The
works of Mendelssohn were not _trefah pasul_ [unclean and unfit], the
children visited the public schools, the academies, and the
universities."[27]
The beautiful city of Odessa, on the Black Sea, at that time just out of
its infancy and full of the virility and aspiration of youth, was also
in the full glare of the German Haskalah movement. With its wide and
straight streets, its public and private parks, and its magnificent
structures, it presents even to-day a marked contrast to other Russian
cities, and the Russians, not without pride, speak of it as "our little
Paris." In the upbuilding of this southern metropolis Jews played an
exceedingly important part. For, as regards the promotion of trade and
commerce, Russia had outgrown the narrow policy of Elizabeta Petrovna,
and did not begrudge her Jews the privilege of taking the lead. The
"enemies of Christ" were permitted, even invited, to accomplish their
"mission" also in Odessa, and thither they accordingly came, not only
from Volhynia, Podolia, and Lithuania, but also from Germany, Austria,
and especially Galicia. Erter, Letteris, Krochmal, Perl, Rapoport,
Eichenbaum, Pinsker, and Werbel became better known in Russia than in
their own land.
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