Sunday, February 06, 2011

A polite protest against Solomon Schecter's representation of the Talmud in an 1888 lecture.

This letter to the editor appeared in the January 4, 1889 issue of the Jewish Standard of London.

7 comments:

  1. I wish I wrote like that!

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  2. My impression is that most literate people of that era spoke and wrote that way. Correct me if I am wrong.

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  3. I don't know about spoke (I bet they "uhed" plenty) but wrote, yes. Learning how to write was part of an education (!!!).

    Contrast that with a letter from a semiliterate person from that same era (who may or may not have been Jack the Ripper):

    "From hell
    Mr Lusk,
    Sir
    I send you half the Kidne I took from one women prasarved it for you tother piece I fried and ate it was very nise. I may send you the bloody knif that took it out if you only wate a whil longer
    signed
    Catch me when you can Mishter Lusk"

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/From_Hell_letter

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  4. Anyway, the point is - such a classy, genteel macha'ah.

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  5. Who would "J.K.L." have been??????

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  6. Tried to work that out yesterday. Then I decided to just post it. Perhaps I'll revisit it.

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