The main points of Dr. Ella Bauer's lecture at the Zol Vern Conference, held at the University of Haifa in May 2006.
These are Bauer
On November 16, 1875, the following news, which I quote, was published in "Hatzifira", a Hebrew weekly published in Warsaw:
One of the merchants of the city of Newark in America sent his letter to his acquaintance in the city of Abraham via England, which is half a world away from New York, and asked him that when the letter reached him, they would send it back to him, to Newark, via San Francisco, via the other half of the world. This letter left Newark on the 13th of May of this year and came to London on the 24th of May, and was sealed with the seal of the Fast, and went from there to Alexandria via Zoetz and the Red Sea, and from there to Zalalen, until it came to the city of Hakand in India, on the 26th of June, on the 12th of July to its recipient, and it was sent to San Prisitsichka, who arrived there on August 1st, and from there he went to Newark near the dispatches, which he reached on August 8th in such a way that this letter went around the whole world for 88 days.
It seems that all the people sitting in this room, and especially those who are familiar with Philas Fogg's route, recognized the spirit of things, and maybe even some of the landmarks. However, in "The Siren", this news was published without any comment, or reference, to the source of inspiration from which the American merchant drew the idea he actually did.
Seemingly, a simple fact, such as the year in which a Hebrew translation of a story called at the time, "Around the World in Eighty Days" was first published, can be a simple explanation for the question of why news appeared about the letter that circled the earth for 88 days, as a curiosity in itself. For, only in 1890, Eliezer Ben Yehuda began to publish his translation of this story in his newspaper "Hatzvi", which was published in Jerusalem. And therefore, one can simply be satisfied with the statement that the editor of "Hatzifar", Chaim Zelig Slonimsky (Chazas), or the person who at that time was responsible for collecting news from various non-Jewish newspapers, and for processing and preparing them for publication, Yehuda Kantor, who was then a medical student in Berlin, did not Be aware of the book and the idea and the possibility of circumnavigating the country in eighty days, or other books by Zoll Warren that were published and gave him the reputation, in whose honor we have also gathered here today. However, anyone who looks at the issues of "The Siren" from this period, and anyone who is aware of the character of "The Siren" and its characteristics in the first period of its existence, up to the year 1886, will find it difficult, and quite rightly so, to accept this reason. For in these years, the "siren" was one of the first frameworks in which, what is known today, scientific literacy in the Hebrew language began; Under the scepter of Haim Zelig Salonimsky, editor of "The Siren", in which the first attempts were made to explain to Hebrew readers in the mid-nineteenth century the meaning and significance of inventions and discoveries, which at that time began to penetrate, and quite quickly became part of the world of Hebrew readers, in a systematic and equal way for every soul. Therefore, Salonimski's important contribution to the creation of Hebrew scientific literacy prevents us from drawing the almost self-evident conclusion, according to which the "Hatsifra" system did not at that time know Zoll Warren's books and the other trends prevalent at that time in European literature.
In 1875 "The Siren" was a weekly that appeared with several other Hebrew weeklies. The first Hebrew weekly that resembled a modern newspaper in its form, which symbolizes the beginning of the modern Hebrew press, was "Hamigid", which was published in the mid-fifties of the 19th century, in the city of Lake in Prussia, on the border of the Russian Empire. The latter defined his purpose with a fixed title: "The Magid will tell Jacob what is happening in all parts of the world among all the inhabitants of Chaled, which is acceptable, and which every Israeli should know for his own benefit and for the benefit of the Hebrew language." In the manifesto that heralded the appearance of the newspaper, it was emphasized that the purpose of the weekly was to provide up-to-date political information, in the Hebrew language, to readers who wanted to know about what was happening in their world, but not knowing a language other than the Hebrew language prevented them from reading news papers and keeping up to date with what was happening. It was therefore the first weekly that faced a very basic difficulty that involved the way in which news should be translated into another language, in the fifties of the 19th century, when the vocabulary at that time was not up to date with the spirit of the time.
In 1860, the "Hamigid" was joined by the newspaper "Hamilitz", which was published in Odessa, and it also stated its purpose, very clearly, in the subtitle of the newspaper: "The Hamilitz, between the people of Yeshuron and the government, between education and faith, he will be here for everything concerning the Knesset Israel." In an article that sought to define the path of the new journal, the editor of "Hamelitz", Alexander Tsderboim (Arez), wrote, among other things, that "true education is acquired in three ways: by pure faith, by knowing the history of the times, and by studying nature. These paths have one origin and one purpose and they lead the person straight to his married certificate to be a loyal citizen in the land and a pure soul when he returns to experience Benoam XNUMX. Although Tsdarboim was interested in spreading scientific knowledge, he himself hardly promoted this goal and left the writing on scientific topics to other writers, two of whom were the most prominent, Shalom Yaakov Abramowitz, known as "Mandela the Bookseller", one of the founding fathers of modern Yiddish literature . The grandfather of Jewish literature began his literary career writing in Hebrew on the subjects of botany, zoology and anatomy. This is what he did in his important book "History of Nature", and this is what he did in many articles published in "Hamilitz". However, it is worth noting that Abramovitz's main contribution to scientific writing in the Hebrew language was in the creation of a primary vocabulary, especially in the translation and inventing of animal and plant names. Some of his innovations are still in use by us today, for example, Nahliali, Crane, Partridge, Buffalo, Shrekark and more. It seems, then, that the origin of scientific writing in the Hebrew language was, also, and perhaps mainly, a linguistic operation that testifies first and foremost to a central and main difficulty in writing about science and innovations in the language, which is a language of the past, in which people pray but do not speak, a language whose modern literature is in the making, at the beginning of the road. The second difficulty is writing on scientific topics intended for a believing public, without undermining their world and without causing a break and a crisis. In addition to Abramowitz, there was another figure who wrote in "Hamelitz" on scientific topics, and laid the foundations and, in fact, created the foundations of popular scientific writing in Hebrew - Chaim Zelig Salonimsky, nicknamed Chazas - an amazing and fascinating personality who charmed her contemporaries and those who came after her. Slonimsky, born in 1810, in Bialystok, made a name for himself already in the XNUMXs and XNUMXs, thanks to a selection of science books, including Masodi Chochma, which sought to clarify in Hebrew the basics of mathematics, or the book Toldot HaShem dedicated to astronomy and the contributions of Kepler and Newton to this field of research . The book was published close to the appearance of a comet in the skies of Europe, in the thirties of the nineteenth century, and sought to provide a scientific framework and mathematical formulas that are required to calculate the arrangement of the Hebrew calendar, as well as the commemorative letter, which was published in 1858, in honor of the German scientist's 85th birthday Alexander von Humboldt, with whom he had the privilege of meeting face to face. In his books and writings, Salonimski sought to make scientific knowledge accessible to Hebrew readers, who in his words were "thirsty and hungry for wisdom and science, and their lack of knowledge of other languages beyond the Hebrew and their lack of elementary knowledge in various fields of science prevent them from doing so. Already in the first issues of "Hamelitz" Salonimski published a number of scientific articles, but as I explained earlier, Raz Tsdarboim, the editor, did not attach special importance to writing on scientific topics. And according to him, scientific writing in Hebrew was only one of the ways, besides many others, by which it is possible to spread education, to encourage progress and modernity among the Jewish society in Eastern Europe. Between the two, the editor and the writer, a number of personal disputes were discovered that continued to accompany them throughout their lives. Slonimsky had difficulty finding his place in "Hamelitz", and being aware of the advantages inherent in periodicals, when it comes to spreading knowledge and information among a wide audience, he asked to publish his own newspaper. After several attempts and rejections by the Russian government, in 1862, Slonimski began publishing the first Hebrew newspaper, in Warsaw, which he defined as Congress Poland. It was a periodical writing news of the battle with Yeshuron, of all things concerning them, in matters of state, aside from wisdom and science, knowledge from the world and from nature, and it was the first periodical that, at least according to it, placed scientific writing at the top of the priority list. For him, scientific papers were everything. most important of all. And all the other areas were for him a tax that had to be paid in order to fulfill the goal - to bring the gospel of science to a wide Jewish audience - as it would buy the Jewish readers an entrance ticket to the modern world.
"Wisdom has worked a lot among the land in these last days, the many changes that she has made have grown and changed the order of man's work and his tricks on the face of the earth; On the side of new sciences and inventions, a spirit of new life is rising among this last generation. Man, the weak creature, drew on the strength of might and valor and carried his government more firmly, more fiercely, than anything before him. Because man will not prevail in the land today, nor will he rule with an arm of flesh anymore, but with sublime powers on which the pillars of the world rest. They are the forces of nature that make their rule in the land, in which he obtained an army, and he made him an arm with valor in all his servants, until he could not forsake him whatever he set out to do, and we saw a new world with our eyes which was not the first: the lightning that came out of the clouds, man took for him a foreboding angel, He is running and flying from one end of the earth to the other at the moment, and to whomever he sends his word, his name will fulfill his command (telegraph). The rays of the sun's majesty that spread light on the face of the earth, made him a craftsman, an axis to make him every statue and every pattern (patagraphia). All the power of the mighty steam put an iron yoke around his neck to run like a guest hero before him on the railroad, and he would not be crushed under his burden and he would travel for days and play to the noise of the roads, and entrusted him to a faithful slave in all the work of his hands and tricks, he mills and bakes, spins and weaves, and does the work of a potter and dwells in iron and forge, also He is a candle to the feet of education and a light to its paths for all peoples, because he prepares paper from the burdens of carrying, he is the one who prints an endless number of books, he is the one who publishes thousands of periodicals every day, and he is the guide to all ends of the earth and distant islands as on the wings of an eagle on a railroad. […] And only our brothers, the Israelites, who are sitting on the soil of Poland, remained a few, many silent, on their guard that they would stand on the other side and see a gateway to the gates of science and educate their children on the ways of education."
Salonimsky sought, with the help of "The Siren", to benefit the young people of his people, to pave their way only through wisdom, to light a path for all its powers. Indeed, until the end of the nineteenth century, "The Siren" became the main source through which Hebrew readers were exposed to scientific explanations in many fields, including chemistry, physics, astronomy and engineering, to read about innovations and inventions and to understand how the telegraph, the telephone and the turntable work. Solnimski overcame the difficulty caused by the lack of a suitable vocabulary for such writing, and managed to introduce science into the traditional world of his readers, without causing them a break and a crisis. In addition to scientific writing, the "Siren" gave wide space to geographical writing, and thus, the readers of "The Siren" became acquainted with the travels of great and important researchers of that time. Already in the first year, a translation ("copy" in their language) of the account of the travels of the French traveler, Jacob Arna, written by Natan Neta Shapira, who became known for the additional translations he wrote on subjects ranging from, among other things, general and Jewish literature, was published. In the seventies of the nineteenth century, readers of "The Siren" could follow journeys and trips made by hot air balloon throughout Europe (mainly in France), be excited by the prize offered to those who complete the hot air balloon journey from New York to London, and be partners in the journeys of famous naturalists, for example Stanley and his travels In Africa, Darwin Landen who traced the fetus in the North Sea, and more and more, about trips in the islands of the Great Sea, about trips in the desert, about railroads (which were being paved throughout Europe), about the mosaic railroad that was being paved in the USA (and significantly shortened distances), and about trains The steam they made through them in Paris and other places in Europe.
However, in spite of all this, the readers of "Hatzifira" could not read about Zoll Warren's first published books in the newspaper, even though the first translations of Zoll Warren's books into the Hebrew language were published in the seventies.
In 1876, the Hebrew translation of Zoll Warren's book - Vignt mille lieues sous les mers - Vignt mille lieues sous les mers - was published (in later editions the name of the book was updated to "twenty thousand miles under water"). About two years later, in 1878 (XNUMX), another book by Zoll Warren appeared in Hebrew - Voyage au center de la Terre - in the bowels of the earth - (which in later translations was renamed "Journey to the bowels of the earth"). These two books were published in Warsaw in the translation of Israel Ze'ev Sperling.
The author wanted to emphasize that although the book "In the Belly of the Earth" is a nice and pleasant book, describing an imaginary journey through the channels of fire-breathing volcanoes, the importance of the book is the geological knowledge contained in it. In the introduction to the readers, the translator added that the book, regarding Dido, is likened to a bitter medicine (poison), which medical experts wrap in a sweet wrapper as a swag, so that the sick will not refrain from taking it and thus save their lives. "What the sages of nature have learned in the current generation," the copyist translator explained to his readers, "the famous French sage does in his books, which are nothing but medicine for an educated soul and he was the first to use this method. The copyist expressed his hope that his potential readers would ignore the cover and learn from the important knowledge contained in the book, the wisdom of geology and the other sciences, in addition to the fact that the strange journey described in the book is not contrary to the laws of nature.
The book was not accompanied by the approval of the rabbis, as was customary at the time, but a recommendation that its content was a kind of "kosher" and provided by a friend of the translator, was a fairly adequate substitute.
It is worth noting that this was not a novelty, since many scholars, who knew that it would be difficult for them to obtain the "approval of the rabbis" for their books, used to attach as a substitute letters of recommendation from well-known figures from the world of Jewish education of those days. The copyist's friend, who remains anonymous, emphasized in his letter of recommendation the book's contribution to the cultivation of the Hebrew language, from which our great writers shook their hands. He also emphasized that this is a pleasant book, instructive in the hidden mysteries of nature. It seems that the recommending friend wanted, first and foremost, to praise the copyist, and to express his appreciation to his friend who contributed to the cultivation and renewal of the sacred language, and less than that he gave his opinion on the source, (or as he put it, on the French narrator "Julius Verne"). The copyist Sperling, in his introduction to the readers, did not write much about the source he copied either, although in the ads announcing the book about to be published they did not say that the book was copied, that is, translated, from a French original. (We know that at that time there were already translations of Warren in Russian and Polish, and it is possible that the copyist-translator used them.)
It is difficult to say that the author won public relations, in today's style, that is, a critique or review of a book, which actually informs the readers about its publication, and without which it is almost impossible to reach the bestseller list. The only way Hebrew readers could have been informed of the publication of the book was through these ads published in the Hebrew press. And one can learn from these ads, after the publication of "Mbatan Ha'Adamah" the author had difficulty finding a book agent distributor who would take on the task of distributing the book and publishing it, so he had to publish his copied book at his own expense and distribute it himself. (Those interested in purchasing the book were asked to contact the copyist himself.)
Only towards the end of the year 1878, a bookseller from Odessa was found for the "Miscelots of the Sea in the Belly of the Earth", who agreed to distribute his copies alongside other books that he classified as educational books. The price of these books - 50 kopecks (half a ruble) - was quite cheap and caused the book to be classified as "folk literature". Some time later, other Jewish booksellers and distributors joined in, and sold the copies of the book at the same popular price, without credit, with the name of the copyist-translator from Hebrew highlighted. (We learn about this from additional ads published at the time.)
Why did the press of the nineteenth century prefer to ignore Zoll Warren's book, at the same time that classic books from the West, such as "The Negro of Venice" by Shakespeare, "Wilhelm Tell" by Schiller, "Paradise Lost" by Milton, and the like, were translated and published. Is it possible to be satisfied with the assumption that Salonimski, the editor of "The Siren", who in the seventies made the most significant and important contribution to popular science in the Hebrew language, simply did not know Zoll Warren and his books. I don't think so!
The way the "Siren" covered scientific issues in France and other Western European countries, such as Germany and England, confirms that Slonimsky, apparently, used to follow science news (either by himself, or with the help of his wife, Sarah nee Stern, who was an educated woman, and proficient in languages German French and Polish). The "News of the World and the World" section published in his newspaper and other articles he published rule out the possibility that Salonimski was not familiar with Zoll Warren's books. Another proof of this can also be found in the memoirs of his grandson, Antony Sloniemski, who was one of the most important Polish poets in the period between the two world wars. In his book describing his childhood and his relationship with his grandfather, it was said that the books of Zoll Warren were found in the bookcase in their house. These books were among the first he read as a teenager. This genre was loved by both him and his father, and both of them would argue among themselves, who would be the first to read them.
The reason for Slonimski's ignoring Zoll Warren's books must be explained, apparently, by the fact that in Slonimski's eyes, Zoll Warren is considered a writer of beautiful literature, perhaps even imaginary. It is possible that the books were rejected by him as a means of promoting popular scientific writing and literacy in the Hebrew language, due to the literary framework and the demonic framework story. This style seems to him to be unreliable. Publishing memoirs and impressions of naturalists and their practical experience seemed to him to be reliable and superior to what Warren's first translator, Sperling, called "a sweet wrapper for a bitter medicine." Slonimsky, who invented several inventions himself, and made a name for himself thanks to several scientific articles he published in professional journals in Russian and German, preferred to present to his readers scientists with proven achievements, rather than writers. As someone who did not particularly appreciate beautiful literature and had no interest in cultivating "literature for literature's sake", it can be assumed that the style of Zull Warren's books was in his eyes "too literary", and lacked the factual scientific side.
That's why in the sixties and seventies the Hebrew translations of Zol Vern were not in the center of the Hebrew bookshelf.
However, even if the books did not receive the recognition they deserved, they were not completely excluded from the shelves of Hebrew literature. Thus, for example, the book "Around the World in Eighty Days" was already translated at the end of the eighties, first as a story in sequels, from the pages of "The Deer", and later, in 1891, as a book. The literary community in the Land of Israel pointed the finger at Eliezer Ben Yehuda as being responsible for the translation. The story was published for two years, almost. At the top of the first issue in which it was published, it was written, "... we will preserve the origin of our language... increase the size of the deer little by little, try to connect it (from) the good and the (from) the useful together. From the beginning of this year... there will be a wonderful story by the famous literary writer Shul Vern..." When the book was first published, it was not accompanied by a comment or a foreword, as if Ben Yehuda wanted to imply that both the book and the author are known, and stand on their own, and there is no need for my services" Mediator" to present them to the Hebrew readers. Ben Yehuda also did not need the consent of the rabbis, or any similar kosher.
Unlike his colleagues from Eastern Europe, Ben Yehuda was aware of Zol Vern's status in the world of literature and his contribution. As is well known, Ben Yehuda's personal biography includes a period of his life in Paris, where he began medical studies. There is no doubt that this stay was an important contribution to his acquaintance with the Western European press, and it is possible that it is the one that encouraged him to create a Hebrew press based on the model of the French press in the second half of the nineteenth century. In terms of these sources of influence, Ben Yehuda was unique. His attempt to produce a Hebrew newspaper with a Western European flavor was not well received by the Hebrew readership in the Land of Israel and in Europe, and it seems that his translation of the book "Around the World in Eighty Days" is also related to his experiences and the relationship created between him and French culture, in particular, and European culture in general.
In general, it seems that in the nineties of the nineteenth century, a process of approaching Jewish readers to Zoll Warren's books began. The technological changes at the time made Warren's descriptions less imaginative, and more plausible. The upheavals that took place in Jewish society and its different attitude towards literature in general, helped the acceptance process of Zoll Warren's books among the Hebrew readership. In the last decade of the nineteenth century, many saw them as beautiful literature that stands in its own right, regardless of its value and contribution to scientific literacy. An expression of this can also be seen in the translation of his book "A Play in the Air", which was published in 1894. The translator did not hesitate to point out in his translation that Zoll Warren traveled on the wings of his imagination in a flowering tower, and did not think that the imaginary story would be rejected or rejected by the readership, just as Zoll's imaginary journeys were rejected Warren about two decades earlier.
The next step in the acceptance process of Zoll Warren among a Jewish readership is undoubtedly related to the acceptance process of Yiddish literature, the legitimacy given to it, and its transformation, from a literature intended for women and boys, into a national literature equivalent to Hebrew literature. This can be testified to, not only by the many translations of Warren's books to Yiddish, but by the collections of Poalim libraries and Jewish public libraries that have sprung up throughout Eastern Europe, the USA, and the Land of Israel, including the books of Mendeli Mocher Sharifim, Y. L. Peretz, Shalom Aleichem, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy , Gorky, Victor Hugo and Zul Warren.
But it seems that this chapter will have to wait for another lecture.
