Sorkin, the classmate and friend of Levanda, committed suicide, while
Levanda, the great novelist of assimilation, was so affected by the
massacres and their consequences, that he became melancholy, and died in
an asylum for the insane.[6]
If this was the fate of the assimilated and estranged, one may guess the
effect of the reaction on the religious. If the students of the
universities sacrificed their careers, their daily bread, for the
austere satisfaction of discharging their moral obligation to the best
of their knowledge, the students of the Law, always loyal to the
heritage of their people, became more zealous than ever. Lilienblum who,
in 1877, believed that life without a university education was not worth
living, became a repentant sinner. Russian Jewry seethed with religious
enthusiasm. Moses Isaac Darshan, "the Khelmer Maggid," preached for six
hours at a time to crowded synagogues. Asher Israelit, less trenchant,
but equally effective, exhorted crowds to repentance. Zebi Hirsh
Masliansky, a finished orator, went from town to town, and aroused a
love for whatever was connected with the history and religion of the
Jewish people.
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