Samuel David Luzzatto: His Life and Work 35

I. Talmudic metholology, including the introduction of Samuel ha-Naggid 2. , with emphasis on practical law (halakha le-ma'aseh) 3. Ritual law, with special emphasis on the responsa of R. Asher ben Yehiel (the Rosh) 4. The biblical exegesis of David Kimhi, Isaac Abravanel, Sa'adia Gaon, and 5. , with readings to include Lashon Limmudim (M. H. Luzzatto) and Behinat Olam (Ha-Bedrasi) 6. Jewish history 7. Study and analysis of the Sefer ha-Hinukh and of ' Minyan ha­ Mitzvot 8. Homiletics and public speaking 9. Dogmatic theology, with emphasis on the Kusari of Yehuda Halevi

The final three sections of the Regolamento deal with such matters as ap­ proved books (those not approved and considered detrimental to the pur­ poses of the Collegia would be banned by the professors and governors), schedule of examinations, and other technical data. 54 For the rest of his life, Samuel David Luzzatto was associated with the Collegio. Although, as will be seen, he suffered many lean years with the in­ stitution, it was on the whole the great boon of his life. It gave full play to his talents both as pedagogue and scholar. It was in a very real sense his refuge and his fortress. Shadal's joy over his appointment is clearly seen in his letter of acceptance to the board of the newly formed school. It reads as follows:

Honored Council: with the blissful feeling that results from the realization of a cherished aspiration, I accept the charge placed upon me by your vvorthy body, by His Majesty, the Emperor, and by the grace of God. I say by the grace of God because of my great diligence in Jewish studies since I was a child, an altruistic diligence, unsullied by ulterior motive. This diligence ... apparently was divinely induced in order that I might become better fitted to accomplish something in behalf of the renaissance of our people's literature in the institu­ tion established in Padua, by the grace of God, to the great benefit of the Jews who dwell in these regions. This vital and sacred purpose-to aid in the renaissance of Hebrew litera­ ture-accords perfectly with my own sentiments and aspirations, amply evi­ denced in my writings. I hope that the results of my efforts in the future will fulfill the expecta- 56 Morris B. Margolies many unedited writings. This task was to be undertaken with filial devotion by his son . The collected works of Samuel David Luzzatto remain a desideratum for that world of Jewish scholarship to which the Paduan sage made so lasting a contribution. The death of Shadal had a stunning impact upon his contemporaries. The Hamaggid of October 18, 1865 (vol. 9, no. 40) carried the announce­ ment on its first page, accompanied by a lengthy editorial by the editor, L. Silberman. Among other thoughts, he writes:

Who among the people of Israel who has any appreciation for scholarship, piety, purity and sublimeness of soul, and the noblest ethical ideals can fail to discern that in Shadal all of these virtues were magnificently combined? ... All his life he waged the battle for truth, faith, and decency against the pseudo-scholars who did violence to the sancta of our tradition, and he pre­ vailed .... In his battle in behalf of truth and faith he spared no man. The great and the small were alike to him. He held on to the truth steadfastly and fearlessly because to him it was dearer than all treasures. His faith and piety were united within him with knowledge and scholarship, perfectly synthe­ sized. He was a saint of our generation who, besides his virtues of scholarship and faith, was possessed of a pure and unblemished soul. He loved all people and never turned his back upon any who sought his help. 157

For almost a year following Luzzatto's death, virtually every issue of Hamaggid carried eulogies in either prose or verse, all bespeaking an un­ mistakable sense of loss and desolation. These included poems by the mas­ ters of their period, Adam ha-Cohen Lebensohn (vol. 9, no. 44, November 15, 1865) and Yehuda Leib Gordon ("Aharei mot Shadal," vol. 10, no. 3, January 16, 1866). A prosaic translation of the final stanza of Gordon's poem might stand aptly as representative of the sentiments of most of Shadal's contemporaries involved in resurrecting the culture and the lan­ guage of Judaism:

Even if Death has snapped the chords of his life, the rays of immortality shall always crown Shadal. Yet the sons of his generation must demand of one another: Whom will we ever find to take his place? 102 The Book of Genesis

10:4. THE SONS OF YAVAN: ELISHAH, TARSHISH, KITTIM, AND DODANIM.

Elishah. According to Josephus Flavius, these are the Aeoles [an ancient Greek people]. According to Bochart, [Elishah] is Elis, and according to Michaelis and Rosenmueller, it is He lias, both of which are in Greece. This name is mentioned again in Ezek. 27:7. My son said that it is Cilicia, in Asia Minor; similarly, Saadiah Gaon translated it "Almatsitsa," which is a city in Cilicia. 2 Tarshish. Some say that this is Spain. Tarshish is the name of a city (Tartessus) that was a famous port [in Spain] in ancient times; the name appears many times in Scripture. Here, however, it appears that the meaning is as others say, namely Tarsus in Asia Minor. Kittim. According to Rosenmueller and Gesenius, this is Cyprus, but after some time other Greek lands as well were referred to by this name. In the Book of Hasmoneans [I Maccabees J: 1] it is written that Alexander came from the land of Kittim. 3 Dodanim. In [I] Chronicles [1 :7], in the Samaritan text, and in the Alexandrian translation, it is written "Rodanim" (Rodii) [the people of Rhodes]. If the name is properly with a dalet, it is said to be Dodona in Greece. I tend to think that it is actually neither "Dodanim" nor "Rodanim," but that the true form of the name is "Dardanim" (as it appears in the ascribed to Jonathan), but for easier pronunciation it was called "Dodanim" or "Rodanim." (Similarly, in my opinion, the true form of both "Mof' [see Hosea 9:6] and "Nof' [see, e.g., Is. 19: 13] is "Mnof' (Menfi) [Memphis], and the true form of both "Deuel" [Num. 1:14] and "Reuel'' [Num. 2:14] is "Dareuel." "Dardania" is the country of Troy. This is one of the ideas that the late scholar Gesenius stole from me. 4 In his Thesaurus, s.v. "Dodan" (p. 322), he wrote that in his opinion the correct reading was "Rodanim" and that this people was the Rhodii. But after

2. The ancient "Mopsuestia," modern "Missis" or "Misis" in southern Turkey. 3. According to Jonathan Goldstein, translator and commentator of the Anchor Bible version of I Maccabees (see pp. 191-192), the name "Kittim"-originally Cyprus, but later other Mediterranean islands and coastlands-was used by the author of that book to refer to Macedonia, the home of Alexander the Great. 4. Apparently Shadal harbored no personal grudge against Gesenius. In the Hebrew, Gesenius' name is followed by if.!J ("may he rest in peace"), an honorific usually reserved for the Jewish dead. In fact, the two scholars held each other in great es­ teem. Luzzatto, in his 1829 Introduction to the (II Pentateuco, p. xiv), re­ ferred to Gesenius as que! principe dei viventi Orientalisti ("that prince of the liv­ ing Orientalists"), while Gesenius, in turn, called Luzzatto the leading Orientalist in (Margolies, Samuel David Luzzatto, p. 134 n. 126). .n"~1l nD'1 l1n:J '1 'N ,'N C'~'it '"'J1J : !'ltl'~'"l .itN'.l'~"'NJ it~1N N'ittv itN"!l, .('1 n"~1 1"' l":J) ~NPTn':l "l:Jl.l : ~'"1~,%'1 C1P '~':I. CO"'H:l~ : W'W'"Itl .'l l":J ~NPTn'J itT Ctv "l:Jl.l : :"'TW''N ["!) NJ "11.lO:J~N ':J J1n:J C'N.l1~tvnit iDO:l : C"~tl~ ; N"'P~l itJ"lit "l:Jl.l itT ctv1 'N 'N it"1J : C"~.:"!,"!1 .7n' m~"'N "!Ntv Cl itT CtvJ 1~~::> l~T "lnN1 ~C'n::> f"'N~ n~1J N1it CN1 ltv"'"'J C'.l11"1 J1n:J '"11.lO::>?N CU"lnJ1 C'n1:Jit "!Do::n 'T C'.l11"1 N~1 C'.l111 N? ':J "1~1? it~U 'n:!J11 .7n' f"'NJ it.l1111 N1ittv C'"l~1N On1'~it '~~tv1"1' C1l"!nJ N1ittv 1~::>) ~C'.l1"11 N~N 1.l'N itTit Ctvit "'P'l11 N1il

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From The Book ofKrodus: A Commentmy by Shada! (8. D. '-""'"·'""""" [in preparation for publication]

From S'hadal 's comment to Er. 14.

etc. splitting of the as recounted the I'orah, was a miraculous event mixed with natural elements, for if God had not wished to make use at all of the forces of what was the "powerful cast wind" for? The text itself states that God made the s\;a flow with a wind; thus the world, Holy xs the streams." came about, (}ulf of Suez] at they through it as its waters were forth his arm over

a war of sea

so ..