New Abode, new Misery--The Talmudist.
We wandered about therefore in the country, like the Israelites in the
wilderness of Arabia, without knowing where or when we should find a
place of rest. At last we came to a village which belonged to two
landlords. The one part was already leased; but the landlord of the
other could not lease his, because he had still to build a house. Weary
of wandering in winter-time with a whole family, my grandfather resolved
to take a lease of this house, which was still to be built, along with
its appurtenances, and meanwhile, till the house was ready, to make
shift as well as he could. Accordingly we were obliged to take up our
quarters in a barn. The other farmer did all in his power to prevent our
settlement in the place; but it was of no avail. The building was
finished, we took possession, and began to keep house.
Unfortunately however everything went backward here; nothing would
succeed. An addition came to our misfortunes in my mother's illness.
Being of a very lively temperament and disposed to a life of activity,
she found here the weariness of having nothing to do. This, with her
anxiety about the means of subsistence, threw her into a state of
melancholy, which developed at last into insanity. In this condition she
remained for some months. Everything was tried for her benefit, but
without success. At last my father hit upon the idea of taking her to a
celebrated doctor at Novogrod, who made a specialty of curing mental
disorders.
The method of cure employed by this specialist is unknown to me, because
I was at the time too young to wish or be able to institute inquiries on
the subject; but so much I can declare with certainty, that in the case
of my mother, as well as most of his patients afflicted with the same
malady, the treatment was followed with success. My mother returned home
fresh and healthy, and from that time she never had an attack of the
same sort.
Immediately after this I was sent to school at Iwenez, about fifteen
miles from our abode, and here I began to study the Talmud. The study of
the Talmud is the chief object of a learned education among our people.
Riches, bodily advantages, and talents of every kind have indeed in
their eyes a certain worth, and are esteemed in proportion; but nothing
stands among them above the dignity of a good Talmudist. He has the
first claim upon all offices and positions of honour in the community.
If he enters an assembly,--he may be of any age or rank,--every one
rises before him most respectfully, and the most honourable place is
assigned to him. He is director of the conscience, lawgiver and judge
of the common man. He, who does not meet such a scholar with sufficient
respect, is, according to the judgment of the Talmudists, damned to all
eternity. The common man dare not enter upon the most trivial
undertaking, if, in the judgment of the scholar, it is not according to
law. Religious usages, allowed and forbidden meats, marriage and divorce
are determined not only by the rabbinical laws which have already
accumulated to an enormous mass, but also by special rabbinical
judgments which profess to deduce all special cases from the general
laws. A wealthy merchant, farmer or professional man, who has a
daughter, does everything in his power to get a good Talmudist for his
son-in-law. As far as other matters are concerned, the scholar may be as
deformed, diseased, and ignorant as possible, he will still have the
advantage over others. The future father-in-law of such a phoenix is
obliged, at the betrothal, to pay to the parents of the youth a sum
fixed by previous agreement; and besides the dowry for his daughter, he
is further obliged to provide her and her husband with food, clothing,
and lodging, for six or eight years after their marriage, during which
time the interest on the dowry is paid, so that the learned son-in-law
may continue his studies at his father-in-law's expense. After this
period he receives the dowry in hand, and then he is either promoted to
some learned office, or he spends his whole life in learned leisure. In
either case the wife undertakes the management of the household and the
conduct of business; and she is content if only in return for all her
toils she becomes in some measure a partaker of her husband's fame and
future blessedness.
The study of the Talmud is carried on just as irregularly as that of the
Bible. The language of the Talmud is composed of various Oriental
languages and dialects; there is even many a word in it from Greek and
Latin. There is no dictionary, in which you can turn up the expressions
and phrases met with in the Talmud; and, what is still worse, as the
Talmud is not pointed, you cannot even tell how such words, that are not
pure Hebrew, are to be read. The language of the Talmud, therefore, like
that of the Bible, is learned only through frequent translation; and
this constitutes the _first_ stage in the study of the Talmud.
When the pupil has been directed for some time in translation by the
teacher, he goes on to the independent reading or explanation of the
Talmud. The teacher gives him a limited portion of the Talmud,
containing within itself a connected argument, as a task in exposition,
which he must perform within a fixed time. The particular expressions
and forms of speech occurring in the passage must either be known by the
pupil from his former lessons, or the teacher, who here takes the place
of a dictionary, explains them to him. But the tenor and the entire
connection of the prescribed passage the pupil is required to bring out
himself; and this constitutes the second stage in the study of the
Talmud.
Two commentaries, which are commonly printed along with the text, serve
as the chief guides at this point. The author of the one is Rabbi
Solomon Isaac,[19] a man gifted with grammatical and critical knowledge
of language, with extensive and thorough Talmudic insight, and with an
uncommon precision of style. The other is known by the title of
_Tosaphoth (Additions)_, and is the work of several rabbis. Its origin
is very remarkable. A number of the most famous rabbis agreed to study
the Talmud in company. For this purpose each selected a separate
portion, which he studied by himself till he believed that he had fully
comprehended it, and retained it in memory. Afterwards all the rabbis
met, and began to study the Talmud in company according to the order of
its parts. As soon as the first part had been read out, thoroughly
explained, and settled according to the Talmudic Logic, one of the
rabbis produced, from the part of the Talmud with which he was most
familiar, anything that appeared to contradict this passage. Another
then adduced, from the part which he had made thoroughly his own, a
passage which was able to remove this contradiction by means of some
distinction or some qualification unexpressed in the preceding passage.
Sometimes the removal of such a contradiction occasioned another, which
a third rabbi disclosed, and a fourth laboured to remove, till the first
passage was explained harmoniously by all, and made perfectly clear. It
may easily be imagined, what a high degree of subtlety is required to
reduce the Talmud to first principles, from which correct inferences may
be drawn after an uniform method; for the Talmud is a voluminous and
heterogeneous work, in which even the same subject often turns up in
different passages, where it is explained in different ways.
Besides these two there are several other commentaries which treat the
subject further, and even make corrections on the two just mentioned.
Indeed, every rabbi, if he possesses sufficient acuteness, is to be
viewed as a living commentary on the Talmud. But the highest effort of
the mind is required to prepare a selection from the Talmud or a code of
the laws deducible from it. This implies not only acuteness, but also a
mind in the highest degree systematic. Herein our Maimonides undoubtedly
deserves the first rank, as may be seen from his code, _Jad Hachazekah_.
The _final_ stage in the study of the Talmud is that of disputation. It
consists in eternally disputing about the book, without end or aim.
Subtlety, loquacity, and impertinence here carry the day. This sort of
study was formerly very common in the Jewish high schools;[20] but in
our times along with the schools it has also fallen into decay. It is a
kind of Talmudic scepticism, and utterly incompatible with any
systematic study directed to some end.