" It was there that the voluminous works of Hebrew literature
were studied, literally "by day and by night," and the subtleties of the
Talmudists were developed to a degree unprecedented in Jewish history.
Thither was sent, from the distant Netherlands, the youngest son of
Manasseh ben Israel, and he "became mighty in the Talmud and master of
four languages." Thither came, from Prague, the afterwards famous
Cabbalist, author, and rabbi, Isaiah Horowitz (ab. 1555-1630), and there
he chose to remain the rest of his days. Thither also went, from
Frankfort, the above-mentioned Meir Ashkenazi, who, according to some,
was the first author of note in White Russia.
From everywhere they came "to pour water on the hands and sit at the
feet" of the great ones of the second Palestine.[22]
For Jewish solidarity was more than a word in those days. "Sefardim" had
not yet learned to boast of aristocratic lineage, nor "Ashkenazim" to
look down contemptuously upon their Slavonic coreligionists. It was
before the removal of civil disabilities from one portion of the Jewish
people had sowed the seed of arrogance toward the other less favored
portion.
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