Modaʻah, o, mevaseret ḥokhmah
Ẓevi Rabinowitz ha-Cohen
Modaʻah, o, mevaseret ḥokhmah (Announcement, or Prelude to Wisdom)
Vilnius: Fin, Rozenkrants, 1866
This extensively illustrated booklet was a prospectus that advertised Yesode ḥokhmat ha-ṭevaʻ ha-kelalit (Foundations of Natural Sciences), an encyclopedic four-volume work by Zevi Hirsch Rabinowitz (1832–1889). It delved into different aspects of physics and chemistry while also emphasizing the importance of practical craftsmanship. The encyclopedia was published between 1867 and 1876 in Vilna, a Lithuanian vanguard of Haskalah in the Russian Empire. Vilna was traditionally credited with the renaissance of Hebrew literature, and the Hebrew language was widely used for educational purposes at schools.
The encyclopedia held a practical significance, as its author, a dedicated maskil with a distinguished rabbinical lineage, was a founder of a technical school for Jewish boys in Dvinsk, in what is now Latvia.
The prospectus begins with a statement that could serve as a motto for Jewish Enlightenment in general: “To all lovers of science and to all lovers of Hebrew.” The pages displayed here describe the contents of the encyclopedia while focusing on its first volume, dedicated to physics, called “Book of Rest and Movement.” It also introduced a range of new technical terms and included fascinating images of innovative technical devices. The prospectus proved successful, as the encyclopedia’s pre-publication sales amounted to around 1,000 copies.
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