III. From the Reformation to Moses Men delssohn.— The expulsion of the Jews from Spain (1492) had an unfavorable influence on Jewish literature. The Jew, driven to the Orient and to Poland, and even expelled from all centres of culture in western Europe, be came more and more spiritually isolated. On the other hand, however, rabbinical literature was more widely studied, owing to the assist ance of the printing press. Talmudic studies flourished largely in the Orient and in Poland. The most important production of this time is the popular code of the law, the 'Schulhan Aruk,> by Joseph Cam (1488-1575), written in Safed, and edited with annotations by Moses Isserles (1520-72), of Cracow. Annotations to the code of the law formed the most popular literary occupation for the rabbis of the 17th and 18th centuries. While the belief in the rabbinical authority became more and more al most absolute, indications of a development in the opposite direction began to appear. Elijah Levita (1469-1549), a German who lived in Italy, and devoted his activity to grammar, made an important step in critical archaeology by his discovery that the vowel points were not invented before the 7th century. He was fol lowed by Azariah dei Rossi (1511-78), who, in his work 'Meor Enayim' proved that the authority of the Talmud could not be main tained in questions of history and astronomy. His work brought forth a number of apologies of rabbinical literature, notably, the 'Beer Hagolah,> of Loew ben Bezalel, rabbi of Prague (1530-1609). Similar apologies were prompted either by the attacks of Christianity, or by skepticism within the Jewish fold. To the former class belong the Consolations) of Samuel Usque (1553), and to the latter, the 'Nomologia) of Immanuel Aboab (1625). An indication of a sounder development of Jewish literature, although prompted by apologetic methods, were the chronicles, becoming more and more numerous from the beginning of the 16th century. The most prominent of these are 'The Sceptre of Judah,' by Solomon ibn Verga, 'The Chain of Tradition,) by Gedaliah ibn Yahia, and the 'Valley of Weeping,) by Joseph Hakohen, all of the 16th century. The influence of this development is offset by the growth of Cabalistic literature, which pene trates into every branch of religious practice, and degenerates into the compilation of sense less phrases. The comparatively soundest representative of this Blass is Isaiah Horwitz (1550-1630), whose book 'The Two Tablets of the Covenant,/ intended to give a system of Cabala, became very popular. The type of utter degeneracy is represented by Hayim Vital, whose exposition of the doctrine of the trans migration of the soul, and of similar Cabalistic doctrines, is partly childish, and partly unin telligible. At the same time, however, Cabala was attacked severely by Leon Modena. of Venice (1571-1648), who also wrote a defense of rabbinical Judaism, against the attacks of freethinkers, of•whom Unel Acosta is the most prominent type. Apologetic works were further written by the Amsterdam rabbi, Menasseb ben Israel. (1600-55), who is famous in history owing to his audience with Oliver Cromwell, which resulted in the readmission of the Jews to England, after nearly 400 years of exile. Still, the most untiring activity of the Jews was devoted to dialectical explanations of the Tal mud, and to the exposition of the ritual law. great exception. is the case of Moses Hayim Luzzatto (1707-47) of Padua, whose allegori cal dramas, written in Hebrew, and patterned after Italian masters, rank with the best Hebrew poetry of mediaeval times. Another exceptional position may be claimed for Jacob Ernden (16p6-1776) who, while a strict believer in rab binical authority, wrote a work, proving that the 'Zohar,> as we possess it, was the work of a SpanishJew.
IV. Moses Mendelssohn to the Present Religious toleration, partly the result of actual conditions as they developed after the Thirty Years' War, and partly the re sult of the philosophical teachings of Locke, and his disciples, the English Deists, and the French encyclopedists, influenced the condition of the Jews very favorably. Admitted to higher occupations; and to the universities, the number of those -who devoted themselves to secular learning began to increase consider ably in the 18th century. This movement to
rescue the Jews from their mental isolation received its strongest impetus from Moses Mendelssohn (1729-86), whose translation of the Pentateuch into pure literary German changed the hitherto one-sided education of the Jewish youth. His example was followed by a number of his friends, who, like him, trans lated the Biblical books and the prayerbooks into pure literary German, and wrote Biblical commentaries, which, by their clear Hebrew, and by their embodiment of modern methods and ideas, broadened the intellectual horizon of the Jewish student. Together with this movement there was a revival of Hebrew poetry, notably due to Hartwig Wessely (1725 1805), which helped to develop a literary art, almost forgotten since the beginning of the 16th century. A prominent factor was Ha ssearsef (1783-181ID), a Hebrew periodical, edited by friends of Mendelssohn. Through the medium of these works, the Jews became acquainted with secular literature, and very soon a generation arose that received a secular education equal to that of their Christian neighbors, which could not but influence the de velopment of Jewish literature. This branch, is inaptly 'called, *The Science of Judaism.* It is a systematic presentation of Jewish litera ture and history. The founder was Leopold 'Zuni (1794-4886), whose 'Gottesdienstlkhe Vortraege/ was the first, and is still unsurpassed in its scientific presentation of homiletical liter ature. Of his numerous other works, special mention must be made of his 'Synagogale Poe sic,/ another pioneer work, presenting a history of liturgical literature and especially of liturgi cal poetry. His work was taken up by some Polish scholars, who, possessing a vast ac quaintance with Jewish literature, lacked sys tematic training, and living in a land where secular studies were considered heresy; had re ceived the first ray of light from some men who had come, under Mendelssohn's influence, to Berlin. The' leaders were Nehmen Krochmal (1785-1840), and Solomon Loeb Rapoport (1790-1867). The latter presented for the first time biographies of mediaeval Jewish authors in scientific form. The attack on this movement by fanatics prompted- some fine satirical works in Hebrew, notably, The ReL vealer of Secrets,/ by Joseph Perl (1773-1838), patterned after the and a travesty on the Jewish mystics; also 'The Observer,/ by Isaac Etter (179Z-1851).
These two currents of literature, namely, the investigation of the history and literature of the Jews on the one hand, and the poetical representation of modern ideas in good Hebrew, on the other, characterize the literary activity of the Jews in the 19th century. The work of Zunz was continued by various au thors, notably Frankel (180l-75), who was head of the Breslau Seminary, and stimulated many authors into similar activity: Abraham Geiger (1808-74), the leader of the liberal movement in religious matters, has also contributed to the elucidation of Jewish his tory. An attempt to nresent history in a more popular form was first made by Isaac Marcus Jost (1793-1860). The most popular work of this kind was written by Heinrich Graetz (1817-91), whose work has gone through several editions, and been translated into vari ous languages. More strictly scientific is the work of Moritz Steinschneider, born 1816. Of the numerous scholars who worked on indi vidual topics of Jewish history and literature, mention may be made of Isaac Weiss (1815-. 1905), Meyer Kayserling (1829-1905), David Kaufmann (1852-99). Jewish poetry and fiction were chiefly cultivated in Russia, where, through the efforts of Isaac Baer Lewinsohn (1789-1860), modern ideas were cultivated. A marvelous art in the use of Biblical' Hebrew for novels was exhibited by Abraham Mapu (1808-67), who first attempted to write novels from Biblical times, and later on used the Biblical language with unprecedented skill in writing a novel from the life of the Russian Jews of his day. Poetry, especially of the satirical sort, is best represented by Leon Gor don (1831-92), while in novels from contem porary Jewish life Perez Smolensky (1842-84) ranks foremost.