Chapter 2 Adventurer, (Pseudo?)-Kabbalist, and Theosophist: Gershom Scholem’s Research on Ephraim Joseph Hirschfeld
Patrick Benjamin Koch
Abstract
In his kabbalistic studies, Gershom Scholem arguably showed special interest in bi- ographies of individuals who personify the so-called “anarchic potential” of what he termed “heretical kabbalah.” This tendency is also reflected in his research on Ephraim Joseph Hirschfeld (ca. 1755–1820), one of the first Jews admitted to a Masonic order in a German-speaking country. The present article reconstructs Gershom Scholem’s inves- tigations of E.J. Hirschfeld based on the collection of materials that he acquired over a period of two decades. A careful analysis of Scholem’s copies of Masonic manuscripts and handwritten notes reveals that in the course of his work he eventually qualified his premature evaluation of Hirschfeld as a kabbalist and “forgotten Jewish mystic.” In a wider context, the analysis shows how Scholem’s dialectical understanding of the his- tory of Jewish mysticism profoundly influenced his understanding of Hirschfeld’s life.
Keywords
Asiatic Brethren – Ephraim Joseph Hirschfeld – Enlightenment – esotericism – freemasonry – Jewish mysticism – kabbalah
In the autumn of 1981, Gershom Scholem returned again to his birthplace of Berlin, where he planned to stay for a one-year residency at the newly founded Wissenschaftskolleg in Weissensee. As was indicated in a letter that he had sent to his brother Reinhold on 31 August 1981 from Sils-Maria, Switzerland, he intended to write a German monograph on the Jewish freemason Ephraim Joseph (E.J.) Hirschfeld (ca. 1755–1820) during this period.1
1 Scholem, Briefe iii, 225, viii, and 241. Cf. Veltri, Necker, and Koch, “Die versuchte Wiederauf- nahme.”
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Hirschfeld’s checkered life had actually sparked Scholem’s interest two de- cades earlier. In “A Forgotten Jewish Mystic of the Enlightenment,” published in 1962, he had already presented an analysis of Hirschfeld’s eccentric character.2 On the basis of the sparse material available at that time, Scholem had posited two major theses on where to locate Hirschfeld in the framework of modern Jewish history: first, he had portrayed him as a Jewish mystic and, specifical- ly, as one of the last German kabbalists.3 In this fashion, he wrote in another study, also published in 1962, that “kabbalistic inclinations led [Hirschfeld] … into very different circles, namely the mystical secret societies of the theoso- phists and the theosophically oriented freemasons.”4 In other words, Scholem regarded Hirschfeld’s affinity with the Jewish mystical traditions as the main reason for his increasing interest in other contemporary non-Jewish esoteric movements, which themselves were deeply attracted to kabbalistic lore. Second, Scholem portrayed Hirschfeld as a somewhat alienated mystic who was at the epicenter of the Haskalah, a portrayal that substantiated his overall historical analysis of Jewish mysticism, particularly its gradual deterioration as a historical and social phenomenon during the modern period. Already in 1941, Scholem described Hasidism as “the latest phase” of Jewish mysticism.5 In 1962, he declared that the kabbalistic traditions in the German-speaking coun- tries had reached an end as a result of “Mendelssohn’s activities and school,” on the one hand, and as a result of the Sabbatian movement, particularly in the “aftermath of the fights between Jakob Emden and Jonathan Eybeschütz,” on the other.6 This upheaval eventually paved the way for the emergence of a “strange amalgamation of kabbalistic studies with the new world of ideas of
2 Scholem, “Ein verschollener jüdischer Mystiker.” It is likely that Scholem first encountered Hirschfeld while reading Peter Beer, Geschichte, 390f. Cf. Scholem, ibid., 248. 3 The same assessment can also be found in one of Scholem’s notes in his personal copy of Ephraim Joseph Hirschfeld and Pascal Hirschfeld, Biblisches Organon, where he describes him as a “kabbalist-theosophist, who wrote in German.” Scholem’s copy of this very rare book is today housed at the Gershom Scholem Library of the National Library of Israel under the signature R8915. The note is to be found on the second blank page (recto). 4 Scholem, “Zur Literatur,” 362f. and see also the slightly revised version of Scholem, “Die letz- ten Kabbalisten.” 5 Scholem, Major Trends, 325. For Scholem’s thesis that Hasidism was the last phase of Jew- ish mysticism, see also Assaf and Liebes, Ha-shalav ha-akharon; and Meir, “Ginzei Shalom.” In recent years, this assessment has been criticized and proven incorrect. See, for example, Garb, The Chosen Will Become Herds; Garb, “The Modernization of Kabbalah”; Giller, Shalom Shar’abi; Magid, “‘The King is Dead’”; and Magid, “Mysticism, History, and a ‘New’ Kabbalah.” 6 Scholem, “Zur Literatur,” 359.
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7 Ibid., 360. 8 In a letter to Rafael Edelmann, Scholem wrote that he was planning to visit the archives in Copenhagen and that, depending on his findings, he would consider publishing the outcome of his research with the Leo Baeck Institute in Jerusalem (Letter of Scholem Ad- dressed to Rafael Edelmann from 24 July 1962, Scholem Archive of the National Library of Israel, [hereafter abbreviated as nli], 4*1599 06, 194/2). 9 In a letter to Theodor W. Adorno from 22 April 1963, Scholem mentions that he will pre- sumably stay in Copenhagen during the entire month of September (Scholem, Briefe ii, 93). On 19 October 1963, he sent a letter to Hannah Arendt from Copenhagen (ibid., 110f.). 10 See Katz, “Moses Mendelssohn,” 295; and Scholem, “Ein Frankist,” 81, n. 15. 11 In a letter addressed to his brother Reinhold, he wrote: “I have sent 10 kilos of docu- ments(!) to Berlin that need to be exploited from three archives” (Scholem, Briefe iii, 241). 12 In addition to his German article, Scholem published a short English encyclopedia entry on E.J. Hirschfeld in 1972 (see Scholem, “Hirschfeld,” 136f.). 13 The few studies that dealt with E.J. Hirschfeld after Scholem’s death drew their informa- tion almost exclusively from the publications of Scholem and Jacob Katz. See, for ex- ample, Davidowicz, “Zwischen Aufklärung und Mystik”; Kilcher, “Franz Joseph Molitors
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1 E.J. Hirschfeld: From Kabbalah to the Enlightenment?
In their research, both Scholem and Katz postulated that Hirschfeld must have enjoyed an extensive Jewish education as a child.18 At first glance, this assump- tion seems plausible, as Hirschfeld’s father, Me’ir Tzevi Darmstadt (also known as Joseph Hirschel Darmstadt) was a rabbi and was known as the author of a commentary on the talmudic tractates Berakhot, Beitzah, and Megillah, as well as a Yiddish translation of Moshe Alsheikh’s (1520–1593) Torat Moshe, a com- mentary on Genesis.19 But in fact, we have no evidence that Hirschfeld had any significant knowl- edge of—or that he received special training in—the Jewish tradition. Neither David Friedländer (1750–1834), who employed Hirschfeld as an accountant during his stay in Berlin (1779–1781), nor Moses Mendelssohn (1729–1790), who
Kabbala-Projekt” (on Hirschfeld, see 147f.); Schulte, “‘Die Buchstaben’” (on Hirschfeld, see 146f.); and Schulte, Die jüdische Aufklärung, 135–137, 235f. 14 The complete collection of the documents, as well as Scholem’s personal notes, is now located at the Scholem Archive of the nli (signature 4*1599 06). 15 In masonic circles, the set of instructions that outline the steps of cognition that a brother needs to master are often labeled as the “degree of craft system” (Ger. Hochgradystem). 16 Scholem’s re-evaluation is also evident in the previously mentioned letter to his brother Reinhold, where he characterizes Hirschfeld as an “adventurer, (pseudo?)-kabbalist, and theosophist.” (See Scholem, Briefe iii, 241). 17 See, for example, Maciejko, “Gershom Scholem’s Dialectic”; and Dan, “Gershom Scholem.” 18 Scholem, “Hirschfeld,” 136; Katz, “Moses Mendelssohn,” 301 (a detailed reconstruction of Hirschfeld’s biography can be found here, as well as in Katz, “Der Orden,” 246f. This article was also published in Katz, Zwischen Messianismus und Zionismus). 19 Josef ben Meir Zwi Darmstadt, ʿEtz Yosef (Karlsruhe, 1763); Josef ben Meir Zwi Darmstadt, Sefer Bereshit Torat Moshe (Karlsruhe, 1769). Cf. Katz, “Moses Mendelssohn,” 302.
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20 A letter of Isaak Daniel Itzig as well as a letter of recommendation for Hirschfeld written by Moses Mendelssohn inform us that he was acquainted with the circles of the Enlight- enment in Berlin (see Katz, “Moses Mendelssohn,” 295; and Katz, “Der Orden,” 246f.). 21 MS Copenhagen, Den Danske Store Landsloge, F VII/19, fol. 4b. Cf. Veltri, Necker, and Koch, “Die versuchte Wiederaufnahme,” 142f. See also Katz, “Der Orden,” 245. 22 Katz, “Der Orden,” 246. 23 Ibid. Hirschfeld dropped out of university without having earned a degree. 24 Katz, “Moses Mendelssohn,” 301. Scholem, however, characterized Hirschfeld’s German as “clumsy and cumbersome” (Scholem, “Ein verschollener jüdischer Mystiker,” 251). 25 Katz, “Der Orden,” 240; Katz, “Moses Mendelssohn,” 296. 26 In rabbinic literature, the title ʿoker harim designates an individual known for his keen mind and excellent command of talmudic dialectics (see, for example, BT Berakhot, fol. 64a; BT Zeraʿim, fol. 64a; BT Nezikin, fol. 14a and fol. 24a). In zoharic literature, Rav Ham- nuna Sava is referred to as ʿoker harim (Zohar I, fol. 7b). For the adoption of the title by the Asiatic Brethren, see the anonymous Der Freymaurer, booklet iv and booklet v, 95. Cf. Veltri, Necker, and Koch, “Die versuchte Wiederaufnahme,” 147, 155. 27 See above, n. 15.
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2 Author of the Brethren’s Degree System?
In “A Forgotten Jewish Mystic,” Scholem chronicles his encounter with Hirschfeld’s life and ideas in order to convince the reader that Hirschfeld great- ly contributed to the kabbalistic contents of the order’s writings. Accordingly, some of the cautiously formulated hypotheses that can be found at the begin- ning of the article are later presented as actual facts. For example, Scholem begins by mentioning that “one might assume that it is most likely that the writings of the order were produced by both Hirschfeld and Ecker.”29 A few pages later, he claims that the Christian kabbalistic and alchemical sources of the order’s instructions “were supplemented in quite a few instances with Jew- ish and kabbalistic highlights, which, without any doubt, must have originated in Hirschfeld’s thoughts.”30 Eventually, he concludes that Hirschfeld was “with utmost certainty the author of all those [i.e., kabbalistic] explanations in the order’s instructions.”31 In a letter written to the Danish Grand Lodge in Copenhagen on 4 May 1962, Scholem again expresses his wishful thinking on the importance of Hirschfeld’s kabbalistic writings for the Asiatic Brethren:
I am now engaged on historical research on this rather elusive personal- ity who without doubt must be considered the author of some of the
28 Hirschfeld particularly dealt with these matters in the six letters that he published to- gether with the Biblical Organon (see Hirschfeld and Hirschfeld, Biblisches Organon, 1–36. For a description of a “mystical awakening,” see, for example, ibid., 5f.). 29 Scholem, “Ein verschollener jüdischer Mystiker,” 263. Von Ecker was one of the founders of the Asiatic Brethren. 30 Ibid. Scholem refers to Louis Claude de Saint-Martin, Des Erreurs et de la Vérité (Edin- burgh, 1775), and Georg von Welling, Opus Mago-Cabbalisticum et Theosophicum (Hom- burg vor der Höhe, 1735), as the main sources for Hirschfeld’s Christian-kabbalistic and alchemical ideas. 31 Scholem, “Ein verschollener jüdischer Mystiker,” 269f.
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order’s doctrinal writings, particularly in kabbalistic matters, which have come to my knowledge through a volume published in Berlin in 1803.32
Scholem almost certainly refers here to the treatise The St. John the Evangelist Brethren from Asia in Europe (Die Brüder St. Johannis des Evangelisten aus Asien in Europa),33 an unauthorized and anonymously published excerpt of the or- der’s degree of craft system, which served him in 1962 as the only accessible source for analyzing the kabbalistic contents of the order’s writings.34 How- ever, in “A Forgotten Jewish Mystic,” Scholem also states that this work does not provide any information on Hirschfeld.35 Indeed, neither the name Hirschfeld nor the name Hirschel, nor even his pseudonym “Marcus Ben Binah” is men- tioned there. It is therefore more likely that Scholem based his thesis of Hirschfeld’s alleged authorship “of some of the order’s doctrinal writings” on another source: the anonymously published polemic Everything about all Secret Societies (Das Gan- ze aller geheimen Ordens-Verbindungen, 1805).36 There, we learn that Hirschfeld “had the biggest share in the intellectual development of the Asiatic Brethren,” and that he was the source of “the kabbalistic dreams and foolish interpretations that—regardless of their poor consistency—hold together this patchwork.”37 At the time, Scholem was unaware of the fact that such claims were quite common in masonic literature written at the turn of the eighteenth century, and that the opponents of the Asiatic Brethren referred to the allegedly Jew- ish origins of the order’s documents to underscore their alleged inauthen- ticity. Thus, the entire discussion in Everything about all Secret Societies was copied verbatim from a 1796 treatise, The Freemason, or Composite Library of Everything One Needs to Know about Secret Societies (Der Freymaurer, oder compendiöse Bibliothek alles Wissenswürdigen über geheime Gesellschaften).38 A century later, in the Basic Handbook of Freemasonry (Allgemeines Handbuch der Freimaurerei), one can still read that Hirschfeld “the Jew [is] responsible for the order’s kabbalistic tendency.”39
32 Letter from Scholem to the Danske Frimurerorden from 4 May 1962, 1 (Scholem Archive, nli, 4*1599 06 194). 33 Die Brüder St. Johannis. 34 Scholem, “Ein verschollener jüdischer Mystiker,” 264f., 257f. 35 Ibid., 265. 36 [von Goué], Das Ganze aller geheimen Ordens-Verbindungen. See ibid., 410–435. 37 Ibid., 418f. Cf. Scholem, “Ein verschollener jüdischer Mystiker,” 261f. 38 Der Freymaurer, 95. 39 Lennings, Allgemeines Handbuch, 50. Cf. Scholem, “Verschollener jüdischer Mystiker,” 259. A corrupted version of this account can be found in Runkel, Geschichte, 81, where
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The common source of these three examples, however, can be traced back to still another work, named The Asian in his Nakedness (Der Asiate in sein- er Blöße), written by a pastor from Hamburg and published in 1790.40 This work Scholem would discover at a later stage in his investigations.41 The long passages quoted below leave no doubt as to the intention of the work’s au- thor to expose the Asiatic Brethren as renegades and their craft system as pseudo-freemasonry:
[I would like to ask] one more question: where did your wisdom come from? I previously stated that it was forged by renegade Rosicrucians, and that is the truth. What I did not tell you is that Br[other] Marcus Ben Bina42 had the greatest share, and he made the greatest of efforts in order to smarten the system into its present state; from him, the kabbalistic dreams and foolish interpretations that hold together your patchwork originated. Most of the papers stem from him, they were his property, from him you acquired them, and when you appointed him Ocker Harim,43 was this [meant to be] a compensation?… Marcus Ben Bina had the greatest merit with respect to the teachings of the order, or the so-called oriental philosophy (since this should not be regarded as true philosophy?). The more he wove in kabbalistic words, the more the wise fathers were amazed by these papers.44
Here, one should seriously consider the reliability of Scholem’s approach in re- garding such polemical and at times anti-Jewish writings as sufficient evidence that Hirschfeld was “unquestionably the author of these elaborations of the or- der’s instructions.”45 This seems all the more necessary because the documents that are housed at the freemasons’ archives in Copenhagen deliver a somewhat
it reads: “We see that the entire teachings are saturated by alchemical-Rosicrucian, and Talmudic-speculative philosophy, which originated from a zealous assistant of Eckhoff, the Jew Markus Hirsch or Hirschmann, who at times called himself also von Hirschfeld.” 40 Scholem Archive, nli, 4*1599 06 189. 41 In one of his personal copies of his “A Forgotten Jewish Mystic,” one can find the following marginal note on 262: “Source could be proven now, The Asian in his Nakedness 1790, 77” (in Scholem Archive, nli, 4*1599 06 195). 42 I.e., E.J. Hirschfeld. 43 The designation “Ocker Harim” refers to Hirschfeld’s assignment as custodian of the Brethren’s archives. See also above, n. 26. 44 Der Asiate in seiner Blöße, 77f. 45 Scholem, “Ein verschollener jüdischer Mystiker,” 269f.
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Also, it must be addressed here that … Hirschfeld did not piece together our teaching system. He himself admits this by having written down ver- batim: “The Br[other] ‘Ocker Harim’ should prepare [copies], as well as supervise the preparation of the instructions that were taken from the order’s archive, and deliver them to the small Synedrio, from where they will be distributed to the masteries, the upper masteries, and further au- thorities of the order by way of the law.”47 The instructions of the order … belonged to the order right from the beginning: how could Hirschfeld have taken the instructions … from the order’s archives … if they weren’t deposited there [in the first place]?48
In his function as a chief custodian of the Brethren’s archives, Hirschfeld was responsible for the duplication and distribution of the instructions to other branches of the order. The “preparations” mentioned in this quote might hint at textual interventions. However, in another manuscript Hirschfeld himself describes these assignments as copy-editing and, more precisely, as correc- tions of “crept-in crudities.”49 One may assume that on the basis of these new insights Scholem began to doubt his initial assessment from 1962. This is particularly evidenced by some of the marginalia in one of his personal copies of “A Forgotten Jewish Mystic,” which today is kept in the Scholem Archive at the National Library of Israel in Jerusalem.50 However, Scholem’s reassessment might have been inspired by
46 Scholem writes in his personal notes that the apologetic response to the Asian in his Na- kedness comprises a total of 113 pages. He himself only copied fols. 21b–28a (Scholem Ar- chive, nli, 4*1599 06 189/2, 78 [my counting]). Polemics of this type are not exceptional. See, for example, [Münter], Authentische Nachricht and the reply of Hans Karl von Ecker und Eckhoffen published under his pseudonym Boscamp, Werden und können Israeliten zu Freymaurern aufgenommen werden? 47 The passage in italics is taken from Hirschfeld’s Conventionala (MS Copenhagen, Den Danske Store Landsloge, F vii, 10c [Scholem Archive, nli, 4*1599 06 185/5]). I was not able to locate the respective pages of the apologetic response among Scholem’s copies. Cf. Scholem’s notes, Scholem Archive, nli, 4*1599 06 189/2, 78 (my counting). 48 MS Copenhagen, Den Danske Store Landsloge, F vii 10 c (Scholem Archive, nli, 4*1599 06 182, 11 [my counting]). 49 “Eingeschlichener Cruditäten” (MS Copenhagen, Den Danske Store Landsloge, F vii, 10c [Scholem Archive, nli, 4*1599 06 185/5]). 50 Scholem, for example, reassesses his former claim that Hirschfeld was the author of most of the order’s instructions as follows: “But this is incorrect!” Regarding his statement that Hirschfeld created a kabbalistic diagram that is still extant in the collection of the
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The well-known masters of this order [i.e., the Asiatic Brethren] were a Mister von Schönfeld (who had great knowledge of the Hebrew-Chaldean language …) and Eckhoff, who were both living in Vienna. Schönfeld … possessed many rare manuscripts that he inherited from his grandfather, which served as a basis for the instructions of the Brethren of the Light.54 According to his descent and his knowledge attained from the manu- scripts, he was always in contact with the sect of Shabbetai Tzevi, which had many followers in Poland, Hungary, and Bohemia.55
The course of events recorded by Molitor is congruent with the official account of the order’s history that is found in the freemasons’ archives in Copenhagen.
freemasons’ archive in Copenhagen, he noted: “No, it was property of the order but not known to Hirschfeld” (in Scholem’s personal copy of “Verschollener jüdischer Mystiker,” 263 and 273, respectively [Scholem Archive, nli, 4*1599 06 195]). 51 Katz, “Hapulmus harishon,” especially 183. Cf., however, Katz, “Moses Mendelssohn,” 298, where he still assumed that Hirschfeld was involved in drafting the order’s instructions. 52 The shorter version from 1820 was published as an appendix to Katz, “Ha-pulmus ha- rishon,” 204f. The longer version from 1829 was published in Mandel, Le Messie Militant, 307–330. Cf. Kilcher, “Franz Joseph Molitors Kabbala-Projekt,” 149, n. 46. Katz’s dating of the second version to 1824 is inaccurate (see Katz, “Ha-pulmus ha-rishon,” 181, n. 43; and Katz, “Der Orden,” 271, n. 1). 53 Cf. Koch, Franz Joseph Molitor, 38f. On the relationship between Hirschfeld and Molitor, see also Ehrmann, Das Judenthum in der M[aurere]y, 9. 54 Molitor refers here to the original name of the order used between the years 1780 and 1781, namely “The Knights of the True Light” (Die Ritter zum wahren Licht). The order was only later renamed into “The Brethren of Saint John the Evangelist from Asia in Europe” (Die Brüder St. Johannes des Evangelisten aus Asien in Europa) or “The Asiatic Brethren” (Die Asiatischen Brüder), respectively (cf. Katz, “Moses Mendelssohn,” 296; and Katz, “Hapul- mus harishon,” 181f.). 55 MS The Hague, Klossiana Collection xiv, 1–2 (in Katz, “Ha-pulmus ha-rishon,” 204). Cf. Scholem, “Ein Frankist,” 81f.; and Katz, “Der Orden,” 242.
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In one document there, Franz Thomas von Schönfeld—who was also known as Moses (Lévi) Dobruška, Junius Frey, and by his masonic pseudonym Scharia (1753–1794)—is referred to as one of the cofounders of the Asiatic Brethren.56 Dobruška / Schönfeld is a fascinating case in his own right, as he was not only educated in classical Jewish teachings and traditional practices, but was also apparently well-versed in Sabbatian thought. Furthermore, he was associ- ated with the Frankist movement, not least due to his family ties to Jacob Frank (1726–1791). Dobruška converted to Catholicism in 1775, was ennobled under the name Schönfeld in Vienna in 1778, became a freemason around 1782, and joined the Jacobins as Junius Frey in 1792.57 In an article on Schönfeld published in 1969, Scholem agreed with Katz that it was Schönfeld who was versed in “kabbalistic and Sabbatian sources,”58 and who integrated them into the order’s degree system prior to Hirschfeld’s en- counter with the Brethren. Also, Scholem admitted that the German parts of Jonathan Eybeschütz’s Sabbatian work And I Came this Day unto the Fountain (Va’avo hayom el ha‘ayin) that he identified in the writings of the Brethren must have been translated by Schönfeld, and not by Hirschfeld, as he had suggested in 1962.59 The kabbalistic and Sabbatian contents of the instructions of the Brethren are therefore not indicative enough to determine whether Hirschfeld had any expertise in kabbalah. To elaborate on this question, I will look closely at other material that sheds light on Hirschfeld as an alleged collector and translator of Hebrew and Aramaic manuscripts.
56 MS Copenhagen, Den Danske Store Landsloge, F vii 3/7 (Scholem Archive, nli, 4*1599 189/2, 93 [my counting]). 57 For further information on Dobruška’s (i.e., Schönfeld’s) life, see Henry Wasserman, “Dobruschka-Schoenfeld,” 727; Scholem, “Ein Frankist”; and Scholem, Du Frankisme au Jacobinisme. 58 Scholem, “Ein Frankist,” 86 (see also 81). 59 “And I came this Day unto the Fountain” (according to Genesis 24:42). For this exceptional work of Sabbatian kabbalah, see Moshe Arie Perlmutter (Anat), R. Yonathan Eybeschitz, as well as the recently published critical edition by Maciejko, Eibeschütz, Va’avo hayom el ha‘ayin. See also Scholem, “Ein Frankist,” 83f. and n. 21. The ability to translate this dif- ficult manuscript was proof enough for Scholem as to Schönfeld’s expertise in kabbalistic matters. In 1972, he writes accordingly: “One of its founders was an important Frankist convert to Christianity, Franz Thomas von Schoenfeld … who introduced into the writ- ings of the order portions of Shabbatean (sic) literature in German translation” (Scholem, “Hirschfeld,” 136).
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3 Translator of Kabbalistic Texts?
After Schönfeld left the Asiatic Brethren in 1784, Hirschfeld was entrusted with the former’s task to translate kabbalistic texts into German.60 In “A Forgotten Jewish Mystic,” Scholem did not address the question of whether Hirschfeld was capable of fulfilling it. He did mention, however, that Hirschfeld’s refer- ences to kabbalistic works and ideas were for the most part incorrect.61 At that time, Scholem interpreted these inaccuracies as a deliberate attempt on the part of Hirschfeld to harmonize his kabbalistic knowledge with contem- poraneous theosophical trends that were popular in France and Germany.62 That Hirschfeld’s distortions could have been the result of a lack of expertise seemed out of the question. Scholem’s discussion on Hirschfeld’s kabbalistic background in 1962 al- most exclusively relied on the Biblical Organon (Biblisches Organon),63 an extremely rare booklet that Scholem had purchased in 1960 from Joseph Gottfarstein (1903–1980), the Paris-based scholar of Yiddish culture and lan- guage.64 However, the title page of the Organon—a German word-for-word translation (Realübersetzung) of Genesis 1:1–5 supplemented by a mystical commentary—cites as it author not only Ephraim Joseph Hirschfeld but his younger brother Pascal as well.65 Again, it was Jacob Katz who had already no- ticed in 1964, after his stay in the archives in The Hague, that Pascal must have supported Ephraim Joseph in translating Hebrew texts for the Asiatic Breth- ren.66 In another study published in 1970, Katz emphasized that Hirschfeld’s abilities, however, fell short of the work that he was required to perform, and so he argued that Hirschfeld conceived the idea of inviting his younger brother
60 Katz’s assumption that Hirschfeld was responsible for ousting Schönfeld from the order seems quite unlikely. See also Katz, “Moses Mendelssohn,” 298 (cf. Scholem, “Ein Frankist,” 81). 61 Scholem, “Ein verschollener jüdischer Mystiker,” 259. 62 Ibid. 63 Hirschfeld and Hirschfeld, Biblisches Organon. 64 Cf. Scholem, “Ein verschollener jüdischer Mystiker,” 248. In his personal copy of the Bib- lisches Organon, Scholem remarked on the second blank page (recto): “purchased from Gottfarstein, who entrusted [it to me] due to my persistent begging, 1960.” The Biblisches Organon is actually the only known work written, or coauthored by Ephraim Hirschfeld (cf. Scholem, “Ein verschollener jüdischer Mystiker,” 253). 65 While writing his article, Scholem was not even familiar with Pascal’s full name (the title page of the Biblisches Organon only mentions a “P. Hirschfeld”). Thus, he addressed the question of coauthorship only marginally (see Scholem, “Ein verschollener jüdischer Mystiker,” 253). 66 Katz, “Moses Mendelssohn,” 298.
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Pascal to join him, since he was apparently better qualified: his education had mainly centered on studying traditional Jewish sources.67 At first, Scholem re- mained unexpectedly silent with regard to Katz’s remarks. Even in his article on Hirschfeld published in the Encyclopaedia Judaica in 1972, Scholem still wrote that Ephraim “was active as translator of the mystical writings of the order” without even mentioning Pascal.68 A detailed analysis of this matter is very complex, since the documents housed at the Danish Grand Lodge in Copenhagen do not paint a coherent picture. On the one hand, a secret report from 1791 states that Hirschfeld “has an excellent command of the old languages and the Chaldean metaphysical philosophy.”69 On the other, one can find a rather devastating evaluation of Hirschfeld’s skills in the previously mentioned apologetic response to The Asian in his Nakedness from the very same year:70
The determination of this man at the time of his admission to our order was to … translate our texts that were written in the Oriental languages. We can hardly praise his diligence; he did not even fulfill [our] request that he proofread and correct the available translations…. His own trans- lations are hardly worth mentioning. Since we never conceal the truth, we lastly have to add that he did excuse his lethargy with the fact that he does not possess a sufficient knowledge of the[se] languages as to transfer their original meaning into German. By the way, we would like to remind [you] that currently there are brethren living in the order that produce such translations without claiming that the originals (Urschriften) were their own compilations.71
Moreover, the order’s chronicle entitled In Eternal Memory (Zum Ewigen Gedächtnis), written by Hans Heinrich von Ecker und Eckhoffen in 1790, the year of his death, includes a similar statement. There, von Ecker mentions that
67 Katz, “The Order,” 33. Cf. also Katz, “Der Orden,” 249. Molitor confirms in the longer ver- sion of his testimony Pascal’s knowledge of the Jewish tradition (see also Katz, “Der Or- den,” 275, n. 37). 68 Scholem, “Hirschfeld,” 137. Scholem’s hesitation is also expressed in his personal notes, where he asks himself whether “the real kabbalah-knowledge … maybe with Pascal?” (Scholem Archive, nli, 4*1599 06 189/2, 49 [my counting]). 69 MS Copenhagen, Den Danske Store Landsloge, vii, 19, fol. 13a; cf. Veltri, Necker, and Koch, “Die versuchte Wiederaufnahme,” 149 (a complete annotated transcription of the secret report can be found on 139–155). 70 See above, n. 46. 71 MS Copenhagen, Den Danske Store Landsloge, F vii 10 c (Scholem Archive, nli, 4*1599 06 182, 12–14).
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Hirschfeld was commissioned to translate the Great Kabbalistic Tree, an anno- tated diagram illustrating the realm of the divine potencies (Sefirot) and their interconnections, which was in possession of the order, but that he “was not able to do so due to the lack of language skills.”72 Both the apologetic response to The Asian in his Nakedness and the history of the order composed by von Ecker—the main proponent of Hirschfeld’s ex- clusion from the Asiatic Brethren—were intended for publication. In contrast, the secret report, which speaks highly of Hirschfeld’s qualities, was provided for internal use only. One might therefore assume that under the influence of von Ecker the order did not omit any opportunity to discredit Hirschfeld due to their discrepancies. But after von Ecker’s death, however, the order was sud- denly interested in rehabilitating him. Luckily, we possess additional documents that give us a clearer picture of the situation. Of special interest are Hirschfeld’s personal letters, particularly those written during his stay in Frankfurt am Main. In the spring of 1787, he was sent to Frankfurt to receive what was meant to be illustrations of the floor plan of the Temple of Solomon and other esoteric writings from two fellow breth- ren, Pokeach Ibhrim and Zaddik Hassan Sehim.73 In his letter of 30 April 1787, presumably addressed to the Landgrave Karl of Hessen-Kassel (1744–1836),74 Hirschfeld relates the following about his experience in Frankfurt:
As wise as they may be, these two men are quite strange. I am not allowed to speak loudly, so I need to weight my words very carefully in order not to say a syllable more than necessary. They both contemplate over manu- scripts, sometimes one on the Pardes75 and the other on the Zohar etc., smoke their two-cubit-long tobacco pipes, not changing a single word. They pass me a fragment; show me a desk that an Ali, who is also not very talkative, puts in place. [On the desk lies] a pen and ink, as well as a stuffed pipe. Until now, I did not have the courage either to touch the pipe or to smoke it.76
72 In Eternal Memory, MS Copenhagen, Den Danske Store Landsloge, F vii 1 e (Scholem Archive, nli, 4*1599 06 182; see also 4*1599 06 189/2, 105 [my counting]). 73 Ibid., 26–27 (my counting). The names of those brethren are not included in the Grand List of the Order, an index of names that mentions all the active and inactive members of the Asiatic Brethren. 74 Scholem Archive, nli, 4*1599 06 189/2, 61 (my counting). 75 That is, the Sefer Pardes Rimmonim written by the Safedian kabbalist Moshe Cordovero (1522–1570). The Pardes was first printed in Krakow in 1591. 76 MS Copenhagen, Den Danske Store Landsloge, F vii 1 (Scholem Archive, nli, 4*1599 06 182/5). This document is an autograph of Hirschfeld.
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This story sounds quite different from what Hirschfeld wrote only a day later, on 1 May 1787, to von Ecker:
It is the worst, however, that here [in Frankfurt], during [my] lessons in the Chaldean texts and manuscripts, I need to treat the bearded rabbi— whom I also need to pay!—very carefully in order that he would not be- come suspicious for what purpose and final aim I need to read through these texts etc. I am thus very embarrassed in asking [him] questions and for in-depth explanations etc. In Vienna, I do have my brother, who is able to present these matters at least in the same fashion, if not better [than this rabbi]. I benefit from this far cheaper and much more comfort- able [arrangement].77
Worth noting here is that in Eternal Memory Ecker does mention an additional reason for sending Hirschfeld to Frankfurt: to make him improve his Hebrew skills and to acquire a basic knowledge of kabbalistic lore.78 It is also quite ap- parent that in 1787 Hirschfeld himself admitted major deficits in reading and understanding, not to speak of translating, Hebrew and Aramaic texts. Viewed against this background, one can assume that Hirschfeld attained his kabbalis- tic training only during his time in the order, and not, as Scholem had initially suggested, beforehand.79 Moreover, the letter addressed to von Ecker unquestionably confirms Pas- cal’s kabbalistic expertise. Unfortunately, we possess very little information about Pascal’s life.80 We do know that in 1785 he moved from Maastricht to Vienna81 and that in 1789 he moved from Vienna to Schleswig, the location of the headquarters of the Asiatic Brethren. It is possible that Pascal took on a leading role in the order after his brother’s exclusion in 1789.82 In some of
77 MS Copenhagen, Den Danske Store Landsloge, A 55 (Scholem Archive, nli, 4*1599 06 182/9). 78 MS Copenhagen, Den Danske Store Landsloge, F vii 1 e, 32; cf. Scholem Archive, nli, 4*1599 06 189/2, 105 (my counting). 79 It still seems plausible to assume that at a later stage in his life Hirschfeld was capable of studying Hebrew and Aramaic texts. At any rate, Molitor regarded him as an authority in this field (cf. Koch, Molitor, 38–40). 80 Cf. Scholem Archive, nli, 4*1599 06 195. 81 Cf. Katz, “Der Orden,” 249. 82 In a letter from 17 October 1789, Ephraim addressed his younger brother as “Monsieur Pas- cal Hirschfeld, in ordine dictus, Thumim Bemaloth” (MS Copenhagen, Den Danske Store Landsloge, F vii 11, no. 61 [in Scholem Archive, nli, 4*1599 06 185/8]). The title “Thumim Bemaloth” designates the fourth vicarius (deputy) of the Synedrion. On the meaning of
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Based on the order’s writings and the many statements that we possess today from the archives, I would like to sum up my assessment of the constantly repeated claim [of Hirschfeld] that his major task in the order was to translate the Hebrew and Aramaic (rabbinic) fundamental kab- balistic texts that allegedly served as a basis for the order of the East: This claim is wrong!88
Scholem further adds that Hirschfeld apparently possessed a small collec- tion of manuscripts—among them the previously mentioned Sabbatian work Va’avo hayom el ha‘ayin. However, he also emphasizes that the Hebrew and Ara- maic texts did not serve Hirschfeld as a template for the writings he allegedly
the term, see Veltri, Necker, and Koch, “Versuchte Wiederaufnahme,” 147, n. 49; cf. Brüder St. Johannis, 11f. 83 According to ii Samuel 23:31, one of David’s warriors. 84 MS Copenhagen, Den Danske Store Landsloge, F vii 1 e, 64. 85 MS Copenhagen, Den Danske Store Landsloge, F vii 15 (Scholem Archive, nli, 4*1599 06 184); cf. idem, nli, 4*1599 06 189/2, 66 (my counting). For the Grand List of the Order, see above, n. 73. 86 “Ephraim Joseph Hirschfeld: Harpatkan ve-te’osof bi-tekufat ha-haskalah” (Scholem Ar- chive, nli, 4*1599 06 195, leaflet). 87 Scholem writes in his speaker notes: “Pascal knew much more about Hebrew literature and kabbalah as he was trained to become a rabbi. He is the expert in the Jewish tradi- tion.” (Scholem Archive, nli, 4*1599 06 195, 12). 88 Scholem Archive, nli, 4*1599 06 195.
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4 E.J. Hirschfeld and Gershom Scholem’s Historiography of Jewish Mysticism
In light of the many different facets of E.J. Hirschfeld’s life—as an acquain- tance of Moses Mendelssohn, as a Jewish freemason, as a theosophist, and as a friend and mentor of Franz Molitor—Scholem’s great interest in his life is self-explanatory.90 However, as I have shown, Scholem’s initial evaluation of Hirschfeld as a kabbalist who was attracted to secret societies and theosophi- cal thought proved to be wrong. The available evidence rather suggests that Hirschfeld’s interest in Jewish mystical writings only emerged when he was in his mid-twenties while he was a member of the Asiatic Brethren, and that it came about via his predecessor Franz Thomas von Schönfeld, also known as Moses (Lévi) Dobruška and Junius Frey, as well as via his brother Pascal. In any case, Hirschfeld’s later correspondences still show his fascination with contemporaneous theosophical discourse, yet they provide very little evidence of kabbalistic influence.91 In a broader context, Scholem’s portrayal of Hirschfeld as a “Jewish mystic,” or as one of the last German kabbalists, fits well into his general interest in the lives of individuals who personify the so-called “anarchic potential” of what he coined “heretical Kabbalah”92 that emerged in the wake of the “Messianic cri- sis of tradition.”93 This approach is reflected most prominently in his work on
89 Ibid. 90 Scholem, “Hirschfeld,” 137. 91 Scholem, “Ein verschollener jüdischer Mystiker,” 252, 258f., 268. 92 For Scholem’s use of the term “heretical kabbalah” and “heretical mysticism,” see Scho- lem, Major Trends, 299; and Scholem, “Redemption through Sin” (first published in Knes- set 2 [1937], 347–392). 93 Cf. Scholem, “The Crisis of Tradition,” 77. For a detailed discussion of Scholem’s interpre- tation of messianic movements, see Idel, “Messianic Scholars”; and Idel, “Religion,” esp. 125–129.
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Sabbatai Zevi (1626–1676) and Jakob Frank (1726–1791),94 as well in his lesser- known French monograph on Schönfeld, alias Dobruška, alias Frey.95 In the case of Hirschfeld, Scholem explicitly referred to his curiosity in ex- ploring the tensions that arose between such “new reception of the Kabb[alah]” and the “old, authentic, Jewish one.”96 Consequently, he saw in the personal and intellectual histories of Hirschfeld and other Jewish members of the Asiat- ic Brethren an expression of the “deep unrest [of the Jews] in this generation”97 that was a direct result of the crisis that was initially caused by the Jewish mes- sianic movements of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. From another perspective, Scholem’s first assessment of Hirschfeld can also be read as an attempt to establish historical continuity between the increased interest in kabbalah that flourished among Christian scholars in Europe from the time of the Renaissance and the scientific study of kabbalah that emerged among Jews in the nineteenth century.98 Viewed in this light, one can inter- pret Scholem’s interest in Hirschfeld as someone who transmitted kabbalistic lore to the Christian scholar of kabbalah Franz Molitor, who was also member of one of the earliest Jewish masonic fraternities—the Frankfurt Judenloge or L’Aurore Naissante.99 Ultimately, Molitor’s writings profoundly shaped Scho- lem’s understanding of kabbalah.100 Having been born into an “assimilated” German-Jewish family, Scholem deliberately chose to create his own vision of Judaism on the basis of his philological-historical research into kabbalistic texts.101 In this sense, his dia- lectical understanding of Jewish history in general, and of Jewish mysticism in particular, represents a prelude to his personal quest for the possibility of
94 See, for example, Scholem, Sabbatai Sevi; Scholem, “Redemption through Sin.” For recent reassessments of Sabbatianism and Frankism, see Rapoport-Albert, Women and the Mes- sianic Heresy; Maciejko, The Mixed Multitude; and Michaelson, “I Do Not Look to Heaven.” 95 Scholem, Du Frankisme au Jacobinisme. In his famous essay, he referred to yet another contemporary of Hirschfeld, namely Jonas Wehle (1752–1823), a Sabbatian of Prague, who was “equally appreciative of both Moses Mendelssohn and Sabbatai Zevi,” a person that “intended to use the Haskalah for [his] own Sabbatian ends” (Scholem, “Redemption through Sin,” 140f.). 96 Scholem Archive, nli, 4*1599 06 195, 8. 97 Ibid. It is most likely that the phrase “deep unrest” hints at the “crisis of Jewish tradition in the wake of its encounter with the modern world” (see Scholem, “Our Historical Debt,” 42). 98 Scholem, “Die Erforschung,” 256f., as well as Koch, Molitor, 7. 99 See Katz, “The Frankfurt Judenloge.” 100 See Koch, Molitor, 8; and Idel, Old Worlds, 81f., 110–113. 101 I follow here Aaron Hughes, who states that “[b]oth Scholem and the earlier generation of Wissenschaft scholars created Judaisms—rival Judaisms—that fitted their vision of the tradition’s place within the modern world” (Hughes, Rethinking Jewish Philosophy, 56).
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Acknowledgements
A great part of the research for the present article was conducted during my stay as a visiting research fellow at the Institute of Jewish Studies at the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg during the winter term 2011–2012, which was funded by the German Academic Exchange Service (daad). I am thank- ful to Giuseppe Veltri, who kindly granted me access to his copies of Gershom Scholem’s collected material on Hirschfeld, as well as Gerold Necker, Hans- Christoph Aurin, and Michal Szulc. Furthermore, I would like to thank the Na- tional Library of Israel, Suhrkamp Verlag Berlin and Jüdische Verlag Berlin, as well as the Grand Lodge of Denmark in Copenhagen for granting me permis- sion to publish their archival materials.
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