He then established what he called Midrash Ezrahim, or Citizens'
Institute, in which he met with such success that he attracted the
attention of the authorities, and received a special acknowledgment from
the czar.[5]
Russian Jewry was astir with new life. In many places secular education
was divorced for the first time from rabbinical speculation. Knowledge
became an end in itself, and learning increased greatly. An
investigation by Nicholas I convinced all who were interested that
though the Talmud remained the chief subject of study, the number of
educated Jews was far greater than commonly supposed. The upliftment of
the masses was the beau-ideal of every Maskil, and Hebrew and even the
much-despised Yiddish were employed to effect it. Ignorance was regarded
as the bane of life, and enlightenment as the panacea for all the ills
to which their downtrodden brethren were heirs. As their pious
coreligionists deemed it the universal duty to be well-versed in the
Talmud, so the Maskilim thought it incumbent upon everybody to be highly
cultured. No obstacle was great enough to discourage them. They were
willing martyrs to the goddess of Wisdom, at whose shrine they
worshipped, and whose cult they spread in the most adverse
circumstances.
Pages:
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173