תולדות שלמה מיימון - א פרק אין היסטוריא אויף אידיש

[טאמבל סאס]

א דאנק. אגב, רעדט ער נישט צום זאך ממרום, ואינו ראיה ווייל כמובן זאגט ער נישט גענוי וואסערע סארט בריק ס'געווען און וויאזוי ס'האטצעך צעבראכען ווען ס'האטצעך.
די שטיקל וואס איך ברענג נאך אויבן קען לכאורה אויך גיין אין דעם אשכול פון סברות התלמוד זענען זיי א פתח פאר חכמה אדער פאר דריידעלעך.
ווי אויך דאס:
"The pen falls from my hand, when I remember that I and others like me were obliged to spend in this soul-killing business the best days of our lives when the powers are in their full vigour, and to sit up many a night, to try and bring out some sense where there was none, to exercise our wits in the discovery of contradictions where none were to be found, to display acuteness in removing them where they were obviously to be met, to hunt after a shadow through a long series of arguments, and to build castles in the air."
און דאס:
"I found more pleasure in some of these books than in the Talmud. And this result was surely natural. Take the subjects of the Talmud, which, with the exception of those relating to jurisprudence, are dry and mostly unintelligible to a child—the laws of sacrifice, of purification, of forbidden meats, of feasts, and so forth—in which[Pg 28] the oddest rabbinical conceits are elaborated through many volumes with the finest dialectic, and the most absurd questions are discussed with the highest efforts of intellectual power; for example, how many white hairs may a red cow have, and yet remain a red cow; what sorts of scabs require this or that sort of purification; whether a louse or a flea may be killed on the Sabbath,—the first being allowed, while the second is a deadly sin;—whether the slaughter of an animal ought to be executed at the neck or the tail; whether the highpriest put on his shirt or his hose first; whether the Jabam, that is, the brother of a man who died childless, being required by law to marry the widow, is relieved from his obligation if he falls off a roof and sticks in the mire. Ohe jam satis est! Compare these glorious disputations, which are served up to young people and forced on them even to disgust, with history, in which natural events are related in an instructive and agreeable manner, with a knowledge of the world's structure, by which the outlook into nature is widened, and the vast whole is brought into a well-ordered system; surely my preference will be justified."

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[ליטוואק פון בודאפעסט]

טאמער ער זעט נישט די סברות און לאגיק וואס ס'ליגט אינ'ם סוגיא פון שער לבן שקדמה לבהרת צו וואס, קען איך איהם נישט העלפען. איך בין נאר נייגעריג צו ער האט פראבירט ערוואקסענעהייט צו לערנען די סוגיו, צו אלס איז גירסא דינקותא. אפשר וואלט ער געהאט אן אנדערען בליק ווען ער לערנט עס ערוואקסענעהייט.

[berlbalaguleh]

טאמער ער זעט נישט די סברות און לאגיק וואס ס'ליגט אינ'ם סוגיא פון שער לבן שקדמה לבהרת צו וואס, קען איך איהם נישט העלפען. איך בין נאר נייגעריג צו ער האט פראבירט ערוואקסענעהייט צו לערנען די סוגיו, צו אלס איז גירסא דינקותא. אפשר וואלט ער געהאט אן אנדערען בליק ווען ער לערנט עס ערוואקסענעהייט.

אדער אין די סוגיא פון ..."היזק שאינו ניכר"..."תשע חנויות/תשע ציבורין"...
נאר איך האב געליינט פון אנדערע מקורות (וואו זיי אידענטיפיצירן נישט שלמה מיימון ביים נאמען) אז די מתנגדים צו חסידות. ליין משכילים. האבן געהאלטן אז דער מגיד פון מעזריטש איז א שארלאטאן. און ער נוצט אט די מעטאדן פון וועלכע מיימון רעדט. אז ער האט שפיאנען, און פרעגט זיך נאך אויף געוויסע מענטשן, איבער זייער פערזענליכקייט און התנהגות. נאכדעם ווען אט די מענטשן קומען צו איהם, פרעטענדירט ער אז ער ווייסט אלץ איבער זיי דורך רוח הקודש...! עפ"ל...!

[טאמבל סאס]

מימון פארציילט איבער א פרומער רב וואס האט געסטאפט איהם צו פידן נאכן הערן אז מימון איז געקומען מעמיק זיין בחכמות. Among these was a brother of these young men, in other respects an honourable man, who was not without attainments. But as he was a zealous Talmudist, he inquired earnestly whether with my inclination towards the sciences I had not quite[Pg 213]neglected the Talmud; and as soon as he learnt, that I was so Maamik Bechochmah as to neglect the study of the Talmud, he gave up sending me my meals.

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[טאמבל סאס]

מימון איבער רעליגעיזע as well as פליזאפישע היפאקריטסווע:

On the other hand I consider it wrong in Jews, who from family attachments and interests profess the Jewish religion, to transgress its laws, where, according to their own opinion, these do not stand in the way of those motives. I cannot therefore understand the conduct of Mendelssohn in reference to a Jew of Hamburg who[Pg 231] openly transgressed the laws of his religion, and who was on that account excommunicated by the chief rabbi. Mendelssohn wanted to cancel the excommunication on the ground that the church has no rights in civil matters. But how can he then maintain the perpetuity of the Jewish ecclesiastical state? For what is a state without rights, and wherein consists, according to Mendelssohn, the rights of this ecclesiastical state? "How," says Mendelssohn, (in the preface to Manasseh ben Israel, p. 48), "can a state allow one of its useful and respected citizens to suffer misfortune through its laws?" Surely not, I reply; but the Hamburg Jew suffers no misfortune by virtue of the excommunication. He required only to say or do nothing which legally leads to this result, and he would then have avoided the sentence. For excommunication is merely tantamount to saying:—"So long as you put yourself in opposition to the laws of our communion, you are excluded from it; and you must therefore make up your mind whether this open disobedience or the privileges of our communion can most advance your blessedness." This surely cannot have escaped a mind like Mendelssohn's, and I leave it to others to decide how far a man may be inconsistent for the sake of human welfare.

דא האט מען שוין דערמאנט
viewtopic.php?p=323500#p323500

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[טאמבל סאס]

מנדלסון פאדערט א רעוויאו. א חשבון הנפש ווי מ'רופט עס. מימון אבער האט א גערעכטע טענה:
At last Mendelssohn asked me to come and see him, when he informed me of this alienation, and pointed out to me its causes. They complained, (1) that I had not made up my mind to any plan of life, and had thereby rendered fruitless all their exertions in my behalf; (2) that I was trying to spread dangerous opinions and systems; and (3) that, according to general rumour, I was leading a rather loose life, and was very much addicted to sensual pleasures.

The first of these complaints I endeavoured to answer by referring to the fact, which I had mentioned to my friends at the very first, that, in consequence of my peculiar training, I was indisposed for any kind of business, and adapted merely for a quiet speculative life, by which I could not only satisfy my natural inclination, but also, by teaching and similar means, provide for my support in a certain fashion. "As to the second point," I proceeded, "the opinions and systems referred to are either true or false. If the former, then I do not see how the knowledge of the truth can do any harm. If the latter, then let them be refuted. 


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[טאמבל סאס]

מימון האט ליב צו קוקן אויף די גראף'ס הייסע טאכטער. זיין טאטע אויך. אבער ער איז זיך מנחם אז ער וועט איר האבן לאחר מאה. אשפג
 Among the party was his daughter who afterwards married Prince Rawuzki. The young princess, in order to enjoy rest at noon, betook herself with the ladies of her court, the servants in waiting and the lackeys, to the very room, where as a boy I was sitting behind the stove. I was struck with astonishment at the magnificence and splendour of the court, gazed with rapture at the beauty of the persons and at the dresses with their trimmings of gold and silver lace; I could not satisfy my eyes with the sight. My father came just as I was out of myself with joy, and had broken into the words, "O how beautiful!" In order to calm me, and at the same time to confirm me in the principles of our faith, he whispered into my ear, "Little fool, in the other world the duksel will kindle the pezsure for us," which means, In the future life the princess will kindle[Pg 26] the stove for us. No one can conceive the sort of feeling which this statement produced in me. On the one hand, I believed my father, and was very glad about this future happiness in store for us; but I felt at the same time pity for the poor princess who was going to be doomed to such a degrading service. On the other hand, I could not get it into my head, that this beautiful rich princess in this splendid dress should ever make a fire for a poor Jew.

(אגב, כ'סוספעקט אז @דולה ומשקה האט פון דעם בוך גענומען דער סצענע, אילוסטרירונדיג א בחורל וואס שטייט ביים פענצטער און קוקט אויף די פריילינס וואס וואשען זיך אין טייך..)

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[טאמבל סאס]

דער מאדערן געקליידעטער בערלינער ראביי נארט ארויס פון דער נאאיווער צעפייערטער מימון דער ריכטיגער אורזאך פאר זיין קומען צו בערלין, אנשטעלענדיג א פארשטאנדיג טאלערירענדיג פנים. 'עקסעפינג' וואלט מען עס היינט געטוירמד. נאכדעם פארשיקט ער אים צו אלע רוחות. At last I reached this city. Here I believed that I should put an end to my misery, and accomplish all my wishes. But alas I was sadly deceived. In this capital, as is well known, no Jewish beggars were allowed. Accordingly the Jewish community of the place, in order to make provision for their poor, have built at the Rosenthaler gate a house, in which the poor are received, and questioned by the Jewish elders about what they want in Berlin. According to the results of such inquiry, they are either taken into the city, if they are sick or want employment, or they are sent forward on their journey. I was therefore conducted to this house, which was filled partly with sick people, partly with a lewd rabble. For a long while I looked round in vain for a man, with whom I might talk about my affairs.

At last I observed a man, who, to judge by his dress, was surely a rabbi. I went to him, and how great was my joy to learn from him, that he was really a rabbi, and pretty well known in Berlin! I conversed with him on all sorts of subjects connected with rabbinical learning; and as I was very open-hearted, I related to him[Pg 194] the course of my life in Poland, revealed to him my purpose of studying medicine in Berlin, showed him my commentary on the Moreh Nebhochim, and so forth. He listened to all, and seemed to interest himself very much in my behalf. But all at once he disappeared out of sight.

At length towards evening came the Jewish elders. Each of the persons in the house was called, and questioned about his wants. When my turn came, I said quite frankly, that I wished to remain in Berlin, in order to study medicine. The elders refused my request point-blank, gave me a pittance in charity, and went away. The reason of this conduct towards me in particular was nothing else than the following.

The rabbi, of whom I spoke, was a zealot in his orthodoxy. Accordingly when he had discovered my sentiments and purposes, he went into town, and informed the elders about my heretical mode of thinking. He told them, that I was going to issue a new edition of the Moreh Nebhochim with a commentary, and that my intention was not so much to study medicine, but mainly to devote myself to the sciences in general, and to extend my knowledge. This the orthodox Jews look upon as something dangerous to religion and good morals. They believe this to be specially true of the Polish rabbis, who, having by some lucky accident been delivered from the bondage of superstition, suddenly catch a gleam of the light of reason, and set themselves free from their chains.[Pg 195] And this belief is to some extent well-founded. Persons in such a position may be compared to a man, who, after being famished for a long time, suddenly comes upon a well spread table, who will attack the food with violent greed, and fill himself even to surfeiting.

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[טאמבל סאס]

מימון מאקט די סופירסטישענס וואס ער האט באגעגנט אין פויזנא. עס קוקט אויס ווי א רעדענדיגע פיש איז א איבערחזרנדע theme ביי איינגערעדטע פארגלייבטע מענטשן:

In the first place the esteem entertained for me in this house went so far, that malgré moi they were going to make me a prophet. My pupil was betrothed to the daughter of a chief rabbi, who was a brother-in-law of the chief rabbi in Posen. The bride, a girl of about[Pg 207] twelve years, was brought to Posen by her parents-in-law at the feast of Pentecost. On the occasion of this visit I observed that the girl was of a very phlegmatic temperament and somewhat consumptive. I mentioned this to the brother of my host, and added with a significant look, that I was very anxious for the girl, as I did not believe that her health would last long. After the feast was over the girl was sent home, and a fortnight afterwards a letter was received announcing her death. On this account, not only in the house where I lived, but in the whole town, I was taken for a prophet, who had been able to foretell the death of this girl. As I wished nothing less than to deceive, I endeavoured to bring these superstitious people to a different train of thought. I told them that anybody, who had made observations in the world, would have been able to foretell the same thing. But it was of no use. Once for all I was a prophet, and had to remain one.

Another incident occurred in a Jewish house one Friday when they were preparing fish for the Sabbath. The fish was a carp, and it seemed to the cook who was cutting it up as if it uttered a sound. This threw everybody into a panic. The rabbi was asked what should be done with this dumb fish that had ventured to speak. Under the superstitious idea that the carp was possessed with a spirit, the rabbi enjoined that it should be wrapped in a linen cloth, and buried with pomp.
At the entrance to the Common Hall in Posen there has been, no one knows for how long, a stag-horn fixed into the wall. The Jews are unanimously of the conviction, that any one who touches this horn is sure to die on the spot; and they relate a multitude of instances in proof. This would not go down with me at all, and I made fun of it. So one day when I was passing the stag-horn with some other Jews, I said to them, "You Posen fools, do you think that any one who touches this horn must die on the spot? See, I dare to touch it!"[Pg 209] Horror-struck, they expected my death on the spot; but as nothing happened, their anxiety for me was converted into hatred. They looked on me as one who had profaned the sanctuary.

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[טאמבל סאס]

אזא יששכר וזבולון עסק אויף מיר געוואונטשן..."די שיעור שבת נאכמיטאג אין מו"נ געגיבן דורך רעב שלמה מימון שליטא וועט פארקומען אום פינף דרייסיג. ס'איז נישט געמאכט פאר באקעס!"


 The young scholars of the town passed a resolution at their meeting to make up for me a salary, for which I was to deliver lectures to them on the celebrated and profound work of Maimonides, Moreh Nebhochim. This proposal, however, was never carried out, because the parents of these young people were anxious lest their children should be thereby led astray, and by independent thinking on religion be made to waver in their faith. They acknowledged indeed that, with all my fondness for religious speculation, I was still a pious man and an orthodox rabbi. But they could not rely upon their children having sufficient judgment, to be able to enter upon this course without passing from one extreme to the other, from superstition to unbelief; and therein perhaps they were right.

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[איך אויך]

איך וואלט נישט גערופן רבי ר' בער א שארלאטאן ווייל סוכ"ס האט ער נישט אויסגענוצט זיין פאזיציע נאר פאר זיין פערזענליכע באדערפעניש, ער האט דאך זיי למעשה געפירט אין עבודת השם, וא"כ לא שבקת חיי לכל בריה.

פשיהא נאכאמזל ,וואס וואלטן מיר געטוהן ווען יא?

[berlbalaguleh]

טאמבל סאס: אין דיין תגובה פון 8:53 עי.עם., היינט, איז אלץ פיין און וואויל. נאר אין די לעצטע שורה וואו די זאגסט אז דולה ומשקה האט גענומען זיין שילדערונג פון אט די סצענע, איז די איבערזעצונג א פאקטישער טעות. ווייל ער שילדערט א סצענע וואו די יונגע נישט-אידישע פריילינס וואשן די וועש. נישט אז זיי באדן זיך אין טייך. אזוי ווי די גמ' (וועלכע רעדט איבער ..."דרכא אחרינא") מיינט אויכעט נישט אז די נשים באדן זיך אין טייך. נאר זיי וואשן די וועש. ..."נשים העומדות על הכביסה". טאקע אזוי ווי דולה ומשקה שילדערט עס אין זיין ארטיקל...! אבער דא. (מיימון) איז גאנץ אן אנדערע סצענע...!

[berlbalaguleh]

טאמבל סאוס: אין דיין תגובה פון 12:34 נ.מ. אין ערשטן פאראגראף וואו דו ברענגסט די פארציילונג פון שלמה מיימון, איז דא דאס ווארט ..."קאנסומפטיוו"...איבער זיין דיאגנאז פונ'ם געזונט-צושטאנד פונ'ם מיידל. וואס, פונקטליך מיינט דאס ווארט ..."קאנסומפטיוו"...אין אידישער איבערזעצונג...?! פארשטייט זיך אז ס'איז נאר א רעטארישע שאלה. ווייל איך וויל הערן דעם ענטפער פון אן אינטעלעקטואל...!

[טאמבל סאס]

די עלטערן האבן דאן נישט געלאזט די אינגלעך מיטקומען און פארשטייט זיך אז בחורים אוודאי נישט, גרויסע נסיונות האבן בחורים געהאט אויב האבן זיי געוואוינט לעבן טייך. בחורים זענען געגאנגען צו הייזער פון זייערע חברים וועלעכע האבן געוואוינט נעבן טייך צו קענען ארויסקוקן פון פענסטער, און געהאפט אז דער טאטע ברודער אדער שוועסטער זאל זיי נישט כאפן ביים מעשה

די מקוה איז געבויט געווארען גאר נאהנט צום טייך, פון וואו דאס וואסער איז געקומען צו פליסן.

כהאב געזאגט פון 'דעם בוך', נישט פון דער ציטוט וואס כהאב צוגעברענגט. אז דו ווילסט זען דעם שטיקל, בעט! שעם דיך נישט!

אט איז עס:
"A poor, but very pretty, girl about my own age was taken into our house as a servant. She charmed me uncommonly. Desires began to stir in me, which till this time I had never known. But in accordance with the strict rabbinical morals, I was obliged to keep on my guard against looking on the girl with attentive gaze, and still more against speaking with her, so that I was able only now and then to throw at her a stolen glance.

It happened once however that the women of the house were going to bathe, which by the usage of the country they are accustomed to do two or three times a week. By chance my instinct drove me without reflection[Pg 60] towards the place where they bathed; and there I suddenly perceived this beautiful girl, as she stepped out of the steam-bath and plunged into the river flowing by. At this sight I fell into a sort of rapture. After my feelings had calmed down again, being mindful of the strict Talmudic laws, I wished to flee. But I could not; I remained standing, as if rooted in the spot. As I dreaded however lest I might be surprised here, I was obliged to return with a heavy heart. From that time I became restless, was sometimes beside myself; and this state continued till my marriage."




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[טאמבל סאס]

טאמבל סאוס: אין דיין תגובה פון 12:34 נ.מ. אין ערשטן פאראגראף וואו דו ברענגסט די פארציילונג פון שלמה מיימון, איז דא דאס ווארט ..."קאנסומפטיוו"...איבער זיין דיאגנאז פונ'ם געזונט-צושטאנד פונ'ם מיידל. וואס, פונקטליך מיינט דאס ווארט ..."קאנסומפטיוו"...אין אידישער איבערזעצונג...?! פארשטייט זיך אז ס'איז נאר א רעטארישע שאלה. ווייל איך וויל הערן דעם ענטפער פון אן אינטעלעקטואל...!

שטארק פארקרענקט

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[ליטוואק פון בודאפעסט]

ס'מיינט tuberculosis

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[berlbalaguleh]

ס'מיינט tuberculosis

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טאמבל סאוס: מער ספעציפיש. די מחלה וואס הייסט טובערקולאסיס. ווייל דאס האט אויפגעגעסן דעם מענטש. מ'האט פארלוירן וואג אלץ מער. פאר די אנטי-ביאטיקס זענען ערפונדן געווארן. ליטוואק פון בודאפעסט איז גערעכט...ראה תגובתו למעלה/למטה...!

[טאמבל סאס]

דאס איז וויאזוי מימון האט געזען מיסטעריעס:
"Natural religion has no mysteries any more than merely positive religion. For there is no mystery implied in one man being unable to communicate his knowledge to another of defective capacity with the same degree of completeness which he himself has attained; otherwise mysteries might be attributed to all the sciences, and there would then be mysteries of mathematics as well as mysteries of religion. Only political religion can have mysteries, in order to lead men in an indirect way to the attainment of the political end, inasmuch as they are made to believe that thereby they can best attain their private ends, though this is not always in reality the case. There are lesser andgreater mysteries in the political religions. The former consist in the materialknowledge of all particular operations and their connection with one another. The latter, on the contrary, consist in the knowledge of the form, that is, of the end by which the former are determined. The former constitute the totality of the laws of religion, but the latter contains the spirit of the laws."

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