Talmud study, a conscious effort was made to frighten off young people, especially Talmud disciples, from the acquisition of secular culture. It should be mentioned, however, that in many of the smaller communities the longing for education was encouraged as much as possible. So it came about that the highly endowed, ambitious spirits of that generation in the Province had to struggle most bitterly and painfully to make headway. But their hardships were counterbalanced by the advantages they derived from the conflict. Their intellectual energy and self-reliance came forth from the contest steeled. Impregnated as almost all of them were with the spirit of the Talmud, they had pierced to its essence, and, filled with enthusiasm for the rabbinical heroes, they had breathed in devotion to the ideals of Judaism.

This was the soil upon which Heinrich Graetz grew up, and such were the conditions and agencies moulding the development of a man destined to5 create an historical work, at once monumental and popular; embracing thousands of years, the most widely separated regions, and the most diversified fields of human activity; retracing with all the resources of learning and ingenuity the magic, faded, illegible characters of the evolution of Judaism, and illuminating them with colors of fairy-like brilliance;--an historical work, which, by reason of the warmth of its narrative style, has come to be a book of edification, in the best sense of the word, unto the author’s brethren-in-faith.

Heinrich Hirsch Graetz was born October 31 (Cheshwan 21), 1817, in Xions (pronounced Kshons), a wretched little village of 775 inhabitants in the eastern part of the Province of Posen. In a family of two brothers and one sister he was the first-born. His father, Jacob Graetz, was a man of tall stature, who, dying in 1876, reached an age of over ninety years. His mother, Vogel, of the family of Hirsch of Wollstein, was of average height and robust physique, with lustrous gray eyes. She died in 1848 only fifty odd years old. To her the son showed most resemblance, both spiritually and physically. A little butcher-shop yielded them an honest but paltry livelihood. In the hope of improving their material condition, the family removed to Zerkow, a few miles off, some years after Heinrich’s birth. At the time the village contained not more than 800 inhabitants, among them a single person able to read, a real estate owner, to whom all letters were carried to be deciphered on the open street in solemn public assembly.2 But the Jewish congregation consisted of one hundred members, and a remarkable increase in the population of the little town seemed to give fair promise of a prosperous future. It is worthy of mention, besides, that the scenery of Zerkow, wreathed round with6 hill and stream, forest and meadow, is not so flat and unattractive as that of most parts of the Province.

Here the boy received his first impressions, and here he enjoyed his first instruction in a school distinguishable from a genuine Cheder only inasmuch as it began in a measure to accommodate itself to the modest demands made by the government upon a Jewish primary school. He was taught reading, writing, ciphering, and the translation of the Bible. Great love of study and marked talent became apparent in him; he was therefore introduced to a knowledge of Hebrew and the Talmud. When he was confirmed at thirteen, the age at which the boys of that period were in the habit of deciding definitely on their careers, his parents did not for a moment question the propriety of continuing their son’s intellectual training. It would have been most natural to send him to Posen, where a popular Talmud school was flourishing under the direction of the highly esteemed Chief Rabbi Akiba Eger. But his parents’ means were too slender to suffice for his maintenance, and shyness and pride prevented young Graetz from making his way after the fashion of beggar students. There was but one course, to send him to Wollstein, where his mother had sisters and other relatives. Though by no means possessed of great wealth, they were willing to give him assistance. The Wollstein sojourn proved eminently favorable to his development. The town, situated in the western part of the Province, was not destitute of natural charms, to which the boy’s impressionable mind eagerly responded. The population, chiefly German, numbered 2258 persons, among them 841 Jews,3 by no means an inconsiderable congregation. Besides, it was in fairly comfortable circumstances. It had always7 taken pride in maintaining a Talmud school, which, at the time of Graetz’s advent, was distinguished for the liberal, enlightened spirit pervading it and the active encouragement accorded its students in their desire for culture. Rumor had it that the rabbi, Samuel Samwel Munk, who had been called from Bojanowo to Wollstein at the beginning of the century, knew how to read and write German, and was in the habit of reading German books and even journals in the hours that are “neither day nor night.” At all events, he did not put obstacles in their way, when his disciples, spurring each other on in the impetuous rivalry of youth for pre-eminence, sought to slake their thirst for secular knowledge.

Graetz arrived in Wollstein at the end of the summer of 1831, fourteen years old. At that youthful age, the Bachur had ventured to undertake, in a Hebrew far from perfect, it must be confessed, a work on the calendar entitled, “חשבון העתים {Hebrew: Cheshbon Ha’itim}, Jewish and German Chronology.”4 He was a zealous attendant upon the rabbi’s Talmudic lectures, and derived great profit from them. His teacher conceived a lively and kind interest in him, as well as a high opinion of his ability, though he did not suspect his future eminence. Rabbinic studies did not occupy his mind to the exclusion of other pursuits. Inextinguishable thirst for knowledge had taken possession of him, and all books that fell in his way were read with avidity. Most of the available literature consisted of romances of chivalry, of the kind in vogue at that time. Among them “Raspo of Felseneck,” now completely forgotten, made a particularly deep impression upon him. Reproved by one of his patrons, and provided with8 more suitable books by him, he read with keen enjoyment Campe’s narrative and moral writings. At the same time historical books began to attract him strongly. Though he had to confess to himself, somewhat crestfallen, that he did not understand the greater part of what he read in them, he studied Bredow’s short compendium of universal history, Becker’s large work on the same subject, and a biography of Napoleon. He soon realized the necessity of acquiring Latin and French. Without teacher, without guidance, without counsel other than that afforded by like-minded companions, he devoted himself to Meidinger’s French grammar and later to Bröder’s Latin grammar, until he had gotten all between their covers by heart. He was overjoyed when he could begin to read the classic writers of foreign countries in their own languages. In his zeal, he permitted himself to be governed by chance. Whatever fortune played into his hands, he grasped at with instantaneous ardor, and pursued with sporadic industry. He picks up a translation of Euclid, for instance. At once he devotes himself to it heart and soul, difficult though he finds it to gain a clear notion of geometric concepts and methods. An itinerant rabbi from Poland, offering his own commentary upon the Book of Job for sale, comes to Wollstein, and meets with appreciation and respect. Reason enough for the enthusiastic and ambitious Talmud disciple to take interest in nothing but Bible exegesis and Hebrew grammar for months thereafter. Keen, discriminating love of nature, to whose attractions he remained susceptible until his last days, develops in him. He spares no effort to acquaint himself with the flora of his native province and with the mysteries of the starry heavens. Success was a foregone conclusion with one whose equipment consisted of miraculously quick comprehension, a retentive memory, and industry oblivious of all but its object; coupled with9 an iron constitution and indestructible working powers, not in the least impaired by lack of food and sleep.

Despite his modest demands, he constantly had to battle against want and distress. His nature was proud, self-reliant, and, it must be admitted, unpractical. An exaggerated sense of honor forbade his seeking help even when a petition would have been justified. He preferred to conceal his troubles. For example, he ate dry bread on many a Sabbath, a day on which it was considered a privilege to entertain Talmud disciples. Regardless of wind and weather, he would slip off into the country, a book in his pocket, in order not to reveal his helpless condition. Finally, in spite of his secretiveness, some friend or other discovered his plight, and found ways and means of relieving his distress. Of sanguine temperament, he sought and found consolation in books. Graetz managed to read and study an amazing quantity in the four years and a half of his Wollstein sojourn. His most determined efforts were applied to the acquisition of the French language and literature, his favorite studies, at that time ranking high in the scale of accomplishments. The more important works of Fénelon, Voltaire, Rousseau, and others, and the dramas of Racine and Victor Hugo he knew thoroughly. He had read Lessing, Mendelssohn, Schiller, and other classic writers of Germany, and was attracted particularly to Wieland, to whose works he devoted earnest attention. It is curious that the diary which he then kept does not contain a single reference to Goethe, as if by chance or for some reason he had remained in ignorance of the great poet’s works. On the other hand, he became acquainted towards the end of the Wollstein period with the writings of Börne, Heine, and Saphir, which vivified the proneness to irony and satire dormant in him. The Latin authors gave him most trouble. Yet he mastered Cornelius Nepos,10 Curtius, and several books of Ovid’s Metamorphoses and of Virgil’s Æneid. That he accomplished extensive reading of rabbinic literature at the same time, and did not neglect his Talmudic studies, is attested by the distinction with which Rabbi Munk honored Graetz, much to his surprise. At New Year 5595 (October, 1834), he was invested with the title Chaber, a degree conferred only upon most worthy and most rarely endowed Talmud disciples of his youthful age.

But now fermentation set in, and white flakes began to rise to the surface of the young wine. Wholly self-taught, he had devoted himself to reading without plan or method, following blind chance or humoring his whims. In this way he had laid up a store of knowledge, promiscuous as well as rich. A chaotic mixture of irreconcilable, disparate ideas and opinions surged through his head, and excited tumultuous commotion in his world of thought and feeling. In November, 1835, the following entry was written in his diary:

“By the various contradictory ideas that perplexed my brain--heathen, Jewish, and Christian, Epicurean, Kabbalistic, Maimonidian, and Platonic--my faith was made so insecure that, when a notion concerning God, eternity, time, or the like, assailed me, I wished myself into the abyss of the nether world.”

Although his humor and his opinions were somewhat unsettled, he by no means had drifted from his moorings. The existence of God and the immortality of the soul were the fixed poles of his emotional world to which he clung. Another entry a little further on in his diary says:

“Like furies such thoughts tugged at my heart-strings, when, as often happened, they arose, suggested by my poverty as well as by certain classes of books. Only the clear, star-studded sky, upon which my eyes were wont to rest with delight on Saturday evenings after sundown, renewed the blessed comforting consciousness in me: Yes, there is a God beyond the starry canopy!”

On the other hand, he began to chafe against the daily religious practices of Judaism, which he had11 always observed with scrupulous conscientiousness, as he had been taught to do. Even then he did not neglect them, but he was offended by the multiplicity of ceremonies and still more by the petty, poor-spirited, unæsthetic manner in which the people among whom he lived observed them. They no longer were religious observances; they were habits. Attributing the responsibility for these conditions to the Talmud, he bore it ill-will. His repugnance grew whenever he contrasted its style and method with those of the great works of literature with which he had recently become conversant. Comparisons of this kind did not serve to enhance the credit of the rabbinic collection with him. There was another cause for irritation. Up to that time he had lived, or rather studied, heedless of practical concerns. Now his parents and relatives were probably beginning to urge upon him the necessity of considering the choice of a vocation or of turning to professional studies. So just a demand he could not disregard, especially in the sensitive state of mind in which he then found himself. Often he brooded over the question, “What next?” and elaborated the most bizarre plans only to reject them. A seemingly slight incident occurred which quelled the commotion in his breast. His craft, helplessly driving among perilous crags, was guided into smooth waters by a little book appearing just then under the title, “אגרת צפון {Hebrew: Igeret Tzafon}, Nineteen Letters on Judaism, published by Ben Usiel.”5

The partisans of the reform movement, who proposed to remodel or set aside religious customs and traditional observances of historical Judaism as incompatible with modern life, had up to that time maintained the upper hand in the literary discussion of religious affairs. They were exerting constantly12 increasing attraction upon the younger generation, and were growing bolder and more impetuous in their propaganda for the obliteration, as far as possible, of religious peculiarities. Bent upon the preservation of old faith and custom unimpaired, their opponents had at first refused to make any concession whatsoever to the modern demands, and had even failed to provide themselves with new weapons of defense. When the movement assumed threatening dimensions, the conservatives faced it unprepared and impotent. Bewildered strangers in the great world, habituated to the social forms of the Ghetto, enmeshed in the web of Talmudic ideas, they were wholly unable to put up an efficient leader or regenerator. Suddenly that which had long been painfully lacking seemed to incorporate itself in a young theologian. In the above-mentioned anonymous work, “Nineteen Letters,” Samson Raphael Hirsch, rabbi at Oldenburg, championed the undiminished value of all religious usages with skill, eloquence, and intrepidity. His manner held out the hope that he would breathe a new spirit into the old forms. The boldness of the work in frankly presenting this point of view with all the consequences springing therefrom produced the effect of a sensational occurrence upon the Jewish public. Into the mind of Graetz, casting about for an anchor for his disturbed feelings, it fell like a flash of lightning, revealing the path to be followed in the search for his ideals. He reports:

“Often I spoke of it [religious doubt] to B. B., the only one to whom I could tell my thoughts on such subjects. Then he would allege the urgent necessity for reforms in view of the gradual decay of religion. But I realized, that reform, that is, the omission of a number of laws organically interwoven with the rest, would abrogate the whole Law. How delighted I therefore was with a new book, ‘אגרת צפון {Hebrew: Igeret Tzafon}, Nineteen Letters on Judaism, anonymous,’ in which a view of Judaism I had never before heard or suspected was defended with convincing arguments. Judaism was represented as the best religion and as indispensable to the salvation of mankind. With avidity I devoured every word. Disloyal though I had been13 to the Talmud, this book reconciled me with it. I returned to it as to a mistress deemed faithless and proved true, and determined to use my utmost effort to pierce to its depths, acquire a philosophical knowledge thereof, and, as many would have me believe that I might become a so-called ‘rabbi-doctor of theology’ (studirter Rabbiner), publicly demonstrate its truth and utility. I set about my task at once, beginning with the first folio ברכות {Hebrew: Berachot} and the first Book of Moses. I dwelt upon every point with pleasure, treating them not as remnants of antiquity, but as books containing divine help for mankind. My endeavor was materially advanced by the knowledge I had acquired here, among other things of theology, which only now I learned to esteem as a branch of science; of geometry--I had studied nearly the whole of the first three books of Euclid; and of history.”

After that he could not content himself with life in Wollstein; the place had nothing more to offer him. The resolution to quit the town, which had grown into his heart as his second home, was facilitated by the removal of an uncle, depriving him of his strongest support; by the usual disappointment and revulsion of feeling following the usual extravagance of a youthful, fantastic love-affair; and by conflicts with companions and patrons, caused to some extent doubtless by the disharmonious state of his mind and aggravated by tittle-tattle. But whither was he to turn to satisfy the yearnings of his soul? He decided on Prague, the Mecca of the young Jewish theologians of the day, “a city most famous for learning, hospitality, and other virtues.”

II.
THE APPRENTICE.

Graetz left Wollstein in April, 1836, and went to Zerkow to acquaint his parents with his intentions and consult with them. Letters of recommendation to families in Prague were obtained, and his parents and other relatives made up a small purse for him. Graetz secured a passport, packed his modest belongings in a handbag, and set out on his journey in high spirits. Partly afoot, partly by stage when the fare was not forbidding, he made14 his way to Breslau, and thence through the Silesian mountains to the Austrian boundary, which he reached not far from Reinerz. Here, though he was fortified with a passport, the frontier inspector, like a cherub with a flaming sword, opposed his entrance into Austria. He was unable to produce ten florins ($5) cash, the possession of which had to be demonstrated by the traveler who would gain admission to the land of the double eagle, unless he came as a passenger in the mail-coach. Dismayed our young wanderer resorted to parleying, and appealed to his letters of recommendation. In vain; the official would hear of no compromise. Too proud and inflexible to have recourse to entreaty or trickery, Graetz grimly faced about, and much disheartened journeyed as he had come, over the same road, back to Zerkow. His parents were not a little astonished at his return, and equally rejoiced to have their son with them for some time longer. The adventure may be taken as typical of the curious mishaps that befell him in practical life, particularly at the beginning of his career. They often cut him to the quick, but never shook his belief in his lucky star. His originative and impressionable nature carried with it the power of discerning important points of view and valid aims, but he seems to have been too far-sighted and impetuous to lay due stress upon the means and levers necessary for the attainment of ends.

For the moment he sought to drown remembrance of his abortive journey in study. He became absorbed in Latin works; he read Livy, Cicero’s de natura deorum, which compelled his reverential admiration, Virgil’s Æneid, and the comedies of Terence. Besides, he busied himself with Schrökh’s universal history and with his Wieland, whose “Sympathies,” “Golden Mirror,” and other works “delighted, refreshed, and fascinated” him “inexpressibly.” The Talmud and Hebrew studies claimed no15 less attention; he was especially zealous about the exegesis of the Earlier Prophets. Downcast by reason of the uncertainty of his future, and his scorn piqued by the pettiness and narrow-mindedness of his provincial surroundings, he found an outlet for his restlessness in all sorts of wanton pranks, such as high-spirited youths are apt to perpetrate in their “storm and stress” period. He ridiculed the rabbi, played tricks on the directors of the congregation, annoyed the burgomaster, always escaping unpunished, and even horrified his parents by accesses of latitudinarianism, such as the following. On the day before the eve of the Atonement Day, it is a well-known custom for men to swing a living rooster and for women to swing a living hen several times about their heads. At the same time a short prayer is recited, pleading that the punishment due for the sins committed by the petitioner be transferred to the devoted fowl. At the approach of the holy season, Graetz announced that he would certainly not comply with the Kapores custom, but his words were taken to be idle boastfulness. The fateful evening came, and the seriocomic celebration was long delayed by the non-appearance of the eldest son. The father’s wrath was kindled, and he threatened to burn all books other than Hebrew found in the possession of his heretic offspring. The mother set out to search everywhere for her erring son. When she finally found him, he went home with her in affectionate obedience, but nothing could induce him to manipulate the rooster in the customary way. Unswung and uncursed the bird had to be carried to the butcher, and only on the following day a touching reconciliation was effected.

After the Fast, a bookdealer at Wollstein, a friend of his, who usually kept him informed about new books on Jewish subjects, sent Graetz the “Nineteen Letters by Ben Usiel,” which he had16 longed to possess. The book again electrified him, and he conceived the idea of offering himself as a disciple to its author, whose identity had meantime been revealed. Samson Raphael Hirsch appeared to him to be the ideal of a Jewish theologian of the time and of the confidence-inspiring teacher for whom he had yearned, to obtain from him guidance and, if possible, a solution of the manifold problems occupying his mind. Accordingly, Graetz wrote to the District Rabbi (Landesrabbiner) of Oldenburg. He did not conceal his views, but clearly and frankly laid bare the state of his feelings and the course of his intellectual development. He was successful. After a short time, Hirsch addressed the following letter to him:

“My dear young Friend:--With pleasure I am ready to fulfill, as far as in me lies, the wish expressed in your letter to me. You know the sentence of our sages, יותר משעגל רוצה לינק הפרה רוצה להניק {Hebrew: Yoter mishe’egel rotzeh linak, haparah rotzah l’hanik},6 and if, as I should gladly infer from your letter, the views therein expressed are more than an evanescent mood; if it is your resolute determination to study Torah for its own sake, you are most cordially welcome, and I shall expect to see you after פסח הבע''ל {Hebrew: Pesach haba aleynu l’tovah}.7 But I have one request to make. In the ardor of your feelings, you have conceived an ideal picture of the author of the ‘Letters’ by far exceeding the real man in size. Reduce the picture by half, by three-fourths, indeed, and ask yourself whether you are still attracted by it. Do not expect to find an accomplished master, but a student occupied with research. If your heart still says yes, then come. I should like to be informed as soon as possible, whether I may expect you after Pessach, as I shall have to modify another relation accordingly. Be kind enough, too, if you have no objection, to let me know how you expect to support yourself here. I trust that you will neither take umbrage at this question nor misconstrue it. It was put only because I wanted to express my willingness to assist you as much as I can during your stay here, if it should be necessary. Therefore, I beg you to be as frank and unreserved in your answer as I ventured to be in my question. With kindest regards, etc.

Oldenburg, December 26, ’36.”

To this letter Graetz replied, that he did say “yes” from the bottom of his heart; that it was17 his dearest ambition to devote himself to genuine Judaism and its doctrines; that he especially desired to learn the methods of Talmud study, particularly of the Halakha, pursued by a man whom he admired profoundly; that as for his livelihood, the satisfaction of the most elementary needs sufficed for him; and that his parents would give him a small allowance.

In answer thereto, the formal invitation to come to Oldenburg was extended by Hirsch on February I, 1837. He offered Graetz board and lodging in his own house, with the understanding that his parents would provide for other needs, and he expected his disciple after Passover (in May). Wishing to visit relatives on the way and see the sights of Berlin and Leipsic, Graetz set out as early as the beginning of April. In Berlin the museum and the picture-gallery made a deep impression upon him. That he was a remarkably sharp observer is shown in the following accurate characterization of the preacher Solomon Plessner, with whom he became acquainted in Berlin:

“This famous man I also visited, and I found attractive features indicative of acuteness, but a neglected exterior and careless, ungrammatical speech, not guiltless of the Jewish sing-song (mauscheln). This surprises me, for his language in his sermons is pure and choice. He is between forty and fifty years old, wears a beard, and seems to be honestly and genuinely religious. But his manner is excited; he speaks with rapid utterance, all the while running to and fro and arranging his books absent-mindedly.”

In Leipsic he visited his countryman Fürst, concerning whom he reports:

“A little man whose face was familiar to me from my childhood days came towards me. I handed him the letter given me by his mother. He said indifferently: I shall write in a few days. But when I told him the goal and purpose of my journey, and showed him the letters [from Hirsch], his attitude changed, and he talked with me in a very friendly way. Finally, when he recognized that I was not an ignoramus, he confided several matters to me, told me about his scientific adversaries, and boasted that he had taught Gesenius, that he had become reconciled with Ewald, that the greatest scholars corresponded with him, etc.... Our conversation18 grew more and more confidential, and finally we parted as friends. He invited me to visit him again, if I changed my mind and staid over פסח {Hebrew: Pesach}.... In case I did not remain, I had to promise that I would enter into correspondence with him.... I was particularly pleased to find, that Fürst has no intention of accepting baptism, and that he means to promote the cause of Judaism.... To work for Judaism, he says, is the prime obligation of every Jew that devotes himself to study, by which he means strictly scientific, possibly also philologic study.”

In order not to fritter away all his time while traveling, Graetz began to study Greek, and the Greek conjugations served to beguile dreary hours, banishing remembrance of the mishaps that could not fail to befall one with straitened means on so long a journey, and counteracting the despondency which in consequence often seized upon him. In a miserable village, in which he was forced to spend a whole day on account of the Sabbath, he found a copy of the New Testament, and read it for the first time. He describes the impression made upon him by this first reading in the following words:

“Despite the many absurdities and inconsistencies, the mildness of the character of Jesus attracted me; at the same time I was repelled, so that I was altogether confused.”

On May 8, finally, he arrived in Oldenburg, where a new world opened before him.

In Samson Raphael Hirsch he met a man whose spiritual elevation and noble character compelled his profound reverence, and who fully realized all the expectations that he had harbored concerning him. Hirsch was a man of modern culture, and his manner was distinguished, even aristocratic, although he kept aloof from all social intercourse. He was short of stature, yet those who came in contact with him were strongly impressed by his external appearance, on account of his grave, dignified demeanor, forbidding familiarity. With great intellectual gifts and rare qualities of the heart, he combined varied theological attainments and an excellent classical education. Comprehensive or19 deep ideas cannot be said to have been at his disposal, but he scintillated with original observations and suggestive sallies, which put his new pupil into a fever of enthusiasm. He was the only teacher from whom Graetz’s self-centered being received scientific stimulation; perhaps the only man to exercise, so far as the stubborn peculiarity of Graetz’s nature permitted it, permanent influence upon his reserved, independent character.

On his arrival in Oldenburg, the new-comer was most kindly received by Hirsch, and was at once installed in his house, of which thenceforth he was an inmate. Instruction was begun on the very next day. The forenoons were devoted to the Talmud, the late afternoons to the Psalms. The disciple was singularly attracted and stimulated, fairly elevated by the brilliant, penetrating method applied to the exegesis of these works. Plan, order, and coherence were now imposed upon his scientific acquirements. Hirsch took true fatherly interest in his protegé; he exerted himself to discipline his mind and fix his moral and religious standards. At the same time, as though even then a suspicion of the unusual force and talent of this youth panting for knowledge and instruction had dawned upon him, he guarded against assuming the airs of a domineering pedagogue. Despite the difference in age between them he treated him as an equal. He was endowed with truly marvelous power to stir his disciple’s soul-life to its depths. Every chord of Graetz’s being was set in vibration, and he solemnly vowed to remain a true son and an honest adherent of Judaism under all circumstances. Added years may have contributed to the result; but at all events it is certain that Graetz developed visibly under this master’s guidance.

The services required of him in the house of his teacher were mainly those of an assistant. He accompanied the District Rabbi on his tours of20 inspection, the tedium of their journeys being relieved with discussions on Talmudic and Biblical subjects. He revised with Hirsch the last part of the latter’s “Horeb,” helped him read the proof of the last sheets of the book, which delighted and thrilled the young man, and assisted him in various similar ways. How flattering an opinion the punctilious rabbi must have held of his assistant is proved by the fact, that when he had to go to a resort for the restoration of his undermined health, he authorized him to render decisions on questions of religious law (שאלות {Hebrew: Sh’eylot}) during his absence. The assistant fulfilled his duties so conscientiously that the responsibility oppressed him. He confessed that he had imagined the rendering of correct decisions much easier. His enthusiasm burst into flame when he received the following affectionate letter from Hirsch:

“My dear Graetz:--I still owe you cordial thanks for your kind lines. I am delighted to hear that you are industrious, and that you keep to my time-schedule so well. Continue to study, for I, on my part, shall soon have forgotten how to study, and literally shall have to begin to learn all over again. Before my departure, I wanted to call your attention to something, and I do now what I then forgot. I have frequently seen you read the works of Bayle. They are a treasury of learning, and much information can be derived from them, but the man takes peculiar pleasure in laying stress upon דברי ערוה {Hebrew: Divrei ervah};8 things of that kind are טמא {Hebrew: tamei} and מטמא {Hebrew: M’tamei}9. Pass lightly over such passages; they are unprofitable and harmful; read only what is purely scientific. Follow my advice, etc., etc.”

Such friendly and tactful admonitions, permitting the pupil to follow out his own bent, were always employed by Hirsch, and they but served to enkindle Graetz’s enthusiasm anew. In spite of the young man’s critical propensities combined with a sanguine temperament, his devoted attachment to his master by no means waned under the strain of daily intimate intercourse, not even when he could no longer doubt his ideal’s lack of historic depth21 and scientific, or rather philosophic insight. Graetz’s nature strongly impelled him to form friendships, and his attachments were fervent. He always felt a lively interest in what went on about him, and even at that early time he was fond of taking an active part in shaping the occurrences of the day, whenever he thought, that by assuming the rôle of Providence he might be useful to his friends in the ordering of their affairs--a disposition that redounded later to the benefit of many of his pupils. In January, 1837, for instance, the belated news reached him from his home, with which he kept up a steady correspondence, that the Chief Rabbi Akiba Eger had died in Posen. Without being commissioned to do so, he wrote to the directors of the Posen congregation, and brought Hirsch, whose yearning for a wide sphere of activity he knew, to their notice. When the directors entered into negotiations with Hirsch he broke out into jubilation. In fact, a party favoring the pretensions of the Oldenburg District Rabbi formed in Posen, but nothing more resulted. The procedure was repeated when the Wollstein rabbinate fell vacant in 1840, except that Hirsch, to his disciple’s great disappointment, would not share Graetz’s enthusiasm for Wollstein. From this it appears that Graetz was not a recluse nor a bookworm. In Oldenburg, as everywhere, he sought to meet people and cultivate friendly intercourse with them, and his joyous nature readily yielded to the innocent gayety of social pleasures.

At the same time he neglected neither his duties nor his studies. While with Hirsch he acquired the English language, and finding some Syriac books in the rabbi’s library, he began to devote himself to Syriac. The study of the former language his master seems to have encouraged, but not of the latter. Hirsch met his disciple with uniform kindness, and returned his enthusiastic devotion with fatherly22 benevolence. Graetz was treated as a member of his family. In the third year of his Oldenburg sojourn, his relations with the mistress of the house were disturbed by slight discords, such as cannot fail to arise in long-continued, familiar intercourse, and tend now to strengthen, now to abridge intimacy. With Graetz’s proud sense of independence they finally sufficed to ruffle the tranquillity of a soul wholly absorbed by the present. Anxiety about his future began to disquiet him. The desire to decide definitely upon a career and the longing to see his parents, who in the meantime had removed from Zerkow to Kosten near Posen, a somewhat larger town, united to make his departure from Oldenburg seem advisable.

III.
THE JOURNEYMAN.

The adieux were said with touching cordiality, and after an absence of more than three years Graetz set his face homeward, and arrived in Kosten in the middle of August, 1840. The younger people everywhere received Hirsch’s disciple with joyous welcome, and induced him to preach at Wollstein, Kosten, and Zerkow. His sermons, to be sure, did not transport his audiences with enthusiasm, but they were ample guarantees of the preacher’s fund of knowledge and originality. All his friends, therefore, agreed, that it would be advisable for Graetz to “study,” in the technical sense of the German word, that is, go through the university and obtain a degree. They adduced the fact that the smaller congregations at least, such as Wreschen, Wollstein, and Kosten, in part had appointed “graduate rabbis” (studirte Rabbiner), in part had resolved to fill their rabbinates with them.

To secure means for a university course, he23 agreed to accept a position as tutor in Ostrowo, and entered upon his work at the end of 1840. Ostrowo is a little town in the south-eastern part of the Province, the seat of a large Jewish community, which at the time was still completely under the sway of the graceless habits of Ghetto life. Graetz felt thoroughly uncomfortable. His position in the house at which he was engaged to teach did not please him, and in the town he found no one with whom he cared to cultivate friendly intercourse. He had submitted to tutoring, by no means an arduous occupation, in order to lay by money, but he lacked financial talent and the ability to economize. In fact, his devotion to his family connections, his good nature, and his improvidence involved him in pecuniary embarrassments so serious that the monologues in his diary overflow with pessimistic, melancholy reflections. He sought indemnification in frequent excursions to neighboring towns, in composing a Hebrew biography of Mishna teachers under the title תולדות אבות {Hebrew: Toldot Avot},10 and, it appears, in reading the works of the Fathers of the Church. On one of his little trips, the occasion being the betrothal of a friend of his, he met the sister of the fiancée, a very young girl, who attracted and pleased him, and who was destined to exert decisive and salutary influence upon his life. The meeting acted like a soothing charm upon his ill-humor, though he was far from anticipating the consequences it bore. He remained in his position at Ostrowo for one year and a half, until July, 1842, when a trivial occurrence ruptured the irksome relation in a manner not altogether pleasant.

Now he went straightway to Breslau to the University. As he had not been graduated from a Gymnasium, Graetz had to obtain ministerial permission24 to attend the University. His petition was granted, and, in October, 1842, he was matriculated. With reverential awe and expectation the self-taught student entered the mysterious lecture halls consecrated to pure science, only to leave them shrugging his shoulders at the wisdom proclaimed, disappointed, his longings unsatisfied. The knowledge of which he was master when he began his University course was richer and more varied than ordinary students are likely to start with, and though it was not systematically ordered nor well-balanced, it formed a unit, and had already begun to crystallize about a center. His apprenticeship years, in short, were over; the maturity of his views and his judgment is unmistakable.

While at the University, he heard lectures on a wide variety of subjects--on history, philosophy, Oriental languages, even physics--but it does not appear that any left deep traces upon his mind. Even Professor Bernstein, an Orientalist of considerable reputation, who drew him into the circle of his close associates, did not understand how to kindle his pupil’s zeal, usually so impetuous, for the thorough study of Syriac and Arabic. Apparently Graetz had relinquished the ambition to gain mastery of them. The only one to have success was Professor Braniss, a philosopher in high esteem in his day, with whom also Graetz cultivated intimate relations. He at all events must have been instrumental in acquainting him with the Hegelian system of philosophy, and in imbuing him with the recognition, that even in the world of liberty, that is, man’s world of mental endeavor, phases of development succeed each other in conformity with absolute laws, chiefly of an ideal, non-mechanical nature; that therefore the spiritual powers that produce the history of mankind by the realization of ever higher ideas not only follow their indwelling laws, but at the same time submit unconditionally25 to the law of cause and effect; and that the paradox of opposites, the principle of thesis, antithesis, and synthesis, is particularly helpful in the consideration of historical phenomena.

Though Graetz was immersed in his studies, he did not fail to give close attention to the occurrences in the Breslau Jewish community. The events happening there in those days were not merely of local interest. They cast their light and their shadow far beyond the Silesian frontier, and were the cause of intense excitement in all Jewish circles of Germany. In Breslau the orthodox and the reform views of Judaism for the first time rushed at each other with full force in the struggle for supremacy. Storm and conflict raged violently between the old and the new. Blind to the conditions of the time, orthodoxy stubbornly opposed a non possumus to every offer looking to an adjustment of difficulties. The representatives of the two parties, the orthodox Solomon Tiktin on the one side and the progressive Abraham Geiger on the other, sought to get the better of each other with remorseless acrimony. Geiger won the upper hand, and even the disruption of the Breslau congregation caused by Tiktin’s defeat did not derogate from the reform champion’s victory.

Dr. Abraham Geiger should be classed among the most prominent rabbis of his time. The modern development of the religious life had been proceeding quietly though steadily, when it was convulsed to its depths by the storm announced by his first appearance upon the rabbinical scene. As a speaker and as a writer he handled a popular style with masterful skill, which manifested itself in felicitous copiousness rather than in the concentration of precise, forcible language. One of the best pulpit orators among Jews, he succeeded in holding attention and stimulating thought by his simple manner and brilliant turns of expression.26 His published sermons, very limited in number, give not even an approximate idea of the powerful impression produced by his spoken words, totally unaided though they were by charms of person.11 His scholarly contributions to Jewish science are of pre-eminent and of permanent value. He has rendered particularly valiant service by his researches into the history of literature, a field in which he was master. On the other hand, one sometimes misses thoroughness of scholarly culture in his early productions, especially those of the first part of his Breslau period. Besides, he was fond of obtruding his reform bias. In spite of his scientific attainments, his historical sense lacked profundity, and in spite of his great achievements in the province of modern liturgy, his appreciation of the needs and emotions of the people’s spiritual life was neither sufficiently delicate nor sufficiently intense. At bottom he was a doctrinaire rationalist. His religious program and aims, too, were not clearly and definitely put forth. For example, his attitude towards the radical currents at that time rolling their destructive waves over Judaism amounted to more than benevolent neutrality. The observer cannot ward off the impression, that he was inclined to steer straight for ethical deism, and was restrained only by opportunist reasons. At this above all Graetz took umbrage, and by and by his antipathy to Geiger was complete. A good deal of sham and tinsel had probably slipped into the various tentative organizations which Geiger endeavored to call into existence; perhaps they were unavoidable concomitants of such efforts. It is possible, too, that the unpleasant impression was reinforced by a tendency to officiousness observable in Geiger--at27 worst a pardonable foible. As Graetz was constituted, he felt so strong a repugnance to humbug and pretense that he exercised neither forbearance nor consideration towards such faults. He visited Geiger only once, possibly twice. Immediately after Graetz had made himself at home in the lecture-rooms of his department, he paid his respects to the two rabbinical party-leaders. The entry in his diary is as follows:

“I have made the acquaintance of Rabbi Tiktin. With what reverence I used to stand and look at the mail-clad names of the Tiktins on the first pages of רי''פים {Hebrew: Rifim}!12 As Charlemagne in his iron armor kept all intruders at a becoming distance, so the dignity of those theologic knights seemed to me to be enhanced by the long beards and the imposing Spanish canes13 and the Talmudic dust. There was I sitting next to a descendant of those rabbinical נפילים {Hebrew: Nefilim}.14 Ah! what a falling-off there has been! Tempora mutantur et nos mutamur in illis. To be sure, there is still the stately stature, still the Spanish cane. But the ensemble, a something not to be defined in words, is missing. Next to the rabbi, nolentes volentes, I place Dr. Geiger, a spare little man. Why he was so very kind to me I do not know. Of Hirsch we have not yet spoken, and probably shall not speak. But to what depths we have sunk! In the presence of fifty Jews, headed by a רב {Hebrew: Rav}, Dr. Freund15 dares utter words like “rabbinically erratic inferences.” Cicero and Plato, then, are to be read as antidotes to rabbinical perversions. Zounds! And to-day Geiger delivered his first lecture on the Mishna. The Mishna is a collection of religious notions, as they were formed and developed from the Exile to R. Jehuda Hanassi. What insane logic!”

When, in March, 1843, the stiff-necked, tenacious champion of an effete form of Judaism, the lion-warrior Solomon Tiktin, last representative of a race of Talmudic heroes, wounded to the quick by his defeat, was removed from the scene by death, Geiger stood at the zenith of his fame. Since many a day no rabbi’s name had been so well-known as Geiger’s in all the extent of German Jewry, none28 was so frequently mentioned. In Silesia there was no more popular rabbi, and in Breslau his word was potent, influential, and feared by his adversaries. His scientific eminence was generally acknowledged; his eloquence dominated the pulpit no less than the minds of his hearers. Who dared attack him was badly used, and bore ridicule as well as injury from the fray.

In the course of the year 1844, the first signs of a slowly crystallizing reaction became noticeable. Various germinating forces looking to the formation of a new theologic party on a conservative platform consolidated in that year under the leadership of Zacharias Frankel. From this place and that, single barbed arrows, followed by more and sharper ones, winged by irony and hard to parry, came whizzing through the air, striking Geiger and his followers in the most sensitive spots. A well-known weekly Jewish journal, Der Orient, under the editorship of Dr. Fürst, published reports of the more important occurrences in the Breslau community. The descriptions of the anonymous correspondent were graphic, pungent, and critical. The articles naturally aroused attention. In Breslau, as they continued to appear week after week, they created a veritable sensation. The two parties looked forward to each issue of the “Orient” with equal expectancy, though otherwise with opposite feelings. In the orthodox camp there was exultation. At last an expert writer had appeared, who laid bare all sorts of evils fearlessly and unsparingly, and who seemed to serve the cause of conservatism by his bold opposition to Geiger. But who was the archer that sped his arrow with aim so true and poise so elegant? Guesses were hazarded, a narrow search was instituted, and especially the ranks of the Jewish students of theology at that time gathered in Breslau, mostly about Geiger, were sharply inspected. It was established beyond29 a doubt, that it was a homo novus, a student from the Province--Graetz, who, proudly independent of every sort of patronage, was earning a scant livelihood by giving lessons. The amazement grew when Graetz, nearly simultaneously with the just mentioned contributions to the “Orient,” published a critical review, valuable even at this late day, of Geiger’s “Textbook of the Mishnic Language.”16 This critique, auspiciously ushering him into the scientific world,17 was begun in the literary supplement of the “Orient” at the end of 1844, and continued as a series of articles in the following year. It gave him the opportunity of expounding his own views upon the subject and displaying advantageously a fund of information, mastery of the material, philological tact, scientific instincts, and considerable talent as a stylist. His criticism of the book is often to the point, but rather severe and not entirely free from animosity. It was characteristic of Graetz to express his opinion clearly and directly. Geiger replied to the challenge in “The Israelite of the Nineteenth Century”18 in still more acrimonious articles, which likewise are not wholly objective. In fact, they contain approaches to personalities, and dwell upon slips and trivial details, thus demonstrating the importance attached to the appearance of his young antagonist in the arena. In any event, Graetz had drawn the attention of a wider circle to himself, and in Breslau he had become at one bound the central topic of interest in Karlsstrasse. The orthodox partisans made advances to him, although he did not for a moment leave30 them in doubt about his disapproval of their program and his dissent from their religious views. He told them that he was pursuing his own original ideas, and that his guiding principle was unalterable loyalty to positive Judaism. However, he restrained them from many a foolish and fanatic step. In the face of orthodox opposition Geiger had energetically organized a religious school, which was prospering. Graetz therefore advised the adherents of orthodoxy not to permit themselves to lose touch with the younger generation, but to build up a similar institution on conservative lines. The advice seems to have fallen on fruitful soil. It was intimated to the counselor, that the intention was to entrust him with the organization and superintendence of a school of that kind, provided he obtained his University degree before its opening. Besides, his name was beginning to be mentioned in connection with vacant rabbinates. It was therefore necessary to hasten his graduation. After a few weeks of severe application, he finished his thesis, De auctoritate et vi, quam gnosis in Judaismum habuerit, which secured him the doctorate from the University of Jena in April, 1845. Under the title, “Gnosticism and Judaism,”19 the dissertation was published in that year as the first original product of his pen. The work in every respect bears the peculiar stamp of his scientific character. It is distinguished by familiarity with patristic literature; by his method of explaining Talmud statements, commonly taken to be general, as particular historical cases; by lucidity of arrangement and presentation; and by his happy gift of divining the occult relation between things, which enabled him to shed the first rays of light upon the ספר יצירה {Hebrew: Sefer Yetzirah},20 the most enigmatic book of rabbinical literature. The thesis was received kindly, and it gave him a place in the Jewish world of scholarship.

31 Such surprising successes swelled the breast of the literary novice, who had worked his way to the front by arduous toil, with justifiable and happy hopes. The halcyon days of young fame, at the remembrance of which his face lighted up with pleasure even in old age, he planned to spend with his parents. On his way home he passed through Krotoschin. There, in his friend’s house, he met the half-grown girl of other days, now in the flush of young womanhood. Her image, faint though it had become in the background of his memory, had not faded entirely. She was the daughter of Monasch, the proprietor of the well-known Hebrew printing establishment. Each made a deep impression upon the other, and encouraged to believe that his future might be considered assured, Graetz did not conceal his feelings. They were requited, and the young people plighted their troth. Graetz did not suspect that he had won a strong womanly heart that would be his beacon and a prop to which he would cling for support during the dark days soon to break over him.

All sorts of vague, undefined hopes arose before his view, and some of them gradually assumed shape. The prospect of an honorable position, such as he had longed for and aspired to, seemed about to be realized. The rabbinate of Gleiwitz, one of the larger congregations of Upper Silesia, taking rank in wealth and perhaps in size after Breslau, was vacant, and the authorities were looking out for a man equipped with rabbinic lore, standing upon the height of modern culture, and favoring a sober, moderate reform movement. All entitled to a voice in the matter fixed upon Graetz, whose reputation as a writer had spread to them. He seemed the most suitable incumbent. By virtue of his native talent and his attainments, it was thought that he would be able to overrule or to meet the manifold, rather hazy views and demands of the32 members of the congregation. The leading spirits among them declared themselves in favor of his election. Nothing more was necessary than to attract all the other circles of the community by proving his homiletic ability in several trial sermons, the success of which seemed a foregone conclusion. Before the great Holy Days of 1845 (5606) Graetz received a Hebrew communication from the directors of the Gleiwitz congregation, couched in the most flattering terms, assuring him of the reversion of the rabbinate, and inviting him to preach the sermons in their synagogue on the Day of Atonement.

At the appointed time, on the eve of the sacred day, he ascended the pulpit, and the result was--a thoroughly unexpected fiasco, the more deplorable as it shattered his own confidence in his oratorical powers. He had forgotten his memorandum completely. Losing his presence of mind, he had to leave the pulpit after saying a few words. His friends and followers stood by him loyally, and did their utmost to secure for him the opportunity of repairing the damage. He succeeded in rehabilitating himself only partly; the ground lost could not be recovered. The surprising mishap, it must be confessed now after the lapse of time, was a stroke of good fortune for the ambitious scholar and his life-work, ungentle though the impetus was that forced him into the path for which he was peculiarly equipped and gifted. In those days of universal fermentation, the religious life of Jewish communities was crossed and agitated by opposite, confused, and stormy currents. A man of uncontrollable impulse to be active and to exert independent, direct influence whenever it might seem necessary, and prone to give utterance to his convictions in truthful, incisive, and caustic language--a quality of dubious value--would hardly have succeeded in steering his rabbinical boat among the33 crags of party strife, usually carried on with fanatic violence. He would either have had to become faithless to his nature and genius, or, if that were not possible, eventually be wrecked. At best, in case he had a high degree of tact and prudence at his disposal, he would have consumed his finest powers in putting more or less salutary measures into effect on a restricted field. Graetz, who knew himself thoroughly, had always feared that he would not be in his proper place in a rabbinical position. From the first he had felt a shrinking at the thought of the duties and responsibilities of a rabbi. A few days before he left for Gleiwitz he wrote in his diary:

“Of all positions I am least adapted for that of rabbi; in every way I lack force of manner, an imposing presence. My knowledge, too, is highly defective, but my will is strong, energetic. If God’s service can be performed by an instrument of such caliber, then here am I ready for it, body and soul. But the preaching!”

In very truth the preacher’s Pegasus serves the noble enthusiasm of the elect willingly and ardently, and as willingly lends his back to mediocrity to execute more or less doubtful tricks before the eyes and ears of the many-headed crowd. Graetz it threw in the critical moment, and the fall affected him deeply and painfully. He who only a short time before, almost without effort, had won literary triumphs, and who as a rule shrank from no difficult undertaking, now despaired of ever being able to wield the living word with the power with which he directed the pen. In fact, he had been denied the external qualifications of an orator. It cannot be said to have been his appearance that stood in the way of success; he was of average height and well-knit frame. But in loud speech his voice lacked modulation, and his manner was ineffectual. Above all, he was incapable of posing; in his character there was not the slightest trace of the actor, who, as Goethe says, “might give points to a preacher.”

34

IV.
SCHOLAR AND TEACHER.

The above incident put a hopeless end to all the prospects he had entertained. Again care for his daily bread stalked by his side like a specter. The most deplorable aspect of his case was that his strength did not emerge from this severe contest, as from former ones, steeled and braced by cheering hopes for the future. Besides, he reproached himself for having drawn another and a beloved person into his forlorn life. Then the high-mindedness and unselfish devotion of the woman of his choice sustained him, refreshing his weary soul with consolation and encouragement, and calming the tumult of his wounded feelings. His animal spirits rose again under the stimulus of an honorable invitation, extended by Zacharias Frankel, to join a conference of conservative rabbis called by him to meet at Dresden in September,21 1846, for the purpose of discussing the religious problems of the day and uniting for concerted action.

At the very beginning of his career in Dresden, Dr. Zacharias Frankel had developed fruitful activity in connection with the removal of the political and civil disabilities, especially with regard to oaths, under which his coreligionists in Saxony were laboring. None the less he was essentially a scholar. Master of comprehensive knowledge of the Talmud, which he had acquired with critical thoroughness, he laid the foundations for the modern analysis of this work of literature. He made it his life-task to promote the scientific study of the Talmud and trace the evolution of the Halakha. The first-fruits of his literary endeavor betrayed the serious, thorough scholar by the accuracy, the scrupulous nicety, and35 the trustworthiness of his research, and secured for him a high and undisputed position in the scientific world. When the reform agitation within the Jewish community of Germany developed into a rapid stream whose waters grew more and more turbulent; when, on the one side, rabbinical conferences were planned for the purpose of systematizing and sanctioning projected innovations, and, on the other, distrust of the progressive leaders inspired the fear that the resolutions and professions of such assemblies might throw dangerous, inflammable material into the different congregations; Frankel deemed it prudent to give up his reserve and actively influence the religious movement. In 1844, accordingly, he began to publish the quarterly “Journal for the Religious Interests of Judaism.”22 It was to bear a strictly scientific character, and at the same time discuss the religious topics of the day. A sober, experienced, and tolerant theologian, Frankel held the position, that in matters of faith as in the other concerns of life the exigencies of the times have to be considered, but that concessions to the modern spirit may not remove us from historic ground, and that all modifications must result from a scientific appreciation of the essence and traditions of Judaism.

All this appealed strongly to Graetz, and no sooner had he come into public notice, in the year following the first appearance of the journal, than he sought to establish relations with Frankel. The latter met his advances with cordiality, and invited the young scholar to become a contributor to his quarterly review. Graetz responded with a brilliant and suggestive article, “The Septuagint in the Talmud.”23 It affords a striking example of his peculiar method of comparing Talmud and Midrash passages with each other and with the statements36 and quotations of the Fathers of the Church, thus determining the historical elements of the Talmudic account and building theories upon it. In the same year (1845), Frankel had gone to Frankfort-on-the-Main, to the second rabbinical conference, with the hope of infusing a spirit of moderation and conciliation into its proceedings and measures. But he abandoned the hope on the passage of the resolution, that the retention of Hebrew as the language of the synagogue service was only “advisable,” not “essential” (objektiv-nothwendig). He, therefore, withdrew from the conference in a public manner, and justified his action in a formal declaration, equally dignified and firm.

On all sides Frankel’s course met with hearty approval. Its effect was to startle the conservatives of every shade of opinion out of their apathy. Numerous prominent communities sent him flattering addresses, conveying their thanks and their unreserved commendation of his resolute policy. Graetz had written an enthusiastic document, which was circulated in Breslau, and was quickly covered with signatures. In collecting them, he had not been able to resist the malicious prompting to secure the names of notorious adherents of Geiger. The latter had taken deep offense at Frankel’s secession, and had been betrayed into abuse by his declaration. It is impossible to say now, why Frankel did not at once utilize the disposition in his favor to gather a large conservative party about himself. Only in the following year, 1846, he took steps looking to this end. He issued invitations to the conservative theologians of modern bias, summoning them to a convention at Dresden, with the purpose perhaps of devising an effective opposition to the third reform conference of rabbis to meet at Breslau in July of the same year. But even this effort was not made with the energy characteristic of Frankel and necessary to accomplish the desired37 result. When Graetz arrived in Dresden in September, 1846, he was amazed to find that no one else had put in appearance. Samson Raphael Hirsch, at that time District Rabbi of Emden, had from the first refused co-operation with the movement, inasmuch as he denied the authority, natural or conferred, of the modern rabbi to modify the religious cult. Rapoport of Prague had declined the invitation for reasons not specified. It is well-known that his interests were enlisted only in scientific pursuits. Michael Sachs of Berlin had excused himself on the plea of routine duties. For most of the others the time and place of convention were not convenient. To sue for support was out of the question with Frankel’s aristocratic temperament. It was repugnant to him, or he did not know how, to create sentiment in his own favor by agitation or self-advertisement. He could not attract a party to his leadership by seductive wiles, nor infuse fanatic factionalism into its ranks. Relying solely on the justice of his cause, and appealing exclusively to the convictions of his followers, he scorned petty tricks and artifices. That Graetz was the only one to render unconditional obedience to his summons must naturally have produced a deep impression upon him. The two men, so different in years, disposition, and endowments, but at one in views and aims, were brought close to each other by the personal meeting. By tacit agreement they became companions in arms from that moment unto the end. Graetz, at all events, recognizing that their religious principles approximated each other, was resolved to take his position in theological affairs by Frankel’s side, whenever so doing involved no loss of independence. Frankel in turn evinced a sense of their religious affinity by conferring upon Graetz, at his request, the formal authorization for the exercise of rabbinical functions התרת הוראה ({Hebrew: Hatarat hora’ah}). At the end of 1846, Frankel gave up38 the publication of his journal to save his strength for a better future. To this third and last annual series, Graetz had contributed, besides several reviews, one of his important treatises, that discussing “The Construction of Jewish History”24 in several articles. Bright and vivid in style and replete with fine thoughts which even homiletes drew upon in various ways, the essay defines clearly and sharply the considerations and points of view of essential importance in a complete presentation of Jewish history. But the author was still so prejudiced in favor of the technically philosophic terminology and conceptions of his time that he was betrayed into giving undue prominence to the transcendence of God as compared with the monotheistic idea.

Though Graetz had won high respect by his scholarly productions especially in theologic circles, he vainly looked about for a position, no matter how modest, in which to strike root. At last the sky seemed to grow brighter; he was cheered by the prospect of soon being able to establish a home of his own, a prospect that proved a fata morgana. By the end of 1846 the orthodox party in Breslau resumed energetic operations. They had accepted as their rabbi Gedaliah, the son of the deceased Solomon Tiktin, who had inherited from his father only his tall stature, and they were preparing to open a religious school for the propaganda of their principles. Its organization and superintendence were entrusted to Graetz.25 The Breslau community was no longer a unit, the orthodox members39 having separated from the congregation. But the seceders had no legally valid right to form a body corporate. Moreover, on July 23, 1847, the law defining the status of the Prussian Jews appeared, and it could not be determined how conditions would be modified by it. Wealthy individuals in their private capacity therefore assumed responsibility in the business contracts of the orthodox party, particularly in the matter of the new school. Then the political storms of 1848 swept over the Prussian provinces. Economic disturbances occurred, and apprehensive of still more serious ones, the wealthy patrons of the orthodox party recalled their pledges. The complete collapse of the religious school followed as the first sacrifice in orthodox circles claimed by the political flood, whose waves carried destructive change to the most remote relations between men. Graetz was again left stranded, without an occupation, without a livelihood.

At that time all eyes were turned towards Vienna, where the popular uprising had assumed vast dimensions and won surprising victories. Democracy stood in battle array, and had gained possession of the Austrian capital. It was fondly hoped that the fortune of war would decide there in favor of the democratic party. A friend of Graetz, Dr. B. Friedmann,26 later rabbi in Mannheim, was at that time prominent in Breslau as an effective popular speaker, and was a member of the editorial staff of the democratic organ, the Oderzeitung. By his intervention the curious proposition40 was made to Graetz to go to Vienna as correspondent of the journal just mentioned. In his forlorn state he acquiesced, though not without reluctance. On his journey to Vienna, he felt impelled to leave the direct route and stop off at Nikolsburg to pay a visit to his former teacher, Samson Raphael Hirsch, who had meantime resigned the District Rabbinate of Emden for that of Nikolsburg. Letters had passed between them constantly since the Oldenburg days, and although Graetz was not in sympathy with the rigidly traditional point of view occupied by Hirsch, and no longer viewed the theologic attitude of his old guide with youthful enthusiasm, but rather with critical, sober judgment, their friendly relations of other times had suffered no diminution in cordiality. Graetz’s love and reverence for Hirsch had not in the least evaporated, and Hirsch still felt strongly attracted to the younger man. He was not disposed to sanction his project of going to Vienna, the hot-bed of revolution, and Graetz, who had little love and desire for the calling of a political reporter, was easily persuaded to stay in Nikolsburg and content himself with a subordinate place at the religious school of the town. In the background, to be sure, the reversion of a teacher’s position at a theologic seminary, projected and seriously considered by Hirsch, loomed up before him.

Hirsch had long cherished the idea of founding a Jewish theologic institute. He shared this dear ambition with the other prominent rabbis of his generation, who hoped thus to further their wish to perpetuate each one his own theologic bias. The establishment of a theologic seminary was, in fact, one of the burning questions of the day. Nikolsburg, where a popular Talmud school had flourished from time immemorial, seemed to lend itself to the execution of Hirsch’s plan. It was only necessary to use the existing institution as a foundation,41 make the proper changes in its management, and infuse the new spirit into it. Graetz was at once induced by his patron to give a course of lectures on Jewish history to the students at Nikolsburg, who were well versed in the Talmud, but whose training had been wholly dialectic. The character of his auditors suggested the subject to the lecturer. He treated the time of the Mishna and the Talmud, a period of which he had previously made a thorough study, and to which he again devoted serious research with a view to his academic purpose. Despite the zeal with which he applied himself to his lectures and studies, his main expectation suffered disappointment. The painfulness of his precarious position became more pronounced as time passed. The fanatics of the Nikolsburg Ghetto found fault even with the scrupulously religious conduct of their District Rabbi; as for his disciple, he went up and down among them a strange, repellant figure. Denunciations led the local authorities to suspect him of democratic leanings, and he was thus branded with the darkest stigma that could be fastened upon any one, but particularly upon a foreigner, in the Austria of that day. All the influence possessed by his friends had to be exerted to ward off ugly complications and immediate expulsion.

It became more and more evident that the rabbinical seminary, upon which Graetz had staked all his hopes, was only a bubble. Whether the circumstances of place and time were unpropitious, or whether Hirsch dropped the plan for other reasons, is doubtful.27 Moreover, the friendly relations42 between the two men began to be somewhat strained. Therefore, the proposal to undertake the organization and superintendence of a school, made him by the directors of the Jewish community of Lundenburg, a little town in the Nikolsburg district in the neighborhood of Vienna, was hailed by Graetz as release from an untenable position. Negotiations were quickly concluded, and on September 12, 1850, he was appointed director and superintendent of the Jewish school at Lundenburg.

Before entering upon the duties of his office he hastened home, and in the beginning of October, 1850, solemnized his marriage with the loyal woman whose patience had never failed, who had never been discouraged by hope deferred, and had never lost confidence in his ability. He could not have found a truer, a braver comrade than the wife who shared the fortunes of the rest of his career. By her harmonious, temperate, and loving nature, she not only glorified his home and cheered cloudy days, but also restrained his impetuous disposition, and moderated his proneness to sharp, caustic, aggressive words. She understood the needs of his inmost soul, in the recesses of which a reverberation was sometimes heard as of vague, unfulfilled longings. His personality was made up of many an incommensurable factor that baffled explanation. With all his communicativeness he was reserved; the most intimate emotions of his heart were never revealed. To outsiders he always appeared wholly unruffled and serene, and no one suspected the thoughts and feelings stormily surging through his being under its placid surface. But in order to preserve his equanimity, he stood in need of frank expression43 to some one or in some way. It was the outlet and the purification of the easily excited and strongly reacting emotions of a nature responding quickly to external pressure. Probably the leaves of his diary served this purpose; most of them were written under the stimulus of tense passion. From the day of his marriage the record becomes more and more attenuated, until it ceases entirely. In his life-companion he had found the responsive being devoted to him in boundless veneration and sympathy, whose sentiments were a perfect echo, clearer usually than the original sound, of his thought and feeling. And as she took part in his soul-life, so she shared in his intellectual plans. She made her husband’s scientific interests her own, and in his scholarly research afforded him the efficient help of a careful assistant.

The new principal began his work in Lundenburg on October 15 with zeal and love for his task--he superintended, classified, taught, and delivered solemn addresses. Apparently success was not lacking, for he met with encouraging applause. In the shelter of his modest but happy home, he resumed his literary plans and work. While preparing his Nikolsburg lectures, he had gathered together an abundance of material on the Talmudic era, which he now meant to put to use.

Before long, however, gray clouds cast a shadow on his idyllic condition. The relation between him and Hirsch almost suffered an open breach. When the newly married couple came to Nikolsburg to pay their respects to him, Hirsch demanded that the young wife, in accordance with a Talmudic custom, cover her beautiful hair with a sort of wig, called Scheitel. She resisted the bidding politely but firmly, with the pride of an offended woman. Graetz upheld his wife energetically, and the two parties separated little pleased with each other. The low-hanging mist apt to develop in the atmosphere of44 narrow, undisciplined Ghetto life, particularly in a small Austrian community, was more oppressive even and harder to bear. The Lundenburg rabbi, a narrow-minded Talmudist, who feared to have his fame overshadowed by Graetz’s, now and again asserted his official superiority unpleasantly. Small town rivalries were fomented to annoy the notabilities of the congregation by means of attacks upon the measures and the men they favored. Such conditions made Graetz feel by their hidden venom that unmixed joy is the portion of no mortal, least of all of the principal of an Austrian communal school. Denunciations of him were again rife. Those before the district court representing him as a democrat incarnate were particularly troublesome. Happily the charges were dismissed without in the least injuring him.

The year 1851 heightened his happiness; it brought him the joys of fatherhood. A daughter was born to him, the only one in a family of five children. His relation to her was always peculiarly close and affectionate. In the same year Zacharias Frankel re-entered the theologic arena with a monthly journal, which, unlike his earlier venture, the Zeitschrift, was to be devoted first and foremost to scientific interests. Graetz received a most honorable invitation to become a contributor, and he gladly ranged himself under Frankel’s banner. In quick succession he published in the first year of the “Monthly Journal for the History and Science of Judaism”28 (October, 1851–December, 1852) a series of historical monographs: “Jewish Historical Studies;”29 a review of Rapoport’s Encyclopedia; “Talmudic Chronology and Topography;”30 and “The Removable Highpriests of the Second Temple Period31--all of which evinced great erudition, clear45 grasp of the subject, and mature judgment. They are of the nature of special studies in preparation and as a foundation for a connected account of the events from the downfall of the Jewish state until the completion of the Talmud. He had long cherished the idea of such a work, and he now reduced it to writing with great rapidity.

In the meantime, in the course of the year 1852, the complexion of the district court seems to have changed, or the wind was blowing from another quarter; at all events, Graetz suddenly and with painful surprise became aware that unceasing intrigues and malicious denunciations had at last taken effect upon the district governor. He found himself exposed to serious annoyances and humiliations. No effort to ward them off promising success, he resigned his position at Lundenburg.

He felt impelled to return to his native Prussia, and determined to remove to Berlin with his family. The decision was inspired by the hope of easily finding in the capital a publisher for his history of the Talmudic epoch, which was almost ready for the press. He was furthermore actuated by the consideration, that in the prosecution of the plan of writing a complete history of the Jews, already taking shape in his mind, he could not well do without the libraries to be found only in large cities. In the latter half of September, 1852, he arrived in Berlin, and was kindly received by Dr. Michael Sachs and other friends willing to serve him. Through Dr. Sachs he became acquainted with the excellent Dr. Veit, who undertook the publication of his work. During the winter semester 1852–53 the directors of the Berlin congregation invited him to deliver, for a honorarium, a number of historical lectures before students of Jewish theology, in a course in which the other speakers were Zunz and Sachs. His lectures were received with approval.3246 At the close of one of them, delivered in the middle of February, he was approached by Joseph Lehmann, railway director and editor of a journal in good standing, “Magazine for Foreign Literature,”33 a man justly enjoying high respect. Acting under the instructions of the Board of Curators of the Fränkel Bequests in Breslau, Lehmann asked Graetz, whether he would be disposed to become a member of the faculty of the rabbinical seminary to be established at Breslau. At the47 same time he told him, that negotiations with Dr. Frankel, Chief Rabbi of Dresden, were pending with regard to the directorship, and that Frankel, among other conditions of his acceptance, had demanded Graetz’s engagement as teacher. The Board of Curators had assented cheerfully, and now desired Graetz’s answer. Graetz made his consent dependent upon Frankel’s final, favorable decision, which was received soon after. These preliminaries over, the troublesome discussions on the organization of the seminary began. In the first place, no model or scheme whatsoever existed that might serve as a guide in the organization of a rabbinical academy, with regard to such matters as the time-schedule, the curriculum, and the choice of subjects. Its creation was pioneer work, in furtherance of which there was no available experience; yet the arrangements determined upon under such peculiar circumstances were to bear within themselves the guarantee of practical and immediate success. Besides, the will of the founder, Jonas Fränkel, contained certain clauses, the execution of which, in view of the changed times, might become a menace to the new institution.34 The plan, curriculum, and methods of the future seminary were determined by Zacharias Frankel alone, who recognized the aim to be pursued with clearness and practical insight, and so created the basis for the Jewish theology of the present. His wish to secure a professionally trained man, whose assistance might be freely drawn upon by himself and the Board of Curators, was all the more willingly complied with, as from many considerations an intermediary between the business and the pedagogic heads seemed not superfluous. Frankel had parted from Dresden48 with a heavy heart, and was inclined to seize the first fairly just pretense to recall his word to the Curators. Thus it came about that Graetz entered the service of the projected seminary on July 1, 1853, with the assurance of being employed, under Frankel’s directorship, as one of the principal teachers,35 in case the statutes and the plans for the institution met with governmental approval, which seemed not at all doubtful.

V.
THE MASTER HISTORIAN.

At the same time Graetz’s book issued from the press under the title: “History of the Jews from the Downfall of the Jewish State to the Completion of the Talmud.”36 This was really the sub-title. The chief title-page ran as follows: “History of the Jews from the Earliest Times until the Present Day. Volume IV,”37 indicating that the author had conceived more than the first sketchy plan of a complete history of the Jews, and that the publication of the fourth volume first was merely an accident in the order of production. Beginning with49 the account of the Talmudic time turned out a happy hit. If the two literary events admit of comparison, Graetz’s first important work has its only counterpart in the biography of Rashi, with which Zunz, the creator of the science of Judaism, inaugurated his notable activity. The enthusiasm of Zunz’s contemporaries is said to have been kindled when Rashi, the eminent interpreter of Bible and Talmud, familiar to them from their childhood days, and esteemed an indispensable guide and companion in exegesis, appeared to them divested of the vaporous halo of supernatural glory, and translated into the sphere of human reality. Similarly the effect was electrifying when a flood of brilliant light suddenly scattered the mist of the dark epoch in which Mishna and Talmud, the authoritative books of post-Biblical Judaism, were composed, and revealed to sight life-size the rabbi-authors of those works, whose names and maxims were matter of common knowledge. The pen of our historian had charmed them out of the unreality of their existence. They had been habitually looked upon as abstractions, doctrines incarnate. Not much more had been known of them than that they had said, asked, and sometimes wailed. At best, people had been inclined to imagine them a sort of Kabbalists or Polish itinerant rabbis. Now it was seen that hot blood and throbbing life pulsated in their veins. Their clear-cut, mental features with their characteristic excellencies and shortcomings distinguished one from the other. They stood before the reader in checkered array, true knights by the grace of intellect, antique figures, glowing with patriotism, of inflexible will and indestructible faith. With equal vividness the author depicted the spiritual atmosphere of the time with its humors, passions, fermentation, and struggles; the surging and seething of ideas, factions, opinions, and aims in wild disorder and violent opposition to one another; and the50 final evolution of the impelling forces which determine the course of historical events by the exchange of thrust and counterthrust. Graetz wanted to make the heart-beat of the period perceptible to the senses. Therefore, he was little concerned about the technical correctness of his style and diction. He did not shrink from brusqueness in words, nor from luridness and voluptuousness in coloring. Without regard to sensitive feelings he chose the plainest, the most striking expressions, that he might be understood by all; that no doubt as to his opinion might suggest itself; that personages and events might appear upon the canvas in a clear light and in the proper position, as they were mirrored in his mind.

The book naturally aroused a great sensation upon its appearance. It at once created an audience for itself with which it found a rich measure of favor and applause. On the other hand, most of the author’s scholarly colleagues at first reserved their opinions. They were taken aback by the new data, which--as, for instance, the formation of Christian sects--had been boldly pressed into service to complete the picture, and they could not reconcile themselves to the description of ancient conditions by means of modern catchwords and turns of expression peculiar to the lighter forms of literature. For example, Graetz characterizes Nachum of Gimso, in whose life mishap after mishap redounded to his benefit, as the Candide38 of the Tanaitic world of legend. He seeks to reconstruct the details of the Bar-Cochba revolt, the chapter on which is one of the most beautiful and touching in his “History,” from single names and widely scattered debris. He goes so far as to speak of two lines of defense, the Esdraelon line and the Tur-Malka line.39 He51 charges the eminent teacher Judah ha-Nassi with irritability and sensitiveness.40 Relying on Talmudic accounts, he refuses to credit the Romans with a civilizing mission in Asia, and describes their influence in Western Asia in particular as destructive of culture and detrimental to morality. Such features of the work confounded the critics and judges. They did not venture to decide whether the boldness of genial originality was asserting itself, or only the uncouthness of fantastic sensationalism, whose tinsel would not stand the test of time. Moreover, the two religious parties looked askance and with dissatisfaction at a book written to serve the truth only and not available for any sort of propaganda. Loud and public quarrel between them had ceased in the face of the world-stirring events of 1848 and their consequences, but they were as sharply divided as ever. The adherents of the reform party reproached the author with having glorified the Talmud and its teachers, and with having omitted to touch in “a single word”41 upon the sorest spot, “the petrifaction and ossification of Judaism” brought about by the code and its exponents. The rigidly orthodox, on the other hand, were incensed at the criticism, unwarranted in their eyes, to which he subjected the bearers of tradition and at his effort to prove the body of traditional doctrine the product of historical processes.42

But no voice dissented from the opinion, that in Graetz Jewish science had gained an eminent promoter with astonishing scholarship at his disposal. His qualifications and achievements were too extraordinary to be belittled on account of the unavoidable errors that had slipped into his history. It could not be denied, that research had received a decided impetus, and that the sum of historical52 knowledge had been considerably increased by Graetz’s results, which he had obtained by his mastery over the two Talmuds and the Midrash literature; by his close acquaintance with patristic works; by his effective way of bringing these two widely separated literary spheres close to each other, permitting the one to shed light on the other, and thus clearing up critical points; by his happy gift first of discerning, in spite of the rectification they frequently stood in need of, that certain data scattered over various by-paths of literature were complementary, and then of combining them with each other; and by his acuteness in detecting with unerring glance, animating with spirit, and applying to good purpose, long disused geographical names and obsolete terms lying forgotten in some dark corner and buried under debris.43 In view of the fact that it required rare courage to venture upon the elaboration of one of the obscurest and most difficult portions of Jewish history, thoroughly neglected at that time in the way of special research and monographs, even his opponents could “not help confessing that on the whole he had fulfilled his task satisfactorily.”44 There was evidence, to be sure, of still higher courage in Graetz’s announcement, made without fear or diffidence, on the title-page and in the preface of his book, designated as the fourth volume, that he intended to publish a complete history of the Jews, written in the same spirit of critical research and in the same style. The promise gave occasion for ironical insinuations. How could a single individual hope to accomplish so great an undertaking? Was Graetz endowed with the creative, plastic power of the genuine historian? Or, perhaps he expected to obtain the laurels of the historian on credit!

53 On the whole, circumstances shaped themselves in a way favorable to him, and facilitated the execution of his bold undertaking. It should not be imagined that a community, or--still more extravagant idea--a Mæcenas offered to furnish him with the means indispensable for the accomplishment of a task such as he had set himself. Brilliant as his achievement was, how much greater it might have been, if he, with his genius for work, had been put in a position to examine and use at his leisure the manuscript treasures of the various European libraries! Up to the present day such good fortune has not befallen Jewish science. It seems as though the Jewish race, endowed with an understanding heart and an open hand for humane interests in general, has not yet awakened to a full recognition of the debt of honor it owes its own past. Graetz, however, was well content to be relieved of the irksome care for his daily bread by the ratification, on April 10, 1854, on the part of the Prussian government, of the statutes, the plan, and the teaching staff of the Rabbinical Seminary. He returned to Breslau, where his literary star had first risen, and where he had once tried vainly to establish himself permanently. Thenceforth he remained there in the congenial position of a regularly appointed teacher at the first Jewish theologic institution, which was inaugurated, with Z. Frankel as director, on August 10, 1854, under the name of “The Jewish Theological Seminary founded by Fränkel.”45

It must be looked upon as providential that the task of first impressing the modern spirit upon the theologic training for the rabbinical office fell to the share of men of such eminent distinction as Frankel, the director of the new institution, and Graetz and Jacob Bernays, its regular teachers. The personality of each of the three was strongly54 marked. Each one was a homo trium litterarum, in the sense that in subordination to his specialty, he had acquired mastery over the Hebrew-rabbinic, the classical, and the modern literature. By deep and earnest thought each had arrived at a conservative view of Judaism. Of the three, Jacob Bernays,46 a scholar of far-reaching fame in classical philology, doubtless possessed greatest ability as a teacher, which, however, demanded talented pupils for its effective exercise. Frankel’s forte lay in his tact as an organizer and in his practical gifts; he exerted wholesome authority over his disciples in religious as well as scientific matters. Both desired to impress their scientific bias upon those that came under their influence. Graetz, on the other hand, heeded the individuality of his pupils, and in his activity as teacher had in mind especially their stimulation and encouragement. Frankel was desirous of transferring to the Theological Seminary the rigid discipline and detailed supervision of an elementary school,47 because his dearest object was to turn out thorough Talmudists and professionally well-equipped rabbis. Bernays aspired to the romantic splendor of a theologic faculty, and wanted to educate scholarly theologians. With correct and healthy instinct, Graetz endeavored to reconcile these opposite aims and identify the Seminary with a middle course. Although Frankel grasped the rudder with a firm hand, he was sensible enough to consider prudent counsel and kindly enough to give scope to the wishes and views of his colleagues. In this way harmony prevailed among the Seminary teachers, which reacted beneficially upon the students.55 As long as he lived, Frankel justly maintained what officially and morally was the dominant position in the Seminary. The prosperity of the institution he considered the consummation of his life-work, and being childless, he regarded his pupils as his children, and took a truly paternal interest in their fortunes. Next to him Graetz exercised the most generous hospitality towards the students. He was ever ready to serve any one of them that needed help and advice. Especially such as had aroused his interest, or had impressed him favorably with their ability and character enlisted his sympathy, which he manifested with all the ardor of his temperament. Like Frankel, he identified himself completely with the Breslau Seminary. After many thwarted plans and years of anxious uncertainty, he felt that, at last, through his position as teacher at the Seminary, his vessel had floated into deep, navigable waters, that he could venture to ply the oars with full force, unfurl all the sails, and, favored by wind and weather and propelled by the buoyant courage peculiar to his sanguine nature, steer straight for the destination whither impulse drew him. It was the first time that his official duties coincided with his inner vocation. Faithful, zealous performance of the service he was engaged to do promoted the work he had set himself as the goal of his life. In regular, uninterrupted succession, volume after volume of his “History” now began to appear in complete realization of his plan.

In 1856 the third volume was published under the title, “History of the Jews from the Death of Judas Maccabæus to the Downfall of the Jewish State.”48 It formed the complement and justification of his view of the Talmudic epoch, the one with which he had begun as being the period “least understood in its inner relations.” At the same time56 the third volume distinctly bounds the spiritual territory in which the Jewish history of the diaspora is rooted. For he intended to dispose of the Jewish history of the diaspora down to the present time before beginning the account of the Biblical and the early post-Biblical periods. Therefore, when he published his fifth volume, “History of the Jews from the Completion of the Talmud (500) to the Beginnings of Jewish-Spanish Culture (1027),”49 he had, as he said in the preface, “got back on the right track.” Now every doubt was bound to vanish; after many years a genuine historian had arisen unto Judaism.

The historian must not be confounded with the scholar. The chief tasks of the latter are the critical examination of historical records, the determining and grouping of facts, the identifying and differentiating of persons, the demarcation of time and place, and the defining and demonstrating of the causal relation between events, their succession, and their interaction. The minute details to which his research happens to be devoted at any moment are as important in his eyes as great and comprehensive principles. Style, form, and manner, moreover, are minor considerations with the scholar; he aims only at accuracy and lucid presentation adapted to the subject-matter. The demands made upon the historian are more numerous and more exacting. He must constantly carry the whole in mind, he must have the ability to mould the historical material with an artist’s creative power and restore the faded features of the past by the life-bestowing word. First of all, he must be equipped with unlimited mastery over the existing material and with easy and sure grasp of all the phases of the historical process, in order to be able to estimate every phenomenon duly, according to its intrinsic value and57 its external effect, emphasize characteristic and significant points, and allot to persons and events their proper place in the historical succession. He cannot, of course, dispense with the acumen that intuitively arrives at the inwardness of every detail. For it is needful, not only to determine with critical penetration the trustworthiness of existing traditions and documents, but also to discern and demonstrate, as one traces the course of a stream with its tributaries and branches, the presence of the primal forces at work under the surface of things, giving them impetus and direction, and of the factors that impede, strengthen, or divert the action of these forces. From investigations of this kind the historian should derive the chief points of view, those which grow naturally and logically out of the course of events. The true historian must be endowed to a high degree with a faculty for presaging, amounting almost to divination, that he may, like a “backward-looking prophet,” overcome the inadequacy and incompleteness of the material transmitted to him; restore the defective parts by means of his plastic fancy; and everywhere recognize as well as bring to the recognition of his readers, that historical events in their connection are developments from within outward, the outcome, not of a game of chance, but of the workings of absolute law. For such results of his research and insight the historian must then find adequate expression. His presentation of them must serve as the clear, polished mirror reflecting the play of many-hued, chaotic details in distinct and simply grouped pictures, and permitting the peculiarities and characteristics of single persons and events to be apparent, as the warp and the woof are distinguishable in the finished fabric. Real life as it throbbed in the happenings of the past must stand renewed before our eyes, and its fresh, warm breath as it brushes us must constrain our souls to respond at once to its humors and passions.

58 These qualities are the distinction of Graetz. By reason of their possession and exercise he is a master historian, and his art manifests itself in each of the twelve comprehensive volumes in which he has thrown light upon the history of the Jewish race from its early beginning to the present, a period of more than three thousand years, with every part of the earth as the scene of its events. But we have not yet come to the end of Graetz’s accomplishments as an historian. The lack of special studies in the province of Jewish history made his attempt to write a history of the Jews appear untimely and the prospect of successful execution slight. His undertaking seemed to be opposed not only by well-nigh insuperable inner and outer obstacles, but also by stubborn prejudices. Graetz heeded nothing of all this. Unaided by any committee or corporation, simply by virtue of his exuberant genius, he executed the apparently impossible work. He created the history of their race for his brethren-in-faith, and awakened in the general public sympathetic interest in the past of Judaism. With bold hand he ventured to brush aside the layer of dust and mould encrusting the darkened portraits of the past, and restore freshness and color to the faded, pale contours and forms.

The most important particulars upon which the value and influence of his work depend deserve analysis.

Above all, Graetz, though he did not create it, was the first to define and occupy the point of view from which the historical development of Judaism must be judged. He cleared the whole historical field, so as to be able to examine the various phases of this development with ease and accuracy. As an historian, Graetz had had but a single predecessor50 who must be taken into account, Isaac Marcus59 Jost. In 1820, the latter began to publish a “History of the Israelites from the Time of the Maccabees.”51 Nine years later nine volumes had appeared, bringing the history down to his own time. Under the title, “Universal History of the Israelitish People,”52 he published, in 1850, a two-volume epitome with corrections and improvements, covering in addition the period from Abraham to the Maccabees. He did not prove himself a real pioneer in either work. Jost was a scholar, but not an historian; a noble man with admirable qualities, whose varied knowledge gave a considerable impetus to Jewish historical work, but he had not been singled out as the proclaimer of an historical revelation to be spread far and wide in joyful, vigorous utterance. In view of the fact, however, that no monographs on special phases of the subject existed at his time, Jost’s achievement cannot be sufficiently admired. He sought out and arranged the more or less obvious, but widely scattered data, appraising their value and assigning to each its due place. He thus produced a manual for the chaos of confusing details and facts. In respect to manner, his presentation of the subject makes the impression of an herbarium. His work consists of a collection of persons and events, heaped up without reference to their inner relations and classified only according to superficial and accidental marks of resemblance. His speculations are prosy, and do not touch the essence of their subject. His style is dry, diffuse, and monotonous, destitute of fire and force, with nothing to indicate that the author had a lively60 realization of the past. An admirer of the Roman system and impregnated with Christian ideas, he was unconsciously oppressed by the fear that he was not abreast of the times, and dreaded the charge of partiality if he gave due credit to Judaism and Rabbinism. This accounts for his misrepresentation of the Pharisees and their successors, the Rabbis, and for his false, almost caricature-like treatment of the Talmud and the literature depending upon it. He felt that the consideration of Judaism from the point of view of history at once becomes a glorification thereof, and under no circumstances did he care to incur the imputation of being its apologist.53

Graetz entertained no such scruples. In the formation of his opinions fear or timidity had no part; they did not curtail the expression of his judgment regardless of the feelings of friend or foe. He was the first to divest himself wholly of Christian prejudices in the consideration of the Jewish past; the first to try to explain the development of Judaism on inherent principles, as all similar phenomena are explained. He was thus able to distribute light and shade justly, without any attempt to gloss or slur facts. Graetz had been in Berlin but a short time when he met Zunz at the house of Michael Sachs. The two visitors had not yet made each other’s personal acquaintance. The host presented Graetz, adding in praise of him, that he was about to publish a Jewish history. “Another history of the Jews?” Zunz asked pointedly. “Another history,” was Graetz’s retort, “but this time a Jewish history.”54 And, in truth,61 Graetz was the first to vindicate the fair claims of Jewish history; he did pioneer work in establishing the validity of the Jewish point of view. Christianity considers the belief in the Messiahship of the Son of God and in the miracles reported in connection with his birth and death the completion and fulfillment of the Law of Moses and of the prophetical promises. Only what springs from this dogma can rise to a proper conception of God, to the heights of true morality, and is capable of promoting the advancement of civilization. Accordingly, having begotten Christianity, Judaism fulfilled its religious mission, and the loss of Jewish national independence occurring almost simultaneously with the rise of Christianity, its spiritual importance was extinguished and its historical progress arrested. Its development since then, it is maintained, bears the marks of decrepitude and degeneration--is nothing more than idolatry of the Torah and religious formalism. To this consciously or unconsciously biased view Graetz wished to oppose a faithful presentation of facts, free from partiality, personal predilections, or specious coloring. He held, that an objective, unprejudiced account sufficed to demonstrate the vitality of Judaism, asserting itself again and again in the midst of distress and persecution; continuing to develop its monotheistic doctrines and its ethical system undisturbed by the loss of a national background, and borne onward only by virtue of its spirituality and ideality; producing thinkers, poets, and even statesmen despite untold suffering; and contributing zealously to the solution of the problems of human civilization, uprooted and dispersed though its adherents were. This point of view Graetz assumed energetically and applied consistently in the elaboration of Jewish history, with the result that we owe to him our conscious acquaintance with the various aspects of Judaism in all their abundance and suggestiveness.

62 Besides making new sources available, Graetz gained fresh points of view and surprising information from the old ones. He was particularly successful in restoring to Jewish accounts that had become hazy or sounded incredible a freshly colored background and life-like reality, or at least in laying bare their kernel of fact, by the discovery of hardly recognizable parallel passages and proofs in non-Jewish authors. He sought everywhere, and was more or less successful in finding and inserting in their place, connecting links and complementary pieces. When he approached his bold undertaking with the courage inspired by enthusiasm, Jewish history was a vast field of debris, over which volcanic events had poured out their lava, and the centuries had scattered their dust. Here and there a gigantic ruin, some literary production, towered in solitude over the wide stretches of the pathless, dismal waste, the only guide-posts to direct the wanderer through the labyrinth of ruins and underbrush. The great creators of Jewish science, to be sure, Zunz and Rapoport, whose extraordinary deserts are not yet duly appreciated by their brethren-in-faith, had already given the world their excellent works of fundamental importance; yet the great tracts explored and made arable by them seemed no more than smaller or larger islands in a vast sea of rubbish. They did not afford vantage-ground from which the whole could be overlooked. Rarely leaving the domain of literary history, these scholars did not lead up to the positions that dominated the field. In this respect particularly Graetz proved himself a pioneer. Whatever epoch he may be considering, and however much he may seem to be absorbed in details, he never takes his eye from the grand whole. His purpose always is to clear a path through the rank underbrush, or to trace on the exposed surfaces of shattered remains the lines and veins that indicate the essential character and the63 trend of the historical process. He was endowed with a number of qualities that enabled him to introduce light, order, system, and classification into the chaos of the historical material at his disposal. With rare energy he plunged into the consideration of vast systems of thought, and almost without an effort assimilated and grouped them. In his learned notes he opposes varying accounts, proofs, and hints to one another, and with an adroit hand and a perspicacious mind grasps the main idea firmly and unravels the knotted thread. Finally, fear of error did not deter him from taking a decided stand towards events and persons and giving frank and vigorous expression to his views upon them. Let the reader examine the essays that serve as introductions to certain parts of his work, as, for instance, those in the fourth, fifth, and seventh volumes, and he will appreciate the unerring eye that espies and never loses from sight the motive ideas and the dominating points of view, which not merely are sketched in a general, comprehensive way, but are applied in detail. His “History” affords numerous illustrations of the way in which Graetz promoted and enriched historical research. For example, Saadiah Gaon had been discovered, as it were, by Rapoport, and Geiger had made valuable contributions to our knowledge of him, but the chapter about him in the “History”55 first fully revealed his epoch-making importance and his rich literary activity. Graetz was the first to recognize and appreciate the notable influence exerted by Chasdaï Crescas56 upon philosophy and social conditions. The great Disputation of Tortosa, of which we have a trustworthy Jewish account, was nevertheless not understood in its historical bearing and political effect until Graetz ingeniously confronted64 the Jewish source with Christian reports.57 The cloud of legend enveloping the enthusiasts David Reubeni and Solomon Molcho,58 whom students were inclined to regard as no more than hallucinations or phantasmagoria, he resolved into the reality of their fantastic adventures. In short, coupled with rare sagacity in perceiving the true meaning of a mutilated text and emending it accordingly, he had a remarkable instinct for piercing to the reality of facts, no matter how grotesque they might appear.

Such endowments qualified Graetz to translate the Talmudic method of thought and expression into the terms of modern feelings and views, and give a model illustration of the critical examination of the literature of Talmudic times and its use as a valuable historical source. Non-Jewish scholars and sciolists were quick to brand the apparently unintelligible or the curious passages abounding in rabbinic literature as evidences of Talmudic ignorance or rabbinic folly, and the Jews of the emancipation period, if they did not subscribe to this verdict, at least hesitated whether or not to endorse it. Graetz showed plainly that precisely the text of the historical narratives had become wretchedly corrupted and would have to be restored. Besides, he called attention to various features of the historical tradition as told by the rabbis. Either they were treated pragmatically, with their causes and results, or their presentation was intentionally biased, or layers of legend had deposited themselves about the kernel of fact, which awaited release from its envelopes. Over and above all this, he urged that the concrete, figurative expressions of the rabbis, derived from a sphere of thought foreign to us, must be translated into modern concepts. For instance, in an ancient rabbinic chronicle, the Seder olam rabba, it is65 reported that the war of Vespasian is separated from that of Titus by an interval of twenty-two years. Aside from the consideration that it is neither historical nor justifiable to distinguish between a war of Vespasian and a war of Titus, it is impossible to give a satisfactory explanation of the period of twenty-two years. The same incomprehensible distinction between Vespasian’s and Titus’ war occurs in the Mishna at the end of the tractate Sota. Graetz changed a single letter, ט {Hebrew: tet} into ק {Hebrew: kof}, and instead of טיטוס {Hebrew: Titus} (Titus), he reads קיטוס {Hebrew: Kitus} (Kitus), i. e. Quietus. In this way he discovered a rebellion in Palestine against Lucius Quietus. We know none of its details, but its occurrence is beyond the peradventure of a doubt. The conjecture, as simple as it is ingenious, has been corroborated by a manuscript reading.59 A narrative in tractate Sabbath 17a is no less curious: “A sword was thrust into the academy, with the words: Whoever desires may go in, but none may come out,” etc. Graetz explains the enigma thus: in the first year of the rebellion against Nero a terrorist synod was dominated by the Shammaites.60 In general, he considered the opposition between the schools of Hillel and Shammai not merely theoretic but also political, and he identified the rabid Zealots with extreme Shammaites.

“Graetz is deserving of great praise for having established this fact [the existence of the terrorist synod], until then not sufficiently appreciated. In itself it is an extremely important result, and its value is heightened by reason of the data growing out of it.... At all events, Herr Graetz has won a second distinction of equally great importance by his use of the Megilla Taanith as a historical source and his verification of its statements, even though many remain dubious.”

This is the opinion of the historian61 Jost, surely a competent judge in such matters.

66 Where so much light is radiated, there cannot fail to be some shadows. Graetz’s admirable qualities have a reverse side. He often permits subjective views to obtrude themselves too much, and in stating his hypotheses he is apt to clothe them in terms too positive and incisive, not heeding that events dovetail into each other; that men yield to changeful humors and motives, often of a contradictory nature; and that illogical, even irrational turns of language and thought may occasionally occur in the texts. It surely is not astonishing to find inaccuracies, human errors, and misconceptions here and there in a gigantic work of twelve bulky volumes. Faults and shortcomings vanish into forgetfulness by the side of the multiplicity of his results and the grandeur of his achievement. Perspective, life-like characterization, distinct outline, glowing color--these Jewish history owes solely to Graetz’s rich fancy. He opened up new problems, created the historical types, constructed the framework of Jewish history. But his greatest achievement, one that cannot be rated sufficiently high, is that of having procured a hearing with all strata of his coreligionists by means of his charming, easy style. He revived the consciousness of an illustrious past, glorious in spite of persecution and degradation, and the belief in a future of spiritual triumph for Israel. Energetic and ardent as his temperament was, he merged his being in the past of his race, as it were, giving devoted study to the most hidden emotions of the national soul. He associated with the rabbis, philosophers, and poets whose features and forms he draws as with companions and intimate friends. When storms are imminent in the course of the history, he is visibly swayed by hope and fear, and when a catastrophe has overwhelmed his people, he is bowed down with anguish and grief. The reader sees his suffering, and cannot withhold passionate67 sympathy. For instance, he trembles at the thought of the disgrace and misfortune threatening Israel on account of the aberrations of the pseudo-Messiah Sabbataï Zevi, and consoles himself with the brilliant light of Jewish origin irradiating the world through Spinoza. According to his favorite method of setting men and events over against each other and permitting them to elucidate each other by their very opposition, he sharply contrasts the two figures. He represents both as the product of the Jewish passion for speculation on the infinite, and shows how in the end both sever their connection with Judaism; the one, lured on by the will-o’-the-wisp mysticism, to sink into the abyss of deception and immorality; the other, borne upward by philosophic thought, to soar to the calm but cold heights of an ideal sage.62 His creative, life-dispensing power wafted the warm, liberating breath of spring over the dull apathy settling like an icy crust on the soul-life of the Jewish brotherhood. He re-awakened general interest in the spirit and the history of Judaism. The most popular writer in the field of Jewish science, he could boast of success phenomenal for a Jewish author; in a comparatively short time, his voluminous work, apparently intended for scholars, attained the distinction of a third, in parts even of a fourth, edition, and in its English, French, Russian, and, last though not least, Hebrew translations,63 it has become the common possession of all the author’s brethren-in-faith.

68 The only help extended to Graetz in the prosecution of his comprehensive plan proceeded from the “Institute for the Promotion of Israelitish Literature,”64 founded in 1855 by Dr. Ludwig Philippson, the most genial and most productive journalist among rabbis. In return for a modest subscription price several books were issued annually, among which a volume of Graetz’s “History” usually formed the chief attraction. Through the “Institute,” a large circulation was secured for the “History” from the first. The Society in turn was so dependent upon Graetz’s work for its popularity that when, on account of a misunderstanding with Philippson, Graetz refused to have the last (eleventh) volume published by the “Institute,” it could not maintain itself long.

On the other hand, there was not lack of hostility, jealousy, and petty annoyances. His work was used everywhere, but not infrequently without an open acknowledgment of its helpfulness. Especially at first the faultfinders and finical critics plied their trade vigorously on his work, as though any Talmudist considered a scholar in his small circle needed but to dip his pen into ink to write a history superior to Graetz’s. Even later, when recognition could not be withheld, praise was given grudgingly, in half-hearted accents. The young theologians of both parties, of the right and of the left wing, were indefatigable in picking flaws of all kinds in his details. They did not realize how effectually they69 were thus demonstrating his pre-eminence, and failed to understand that so monumental a work cannot by any possible means escape blemishes and malformations.

The “History” completed the breach between Graetz and his sometime teacher, Samson Raphael Hirsch. The latter had left Nikolsburg to act as the rabbi of a wealthy private congregation in Frankfort-on-the-Main. Soon after his removal, he began to issue a monthly journal, Jeshurun. In the second and third volumes of the magazine appeared a passionate, violent review of the two parts of the “History” then published, in which Hirsch sat in judgment on Graetz’s heresies. The soreness of the critic is unmistakable. It is doubtful whether his thrusts were not meant to strike the Jewish Theological Seminary at Breslau rather than the “History.” Personal attacks usually left Graetz unmoved, though he was in the habit of repelling them with caustic brevity. But he never forgave hostility towards the young institution. Thus the last slender ties that had still bound the two men to each other were snapped asunder forever. For the rest, active and joyous as his nature was, he did not trouble himself about his critics, nor did they thwart the success of his work; its triumph was complete. On the other hand, he was frankly proud of the distinction conferred upon him by the Prussian government in making him, in December, 1869, honorary professor of the Breslau University. This governmental recognition went far towards compensating him for the lack of regular professional advancement in his academic career, the sore point in his life, at which spiteful antagonists delighted to aim their shafts.

With the eleventh volume, published in 1870, he brought the history of the Jews since the Maccabean struggle down to the present time (1848); nine volumes had appeared in uninterrupted succession.70 To complete and crown the work it was necessary to give an account of ancient Jewish history covering the Biblical and three centuries and a half of post-Biblical times. Graetz devoted scrupulous care to this portion of his work. He considered its importance paramount, and regarded the treatment of the early epochs as a most difficult task, requiring for its adequate performance exegetical studies and original text criticism. Graetz thought himself particularly qualified and endowed for such work; it had always been his favorite pursuit. But before attacking the history of Israel and ancient Judæa, he determined to satisfy his longing to behold the Holy Land with his bodily eye, as he had often sought to picture it to his mental eye. With equal force his artistic impulse drew him to Palestine. He hoped to derive local color and inspiration for the description of hoary events from the sight of consecrated places, which had been their scenes and their witnesses. As early as 1865, he had formed the plan of a journey to Palestine, the execution of which became possible only in March, 1872, when two friends joined him. Limited to his private resources and hampered by consideration for his traveling companions, he was not able to make his trip thoroughly satisfactory from a scientific point of view. After all he obtained what he had journeyed abroad to find; he brought back impressions, enthusiasm, inspiration. In quick succession the two, or more accurately, three65 parts of his work treating of the Biblical and early post-Biblical time appeared between 1874 and 1876, and his historical work was complete according to the plan he had sketched for himself. It was the brilliant fulfillment of the promise “to furnish a history of the Jews from the most ancient times to the71 present day elaborated from the original sources,” which he had made in 1854, when he began his career as an historian with the publication of the fourth volume of his “History.” Grand in conception, clear and perspicuous in execution, riveting attention by its charming style, the work has not failed to find entrance into the hearts of the author’s brethren-in-faith. It remains unsurpassed in the present, and the future historian will realize that he cannot deviate from the great lines laid down in it. The little blemishes and errors of various kinds that disfigure all human creations do not affect the impression made by the work as a whole. The discovery of hidden sources, now unsuspected, may necessitate additions and changes in details, but the great points of view, the pragmatic conception, the underlying thoughts, as he deduces them from the intricate complexity of Jewish history, will never be superseded. Graetz’s “History of the Jews,” voluminous though it is, will forever remain an integral part of Jewish literature.

VI.
THE EXEGETE.

The first two, or rather three, parts of the “History” form the transition to Graetz’s exegetical studies. In their excellencies as well as in their shortcomings they betray all the characteristics of his work in Bible exposition. Obviously Graetz had only awaited the completion of the history of Judaism from the end of the Maccabean struggle to the present time to enter, with all the vigor of his intellect, upon the second phase of his activity as a writer, that devoted to Bible exegesis and textual criticism. Exegetical studies, no less than historical research, were a distinct life-aim with him. They were begun in 1871, and continued without interruption72 until unexpected death snatched the pen from his hand. To be accurate, the second phase of his literary activity should be dated from 1869. In that year Zacharias Frankel, wishing to devote all his energy to his work on the so-called Jerusalem Talmud, transferred the Monatsschrift to Graetz. He marked the beginning of his editorial management with an essay on “The Ebionites in the Old Testament,”66 the first of a series in Old Testament exposition and Hebrew philology. In part, they may be regarded as monographs in preparation for his history of the Biblical times. The series was continued uninterruptedly, year after year, until 1887, when Graetz discontinued the publication of the Monatsschrift.

In view of the narrow compass of Biblical literature, comprising the whole residue of ancient Israelitish writings and therefore the whole treasury of the Hebrew language at our disposal, even those expounders that cling to the word and to tradition with slavish faithfulness are granted wide scope for individual judgments and subjective hypotheses, depending for their acceptance not upon precise proof, but upon the inquirer’s will and disposition. It is natural, then, that Graetz with his strongly developed subjectivity, his delicately attuned ear, and his gift of bold conjecture, should have reached conclusions sharply contrasting with all accepted views and incapable of logical, scientific demonstration. His results and explanations, the outcome of a passionate desire for clearness and consistency, are often of startling originality. All sorts of new questions were set on foot by him, many fruitful suggestions may be traced to him, and he bore many a trophy from the battlefields of textual criticism. The boldness of his exegesis is illustrated by his treatment of the two Hagiographic73 books, Ecclesiastes and the Song of Songs, which, published in quick succession in 1871, introduced him to the world as an exegete. He attributes the composition of Koheleth (or the Preacher, translation and critical commentary)67 to the reign of Herod, and places the author of Shir ha-Shirim (or the Song of Songs, translation and critical commentary)68 in the Macedonian-Syrian time. Though the hypotheses concerning the time of the composition of the two books and many other propositions are curious, and overwhelm the reader by their pronounced deviation from all opinions hitherto advanced; still it must be confessed, that the conjecture with regard to the origin of Ecclesiastes is engaging in the extreme, and it cannot be denied, that the translations are good and in unexceptionable taste, that the remarks and references are instructive, and that the older versions were used with care and attention. In the commentary on Ecclesiastes, decidedly more valuable than that on the Song of Songs, he offers besides interesting data with regard to the Greek translation. Moreover, Graetz frequently adduced analogies from the Mishna and the Talmud, made exhaustive use of whatever was advantageous for textual criticism in the Talmudic literature, and thus brought to light new material in such a way as to make it available for the “higher criticism.” This, in fact, constitutes his real and permanent distinction as an exegete.

His expositions were guided by two chief assumptions, both rooted in the depths of his character. He held that in every Biblical work an historical background can be discerned with more or less ease; that even generalizations and reflections cannot conceal their connection with special facts, which74 must be deduced and determined. Again, he was of the opinion, that a contradiction or obscurity in a Biblical passage cannot be resolved by a twisting of words and phrases or by far-fetched analogies in remote though related idioms. They were evidence to him that the text had come to grief, and that the original text could be restored only by a conjecture, which might be disengaged from the context, or patterned on a Talmudic parallel, or deduced from older translations. He did not doubt that catastrophes, the centuries, and perhaps also the incompetence of copyists, had mutilated the original Bible text, and wrenched it out of shape, and he thought that even later, when it had been fixed with scrupulous care, all sorts of errors might have crept in.

According to these principles Graetz treated the Psalms. In 1881 he published a German translation of them, and in 1882–83 followed a “Critical Commentary to the Psalms with Text and Translation. 2 vols.”69 The commentary is designed on a generous scale, and gives abundant evidences of ripe scholarship. But by the side of its excellent features it contains many hazardous guesses and vague, even though ingenious hypotheses. Justus Olshausen, an Orientalist highly esteemed on account of his learning and his sobriety, who was occupied with the critical examination of the Old Testament text for philological purposes, says the following about the commentary on the Psalms in a letter to the author:70

“On account of its boldness your commentary will certainly arouse serious objections with the larger number of exegetes, themselves overbold in exegesis, but weak in criticism. As for me, you know that I am not affrighted by boldness in criticism when coupled with knowledge of the language and the subject-matter, with acumen, and,75 above all, with sound common sense. Doubtless, I shall not be able to agree with you in every case in which, overconfident perhaps, you may believe that you have hit upon the correct solution of a difficulty. That, however, does not prevent me from recognizing that your book, by reason of its abundance of excellent emendations, is a valuable addition to exegetical literature.”

Graetz undoubtedly hit upon many a happy guess, and applause was not lacking, but in general his results met with opposition so decided that we may surely expect a later generation to review the judgment of our time and separate the chaff from the wheat. Not in the least intimidated by the adverse criticism upon his exegetical methods, he was resolved to remove the difficulties attaching to the Old Testament language by all the means at his command. He thought himself justified in his confidence in himself in matters of textual criticism, upon which chiefly he concentrated his explanations in the course of time. He grew more and more unrestrained in his efforts to restore approximately the original text of the Bible by means of audacious conjectures, which his sympathetic mind was never weary of devising. In other fields he was always careful to keep in connection and in touch with tradition; destructive tendencies were not at all characteristic of him. But in his textual criticism he permitted his zeal to run away with him, until he lost the solid ground of the Bible text and of reality from under his feet. His acumen displayed and dissipated itself chiefly in the blinding pyrotechnics of rocket-like emendations. Of this character are his exegetical studies on the prophet Jeremiah,71 on the Proverbs of Solomon,72 and his fine essay on Bible exegesis.73

This kind of work was so attractive to him, that in the latter years of his life he set about the execution of a long-cherished and widely comprehensive76 plan for the critical examination and the emendation of the text of the whole Bible. The realization of this plan was to be the consummation and crown of his life’s labors. But he was not destined to celebrate such unquestioned and brilliant successes in this field as in that of history, where he had earned and received the laurels due a pioneer. Yet, we must be careful not to underrate his exegetical and critical achievements as to their intrinsic value and their influence. His exegetical works and essays are replete with new points of view and interesting suggestions. Many a germ that has since proved fruitful can be traced to them, and they have had a lasting effect upon the development of Bible exegesis. His works of this class, original and important enough to fill a life of scholarly research, would suffice to secure to their author an honorable name and a prominent place in the history of Jewish science.

VII.
LAST YEARS.

From year to year Graetz received an increasing number of proofs of the recognition and veneration paid him by a large circle of readers and admirers and a growing band of friends and aspiring disciples. But the enjoyment of his success was not to be unalloyed. In 1879 the feeling against Jews in Germany, always on the point of breaking out, was set free in the shape of an anti-Semitic movement, to serve as an unfailing instrument for political agitation. Heinrich von Treitschke, an historian characterized by patriotic ardor rather than scrupulous adherence to word and truth, a writer with affecting, oratorical pathos and a brilliant style at his command, soon assumed the rôle of challenger in the fray. He was scandalized by the boasting77 spirit which, he alleged, was in the ascendant in Jewish circles, and was to be regarded as a menace to the German empire. He illustrated his strictures by references to Graetz, who, he maintained, made use of intemperate language in his polemics against Christianity, and in his “History” had been guilty of applying disrespectful expressions to the German nation.74 Graetz replied, and Treitschke in turn made him the subject of an article,75 in which he tried to prove his allegations. He quoted passages from the “History,” tearing them from their context, and resorted to all sorts of sophistry. The leaders of the intelligent portion of Berlin Jewry probably did not realize the gravity of the situation. At all events, they were far from having a clear idea of the means necessary for stemming the rapidly swelling tide. They were disinclined, however, to suffer Treitschke’s attacks to pass unrepulsed, for they had reason to suppose them to be more than the venomous utterances of a professor. Thereupon H. B. Oppenheim, a well-known politician and writer on political economy, and highly esteemed for his disinterested and noble character, adopted the mistaken course of sacrificing Graetz to Treitschke’s aggressive charges without examining them. Confessedly he had not read Graetz’s works, yet he disposed of their author summarily as “a man without tact and fanatically one-sided, whose great learning has been rendered nugatory by the absurdity of his practical deductions.”76 This peculiar defense of Judaism, to be sure, did not excite distressful feeling in any one, but later events prove it to have been symptomatic of the opinions and the mental constitution of the intellectual notabilities of the Berlin Jewish community.

A Berlin Jew had been put at the head of the78 “Union of German Israelitish Congregations,”77 when its headquarters had been moved from Leipsic to Berlin. Active and clever in practical affairs, he invested the “Union” with dignity, and stirred it up to work and enterprise. With his help all sorts of useful undertakings were executed; among them, in 1885, a plan to promote the science of Judaism, hitherto wholly neglected, along definite lines. A commission was to be appointed to make means and sources for research into the history of the Jews of Germany available under the protection of the “Union.” The project was hailed with satisfaction by Jewish scholars. It was hoped that it would eventually furnish the center from which other scientific endeavors might radiate. All hopes of this kind were early doomed to grievous disappointment. The leaders of the “Union” lacked perception of the needs of the situation; they permitted an ambitious young scholar of the Jewish faith, an “extraordinary” professor at the University of Berlin, to become the governing spirit. He was familiar with the mediæval government offices, and did valiant service in the study of documents. But he was destitute of the most elementary knowledge of Hebrew, and therefore could have no conception of the peculiar difficulties the writer of Jewish history has to grapple with. Besides, he had so completely identified himself with his specialty and with the academic world of professors that a realizing sense of the condition and needs of German Judaism was out of the question. Under these circumstances serious mistakes were inevitable. In the first place Graetz was disregarded, completely ignored, when the commission which was to organize and superintend the historical investigations was made up. The arbitrary exclusion of the only or, at all events, the most eminent historian the Jews can boast of must be considered a gross offense79 against good manners. What is more, the good work was thereby deprived of the best and most valuable guarantee of success. Personal animosity may have contributed to bring about the deplorable action, but that does not alter the fact that Graetz was most familiar with the field of work to be cultivated. None recognized more clearly than he the desiderata78 that occupied the attention and guided the efforts of the scholars interested in Jewish history at the time. Besides, he was an indefatigable, impulsive worker, and his name was one to conjure with. The slight put upon Graetz called forth decided ill-humor among his numerous friends and disciples, a large portion of whom were the rabbinical heads of respected congregations. Their irritation could not long remain without tangible effect. Moreover, though the commission was composed of highly esteemed scholars, among them Christians who were master historians of the first rank, there was not one member who had attained to more than respectable dilettanteism in his acquaintance with Jewish literature, a thorough knowledge of which was indispensable for the proper realization of the plan, and only one member who had given evidence of his special interest in Jewish history by a work of note. This exception was Professor Stobbe, a humane Christian scholar and eminent jurist, who has described the historico-legal status of the German Jews in “The Jews in Germany during the Middle Ages,”79 a book that has not yet been superseded. The absence of Jewish scholars, specifically of Jewish historians, awakened distrust in the ability of the80 commission. In fact, its achievements, as displayed in the “Journal for the History of the Jews in Germany”80 and in separate publications, are far from realizing the expectations awakened by the boastful, arrogant tone of scientific conceit in which the leaders announced the undertaking, and are out of all proportion to the expenditures incurred. The most ambitious production, “Documents on the History of the Jews, etc.,”81 is a fragment. Quietly, unnoticed, the experiment died one day in the year 1892.82

The inconsiderate treatment accorded him by the Berlin coterie or other circles did not cause Graetz much heart-ache, and whatever soreness it may have produced was completely healed by London, whence he received the flattering invitation to open the Anglo-Jewish Historical Exhibition with a lecture. The honorable reception accorded him in the English capital, the persons whose acquaintance he made, and the impressions he carried home with him, all this refreshed him, and put him into a buoyant frame of mind. The visit to England he accounted one of the happiest and most enjoyable events of his life. The experiences gathered there strengthened the hope, to which he had often given expression, that salvation would arise for Judaism out of England and America.

On October 31, 1887, he celebrated the seventieth anniversary of his birth. His disciples and friends made it the occasion for an extraordinary ovation, and from all countries and climes homage was laid at his feet. An overwhelming number of addresses, gifts, congratulatory letters, and poems proved that his achievements were in the mind and his honor in the keeping of the whole body of intelligent Jews.81 A particularly gratifying surprise came in the shape of a diploma announcing that on October 27, 1888, he, the Jew, who had not dealt leniently with the Spanish nation in his historical writings, had been elected an honorary member of its section in history by the Spanish Academy at Madrid.

Until the very last his body and mind retained remarkable elasticity and vigor; time seemed to pass him by unnoticed. His indestructible working powers and his literary fertility continued to be astonishing.83 Even after concentrating his efforts on exegetical research, he was a vigilant reader of the monographs in whatever civilized language, bearing, however remotely, on problems of the science of Judaism. He gave the conclusions reached in them a critical examination, and either noted them for the enrichment and correction of a new edition of his “History,” or refuted them in special articles, if they seemed sufficiently important. For, besides his historical and exegetical works, in number and bulk an imposing array, he published numberless essays and Programmschriften on the most various subjects, many of them real gems, models of clear writing and deep scholarship. In some of them daring theories are advanced, as, for instance, the one which he would never abandon, that the Massora originated with the Karaites, from whose literary works the Rabbanites derived it.82 The conjecture was received with a great display of indignation, but its refutation was not equally emphatic, and it cannot be denied that certain evidences may be interpreted in its favor.

Among his Programmschriften the following deserve to be singled out: “Visigothic Legislation with Regard to the Jews,”84 in the annual report of the Jewish Theological Seminary for 1858; “Frank and the Frankists,”85 in that for 1868; and “The Kingdom of Mesene and its Jewish Population,”86 in that for 1879. In the Monatsschrift für Geschichte und Wissenschaft des Judenthums, of which, as mentioned above, he was the editor from 1869, the greater part of the articles issued from his pen. There is but one way of accounting for his numerous achievements: he understood to perfection the art of utilizing every moment.

Five o’clock in the morning found Graetz at his desk. Until nine he gave uninterrupted attention to his literary work. After that hour he was in the habit of devoting himself to his lectures. He carried on an extensive correspondence, found leisure for all sorts of things, and was fond of the innocent gayeties of social life. He retired late, and in general needed but little sleep. His sound, almost invincible nervous system was supplemented by a constitution calculated to supply his extraordinary capacity for work with a proper physical basis. He was of average height, and habitually bent forward his lean and spare, but sinewy, muscular figure, built upon a strong bony frame. His face was somewhat marred by pock-marks, but his head made a massive, unusual impression. Soft, chestnut-brown, later gray hair, in fair though not clustering abundance, crowned his board-like, square forehead. His sharp, observant eyes, grayish-brown in color, betokened83 the owner’s enjoyment of life, and a somewhat large, prominent nose with its delicate nostrils, quivering like “feelers,” gave his long, oval, bony face its characteristic searching expression. Sometimes sadness played about his lips, but usually they were curled by mockery, irony, and defiance, as though sarcastic words might dart out at any moment. In point of fact, sharp satire occasionally spiced his conversation, which, as a rule, however, was far from fulfilling the expectations aroused by his writings. In his younger years happy moments found him full of jokes and pranks for the delectation of his domestic circle, and at all times he displayed unquenchable zest for life and cheerful optimism. Love of family was a dominant trait in him. Towards his wife his bearing was always tender and attentive, as though the honeymoon had not passed; towards his daughter it was marked by the perfection of gallantry; towards his sons he exercised forbearance and self-sacrificing devotion, and his aged father he met with the filial respect of Talmudic times. He enjoyed and cultivated intercourse with friends. For a friend, for any person or cause that had enlisted his sympathy, he was ready to pledge himself. Deeply moved by the sad conditions prevalent in Palestine, he had brought thence a plan for the education of Jewish orphans in Jerusalem. He and his traveling companions founded a society, and he exerted himself to secure a fund, small though it might be, for the promotion of its object. For this purpose he took journey after journey, delivered lectures, at first much against his inclination, in many cities, and even accepted an invitation to go to Galicia, where he was received with joyful demonstrations and overwhelmed with flattering homage. Encouraged by such successes, he persisted, until he had put the society upon a modest but secure basis, which enables it to continue its good work to this day.

84 Robust and vigorous as he felt himself, he undertook in his old age a work in which he meant to sum up his Bible studies of a critical and exegetical character. He counted, not upon the sympathy of his contemporaries, but upon the appreciation of a late posterity. All subordinate occupations were dropped. In 1888 he even discontinued the publication of the Monatsschrift, none of his pupils being able then to assume the editorial management. In order to give a clear, comprehensive review of the results of his Biblical text studies, he proposed to print the Hebrew Bible in its entirety with emendations and short notes justifying them. In 1891 all preparatory work was completed, and the printing was begun. How he cherished this life-work of his is evident from the prospectus. Contrary to his custom, he addresses himself to his friends, and requests them to assist him in his venture.

“At the end of my life,” he says in the prospectus, “I have undertaken the laborious task of summarizing the emendations of the text of the Holy Scriptures, the admissibility and justification of which no less than the necessity for which the accompanying prospectus sets forth.... I beg you to aid my efforts ... in order that the pecuniary risk incurred may not too far transcend my means.”

This prospectus appeared in July, 1891, and it was the last word that issued from the author’s untiring pen for publication.

Although he was escaping the infirmities and ailments of the old, and considered himself perfectly well, and certainly felt vigorous, age had crept upon him insidiously. The action of his heart was so much impaired that his physicians became anxious about his condition. According to his annual custom he went to Carlsbad for the cure of minor indispositions. Thence he had planned to go to Munich on a few days’ visit to his oldest son, who occupied the position of “extraordinary” professor of physics at the University there, and then spend some time resting at Reichenhall with his85 son’s family. Shortly before the time set for his departure from Carlsbad, where he had not taken care of himself, he had a fainting spell of so serious a nature that the physician urged Mrs. Graetz to return to Breslau without delay. He considered the precaution exaggerated, and when he finally yielded, he refused to forego the trip to Munich. There, at his son’s house, he suffered, in the night between the sixth and the seventh of September, a violent attack of colic. Under the influence of opium administered by a physician the pain passed away, and he dropped to sleep. When his wife arose early in the morning to observe his condition, she found him lying in bed lifeless. His heart had ceased to act, and so a life replete with work and rich in attainment had too soon come to an end. His remains were transported to Breslau, and three days later, in the presence of a numerous gathering of his pupils and friends and amid demonstrations of general sympathy, they were consigned to the grave in the Jewish cemetery.

His wife, whose days are devoted to the memory of her celebrated husband, considered it incumbent upon her to publish his last work, the manuscript of which was all but complete, but of which only a few sheets had issued from the press at the time of Graetz’s death. The editor is Professor W. Bacher of Buda-Pesth, one of Graetz’s disciples, who has won honorable repute by his editions and his studies in the history of Hebrew grammar and exegesis. Besides the editorial work proper, he has been forced to supply from memoranda a considerable piece in the Prophets, which by some mischance had gone astray. On the whole, this critical Bible edition, by which the departed author set great store, has been pursued by peculiar ill-luck. Unlike his other productions it must miss the author’s pruning and correcting hand as it passes through the press. It is doomed to appear as an incomplete86 because a posthumous work. The title is: Emendationes in plerosque Sacræ Scripturæ Veteris Testamente libros secundum veterum versiones nec non auxiliis criticis cæteris adhibitis. Ex relicto defuncti auctoris manuscripto edidit Guil. Bacher. 3 Pts. Breslau, 1892–1894. The Hebrew text of the Bible is treated boldly and subjectively. But it remains for a later generation to pass final judgment upon the value of Graetz’s contributions to the critical determination of the Bible text. There can be no doubt that Graetz was as much a master in the field of exegesis as in that of history.

The time will come when his contemporaries will be envied for the privilege of having stood face to face with one so great and noble. Those days, to be sure, will not know the grief and sorrow that befell us when unexpectedly and without warning the revered teacher was removed from our sight. Still less will there be a suspicion of the self-reproaches that assail us too late for having frequently had a keen eye for the detection of minute shortcomings and inadequacies, the inherent foibles of the human kind, rather than a willing, attentive ear to listen to the suggestions and solutions so lavishly offered. After all, the most beautiful blossoms put forth by him, the best fruits produced by his mind, are in his writings; he that can read may enjoy them.

* * * * *

Note.--While this Memoir was passing through the press, the commission on the history of the Jews of Germany, spoken of on pp. 78–80, after five years of inactivity again showed signs of life in the form of a valuable publication by a rabbi: Das Martyrologium des Nürnberger Memorbuches by Dr. S. Salfeld. At the same time, the promise of the completion of Die Regesten zur Geschichte der Juden, etc., is held out.


89

TABLES OF JEWISH HISTORY.

CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF JEWISH HISTORY.

Period   PAGE
I. The Patriarchal Age 90
II. The Exodus 90
III. The Conquest of Canaan 90
IV. The Era of the Judges 90
V. The Kingdom (1067–977 B. C. E.) 91
VI. Judah and Israel until the Capture of Samaria (977–719 B. C. E.) 92
VII. Judah until the Destruction of Jerusalem (719–586 B. C. E.) 94
VIII. The Captivity (586–516 B. C. E.) 95
IX. The Age of Ezra, Nehemiah, and the Scribes (516–332 B. C. E.) 96
X. The Age of the Ptolemies and the Seleucidæ to Antiochus IV (332–175 B. C. E.) 97
XI. The Age of the Maccabees (175–140 B. C. E.) 98
XII. The Hasmonæan Dynasty (140–37 B. C. E.) 100
XIII. The Herodian Dynasty (37 B. C. E.–72 C. E.) 102
XIV. The Epoch of the Mishna and the Tanaites (72–219 C. E.) 104
XV. The Epoch of the Talmud, the Amoraim, and the Saboraim (219–550 C. E.) 106
XVI. From the Completion of the Talmud to the End of the Gaonate (550–1038 C. E.) 108
XVII. The Age of Gebirol, Halevi, Rashi, and Maimonides (1038–1204 C. E.) 111
XVIII. From the Death of Maimonides to the Expulsion from Spain (1204–1492 C. E.) 114
XIX. From the Expulsion from Spain to the Persecution in Poland (1492–1648 C. E.) 120
XX. From the Persecution in Poland to the Present Time (1648–1873 C. E.) 123

90

I. THE PATRIARCHAL AGE.

B.C.E.
1500 (about). Abraham leaves Ur of the Chaldees.
  Supreme power of Joseph in Egypt.
  Jacob and his household occupy Goshen in Egypt.

II. THE EXODUS.

  Birth of Moses.
  The Exodus.
  Revelation at Mount Sinai.
  Worship of the Golden Calf.
  Rebellion of Korah.
  Death of Miriam and Aaron.
  The Israelites defeat the Emorite king Sihon at Jahaz.
  Og, king of Bashan, defeated at Edreï.
  The prophecy of Balaam.
  Reuben, Gad, and half of Manasseh settle in the land east of the Jordan (Peræa).
  Death of Moses.

III. THE CONQUEST OF CANAAN.

  Leadership of Joshua.
  Passage of the Jordan.
  Capture of Jericho.
  Submission of the Gibeonites.
  Division of the land among the tribes.
  The Jebusites and others permitted to keep their territory.
  The Tabernacle at Shiloh.
  Death of Joshua.

IV. THE ERA OF THE JUDGES.

Judges.

  • 1. Othniel,
  • 2. Ehud,
  • 3. Shamgar,
  • 4. Deborah and Barak,
  • 5. Gideon,
  • 6. Abimelech,
  • 7. Thola,
  • 8. Jair,
  • 9. Jephthah,
  • 10. Samson,
  • 11. Ibzon,
  • 12. Elon,
  • 13. Abdon,
  • 14. Eli,
  • 15. Samuel.
  Othniel delivers the southern tribes from an
  Idumæan king.
  Ehud routs Eglon, king of Moab.
  Shamgar opposes the Philistines.
  Deborah and Barak defeat Sisera, Jabin’s general,
  at Mount Tabor.
  Gideon routs the Midianites under Zebah and
  Zalmunna.
  Abimelech leader of the Shechemites.91
  Jephthah repulses the Ammonites in the
  trans-Jordanic provinces.
  Samson keeps the Philistines at bay.
  Eli, priest and judge.
  The Ark captured by the Philistines at Aphek.
  Samuel, judge and prophet.
  Levitical and prophetical schools formed.

V. THE KINGDOM.
(1067–977 B. C. E.)

Kings.

Saul, David, Solomon.

1067. Saul anointed king.
  The Philistines defeated at Michmash.
  Jabesh-Gilead saved from the Ammonites.
  Agag, king of Amalek, defeated.
  David anointed king.
  The Gibeonites massacred by order of Saul.
  David slays Goliath.
  David flees before Saul, and leads the life of an outlaw. He is on friendly terms with the king of Moab, with Nahash, the Ammonite king, and Achish, the Philistine king.
  Zadok high priest.
1055. Saul and Jonathan die in a battle with the Philistines near Mount Gilboa.
1055. David king of Judah; Ishbosheth king of the trans-Jordanic tribes.
1051–1049. Civil war between the houses of Saul and David.
  David sole king of the whole people; reigns at Hebron for seven years.
  Nathan and Gad prophets.
  Jerusalem made the capital after the conquest of the Jebusites.
  The Philistines defeated at Mount Baal-Perazim.
  Abiathar high priest in Jerusalem; Zadok in Gibeon.
  The descendants of Saul, except Mephibosheth, killed by the Gibeonites.
  David victorious over Moabites, Ammonites, and others.
  Revolt of Absalom.
  Sheba’s insurrection.
  Solomon anointed king by Nathan.
1015. Death of David; succession of Solomon.
1014. Solomon begins the first Temple.
  Zadok sole high priest.
1007. The first Temple consecrated.92
  Solomon establishes a fleet. Roads built. Commerce extended. Foreign alliances.
  The kingdom at its greatest extent. Literature flourishes. Idolatry introduced.
  Rebellion of Jeroboam.
977. Death of Solomon.

VI. JUDAH AND ISRAEL UNTIL THE CAPTURE OF SAMARIA.
(977–719 B. C. E.)
(See the Table of the Kings of Judah and Israel, p. 127.)

977. Rehoboam king of Judah.
  Jeroboam king of Israel; rules at Shechem.
  Rehoboam allies himself with the king of Damascus.
  Shemaiah, prophet, averts a civil war.
972. Shishak, king of Egypt, ally of Jeroboam, enters Jerusalem.
  Jeroboam institutes calf-worship at Bethel and Dan; Ahijah prophet.
960. Abijam, son of Rehoboam, king of Judah.
957. Asa, son of Rehoboam, king of Judah.
955. Nadab, son of Jeroboam, king of Israel.
954. Baasha destroys the house of Jeroboam, and rules at Tirzah.
  Asa forbids the worship of Astarte in Judah.
  Baasha, assisted by Ethiopians and Syrians, makes war upon Asa.
933. Elah, son of Baasha, king of Israel.
932. The house of Baasha exterminated by Zimri.
932–928. Civil war between Omri and Tibni.
928. Omri, the first king in Samaria, introduces the worship of Baal and Astarte.
  Alliance between Israel and Phœnicia. Jezebel marries Ahab.
922. Ahab king of Israel.
920 (about). Elijah and the prophets persecuted by Jezebel.
918. Jehoshaphat king of Judah.
  Micah (I) (Michaiah) prophesies.
904. Ahab victorious over Ben-hadad II, king of Aram (Syria).
  Alliance between Jehoshaphat and Ahab.
901. Ahaziah, son of Ahab, king of Israel.
899. Jehoram, son of Ahab, king of Israel.
  Jehoram and Jehoshaphat defeat Mesa of Moab.
894. Joram, son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah.
888. Ahaziah, son of Joram and Athaliah, king of Judah.
  Elisha and Jehu.
887. Jehu kills Jehoram and exterminates the house of Omri; his followers kill Ahaziah.93
  Jehu king of Israel.
  Athaliah queen of Judah; she has male members of the house of David executed.
881. Joash, son of Ahaziah, only surviving male descendant of David in the direct line, king of Judah.
864. The Temple repaired.
  Hazael, king of Syria, conquers the trans-Jordanic provinces of Israel.
860. Jehoahaz, son of Jehu, king of Israel.
  Joash submits to Hazael.
845. Jehoash, son of Jehoahaz, king of Israel.
  Samaria besieged by Ben-hadad III; Jehoash victorious.
843. Amaziah, son of Joash, king of Judah.
  Amaziah victorious over the Idumæans.
840. Death of Elisha.
  Amaziah of Judah taken prisoner by Jehoash of Israel at Beth-Shemesh; Jerusalem ransacked and its walls destroyed.
830. Jeroboam II, son of Jehoash, king of Israel.
  Jeroboam II re-conquers districts taken by the Aramæans.
  Jonah prophesies.
815. Amaziah killed at Lachish.
  The Idumæans invade Judah, and sell Judæan captives as slaves. First dispersion of Judæans.
805. Uzziah, son of Amaziah, king of Judah.
  Earthquake and drouth.
  Uzziah re-conquers districts lost since Solomon’s time.
  Jeroboam II takes Damascus and Hamath; peoples become tributary to him.
  Luxury in Samaria under Jeroboam II.
800 (about). Amos, Joel, and Hosea (I) prophesy.
769. Zechariah, son of Jeroboam II, king of Judah.
768. Shallum kills Zechariah and exterminates the house of Jehu.
  Shallum king of Israel.
768. Menahem kills Shallum and reigns over Israel.
  Uzziah usurps the offices of the high priest in the Temple.
  Pul, king of Assyria, invades the kingdom of Israel, acquires booty, and carries off prisoners.
757. Pekahiah, son of Menahem, king of Israel.
756. Pekah kills Pekahiah.
755. Pekah king of Israel.
  Isaiah utters his first prophecy.
754. Jotham, son of Uzziah, king of Judah.94
  Zechariah (I) prophesies.
739. Ahaz, son of Jotham, king of Judah.
  Pekah allies himself with Rezin of Damascus against Tiglath-pileser II.
  Ahaz disregards the warning of Isaiah and offers to become a vassal of Tiglath-pileser II.
738. First deportation of Israelitish captives to Assyria by Tiglath-pileser II.
  Ahaz introduces Assyrian worship into Judah.
  Micah (II) prophesies.
736. Pekah killed by Hoshea.
727. Hoshea last king of Israel.
  Shalmaneser IV, king of Assyria, invades Israel.
  Hosea (II) prophesies.
  Hoshea refuses the yearly tribute to Shalmaneser IV.
724. Hezekiah, son of Ahaz, king of Judah.
719. Shalmaneser IV captures Samaria, puts an end to the kingdom of Israel, and DEPORTS MOST OF ITS SUBJECTS--THE SO-CALLED Ten Lost Tribes--to Assyrian provinces.

VII. JUDAH UNTIL THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM.
(719–586 B. C. E.)
(See the Table of the Kings of Judah and Israel, p. 127.)

  Hezekiah tries to banish idolatry.
  Isaiah advises neutrality between Assyria and Egypt.
  Shebna dictates the foreign policy.
  Micah and Isaiah predict a glorious future for Israel.
711 (about). Sennacherib invades Judah and demands tribute. Destruction of the Assyrian army.
  Hezekiah makes a treaty with Merodach-baladan, king of Babylon.
  Literature flourishes.
695. Manasseh, son of Hezekiah, king of Judah.
  Idolatry flourishes.
  Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, takes Manasseh captive.
  Manasseh restored.
  Esarhaddon colonizes Samaria with Cuthæans.
640. Amon, son of Manasseh, king of Judah.
638. Josiah, son of Amon, king of Judah.
  Zephaniah prophesies.
  Scythian invasion of Judah.
627. Josiah repairs the Temple.
  Jeremiah (b. 645–640, d. 580–570) prophesies.
621. Hilkiah, high priest, finds a copy of the Book of the Law in the Temple.95
  Huldah prophesies.
608. Necho, king of Egypt, defeats Josiah at Megiddo; Josiah killed.
  Jehoahaz (Shallum), second son of Josiah, king of Judah.
607. Jehoiakim (Eliakim), oldest son of Josiah, made king by Necho.
  Idolatry flourishes. Habakkuk prophesies.
607–604 Uriah, prophet, beheaded.
  Jeremiah’s life imperiled; Baruch his secretary.
600. Jehoiakim pays tribute to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon.
598. Jehoiakim allies himself with Egypt against Nebuchadnezzar.
596. Jehoiachin, youngest son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah.
  Judah overrun by Nebuchadnezzar, Jerusalem besieged by a Babylonian general, Jehoiachin taken prisoner. First deportation of Judæans to Babylonia.
596. Nebuchadnezzar makes Zedekiah (Mattaniah), youngest son of Josiah, king of Judah.
593. Jeremiah advises submission to Nebuchadnezzar.
591. Zedekiah renounces allegiance to Babylonia.
587. The final siege of Jerusalem begun.
  The siege of Jerusalem interrupted by the battle between the Chaldæan army and Hophra, king of Egypt.
586, Tammuz 9. First breach in the walls of Jerusalem.
  Zedekiah taken prisoner and blinded; Seraiah, high priest, and others beheaded by Nebuchadnezzar at Riblah.
586, Ab. 9. The Temple razed, and Jerusalem destroyed by Nebuzaradan, general of Nebuchadnezzar.
  Second deportation of Judæans to Babylonia.

VIII. THE CAPTIVITY.
(586–516 B. C. E.)

Babylonian Kings.

  • 605. Nebuchadnezzar,
  • 561. Evil-merodach,
  • 559. Neriglissar,
  • 556. Laborosoarchod,
  • 555. Nabonad and Belshazzar.

Persian Kings.

  • 558. Cyrus,
  • 529. Cambyses,
  • 522. Pseudo-Smerdis,
  • 521. Darius I Hystaspis.
586. Gedaliah appointed governor of the remnant of Judah
  by Nebuchadnezzar.
586. Jeremiah at Mizpah with Gedaliah.96
  Gedaliah murdered by Ishmael, son of Nethaniah.
  Obadiah prophesies against Edom, which possesses itself of southern Judæa.
  Jeremiah and Baruch in Egypt with Johanan, son of Kareah.
582. Third deportation of Judæans to Babylonia by Nebuchadnezzar.
  Ezekiel (620–570) prophesies.
561 (about). Jehoiachin honored by Evil-merodach.
  Descendants of the Ten Tribes deported by the Assyrian kings mingle with the captives from Judah.
555 (about). The historical books of the Bible compiled in Babylonia; literature flourishes.
  Nabonad of Babylonia persecutes the exiles.
  The Babylonian Isaiah prophesies.
538. Cyrus takes Babylon, and permits the exiles in Babylonia to return to Palestine.
537. Zerubbabel and Joshua ben Jehozedek lead the first return.
  Foundation of the second Temple laid.
520. Haggai and Zechariah (II) prophesy.
516. The Second Temple consecrated.

IX. THE AGE OF EZRA, NEHEMIAH, AND THE SCRIBES.
(516–332 B. C. E.)

Persian Kings.

  • 521. Darius I Hystaspis,
  • 486. Xerxes I,
  • 465. Artaxerxes I Longimanus,
  • 425. Xerxes II,
  • 425. Sogdianus,
  • 425. Darius II Nothus,
  • 405. Artaxerxes II Mnemon,
  • 359. Artaxerxes III Ochus,
  • 338. Arses,
  • 336. Darius III Codomannus.
  The Samaritans accuse the Judæans of disloyalty to Persia.
  The Judæans contract marriages with their heathen neighbors.
459. Ezra leads the second return with the permission of Artaxerxes I Longimanus.
457 (about). Ezra prevails upon the people to repudiate their heathen wives.
  The Samaritans under Sanballat engage in hostilities against the Judæans.
444. Nehemiah leads the third return.
  The Samaritans intrigue against Nehemiah.
  Internal reforms by Nehemiah.
  Ezra reads the Law to the people at Jerusalem.97
  The wall of Jerusalem rebuilt.
  Beginnings of the Great Assembly (Keneseth ha-Gedolah).
432. Nehemiah returns to Persia.
  Malachi the last of the Prophets.
430–424. Nehemiah returns to Jerusalem, and continues his reforms.
420 (about). The Samaritan Temple built on Mount Gerizim.
  Synagogues established; the Law studied, and the present form of divine service introduced, probably by the Council of Seventy (Synhedrion) (Dibre Sopherim).
361–360. Artaxerxes II banishes Judæans to Hyrkania.
338 (about). Bagoas, general of Artaxerxes III, lays the Judæans under tribute.
  The Books of Chronicles written.
332. Alexander the Great in Judæa.

X. THE AGE OF THE PTOLEMIES AND THE SELEUCIDÆ TO ANTIOCHUS IV.
(332–175 B. C. E.)
(See the Table of the High Priests, p. 128.)

Egyptian Kings.

  • 323. Ptolemy I Soter,
  • 285. Ptolemy II Philadelphus,
  • 247. Ptolemy III Euergetes,
  • 222. Ptolemy IV Philopator,
  • 205. Ptolemy V Epiphanes,
  • 181. Ptolemy VI Philometor.

Syrian Kings.

  • 312. Seleucus I Nicator,
  • 280. Antiochus I Soter,
  • 261. Antiochus II Theos,
  • 246. Seleucus II Callinicos,
  • 226. Seleucus III Ceraunus,
  • 223. Antiochus III the Great,
  • 187. Seleucus IV Philopator.
323. Death of Alexander the Great.
320. Jerusalem entered by Ptolemy I Soter. A large number of Judæan prisoners carried to Egypt.
312. The beginning of the Seleucidæan Era (Battle of Gaza).
301. Judæa, a subdivision of Cœlesyria, tributary to Egypt (Battle of Ipsus); the high priest the political chief. Judæan colonies in Græco-Macedonian countries; Greek colonies in Judæa.
300 (about). Simon the Just high priest and the last of the Men of the Great Assembly.
240. After a struggle between the Ptolemies and the Seleucidæ, Cœlesyria again adjudged to Egypt.
  Onias II, high priest, refuses to pay tribute to Egypt.
230 (about). Joseph, son of Tobiah, and grandson of Simon the Just, represents the Judæans at the court of Ptolemy III Euergetes and Ptolemy IV Philopator, and is made farmer of taxes.98
  Joseph introduces Greek feasts and games at Jerusalem.
218. Judæa sides with Egypt against Antiochus III the Great.
209 (about). Hyrcanus, son of Joseph, Judæan representative at the court of the Ptolemies.
  The “Song of Songs” composed.
203. The Tobiades, the elder brothers of Hyrcanus, Syrian partisans. Judæa tributary to Antiochus III the Great.
  The Hellenists and the Chassidim (Assidæans) begin to oppose each other.
200 (about). Jesus Sirach writes the apocryphal book Ecclesiasticus.
176 (about). Heliodorus, treasurer to Seleucus IV Philopator, attempts to confiscate the Temple treasures.

XI. THE AGE OF THE MACCABEES.
(175–140 B. C. E.)
(See the Table of the High Priests, p. 128.)

Egyptian Kings.

  • 181. Ptolemy VI Philometor,
  • 146. Ptolemy VII Physcon and
    Ptolemy VIII Lathurus.

Syrian Kings.

  • 175. Antiochus IV Epiphanes,
  • 164. Antiochus V Eupator,
  • 162. Demetrius I Soter,
  • 150. Alexander I Balas,
  • 146. Demetrius II Nicator and
    Antiochus VI (son of Alexander Balas),
    Diodotus Tryphon, and
    Antiochus VII Sidetes.
175. Antiochus IV Epiphanes ascends the throne of Syria.
174. The Hellenists induce Antiochus IV to divest Onias III of the high-priestly dignity, and under Jason obtain citizenship for Judæans trained for the Greek combats.
  Gymnasiums and the Greek games at Jerusalem.
172. Menelaus (Onias) the Benjamite made high priest by Antiochus IV.
171. Death of Onias III; Menelaus guilty of Temple robbery, but exonerated by Antiochus IV.
168. Antiochus IV attacks Jerusalem, and desecrates the Holy of Holies.
168, Tammuz 17. A Statue of Jupiter placed in the Temple by the Syrians.
  The Chassidim suffer martyrdom.99
  Mattathias the Hasmonæan resists the Syrian overseer.
167. Judas Maccabæus victorious in his first battle with the Syrians under Apollonius.
166. Judas Maccabæus victorious over Heron at Beth-horon.
  The Book of Daniel written.
  Judas Maccabæus victorious over Gorgias at Emmaus.
165. Judas Maccabæus victorious over Lysias at Bethzur.
165, Kislev 25. The Temple re-dedicated (Chanukah).
  Judas Maccabæus and his brothers victorious over the Idumæans, Ammonites, and Philistines.
164. Death of Antiochus IV Epiphanes.
163. Judas Maccabæus retreats before Lysias at Beth-Zachariah; his brother Eleazar Hauran killed.
  Jerusalem besieged by Lysias.
  Judas Maccabæus high priest.
162 (about). The Onias Temple built at Leontopolis in Egypt by Onias IV, son of Onias III, the first Alabarch.
  The Hellenists calumniate Judas Maccabæus before Demetrius I. Alcimus made high priest. Factions under Judas and Alcimus.
160. Judas Maccabæus victorious over Nicanor at Caphar-Salama and Adarsa. He makes overtures to the Romans.
  The Judæans defeated at Eleasa by the Syrians under Bacchides; Judas Maccabæus killed.
  Parties in Judæa: Chassidim, Hasmonæans, Hellenists.
  Jonathan Haphus, brother of Judas, defends himself unsuccessfully against Bacchides; his brother Johanan Gadi killed in a skirmish with the Bene Amri.
159. Judæa evacuated by the Syrians.
157. The Syrian war renewed at the instigation of the Hellenists.
152. Jonathan Haphus high priest; his friendship sought by Demetrius I and Alexander Balas.
152–143. The Judæans under Jonathan Haphus participate in the struggles between Alexander Balas, his son Antiochus VI, Diodotus Tryphon, and Demetrius II for the Syrian crown.
150 (about). The Pentateuch translated into Greek: the Septuagint.
143. Jonathan Haphus executed by Diodotus Tryphon.
143. Simon Tharsi, last of the Hasmonæan brothers, made high priest and leader by the people.
141. End of the Hellenist party.
140. Judæa and Rome allies.

100

XII. THE HASMONÆAN DYNASTY.
(140–37 B. C. E.)
(See the Genealogical Table of the Hasmonæan Dynasty, p. 130.)

Egyptian Kings.

  • 146. Ptolemy VII Physcon and
    Ptolemy VIII,
  • 117. Ptolemy VIII Lathurus and
    Alexander I,
  • 81. Alexander II,
  • 80. Ptolemy IX Auletes,
  • 51. Ptolemy X and Cleopatra VI,
  • 47. Cleopatra VI [and
    Ptolemy XI and
    Ptolemy XII],
  • 30. Egypt a Roman Province.

Syrian Kings.

  • 137. Antiochus VII Sidetes (alone),
  • 128. Demetrius II (restored) and Alexander II Zabina,
  • 125. Seleucus V,
  • 125. Antiochus VIII Grypus and
    Antiochus IX Cyzicenus,
  • 95. Seleucus VI, Antiochus X Eusebes, Philip,
    Demetrius III Eucærus, Antiochus XI Epiphanes,
    Antiochus XII Dionysius,
  • 83. Tigranes, king of Armenia,
  • 69. Antiochus XII Asiaticus,
  • 64. Syria a Roman Province.
B.C.E.
140. Simon made hereditary high priest and Nassi (Prince).
139. Simon stamps coins by permission of Antiochus VII Sidetes.
  Cendebæus, general of Antiochus Sidetes, makes war upon Simon.
135. Simon slain by his son-in-law; accession of John Hyrcanus I.
135–123. Wars with the rulers of the Seleucidæan house.
133 (about). Embassy to Rome. Rome calls upon Antiochus VII to make restitution to Judæa.
120 (about). Samaria reduced; the Temple on Mount Gerizim destroyed.
  Conquest of the Idumæans and their conversion to Judaism.
  John Hyrcanus again appeals to Rome in his difficulties with Antiochus IX Cyzicenus.
  John Hyrcanus victorious over the allies, Antiochus IX Cyzicenus and Ptolemy VIII Lathurus.
109. Samaria destroyed; Judæa at the height of prosperity; John Hyrcanus has coins struck.
  Formation of the three sects: Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes; outbreak of hostilities between the Pharisees and the Sadducees.
106. Accession of Aristobulus I. Discord in the family of the king.
  War with the Ituræans and Trachonites; Judæa enlarged.
105. Accession of Alexander (I) Jannæus.
98–96. The seaport towns taken by Ptolemy VIII Lathurus regained with the help of the Egyptian king’s mother.
94–89. Contentions between the Pharisees and the Sadducees; Alexander Jannæus opposed to the Pharisees. 800 Pharisees executed.101
  Alexander Jannæus adds trans-Jordanic territory to Judæa.
79. Salome Alexandra, wife of Alexander Jannæus, ascends the throne.
  Simon ben Shetach and Judah ben Tabbai, Pharisee leaders, reorganize the Synhedrion, and exclude the Sadducæans. The queen favors the Pharisees.
70. Accession of Hyrcanus II.
69. Aristobulus II co-regent; quarrels between the brothers.
  Antipater the Idumæan becomes the counselor of Hyrcanus II.
66. Aretas, king of the Nabathæans, ally of Hyrcanus II against Aristobulus II, takes Jerusalem.
  Scaurus, the Roman legate, at the instance of Aristobulus II, forces Aretas to raise the siege of Jerusalem.
63. Pompey captures Jerusalem; Hyrcanus II made Ethnarch; Aristobulus II a prisoner.
  Alexander (II), son of Aristobulus II, enters Jerusalem; subdued by Aulus Gabinius, Roman governor of Syria.
60. Shemaya and Abtalion presidents of the Synhedrion.
56. Aristobulus II escapes from Rome, opposes the Romans in Judæa, and is taken captive a second time.
55. Alexander (II) routed by the Romans at Mount Tabor.
53. Crassus plunders the Temple.
  Aristobulus II, set free by Julius Cæsar, is poisoned by the followers of Pompey; Alexander (II) decapitated.
47. At the petition of Antipater, Cæsar proclaims Hyrcanus II high priest and Ethnarch.
  The Judæans of Alexandria governed by their own Ethnarch, or Alabarch.
  Phasael, oldest son of Antipater, governor of Jerusalem; Herod, second son of Antipater, governor of Galilee.
  Ezekias of Galilee decapitated by Herod.
  Herod before the Synhedrion, protected by Hyrcanus II; made governor of Cœlesyria by Sextus Cæsar, Roman governor of Syria.
43. Antipater poisoned.
42. Herod and Phasael made Tetrarchs by Mark Antony.
40. Barzaphernes, Parthian general, takes Jerusalem, proclaims Antigonus king, and incapacitates Hyrcanus II for the high-priestly office by mutilating his ears.102
  Herod proclaimed king by the Roman Senate.
37. Herod marries Mariamne, granddaughter of Hyrcanus II.
  Jerusalem besieged and taken by Herod and Sosius, Mark Antony’s general; Antigonus executed.

XIII. THE HERODIAN DYNASTY.
(37 B. C. E.–72 C. E.)
(See the Genealogical Table of the Herodian Dynasty, p. 134, and the Table of the High Priests, p. 129.)

Emperors of Rome.

  • B. C. E.
  • 31. Augustus,
  • C. E.
  • 14. Tiberius,
  • 37. Caligula,
  • 41. Claudius,
  • 54. Nero,
  • 68. Galba,
  • 69. Otho,
  • 69. Vitellius,
  • 69–79. Vespasian.

Procurators of Judæa.
(Subalterns to the Roman Legates or the Governors of Syria.)

  • C. E.
  • 6. Coponius,
  • 9. Marcus Ambivius,
  • 13. Annius Rufus,
  • 15. Valerius Gratus,
  • 26. Pontius Pilate,
  • 36. Marcellus (?)
  • 37. Marullus (?)
  • [41. Agrippa I king],
  • 44. Cuspius Fadus,
  • 47. Tiberius Julius Alexander,
  • 48. Cumanus,
  • 52. Felix,
  • 60. Festus,
  • 62. Albinus,
  • 64–66. Gessius Florus.
37. Herod I king.
35. Aristobulus (III), brother of Mariamne, high priest, killed by order of Herod.
31. Hyrcanus II executed.
30 (about). Hillel president of the Synhedrion; Shammai deputy.
  Herod in favor with Augustus, the first Roman emperor.
29. Mariamne executed.
20 (about). Herod rebuilds the Temple.
  Asinai and Anilai found a small Jewish state in Nahardea.
6. Execution of Mariamne’s sons, Alexander and Aristobulus.
4. Death of Herod. Archelaus possessor of Judæa and Samaria; Herod Antipas Tetrarch of Galilee and Peræa; (Herod) Philip II Tetrarch of Gaulanitis, Batanæa, Trachonitis, and Panias.
3. Revolt against Archelaus; the “War Period of Varus,” governor of Syria. Leadership of Judas the Galilean, founder of the Zealots.
2. Archelaus recognized as Ethnarch by Augustus.
C.E.103
6. Archelaus deposed; Judæa a Roman province; Coponius the first procurator; Quirinius, governor of Syria, takes a census for purposes of taxation.
18 (about). Izates and Helen of Adiabene embrace Judaism. Conversions to Judaism in Rome.
26. Pontius Pilate procurator.
  John the Baptist.
30 (about). Jesus of Nazareth. Rise of Christianity.
33. Philip’s tetrarchy falls to Rome.
37. Agrippa I, favorite of Caligula, made king of Philip’s tetrarchy.
38. The Jews of Alexandria persecuted by Flaccus.
40. Philo Judæus, ambassador to Caligula. The emperor’s statue set up in the Temple.
  Herod Antipas deposed; his tetrarchy added to King Agrippa I’s territory.
41. Claudius restores the Alabarchate in Alexandria to Alexander Lysimachus, brother of Philo.
  Agrippa I receives Judæa and Galilee, Archelaus’ possessions, from Claudius, and is king of the whole of Palestine.
  Gamaliel I the Elder, president of the Synhedrion.
43. Helen of Adiabene in Jerusalem.
44. Death of Agrippa I. Herod II, prince of Chalcis, titular king of Judæa.
  Theudas, a false Messiah.
48. Saul of Tarsus, the apostle Paul, converts the heathen to Christianity. Death of Herod II.
49. Agrippa II, prince of Chalcis, titular king of Judæa.
  The Zealots and the Sicarii commit depredations.
52. Hostilities between Jews and the heathen at Cæsarea.
53. Agrippa II king of Philip’s tetrarchy.
63. Joshua ben Gamala, high priest, establishes elementary schools in Judæa.
64. Gessius Florus, the last of the procurators.
66. The census taken by Cestus Gallus, governor of Syria, at Jerusalem; the Passover of the Crushing.
  Renewed hostilities between the Jews and the heathen of Cæsarea.
  Rebellion against Gessius Florus in Jerusalem; the Zealots under Eleazar ben Ananias.
  End of the Roman garrison in Jerusalem.
  Race hostilities between the Jews and the heathen in Judæa, Syria, and Alexandria.
  Cestius Gallus besieges Jerusalem.
  Cestius Gallus retires from Jerusalem; Judæa ruled by the Synhedrion, Simon II ben Gamaliel president.
66. The prohibition of “The Eighteen Things” enacted by the school of Shammai in consequence of the continued hostilities between the Jews and the heathen.104
  War in Galilee; Flavius Josephus governor of Galilee.
66. John of Gischala accuses Josephus of duplicity before the Synhedrion.
67. Gabara taken by Vespasian.
  Fall of Jotapata. Josephus surrenders to the Romans. Fall of Gamala.
  The fall of Gischala completes the conquest of Galilee by the Romans.
  The Idumæans enter Jerusalem as the allies of the Zealots; civil war in Jerusalem; reign of terror under the Zealots; the Synhedrion ceases to exist.
68. Peræa taken by Vespasian.
  Simon bar Giora enters Jerusalem, and renews the civil war.
69. Vespasian proclaimed emperor; he leaves Judæa. Titus commander of the army in Judæa.
  Civil dissension continues in Jerusalem.
70. Titus begins the siege of Jerusalem.
  Fall of the outer wall of Jerusalem; Bezetha in the hands of the Romans.
  Fall of the Tower of Antonia.
  Famine in Jerusalem. Sacrifices cease to be brought in the Temple.
  Burning of the Temple. Titus in the Holy of Holies.
  Zion, the upper city, burnt by Titus. Complete destruction of Jerusalem.
  An academy founded in Jamnia by Jochanan ben Zakkai.
71. The fortresses Herodium and Machærus taken by Bassus. Titus’ triumph; execution of Simon bar Giora.
72. Masada taken by Silva; the last Zealots fall; Judæa completely conquered. Death of Agrippa II.
  The Fiscus judaicus instituted by Vespasian.

XIV. THE EPOCH OF THE MISHNA AND THE TANAITES.
(72–219 C. E.)

72. Rebellion of the fugitive Zealots in Egypt and Cyrene. The Onias Temple closed.
80. Gamaliel II Patriarch, or president of the Synhedrion at Jamnia; his colleagues Eliezer ben Hyrcanus and Joshua ben Chananya. Excommunication first used.
  The daily prayers (“Eighteen Benedictions”) first formulated.105
  The Minæan curse introduced into the prayers. Jewish Christians (Nazarenes, Ebionites), heathen Christians, and Gnostics.
93. Josephus completes his history of the Jews, The Antiquities.
95 (about). Death of Josephus.
115. The Jews of Babylonia, Palestine, Egypt, Cyprus, Cyrene, and Lybia rise against Trajan.
118. The Jews of Palestine rise against Trajan and Hadrian; “War of Lucius Quietus.”
  Joshua ben Chananya president of the Synhedrion.
119. Akylas, proselyte, makes a Greek translation of the Scriptures.
130. Akiba ben Joseph president of the Synhedrion; collects the Halachoth (Mishna of R. Akiba).
133. Rebellion of Bar-Cochba against Hadrian; restoration of the Jewish State.
134. Magdala taken by Julius Severus.
135. Fall of Bethar; end of Bar-Cochba.
  Persecutions by Turnus Rufus; Jerusalem called Ælia Capitolina.
  Akiba ben Joseph dies a martyr; the ten martyrs; Elisha ben Abuya (Acher) informs against observing Jews.
138. Hadrian’s decrees revoked by Antoninus Pius. The fugitive disciples of the Law return from Babylonia, and organize a Synhedrion at Usha.
140. Simon III, son of Gamaliel II, president of the Synhedrion, assisted by Meïr, Judah ben Ilaï, Nathan of Babylon, José ben Chalafta, and Simon ben Yochai.
161. Revolution in Palestine against Antoninus Pius.
  Verus Commodus, co-emperor with Marcus Aurelius, persecutes the Jews of Palestine.
165. Judah I, the Holy, Rabbi, president of the Synhedrion.
189. Compilation of the Mishna (Mishna di Rabbi Judah); Judah I and Nathan of Babylon the last of the Tanaites.
200. Severus prohibits heathens from becoming Jews.
210. Gamaliel III, son of Judah I, president of the Synhedrion.
  The apocryphal Mishnas (Boraïtoth) compiled.

106

XV. THE EPOCH OF THE TALMUD, THE AMORAIM, AND THE SABORAIM.
(219–550 C. E.)

219. Abba Areka (Rab) opens the academy at Sora; Mar-Samuel, principal of the academy at Nahardea,
  declares the law of the land binding on the Jews.
225. Judah II, son of Gamaliel III, president of the Synhedrion, influences Alexander Severus to revive the privileges of the Jews, and mitigates the rigor of the Law.
  Jochanan bar Napacha, Simon ben Lakish, and Joshua ben Levi, Palestinian Amoraim.
247. Huna, principal of the Sora academy.
  Judah ben Ezekiel founds an academy at Pumbeditha.
259. Odenathus destroys Nahardea. Sheshet founds an academy at Silhi.
279. Ami and Assi, heads of the college of Tiberias.
280. Judah III, son of Judah II, Patriarch, collects a tax from foreign communities.
297. Judah ben Ezekiel, general Resh Metibta (principal of both Sora and Pumbeditha).
299. Chasda principal of the Sora academy; Huna ben Chiya, of the Pumbeditha academy.
309. Rabba bar Nachmani, principal of Pumbeditha; Rabba bar Huna, principal of Sora.
315. Emperor Constantine issues the first of his anti-Jewish decrees.
320. The Council of Illiberis (Spain) forbids intercourse between Jews and Christians.
325. The first Church Council at Nice completely severs Judaism and Christianity by making the celebration of Easter independent of the Jewish calendar.
327. Teachers of the Law banished from Palestine by Constantine.
330. Joseph ben Chiya, principal of the Pumbeditha academy, makes a Chaldaic translation of the Prophets.
333. Abayi Nachmani, principal of Pumbeditha.
338. Raba bar Joseph bar Chama, principal of the academy at Machuza.
339. Constantius forbids the marriage of a Jew with a Christian woman, and the circumcision of Christian and heathen slaves, under the penalty of death.
351. Religious persecutions in Palestine by the emperors Constantius and Gallus and the Roman general Ursicinus.
352. Nachman ben Isaac, principal of the Pumbeditha academy.107
355. Papa bar Chanan founds an academy at Nares.
356. Chama of Nahardea, principal of the Pumbeditha academy.
359. Hillel II, Patriarch, introduces a final, fixed calendar.
361. Restoration of the Temple at Jerusalem under Julian the Apostate.
364. Valentinian I and Valens extend toleration to the Jews.
375. Ashi, the redactor of the Babylonian Talmud, restores the Sora academy. At about this time the Palestinian, or Jerusalem, Talmud is completed.
390. Amemar re-opens an academy at Nahardea.
393. Theodosius I confirms the exceptional position of the Jews in the Roman empire.
400. Moses, the false Messiah of Crete.
415. Gamaliel VI deposed by Theodosius II.
  Cyril, bishop of Alexandria, drives the Jews from Alexandria.
  Jews excluded from state offices in the Empire of the East under Theodosius II.
425. Extinction of the Patriarchate.
427. Death of Ashi, who, in the latter half of his life, collected and arranged the explanations, deductions, and amplifications of the Mishna, included under the name Talmud (Babylonian Talmud).
455. Persecution of the Babylonian Jews under Jezdijird III.
  Mar bar Ashi continues the compilation of the Talmud.
465. The Council of Vannes (Gaul) prohibits the clergy from taking part in Jewish banquets.
471. Persecution of the Babylonian Jews under Firuz (Pheroces). The Exilarch Huna Mari and others suffer martyrdom.
490. Babylonian Jews emigrate to India under Joseph Rabban, and found a little Jewish state in Cranganor.
499. Death of Rabina, the last of the Amoraim; completion of the Talmud collection.
500 (about). Abu-Kariba, Himyarite king, adopts Judaism, and converts his army and his people.
511. Mar-Zutra II, Prince of the Captivity (Exilarch), establishes an independent Jewish state in Babylonia under the Persian king Kobad.
517. The Council of Epaone forbids Christians to take part in Jewish banquets.
518. Persecution of the Jews by Kobad, king of Persia.
530. Death of Zorah Yussuf Dhu-Nowas, last Jewish Himyarite king.
531. Giza in Sora and Semuna in Pumbeditha, the last Saboraim.108
532. Justinian I decrees that the testimony of Jews shall be valid only in Jewish cases.
538. The Council of Orleans forbids Jews to appear on the street at Eastertide.
550(about). Final redaction of the Babylonian Talmud.

XVI. FROM THE COMPLETION OF THE TALMUD TO THE END OF THE GAONATE.
(550–1038 C. E.)

  Samuel ben Adiya (500–560), Jewish poet in Arabia.
553. Justinian I decrees that the Scriptural portions in the Synagogue liturgy be read in translation, and orders the omission of alleged anti-Trinitarian sentences from the liturgy.
581. Hormisdas IV, king of Persia, persecutes his Jewish subjects; the teachers of the Law flee from the Babylonian academies.
  Chilperic, Merovingian king, forces baptism on the Jews.
589. Reccared, Visigothic king, imposes irksome restraints upon the Jews, and completely isolates them from Christians.
  Bahram Tshubin, usurper of the Persian throne, friendly to the Jews; Pumbeditha re-opened by Chanan of Iskia.
590. Pope Gregory I discountenances the forced conversion of Jews.
612. Sisebut, Visigothic king, forces the Jews to accept baptism or to emigrate.
614. The Jews of Palestine join the Persians in a war against Emperor Heraclius.
624. The Benu-Kainukaa, a Jewish-Arabic tribe, driven from Arabia by Mahomet.
625. The Benu-Nadhir, a Jewish-Arabic tribe, driven from Arabia by Mahomet.
627. Extermination of the Benu-Kuraiza, a Jewish-Arabic tribe.
  Emperor Heraclius forbids Jews to enter Jerusalem, and in other ways harasses the Palestinian Jews.
629. Dagobert orders the Jews of the Frankish empire to accept baptism or to emigrate.
633. The Council of Toledo under Sisenand, Visigothic king, and Isidore of Seville, forces backsliding converts back into Christianity.
638. Chintila enacts that only professing Catholics shall remain in Visigothic Spain; Jews emigrate.
640. Omar, the second Caliph, banishes all Jews from holy Arabia. The “Covenant of Omar” imposes restrictions upon Jews in the whole Mahometan, world.109
642 (about). Bostanaï, Exilarch, acknowledged by Omar.
654. Judaizing Christians of Toledo under Receswinth, Visigothic king, swear loyalty to the Catholic Church.
658. Beginning of the Gaonate; Mar-Isaac, head of the Sora academy, takes the title Gaon.
670. Hunaï, Gaon of Sora, and Mar-Raba, principal of Pumbeditha, reform the divorce laws.
681. Judaizing Christians re-affirm their adherence to Christianity under Erwig, Visigothic king.
693. Egica, Visigothic king, forbids Jews to hold real estate.
700 (about). Rise of the Massora and of neo-Hebraic liturgic poetry. José bar José Hayathom the first Poetan.
712. Jews open the gates of Toledo to Tarik, the Mahometan general.
719. Natronaï ben Nehemiah (Mar-Yanka), principal of Pumbeditha.
720. Serene, the Syrian Messiah.
  Omar II, Ommiyyade Caliph of Damascus, re-enacts the “Covenant of Omar.”
723. Persecution of the Jews of the Byzantine Empire under Leo the Isaurian.
745 (about). Eleazar ben Kalir (Kaliri), poetan.
  The Chazars under Bulan accept Judaism.
749. Obaiah Abu-Isa ben Ishak, precursor of the Messiah in Ispahan.
759. Jehuda the Blind, Gaon of Sora, author of a Talmudic compendium, Halachoth Ketuoth.
761. Dudaï principal of Pumbeditha.
  The Karaite schism led by Anan ben David.
787. Charlemagne removes the Kalonymos family from Lucca to Mayence to encourage Jewish learning in the Frankish Empire. He introduces a Jewish oath.
797. Isaac sent by Charlemagne on an embassy to Haroun Alrashid.
800 (about). Judah Judghan, founder of a sect, introduces Mutazilist philosophy into Judaism.
  Benjamin ben Moses of Nahavend, founder of the Maghariyites, spreads the Mutazilist philosophy among the Karaites.
807. Haroun Alrashid introduces the Jew badge into the Abbasside Caliphate.
825. Contest for the Exilarchate between David ben Judah and Daniel.
  Rise of Karaite sects: Akbarites, Tiflisites, and the followers of Moses of Baalbek.
827 (about). Eberard, Magister Judæorum, under Louis I the Pious, king of the Franks, protects the Jews against Agobard, bishop of Lyons.110
842. The title Gaon assumed also by the Pumbeditha principals; Paltoi ben Abayi the first Gaon of Pumbeditha.
845. The Council of Meaux under Amolo, bishop of Lyons, enacts anti-Jewish decrees, renewing those of Constantine and Theodosius II.
853. The Abbasside Caliph Al-Mutavakkil introduces Jew badges, and re-enacts the “Covenant of Omar.”
869. Mar-Amram ben Sheshna, Gaon of Sora, at the request of a Spanish community, arranges the order of prayers in use among European Jews.
872. Mar-Zemach I ben Paltoi, Gaon of Pumbeditha, author of the first Talmudic Dictionary.
880 (about). Eldad Ha-Dani.
881. Nachshon ben Zadok, Gaon of Sora, discovers the key to the Jewish calendar.
900 (about). Simon of Cairo writes the Halachoth Gedoloth, a polemic against Karaism.
  Josippon compiled.
  Isaac ben Israeli I Suleiman (845–940), physician and philologist at Kairuan.
913. Saadiah ben Joseph (892–942) attacks Karaism.
917. Mar-Kohen-Zedek II ben Joseph, Gaon of Pumbeditha, tries to bring about the fall of the Exilarchate and the academy of Sora. Hostilities against Mar-Ukba.
921. David ben Zaccaï made Exilarch.
928. Saadiah installed as Gaon of Sora. His controversies with the Karaite Solomon ben Yerucham, and his translation of the Scriptures into Arabic.
930. Hostilities between Saadiah and David ben Zaccaï.
934. Saadiah writes his religious-philosophical work Emunoth we-Deoth.
940. Death of David ben Zaccaï, the last Exilarch of influence. End of the Exilarchate a few years later.
940 (about). Moses and Aaron ben Asher, Massorets.
942. Death of Saadiah.
945 (about). Four scholars are sent from Sora to gather contributions for the academy: Shemarya ben Elchanan settles in Cairo; Chushiel, in Kairuan; Nathan ben Isaac Kohen, in Narbonne; and Moses ben Chanoch, in Cordova.
  Abusahal Dunash ben Tamim (900–960), physician in Kairuan.
946. Sabbataï Donnolo (913–970), physician in Italy.
  Chasdaï ben Isaac Ibn-Shaprut (915–970), diplomat under Abdul-Rahman III, Nagid of the Jews of the Cordova Caliphate, patron of Jewish learning.
950 (about). The Karaite controversialists Abulsari Sahal ben Mazliach Kohen and Jephet Ibn-Ali Halevi.111
  Menachem ben Saruk (910–970) and Dunash ben Labrat (Adonim, 920–970), the first Hebrew grammarians. Neo-Hebraic poetry flourishes.
980. Sherira (920–1000), Gaon of Pumbeditha; his “Letter” a chronicle of Jewish events from the conclusion of the Talmud to his time.
985. Chanoch ben Moses (940–1014) and Joseph Ibn-Abitur, Cordova Talmudists.
  Jacob Ibn-Jau, prince of the Jews of the Cordova Caliphate.
990. Jehuda Ibn-Daud (Chayuj), Hebrew grammarian.
998. Haï (969–1038), Gaon of Pumbeditha.
1000 (about). Gershom ben Jehuda (960–1028), promoter of Talmud study at Mayence, INTERDICTS POLYGAMY.
  Simon ben Isaac ben Abun poetan.
1002. Nathan ben Yechiel compiles the Aruch, a Talmudic lexicon.
1008. The Fatimide Caliph Hakim decrees a Jew badge, and persecutes the Jews in various ways.
1012. Jews driven from Mayence by Emperor Henry II.
1020. Abulvalid Mervan Ibn-Janach (995–1050), Hebrew grammarian.
1027. Samuel Halevi Ibn-Nagrela (993–1055), minister to King Habus of Granada, Nagid of the Jews, patron of Jewish learning, and Talmudic author.
1034. Death of Samuel Chofni, last of the Sora Geonim.
1038. The death of Haï, Gaon of Pumbeditha, marks the end of the Gaonate.

XVII. THE AGE OF GEBIROL, HALEVI, RASHI, AND MAIMONIDES.
(1038–1204 C. E.)

1038 (about). Chananel ben Chushiel and Nissim ben Jacob Ibn-Shahin (1015–1055), Talmudists in Kairuan.
1045. Solomon Ibn-Gebirol (Avicebron, 1021–1070), poet and philosopher, author of the “Kether Malkuth” and the “Mekor Chayim.”
1050 (about). Bachya Ibn-Pakuda, philosopher, writes the “Guide to the Duties of the Heart.”
1055. Abu Hussain Joseph Ibn-Nagrela (1031–1066), minister to Badis of Granada, Nagid of the Jews, and patron of Jewish learning.
1056. Isaac ben Jacob Alfassi (1013–1103), Talmudist.
1066. Banishment of the Jews from Granada. First persecution of the Jews of Spain since its conquest by the Mahometans.
1069. Isaac ben Baruch Ibn-Albalia (1035–1094), astronomer to Al-Mutamed in Cordova, Nassi of the Jews, Talmudist.112
1070. Rashi (Solomon Yizchaki, 1040–1105), exegete and Talmudist.
1078. Pope Gregory VII (Hildebrand) promulgates the canonical law against Jews’ holding offices in Christendom.
1095. Emperor Henry IV issues a decree against the forcible baptism of Jews.
1096. The first Crusade: Suffering of the Jews of Rouen, Treves, Speyer, Worms, Cologne, Ratisbon, Prague, etc.
1099. The Jews of Jerusalem burnt in a synagogue by the crusaders under Godfrey of Bouillon.
1100. Abraham ben Chiya Albargeloni (1065–1136), astronomer.
1110. Moses Ibn-Ezra (1070–1139), liturgical and erotic poet.
  Joseph ben Meïr Ibn-Migash Halevi (1077–1141), Talmudist.
1120. Jehuda ben Samuel Halevi (1086–1142), poet and philosopher, author of the Zion songs and of the Chozari.
1141. Jehuda Halevi leaves Spain for Palestine.
  The Tossafists: the family of Rashi, especially his grandsons Jacob Tam (1100–1171), and Samuel ben Meïr (Rashbam, 1100–1160).
1146. Beginning of the Almohade persecution in northern Africa and southern Spain. Jews flee, or pretend to accept Islam.
1147. The Second Crusade. Pope Eugenius III absolves crusaders from the payment of interest on debts owing to Jews.
  The crusaders attack the Jews of the Rhine country, South Germany, and France.
  In consequence of their protection by Emperor Conrad III, the Jews are considered servi cameræ.
1149. Jehuda Ibn-Ezra, of Toledo, Nassi, steward of the palace under Alfonso VII Raimundez. He persecutes the Karaites.
1150 (about). Abraham ben Meïr Ibn-Ezra (1088–1167), poet, exegete, philosopher.
1160 (about). Jacob Tam calls the first rabbinical synod.
  Abraham Ibn-Daud Halevi (1110–1180), philosopher and historian.
  The Exilarchate revived by Mahomet Almuktafi. Solomon (Chasdaï) Exilarch.
1160 (about). David Alrui pretends to be divinely appointed to lead the Jews of the Bagdad Caliphate to Jerusalem.113
1164 (about). Moses ben Maimun (Rambam, Maimonides, 1135–1204), philosopher, writes his “Letter of Consolation.”
1165. Benjamin of Tudela begins his travels in the East.
  Serachya Halevi Gerundi (1125–1186), Talmudist.
1168. Maimonides finishes his Arabic commentary on the Mishna.
1170 (about). Meshullam ben Jacob, Provençal patron of Jewish learning.
  Judah ben Saul Ibn-Tibbon (1120–1190), physician and translator.
  David Kimchi, grammarian and exegete.
  Abraham ben David of Posquières (Rabed II, 1125–1198), Talmudist, Maimonides’ opponent.
1170 (about). Jonathan Cohen of Lünel, Talmudist.
  Jacob ben Meshullam, first promoter of the Kabbala.
1171. The Jews of Blois burnt on the charge of having used human blood in the Passover. The blood accusation, or charge of ritual murder, preferred for the first time.
  Death of Jacob Tam.
  Isaac ben Samuel (Ri) of Dampierre, Tossafist.
1172. Persecution of the Jews of Yemen. Messianic excitement.
1175 (about). Petachya of Ratisbon, traveler.
  Samuel ben Ali Halevi, Gaon of Bagdad, opponent of Maimonides.
1177. Maimonides rabbi of Cairo.
1179. The Third Lateran Council passes decrees protecting the religious liberty of the Jews.
1180. Maimonides finishes his Mishne Torah, or Yad ha-Chazaka.
1181. Philip II Augustus of France banishes the Jews from his hereditary province.
1187. Saladin permits Jews to enter Jerusalem.
1189. Attack on the Jews of London at Richard I’s coronation. The excitement spreads to Lynn, Norwich, Stamford, York, and Bury St. Edmund’s.
1190 (about). Maimonides issues the “Guide of the Perplexed,” dedicating it to Joseph Ibn-Aknin.
  Abraham Ibn-Alfachar (1160–1223), diplomat under Alfonso VIII of Castile.
  Ephraim ben Jacob of Bonn (1132–1200), liturgical poet and author of a martyrology.
  Massacre of the Jews of Germany from the Rhine to Vienna under Emperor Henry VI.
  Samuel Ibn-Tibbon (1160–1239), translator.
1190 (about). Süsskind of Trimberg, Jewish minnesinger.114
  Judah Sir Leon ben Isaac, the Pious (1166–1224), Tossafist, author of the “Book of the Pious.”
  Samson ben Abraham of Sens, Tossafist.
  Isaac the Younger (Rizba), Tossafist; Jacob of Orleans, Tossafist.
1197. Hillali, the oldest Hebrew copy of the Bible in Spain, taken by the Almohades.
  Sheshet Benveniste (1131–1210), philosopher, physician, Talmudist, diplomat, and poet.
1198. The Jews of France forbidden to move from province to province.
1204. Death of Maimonides.

XVIII. FROM THE DEATH OF MAIMONIDES TO THE EXPULSION FROM SPAIN.
(1204–1492 C. E.)

1209. The Council of Avignon issues restrictive measures against the Jews.
1210 (about). Isaac the Blind, founder of the Kabbala. Disciples: Azriel and Ezra.
  Jehuda Alcharisi, poet.
1210. The Jews of England imprisoned by King John.
1211. French and English rabbis emigrate to Palestine.
1212. The Jews of Toledo killed by crusaders under the Cistercian monk Arnold. First persecution of Jews in Castile.
1215. The Fourth Lateran Council under the pope Innocent III, among many anti-Jewish measures, decrees the Jew badge.
1222. The Council of Oxford imposes restrictions on the English Jews.
1223. The rabbinical synod of Mayence regulates the payment of the Jew taxes.
1227. The Council of Narbonne re-enacts the anti-Jewish decrees of the Fourth Lateran Council.
1229. Pope Gregory IX antagonizes the Jews.
1232. The Jews of Hungary excluded from state offices.
  Meïr ben Todros Halevi Abulafia (1180–1244) attacks Maimonides’ doctrine of the immortality of the soul.
1233. Solomon ben Abraham of Montpellier, Jonah ben Abraham Gerundi, and David ben Saul ally themselves with the Dominicans, who burn Maimonides’ works in Montpellier and Paris.
1235. Abraham Maimuni (1185–1254), physician and philosopher.
1235. Moses ben Nachman (Ramban, 1195–1270), Talmudist, exegete, Kabbalist, anti-Maimunist.115
  Jacob ben Abba Mari ben Simon (Anatoli), Jewish scholar at the court of Frederick II.
  Bebachya ben Natronaï Nakdan (Crispia), fabulist and punctuator.
1235. Gregory IX confirms the Constitutio Judæorum of Innocent III.
1236. Crusaders attack the Jewish communities of Anjou, Poitou, etc.
1239. On the charges of the apostate Nicholas-Donin, Gregory IX orders the Dominicans and Franciscans to examine the Talmud, and burn it, if necessary.
1240. Disputation before Louis IX of France between Nicholas-Donin and the Jews, represented by Yechiel of Paris, Moses of Coucy, Talmudist and itinerant preacher, and two others.
1240. A Jewish Parliament assembled by Henry III.
1242. The Talmud burnt at Paris.
1244. Archduke Frederick I the Valiant, of Austria, grants privileges to the Jews.
1246. The Council of Béziers forbids Jews to practice medicine.
1247. Pope Innocent IV issues a bull disproving the blood accusation against the Jews.
1254. The Jews expelled from his dominions by Louis IX of France. End of the Tossafists.
1257. Alfonso X, the Wise, of Castile, compiles a code, containing a section of anti-Jewish laws.
1263. Moses ben Nachman opposes Pablo Christiani at the disputation of Barcelona.
1264. The Jews of London attacked under Henry III.
1267. The Council of Vienna re-enacts the anti-Jewish decrees of the Fourth Lateran Council.
1271 (about). Pope Gregory X issues a bull deprecating the forced baptism of Jews.
1278. The Jews of England imprisoned on the charge of counterfeiting coin.
1279. The Council of Buda enacts anti-Jewish measures.
  Solomon ben Adret (Rashba, 1245–1310), Talmudist.
  David Maimuni (1233–1300), grandson of Maimonides.
1283. Beginning of the massacres of the Jews of Germany on the blood accusation.
  Moses ben Chasdaï Taku (1250–1290), anti-Maimunist.
1286. Meïr ben Baruch of Rothenburg (1220–1293), chief rabbi of Germany, imprisoned when about to emigrate.
1288. Saad Addaula, minister of finance of the Persian empire under Argun.
1289. Maimonides’ works burnt at Accho. Solomon Petit, anti-Maimunist and Kabbalist; Hillel ben Samuel of Verona (1220–1295), Talmudist and Maimunist.116
1290. The Jews banished from England.
1291. The Jews of Accho imprisoned or executed by the Sultan of Egypt.
1295 (about). Publication of the Zohar by Moses de Leon; Kabbalistic studies flourish.
1298. Persecution of the Jews in Germany instigated by Rindfleish; Mordecai ben Hillel a martyr.
1305. The ban against the study of science pronounced by Abba-Mari ben Moses; authorized by Solomon ben Adret; urged by Asher ben Yechiel (Asheri); opposed by the Tibbonides led by Jacob ben Machir (Profatius) and the poet Yedaya Penini Bedaresi.
1306. The first expulsion of the Jews from France under Philip IV the Fair.
1310. Asheri compiles his Talmudic code.
1313. The Council of Zamora renews the canonical laws hostile to the Jews.
1315. Louis X of France recalls the Jews.
1320. The Pastoureaux persecutions in France (Gesereth ha-Roïm).
1321. The Leper persecution in France (Gesereth Mezoraim). The second expulsion of the Jews from France.
1328. Persecution of the Jews of Navarre.
1334. Casimir III the Great of Poland issues laws friendly to the Jews.
1336. Disputation at Valladolid between the Jews and the apostate Abner-Alfonso. Alfonso XI of Castile forbids the use of alleged blasphemous expressions in the Hebrew prayers.
  Persecution of the Jews in Germany by the Armleder.
1337. Joseph of Ecija and Samuel Ibn-Wakar favorites of Alfonso XI of Castile. Gonzalo Martinez plans the destruction of the Jews of Castile.
1340. Jacob ben Asheri (Baal ha-Turim, 1280–1340) compiles his Talmudic code.
  Nissim Gerundi ben Reuben (1340–1380), rabbi of Barcelona.
1342. Levi ben Gerson (Gersonides, Maestro Leon de Bagnols, 1288–1345), physician and philosopher.
1348. Persecution of the Jews in Europe on account of the Black Death. Pope Clement VI issues two bulls protecting the Jews.
1350. Moses ben Joshua Narboni (Maestro Vidal, 1300–1362), philosopher.
1350. Aaron II ben Elia Nicomedi (1300–1369), Karaite philosopher.117
  Santob de Carrion (1300–1350), Jewish-Spanish troubadour.
  Samuel Abulafia, minister to Pedro the Cruel of Castile.
1351. The cortes of Valladolid ask the abolition of the judicial autonomy of Spanish-Jewish communities.
1355. The “Golden Bull” by Emperor Charles IV confers the privilege of holding Jews on the Electors.
1357. Completion of the synagogue at Toledo built by Samuel Abulafia.
1360. Samuel Abulafia dies under torture on the charge of peculation.
  Participation of the Jews of Castile in the civil war (1360–1369) between Pedro the Cruel and Henry de Trastamare, chiefly on the side of the former.
  Manessier de Vesoul obtains from King John a decree permitting Jews to dwell in France.
1370 (about). Meïr ben Baruch Halevi of Vienna introduces the conferring of authorization for the exercise of rabbinical functions (Morenu). He and his disciples, principally Isaac of Tyrnau, compile the customs (Minhagim) of the communities.
1371. The Jews of Castile under Henry II compelled to wear badges and give up Spanish names.
1375. Disputation at Avila between the apostate John of Valladolid and Moses Cohen de Tordesillas.
1376. Disputation at Pampeluna between John of Valladolid and Shem-Tob ben Shaprut.
  Samuel Abrabanel at court under Henry II of Castile.
  Chayim ben Gallipapa (1310–1380), innovator; Menachem ben Aaron ben Zerach (1310–1385), rabbinical author; Isaac ben Sheshet Barfat (Ribash, 1310–1409), Talmudist; Chasdaï ben Abraham Crescas (1340–1410), philosopher.
1379. Joseph Pichon, receiver-general of taxes in Seville, murdered, probably at the instigation of Jews, against whom the fury of the populace is turned.
1380. Juan I restricts the judicial autonomy of the Castilian Jewish communities.
1381. A synod at Mayence regulates the rabbinical marriage laws (Tekanoth Shum).
1385. Juan I of Castile revives the canonical restrictions against the Jews.
1389. The charge of host desecration leads to the massacre of the Jews of Prague.
1391. Ferdinand Martinez incites the mob against the Jews of Seville. The massacre and plunder of the Jews spreads from Castile to Aragon, Majorca, and other parts of Spain. Many Jews converted to Christianity: Marranos. Solomon Levi of Burgos (Paul de Santa Maria, 1350–1435), begins his machinations against Judaism.118
1392. Joao I of Portugal forbids force in the conversion of Jews.
1394. Third and last expulsion of the Jews from France, under Charles VI.
1396 (about). Writings in defence of Judaism by Joshua ben Joseph Ibn-Vives Allorqui (Geronimo de Santa Fé), Chasdaï Crescas, and Profiat Duran.
1399. Persecution of the Jews of Prague at the instigation of the apostate Pessach; Lipmann of Mühlhausen among the sufferers.
1408. Alfonso X’s anti-Jewish laws revived under Juan II of Castile.
  Don Meïr Alguades, rabbi and physician, executed on the charge of host desecration.
  Kabbalistic studies flourish in Spain.
1408. Simon Duran (1361–1444), rabbi of Algiers.
1410. Chasdaï Crescas publishes his religio-philosophic work.
1412. Juan II issues an edict of twenty-four articles designed to reduce the social prestige of the Jews. Vincent Ferrer preaches Christianity in the synagogues, and inflames the populace against the Jews. Second general massacre of Jews in all the Spanish provinces. Numerous Jews submit to baptism.
1413. Religious disputation at Tortosa arranged by Pope Benedict XIII between Geronimo de Santa Fé (Joshua Lorqui), and Vidal ben Benveniste Ibn-Labi and Joseph Albo. Many Jews submit to baptism.
1415. Benedict XIII forbids the study of the Talmud, and ordains the Jew badge and Christian sermons for Jews.
1419. Martin V issues a bull deprecating the forced conversion of Jews.
1420. Persecution of the Jews of Austria.
1421. Jacob ben Moses Mölin Halevi (Maharil, 1365–1427), compiler of the German synagogue liturgy and melodies.
1426. The Jews of Cologne banished.
1428. Joseph Albo (1380–1444) publishes his philosophical work Ikkarim.
1431. The Jews of South Germany persecuted on account of the blood accusation.
1431. Menachem of Merseburg (Meïl Zedek) regulates divorce proceedings.119
1432. A synod at Avila under Abraham Benveniste Senior provides for an educational system for Jewish Spain (the law of Avila).
  Moses ben Isaac (Gajo) da Rieti (1388–1451), Italian Jewish poet and physician.
1434. The Council of Basle renews old and devises new canonical restrictions against Jews.
  Annihilation of the Jews of Majorca.
1441. The Jews expelled from Augsburg.
1442. Eugenius IV issues a bull enforcing all the old canonical restrictions against the Jews of Leon and Castile.
1445. The first Hebrew concordance by Isaac ben Kalonymos Nathan.
1447. Nicholas V makes Eugenius IV’s bull applicable to Italian Jews.
  Casimir IV of Poland grants unusual privileges to Jews.
1450. The Jews of Bavaria persecuted.
1451. Nicholas de Cusa enforces the wearing of Jew badges in Germany.
  Pope Nicholas V authorizes the appointment of inquisitors for Marranos.
1453. The persecution of the Jews of Germany, Silesia, and Poland at the instigation of John of Capistrano.
  The Jews favored in Turkey. Moses Kapsali chief rabbi.
1454. The privileges of the Polish Jews revoked.
1460. Alfonso de Spina publishes an attack upon Judaism.
1468. The Jews of Sepulveda charged with the blood accusation.
1470. The Marranos of Valladolid attacked.
1472. The Marranos of Cordova attacked.
1474. The Marranos of Segovia attacked.
1475. Bernardinus of Feltre preaches against the Jews in Italy.
  The Jews charged with the murder of Simon of Trent for ritual purposes; a persecution of the Jews of Ratisbon follows.
1480 (about). Pico di Mirandola the first Christian scholar to devote himself to Hebrew literature.
1480. The Inquisition against the Marranos established in Seville and at other places in Castile.
1482. Pope Sixtus IV denounces the cruelties of the Spanish Inquisition.
1482. The Inquisition against Marranos established in Aragon, Thomas de Torquemada chief inquisitor.
  Elias del Medigo (1463–1498), scholar.
1483. Torquemada made inquisitor-general of Spain.120
1484. Isaac ben Jehuda Abrabanel (1437–1509), minister of finance to Ferdinand and Isabella.
1492. Expulsion of the Jews from Spain.

XIX. FROM THE EXPULSION FROM SPAIN TO THE PERSECUTION IN POLAND.
(1492–1648 C. E.)

1493 Most Spanish Jews leave Portugal; all remaining behind are sold as slaves.
  Simon Duran II (1439–1570), rabbi of Algiers.
1494. Isaac Abrabanel, minister of finance to two kings of Naples.
1496. Manoel of Portugal orders the Jews to accept baptism or leave the country.
1497. Manoel seizes Jewish children and has them baptized; many Jews accept baptism; all others banished from Portugal.
1498. The exiles settled in Navarre banished.
1499. The Jews of Nuremberg banished.
1502. Judah Leon Abrabanel (Medigo, 1470–1530) writes his “Dialogues of Love.”
  Asher Lämmlein proclaims himself the forerunner of the Messiah.
1503 (about). Abraham Farissol (1451–1525), scholar at the court of Ferrara.
  Gershon Cohen Soncinus establishes a Hebrew printing office in Prague.
  Jacob Polak (1460–1530), the alleged originator of the Pilpul method of Talmud study.
1504. Abraham Zacuto finishes his chronicle, “Sefer Yochasin.”
1506. Massacre of Marranos in Lisbon.
1507. Beginning of the feud between John Reuchlin and the Humanists on the one side and, on the other, Pfefferkorn, the tool of the Dominicans led by Hoogstraten, Victor von Karben, Arnold von Tongern, Ortuinus Gratius, and the theological faculties of various universities. The Talmud and the Jews attacked and defended before Maximilian I, Popes Alexander VI and Leo X. The last publication by Pfefferkorn in 1521, near the beginning of Luther’s Reformation.
1507 (about). Obadiah Sforno, Jacob Mantin, Abraham de Balmes, and Elias Levita (1468–1549), Hebrew grammarians, teachers of Hebrew to Christians. Introduction of Hebrew studies into German and French universities through the efforts of Egidio de Viterbo, Reuchlin, and Augustin Justiniani.
1514 (about). Obadyah di Bertinoro (1470–1520), Talmudist and preacher, improves Jerusalem.121
1516. Venice sets apart a special quarter for a Ghetto.
1517 (about). David Ibn-Abi Zimra (1470–1573) abolishes the Seleucidæan era for the Egyptian Jews.
1518 (about). Samuel Abrabanel (1473–1550) employed as financier by the viceroy of Naples; Benvenida Abrabanela.
1519 (about). Joseph ben Gershon Loans (Joslin of Rosheim, 1478–1554), representative and protector of the German Jews.
1520 (about). Elias Mizrachi (1455–1527), chief rabbi of Turkey.
1523 (about). Elias Kapsali (1490–1555), historian.
1524. The Jews of Cairo threatened with destruction by Achmed Shaitan, viceroy of Egypt.
  João III of Portugal employs Henrique Nunes (Firme-Fé) as a spy upon the Marranos.
  David Reubeni in Rome under the protection of Pope Clement VII.
1529. Solomon Molcho (Diogo Pires, 1501–1532) begins his Messianic agitation.
1530 (about). Portuguese Marranos burnt by order of the Bishop of Ceuta.
1531. Clement VII issues a bull establishing the Portuguese Inquisition for Marranos.
1532. Marranos forbidden to leave Portugal.
  Molcho burnt by Emperor Charles V at Mantua.
  Clement VII stops the proceedings of the Portuguese Inquisition at the instance of Marranos.
1535. Eighteen hundred Marranos liberated from the Portuguese Inquisition in obedience to a bull of Paul III.
1535 (about). Moses Hamon (1490–1565), physician to Sultan Selim I.
1536. Paul III sanctions the Portuguese Inquisition.
1538. The ordination of rabbis (Semicha) re-introduced by Jacob Berab.
1541. Most of the Jews leave Naples, where they are threatened with social degradation.
1542. The Jews of Prague banished.
  Luther attacks the Jews.
1548. Portuguese Marranos again liberated on the interference of Paul III.
1550. The Jews banished from Genoa.
1552. Samuel Usque finishes his “Consolations for the Sorrows of Israel.”
1553. The Talmud confiscated under Julius III in Italy.
1554. Joseph Karo (1488–1575), Kabbalist and Talmudist, finishes his code, the Shulchan Aruch.
1555. Paul IV issues a severe bull against the Jews.
  The Marranos of Ancona imprisoned and tried by the Inquisition.
1555. Amatus Lusitanus (1511–1568), physician.122
1556. Sultan Solyman demands from Paul IV the release of Turkish Marranos; Donna Gracia Mendesia (1510–1568).
1559. The Talmud burnt at Cremona; prayer books burnt in Vienna.
1560 (about). Joseph ben Joshua Cohen (1496–1575), historian, writes his “Annals.”
  Joseph Ibn-Verga completes the martyrology “Shebet Jehuda,” begun by his grandfather and father.
1561. The Jews of Prague banished.
1564. Pius IV permits the publication of the Talmud without its name, and after having been submitted to censorship.
1566. Pius V enforces all the canonical restrictions against the Jews.
  Joseph Nassi (d. 1579) made Duke of Naxos by Sultan Selim II.
1568. Isaac Lurya Levi (1534–1572), Kabbalist, pretends to be the Messiah of Joseph.
  Chayim Vital Calabrese (1543–1620), Kabbalist, associate of Lurya.
1569. All the Jews in the Papal States except those of Rome and Ancona expelled.
1570. Azarya ben Moses deï Rossi (1514–1578), scholar.
1570 (about). Solomon Lurya (1510–1573) and Moses ben Israel Isserles (1520–1572), author of the “Mappa,” the continuation of the Shulchan Aruch, Polish Talmudists.
1574. Solomon ben Nathan Ashkenazi negotiates peace between Venice and Turkey.
1576. Stephen Bathori allows the Jews of Poland to carry on trade without restrictions.
1579. Gracia Nassi establishes a Hebrew printing press in Turkey. Esther Kiera, Turkish court-Jewess, publishes Hebrew books.
1581. Gregory XIII forbids the employment of Jewish physicians, re-ordains the confiscation of Hebrew books, and re-introduces the compulsory Christian sermon for Jews.
1586. Sixtus V permits Jews in the Papal States and the printing of the Talmud.
  David de Pomis (1525–1588), physician.
1586 (about). The Jews of Poland establish the Synod of the Four Countries; Mordecai Jafa probably its first president.
1587. Gedalya Ibn-Yachya (1515–1587), historian, has his work printed.
1592. David Gans (1541–1613) publishes his history.123
1593. Isaac ben Abraham Troki (1533–1594), Karaite, publishes his “Chisuk Emunah.”
  Clement VIII expels the Jews from all the Papal States except Rome and Ancona.
  The first Marrano settlement made in Holland at Amsterdam under Jacob Tirado.
1597. The Jews expelled from various Italian principalities; Ferrara ceases to harbor Marranos.
1604. Clement VIII issues a bull of absolution for imprisoned Portuguese Marranos.
1612. Portuguese Jews granted right of residence in Hamburg.
1614. Vincent Fettmilch’s attack upon the Jews of Frankfort.
1615. The Jews of Worms banished.
1616. Jews re-admitted into Frankfort and Worms.
1617. Lipmann Heller (1579–1654) completes his “Tossafoth Yomtob.”
1619. Permission accorded the Jews of Amsterdam to profess their religion.
1621 (about). Sara Copia Sullam (1600–1641), poetess.
1623. Excommunication of Uriel da Costa (1590–1640).
1630. Suffering of the Jews during the Thirty Years’ War (1618–1648).
1639 (about). A Talmud Torah opened in Amsterdam. Saul Levi Morteira, Isaac Aboab de Fonseca, and Manasseh ben Israel, rabbis of Amsterdam.
1641 (about). Leo ben Isaac Modena (1571–1649); Joseph Solomon Delmedigo (1591–1655); and Simone Luzzatto (1590–1663), scholars not wholly in accord with the Judaism of their time.
1646. The Jews in Brazil side with the Dutch in their war with the Portuguese.
1648. Beginning of the Cossack persecutions of the Jews in Poland under Chmielnicki.

XX. FROM THE PERSECUTION IN POLAND TO THE PRESENT TIME.
(1648–1873 C. E.)

1649 (about). Christian scholars in Holland devote themselves to Hebrew literature.
1655. Manasseh ben Israel goes to London to obtain from Cromwell the re-admission of the Jews into England.
1657. Cromwell permits Sephardic Jews settled in London to open a burial ground.
1665. Sabbataï Zevi (1626–1676) publicly accepted as the Messiah; his followers and opponents.
1670. Baruch Spinoza (1632–1677) publishes his “Theologico-Political Treatise”; contemporary Marrano poets and authors in Amsterdam.124
  The Jews banished from Vienna by Emperor Leopold I.
  The Jews permitted to settle in the Mark Brandenburg by Elector John George.
1678 (about). Richard Simon, Father of the Oratory, makes Rabbinical literature known to Christians.
1679. Mordecai of Eisenstadt renews the Sabbatian craze.
1686 (about). Jacob Querido represents himself as the successor of Sabbataï Zevi.
1690 (about). Swedish scholars study the history of the Karaites.
1695 (about). Berachya represents himself as the successor of Sabbataï Zevi; his sect, the Donmäh.
1698. William Surenhuysius translates the Mishna into Latin.
1700. John Andrew Eisenmenger attempts the publication of his “Judaism Unmasked.”
1707. Jacob Basnage publishes his “History of the Jewish Religion.”
1713. Nehemiah Chiya Chayon (1650–1726), Sabbatian, causes a quarrel in the Amsterdam community; Solomon Ayllon and Chacham Zevi (Zevi ben Jacob Ashkenazi, 1656–1678).
1743. Moses Chayim Luzzatto (1707–1747), poet and Kabbalist, publishes his drama La-Yesharim Tehilla.
1745. The Jews of Prague placed under severe restrictions by Maria Theresa.
1750 (about). Chassidism founded by Israel Baalshem (1698–1759) and Beer of Mizricz (1700–1772); Elijah Wilna Gaon (1720–1797), its antagonist.
1751. Contest between Jonathan Eibeschütz (1690–1764) and Jacob Emden Ashkenazi (1698–1776).
1755. Moses Mendelssohn (1728–1786) publishes his first work.
1759 (about). Jacob Frank, Sabbatian leader, founder of the Frankist sect.
1762. Isaac Pinto publishes his “Reflections” in answer to Voltaire’s defamation of Judaism.
1778. Mendelssohn publishes the first part of his Pentateuch translation.
1779. Lessing publishes his “Nathan the Wise.”
1781. Christian William Dohm (1751–1820) publishes his work “Upon the Civil Amelioration of the Condition of the Jews.”
  Joseph II of Austria abolishes the Jewish poll-tax, and grants civil liberties to the Jews.
1783. Mendelssohn publishes “Jerusalem, or upon Ecclesiastical Power and Judaism.”
1783. Ha-Meassef founded by Mendelssohn’s followers (Measfim).125
1787. Mirabeau publishes his work “Upon Mendelssohn and the Political Reform of the Jews.”
1788. The poll-tax removed from the Jews of Prussia.
1789. Abbé Grégoire publishes his “Proposals in Favor of the Jews.”
1790. The French National Assembly grants citizenship to the Sephardic Jews.
1791. The French National Assembly grants full civil rights to the Jews.
1796. The Batavian National Assembly decrees citizenship for the Jews.
1803. Israel Jacobson and Wolff Breidenbach agitate the abolition of the poll-tax for Jews.
1804. Alexander I of Russia exempts certain classes of Jews from the exceptional laws.
1806. Napoleon I summons the Assembly of Jewish Notables; Abraham Furtado, president. Twelve Questions propounded to the Assembly.
1807. The Great Synhedrion convened by Napoleon; Joseph David Sinzheim president.
1808. The Jews of Westphalia and of Baden emancipated.
1811. The Jews of Hamburg emancipated.
1812. The Jews of Mecklenburg and Prussia emancipated.
1818 (about). Consecration of the Temple of the Hamburg Reform Union, Gotthold Salomon, preacher.
1819. The beginning of the “Hep, hep!” persecutions.
  Formation of the Society for the Culture and Science of the Jews; Zunz, Gans, and Moser.
1821. Chacham Bernays opposes the Reform Temple Union in Hamburg.
1822. Isaac Marcus Jost (1793–1860) begins to publish his history of the Jews.
1825. Isaac Noah Mannheimer (1793–1864), rabbi in Vienna, champion of the moderate party.
1831. Louis Philippe ratifies the law for the complete emancipation of the French Jews.
  Gabriel Riesser (1806–1860), champion of the emancipation of the German Jews.
  Solomon Ludwig Steinheim (1790–1866), Jewish religious philosopher.
  Nachman Cohen Krochmal (1785–1840), Solomon Jehuda Rapoport (1790–1867), Samuel David Luzzatto (1800–1865), Isaac Erter (1792–1851), scholars, regenerators of Jewish science and Hebrew style.
1832. Leopold Zunz (1794–1886) publishes his first epoch-making work.
1833. The Kerem Chemed, a Hebrew journal for Jewish science, established.126
1835. Abraham Geiger (1810–1876), scholar and preacher.
1836. Franz Delitzsch publishes his “History of Neo-Hebraic Poetry.”
1839. Sultan Abdul Meg’id grants citizenship to Turkish Jews.
1840. The Damascus blood accusation; Moses Montefiore (1784–1885); Adolf Crémieux (1796–1880); Solomon Munk (1802–1867).
1842. The “Society of the Friends of Reform” founded in Frankfort.
1844. The first Rabbinical Conference at Brunswick; Samuel Holdheim (1806–1860).
1845. The Reform Association formed in Berlin.
  The second Rabbinical Conference at Frankfort; Zachariah Frankel (1801–1875).
  Michael Sachs (1808–1864) publishes his “Religious Poetry of the Jews of Spain.”
1848. The emancipation of the Jews in the German states.
1854. The Breslau Jewish Theological Seminary founded.
1858. The oath “on the true faith of a Christian” abolished in England; Jewish disabilities removed.
  The Mortara abduction case.
1860. The Alliance Israélite Universelle founded.
1871. The Anglo-Jewish Association founded.
1873. The Union of American Hebrew Congregations established.

127

THE KINGS OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL.
(1067–586 B. C. E.)

Judah.   Israel.
Rehoboam —977— Jeroboam I
Abijam —960
Asa —957
  955— Nadab
  954— Baasha
  933— Elah
  932— Omri-Tibni
  928— Omri
  922— Ahab
Jehoshaphat —918
  901— Ahaziah
  899— Jehoram
Joram —894
Ahaziah —888
Athaliah —887— Jehu
Joash —881
  860— Jehoahaz
  845— Jehoash
Amaziah —843
  830— Jeroboam II
Period of Anarchy —815
Uzziah —805
  769— Zechariah
  768— Shallum
  768— Menahem
  757— Pekahiah
  755— Pekah
Jotham —754
Ahaz —739
  736— Period of Anarchy
  727— Hoshea
Hezekiah —724
  719— Samaria Destroyed
Manasseh —695
Amon —640
Josiah —638
Jehoahaz —608
Jehoiakim —607
Jehoiachin —596
Zedekiah —596
  586 Destruction of the First Temple.

128

THE HIGH PRIESTS.
(FROM THE CAPTIVITY TO THE DISPERSION.)

Period. High Priest. Civil Ruler.
VIII
586–516
B. C. E.
Jehozedek Babylonian Kings and Cyrus
  Joshua b. Jehozedek Zerubbabel (Cyrus and Darius I)
IX
516–332
B. C. E.
Jehoiakim Xerxes I
  Eliashib Nehemiah (Artaxerxes I)
  Joiada Nehemiah (Darius II)
  Johanan b. Joiada Artaxerxes III
  Jaddua Alexander the Great
X
332–175
B. C. E.
Onias I Ptolemy I Soter
  Simon I the Just (300–270) Ptolemy I Soter
  during the minority of Onias II
  Eleazar (br. of Simon I) Ptolemy II Philadelphus
  Manasseh (br. of Onias I) Ptolemy II Philadelphus
  Onias II (240) Ptolemy III Euergetes
  Simon II Ptolemy IV Philopator
  Onias III (Jason his deputy) Ptolemy V Epiphanes and Antiochus III
XI
175–140
B. C. E.
Jason (174) Antiochus IV Epiphanes
  Menelaus (Onias IV, 172.
Lysimachus his deputy)
Antiochus IV Epiphanes
  Judas Maccabæus (163) Antiochus V Eupator
  Alcimus (162–159) appointed by Demetrius I Soter
  Jonathan Haphus (152–143) Alexander Balas
  Simon (III) Tharsi (143–135) Simon Tharsi
XII
140–37
B. C. E.
Hyrcanus I (135–106) Hyrcanus I
  Aristobulus I (106–105) Aristobulus I
  Alexander Jannæus (105–79) Alexander (I) Jannæus
  Hyrcanus II (79–40) Alexandra, Hyrcanus II,
Aristobulus II, and Roman
governors
  Antigonus (40–37) Antigonus
Period. High Priest. Appointee.129
XIII
37 B. C. E.-
72 C. E.
Ananel (37–35) Herod I
  Aristobulus (III) (35) Herod I
  Ananel (34, second term) Herod I
  Joshua, of the family Phabi Herod I
  Simon (IV) b. Boëthus Herod I
  Matthias b. Theophilus
 
(Joseph b. Ellem his
deputy)
  Joaser b. Simon (b. Boëthus) Herod I
  Eleazar (brother of Joaser) Archelaus
  Joshua, of the family Sié Archelaus
  Joaser (second term) Archelaus
  Anan, of the family Seth Quirinius, governor of Syria
  Ishmael I Phabi Valerius Gratus, procurator
  Eleazar b. Anan Valerius Gratus, procurator
  Simon (V) b. Camyth Valerius Gratus, procurator
  Joseph Caiaphas (26–36) Valerius Gratus, procurator
  Jonathan b. Anan Vitellius, governor of Syria
  Theophilus b. Anan (brother
of preceding)
Vitellius, governor of Syria
  Simon (VI) b. Boëthus, of
the family Cantheras (41)
Agrippa I
  Matthias b. Anan (brother
of Jonathan)
Agrippa I
  Elionai b. Hakoph (44) Agrippa I
  Joseph b. Camyth (45) Herod II
  Ananias b. Nebedeus (48) Herod II
  Ishmael II Phabi (59–61) Agrippa II
  Joseph Cabi (61) Agrippa II
  Anan, of the family Anan Agrippa II
  Joshua b. Damnai Agrippa II
  Joshua b. Gamala Agrippa II
  Matthias b. Theophilus Agrippa II
  Phineas b. Samuel (67, 68) The People

130

THE HASMONÆAN DYNASTY (143–37 B.C.E.)


                         Simon Hasmonai
                               |
                            Johanan
                               |
                           Mattathias
                           (d. 167)
                               |
    +-------------+------------+------------+-------------+
    |             |            |            |             |
 Johanan     I. SIMON        Judas       Eleazar      Jonathan      Simon
   Gadi        THARSI      Maccabæus     Hauran        Haphus      Psellus
 (d. ab.      (143-135)    (d. 160)     (d. 163)      (d. 143)        |
   160)           |                                       |           |
                  |                                       |           |
      +-----------+------------+---------+------+       +-+-+       +-+-+
      |           |            |         |      |       |   |       |   |
  II. JOHN      Judah      Mattathias   Son  Daughter   Two |       | Eight
 HYRCANUS I.   (d. 135)     (d. 135)            m.     sons |       |  sons
  (135-106)                                  Ptolemy        |       |
      |                                      b. Habub       |       |
      |                                                     |       |
      +-----------------------+                      Daughter m. Mattathias
                              |                                 |   Eplias
           +----------+-------+--------+----------+---+         |
           |          |                |          |   |     Mattathias
           |      Antigonus    IV. ALEXANDER (I)  |  Son      Curtus
           |      (d. 105)           JANNÆUS      |             |
           |                        (105-79)      |             |
  III. ARISTOBULUS I                    m.     Absalom        Joseph
      (106-105)                     V. SALOME                   |
           m.                      ALEXANDRA                    |
   Salome Alexandra                 (79-70)                 Mattathias
                                       |                        |
                      +----------------+                  FLAVIUS JOSEPHUS
                      |                                     (d. ab. 95)
                      |                                         |
          +-----------+----------+                   +----------+--------+
          |                      |                   |          |        |
  VI. HYRCANUS II       VII. ARISTOBULUS II      Hyrcanus    Julius   Agrippa
     (70-40)                  (69-63)
     (d. 31)                  (d. 48)
       |                         |
       |           +-------------+-----+----------------+-----------+
       |           |                   |                |           |
Alexandra m. Alexander (II)      VIII. ANTIGONUS     Alexandra    daughter
           |  (d. ab. 52)           (40-37)             m.
           |                                      1. Philippion
    +------+--------+                             2. Ptolemy of Chalcis
    |               |
 Mariamne    Aristobulus (III)
 (d. 29)          (d. 35)
    m.
  HEROD

134

THE HERODIAN DYNASTY (37 B.C.E.–70 C.E.)


                             Antipater m. Cypros
                         (d. 43 B.C.E.) | (Arabian)
                                        |
                +-----------------------+-----+-------------+------+-------+
                |                             |             |      |       |
                |                             I.            |      |       |
             Phasael                       HEROD I        Joseph   |       |
                |                           (37-4)          |      |       |
                |                         (King of          |      |       |
                |                        Palestine)         |   Pheroras   |
             Phasael                          m.            |      |       |
                m.                +------1. Doris           |      |       |
            Salampsio             |+-----2. Mariamne I    Joseph   |       |
             (d. of               ||        (d. 29)         m.     |       |
           Mariamne I)            ||        (grandd.    Olympias   |       |
                |                 ||           of        (d. of    |       |
                |                 ||        Hyrcanus    Malthace)  |       |
    +--+--+-----+-----+----+      ||          II)           |      |       |
    |     |     |     |    |      ||+---3. Mariamne II      |   Daughter   |
Antipater | Alexander |  Cypros   |||      (d. of           |      m.      |
          |           |   m.      |||      Simon b.         |    Son of    |
          |           | Agrippa I |||      Boëthus)         |   Antipater  |
          |           |           |||+--4. Malthace         |            Salome
          |           |           ||||     (Samaritan)      |              m.
          |           |           ||||+-5. Cleopatra        |    +----1. Joseph
        Herod     Alexandra       |||||      (of       Mariamne  |       (uncle
                    m.            |||||    Jerusalem)     m.     |         of
                   Timius         ||||| m. five other  Herod II  |        Herod
                  of Cyprus       |||||     wives                |          I)
                                  |||||       |                  |+---2. Costobar
                                  |||||     three                ||+--3. Alexas
                                  |||||   children               |||
                                  |||||                          |||
                                  |||||      +-------------------+||
                                  |||||      |             +------+|
      +---------------------------+||||      |             |       +-----+
      |                            ||||      |             |             |
   Antipater                       ||||  Antipater      Berenice       Alexas
      m.                           ||||      m.            m.         Selsias
   Mariamne                        ||||   Cypros     1. Aristobulus      m.
    (d. of                         ||||   (d. of        (s. of        Cypros
 Aristobulus)                      |||| Mariamne I)     Mariamne I)   (d. of
                                   ||||      |       2. Uncle of     Antipater)
                                   ||||      |          Antipater        |
                                   ||||      |                           |
+----------------------------------+|||   Cypros                         |
|                                   |||      m.                       Cypros
|       +---------------------------+||   Alexas
|       |                            ||   Selsias
|       |                            ||
|       |                            |+------------------+---------+
|       |                            |                   |         |
| Herod [Philip]       +-------------+------------+      |         |
|       m.             |             |            |      |         |
|   Herodias           |             |            |      |         |
|    (d. of           II.           III.       Olympias  |         |
| Aristobulus)    ARCHELAUS   HEROD ANTIPAS       m.     |         |
|       |          (2 B.C.E.      (4 B.C.E.     Joseph   |        IV.
|       |          -6 C.E.)       -40 C.E.)     (s. of   |  [HEROD] PHILIP
|       |         (Ethnarch       (Tetrarch     Joseph)  |     (4 B.C.E.
|       |             of             of                  |     -33 C.E.)
|       |         Judæa and        Galilee               |     (Tetrarch
|       |          Samaria)       and Peræa)           Herod      of
|       |             m.             m.                       Gaulanitis,
|       |          Glaphyra    1. Daughter                      Batanæa,
|       |          (wid. of       of Aretas                   Trachonitis,
|     Salome      Alexander)   2. Herodias                    and Panias)
|       m.                        (d. of                           m.
| 1. [Herod] Philip               Aristobolus)                   Salome
| 2. Aristobulus                                              (d. of Herod
|    (s. of                                                     [Philip])
|    Herod II)
|
|
+------+---------------------------+---------------+-------------+
       |                           |               |             |
       |                           |               |             |
    Alexander                 Aristobulus      Salampsio       Cypros
 (d. 6 B.C.E.)               (d. 6 B.C.E.)          m.            m.
       m.                          m.           Phasael       Antipater
    Glaphyra                   Berenice       (nephew of   (s. of Salome)
(of Cappadocia)             (d. of Salome)      Herod I)
       |                           |
   +---+----------+                |
   |              |                |
Alexander      Tigranes            |
   |           (King of            |
Tigranes       Armenia)            |
   |                               |
Alexander                          |
   |                               |
Descendants                        |
not Jews            +--------------+--------+-----------------+-------+-----+
                    |                       |                 |       |     |
                    |                       |                 |       |     |
                    V.                     VI.                |       |     |
                AGRIPPA I               HEROD II         Aristobulus  | Mariamne
                 (41-44)                 (44-48)              m.      |    m.
                (King of          (Prince of Chalcis        Jatape    | Antipater
               Palestine)          and Titular King      (of Emesa)   |  (s. of
                    m.              of Palestine)             |       |  Doris)
                 Cypros                    m.                 |       |
                 (d. of           +-1. Mariamne               |       |
                Phasael)          |    (d. of Joseph)         |       |
                    |             | 2. Berenice             Jatape    |
  +------+------+---+---+--------+|    (d. of Agrippa I)              |
  |      |      |       |        ||            |                      |
  |      |      |       |        ||            |                      |
  |     VII.    |       |        ||      +-----------+             Herodias
  | AGRIPPA II  |    Mariamne    ||      |           |                m.
  |   (49-70)   |       m.       || Bernicianus   Hyrcanus     1. Herod [Philip]
  | (Prince of  |+--1. Julius    ||                            2. Herod Antipas
  | Chalcis and ||     Archelaus |+------------+
  |Titular King ||  2. Demetrius |             |
  |  of Judæa)  ||               |         Aristobulus
  |             ||               |             m.
  |             |+-------+       +--+        Salome
  |             |        |          |     (d. of Herod
  |             |     Berenice      |       [Philip])
Drusus       Berenice           Drusilla        |
                m.                  m.       +--+-----+---------+
          1. Marcus            1. Aziz of    |        |         |
          2. Herod II             Emesa    Herod   Agrippa  Aristobulus
          3. Polemon of        2. Felix
             Cilicia                |
                                    |
                              Agrippa (III)

139

INDEX.

Explanatory Notes.

For the complete index of references to Jews, see under Israelites until 586 B. C. E. (the Babylonian Captivity) and under Judæans until 70 C. E. (the Dispersion), as well as under Jews and the Jews of and the Judæans of the various cities and countries.

Persons living before 1600 will be found under their forenames. The rule has been violated by indexing certain Spanish Rabbis and Marranos living before this date under their surnames, and certain Germans and Poles living after it under their forenames. In these cases cross-references have been made.

Persons with the same descriptive cognomen, as Gerundi, Ibn-Ezra, Abrabanel, Abulafia, are enumerated under it, but the references are indexed as above.

Persons bearing the same forename, as Abraham, Jacob, etc., are arranged in the order adopted by Joseph Zedner in his “Catalogue of the Hebrew Books in the Library of the British Museum” (1867):

“1. Those distinguished by an epithet only, derived from their birthplace, rank, or occupation, arranged after the alphabetical order of the epithets.

“2. Those followed by the word ben (son of) [in our Index preceded by those with the Aramaic form bar, and followed by those with the Arabic form ibn and the English son of], arranged according to the name of the father.

“3. Compound names of first and family names, as Jacob Berab, or two first names, as Jacob Zeeb, [or of first name and birthplace when the latter follows without a preposition, or is modified to include of, as Jacob Tus, Abraham Bedaresi].

“4. Family names, as Jacob (Henry).”

This arrangement of Zedner’s is, however, subordinate to the class-divisions adopted by indexers and cataloguers in general, namely: 1. Popes, according to numbers; 2. Emperors; 3. Kings and Sovereign Princes, by countries and by number in each country; 4. Others by appellatives, neglecting prepositions and articles.

* * * * *

The subjoined Table will enable the student approximately to refer from the index of the American Edition of the “History” to the German, when it is desirable to consult the notes and other additional matter contained in the original.

American Edition.   German.
Volume I, P. 1–178 = Volume I.
Volume I, P. 179–487 = Volume II.
Volume I, P. 487–531 = Volume III.
Volume II, P. 1–320
Volume II, P. 321–635 = Volume IV.
Volume III, P. 1–250 = Volume V.
Volume III, P. 250–493 = Volume VI.
Volume III, P. 494–650 = Volume VII.
Volume IV, P. 1–126
Volume IV, P. 127–381 = Volume VIII.
Volume IV, P. 382–675 = Volume IX.
Volume IV, P. 676–708 = Volume X.
Volume V, P. 1–290
Volume V, P. 291–703 = Volume XI.

140

Lists of Names, etc., in the Index.

An almost complete biographical history of the Jews can be collated by following up through the Index the biographies of the persons grouped below. The column on the left consists of the class-names of the secular chiefs of the Jewish community; the column on the right, of those of the spiritual chiefs; the middle column, whether connecting the other two or replacing them, of those whose position, powers, and influence were, or were supposed to be, both spiritual and secular.

——     Patriarchs.   ——
Leaders   Moses
and
Joshua.
Moses.   High Priests.
Judges.     ——   High Priests.
Kings.     Prophets.   High Priests.
Leaders   Zerubbabel,
Ezra, and
Nehemiah.
Ezra
and
Prophets.
  High Priests.
——     High Priests.   ——
——     Hasmonæan Dynasty
(Princes and High Priests).
  ——
Herodian Dynasty.     ——   High Priests.
Roman Procurators
of Judæa.
  Presidents of the
Synhedrion.
Roman Governors
of Syria.
  Teachers of the
Law
(Tanaites).
——     Presidents of the Synhedrion
(under the titles Patriarch,
Nassi, Prince, and Rabban)
and
Teachers of the Law
(Tanaites and Amoraim).
  ——
Princes of the
Captivity.

(Exilarch,
Resh Galutha).
        Presidents of the
Babylonian
Academies, Geonim.
      Physicians and Philosophers.
Poets.
Talmudists and Rabbis.

141


Index

FOOTNOTES

1 The above quotations are extracts from the original document: Geheimes Staatsarchiv Berlin, General Direktorium Südpreussen, Ortschaften, No. 964, Vol. II.

2 Wuttke, Städtebuch des Landes Posen, p. 434.

3 Staatsarchiv Posen, Wollstein C. 13.

4 The booklet, copied out in a fair, neat hand, was found among the author’s papers after his death. He states that he began it in Zerkow, on Wednesday, Ellul 27 (September 15), 1830, and finished it in Wollstein at about the age of fifteen.

5 Neunzehn Briefe über Judenthum, herausgegeben von Ben Usiel.

6 Pessachim 112a: יותר ממה שעגל רוצה לינק הפרה רוצה להניק {Hebrew: Yoter mimah she’egel rotzeh linak, haparah rotzah l’hanik} “More than the calf will suck, the cow desires to suckle.”

7 Next happy Pessach.

8 Erotic matters.

9 Unclean and contaminating.

10 This biographical work was not printed, and the manuscript could not be found.

11 The writer speaks from personal experience, though it is proper to add, that he heard Geiger’s sermons in his youth, when one is inclined to enthusiasm and admiration; yet he thinks that the judgment expressed above can be sustained.

12 The Talmudic works of R. Isaac Alfassi.

13 A great, heavy cane with ornamental knob was carried in Poland as the badge of the rabbinical office.

14 Heroes.

15 A philologist of repute, whose contributions to Latin lexicography are of considerable value.

16 Lehrbuch zur Sprache der Mishnah.

17 An anonymous article in the “Orient,” 1843, p. 391 ff., may be accounted his introduction into the world of letters. It treats of the question then mooted, “On the Sanctity of Jewish Cemeteries” (Ueber die Heiligkeit der jüdischen Begräbnissplätze), and is dated Breslau, November 22. The skirmish with Geiger began in the “Orient,” 1844, p. 21.

18 Israelit des 19ten Jahrhunderts.

19 Gnostizismus und Judenthum.

20 “Book of Creation.”

21 Originally October 15 had been appointed, but many of the participants considered September a more suitable time.

22 Zeitschrift für die religiösen Interessen des Judenthums.

23 Die Septuaginta im Talmud.

24 Die Konstruktion der jüdischen Geschichte.

25 To accept this trust Graetz needed the permission of the municipal authorities, obtainable only by means of a duly accredited teacher’s diploma. He therefore attended the Catholic Normal School at Breslau for some time as “student by courtesy” (Hospitant). On November 4, 1847, after having taken an examination, he was given a diploma testifying to his ability to fill the position of teacher and rector at an elementary school. It is the only official certificate of examination Graetz could show.

26 This same Friedmann and Graetz appear as the joint authors of an article in Baur and Zeller’s Theologie Year-book for 1848 (Vol. VII, p. 338), “On the Alleged Continuance of the Jewish Sacrificial Cult after the Destruction of the Second Temple” (Ueber die angebliche Fortdauer des jüdischen Opferkultus nach der Zerstörung des zweiten Tempels). Friedmann’s share in the essay cannot be determined. The introduction plainly bears the marks of Graetz’s manner and style, and Graetz was in the habit of considering the work his own. It is the only production published by him between 1846 and 1851.

27 In his curriculum vitæ (among the archives of the Board of Curators of the Bequests of the royal commercial councilor Fränkel, “relative to Graetz, teacher at the Seminary”), Graetz makes the following statements: “In 1849 I obeyed the summons of the District Rabbi of Moravia to participate in the establishment of, and to act as teacher at, a rabbinical seminary for Moravian and Austrian communities. But the institution did not come into existence; the unsettled condition of affairs in Austria, especially the permanent temporariness to which the position of the Israelites there had become a prey, prolonged the discussions on the execution of the plans for a seminary of the kind. I was therefore compelled to accept provisionally the superintendence of a Jewish public school at Lundenburg near Vienna.”

28 Monatsschrift für Geschichte und Wissenschaft des Judenthums.

29 Jüdisch-geschichtliche Studien.

30 Die talmudische Chronologie und Topographie.

31 Die absetzbaren Hohepriester während des zweiten Tempels.

32 J. Lehmann, whose zeal in behalf of the founding of the seminary was highly commendable, reports (Archives of the Board of Curators of the Fränkel Bequests. I, Vol. 1, relative to the Seminary) as follows: “Every evening between 7 and 8, in the building of the Boys’ School of the Jewish community, a lecture is delivered before Jewish divinity students, Dr. Zunz lecturing on Rabbinic Literature, Dr. Graetz on Jewish History, and Dr. Sachs on the Proverbs of Solomon. The lectures are well attended by about twenty-five or thirty prospective rabbis, who take notes industriously, and by a dozen Jewish scholars who come as visitors (Hospitanten).... Zunz was obviously making an inspiring impression upon his audience; his dry subject was rendered spicy by piquant observations on Eisenmenger and Karpzow, Wagenseil and Richard Simon, and not a few innuendoes touching the present. On the evening when I heard Sachs, he had just begun the introduction to the exegesis of the Proverbs. It seemed to me that on the whole he was a little too abstruse, although there was no dearth of beautiful thoughts expressed in a manner still more beautiful. Dr. Graetz is a young man, who is very much praised by competent judges. Report says that his lectures bristle with new data and results; I myself have not yet heard him. He is said to have lived in Breslau at one time, and he came here from Lundenburg, his last residence, at the suggestion of Dr. Sachs. The institution of these three lecture courses on six evenings was proposed by the school trustees of the Jewish community. They have appropriated the means for carrying them on (about 1200 Reichsthaler) from the legacy fund of the Talmud-Torah School. Their right to do this has been contested in certain quarters, but for the present they are supported by the authorization of the communal directors and the approval of the intelligent. I have made this preface to enable you to estimate to what extent the judgment of those consulted by me with regard to the Breslau project is based upon what has been done here, inadequate though it be.... At first, Sachs, who recently received a letter from Frankel in Dresden inquiring into the feasibility of establishing a Rabbinical Institute for Berlin and Dresden in common, also intended to put down his opinion in writing for me, etc.”

33 Das Magazin für die Litteratur des Auslandes.

34 Cmp. “The Jewish Theological Seminary founded by Fränkel at Breslau on the 25th Anniversary of its Existence, August 10, 1879,” p. 5.

35 The Curators as well as Joseph Lehmann entertained the cordial wish and made earnest efforts to obtain a place for Geiger on the teaching staff of the Seminary. But Frankel met every demand looking to this end with abrupt refusal. Even Joseph Lehmann, who had a decided inclination towards Geiger, could not help making the following frank admission in an earlier letter (February 3, 1853) addressed to the Board of Curators: “The communication of the Rabbinical Conference of 1846, which I shall return to you, unfortunately has no value for us, because none of the five signers (Geiger, Holdheim, Philippson, Salomon, and Stein) continues to enjoy the authority in Germany necessary to secure the confidence of the class of Jews chiefly to be considered in the launching of an undertaking like this.”

36 Geschichte der Juden vom Untergange des jüdischen Staates bis zum Abschluss des Talmud.

37 Geschichte der Juden von den ältesten Zeiten bis auf die Gegenwart. Vierter Band.

38 Geschichte der Juden, Vol. IV (Ed. 1), p. 22.

39 Ibid. p. 169 (American Edition, II, p. 414).

40 Ibid. p. 236 (American Edition, II, p. 454).

41 L. Stein, Der israelitische Volkslehrer, V, 1855, p. 37.

42 S. R. Hirsch, Jeshurun, II and III.

43 Cmp. Geschichte der Juden, Vol. IV, Note 20 (in later editions, Note 16).

44 Der israelitische Volkslehrer, as cited above.

45 Jüdisch-theologisches Seminar, Fränkel’sche Stiftung.

46 A son of the Hamburg rabbi, or, as he called himself, Chacham, Isaac Bernays.

47 This tendency was justified by the circumstance, that under existing conditions admission to the Seminary had to be granted on attainments not more than sufficient for the second class of a Prussian Gymnasium, and pupils were to be received at the early age of fourteen.

48 Geschichte der Juden von dem Tode Juda Makkabis bis zum Untergang des jüdischen Staates.

49 Geschichte der Juden vom Abschluss des Talmud (500) bis zum Aufblühen der jüdisch-spanischen Kultur (1027).

50 The Protestant clergyman and diplomat, Jacob Basnage (d. 1723), historiographer of the Netherlands, was the first to write a history of the Jews down to his own time. The means at his command were inadequate and his historical insight hazy, yet he produced a connected account, which Jost took as a guide. The second attempt of the kind was made by an American woman, a Christian, Hannah Adams of Boston (1818), who was able to use only secondary sources. Cmp. for the predecessors of Graetz, his Geschichte, XI, p. 452 ff. (American Edition, V, p. 593).

51 Geschichte der Israeliten seit der Zeit der Makkabäer.

52 Allgemeine Geschichte des israelitischen Volkes.

53 His last historical work, “The History of Judaism and its Sects” (Geschichte des Judenthums und seiner Sekten, 3 vols., 1857–59), Jost wrote in a different key. Influenced by Graetz’s work, he tended towards the adoption of the younger historian’s point of view.

54 Zunz considered the attempt to write a history of the Jews premature. When he asked the question, he probably had in mind the bungling “History of the Israelites” by Dr. J. H. Dessauer (1846), and in the allusion to it, covert though it was, lay the sting.

55 Geschichte, Vol. V (American Edition, Vol. III, pp. 188–207).

56 Ibid., Vol. VIII (American Edition, Vol. IV, pp. 145–147, 191–193).

57 Ibid., Vol. VIII (American Edition, Vol. IV, pp. 207–216).

58 Ibid., Vol. IX (American Edition, Vol. IV, pp. 491–511).

59 Cmp. Geschichte, Vol. IV, 2 Ed., Note 14.

60 Geschichte, Vol. III, 2 Ed., Note 26.

61 Jost, Geschichte des Judenthums und seiner Sekten, Pt. 1, p. 437, Note 2.

62 Geschichte, Vol. X, chaps. 6 and 7 (American Edition, Vol. V, Chap. 4).

63 The French, English, and Hebrew translations of the “History” were superintended by Graetz, and most of the proof-sheets were read by him. The French translation was made by his friend M. Hess, a Socialistic journalist, who by reason of his book, Rom und Jerusalem, may be counted among the Zionists. The third volume, the first translated, appeared under the title, Sinai et Golgatha (Paris, 1867). The sixth followed, and was called, Les Juifs d’Espagne (Paris, 1872). The Franco-Prussian war, which alienated the German and French Jews from each other, interrupted the work, and it was not resumed until some time in the “eighties.” The first volume translated into English was the fourth, by the Rev. James K. Gutheim, under the auspices of the second “American Jewish Publication Society” (New York, 1873). After Graetz’s visit to London in 1887, the English translation of the complete work was undertaken there. Both the French and the English translations were revisions of the German original, in which Graetz not only incorporated the results of the latest researches, but also tried to pay particular attention to the history of the Jews of the nations into whose language the work was rendered.

64 Institut zur Förderung der israelitischen Litteratur.

65 The second volume assumed such proportions that it had to be divided into two parts, each of which reached the respectable number of 500 pages.

66 Die Ebjoniten des alten Testaments.

67 Kohelet (-oder der salomonische Prediger, übersetzt und kritisch erläutert).

68 Schir-ha-Schirim (-oder das salomonische Hohelied, übersetzt und kritisch erläutert).

69 Kritischer Kommentar zu den Psalmen nebst Text und Uebersetzung.

70 Quoted in Rippner, Zum siebzigsten Geburtstag des Professors Dr. H. Graetz, p. 31.

71 Monatsschrift, 1883, vol. 32.

72 Ibid., 1884, vol. 33.

73 Ibid., 1886, vol. 35.

74 Preussische Jahrbücher, 1879. vol. 44. p. 572 ff.

75 Ibid., p. 660.

76 Die Gegenwart, edited by Lindau, 1880, vol. 17, p. 18 ff.

77 Der deutsch-israelitische Gemeindebund.

78 One of these desiderata, but dimly discerned at the time, because its value was not in the least realized, was the publication of the “Memoirs of Glückel von Hameln,” since published in an excellent edition, without the help of a commission and without any ostentation by a pupil of Graetz, the learned Professor D. Kaufmann of Buda-Pesth. This remarkable book, which no one should fail to read, was fairly rediscovered by Professor Kaufmann.

79 Die Juden in Deutschland während des Mittelalters.

80 Zeitschrift für die Geschichte der Juden in Deutschland.

81 Regesten zur Geschichte der Juden u. s. w.

82 See Note p. 86.

83 As late as 1888 he published a Volksthümliche Geschichte der Juden (“Popular History of the Jews”) in three volumes, in response to numerous and frequently repeated requests for a short and popular history. He put all his historical matter into a concise form, constantly bearing in mind the needs of the intelligent laity. At the same time he did not fail to make use of newly determined data. The shorter work has peculiar value, inasmuch as Graetz lays down in it his opinion of men of his own generation whom he had passed over in silence in his eleventh volume published in 1870. He had adopted the rule of not considering living persons in his historical presentation. But from 1870 to 1888 many prominent figures had been removed from the arena by death, and he was left free in the later work to express his judgment upon their character and achievements.

84 Die westgothische Gesetzgebung in Betreff der Juden.

85 Frank und die Frankisten.

86 Das Königreich Mesene und seine jüdische Bevölkerung.

Transcriber’s Note

Punctuation was made consistent when a predominant preference was found in this book; otherwise it was not changed.

Variations in hyphenation and spelling, particularly in the use of accent marks, have not been changed unless they clearly referred to the same person and a preferred variation was predominant.

Simple typographical errors were corrected.

Occasional unpaired quotation marks were remedied when the intent was clear; otherwise they were left unchanged.

Some dates and spellings in this book differ from dates given in other sources.

Hyperlinks and Cross-References

Many cross-reference links in the Index are approximate: they lead to similarly-spelled entries, rather than to exact matches.

This eBook contains links to the other five volumes of this series at Project Gutenberg. Within a Browser session, the first time such a link is used, it may lead to the relevant eBook, rather than to a specific page. Thereafter, within the same session, links to pages in the other eBooks should lead to the specified pages.

Links to other eBooks generally are supported only by Browsers, not by eReaders.

Index references to pages in other volumes of this series have not been checked systematically for spelling, accuracy, or validity. These references were corrected based on examination of the other volumes of this series:

Page 150: “Acra”, volume 1, page 524, referred to page 585.

Page 238: “Cromwell”, volume 5, page 43, referred to volume 4.

Page 275: “Ezra’s opinion of intermarriages”, volume 1, pages 367–8, referred to volume 2.

Page 311 “Havayot”, volume 2, page 585, referred to volume 1.

Page 346: “Jacob, Syrian priest”, volume 5, page 662, referred to volume 2.

Page 459: “Talmudist, under Moses ben Isaac Alashkar”, volume 4, page 392, referred to volume 5.

Page 528: “Reïs”, volume 3, page 443, referred to volume 5.

Page 604: “Tiberius, death of”, volume 2, page 174, referred to volume 3.

Hebrew Translations and Transliterations

Page 3: Beyt Shmuel Acharon is the title of a book.

Page 7: Cheshbon Ha’itim: An Accounting of the Seasons.

Page 11: Igeret Tzafon: Letter to the North.

Page 12: Igeret Tzafon: Letter to the North.

Page 13: Berachot: Tractate Berachot (“Benedictions”), the first volume of the Talmud.

Page 16: Yoter mishe’egel rotzeh linak, haparah rotzah l’hanik: Literally, this Talmudic doctrine means, “More than the calf desires to suck, the cow desires to suckle.” Figuratively it means that the teacher is more anxious to teach than the pupil is to learn.

Page 16: Pesach haba aleynu l’tovah: Next Passover, may it be for good. In the original book, the Hebrew text used character-spanning zargas on pages 16 and 27, indicating abbreviations. In this eBook, zargas have been replaced by gershayim (quotation marks), as that is the convention in Modern Hebrew.

Footnote 6, originally on page 16: Yoter mimah she’egel rotzeh linak, haparah rotzah l’hanik: this is a variant phrasing of the “More than the calf....” Talmudic doctrine.

Page 18: Pesach: Passover.

Page 20: Sh’eylot: Questions of Jewish law.

Page 20: Divrei ervah: Matters of of ervah (literally “nakedness”); these are laws regarding physical or sexual immodesty.

Page 20: tamei: Unclean or ritually taboo.

Page 20: M’tamei: Resulting in ritual impurity.

Page 23: Toldot Avot: Title of a book, meaning “The History of the Forefathers”.

Page 27: Rifim: The works of the “Rif”. An acronym for the 11th Century Talmudist, Rabbi Isaac Al-Fasi. In the original book, the Hebrew text used a zarga, which has been replaced here as explained earlier.

Page 27: Nefilim: giants.

Page 27: Rav: rabbi, particularly one held in great esteem.

Page 30: Sefer Yetzirah: the mystical tome, “Book of Creation”. The Hebrew was misprinted in the 1956 edition from which this transcription was made, but was printed correctly in the 1898 edition; the correct Hebrew spelling is used in this eBook.

Page 37: Hatarat hora’ah: Authorization to issue rabbinic rulings.

Page 65: tet: the Hebrew letter tet; kof: the Hebrew letter kof.

Page 65: Titus: Titus; Kitus: Quietus.

Genealogy Charts on pages 130 and 134

In the original book, some marriages were indicated by “m.” and others by “=”. To conserve the width of these charts, some of the “=” notation has been replaced by “m.

Names originally printed in boldface are shown here in UPPERCASE.

This eBook is derived from images at The Internet Archive (www.archive.org). Some names and dates were missing from those images because they had been printed too close to the binding to be scanned. The missing information has been reconstructed by examining the Chronological Table beginning on page 90 and a physical copy of an earlier edition of the book.

Errata and Corrections

Page xi refers to four maps that were included in the original 1898 edition but not in this 1956 printing.

Page 154: Under “Agrippa II”, Transcriber added a comma between “Varus” and “representative”.

Page 164: “Al-muktadir Billah” was printed with a lower-case “m”.

Page 211: “fixed adopted by Hillel II” was printed without a comma.

Page 382: Under “Judæans”, there are two sub-entries for “repudiate their heathen wives”.

Page 443: “Simon ben Yochaï” is printed as “Simon bar Yochaï” on the referenced page in volume 4.

Page 457: “Morea, the, the Jews of” was printed with two “the”s.

Page 473: “Neriglissar murders Evil-Merodach” was printed as “merodach”, but has been changed here to match how it is printed on the referenced page.

Page 588: In the list of Roman governors of Syria, “Cassius Longinus, Caius” was printed twice in a row.

The other five volumes of this series are available at no charge from Project Gutenberg. Their eBook numbers are 43056, 43057, 43337, 43900, and 45085.

 

 


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