The condition of the Jews at the close of the last century was in many
respects unlike that of any other race that has ever been led from a
state of subjection to one of acknowledged equality. Long oppression
had not, on the whole, either blunted their intellects or debased their
morals. If they were ignorant in modern science and literature, they
were deeply versed in their own ancient literature, and this species
of learning was not the privilege of a single class, but the common
property of the whole people. What they lacked was system. In the
rambling debates of the Talmud the true principles of logical sequence
are but too often slighted, and the student is encouraged to value the
subtle play of dialectics on its own account, without regard to any
ultimate gain in positive and useful knowledge. Impatience of orderly
arrangement being allowed to develop into a habit, became contagious. It
impressed itself equally on the thought, the manners, the language*
of the Jews, and contributed not a little to alienate from them the
sympathies of the refined. Such, however, was the preponderating
influence of the Talmud that it not only engrossed the attention of the
Jewish youth to the exclusion of secular knowledge, but even perverted
the exegesis of the Bible and caused the study of Scripture to be
comparatively neglected.
* The German Jews spoke a mixed dialect of German and
Hebrew, which has been likened to the so-called Pennsylvania
Dutch.
To weaken the controlling influence of the Talmud became the first
needful measure of Reform, and to accomplish this it was necessary to
give back to the Bible its proper place in the education of the young.
It was an event, therefore, of no mean significance when Mendelssohn,
in conjunction with a few friends, determined to prepare a German
translation of the Pentateuch, and thus, by presenting the teachings of
Scripture in the garb of a modern tongue, to render their true meaning
apparent to every reflecting mind. The work was finished in 1783.
It holds a like relation to the Jewish Reform movement that Luther's
translation held to the great Protestant movement of the sixteenth
century. It was greeted with a storm of abuse upon its appearance, and
was loudly execrated by the orthodox as the beginning of larger and
far-reaching innovations. Its author might sincerely protest his entire
innocency of the radical designs imputed to him, but subsequent events
have proved the keener insight of his opponents. The influence of the
new translation was twofold. In the first place it facilitated a more
correct understanding of the doctrine, the literature and language of
Scripture; secondly,--and this is worthy of special remark,--it served
the purpose of a text-book of the German for the great mass of the Jews,
who were at that time unable to read a book written in the vernacular,
and thus became the means of opening to them the treasure-house of
modern thought.*
* The German of Mendelssohn's translation was written
in Hebrew letters.
In the very year in which Mendelssohn's work appeared we notice among
the younger generation a general revival of interest in the Hebrew,
the mother-tongue of their race. Two students of the University of
Konigsberg began the issue of a periodical devoted to the culture of
the Hebrew, which was widely read and attracted great attention. Poems,
original essays, Hebrew versions of modern writings, appeared in its
columns; the style of the Prophets and of the Psalmists was emulated,
the works of the ancient masters of the language served as models, and
in the aspect of the noble forms employed in the diction of the biblical
authors the aesthetic sense of the modern Jews revived. We are inclined
to doubt whether the Hebrew Bible, considered merely with a view to
its aesthetic value, is even yet fully appreciated. The extravagance
of religious credulity and the violent extreme of scepticism have alike
tended to obscure its proper merits. The one accustomed to behold in the
"holy book" a message from the Creator to his creatures shrinks, as a
rule, from applying to the work of a Divine author the critical standard
of human composition. The sceptics on the other hand, impatient of the
exorbitant claims which are urged for the sacred writings of the Jews,
and resenting the sway which they still exercise over the human reason,
are hardly in a proper frame of mind to estimate justly its intrinsic
and imperishable excellences. And yet, setting aside all questions of
the supernatural origin of the Bible, and regarding only the style in
which its thoughts are conveyed, how incomparably valuable does it still
remain! It would be difficult to calculate the extent to which many of
our standard authors are indebted for the grandest passages of their
works to their early familiarity with the biblical style. Those who
are able to read the text in the original become aware of even subtler
beauties that escape in the process of translation. Purity of diction,
power of striking antithesis, simple and yet sublime imagery, a
marvellous facility in the expression of complex states of feeling, and
those the deepest of which the human soul is capable, are but a few
of the obvious features that distinguish the golden age of Hebrew
literature. Never perhaps has the symbolism of nature been used with
such supreme effect to express the unspeakable emotions that are deep
down in the heart of man. Such music as that which swells through the
pages of Isaiah's prophecies cannot be forgotten; such ringing, rhythmic
periods, in which the eloquence of conviction bursts forth into the
rounded fulness of perfect oratory, can never fail to touch and to
inspire. We know of no nobler pattern on which the modern orator could
mould his style. And thus, too, the exquisite poetry of the Song of
Songs, the idyl of the Book of Ruth, the weird pathos of Jeremiah's
lament, the grand descriptions of Job, will ever be counted among the
masterpieces of human genius. Whatever we may think of the doctrines of
the Bible, it is safe to predict that the book will live long after the
myths that surround its origin shall have been dispelled; nay, all
the more, when it shall cease to be worshipped as a fetish will men
appreciate its abiding claims to their reverence, and it will continue
to hold its honored place in the libraries of the nations. The refining
influence of the study of the Bible soon became evident among the
contemporaries of Mendelssohn. But in another way also his translation
tended to their improvement. We have said that it became the means
of acquainting them with the language of the land. A wide field of
knowledge, embracing the rich results of modern science, philosophy,
and art, was thus laid open to their industry. Eagerly they availed
themselves of the proffered opportunity; schools were erected, in which
the elements of liberal culture were imparted to the young, and ere long
we find a new generation of the Jews engaging in honorable competition
with their Christian brethren for the prize of learning and the rewards
of literary distinction. It was at this time that Kant's "Critique of
Pure Reason" appeared, a work which marks a new epoch in the world's
thought. Its profound reasoning and technical style made it difficult of
comprehension to all but the initiated. Three Jewish scholars--Dr. Herz,
Salomon Maimon, and Ben-David--undertook the task of popularizing
its main results, and were among the first to call attention to the
transcendent importance of the new system. Plainly new vital energy was
coursing through the veins of the Jewish people.