the
Talmud, so the Maskilim thought it incumbent upon everybody to be highly
cultured. No obstacle was great enough to discourage them. They were
willing martyrs to the goddess of Wisdom, at whose shrine they
worshipped, and whose cult they spread in the most adverse
circumstances.

Had the Government not interfered with the efforts of the Maskilim, or
had it chosen a commission from among the Russian Jews themselves, among
whom, as soon became evident to Nicholas himself, there were more than
enough to do justice to an educational inquiry, the Haskalah movement
would have continued to spread, notwithstanding the obstacles put in its
way. But Nicholas was determined to reduce the number of Jews also by
"re-educating" them in accordance with his own ideas. Every attempt made
by the Jews to educate themselves was, therefore, checked. Even the
noble efforts of Luria were stopped, his schools were closed, and his
only rewards were "a gold medal from the czar and a short poem by
Gottlober."

In Germany, since the time of Mendelssohn, the study of the Talmud had
been on the wane. The great yeshibot formerly existing in Metz,
Frankfort, Hamburg, Prague, Fiirth, Halberstadt, etc., disappeared, and
the reforms introduced in the synagogue and the numerous converts to
Christianity impressed the outside world with the idea that Judaism
among German Jews was writhing in the agony of death. If the same
disintegrating elements were introduced among the Russian Jews, the
Government believed that they would ultimately come over to the Greek
Catholic Church of their own accord. Hence it was anxious to learn the
secret of this power and beamed graciously on several learned Jews of
Germany.

David Friedlaender (1750-1834) was then considered the legitimate
successor of Mendelssohn, whose friend he had been for more than twenty
years. He resembled his master in many respects, though he lacked both
his genius and his sympathy. Mendelssohn translated the Pentateuch and
the Psalms into German, Friedlaender translated the Haftarot (selections
from the Prophets) and the prayer book. Mendelssohn encouraged the
publication of the Meassef; he did likewise, and contributed several
articles to the journal. But, unlike his master, or, as he claimed, like
his master in secret, he held exceedingly latitudinarian views on
Judaism. In his later years he advocated abolishing the study of Hebrew
in the schools and discarding it from the prayer book. He