To this day
these Russian and Polish proselytes adhere steadfastly to their faith,
and whether they migrate to America or Palestine to escape the
persecution of their countrymen, they seldom, if ever, indulge in the
latitudinarianism into which many of longer Jewish lineage fall so
readily when removed from old moorings.[17]
That the Russian Jews of the day were not altogether unenlightened, that
they not only practiced the Law devoutly, but also studied it
diligently, and cultivated the learning of the time as well, we may
safely infer from researches recently made. Cyril, or Constantine, "the
philosopher," the apostle to the Slavonians, acquired a knowledge of
Hebrew while at Kherson, and was probably aided by Jews in his
translation of the Bible into Slavonic. Manuscripts of Russo-Jewish
commentaries to the Scriptures, written as early as 1094 and 1124, are
still preserved in the Vatican and Bodleian libraries, and copyists were
doing fairly good work at Azov in 1274.
Jewish scholars frequented celebrated seats of learning in foreign
lands. Before the end of the twelfth century traces of them are to be
found in France, Italy, and Spain.
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