In 1899, as German Jews navigated the complexities of tradition and modernity, Israel Friedlaender penned a remarkable Hebrew poem set to Beethoven's "Ode to Joy" - a work that crystallized the cultural synthesis of Jewish and German intellectual life. Composed for the twenty-fifth anniversary of Berlin's Hildesheimer Rabbinical Seminary, the three-stanza poem emerged from archives to reveal how acculturated European Jews wove German cultural forms into Hebrew literary expression. Friedlaender, who would later become the first Bible professor at New York's Jewish Theological Seminary, crafted verses celebrating Jewish learning and community, calling for unity among students, sages, and supporters in marking the seminary's achievements. Baila Round Shargel's analysis places the work within the broader context of German-Jewish intellectuals who embraced both Schiller and Beethoven as paragons of humanistic ideals. Through archival methodology, this previously overlooked cultural artifact illuminates the sophisticated negotiations between religious heritage and secular culture that defined Jewish intellectual life in fin de siècle Europe.