Bene ha-ne’urim (The Youth)

Jonas saw that he was successful in the study of these sciences and that he had mastered the Latin tongue; in addition, his younger brother, who would be taking over his role in the family had grown to adulthood, and his sisters had become young maidens and would now be capable of being of benefit to their father by engaging in commerce and acquisitions of property, so Jonas directed his attention to the science of medicine—his true love—with a view to studying it in all its different aspects—as this was the path whereby he could attain the loftiest peaks of that science, and in addition, he would thereby find sufficient means to support himself and his household. Through this, his yearning for honor, which burned ardently within him, would be alleviated; through this, he would satisfy his powerful longing to benefit human society! At that time, it was not permitted for the Jewish people to enter gentile places of learning; the halls of academia were locked in their faces, and non-Jews would not even let them pass over the threshold of the academies—they were expelled, thus preventing them from becoming a part of the abodes of understanding—accordingly, the luminaries darkened, and all the Jewish people could see only gloom staring in their faces; for if a Jew indeed desired to draw sustenance from the font of knowledge, where would he be able to find a sufficiently broad well? Where was the path along which light dwelt?

[ . . . ] This matter constituted an impediment and an obstacle for Jonas; he realized that it was a stumbling block to him, and that it would deprive him of the hope of hearing the exposition of the science of medicine and of the other branches of knowledge from the mouths of the savants of the gentile schools of learning. He had made investigation into this, and further understood that it was better to hear the orderly presentation of the words of wisdom and knowledge while among the assemblies of students, the dispositions of whose minds differed from one another’s, than to study in his own home, in the privacy of his abode, where he would be residing all alone, without any companion—for a student can acquire more wisdom and gain a greater amount of knowledge when among a group of students, as the topic becomes ever clearer through the ongoing questions and answers, the arguments and the discussions, the doubts and the resolutions; and it is also better for the public, who make enquiries on the theme and receive replies as appropriate—in addition, the natural mutual jealousy existing among the experts in the field increases, and inspires the mind of the student to fortify himself with wisdom, to magnify it and make it glorious. Accordingly, it was this aspect that constituted the primary reason for his decision to leave his native land and travel to another country.