hinker and acute critic; a German, deeply attached to his beloved
country, and fully convinced of the supremacy of German mind; at the
same time, an ardent believer in Judaism, imbued with some of the spirit
of the prophets, somewhat of the strength of Jewish heroes and martyrs,
who sacrificed life for their conviction, and with dying lips made the
ancient confession: "Hear, O Israel, the Lord, our God, the Lord is
one!"

His name is an abiding possession for our nation; it will not perish
from our memory. "Good night, my prince! O that angel choirs might lull
thy slumbers!"

HEINRICH HEINE AND JUDAISM

I

No modern poet has aroused so much discussion as Heinrich Heine. His
works are known everywhere, and quotations from them--gorgeous
butterflies, stinging gnats, buzzing bees--whizz and whirr through the
air of our century. They are the _vade mecum_ of modern life in all its
moods and variations.

This high regard is a recent development. Within the last thirty years a
complete change has taken place in public opinion. Soon after the poet's
death, he was entirely neglected. The _Augsburger Allgemeine Zeitung_,
whose columns had for decades been enriched with his contributions, took
three months to get up a little obituary notice. Then followed a period
of acrimonious detraction; at last, cordial appreciation has come.

The conviction has been growing that in Heine the German nation must
revere its greatest lyric poet since Goethe, and as time removes him
from us, the baser elements of his character recede into the background,
his personality is lost sight of, and his poetry becomes the paramount
consideration.

What is the attitude of Judaism? Does it acknowledge Heine as its son?
Is it disposed to accept _cum beneficio inventarii_ the inheritance he
has bequeathed to it? To answer these questions we must review Heine's
life, his relations to Judaism, his opinions on Jewish subjects, and the
qualities which prove him heir to the peculiarities of the Jewish race.

Heine's family was Jewish. On the paternal side it can be traced to
Meyer Samson Popert and Fromet Heckscher of Altona; on the maternal side
further back, to Isaac van Geldern, who emigrated in about 1700 from
Holland to the duchy of Juelich-Berg. He and his son Lazarus van Geldern
were people of importance at Duesseldorf, and his other sons, Simon and
Gottschalk, were known and respected beyond the confines of their city.
Simon van Geldern w