Among the prominent Jewish scholars of the nineteenth century Zunz will always occupy a high place. Like Moses Mendelssohn in his time, Zunz, in a later generation, carried on his spiritual work among his people with unceasing energy and ability, though in a somewhat different direction. While the former rendered a lasting service to the Jews by arousing in their minds a love for secular studies, Zunz conferred a no less important benefit upon them by bringing to light a large mass of literary matter, which was the result of his lifelong critical researches into Jewish history and literature. In these two departments Zunz was, in fact, a pioneer, and the works he published in connexion with them have proved themselves to be of considerable assistance to the student. The present essay is mainly intended to give the reader some notion of the contents of Zunz's most important writings, but it will also contain a brief sketch of his life.

Leopold Zunz^[140-2] was born at Detmold, in Germany, on August 10, 1794 (15th of Ab, 5554). His early life was passed at Hamburg, where his father had opened a Hebrew school. There young Zunz received his first training, but after the death of his father he was sent by his mother to Samson's Free School at WolfenbÜttel, where his intelligence attracted the attention of one of his teachers, Samuel Meyer Ehrenberg by name, who bestowed special care upon him. Here it may be mentioned, in passing, that Jost, the historian, was his schoolfellow, and that a close friendship sprang up between them, which lasted both their lives^[141-1].

In 1809, when only fifteen years old, Zunz was already found capable of assisting in tuition at his own school, but while teaching others he made use of all the available time at his disposal to increase his own knowledge. He attended for some years the Gymnasium at WolfenbÜttel, and in 1815 he matriculated at the Berlin University, being the first Jew admitted as a student to a Prussian university. The principal studies he pursued there, were history, philology, and mathematics. He frequented especially the lectures of De Wette, F. A. Wolf, and Boeckh. He also employed part of his time in reading books of modern literature, and in 1817 he published a few pieces of light prose and verse in some Berlin periodicals. From a pecuniary point of view Zunz derived very little advantage from these literary contributions, but they were nevertheless useful to him, inasmuch as they made his name known in some of the Berlin literary circles, and thus paved the way for his subsequent appointment to the post of editor-in-chief of the Sperner'sche Zeitung that appeared daily in Berlin as a political paper.

It was fortunate for Zunz that, while at the university, he still kept up his previous studies in Hebrew and Rabbinical lore, for owing no doubt to the knowledge he possessed of these subjects he was appointed, in 1820, the first German preacher of the Reformed Synagogue at Berlin. This appointment, however, he gave up voluntarily, after having held it for two years; the reason for so doing is stated in the preface to his Collection of Sermons, which he published at Berlin in 1823. It appears that Zunz, noticing the general indifference of his congregation in religious matters, spoke his mind pretty freely about it in the pulpit. His audiences consequently diminished, and his position became intolerable. He therefore resigned his office, but was lucky enough after to find employment on the above-mentioned paper, which enabled him to marry the lady of his choice. This was Adelaide, nÉe Berman, a relation of David Frankel, Chief Rabbi of Berlin^[142-1].

In 1835 Zunz accepted the offer made by a section of the Jewish community of Prague to become its preacher, but, after a year's stay at Prague, he returned to Berlin, where he was subsequently appointed Principal of the Training College for Jewish teachers. When, in 1850, this institution ceased to exist, Zunz retired into private life, receiving, however, a small pension from the Berlin community as an acknowledgment of the useful services he had rendered to Judaism by his contributions to Jewish science and literature. On this scanty income, sometimes slightly increased by the profits of his books, Zunz and his wife managed to live pretty comfortably, and even occasionally to entertain their friends. Among the latter may specially be mentioned Professor Gans, M. Jost, Joseph Lehmann, M. Moser, Dr. CarriÈre, the Deputy Warburg, and last, but not least, Heinrich Heine. Heine seems to have been especially attached to them. He used to read to them his poems in MS., some of them, which bear a specific Jewish colouring, were very probably suggested by his learned host^[142-2]. In his visits to England, France, and Italy, Zunz inspected many rare MSS., which had been hidden away in various public and private libraries, and likewise obtained fresh material for his literary works.

Zunz always referred to his wife in the most affectionate terms, and in a letter addressed to a friend some time before her death he said that for a period of forty-two years she had been a most faithful helpmate to him, sharing all his joys and sorrows, and encouraging him in his work. Her death, which occurred on August 18, 1874, caused Zunz the greatest sorrow, and from that moment he became more and more melancholy, and was never again in a fit state of mind to undertake any important literary work. Yet he lived, though in strict retirement, to celebrate his ninetieth birthday, on which occasion a tribute of respect was paid to him by some of his friends and admirers, which took the shape of a volume, entitled Jubelschrift zum 90^sten Geburtstag des Dr. Leopold Zunz. It contained literary contributions from Steinschneider, Neubauer, Jellinek, GÜdemann, David Kaufmann, Derenbourg, and other scholars. A few years later, viz. on March 17, 1886, corresponding to the 11th of the Hebrew month of Adar, Zunz died peacefully. Zunz's valuable and interesting library was subsequently bought by the Trustees of the Montefiore College Library at Ramsgate, while his unpublished MSS. were taken possession of by the Trustees of the so-called “Zunz-Stiftung,” founded at Berlin in 1864 in commemoration of Zunz's seventieth birthday, with the object of giving pecuniary assistance to Jewish authors, and enabling them to publish such of their MSS. as the authorities of the “Stiftung” considered fit.

Zunz's literary labours began at an early age. In 1818 he published an essay entitled A Study in Rabbinical Literature, which is specially interesting on account of its containing a definition of the various subjects that constitute Jewish literature, to which, however, neither past nor contemporary students had paid due attention. It may at once be said that, though it was originally written with the view of inducing scholars of his time to work out the subjects mentioned therein, it was the author himself who did the most in giving effect to his own suggestions.

In 1823 he published a sketch of the life and works of the famous commentator on the Bible and the Talmud, Rabbi Solomon Yizchaki, commonly called “Rashi” (1040–1105). This essay may be said to be a model biographical sketch. It contains almost all the ingredients which go to compose an interesting and instructive whole. It is characterized by method and the critical acumen, which is generally sadly lacking in biographies written before his time, and has indicated new lines of thought in more directions than one.

A few years later, in 1830, Zunz's attention was drawn to a book entitled ThÉorie du JudaÏsme, which a French priest, Chiarini by name, had published at Paris, in which he inimically discussed the Talmud and Rabbinical literature generally. Being himself unable to read the Rabbinical writings in the original, Chiarini contented himself with the repetition of almost all the adverse criticisms which had appeared in the writings of Buxtorf, Bartolocci, Eisenmenger, and others. At the time of the publication of this book Zunz was collecting materials for his intended great work Homilies of the Jews, but he found time to write and issue a small pamphlet under the title of Beleuchtung der “ThÉorie du JudaÏsme” des AbbÉ Chiarini (Berlin, 1830), pointing out therein some of the more flagrant inaccuracies and plagiarisms of Chiarini's book.

But Zunz did not belong to that class of critical reviewers who, though quick in detecting the faults of others, cannot show that they themselves would have done much better in the same field of work. For two years after the issue of Chiarini's book (in 1832) he published a work which showed at once the master-mind of a first-rate scholar, and gained for its author an enduring fame. This work was entitled Die gottesdienstlichen VortrÄge der Juden (“Homilies of the Jews”). There the author gives a description of the evolution of culture among the Jews extending over more than two thousand years. Beginning with a general survey of the great moral influence, which the teachings of the Bible had exercised on the mind of the Jewish people, the author goes on to define Jewish tradition, and to describe its progress and its development. The reader thus becomes acquainted with the history of the genesis of the Mishna, the Talmud, and the Midrash, and likewise with the form of prayers and sermons that prevailed at different times among the Jews. Speaking of sermons Zunz shows in his Gottesdienstliche VortrÄge that preaching has at all times formed an important part of the synagogue service, and that, during the eighteenth century, sermons were even delivered in the vernacular in several Jewish places of worship belonging to Portuguese congregations. Zunz's special object was to show the injustice of the decree of the Prussian government, which forbade preaching in synagogues, on the plea that it was an exclusively Christian institution. This he contended was not historically correct, as long before the dawn of Christianity the use of homilies in synagogues was common, and ought, therefore, not to be interfered with in modern times. Thus it will be seen that Zunz had a double object in view in this book. In the first place, he desired to point out to his own people the vast amount of interesting and valuable material to be extracted from the wide field of Jewish literature; and, in the second, he wished to afford the outer world an insight into the intellectual life of the Jews of past ages. They were then, according to the evidence adduced by Zunz, much more civilized and cultured than their unscrupulous enemies declared them to be, and they had, therefore, a good right to claim in the country of their birth perfect equality in the eyes of the law.

Zunz's second great work, entitled BeitrÄge zur Geschichte und Literatur, was published in 1845. It contains a number of essays on diverse Jewish subjects, which are full of interest. In the preface to this work the author makes the following noteworthy remarks: “Jewish literature plays an important part in the general culture of the nations of antiquity, and is also closely connected with the origin and the gradual development of Christianity at large. It has likewise exercised a marked influence on past and present generations, and participating, as it did, in their common struggles and sufferings, it has become, as it were, a supplement to the entire literature of the world. And indeed, if mental activity generally may be compared to a vast and boundless sea, then Jewish literature deserves to be designated as one of the streams which flowed into it and helped it to a wider expansion.”

Though, as already stated, the contents of the BeitrÄge are of a varied description, they deal chiefly with that section of Jewish literature that owes its existence to the Jewish writers of the Middle Ages. Mention is made of a good many mediaeval Jewish commentators on the Bible and the Talmud, as well as of grammarians and moralists. Instructive remarks are made on some of them, most of whose names and writings had scarcely been known before. Here our admiration for Zunz's rare talents must be enhanced when it is observed how out of stray paragraphs and notes found in old and neglected MSS., in rare prints, or on almost illegible tombstones, he has actually created a standard book of reference, which has now become indispensable to every student of Jewish literature.

In the course of his investigations in the BeitrÄge Zunz touches on a subject which ought not to be passed over unnoticed. He refers to the crass ignorance sometimes manifested by Christian scholars in regard to Judaism and its literature. He quotes, for example, the names of a few French writers, who had published books dealing with Jewish subjects, of which they knew as little as the aforementioned Chiarini. One of them, Cupefigne by name, actually won the prize offered by the French Academy for the best essay on the subject, L'État littÉraire des Juifs dans le moyen Âge. But as a specimen of what he actually knew of the Talmud Zunz quotes the following note he found in the essay. It runs thus: Le Gemare titre Sanhed. Sectio 14; le Talmud mÊme titre. With this kind of Talmudical knowledge says Zunz, with just indignation, a French professor has ventured to write a long dissertation on Rabbinical literature, for which he was rewarded by the most learned literary society in France with a valuable prize^[147-1].

Another masterpiece of Zunz, ranking almost as high as his Homilies of the Jews, is Die synagogale Poesie, which deals specially with the Piyutim and Selichoth, and which was published in 1855. It is virtually only the first volume of a work, which would certainly have remained incomplete without the two additional volumes, issued in 1859 and 1865 under the respective titles Die Ritus des synagogalen Gottesdienstes and Nachtrag zur Literaturgeschichte der synagogalen Poesie. Each of these volumes treats of a variety of subjects, though they all belong to one and the same department.

Though the literary matter contained and discussed in Die synagogale Poesie is extremely copious and interesting, it is impossible to do more, within the limits of a short essay, than to refer to it briefly. Beginning with the Psalms the author describes the process of the gradual development of psalmody into the so-called Agadah, and that of the latter into the various kinds of prayers usually read in the synagogue, including the “Penitential Poems,” called Selichoth. These, containing, as they do, some of the most heartrending incidents in the mediaeval history of the Jews, Zunz discusses with special warmth and feeling. One particular passage excited the admiration of George Eliot, who printed a translation of it in Daniel Deronda. It runs as follows:—

“If there are ranks in suffering, Israel takes precedence of all the Nations;—if the duration of sorrows, and the patience with which they are borne, ennoble, the Jews are among the aristocracy of every land;—if a literature is called rich in the possession of a few classical tragedies, what shall we say to a national Tragedy lasting for fifteen hundred years, in which the poets and actors were also the heroes.”

When some later writers, including Professor Paul Legarde, criticized the Synagogale Poesie adversely, asserting that Zunz had wasted his time and energy in the preparation of an elaborate work on the Piyutim, most of which are admittedly valueless, the late Professor David Kaufmann defended his friend, the author, in a remarkable pamphlet. He says, inter alia, that in writing about the Piyutim Zunz was chiefly actuated by the desire to display before the eyes of the world the unexampled miseries and sufferings, which the Jewish people endured during a period extending over more than a thousand years. Thus it was obvious that, whether the Piyutim have by their existence enriched Hebrew literature or not, Zunz has, at all events, by his long dissertation on them, brought to light a piece of history of his people which, for various reasons, was worthy of a permanent record.

Another noteworthy point connected with the Synagogale Poesie is, that it contains a considerable number of versified German translations of pieces of liturgical Hebrew poetry, which renders them more intelligible to the ordinary reader than would otherwise have been the case. The following example may serve here as an illustration. One of the dullest liturgical pieces composed by the Hebrew writer Kaliri (about 700 A. D.) is no doubt the Hebrew hymn beginning with the words, Adam-u-behemah (??? ?????), which is read in most of the synagogues on Hoshanah Rabbah. Yet Zunz translated it into excellent German. A free English translation is appended:—

It may be mentioned here, in passing, that some of Zunz's poetical German translations are in style and form hardly inferior to the specimen renderings of Eastern poetry found in the works of Goethe, Herder, RÜckert, and Bodenstedt. In fact, it is not too much to say that Zunz's German poetry and prose are classical. His style is praised by Varnhagen von Ense, who describes it in his Diary as being in many places most elegant and attractive.

As already stated, it was in 1859 that Zunz published an additional volume to the Synagogale Poesie, called Die Ritus des synagogalen Gottesdienstes, which mostly consists of inquiries into synagogal rites. He alludes to the varied rites that had been in vogue among Jews living in different countries, and he points out certain customs adopted by the synagogue which had their origin in the Christian Church. To these, he says, belong the customs of making monetary offerings in the synagogue during the reading of the Law, which had, however, long been in use in the Gallic Church. There, in return for such offerings, the officiating priest was wont to read a prayer, called in Latin Oratio post nomina. This prayer corresponds, according to Zunz, to the one still recited in some synagogues by the precentor on mentioning the offerings made by the person “called-up” to the reading of the Law, which is well known by the name of Mi-Sheberach (?? ????). Zunz also thinks that the usage practised in the synagogue of reciting prayers in memory of the souls of departed parents and near relations, likewise originated in the Christian Church, as mention is made of it in the early Christian liturgy.

The third volume forming part of the Synagogale Poesie was, as already stated, published by Zunz in 1865 under the title of Die Literaturgeschichte der synagogalen Poesie. Though a small supplement was added to it about two years later under the heading of NachtrÄge zur Literaturgeschichte der synagogalen Poesie, it virtually closed the series of Zunz's three epoch-making works that deal almost exhaustively with the most important branches of Jewish science and literature. In this particular field of study and research, Zunz proved himself to be a first-rate critic and investigator, and there he also attained conspicuous success. But, while admiring in Zunz his many-sided talents, and more especially his extensive knowledge of earlier and later Hebrew literature, credit must also be given him for the honesty with which he records the obligations he owed to his literary friends for their aid in the preparations of his literary compositions. Among them may be specially mentioned Delitzsch, Rapoport, Luzzatto, Sachs, and Dukes, with all of whom Zunz for many years carried on a lively correspondence. This helped him greatly in his researches. Thus, for instance, in 1832, Zunz was only aware of the existence of 200 Selichoth, but from the information supplied by his friends he was enabled to add to the list of these liturgical poems until they had reached the large number of 1,816.

It is natural that Zunz had many admirers among men of education, who were able to read and appreciate his German works. Yet it is interesting to note that a great many Jews, who were only slightly acquainted with German, but had an extensive knowledge of Hebrew and the Talmud, held him in great esteem as a Hebrew scholar. This distinction Zunz owed to his mastery over the Hebrew style, examples of which are to be found in the preface to his edition of Krochmal's MorÈ Nebuche Ha-Z'man (???? ????? ????), and likewise in the Hebrew periodical Kerem Chemed. The latter contains a biographical sketch of the famous Jewish critic, Azariah de Rossi (1514–98), which is not only remarkable for its learning, but also for the excellence of its composition. Zunz also wrote some pretty Hebrew verses, specimens of which he gave in his metric Hebrew translation of Klopstock's Die Sommernacht, which appeared (in 1819) in Heinemann's Annual, called Yedidja.

It is to be regretted that Zunz, when at the height of his fame, and already advanced in years, thought fit to write an essay published in the Zeitschrift der deutsch-morgenlÄndischen Gesellschaft, vol. XXVII, pp. 669–89, embodying the views of Biblical criticism of the advanced school. There he tries to prove, for instance, that Leviticus and certain parts of Deuteronomy were composed at a much later date than tradition has assigned to them, and that the Day of Atonement and the festivals of New Year and Purim were unknown to the early composers of the Pentateuch. These views naturally aroused the anger of all strictly orthodox Jews, and they also brought him in conflict with his ultra-radical friend Geiger, who censured him for his obvious inconsistency, because in another essay (published in the second part of his Gesammelte Schriften) Zunz spoke of the practice of wearing phylacteries as a noble and sacred institution which ought to be rigorously observed, while here he questioned the sanctity of the holiest day in the Jewish calendar. But, though Zunz subsequently defended his apparently antagonistic views to the accepted traditions of the Jews, it would certainly have been better for his reputation had he left Biblical criticism alone.

Zunz was undoubtedly filled with a deep love for his people. By his labours he showed to the world that the Jews had, like other nations, a history, a science, a philosophy, and a remarkable literature, on the strength of which they were entitled to claim equal rights and privileges with their fellow men in all that concerned their intellectual, social, and political life. In this point his aims and ideals were somewhat akin to those of his great prototype and predecessor Moses Mendelssohn. In fact, they had much in common both in respect of their life and their character. Both being of humble origin, they had both at the outset of their scholastic career to contend with poverty and want. They were both deeply attached to their people, and did what in them lay to remove their disabilities, and especially to encourage them in the correct use of their native tongue. It is true that in religious matters neither of them exercised a favourable influence on his surroundings. But this at least will be universally admitted that the admiration entertained by Heine for Hebrew literature was chiefly due to his long and friendly intercourse with Zunz, which no doubt gave rise to those laudatory expressions found in his Perlen des Romancero, his Rabbi von Bacharach, and more especially in his book entitled Heine Über BÖrne.

Was Zunz ever really happy? This question, if raised, could hardly be answered affirmatively. Long before and after his marriage he experienced constant disappointments; and as for the state of his mind subsequent to the death of his wife—who, by the way, left him childless—we learn from the correspondence he then carried on with Professor David Kaufmann, how completely overcome he was. The fact is, that Zunz fancied that he and his works were not sufficiently known to, and appreciated by, his co-religionists and the literary fraternity of the day, and on this account he once sent to Kaufmann the following characteristic lines:—

On another occasion, when writing to him, Zunz complains of the indifference manifested towards him and his works by the Jews, and with bitter irony he goes on to say that they would no doubt have established an annual fast-day in his memory had he been the Gedaliah of the Bible, a governor of a Jewish province, and murdered by an assassin's hand^[153-1].

Zunz considered himself, and more especially in his declining years, a disappointed man; but if the extent of a man's happiness is to be measured by the amount of useful work he has done for the benefit of others, then Zunz deserves more to be envied than to be pitied. He has certainly not lived and laboured, as he himself fancied, in vain. He will always occupy a foremost place in the annals of Jewish history and scholarship, and will ever be honoured as the Nestor of Jewish science and literature.

Footnotes: