The Denver Jewish news. [volume] (Denver, Colo.) 1915-1925, 1920-03-31
Princes Who Have Suf-
ficient Leisure
A STUDY OF JEWISH HISTORY IN
SMALL PRlNCIPALITIES.
by GOTTHARD DEUTSCH

The Talmud is n store house of wis
dom, and some of the wisest remarks
are those that we may class as phil
osophy of history, altho the term is not
found in the Talmud. So the rabhis
say (Pesahin. S7b): 1t was the work
of kind providence that there are so
many states. for else the Jews would
long have been annihilatcd. This for
tunate condition is especially seen in
italy and in Germany, and for TINS
reason the Jews were never expelled
from these countries as they were
from England. France. Spain ana
Portugal When one sovereign eN-
PEELED them or made life unbearable.
there was always neighbor who was
better disposed and more nppreciativc
Of revenue from Jewish taxes.
In Italy these conditions and with
them the little congregations in small
towns have gradually disappeared dur
ing the last six years. In German!
the small states are now beginning to
disappear after The sovcreiSns went
cut of business, but the congregations,
- to these conditions, have long ago
\ Indled down. At this moment small
y inequalities in central Germany are
about to he absorbed by new state
called Thuringia. and without confin.
ing ours es strictly to these states,
we sha . picture of the Jewish
conditions in these miniature princi-
pnlities.
The foremost place among them Is
occupied by the duchy of Anhnlt. For
its small size and population, about
1900, it gave us remarkable number
of great men. need but mention
Noses Mendelssohn. Ludwig Philippson
and the recently deceased philosopher.
Hermann Cohen. The country. ana
especially the city Of Dessau, was open
ed to the Jews by the end of the 18th
century. Among those who avniled
themselves of this Hospitality We're
some refugees from the Chmeluickt re-
bellion which brought over the Ukraine
"A misery similar to the bufchcries
recently perpetrated in The same local
ity. One of the most prominent men
of this colony was Moses Benjamin
Wolff. great great grandson or
Nose Isserls. the annOtatOr of the Shul-
han Aruk (Remo). lie became pros
porous. dealt with the duke and other
rulers of the small states in this VI
cinity lending them money, and so oh.
tanned fuvors in return as the right
TO establish, n printing office which
was rare privilege for Jew to get.
and practically impossible in the large
states. The pillnges of the Cossacks
and the Poles had destroyed many val
uablc libraries. hooks became scarce,
and so it was II GOtlsend to the Jews
that n man like Moses Wolff could
establish printing office in Jessnitz
With the permission of the Duke. This
good relation lasted just as long nS
Moses was able to grant ioans and ns
long as he did it, he wns "Werter
Freund," but when he could go no
farther and insisted on payment, nc
was uS'lrcr. an uhscrupuio''s jew ''e
sued but what chance couid 'e"
have with duke! lie died III i'-''
IL poor man. His heirs continued u
tight for their money but never col
lcctcd dollar
These conditions were not the rue
in each case. Princes who kept oroer
in their households and were strictiy
honest also valued the services OF jew"
ish merchants especially hs jewelers.
as army contractors and bankers. One
of the ablest rulers which the little