3. LEOPOLD ZUNZ AND : WISSENSCHAFT DES JUDENTUMS AS A STRUGGLE AGAINST GHETTOIZATION IN SCIENCE

Céline Trautmann-Waller

In 1857 Moritz Steinschneider (1816–1907) established a bibliography of the writings of Leopold Zunz (1794–1886), “founder of the science of ,” for the latter’s sixty-third birthday.1 In his homage he paid tribute to Zunz’ strivings on behalf of true science. This was precisely one of the things most shared by the two men, besides a certain sarcas- tic and biting humor. The founder of the Wissenschaft des Judentums and the renowned Jewish bibliographer both repeatedly pointed out that a critical science could rely only on a thorough study of the sources, for without it any revision of the traditionally negative image of Juda- ism was impossible—hence their common passion for manuscripts and books, also in their very materiality, and their endeavor to preserve, catalogue, and study historically the holdings of European libraries and/or private collections related to Jewish literature, religion and his- tory. The (new) insights gained through this analysis of historical books and manuscripts included a deeper awareness about the Diaspora or historical dispersion of the Jewish people, seen not only as a despairing exile and sterile remoteness from the homeland, but also as a kind of journey through different cultures wherever Jews gathered and learned things and, in exchange, exerted crucial influence as transmitters of knowledge and as translators. This new perspective also considerably modified conceptions of medieval culture in general and of the more specific relationships between Arabic, Greek and Jewish culture and science at that time. Zunz’ initiatives were best developed after him by Steinschneider, who specialized in the history of translations and of cultural contacts in Judaism.

1 Moritz Steinschneider, Die Schriften des Dr. L. Zunz, des Begründers der jüdischen Wissen- schaft, zu seinem 63. Geburtstage (10. August 1857) zusammengestellt (: Friedlaender’sche Buchdruckerei, 1857). 82 céline trautmann-waller

Their common scientific ideal meant not only rigor in the process- ing of data and commitment to the historico-critical method, but also contempt for all kinds of efforts to put the Wissenschaft movement in the service of confessional or national interests. Zunz had tried in vain to secure the integration of the science of Judaism, as he conceived it, into the European university system. As no institution existed to host the kind of scientific inquiry into Jewish history and literature that Zunz and Steinschneider envisioned, both had to endure many privations and setbacks. In 1872, when the “Hochschule für die Wis- senschaft des Judentums” opened in Berlin, many cried out “victory!,” but Zunz and Steinschneider both refused to participate in the inaugu- ration, demonstratively expressing their conviction that this institution did not correspond to their ideal of Jewish Studies; nevertheless, others did see its founding as the realization of the integration of Judaism in German academia. We will examine how the Zunz-Steinschneider friendship and col- laboration started and developed, so that Steinschneider, following a pattern, became a continuator of Zunz’ oeuvre. This will be shown especially in two aspects: their relation to manuscripts, books and col- lections, and their vision of Jewish culture. The last part will deal with the similar positions they held in the field of Berlin Jewish Studies of their time(s).

Steinschneider’s Arrival in Berlin: The Young Generation and the Old Master

Born in Prossnitz (now Prostîjov) in Moravia, Steinschneider studied in Prague from 1833 to 1836 when Zunz also happened to be living there, having been commissioned to establish the town’s new reformed synagogue, as we will see later on. But the depressed representative of the science of Judaism, feeling acutely like an exile in Prague, did not meet the young pupil then pursuing his Talmudic studies there and preparing to qualify as a Hebrew teacher at the Hebräische Lehranstalt. In 1836 Steinschneider left Prague for Vienna, where he studied Semitic languages under Professor Kaerle at the university’s Catho- lic Theological Faculty. He befriended Leopold Dukes (1810–1891), a young Jewish Orientalist born in Pressburg (now Bratislava), who in 1833 had begun to translate ’s Commentary on the Pentateuch