Moses Gaster (17 September 1856 – 5 March 1939) was a Romanian, later British
scholar
A scholar is a person who pursues academic and intellectual activities, particularly academics who apply their intellectualism into expertise in an area of study. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researche ...
, the ''
Hakham
''Hakham'' (or ''chakam(i), haham(i), hacham(i)''; he, חכם ', "wise") is a term in Judaism, meaning a wise or skillful man; it often refers to someone who is a great Torah scholar. It can also refer to any cultured and learned person: "H ...
'' of the
Spanish and Portuguese Jewish congregation, London, and a
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
and
Romanian
Romanian may refer to:
*anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania
** Romanians, an ethnic group
**Romanian language, a Romance language
***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language
**Romanian cuisine, traditiona ...
linguist
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Lingu ...
. Moses Gaster was an active
Zionist in Romania as well as in England, where in 1899 he helped establish the
English Zionist Federation. He was the father of
Jack and
Theodor Gaster and the grandfather of
Marghanita Laski. He was also son-in-law to
Michael Friedländer and father-in-law to
Neville Laski.
Biography
Life in Romania
Gaster was born in
Bucharest
Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north o ...
into a renowned Jewish Austrian family which had settled in
Wallachia
Wallachia or Walachia (; ro, Țara Românească, lit=The Romanian Land' or 'The Romanian Country, ; archaic: ', Romanian Cyrillic alphabet: ) is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Lower Danube and s ...
at the beginning of the 19th century. He was the eldest son of
Chevalier Abraham Emanuel Gaster, who was the consul of the Netherlands in
Bucharest
Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north o ...
and the grandson of Asriel Gaster, a prosperous merchant and community leader. His mother, Pnina Judith Rubinstein, came from a rabbinical dynasty which included Rabbi Levi Isaac ben Meir.
After having taken a degree in his native city (1874), he proceeded to
Leipzig
Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...
, where he received the degree of PhD in 1878 and then to the
Jewish Seminary in
Breslau, where he gained the ''Hattarat Hora'ah'' (rabbinical diploma) in 1881. His history of
Romanian popular literature was published in Bucharest in 1883.
He was lecturer on the
Romanian language
Romanian (obsolete spellings: Rumanian or Roumanian; autonym: ''limba română'' , or ''românește'', ) is the official and main language of Romania and the Republic of Moldova. As a minority language it is spoken by stable communities in ...
and literature at the
University of Bucharest (1881–85), inspector-general of schools, and a member of the council for examining teachers in Romania. He also lectured on the Romanian
apocrypha
Apocrypha are works, usually written, of unknown authorship or of doubtful origin. The word ''apocryphal'' (ἀπόκρυφος) was first applied to writings which were kept secret because they were the vehicles of esoteric knowledge considered ...
, the whole of which he had discovered in manuscript.
Gaster was a central figure of
Hibbat Zion in Romania and played a central role in the 1882 establishment by Jews from
Moineşti of the Samarin (Zamarin) settlement, known since 1884 as
Zichron Ya'akov.
Life in England
Having been expelled from Romania by the
Ion Brătianu government in 1885 for allegedly "being a member of an
irredentist society", he went to England, where he held a lectureship, 1886 and 1891, in
Slavonic literature at the
University of Oxford
, mottoeng = The Lord is my light
, established =
, endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019)
, budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20)
, chancellor ...
, his lectures being later published as ''Greco-Slavonic Literature'', London, 1886.
A few years after, the Romanian government cancelled the decree of expulsion, presented him with the Romanian ''
Ordinul Naţional "Pentru Merit"'' of the first class (1891), and invited him to return; however, he declined the invitation, and in 1893 became a naturalised British citizen. In 1895, at the request of the Romanian government, he wrote a report on the British system of education, which was printed as a "green book" and accepted as a basis of
education in Romania
Education in Romania is based on a free-tuition, egalitarian system. Access to free education is guaranteed by Article 32 in the Constitution of Romania. Education is regulated and enforced by the Ministry of National Education. Each step has its ...
.
In 1887 Gaster was appointed ''hakham'' of the
Sephardic or Spanish and Portuguese Congregation in London, in which capacity he presided over the bicentenary of
Bevis Marks Synagogue. He was invited to give the
Ilchester Lectures at Oxford which were published in 1887 as ''Ilchester Lectures on Greeko-Slavonic literature'' . Appointed as
principal of
Judith Lady Montefiore College
Judith Lady Montefiore College () is a Jewish theological seminary founded in 1869 by Sir Moses Montefiore in memory of his late wife, Lady Judith Montefiore, at Ramsgate, Kent. Though closed in 1985, the College re-opened in London in 2005.
Ea ...
,
Ramsgate, from 1891 to 1896, he wrote valuable collection of essays accompanying the yearly reports of that institution. He was a member of the councils of the Folklore, Biblical, Archaeological, and
Royal Asiatic societies, writing many papers in their interest. He was the only ordained rabbi ever to become president of
The Folklore Society
The Folklore Society (FLS) is a national association in the United Kingdom for the study of folklore.
It was founded in London in 1878 to study traditional vernacular culture, including traditional music, song, dance and drama, narrative, arts an ...
, in 1907–1908.
In 1925, Gaster was appointed one of the six members of the honorary board of trustees (
Curatorium) of the
Yiddish Scientific Institute (
YIVO) in
Wilna, alongside
Simon Dubnow,
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein ( ; ; 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest and most influential physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for developing the theor ...
,
Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud ( , ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating pathologies explained as originating in conflicts i ...
,
Edward Sapir and
Chaim Zhitlowsky.
Gaster made a special study of the
Samaritans and became a recognised authority on their language and literature. He visited
Nablus in Palestine, the headquarters of the Samaritan community, and induced them to part with manuscripts covering the whole range of their literature. Where he could not secure the originals he had copies made for him by Samaritan priests. Gaster was among the most active leaders of the
Zionist movement in England, and even while in Romania he assisted in establishing the first Jewish colony in
Palestine.
Rising in worldwide Jewish affairs he became vice-president of the
First Zionist Congress in
Basel
, french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese
, neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (B ...
, and was a prominent figure in each succeeding congress. Gaster's residence, "Mizpah" 193
Maida Vale
Maida Vale ( ) is an affluent residential district consisting of the northern part of Paddington in West London, west of St John's Wood and south of Kilburn. It is also the name of its main road, on the continuous Edgware Road. Maida Vale ...
in London served as the venue for early talks between prominent Zionists and the Foreign Office in 1917. The first draft of the
Balfour Declaration
The Balfour Declaration was a public statement issued by the British government in 1917 during the First World War announcing its support for the establishment of a "national home for the Jewish people" in Palestine, then an Ottoman regio ...
was written at the Gaster home on 7 February 1917 in the presence of
Chaim Weizmann
Chaim Azriel Weizmann ( he, חיים עזריאל ויצמן ', russian: Хаим Евзорович Вейцман, ''Khaim Evzorovich Veytsman''; 27 November 1874 – 9 November 1952) was a Russian-born biochemist, Zionist leader and Israel ...
,
Nahum Sokolow,
Baron Rothschild
Baron Rothschild, of Tring in the County of Hertfordshire, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1885 for Sir Nathan Rothschild, 2nd Baronet, a member of the Rothschild banking family. He was the first Jewish memb ...
,
Sir Mark Sykes and
Herbert Samuel. Other visitors to the Gaster home included
Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from 1 ...
,
Lenin
Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 1 ...
and
Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud ( , ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating pathologies explained as originating in conflicts i ...
.
Collector of manuscripts
He was a great collector of manuscripts, having over two thousand, mainly Hebrew, Samaritan and Slavonic. At the outbreak of the second World War his collection was moved for safekeeping to cellars in the centre of London. However, water used to quench London fires saturated a large part of the collection, which made some of the items illegible in whole or in part. Fortunately many of them had previously been transliterated into Hebrew typescript.
The collection comprised over 10,000 fragments in Hebrew and
Judaeo-Arabic from the
Cairo Geniza (the
genizah of the
Ben Ezra Synagogue in Old
Cairo
Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metr ...
); some 350 Hebrew codices and scrolls including prayer-books of many Jewish communities,
apocryphal writings, commentaries, treatises, letters,
marriage contracts,
piyyutim, and thirteen scrolls of the Law; some 350 Samaritan manuscripts, among them manuscripts of the
Pentateuch
The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the ...
, commentaries and treatises, and
liturgical, historical, chronological and astronomical codices, detailed census lists of the Samaritans and lists of manuscripts in their possession; and almost 1,500 uncatalogued
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...
fragments on paper from the Synagogue of Ben Ezra.
In 1954 the collection was purchased by the
John Rylands Library (since 1972 part of the University of Manchester), where it remains. The Rylands Cairo Genizah Project has been in progress for a number of years on the identification of fragments and digitisation of images of the texts.
The 'Gaster Collection,' a number of mainly
Karaite and
Yemenite manuscripts were purchased from the library of Dr. Moses Gaster in 1927, and are currently housed at the
British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the Briti ...
. An important early Hebrew codex called the
First Gaster Bible was also acquired by the British Library from his collection.
Literary works
Gaster's major work, in which he invested ten years of his life, was a Romanian
chrestomathy and
glossary covering the period from the dawn of Romanian literature down to 1830. Gaster also wrote various text-books for the
Jewish community of Romania, made a Romanian translation of the ''
Siddur'', and compiled a short
Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;["Tanach"](_blank)
'' folklore
Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, rangin ...
and did not sympathize with those believing that preserving folklore should mostly serve a political nationalist purpose.
His study of Romanian folklore led Gaster to conclusions at odds with those shared by most scholars of his time, who found there traces of pre-Christian beliefs. Gaster argued that nothing found in Romanian folklore pre-dated Christianity, and that what appeared as pre-Christian to other scholars in fact derived from a Christian heresy,
Bogomilism
Bogomilism ( Bulgarian and Macedonian: ; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", bogumilstvo, богумилство) was a Christian neo-Gnostic or dualist sect founded in the First Bulgarian Empire by the priest Bogomil during the reign of Tsar P ...
.
A list of major works follows:
* ''Literatura populară română'' (1883)
* ''
Jewish Folk-Lore in the
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
'' (1887);
* ''Ilchester Lectures on Greeko-Slavonic literature'' (1887);
* ''Chrestomatie Română'' (2 volumes, 1891)
* ''
The Sword of Moses
''The Sword of Moses'' is the title of an apocryphal Jewish book of magic edited by Moses Gaster in Israel, in 1896 from a 13th- or 14th-century manuscript from his own collection, formerly MS Gaster 78, now London, British Library MS Or. 1067 ...
'' from an ancient manuscript book of
magic, with introduction, translation, and index (1896);
* ''The
Chronicles of Jerahmeel'' (1899
copy at Google Books
* ''Hebrew Illuminated Bibles of the Ninth and Tenth Centuries and a Samaritan Scroll of the Pentateuch'' (1901);
* ''History of the
Ancient Synagogue of the Spanish and Portuguese Jews'', a memorial volume in celebration of the two-hundredth anniversary of its inauguration (1901).
* edited ''The Book of Prayer and Order of Service according to the custom of the Spanish and Portuguese Jews'' (6 volumes, 1901–1907);
* The Hebrew Version of the ''
Secretum Secretorum
The or (from Latin: "The Secret of Secrets"), also known as the ( ar, كتاب سر الأسرار, lit=The Secret Book of Secrets), is a pseudo-Aristotelian treatise which purports to be a letter from Aristotle to his student Alexander ...
'' (1907–1908);
* ''Das Buch Josua'' (1908), on the
Samaritan Book of Joshua;
* ''Rumanian Bird and Beast Stories'' (1915);
* ''Children's Stories from Roumanian Legends and Fairy Tales''
923
* ''The Exempla of the Rabbis'' (1924);
* ''Studies and Texts in Folklore, Magic, Medieval Romance, Hebrew Apocrypha and Samaritan Archaeology'', 3 Vols. (1925–28)
* ''The Samaritans: Their History, Doctrines and Literature.'' (The
Schweich Lectures for 1923) (1925);
* ''
The Asatir: The Samaritan Book of the “Secrets of Moses”'' (1927);
* ''The Story of Chanucah'' (1928);
* ''The Tittled Bible: a Model Codex of the Pentateuch Reproduced in Facsimile from MS. No. 85 of the Gaster Collection'' (1929);
* ''Die 613 Gebote und Verbote der Samaritaner, in "Festschrift zum Bestehen des jüd.-theol. Seminars Breslau"'', (1929);
* ''The Story of Passover'' (1929);
* ''The Story of Purim'' (1929);
* ''The Story of Shavuoth'' (1930);
* ''The Story of the High Festivals and the Feast of Tabernacles'' (1931);
* ''Conjurations and the Ancient Mysteries'' (1932);
* ''Samaritan Oral Law and Ancient Traditions, Vol. I, Eschatology'' (1932);
* ''Ma'aseh Book: Book of Jewish Tales and Legends Translated from the Judeo-German'' (in two volumes); Philadelphia,
The Jewish Publication Society of America
The Jewish Publication Society (JPS), originally known as the Jewish Publication Society of America, is the oldest nonprofit, nondenominational publisher of Jewish works in English. Founded in Philadelphia in 1888, by reform Rabbi Joseph Krauskop ...
(1934).
Contributions to periodical literature:
* "Beiträge zur Vergleichenden Sagen und Märchenkunde", in ''Monatsschrift'', xxix. 35 et seq.;
* "Ein Targum der Amidah," in ib. xxxix. 79 et seq.;
* "The Legend of the Grail." ''Folk-Lore''. Vol. 2. 1891
* "The Apocalypse of Abraham from the Roman Text", in the ''Transactions of the
Royal Asiatic Society
The Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, commonly known as the Royal Asiatic Society (RAS), was established, according to its royal charter of 11 August 1824, to further "the investigation of subjects connected with and for the en ...
'', ix. 195;
* "The Unknown Hebrew Versions of the
Tobit Legend," in ib. 1897, p. 27;
* "The Oldest Version of Midrash Meghillah", in ''Kohut Memorial Volume'';
* "Hebrew Text of One of the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs", in the ''Proceedings of the
Society of Biblical Archæology'', xvi. 33 et seq.;
* "Contributions to the History of Aḥiḳar and Nadam", in the ''Transactions of the Royal Asiatic Society'', 1900, p. 301.
Biographies of Gaster
* Elisabeta Mănescu, ''Dr. M. Gaster, viaţa şi opera sa'', 1940, Editura Rotativa, Bucharest
* Moses Gaster, ''Memorii, corespondenţă'', 1998, Editura Hasefer, Bucharest,
References
;Bibliography
*
*
*
Moses Gaster – 15th edition, article Gaster, Moses
*
External links
Moses Gaster Projects at University of ManchesterThe Rylands Genizah CollectionGaster papers at University College LondonAIM25: UCL, Gaster PapersReviews on Taylor Francis Online*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gaster, Moses
1856 births
1939 deaths
Linguists from England
Sephardi rabbis
British Orthodox rabbis
Writers from Bucharest
Academics of the University of Oxford
Romanian emigrants to the United Kingdom
Honorary members of the Romanian Academy
Romanian folklorists
Romanian Jews
Romanian Sephardi Jews
Romanian Orthodox rabbis
Linguists from Romania
Romanian literary critics
English book and manuscript collectors
Romanian book and manuscript collectors
British Zionists
Romanian Zionists
Spanish and Portuguese Jews
Hovevei Zion
People deported from Romania
Presidents of the Folklore Society