MORRIS JASTROW, JR. xvii 



vestigations in certain recondite fields of Biblical and Semitic re- 

 search with very few about to appreciate intelligently their results. 

 Jastrow will be greatly missed by them. 



It would be difficult to find one whose interests were more varied 

 and widespread. He seemed to take cognizance of everything worth 

 while. An outstanding characteristic was his invariable desire to 

 advance his knowledge, which he loved solely for its own sake. He 

 welcomed suggestions from any one able to furnish them ; he even 

 showed a willingness to learn from his students. This keenness for 

 the absorption of knowledge resulted in giving him a breadth of 

 horizon that constantly amazed his colleagues. 



But what was still more amazing to his friends and colleagues 

 was his marvellous industry. It was difficult to understand how he 

 found time for all his various activities and interests ; for besides 

 being at the head of a great university library, teaching many classes, 

 and conducting seminars with graduate students and colleagues, he 

 poured out one publication after another. And yet with it all, he 

 found time to enjoy the delights of society and all the pleasant things 

 of life. His coteries of friends were many, and his home was a 

 meeting place for men and women of letters. These enjoyed his 

 society and he enjoyed theirs ; for besides his mental alertness, his 

 penetrating mind, and his rich appreciation of everything human, he 

 was not only genially accessible, but he had a delightful personality 

 which was always the same. Whenever he was present one could 

 expect to enjoy a bright and animated conversation or discussion. 



At the meeting of the learned society or club, as has so frequently 

 been said by those who attended, Jastrow had usually something 

 important to contribute, whether in a formal paper or in the discus- 

 sion of the papers that were read by others. He was frequently the 

 very life of the meeting. When he differed with the views of others 

 he usually expressed his opposition, although without compromise, in 

 such a palatable form that only the supersensitive would take offense. 

 In Biblical criticism, although his investigations led him to take a 

 position that was considered by the conservative as advanced, his 

 views, due to the way he expressed them, did not seem to arouse as 

 much antagonism as others less advanced. Moreover, it cannot be 



