“On a sultry Sabbath afternoon a middle-aged Rabbi was sitting in his study dozing over a large folio of the Talmud. Suddenly an extremely religious member of his flock rushed in full of excitement, and told him that a Jewish lad had just been caught in the act of desecrating the holy Sabbath by carrying a watch in the open street. On hearing this shocking news the Rabbi gave orders that the young culprit should at once be brought into his presence, that he might receive his well-deserved chastisement for openly breaking one of the Rabbinical laws. When the boy was brought in, the Rabbi looked at him, and lo and behold! he was no other than his own little son, who had furtively gone into the street, carrying in his waistcoat pocket the watch which had been given to him as a ‘Bar-Mitzwah[[178-1]]’ present. The Rabbi was for a moment rather perplexed, but soon a happy thought struck him, and turning abruptly to the excited crowd of bystanders, he addressed them as follows:—‘Rabbothay’ (gentlemen), he said, ‘I have just come to the conclusion that my boy is guiltless of the charge you have brought against him. For, had you been as well versed in the Rabbinical writings as I am, you would have known that a watch is but an ornament, which is allowed to be worn by a Jew or a Jewess on a Sabbath day even in the open street. Thus my boy had only done what was right, and therefore deserves no punishment whatever.’ When the people left the Rabbi's house, a wit among them observed to his neighbour, with a sly twinkle in his eye, that their ‘Rav’ was a cunning man, indeed, and knew how to turn matters to his own advantage, or to that of his near relatives. Thus, when a son-in-law of his ordered a cargo of citrons from Corfu, the ‘Rav’ forbade the members of his flock on the Feast of Tabernacles to use citrons grown in Palestine; and he also interdicted them from buying any ordinary wine after one of his married daughters had opened a shop for the sale of cheap raisin wine.”
As regards the numerous Hebrew periodicals, which appear in different parts of the world, it is enough to say that, although they are not without merit, it is impossible within the limits of a short sketch to do more than mention a few of the more important. Three of them are here selected as being specially worthy of note, on account of the fruitful work which they have done and are still doing in various ways in the field of Hebrew literature. The first to be considered are the three or four volumes issued annually at Berlin (under the editorship of Prof. Dr. A. Berliner) by the society Mekitze-Nirdamim, these being most useful literary publications, though perhaps not exactly periodicals. This society has, for instance, during the last few years brought out all the admirable religious and secular poems of Jehudah Halevi[[179-1]].
Equally useful and interesting is a monthly Hebrew periodical, entitled Ha-Shiloach (“The Messenger”), which was established in Berlin about eight years ago by Asher Ginsberg, of Odessa. A good many articles have a permanent literary value; others again, though less scientific, are written in such excellent Hebrew that, like Erter's works, they may be re-read with no diminution of pleasure.
The third Hebrew periodical that deserves special notice is Ha-Magid (“The Narrator”), which has, however, lately ceased to exist. It was started about half a century ago (in 1856) at Lyck, in Prussia, by the late L. Silbermann, Rabbi of the Hebrew congregation of that town, who issued it weekly with the laudable object of affording entertainment and information on general topics to those of his co-religionists, who were unable to read papers published in the vernacular[[180-1]]. The number of Jews of this description was, fifty years ago, fairly large, but has now, thanks to the spread of general education, been greatly reduced. Several Jewish literati used to contribute articles, and the paper had in consequence gradually become a medium for propagating a knowledge of Hebrew literature among its numerous readers. Since then the Hebrew vocabulary has been greatly developed and amplified in such a manner as to be capable of describing not only the newest move in the politics of the world, but also the latest invention in the field of practical science. It is interesting to notice that there are at present three Hebrew daily papers in circulation in Russia, viz. Ha-Yom, Ha-Meliz, and Ha-Zefira, which were founded respectively by L. Kantor, A. Zedernbaum, and C. Slonimsky.
Summarizing now the merits of modern Hebrew journalism it may be said that they are far greater than is generally supposed. In fact, it has exercised a beneficial and far-reaching influence upon a large section of the Jewish community. For, not only has it enriched Hebrew literature with valuable additions, but it has also familiarized its readers, through the medium of translations, with some of the best-known ancient and modern works on general science and literature.
Footnotes:
[178-1] ‘Confirmation.’
[179-1] Several other poems by the same author hitherto unknown have recently appeared in a volume issued annually by another Hebrew literary society, called “Achiasaph,” that was established some years ago in Warsaw.