View source for Isaac Erter

{{short description|Polish Jewish satirist and poet}}
{{Infobox writer
| name=Isaac Erter
| image=Isaac Erter.jpg
| image_size=
| caption=
| native_name=
| native_name_lang=
| pseudonym=
| birth_name=
| birth_date={{birth year|1792}}
| birth_place= [[Koniuszki, Podkarpackie Voivodeship|Koniuszek]], [[Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria|Galicia]], [[Habsburg monarchy|Habsburg Empire]]
| death_date={{death date and age|1851|04||1792}}
| death_place=[[Brody]], Galicia, [[Austrian Empire]]
| resting_place=
| occupation=Physician
| language=[[Hebrew language|Hebrew]]
| alma_mater=
| genre=[[Satire]]
| subject=
| movement=[[Haskalah]]
| notableworks=
| spouse=
| children=
| awards=
| years_active=
| signature=Isaac_Erter_signature.svg
}}
'''Isaac Erter''' ({{Langx|yi|יצחק ערטער}}, {{Langx|he|יִצְחָק אֶרְטֶר|translit=Yitsḥak Erter}}; 1792 – April 1851) was a [[History of the Jews in Poland|Polish-Jewish]] [[satire|satirist]] and poet of the [[Galicia (Eastern Europe)|Galician]] [[Haskalah]].{{r|waldstein}} His [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] prose has been compared to that of writers [[Heinrich Heine]] and [[Ludwig Börne]].{{r|slouschz_1902}}{{r|graetz}}

==Biography==
Isaac Erter was born into the family of a poor [[Jews|Jewish]] innkeeper in the [[Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria|Galician]] town of [[Koniuszki, Podkarpackie Voivodeship|Koniuszek]], near [[Przemyśl]].{{r|EJ}} At the age of 13, his father arranged for him to marry a rabbi's daughter, who, however, died within the first year after her marriage.{{r|slouschz_1902}} A second marriage followed soon after,{{r|chotzner_1890}} and Erter went to live with his father-in-law in  [[Wielkie Oczy]].{{r|YIVO}} There he was introduced to [[Jewish philosophy]] and [[Hebrew literature]] by ''[[Haskalah|maskil]]'' Yosef Tarler.{{r|sinkoff}}

Erter began associating with the [[Hasidic Judaism|Ḥasidic movement]], but after a time abandoned it and settled in [[Lviv|Lemberg]] in 1813.{{r|zinberg}} In that city he joined the ''maskilic'' circles of [[Solomon Judah Loeb Rapoport|Solomon Löb Rapoport]], [[Nachman Krochmal]], [[Judah Löb Mieses]], and others. Through the efforts of some of his friends, he obtained pupils whom he instructed in [[Hebrew language]] and other subjects.{{r|YIVO}} This comparatively happy state ended after three years, when, on 10 May 1816, [[Chief Rabbis|Chief Rabbi]] [[Jacob Meshullam Ornstein]] [[Herem (censure)|excommunicated]] the city's most prominent ''maskilim''.{{r|kuzmany}}{{r|rubinstein}} Deprived thus of his pupils, the only means of his subsistence, he settled in the neighbouring town of [[Brody]],{{r|lovitch}} where he encountered [[Hirsch Mendel Pineles]], [[Jacob Samuel Bick|Jacob Bick]], and [[Isaac Baer Levinsohn]].{{r|brockhaus}} When in 1823 a new Jewish school was inaugurated there, he was entrusted with its management.{{r|chotzner_1905}}

After a short time, he resigned his position, and made up his mind to prepare himself for a career in [[medicine]]. Erter studied at the [[Eötvös Loránd University|University of Budapest]] from 1825 to 1829, and passed all the prescribed examinations. He afterwards practised his new profession in various Galician towns amid [[1826–1837 cholera pandemic|the cholera pandemic]],{{r|lovitch}} eventually returning to Brody, where he made himself especially popular among the poor and needy.{{r|zinberg}} In public affairs, Erter founded the ''Galizisch-jüdischer Akerbauverein'', which advocated for the establishment in Galicia of agricultural colonies for the employment and benefit of young Jews.{{r|kravitz}}

The last years of his life were again visited by various hard trials, chiefly caused by the untimely death of his two married daughters. He did not survive them long, and died during the [[Passover]] of 1851.{{r|chotzner_1905}}

==Work==
Erter devoted his leisure time to the composition of essays and [[satire]]s on Jewish subjects, which were published from 1823 until his death.{{r|YIVO}} These he usually sent to his literary friends, to be read and criticised, before allowing them to be printed in the Hebrew periodicals.{{r|chotzner_1890}}

His collected works were published posthumously under the title ''Ha-tzofeh le-veit Yisrael'' ('A Watchman unto the House of Israel'; Vienna, 1858),{{r|EJ}} with a biography of the author and introduction by [[Max Letteris]]. The book includes the stories ''Mozne mishkal'' ('Weighing Scale', 1823), ''Ha-tzofeh be-shubo mi-Karlsbad'' ('The Watchman on His Return from [[Karlovy Vary|Carlsbad]]'), ''Gilgul ha-nefesh'' ('Transmigration of the Soul, 1845), ''[[Tashlikh]]'' (1840), ''Telunat Sani ve-Sansani ve-Samangaluf'' ('The Complaints of Sani and Sansani and Samangaluf', 1837), and ''Ḥasidut ve-ḥokmah'' ('Piety and Wisdom', 1834).

His most popular satire{{r|zinberg}} is ''Gilgul ha-nefesh'', the humorous story of the many adventures of a [[soul]] during a long earthly career; how it frequently [[Gilgul|passed from one body into another]], and how it had once left the body of an [[Donkey|ass]] for that of a physician. The soul gives the author the following six rules, by observing which he might succeed in his profession:
{{Blockquote|1=<nowiki />
# "Powder your hair white, and keep on the table of your study a human skull and some animal skeletons. Those coming to you for medical advice will then think your hair has turned white through constant study and overwork in your profession.
# Fill your library with large books, richly bound in red and gold. Though you never even open them people will be impressed with your wisdom.
# Sell or pawn everything, if that is necessary, to have a carriage of your own.
# When called to a patient pay less attention to him than to those about him. On leaving the sick-room, assume a grave face, and pronounce the case a most critical one. Should the patient die, you will be understood to have hinted at his death; if, on the other hand, he recovers, his relations and friends will naturally attribute his recovery to your skill.
# Have as little as possible to do with the poor; as they will only send for you in hopeless and desperate cases you will gain neither honor nor reward by attending them. Let them wait outside your house, that passers may be amazed at the crowd waiting patiently to obtain your services.
# Consider every medical practitioner as your natural enemy, and speak of him always with the utmost disparagement. If he be young, you must say he has not had sufficient experience; if he be old, you must declare that his eyesight is bad, or that he is more or less crazy, and not to be trusted in important cases. When you take part in a consultation with other physicians, you would act wisely by protesting loudly against the previous treatment of the case by your colleagues. Whatever the issue may be, you will always be on the safe side."
}}
The story was later translated into [[Yiddish language|Yiddish]] by [[Isaac Mayer Dick]].

Erter was involved in the founding of the Hebrew periodical ''[[He-Halutz (magazine)|He-Ḥalutz]]'',{{r|EJ}} which was intended chiefly to develop the Hebrew language, and to promote culture and enlightenment among the [[Galician Jews]].{{r|lovitch}} He died one year before the first volume appeared.{{r|spicehandler_1969}} He also wrote some Hebrew verse; but this won little acclaim compared to his prose.{{r|JE}}

==References==
{{Jewish Encyclopedia|article=Erter, Isaac|url=https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/5840|first1=Crawford Howell|last1=Toy|author1-link=Crawford Howell Toy|first2=J.|last2=Chotzner|author2-link=Joseph Chotzner|volume=5|page=203}} 
{{Reflist|refs=
<ref name=graetz>{{cite book|title=History of the Jews|first=Heinrich|last=Graetz|author-link=Heinrich Graetz|url=https://archive.org/details/historyofjew05grae/page/612/mode/2up|pages=612–617|date=1891|location=Philadelphia|publisher=Jewish Publication Society of America|volume=5}}</ref>
<ref name=spicehandler_1969>{{cite journal|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23503271|title=Joshua Heschel Schorr — The Mature Years|jstor=23503271|first=Ezra|last=Spicehandler|author-link=Ezra Spicehandler|volume=40–41|journal=[[Hebrew Union College Annual]]|date=1969–1970|pages=503–522}}</ref>
<ref name=JE>{{Jewish Encyclopedia|article=Erter, Isaac|url=https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/5840|first1=Crawford Howell|last1=Toy|author1-link=Crawford Howell Toy|first2=J.|last2=Chotzner|author2-link=Joseph Chotzner|volume=5|page=203|no-prescript=1}}</ref>
<ref name=rubinstein>{{cite book|title=Hasidism|last=Rubinstein|first=Aryeh|url=https://archive.org/details/hasidismpopularh00arye/page/72/mode/2up|date=1975|location=Jerusalem|publisher=Keter Books|pages=71–72}}</ref>
<ref name=EJ>{{cite EJ|title=Erter, Isaac|first=Samuel|last=Werses|url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/erter-isaac}}</ref>
<ref name=brockhaus>{{cite JEBE|wstitle=Эртер, Исаак|trans-title=Erter, Isaac|volume=16|pages=294–295}}</ref>
<ref name=chotzner_1890>{{cite journal|title=Isaac Erter: A Modern Hebrew Humourist|first=Joseph|last=Chotzner|author-link=Joseph Chotzner|journal=[[The Jewish Quarterly Review]]|volume=3|number=1|date=October 1890|pages=106–119|doi=10.2307/1450003|jstor=1450003|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q1gpAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA106|url-access=subscription}}</ref>
<ref name=chotzner_1905>{{cite book|first=Joseph|last=Chotzner|author-link=Joseph Chotzner|title=Hebrew Humour and Other Essays|date=1905|location=London|publisher=Luzac & Co.|pages=127–139|url=https://archive.org/details/hebrewhumourothe00chotuoft/page/127/mode/2up}}</ref>
<ref name=slouschz_1902>{{cite thesis|type=Ph.D. thesis|first=Nahum|last=Slouschz|author-link=Nahum Slouschz|title=La renaissance de la littérature hébraïque (1743–1885)|language=fr|pages=49–51|url=https://archive.org/details/larenaissancede01slougoog/page/n67/mode/2up|date=1902|location=Paris|publisher=Société nouvelle de librairie et d'édition}}</ref>
<ref name=waldstein>{{cite book|last=Waldstein|first=Abraham Solomon|title= The evolution of modern Hebrew literature, 1850–1912|url=https://archive.org/details/evolutionofmoder00walduoft/page/32/mode/2up|page=32|date=1916|location=New York|publisher=Columbia University Press}}</ref>
<ref name=kuzmany>{{cite book|last=Kuzmany|first=Börries|title=Brody: A Galician Border City in the Long Nineteenth Century|publisher=Brill|location=Leiden|year=2017|isbn=978-90-04-33484-7|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B9vzDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA127|page=127}}</ref>
<ref name=YIVO>{{cite encyclopedia|title=Erter, Yitsḥak|first=Yehuda|last=Friedlander|translator-first=Rami|translator-last=Hann|url=https://yivoencyclopedia.org/article.aspx/Erter_Yitshak|encyclopedia=[[The YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe|YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe]]|editor-first=Gershon|editor-last=Hundert|editor-link=Gershon Hundert|location=New Haven|publisher=Yale University Press|year=2008}}</ref>
<ref name=sinkoff>{{cite journal|title=The Maskil, the Convert, and the ''Agunah'': Joseph Perl as a Historian of Jewish Divorce Law|page=283|first=Nancy|last=Sinkoff|journal=AJS Review|volume=27|number=2|date=November 2003|doi=10.1017/S0364009403000102|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4131608|jstor=4131608|s2cid=159960249|url-access=subscription}}</ref>
<ref name=zinberg>{{cite book|last=Zinberg|first=Israel|title=The Science of Judaism and Galician Haskalah|location=Cincinnati|publisher=Hebrew Union College Press|year=1977|isbn=978-0-87068-491-3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VNWtFT00lhAC&pg=PA92|pages=92–101, 108–110|translator-first=Bernard|translator-last=Martin|series=A History of Jewish Literature|volume=10}}</ref>
<ref name=kravitz>{{cite book|title=3,000 years of Hebrew literature: From the earliest time through the 20th century|last=Kravitz|first=Nathaniel|url=https://archive.org/details/3000yearsofhebre0000krav/page/445/mode/2up|pages=445–446|date=1972|location=Chicago|publisher=The Swallow Press|isbn=9780804005050}}</ref>
<ref name=lovitch>{{cite journal|title=Isaac Erter—His Life and Works|first=Meyer|last=Lovitch|journal=[[Hebrew Union College Annual]]|date=1904|pages=225–234|location=Cincinnati|url=https://archive.org/details/hebrewunioncoll00collgoog/page/n243/mode/2up|publisher=[[Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion|Hebrew Union College]]}}</ref>
}}

==External links==
* {{Gutenberg author|id=43174|name=Isaac Erter}}
* {{Internet Archive author|sname=Isaac Erter}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Erter, Isaac}}
[[Category:1792 births]]
[[Category:1851 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century Austrian Jews]]
[[Category:19th-century Austrian physicians]]
[[Category:19th-century Polish Jews]]
[[Category:19th-century Polish physicians]]
[[Category:Jews from the Austrian Empire]]
[[Category:Austrian satirists]]
[[Category:Hebrew-language poets]]
[[Category:Hebrew-language writers]]
[[Category:Jewish physicians]]
[[Category:Jews from Galicia (Eastern Europe)]]
[[Category:People from Brody]]
[[Category:People from Przemyśl County]]
[[Category:People of the Haskalah]]
[[Category:Polish satirists]]
[[Category:Polish satirical poets]]
[[Category:Polish male writers]]
[[Category:Ukrainian Jews]]
[[Category:Budapest University alumni]]