rompted by a desire to prove the
compatibility of modern civilization with Judaism. Levinsohn's object in
writing his _Bet Yehudah_ was the reverse. The impetus came from without
the Jewish camp. The book represents the author's views on certain
Jewish problems propounded by his Christian friend, Prince Emanuel
Lieven, just as Mendelssohn's _Jerusalem_ was written at the instigation
of Lavater. Though there is a similarity in the causes that produced the
two books, there is a marked difference in their methods. Mendelssohn
treats his subject as an impartial non-Jewish philosopher might have
done. He is frequently too reserved, for fear of offending. Levinsohn,
in Greek-Catholic Russia, is strictly frank. He is conscious of the
difficulties under which he is laboring. To discuss religion in Russia
is far from agreeable. "It is," he says, "as if a master, pretending to
exhibit his skill in racing, were to enter into competition publicly
with his slave ... and at the same time wink at him to slacken his
speed." Of one thing he is certain: Judaism is a progressive religion.
It had been and might be reformed from time to time, but this can and
must be only along the lines of its own genius. To improve the moral and
material condition of the Jews by weaning them away from the faith of
their fathers (as was tried by Nicholas) will not do. On the contrary,
make them better Jews, and they will be better citizens.

The _Bet Yehudah_ may justly be called the connecting link between the
_Te'udah_, which preceded it, and _Zerubbabel_, which followed it. The
latter, though written in Hebrew, was really intended exclusively for
the Gentile world, as the former had been mainly for the Jewish world.
It is a continuation, but not yet a conclusion, of the self-assigned
task of Levinsohn. The Talmud, we have seen, was at that time the object
of assaults of zealous Christians and disloyal Jews, and hostile works
against Judaism were the order of the day. Most of them, however, like
the fabulous snake, vented their poison and died. It was different with
McCaul's poignant diatribe against the cause of Judaism and the honor of
the Talmud, which had been translated into many languages. Montefiore,
while in Russia, urged Levinsohn to defend his people against their
traducers, and the bed-ridden sage, almost blind and hardly able to hold
a pen, finally consented. What _Zerubbabel_ accomplished, can be judged
from the fact that in the second Hebrew