Founders of the German communities, see what fruit has grown from the tree you have planted. You killed all positive feelings; you caught them like fish in a net. You squeezed out any juice. You exchanged the honor of Torah—of Jewish wisdom—for the games and idols of the non-Jews. The soul of G–d has been ripped from them. Who has wrought this shame? Was it not done in the name of the Torah, stirred together with alien thoughts? Who asked you to do this? What spurred you to do this? It was only the thirst for secular sciences, the wisdom of Jepheth, which has now completely consumed the Torah of Shem.
— Frierdiker Rebbe
It’s very interesting to me that if one reads Mendelsohn’s writings (sometimes quoted in Hirsch Chumash), one doesn’t see anything too problematic. Most of the times he sounds a bit MO; oftentimes, of all the sources quoted (in that particular instance, Ramchal and a few contemporary Jewish philosophers), his thoughts are the most chassidish ones (e.g., he says that fulfillment of a mitzva is more important than understanding of it — yep, the same Mendelsohn).
An exerpt from the letter by the Previous Lubavitcher Rebbe about him and the long-reaching effects of his on German Judaism. As always, both the content and the form are amazing.
The point of the letter is relevant to today’s American Jewry as never before. Don’t tell me that the imagery that the above quote paints is not familiar to you. One doesn’t have to use labels to feel it.
An evil star has risen in Germany: Moses [Mendelsohn] of Desau, may his name be obliterated. A man of Torah filled with bitter, rotten grapes. He mixed a batter combining apostasy and Torah, spoiled and rotten. He made a honey-cake [Tzelil Devash, the name of his book], and he fed it to his friends and students. As on the wings of the wind, his students fanned out across the land, making a tumult for the approach “Be a Jew at home, and a citizen in the street.” In a short time, Germany was poisoned, ruined by Mendelsohn and his colleagues. Like a pillar of fire eats through straw, the Rabbis of Germany were devoured right and left. Mendelsohn created a crater in Germany; he ran off with Jewish skulls. He stole the children of Jacob, and he broke the leaders of Jewry; he placed them all in the burning fireplace of the sciences.
Germany disintegrated, and many of those who feared G–d’s word left the country. They traveled to Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia, places where the pure Torah still shined like the sun at noon, where the people of the G–d of Abraham still walked straight, serving G–d in purity. Year by year, step by step, Germany was going down rung by rung, the people were assimilating, until, G–d forbid, their memory would be forgotten. Only in little bits here and there did a few survivors, escapees from the sword of Mendelsohn and his followers still gasp and writhe. They were broken and crushed, trampled and plundered by the terrible revolution. Their tears glistened on their cheeks from the great calamity, and their souls were bitter over the horrible fate of their sons and daughters. Their time had come, they were being brought to burial; clumps of earth were covering them up. Until, when Rabbi Shimshon Raphael Hirsch arrived, even in the biggest cities he could not find man or woman adhering to the Jewish religion in purity. Such was the lot of Germany at the hands of its destroyer, Mendelsohn, may his name be obliterated.
Please, scholars and communal leaders of Germany, who now stand upon the marble floor founded by Rabbi Hirsch of blessed memory, who hoist the flag of the path decorated with orderly wisdom. Let us go and investigate. With whose power did the destroyer Mendelsohn come? Was it not with the power of Torah, the wisdom of the ancients?! He did not say to people to leave the Torah, to abandon the Mitzvot, to destroy the chambers of Israel. He was wise, and he knew that he would not be able to convince the community of Jacob to do so; they would refuse him.
At that time—1785-1855—the Jews were filled with light, i.e., Torah. In the countries of Poland, White Russia, and the Ukraine, the students of the Maggid of Mezeritch spread the cloak of their Torah, and “the rose of Jacob celebrated and was joyous.” Rains of Torah and rays of light of Divine service spread out through the streets of the cities. In every city where this light reached, there was joy and the sound of jubilation in Torah and Divine service; the synagogues were filled to capacity, and with song and happiness they blessed and praised the exalted G–d.
How good and sweet was the glory of G–d. Anyone who entered into the House of the L–rd was astounded and awed by the G–dly fear before his eyes and ears. Here and there, in the east and west, the candles of G–d—people’s souls—were kindled with pure oil, with the ascendance of spirit over flesh. Here, some cry out with a broken wail from the very depths of their hearts and essence of their souls, repenting for all their misdeeds. Others find pleasure in the sweetness of G–d, with a voice that awakens true intent, and a deep connection to the point of pouring out their souls. Yet others are engrossed in the depths of meditation, seeking the Divine through pure knowledge and understanding; whispering feverishly, they connect their very being to His. High above all there is a guard: The shepherds of Israel send special missives, with letters of peace and blessing, counting their flock of sheep, encouraging and strengthening.
At the same time in Germany, Jewish exile was reaching the depths of poison and bitterness—the venom, that of Mendelsohn—the “enlighted Torah scholar” who had become a reformer (c. 1783). Until, in around 1833, Rav Hirsch arose. He stood between the dead and the living, saving the remnants of the flock from the Reform destruction. With his immense powers, he drew a line; with the insights of ancient wisdom he described them. He made them into the form of a man who believes in the G–d of Israel; he imbued them with morals, strengthened them with the nails of science, and clothed them with cloaks. He placed a book in their hands and whispered into their ears; he blew a spirit of life into their nostrils, and blessed them saying: “May you be a crowning glory for G–d and mankind.” Rabbi Hildsheimer, Rabbi Lehmann, and many others followed later in his path.
The gratitude that the Jews of Germany owe to their teacher and protector Rabbi Hirsch is indescribable. All else is as naught when dealing with the actual salvation that Rabbi Hirsch wrought for German Jewry. Those who followed him, however, did not know how to develop his path; they didn’t understand how to establish a Yeshivah dedicated completely to Torah, “the only ladder in our world.” They continued in the path blazed by Rabbi Hirsch, for they didn’t understand that that was the only option open to him at the time—just beginning the salvation. They did not comprehend the true depths of his will.
Who was it that made the mistake, I do not know. But a mistake it was. It brought a stain to the path that its founder, Rabbi Hirsch, had envisioned. No less than fifty years later, the staff of Hildsheimer flowered, the blossoms opened, and the pomegranates sprouted. The path of Germany ripened and gave off a heady scent, and on the doors of their brethren in Russia and the like they began to knock, crying: Come, our brothers, blessed by G–d! Send your sons and daughters to us, and we will teach them knowledge. Why should you stand outside? We have prepared the way before you—a clear, safe, and protected path!
Day chases day, a month comes and a month goes, year takes the place of year. The Germans forgot about their recent traumatic past, whose effect on them had not yet ceased. It seemed to them as if this was the Jewish way ever since they had become a nation: Upon leaving its mother’s womb, a child is called Moses, Jacob, Philip, Marcus, or Moritz. As soon as he is suckled from his mother’s breast, he is taught the secular language of the country. Nationalist songs are his lullabies, and he is educated as a loyal citizen. This child then grows up. He becomes someone with an opinion and a certificate; he comes with the power of the “Torah” and declares: “Judaism neither defines life nor disturbs it.” “Judaism and secular life can go hand in hand.”
Indeed, the German approach developed a new prototype: A Jew who is kosher, even ultra-acceptable, clean and shiny. He keeps the Mitzvot in accordance with the law. Very soon people will say: “Become a German Jew, and all will be permitted for you.” Anything that limits the Jew and distinguishes him from the nations, the German scholars found a way around; from shaving the beard, to the toys that children play with. All citizens of the country are equal—a kohen is no different than an ignoramus. Judaism and secular life go hand in hand. It is no wonder that the community leaders of Germany boast that the stream of secular life doesn’t disturb Judaism.
The very stones of the walls cry out!
Founders of the German communities, see what fruit has grown from the tree you have planted. You killed all positive feeling; you caught them like fish in a net. You squeezed out any juice. You exchanged the honor of Torah—of Jewish wisdom—for the games and idols of the non-Jews. The soul of G–d has been ripped from them. Who has wrought this shame? Was it not done in the name of the Torah, stirred together with alien thoughts? Who asked you to do this? What spurred you to do this? It was only the thirst for secular sciences, the wisdom of Jepheth, which has now completely consumed the Torah of Shem.
How beautiful and sweet is the education of Germany. Beautiful in its clothing; sweet in the sweetness of its lips. But though it may be sweet to the palate, its end is unfathomable. Until when will you be intoxicated by the effect of Mendelsohn’s poison? When will the barrier that divides us be torn down? Sages of Germany, when will you finally stop drinking of these accursed, bitter waters—the approach of “Torah im Derech Eretz”?
Stand now to hear your judgment, and listen to the accusations against you:
You, sages of Germany, are accused, for you have opened the way to Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia, and you have kindled a fire in the forest. For two years now, we hear the cry of the Rebbes of Poland, crying for their flock has been attacked; like sheep to the slaughter, you have taken their children. Look to the corpses of our people who have fallen at your hands, like wheat to the harvest. You have taken a land from where bread—the bread of Torah—would issue forth, and you have left it desolate and forsaken.
You have killed the nation of G–d, its heads, judges, and elders. Your hands have been filled with blood—the blood of our brothers and children who are falling every day in this holocaust of souls, may G–d protect us.
Have you all seen the terrifying upheaval, the awesome conflagration, which has been started in those countries? Who has wrought this? Who has done this? It was but the spirit of Germany and its leaders, and yet you have the audacity to proclaim: “We have committed no wrong!”
Woe is to me if I justify your actions. I will not come with a tumult and thunder, or with a storm of printed articles and the like. But I will demand of you with all my strength and power: Return that which you have stolen. Do everything you can to correct the wrong.
There are two things I ask of you today:
(a) Remove the magic mask that you have placed over the eyes of the Rabbis. Let their eyes be opened, so that they may return to guarding their priesthood faithfully and strongly, as did their holy ancestors, may their merit protect us.
(b) Open to us the doors of Germany. Let us establish there, with G–d’s help, a Yeshiva dedicated to the truth of Torah, for it is through it that we will see light and life for all eternity.
[Sefer HaToldot — Admur Moharyatz (KPS, Kefar Chabad 1976), vol. 3, p. 290]
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