integration of jews in European society.
And the Jews – What Was Their Reaction?
“Be a Jew in your home and a man outside it”
– J.L. Gordon, “Awake My People”
How Does One Change?
How does one become part of the modern world – and at the same time remain Jewish? That question occupied the thinkers of the Jewish Enlightenment. As they saw it, Jews could remain faithful to the religion of their forefathers and still assimilate in their surrounding culture. Jews who sought to integrate into the general society called themselves “citizens of the Mosaic faith.”
Trailblazing Jews integrated into Western European society in all disciplines: law, science, literature, music, philosophy, medicine and even in the military and politics. It required them to address new questions and new difficulties. As citizens with equal rights who were loyal to their homeland, what role should their traditional bond with the Jewish people play?