ESSAYS IN JEWISH BIOGRAPHY by ALEXANDER MARX PmLADELPHIA THE JEWISH
PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA 5708-1947 TO THE MEMORY OF MY
PARENTS GEORGE AND GERTRUD MARX Preface THE twelve biographies
included in this volume were not written according to a plan. Most
of them were called forth by anniversaries of great men others were
intended as memorials to departed scholars whose names and
achievements deserve to be retained in the minds of our own and
future generations. Moreover, personal reasons also had a share in
motivating my selec tion of each of these men, whose lives are here
presented to a wider circle of readers. The four mediaeval scholars
discussed herein, though not statesmen who influenced the course of
history, left a lasting impression on the development of Judaism.
The works of Rashi have attracted me since my early youth. My
Talmud teachers, as well as Professor Adolf Berliner, my first
teacher in Jewish History, imbued me with ad miration for Rashis
rare personality and I have, in the course of my talmudic studies,
gained in admiration for his wonderful Commentary on the Talmud. My
interest in Saadia was aroused by the greatness and originality of
his work and the unusual story of his life. It was sustained by the
continued discoveries of new material in the Centra which changed
and clarified the picture of this outstanding gaon. He was the
pathfinder in a variety of fields which reached the culmination of
their development in the works of that incomparable genius, Moses
Maimonides. While the essays on these three intellectual giants
were prepared in connection with their recent anniversaries, the
paper on Rabbenu Gershom was written at the suggestion of Profes
sor LouisFinkelstein for the Institute of Religious and Social
Studies. It was difficult to get a clear picture of the x PREFACE
before. Five of them were included in my Studies in Jewish History
andBooklore, New York, 1944 but since that book was meant for a
smaller circle of readers and its edition of 650 copies is entirely
out of print, they are repeated here. This book is due to a
suggestion made some years ago to The Jewish Publication Society by
my friend, Profes sor Shalom Spiegel. I am very grateful to him and
to the authorities of The Society for publishing this volume. Miss
Anna Kleban was helpful with the preparation of many of these
essays when they first appeared. Dr. Solomon Grayzel made numerous
valuable suggestions in revising these papers for publication. I
want to express my special thanks to my wife for her help, her
encouragement and her constructive criticism. I have striven, so
far as it is humanly possible, to pre sent an objective picture of
each of the ancient and modern scholars, not permitting my personal
feelings of admira tion or intimate friendship to blind my
judgment. I hope that these biographies will find a friendly circle
of readers and will serve, in spite of their simple and artless
presenta tion, as a slight contribution to the study of Jewish
history and the appreciation of some of our great scholars and
sages. ALEXANDER MARX New York, December 1, 1947. TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE PREFACE vii-x 1 RAB SAADIA GAON 3-38 2 RABBENU GERSHOM, LIGHT
OF THE EXILE 39-60 3 RASHI 61-86 4 MAIMONIDES 87-111 5 MORITZ
STEINSGHNEIDER 112-184 6 DAVID HOFFMANN 185-222 7 MAYER SULZBERGER
223-228 8 SOLOMON SCHECHTER 229-250 9 THE JEWISH SCHOLARSHIP OF
JOSEPH JACOBS 251-254 10 HENRYMALTER 255-264 11 MAX LEOPOLD
MARGOLIS 265-279 12 ISRAEL FRIEDLAENDER THE SCHOLAR 280-289
BIBLIOGRAPHY 293-298 ESSAYS IN JEWISH BIOGRAPHY 1 Rab Saadia Gaon,
UTSIDE of Palestine no country has exerted a deeper influence on
the development of Judaism than Babylonia. Jews had been settled
there since the destruction of the first Temple. They had arranged
for the return to the homeland under Cyrus they had inspired and
financed the later group which returned under Ezras leadership and
the trips of Nehemiah to strengthen the new Palestinian
settlement...
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