History of the Jews in Russia and Poland (Vol. 1-3). Dubnow Simon

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СКАЧАТЬ he takes the offensive and criticizes the teachings of the Church. He detects a whole series of contradictions in the texts of the Synoptic Gospels, pointing out the radical deviations of the New Testament from the Old and the departure of the later dogmatism of the Church from the New Testament itself. With calmness and assurance he proves the logical and historical impossibility of the interpretations of the well-known Biblical prophecies which serve as the substructure of the Christian dogma.

For a long time no one was bold enough to print this "dreadful treatise," and it was circulated in manuscript both in the Hebrew original and in a Spanish and German version. The Hebrew original, accompanied by a Latin translation, was printed for the first time from a defective copy by the German scholar Wagenseil, Professor of Law in Bavaria. Wagenseil published the treatise Hizzuk Emuna in his collection of anti-Christian writings, to which he gave the awe-inspiring title "The Fiery Arrows of Satan" (Tela Ignea Satanae, 1681), and which were published for missionary purposes, "in order that the Christians may refute this book, which may otherwise fortify the Jews in their errors." The pious German professor could not foresee that his edition would he subsequently employed by men of the type of Voltaire and the French encyclopedists of the eighteenth century as a weapon to attack the doctrine of the Church. Voltaire commented on the book of Isaac Troki in these words: "Not even the most decided opponents of religion have brought forward any arguments which could not be found in the 'Fortification of the Faith' by Rabbi Isaac." In modern times the Hizzuk Emuna has been reprinted from more accurate copies, and has been translated into several European languages.119

      FOOTNOTES:

65 See pp. 72 and 73.

66 [Unanimi voto et consensu are the exact words of the document. See Bersohn, Dyplomatariusz (Collection of ancient Polish enactments relating to Jews), p. 51.]

67 [Literally, By-Kahals.]

68 [a = short German a. In Hebrew ועד.]

69 [Great Poland, Little Poland, Red Russia, and Volhynia. Volhynia at first formed part of the Lithuanian Duchy, but was ceded to the Crown, in 1569, by the Union of Lublin.]

70 In the middle of the seventeenth century their number was six.

71 Nathan Hannover, in his Yeven Metzula [see p. 157, n. 1], ed. Venice, 1653, p. 12.

72 [A Hebrew term designating public-spirited Jews who defend the interests of their coreligionists before the Government. In Polish official documents they are referred to as "General Syndics." In Poland the shtadlans were regular officials maintained by the Jewish community. Comp. the article by L. Lewin, Der Schtadlan im Posener Ghetto, in Festschrift published in honor of Dr. Wolf Feilchenfeld (1907), pp. 31 et seq.]

73 Towards the end of the sixteenth century Warsaw, instead of Cracow, became the residence of the Polish kings. The Jews had no right of domicile in Warsaw, and were permitted only to visit it temporarily. [See p. 85.]

74 [See p. 93, n. 1.]

75 [See p. 76, n. 1.]

76 [The so-called Jüdisch-Deutsch, which was by the Jews brought from Germany to Poland and Lithuania. It was only in the latter part of the seventeenth century that the dialect of Polish-Lithuanian Jewry began to depart from the Jüdisch-Deutsch as spoken by the German Jews, thus laying the foundation for modern Yiddish. See Dubnow's article "On the Spoken Dialect and the Popular Literature of the Polish and Lithuanian Jews in the Sixteenth and the First Half of the Seventeenth Century," in the periodical Yevreyskaya Starina, i. (1909), pp. 1 et seq.]

77 [I.e. Red Russia, or Galicia.]

78 Yeven Metzula [see p. 157, n. 1], towards the end.

79 [Literally, "our teacher," a title bestowed since the Middle Ages on every ordained rabbi.]

80 [Literally, "companion," "colleague," a title conferred upon men who, without being ordained, have attained a high degree of scholarship.]

81 [Abbreviation for Rabbi Solomon ben Isaac (d. 1105), a famous French rabbi, whose commentaries on the Bible and the Talmud are marked by wonderful lucidity.]

82 [A school of Talmudic authorities, mostly of French origin, who, in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, wrote Tosafoth (literally, "Additions"), critical and exegetical annotations, distinguished for their ingenuity.]

83 [Hebrew for "Rows," with reference to the four rows of precious stones in the garment of the high priest (Ex. xxviii., 17)—title of a code of laws composed by Rabbi Jacob ben Asher (died at Toledo ab. 1340). It is divided into four parts, dealing respectively with ritual, dietary, domestic, and civil laws. The Turim was the forerunner of the Shulhan Arukh, for which it served as a model.]

84 [Isaac ben Jacob al-Fasi (i.e. from Fez in North Africa) (died 1103), author of a famous Talmudic compendium.]

85 עמודי שש, ed. Lemberg, 1865, pp. 18b, 61b.

86 It has been conjectured that the same scholar occupied, some time between 1503 and 1520, the post of rector in Poland itself, being at the head of the yeshibah in Cracow.

87 [Two of his Responsa were published in Cracow, ab. 1540. See Zedner, Catalogue British Museum, p. 695. A new edition appeared in Husiatyn, in 1904, together with Hiddushe Aaron Halevi.]

88 רמ״א [initials of Rabbi Moses I(א=o)sserles].

89 [See p. 118, n. 1.]

90 Popularly, however, Isserles' supplements are called Haggahoth ("Annotations").

91 רש״ל [initials of Rabbi SHelomo Luria].

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