lar saying that "from Kiev shall
go forth the Law, and the word of God from Starodub." Horodno, the
vulgar pronunciation of Grodno, was construed to mean Har Adonai, "the
Mount of the Lord." A pious rabbi did not hesitate to write to a
colleague, "Be it known to the high honor of your glory that it is
preferable by far to dwell in the land of the Russ and promote the study
of the Torah in Israel than in the land of Israel."[21] Especially the
part of Poland ultimately swallowed up by Russia was the new Palestine
of the Diaspora. Thither flocked all desirous of becoming adepts in the
dialectics of the rabbis, "of learning how to swim in the sea of the
Talmud." It was there that the voluminous works of Hebrew literature
were studied, literally "by day and by night," and the subtleties of the
Talmudists were developed to a degree unprecedented in Jewish history.
Thither was sent, from the distant Netherlands, the youngest son of
Manasseh ben Israel, and he "became mighty in the Talmud and master of
four languages." Thither came, from Prague, the afterwards famous
Cabbalist, author, and rabbi, Isaiah Horowitz (ab. 1555-1630), and there
he chose to remain the rest of his days. Thither also went, from
Frankfort, the above-mentioned Meir Ashkenazi, who, according to some,
was the first author of note in White Russia.

From everywhere they came "to pour water on the hands and sit at the
feet" of the great ones of the second Palestine.[22]

For Jewish solidarity was more than a word in those days. "Sefardim" had
not yet learned to boast of aristocratic lineage, nor "Ashkenazim" to
look down contemptuously upon their Slavonic coreligionists. It was
before the removal of civil disabilities from one portion of the Jewish
people had sowed the seed of arrogance toward the other less favored
portion. Honor was accorded to whom it was due, regardless of the
locality in which he happened to have been born. Glueckel von Hameln
states in her _Memoirs_ that preference was sometimes given to the
decisions of the "great ones of Poland," and mentions with pride that
her brother Shmuel married the daughter of the great Reb Shulem of
Lemberg.[23] With open arms, Amsterdam, Frankfort, Fuerth, Konigsberg,
Metz, Prague, and other communities renowned for wealth and learning,
welcomed the acute Talmudists of Brest, Grodno, Kovno, Lublin, Minsk,
and Vilna, whenever they were willing or compelled to consider a call.
The practice of summoning Russo-P