[Page 97]

The town of Buczacz was well known for its extremes. Its Hasidim were very zealous and its misnagdim were very strict. The stronghold where the main Hasidic strength lay was the Tshortkov kloyz [small synagogue]. The most prominent and most powerful figure among all the kloyz’s Hasidim was Reb Yoshe Preminger, the recognized spiritual leader and the ultimate paradigm of the complete Hasid. The Hasidic spirit and atmosphere of the Tshortkov kloyz were felt far beyond its walls.

Hasidim of other rebes [Hasidic rabbis] came to pray at Reb Yoshe’s kloyz, the most famous of whom were the learned and great scholar, the Hosyatin Hasid Reb Velvl Tirkl and Reb Yitskhok Zaydman [Isaac Seidman] and his sons, the last of the Vizhnits Hasidim. The latter left the kloyz after taking the initiative to establish the Vizhnits kloyz, which in the course of time itself became a center for Torah and Hasidism.

Among one hundred who prayed at the kloyz approximately 80 were certified teachers.

One instance of the beauty of Hasidism is revealed when Hasidim ascend to the highest reaches of heaven to worship the Creator with joy, namely on days of rest. Such days were quite frequent. Besides the holidays and the first day of each month [rosh khoydesh], where the content of Hasidism was expressed, there were also saints’ memorial days [yortsaytn shel tsadikim] such as Hoshana Raba [Feast of Tabernacles], the third day in Kheshvan, the nineteenth day of Kislev, etc. On these occasions great feasts were held, although what truly mattered was not the foodbut the atmosphere. The celebration would start with a quiet melody (nigun) which would slowly turn into full-voiced singing accompanied by fervent dancing, the atmosphere becoming more and more ecstatic. While watching the dancers at such moments you could not but feel that they had left all earthly matters behind, so to speak, and had ascended to higher realms. We, the boys of the kloyz, would wait in great anticipation for these hours of joy. The most fascinating moment was when Reb Yoshe Preminger would tell his wonderful stories about tsadikim. S. Y. Agnon and I never missed an opportunity to listen to these tales, for they were told with great artistry, the characters becoming vivid and real to his audience. He had the rare gift of causing his hearers to break into a Hasidic dance when he finished telling his story.

At commemorative feasts such as these it was usual for amusing “incidents” to occur. I recall one Faybish Hirsh Shor, who used to stuff himself during meals. On one occasion a quite lavish dairy meal with pancakes, dumplings and what not was prepared. What did the Hasidim do? They prepared a dish of goose cracklings [gendzene grivn] “ (‘fried goose skin’) to which Faybush Hirsh, as always, helped himself again and again. No one made any effort to restrain him since everyone except him knew in advance about the hoax. No one can describe Faybish’s disappointment at falling for the practical joke and finding before him a table sumptuously laden with dairy dishes.

Among many important and honored Hasidim one figure stood out, that of Reb Hirshl Aberdam, a rich Jew and zealous Hasid. When some of the young members of the kloyz started joining circles of the haskala and the Zionists, Reb Hirshl took advantage of being called to read the lesson from the Prophets [maftir] at a Sabbath morning service to pound on the dais and declare in an aggressive and militant tone that something horrid had happened: The young men of the kloyz had gone to graze in foreign pastures. He named those involved, including S. Y. Agnon and myself, insisting on our being expelled from the kloyz.

Shortly after this incident S. Y. Agnon left Buczacz and emigrated to Israel, and I myself left as well. When I happened to bump into Reb Hirsh Aberdam in Vienna during the war, he expressed his deepest regrets to me over that incident, begging my forgiveness for the wrong done us.

In my eyes the life of the Buczacz Hasidim was a pure inexhaustible spring.. Every name I recall is a whole world in itself.

I remember Reb Hirsh Yidl Boyer, a learned scholar whose particular weakness was being critical of others. Once he said to Reb Yitskhok Zaydman: “Do you know the difference between you and me? When you recite the Eighteen Benedictions [shmoyne esre], your mind is in Vienna, whereas mine is only in Troybokhovits, which at least is not as far.

Reb Hirsh Yidl suffered a lot from coughing attacks. When the Hasidim raised a toast and expressed the wish that these attacks end, his reply was:“God forbid, may I cough for many more years to come.” On one occasion he said that he had a mind to order mirrors from his son, Monish, who was a furniture dealer. He would hang them in the kloyz so that those who entered could see their faces.

Earlier I mentioned the Hasid from Hosyatin, the incomparable Reb Velvl Tirkl, who was a taverner. On Sabbaths and holidays it was customary among the Hasidim to meet for a drink at his house, where there was always an atmosphere of excitement. On Simchat Bet-Hashoeva [‘Feast of Water Drawing’] and on the eve of Simchat Torah [‘Rejoicing of the Law’] before the hakafot [‘circling with the Torah scrolls’], just before midnight, they would march from his house singing and dancing all along the town’s streets to carry out the hakafot.

One day Borekh [Baruch] Schnaps, a Talmud teacher and a cheerful type, being somewhat drunk, insisted on destroying the Town Hall. Moyshe [Moshe] Pines, who lived in this building, begged him to spare him and his family.

In the later years there also appeared the Kupichinits Hasidim. Yossi Bokhhaym [Bochheim], who was both a modern man and a zealous Hasid, deserves to be mentioned. On the twenty-first day of Kislev, at the birthday celebration for the old rebe, Reb Yitskhok Meir (of blessed memory), the above-mentioned tore a note of 10 crowns in two. One half he gave them at the start of the dancing, the second half was to be won when it ended. That same night his new shoes were completely worn out from the intensity of the dancing.

Nisn [Nissan] Pohorila was the wealthiest man in town and he prayed at the study house of Reb Itsi, grandson of the tsadik from Buczacz. Once during a quarrel over some insignificant matter, he called R. Itsi an ignoramus [amorets (in Yiddish)], to which R. Itsi answered loudly: “Beggar”!

I would also like to mention my grandfather Reb Alter Shochat (May he rest in peace). My grandfather (of blessed memory) was not in the habit of drinking, nevertheless he was the most joyous of them all. Hasidim would say of him: Reb Alter Shochat is getting drunk.

Lastly I must mention that Reb Yossi Preminger was overcome by his fatal illness at the Tshortkov kloyz, and was carried by Agnon and myself to his house. We lay him in his bed from which he never arose.

Shimen Horovits [Simon Horowitz]
London

Stanislaw, 3 Kislev 5666 (1905)

Issue 10

The Buczacz Zion Group

Here in the town of Buczacz on Monday, the victims of the pogroms in Russia were mourned in the Great Synagogue. The synagogue was packed full with some five thousand and nine-hundred men and women. Dr. Schor, the Stanislaw district president, gave an extremely impressive speech. All the townspeople fasted, recited “Va-Yachal” and the congregation's cantor sung the “Thirteen middoth” prayer, “El Maleh Rachamim” and “Av Harachamim.”

Dr. Schor spoke again at the “Zion Association” house in the presence of all the members, the town president Mr. Abisch Stern and the citizens' leader Bernhard Stern.

The Zion Association collected three-hundred and seventy crowns from its members, and another five-hundred and fifty crowns from outside the synagogue, to benefit the orphans and widows.

Our thanks to Dr. Schor for his work for the benefit of all.

With blessings of Zion, “The Zion Group”

*

In Buczacz on Sunday, 10 Tevet (January 17^th), there was a public meeting with many attendants for the purpose of recognizing the Jewish nation. The meeting was conducted by a committee established for this purpose, composed of all sectors of the population. Mr. Yitzhak Webber, the maggid from Koloma spoke at the meeting. The meeting was held based on Article 2, because the District Governor was unwilling to give permission to hold a public meeting, thereby further proving that he treats us as Jews, a sign that he sympathizes with our ideas.

Abraham Horn

*

A truly noble man, not only from birth but also due to his good deeds, his ideas and his gentle and honest sentiments, Edward Ritter P. Gniewosz Aleksaw, has died in Vienna.

We, the Jews, have suffered a great loss in his death. He was a great friend of Israel and a brave fighter against the anti-Semites.

When the Baron Hirsch was about to establish in Galicia an institute in which he had invested millions, he turned to the section leader, P. Gniewosz, and it was he who advised him to establish a network of public schools in Galicia and Bokowina. And he also cooperated with him as curator and vice-president. He fought for the emancipation of Galician Jews with all his might.

The Jewish delegates laid a wreath on his bed, with the inscription: “To the brave fighter for equal rights for the Jews. Galician Jewish delegates.”

The Buczacz community also sent a delegation, lead by the mayor, A. Bernhard Stern, who laid a wreath in the name of the Buczacz community, with the inscription: “To the honorary citizen of the town of Buczacz, in memory of his great deeds for the benefit of Buczacz.”

The manager of the Baron Hirsch institute issued an order to all his schools to hold mourning prayers in memory of the noble man.

“Laziness is the mother of all evils” – this is apparent. The Jewish population of Buczacz represents more than sixty percent of the town's population. Forty-two teachers teach in the town schools, and yet there are almost no Jewish teachers among them. And, after all, there are a number of young Jewish women in the town who have completed their studies to be teachers, and even so they can not get a teaching position in the town schools. And if they do obtain a teaching position, they are sent to some distant village in a rural area, where the pay is poor. The meager salary they receive is not enough even to pay for the most basic expenses. If they could get jobs in the town itself, they could subsist while eating at their parents' tables.

And no one is to blame for this other than the negligence of our brothers, the citizens of the town, who do not stand up for their rights. The town management – which includes a few Jewish members – would not have opposed this. However, to our regret, every one of the Jews of Buczacz is a world unto himself, and takes no interest in the general affairs. One could say that if the Jews of Galicia in general are drowsing, then the Jews of Buczacz are sound asleep and snoring loudly… and thus they are missing out on anything that relates to the good of the people of Israel, even when it concerns the good of their own brothers.

How the Jews of Buczacz can be awakened from their slumber, I do not know.

And those who see the many soda stores in town, might think that the townspeople are so enthusiastic that they have to cool themselves off by drinking cold water. But the indifference and coldness of our brothers, people of Israel, in this town, contradict this assumption. And who knows whether perhaps it is the excessive drinking of soda water that has brought on their inactivity.

*

Buczacz. This past Sunday, the Buczacz “Zion Association” held a memorial service for the Bialistok casualties in the Great Synagogue. The cantor and his choir prayed “El Maleh Rachamim” and sung “Av Harachamim” and the famous Jewish scholar, Dr. Rokeach, eulogized the dead. His warm and touching words brought tears to the participants' eyes. The synagogue was full of men, women and children, and was also attended by all the members of the presidency and the community president, Rabbi R. Abisch Stern, as well as the Jewish citizens' leader, Bernhard Stern.

The “Zion” group

*

Resurrection of the Dead
(A letter from Buczacz)

[translator's note: unclear]. We do not wish to contemplate the way he has behaved until now, but he has now done “an act” for which he deserves commendation.

As is known, the Polish club cheated us, they promised the Jews eight seats. And when the district was distributed, it turned out that the Poles had made a mockery of us. We had only five definite seats, and three that were doubtful. Buczacz was joined with Tlomatz, Sniatin, Zalchetzki and three rural villages. Now there is no doubt that no Jew will be elected here. And I am not surprised that the Jews of Buczacz are silent, for they are silent about other matters too.

And I am even less surprised at the Buczacz Zionists. By removing the Hebrew secretary from the association, because he protested the Jews' Polish politics, they proved that they are politicians… Whereas the Jews of Zalchetzki and Sniatin, I do not understand at all – why do they not hold a protest meeting against joining the three rural villages.

And so our Dr. Zeinfeld addressed the Lvov community with a letter, proposing to convene a gathering of the communities in order to consult over the reaction to the new decree issued by our Polish brother.

The Lvov community has accepted the proposal, and it will convene a “community day” of Galicia during the second half of September. All the Jewish communities, with no exception, will be invited to the occasion. Furthermore, all the Jewish representatives in parliament and in the national representative house in Galicia. Will shall live and learn.

I am a man of little faith, but for now we will stand aside and see how things turn out.

A landlord from Buczacz

(in the same issue)

The theater troupe “Itztrubal” is in Buczacz at present. They have set up at the “Abar” hotel, and are performing a series of plays. They are presenting the well-known plays: Kol Nidrei, Gavriel, Isha Ra'ah, Akedat Yitzhak, and so forth. The “Itztrubal” troupe has a good reputation. It always has several formidable forces. In the next issue, we shall write further on the matter. For the time being, a few words will suffice. We have already written about “Kol Nidrei” a few weeks ago. At that time, we noted that the playwright Y. Sarkanski was not an appropriate poet to depict this tragedy. However, with his keen sense he managed to select good material, and we accept his gift with love. The troupe performed the play with talent. Young Mr. Leibgold, as the head of the inquisitionists, Mr. Orich as Bartala, Mrs. Steif as Elvira, and Mr. Adler as Benedictus, all played their parts with understanding and great emotion. The audience was riveted and gave their full attention to the plot of the play.

Incidentally, we will devote a special article to the audience, where we will take it to task.

*

From the Jewish World

From the Jewish Theater

In Feinman's “Mishnah for the King,” young Mr. Leibgold played Sebastian and Mrs. Steif played Miriam with great emotion and enthusiasm which left a deep impression on the spectators. Mr. Orich as Alonzo was quite good. Sarafina and Ferdila, the slaves of Sebastian, were played by Mrs. Feder and Mr. Leibgold senior, to the audience's satisfaction and enjoyment, as always. Mr. Adler as Don Antonio and Reiles as Don Fabio played their roles fairly well.

To our regret, the Jewish audience is interested in such scenes. Scenes which are a necessity of the reality in any Jewish play. But this is no fault of the actors. In every Jewish play there must be a few slaves and maidservants who play at marriage like a cat plays with a mouse, and the audience enjoys this and is full of laughter. Even the ostensibly intelligent people take pleasure in these scenes, which would be unbearable to a delicate soul! Only dancing and twirling in great quantities – this is what they desire. Shalom Aleichem's “Shvitat Hakaparot” to them is a comedy so comic as to bring one to tears. Who is at fault here – the playwright or the audience? We believe that only the audience is to blame.

It is clear that the theater is no place for sour faces, but rather, as the poet says: “The stage is the judging place of the world.” The actors must satisfy the landlords, for they wish to live, and they always give the audience more than they take from it. The troupe will remain here for a few more days and promises some more good plays. We shall live and see.

On Saturday evening they will present the most famous play in the world, “Mammon, the God of Money, or the Treasures of Korach.”

The management has ordered new sets for this play.

*

From the Jewish World

The High Holydays are approaching, the Jewish soul must be clean, and it is good to have a healthy soul in a healthy body.

During the holidays the Batei-Midrash will surely be full of people coming to pray, may the evil eye have no power, and this might also be a cause for the diseases to spread. There must be more “minyans” to avoid crowdedness.

Zvi L-L

Photo Captions:

Der Jüdische Wecker [The Jewish Awakener]

Hapanas [The Torch]

With feelings of love and affection, I bless my friend b”d the venerable author Mr. Haim Czaczkes Halevi and his dear forefathers, on the occasion of his marriage to Ms. Idel Kahn from Podwoloczyska.

*

The Jewish World

(an anonymous young man)

*

The person in charge of the small luminary from Washington is a great “goy” and the person in charge of the big luminary is a small Jew, with all due respect.

In order that the Jews may have a place to pray, because there is a shortage of synagogues in the town, small and tiny synagogues, Batei-Midrash, small Batei-Midrash and various kloises of all types, they have established the Kapatchintzi klois.

*

Benjamin Baran, Buczacz

Booklet 4 Has Already Been Published

A) Henryk Ibsen by Mordechai Kemper. B) Tears, a poem, S.Y. Czaczkes. C) Avrech – a drawing, Avraham Lebensrat. D) Albert Messin and the Symbolists, Azriel. E) Poem, Noah Sabin. F) “A quick look,” Zvi Srapstein. G) The Pogrom in K., Noah Sabin. H) Will you Understand me, S. Kemach. I) Poem, S.Y. Czaczkes. J) Velvil Seberzier, Meir Ben Mordechai Weissberg. K) Contemplations, Azriel. L) In memory of the painter Adolf Mendel, Noah Sabin. M) Persimmon, Azriel. N) Shneihem Hishalchu, S. Halatnikow. O) Complaints, Mazal Tov. P) Holdover of Wages, Ben Zion Fredkin. Q) Bibliography.

Booklet price is 50 heller		For yearly subscribers 6 – A.
		For six months 3 – A.
First Year		Booklet 4
5666 (1906)		Menachem Av

Typeset with brand new machinery, letters for lashon kodesh, Yiddish, German, Polish, Ruthenian, offers his services for printing essays and books in Yiddish, Hebrew, German and Polish – all for reasonable prices.

*

From the Jewish World

He was always a well-liked and peace-loving man. He was eulogized by the Rabbi of Monasterzyska, the Rabbi Gaon H. Lipa Meisles, and by two of our town judges, Rabbi Yosef Preminger and Rabbi Feibel Wilig. May his soul be bound in the bond of everlasting life.

The Election Movement

The unaffiliated citizens, on their part, held a voters' rally last Sunday and elected a special committee made up of thirty-five members. And indeed: ten Poles, ten Ruthenians and fifteen Jews, including five Zionists, seven Socialists and three independents, and they are about to approve another five Zionists. One Ruthenian priest is among the thirty-five. Dr. Peller was chosen as committee chairman, his deputies are Dr. Maglanizki and Mr. Yonas Neiman. Dr. Nacht was chosen as treasurer. It is still unclear who the first committee will nominate as candidate. It is said that the mayor, A. Bernhard Stern, is favored for the position, however he has not yet officially announced his candidacy. There are other rumors, namely, that Gniewosz, our neighbor from Potok Zloty, desires to honor us with his representation. However, we do not know how much truth there is to this rumor. The Rada Narodowa intends to offer as our candidate Stefan Maisa. Let us hope that our Jewish voters will manage to run a Jewish candidate in this voting district, and fight for his success.

The second committee wishes to establish contact with Dr. Birenbaum (another Matityahu) and offer him the candidacy. The Socialists have declared that they are willing to elect him, although the Socialist Party directorate favors Dr. Yarosawitz, who served previously as a delegate from the Borszczow district.

*

From the Election Movement

The Zionists in town have been placed in an odd position due to various causes. Some of them, who are members of the unaffiliated committee, are obliged to join forces with Dr. Birenbaum, because they negotiated with him previously.

In the meantime, the Zionists-Day determined last Sunday to present the candidacy of Rabbi Gedalia Schmelkes from Przemysl in Buczacz. Things will likely be settled and both candidates, who are not simply status-seekers who seek prestige at any price, will reach a compromise. But one thing causes us pain, which is that we have remained in Rada Narodowa as a herd with no shepherd. Ever since Lewenstein was insulted in such an offensive manner that he was forced to leave the Rada Narodowa, we are truly left as a ship in the midst of the ocean.

It is interesting to see how our Polish brothers, the Rada Narodowa members, refer to their Jewish brothers: Poles who have stood on Mount Sinai. Prince Statariski calls them simple Jews, whereas Mr. Abrahamowitz calls them by the name “Members of the Old Pact.” Who knows what name Staialowski would have given them if he were also involved.

*

Buczacz. The Jewish National party candidate, Dr. Birenbaum, came to Buczacz last Friday, and received a respectful and enthusiastic welcome from the Jewish population. On Shabbat afternoon he spoke before a crowd of voters and presented his platform, which made a great impression on his supporters. The resolutions he proposed were met with great admiration and his candidacy was unequivocally approved.

It is hard to predict whether he will be elected. The most difficult business is prophesizing. After all, it is not known at all which methods the opposing camps will employ against him. There are many emissaries there…

The District commissioner invited our community leaders to meet with him and told them that he would like the well-known Marshall of Snyatin, Stefan Maisa, to be elected and that our mayor, Mr. B. Stern, should give up his candidacy. This means that our mayor is no longer an option.

The end of our mayor's candidacy is extremely tragic! Tragic in every respect. Gloomy from every direction. A disappointment from all sides. If he had given some of his power to the circles closest to him…he would be worthy of congratulations. We do not deal with politics, to the right nor to the left, but our heart aches to see such power, such intelligence, go to waste – with no results. This is even more true when we notice how many people in his opposing camps should have been grateful to him, should rightly have given him many thanks.

Man is ungrateful, that is an old refrain, however “He who is subjected to this, his heart shall break in two.”

*

Buczacz

The government candidate, Mr. Stefan Maisa, gave his election speech on Tuesday the 7^th, to an audience of invitees in the Rada Paviatowa hall and presented them with his platform.

Mueller left behind a survivor in Kolomyya, indeed one who remained there up to the last years of the Jewish community. She was his first wife whom he had been forced to divorce for reasons of his heresy and, who, in the course of time became a grocer in the city. Since Solomon Bikel provides an excellent description of this tragic drama in his biography of Mueller, which touches on Kolomyya, (Title in Yiddish, chapter 2), there is no need to say more about it. Nonetheless, I cannot forget what the Zionist teacher and rabbi in the same area, Zelig Gross, z''l, once told me: Consider! – Rabbi Hillel Lichtenstein and Mueller both happened to be together in Kolomyya – there are no greater extremes than these two, one, among the religious fanatics of the nineteenth century, and the other, a young “illui” who became a heretic. Each of them had a part in the establishment of the new yishuv in Eretz Yisrael: one in Petah Tikvah, the other, through his students and the students of his students who went to Eretz Yisrael and participated in the formation of the spiritual nature of the Yishuv.

I was young and did not grasp the full meaning of the words. Only after many years did the depth of his words become clear to me. By then I could no longer engage in conversation with this distinguished man, for the Shoah had put an end also to his life.

As rich as Mueller's biography is in drama, in details it is poor. It is barely possible to sketch the events of the early years of his life clearly. A brilliant well read, young man, whom the wealthy considered an ideal match for their daughters. He was “purchased” by one of them, understandably, on the condition that he would continue with his traditional Torah studies. However, it quickly became clear that the very essence of the “purchase” entailed a “bad bargain”. As one might assume, an illui such as he could not restrict himself for long within the walls of the traditional House of Study (Beit Midrash). This was the era of the flowering of the Enlightenment, when the greatest of Hebrew authors and poets were at the height of their fame: Smolenskin, Y. L. Gordon, and Lilienblum. It goes without saying that the closest to Kolomayya was Smolenskin and therefore the “Shachar” in Vienna. There were no few travelers going from one place to the other, who, in the course of traveling, would bring with them copies of the “Shachar” which, like no comparable journal, enflamed the hearts and souls of such young men.

Mueller was not able to hide his attachment to Haskalah for an extensive time and the end was not long in coming. He divorced his wife and rich in-laws, and turned, understandably, to the “big world” whose center was in the heart of Galicia, that is, the capital city, Vienna. Although the move was only from Kolomyya to Vienna, it involved a huge leap for a young man as deprived as Mueller. He made his to the nearest station en route to Vienna, i.e., Chernovtsy. This capital of Bukovina had drawn many of the Galician maskilim in the previous century and had become an intellectual center in a number of academic areas. Living there in those years was the Hebrew poet and maskil from Zolochev, Israel Halevi Teller, as well as Mueller's uncle who had a son with longings similar to those of Mueller. The three – the two cousins and the Hebrew maskil – did not yet know the destiny that lay ahead of them. At least two of them would wander to Eretz Yisrael and fill important positions there: Teller as a teacher and educator in Rehovot who would raise a young generation of teachers and community workers in Eretz Yisrael; and Dr. Schwartz, coming to Israel by way of Kushta, would become not only one of its most important physicians, but also one of the Jewish community workers in the old Hebrew yishuv (the recent new one had not yet come into being), to whom a memorial stands in the royal court in Kushta. All initiatives passed through him and even the purchase of the land for Petah Tikvah was not accomplished without him. A quick look at the Jerusalem newspapers of the time, at the essays and histories of the Hibbat Ziyon movement by A. Droynov makes the great extent of Schwartz's role in the growth of the yishuv quite evident.

In the meanwhile Mueller and Schwartz studied everything that was required for entry into the “tent of real learning” – the university. Actually, Mueller did not need to do much in order to reach this hoped for goal. About this youngster from Buczacz, Teller states “he did not come empty-handed to Chernovtsy: an outstanding scholar of Mishnah (Shas), expert in Tanakh, grammar, and Hebrew language; and when hiding in the attic of his father's house, he had also had learned German, Polish, French, English, Russian and Greek…” (On the Early Days, vol. 2, p. 166). Like others who had moved from the Beit Midrash to secular studies, he saw Braslav, the site the rabbinical school of Frankel-Graetz, as a lighthouse that mated these two worlds that still wrestle each other with open enmity in the cities and towns of Eretz Yisrael. However, he remained in Braslav only for a short time. It became clear that the real heights of Braslav were not the imagined ones that floated before the eyes of the young men of Israel in the towns of Russia and Galicia. He was not attracted by rabbinics the way he was drawn by Torah in the modern sense of scientific study. He went on to the universities of Vienna, Strasbourg, and Leipsa, where he immersed himself in study of the languages of the orient and the oriental world.

These were the days of the flowering of oriental studies in Europe and the West. The masters of this subject were disseminating their knowledge in the learning centers that Mueller now attended. Foremost among them were Nildaka and Felisher ; and the former even included the Bible and related languages within the perimeters of his work. Mueller was an attentive student to his teachers and he even pursued areas of study that up until that time had remained closed to others, specifically, the area of the languages of south Arabia. At this point in time, it was not an acknowledged field of study, but rather, concealed and hidden in the Arab desert and its wildernesses, it was one no western scholar had yet explored. The “illui from Buczacz” was now joining a small select group of researchers who were primarily seeking to bring languages hidden and buried on monuments and inscriptions in the wide area of south Arabia out of oblivion. Adventuresome and courageous travelers, among them the well-known Eduard Glazer, risked their lives to recover and bring back to Europe great amounts of epigraphy that was until then unseen by human eyes. Such travelers and researchers now needed experts in oriental languages who were gifted with a degree of mental acuity that was not found in the world that had brought such inscriptions to light. Mueller now became one of the greatest, important authorities on deciphering the enigmas of south Arabian inscriptions. In a short period of time, he acquired a world reputation as a specialist in this area with a wealth of essays, research studies, and articles. Such material involved only the very specialized. Moreover, within that narrow circle, he was so outstanding that the University of Vienna was no longer able to hide itself from his great scholarly achievements. The University of Vienna promoted him and granted him a prestigious academic title that even the liberal Vienna of Franz Joseph did not lavish upon Jews – the title of Full Professor. Moreover, this was achieved without any of the corruption or flattery of the source of the title such as was common even among the great and good scholars of those days.

Indeed, such a promotion would not even be taken for granted today; in those days, seventy to eighty years ago, it was so rare as to be almost non-existent. The recognized fact that he came to such a high position without denying his Jewishness was acknowledged in his own day. Thus, it was written about him in those days: “The well known scholar, Dr. David Mueller of Vienna, who taught until now as an untenured instructor in the University, within the division of ancient thought and Semitic languages, has been promoted to the level of Full Professor. It is known that this scholar is one of a very select few. Yet with all his knowledge and the high estimation with which he is held in the scholarly world, he has not turned away from his people and his Torah and he is one of the distinguished authors..” (“HaZiphirah,” 1885, p. 34).

Without a doubt, the most preeminent of the research articles that Mueller wrote for the “Shachar” is a comprehensive, sharp critique of Solomon Buber's edition of Pesikta (vol. 2, 1871, p. 385-95 reprinted in his German book, German Title, Vienna 1907, pp. 132-141). It was uncommonly audacious for one to take position against a scholar as recognized as Rabbi Solomon Buber, to point out errors in his edition, and particularly, to critique his grasp of the intertextual references within the midrashim of this work. Moreover, the major thrust of the essay was an attack against Buber's concealment of the source for much of his work, specifically, the work of Y. L. Zunz in his book of interpretations. With heartfelt words, Mueller protected the name and honor of the great work of Zunz against those who took from it generously without any acknowledgment. Delving into the deep water of talmudic and midrashic literature in this essay, Mueller appears to have revived his Beit Midrash days in Kolmyya and Buczacz. Indeed, in a reference to the critique, one as well known as R. Isaac Hirsh Weiss commented that it was correct and to the point (“Dor, Dor v'Dorshov” Part 3, vol. 4 p. 246, n. 9).

Although Mueller's Hebrew writings extend over decades, they are fewer than those he wrote in the vernacular. (Nonetheless, the number is greater than that attributed to him by G. Rosenmann in his article on Mueller in (Yiddish Title), vol 17, translated in Hebrew in Sefer Hazicharon of the Vienna Rabbinical Seminary, Jerusalem 5706, p. 26). When Smolenskin died and his family was destitute, it was Mueller who recruited a group of those well known in the Jewish world to help the family of the writer. Certainly Mueller sustained his hidden love for Hebrew literature, for its writers, and not the least, for the Hebrew language. That he himself did not acquire an eminent place in the scholarship on Hebrew language was due to the subject of his research and the nature of Jewish studies during that era. Since oriental studies was viewed as a branch of general science,, within the scope of subjects that comprised “Jewish studies” Mueller's reputation was almost unacknowledged. The situation did not change when Mueller began devoting himself to research on the Bible. Critical study of the Bible was unusual in Jewish scholarship whereas it was a most respected branch of general scientific, i.e., Christian, scholarship.

Certainly, within the oriental world there was ample room for the Jewish world. Generations of Jews lived in Arab speaking lands, including south Arabia. Mueller particularly tracked the Jewish perspective – hence his concern with the several versions of Eldad the Danite and his research on the various customs intertwined within the stories of Eldad. This was but a small particular in a huge field; it is not surprising that he was “swallowed up” there and his work did not become known except to a few experts here and there. By now he had in a sense become custodian of research on south Arabia, be it in dealing with the finances of scientific explorations or in processing the results of these scientific explorations. Glazer's travels were made possible because of Mueller's connections with powerful circles (this time in France!); and in this capacity Mueller is to be credited for the first monumental book about the Negev, southern Israel, and Transjordan written by the well-known Czech scientist, Eloise Mussel (The Rock of Arabia, 4 vols.) Until recently this book was known only to a very few expert scholars. Now, since we have entered the area around Elat, it has become an enlightening work that solves a number of problems that were previously troublesome. Certainly, work in this area was generally associated Mueller's research on south Arabia. But, without a doubt, what was functioning here, knowingly or unknowingly, was the pull of the same love of Hebrew – the love for the land of Israel.

Mueller's Hebrew writings are few. But Hebrew readers seek them out, view him as one of their own, and even take pride in his accomplishments and conquests in the field of oriental studies. From time to time brief articles about him, describing his steady rise in scholarly circles with warm praise, appear in Hebrew newspapers. These Hebrew readers are far from Mueller's field of interest; but he exists and certain scholars bother to publicly inform the Hebrew readers about him. One such scholar, for example, is Mueller's friend, the renown scholar, David Kaufman of “Hashachar” (9). Similarly, later on he wrote in a more popular form an article about Mueller's book on the prophets in Yiddish Title.

Not long after this, Mueller, distant from his brethren and his readers who heard from and about him only second or third hand, would enter the “service” that would involve an honored position within the life of our community during the last two generations, specifically, the “service” of teacher in the rabbinical seminary in Vienna.

Mueller was called to serve in this seminary as an instructor for Hebrew language, grammar, Tanakh, and in addition, the other subjects involved in the oriental studies that he had taught in the University of Vienna. Here, and only here, did he from the outset find students from his own native land and background. Therefore it is no wonder that from the start of his teaching appointment, the other seminaries began to lose their Galician students. The atmosphere in this seminary was not an easy one, for one third of the teachers were from a totally different environment and their academic approach was strange and foreign to students of the Galician schools. Nonetheless, the students quickly became acclimated. Particularly influential was the personal magic of the eminent teachers of Hungary and Slovakia – the Rector, A. Schwartz, Abraham Bichler, and Rabbi Meir Ish-Shalom.

Certainly the other seminaries produced rabbis personally and professionally of excellent quality. However, an examination of the roster of students permits one to say, without exaggeration, that no other seminary turned so many minds and hearts toward the Zionist movement, the Land of Israel, and Hebrew education. Subsequently, Bichler left for London and Rabbi M. Ish-Shalom died. Avigdor Aptowitzer and S. Kreuss replaced them. With the arrival of these new powerful teachers, a kind of balance was achieved between the teachers – two from Galicia and two from Hungary. Just recently in his recollections of Mueller (Batzron, vol. 19, pp. 7-9) Rabbi S. Kreus increased the tension between the teachers from Galicia on the one hand and those from Hungary on the other. The source of this tension is readily clear. Aptowitzer, a faithful student and disciple of Mueller who assisted with the first of the scholarly publications about Mueller (see Maznayim, vol. 16, p. 122) provides a clear example of how easily one learned, indeed, with enjoyment as opposed to the exhausting method of Kreuss which bursts through every line of his scholarly publications. As is known, Aptowitzer introduced the study of Hebrew as a language to the seminary, an innovation that was unheard of in any other rabbinical seminary of that time. The extent to which Mueller's approach to Hebrew and an Hebraic atmosphere extending from Tanakh to modern Hebrew literature was influential is readily apparent. This had in fact been the love of his youth. However, estrangement from and natural warfare against such a youthful love was common in those days, indeed not only in those.

The Galician students were faithful to their teacher from Buczacz; and as we will soon see, the influence between these students and their teacher was reciprocal, be it in Torah, in scholarship, or in life.

Certainly, it is not necessary to state that Mueller's approach to Bible, the subject in which he immersed himself as teacher at the seminary, was not the approach of Christian Bible scholars and researchers. It was a trick of fate that this scholar, in whom Hebrew, particularly biblical Hebrew, was a living language, was viewed by Christian scholars as a flower breaking into a territory that did not belong to him. However, even before the seminar had begun, Mueller was known as one of the most important researchers on Gaznius's medieval biblical dictionary. This dictionary had gone from the possession of the learned Christian Radiger (Gaznius's son-in-law) to a modern adaptation by Parnatas Buhal. Mueller's participation on the project, however, had essentially been in the area of oriental languages. Specifically in that realm non-Jews were ready to grant him wide breadth in which to distinguish himself. When it came to the Bible itself, he was so ill received that he subsequently had to write a special essay in defense of himself.

This issue requires us to advance to the subject of Mueller's biblical research. In that area he is credited with a great discovery in the area of biblical rhythm. Certainly Mueller's readings of Bible were more natural than those of non-Jewish scholars for whom language difficulties obscured broader general content. It became clear to Mueller that he had found a principle in the construction of prophetic verses, that from the perspective of beauty and ring was not like the rhythm of general literature which is based on long and short syllables. It became clear to him that the principle of this rhythm operated not only in the words of the prophets, but also in ancient Greek literature, in hieroglyphics, and even in Ben Sira. He worked and reworked this principle until he had established a wealth of evidence from all areas of ancient world literature and published it in two volumes entitled Yiddish Title (Vienna, 1895; Mueller's student, Michael Berkovitch who was Herzl's assistant and his first Hebrew translator, produced an excellent abstract of the work in a series of articles called, “Siphre Haneviim B'zurotam Hareshona” (The Initial Form of the Prophetic Books”) that was published in “Zephira” 1896, Folio 70, 71, 75, 88, 100).

Innovation or not, there can be no doubt that only a Hebrew speaker, favored with an ear for the particular hidden and concealed emotions of our language, would have able to develop this principle in the manner in which Mueller had done.

3	6
Thus said the Lord	Thus said the Lord
For three transgressions of Damascus	For three transgressions of Gaza
For four, I will not revoke it.	For four, I will not revoke it.
Because with threshing boards of iron	Because they exiled an entire population
they threshed Gilead.	Which they delivered to Edom.
4	7
I will send down fire upon the palace of Hazael,	I will send down fire upon the wall of Gaza,
And it shall devour the fortresses	And it shall devour its fortresses
5	8
I will break the gate bars of Damascus	I will wipe out the inhabitants of Ashdod
And wipe out the inhabitants from the Vale of Aven.	And the sceptered ruler of Ashkelon
And the sceptered ruler of Beth-eden	And I will turn My hand against Ekron
And the people of Aram shall exiled to Kir	And the Philistines shall perish to the last man
Said the Lord.	Said the Lord.
9	11
Thus said the Lord	Thus said the Lord
For three transgressions of Tyre	For three transgressions of Edom
For four, I will not revoke it;	For four, I will not revoke it;
Because they handed over an	Because he pursued his brother
entire population to Edom	with the sword and repressed all pity
Ignoring the covenant of brotherhood.	Because his anger raged unceasing
	And his fury stormed unchecked.
10	12
I will send down fire upon the wall of Tyre	I will send down fire upon Teman,
And it shall devour its fortresses.	And it shall devour its fortresses.

It is possible to continue with verses 13-15 paralleling verses 1-3 in chapter 2.

Multiple examples are brought by Mueller in his book, German Title (Vienna, 1898), and two supplements, German Title (Vienna, 1907). All of them demonstrate the inner rhythm that rings for any ear in the chapters of the Prophets. Consequently, there is no need to disrupt verses in the manner that gentile scholars of biblical meter, especially the most famous of them, Severus, had done. Mueller was sharply critical of the “discoveries” of the gentile scholars who found long and short syllables – not only in poetry, but also in prose – and even more that they invented and related verses and emendations of verses to what they had “discovered” in a way that would have repulsed a beginning student of Hebrew. Mueller fostered students who continued in the same direction. Especially noteworthy were Michael Berkovitz and P. Perles who demonstrated that the principle was widespread in areas that even Mueller had not paid attention to.

Mueller's books were not able to awaken the interest – either in a positive or negative sense – of Christian biblical scholars. It goes without saying that the Jewish scholars were all on his side and David Kaufman even published great praise of Mueller's discovery in Yiddish Title (subsequently included in his collected writings, vol. 1 Frankfurt, 1908, pp. 379-393). Such was not the case with gentile scholars who viewed biblical research as their personal domain. There were those who reacted with sharp words, scorn, an abundance of suspicions of the lowest sort (Rudolf Samand particularly excelled at this). Mueller suffered greatly from the negative treatment of the gentile scholars, particularly those whom he respected. In his third and last book devoted to this subject (the title of which is mentioned above), he responds to the most positive and negative of their reactions, and also delineates the history of his discovery and its influence on the literary scholarship of ancient literature.

There is much humble bitterness in this composition; needless to say, he did not restrain from responding to his opponents as they deserved. He showed the gentile scholars who had scorned him and his teachings to what extent they were not equipped to grasp the spirit of the Bible and ancient Hebrew poetry, and the degree to which these were coordinated with the complementary effort of collecting what had been said by the early (Rishonim) and later (Aharonim) commentaries and thereby the full extent of biblical interpretation which is indeed enormous. He returned again to analysis of the substantive charges of his critics and, with additional examples, proved, against claims and assertions of all sorts, the efficacy of his methodology and the principle he had discovered. Mueller was absorbed in this task for ten years. After that the storm abated and the power of the discovery was lost and forgotten: except for a very few, all the general books on Bible that include multiple details that are insignificant in the history of biblical research barely mention Mueller and his great contribution in uncovering the inner principles that function in ancient Hebrew prophecy.

A man such as Mueller was not able to stagnate and be satisfied with his unmatched achievements in oriental studies. To the contrary, as he grew older he continued to acquire knowledge and even entered into the newest area in oriental studies – hieroglyphics. In those days it was still a young science that had not yet established firm, solid foundations. Mueller, who had used ancient Babylonian literature as a basis for the method he used with biblical meter, found yet another way to relate the Bible to this ancient literature that had been newly revealed after thousands of years. He published a scholarly edition of Hammurabi's Code and even added a Hebrew translation relating it to the Bible (Vienna, 1903; a large portion of it is included in B. Z. Dinberg's Yisrael B'Artzo [Israel in Its Land], Vol. 1, Book 1 Tel Aviv, 1934, pp. 78-87).

The era in which Mueller's book on Hammurabi's Code appeared was the era of the polemic over “Bavel and Bibel” that had been aroused by the anti-semite, Franz Delitash. Many Jewish scholars then opposed Delitash and contradicted his claim that the biblical narratives lacked originality and were dependent on Assyrian and Babylonian literature. The only one of the Jewish scholars who was fully qualified to respond to Delitash's slander was Mueller. However, Mueller was not a polemical person. Still, there was no more proven weapon against this hostile scholar than Mueller's book with its multiple facts. Specifically, in publishing the full text that made Hammurabi's Code understandable, it demonstrated the great cultural differences between the biblical world and Mesopotamian literature. Everyone could now be convinced of the ethical and cultural height of biblical literature and of the great distance between it and the world that Delitash praised and glorified to the German Kaiser and the German community that suddenly had become so enthusiastic about the loftiness of Mesopotamia.

This was a great service on the part of Mueller even though it was never basically intended for such. In the haven of his university and seminary teaching he never ceased work on texts, innovations, and activities to promote research and scientific trips to oriental lands. He devoted his last years to the scientific legacy of Edward Glaser as well as expending much energy on Mussel's travels and book, The Rock of Arabia.Mussel's expression of gratitude for Mueller's very real assistance which appears at the beginning of all four volumes of his wonderful book suggests that Mueller was especially interested in the results of research and travels among the Bedouins of the Negev and Transjordan, their languages and stories, and, not least, in the landscape of Israel. Together with this he assisted Reuben Brainin who sought to develop a forum in Vienna that would unite east and west in the context of a common Hebrew background. In “East and West” Mueller published a little linguistic article that demonstrated the extent to which he was situated in the Hebrew world and how close its affairs were to him. Who would have guessed that the symbol of our market, “the flying camel,” was also due to Mueller's Hebrew research which fully explained and demonstrated the relationship between this symbol and similar ones in the oriental world.

With a good reputation, Mueller died at the age of sixty-six in Vienna on the twenty-first of December 1912. He left behind multiple books and research articles that have made him long remembered. He also left behind hundreds of students who have spread out over the Jewish world and continued his tradition, the tradition of scientific learning, and lastly, his great affection and love for the Land of Israel and our Hebrew language.

A Letter from Professor Mueller

By David Zvi Mueller

Translated by Jessica Cohen

To my dear honorable uncle, the eminent and great scholar ksh”t [honor the glory of his name] mohr”r [our teacher and master, rabbi] Yehuda Farb n”y [may his light shine], greetings!

First of all, I thank you profusely for your honor's letter, which gave me much happiness. May God lengthen your years and protect you from trouble and may your old-age be blessed and good.

Today I received a letter from my brother n”y from Stryy, and enclosed in it was a letter from my dear mother t [may she live], in which she writes that a bad rumor has reached the town of Buczacz and that slanderers have slandered me and have spoken ill of me, and that she would rather die than endure this. And I, in my innocence, do not know the meaning of this and I do not know what sin I have committed, I have not stolen horses nor written false bills nor spoken evil of D' and his teachings. Quite the opposite, I am the strong pillar on which the house of Yehuda leans and all members of the Vienna community respect me, and through my doing the name of D' is sanctified. I have also been chosen to serve as a teacher at the study house for rabbis which has been founded and which I helped to found and to glorify Torah. Who is this man who has the impudence to say evil things of me which hurt my dear mother's heart and your heart, my dear uncle? They are slanderous liars who wish only to violate my honor out of malice.

I request that his honor my uncle write to tell me the root of the incident, tell me who laid the venomous seed and I shall prove his falsehood to his face. And I shall present trustworthy witnesses such as the honorable Rabbi avda”k [presiding judge of religious court] of Vienna, Dr. Gidemanen or the rabbi of the Karlsroh community ^[1] who will be a teacher, like myself, in the study house for rabbies, and others like them.

And I do love and respect your greatness.

David Zvi Mueller

Photo Captions:

Professor Mueller's father

Professor David Tsvi (Heinrich) Mueller

End notes

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