Hebrew Humor and Other EssaysChotzner, J. (Joseph)
History
Hebrew Humor and Other Essays
Chotzner, J. (Joseph)
Hebrew wit and humor -- History and criticism
“This passage refers specially to those persons who are too slow in the
acquirement of knowledge and wisdom, which they consider as dangerous as
it is to meet a fierce lion in the street. They say, How should we apply
ourselves to the study of general science, since among its most prominent
devotees there are so many sceptics and unbelievers; or how should we be
expected to study logic, as it is a subject that infatuates the student
and leads him to erroneous conclusions? As to philosophy (they say) we
must shun it altogether, since it owes its existence to Aristotle, who,
like the rest of the ancient philosophers, did not believe in the divine
origin of our law. But these fools (Immanuel continues) forget that we
must accept truth from whatever quarter it may come. Moreover, every kind
of science which these sluggards describe as ‘foreign’ (חיצונים),
belonged originally to the Jewish people, and was first taught in our
sacred tongue. Unfortunately those very books were lost during our
perilous wanderings through the world. Of King Solomon's numerous poetical
and scientific works we only possess three. It is more than a mere legend
that kings and learned men of different countries came to him with the
express purpose of being instructed by him in those subjects, and that
they subsequently committed to writing the information they received.
These teachings are still in the possession of other nations, while we,
ourselves, lost them during our wanderings; and it is even a wonder that
the twenty-four volumes of Holy Writ have been preserved by us up to the
present day. It is, therefore, most probable that natural science,
metaphysics, and philosophy were originally taught by Solomon, although
their origin is nowadays ascribed to Plato and Aristotle. With regard to
the excellent art of music it is well known that it originated in our
religion, and has found keen votaries in men like Asaph and Samuel; but in
our own time it is exclusively practised by Christians, while the Jews
have very little knowledge of it. As for logic, it certainly does _not_
lead the student astray, but, on the contrary, it cultivates his mind and
prepares him for the study of other sciences. Therefore, whoever calls
logic a ‘foreign’ science, or speaks contemptuously of Plato and
Aristotle, because they did not belong to the Jewish nation, is like the
sluggard who exclaims: ‘A lion is in the way.’”
This extract, being a specimen of the contents of Immanuel's commentaries
on various parts of the Bible, shows that there is nothing particularly
noteworthy in the author's exposition of the text, but that the interest
lies rather in his interpolations.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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