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When Providence creates men who are destined to lead nations to order
and happiness, it seems to impart to these sons of genius a portion of
its foreknowledge. The axiom of a great historian* applies itself to
three eminent men in Israel, all bearing the name of Moses, who have
shone at the head of the sons of Jacob, like the column of fire which
guided them in the desert.
Moses, the son of Amram, condemned to death from his very birth,
found at the borders of the Nile, and educated by charity, was chosen by
the Lord as the instrument of revealing his holy law. Nursed under the
shadow of the throne of the Pharaohs, it is he who first inspired his
brothers with the first ideas of independence; he broke their fetters,
and for forty years he subdued their undisciplined mass; he put on the
triple crown of a prophet, a warrior and a legislator, and four thousand
years have passed over his grave, without weakening the rays of his
immortal glory, as prophet, as warrior, and as legislator.
Moses Ben Maimon (surnamed Maimonides), was born in the year 1139,
when the splendor of Jerusalem was nothing but an object of memory, and
when Israel, scattered over the surface of the globe, sought in the
skies for the polar star which was to rally its proscribed families. It
was at Cordova that he first saw the light, under the name of
Moussa-Ibn-Maimon, and his first steps in the career of science were
there first directed by the Arabian philosopher Averroës.* At
twenty-four years of age his great knowledge, his sublime eloquence, and
his thoughts, equally new as bold, caused him to be considered as a
dangerous man; and not deeming himself any longer safe in his own native
land, he fled into Egypt, where he carried on, in order to procure a
living, a trade in precious stones; but his immense knowledge could not
leave him long in an humble situation; the government of Egypt took him
soon as its counselor; then he became physician to the court. It was at
that time that he published different works, among others his commentary
on the Mishna. Under the regent Saladin, he worked ten years on his
notes to the Talmud, which appeared in fourteen volumes, under the title
of Yad Hachasaka; this is the most remarkable commentary extant on the
immense encyclopedia of the Talmud; wise observation, sound judgment,
and a true impartiality do as yet stamp this learned work as one of
great value. At length, besides several works on medicine and
philosophy, Moses Maimon, whom the Rabbins designate by the name of
Rambam, published a philosophical summary, under the title of "The
Guide of those who are Gone Astray," (Moreh Nebuchim,) a work of
the deepest interest, which is yet at this day the object of admiration
to the learned, although his works were exposed to the persecution of
the envious and mystifiers of his time; because this twofold plague was
never wanting at any period of literature. He lived tranquilly at Cairo,
beloved and esteemed as a man, as a scholar, and as a physician; his
wealth became the patrimony of the unfortunate, and his leisure moments
were devoted to the indigent sick, who flocked incessantly to his house.
When he died, which was either in 1206 or 1208, his loss caused
universal regret. His corpse, surrounded by a multitude in tears, was
carried to Tiberias; the entire people of Israel was in affliction, and
the synagogues of Cairo and Alexandria placed the day of his death in
the number of days of public mourning.
Moses Mendelssohn was born in the year 1720 at Dessau, in the Duchy
of Anhalt, in Germany. His father, having but little wealth, could not
make any sacrifice for his education. Young Mendelssohn had a taste for
study, and when his teacher, David Frankel, removed to Berlin, he
followed him thither, and there, in the familiar intercourse with the
learned Aaron Gomperts, he acquired the desire and the power of arriving
at scientific attainments; but he had to procure his living; and the
brilliant talents of Moses Mendelssohn were compelled to submit to the
subordinate duties of book-keeping, and afterwards to the labors of an
inspector of a silk-factory. Not having the means of paying a teacher or
of attending a regular course at the university, he undertook to
accomplish his education himself; he saved, by living sparingly,
sufficient to buy his first Latin books; and by dint of superhuman
efforts, which injured his health, he became one of the most learned men
of his time.
Moses Mendelssohn possessed the finest talents of all modern
Israelites; and Germany is justly entitled to be honored for counting
him among the number of its writers of the first rank. This man, who
instructed himself alone, has immortalized himself by an elegant and
faithful translation of the Bible,* into the national tongue, and by
some works in which science and philosophy lavish their profoundest
instruction. This simple clerk acquired for himself friends among all
ranks, and admirers among all persuasions. The Israelites, above all,
have vowed him a deep gratitude for the admirable lessons which he has
left them, and the impulse which he has given to the great work of their
emancipation. His contemporaries surrounded him with esteem and
admiration; and posterity, while ratifying this judgment, has joined
thereto the expression of its thankfulness.
These three eminent men are the historical stakes, so
to say, which mark in the best manner the passage of the Hebrew people
through the vicissitudes of history.
Moses, the son of Amram, announced an only God, who
fills the world with his immeasurable power; his moral system is that of
all religions established since his time; the chronicle which he wrote
has become the thread which guides the historian in the night of
antiquity; political science, agriculture, health-laws, the arts, and
nearly every kind of useful knowledge, find some precious memorials in
the Pentateuch. With what nobleness does he speak to Pharaoh! with what
force does he demonstrate to the Israelites the benefits of liberty!
with what wisdom does he govern, enlighten, and direct this people which
had been rendered torpid through slavery! with what perseverance does he
contend during forty years against rebellion, famine, and war!
Moses, the son of Maimon, gives to the lessons of the
Pentateuch an interpretation which is liberal, natural, and strict; he
establishes order and connection into the Talmudic laws, fixes the
duties and rights of each man, sums up the foundation of religion in
articles of faith, combats odious superstition, and places in bold
relief whatever of pure and elevated morality is contained in the
precepts of Moses.
Moses Mendelssohn, always correct and elegant at a
time when these qualities should serve as a passport to truth, is
nevertheless always full of strength and dignity. He occidentalizes, if
we may use this term, the laws of the Pentateuch, and shows their
relation to modern ideas: firm in his belief, and energetic in the
expression of his pious sentiments, he is not the less so when it is
necessary to contend against the abuses which have attached themselves
to the Jewish law, and disfigure it like the rust which tarnishes
polished steel.
Moses speaks to ignorant hearers, and when he is not
able to descend down to their understanding, he surrounds himself with a
religious obscurity, leaving to time the care of dissipating it.
Maimon often fears clashing against the ideas of his
readers, and it is in the form of an Arabian philosophy that he
envelopes his bold opinions.
Mendelssohn speaks to enlightened but timid men, and
his thoughts are dressed in brilliant colors, or suffer themselves to be
looked for in the dreams of the metaphysician.
The Israelites of Moses knew not yet the true law;
those of Maimon knew it badly, and those of Mendelssohn had
already forgotten it.
Moses awakened a religious sense among a people
debased by slavery; Maimon regenerated the erudition of Israel, weakened
by fanaticism; Mendelssohn revived its spirit benumbed by indifference.
Moses excited the people by recalling back to their
memory the past; Maimon animated them by painting the wants of the
present; Mendelssohn touched them by calling up before them the future.
In Moses the legislator predominates; in Maimon the
philosopher, and in Mendelssohn the poet. Thus Moses menaces, Maimon
counsels, Mendelssohn entreats.
And all three, equally sublime in their ideas, equally
noble in their expressions, have in view the same object--liberty; and
this by the same means--religion. Moses wrote the Pentateuch, Maimon
commented on it, and Mendelssohn translated it.
And all three springing from an obscure origin,
reached the highest rank through means of labor and courage; Moses was a
shepherd, Maimon was a humble merchant, Mendelssohn was a poor
book-keeper.
And all three were exposed to the same persecutions. A
people yet half-barbarous revolted against Moses; a coalition of
would-be learned men burnt the works of Maimon, and a vulgar crowd of
fanatics poisoned the triumphs of Mendelssohn.
And all three hoped something better of a future life;
Moses scarcely dared to preach the consoling precept of the immortality
of the soul; Maimon took shelter under the shield of Plato, Mendelssohn
took refuge under the wing of Phedon.
And all three, as if to complete the parallel, died
before having seen their works bearing fruit; before having seen the
dream of their life realized; none of them entered the promised land!
But all three have claims to the gratitude of
posterity. Some one has said, with good reason, that "from Moses to
Moses no other one could have been compared to them." The learned,
therefore, confound them in the same admiration; and without disturbing
oneself concerning the different periods and the different countries
which saw the birth of the three Moses, all Israel claim them as their
own; science cites them among her fathers; philosophy places them among
her elect; and humanity inscribes them among the number of her
benefactors. |
