[Footnote 3:  Died 1840.  Famous as the author of More Nebuke ha-Zeman, “Guide of the Perplexed of (Our) Time,” a profound treatise, dealing with Jewish theological and historical problems.]

  1.  The Jew is obliged to study the Bible as well as Hebrew grammar
  and to interpret the biblical text in accordance with the plain
  grammatical sense.

2.  The Jewish religion does not condemn the knowledge of foreign languages and literatures, especially of the language of the country, such knowledge being required both in the personal interest of the individual Jew and in the common interest of the Jewish people.

  3.  The study of secular sciences is not attended by any danger for
  Judaism, men of the type of Maimonides having remained loyal Jews,
  in spite of their extensive general culture.

4.  It is necessary from the economic point of view to strengthen productive labor, such as handicrafts and agriculture, at the expense of commerce and brokerage, also to discourage early marriages between persons who are unprovided for and have no definite occupation.

These commonplaces sounded to that generation like epoch-making revelations.  They were condemned as rank heresies by the all-powerful obscurantists and hailed as a gospel of the approaching renaissance by that handful of progressives who dreamt of a new Jewish life and, cowed by the fear of persecution, hid these thoughts deep down in their breasts.

A similar fear compelled Levinsohn to exercise the utmost reserve and caution in criticizing the existing order of things.  The same consideration forced him to shield himself behind a pseudonym in publishing his anti-hasidic satire Dibre Tzaddikim, “The Words of the Tzaddiks,” [1] (Vienna, 1830), a rather feeble imitation of Megalle Temirin, the Hebrew counterpart of the “Epistles of Obscure Men,” by Joseph Perl. [2] His principal work, entitled Bet Yehudah, “The House of Judah,” a semi-philosophic, semi-publicistic review of the history of Judaism, remained for a long time in manuscript.  Levinsohn was unable to publish it for the reason that even the printing-press of Vilna, the only one to issue publications of a non-religious character, was afraid of bringing out a book which had failed to receive the approbation of the local rabbis.  Several years later, in 1839, the volume finally came out, clothed in the form of a reply to inquiries addressed to the author by a high Russian official.

[Footnote 1:  Literally, “The Words of the Righteous,” with reference to Ex. 23. 8:]

[Footnote 2:  See the preceding page, n. 1.]

From the point of view of Jewish learning, Bet Yehudah can claim but scanty merits.  It lacks that depth of philosophic-historic insight which distinguishes so brilliantly the “Guide of the Perplexed of Our Time” of the Galician thinker Krochmal. [1] The writer’s principal task is to prove from history his rather trite doctrine that Judaism had at no time shunned secular culture and philosophy.