E-text prepared by Juliet Sutherland, David King,
and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team
THE HASKALAH MOVEMENT IN RUSSIA
And the "Maskilim" shall shine
As the brightness of the firmament ...
Many shall run to and fro,
And knowledge shall be increased.
—Dan. xii. 3-4
BY
JACOB S. RAISIN, PH.D., D.D.
Author of "Sect, Creed and Custom in Judaism," etc.
PHILADELPHIA
THE JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA
1913
TO AARON S. RAISIN
Your name, dear father, will not be found in the followingpages, for, like "the waters of the Siloam that run softly," youever preferred to pursue your useful course in unassuming silence.Yet, as it is your life, devoted entirely to meditating, learning,and teaching, that inspired me in my effort, I dedicate this bookto you; and I am happy to know that I thus not only dedicate it toone of the noblest of Maskilim, but at the same time offer you someslight token of the esteem and affection felt for you by
Your Son,
JACOB S. RAISIN
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I. THE PRE-HASKALAH PERIOD
CHAPTER II. THE PERIOD OF TRANSITION
CHAPTER III. THE DAWN OF HASKALAH
CHAPTER IV. CONFLICTS AND CONQUESTS
CHAPTER V. RUSSIFICATION, REFORMATION, ANDASSIMILATION
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
ISAAC BÄR LEVINSOHN(1788-1860)
ALEXANDER ZEDERBAUM(1816-1893)
PEREZ BEN MOSHEH SMOLENSKIN(1842-1885)
MOSES LÖB LILIENBLUM(1843-1910)
PREFACE
To the lover of mankind the history of the Russo-Jewishrenaissance is an encouraging and inspiring phenomenon. Seldom hasa people made such rapid strides forward as the Russian Jews. Fromthe melancholy regularity that marked their existence a little morethan two generations ago, from the darkness of the Middle Ages inwhich they were steeped until the time of Alexander II, theyemerged suddenly into the life and light of the West, and some ofthe most intrepid devotees of latter-day culture, both in Europeand in America, have come from among them. Destitute of everythingthat makes for enlightenment, and under the dominion of aGovernment which sought to extinguish the few rushlights thatscattered the shadows around them, they nevertheless