Authographed by Author on title verso.

Daniel Neufeld (1814–1874), the translator, was a Polish writer and educator. His name is connected with the Jewish weekly in Polish, Jutrzenka (Ayyelet ha-Shahar), published in Warsaw from 1861 to 1863. Neufeld believed in a synthesis of Jewish and Polish cultures which would combine Polish patriotism and the Jewish religion. He was conservative in religious matters and progressive in his social concerns. Positively disposed toward Hebrew language and literature, Neufeld opposed Yiddish as obstructive of Jewish progress. Opposed to the maskilim of Galicia, he considered Hasidism a positive force, hoping that it would encourage Polonization of the Jews. At the same time he opposed extreme assimilationist tendencies, regarding them as a break with talmudic tradition, which he saw as a nationalistic and political synthesis successful in preserving Jewish spiritual values. Neufeld was editor of the Jewish department of a general encyclopedia published by his friend Orgelbrand. He wrote a scholarly study of Napoleon's Sanhedrin and a pamphlet on the establishment of a consistory in Poland. Although Neufeld began translating the Bible into Polish, he had difficulty in obtaining permission to publish his work, the Catholic censors preferring that Jews study the Bible in a Christian translation. Permission was finally granted on condition that the title page carry the notice that the translation was intended for Polish Jews.