Episode 8: The Rescue of Prince Maximilian by Moshe Yitzchok

00:01 Continuing the story of King Ferdinand I, his son Prince Ferdinand II, and Prince Ferdinand’s brother Maximilian, we come to a meeting between them at their father’s royal palace and hear what happened next. The two princes had little affection for each other. They differed in character and habits, neither knew much about the other’s affairs, and more than once one had schemed against the other. Still, when they found themselves together at the palace, they talked about various matters, including the state of their estates. Maximilian complained that his estates brought him no income; he even had to put his own money into them. In fact, he admitted, he was deeply in debt. “And how are things with you?” Maximilian asked his brother. Ferdinand replied that he had no complaints: his estates brought in a respectable profit. Maximilian was astonished. “How can that be? My estates are larger than yours and more fertile, too. How can mine lose money while yours make a profit?” “I’m not the one who can explain that to you,” said Ferdinand. “My estate manager can.” “And who is this wonder-working manager of yours?” asked Maximilian. “He is an elderly Jew who has managed the estates for some fifty years. I inherited him along with the estates themselves.” Maximilian looked at his brother in surprise. “I would never have imagined that a Jew managed your estates! My estate manager is an educated German and a proper nobleman.” Ferdinand smiled. “Now,” he said, “I can see the difference between my manager and yours more clearly. Apparently, the difference also has something to do with one being a Jew and the other a German.” During their conversation, the king began pressing Maximilian to repay the sum he had borrowed from the royal treasury.

03:12 A brief inquiry revealed to the king that the prince was mired in debt and wholly unable to make the payments. The king could not understand it. “What happened to your wealthy estates?” he asked. “Are you so extravagant that the income from your estates cannot cover your needs?” The king was by nature a measured, methodical man who made a point of investigating matters thoroughly. He therefore kept pressing his son Maximilian for a clear explanation of why his estates could not cover his expenses. When he received no satisfactory answer, the king sent trusted men to find out exactly what was happening on Maximilian’s estates and why they were losing money. After a lengthy, comprehensive investigation, the experts concluded that the German estate manager had simply been stealing the money. He had deceived the prince and taken funds from his treasury for himself. The king ordered the dishonest manager arrested. Of course, that was not enough to save the prince or extricate him from his debts. Maximilian poured out his troubles to his brother Ferdinand. “I’ll speak with my manager,” Ferdinand told him. “I think his wisdom and knowledge will help him find a way to put your finances in order.” This time Maximilian made no disparaging remark about Jews. Instead, he thanked his brother for being willing to help by bringing his manager into the matter. When Ferdinand discussed it with Moshe Yitzchak, Moshe Yitzchak promised to look carefully into ways of extricating his brother from the predicament. Before long, Moshe Yitzchak had drawn up a plan to save Prince Maximilian from bankruptcy. He did not reveal it to anyone, however, until he was fully convinced that every detail was workable. After becoming closely acquainted with Maximilian’s loss-making estates and weighing their situation with his sharp mind and extensive experience, he concluded that it would actually be relatively easy to put their management in order,

06:20 so that they would turn a profit instead of making a loss. First, of course, new management would have to be appointed. He also had in mind people he considered qualified to take on the task: three well-known Jews from Prague—Reb Mordechai Meisel, Reb Mordechai Tzemach and Reb Elchanan Brandes. All three were wealthy, prominent businessmen. Moshe Yitzchak decided to recommend that Prince Maximilian entrust them with managing his estates. He had a precise plan, backed by figures showing how much income the estates could produce. Under this plan, the three wealthy Jews would undertake to pay off the prince’s debts on a predetermined schedule. By continuing to manage the estates in an orderly, planned manner, they could generate sufficient profits both for themselves and for the prince to meet all his needs. Before presenting this recovery plan, Moshe Yitzchak decided to ask the three men whether they would enter into the proposed arrangement on the terms he had set. They investigated the proposal and the figures on which it rested in detail, concluded that it would benefit both them and the prince, and agreed to Moshe Yitzchak’s offer. Moshe Yitzchak then went to Prince Ferdinand, Maximilian’s brother, and laid out his plan for restoring his brother’s finances without his having to depend on anyone’s charity. Ferdinand soon arranged a meeting between Maximilian and Moshe Yitzchak. After the plan was explained to him in detail, Maximilian expressed his satisfaction with it. A few days later, the three Jews from Prague appeared before Maximilian. The agreement was signed, much to his delight, and Maximilian hurried joyfully to his father the king to tell him that he had been rescued from his debts. Meanwhile, the head of the Church in the kingdom came to the king and firmly informed him that it was time to pay the Church

09:07 the accumulated debt for payments owed to it from taxes levied on the faithful, a portion of which was sent to the pope in Rome. Since the payment was overdue, the king would also have to pay the interest that had accrued. The king felt offended both by the demand and by the way it was presented, but he kept his composure and said calmly that the debt would be paid down to the last penny. At that moment, however, the royal treasury was empty. He therefore suggested that the Church advance the portion due to the pope from its own treasury. The head of the Church replied that its treasury was empty, too. “And how could it be otherwise?” he continued. “The Christian population of this country is poor. The Jews have taken all the wealth.” The cleric went on to incite against the Jews, accusing them of sucking the blood of Christians and impoverishing them. “That is very strange,” said the king, “because just yesterday I went over the list of taxpayers and found that ninety percent of them are Jews. Meanwhile, all the various members of the Church are exempt from tax.” The conversation with the cleric prompted the king to think about the Jews, particularly in light of what his son had told him about the Jews who were willing to rescue him from his predicament. From all this, the king concluded that, contrary to what the clerics said, the Jews brought only benefit and economic prosperity. When the three Jews paid Maximilian the entire sum up front and a fifteen-year lease was signed, Prince Maximilian offered a large brokerage fee to Moshe Yitzchak, his brother’s Jewish estate manager, whose initiative, plan and efforts had made the deal possible. But Moshe Yitzchak declined the offer and refused any payment. “I did not do this for business purposes,” he told him, “but solely as an expression of my friendship with your brother and with you.” Prince Maximilian held Moshe Yitzchak in deep esteem and told his father the king about it, leaving a strong impression on him. Maximilian proposed expressing his gratitude to Moshe

12:04 Yitzchak by arranging a festive celebration in his honor at his castle, with distinguished guests in attendance. But Moshe Yitzchak declined this offer as well. He said, “We Jews are surrounded by many enemies who envy our achievements, and any public show of honor or gratitude toward us will only increase their hatred. It is better, then, that this remain between us. Your appreciation and friendship are reward enough for me.” And so the years passed. The Jews who managed the prince’s estates brought him the annual payments. They, too, earned a good living from the estates. Some time later, the royal council convened for one of its meetings, attended as usual by the two princes, Ferdinand and Maximilian. The cardinal raised the issue of the Jews. He poured fire and brimstone on the Jews and the harm he claimed they brought to the country. There was nothing new in his remarks—he spoke this way at every meeting—but this time, for some reason, he intensified his attacks and incitement, concluding with an explicit demand to expel the Jews from the country. “How long will we tolerate the enemies of our faith and our country? Let us drive them out and destroy their property. In doing so, we will help purify their sinful souls on the one hand, and replenish the empty coffers of the government and the church on the other.” Princes Ferdinand and Maximilian responded by speaking in defense of the Jews and the benefits they brought to the country and its economy. They expressed the view that, on the contrary, the Jews should be granted concessions that would ultimately benefit the country. The king himself also praised the Jews’ diligence, precision, and trustworthiness; their regular and substantial payments into the royal treasury; and the fact that everything they did, whether as merchants or craftsmen, was done as well and thoroughly as possible, with great success. The king continued, “The estates they lease are managed in the best possible way. No one can compete with them in that. Expelling the Jews from our country would only cause harm. Why should we harm ourselves with our own hands?” The king continued speaking

14:47 enthusiastically about the Jews and the blessings they brought to the country. His words encouraged Maximilian, who told those assembled about his experience with the three Jews, Meisel, Tzemach, and Brandeis, who managed his estates. He described the state of his estates when they were managed by a non-Jew, which had brought him to the brink of bankruptcy, compared with their condition now, when they brought him substantial profits. All his debts had been paid off as well. “These Jews,” he said, “have worked wonders. They built new flour mills, inns, and a number of enterprises on those lands, benefiting not only me and themselves but the entire surrounding area. Hundreds of people earn their living from those enterprises. The whole area is bustling with life because of them. If, G-d forbid, the Jews are expelled from our country, I will have to hand the management of the estates back to a German or someone else who will cheat me, impoverish me, and leave the whole area desolate again.” Yet despite these arguments, the voices of hatred and destruction prevailed. Those who hated the Jews, who made up the majority of those present, delivered one inflammatory speech after another. Loudly, they described the immense benefit the people would gain from expelling the Jews and confiscating all their property for the government and the church, whose coffers would thereby be filled. They also insisted that once the decision to expel the Jews was made, it should be carried out immediately, suddenly, and without delay. Otherwise, they argued, the Jews could convert their property into gold and diamonds and take it with them. Only if the decree struck them like a bolt from the blue would its full benefit be realized. These words infuriated the king and sent him into a terrible rage. “I cannot agree to this dreadful proposal!” the king said.