DETROIT JEWISH CHRONICLE and The Legal Chronicle
6
LEOPOLD ZUNZ
Eduard Gans and Moses Moser,
founded, in 1819, the Verein fur
Cultur and Wissenschaft des
Judentums (Society for the Cul-
ture and Science of Judaism).
It set out for itself two tasks:
That of sifting and organizing
the vast literature of Judaism
according to its historical de-
velopment so as to preserve the
continuity of Jewish thought;
and that of showing the rela-
tionship of this Jewish literature
to world literature and intellec-
tual progress. Its members
Continued from Page 4)
into the hands of a plutocracy
of men who ruled the community
because of the wealth they had
acquired—men who in many in-
stances were ignorant, arrogant
and arbitrary.
It was to meet these conditions,
as well as to combat the anti-
Semitism which was spreading in
Germany after the Napoleonic
Wars that Zunz, together with
FREEDOM — JUSTICE 1944
5705
PEACE — SECURITY
Rosh Hashonah Greetings
•
WE WILL MEET THE CHALLENGE
OF THIS NEW YEAR -
This new year, like every new year, is a challenge to
all of us — It is a challenge to all the races and creeds
that have lived and built together to make democracy
of America the hope of all the peoples of the world.
We can meet the new year's challenge! The flame that
kindles the inner spirit of mankind has endured oppres-
sion and tyranny since time immemorial. It always will,
because the forces of unity and sympathetic under-
standing will ALWAYS be stronger than any alliance
of hate and greed.
To you of this community, this company and all of its
employees sincerely say, "HAPPY NEW YEAR!" And
we trust that for each of you, the challenge of the
coming year will only bring closer the personal happi-
ness toward which you are striving.
HORST MFG. CO .
1369 ELMIRA
HO. 1513
r.
LE SHONO TOVO TIKOSEVU!
Best Wishes for a Joyous New Year
to the Entire Jewish
Community.
•
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The Name to Remember
When You're Thirsty
wished to create a new field, the
scientific study of Judaism, and
to impress both Jew and non-
Jew with the treasures that lay
concealed behind the unprepos-
sessing facade of contemporary
Judaism.
Such a program was exceed-
ingly ambitious, and it is not
surprising that the Verein failed
to accomplish more than a be-
ginning of it in the five years of
its existence. Many of its mem-
bers did not possess the scholar-
ly equipment for the tasks they
assumed; others yielded to per-
sonal ambitions. Heine wavered,
accepted conversion, and went
away to his career as poet and
critic; the brilliant Eduard Gans,
president of the society, aban-
doned Judaism to become one of
the most famous German jurists.
Zunz alone remained faithful
to his religion and to Jewish
scholarship. He declared, with
an unshakeable conviction, that
the Science of Judaism was des-
tined to permanent establishment,
and to it he dedicated all his
strength. One writing after an-
othe• flowed from his pen; en-
couraged by their success, other
new students of Judaism entered
the field, and before his death
Zunz was able to witness the
firm establishment of the science,
or modern scholarly study of
Judaism.
His first major work, published
in 1823, was a biography of the
noted Bible and Talmud com-
mentator, Rashi (1040-1105).
The latter, as every Y'shivo stu-
dent knew, was the indispensable
aid to studies of the Scriptures
and of the Talmud, and his notes
were read as diligently as the
texts they accompanied. But the
traditional view cared only for
the thought of Rashi and not
for his humanity. A rabbi of
the old school summed up this
attitude in the words: "If you
want to know what kind of a
snuff-box Rashi used, you go to
Zunz; if you want to know what
is in Rashi, you come to me!"
But Zunz did more than dab-
ble in curiosa about the life of
the famous teacher. His was the
first modern Jewish biography,
and his work was all the more
distinguished because it was not
based on earlier accounts but a
reconstruction made by piecing
together hundreds of allusions
from Rashi's writings—just as a
scientist reconstructs a prehis-
toric animal from scattered
bones. Furthermore, because it
was written in a European lan-
guage, this biography brought to
the attention of both Gentile and
Jew the existence of greatness
in Israel long after Bible times.
For the first time readers began
to reciize that Judaism had not
ceased with the Old Testament,
but had a continued and worthy
history of its own.
A still greater achievement
was the writing of "Die Gottes-
dienstlichen Vortrage der Juden,
Historisch Entwickelt," published
in 1832. The title may be freely
translated as The History and
Development of Jewish Homi-
letics. The occasion of this work
was the attempt of the Prussian
government to forbid preaching
at Jewish services, on the ground
that it was an innovation in
Judaism, and that such innova-
tions were not to be permitted.
Zunz was easily able to show
that the sermon had been a prom-
' inent feature of the Jewish ser-
vices from most ancient times,
and thus restored it to its place
in the synagogue—with what far-
reaching results every Jew can
plainly see. But it was typical
of the scholar that he was not
merely content with proving his
point. He undertook the first
serious investigation of the mass
of Jewish literature dealing with
the presentation of Jewish teach-
ings to the Jewish public. lie
pointed out the central position
of the Torah in Jewish life, and
how from the very beginning
Scriptural readings played an im-
portant part in the synagogue
services.
Zunz traces the development of
the oral exposition of these Scrip-
tures, first through the medium
4
To Our Friends
.
Friday, September 15 1944
of the Aramaic translations, the
Targums, then by the Midrash,
and finally through systematic
lectures down to modern times.
He follows the history of the
various schools of thought and
the succeeding generations of
teachers who developed them,
from the Men of the Great Syna-
gogue in the time of the Second
Temple, through the rabbis of
the Talmudic period and of the
Middle Ages. He takes up every
important Haggadic work, anal-
yzes it, and establishes it in its
proper historical setting. He dis-
cusses such topics as Jewish mys-
ticism, the organization of the
Haggadah into a single body, and
systems of Jewish lecturing since
the beginning of the Christian
Era. He shows how the Piyut,
or liturgical poetry, contributed
to the exposition of the Scrip-
tures; he notes the rise and ser-
vices of the Darshan, or popular
preacher.
Zunz concludes with a survey
of conditions in his own time and
points out the way to future
progress—he was practical as
well as scholarly. Thus the work,
with its multitudinous details, be-
came a history of spiritual de.
i onpgnliye n th rui lne d J ubdya i stlin
fi ve ttl
; Ch it rist7a ais i
critic, Gefrorer, as the greatest
contribution to knowledge
made
by a Jew since the days
of Spin -
oza.
tesdienstlichen Vortrage" cont ai ns
a remarkable example of schol-
arly acumen. There was a Mid.
rashic work known as the Pesik-
ta de Rab Kahana,
q uoted by early rabbinic author
.
Middle Ages. Zunz, working like
a detective, set out to recon-
struct the form of this work
from scattered referenc e , in Jew-
ish literature. He came to tip ,
conclusion that this Pesikta was
in the form of homilies delivered
for all the various occasions of
the Jewish religious year, and
that it was based on the Scrip-
tural readings for these occa-
sions. More than 30 years later
Solomon Buber, another great
student of the Midrash, discov-
ered the Pesikta de Rah Kahana
in manuscript form in various
libraries, and found that it cot.-
.
See LEOPOLD ZUNZ—Page 8
12234 GRATIOT
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