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CHAPTER III. IN POLAND AND AUSTRIA
THE GALICIAN SCHOOL
The Polish scholars domiciled in Germany entered, as we have seen, into the work of the Meassefim. Presently it will appear that the movement itself was transferred to Poland, where it produced a much more lasting effect than elsewhere.
In the West of Europe Hebrew was destined to vanish little by little, and make room for the languages of the various countries. In the Slavic East, on the other hand, the neo-Hebrew gained and spread until it was the predominating language used by writers. By and by a profane literature grew up in it, which extends to our day without a break.
From the sixteenth century on, the Jewry of Poland, isolated in destiny and in political constitution, comprised the greater part of the Jewish people. The agglomerations of Jews in Poland, originating in many different countries, and fused into one mass, enjoyed a large measure of autonomy. Their fortunes were governed and their life regulated by a political and religious organization administered by the Rabbis and the representatives of the Kahal, the “community.” This organization formed a sort of theocratic state known as “The Synod of the Four Countries” (Poland, Little Poland, Little Russia, and, later, Lithuania, with its autonomous synod). Constituting almost the whole of the Third Estate of a country three times the size of France, the Jews were not only merchants, but also, and more particularly, artisans, workingmen, and even farmers. They were a people apart, distinct from the others. The restricted ghettos and small communities of the Occident widened out, in Poland, into provinces with cities and towns peopled by Jews. The Thirty Years' War, which had cast a large number of German Jews into Poland, produced the effect of giving a definite constitution to this social organism. The new-comers quickly attained to controlling influence in the Jewish communities, and succeeded in foisting their German idiom upon the older settlers. One of their distinguishing traits was that they pushed the study of the Law to the utmost. The Talmud schools in Poland and the Polish Rabbis soon acquired a reputation unassailed in the whole of the Diaspora. Despised and maltreated by the Polish magnates, condemned, by reason of a never-ceasing stream of immigration and the meagre resources of the country, to a bitter struggle for existence, the Jews of Poland centred all their ambition in the study of the Law, and consoled themselves with the Messianic hope. Empty casuistry and dry dogmatism sufficed for the intellectual needs of the most enlightened. A piety without limit, the rigorous and minute observance of Rabbinical prescriptions, and a cult compounded of traditional and superstitious practices accumulated during many centuries, filled the void left in their minds by the wretched life of the masses. To satisfy the cravings of the heart, they had the homilies of the Maggidim (“preachers"), a sort of popular instruction based on sacred texts, tricked out with Talmudic narratives, mystic allusions, and a variety of superstitions.
By the dreadful insurrection of the Cossacks in the Ukraine, half a million of Jews lost their lives. The terror that followed the uprising during the latter part of the seventeenth and the first half of the eighteenth century threw the Jewish population of the southern provinces into sad confusion. At that moment the Hasidim  with their Oriental fatalism, and their worship of the Zaddik (“Saint"), whom they revered as a wonder-worker, appeared upon the scene and won the Jews of a large part of Poland to their standard. Then there ensued a period of moral and intellectual degradation, which coincided precisely with the epoch in which the civilizing influence of the Meassefim was uppermost in Germany. [Footnote 1: Literally, the “pious.” A sect founded in Wolhynia in the second half of the eighteenth century, the adherents of which, though they remained faithful to the Rabbinic law, placed piety, mystic exaltation, and a worship of holy men in opposition to the study of the Talmud and the dogmatism of the Rabbis.]
The reforms of Emperor Joseph II planned for the Jews in the part of Poland annexed by Austria, especially the extension of compulsory military service to them, were looked upon by the ignorant masses as a dire misfortune. They rebelled against every change, and placed no belief in the promises made by the authorities to better their condition. They were terrorized by the severity of the measures taken against them, and, impotent to carry on a struggle against authority, they threw themselves into the arms of Hasidism, which preached the merging of self in a mystic solidarity. This meant the cessation of all growth, social as well as religious. Superstition established itself as sovereign mistress, and the end was the utter degeneration of the Austrian-Polish section of Jews.
In order to guard against the danger with which the spread of the new sect was fraught, and enlighten at least the more intelligent of the people, the intellectual Jews of Poland took up the work of the Meassefim, and constituted themselves the champions of the Haskalah, the liberal movement. They became thus the lieutenants of the Austrian government. By and by their activity assumed importance, and in time modern schools were established and literary circles were formed in the greater part of the villages of Galicia.
Even into Russian Poland the campaign against obscurantism was carried, by men like Tobias Feder and David Samoscz; the former the author of an incisive pamphlet against Hasidism, as well as numerous philological and poetical publications; the latter a prolific writer, the author of a collection of poems entitled Resise ha-Melizah (“Drops of Poetry", 1798).
The movement was aided and abetted by rich and influential Jews. Joseph Perl, the founder of a modern school and several other educational institutions, is a typical representative of these friends and patrons of progress. [Footnote: Perl was the author of a parody on Hasidism, published anonymously under the title Megalle Temirin (“The Revealer of Mysteries"). A monograph upon parodies, a literary form widely cultivated in Hebrew, which was long a desideratum has recently been written by Dr. Israel Davidson (“Parody in Jewish Literature", New York, Columbia University Press, 1908). The Hebrew parody is distinguished particularly for its adaptation of the Talmudic language to modern customs and questions. It was made the vehicle of polemics and of ridicule, as in the case of Perl's pamphlet, or of satire on social conditions, as in the “Treatise of Commercial Men", which appeared at Warsaw, and the “Treatise America", published at New York, etc. Frequently it was meant merely to divert and amuse, as, for instance, Hakundus, Wilna, 1827, and numerous editions of the “Treatise Purim.”]
Ha-Meassef was succeeded by a progeny of periodical literature, scientific and literary. After the Bikkure ha-'Ittim (“The First Fruits of the Times"), edited by Shalom Hacohen, Vienna, 1820-1831, came the Kerem Hemed (“The Delicious Vineyard"), edited by Goldenberg, at Tarnopol, 1833-1842; the Ozar Nehmad (“The Delightful Treasure"), edited by Blumenfeld; He-Haluz (“The Pioneer"), founded in 1853 by Erter, together with Schorr, the witty writer and bold reformer; Kokebe Yizhak (“The Stars of Isaac"), edited by I. Stern, at Vienna, 1850-1863; Bikkure ha-Shanah (“The First Fruits of the Year", 1844); Peri To'elet (“Successful Labor", 1821- 1825); “Jerusalem", 1845; “Zion", 1842; Ha-Zefirah (“The Morningstar"), 1824; Yeshurun. 1847, etc. These collections of essays are of a much more serious character than ever Ha-Meassef attained to. As a rule they display more originality and more scientific depth.
To attract the intelligent among the Polish Jews, permeated as they were with deep knowledge of Rabbinic literature, more was needed than witty sallies and childish conceits in an affected style. The appeal had to be made to their reason, to their convictions, their constant longing for intellectual occupation. Their minds could be turned away from a most absurd mysticism only by setting a new ideal before them, calculated to engage feelings and attract hearts yearning for consolation, and left unsatisfied by the pursuit of the Law, the nourishment given to all who thought and studied in the ghetto.
Two men, the most eminent of the Jewish humanists in Austrian Poland, succeeded in meeting the spiritual needs of their compatriots. The Rabbi Solomon Jehudah Rapoport, one of the founders of the Science of Judaism, the pursuit that was to replace Rabbinic scholasticism, and the philosopher Nahman Krochmal, the promoter of the idea of the “mission of the Jewish people", a substitute for the mystic, religious ideal—they were the two who transformed the literary movement inaugurated in Germany into a permanent influence.
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Solomon Jehudah Rapoport (1790-1867), called “the father of the Science of Judaism", was born at Lemberg of a family of Rabbis. His studies were purely Rabbinic, but his alert mind grasped every opportunity of acquiring other knowledge, and in this incidental way he became familiar first with French and then with German. The influence of the philosopher Krochmal, with whom he came in close personal contact, shaped his career as a writer and a scholar. In 1814, at Lemberg, he wrote, in Hebrew, a description of the city of Paris and the Isle of Elba, to satisfy the curiosity which the events of the time had aroused in the Polish ghetto. In imitation of Mendes, whose writings exercised some influence upon him, he later published a translation of Racine's “Esther” (Bikkure ha-'Ittim, 1827), and of a number of Schiller's poems. But he did not stop at that. His profound study of the Jewish scholars and poets of the Middle Ages turned his mind to historical investigations. In the Bikkure ha-'Ittim and theKerem Hemed he published a series of biographical and literary studies, in which he shows himself to be possessed of large critical sense and keen judgment. In its sobriety and precision his style has not been excelled. These studies of his gave new direction to the eager minds of the age. As a result, Jost, Zunz, and Samuel David Luzzatto devoted themselves to the thorough examination of the Judaism of the Middle Ages. The outcome was a new science, the Science of Judaism.
Rapoport published also a pamphlet against the Hasidim and their wonder- working Rabbis, and various articles on the necessity of promoting knowledge and civilization among the Jews. In this way he brought upon himself the hatred of the fanatics. Appointed Rabbi at Tarnopol at the instigation of Perl, the patron of Jewish science, he was forced to leave the city by the intrigues of the Hasidim. He went to Prague, to become Rabbi in that important community, and there he ended his days.
The disciple and successor of the German Meassefim, Rapoport inherited from them the conviction which characterized the Jewish Maskil, that science alone and modern civilization can raise the intellectual level and improve the political situation of his co-religionists. All his life he fought for the Haskalah. He loved knowledge with disinterested devotion, and not merely because it was an instrument to promote the political emancipation of the Jews. The work of assimilation set on foot in the Occident, he realized, was not applicable in the East of Europe, and would even be useless there. No vain illusions on the subject possessed him. He was very much wrought up against such religious reforms in Judaism as, he believed, would inevitably split the people into sects, and sow the seed of disunion and indifference to national institutions. This appears strikingly in his campaign against Schorr, the editor of He-Haluz, and Judah Mises, and especially in his pamphlet Tokohat Megullah (“Public Reproach"), which appeared in Frankfort in 1846. To those who faltered, having lost faith in the future of Judaism, Rapoport addresses himself in several of his writings, especially in the introduction to “Esther", holding up his own ideals before them. Love of my nation, he says in effect, is the cornerstone of my existence. This love alone has the power to confirm my faith, for the national sentiment of the Jew and his religion are closely linked with each other. And not only this national sentiment and this religion are inconceivable the one without the other, but a third factor is joined with them so intimately as to be indispensable—it is the Holy Land.
The desire to explain rationally the Jew's love for his ancient land suggested to Rapoport, long before Buckle and Lazarus, the theory of the influence of climate on the psychology of nations. In his sketch of Rabbi Hananel (Bikkure ha-'Ittim, 1832), he explains the psychologic traits of the Jewish people by the fact that they resided in a temperate climate and in a country situated between Asia and Africa. Thence was derived the tendency to maintain equilibrium between feeling and reason which characterizes the Jew. Under favorable conditions, and if the Roman conquest had not intervened, the Jews would have reached the highest degree of this equilibrium, and become a model nation. That is why Palestine is the political and spiritual fatherland of the Jew, the only country in which his genius can develop untrammelled; that is why Palestine is so indissolubly attached to the destinies of Israel, and is so dear to every Jewish heart. But even in the exile, “in the darkness of the Middle Ages, the Jews were the sole bearers of light and knowledge”. This is what Rapoport strove to demonstrate in his works on the scholars of the Middle Ages, and in his Talmudic encyclopedia, 'Erek Millin (Prague, 1852), which, unfortunately, was not finished.
In this fashion Rapoport, who did not hesitate to write on Bible criticism in Hebrew, the first to use the ancient language for the purpose, endeavored to reconcile the reason of a modern mind with the faith and the Messianic hope of an orthodox Rabbi.
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It is a significant phenomenon that the Science of Judaism, the ideal meant to replace the dry study of the Law, and fill the void left in the Jewish mind by the course of recent developments, took firm hold upon the Polish Jews, the very bodyguard of Rabbinism, of which, in point of fact, it is but a modern and rational transformation.
Yet this new science, founded on the study of Israel's glorious past, and warmly welcomed by the intellectual and the cultivated in Western Europe, could not entirely satisfy the intelligent in Polish Jewry. In an environment wholly Jewish, having no reason to nurse illusive hopes of imminent assimilation with their neighbors, from whom they were divided by every possible circumstance, beginning with moral notions and ending with political fortune, the Polish Jews resigned themselves to a sort of Messianic mysticism. But the mystic's explanation of the phenomenon of the existence of Judaism also failed to satisfy their yearnings. What they sought was a warrant in reason itself justifying the permanence of Judaism and its future. The arguments set forth by Maimonides and Jehudah Halevi contained no appeal for the modern soul. A philosopher was needed, one who should solve the problem of the existence of the Jewish people and its proper sphere from the vantage- ground of authoritative knowledge. Such a philosopher arose in Galicia itself.
Nahman Krochmal (1785-1840), the originator of the idea of the “mission of the Jewish people", was born at Brody. His chief work, published posthumously through the efforts of Zunz, the Moreh Nebuke ha- Zeman (“The Guide of the Perplexed of Modern Times"), is the most original piece of philosophic writing in modern Hebrew. Krochmal led the sad life of the Polish-Jewish scholar—void of pleasures and filled to overflowing with privation and suffering. His whole time was consecrated to Jewish science. He led a retired life, and while he lived nothing of his was published. On account of the precarious state of his health, he never left the small town in which he was born. However, his house became the foregathering place of the votaries of Jewish science. Especially young men eager to learn came from everywhere to sit at the feet of the master. The influence which he thus exerted during his life was reinforced and perpetuated after his death by the publication of the “Guide of the Perplexed of Modern Times", in 1851, at Lemberg.
The studies contained in this work, for the most part unfinished sketches, form a curious collection. Limitations of space forbid more than a summary of its contents, and an analysis of its chief principles.
The need of finding a philosophic explanation of Divine existence forced Hegel to formulate the axiom, that reason alone constitutes the reality of things, and absolute truth is to be found in the union of the subjective and the objective—the subjective corresponding to the concrete state of every being, that is, matter, which forms his actual reason, and the objective corresponding to his abstract state, that is, the idea, which forms his absolute reason.
On this Hegelian axiom of actual reason and absolute reason, Krochmal builds up his ingenious system of the philosophy of Jewish history. He is the first Jewish scholar who views Judaism, not as a distinct and independent entity, but as a part of the whole of civilization. At the same time, while it is attached to the civilized world, it is distinguished by qualities peculiar to itself. It leads the independent existence of a national organism similar to all others, but it also aspires to an absolute, spiritual expression, consequently to universalism. The result of this double aspect is that while Jewish nationality forms the element peculiar to the Jewish people, its civilization, its intellect are universal, and detach themselves from its peculiar national life. Hence it comes that Jewish culture is essentially spiritual, ideal, and tends to promote the perfection of the human kind. Krochmal in this way arrives at the following three conclusions:
1. The Jewish nation is like the phoenix, constantly arising to new life from its ashes. It comprises within itself the three elements of Hegel's triad: the idea, the object, and the intelligence. The successive resurrections of the Jewish people follow an ascendant progression, which tends toward the spiritually absolute. Starting as a political organism, it soon developed into a dogmatically religious sect, only to be transformed into a spiritual entity. Krochmal—though he does not say it explicitly—sees in religion only a passing phenomenon in the history of the Jewish people, exactly as its political existence was but a temporary phase.
2. The Jewish people presents a double aspect to the observer. It is national in its particularism, or its concrete aspect, and universal in its spiritualism. The national genius of all other peoples of antiquity was narrowly particularistic. That is why they were submerged. Only the Jewish prophets conceived of the absolutely and universally spiritual and of moral truth, and therein lies the secret of the continued existence of the Jewish people.
3. With Hegel Krochmal admits that the resultants from the historical development of a people form the quintessence of its existence. [Footnote: See chapters IX, XVI, and others; also M. Bernfeld, Da'at Elohim (“The Knowledge of God"); and M. Landau, Die Bibel und der Hegelianismus (Dissertation).] But what he does not believe is that the essential element in the existence of a people is the resultant. The process of historical evolution is in itself an adequate reason for its existence. More rational than Hegel himself, Krochmal thus avoids the contradiction which follows from the mystical definition of existence in the Hegelian system.
For the German metaphysician, existence is the interval between not being and being, that is, the period of becoming. Krochmal simply eliminates this more or less materialistic notion of the interval. He substitutes the moral effects produced incidentally to the course of historic action, for the idea of effects posterior to the same action, the effects called the resultants. The more or less materialistic manner in which historic action develops replaces with him the idea of the transition period, the period of becoming, as a mysterious intermediary between actual reason and absolute reason.
Proceeding from these axioms, Krochmal, at a time in which Völkerpsychologie and sociology were embryonic sciences, explains the phenomena of Jewish history as well as the phenomena of the religious and spiritual evolution of mankind, and does it with remarkable originality and profundity.
Krochmal's ideas produced an effect not to be exaggerated upon the intelligent among the Polish Jews, who had thrown off the trammels of dogmatism and mystic hope, but were in a hesitating state of mind, casting about for the reason of their very existence as Jews. His book offered them an explanation, based on modern science and yet in accord with their Jewish essence as revealed by history and therefore satisfying to their national pride.
Thus Krochmal opened up a way for the seekers after enlightenment in future generations. On the ideas of the master, his successors built up their conceptions of the Jewish people. Abraham Mapu, the father of the historical novel in Hebrew, drew his inspiration from the “Guide", and in our days the well-known essayist Ahad ha-'Am has seized upon certain of Krochmal's principles, notably the importance to be attached to the spiritual element in the life of the Jewish people. [Footnote: R. Brainin, in his biography of Mapu, p. 64, Warsaw, 1900.]
These two leaders, Rapoport and Krochmal, stimulated a whole school of writers, whose works established the fortune of the Hebrew language in Galicia. With more or less originality, all departments of literature and science were cultivated.
Very soon, however, the times ceased to be propitious to serene thinking and investigation of the past. Hasidism, triumphant, having conquered the whole of Russian-Poland, threatened to crush all thought and reason at the very time in which the Kulturkampf was battering at the gates of the Polish ghetto. Rapoport, we have seen, contended with Hasidism in a witty pamphlet. After him, there appeared a satirist of great talent, who waged pitiless war with its partisans and with all the powers of darkness.
Isaac Erter, of Przemysl (1792-1841), was the friend and disciple of Krochmal. An infant prodigy, he spent all the years of his early childhood in the exclusive study of the Law. When he was thirteen years old, his father married him to a girl of eighteen, whom he had not set eyes upon before the day of their marriage. She did not live long. Erter went on with his Rabbinic studies, and married a second time. A lucky chance brought him in contact with a Maskil who led him to the study of Hebrew grammar, and he became a devotee of the Haskalah. Encouraged by Rapoport and Krochmal, with whom he had entered into relations, he published his first satire on Hasidism. It evoked considerable comment. Persecuted by the fanatics on account of it, he could not continue to follow his vocation as teacher of Hebrew. He was obliged to quit his native city, and he went to Brody, where the circle of Maskilim welcomed him with delight. Otherwise his life at Brody was full of hardships. His wife, as courageous as she was intelligent, urged him to equip himself for some serious profession. Accordingly, at the age of thirty-three, he went to Buda-Pesth to study medicine, and five years later he returned to Brody fortified with his diploma as a physician. Thereafter he occupied an independent position, and he could dare wage uncompromising warfare with obscurantism and the mystics. He published numerous articles in the periodicals of the day. After his death, they were collected by the poet Letteris in one volume bearing the title Ha- Zofeh le-Bet Yisraël (“The Watchman for the House of Israel").
Erter as satirist and critic of morals is a writer of the first order. For vivacity, his style, at once incisive and elegant, may be compared with that of his contemporaries Heine and Börne. He possesses not a few traits in common with these two writers. More serious and positive than Heine, he pursues a steady aim in his satires. Tears mingle with his laugh, and if he castigates, it is in order to chasten. More original and more poetic than Börne, he thinks clearly and to the point, and the effect of his thought is in no way impaired by his stilted mannerisms. Without bias or passion, and with fine irony, he rallies the Hasidim on their baneful superstitions, their worship of angels and demons. He criticises the ignorance and narrow-mindedness of the Rabbis, and scourges the shabby vanity of the communal representatives.
Animated by the desire to spread truth and culture among his co-religionists, he does not direct his attacks against the fanatics alone. He is equally bold in driving home the truth with the “moderns" of the ghetto, the “intellectuals", boastful of their diplomas, who seek their own profit, and do nothing to further the welfare of the people in general. Corresponding to the number of articles he wrote is the number of arrows shot into the very heart of the backward system imposed upon the Jews of his country. He is the first Hebrew poet who dared expose the social evils honeycombing the curious surroundings, full of contrasts and naïveté, amid which his people lived. This he did in a series of startling descriptions. After the fashion of Cervantes, he employs ridicule to kill off the Rabbi and murder the mystic.
Erter deserves a place in the first rank of the champions of civilization among the Jews.
Galicia gave birth also to a lyric poet of some distinction. Meïr Halevi Letteris (1815-1871) was a learned philologist, but his chief literary excellencies he displayed as a poet. Like Rapoport's, his maiden effort was a translation of the Biblical dramas of Racine. His workmanship was exact and beautiful. He was a productive writer, and his activity expressed itself in every sort of literary form. He left upward of thirty volumes in prose and verse. [Footnote: His poetry was collected in one volume, and published at Vienna, under the title Tofes Kinnor we-'Ugab (“Master of the Lyre and the Cithern").] His Hebrew version of Faust, published at Vienna, is a masterpiece in point of style, and it gained him conspicuous renown. He ventured upon a bold departure from Goethe's work. Desiring to transfer the dramatic action to soil wholly Jewish, he substituted for Faust a Gnostic Rabbi of the Talmud, Elisha ben Abuyah, surnamed Aher (“Another"). This change necessitated a number of others, which were far from being advantageous to the Hebrew version.
The prose of Letteris is heavy. It lacks grace and naturalness, qualities possessed by the greater number of his contemporaries in Russia. It should, however, be set down to his credit that, unlike many others, he never showed any inclination to sacrifice clearness of thought to elegance of style.
By way of compensation, his poetry, from the point of view of style and versification, is raised beyond adverse criticism. It merits the description classic. His numerous translations from modern poets prove the facility with which the ancient language can be handled by a master. But, having acknowledged the superiority of his style, the literary critic has said all there is to be said in praise of his work. The breath of poesy, the tone of personal inspiration, the gift of fancy, are on the whole lacking. His most original poems are nothing more than an echo of the romantic school.
Nevertheless, there is a certain simple charm diffused through some of his verses, especially those in which he pours out his sorrowful Jewish heart. His Zionist poems are perfect expressions of the national spirit. One of them, the very best his muse has produced, has been almost universally accepted as the national hymn. It Is called Yonah Homiah (“The Plaintive Dove"). The dove is the symbol for Israel used by the prophetical writers of the Bible. Her mournful cooing voices the grief of the Jewish people driven forth from its native land and forsaken by its God.
“'Alas for my affliction! I must roam about abandoned since I
left the shelter in the cleft of my rock. Around me rages the
storm, alone and forsaken I fly to the forest to seek safety in
its thickets. My Friend has abandoned me! His anger was kindled,
because faithless to Him I permitted the stranger to seduce me,
and now my enemies harry me without respite. Since my Friend
deserted me, my eyes have been overflowing with tears. Without
Thee, O my Glory, what care I for life? Better to dwell in the
shadow of death than wander o'er the wide world. For the
oppressed death is as a brother in adversity.
“'Yonder two birds are billing and cooing, and tasting of the
sweets of love. They live at ease ensconced in the branches of
the trees, nestling amid green olive vines and garlands of
flowers. I, only I, am exiled! Where shall I find a refuge? My
rock-shelter is hedged about with prickly thorns and thistles....
E'en the wild birds of prey mate happily, only I, poor mourning
dove, alone among all beings alive, dwell apart. E'en those who
gorge themselves with innocent blood live tranquil in their home
eyries. Alas! only the righteous must weep, only the poor are
stripped of all hope!...
“'Return, then, my Life, my Breath! Return, my Comforter! Hear my
bitter wail of woe, lead me back to my home. Have pity on my
loneliness! Restore Thy love to me, bring me once again
to the cleft of my rock, and let me hide myself in the shadow of
“Such moaning and dull wailing, my ear caught in the night, when
the fields and the woods were bathed in Divine peace; and hearing
the plaintive voice of the mourning dove, my soul knew it to be
the voice of the bitter woe of the daughter of my people!”
Other writers and translators in large numbers added to the lustre of Galicia as a centre of Hebrew literature. The most important among them is Samson Bloch, the author of a geography of the world, including a sentimental description of Palestine, written in oratorical style. Joseph Efrati (1820) wrote an historical drama, Meluhat Shaül (“The Royalty of Saul"), which deserves mention for its fine conception. And Judah Mises, in his two works, Tekunat ha-Rabbanim (“Characterization of the Rabbis"), and Kinat ha-Emet (“The Zeal for Truth"), opposed Rabbinic tradition and the authorities of the Middle Ages. His antiquated rationalism called forth the severe reproaches of Rapoport. Nevertheless he stirred up a grave controversy, which gave rise to a series of consequences extending down to the literary warfare begun by the collection Ha-Roëh u-Mebakker (“The Seer and the Searcher"), published by Bodek and Fischmann, in which the works of Zunz, S. D. Luzzatto, and Jost are criticised.
At this point ceases the dominance of the litterateurs of Austrian Poland. The centre of literary activity was thereafter transferred to Russia permanently. Hasidism was about to take complete possession of Galicia, and Hebrew literature, confined to a few small circles, was never again to reach there the heights which it had occupied in the days of Rapoport and Krochmal.
Though the centre of the Hebrew literary movement during the earlier half of the nineteenth century lay in Galicia, yet the Jews elsewhere had a share in it. In almost all the Slav countries as well as in the Occident, in Germany, in Holland, and especially in Italy, Hebrew was cultivated both by scholars and literary men. Some of the works of Zunz, Geiger, Jellinek, and Frankel, for instance, were published in Hebrew.
At Amsterdam, out of a whole school of litterateurs, but one name can be selected for special mention, that of the poet and scholar Samuel Mulder (1789-1862). Besides being active as the editor of several collections of essays, and writing remarkable historical studies, he was the composer of poems very much admired by his contemporaries. Most of them appeared in the Bikkure To'elet (“Useful First Fruits"), which he published at Amsterdam, in 1820, under the auspices of the Maskilim society To'elet. The Talmudic narrative about the seduction of the celebrated wife of Rabbi Meïr, forms the subject of an excellent poem, entitled “Beruriah", on the fickleness of women.
In Germany it was chiefly the discussion evoked by the movement for religious reforms (1840-1860) that created a literature in Hebrew. To cite an instance, there was the fiery pamphlet Or Nogah (“The Bright Light"), by E. Lieberman, a masterpiece in point of style and as a satire upon the orthodox party, together with the replies of the Rabbis and the men of letters. It is curious to read pleas, in Hebrew, for the abolition of the Hebrew language, and against the maintenance of Jewish nationality. Abraham Geiger sided with the extreme reformers, while Frankel and Zunz insisted upon the necessity of retaining Hebrew as the language of worship. Another remarkable pamphlet directed against religious reforms in Judaism must be singled out for mention, that written by Meïr Israel Bresselau, entitled Hereb Nokemet Nekam Berit (“The Avenging Sword of the Covenant").
Moses Mendelsohn, of Hamburg, a German Harizi both in the character of his work and by reason of his position as a straggler of the Meassefim, was a disciple and imitator of Wessely. His Makamat Pene Tebel (“The Face of the World", Amsterdam, 1870) contain literary reminiscences.
Among the contributors to the periodical literature published in Galicia, Judah Jeiteles, of Prague (1773-1838), should be mentioned as a writer of epigrams, models of their kind. [Footnote: Bene ha-Ne'urim(“Youth"), Prague, 1821.]
The following one is addressed to Tirzah:
“She is as beautiful as the moon, radiant as the sun; her whole
being resembles the two heavenly luminaries. The maiden lavishes
her gifts upon the whole world, and like the two orbs she rules
both day and night.”
Jeiteles also carried on a sharp pamphlet war against Hasidism. [Footnote: Like the Vienna and the Brody of that day, Prague also had its literary centres. Among its Hebrew men of letters was Gabriel Südfeld, the father of the celebrated author Max Nordau, and himself the author of a drama and of an exegetical work, which appeared in 1850.]
Hungary, whose Jews had the same customs and characteristics as the Jews of Poland, gave birth to one poet of real merit. Solomon Levinsohn, of Moor (1789-1822), was brought up in orthodox surroundings, and had to contend against all sorts of obstacles, spiritual and material. He triumphed over them, and became a scholar of serious attainments and a poet of distinction. Besides his historical studies, in German, he wrote an excellent geography of Palestine, in Hebrew, under the title Mehkere Erez (“Investigations of the Land"), published at Vienna in 1819. His poetical treatise Melizat Yeshurun(a Hebrew rhetoric), also published at Vienna, in 1846, is a master work, both as a treatise on rhetoric and as poetic literature. The introductory poem, on “Poetic Eloquence", an apotheosis of poetry andbelles lettres, is one of the finest ever written in Hebrew. The poet displays a rich imagination, his figures of speech are clear-cut and telling, and his style is remarkable for its classic quality. An unhappy love affair terminated his days before his genius reached the period of full flowering. [Footnote: Simon Bacher, the father of the scholar Wilhelm Bacher, also won a name as an eloquent poet.]
* * * * *
The literary movement of the first half of the nineteenth century did not succeed in making itself felt among the masses. It failed to call forth a national literature of even a slight degree of originality. The Maskilim of Galicia fell into the same mistake as their predecessors in Germany. In constituting themselves the champions of humanism in Poland, in a community thoroughly religious, and affected by modern conceptions only superficially, they should not have attached the undue importance they did to arguments addressed to reason. Their appeal should have been directed to the feelings of their co-religionists. They labored under the delusion that positive reasoning could carry conviction to a people immersed in mystical speculation, crushed by the double yoke of ceremonialism and an inferior social position, and sustained only by the Messianic hope of a glorious future. If Galician humanism never spread beyond the small circles of the literary, it was only what might have been expected. It could not become a popular movement. Neither the depth of thinkers like Rapoport and Krochmal, nor the biting satire of an Erter, nor the Zionistic lyricism of a Letteris, had force enough to cry a halt to the Hasidim and impede their dark work. In point of fact, the newer ideas all but failed to make an impression on the most independent of the young Rabbis. They were affrighted by the religious decadence in evidence in Germany, and they took a rather determined stand in opposition to the spread of a secular literature in Hebrew. [Footnote: Cases might be cited besides that of the learned friend of Rapoport, Jacob Samuel Bick, referred to by Bernfeld in his biography of Rapoport, p. 13. He deserted from the humanist camp, in which his Jewish feeling was left unsatisfied, and took refuge in Hasidism.] As a result, we shall see a steady decline in the position of the Hebrew litterateur in Poland, and a decrease in the number of Hebrew publications. The Mehabber makes his appearance as a type—the vagabond author who offers his own writings for sale, fairly forcing them on unwilling purchasers. No more eloquent index is needed to the state of a struggling literature.
* * * * *
It is questionable whether the work of the Galician Maskilim would not have been doomed to perpetual sterility, with no hope of ever making an impression on the Jewish masses, if an Italian writer had not appeared on the scene, who possessed the Jewish feeling that was lacking in his predecessors. In Samuel David Luzzatto general culture and genuine breadth of mind were united with Jewish loyalty raised to the highest pitch. He succeeded in discovering the formula by which modern culture can be brought to the religious without wounding their Jewish sensibilities. The life and work of so remarkable a personage deserve more than passing mention.
After a rather long period of inactivity in Hebrew letters in Italy, a new literary and scientific school sprang into being during the first half of the nineteenth century. It participated with notable success in the movement of the north. The celebrated critic, Isaac Samuel Reggio (1784-1854), an independent thinker, exercised enormous influence upon his contemporaries by his publications in the history of literature and his bold articles on religious reform. His chief work, “The Law and Philosophy", which appeared in Vienna in 1827, is an attempt at harmonizing the Jewish Law with science.
The best known of the poets were Joseph Almanzi (1790-1860) and Rachel Morpurgo. [Footnote: The reader is referred to the anthology of the Italian poets of the period, published by Abraham Baruch Piperno, under the title Kol Ugab (“The Voice of the Harp", Leghorn, 1846).] Almanzi's poems were published in two collections, one entitled Higgayon be-Kinnor (“The Lyric Harp"), and Nezem Zahab(“Ornament of Gold").
Rachel Morpurgo (1790-1860), a kinswoman of the Luzzatto family, left a collection of poems on various subjects, entitled 'Ugab Rahel (“The Harp of Rachel"), a carefully prepared edition of which was published by the scholar Vittorio Castiglioni. It is a curious document in the history of Hebrew literature. The language of the poetess is essentially Biblical, her style sprightly and original, and her thought is dominated by a fine serenity of soul and unwavering faith in the Messianic future of Israel.
The following sonnet was inspired by the democratic revolution of 1848, which shook modern society to its very foundations, and in which the Jews were largely and deeply interested:
“He who bringeth low the proud, hath brought low all the kings of
the earth.... He hath sent disaster and ruin into the fortified
cities, and sated with blood their cringing defenders.
“All, both young and old, gird on the sword, greedier for prey
than the beasts of the forest; they all cry for liberty, the wise
and the boors; the fury of the battle rages like the billows of
the stormy sea....
“Not thus the servants of God, the valiant of His host. They do
battle day and night with their evil inclinations. Patiently they
bear the yoke of their Rock, and increase cometh to their
strength. My Friend is like a hart, like a sportive gazelle.
“He will sound the great trumpet to summon the Deliverer;
the righteous Sprout shall grow forth from the earth. Their Rock
will soothe their pain, He will repair every breach. The Lord
reigneth, and the earth rejoiceth aloud.”
Rachel's finest poem is without a doubt the one named 'Emek 'Akor (“The Dark Valley") in which she affirms her steadfast faith in the truths and consolations of religion:
“O dark valley, covered with night and mist, how long wilt thou
keep me bound with thy chains? Better to die and abide under the
shadow of the Almighty, than sit desolate in the seething
“I discern them from afar, the hills of eternity, their ever-
enduring summits clothed with garlands of bloom. O that I might
rise on wings like the eagle, fly upward with my eyes, and raise
my countenance and gaze into the heart of the sun!
“O Heaven, how beautiful are thy paths, they lead to where
liberty reigneth ever. How gentle the zephyrs wafted over thy
heights, who hath words to tell?”
The same mystic note struck by Rachel Morpurgo recurs in the works of other Italian writers of the time. It distinguishes them strikingly from their contemporaries in Galicia and Russia, who proclaim themselves almost without exception the followers of a relentless rationalism.
* * * * *
Unquestionably the most original of all these writers, and the one who occupied the most prominent and influential place, is Samuel David Luzzatto (1800-1865). He was born at Triest, the son of a carpenter, a poor man, but none the less educated and respected. The childhood years of Luzzatto were passed in poverty and study. He emerged a conqueror from the struggle for life and knowledge. As early as 1829 he was appointed rector of the Rabbinical Seminary at Padua. Thereafter he could devote himself without hindrance to science and the education of disciples, many of whom became celebrated.
Luzzatto's learning was vast in extent and as thorough. Besides, he possessed literary taste and modern culture. In his southern temperament, feeling had the upper hand of reason. He was an indefatigable worker, his mind was always actively alert. Versed alike in philology, archaeology, poetry, and philosophy, he was productive in each of these departments, without ever laying himself open to the charge of mediocrity. He was the creator of the Science of Judaism in the Italian language, but above all he was a Hebrew writer.
He published excellent editions of the Hebrew masters of the Middle Ages, for the first time bringing to the doors of readers, scholarly readers as well as others, the works of such poets as Jehudah Halevi (Prague, 1840). The notes in these editions of his are ingenious and scientific. His own verses and poems are wholly devoid of inspiration and fancy, but in form and style they are irreproachable. [Footnote:Kinnor Na'im (“The Sweet Lyre"), Vienna, 1835, and others.] His prose is vigorous and precise, at the same time preserving some of the Oriental charm native to the Hebrew.
His chief distinction is that he was a romantic Jew. His patriotic heart was chilled by the attacks upon the Jewish religion and upon Jewish nationalism by the German and Galician humanists. He was hostile to rationalism, and opposed it all his life. In his sight, science, the importance of which he in no degree denied, was yet not equal in value to religious feeling. This alone, he held, is able to establish morality in a position of supremacy.
S. Bernfeld, in his sketch of Rapoport, considers it a surprising anachronism that this romanticist, this Jewish Chateaubriand, should have appeared on the scene at the very moment of the triumph of rationalism in Hebrew letters everywhere. [Footnote: Warsaw and Berlin, 1899] Luzzatto was the first among Hebrew humanists to claim the right of existence not only for Jewish nationality, but also for the Jewish religion in its integrity.
“A people in possession of a land of its own can maintain itself,
even without a religion of its own. But the Jewish people,
dispersed in all four corners of the earth, can maintain itself
only by virtue, of its attachment to its faith. And if, heaven
forbid, it should cease to believe in revelation, it must
inevitably be assimilated with the other peoples.... The science
of Judaism, with which some scholars are at present occupying
themselves in Germany, cannot preserve Judaism.  It is not an
object in itself to them. When all is said, Goethe and Schiller
are more important to these gentlemen, and much dearer to them,
than all the prophets and all the Rabbis of the Talmud. They
pursue the Science of Judaism pretty much as others study
Egyptology or Assyriology, or the lore of Persia. They are
inspired by a love of science, by the desire for personal renown,
or, at best, by the intention to attach glory to the name of
Israel, and they extol certain old works for the purpose of
hastening the first redemption, that is, the political
emancipation of the Jews. But this Science of Judaism has no
stability. It cannot survive the emancipation of the Jews, or the
death of those who studied the Torah and believed in God and
Moses before they took lessons of Eichhorn and his disciples.”
“The true Science of Judaism, the science which will last as long
as time itself, is that which is founded on the faith; which
endeavors to understand the Bible as a Divine work, and the
history of a peculiar people whose lot has been peculiar; which,
finally, dwells upon those moments in the various epochs of
Jewish history when the innate genius of Judaism wages a conflict
with the genius of humanity in general, as it lies in wait
without, and how the Divine spirit of Judaism mastered the spirit
of humanity throughout all the centuries. For the day on which
the positions shall be reversed, and the spirit of humanity shall
remain in possession of the field, that day will be the last in
the life of the people of Israel.”
[Footnote 1: Jost, in his “History of the Jewish People", etc.]
This conception of the providential rôle assigned to Israel is the point at which the Italian romanticist meets Krochmal, wide apart though their starting-places are. At bottom both do but interpret the ancient notion of the Divine selection of Israel and of a “chosen people”. But while Krochmal regards religion as a fleeting phase in the existence of the nation, for Luzzatto religion is an essential element in Judaism, a view not unlike Bossuet's. However, it does not lead him astray. He still tries to harmonize faith with the demands of the modern spirit. The Jewish religion is in his opinion the moral doctrine par excellence. Like Heine he takes the world to be dominated by two opposite forces, Hellenism and Hebraism. Justice, truth, the good, and self-abnegation, whatever appertains to these is Jewish. The beautiful, the rational, the sensuous, is Attic. Luzzatto does not hesitate to criticise the masters of the Middle Ages rather sharply, chief among them Maimonides, who attempted the impossible when he endeavored to harmonize science and faith, reason and feeling, Moses and Aristotle. These are the irreconcilable oppositions in human life.
“Science does not make us happy; the highest morality alone is
capable of conferring true happiness upon us, and spiritual
peace. And this morality is to be found not with Aristotle, but
only with the prophets of Israel.
“The happiness of the Jewish people, the people of morality, does
not depend upon its political emancipation, but upon its faith
and its morality. The French and German Rabbis of the Middle
Ages, simple-minded and uncultured, but pious and sincere, are
preferable to the speculative minds of Spain, whose arguing and
rhetoric warped their judgment.”
Such ideas as these involved Luzzatto in discussions and polemics with the greater number of his friends, the German Jewish scholars, whose views were far removed from his. He defied his contemporaries, as he attacked the masters of the Middle Ages. In one of his letters he goes to the length of asserting, that while Jost and his colleagues were engaged in what they believed to be the useful work of defending Judaism against its enemies, they were in reality doing it more harm than these same enemies. The latter tended to preserve the Jewish people as a nation apart, while the rationalistic criticism of the former, directed against the Jewish religion, burst the bonds that hold the nation together, and hasten its dissolution.
“When, my dear German scholars", he cries out vehemently, “when
will the Lord open your eyes? How long will you fail to
understand that, carried away by the general current, you are
permitting national feeling to become extinct and the language of
our ancestors to fall into desuetude, and are thus preparing the
way for the triumphant invasion of Atticism.... So long as you do
not teach that the Good is not that which is visible to the eyes,
but that which is felt within the heart, and that the prosperity
of our people is not dependent upon civil emancipation, but upon
the love of a man for his neighbor, ... their hearts will not be
possessed with zeal for God.” [Footnote: Letters, I, No. 267, p.
Luzzatto has no fondness for dry dogmatism, nor for detailed prohibitions and Rabbinic controversies. He is too modern for that, too much of a poet. What he loves is the poetry of religion. He is attracted by its moral elevation. Like Jehudah Halevi, the sentimental philosopher whose successor he is, Luzzatto feels and thinks in the peculiar fashion that distinguishes the intuitive minds among the Jews. He loves his native country, and this love appears clearly in his writings, yet, at the same time, they all, whether in prose, as in his Letters, or in verse, as in the Kinnor Na'im, sound a Zionistic note.
* * * * *
Luzzatto became the founder of a school. Writers of our own day, like Vittorio Castiglioni, Eude Lolli, and others, draw upon the works of the master as a source, and they acknowledge it openly. His philological and linguistic works, the Bet ha-Ozar among others, have inestimable value, and his Letters, published by Gräber in five volumes, the edition from which most of the passages cited have been taken, abundantly prove his influence on his contemporaries.
He was a master and a prophet, a gracious and brilliant exponent of the Renascence of Hebrew literature, which had been inaugurated by one of his ancestors, another Luzzatto.
A century of efforts and uninterrupted labor had wrought the resurrection of the Hebrew language. After it had been transformed into a modern tongue, in touch with all departments of thought, the sole remaining task was to make it acceptable to the masses of the orthodox Jews, and use it as an effective instrument of social and religious emancipation. This task became easy of accomplishment because Luzzatto knew how to direct the mind of his contemporaries. He found the key to the heart of the masses.
A message in verse addressed to him by a young Lithuanian poet, in 1857, gives an eloquent interpretation of the sentiment felt for the Italian maëstro by the devotees of a budding school of literature:
“From the icy north country, where the flowers and the sun endure
but a few short moons, these halting lines speed with their
greeting away from the hoar frost, to the eloquent sage in the
southland, enthroned among the wise and extolled by the pious—to
the gentle guide whose heart burns, like the sun of his own fair
land, with love for the people whence he was hewn, and for the
tongue of the Jews.” [Footnote: Poems, by J. L. Gordon, St.
Petersburg, 1884, I, p. 125.]
The “icy north country” was Lithuania, in which the literary movement had just effected a triumphal entry, bringing with it the light of science, and the young poet was Judah Leon Gordon, destined to become the greatest Jewish poet of the nineteenth century.
* * * * *
Here we arrive at the end of the first part of our essay, devoted in particular to Hebrew literature in Western Europe. For its future we must look to the East.
* * * * *


text:
This entry is from Week 6 of my Questioning Faith Journal, which I wrote during a year of allowing myself to question evangelical Christianity and my place in it. I have gone back and removed the woman’s real name from the entry as I’m not sure it serves a lasting positive purpose to name her. The point of my writing was that her choices starkly revealed a behavior/belief of my own – and a value of evangelical, Biblical Christianity – that I needed to face and eradicate from my existence: putting righteousness above relationship.
Week 6, Entry 1
Christians who apply the Bible literally are awful. Was I this awful? Gosh, I hope I wasn’t even while I’m fairly sure I was as obnoxious, uncaring, self-righteous, judgmental, rude, and harsh as these people. How embarrassing.
To use a Biblical phrase…the scales have fallen from my eyes. I see clearly.
To use the original Hebrew…I was a schmuck.
Last night, a Facebook “friend” (in truth a former management client who is now an agent herself) posted that her first grandchild was about to be born. Glorious event, right? New life! The continuation of the family with the birth of the next generation! Except this woman – I’m going to call her Jane in case I get hit by a bus and someone finds this on my laptop – felt the need to post on Facebook that she was not going to be present for the birth because her daughter – Jezebel (not really her name) – didn’t manage to get married to the father before this blessed event.
I read that post and was immediately and righteously furious on Jezebel’s behalf. How dare Jane insert her judgment into an already emotionally fraught experience? Giving birth is insanity. I know. I’ve done it. Twice. I flew between deliriously exhilarated, murderously furious, terrified, and triumphant in nanoseconds the entire labor. It took three days for my first to be born. Almost a full day for my second. Every emotion ever invented coursed through me, I assume so that it could be implanted into my child and available for use whenever their life experience called it up.
Or so that I could guilt trip them about it the rest of their lives. It’s a toss up.
Anywho, Jane’s post infuriated me. And then I got more indignant as I read her friends’ replies praising her for her “Biblical stand.” Ugh. I think that may be one of the worst phrases on the planet. “Biblical stand.” If these people believe the Bible is a “sword” and “powerful” then why does it need them to stand up for it? Why can’t it just stand on its own? Why does it need the prop of a human?
Half of me wanted to use my new “unfriend” power and just remove this hateful situation from my existence. The other half of me remembered situations with my own mother and how much I’d have loved for someone to tell my mother what a wrong-headed, self-righteous prig she was being. So, I posted something about how Jane’s post was the saddest thing I’d read on Facebook in a long time and how, given the inconsistencies and gray areas within scripture, all Bible readers know that it is not a sole reason or justification for any behavior. I affirmed that Jane gets to make calls for her own kids…but that putting those choices on Facebook makes them everybody else’s business. (I mean, really, why did this woman put it on Facebook if not to further shame her child and get what she got – a bunch of people patting her on the back for being such a good Christian?)
Within the hour, I decided I’d rather not engage in a Facebook debate and so I deleted my message in Jane’s thread. No one had responded to it, so I put the phone down and went to bed thinking it was a done situation.
And then I got up this morning and Charles brought my phone downstairs and noted that Jane had responded to my message. What ensued was insanity that involved me THRICE saying I’d like to just let it go and Jane informing me “What you need to do is apologize,” and re-posting my original response on her thread. So I guess in Jane’s mind I don’t get to decide what I do with my own words, and I need her instruction as to what actions I should take as a result of my own words. In the end, I used that old Biblical phrase “live at peace with each other” (amazing how this mother is so Biblically-minded in her actions toward her pregnant daughter but loses her ability to obey Romans 12:18 and Hebrews 12:14 when she wants to go off on social media) and stated I was leaving the conversation.
All of which made me realize another serious problem with the Bible. Not only did my reading of it over and over and over again open my eyes to the ludicrousness of believing it is infallible or word-for-word applicable to modern day life, but I’ve also now experienced firsthand how humans use it to set themselves up and apart from others. They don’t do this because they actually are above others in terms of maturity or capacity for kindness, love, grace, mercy, and decency – they do this so that they can feel as if they’re right and someone else is wrong. And then they cloak it in this notion that to love someone is to demand that they live right, with “right” being their understanding of the Bible.
Jane went so far as to explain to the other couple of bravely objecting souls on her feed that she was doing this because she loves Jezebel…she just loves God and her theology more and finds it more important to have no relationship with Jezebel now if that means Jezebel ultimately gets to spend eternity in heaven.
Those are her words.
Which I guess makes sense to the idea of Christianity. God doesn’t have relationship with humans until they come into full acceptance of Him and obedience to His ways. So, Jane isn’t going to have relationship with Jezebel until she comes into full acceptance of Jane and obedience to her ways. Somewhere in there I’m sure Jane would note that she isn’t God, but is supposed to model His ways in how she behaves with her child.
She’s got scripture that could be used to back her up on putting her relationship with God above family. In Matthew 8:22, Jesus tells a guy to follow him and when the guy responds that he’d like to go and bury his dad first, Jesus tells him to let the dead bury their own dead and come on.
But Jane’s (and, in some views, the Bible’s) crazy concept doesn’t work in the face of reality. I went through hell, insanity, and near-loss of life to give my kiddos life. There is no entity on earth or elsewhere that will ever, ever get me to believe that I should not have their back, be in their lives, be dependable as a constant ear and heart and brain that are open to them, and be as present as they will let me until I take my last breath. My daughter can give birth to an alien’s child and that alien father can have 50,000 alien offspring all over creation and I will still be at that birth, telling my daughter how strong and capable and beautiful and smart she is, and then loving that little squirmy being she births with every breath in my body. If my son screws up and gets a girl pregnant before he gets married (please, please no because that brings lots of pain and confusion into both their lives), I will love him and her and I will be at that baby’s birth and heap so much love on that baby they won’t know what to do with me. And by love I mean showing up, giving, caring, cuddling, cooing, feeding, clothing, changing, rocking, and more. I mean showing my son how to change a diaper. Showing the mother of my grandchild how to breastfeed. Spelling them both so they can sleep longer than 30 minutes. I don’t mean some ass-crazy definition that requires someone else to agree with me first or mature into an understanding that mirrors my own – especially if that understanding is of an ancient book written before a telegraph was even invented much less the internet.
Actually, did wheels even exist when the Bible was written? I think they were invented somewhere along the way of the writing because Pharoah and his folks rode in chariots and we know chariots had wooden wheels. So, we know at the very least that rubber wheels didn’t exist when the Bible was written.
Which is insane to think about: people are basing their lives – breaking their relationships – on the words of a book that started before humans figured out how to make a wheel bounce over rocks. And not only are they doing this, they are proudly proclaiming in the public square that they are doing this. And then casting a look askance at anyone else who isn’t doing this.
Meanwhile, a young woman agonized over labor pains in a hospital and needed her hand held while her mind exploded over the reality that new life was coming from her body.
What dumb f*** can’t see that the place to be is by that woman’s side?
Even if you believe in God and Jesus and the whole nine yards, what idiocy is required to think that your god’s “miracle of life” doesn’t merit your observance and presence? That you have the right to ignore it? To remove yourself from it? Who the hell thinks that much of themselves? How in the world is it okay to cuddle self-righteousness while your own child writhes in pain?
You know what, I AM going to write her name here because if I get hit by a bus and someone finds this I want you to know you should steer clear of ***** and her hurtful ways. If you ever run into her daughter, give the new mama a hug.
She professes to be a Christian.
She is like most of the Christians I know.
She is like the Christian I was.
I have never been more happy to be out of all that. I am free to care for people without strings. I don’t have to hesitate to love. I don’t have to check my desire to be kind or present with my family and friends or even strangers. I can just be that way. No judgment call needed first. I can simply be nice. Or not. If someone is mean, I can be nice or not in return. That’s my call. No checking in with a silent, non-existent being or poring over ancient words trying to ferret out some modern-day instruction toward the situation or going through seventeen iterations of how my behavior may or may not cost someone eternity in heaven. I can look – really look – at the person in front of me and be.
I can invest a little of myself, even a lot of myself, in that person if I choose.
Or I can walk away and keep myself to myself.
That’s my call. I decide when and how and to what extent I invest myself. I filter that through my own promises and identities that I’ve already allowed to exist in my life, and which I value. Can I give some of me to this person or does that harm the others I love? Do I have time to help an orphan or will that hurt the two children already needing and deserving of my “mom” capacity? Is there enough in my tank to help this friend through trouble in his marriage or am I sacrificing relationship with my own husband for his sake? I cannot do all and be all to everyone and so I must choose over and over again, in each instance. Who am I in this? Who could I be in this? A helper? A silence?
But the main filter for me isn’t the Bible.
How do I love best here?
Love is not judgment. Love is kindness, care and presence.
I walked away from that Facebook conversation with Jane because to engage with her cost me things I value: paying attention to the kiddos and really being present with them as they prepared for school this morning and talking to my husband as we planned out our day. I loved best by ignoring Jane. I don’t have to worry about whether she finds truth or learns to live righteously or hurts the witness of the church. We’re not in some worldwide “family of believers” that requires me to see and treat her as a “sister.”
I’m just me, right here on this little patch of a planet, making a choice to love this by ignoring that.

domain: literature


text:
West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service are currently in attendance at a large fire on Upper Castle Street, Bradford.
They were called at 3.09am on 16 November, to reports of a fire in the East Bowling area of Bradford.
There were 15 fire engines and 100 firefighters still tackling the blaze at the scene
The environment agency is also in attendance supporting the fire crews.
Residents in the East Bowling area of the city are being advised to keep windows & doors shut.
The following have been closed on the 17 November due to fire.
- Albany Street
- Springmill Street junction Manchester Road
- Parma Street junction Spring Mill St
- Wood Road junction Spring Mill Street junction Tilley Square
- Ripley Street junction Upper Castle Street
- Bowling Old Lane junction Manchester Road
- Mill Lane junction Manchester Road
- Mill Lane junction Ripley Street
- Ripley Street junction Manchester Road
- Ripley Street junction Ripley Road plus hose
- Nelson Street junction Caledonia Street
- Fitwilliam Street junction Mill Lane
- Bowling Old Lane junction Ripley Street
- Caledonia Street junction Edward Street
- Croft Street junction Nelson Street
This was the scene of the blaze on 16 November. Video courtesy of Andrew Jacques.
The fire has impacted the roads in and around Bradford the following roads all closed to traffic.
- Spring Mill St in Manchester Road
- Parmer St from Spring Mill St
- Wood Road at the end of Spring Mill St
- Upper Castle St jn Ripley St
- Bowling Old Lane jn Manchester Road
- Mill Lane from Manchester Road
- Mill Lane from Bolling Road
- Ripley St from Manchester Road
- Ripley St from Ripley Road
- Nelson St jn Caledonia St
- Fitzwilliam St jn Mill Lane
- Bowling Old Lane jn Ripley St
Bradford interchange has also been impacted with all lines blocked and Northern Rail service saying all services running through the station have been cancelled or diverted.
Asian Sunday will bring you the latest from the fire as it develops.

domain: news


text:
For many years the coastal line was formed based on the needs of the several existence industries and shipyards. Big ships, plant facilities and many workers was the daily longstanding picture of the coastal line. The project comprises a sanitation and a reconstruction plan for all the coastal area which according to the residents will be one of the most attractive and interesting places in the city.
More specifically the plan goals to a harmonic coexistence of the defunct industrial facilities located alongside the coastal line and the beauty of the nature. Maria Vasileiou, the president of the cultural and social policy agency of the municipality of Eleusina explains that all these industries constitute not only a cultural heritage of Eleusina but also places that cause lots of memories and feelings. So, there is an urgent need to convert all these facilities to places of culture and entertainment as it had happened in past during Aisxylia festival. Art exhibitions, theatrical plays, musical performances and other cultural events could give a different aspect to industrial profile of the city. Under these circumstances the Eleusinians will have the real contact with water element and the city will acquire a waterfront! Generally, the meaning of habitability is the main value which leads the reconstruction project. It refers to the join of people’s lives with the environment.

domain: artistic


Two-thirds of Americans were found to be happy with their body image despite being 14lbs heavier now than what they were 20 years ago.
Americans are pretty much happy with their weight and a few extra pounds during a vacation does not seem to bother them much.
A recent Gallup poll has revealed that fat people are not doing much to lose weight and are just happy being overweight.
Only about 25% of respondents really confessed to doing something to lose weight while majority of Americans felt their weight was right. Gallup has termed this trend as 'weight denial'.
The study also showed how clueless women were , as most women did not even think they were fat; only 16% of over weight women in the study actually felt guilty about being overweight.


Posted September 29, 2018 14:34:00A new home for Australia’s wealthy can cost as much as $1 billion, according to an analysis by an Australian property and construction firm.
The company, Vermont Construction, said it found a “huge” amount of money was available in the Australian housing market.
The Australian Institute of Housing has estimated that around $800 million in new home construction is planned or underway in Australia annually.
Its latest figures from August showed that more than $800 billion of new construction projects were planned or in the planning stages in Australia.
“We have a lot of money in Australia, and a lot more money is available than the public thinks,” Mr Vidal said.
“We’ve got lots of opportunities to get more of that money into the market.”
The company said it would be willing to work with any company to build a new property if it met its “highest quality” standards.
A survey of more than 20,000 people across Australia’s capital cities found that about half were keen to own a home, but could not afford it.
“A lot of people would be interested to own something in the city that was affordable and would be able to provide for their family,” Mr Rydal said.
“But we’ve also got people who might not be interested in owning a home in their own area, and we’ve got people that might be interested but they don’t have the money.”
Mr Vidal’s firm found that the average price of a home was $1,851,800 in Sydney, $2,853,300 in Melbourne and $3,084,200 in Brisbane.
In Adelaide, the average cost was $2.5 million.
“The cost of buying a house in Australia is higher than it was 10 years ago,” Mr Vermont said.
The cost to build is determined by the location and land available, and is set by factors such as cost of land and construction material.
Mr Vermont has been working in Australia since the 1980s.
“I think the Australian property market is very, very strong right now,” he said.
Topics:housing,housing-industry,home,property-industries,development,business-economics-and-finance,market-and,housing,industry-and.employment,economy,australiaMore stories from New South Wales


Knowing the better bolt rifle between the Savage and Tikka ensures you acquire the right gun that serves the required purpose and matches your budget. Today we shall analyze Savage vs Tikka T3 to determine the best rifle to fit multiple shooting purposes with consistent performance.
Here are the topics we shall cover in the article:
- Which is the best rifle?
- The history of Tikka and Savage rifles
- The most significant differences between Savage and Tikka
- What features do you look for in a quality gun?
- Which aspects matter most when selecting a firearm?
Let’s get started.
Savage 110 vs. Tikka T3X
For a quick overview, we analyzed the two using different test parameters to determine the best one.
Tikka T3 outdid the Savage 110 in most categories. Here is a summary of our findings.
- Accuracy: From 100 yards, Tikka is more accurate than Savage 110. Still, the accuracy margin is relatively small.
- Build material: Tikka T3X build quality is more durable and can withstand even harsh shooting terrains.
- Compatibility: Tikka varieties fit easily with external parts, such as scopes and magazines. How the two rifles react to different factory ammo also accounts for compatibility.
- Usability: Savage 110 is more user-friendly than the T3x variety. Weighing just over 6lbs, Tikka firearms have more recoil than the Savage version, which might distract most amateur shooters.
A Quick Comparison Between Tikka and Savage rifles
Arms of Westfield
30-06 Springfield | 207 & 308 Winchester
22-250 Rem | 7mm Rem Mag | 270, 243, 300-338 Win Mags
Just over 6lbs
.25-06 Remington, .270 Winchester, and.30-06 Springfield calibers
22-250 Remmington and 22-250 Rem, and 300-338 Win Mags
What is the Difference between Savage vs Tikka rifles?
Savage rifles are ideal for deer hunter hunting or leisure target shooting. Tikka is considered a premium version in terms of performance. It offers slightly better and more accurate results when head-to-head with the savage rifles.
It would be best if you are willing to spend a little more when purchasing the Tikka T3 rifle. For shot-per-shot variation, you’ll get value for your money. Savage 110 models have more budget-friendly options. A shooter can compensate for performance differences with more practice.
History of the Rifles
Tikka’s higher quality gun is crafted from Sako’s world-class firearm engineering. The first Tikkakoski firm was established in Finland in 1893 and began manufacturing gun parts in 1918. In 1981, Tikkakoski Oy and Sako collaborated on a newly designed rifle series.
Tikka meets the needs of modern hunters by integrating traditional gunsmith know-how from Sako’s 100-year-long firearm-manufacturing traditions with advanced tech.
Savage Arms of Westfield are the developers of the Savage 110. It is a bolt-action repeating rifle. Nicholas L. Brewer designed the Prototype 110 in 1958, and it was trademarked posthumously in 1963. With the closure of the Connecticut facility in 2007, the 110 variety has surpassed the Winchester Design 70 as the U.S.A.’s oldest manufacturer of bolt-action rifles.
Its improvement over the years has competed with versions like The Remington 700, Ruger M77, Winchester Model 70, and maybe a few others. The Savage 110 is well-known for its accuracy and low cost. With a longer record in the market, Tikka wins as a rifle utilized and approved more by specialists.
The Design Concept
Tikka T3x: Deer Hunting
The Tikka T3 rifle design is ideal for hunting purposes. It is well-balanced, providing comfort while hunting or performing related activities. IIts Atlasworx bolt handles maximize performance, feel, and appearance.
The Tikka has an excellent trigger. It has the best factory trigger, which is rare on entry-level bolt action rifles. It utilizes a steel lug material, which is an improvement on the T3’s aluminum design. You can count on Tikka Rifles even in harsh hunting conditions.
For improved ergonomics, the bolt handles are somewhat longer and larger than the O.E.M. handle. As a long weapons producer, Tikka is a higher quality gun used and trusted more as a hunting rifle. Additionally, you can utilize this firearm in shooting competitions with its simple build and excellent ergonomics. Coupled with a quality scope, you are bound to hit the target accurately.
Savage Lightweight Hunter
Savage 110 is newer in the market, and its design fits hunters and casual target shooters. It is a budget option that performs well, depending on the person behind the trigger.
The barrel is designed from steel and located just ahead of the receiver. This design allows swapping barrels or altering headspace relatively quickly, resulting in a very accurate yet low-cost rifle.
The receiver and bolt configurations make it reasonably easy to construct the weapon with a left-handed bolt. As a result, it is popular among economic southpaws.
In this category, the winner is the Tikka T3x which provides more accuracy as a hunting rifle.
CONSTRUCTION: Savage vs. Tikka
Let’s look at various parameters that distinguish these two quality rifles.
Best Cartridge For Performance
These two firearms are compatible with various cartridges.
Tikka Caliber options: 22-250 Rem | 7mm Rem Mag | 270, 243, 300-338 Win Mags
Tikka’s slender barrel is better suited to three-shot groups for initial testing and load development. The rifle can consistently utilize different cartridges for their load data for every imaginable combination of powder primer.
The T3x’s bigger ejection slot simplifies hand loads if the magazine runs out. Insert a cartridge into the port, close the bolt, aim, and pull the trigger.
Savage Tested Cartridge options: 30-06 Springfield | 207 & 308 Winchester
The series comes in various chamberings, including cheap factory ammo to meet the needs of practically any shooter. It also passes the test with 204 Ruger and .338 Win Mag.
The Savage has a bolt head. The bolt head is changeable to a different case head diameter if the user wants to load for use with different factory loads. It also enables a considerably broader range of cartridge interchangeability at a lower cost.
The T3x long action rifle is designed and equipped for hunting. The cold hammer-forged barrel with a thin 22.4′′ spotting contour is in a black stock with a plastic trigger guard and bottom metal. The barrel channel of the fore-end has girder-shaped reinforcement.
If you need a larger base support when firing from a bag or backpack, you can purchase a “slip-over” fore-end that slides over the outside of the stock, attached to a bolt in the center and the front sling swivel. A large locknut just in front of the receiver holds the Savage 110 barrel in place, with a recoil lug wedged between the two. This mechanism allows swapping barrels or altering headspace quickly, resulting in accurate shots.
You can choose between the polished stainless barrel and the blue chrome-moly version. There is an additional charge for lengths larger than 26″.
Action Type Variations
The T3x has a push-feed mechanism with dual lock lugs, a plunger ejector, and a spring-loaded extractor. The bolt cocks upon opening and a cocking indicator at the back of its shroud informs you of the rifle’s state at a glance.
Tikka has a smooth bolt release positioned at the rear of the receiver on the left side. Lightly press the small lever, and the bolt pulls straight out of the receiver. A two-position safety on the right side of the bolt provides a strong grip beneath the shooter’s thumb, even in sub-freezing temperatures.
The Savage 110 has an ambidextrous, three-position safety situated at the upper rear of the receiver’s tang. The term “push-feed” relates to the design of the gun’s bolt face. The bolt does not control the cartridge in this configuration until the action is fully closed.
The cartridge is locked into the bolt face when a regulated round feed gun is picked up from the magazine. If you wish to try another action type, the Kimber hunter or the Weatherby Vanguard are good options.
Tikka’s detachable single-column magazines are made of a durable fiberglass-reinforced synthetic fabric. The magazine can carry 3, 5, or 6 rounds, depending on the model and caliber. A flush release is added at the front of the magazine to prevent accidental releases.
Like the Tikka, the Savage 110 Round Replacement Magazine is made of steel with a matte finish and is strong enough to withstand harsh situations.
Weight of the Firearms
The Savage lightweight hunter weighs only 5.65lbs while the T3x has a heavy barrel and weighs just above 6lbs.
Tikka wins with its excellent trigger pull weight of 2-2.5lbs, which is marginally lower than its competitors.
Compatibility with Scopes
You can utilize a scope of your choice to increase your accuracy over long-distance shooting. The rifles offer mounting space plus parts for easy installation of the scopes.
Different developers sell different mounting equipment for varying scope sizes or to fit the choice of your eyepiece. A 1-inch and 30-mm scope rings, bases, and Picatinny rails might be a good place to start.
These two rifles built do not require sights for any shooting purposes.
Tikka is ideally compatible with various factory ammo, including 22-250 Remmington and 22-250 Rem, and 300-338 Win Mags. Savage rifles are suited with .25-06 Remington, .270 Winchester, and.30-06 Springfield calibers.
The difference is in the number of rounds that each magazine can hold.
Bolt Gun Accessories
Tikka is a revolutionized traditional firearm involving synthetic accessories that the manufacturer also produces in their execution of aftermarket support. Such include:
- Pistol grip: The pistol grip comes in two varieties: standard and vertical. Some of these pistol grips also have a soft touch surface.
- Muzzle brake: With a relatively higher recoil, this accessory will help intercept most of the impact
- Recoil and Spacer: You can improvise on the rough recoil by changing the length of pull of your rifle by inserting spacers between the stock and the recoil pad.
Savage, as a relatively modern rifle, utilizes additional accessories to assist you in your shooting. They include:
- Gun sling: It comprises two straps joined by a buckle. If you need to keep your hands free, you can rapidly tighten the sling against your body.
- Magazine: A second option-loaded magazine is ideal for the rifle with fewer rounds per magazine.
- Bolt knobs: If you have large hands or are wearing gloves, a more oversized bolt knob provides a firmer grip on the bolt and allows for faster movement when reloading.
As a long-serving rifle, Tikka is designed to perform uniformly in all shooting contexts and conditions. Its systems, including magazine change, bolt ejection, and change of cartridge, are smooth in their operation, assisting you in the overall performance.
On the other hand, the 110 is relatively equal to the T3x. However, the smoothness in operation to match that of the Tikka depends on who is behind the trigger. T3 has a clean shooting precision due to its easy magazine change and cartridge ejection.
On the other hand, Savage rifles require more attention when shooting.
The two rifles have their pros and shortcomings. For instance, the savage variety compensates its off-action type with an excellent twist rate.
The Tikka T3 has a reliable action type, making it a popular gun with most shooters. Its recoil, however, is not fully dealt with by the rifle, requiring you to purchase a muzzle brake on top of its high cost.
Nonetheless, Tikka has shown consistent results, regardless of the shooting context. Also, it is specially built for accuracy, making it slightly more dependable than the 110.
The Shooting Results
Different aspects, such as the shooter’s skill, the grain used, and a rifle’s M.O.A., come into play when determining a gun’s accuracy, range, and bullet penetration.
We utilized the 308 Winchester Magnums for the test and came up with the following results.
- Accuracy: The fantastic thing about these rifles; they all break the “gold standard” of a 1-inch group at 100 yards. Despite all being on-point at 100 yards, with 1 M.O.A., Tikka T3 versions are more accurate as you increase the distance.
- Range: The average shooting distance is 400 yards for both rifles. With a longer barrel, the T3x builds up velocity before releasing the bullet from the muzzle. The maximum shooting distance is approximately at over 1,200 yards. Savage 110 models, on the other hand, have shorter barrels, building up relatively lesser bullet flow speed. Its maximum shot range is well over 1,000 yards.
- Bullet penetration: With a higher Travelocity, Tikka T3x provides more penetrative power than the savage variety.
The numbers mentioned above are bound to change with a switch of cartridges. A couple savages have been recorded to have equal penetrative power and range, if not more.
Ease of Use
These great rifles have similar outputs with a few distinguishing factors in terms of usability, such as:
- Trigger quality
- Ammo and magazine change
- Smooth functionality of parts
Tikka varieties are designed to suit professional shooting and are ideal for activities such as hunting and competitions. The parts are well thought out, allowing easy access and configuration.
The one drawback is the rifle’s recoil which is a bother, especially for unskilled shooters. You might be required to get a recoil pad to at least cover some of the impacts.
For casual shooters and deer hunters, the savage 110 versions are ideal. They might not match the Tikka T3x stock design, including a change of ammo and magazine.
If you are looking for a challenge and better results, Tikka is the rifle for you. Savage 110 rifles are the best option if you are in the market for a user-friendly rifle, especially as a beginner.
Service Life: Which Lasts Longer
The Sako firm is famous for manufacturing long-lasting rifles. Most T3x parts are built from steel components, enabling them to withstand heavy recoil. This rugged build helps it to survive challenging shooting terrains and weather conditions.
Savage’s body is mainly made from plastic and wood components, excluding the trigger and optic mounts. Its barrel is crafted from steel to withstand the toughness of different rounds.
No shooters want a jamming rifle with their target in front. Tikka T3x offers shot-per-shot consistency and quick adjustability for easy target acquisition and shooting.
The magazine change and excellent ammo extraction are the key selling points regarding the rifle’s reliability. Also, its response to different cartridges is much better than other rifles in the same price range.
Savage 110 rifles qualify for a casual type of shooting, where changes and configurations are monitored. The varieties sometimes require extra attention in the cartridge ejection system.
The Rifles’ Maintenance
To avoid jamming, regularly cleaning these two rifles is essential. Tikka T3 variations are not prone to jamming, thus requiring less cleaning time. Only routine maintenance is needed.
Savage 110s also rarely jam, but their barrels usually hold ammunition debris that will require your attention more often than the Tikka gun. The ejection system also needs equal attention to avoid poor cartridge extraction after a period of heavy shooting.
Tip: Plastic Stock Utilization
A synthetic stock is not only impactful on the overall rifle performance but also acts as protection gear from rough shooting terrains.
Sako’s numbers have immensely grown in the last 21 years. The manufacturers reached 1 million sales for the Tikka T3x in 2020, a rare milestone for any bolt action rifle. Savage Arms is relatively new. Despite not reaching a million mark in the 110 models, they gained popularity among casual hunters and target shooters.
The firm’s products have gained popularity and trust among shooters for decades. Soon, the 110 version is also projected to reach similar Tikka numbers.
The Price Variations
As more refined in accuracy and overall dependability, the Tikka T3x comes with a higher price than the Savage 110 models, which are typically favored for their low cost. The T.C. Venture in the same price range offers you another quality option.
In a target shoot, the shot-to-shot comparison might match these firearms. The shooting results differences are primarily influenced by the shooter’s skill set and accessories, such as the scopes utilized.
In the long term, the reliability of these two rifles is determined by external factors, especially through your maintenance routine. The smooth T3x outperforms Savage 110 variants when it comes to ergonomics.
The firm provides recoil pads and other external accessories for sale to cover shortcomings such as recoil. However, you will spend more on T3x services.
What’s better, Tikka or Savage?
Despite both having up-close performance, Tikka T3 rifles have more advanced functionalities.
Are Tikka and Savage Made in the Same Factory?
No. The Sako factory manufactures tikka models, while an American company, Savage Arms, produces the Savage 110 bolt gun.
Are Tikka and Savage’s Actions the Same?
Tikka varieties have better action types, as it is more reliable with their wider ejection system.
Will a Savage Stock Fit a Tikka?
All Savage barreled stocks, including the plastic stock, are compatible with Tikka-types.
However, numerous action types available on Savage rifles nowadays come in varying plastic stocks.
Also, tikka stocks are compatible with the savage stock design.
Does Savage Own Tikka?
No. The two are from two distinct manufacturers, with different nation affiliations, Finland and U.S.A.
Are Tikka and Savage Barrels the Same?
In terms of build material, they are both made from stainless steel. They differ in length, where The barrel of the Tikka is more extended, measuring 20′′-24′′ dependent on chambering, while the Savage 110 series come with a 22″ barrel.
Is Savage a Good Brand?
Savage rifles provide better services for guns in their price range. They might not consistently outdo the Tikka versions, but they will also deliver quality results when utilized and maintained accordingly.
There you have it. That’s all about the battle between two of the industry’s best rifle options. We have taken our time to analyze these firearms’ features to determine Tikka T3x as the winner.
The margins of differences are very minute, with the Savage 110 models coming close regarding their general output as budget rifles. Comment below on which rifle you think passes your test, and also comment on what you think we should look at next.


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Add Some Color to Your Life. Embrace the Rainbow!
This June, we want to see your true Rainbow Colors on your nails! Why we chose these colors? For a good reason: they make your fingernails bright and cheery, and it's a great way to experiment with various colors and techniques to express yourself and show your personality.
THE RAINBOW is a beautiful natural phenomenon, but knowing the significance of each of the colors of the rainbow makes it even more beautiful.
RED– signifies passion, vitality, enthusiasm and security.
ORANGE– a dynamic color representing creativity, practicality, playfulness as well as equilibrium or control.
YELLOW– the sunshine itself, represents clarity of thought, wisdom, orderliness and energy.
GREEN– denotes fertility, growth, balance, health and wealth.
BLUE– the sky and the wide oceans are in this color and hence it has been associated with Spirituality.
INDIGO– mystical as it bridges the gap between Finite and Infinite, denotes spiritual attainment, psychic abilities, self awareness and enhancement of Intuition.
VIOLET– the highest element of spirituality. It can ignite one’s imagination and be an inspiration to artists. Dark tones of violet are associated with sorrow. Deeper shades of violet or purple denote high spiritual mastery.
Colors of the Month
💅 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/madam_glam/


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The Honkai Impact 3 x Genshin Impact crossover version 4.9 patch is probably the most epic crossover event for MiHoYo fans as two big games from one developer made some pretty epic and fun new features for the long-running anime RPG, not to mention it made huge waves across the gaming industry seeing how big Genshin Impact currently is!
Fischl from Genshin Impact takes center stage in V4.9 patch The Outworld Traveler bringing her a brand new storyline, new Outworld Quests, and a bunch of awesome crossover events for Captains to compete in. Additionally, because Fischl is now in the game, she is officially the first BIO-Type Archer introduced in Honkai Impact! This will see technology and magic co-exist in a grouped project between the major factions Schicksal and Anti-Entropy.
What to expect in Honkai Impact V4.9 crossover?
Version 4.9 follows the story of our favorite Outworld Traveler, Fischl, as she visits the Honkai-verse fighting alongside the rest of the Honkai gang, Valkyrie style. Learn the story about Genshin Impact’s lovable Chuunibyou, together with her faithful night raven companion Oz!
Is Fischl the only new character crossing over from Genshin Impact?
Prinzessin der Verurteilung isn’t the only Outworld Traveler that came to Honkai. Keqing, Yuheng of the Liyue Qixing, another fan-favorite Genshin character is with her as well!
Is there any new content related to the main storyline?
A new chapter (XXV) has been added alongside the new patch with Kiana struggling to combat a new crisis befalling Anti-Entropy. Version 4.9 introduces brand new Hyperion Arsenals for Fischl and a new Stigmata as well! The Outworld Traveler patch is a blast to experience and is something to look forward to for both Honkai and Genshin fans!
Here’s the full list of updated content from version 4.9 Outworld Traveler update:
- New SP Character Fischl, the first-ever BIO archer in Honkai Impact
- Crossover event: Outworld Quest
- Story chapter XXV
- Brand new Hyperion Arsenals for Fischl [Mitternachts Waltz], [Iris of Helheim], [Cosmic Duality], [Call of Crescent].
- New Stigmata Moonwatcher Set [Wang Zhengyi]
- New Dressing Room addition: Celestial Hymn [Heat of Trifolium]
- Game adjustments and optimization
Speaking of fans, don’t forget to join Tier One’s Honkai Impact 3rd x Genshin Impact Crossover Event! Grab the chance to create content and win the grand cash prize as you breathe life into your Honkai x Genshin fantasies. Dare to dream, create and win amazing prizes with your ultimate content. Stand atop your fellow Captains and Travelers as you aim to amaze your favorite content creator judges. To participate, register for the event by following this link.
Honkai Impact 3rd x Genshin Impact is currently live for the game! Download Honkai Impact 3rd now to enjoy the brand new contents these 2 worlds have to offer! To learn more about the event and gain additional information you can visit AMPLFY’s To The Stars post!

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