But the precocious and
clear-minded youth did not need much to stimulate his love for history
and his inclination to philosophy, and his intellectual development
continued in spite of the untoward circumstances in which he happened to
be placed.
Though he was "given" in marriage at a very early age, the proverbial
"millstone" weighed but lightly upon the neck of young Guenzburg. He
never discontinued the habit of secluding himself in his study for
hours, sometimes for days, at a time, and there writing down his
thoughts in painstaking penmanship. These productions, with all their
crudity, promised, according to a keen critic, the flowers which would
one day "ripen into delicious fruit, not only pleasant to the sight but
also delicious to the taste." In fact, even his religious views
underwent but slight modification in later and maturer years. Ceremonial
laws, or minhagim, were to him a social compact among the members of a
sect. He who transgresses them is, _eo ipso_, excluded from the sect, as
he who disregards the social code, though not immoral, is ostracized
from society. This led him to the logical conclusion that every Jew must
comply with the customs of his people, though his opinion as to their
moral value may differ from that of the rest.
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