Authors: David Jan Sorkin
ISBN-13: 9780814328286, ISBN-10: 0814328288
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Wayne State University Press
Date Published: June 1999
Edition: 1st Edition
Oxford University
The transformation of German Jewry from 1780 to 1840 exemplified a twofold revolution: on one level, the end of the feudal status of Jews as an autonomous community forced them to face a protracted process of political emancipation, a far-reaching social metamorphosis, and growing racial anti-Semitism; yet, on another level, their encounter with the surrounding culture resulted in their own intense cultural productivity. In this ground-breaking study, David Sorkin argues that emancipation and encounter with German culture and society led not to assimilation but to the creation of a new Jewish identity and communitya true and vibrant subculture that produced many of Judaism's modern movements and fostered a pantheon of outstanding writers, artists, composers, scientists, and academics. He contends that German-Jewish subculture was based not, as widely believed, on nationalisticJewish versus Germanor religiousJewish versus Christiandisparities, but rather on the struggle for freedom and social acceptance in German society. By studying German Jewry's cultural history in its social and political context, as well as in the larger setting of German history, this study firmly asserts that the subculture both distinguished German Jewry from other European Jewish communities and accounted for its members' prominent role in Jewish and general culture.
Preface to the 1999 Edition | ||
Acknowledgments | ||
Introduction | 3 | |
I | The Ideology of Emancipation | |
1 | Emancipation and Regeneration | 13 |
2 | The Origins of the Haskala | 41 |
3 | The Politics of the Haskala | 63 |
4 | The Ideology and the Public Sphere | 79 |
II | The Subculture | |
5 | The New Bourgeoisie | 107 |
6 | Ideologues and Institutions | 124 |
7 | Secular Culture | 140 |
8 | Religious Tradition | 156 |
Conclusion | 173 | |
Notes | 179 | |
Bibliography | 225 | |
Index | 247 |