s, by one
impatient effort, of every strand of their ancient bonds. Eager to be
merged in the better world in which they found themselves, the escaped
prisoners determined on a change of mind, a change of heart, a change
of manner. They rejoiced in their transformation, thinking that every
mark of their former slavery was obliterated. And then, one day,
caught in the vise of some crucial test, the Jew fixed his alarmed
gaze on his inmost soul, and found there the image of his father's
God.

* * * * *

Merrily played the fiddlers at the wedding of my father, who was the
grandson of Israel Kimanyer of sainted memory. The most pious men in
Polotzk danced the night through, their earlocks dangling, the tails
of their long coats flying in a pious ecstasy. Beggars swarmed among
the bidden guests, sure of an easy harvest where so many hearts were
melted by piety. The wedding jester excelled himself in apt allusions
to the friends and relatives who brought up their wedding presents at
his merry invitation. The sixteen-year-old bride, suffocated beneath
her heavy veil, blushed unseen at the numerous healths drunk to her
future sons and daughters. The whole town was a-flutter with joy,
because the pious scion of a godly race had found a pious wife, and a
young branch of the tree of Judah was about to bear fruit.

When I came to lie on my mother's breast, she sang me lullabies on
lofty themes. I heard the names of Rebecca, Rachel, and Leah as early
as the names of father, mother, and nurse. My baby soul was enthralled
by sad and noble cadences, as my mother sang of my ancient home in
Palestine, or mourned over the desolation of Zion. With the first
rattle that was placed in my hand a prayer was pronounced over me, a
petition that a pious man might take me to wife, and a messiah be
among my sons.

I was fed on dreams, instructed by means of prophecies, trained to
hear and see mystical things that callous senses could not perceive. I
was taught to call myself a princess, in memory of my forefathers who
had ruled a nation. Though I went in the disguise of an outcast, I
felt a halo resting on my brow. Sat upon by brutal enemies, unjustly
hated, annihilated a hundred times, I yet arose and held my head high,
sure that I should find my kingdom in the end, although I had lost my
way in exile; for He who had brought my ancestors safe through a
thousand perils was guiding my feet as well. God needed me a