_To the Editor of the Jewish Chronicle._
DEAR SIR,――As a constant reader of your well conducted Journal, I
venture to hope that you will kindly afford me space in it for the
insertion of these few lines.
I am anxious to know how the following two statements are to be
reconciled:――“But, let me tell you, that you had great men men living in
England eight hundred years ago. The sayings of the wise men of Norwich
and of York are quoted in some of the additions made by the expounders
of the Talmud.”――Moses Samuels’ Address on the Position of the Jews
in Britain, p. 27. “_Von Schulen ist keine Spur in England, daher auch
nicht von Gelehrten; kein dortiger Rabbiner hat einen Platz in den
Jüdischen Jahrbüchern der Gelehrten. Zum Studiren war keine Zeit, und
keine Ehre lockte unde stärkte den Wissbegierigen._”――J. M. Jost’s
Geschichte der Israeliten, vol. vii., p. 165.
I know there is a current opinion amongst the Jews of England in favour
of Mr. Samuels’ statement; but after reading through the Talmud again
very carefully, at the expense of a great deal of time, and finding
that “the sayings of the wise men of Norwich and of York” either escaped
my eye, or are omitted in my copy (באמשטרדם לפרט תע׳ו), I bethought me to
apply to you. Perhaps this letter may elicit from some of your numerous
well-educated readers a reconciliation of the above. Ben Virga mentions
the learning of the ancient Jews of Britain, but does not say anything
about Norwich and York. He only says, הי״ח האי אשר נקרא היום אנגלאטירה נעשה שם שמד גדול
ועצים בכל אותם קהלות גדולות ועצמות אשר היו שם בימים ההם בחכמה ובינה וכבוד וביחוד העיר הגדולה לונדרוש אשר היו
שם קרוב לשני אלפים בעלי בתים כלם אנשים בעלי חכמה ועושר וכו׳. An early insertion will greatly
oblige me.