[8] Though he received a traditional religious education until the age of 17,[4] he also acquired an extensive general knowledge of German literature and other secular subjects, and became proficient in Russian, French, Latin, Polish, and English.

The government then appointed him superintendent of the Jewish public schools in the district of Vilna,[11] in which he introduced instruction in secular studies and modern languages.

If a Jew who does not speak any language other than Jewish, a document written or signed in Hebrew must be accompanied by a translation and the signature duly notarized.

[1] With Eliezer Lipman Hurwitz he edited the short-lived Hebrew periodical Pirḥe tzafon ('Northern Flowers', 1841–43), a review of history, literature, and exegesis.

[14] For twenty-one years (1860–81), he directed the paper Ha-Karmel ('The Carmel'; at first a weekly, but from 1871 a monthly), devoted to Hebrew literature and Jewish life, with supplements in Russian and German.

[15] The paper contained many academic articles by the leading Jewish scholars of Europe, besides numerous contributions from Fuenn's own pen,[11] including a serialized autobiography entitled Dor ve-dorshav.

[5] He also presided over the third Ḥovevei Zion conference in Vilna, at which he, Samuel Mohilever, and Asher Ginzberg were chosen to direct the affairs of the delegate societies.