History of the Jews (Hebrew Edition)

My Preface

I am a Jew, and the Hebrew language is sweeter to me than the language of any other nation, for it is the heritage of our ancestors from time immemorial, a beloved remnant from days of yore, and it is of surpassing rank and surpassing preciousness. Therefore my heart rejoices over the translation of my book, Geschichte der Juden (History of the Jews), that a man [Saul Pinḥas Rabinowitz] diligent in his craft has taken on its translation into the Hebrew language, which is regularly on his tongue as a suckling child with his mother. And as he poured it from one vessel to another, its taste has remained constant and the fragrance of its source has not faded away.

This translation will make known to the millions of our brethren for whom the Hebrew language is still in their mouths and in their hearts the deeds of our ancestors which they performed from the day they left the land of Egypt until this day, generation by generation, what befell them and what they encountered, and the wonders of All-Knowing God, who preserved them like the apple of His eye and did not allow them to be destroyed and obliterated from the face of the earth in the midst of the nations, until some of them had liberty proclaimed, and freedom was given them, to be citizens of the [Western] lands. And there is hope for the rest of their brethren [Russian Jews] who are still under the iron yoke, for they, too, shall be redeemed, and not for a price.

The translation of this history will make known to the Jews in their places of residence that Israel is not bereft of its God, and that the words of the poet have not proven false, one of the Levites who sang three thousand years ago these words, but in which we can hear two messages:

“Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth, Israel can declare, yet they have never prevailed against me.” [Psalm 129:1–2].

The Author.

Breslau, Tammuz 5648