Jacob
Samsonssohn, the fifth son of Rabbi Eliezer Samsonssohn and Lea
Jacobstochter, was born on 12th April 1802 in Saverne, Alsace. Before
his parents married in 1788, Eliezer had to get permission from the
Prince-Bishop of Saverne but, firstly, he had to prove to the
Bishop's satisfaction that he had sufficient means to raise a family.
As a practicing Jew he could scarcely have found that congenial.
Jacob, his son, was a true child of the French Revolution which had
broken out in 1789, thirteen years before his birth. In adulthood he
fully espoused the ideals of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity,
however little they were actualized in the Revolution. He even
sympathized with the rebels of the Paris Commune in 1848 when, in
fact, the Archbishop of Paris was shot dead at the barricades trying
to promote peace.
He was a very weak infant. His father the Rabbi pinned a piece of
paper with his name on it onto the velvet cover of the tabernacle in
the Saverne synagogue. He also got his congregation to pray for his
little boy's survival. That was the first thing in Jacob's disfavour:
there were to be plenty of others in his brief life of forty-nine years.
When Jacob was six and a half, under orders of the Revolutionary
Government of France, the family had to change their name. The Rabbi
would henceforth be called Lazarus Libermann, and his wife would be
known as Lea Haller. The family had indeed used the name Libermann
before. The roots of the family stretched back to Germany, thence to
Poland and to the Ukraine where, together with the Roman Catholics,
they had had to flee the Ukraine before the Cossacks who were forcing
everyone to become Russian Orthodox Christians under pain of death.
So Jacob was born into a family of wandering Jews.
Home Life
The family was quiet and cultured. Later on Jacob could not tolerate
dirt or untidiness in a confrére. He was supposed to have said
that there may be an excuse for poverty but never for dirt. His
father was most highly respected not only among the Jews but also
among the Christians of Saverne.
His father had a room permanently reserved for any poor Jew who might
be in need of a bed for the night. Is this where Jacob learned his
sympathy for the most abandoned? Jacob was later to say that he had
the best father anyone could have. He had a most affectionate
relationship with his mother. Writing to a confrére later on
about Our Lady, he said, "You must act towards Our Lady the way
a child approaches his mother. If something happens to him, he runs
to her straight away to tell her. He wastes no time dwelling on the
matter. His mother only needs to be apprised of the situation,
whereupon she bends down and plants two kisses on his cheek. That's
what mothers do, and so they heal the wound. And then the child jumps
up without any more ado. His mother has given him a kiss and spoken a
few loving words. That is sufficient."
His mother Lea died on 4th April 1813 when Jacob was only ten years
old. His father could not look after the seven children, ranging from
twenty-three to six years, so he married a widow named Veronica Weil.
Veronica brought a daughter Regina with her, and Jacob was later
engaged to this step-sister before his final examination for the rabbinate.
Education
Jacob was a weak child at school. He was continually the butt of
jokes and attacks from the other children. His brother David, eight
years older, who was a bit of a rough diamond, used to defend him. We
know of the abuse Jacob received at the hands of the local
schoolmaster, having his head banged against a wall by him. Jacob was
to attribute his later epileptic attacks to that event.
After primary school Jacob entered the Talmudic School which was run
by his father in Saverne. His older brothers Samson, David, Henoch
and Felix had preceded him, but none were as intelligent as he.
Another of the students in his father's school was David (later Paul)
Drach, Jacob made his Bar Mitzvah in 1815 and began to study the
Talmud under his father. His studies ended in Saverne to his father's
satisfaction in 1822 when Jacob was aged twenty. Now it was time for
university. He was sent to the Jewish College in Metz.
Away from Home
There were about five thousand Jews in Metz, the most important and
biggest concentration of Jews in France. The College had formerly
been a Carmelite monastery. Jacob could speak only Yiddish and
Hebrew. On the way to Metz he visited his brother Samson, who was
aged thirty-two, and also David, aged twenty-eight. Samson was a
doctor. He had long since lost his faith in Judaism and had in fact
decided to become a Protestant but, when he went to the Protestant
pastor to discuss the baptism of the child he and his wife were
expecting, he was put off in no uncertain fashion.
At this time he was a free thinker. He told Jacob during his visit
that he ought to broaden his mind and study French and German as he
had. A friend of Samson's called in for supper and he asked Jacob why
he was wearing his hat at table. Jacob replied that this religion
demanded it, and the argument that ensued grew so heated that Samson
tried his best to change the subject. He said later that Jacob had
really been very upset.
Jacob arrived in Metz with letters of introduction from his father to
two professors in the College. Jacob said quite openly that the had
been sent by his father not to learn anything, but in fact, merely to
show off just how much he knew. Imagine his surprise when he was
treated with disdain by the two professors. This made Jacob extremely
angry and he swore that he would avoid them in the future. This
sensitivity was to stay with him all his life.
Jacob immediately set about following Samson's advice and began to
study French, Latin, and Greek. This displeased the professors who
got their own back on Jacob by ridiculing, in the lecture hall, what
his father had taught him in Poland. This incensed Jacob, and he
began to read French literature, especially Jean-Jacques Rousseau one
of the luminaries of the French Revolution. Eventually he lost his
faith in Judaism. He wrote to Samson that while he believed in God,
he could not stomach all the miracles attributed to God in the Jewish
Testament. The Jews, he said, were wandering in the desert without
country or laws, and they had to make up these stories in order to
bind themselves together. Later on during this time of agnosticism he
was given a New Testament in Hebrew by a fellow student in Metz.
Being always a very moral person himself, he was captivated by the
high moral tone of Jesus' discourses. However he repeated that he
could not accept the gospel miracles either.
Three setbacks
He then received three blows to his agnosticism. Ever since his
mother's death he had relied more and more on the friendship of his
brothers, especially Samson. Now Samson had become a Catholic. This
really hit him hard. When Samson asked him to forgive him for the
suffering he must be causing their father, Jacob wrote to Samson and
told him that he had always loved and admired him and nothing he did
would ever change that.
The next blow was the conversion of David (now Paul) Drach. David had
been a fellow student of Jacob in Rabbi Libermann's Talmudic academy.
He had married the daughter of the Chief Rabbi of France, and he was
Professor of Oriental Studies at the University of Paris.
David's conversation shocked the whole Jewish Community in France and
they said he had sold his soul for eighty thousand francs. Veronica,
Jacob's step-mother, got her daughter to break off the engagement
with him, and from then on Jacob and Veronica were not on speaking
terms. Then there occurred the famous interrogation by his father who
had heard from Metz that Jacob was going the way of Samson. Jacob was
asked most searching questions and seemed to be inspired in his
answers. His father decided to send him to Paris to study, which is
what Jacob wanted all along. In Paris he met the Chief Rabbi, but by
then he had decided not to become a Rabbi. He could not swear in
conscience to be faithful to the Jewish religion. Perhaps he would
become a teacher in a high school.
Then the third blow fell. His brother Felix, already living in Paris,
became a Catholic. Jacob visited him and was very jealous of Felix's
happiness. In yet another interlude in his life, he was full of
loneliness and despair. He prayed to the God of his fathers for
light, and light came.
Catholic Convert
He was baptized on Christmas Eve 1826 at the age of twenty-four.
Francis was the name of his godfather, Mary the name of his
godmother, Paul he took in honour of Paul Drach or perhaps because
like St. Paul, he was of the tribe of Benjamin. He said later that
during his baptism he seemed to be immersed in a ball of fire. To the
onlookers he seemed to be unconscious.
There are many types of conversion. The intellectual type of
conversion is probably best exemplified by St. Augustine. Another
example of an intellectual conversion would be or that of John Henry
Newman. The opposite type of conversion, almost a physical
conversion, was that of the Jew Saul; things do not get more physical
than being thrown to the ground and being struck blind. Francis
Libermann's conversion was mainly emotional: he was strongly attached
to his brothers. Samson said later on that God had made him a
Catholic to prepare Francis for conversion.
From Spiritan
Missionary News, Vol. 31, No. 1, February 2007
