Antonio’s Devils Stanford Studies in Jewish History and Culture edited by Aron Rodrigue and Steven J. Zipperstein Antonio’s Devils Writers of the Jewish Enlightenment and the Birth of Modern Hebrew and Yiddish Literature Jeremy Dauber stanford university press stanford, california 2004 Stanford University Press Stanford, California ©2004 by the Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University. All rights reserved. Publication of this book was made possible by generous support from the Koret Foundation. Printed in the United States of America on acid-free, archival-quality paper Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Dauber, Jeremy Asher. Antonio’s devils : writers of the Jewish enlightenment and the birth of modern Hebrew and Yiddish literature / Jeremy Dauber. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-8047-4901-9 (cloth) 1. Jewish literature—History and criticism. 2. Haskalah. 3. Jewish authors—Biography. 4.Mendelssohn, Moses. 5. Halle-Wolfssohn, A. 6. Perl, Joseph.I. Title. PN6067 .D38 2004 892.4’09—dc22 2003023990 Original Printing 2004 Last Wgure below indicates year of this printing: 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05 04 Typeset by Classic Typography in 10.5/14 Galliard For my parents Contents Acknowledgments ix Note on Orthography xi List of Abbreviations xii Part One Setting the Stage 1. Antonio’s Devil: Shylock, Allusion, and the Birth of Modern Jewish Literature 3 2. Allusion in a Jewish Key: Literary Theory and the Study of Haskala Literature 32 3. Historical Background 67 Part Two Prussia 4. Moses Mendelssohn 103 5. Aaron Halle-Wolfssohn 164 Part Three Galicia 6. Joseph Perl: Between Hebrew and Yiddish 209 7. Joseph Perl: Megale Temirin 252 Part Four Coda Conclusion and Further Directions for Study 313 Bibliography 319 Index 343