Berlin
was still, as it had been during the days of Mendelssohn and Wessely,
the sanctuary of learning, the citadel of culture. In the highly
cultivated German literature they found treasures of wisdom and science.
The poetical gems of Goethe, Schiller, Lessing, and Herder captivated
their fancy; the philosophy of Kant and Fichte, Schelling and Hegel
nourished their intellect. Kant continued to be the favorite guide of
Maimon's countrymen, and in their love for him they interpreted the
initials of his name to mean "For my soul panteth after thee."[26]
But more efficacious than all other agencies was Mendelssohn's German
translation of the Bible, and the _Biur_ commentary published therewith.
Renaissance and Reformation, those mighty, revolutionary forces, have
entered every country by side-doors, so to say. The Jewish Pale was no
exception to the rule. What Wycliffe's translation did for England, and
Luther's for Germany, Mendelssohn's did for Russian Jewry. Like the
Septuagint, it marked a new epoch in the history of Jewish advancement.
It is said that Mendelssohn's aim was chiefly to show the grandeur of
the Hebrew poetry found in the Bible, but by the irony of fate his
translation displayed to the Russian Jew the beauty and elegance of the
German language.
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