[125-2] Cp. chap. 30.
[125-3] Cp. chap. 18.
[125-4] Cp. chap. 15.
[XII]
[ISAAC ERTER]
A MODERN HEBREW HUMORIST
Though Hebrew literature is commonly reckoned as one of the ancient literatures it has an advantage over them which is not inconsiderable. It is that while no other ancient literature can be said to have ever risen to any remarkable height of excellence after the close of its golden age, in the case of the Hebrew there were at least three noteworthy revivals after its first classical period had ended. The first occurred some time about the return of the ancient Hebrews from the Babylonian exile to Palestine; the second during the Middle Ages in Spain, France, and Italy; and the third in modern times in Galicia, a country which forms part of the Austrian empire. During the second half of the eighteenth century a small band of writers of Hebrew prose and poetry, who may be regarded as the founders of what is now termed the Galician school, flourished there. The foremost representative of the school was Isaac Erter.
He was born in the year 1792 in a small Galician village called Janischock. His father, a poor innkeeper, in spite of his indigence, did not neglect to have his son educated in Hebrew and Talmudical lore. When young Erter had made some progress in these studies, which, by the way, he only learnt mechanically and on no fixed plan, his father caused him to marry a Rabbi's daughter, who, however, died within the first year after their marriage. Old Erter, however, insisted upon his son marrying again; and the second marriage proved a very happy one, in spite of the difficulties which a married man with no definite means of subsistence is bound to encounter. Perhaps to relieve the monotony of his life he mixed with the members of a strange religious sect known by the name of “Chassidim.” Their chief characteristics were the hilarity and excitement of their lives, and their passionate devotion to their spiritual leader called “Rebbe.” Although these “Rebbes” are, as a rule, illiterate persons, they are nevertheless held in high esteem by their devotees, who credit them with the possession of supernatural powers, by means of which they are able to work miracles. But, after a time, Erter grew weary of this society and its absurd practices, and went to live at Lemberg, the capital of Galicia. There he soon became acquainted with several young men of talent and culture who interested themselves on his behalf, and procured him pupils whom he instructed in Hebrew and religious subjects. They also made him acquainted with the works of Maimonides and Mendelssohn, to the study of which he later on devoted many of his leisure hours. He here passed three happy years (from 1813 to 1816), and enjoyed the society and friendship of some genial spirits, among whom may particularly be mentioned Rapoport, afterwards Chief Rabbi of Prague, and Nachman Krochmal, the renowned Hebrew scholar and philosopher. Subsequently when Jacob Ornstein, the then Chief Rabbi of Lemberg, heard of the existence among his flock of a small and youthful band who occupied themselves with the study of secular subjects, he became alarmed, and forthwith excommunicated all the culprits. The immediate effect of this upon Erter was the loss of his pupils, and with them of his livelihood. He consequently decided to settle in the neighbouring town of Brody. On his arrival there he met with a hearty reception from the enlightened section of the Jewish community, and as a new Jewish school had just been inaugurated there he was entrusted with its management. After a short time, however, he resigned his position, and made up his mind to prepare himself for a more independent calling. With this object Erter left his grown-up family of daughters in charge of some friends and went to Buda-Pesth, at the university of which town he intended to prepare himself for the medical profession. He was then thirty-three years old, and had neither money nor friends to assist him, but after five years' hard study, accompanied by severe privations, he succeeded in passing all the necessary examinations, and took his degree, and soon after began to practise in the country. It so happened that at that time the cholera was raging, and as Erter displayed considerable skill in dealing with the epidemic, he drew upon himself the attention of the Austrian government, which entrusted him with the task of preparing certain essays, treating of the origin and spread of contagious diseases. Ultimately he returned to Brody, and continued to practise there, making himself especially popular among the poor, who found in him a kindly benefactor. His leisure time he devoted to his favourite occupation, the composition of Hebrew essays, or rather satires on Jewish subjects. He usually sent them to his literary friends to be read and criticized before allowing them to be printed in the current Hebrew periodicals. Among them he reckoned, in addition to Rapoport and Krochmal, Professor S. D. Luzzatto, Shalom Cohen (editor of the Hebrew periodical Bikurey-Ha-Ittim, and Dr. Letteris, the subsequent editor and publisher of Erter's collected writings under the title of הצופה לבית ישראל[[129-1]].