Episode 113: Prince Ferdinand Becomes an Admirer of the Jews; Jews Save His Brother from Bankruptcy

00:01 At his meeting with Prince Ferdinand, the son of King Ferdinand, the Maharal told him about the various fields of knowledge the Torah teaches a person. All these, along with other fields such as medicine, are contained within the wisdom of the Torah. The Torah encompasses all the sciences and is their crowning glory. Some are set out explicitly and systematically; others are mentioned in the Torah only by allusion and are passed down by tradition from one person to another. In every generation, the leading sages of Israel write explanations of the Torah and its wisdom in books, suited to the abilities of the people of their generation, and encourage the people to acquire good character traits. We also have a special book of sayings by sages of every generation about how a person should conduct himself toward his Creator and toward other people—apparently, this refers to Pirkei Avos. The prince said to the Maharal, “From what you have told me about the history of the Jewish people, 430 years passed from the day the Creator made His covenant with Avraham Avinu until the giving of the Torah through Moshe Rabbeinu, six generations later. Most of those years were spent in poverty and exile. From the time Yehoshua, Moshe’s successor, brought the Jewish people into the land of Canaan until the Babylonian exile, 890 years passed, and there were various wars during that period too. About 500 years passed from the first exile to the second, and now it has been more than 1,487 years since the Jewish people left their land and began wandering in exile through various countries, under the harsh yoke of opponents of the Jewish faith. How is it that the Jewish people have not forgotten their Torah?” The Maharal replied, “Our first forefather, Avraham Avinu, gave his life to proclaim the one G-d, Creator and Ruler of the world, in opposition to Nimrod, who denied G-d. Avraham Avinu’s self-sacrifice passed down to all of us, the entire Jewish people, the courage

03:00 and strength of conviction to believe with complete faith in that one G-d, Who watches over all living things on earth and in heaven, gives them all life and guides them all. Avraham Avinu also passed down to us the willingness to give our lives for the sanctity of Hashem’s name. This holy inheritance gives us strength of conviction and courage without regard for anyone who comes to interfere with our faith and religion—whether a scholar, a powerful king or a powerful minister who comes against us by force. We Jews strive to stand firm and sacrifice our bodies for the sake of our souls. The foundation of the Jewish people is the yeshiva. The yeshiva, a house of study for the young, is the mother of all life among the Jewish people. Our forefathers Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov maintained yeshivas to teach understanding and spread knowledge of the Creator. When Yaakov Avinu went down to Egypt, he sent his son Yehudah ahead to establish a house of study for him there as well. In every generation, regardless of their financial circumstances, Jews have endeavored to uphold the ordinance enacted sixteen hundred—1,650 years ago: the ordinance of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Gamla, recorded in Bava Basra 21a. This is a note by the Rebbe shlita: every Jewish community, group and settlement should have a cheder for Torah study, with a qualified teacher for children aged five and up, in addition to yeshivas for young men and married students. Those chadarim, Talmud Torah schools and yeshivas are what have protected the faith and the Jewish religion. They produce people of knowledge and integrity who study Torah and observe mitzvos with self-sacrifice.” All this the Maharal told Prince Ferdinand. When the six months the two princes had allotted for their wager had passed, Ferdinand invited Johann, the Archduke of Moravia, to see him. He also invited the bishop and his brother Maximilian. In everyone’s presence, Ferdinand proposed a solution

05:59 to the problem over which they had made the wager. Everyone present was captivated. The solution showed great wisdom and knowledge. But Ferdinand told them, “Do not think this came from my own wisdom or ideas. This solution was given to me by a man whose identity, with all my good intentions, I cannot reveal, because he insisted that I not do so.” A short time later, the king convened a meeting of his advisers and the princes, his two sons Ferdinand and Maximilian. On the agenda was the question of how to replenish the empty royal treasury. Another question on the agenda was the priests’ demand to expel all the Jews from the country. The two princes, Ferdinand and Maximilian, were brothers, but they had little affection for each other. They differed in character and habits, too. Neither really knew what was happening with the other, and at times they became adversaries. Now that they found themselves together in their father’s royal palace, they nevertheless spoke about various matters. Then they asked each other how their estates were doing. Maximilian complained to Ferdinand that his estates brought him no income. Not only that, he had to put his own money into them. He revealed to his brother that he was, in fact, deeply in debt, and asked, “How are things going for you?” Ferdinand told his brother that he had nothing to complain about, since his estates brought in substantial profits. Maximilian was astonished. “How can that be? My estates are larger and more fertile than yours. How is it that they run at a loss while yours make a profit?” Ferdinand said, “The truth is, I can’t explain it to you. Perhaps my estate manager can.” “Who is this wonder-working manager of yours?” Maximilian asked. Ferdinand replied, “He is an elderly Jew who has managed the estates for

08:33 about fifty years. The truth is, I inherited him along with the estates themselves.” Maximilian looked at his brother in amazement and said, “I could never have imagined—imagined a Jew managing your estates. The manager of my estates is an educated German and a proper knight.” Ferdinand smiled at his brother and said, “Well, now I can see the difference between my manager and yours more clearly. Apparently, the difference also has to do with one being a Jew and the other a German.” During this conversation, King Ferdinand I began demanding that his two sons—beginning with Maximilian—repay the sum Maximilian had borrowed from the royal treasury. A brief inquiry then revealed to the king that Prince Maximilian was deeply in debt and could not make the payments at all. King Ferdinand could not understand it. “What happened to your wealthy estates? Are you so extravagant that they cannot cover your needs?” King Ferdinand I was, by nature, a prudent and methodical man. He generally made a point of investigating a matter thoroughly, so he kept pressing his son Maximilian for a clear explanation of his strange situation: why his estates could not cover his expenses. When the king felt he was not getting a satisfactory explanation, he sent trusted men to investigate what was happening on his son Maximilian’s estates and what accounted for their strange condition. The king’s men conducted a thorough investigation and concluded that the German manager of Maximilian’s estates had simply been embezzling funds. He had deceived the prince and taken money from his coffers for himself. The king ordered the dishonest manager arrested, but that was not enough to save Prince Maximilian or free him from his tangle of debts. Maximilian poured out his troubles to his brother Ferdinand. Ferdinand told him, “I’ll [unclear] speak with my manager. I imagine his wisdom and knowledge will help him find a way to put your finances in order.” This time, he did not

11:12 Maximilian spoke disdainfully of the Jews, though he thanked his brother for being willing to help by bringing his manager into the matter. When Prince Ferdinand discussed it with Moshe Yitzchak, Moshe Yitzchak promised to look carefully into ways of getting his brother out of this predicament. And indeed, before long Moshe Yitzchak devised a plan to save Prince Maximilian from bankruptcy. Still, he revealed it to no one until he was fully convinced that every detail was workable. After getting a closer look at Maximilian’s estates, which were running at a loss, he considered their condition with his sharp mind. Drawing on his extensive experience, he concluded that it would actually be relatively easy to put their management in order, so that they would turn a profit instead of a loss. First, though, new management had to be appointed. Moshe Yitzchak had three candidates he believed capable of managing the estates: three well-known Jews from Prague. One was Rabbi Mordechai Meisel, the second Rabbi Mordechai Tzemach, and the third Rabbi Elchanan Brandeis. All three were wealthy, prominent businessmen. Moshe Yitzchak decided to recommend that Prince Maximilian entrust them with the management of his estates. He had a precise plan, based on figures for the income the estates could produce. Under this plan, the three wealthy Jews would undertake to pay off the prince’s debts on a fixed schedule. By continuing to manage the estates in an orderly, planned way, they could earn sufficient profits both for themselves and for the prince to meet all his needs. Before presenting this recovery plan to Prince Maximilian, Moshe Yitzchak decided to ask the three Jews whether they wanted to enter into the proposed arrangement on those terms. All three investigated and examined the proposal in detail

13:59 and the figures on which it was based. They concluded that the plan would benefit both them and Prince Maximilian, and they agreed to it. Moshe Yitzchak then went to Prince Ferdinand, Maximilian’s brother, and laid out the plan to restore his brother’s finances without his having to rely on anyone’s charity. Soon afterward, Prince Ferdinand arranged a meeting between his brother Maximilian and Moshe Yitzchak. After hearing the plan in detail, Maximilian expressed his satisfaction and agreed to it. Several days later, the three Jews—Reb Tzemach, Mordechai Meisel, and Elchanan Brandeis—appeared before Maximilian. The agreement was signed, much to Maximilian’s satisfaction, and he hurried joyfully to his father, the king, with the news that he had been rescued from his debts. Meanwhile, the head of the kingdom’s church came to the king and informed him in no uncertain terms that it was time to pay the church the accumulated debt for payments owed to it from taxes on the faithful, part of which was sent to the pope in Rome. Since the payment was overdue, he demanded that the king pay not only the principal but also the interest that had accrued. King Ferdinand I felt affronted both by the demand and by the way it was presented. Nevertheless, he kept his composure and replied calmly that the debt would be paid down to the last penny. At the moment, however, the royal treasury was empty, so he suggested that the church advance the portion due to the pope from its own funds. The head of the church said that its treasury was empty too—and how could it be otherwise? He went on to argue that the entire Christian population of the country was poor. All the wealth had been taken by the Jews. He continued inciting against the Jews, claiming that they sucked the Christians’ blood and impoverished them. The king said to him, “That is very strange. Only yesterday I went over the list of taxpayers and found that ninety percent of them are Jews, while all the various churchmen are exempt

16:41 from tax.” That conversation with the head of the church set the king thinking about the Jewish people. Especially in light of the story he had heard from his son Maximilian about the Jews willing to rescue him from his predicament, the king concluded that, contrary to what the head of the church had said, the Jews brought only benefit and economic prosperity. When the three Jews gave Maximilian all the money in advance and a fifteen-year lease was signed, Prince Maximilian offered a large sum as a broker’s fee to Moshe Yitzchak, the Jewish manager of his brother Prince Ferdinand’s estates, thanks to whose initiative and plan the arrangement had come about. But Moshe Yitzchak declined the offer, refusing any payment. “I did this not for business reasons,” he told him, “but solely as an expression of my friendship with your brother and with you.” Prince Maximilian felt deep appreciation for Moshe Yitzchak. He told his father, the king, about this conversation, and it made a strong impression on him. Maximilian proposed expressing his appreciation by holding a festive gathering in Moshe Yitzchak’s honor at his castle, with distinguished guests in attendance. But Moshe Yitzchak declined. He told Maximilian, “We Jews are surrounded by many enemies who envy our achievements. Any public honor or thanks shown to me will only increase their hatred, so it is better that this remain between us. Your appreciation and friendship are reward enough for me.” Years passed. The Jews managing the prince’s estates made their annual payments to him, and they too earned a good profit from the estates. Some time later, the royal council met again for one of its sessions. As usual, both princes, Ferdinand and Maximilian, were present. The Christian cardinal raised the Jewish question. He poured out fire and brimstone against the Jews and the harm they supposedly brought to the country. There was nothing new in his speech—he spoke this way at every gathering—but this time, for some reason, his attacks and incitement were more vehement. At the end of his remarks, he explicitly demanded that the

19:22 Jews be expelled from the country. “How long must we tolerate the enemies of our faith and our country? Let us expel them and confiscate their property. In this way, we will help purify their sinful souls on the one hand, and replenish the depleted treasuries of the government and the church on the other.” Princes Ferdinand and Maximilian spoke in the Jews’ defense, describing the great benefit they brought to the country and its economy. In their view, on the contrary, the Jews should be given concessions that would ultimately benefit the country. King Ferdinand I himself praised the Jews’ diligence, precision, and trustworthiness. They paid the royal treasury regularly, he said, and everything they did, whether as merchants or craftsmen, they did thoroughly and to the highest standard, with great success. The estates they leased were managed in the best possible way. No one could compete with them in that. “If we expel the Jews from our country, we will harm it. Why would we do ourselves harm with our own hands?” King Ferdinand I continued speaking 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 under their former non-Jewish manager, which had brought him to the brink of ruin, and contrasted it with their condition now: they brought him large profits, and all his debts had been paid off. “These Jews have worked wonders,” he said. “They built new flour mills, inns, and a series of enterprises on those lands, bringing prosperity not only to me and to them but to the entire surrounding area. Hundreds of people earn their living from these enterprises. Thanks to them, the whole area is bustling with life. If, G-d forbid, the Jews are expelled from our country, I will have to hand over management of my estates to a German or someone else who will cheat me, impoverish me, and bring the...

21:44 “Desolation upon the entire surrounding area,” Maximilian said passionately. Yet the voices of hatred and destruction grew louder than these arguments. The Jew-haters, who made up the majority of those present, hurled accusations against the Jews. Amid a great uproar, they described the enormous benefit everyone would gain from expelling the Jews and confiscating all their property for the government and the Church, whose coffers would thereby be filled. Some also argued that once the decision to expel them was made, it should be carried out immediately, without any delay. Otherwise, they said, the Jews could turn 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 gained. These words made King Ferdinand’s blood boil and filled him with terrible anger. “I cannot agree to this dreadful proposal,” the king cried.