As the history of this period is incomplete without an acquaintance with
the lives of some of the Maskilim who sowed the seeds that burst into
blossom under the favorable conditions of the "sixties," I shall select,
as specimens out of a multitude, the two who, more than any others,
furthered the cause of Haskalah, Isaac Baer Levinsohn and Mordecai Aaron
Guenzburg.[33]
Isaac Baer Levinsohn of Kremenetz, Volhynia (RiBaL, 1788-1860), was for
many years a name to conjure with, not only among the Maskilim of all
shades, but also among their opponents. Long before he reached man's
estate, he had entered upon the career to which he was to dedicate his
life. Even in those times of numerous child prodigies, Levinsohn was
distinguished for his intellectual precocity. At the age of three he was
ripe for the heder. At nine he was the author of a work on Cabbala. At
ten he mastered the Talmud, and knew the entire Hebrew Bible by heart.
But what singled him out among his classmates was his passionate love of
secular knowledge. The son of Judah Levin, an erudite merchant who knew
Hebrew and Polish to perfection, the grandson of Jekuthiel Solomon,
famed for wealth and refinement, he evinced unusual ability in selecting
and retaining what was good and true in everything he read.
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