XIV SAMUEL DAVID LUZZATTO AND ZACHARIAH FRANKEL I THE nineteenth century is remarkable in the annals of Jewish history and bibliography on account of the many eminent Jewish scholars it has produced, men who greatly enlarged the field of what is known in modern phrase as the science of Judaism. They threw new light on diverse Jewish subjects of much importance, such as the Mishna, the Talmud, the Midrash, and likewise on general Jewish history and literature. Especially notable were Zunz, Rapoport, Geiger, Munk, Jost, Fürst, Jellinek, Luzzatto, and Frankel. The two last-named savants form the subject of the present essay, and are here treated together, not merely because the centenary of their birth was some time ago celebrated in several Jewish communities within the same year, but because they were the renowned heads of two Rabbinical colleges, which brought about a revival of Talmudical and general Jewish studies. Samuel David Luzzatto was born at Trieste, in Austria, in August, 1800. He belonged to an old Italian Jewish family, several members of which occupied conspicuous places in the annals of Jewish history and scholarship. The most noted among them were Moses Hayim Luzzatto (1707-40), the wellknown author of two delightful Hebrew dramas, entitled LaYesharim Téhilla and Migdal Oz, and Ephraïm Luzzatto, who (in 1768) published in London a collection of charming little Hebrew poems and songs 1, which is spoken of in eulogistic terms by Franz Delitzsch, in his Geschichte der .אלה בני הנעורים Entitled 1 jüdischen Poesie. Samuel D. Luzzatto received his early education at the excellent Jewish Free School of his native town, where he studied Biblical and Talmudical subjects, general science, and ancient and modern languages. On leaving school, Luzzatto chose literature as his future calling, and with that purpose in view he applied himself with the utmost zeal to the study of the Italian language and literature, which he in later years knew almost to perfection. At the age of nineteen he became, by mere chance, known throughout the whole of Italy as a talented writer of Italian verses. It so happened that the then Austrian Crown Prince, who subsequently became Emperor of Austria, paid a flying visit to Trieste, and that the leaders of the local Jewish community commissioned young Luzzatto to write an Italian sonnet in commemoration of the royal visit. The Prince expressed his appreciation of its excellence by causing it to be published in several leading papers of the country. But a far more substantial recognition of his attainments was accorded to Luzzatto a few years later in the shape of a professorship at the Collegio Rabbinico, which, at the instigation of the Austrian government, had been established at Padua in the year 1829. A little before this Luzzatto had married the daughter of one of his former masters, and having just finished his first important literary work on Targum Onkelos, called Oheb Ger, he bestowed upon his firstborn son the name of "Philoxenes," which was a literal translation of the title of his book. The book was not printed for some time, as the only publisher who was willing to produce it, made the curious stipulation that the author should bind himself to buy 200 copies of his own work! This was the honorarium offered at the beginning of last century to a Jewish scholar for an epoch-making work. Undaunted by this discouragement Luzzatto continued his literary occupation, and the fruits of his labours ultimately appeared in print, partly during his lifetime and partly after his death. They dealt with a great variety of subjects, more especially with Biblical exegesis, homiletics, Jewish history, philosophy, and poetry. Poetry was one of Luzzatto's favourite subjects, and he enriched it with many valuable contributions of his own, which mostly appeared in his two volumes entitled Kinnor Naïm ( Dy). To Luzzatto credit is also due for having unearthed a great number of Hebrew MSS. containing poems and songs, which had Ibn Gabirol, Jehuda Halevi, the two Ibn Ezras, and other famous Hebrew writers of the Middle Ages for their authors. Luzzatto devoted a great deal of his time and attention to editing them, although he knew very well from past experiences that work of this kind was a labour of love only, and nothing more. He was always most willing to assist, in a literary sense, any one who asked him for the loan of a copy of a rare Hebrew MS., which he happened to possess, and would himself very often copy it out with his own hands. Writing to Luzzatto, Zunz once reproached him for his generosity to unknown persons, who often took advantage of his kindness and abused it. In his reply to Zunz he said: "It lies in my nature to act in literary matters just as I do. If to-day Satan himself were to come to me and ask for a MS., which he wished to have printed in Hades, I would kiss his hands and cheerfully comply with his request. For surely I do not work for my own benefit, nor for any ambitious purpose of my own." For many years Luzzatto carried on a correspondence with some of the most renowned savants of his time, such as Rapoport, Zunz, Steinschneider, the Christian professors Delitzsch, Rosenmüller, and Martinet, in addition to whom might also be mentioned Geiger, Sachs, Dukes, Jellinek, Fürst, Kirchheim, Reggio, and Ghirondi. They all profited more or less from the literary contents of his letters, which they frequently utilized in their own work. Luzzatto wrote Hebrew, Aramaic, Latin, French, and German with a certain amount of ease and fluency, but he was a master of Italian prose and verse. A renowned Italian poetess, Eugenia Pavia Gentilomo by name, thought so much of his taste that she always submitted her poems in MS. to him before she sent them to the press for publication. Though Luzzatto's general correspondence was large the bulk of it was with Rapoport and Geiger. It is a wellknown fact that Geiger was greatly helped by Luzzatto in the preparation of his excellent German version of Jehuda Halevi's Hebrew poems and songs. On one occasion, when Geiger delayed in answering a long letter of Luzzatto's, the latter reminded him of his omission in a poem consisting of four stanzas, each of which was composed in another language. One stanza, written in French, is worth reproducing : Monsieur le Grand-Rabbin, Abraham Violoniste 1 Ne donne-t-elle plus votre main le doux son, Equally interesting is a German poem by Geiger to Luzzatto, accompanying a copy of Jehuda Halevi's works, in which he gratefully acknowledges his many obligations to Luzzatto. It runs as follows: Aus frommer Dichter Stamm, selbst frommer Dichter, Ein Weiser, Edler, mild zugleich als Richter, Ein Nil, der überströmend Segen spendet, Doch Deines Wissensfluth nicht Schlamm aussendet. Dort edle Reben eingesenket. Die Frucht ist reif, lass sie Dir reichen, Nimm sie als treuer Freundschaft Zeichen. In spite of his multifarious literary occupations Luzzatto devoted particular care and attention to his professorial duties in the Collegio Rabbinico. It was his ambition to make it a model for all Rabbinical colleges. His disciples, consisting as they did of Italians, Germans, Poles, and Russians, loved and revered their master, who, in his turn, treated them as if they were his personal friends, and took The point lies here in the circumstance that the term "violoniste" is equivalent to the German word "Geiger." the liveliest interest in their affairs. He took a special pride in noting in his own works any clever idea suggested by his pupils in the course of his lectures, and he thus encouraged them to literary enterprise on their own account. If the question were asked what the leading feature of Luzzatto's character was, it might unhesitatingly be answered that it was conscientiousness. When it is remembered how he had to struggle against absolute poverty for many years, and how frequently his home was visited by sickness and death, his whole-hearted devotion to his duties, his enthusiasm in his literary pursuits, and his universal kindness become intensified. It was this conscientiousness which led him to decline the post of Haham to the Spanish and Portuguese congregation in London, because he thought that he could not acquire sufficient mastery over the English language to enable him to preach in it satisfactorily. It is interesting to note that Luzzatto's literary activity continued almost till his death. His very last literary production was a Hebrew sonnet composed in commemoration of the sixth centenary of the birth of Dante. Luzzatto died after a short illness, on the eve of the Day of Atonement, in 1865. The limits of an essay do not permit of entering on any detailed account of Luzzatto's multifarious books and treatises. Suffice it to say that, if put together, they would occupy a large space in a small library. It is, however, not the quantity but rather the quality of his writings that commands our close attention. This is specially the case with those which deal with the exposition of the Bible. To this particular branch of study Luzzatto devoted much time, and to his credit it must be said that he was one of the first Jewish scholars of the nineteenth century who took it up seriously and with conspicuous success. It would be idle to ignore altogether Luzzatto's faults and inconsistencies, which resulted in a rupture with some of his best friends. As an instance may be mentioned his |