How did Solomon Buber influence Martin Buber's early education?

Solomon Buber, a wealthy philanthropist and Hebrew gentleman-scholar, played a significant role in Martin Buber’s upbringing after the boy was sent to live with his grandparents in Lemberg. Solomon provided Martin with direct instruction in Hebrew and exposed him to his own scholarly work, which focused on the critical edition of Midrashim and an interest in Greek linguistic parallels.1

Despite this influence, Solomon’s efforts did not lead Martin toward traditional religious studies; instead, young Martin found himself more drawn to the poetry of Schiller than to the Talmud. While Solomon’s household and his wife Adele—who was deeply involved in the 19th-century Enlightenment movement—shaped his early environment, Martin’s formal grammar-school education ultimately fostered a stronger inclination toward general culture and the classics. By his adolescence, Martin had ceased his participation in Jewish religious observances entirely.1