History of the Jews, Vol. 4 (of 6)

The death of the old emperor, Maximilian, who had been unequal to the task of grappling with the theological perplexities called forth by himself, and the election of a new emperor, spun out for half a year, drew politics into the arena, and gave rise to a confusion in which the friends and foes of free religious thought and of gloomy orthodox faith were not distinguishable. Hutten and the Humanists favored Charles V, in whose own country, Spain, the Dominicans still had the upper hand, and where the flames from the stake were still unextinguished; but he was opposed by the pope. The Reuchlinist and the Lutheran cause, as it were, the Talmud and the Reformation, were merged into each other. So great a change had taken place that the electors assembled to elect an emperor declared against the obscurantists of Cologne and in favor of Reuchlin.

Instead of condemning the Talmud, Pope Leo X encouraged the printing of the work. Thus, through a movement incomprehensible to all its contemporaries, the unexpected took place: Reuchlin was justified, and the Talmud was justified, and in a measure favored by the pope. Indeed, Daniel Bomberg, a rich Christian publisher in Antwerp, in the same year brought out a complete edition of the Babylonian Talmud in twelve folio volumes, the model of all later editions.

A clever pantomime, which first appeared in Latin or French, and was soon translated into German, portrays Reuchlin as the originator of the great and growing movement. It represents a doctor, on whose back may be read the name of Capnion (Reuchlin), throwing a bundle of straight and crooked sticks on the stage, and then going away. Another figure (Erasmus), having in vain endeavored to put the bundle in order, shakes his head over the chaos, and disappears. Hutten also comes in. Luther appears in monk's dress, and with a firebrand kindles the crooked twigs. Another figure, in imperial robes, strikes with its sword the spreading fire, only giving it wider play. At length comes the pope, who, wishing to extinguish the fire, seizes a vessel, and pours the oil in it upon the flames, then clasps his hands on his head, while the bright flames shoot up never again to be stifled. Pfefferkorn and the Talmud should not have been missing in this dumb show, for they were the fuse that started the conflagration.

The situation was such that the slightest breath made the flames leap up. Luther had gained firmness and courage at the imperial diet of Worms, and by his speech, revealing fearlessness, completed the rupture with the papacy. Although urged by his own bigotry, besieged by obscurantists and exhorted by princes, Emperor Charles was disposed to condemn the reformer to the stake as a heretic, yet partly from consideration for Frederick, elector of Saxony, partly from policy, hoping thereby to hold the pope in check, he only declared him an exile a month later. Meanwhile Luther was already on his Patmos, the Wartburg, hidden and protected. Whilst in solitude he worked at a German translation of the Bible, ultra-reformers overthrew church regulations, altered the church services, did away with masses and priestly decoration, abolished the vows of monks, and introduced the marriage of priests – that is to say, the priests publicly acknowledged their former secret mistresses as their wives. The time was ripe for the Reformation, and it took firm hold of North Germany, Denmark and Sweden, extending to Prussia, Poland, and, on the other hand, to France and even Spain, the country of darkest and most bigoted ecclesiasticism and the home of persecution. Zwingli, the reformer of Switzerland, after much wavering, declared himself against the papacy; so, in that country, too, where there was more freedom of action than in submissive Germany, the new church service was introduced, the marriage of priests permitted, pictures and crucifixes destroyed, and monasteries done away with. A new order of things had set in; all-powerful Rome stood impotent before the new spirit. The enthusiasm of the Anabaptists began to arouse public feeling and transform all relations of life.

At first, Luther's Reformation affected the Jews but slightly. Catholics and innovators in every town, especially in Germany, were so occupied with fighting each other, that they had no leisure for the persecution of Jews; so there came a pause. Luther, whose voice even then was more powerful than that of the princes, at first defended them from numerous accusations. In his plain-spoken and fervent way, he said:

"This rage (against the Jews) is still defended by some silly theologians, and advocated by them; they declare insolently that the Jews are the servants of the Christians, and subject to the emperor. I beg you to tell me who will join our religion, be he the most amiable and patient of men, when he sees that they are treated so cruelly and inimically, and not only in an unchristian way, but even brutally. Most of the Passion preachers (in Holy Week) do nothing but make the sin committed by Jews against Christ heavier and greater, and embitter the hearts of believers against them."

In one of his works, the title of which, calculated to startle their antagonists, ran, "Jesus was born a Jew," Luther expressed himself against the indelible hatred of the Jews still more sharply:

"Those fools, the papists, bishops, sophists and monks, have hitherto so dealt with Jews, that every good Christian would rather have been a Jew. And if I had been a Jew, and seen such stupidity and such blockheads reign in the Christian Church, I would rather have been a pig than a Christian. They have treated the Jews as if they were dogs, not men; they have done nothing but revile them. They are blood-relations of our Lord; therefore, if it were proper to boast of flesh and blood, the Jews belong to Christ more than we. I beg, therefore, my dear papists, if you become tired of abusing me as a heretic, that you begin to revile me as a Jew."

"Therefore, it is my advice," continued Luther, "that we treat them kindly. Now that we drive them by force, treating them deceitfully and ignominiously, saying that they must have Christian blood to wash away the Jewish stain, and I know not what more nonsense, – prohibiting them from working amongst us, from living and having social intercourse with us, forcing them to be usurers, how can we expect them to come to us? If we would help them, so must we exercise, not the law of the pope, but that of Christian love – show them a friendly spirit, permit them to live and to work, so that they may have cause and means to be with us and amongst us."

These were words which the Jews had not heard for a thousand years. They show unmistakable traces of Reuchlin's mild intercession in their favor. Many hot-headed Jews saw in Luther's opposition to the papacy the extinction of Christianity and the triumph of Judaism. Three learned Jews went to Luther, and tried to convert him. Enthusiastic feelings were aroused among the Jews at this unexpected revulsion, especially at the blow dealt the papacy and the idolatrous worship of images and relics; the boldest hopes were entertained of the speedy downfall of Rome, and the approaching redemption by the Messiah.

But the Jewish religion gained much more by the Reformation than the Jewish race. Despised before, it became fashionable, so to say, in the early days of the Reformation. Reuchlin had expressed the modest wish that at the few German universities a professor of the Hebrew language might be appointed. Through his zeal for Hebrew (he had published, shortly before his death, a work on Hebrew accents and prosody), and through the increasing conviction that without this knowledge the Bible must remain a sealed book, princes and universities sought teachers, and instituted Hebrew professorships not only in Germany and Italy, but also in France and Poland. The light, graceful, classic muse, which had withdrawn many hearts from the church, was more and more neglected, and the serious Hebrew mother was sought out instead. Young and old did not hesitate to seek Jews from whom to learn Hebrew. A friendly connection was formed between Jewish masters and Christian pupils, to the intense vexation of bigots on both sides; and many prejudices died out by these means. The principal teacher of the Christians was a grammarian of German descent, Elias Levita (born 1468, died 1549). This poor man, who had to struggle for his daily bread, laid the foundation of the knowledge of the Hebrew language. The plundering of Padua – where, perhaps, he was born – brought him, by way of Venice, to Rome, where Cardinal Egidio de Viterbo, wishing to advance in his grammatical and Kabbalistic studies, took him into his house, supporting him and his family for more than ten years. Not only this church dignitary, but many other Christians of high position sat at Levita's feet. One was George de Selve, bishop of Lavour, the French ambassador, as learned as he was statesmanlike. Against the reproach of some bigoted rabbis, Levita defended himself by the remark that his Christian pupils all were friends of the Jews, and tried to promote their welfare. On the inducement of his patron, Egidio, he worked at a Hebrew grammar in the Hebrew language, the greater part of which was translated into Latin by Reuchlin's pupil, Sebastian Münster. Elias Levita had not a mind of great depth, nor did he propound a new theory on the structure of the Hebrew language. He rigorously adhered to the grammatical system of the Kimchis, because he did not know their predecessors. His usefulness consisted in his command over the whole Scriptural vocabulary, his pedagogic skill, and his gift of vivid presentation. Beyond the elements he did not go, but they perfectly satisfied the wants of the time. Only one deviation did Levita make from the beaten track. Against the firm belief of the time that the accents and the vowel signs in the Hebrew Bible were of ancient origin, having been revealed on Mount Sinai, or, at all events, introduced by Ezra, he maintained that they had not been known even at the time of the Talmud, because they had been superfluous when Hebrew was a living language. It can easily be imagined what a storm this opinion raised. It at once upset all preconceived notions. The bigots raised a cry against him as though he had by his assertion disowned Judaism. Elias Levita was, therefore, little liked by his brother Jews, and associated more with learned Christians, which brought much blame from the over-pious, and produced evil consequences for his descendants.

He was not the only teacher of the Hebrew language and literature to Christians. As before him, Obadiah Sforno had given Reuchlin instruction in Hebrew, so at the same time as Levita, Jacob Mantino and Abraham de Balmes were engaged in instructing Christians.

Throughout Christendom there was a desire to know the Hebrew language. The printers reckoned on such good sales that in several places in Italy and Germany, even where there were no Jews, new and old Hebrew grammatical writings were published. Everyone wished to know Hebrew and to understand the Hebrew language and literature. Some years before the representatives of the church had considered the knowledge of Hebrew superfluous, or even a pernicious evil touching on heresy; but through the Reformation it became a necessary branch of divinity. Luther himself learnt Hebrew to be able to penetrate the meaning of the Bible.

The change of mind was most evident in France. The Paris university, the leader of thought, had by a majority condemned Reuchlin's "Augenspiegel" in favor of the Talmud and Hebrew studies; scarcely six years later there was a professorship and a printing press for Hebrew, and the confessor of King Louis, William Haquinet Petit, though a Dominican, the one whose slander had brought about the condemnation of Reuchlin's work, appeared as a patron of Hebrew literature.

At his advice King Francis I invited the bishop of Corsica, Augustin Justiniani, a man well read in Hebrew literature, to come to France. This young king felt, or at least showed, interest in learning and also in the study of Hebrew. He invited Elias Levita to come to France, and fill the professorship of Hebrew there, probably at the instigation of his admirer, De Selve. One must take into consideration what this signified at that time. In France proper, for more than a century, no Jew had been permitted to dwell, nor even to make a passing stay, and now a Jew was invited, not merely to reside there, but to accept an honorable post and instruct Christians. What heresy! Elias Levita, however, declined this flattering proposal; he would not have felt at ease there as the only Jew, and to urge the admission of Jews into France was not in conformity with his character. Justiniani undertook the task of introducing the study of Hebrew into France.

At the University of Rheims the French students made attempts to speak Hebrew. As there were not sufficient grammars, Justiniani had the wretched Hebrew grammar of Moses Kimchi printed. Yet more remarkable is it that in Paris, where three hundred years previously the Jewish orthodox party, with the help of the Dominicans, had burnt Maimuni's religious philosophical work, "Guide of the Perplexed," the Dominican Justiniani now caused a Latin translation of the same to be published (1520). Naturally, the Christian teachers of the Hebrew language remained dependent on their Jewish masters; they could not take a single step without them. Paulus Fagius, a reforming priest and disciple of Reuchlin, wishing to establish a Hebrew press in Isny, called upon Elias Levita to go there. This offer was accepted, for Levita was in difficulties, and could find no publisher for his Chaldean and Rabbinical dictionaries. Paulus Fagius was particularly pleased with these works, because they appeared to him to offer the key to the Kabbala, so much sought for by Christian scholars.

Through the agitation by Reuchlin and Luther the neglected science of the Bible was to a certain extent cultivated. Judaism and Christianity are both founded on the Sacred Writings, yet they were quite strange to the followers of both religions. The glorious memorial of a much favored time was so shrouded and surrounded with a network of senseless explanations, so disfigured by these accessories, that its full value was completely unknown. Because everything was looked for in, and imported into, the Holy Scriptures, the true meaning was not discovered. To the Christian laity the Bible had been inaccessible for a long time, because the papacy, with instinctive fear, had forbidden its translation into the vernacular. So the faithful knew only fragments or isolated texts, and, owing to distorted interpretations, these not always correctly. Even the clergy were not familiar therewith, for they were acquainted only with the Roman Catholic Latin version, and in this the fundamental truths of the Bible were confused by perversions and errors. It was, therefore, a work of great importance that occupied Luther in his solitude on the Wartburg – the translation of the Bible, the Old and New Testaments, into German. For this purpose Luther had to learn Hebrew, and seek information from Jews. To his contemporaries it seemed as if God's Word had for the first time been revealed; this clear voice they had never before heard. A breath of fresh air was wafted on men, when the ramparts were broken down that had so long held its spirit imprisoned. Classical antiquity had improved the taste of a small circle. Hebrew antiquity rejuvenated the whole generation, once more infusing love of simplicity and naturalness. The Bible was soon translated into all European languages; the Catholics themselves were obliged to disregard the papal command, and render it into intelligible language for the people's use. The Jews also felt the want of the Holy Scripture in the vernacular. A translation into Spanish was made in Ferrara, by a Marrano, Duarte de Pinel, who had escaped from Portugal, and called himself Abraham Usque as a Jew.

The demand for Hebrew Bibles was so great that Daniel Bomberg undertook the great work of publishing the Old Testament, with the commentaries of Rashi, Ibn-Ezra, Kimchi, Gersonides, and others. The sale of this rabbinical Bible was so rapid that new editions were continually appearing.

CHAPTER XV.

THE KABBALA AND MESSIANIC FANATICISM. THE MARRANOS AND THE INQUISITION

Internal Condition of Judaism – Division in the Communities – The Lack of Interest in Poetry – Historical Studies – Leon Medigo's "Dialogues of Love" – Supremacy of the Kabbala – Messianic Hopes – The Marranos and the Inquisition – Henrique Nunes – The Traveler David Reubeni in Rome – Solomon Molcho – His Relations with David Reubeni – Joseph Karo and his "Maggid" – Clement VII – Molcho in Ancona and Rome – His Favor with the Cardinals – Death of Molcho – The Enthusiastic Regard in which he was held – Duarte de Paz – Paul III – Charles V and the Jews – Emanuel da Costa.

1500–1538 C.E

It is astonishing, yet not astonishing, that the surging movement, the convulsive heaving that shook the Christian world from pole to pole in the first quarter of the sixteenth century scarcely touched the inner life of the Jews. Whilst among Christians a radical change took place, in thought, customs, studies, and even in language; whilst their ancient customs and usages were rejected or put aside in some places, and in others freshened up; in a word, whilst a new era started, everything remained unchanged with the Jews. Having had no "Middle Ages," they needed no new epoch. They needed no regeneration, they had no immoral course of life to redress, no cankering corruption to cure, no dam to raise against the insolence and rapacity of their spiritual guides. They had not so much rubbish to clear away. It must not be imagined, however, that within the pale of Judaism all was bright. The refining and civilizing thoughts of Judaism had not yet gained the upper hand. The people were wanting in spirituality, their guides in clearness of mind. Reliance on justification by works and scholastic sophistry were prevalent also among Jews. In the synagogue service spirituality was missing, and honesty in the world of business. The ritual retained all received from olden times, and became filled with unintelligible elements, so that, on the whole, it acquired an unattractive character. Sermons were unknown in German congregations and their offshoots; at best, Talmudical discourses, utterly unintelligible to the people, especially to women, and, therefore, leaving them cold and uninterested, were delivered. The Spanish and Portuguese preachers spoke in the beautiful language of their country, but their sermons were so full of pedantry that they were no more easily understood by the laity.

The breaking up of Jewish congregations into national groups was also a misfortune. The persecution of the Jews had thrown into the large towns of Italy and Turkey fugitives from the Pyrenees and from Germany, who failed to unite themselves with the existing congregations, yet did not amalgamate with each other. There were, therefore, in many towns, not only Italian, Romanic (Greek), Spanish, Portuguese, German, and, now and again, Moorish (African) congregations, but of each almost as many as there were provinces and towns in each country. For example, in Constantinople, Adrianople, Salonica, Arta (Larta) in Greece, and many other towns, there was a large variety of congregations, each of which had its own directors, ritual, rabbi, academy, charities, its own prejudices and jealousies. In the face of such division, nothing for the public benefit or general good could be accomplished. The spiritual leaders, although generally moral, and, as a rule, sincerely and fervently religious, humbled themselves before the rich members of their congregation, witnessing insolence and misconduct without daring to reprove them.

Worse than this splitting up into tiny congregations was the faintness, the narrow-mindedness, the self-abasement, not merely of German Jews, but of the Sephardic exiles. Only when it was necessary to die for the faith of their fathers did they show themselves heroic and full of courage; at other times their activity was expended on petty concerns. No new course was taken, not even at sight of the daily changes of the Christian world. The few who maintained themselves on the heights of science kept to the beaten track, served but to level it still more. The ruling idea was to elucidate old thoughts and old thinkers, and to write commentaries, yea, even super-commentaries. The Talmudists explained the Talmud, and the philosophical inquirers Maimuni's "Guide." Higher flight of fancy and greater spiritual insight were not possible. No sound of real poetry came from the lips of those nourished on it, not even a thrilling song of lamentation, putting their grief into words. The only circumstance testifying to change of position and times was interest in historical research, and that was almost entirely confined to the Jews of Pyrenean descent. The endless suffering which they had endured, they wished to preserve for future generations. Present misery brought before them the sorrows of early ages, and showed them that the history of the Jewish race was one long course of painful martyrdom.

Otherwise there was nothing new at this period. Freedom of philosophical inquiry was not favored. Isaac Abrabanel, the transmitter of the old Spanish Hebrew spirit, found in Maimuni's philosophical writings many heresies opposed to Judaism, and he condemned the free-thinking commentators who went beyond tradition. A Portuguese fugitive, Joseph Jaabez, laid on philosophy the blame for the expulsion of the Jews from Spain and Portugal. Free-thinking was the sin which had led Israel astray; thereon must the greatest restriction be laid.

A fresh spirit breathes in the philosophical work of the talented Leon Abrabanel, or Medigo. Its title, "Dialogues of Love" (Dialoghi d'amore), tells the reader that it is not tainted with the insipidity of commonplace philosophy. No one can better show the elasticity of the Jewish mind than this scion of the ancient noble family of Abrabanel. Torn from a comfortable home, thrown into a strange land, leading an unsettled life in Italy, his heart tortured by gnawing pain for the living death of his first-born, who had been snatched from him, Leon Medigo had enough intellectual strength to immerse himself in the Italian language and literature, and reduce his scattered philosophical ideas to perfect order. Hardly ten years after his flight from Spain he might have passed for a learned Italian, rivaling in style the polished writers of the Medici era, and even excelling them in extent of learning. With the same pen with which he wrote Hebrew verses to his son, who was being educated in sham Christianity in Portugal, admonishing him, "Remain continually mindful of Judaism, cherish the Hebrew language and literature, and keep ever before thee the grief of thy father, the pain of thy mother," he wrote his "Dialogues of Love," the outpourings of Philo's deep love for Sophia. This ostensible romance is the keynote of Leon Medigo's philosophical system, which sounds more like a philosophical idyll than a logical system. There is more imagination than reality, and his reflections are suggestive rather than true. Possibly Leon Medigo put his deeper thoughts into a work, now lost, entitled the "Harmony of Heaven." His "Dialogues of Love" throughout was far removed from Judaism. Leon Medigo paid high honor to "Hebrew truth," and endeavored to uphold the scriptural doctrine of creation out of chaos, in opposition to the principles of Greek philosophy, but he did not penetrate to the true spirit of Judaism. Therefore his work was valued by Christians more than by Jews. The Italians were proud to see – it was the first time – philosophical thought laid down in their own enthusiastically beloved language. The work became the favorite reading of the educated class, and in the space of twenty years went through five editions.

The Kabbala with its futilities soon took possession of minds no longer accustomed to strict logical discipline, and in a measure it filled the void. In the sixteenth century it first began to have sway over men's minds. Its adversaries were dead, or indisposed to place themselves in opposition to the ideas of the age, only too strongly inclined to mysteries, paradoxes and irrational fancies. Sephardic fugitives, Judah Chayyat, Baruch of Benevento, Abraham Levi, Meïr ben Gabbai, Ibn-Abi Zimra, had brought the Kabbala to Italy and Turkey, and with extraordinary energy won zealous adherents for it. Also, the enthusiasm felt for the Kabbala by Christian scholars, such as Egidio de Viterbo, Reuchlin, Galatino, and others, reacted upon the Jews. The doctrine, they reasoned, must have some deep truth in it, if it is so sought for by noble Christians. Preacher-Kabbalists expounded the doctrine from the pulpit, which had not been done before. On questions of ritual the Kabbalist writings were consulted, often as final authorities. No wonder that typical elements of the Zohar crept into the liturgy, conferring upon it a mystical character. With bold presumption the Kabbalists asserted that they alone were in possession of the Mosaic tradition, and that the Talmud and the rabbis must give place to them. In this way the secret doctrine with its tricks and fancies, which had hitherto unsettled only some few adepts, became known amongst all the Jews, and affected the sober minds of the people. The opposition of the rabbis to this interference in the ritual and religious life was rather weak, as they themselves were convinced of the sanctity of the Kabbala, and objected to the innovations only in a faint-hearted way.