A Seder Night

Heinrich Heine

ca. 1824

In the large room of his house sat Rabbi Abraham and commenced the celebration of the Passover Eve, in company with his relatives and pupils and other guests. Everything in the room was brighter than usual. The table was covered with a silk-embroidered cloth, with golden fringe trailing to the ground. The little plates glittered pleasantly with…

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Creator Bio

Heinrich Heine

1797–1856

A German romantic poet and essayist, Heinrich Heine was born in Düsseldorf. Unsuccessful in his early business career, he studied law, and settled in Berlin in 1821. There he met with success as a poet and was influenced by the founders of Wissenschaft des Judentums; he became acquainted with Rahel Varnhagen, Moses Mendelssohn, and Leopold Zunz. In 1825, Heine converted to Christianity, apparently for the career opportunities that such a conversion might have afforded. Heine’s life was dominated by enthusiasm for the French Revolutionary ideals and Napoleon in their liberal treatment of Jews; he spent the last twenty-five years of his life in Paris. (Several of Heine’s poetry and prose works appear in this volume.)

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