CHAPTER I. The Pre-Haskalah Period

THE PRE-HASKALAH PERIOD

?-1648

(pp. 17-52)

"By the grace of God, the great ruler of the Russian land, the Grand Duke Ivan Vassilyevich, czar of all the Russias, to Skariya the Hebrew.

"You have written to us through Gabriel Patrov, our guest, that you desire to come to us. It is our wish that you do so. When you are with us, we shall give you evidence of our favorable disposition toward you. Should you wish to serve us, we will confer honors upon you. But should you not wish to remain with us, and prefer to return to your country, you shall be free to go."

For some reason or other, Zacharias never accomplished his contemplated trip, notwithstanding the many inducements repeatedly offered by the czar during a period of eighteen years. Perhaps it was because of the disturbances which rendered transportation dangerous; possibly because he preferred to serve the khan rather than the czar, for we find him, in 1500, a resident of Circassia. See JE, vi. 107-108; vi. 12.]

Sleep, my child, my little darling, sleep, I sing to thee; Silently the soft white moonbeams fall on thee and me. I will tell thee fairy stories in my lullaby; Sleep, my child, my pretty darling, sleep, I sing to thee. Lo, I see the day approaching when the warriors meet; Then wilt thou grasp thy rifle and mount thy charger fleet. I will broider in thy saddle colors fair to see, Sleep, my child, my little darling, sleep, I sing to thee. Then my Cossack boy, my hero brave and proud and gay, Waves one farewell to his mother and rides far away. Oh, what sorrow, pain and anguish then my soul shall fill, As I pray by day and night that God will keep thee still! Thou shalt take a saint's pure image to the battlefield, Look upon it when thou prayest, may it be thy shield. And when battles fierce are raging, give one thought to me; Sleep, my darling, calmly, sweetly, sleep, I sing to thee.

--Westminster Gazette.

See Güdemann, Quellen zur Geschichte des Unterrichts, Berlin, 1891, pp. 285-286; Ha-Boker Or, i. 315 (on Dubno); Ha-Meliz, 1894, no. 254 (on Mohilev); Zunz, Gottesdienstliche Vorträge, pp. 122g and 470a; cf. Weiss, Zikronotaï, Warsaw, 1895, pp. 53-83.]