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STEP BY STEP 
 
 A STORY OF THE EARLY DAYS 
 
 OF 
 
 MOSES MENDELSSOHN 
 
 BY 
 
 ABRAM S. ISAACS 
 
 Philadelphia 
 
 The Jewish Publication Society of America 
 
 1910 
 
yV 
 
 Copyright, 1910, 
 
 BY 
 
 The Jewish Publication Society of America 
 
 ©CU278246 
 
PREFACE 
 
 The heroes and heroines of Jewish his- 
 tory are as many as those in the records of 
 any other people, but, unhappily, their lives 
 and deeds are less known. Apart from 
 characters in Holy Writ and a few worthies 
 in rabbinical literature, little has been done 
 to rescue them from f orgetfulness. 
 
 In the present volume an attempt is made 
 to revive interest in the early days and 
 struggles of Moses Mendelssohn, one of 
 the most illustrious Israelites of modern 
 times — in some respects the most gifted 
 and helpful. Under the guise of fiction, 
 the chief scenes and persons of his child- 
 hood and youth are introduced, and his life 
 and experiences in Dessau and Berlin are 
 faithfully portrayed, though here and there 
 a little liberty has been taken with the char- 
 acters. 
 
 5 
 
PREFACE 
 
 Written particularly for young people 
 that have reached the threshold of maturer 
 years, it is yet by no means a book for boys 
 and girls only, but, it is hoped, it will in- 
 terest children of a larger growth, and be 
 found helpful for our Sabbath Schools, our 
 Jewish Women's Council classes, the Jew- 
 ish Chautauqua, and other literary circles. 
 
 The age in which Mendelssohn lived 
 was a formative one, and the story does not 
 exaggerate in associating with his name, 
 even in youth, those wise and broad tend- 
 encies that were, on the whole, to uplift his 
 and succeeding generations. If his thoughts 
 appear too mature for one so young, it must 
 not be forgotten that he had a gifted intel- 
 lect, and showed early the promise of his 
 later years. 
 
 J\. o. 1. 
 
 New York University. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 I. Father and Son 9 
 
 II. By the Stream 19 
 
 III. A Friday Night 30 
 
 IV. A Wanderer 41 
 
 V. Between Minchah and Maariv 54 
 
 VI. At the Rabbinical School 65 
 
 VII. A Talk with Rabbi Fraenkel 76 
 
 VIII. Shadows and Resolves 87 
 
 IX. A New World 98 
 
 X. Winning His Way 109 
 
 XI. At a Banker's Home 120 
 
 XII. More Light 131 
 
 XIII. Victory ! 143 
 
 XIV. His Life- Work 154 
 
STEP BY STEP 
 
 I 
 
 FATHER AND SON 
 
 " Moses ! Moses, my son ! " 
 
 A slenderly built boy, of about ten years 
 of age, with dark eyes, which seemed par- 
 ticularly large, so full and earnest was their 
 glance, ran quickly, at his father's call, with 
 a slip of paper in his hand, from his low 
 wooden bench in the garden, and stood at 
 the rear door, fronting the bit of ground 
 with a few straggling flowers and climbing 
 plants. 
 
 " What is it, father? Do you wish me 
 for anything? " 
 
 He thought that there was some errand 
 to be attended to for his father, some little 
 service to be done. He was always ready 
 
 9 
 
STEP BY STEP 
 
 for such a task, although it took him for a 
 while from his precious books and writing. 
 
 The father bent down and kissed him. 
 
 " Now, my son, you know the doctor 
 told you not to write and study so much. 
 Here, for two hours, you have been hard 
 at work, stooping over your bench, and 
 curled up like a monkey. You must be 
 more careful — how often have I told you 
 that! Do you wish to become a hump- 
 back?" 
 
 " Well, father," the boy replied, a 
 roguish smile lighting up his features, " I 
 would rather be a humpback in body than 
 in mind. See what I have done! I am 
 sure I can help you soon, can I not? O 
 how glad I should be, if only I could help 
 you!" 
 
 The man glanced at the slip of paper his 
 son was extending so eagerly. It was a 
 short Hebrew letter of his own composi- 
 tion. The words could not have been 
 10 
 
FATHER AND SON 
 
 written more regularly and clearly. The 
 boy blushed with pleasure as his father 
 again kissed him tenderly. 
 
 " Well done, my child. Why, you will 
 soon be able to help me at my work, and 
 then we shall get rich, so rich ! " 
 
 11 And then I can buy some books, and 
 go to Berlin to study and become a rabbi. 
 Not so, father? " And he looked fondly 
 at his parent. 
 
 " But you will never be able to help if 
 you don't grow stronger and stouter. You 
 know that very well. Here, take this little 
 book that I have just copied for Rabbi 
 Hirsch to the school-house, and then walk 
 out a bit and play until Maariv." * 
 
 He handed the book to his son, who, 
 after a warm embrace, ran rapidly down the 
 narrow lane that led to the house of 
 learning. 
 
 In the quiet little town of Dessau, which, 
 
 * The evening prayer. 
 
 11 
 
STEP BY STEP 
 
 in the early decades of the eighteenth cen- 
 tury, the days before the railway, seemed 
 distant from Berlin and Leipsic, there lived 
 about one hundred and fifty Jewish fami- 
 lies. The community was small and of 
 comparatively recent growth. A few of 
 the Jewish residents were in marked favor 
 at court, which the Duke maintained with 
 as much dignity as if he ruled a mighty 
 kingdom instead of a petty duchy. The 
 great majority of the Jews, however, felt 
 the full force of the harsh, repressive laws, 
 which compelled them to live in a special 
 part of the place, and limited them to a few 
 occupations, and those of the humbler kind. 
 Yet, despite the general poverty that pre- 
 vailed, and the painful uncertainty whether 
 the government might not oppress them 
 still further, Dessau became a centre of 
 learning, and produced some eminent Jew- 
 ish scholars, who were later to take a lead- 
 ing part in the struggle to remove unjust 
 12 
 
FATHER AND SON 
 
 laws from the statute-book, and bring about 
 civil and religious liberty. That day of 
 emancipation was still far distant. It is 
 well to understand that poverty and oppres- 
 sion have never wholly crushed the Israel- 
 ite; they have always impelled him to 
 greater effort, and made him love his re- 
 ligion and his literature all the more. In 
 the olden times, when the plague of dark- 
 ness fell on Egypt, in the district where our 
 people lived there was abundant light. So 
 in every period of persecution there was 
 light in darkness, as the Jew turned with 
 greater love to the study of his law. 
 
 Poorest of the poor at that time was 
 Mendel, the father of Moses. His earn- 
 ings were of the scantiest. He copied He- 
 brew books for the printer, he wrote mar- 
 riage contracts and other documents, and 
 even scrolls of the Law, the Pentateuch. 
 Now, to be a Sofer, a scribe, was regarded 
 as a high honor, for it demanded a good 
 13 
 
STEP BY STEP 
 
 character as well as learning and ability. 
 But it was a poorly paid occupation, and 
 Mendel had to devote much of his time to 
 teaching children, in order to keep his 
 family from starvation. He was greatly 
 esteemed in the town, and his beautiful 
 Hebrew handwriting was known far and 
 wide, often bringing him work from other 
 communities, and adding to his limited 
 means. 
 
 The little two-story house still standing 
 in Ascan Street, where Moses was born on 
 September 6, 1729, was a home of poverty, 
 it is true, but the inmates were so bound 
 together in affection that they forgot all 
 hardship and the sanded floor. Mendel 
 and his wife Sarah were loving parents, 
 and Moses grew up in an atmosphere of 
 unaffected piety and love of learning. As 
 a plant grows faster and sturdier in favor- 
 able soil, where the sunshine has free access, 
 so the child developed rapidly. His love of 
 14 
 
FATHER AND SON 
 
 study was remarkable, and from the earliest 
 years he made surprising progress. Noth- 
 ing could keep him from his books. His 
 parents were naturally proud of him, but 
 they feared that he was overtaxing his 
 mind, and took every means of checking his 
 ardor. More than once he had a severe 
 spell of illness, which forced him to stop 
 reading, and yet, the moment he recovered, 
 he would turn to his lessons again. The 
 doctor's caution, to be more careful of his 
 health, was heeded only for a while. He 
 was a lad hard to be kept from his books, 
 particularly because he was not fond of boy- 
 ish sports, for his size and lack of muscle 
 made him dislike all feats of strength. 
 
 Mendel, amid his exacting duties, which 
 left but little time for leisure, did not fail 
 to teach his son each day, and he allowed 
 nothing to interfere with the task. It was, 
 indeed, only in the spirit of the Mosaic 
 law, which bids parents " teach them dili- 
 15 
 
STEP BY STEP 
 
 gently to thy children," that he strove to 
 make the boy familiar with the language 
 and meaning of Holy Writ. Moses on 
 his part responded eagerly to his father's 
 efforts, and, within a year or two, he was 
 master of the Chumesh, or the Five Books 
 of the Law, could write Hebrew letters 
 with ease and accuracy, and was beginning 
 the study of Rashi,* long before his tenth 
 year. Mendel soon felt that the boy re- 
 quired a teacher better equipped than him- 
 self, and would be ready in a year, perhaps 
 earlier, for the rabbinical school, where he 
 might begin his studies in earnest, no 
 doubt for the rabbinate of a great city like 
 Berlin. The best was not too good for 
 Moses. 
 
 " Sarah," said Mendel to his wife, re- 
 entering the room, after giving Moses 
 the book to be taken to the school-house, 
 
 * Rabbi Solomon ben Isaac, a famous commentator of 
 the early Middle Ages (1040-1105). 
 16 
 
FATHER AND SON 
 
 " Sarah, I think, with God's help, we'll 
 make something out of that boy. Don't you 
 think so, mother? " 
 
 " I should have more hope, Mendel, 
 dear, if he were a little stronger. Why, 
 last night he coughed for a long time, and 
 look how his shoulders are curving. He 
 will become a humpback, and what then? " 
 And the tears sprang to her eyes. 
 
 " Don't worry, my dear wife. Don't 
 worry. Moses will never have a humpback 
 brain. He told me so a few minutes ago." 
 And both smiled at their son's clever re- 
 mark. 
 
 11 If we only were richer, for his sake," 
 said Sarah. 
 
 " Never mind, my dearest, never mind. 
 Don't you remember that old story about 
 Mazzel and Berochoh? One must not ex- 
 pect to have both these fairies, although 
 sometimes they go close together. If the 
 dear God has not seen fit to send us Maz- 
 z 17 
 
STEP BY STEP 
 
 zel,* He has surely given us Berochoh f in 
 our boy Moses. Is it not so, Sarah? So 
 don't let us grieve because we are not so 
 rich as the Duke. With all his wealth, he 
 has no treasure like our Moses." 
 
 * Wealth, or good fortune ; the word literally denotes 
 a constellation. 
 t Blessing. 
 
 18 
 
II 
 
 BY THE STREAM 
 
 The Beth Hammidrash, or school of 
 learning, which had been founded decades 
 before by the Wulff family, early and 
 prominent settlers in Dessau, was a mod- 
 est building, which had always aroused the 
 interest of Moses. He knew he was to 
 study there one day to become a leader in 
 Israel, like so many others that had entered 
 its doors. Within its walls he would be 
 able to gratify his thirst for knowledge and 
 learn all about his religion, its history, its 
 famous men and books. He had often 
 peeped through the narrow windows, in 
 boyish fashion, and caught a glimpse of the 
 low, whitewashed walls, the long benches, 
 the plain desks on which the Talmud folios 
 used to rest, with the students in busy de- 
 bate, as their voices, half shouting, half 
 crooning, were borne to his curious ears. 
 19 
 
STEP BY STEP 
 
 Yes, he, too, would join the classes at no 
 distant time. He, too, would be one of the 
 eager pupils, with his Talmud wide open 
 before him, and take part in the exciting 
 discussions. Perhaps in a month — perhaps 
 in a year, if he were found equal to the 
 work, and had sufficient preparation! So 
 with the ease and confidence of an old 
 pupil, he stood at the heavy oaken door, 
 and in response to the cry " Come in! " 
 faced Rabbi Hirsch, the head teacher. 
 
 " My father asked me to bring you this 
 book, Rabbi." 
 
 " Ah, you are the son of Mendel? How 
 old are you? " 
 
 " Just ten, Rabbi." 
 
 " And have you studied Torah? " 
 
 " Since I was five my father taught me 
 Chumesh, Dikduk,* and Mishnah,f and I 
 
 * Grammar. 
 
 f Work compiled by Rabbi Judah the Holy, about 220 
 of the common era. 
 
 20 
 
BY THE STREAM 
 
 can write a beautiful Hebrew letter, too," 
 and the boy's usually pale face flushed with 
 natural pride. 
 
 11 Come, my lad," said the rabbi, very 
 much interested, " I have a little leisure. 
 Read a few verses from the week's section 
 of the Law, with Rashi. Here is the 
 Chumesh." 
 
 Moses took the book unconcernedly, 
 opened it at the proper place — it was the 
 section Balak — and began to read and 
 translate freely. Then, turning to the com- 
 mentary of Rashi, he went on as fluently 
 with his clear and simple explanation. He 
 would have gone further, had not the rabbi 
 checked him. 
 
 " Enough, enough ! I am more than 
 satisfied. You can tell your father to bring 
 you to me. You have been well prepared, 
 and are able to enter the higher class." And 
 the rabbi beckoned to Moses to leave. 
 
 " Rabbi," said the boy, " I wish you 
 21 
 
STEP BY STEP 
 
 would first let me explain something in the 
 Sidra * to you." 
 
 " Well, go on, Moses," he replied, much 
 amused at the lad's eagerness to display his 
 knowledge, 
 
 " It says, ' There shall be no enchant- 
 ments in Israel.' An enchantment " — and 
 the boy let his voice rise and fall as he had 
 heard the students do in the school — " an 
 enchantment is to deceive, like the man who 
 came to Dessau last month, and made the 
 canary bird pretend to tell my fortune. 
 But Israel has enchantments, although it 
 says there shall be no enchantments in Is- 
 rael, and these are our Shabbos, our Torah, 
 our Talmud, these are proper enchant- 
 ments, for they preserve Israel from dan- 
 ger and death. And Israel — " 
 
 11 Enough, enough, thou little Maggid.f 
 Thou wilt be a light in the Captivity, a 
 
 * The weekly section of the Torah. 
 t Preacher. 
 
 22 
 
BY THE STREAM 
 
 prince in Israel ! Enough ! See how beau- 
 tiful the afternoon! Run out and play in 
 the fresh air." 
 
 " That is just what my father told me/' 
 and Moses smiled. 
 
 11 Go now, and don't delay until it is too 
 late," and the rabbi opened the door for 
 him. Soon the boy was running along the 
 road, until he came to the row of willow 
 trees that almost hid the clear, flowing 
 stream, where the boys delighted to fish. 
 It was a picturesque spot, and cool on the 
 hottest day of summer. 
 
 With his mind full of the rabbi's utter- 
 ances, and in fancy anticipating the pleas- 
 ure of being one of his regular pupils, 
 Moses did not notice the group of boys that 
 were gathering in front of the road, and 
 apparently blocking his advance, until he 
 was made suddenly aware of their presence. 
 
 " Jew-boy, Jew-boy!" cried one of the 
 lads, coming closer to him, as if desirous of 
 23 
 
STEP BY STEP 
 
 having a quarrel. He knew the fellow to 
 be one of the worst boys in town, although 
 he had never played with him. It was 
 Fritz, and standing near were Wilhelm, 
 Luther, and Otto, all tall and strong, and 
 not the quietest of their kind. But then 
 Moses noticed Max and August approach- 
 ing, who were gentler and better-behaved. 
 He gathered courage at their appearance. 
 He knew they would not allow any unfair 
 encounter. 
 
 " Jew-boy, Jew-boy ! Don't you want 
 to fight? '' and Fritz advanced threaten- 
 ingly. 
 
 " Now, Fritz," Moses rejoined, clench- 
 ing his fist, " I fancy I should have a poor 
 show in a fight with you. Don't you think 
 so?" 
 
 Fritz and his comrades could not help 
 laughing at the boy with his clenched fist. 
 He looked so comical in his attitude. 
 
 " Let him alone, Fritz. Let him alone," 
 24 
 
BY THE STREAM 
 
 Max exclaimed, moving towards Moses as 
 if to protect him. 
 
 11 One moment, Max," and Moses 
 stepped forward, and, looking Fritz full in 
 the face, said: 
 
 " Don't call me coward, because you 
 think I am afraid to fight. I am ready to 
 fight. The only thing I am afraid of is that 
 you might break my wrist, and how could I 
 help my father then to earn a living? " 
 
 11 You are a good fellow, Moses," Fritz 
 replied, but not before Max and August 
 had whispered certain words to him, which 
 made him change his bearing. " Do you 
 wish to fish with us? Here, take a line." 
 
 All his companions laughed, in spite of 
 themselves, at the change in his tone and 
 attitude, but they said nothing. 
 
 " Come, boys," and Moses dropped 
 down on the bank overlooking the stream, 
 11 come, I'll tell you something, and you can 
 fish afterwards." 
 
 25 
 
STEP BY STEP 
 
 The boys were soon ranged around him 
 on the ground, and waited, full of curiosity, 
 for him to begin. They did not wait very 
 long. 
 
 " Fritz, you just now called me a Jew- 
 boy." 
 
 " O Moses, I didn't mean anything. It 
 was only a joke," and Fritz looked very un- 
 comfortable, particularly as Max and Au- 
 gust were fastening their gaze upon him in 
 a way he did not relish. 
 
 " Joke or no joke, Fritz, it didn't hurt. 
 I am proud of being what you call a Jew- 
 boy. Jew-boys make good men, and help 
 the world to become better, as I wish to do, 
 if I live to be a man." 
 
 Max clasped his hand, and moved still 
 nearer. v 
 
 " But you Jews killed our Savior," said 
 Wilhelm. He had been confirmed a week 
 before, and apparently that was the chief 
 fact he had learned on the occasion. 
 26 
 
BY THE STREAM 
 
 " You are wrong, Mr. Wilhelm," — he 
 was the oldest, and hence Moses gave him a 
 man's title, — " you are wrong. The Ro- 
 mans killed him. They were the rulers 
 then. The Jews had no power. Besides, 
 to stone to death, not to crucify, was the 
 Jewish method of killing, although very, 
 very rarely practised. At any rate, a Ro- 
 man was governor, and the Romans, not the 
 Jews, should be blamed." 
 
 " Didn't the Jews ask the Romans to 
 put him to death? " Fritz inquired. 
 
 11 I'll answer you, Fritz, by asking you a 
 question, which you no doubt will be able to 
 answer. Where would your religion be to- 
 day, if your Savior had not been killed, as 
 you believe? " 
 
 The boys were silent. 
 
 11 Another point, Mr. Wilhelm. If you 
 think the Jews killed him, why, you ought 
 to thank, not curse, us for having made your 
 religion possible." 
 
 27 
 
STEP BY STEP 
 
 Again they were silent. Moses was put- 
 ting things in an entirely new light. 
 
 " Now, boys," he continued, " when I 
 am a man, I shall try to study all religions, 
 and shall work to make people respect each 
 other's beliefs. My father has often re- 
 peated to me the words in the Hebrew 
 Bible, ' Have we not all one Father? Has 
 not one God created us? ' " 
 
 " That is in spirit just like the words in 
 our Testament," said Max, after a brief 
 pause, — " i In my Father's house are many 
 mansions.' " 
 
 So the lads talked together on earnest 
 matters. The words of Moses had taken 
 deep root, and would not so soon be for- 
 gotten. Then, suddenly, the sun began to 
 sink, and the air grew cooler. 
 
 " Boys, it is getting late. We have been 
 talking so much that I really forgot the 
 time. It must be almost night. I am 
 needed at home." 
 
 28 
 
BY THE STREAM 
 
 He sprang to his feet, and the rest fol- 
 lowed his example. 
 
 " Moses, I'll walk a while with you," 
 said Max, throwing his arm around the 
 Jew-boy's shoulder, and when they parted, 
 — they were not silent on the way, — Max 
 had promised to come to supper some Fri- 
 day night. 
 
 Moses was just in time for the evening 
 service, and looked so well after the after- 
 noon walk that Mendel rejoiced in his 
 heart. 
 
 29 
 
Ill 
 
 A FRIDAY NIGHT 
 
 It was not many weeks before that Fri- 
 day night came which had been looked for- 
 ward to with some impatience. On the re- 
 turn of Moses and his father from the syna- 
 gogue, they found Max seated by the win- 
 dow anxiously awaiting their appearance. 
 They were not alone. They were accom- 
 panied by a tall stranger, a rabbi from Con- 
 stantinople, who was without friends and 
 funds, and had been invited by Mendel to 
 share the evening meal. It was always the 
 custom in those days, and it is a good old 
 fashion that has by no means died out, to 
 ask home, for the Sabbath repast, any poor 
 stranger met at the synagogue service. This 
 spirit of hospitality is part of the treasures 
 of our religion. 
 
 The rabbi was a very handsome man, 
 20 
 
A FRIDAY NIGHT 
 
 with keen, dark eyes and flowing, black 
 beard. He spoke the purest Hebrew in a 
 voice that was soft and musical. His an- 
 cestors had fled from Spain, first to Portu- 
 gal and then to the Orient, on the final ex- 
 pulsion of the Jews in 1492. A learned 
 scholar, he had lived a rather roving life, 
 preferring to travel whenever possible. He 
 was a diamond polisher by trade, and was 
 now wandering through Germany on his 
 way to Holland, where he hoped to get a 
 position that would enable him to save 
 enough money to provide for further jour- 
 neys, perhaps to America. He had heard 
 that there were large Jewish congregations 
 in the chief cities beyond the sea. Mean- 
 while he had much to contend with, and he 
 had taken temporary shelter in Dessau, 
 which was widely known for its friendly 
 character. 
 
 After greeting each other warmly, Max 
 and Moses were soon called to supper. It 
 31 
 
STEP BY STEP 
 
 was a simple repast, wholly different from 
 what Max was accustomed to in his home. 
 Yet it was none the less attractive ; the table 
 looked at its best, and the faces of all were 
 lighted up by joy and kindliness. First came 
 the blessing of the wine and the two small 
 loaves of bread. The cup was passed 
 around, and the bit of bread was eaten. 
 
 " We call that ceremony, that benedic- 
 tion over the wine, Kiddush, or Sanctifica- 
 tion, a rather long word, but you under- 
 stand it," said Mendel, turning to Max. 
 " We associate our Sabbath, which lasts 
 from sunset to sunset, with the happiest 
 feelings, for it is a joyous festival, our Sab- 
 bath bride, as our poets call it." 
 
 " And the two loaves of bread? " Max 
 asked, deeply interested. 
 
 " We say the blessing over the two 
 
 loaves, to remind us of the double portion 
 
 of manna which the Israelites found in the 
 
 wilderness on the day before the Sabbath, 
 
 32 
 
A FRIDAY NIGHT 
 
 so as to render it unnecessary to labor on 
 the sacred day. Thus our Sabbath doubles 
 our joy," and Mendel smiled contentedly 
 at his family. 
 
 " Pardon me, sir," Max inquired once 
 more, with the curiosity of youth, " what 
 does that peculiar lamp signify that is hang- 
 ing over the table? " 
 
 " Why, that is the Sabbath lamp, which 
 we light on Sabbath eve, to tell us that the 
 Sabbath brings brightness. Is it not so? " 
 And he spoke a few Hebrew words to the 
 guest from Turkey, who responded at a 
 rapid rate, to the great amazement of Max. 
 Moses, however, could follow very fairly 
 the meaning, and thus expressed the rabbi's 
 thought : 
 
 " Light has many meanings in our holy 
 writings. It may mean life or death, joy or 
 sorrow, religion or knowledge. ' Let there 
 be light,' were the first words spoken by the 
 Almighty to the world before it was created 
 3 33 
 
STEP BY STEP 
 
 as a habitation for life. Light means, too, 
 our Torah, — as our sages say, ' If you keep 
 my light burning in your soul, I will keep 
 your light. 5 " 
 
 " That is a little sermon, Max," said 
 Moses, after a pause. " But I wish I knew 
 why the lamp is seven-branched. At Rabbi 
 Hirsch's house, there are only two sockets 
 for the oil. Why is that, father? " 
 
 " I have heard, my son, that the two 
 lights refer to the two terms, ' remember ' 
 and ' observe,' with which the two versions 
 of the Sabbath commandment — Exodus 
 xx. 8, and Deuteronomy v. 12 — respec- 
 tively begin. As to the sevenfold light, 
 that, I admit, is a mystery, as many say can 
 be seen whenever the number seven occurs 
 in Scripture. When you grow older, you 
 will learn more about the number seven. 
 But I fear that the discussion is wearying 
 your young friend. Is it not so, Max? " 
 
 " Not at all, Herr Mendel. I am very 
 34 
 
A FRIDAY NIGHT 
 
 much interested in your remarks. There is 
 a similar mystery about the number seven 
 in history. How frequently does it occur! 
 There are the seven sleepers, the seven 
 wise men, the seven-hilled city of Rome, 
 and—" 
 
 " The seven wonders of the world," 
 added Moses, glad to show that he knew 
 something about history, although, in fact, 
 his knowledge was very limited. 
 
 So the talk went on from one topic to an- 
 other, and after supper came the customary 
 Benshen, or blessing after meals, which 
 Moses repeated to the great admiration of 
 Max. Such fluency he never expected to 
 attain, although he would have to study 
 Hebrew, which was part of the course for 
 clergymen. 
 
 " Herr Mendel," and Max bent forward 
 eagerly, " excuse my asking so many ques- 
 tions, but at our house we always say a bless- 
 ing before meals. Here you say it also 
 35 
 
STEP BY STEP 
 
 afterwards. Why do you follow such a 
 custom ? " 
 
 " Well, we do not like to rush away from 
 the table without thanking the Almighty for 
 His goodness. A few minutes' devotion 
 makes a pause for reflection and wise reso- 
 lution. And in our prayers we bless God 
 as the Creator of the whole universe, who 
 giveth food to all creatures, animals as well 
 as man, Jew as well as non-Jew." 
 
 " Pardon me again, Herr Mendel, but I 
 hear often about Jewish narrowness, yet 
 here, in your daily prayers, how could the 
 Jew be broader? It is a shame how igno- 
 rant the world is of the real nature of the 
 Jew." 
 
 " It is a long, long story — the persistent 
 misunderstanding of the Jew. Perhaps it 
 is partly his own fault, but only partly so. 
 The world not only does not know what he 
 is, but does not want to know, which is 
 worse, for this means that the prejudice 
 
A FRIDAY NIGHT 
 
 against him will survive for ages. It is, in- 
 deed, a sad state of affairs, but you are too 
 young to worry about it." 
 
 11 Father," said Moses, with such earn- 
 estness that his eyes fairly shone in his ex- 
 citement, " father, if I live to become a 
 man, I'll try to teach the world what a Jew 
 is, and what our religion is. I'll help to 
 lessen the ignorance, if God spares me." 
 
 " God grant your wish, my dear, dear 
 son," his mother exclaimed fervently, rest- 
 ing her hand as if in blessing on his head. 
 
 " I'll tell you, friends," Max said earn- 
 estly, " what I would like to do when I be- 
 come a man. I would like to study all lan- 
 guages and all religions, and show how 
 they are related to each other, like children 
 of one family. That is what I would like 
 to do." * 
 
 *This wish was fulfilled in the career of one of his 
 descendants, the famous Professor Max Mueller, of 
 Oxford University, a native of Dessau. 
 37 
 
STEP BY STEP 
 
 " For one so young, Max," said Mendel, 
 glancing kindly at the lad, " your wish does 
 you great credit. I am not a prophet, but 
 if you and Moses, young as you are, have 
 such ideals, such noble ambitions, perhaps 
 the good Father in Heaven will enable you 
 to realize them in the years to come, and 
 thus hand in hand you both will be a bless- 
 ing to mankind. May God grant it,Amen !" 
 
 Max heard these words with much emo- 
 tion, which he bravely sought to control. 
 His own father could not have spoken with 
 more feeling and affection. 
 
 " Herr Mendel," he inquired, to change 
 the subject, " did Moses tell you about 
 Fritz?" 
 
 " Why, no; what is there to tell? " 
 
 Max then related the incident by the 
 stream, Moses trying in vain from time to 
 time to restrain his words of praise. 
 
 u My son was right, and showed proper 
 judgment. All such prejudice is due to ig- 
 38 
 
A FRIDAY NIGHT 
 
 norance, and I am glad the boys were 
 taught a lesson. Young people should live 
 together without disputing about religious 
 beliefs. I wish they would show as much 
 good sense when they grow up, and avoid 
 all religious quarrels, which, indeed, end 
 only in bitterness and strife." 
 
 " Well, Herr Mendel," said Max, rising 
 after a pause in the conversation, " I am 
 very much obliged to you for your hospi- 
 tality and your kindly talk. I must go home 
 now before it grows late." 
 
 " Good-night, Max. You know you are 
 always welcome. Give my best regards to 
 your dear parents." 
 
 " Good-bye, old fellow," Max ex- 
 claimed, as Moses went with him to the 
 door. " Good-bye ! I have had such a 
 pleasant evening." 
 
 11 Good-bye, Max. I have also had a 
 pleasant evening, and I hope you will come 
 again soon. Good-night ! " 
 39 
 
STEP BY STEP 
 
 " The Muellers are a fine family, 
 Moses," said Mendel, as his son resumed 
 his seat, " and I am glad you and Max are 
 such good friends. It can only benefit you 
 to know so good and clever a lad. Why, he 
 talked as if he were a grown man." 
 
 " Indeed, I hope he will be a good friend 
 when we both are men," Moses replied. 
 
 He did not know thgt he was to live far 
 apart from his Dessau playmate, and yet 
 have close friends that would help him 
 realize his early dreams. 
 
 40 
 
IV 
 A WANDERER 
 
 " Moses," Mendel said one afternoon to 
 his son, a few days after the Friday when 
 the wanderer from Constantinople had 
 been a guest of the household, " I expect 
 Rabbi Palache to-night. So get through 
 early with what you have to do, and you can 
 come down and listen to our chat. He is a 
 remarkable man, and can tell many things 
 new to you. Now, do not forget." 
 
 His son was not likely to forget. He 
 loved to hear conversation of any kind, but 
 as he had never left Dessau, he saw few 
 strangers and knew nothing of strange 
 lands. The prospect of learning something 
 of foreign countries from the wandering 
 rabbi was particularly pleasing. With the 
 utter absence, in those days, of books of 
 travel for boys and girls, it was left for a 
 41 
 
STEP BY STEP 
 
 chance traveller like the poor Turkish 
 rabbi to tell of far-away scenes and experi- 
 ences. 
 
 Moses was just finishing a part of his 
 daily task, making ready for the lesson with 
 his father the next day. It was a stormy 
 evening, and the rain was beating in tor- 
 rents against the little attic windows which 
 sheltered his study and bedroom, and gave 
 its occupant a glimpse of the sky beyond. 
 The boy's first thought was that the rabbi 
 would not venture out in such weather. But 
 then it occurred to him that an experienced 
 traveller would surely not be kept at home 
 by a little rain and wind. He must have 
 met worse storms when he journeyed un- 
 protected from land to land. 
 
 Suddenly he heard the words Shalom 
 Alechem, " Peace be to you," from the floor 
 below. It was his father's greeting to the 
 stranger. The books were quickly thrown 
 aside on a convenient shelf, the lamp put 
 42 
 
 ; 
 
A WANDERER 
 
 out, and Moses, all alert, was soon listen- 
 ing to the conversation between Mendel 
 and his guest It was wholly in Hebrew, 
 and whenever Mendel thought the conver- 
 sation was too difficult, he explained a word 
 or phrase to his son, who was then enabled 
 to follow the chat with ease. 
 
 " You say you are from Constanti- 
 nople ? " It was Mendel who spoke. " Are 
 there many Jews in that city, Rabbi Pa- 
 lache?" 
 
 " Where are they not, the children of our 
 people ? I have lived in many lands, from 
 Spain to India, from Turkey to China, and 
 the isles of the sea. Where did I not find 
 the children of Israel? It is a miracle, this 
 dispersion of Israel, our Galut.* Like the 
 sand of the sea was to be their number, ac- 
 cording to the olden promise to the Patri- 
 arch. And like the sand of the sea they are 
 neither to be counted nor destroyed. The 
 
 * Captivity. 
 
 43 
 
STEP BY STEP 
 
 waves do not harm the sands, but give them 
 the greater power to resist attack." 
 
 " True, true, but you did not answer my 
 question." 
 
 " Yes, I was born in Constantinople, and 
 my ancestors came from sunny Spain. I 
 can say, with Jacob, c Few and evil have 
 been the days of my pilgrimage.' Yet, how 
 wonderful are the ways of Providence ! 
 When Constantinople was captured by the 
 Turkish conqueror, Mahomet II, in 1453, 
 a new Turkish empire arose, which was 
 quick to offer shelter to the Jews. As a re- 
 sult, they settled freely in Constantinople 
 and other cities, and were graciously al- 
 lowed to build synagogues and schools, 
 while their chief rabbi, the learned Moses 
 Kapsali, was held in high favor by the 
 ruler." 
 
 " You surprise me. That was in great 
 contrast to the condition of our brethren in 
 Germany," observed Mendel. 
 44 
 
A WANDERER 
 
 " How so, Rabbi Mendel? Explain 
 yourself," Rabbi Palache inquired. 
 
 " Ceaseless and countless were the perse- 
 cutions in the fifteenth and following cen- 
 turies in the land of the Germans. It is 
 hard to imagine the full extent of the suf- 
 ferings of Israel. Our people were com- 
 pelled to yield up the third of their fortunes 
 in royal taxes and allowed to engage in only 
 a few occupations. They could not sell 
 their property as they liked, nor could they 
 travel at pleasure." 
 
 " It was different in Turkey. In all 
 those years our brethren could dress in silk 
 and gold, and many became very wealthy. 
 They had some famous teachers, and their 
 lot was happier than in Spain under the 
 shadow of the cross. And when the fires of 
 the Inquisition drove our people in terror, 
 either singly or in groups, from Spain and 
 Portugal to the East, thousands settled in 
 Turkey, where a little Jewish world of its 
 45 
 
STEP BY STEP 
 
 own was formed. The Marranos, who had 
 practised their religion in secret, here once 
 more became Jews in faith and observance, 
 and by their piety and learning strove to 
 make amends for their apparent desertion 
 from Judaism on Spanish soil. From Tur- 
 key many went further to the East, to the 
 far Orient, and strengthened our congrega- 
 tions in Persia, Arabia, and India." 
 
 " Tell me, Rabbi Palache," Moses sum- 
 moned up courage to try his conversational 
 Hebrew, " were there any famous men 
 among our people in those days? " 
 
 " Anshe Shem, men of fame, always exist 
 in Israel. There is no era that has not been 
 made glorious by at least one great name. 
 In Turkey the most famous was Don Jo- 
 seph Nasi, Duke of Naxos, who died at 
 Constantinople in 1579. He had fled to 
 Portugal from Spain, to escape persecution ; 
 then he went to Antwerp, and founded a 
 banking firm. Despite their prominence, 
 46 
 
A WANDERER 
 
 the partners resolved to go to Turkey, 
 where they could be Jews openly and with- 
 out fear. They stopped first at Venice, 
 where Joseph's niece was imprisoned, and 
 her property confiscated. Owing to her 
 uncle's efforts, however, which went as far 
 as an appeal to Turkey, she and her prop- 
 erty were released, and in 1553 Joseph fol- 
 lowed her to Constantinople. He became a 
 favorite of Sultan Sulaiman and a member 
 of his life-guard. He was made Duke of 
 Naxos and other Greek islands by Selim II. 
 By his wise counsel he aided Turkey in war 
 and peace, and his influence was sought by 
 Spain, Venice, Austria, France, and the 
 Netherlands. On the death of Selim, 
 in 1574, he lost much of his political 
 power." 
 
 11 Moses," Mendel now interrupted, 
 11 let mc tell you one interesting fact about 
 Don Joseph Nasi. He wished to establish 
 a Jewish state." 
 
 47 
 
STEP BY STEP 
 
 "A Jewish state? Was not Turkey 
 good enough? " 
 
 " He had received from Sulaiman and 
 Selim not only the ruins of the once famous 
 city of Tiberias in Palestine, but also seven 
 villages in its vicinity, as a site for a state to 
 be occupied only by Jews. An agent was 
 sent to superintend its rebuilding, and the 
 pasha of Egypt was ordered by Turkey to 
 assist Don Joseph. To hasten the work, 
 Arab settlers in the neighborhood were 
 compelled to render forced labor. Within 
 a year the new and beautiful houses and 
 streets were ready. It was Joseph's pur- 
 pose to render his state a rival of Venice as 
 a manufacturing centre. Mulberry trees 
 were planted for raising silk-worms, and 
 looms were introduced for the manufacture 
 of silk. He went so far as to import wool 
 from Spain, to make fine cloth." 
 
 "And was the state really founded?" 
 Moses asked. 
 
 48 
 
 
c 
 
 
 z 
 
 K 
 
 C 
 
A WANDERER 
 
 " Despite appeals to the persecuted Jews, 
 especially those in Rome, to emigrate to 
 Tiberias, he seems to have been diverted 
 from his project by other plans. He wished 
 to become king of Cyprus, 'to develop it, 
 perhaps, into a Jewish state. But that, too, 
 proved an idle dream, like the projects of 
 the false Messiahs who from age to age 
 have arisen in Israel, and have only deluded 
 our people. But, Rabbi Palache, I fear I 
 am talking too much. Let us hear more 
 about yourself." 
 
 11 Well, dear Rabbi Mendel, light of Is- 
 rael in the Captivity, my life has been full 
 of dreams since the hour I started to find 
 the river Sambation, which flows for six 
 days and rests on the Sabbath, and on the 
 banks of which dwell the lost Ten Tribes, 
 patiently awaiting the Messiah's Shofar 
 blast. I have not found the secret stream, 
 but the current of my life shows no cessa- 
 tion, and my wanderings continue ever. I 
 4 49 
 
STEP BY STEP 
 
 am thus a true son of Israel, to whom the 
 statutes of the Lord are like songs in the 
 lands of his pilgrimage, for they fill him 
 with rapture; and even if his pillow is a 
 hard stone by the wayside, his dreams are 
 of heaven and angels," And the rabbi 
 sighed softly. 
 
 " Do tell us, Rabbi Palache, about some 
 of the places you have seen." 
 
 11 If all the trees in the world furnished 
 me with paper, and all the rivers with ink, 
 even then it would be impossible to relate 
 the wondrous story. The words of my 
 days are the words of my seas, for my wan- 
 derings have carried me from stream to 
 stream. I was in Spain, and sang the 
 Psalms in the ruins of once illustrious cities, 
 and I wept as I gazed at the debris of once 
 beautiful synagogues. I crossed then to 
 France, where can be found some pious con- 
 gregations, who love the law, and support 
 the widow and the orphan. Then to Italy, 
 50 
 
 
A WANDERER 
 
 where I saw Rome, but I would not pass be- 
 neath the Arch of Titus, and I stood for 
 hours in the shadow of the Colosseum, built 
 partly by Jewish slaves. Then to Sicily and 
 Greece, despoiled of all their large congre- 
 gations. Next I visited the Holy Land, and 
 witnessed how the Samaritans offer burnt 
 offerings on Mount Gerizim — oblations of 
 deceit, as Isaiah calls them. What 
 thoughts were awakened by sunsets in 
 Zion ! It seems a place of perpetual sunset." 
 
 " The sunrise is yet to be," Mendel in- 
 terrupted devoutly. 
 
 " I touched the Western Wall of Solo- 
 mon's Temple, saw the stables he had 
 erected, and the sepulchres of the house of 
 David. Syria and Babylonia, Persia and 
 Arabia were in my pilgrimage, and curious 
 were the old synagogues, and tombs close 
 beside them, which came in my path. And 
 in China I was told of an old Jewish colony 
 with a very ancient synagogue in one of the 
 51 
 
STEP BY STEP 
 
 provinces, which I could not visit, with yel- 
 low Jews, while in India I met black Jews, 
 tall and handsome men, who were laborers, 
 but kept the holy days very strictly. But the 
 saddest sight of all — " 
 
 "Well, what was the saddest sight?" 
 Moses asked eagerly. 
 
 " It was in Jerusalem. I was walking 
 along the uneven streets that are like the 
 hills that skip in the Psalm, when I was sud- 
 denly startled by a fierce cry, and was pushed 
 aside from a narrow path that led upward 
 over irregular stones. ' Away, away, thou 
 cursed Jew ! ' my adversary cried, and in 
 fear of my life I fled, and stopped not until 
 I reached the old synagogue. I, a Jew, not 
 to be allowed to tread the Holy City of my 
 fathers ! Afterwards I learned the secret. 
 I had entered what the Jewish people call in 
 your language the trefa Gasse — the street 
 through which the Christian says his God 
 walked on the way to the cross. They kill 
 52 
 
A WANDERER 
 
 any Jew found in that pathway, so narrow 
 that you can touch the houses on both sides 
 as you pass. Ah ! — so ran my thoughts — 
 they would make the whole world a trefa 
 Gasse for Israel, but the Almighty, blessed 
 be He, who formed a path through the 
 waters of the Red Sea, will not forget or 
 forsake His people. Yes, that was the sad- 
 dest sight in all my wanderings. I cannot 
 forget it and the grief it caused. And now 
 I must return to my lodgings." 
 
 " Go in peace," said Mendel, as he saw 
 the rabbi to the door. 
 
 53 
 
V 
 
 BETWEEN MINCHAH AND 
 
 MAARIV 
 
 Throughout the week Mendel had little 
 time to devote to his son, apart from his 
 daily lessons, which began before sunrise. 
 There was so much to be done — copying 
 Hebrew books, writing scrolls of the Law, 
 teaching children — that there was rarely 
 an opportunity, save at meals, of conversing 
 with Moses and watching his mental 
 growth. 
 
 One day of the week, however, was an 
 exception. It was the Sabbath, and the 
 afternoon of the day, between Minchah 
 and Maariv — the quiet time between the 
 afternoon and the evening prayers — be- 
 came very precious to Moses. Then he 
 would lie at his father's feet, or sit on a low 
 bench close beside his father's chair, and 
 54 
 
BETWEEN MINCHAH AND MAARIV 
 
 listen — O with what eagerness ! — to won- 
 drous stories from the olden rabbis who 
 lived and labored, and worked and suffered, 
 in the centuries after the Temple fell, and 
 Jerusalem became a Roman city. Until the 
 day dawned when he could read these tales 
 for himself, he knew no greater pleasure 
 than to hear them from his father's lips in 
 the hush of the Sabbath afternoon, when 
 even the sun was going to rest, and no sound 
 disturbed the stillness of the hour. 
 
 Moses was child enough to like all kinds 
 of stories from rabbinical literature ; yet he 
 was most fond of tales in which boys were 
 the heroes, not such boys as he met under 
 the willows or in the roadways of Dessau, 
 but boys that were to become great teachers 
 and scholars. Such stories, which have been 
 handed down from age to age, Mendel 
 could not repeat too often. In those days 
 there were no story books or magazines 
 for boys and girls, no free libraries, no 
 55 
 
STEP BY STEP 
 
 popular reading in cheap form. Hence 
 the passionate fondness of Moses for the 
 Sabbath afternoon hour and his father's 
 tales. 
 
 " Father," said he one Sabbath, as he 
 seated himself this time on his father's knee, 
 " I think to-day I would like to hear about 
 ' The Inheritance.' " 
 
 " Why, Moses, I told you that last 
 week." 
 
 " Never mind. Let me hear it again,' 
 father." And so Mendel began. 
 
 THE INHERITANCE 
 
 He was growing old and feeble. The 
 end could not be long deferred. So, calling 
 his only son, a lad of hardly fourteen, he 
 said, " My son, I shall not live many days, 
 I fear. You have always been a loving 
 child, and I have tried to be a loving father. 
 You know that I am poor and can leave you 
 no wealth out of my savings. But I have 
 56 
 
BETWEEN MINCHAH AND MAARIV 
 
 not wholly neglected you, as you will shortly 
 see." 
 
 At his words the boy wept aloud, and 
 assured his father that he would rather have 
 him living, despite their poverty, than ac- 
 quire wealth by his death. 
 
 " Nay, my son," the father rejoined, 
 11 obey my instructions. After my death go 
 into the next room, and what you find in a 
 box there, keep for yourself as your pre- 
 cious inheritance." 
 
 The man ceased, exhausted, and in a 
 few days he died. The son would not enter 
 the room for some days, to secure the in- 
 heritance ; his grief was so great. Finally he 
 controlled his feelings, and, going within, 
 he discovered a good-sized box on the floor. 
 Opening it, he saw another box within, and 
 within that still another. At last, after re- 
 moving a number of boxes, which grew 
 smaller and smaller successively, he came 
 to the last one, which he opened with 
 57 
 
STEP BY STEP 
 
 great care. Within was neither gold 
 nor silver, only the simple words, " Be 
 kind." And with such care did the boy 
 strive to keep those words in view from 
 day to day that he won the love of all that 
 knew him. 
 
 " And now, father," Moses said when 
 the story was ended, " let me hear about 
 Hillel. He was as poor as we are, was he 
 not? " And Mendel was only too glad to 
 tell the story. 
 
 THE LOVE OF LEARNING 
 
 What was the boy to do ? He wished to 
 become a student and enter the academy, 
 but his poverty stood in the way, and he had 
 no friends. But his desire for knowledge 
 had to be satisfied. Some means must be 
 found. He went to work one day, and, re- 
 serving half of what he earned for his food, 
 he went to the doorkeeper of the academy, 
 58 
 
BETWEEN MINCHAH AND MAARIV 
 
 and offered him the few pennies remaining 
 for the privilege of entering the building 
 and hearing the wisdom of the sages. And 
 how glad he was when day after day he 
 could be an eager listener in the house of 
 learning. 
 
 One afternoon he was unable to secure 
 any work, and the doorkeeper refused to 
 admit him without the customary fee. An- 
 other might have lost courage. He was 
 undismayed. He glanced upward, noted 
 the high window, and, climbing on the roof 
 by means of a friendly porch, he found he 
 could both hear and see the sages at their 
 discussions in the room below. What hap- 
 piness was his ! 
 
 It was bitterly cold as night fell. All 
 through the late afternoon and evening the 
 snow had gradually covered the houses and 
 roads. The morning dawned, the snow 
 ceased. Soon the sages were again as- 
 sembled, and some complained that the 
 59 
 
STEP BY STEP 
 
 room seemed dark for so bright and clear a 
 day. Glancing upward at the window 
 above, a kind of sky-light, they saw to their 
 surprise the outline of a human form 
 stretched against the glass. They rushed 
 out of the hall, some of them climbed to the 
 roof, and, hastily clearing away a mass of 
 snow, discovered the poor lad half frozen 
 to death. 
 
 It did not take long to carry him down 
 into the house, place him on a warm couch, 
 and restore him to life and strength. He 
 did not need to tell them why he had 
 climbed the roof that cold, snowy after- 
 noon. The sages made every provision for 
 his education and support, and in later years 
 he became the wise, the gentle Hillel, the 
 famous teacher of his people. 
 
 " The famous teacher of his people," 
 Moses repeated softly, as his father ended. 
 " I am sure he forgot all about his troubles 
 
 60 
 
BETWEEN MINCHAH AND MAARIV 
 
 when he became a great man. Now, 
 father,—" 
 
 " It is getting late, my son. It is almost 
 time for prayers." 
 
 " Only one story more, please. About 
 the ship and the goods that were thrown 
 overboard ! Don't you remember ? " 
 
 " O you mean ' Goods that never 
 Perish.' " 
 
 " Yes, yes, that's the one." 
 
 And Mendel told the tale. 
 
 GOODS THAT NEVER PERISH 
 
 A ship was on the Mediterranean. It 
 was nearing port, and all the passengers felt 
 in good spirits. 
 
 In a corner of the ship a few men began 
 to ask each other's business. One said he 
 was a goldsmith, and had a box of precious 
 gems in the hold of the vessel. Another 
 dealt in rich silks, cases filled with his goods 
 being a few feet away. A third had a cargo 
 61 
 
STEP BY STEP 
 
 of fragrant spices from the islands of the 
 East. A fourth had costly raiment, a fifth 
 the finest wool, and so on. 
 
 They began to debate as to the relative 
 value of their wares, each claiming his own 
 to be the most precious, and the dispute 
 grew more and more exciting. Finally, a 
 young man, who had taken no part in their 
 conversation, stepped forward and said, 
 " My friends, you all may have valuable 
 goods, but mine are the most precious, for 
 they are imperishable." 
 
 They all laughed at his words, and 
 several exclaimed, " Fool, tell us what you 
 are selling. What are your wares? " 
 
 " Don't ask," he replied with a smile, 
 " for you cannot weigh them, nor touch 
 them, nor measure them, nor see them." 
 
 " He is surely a fool," they thought, and 
 spoke to him no more. 
 
 Night approached. The skies changed. 
 A storm arose, so fierce that the captain at 
 62 
 
BETWEEN MINCHAH AND MAARIV 
 
 last ordered the ship to be cleared. It was 
 the only chance for the safety of the human 
 beings. The cargo was quickly thrown 
 overboard, crew and passengers joining in 
 the task. What were the feelings of the 
 merchants as, one by one, their precious 
 goods were cast into the sea ? Gold, spices, 
 silk, raiment, and wool, all were lost. The 
 storm continued all night, delaying the 
 ship's progress, and finally driving it on 
 shore. The passengers were happily saved, 
 and, after an hour's rest, walked to a neigh- 
 boring city, where all were hospitably re- 
 ceived. 
 
 The next day the merchants were stroll- 
 ing through the place, and they came to a 
 large building into which people were 
 thronging. Full of curiosity, they entered, 
 too. A man was preaching. They listened. 
 The voice struck them as familiar. They 
 could not tell his name, nor where they had 
 seen him, but when he had ended, and was 
 
STEP BY STEP 
 
 leaving the building, they recognized him. 
 It was the young man who had said his 
 goods were the most valuable. 
 
 " Was I not right? " he asked them, as 
 he drew nearer. " Were not my wares the 
 most precious ? Gold and silver perish, but 
 the knowledge of the law is imperishable. 
 It cannot be taken away." 
 
 The twilight was deepening. Presently 
 a tiny star would be seen in the evening sky. 
 Hand in hand Mendel and Moses were 
 soon walking in the narrow lane on their 
 way to the synagogue. 
 
 64 
 
VI 
 
 AT THE RABBINICAL SCHOOL 
 
 It was not many weeks after Max's visit, 
 when Mendel deemed it advisable to have 
 Moses enter the rabbinical school and gain 
 that further knowledge of Jewish law and 
 learning which he felt keenly his own in- 
 ability to impart. He thought it unjust to 
 his son to keep him longer at home, al- 
 though he was still young and far from 
 robust. 
 
 It was a bitterly cold morning long be- 
 fore sunrise when Moses, wrapped in an 
 old, shabby cloak, which almost hid his face, 
 ran by his father's side over the cobble 
 stones in the roadway to the school-house 
 where Rabbi Hirsch taught the higher 
 branches of rabbinical lore. Mendel 
 walked so rapidly that the boy had to run to 
 keep pace with him. The exercise was 
 5 65 
 
STEP BY STEP 
 
 healthful, and when he was presented to the 
 rabbi, his cheeks were glowing. 
 
 " I put him in your charge, Rabbi 
 Hirsch. You will find him a studious and 
 obedient pupil." 
 
 " I am perfectly sure of that," was the 
 rabbi's rejoinder, as he bade the lad remove 
 his cloak and take a seat with the students 
 in another room, where the lower division 
 had their lessons. He kissed his father, 
 and was soon hard at work with book in 
 hand. It was a chapter from the Torah, 
 with Rashi * and Ramban,f the two fa- 
 mous commentators or interpreters of Holy 
 Writ. 
 
 The morning hours fairly flew. He was 
 too busy to notice the time. When the bell 
 struck to announce recess, no one was more 
 surprised than Moses. Now he could go to 
 
 * Rabbi Solomon ben Isaac of Troyes, France (1040- 
 1105). 
 
 t Rabbi Moses ben Nachman, of Gerona, Spain (1194- 
 about 1270). 
 
AT THE RABBINICAL SCHOOL 
 
 his midday dinner. He put aside his books 
 unwillingly, and hastened home. 
 
 " Why, Moses," his mother exclaimed, 
 when he began to eat hurriedly, " this will 
 never do. You have had nothing since be- 
 fore sunrise. Now you must eat a proper 
 meal. Take your time, my son." 
 
 " But, mother," he pleaded, " there are 
 still some sentences in Ramban that must be 
 read. I find him much harder than Rashi. 
 I must hurry back, indeed, I must," and 
 scarcely taking time for the blessing after 
 meals, he ran down the road to school. 
 
 The afternoon found him fully occupied. 
 He interested the rabbi by the surprising 
 accuracy of his translation and his intense 
 desire to learn more about the lives and ex- 
 periences of the sages, whose explanations 
 of the law have become part of Israel's 
 classics. So the rabbi told him about Rashi 
 and Ramban, the ages in which they lived, 
 and the general character of their works. 
 67 
 
STEP BY STEP 
 
 " I like Rashi better, because he is so 
 simple and clear. Yet the other may be 
 more useful to me, because he is harder to 
 understand, and he makes me think." 
 
 The rabbi smiled. 
 
 " My son, I find that your good father 
 has prepared you so well that you can be- 
 gin the Talmud in the lower class. That 
 will make you think even more." 
 
 The boy was so exultant that the hours 
 were hard to bear until the day's session 
 closed, and he could rush home with the 
 wonderful news. He was to study Tal- 
 mud ! Another step forward. He recalled 
 his father's words spoken in his early child- 
 hood: " Moses, the great thing is to go 
 step by step, as the prophet Isaiah tells us, 
 1 Line upon line, precept upon precept, 
 here a little and there a little.' Then the 
 house is built strongly and well, then knowl- 
 edge is acquired upon firm foundations. 
 Let ' step by step ' be your motto. The 
 
AT THE RABBINICAL SCHOOL 
 
 words from Isaiah shall be your Posuk, my 
 son." 
 
 It was then the pious custom in Israel for 
 a father to give a son a special Posuk, or 
 verse from the Old Testament, or prayer- 
 book, to be a kind of text or guide through 
 life. Hence the pride and joy of Moses at 
 the thought of his advancing " step by 
 step, 51 in the spirit of Isaiah's words. No 
 one could be happier. 
 
 " Father," he asked that evening after 
 supper, " what is the Talmud? " 
 
 " There are two laws in Israel. One is 
 the law of Holy Writ, and the other the 
 law of the rabbis, which, beginning after 
 the return from the Captivity, under Ezra 
 the Scribe, is the explanation and strength- 
 ening of the law of Holy Writ. The Tal- 
 mud, meaning ( study,' really consists of 
 two parts: first, Mishnah, c learning,' 
 which contains our traditional rules and 
 principles, arranged by Rabbi Judah the 
 69 
 
STEP BY STEP 
 
 Prince, about the year 200 of our present 
 era ; and, secondly, Gemara, i supplement,' 
 giving explanations of the Mishnah, which 
 was duly compiled by Rabbi Ashi in Baby- 
 lonia about three hundred years later. Both 
 together comprise the Talmud. 
 
 11 But I thought it said in the Torah, 
 4 Thou shalt not add to or take away '? " 
 asked Moses. " Surely the Talmud is an 
 addition to the Law, is it not? " 
 
 " Now, my son, you are still too young to 
 understand all this. Be assured, however, 
 of one fact. Our sages of blessed memory 
 saw no other way of preserving the Law 
 than by raising such defences around it — 
 they called them ' hedges ' — and they have 
 effectively kept Israel alive to this day. In 
 their love of the Law they submitted to 
 every burden and self-denial. They never 
 looked upon the Talmud as something op- 
 posed to the Law, but as its continuation 
 and necessary accompaniment, like body 
 70 
 
AT THE RABBINICAL SCHOOL 
 
 and soul. Do you understand? I have 
 tried to make it clear." 
 
 " Not quite, father, but I fancy I'll un- 
 derstand the point more clearly when I 
 grow older." 
 
 So the days passed. His progress was 
 rapid and sure. He allowed no difficulty to 
 escape him. Every subject had to be made 
 clear. At first he was very much alarmed, 
 because the Talmud seemed to him like a 
 puzzle. Everything was mysterious and 
 strange — language, style, meaning, the 
 connection, the allusions ; but step by step he 
 gained the mastery. It did not take many 
 months before he was able to understand 
 the simpler portions, without any help from 
 his teacher. Here Rashi was his only 
 guide, who strove to make the Talmud as 
 clear as he made the Torah. 
 
 Imagine his delight and surprise when 
 he came across the outline of some charm- 
 ing story which his father had been telling 
 71 
 
STEP BY STEP 
 
 him from his early childhood. Now it was 
 about Honi, who never mingled with his 
 neighbors, and fell into a long, long sleep of 
 seventy years, to find on his awakening that 
 he was forgotten, so that he cried at last, 
 11 Give me friends or death ! " Now it was 
 about King Solomon and his wonderful 
 seal-ring, the loss of which caused him so 
 many painful adventures, so much wander- 
 ing in beggar's guise from land to land, 
 until the ring was found, and his kingdom 
 was restored. Now it was of Akiba, a 
 simple, ignorant laborer, whose wife had 
 faith in his powers, and made him devote 
 years to study, until he became a leader in 
 Israel, to die, with the Shemang on his lips, 
 at the rude hands of the Roman soldiery. 
 These tales mingled with others that had 
 been told to him, until he began to wonder 
 more and more at the brilliant thoughts and 
 fancies of those early rabbis, who step by 
 step had laid the foundations of the temple 
 72 
 
AT THE RABBINICAL SCHOOL 
 
 of the Talmud, in the study of which Israel 
 felt ever young and strong, and bade de- 
 fiance to every foe — nay, has outlived all 
 the ages of persecution, according to the 
 olden promise, " No weapon forged against 
 thee shall prosper." 
 
 One morning on entering the school, the 
 rabbi stated that he was about to leave for 
 another position, and a new teacher was to 
 be appointed, whom all would love. And 
 one day, not long afterwards, the new 
 teacher arrived — David Fraenkel, who was 
 also Dessau's chief rabbi. No choice could 
 have been happier, no teacher more inspir- 
 ing. From the very first lesson he gave 
 Moses, the boy felt that a new era had 
 dawned, and that his progress was to be 
 made still more certain. Nor was the 
 teacher's pleasure less keen at sight of the 
 lad, already beginning to show his de- 
 formed shoulders, who displayed such re- 
 markable genius for study. Thenceforth 
 73 
 
STEP BY STEP 
 
 their paths were long- to run together, and 
 Moses was to owe to this teacher, more than 
 to any one else, the secret of his intellectual 
 growth. 
 
 Mendel was glad that his son was so 
 pleased with the new teacher, who was a 
 man after his own heart. 
 
 " What I like, father, about Rabbi 
 Fraenkel," remarked Moses one night, " is 
 his simplicity. You would never think that 
 he knew so much, if you heard him explain 
 to us boys the most difficult disputes in the 
 Talmud." 
 
 " You will learn, my dear son, as you 
 gain knowledge of the world, that the 
 greater a man, the simpler he is. Of course, 
 I mean a truly great man. Who could have 
 been simpler than Abraham in all the rela- 
 tions of life? A great man need only ap- 
 pear as he is. He need not try to be greater 
 than he is. Modesty, simplicity, courtesy 
 are the marks of greatness after all. You 
 74 
 
AT THE RABBINICAL SCHOOL 
 
 cannot learn this too early, my son, and, as 
 for Rabbi Fraenkel, I believe you will gain 
 as much from his love as from the books 
 you study under his guidance." 
 
 75 
 
VII 
 A TALK WITH RABBI FRAENKEL 
 
 The months passed quickly, and spring 
 came with unexpected swiftness. One day 
 Cavalier Street, Dessau's pride, was cov- 
 ered with snow, but the next morning the 
 swallows twittered in the linden trees. It 
 was spring once more, with cloudless skies. 
 The honeysuckle would not be long delayed. 
 
 The days being now longer and warmer, 
 there was less hardship at the Mendel 
 home. Moses did not need to wear his 
 shabby cloak, and he enjoyed a more or less 
 hearty breakfast before he went to school. 
 The work, however, was just as exacting as 
 ever, for his studies demanded all his time. 
 That they grew steadily more and more dif- 
 ficult was to be expected, but his clear mind 
 was never discouraged by fresh obstacles. 
 Step by step the path became easier, and, 
 76 
 
A TALK WITH RABBI FRAENKEL 
 
 despite his youth, he was regarded as one of 
 the brightest and most promising pupils. 
 
 Rabbi Fraenkel was quick to recognize 
 the boy's genius, and he took pleasure in 
 arousing still further his love of learning. 
 Now, this teacher was not only a thorough 
 Hebrew and rabbinical scholar, — his pub- 
 lished works prove his ability, — but he was 
 well acquainted with modern knowledge. 
 It must be confessed that many rabbis of 
 his time were opposed to any other kind of 
 culture than Hebrew. The latter seemed to 
 them amply sufficient. They frowned upon 
 German and Latin, and the new studies that 
 were so attractive to young minds. They 
 even thought that Judaism would be in 
 grave danger if the gates were opened to 
 general knowledge. That was more than 
 a hundred and fifty years ago. 
 
 Happily, Fraenkel was a man of different 
 stamp, and he was resolved that Moses 
 should receive a broad education, without 
 77 
 
STEP BY STEP 
 
 any peril to his religion. He watched with 
 ever-increasing wonder the lad's brilliant 
 progress, his fearless spirit of inquiry, his 
 remarkable power of reasoning, his dogged 
 perseverance, his untiring industry. What 
 he admired most of all, perhaps, was the 
 keen desire of Moses to learn everything 
 about the subject under discussion. No 
 half-knowledge for him. He wanted to be 
 thorough and accurate. He hated to be ig- 
 norant. It was pathetic to witness the look 
 of triumph on his face when he solved a dif- 
 ficult point, and the discussion became 
 clearer. 
 
 One midday, as he was about to go home, 
 the rabbi asked him to dinner the Sabbath 
 following. The boy was only too glad of 
 the chance to be with his teacher, and he 
 was promptly on hand at the appointed 
 time. During the meal the rabbi expressed 
 great pleasure at his pupil's interest in his 
 studies. 
 
 78 
 
A TALK WITH RABBI FRAENKEL 
 
 " Rabbi Fraenkel," was the rejoinder, 
 " I think that it is partly due to the teacher's 
 interest in his pupil," and both laughed. 
 
 Dinner over, the rabbi took Moses to his 
 study, and began to tell him about the books 
 which crowded the shelves, reaching to the 
 ceiling on two sides of the room. 
 
 " The Talmud is studied best in the lives 
 and works of the wise men that strove to ex- 
 plain its pages. Every student, for in- 
 stance, should know the chief facts in 
 Rashi's career, as well as the leading inci- 
 dents in the history of the earlier and later 
 commentators. Whatever they say is of 
 value. They were nearer the age when the 
 Talmud was written, and had better means 
 of judging its meaning." 
 
 " Is that true of our religion in general? 
 Can we not understand it better, if we learn 
 more about the history of Israel's leaders in 
 all ages? " 
 
 " Most decidedly, my son. There is no 
 79 
 
STEP BY STEP 
 
 better way. Every Jewish child should be 
 fairly familiar with the lives of great Israel- 
 ites, not only in Biblical times but in later 
 ages and to-day. Few realize what a class 
 of men they were, what types of genius in 
 varied lines, scholars, statesmen, scientists, 
 poets, philosophers, translators, who have 
 done their share in helping the world ad- 
 vance. How rarely we teach these facts to 
 the young! I am rejoiced that you show 
 interest in such matters, and have always 
 done so, thanks to your good father's 
 example." 
 
 " Which have had more influence, Rabbi, 
 great men or great books? " 
 
 " It is not easy to tell. Often the book 
 and the man are so bound together that it 
 is hard to say which has been more influen- 
 tial. There is a book on the middle shelf 
 there " — pointing to a square volume — 
 11 which I shall let you take home with you 
 to read at your leisure." And, going to the 
 80 
 
A TALK WITH RABBI FRAENKEL 
 
 shelf, he took down a heavy book, which, 
 judging from its appearance, must have 
 been frequently read. 
 
 11 Moses, this Hebrew work — it was 
 originally written in Arabic — is called the 
 Moreh, or i Guide of the Perplexed.' Its 
 author was the Eagle of the Synagogue, no 
 less a man than Moses the son of Maimon, 
 called also Maimonides, or Maimuni, and 
 known, too, as the great Rambam. He — " 
 
 " I know, Rabbi Fraenkel, I know. He 
 was born in Cordova, Spain, in 1135, and 
 lived later with his family in Egypt, to es- 
 cape persecution." Here Moses suddenly 
 stopped, as if he felt he had been rather 
 rude in interrupting his teacher, although 
 he had meant no slight. 
 
 " Well, my child, you seem to know who 
 the great man was. He had a remarkable 
 life, and wrote remarkable books. He was 
 a truly eminent scholar. Now, of all his 
 works, his Moreh, to my mind, must be 
 6 81 
 
STEP BY STEP 
 
 regarded as the most famous, and the one 
 that has aroused most thought." 
 
 " Was he not court-physician to Saladin, 
 who fought with the Knight Templars and 
 with King Richard of England? " 
 
 " Certainly, Moses. He was appointed 
 to that office after his fifty-fifth year, and 
 about ten years later he wrote the ' Guide 
 of the Perplexed,' which has been translated 
 into Latin and Hebrew, and will, I am con- 
 fident, appear one of these days in most 
 of our modern tongues." 
 
 The rabbi then told Moses that it was 
 the aim of Rambam to explain difficulties — 
 which are often more apparent than real — 
 in the Torah, and show that our religion 
 has nothing to fear from criticism, that it 
 was thoroughly in accord with the science 
 and thought of the era in which he lived, 
 and had a claim upon the attention and re- 
 spect of the world. 
 
 " Surely, that was a noble purpose for a 
 82 
 
A TALK WITH RABBI FRAENKEL 
 
 writer to have in view. Don't you think 
 so?" 
 
 11 But did he prove his point? " Moses 
 asked after a slight pause, while he opened 
 the volume and began to read a little here 
 and there, as if he wished to test his ability 
 to understand it. 
 
 11 You ask a peculiar question for me to 
 answer at once. I would rather have you 
 find the answer for yourself in reading the 
 book," and the rabbi laughed heartily. 
 
 " But this you can surely tell me. Was 
 the Moreh liked by the people ? " 
 
 " It gave rise to a very exciting dispute, 
 which lasted after Maimuni's death, and 
 created much bitterness. There were many 
 that praised the book, and others that con- 
 demned it. Some called the author a very 
 great man, the glory of his age ; others said 
 he was a heretic, that is, one who believes no 
 longer in his religion, and that the Moreh 
 should be burnt, so that no one might read 
 83 
 
STEP BY STEP 
 
 it hereafter. The one party was termed 
 ' Maimunists,' the other ' Anti-Maimun- 
 ists,' and Israel was for a while divided into 
 two camps, as often happens. The Anti- 
 Maimunists did all in their power to 
 limit the Moreh's influence and show what 
 they considered its hurtful character. Per- 
 haps from their point of view they were 
 right." 
 
 " We should have only one point of view 
 — the truth. Was the book true or not true 
 — that was the only question to be consid- 
 ered, not was its influence hurtful or not. 
 Not so, Rabbi?" 
 
 " That is right, my son, that is right. 
 Yet, few of us are prophets, to rise above 
 our personal feelings. Few of us see be- 
 yond our wall of habits and pet ideas, which 
 we have not the courage to outgrow, but 
 regard after a while as the highest and the 
 only truth. Moses ben Maimon was above 
 his age, that cannot be denied, and such an 
 84 
 
A TALK WITH RABBI FRAENKEL 
 
 incident is not rare. However, we must 
 bear this in mind — most of us that deem 
 ourselves above our age are not Rambams. 
 We are rather inclined to forget this, I fear. 
 But I am talking too much and too seriously 
 for you to follow. Now go home, Moses, 
 and read the Moreh as often as you like. 
 Only don't neglect your meals, as is your 
 habit, I fancy, when there is a book to be 
 read. You know the saying, ' Where there 
 is no meal, there is no Torah.' " 
 
 Hugging his precious volume to his 
 heart, Moses was soon on the way home. 
 What happiness was in store for him! 
 What a privilege ! To be allowed to read 
 the thoughts of the great Rambam, the 
 glory of his age, the Eagle of the Syna- 
 gogue! And the moment he reached the 
 house, he began to read its pages with con- 
 stantly increasing interest. 
 
 In later years * he used to say in jest: 
 
 * Kayserling's Moses Mendelssohn, p. 5. 
 
 85 
 
STEP BY STEP 
 
 " This Maimuni I have to thank for my 
 stunted body; he alone is its cause. But I 
 love him for all that, for the man has sweet- 
 ened many a sad hour in my life, and hence 
 has repaid me tenfold for what he has done 
 to my bodily frame." 
 
VIII 
 SHADOWS AND RESOLVES 
 
 For some months now Moses had an in- 
 separable companion — the " Guide of the 
 Perplexed/' a book which might naturally 
 be supposed to interest a much older reader, 
 for it dealt with rather difficult problems 
 connected with Jewish law and thought. 
 Yet he pored over it night and day. It 
 rarely left his hands, save at his meals, or 
 when he was at school, until he had grown 
 familiar with its contents and character. 
 
 No wonder it was his delight, for it dis- 
 cussed the very points upon which he de- 
 sired information, and gave him a ready 
 answer to many of his doubts. Although 
 more than five hundred years had passed 
 since it was written, and there had been such 
 marvellous changes, it was still a trust- 
 worthy guide to him in his inquiries. Under 
 87 
 
STEP BY STEP 
 
 its influence lofty thoughts came to him, as 
 the Jewish religion appeared larger and 
 broader than ever before. It was a world- 
 religion, as the prophets had foretold. And 
 as he recalled how much this religion had 
 endured, how much it had been persecuted, 
 he felt more and more pride in being a Jew, 
 more and more resolved to be its champion. 
 He did not know, perhaps, that, about a 
 hundred years earlier, a young Israelite in 
 Amsterdam, who was to attain the highest 
 rank as a thinker, had drifted away, after 
 reading the work of Maimuni, from his his- 
 torical religion, under the spell of the Mo- 
 reh. This youth was Benedict Spinoza. 
 
 Moses would often discuss Maimuni's 
 views with his father and Rabbi Fraenkel. 
 They were both surprised at his maturity of 
 thought, and urged him to stop reading and 
 studying for a while. He was too young to 
 wrestle with such problems. He should 
 wait a few years. He was forgetting Max 
 88 
 
SHADOWS AND RESOLVES 
 
 in his devotion to his books. He should 
 walk out more and breathe the fresh air. 
 He was so far advanced that he would lose 
 nothing if he gave up school for an entire 
 year. But he would not be persuaded, he 
 kept on as before. He simply could not 
 cease reading. 
 
 One morning, after a sleepless night, he 
 was too tired to rise, and for weeks he had 
 a violent fever. A second attack followed 
 his return to school before he had fully re- 
 gained his strength, and now for a month 
 he was forbidden to study. This time the 
 physician was firm. The matter was seri- 
 ous, the boy's life was in danger if he dis- 
 obeyed. But it was hardly necessary to tell 
 him not to read. He could not, he was too 
 weak to hold a book or sit up in bed. His 
 friends came to his bedside without speak- 
 ing a word. Max, on his visits, would kiss 
 Moses on the forehead, after leaving fruit 
 and flowers. Rabbi Fraenkel would stay 
 89 
 
STEP BY STEP 
 
 beside him for a long time, holding his hand 
 until Moses would fall asleep. Sleep was 
 his best medicine. That and good food 
 would restore him in due course. 
 
 On his recovery, Moses looked almost as 
 well as ever. The enforced rest had been 
 very healthful. His shoulders, however, 
 curved more than of old, his bodily frame 
 had shrunk from constant stooping over his 
 books and want of exercise. That was to 
 be expected. But out of his eyes there 
 shone such gentleness and intelligence that 
 he charmed all who knew him. Fancy the 
 love which he aroused in his parents, and 
 with what devotion they strove to meet his 
 every wish! On his part, need it be said 
 how he sought to deserve their affection by 
 being always quick to obey them and ren- 
 dering willingly any service they required? 
 
 At school he was as diligent as ever. His 
 clear brain won its way in every study, and 
 difficulties vanished one by one. He was 
 90 
 
SHADOWS AND RESOLVES 
 
 mastering the Talmud step by step, and 
 gradually obtaining a wider knowledge of 
 Jewish history and literature. He fancied 
 himself a Christopher Columbus discover- 
 ing a new world, with each new advance, 
 each step forward. 
 
 Then, one day in midsummer, there came 
 a blow, so sudden and unexpected that 
 Moses felt crushed to earth. He could not, 
 he would not believe it, but it was none the 
 less true. The news spread first slowly, 
 then more rapidly, that his beloved teacher, 
 to whom he was attached so tenderly, was 
 to leave Dessau in August, to become chief 
 rabbi of the great city of Berlin with over 
 three hundred Jewish families. Who could 
 blame him, with his abilities, for forsaking 
 Dessau and accepting so magnificent a 
 position? 
 
 Moses met the rabbi the afternoon after 
 he had heard the startling news, and he was 
 inconsolable when the report was confirmed 
 91 
 
STEP BY STEP 
 
 by his own lips. Yes, he had to go. Who 
 could be offended at his departure? He 
 was still young and had ambition. He 
 thought he could do more for Israel in Ber- 
 lin, with its larger opportunities. That was 
 not to be denied. 
 
 " O Rabbi, take me with you," Moses 
 implored. " What can I do without you ? " 
 
 " Moses, my son, that is impossible. 
 There are many reasons why I cannot take 
 you with me. You know you could not 
 stand the strain of much further study. You 
 are far from strong, and you must first re- 
 gain your full strength. Don't think of a 
 large city like Berlin. Remain here. Take 
 ample exercise. Leave the rest to time. 
 Besides all this, is not your duty with your 
 parents ? " 
 
 " But, tell me, am I never to see you 
 again ? " And the lad wept bitterly. 
 
 " I shall always be your friend, Moses, 
 and whenever you need my help, you can 
 92 
 
SHADOWS AND RESOLVES 
 
 rest assured it will be given to you freely 
 and gladly. Come, my son, be calm and 
 trust in the Almighty." 
 
 The rabbi left Dessau at the appointed 
 time in August. The congregation natu- 
 rally missed so excellent a man, but to 
 Moses the city seemed in a dark shadow, 
 and he felt weighed down as if he were 
 carrying a heavy burden. Such a sensation 
 was strange to one so young. He did with- 
 out complaint all that was to be done, but 
 he took no pleasure in his books. He re- 
 fused to walk out to the willows, despite 
 pressing invitations again and again from 
 Max. Sometimes he would pass the school- 
 house in the early evening and imagine his 
 teacher at the little window, recalling his 
 kindly face and voice. Then he would oc- 
 casionally gaze longingly at the rabbi's 
 home, but it was closed and no one bade him 
 enter. 
 
 Moses was now past thirteen. That was 
 93 
 
STEP BY STEP 
 
 the age when Jewish boys of that day left 
 school and began to work for their living. 
 This step was absolutely necessary when the 
 parents were poor, as his were. Mendel 
 and his wife discussed the point earnestly; 
 it was rarely absent from their thoughts. 
 They did not wish him to leave school, for 
 they knew how he loved his studies, in 
 which he had made such gratifying pro- 
 gress. Yet their means were limited, and 
 the little help he might secure for himself 
 was not to be despised. 
 
 But what could he do ? they asked them- 
 selves. Could he wander from place to 
 place, with a heavy pack on his shoulders, 
 like most boys of his age ? Could he, with 
 his delicate health, peddle goods from 
 house to house, from village to village? He 
 could not enter any other calling without 
 giving up his religion, so unjust were the 
 laws of the state. What was he to do ? 
 
 They had ardently wished him to become 
 94 
 
SHADOWS AND RESOLVES 
 
 a rabbi, but with his teacher's departure 
 that seemed no longer possible. Besides, 
 they knew that Moses lacked physical 
 health, and could not endure many more 
 years of study, even if they had the means 
 of providing more bountifully for his food 
 and clothing, so necessary for his health 
 and comfort. 
 
 The parents would not tell their son of 
 their anxiety on his account, but he was not 
 to be deceived. 
 
 " Father," said he, one evening, a few 
 weeks after the rabbi had left Dessau, 
 " father, this cannot go on any longer. 
 Neither you nor I can stand the strain. I 
 have made up my mind. Unless I can study 
 at Berlin, I do not wish to live. Mother,'' 
 — as his mother came into the room, — " am 
 I not right?" 
 
 " O my darling child, what is your 
 plan? Do you want to become a rabbi? 
 You know you are not strong enough 
 95 
 
STEP BY STEP 
 
 yet to devote yourself to many years of 
 study. Be sensible, my son. Remain here 
 with us." 
 
 " I am trying to be sensible, dear mother. 
 This is my purpose. I shall go to Berlin 
 and study further. Rabbi Fraenkel will 
 help me, he promised me that. If I am to 
 starve, it is better to starve in a large city 
 like Berlin than in a little place like Des- 
 sau." And his eyes flashed with excite- 
 ment. 
 
 " My son," spoke his father, gravely, 
 " we shall not oppose your wish further. 
 God will be with you. You have been al- 
 ways our darling child, and He will never 
 forsake you." 
 
 When the Holy Days were over — they 
 did not seem joyous Holy Days in the 
 Mendel home — the moment of departure 
 came. He kissed his brother and sister, 
 embraced his parents, who were controlling 
 their feelings bravely, and with his clothing 
 96 
 
SHADOWS AND RESOLVES 
 
 and a book or two tied in a bundle he was 
 about to set off on foot to Berlin. 
 
 " Here, Moses," a young girl exclaimed, 
 running up to him, " here is a ducat, which 
 my parents bade me give to you." 
 
 He thanked her gratefully, put the gold 
 piece in his pocket — it was his only bit of 
 money — and, again bidding his dear ones 
 farewell, he began the journey with a light 
 heart. They watched him until he reached 
 the turn in the road, and then he was lost to 
 view. 
 
 97 
 
IX 
 A NEW WORLD 
 
 It was on a morning in October, 1743, 
 when a boy of fourteen years, weak and al- 
 most exhausted after a five days' journey 
 on foot, came timidly to the Rosenthaler 
 gate in Berlin. That was the only door 
 through which Jews could enter the Prus- 
 sian capital, at least a Jew like Moses, the 
 son of Mendel, who, a poor, unknown emi- 
 grant, desired to be admitted. 
 
 It was the third year of the reign of Fred- 
 erick the Great, and the condition of the 
 Jews of Berlin, as well as in Prussia in gen- 
 eral and throughout Germany, was far 
 from enviable. In fact, although Frederick 
 was a brilliant soldier, and claimed to be a 
 great philosopher, he shared in large meas- 
 ure the prejudices of his age against the 
 Jewish people, and their position under him 
 98 
 
A NEW WORLD 
 
 grew even less endurable, so constant were 
 the indignities they had to suffer. 
 
 We cannot understand, we who live in a 
 country like the United States, where civil 
 and religious liberty is the law of the land, 
 and where there are no unjust distinctions as 
 to race and creed, wealth and poverty, — we 
 cannot begin to realize the state of affairs in 
 Berlin in the eighteenth century. Had the 
 famous king, to whom Prussia owes so 
 much, foreseen that a hundred years after 
 his death the city would be one of the lar- 
 gest Jewish centres in the world, with some 
 of the finest synagogues, hospitals, schools, 
 and homes of benevolence, that among its 
 Jewish residents there would be a novelist 
 like Berthold Auerbach, a statesman like 
 Eduard Lasker, a journalist like August 
 Bernstein, a physician like Traube, a scholar 
 like Zunz, with other eminent names in art, 
 science, music, literature, — if he could have 
 foreseen all this, he might perhaps have 
 99 
 
STEP BY STEP 
 
 acted in a broader spirit. Not only was the 
 number of Jews limited by law, and the 
 right of residence restricted (1747) to one 
 child of every family, but Frederick de- 
 creed later that no Jews should receive new 
 privileges unless they started factories, none 
 were allowed to marry without buying 
 porcelain of royal manufacture, so as to in- 
 crease the state revenue. Nearly twenty 
 years afterwards, when Moses married, he 
 was obliged to buy twenty China apes, life 
 size, from the royal factory. Some of these 
 ornaments are still preserved by his de- 
 scendants among their most precious pos- 
 sessions. 
 
 The boy stood, timidly at first, before the 
 gate. There was reason for his timidity. 
 He was tired and hungry, he was anxious to 
 gain rest and shelter, and he knew not what 
 treatment he might receive. Suddenly the 
 Jewish official who had supervision over im- 
 migrants like him came forward. 
 100 
 
A NEW WORLD 
 
 " Who are you?" 
 
 " I am Moses, the son of Mendel, of 
 Dessau," 
 
 " Why have you come to Berlin? " 
 
 " I wish to study." 
 
 At this reply from such a lad the man 
 was fairly amazed. It was entirely unex- 
 pected. In the meantime Moses had re- 
 gained his courage, despite the questions 
 that were addressed to him rather harshly. 
 
 " You wish to study? " repeated the of- 
 ficial. "You wish to study? Pray, how 
 can you support yourself? " 
 
 " I wish to study," Moses replied, ignor- 
 ing the last question. 
 
 " Answer me at once, boy. What means 
 have you? " 
 
 " I wish to study," was the reply as be- 
 fore. 
 
 " Don't jest with me. How can you sup- 
 port yourself ? " 
 
 Moses was embarrassed. He knew not 
 101 
 
STEP BY STEP 
 
 what to say. He had never thought that he 
 would be asked such a question. He re- 
 flected a moment, and a happy smile lighted 
 up his colorless face. 
 
 " Rabbi David Fraenkel." 
 
 This was the solution of every difficulty, 
 this the answer to every question. Now he 
 would be safe. Taking compassion at last 
 on the poor lad, who was interesting him 
 more and more, the man sent a messenger 
 to the rabbi's house. He was fortunately at 
 home, and without loss of time he hastened 
 to the gate and clasped Moses in his arms. 
 Now the boy felt that his sufferings were 
 over. He was soon to find that they were 
 only beginning as he entered a new world. 
 
 " Come, Moses," the rabbi exclaimed, 
 for he saw at once how exhausted the boy 
 was, " come, let us go home," and, holding 
 tightly to the rabbi's arm, Moses was soon 
 in the busy streets of Berlin, which, in con- 
 trast to Dessau, seemed a very large city, 
 102 
 
A NEW WORLD 
 
 indeed. The tall houses, the handsome 
 shops, the stately churches, the costly 
 statues, the broad squares, the endless 
 throngs of people all rushing hither and 
 thither- — this so aroused his wonder that he 
 forgot for a while his troubles and the 
 uncertain future. 
 
 " Now, here we are," and, stopping at a 
 small house in one of the side streets, and 
 opening the heavy oaken door, Rabbi 
 Fraenkel led Moses into the front room. 
 
 " First of all you must have something 
 to eat, and then you will rest on the sofa in 
 that corner. After you have slept a bit, we 
 can talk over matters. No, not a single 
 word yet. Not a word. Come to the table. 
 There is a seat for you. The meal will soon 
 be ready. Why, there it comes, sure 
 enough. Now eat." 
 
 He needed no second invitation to the 
 bountiful repast, and never did he repeat 
 with more fervor the customary blessing, 
 103 
 
STEP BY STEP 
 
 which was an acknowledgment of God's 
 kindness in bringing bread from the earth. 
 Surely, it was He that had led him to this 
 resting-place after his toilsome journey. 
 With difficulty he refrained from shedding 
 tears of happiness as well as sorrow. The 
 thought of his many privations mingled 
 with a sense of joy at the prospect of speedy 
 help. His friend saw that the boy was 
 deeply moved, and he left him for a few 
 moments, to glance at some books in the 
 library adjoining. When he returned, 
 Moses was finishing his meal, and he looked 
 much refreshed. 
 
 " Now, a little sleep, my son." 
 
 " But I am not tired, Rabbi." 
 
 " Not a word, not a word. There is the 
 sofa — now a little sleep, i a little folding of 
 the hands,' and your strength will return 
 like an armed man's," said the rabbi, chang- 
 ing wittily a verse in the Book of Proverbs. 
 And Moses was soon asleep. 
 104 
 
A NEW WORLD 
 
 It was almost night when, entering the 
 room, the rabbi was delighted to observe 
 how Moses, who was now wide-awake, ap- 
 peared a different lad, although his face 
 still showed traces of the long journey. His 
 eyes were brighter, his hands firmer, his 
 voice stronger than a few hours ago, when 
 he pleaded for admission at the Rosenthaler 
 gate. 
 
 " Now, my son, you can tell me some- 
 thing about your journey," and the rabbi 
 drew him to a seat by the latticed window. 
 11 How did you leave your good parents? 
 Were they well? " 
 
 11 Dear Rabbi, I left them in the best of 
 health, God be praised! As you may 
 imagine, they long refused their consent to 
 my going, but they did not oppose me after 
 they saw how firm I was in my desire." 
 
 11 But how did you manage on the 
 journey? " 
 
 14 Well, a little girl — I think it was Eph- 
 105 
 
STEP BY STEP 
 
 raim's granddaughter — gave me a ducat 
 when I was about to depart. There is 
 nothing left now. It went for bread and 
 milk each morning, and a bed of straw in 
 the barn at night. The journey took me 
 five days. I was not very extravagant, was 
 I? " And the boy smiled. " It was fine 
 weather all along — that was some comfort. 
 Do you know what gave me the greatest 
 happiness ? The thought that step by step 
 I was coming nearer to Berlin and you," 
 and he threw his arms around the rabbi's 
 neck. 
 
 " I soon grew used to the journey — it 
 was over a fairly level road. I rested now 
 and then by the wayside under some friend- 
 ly hedge, a kindly teamster would give me 
 a ride, and my sleep could not have been 
 sounder. The stars appeared like sentinels 
 over my head, and nothing disturbed me. 
 Yet I was glad enough when I caught a 
 glimpse of Berlin in the distance." 
 106 
 
A NEW WORLD 
 
 The rabbi was deeply moved by the 
 simple recital. The lad was certainly a 
 brave fellow to have had no fear. 
 
 " One thing more. I felt really a son of 
 Israel on the entire journey, for were not 
 our people always wanderers from the time 
 of Abraham ? Did you not tell me in Des- 
 sau that the word Hebrew really means an 
 emigrant. Did you not? 
 
 " Now, Moses," the rabbi spoke after a 
 pause, " I wish you to sleep here to-night. 
 To-morrow I shall provide you with perma- 
 nent quarters. You can always have your 
 meals with me on Sabbaths and Holy Days. 
 I shall also have you copy for me — you 
 w r rite Hebrew so beautifully — a work 
 that is ready for the printer, and for 
 which you will receive some groschen 
 weekly. That will help, no doubt. Now, 
 for the present, I shall say nothing else, but 
 I shall not forget you. We have talked 
 enough. Get to sleep, and to-morrow you 
 107 
 
STEP BY STEP 
 
 can begin your Berlin life in reality. You 
 will be pretty busy, but you can stand it. 
 Good-night, God bless you ! " 
 
 Did the youth dream that night, like Ja- 
 cob of old, of a ladder stretching from earth 
 to heaven, with angels thereon ascending 
 and descending? One cannot know, but his 
 slumbers were refreshing, and he awoke 
 full of confidence in the future. 
 
 108 
 
X 
 
 WINNING HIS WAY 
 
 There is an old saying often used by 
 young men and women as a motto for their 
 college classes: per aspera ad astra — 
 through difficulties to the stars, or through 
 obstacles to success. It is a good thought 
 for college lads and lasses to reflect upon, 
 although their difficulties are not so very 
 severe, and are usually limited to text-books, 
 recitations, examinations. 
 
 In the case of Moses, however, no motto 
 could have been more expressive, had he 
 known Latin at that time. Surely, he had 
 difficulties on all sides, obstacles which were 
 real and hard to overcome. Would he 
 reach the stars, would he succeed at last? 
 
 On his second day in Berlin he felt that 
 he had gained some headway. Thanks to 
 the rabbi, he was certain of a few groschen 
 109 
 
STEP BY STEP 
 
 weekly. The work of copying Hebrew was 
 not difficult, and always gave him pleasure. 
 Then an attic room, large enough for all 
 purposes, was secured for him at the home 
 of a very pious Israelite, one Hyman Bam- 
 berger, who was very fond of Hebrew lit- 
 erature, and eager to befriend deserving 
 students. Here, too, he had the assurance 
 of meals on two week-days. With na ex- 
 pense at all for his room, and his food for 
 three days amply provided for, he was con- 
 fident that it would be an easy task to live 
 the rest of the week. He would not starve. 
 He would get along step by step. 
 
 Now, it must be remembered that he had 
 been accustomed to scanty fare from his 
 early childhood. It was always plain living 
 at his home. Yet he had never known ac- 
 tual hunger or privation. His parents' love 
 had shielded him ever from such suffering. 
 He was soon to realize the full meaning of 
 hunger. There was poverty, of course, in 
 110 
 
WINNING HIS WAY 
 
 his parents' dwelling; but their affection had 
 softened its sting. He was now to feel pri- 
 vation in its sharpest form. Experiences 
 that he had never deemed possible were to 
 fall to his lot, and during his first years in 
 Berlin he was to taste the bread of affliction, 
 as the unleavened bread is termed that we 
 eat on Passover. Yet he never faltered in 
 his determination to win success. He never 
 lost hope or thought of giving up the strug- 
 gle and returning to Dessau. A lad of less 
 courage would have yielded to circum- 
 stances. He was made of sterner stuff than 
 to play the coward. He was to conquer cir- 
 cumstances, as most of us can do if we only 
 will. 
 
 There is a story told by a famous Dutch 
 writer about a warrior, who always had 
 difficulty in carrying out his plans. He 
 almost failed at times, and when he did 
 succeed, it was only by the exercise of the 
 greatest effort. Finally he realized that he 
 111 
 
STEP BY STEP 
 
 had a secret enemy that was trying to defeat 
 him on every occasion, and render useless 
 his most precious plans. He resolved to 
 find out the enemy that was spoiling his life. 
 One evening he went for a walk. He saw 
 a man wearing a mask coming towards him. 
 By some strange feeling, he knew that it 
 was his lifelong enemy. He must kill him, 
 and he exclaimed as they met: " You are 
 my enemy. I shall try to kill you. Draw 
 and defend yourself." The stranger drew 
 his sword, and said: " I am ready, but first 
 see who it is whom you would fight." He 
 removed his mask and, lo, the warrior 
 stood before himself! He was his own 
 foe, as is every boy or girl, man or woman, 
 that yields to timid fears, and becomes a 
 coward in the battle of life, instead of 
 meeting boldly every obstacle and winning 
 success step by step. 
 
 If every author or inventor or merchant, 
 or worker in any field, would yield to his 
 112 
 
- 4! 
 
 DO ]j 
 
 DO 
 
 x .S 
 
 b£ 
 
WINNING HIS WAY 
 
 own fears, and not resolutely labor on, how 
 poor would the world become ! 
 
 Moses rose early each day — it had been 
 his habit from childhood — and so arranged 
 his studies and Hebrew copying that they 
 should not conflict with each other. His 
 first thought was of the task for Rabbi 
 Fraenkel, as that fortunately yielded him a 
 little money. When each day's allotted 
 work was done, then with ardor he pored 
 over the Talmud, sitting up late every night 
 until his bit of candle was burnt to the end, 
 and he went to bed and slept refreshingly. 
 
 Ah, how can we realize into what dis- 
 tress he was plunged when hunger stared 
 him in the face ! Often, when he had not a 
 groschen for a more satisfying meal, he 
 would divide his small loaf of bread so that 
 it might last the day. Frequently, too, there 
 would be no dinner at all, yet, undisturbed, 
 he would continue at work. Happily, now 
 and then more copying was to be done, 
 8 113 
 
STEP BY STEP 
 
 which gave him the prospect of meals for a 
 week or two ahead. 
 
 It was very much to his credit that he 
 never thought of asking help from his 
 richer brethren or even of appealing to 
 Rabbi Fraenkel for further aid, although 
 he would have received the assistance de- 
 sired. He felt that he had no right to claim 
 anything from others, for he had come to 
 Berlin at his own risk. In this way he pre- 
 served his self-respect, which he would have 
 lost, had he asked people for alms. How 
 many precious gems did he possess, even if 
 he was so very poor ! First was ambition, 
 then love of learning, then industry, self- 
 respect — gems which outshine gold and 
 diamonds, and form what is called charac- 
 ter, our best possession. 
 
 Bearing in mind the advice of his teacher, 
 who always urged him to broaden his edu- 
 cation, he resolved to perfect himself in 
 German literature, which was a closed door 
 114 
 
WINNING HIS WAY 
 
 to most of the Jews of that day, as many 
 thought it wrong to speak and write the 
 language of the land in which they lived, 
 preferring a homely jargon of their own, a 
 blending of German and Hebrew. By thus 
 adopting in every-day life a dialect of their 
 own, they not only narrowed their thought 
 and ambitions, but strengthened the popu- 
 lar prejudice against them as a foreign race. 
 It also postponed, if it did not make im- 
 possible, any movement to secure them jus- 
 tice and equality. That was to come later, 
 after the French Revolution. 
 
 It must not be forgotten, however, that 
 a small number of Jews received a more 
 modern training, and were becoming 
 known in other than purely mercantile lines. 
 Moses followed their example and resolved 
 to be a German. He felt that while in re- 
 ligion the Jew was to be separate and dis- 
 tinct, in his social and business life and daily 
 attitude he was not to be exclusive, if he 
 115 
 
STEP BY STEP 
 
 wished to be at peace with his fellow-men. 
 He owed a duty to his country as well as his 
 creed, and to perform that duty aright to 
 his country and age would not make him 
 less a Jew. This aim Moses ever kept in 
 view despite every adverse circumstance. 
 It was the secret of his later efforts to secure 
 more justice for the Jew from the German 
 states and more consideration for German 
 thought from the Jew. Of course, this was 
 a century and more ago, when conditions 
 were hardly as favorable as now for the 
 spread of kindness and justice. 
 
 One day — it was in 1746— while Moses 
 was studying at the Berlin rabbinical school, 
 a poor boy entered the building. He was 
 just fourteen, and from the first interview 
 they became attached to each other. Moses 
 showed him every kindness, going so far as 
 to divide his scanty bread with him. He 
 taught him also how to write and read, and 
 the boy made good progress. 
 116 
 
WINNING HIS WAY 
 
 " Tell me, Moses, you have been very, 
 very kind to me, what can I do for you in 
 return? " 
 
 " If you wish to oblige me, I'll tell you 
 what you can do. Get me a German book." 
 
 The lad was bringing the book next day, 
 thinking how pleased his friend would be, 
 when an official of the charitable society 
 met him on the street. 
 
 " What have you there? A German 
 book ? Is it possible ? What a disgrace for 
 Israel!" 
 
 Without further ado, he seized the book, 
 and took the lad to the head of the police, 
 to be expelled from the city as a dangerous 
 person. This was promptly done. In vain 
 Moses sought to have his friend sent back. 
 In vain he tried to interest the rabbi in his 
 behalf. But thanks to his efforts, the boy 
 was received as a pupil in the rabbinical 
 school of Halberstadt. This lad, who ad- 
 mitted his indebtedness to Moses in a letter 
 117 
 
STEP BY STEP 
 
 which has been published, was the grand- 
 father of the members of the present 
 great banking firm of Bleichroeder, known 
 throughout the world, to which Prussia and 
 Germany have often been under special 
 obligations. 
 
 Undismayed at the prospect of a similar 
 fate, if he was seen with a German book in 
 hand, Moses continued his general studies 
 with renewed enthusiasm. By feeble can- 
 dle-light, he used to read German books, 
 which he obtained secretly, and whatever 
 he could gain from German literature was 
 quickly absorbed. He did not care if the 
 book was hard to read, if only it was Ger- 
 man. A volume of stories, a book of sim- 
 ple poems, might have helped him consid- 
 erably; but he did not hesitate to read a 
 treatise on theology or philosophy, so in- 
 tense was his love of knowledge. 
 
 His zeal and industry were not to go un- 
 rewarded. A lad so young and so earnest 
 118 
 
WINNING HIS WAY 
 
 was not to remain unnoticed. His clearness 
 of brain, which shone from his large, ex- 
 pressive eyes, attracted many people, while 
 his goodness of heart won him friends, the 
 best kind of friends, teachers and com- 
 panions, who helped him on the way step by 
 step. The clouds were clearing at last. His 
 poverty was more easily borne each year; 
 for a little bird was singing more and more 
 joyously in his heart, and its name was 
 Hope! 
 
 119 
 
XI 
 AT A BANKER'S HOME 
 
 Berlin attracted a number of young men 
 of ability, who desired a larger field. With- 
 out means and friends they sought admis- 
 sion, and had enough self-confidence to be- 
 lieve in good times to come. Among these 
 was a needy Polish Jew, Israel Samoscz by 
 name, who was a poet, a thinker, and a 
 mathematician. He had drifted to the 
 capital in 1742, fancying that in so large a 
 city he stood a better chance of gaining a 
 living than in the obscure village where he 
 was born. Despite his abilities, which were 
 little short of genius, the task was a hard 
 one, and he was often reduced to despair. 
 
 Happily, at the very moment when all 
 
 hope seemed removed from him — this 
 
 often occurs in life — and he was at a loss 
 
 how to keep from starvation, he found a 
 
 120 
 
AT A BANKER'S HOME 
 
 real friend, rich and kindly, who received 
 him gladly into his house, and gave him 
 bountiful relief, made him, in fact, a cher- 
 ished guest, and bade him have no more 
 anxiety. There are many such people in 
 this world, who are quick to give of their 
 bounty to others less fortunate, and realize 
 the truth of the old saying, " What I give, 
 I have; what I keep, I lose." 
 
 Such a friend was Daniel Itzig, a man of 
 eminence, w T ho stood at the head of the 
 Jewish communities of Prussia, and w T as in 
 later years to become court-banker to King 
 Frederick William II, a position both 
 honorable and lucrative. He had assisted 
 Frederick the Great in his wars and — a 
 rarity for a Jew in those times — he owned 
 an oil mill and a lead factory. Owing to 
 his great wealth and recognized public 
 spirit, he was one of the few of our brethren 
 in faith to enjoy equal rights with Christian 
 citizens, and in official documents it was or- 
 121 
 
STEP BY STEP 
 
 dered that he and his family should not be 
 classified as Jews, for Jews were not re- 
 garded as citizens of the state. But he was 
 none the less attached to his faith, founded 
 at Berlin a school for poor Jewish children, 
 and had the courage more than once to con- 
 demn publicly the cruel laws against the 
 Jews. 
 
 Israel Samoscz became an inmate of It- 
 zig's luxurious house in the Burgstrasse, on 
 the site of which, decades later, Itzig's 
 grandson was to build the Berlin Stock Ex- 
 change. It was a fairy transformation for 
 the poor student — to sit at ease in a mansion 
 and follow his favorite studies without fear 
 as to each day's meal or lodging. 
 
 Moses, who had casually made his ac- 
 quaintance, gradually found him to be an 
 interesting friend, whom he often visited at 
 the Itzig home. A close intimacy arose be- 
 tween them. They were, in fact, kindred 
 spirits. 
 
 122 
 
AT A BANKER'S HOME 
 
 11 Moses," Israel said one afternoon, 
 while they were seated in the spacious gar- 
 den, for at that period the larger Berlin 
 residences had ample gardens, with high 
 walls that secured privacy, and they were 
 favorite places of resort for the family and 
 its friends, " Moses, did you ever read any- 
 thing by Judah Hallevi? " 
 
 " I have read some of his poems, of 
 course, for they are in the Siddur,* but not 
 his great work, his Cusari. I wish I could 
 get a copy." 
 
 11 Well, I am writing a Hebrew commen- 
 tary on the work, and I should be very glad 
 to read it to you. You might, in fact, copy 
 some of it for the printer. You write a 
 clearer hand than I do. Let me read a 
 chapter now." 
 
 Now began inspiring hours for Moses, 
 which revived the memory of his delight 
 when he first read the famous work of 
 
 * Prayer-book. 
 
 123 
 
STEP BY STEP 
 
 Maimuni. It did not take many days to 
 make him fairly familiar with the work of 
 the Spanish-Hebrew poet, physician, and 
 philosopher. Born at Toledo, about 1085, 
 and dying in Palestine about 1140, he was 
 one of the most striking figures in our 
 mediaeval literature, and his writings belong 
 to the glories of the golden age in Spain. 
 Loving his religion and people passionately, 
 he resolved to write a book which should 
 defend Judaism for all time. His Cu- 
 sari was the result, and it has gained him 
 lasting fame, and appears now in several 
 languages. 
 
 The work is based upon an interesting 
 legend, which some claim to be historical, 
 that a Jewish king, called Bulan, ruled over 
 the Khazars, a Tartar tribe, in the eighth 
 century. One night he was startled by a 
 sudden vision, which left him in doubt 
 which was the best religion. Next day he 
 summoned before him three sages, a Jew, a 
 124 
 
AT A BANKER'S HOME 
 
 Christian, and a Mohammedan, and or- 
 dered them to discuss the point. He as- 
 sured them that he was open to their argu- 
 ments, and would adopt the religion which 
 was made most satisfying to his mind. So 
 the contest began. Each sage put forth his 
 reasons why his religion was the best. It 
 was a well-fought debate, and the king lis- 
 tened attentively. At its close, he informed 
 them that he found the Jewish sage the 
 most convincing, and he chose the Jewish 
 creed, founding a Jewish dynasty that 
 lasted two hundred years. 
 
 Now, whether this is a legend or an his- 
 torical fact, it served Judah Hallevi as the 
 framework of his Cusari, and it was well- 
 adapted for the purpose. He wrote his 
 book in Arabic, the language of his cultured 
 age, so that thinkers of the day might be 
 influenced by its views. The book remains 
 of lasting value by reason of its literary 
 quality, no less than by its warm champion- 
 125 
 
STEP BY STEP 
 
 ship of Judaism. Some authors write with 
 their fist, others with their brain: Judah 
 Hallevi wrote with his heart. 
 
 Nothing could have been better for 
 Moses than to become familiar with such a 
 work. It warmed his heart as well as satis- 
 fied his intellect. It strengthened his love 
 for his religion and people, and made him 
 realize more clearly than ever before that 
 the history of the Jewish people, whom 
 Hallevi called " the heart of mankind," 
 was continuous — a story in many, many 
 chapters, which was not to reach its end 
 until the era when peace and brotherhood 
 should prevail throughout the world. 
 
 One cannot describe with what ardor 
 Moses helped his friend to copy the manu- 
 script for the printer. Most of his spare 
 time he devoted to the purpose, and for 
 quite a while. It is of interest to learn that 
 a fragment of his copy, in his beautiful 
 handwriting, still can be seen at a private 
 126 
 
AT A BANKER'S HOME 
 
 library in Berlin, where it is carefully treas- 
 ured and guarded against harm with the 
 care bestowed on the original Declaration 
 of Independence in Philadelphia. 
 
 " Come, Moses," Israel exclaimed one 
 afternoon, " it is too damp to walk out. Let 
 me teach you mathematics. You will learn 
 rapidly." And soon Moses could under- 
 stand Euclid with ease from a Hebrew 
 translation in his friend's possession. Those 
 who study geometry know that the work of 
 Euclid is at the basis of the modern text- 
 book. To study it in Hebrew was easy to 
 Moses, and he absorbed the book with en- 
 thusiasm, and mathematics became a favor- 
 ite pursuit ever after. 
 
 Step by step he advanced further in the 
 knowledge of Jewish philosophy, and he 
 wondered more and more at the genius of 
 writers whose thoughts have passed like a 
 lighted torch from age to age and furnished 
 fire to the greatest thinkers, although the 
 127 
 
STEP BY STEP 
 
 debt is rarely recognized. It is curious 
 what the world owes to the Jew. His 
 Psalms and Prophets are read or studied in 
 church and mosque in every clime, and the 
 broadest views of his best minds go to build 
 up modern systems. This should not make 
 us proud, but grateful, that in this way the 
 Jew is fulfilling his mission. 
 
 Moses was wonderfully stimulated by the 
 talks with Israel at the banker's house. He 
 wished to continue his studies further and 
 learn at least Latin, so necessary for read- 
 ing the philosophers of the Middle Ages. 
 Of course, he was too modest to imagine 
 that he was becoming a great scholar; but 
 he was very desirous of knowing Latin and 
 thus widening his knowledge, because many 
 precious works were written in this lan- 
 guage. 
 
 Yet how was he to buy the necessary 
 books? Where was the money to come 
 from ? How was he to pay a teacher ? At 
 128 
 
AT A BANKER'S HOME 
 
 least he could try to save a little, and when 
 he had a few groschen on hand he could 
 buy one or two books anyway. One morn- 
 ing he passed an old book-store and looked 
 longingly at its window, where a couple of 
 titles attracted him. He lingered a mo- 
 ment, gave a second glance, then ran home 
 to his attic room, took out his savings, re- 
 turned to the shop, and soon owned two 
 treasures — a Latin grammar and a Latin 
 dictionary, both old and well-worn, but 
 treasures priceless to him. The next step 
 was to get a teacher. How was this to be 
 done ? He knew no one, and had no money 
 anyway for lessons, which were necessary 
 at the beginning. He was not discouraged 
 at the fresh obstacle. Had he not overcome 
 other difficulties, even more threatening 
 than this? A little patience, a little hope- 
 fulness, and all would be well. 
 
 These thoughts flashed through him as 
 he hugged his new treasures and sped along 
 9 129 
 
STEP BY STEP 
 
 the street homewards. It was a rainy 
 morning, but for him the sun was shining, 
 radiant, glorious sunshine. No wonder his 
 face was smiling, amid the darkening rain- 
 fall, perhaps the only face that was bright 
 and happy in the gloomy weather. He 
 knew that there would be no funds for a 
 regular dinner for two days, but that was no 
 more a hardship, and was easily borne. He 
 was used to such a trifle as going without a 
 hot dinner. He was thinking of better 
 things than chicken soup and apple sauce. 
 Already in fancy he was reading the great 
 writers of Rome, already listening to the 
 poets and orators of classic Italy, after 
 which the gates of the early Middle Ages 
 would be open to him, and he would explore 
 its treasures of thought at ease. 
 
 130 
 
XII 
 MORE LIGHT 
 
 It was not long before Moses found a 
 teacher who was of great service to him in 
 the study of Latin. He was a young phy- 
 sician from the city of Prague, where can 
 still be seen an old Gothic synagogue dating 
 from the twelfth or thirteenth century — 
 Dr. Abraham Kisch, another one of the 
 kind-hearted men whom he had attracted 
 by his love of learning, and whose help was 
 of such importance to his growth. 
 
 No mere chance led the youth step by 
 step to the attainment of his wishes, and 
 secured for him from time to time excel- 
 lent teachers at critical periods in his career. 
 If it is only chance that rules our actions and 
 controls our will, Moses would not have 
 survived his early struggles with his deli- 
 cate health and the obstacles that blocked 
 131 
 
STEP BY STEP 
 
 his path. It was not chance that guided 
 him from darkness to light, but God's 
 providence. 
 
 Every day, for half an hour, Dr. Kisch 
 taught Moses. The lesson was long enough 
 to enable him to learn by himself. In six 
 months he could be his own teacher, and he 
 required no one to prepare him for his read- 
 ing of Latin. His industry and determina- 
 tion conquered every difficulty. Dr. Kisch 
 found it a distinct pleasure to have such a 
 pupil. 
 
 One day Moses, whose keen eyes ob- 
 served everything, saw a book marked 
 Cicero on his teacher's shelf. 
 
 " Dr. Kisch," he pleaded, " do let me 
 see if I can read Cicero." 
 
 " I think it is too hard for you, Moses, 
 but you can try, if you like," and he handed 
 the book to the youth. 
 
 Moses tried at once to read a chance 
 page, and soon, to the doctor's amazement, 
 132 
 
MORE LIGHT 
 
 he translated into German, with remarkable 
 ease and rapidity, a page from Cicero's 
 work on Friendship. He rendered it with 
 such feeling, too, that his teacher could not 
 withhold warm praise. Next, he strove to 
 master some of Cicero's orations, but he 
 was hardly interested enough in Roman 
 politics to continue their perusal. They 
 grew wearisome, and he put aside the book. 
 
 A few weeks later, on beginning his les- 
 son, he showed Dr. Kisch a Latin book he 
 had just bought. It was a Latin edition of 
 an English philosopher's celebrated work — 
 John Locke's " Essay on the Human Un- 
 derstanding." This he read with constantly 
 increasing interest, showing his strong lean- 
 ings even then toward philosophical study, 
 a field in which he was to win such distinc- 
 tion in after years. 
 
 One of his friends in his mature man- 
 hood, Nicolai, relates how Locke's work 
 fascinated Moses. With indescribable ef- 
 133 
 
STEP BY STEP 
 
 fort he labored to decipher it. He sought 
 out in the dictionary every word he did not 
 understand — and he was ignorant of most 
 of them — and wrote them down, until he 
 had two paragraphs completed. Then he 
 reflected on their meaning, and strove to 
 get at the understanding of each sentence by 
 quick thought. When he felt that it was 
 all clear, he compared it again, as far as 
 his knowledge of the language went, with 
 the literal meaning.* 
 
 With such readiness was he now able to 
 understand famous authors that he soon 
 studied Plato and Aristotle in Latin trans- 
 lation, and grew familiar with these leaders 
 of Greek thought. And was he now satis- 
 fied? First German, then mathematics, 
 then Latin. Was there more to be learned ? 
 What other languages was he to master? 
 Moses was never content with half-knowl- 
 edge. Fie wished to be familiar with the 
 
 *KayserIing, p. 13. 
 
 134 
 
MORE LIGHT 
 
 sources of learning in other lands and 
 tongues. Knowing that Latin was at the 
 basis of modern languages, he resolved to 
 study French and English. Here, again, 
 after waiting a while, a teacher was pro- 
 vided, a man of splendid abilities, a bril- 
 liant young scholar and writer, to whom 
 Moses was to acknowledge publicly his 
 gratitude. 
 
 Only a short time before, when the 
 young king of Prussia, in 1745, flushed 
 with victory, entered Berlin in triumph 
 after the Peace of Dresden, the Jews, 
 among the rest, were quick to join in the 
 public rejoicings. A solemn service was ar- 
 ranged by Chief Rabbi Fraenkel, who 
 preached a patriotic sermon and wrote a 
 special ode in Hebrew, which was sung to 
 the accompaniment of music. The com- 
 munity desired this poem to be translated 
 into German, so that the Christian citizens 
 might appreciate this proof of loyalty, and 
 135 
 
STEP BY STEP 
 
 a gifted translator was found in the person 
 of Aaron Solomon, afterwards called Dr. 
 Gumpertz, then in his twenty-second year. 
 This man became the teacher of Moses, 
 and no wonder that Moses afterwards con- 
 fessed his deep sense of obligation to him, 
 not only in the study of French and Eng- 
 lish, but for his inspiration in many ways. 
 
 The earliest letter which we have of 
 Moses Mendelssohn is written to Gum- 
 pertz. Its opening sentence reads as fol- 
 lows : " Who is closely acquainted with 
 you, dearest friend, and knows how to 
 value your talents, he lacks no illustration 
 to show how easily fortunate spirits can 
 soar aloft without model and example, de- 
 velop their invaluable gifts, improve heart 
 and intellect, and rise to the rank of the 
 greatest of men." * 
 
 No details are preserved of these lessons 
 in French and English, but it requires little 
 
 ♦Kayserling, p. 19. 
 
 136 
 
MORE LIGHT 
 
 effort to imagine the scene — the earnest, 
 brilliant teacher and the eager, industrious 
 pupil. Like Samoscz and Kisch, Gumpertz 
 showed him how to study languages, guided 
 him to the best authors, and then left him 
 to his own labors, without further help, 
 which may hamper instead of assisting. 
 That is the proper ideal of teaching. It 
 simply points the way and prepares the 
 student to help himself. Gumpertz lived 
 long enough to find out that his teaching 
 had not been in vain. Not all teachers are 
 so fortunate. 
 
 But he did more than merely teach him 
 grammar and literature. At a certain age 
 we learn from our acquaintances more than 
 from books. In friendly conversation and 
 thoughtful debate, our minds are aroused 
 and strengthened, our tastes improved, our 
 sympathies and interests widened. So it 
 was with Moses, and Dr. Gumpertz recog- 
 nized what was needed. 
 137 
 
STEP BY STEP 
 
 " Moses," he said one day, " you are too 
 much by yourself. You are older now, and 
 need more friends. Come with me," and he 
 took him to a Conditorei, where a number 
 of young men were drinking coffee and eat- 
 ing cake, talking quietly at the same time 
 about their studies. They belonged to the 
 Joachimthal Gymnasium, a well-known 
 high school in Berlin. It was an enlivening 
 scene — the long rows of tables, the students 
 in earnest debate ; and soon Moses was chat- 
 ting with them after the doctor had intro- 
 duced him to several. He made some of 
 them his friends for life. There were fu- 
 ture scholars in that group, whose friend- 
 ship meant everything for Mendelssohn's 
 growth and activity. The visit to the Con- 
 ditorei was an event in his career. 
 
 A few years later, Moses owed to Gum- 
 
 pertz an introduction to a man with whose 
 
 name his own will always be associated. 
 
 He was a bit older then than when he was 
 
 138 
 
MORE LIGHT 
 
 taking French and English lessons. One 
 happy morning in 1754 — he was never to 
 forget it — he was led to a little narrow 
 house and up two flights of creaking stairs, 
 into a very small room, where stood a young 
 poet of about his own age. It was Gott- 
 hold Ephraim Lessing, then a poor strug- 
 gling writer, but to form, with Goethe and 
 Schiller, the three-leafed clover of German 
 literary leaders. 
 
 " Here, Lessing! " Gumpertz exclaimed, 
 leading Moses to the centre of the apart- 
 ment. " Here is a good chess-player for 
 you." The acquaintance thus begun con- 
 tinued through life, and their close friend- 
 ship has been immortalized in the charac- 
 ter of Nathan, in Lessing's " Nathan the 
 Wise," a work that has been translated 
 into many languages, and has proved a 
 blessing in each, as it has taught the brother- 
 hood of man and the unity and fellowship 
 of religions. 
 
 139 
 
STEP BY STEP 
 
 The central figure in Lessing's play is 
 Nathan. It was a startling novelty to pre- 
 sent a Jew in literature who was less than a 
 fiend or a rogue. Marlowe's " Jew of 
 Malta " and Shakespeare's " Shylock " 
 were typical of the stage Jew. Lessing 
 showed that the Jew could be a man and a 
 brother, broad, kindly, generous, and his 
 religion was entitled to reverence as one 
 of the great historical creeds. The play 
 abounds in eloquent sentences, which have 
 passed into the literature of mankind as 
 among the most cherished and helpful 
 thoughts. Contact with Moses, apprecia- 
 tion of his genius and ways, led Lessing to 
 paint his friend's portrait in his famous 
 drama, which is a drama of religious liberty 
 and human brotherhood. Such a purpose 
 would arouse little comment now, for the 
 world is familiar with thoughts of the kind. 
 But to write such a work a century and 
 more ago in Prussia was an achievement 
 140 
 
MORE LIGHT 
 
 that arrays Lessing among the few really 
 great men and women that have stood 
 ahead of their age. And that book was 
 brought about by the chance introduction 
 of Moses to Lessing as a chess-player by 
 Dr. Gumpertz. 
 
 But that was in 1754. The turning-point 
 in Mendelssohn's career had occurred a few 
 years earlier. The first meeting with the 
 poet, it is true, was full of significance. It 
 was to be followed by marked development 
 on both sides. Think what this meant in 
 that era— a Jew and a Christian to be 
 joined in close friendship and literary aims 
 when the law of the land was imprisoning 
 the Jew in a Ghetto and embittering his 
 daily life by harsh restrictions on his liberty 
 and livelihood. Each was to learn from the 
 other, and the world was to be the gainer 
 from both. 
 
 Yet the real turning-point in his Berlin 
 life came a few years earlier. The hour 
 141 
 
STEP BY STEP 
 
 which he had patiently, devoutly awaited, 
 and for whose demands he was fully pre- 
 pared was no longer to be delayed. He did 
 not know it was so near, but he was ready 
 for the call. He had waited and labored so 
 long. Did he not deserve a reward at last? 
 
 142 
 
XIII 
 VICTORY! 
 
 For seven years now Moses had lived 
 and labored in Berlin. It had been a period 
 of great suffering, of intense struggle, of 
 severe privations, of ceaseless industry, of 
 patient devotion to study. But it had not 
 all been shadow. The friendship of the 
 rabbi, the help which his different teachers 
 had furnished, the kindness received in 
 many quarters, these formed the bright side 
 of the picture. Then, too, he felt that he 
 had advanced step by step, despite difficul- 
 ties that would have discouraged anybody 
 of less grit and ambition. The fact that he 
 saw progress, that light was really breaking 
 on his path, that he was gaining headway 
 after all, was undeniable and made him en- 
 dure every hardship in the firm hope of 
 final victory. 
 
 143 
 
STEP BY STEP 
 
 Moses was no impossible lad. He had 
 his faults and weaknesses. But his good 
 qualities were too many to be impaired by 
 his defects, and he was achieving success 
 by deserving success. Karl Emil Franzos, 
 the Galician novelist, wrote once that 
 " every country has the Jews it deserves." 
 With equal truth it can be said that every 
 boy has the success he deserves. 
 
 Naturally Moses was becoming more 
 and more widely known. This slenderly- 
 built youth, with an unmistakable hump- 
 back, and large shining eyes, attracted old 
 and young. His story was known to all 
 in the capital, and the brave fight he was 
 making was winning him friends. It read 
 like a romance — the record of his life from 
 childhood, his years of study at Dessau, his 
 struggles and labors in Berlin. Such inci- 
 dents were not rare, but he was young to 
 have endured so much. A mere boy, weak, 
 delicate, unused to such trials, with limited 
 144 
 
victory! 
 
 education, to attain a mastery of languages 
 in a few years and to have overcome every 
 obstacle, — why, it was like some old-time 
 fairy tale of heroes that fought dragons. 
 Why, was not he just as much a hero as a 
 warrior who slew a fire-breathing monster, 
 or a soldier who caught the enemy's spears 
 in his embrace ? 
 
 Seven years had passed since he had 
 pleaded for admission at the Rosenthaler 
 gate. It was in 1750, when one Sabbath, 
 while dining at Rabbi FraenkePs — he still 
 retained that habit — the rabbi said after 
 alluding to other matters : 
 
 " Moses, I was asked about you yester- 
 day." 
 
 " Indeed? " he rejoined inquiringly, half 
 in surprise, half in jest. 
 
 " Yes, and by no less a person than Isaac 
 Bernhard." 
 
 At the name, Moses grew more inter- 
 ested. Mr. Bernhard was a wealthy manu- 
 io 145 
 
STEP BY STEP 
 
 facturer, and he was held in high esteem. 
 What did he want of me? ran his thoughts. 
 Perhaps to copy some Hebrew book. It 
 would be a little help, indeed, which he 
 would welcome. 
 
 " Mr. Bernhard wishes to have a teacher 
 for his children, to live at his house, of 
 course. He spoke of you, and asked me if 
 you would be willing to come. I told him 
 that I could not say, but would let you de- 
 cide for yourself. He will keep the posi- 
 tion open until he sees you." 
 
 The youth's heart almost ceased to beat 
 in his glad surprise. Such an offer, from 
 such a source, meant new life and activity. 
 It was a long-wished-for dream becoming 
 realized. 
 
 " What do you think about it, Rabbi 
 Fraenkel? " 
 
 " I do not think at all about it. It is for 
 you to accept it at once." 
 
 " I shall call at the Bernhard house to- 
 146 
 
VICTORY ! 
 
 morrow." He spoke quietly and uncon- 
 cernedly, controlling his joy as much as he 
 could, although it sparkled in his eyes. 
 Then he added: " How can I thank you, 
 dear friend ! " 
 
 " Well, my brave son, I knew you would 
 succeed," and he clasped the youth's hand 
 tightly. " I knew you would succeed. I 
 fancy your struggles are over. You will 
 never need any more to divide a loaf of 
 bread into three parts for your day's meals. 
 You have won the victory. I congratulate 
 you." 
 
 " God has won the victory for me," was 
 the modest reply. " He has led me step by 
 step, and He will guide me further even in 
 my years of triumph, if these are to come to 
 me. Will He not?" 
 
 11 Indeed, He will," and Rabbi Fraenkel 
 changed the subject, for he, too, was deeply 
 moved by the youth's tone and words. 
 
 Moses saw Mr. Bernhard the following 
 147 
 
STEP BY STEP 
 
 day, and made so favorable an impression 
 upon him that he was engaged at once on 
 terms that made him almost dizzy. He felt 
 a man of wealth, and could now send some- 
 thing to his parents out of his abundance. 
 And what was just as important, he was to 
 have ample time as well for study and 
 writing. 
 
 " Perhaps, Moses, " Mr. Bernhard ex- 
 claimed as the interview was ending, " you 
 have done such good work in helping your- 
 self to an education, that I may ask you 
 some day to help me in my business," and 
 he smiled as Moses left with a grateful 
 heart. 
 
 Did Moses prove a capable teacher? 
 The children thought so, four boys and 
 girls from six to thirteen, who had never 
 fancied lessons could be made so interest- 
 ing, and who formed a loving group around 
 Moses each day, and made rapid advance in 
 their studies, to Mr. Bernhardt delight. 
 148 
 
victory! 
 
 11 Rabbi Fraenkel," he said one day when 
 he met the rabbi on the street, " Moses is 
 the best teacher we ever had in the house. 
 Why, the children are learning something 
 at last." 
 
 " Mr. Bernhard, I can tell you the reason 
 why Moses is so good a teacher for the 
 young. He has the brain of a man and the 
 heart of a child." And they parted after a 
 vigorous handshake. 
 
 The children liked best of all a certain 
 hour each week in which he told them of 
 the different religions of mankind, how 
 each had good qualities, and could point to 
 good men and women among its followers. 
 
 " When I speak of the goodness in the 
 different religions, children, it is just as it is 
 with flowers. You find fragrant, beautiful 
 flowers in every country and not in our own 
 only. Even in Switzerland, the land of 
 lofty, snow-capped mountains, you can find 
 a delicate flower close to an icy precipice — 
 149 
 
STEP BY STEP 
 
 the Edelweiss it is called. That might be 
 made to tell us that there is no religion so 
 cold and harsh but that it possesses some 
 good quality." 
 
 " Now about our own religion," he said 
 on another occasion to the children. " Our 
 religion regards other faiths as doing God's 
 work, and their adherents as sharing in fu- 
 ture happiness if their lives are good. 
 Hence we Israelites never seek to convert 
 other people to our belief. If they hold 
 firmly and honestly to their own and act 
 accordingly, they can be good and useful 
 men and women, and are as acceptable to 
 the Almighty. The Jew does not wish to 
 interfere with the religion of others, and 
 when he thinks of the future world, he has 
 no idea that all nations will become Jews, 
 but that all mankind will live together in 
 peace and unity, even as our Father in 
 Heaven is One. What could be purer and 
 better than this simple Jewish belief ! That 
 150 
 
victory! 
 
 is the real crown of our priesthood — to hold 
 a belief like that, never mind if the world 
 has not yet advanced far enough to see Ju- 
 daism as it really is. It will do so, one of 
 these days. And though the time seems 
 long deferred, we must still wait for its 
 coming.' , 
 
 " But, Herr Moses," the eldest daughter 
 once exclaimed — she was a girl of thirteen, 
 thoughtful for her years — " it is unjust that 
 we should be treated badly. Only the other 
 day they called us names on the street." 
 
 " That is an old story, Miriam. That 
 need not worry us. I was called once Jew- 
 boy in Dessau when I was a little fellow." 
 And he told the children the incident 
 under the willows by the stream. They 
 listened full of interest, and loved their 
 teacher more, if that was possible, from that 
 hour. 
 
 " You see, children, it did me no harm 
 to be called by that name. Fritz was 
 151 
 
STEP BY STEP 
 
 ashamed afterwards that he had acted so 
 rudely. If I had fought him, I should have 
 been whipped, because I was so small, but I 
 taught him what he needed to know. So 
 Israel. We cannot fight with the nations 
 that persecute us, because we are too weak. 
 We have no army, no navy, no cannon. But 
 we can teach the world the lesson it needs to 
 know, as some of us are doing. And one 
 day the lesson will be thoroughly learned 
 and never forgotten." 
 
 " But is it not rather hard on us, Herr 
 Moses? " inquired David, a clever boy of 
 eleven. 
 
 " No, no; not so hard as you think. It 
 makes us stronger. Don't you know that 
 persecution is often our best friend? It fills 
 us with greater love for our religion, and 
 thus keeps us firmer together, those of us 
 who survive. That is how the Almighty 
 causes good to come from evil. We need 
 have no fear. It is all for the best. That 
 152 
 
victory! 
 
 is enough for to-day, children," and the 
 hour's talk was over. 
 
 But those boys and girls often thought of 
 such hours of teaching, and kept in mem- 
 ory for many, many years afterwards their 
 teacher's wise and earnest words, which 
 helped so much to make them wise and 
 earnest men and women, full of love for 
 their religion. 
 
 Had not Moses gained his victory? 
 
 153 
 
XIV 
 HIS LIFE-WORK 
 
 What more is to be said? 
 
 The victory was won, after a long con- 
 test, in which the result might have been 
 foreseen from the start. Yet there were 
 more battles to be gained, more work to be 
 accomplished, more knowledge to be ac- 
 quired by this youth of twenty-one. 
 
 Yet step by step his further career was 
 rounded out with the harvest of the years. 
 
 Tutor to Mr. Bernhard's children first, 
 he became, five years later, his efficient 
 bookkeeper, then his representative, and at 
 last his partner. Book followed book; he 
 did not abandon literature as he grew fa- 
 miliar with his ledger and letter-files. He 
 studied Greek to read Plato in the original. 
 He wrote essays that were admired by 
 cultured German thought, and critical re- 
 views that have become part of German 
 154 
 
HIS LIFE-WORK 
 
 literature for their style as well as matter. 
 In 1762 he married Fromet Gugenheim of 
 Hamburg, and he won a prize, offered by 
 the Berlin Academy of Sciences, over the 
 great philosopher Kant. In 1763 he gained 
 from the Government the privileges of a 
 " protected Jew," and was exempted by the 
 Jewish community from paying Jewish 
 taxes, to show their appreciation of his ser- 
 vices. In 1767 he wrote his Phaedon, to 
 prove the immortality of the soul, and was 
 thenceforth called the German Socrates. 
 What more could he do? Might he not 
 withdraw now from work and enjoy some 
 leisure ? 
 
 There was more to be done, perhaps the 
 most important work of his life. Sure of 
 the esteem of the German world, he sought 
 to prepare his brethren in faith for German 
 culture by aiding in translating the Bible 
 into German. His translation of the Pen- 
 tateuch, begun first for his own children, 
 155 
 
STEP BY STEP 
 
 marked the opening of a new era for the 
 Jews of German-speaking lands, while he 
 strove as well to improve their religious life 
 and adjust to a certain degree their habits 
 and thoughts to the new age that was dawn- 
 ing upon Europe and the world in general. 
 
 But how can one tell in a few paragraphs 
 the life-work of Moses of Dessau, as he 
 modestly called himself? And how can 
 one as briefly describe the universal sorrow, 
 among Jews and non-Jews, the rich and the 
 poor, when he died in his fifty-seventh year, 
 on January 4, 1786, a few years after his 
 beloved Lessing had passed away? Prince 
 and peasant joined in lamentation, and 
 many Christians followed the funeral to the 
 grave in the old cemetery at Berlin, where 
 Moses now rests next to his beloved teacher, 
 David Fraenkel. 
 
 To-day, if you go to Dessau — it is only 
 a short distance by rail from Leipsic or 
 156 
 
HIS LIFE-WORK 
 
 Berlin — you will find the town not so very 
 much changed from the Dessau of Mendels- 
 sohn's boyhood. The little houses wear 
 practically the same appearance, although 
 naturally the streets are improved and the 
 willows by the stream have given way to 
 factories. Still there is much that will inter- 
 est you. 
 
 First there is the statue erected in Men- 
 delssohn's honor by the city of Dessau. 
 What would Fritz and Wilhelm and the 
 rest have said, if it had been told to them in 
 their boyhood that the Jew-boy would be 
 honored thus after his death? Then you 
 will glance at the house where he was born, 
 with its inscription, and enter, full of rever- 
 ence, the simple room where his cradle 
 stood, around which his father and mother 
 gathered, full of hope and ambition for 
 their smiling babe. The dwelling has been 
 turned into a Moses Mendelssohn Home 
 by representative Jews of Germany, where 
 157 
 
STEP BY STEP 
 
 the memorial of the man is piously kept for 
 future generations. 
 
 The hundredth (1829) and one hundred 
 and fiftieth (1879) anniversaries of his 
 birth — the latter was also the hundredth 
 anniversary of the appearance of Lessing's 
 " Nathan the Wise " — were widely cele- 
 brated. Large sums were given to found 
 fellowships for poor and needy students, 
 and to organize literary societies in his 
 name. He never went to any other uni- 
 versity than his attic room ; but on the one 
 hundred and fiftieth anniversary of his 
 birth one of his great-grandsons gave a 
 scholarship fund of one hundred and fifty 
 thousand mark in his memory to the Uni- 
 versity of Berlin, open to all students with- 
 out distinction of belief. A full edition of 
 his works has been issued, and the " Coun- 
 cil of German Hebrew Congregations " 
 published a " Lessing-Mendelssohn Memo- 
 rial Book " in 1879. 
 
 158 
 
HIS LIFE-WORK 
 
 Dessau saw the most memorable celebra- 
 tion of that one hundred and fiftieth anni- 
 versary. The entire court was present, 
 Duke, Duchess, and their retinue, the minis- 
 try, members of the State Council, magis- 
 trates and clergymen, while, at the special 
 invitation of the mayor, there were deputa- 
 tions present from Berlin, Vienna, Leipsic, 
 Hamburg, and other cities, who honored 
 themselves in honoring the memory of 
 Moses of Dessau. 
 
 Although the grave of Mozart is un- 
 known, his matchless music has survived as 
 his enduring monument. Great men need 
 no memorial, say our rabbis; they them- 
 selves are their best monuments. So in the 
 case of Moses Mendelssohn. To-day you 
 can visit his grave and the house of his 
 birth, with the many associations that keep 
 his name in constant remembrance. Yet, 
 when all these have passed away, his mem- 
 ory will survive. Such a motto as " step by 
 159 
 
STEP BY STEP 
 
 step " will ever inspire youth to noble deeds, 
 and the saying will be repeated for ages: 
 " From Moses to Moses, and from Moses 
 to Moses " — that is, from Moses, the son 
 of Amram, to Moses, the son of Maimon, 
 and from Moses, the son of Maimon, to 
 Moses, the son of Mendel. 
 
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