The Literary Philanthropy of Sir Moses Montefiore, a letter from Kalman Schulman

Appended to a copy of Kalman Schulman's Milhamot Hayehudim, I found a handwritten letter written by the author seeking the aid of Sir Moses Montefiore in publishing his works. Though Montefiore achieved his reputation for industry, business, economic development, education and health among the Jewish community in the Levant, he was a supporter of causes throughout the Jewish world and this finely written letter is an appeal to his generosity with the modern Hebrew writers.

Kalman Schulman (1819–1899), maskil and Hebrew writer whose work was significant in the development of modern Hebrew literature. Kalman Schulman was born to a Hasidic family in Stary Bykhov, in the Mogilev district of Belorussia. He studied at the Volozhin yeshiva for about six years, subsequently learning German and developing an interest in Haskalah literature. In 1843, Schulman settled in Vilna, joining that city’s circle of maskilic authors, especially Mikhah Yosef Lebensohn (Mikhal), with whom he shared a close friendship. From 1849 to 1861, Schulman taught Hebrew at the secondary school connected to the state rabbinical seminary. Later he devoted himself entirely to literary activity, receiving encouragement and support from Saint Petersburg’s Society for the Promotion of Culture among the Jews of Russia. ( Yivo Encyclopedia)