Reviews for Solomon Maimon, an autobiography

The average rating for Solomon Maimon, an autobiography based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2013-04-02 00:00:00 Wheaton Illinois First I found this book to be surprisingly lighthearted. Why surprising? Because life in 1750s Poland was not light, but I guess in the 1790s, even in enlightened Berlin Maimon may not have known how bad things were. As possible proof of this I suggest you see page 37 where he recounts the remedy applied to his leg, which had been "pitiably crushed", by the country doctor who didn't have access to a pharmacy; "The remedy was, to kill a dog and thrust into it the cramped foot; this repeated several times, was to give certain relief. The prescription was followed with the desired result, so that after some weeks I was able to use the foot again, and by degrees I completely recovered." Although that in itself isn't surprising, what was surprising to me, and what helped me adjust my mindset to the time period of the book was the following paragraph: "I think it would not be at all amiss, if medical men gave more attention to such domestic remedies, which are used with good results in districts where there are no regular physicians or apothecaries' shops; they might even make special journeys with this end in view. I know many a case of this sort, which can be in nowise explained away" I found many of Maimon's criticisms of contemporary Jewish life and rabbis to be very relevant. He mentions that he found among "most rabbis a good deal of pride, quarrelsomeness, and other evil qualities so that they became objects of dislike"....sounds familiar, doesn't it? Similarly I found his apologetics to be modern, which is to say, I found out that modern Jewish apologetics have quite a history. On page 131 there's this: "What innocence among unmarried people! It often happens that a young man or woman of sixteen or eighteen years is married without knowing the least about the object of marriage. Among other nations this is certainly very seldom the case." but what he, and the modern heirs of this argument, fails to do is tell us why this is such a valuable state of affairs as to justify the overall ignorance required to maintain it. Maimon thought that there was much to admire in the chasidim (not to be confused with the new chasidim) but because of their excessive penitence they cause such harm to themselves as to "root out the wheat with the tares" by causing themselves to die young. The above saying sounds quaint enough, but it isn't a literal translation. What Maimon really wrote was Das kind mit dem bade ausschütten. Which saying I just love, and I was glad to see it has 220 year old roots. One whole chapter is devoted to a fascinating account of his short sojourn among the new chasidim which includes his cynical view of their belief system, social structure, where their rebbes derive their powers - four pages are dedicated to his analyses of "the internal constitution of the society" and his most interesting classification of the four personality types that give chasidic rebbes their power. This chapter ends with Maimon believing that the new chasidim are being persecuted out of existence, especially with the help of Elijah of Vilna. The story itself is a tragic one and definitely worth reading. One note on the translation: it seems pretty obvious that the translator wasn't Jewish, not only because his name was J. Clark Murray, but because he seems completely unfamiliar with the Hebrew - he maintains the German transliteration of Hebrew words, he mentions a "fool named Chozek", translates what could only have been nekudos as "points" - and when giving the source for biblical verses Maimon quotes he references "our Authorized edition", now, I don't necessarily know what the Authorized edition was but I assume it didn't have a Badatz hashgoche to say the least. Another short interesting note: the translator, who took the liberty of adding a chapter about Maimon at the end of the book, takes Maimon to task for never having developed solid work habits, he quotes many passages and stories from the Talmud which the translator's friend the Rev. Meldola de Sola, of the Portuguese Synagogue in Montreal provided for him proving that Jews believe in hard work and being financially self-sustaining.

Review # 2 was written on 2017-01-26 00:00:00 Michael Foley Unbelievable. Modest and arrogant at the same time. Fascinating.