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Moses Mendelssohn http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.library.wisc.edu/docview/1312125181/fulltextPDF/3D997B34E169401CPQ/1?accountid=465 ° Mendelssohn's translated the Torah into German bridging the gap between the two · This book allowed Jews to speak and write in German preparing them for participation in German culture and secular science. ° He argued that, "the world results from a creative act through which the divine will seeks to realize the highest good." ° He accepted the existence of miracles and revelation as long as belief in God did not depend on them. He also believed that revelation could not contradict reason. ° Posited that no religious institution should use coercion and emphasized that Judaism does not coerce the mind through dogma. ° He argued that through reason all people could discover religious philosophical truths, but what made Judaism unique was its divinely revealed code of legal, ritual and moral law. ° He said that Jews must live in civil society but only in a way that their right to observe religious laws is granted. ° He recognized the necessity of multiple religions and respected each one. ° He campaigned for emancipation and instructed Jews to form bonds with the gentile governments. ° He tried to improve the relationship between Jews and Christians as he argued for tolerance and humanity. → He became the symbol of the Jewish Enlightenment, the Haskalah
 * Though reading German books was forbidding in the 1700's by Jewish inspectors who had a measure of police power in Germany, Mendelson found his first German book, a volume of Protestant theology, at a well-organized system of Jewish charity for needy Talmud students.
 * Mendelssohn read this book and found proof of the existence of god- his first meeting with a sample of European letters. This was only the beginning to Mendelssohn's inquiries about the knowledge of life.
 * Mendelssohn tacked on a learning many new languages-but his whole education consisted in Talmud lessons being so, he thought in Hebrew and translated for himself every new piece of work he met into this language.
 * The divide between the Jews and the rest of society was caused by a lack of translation between the two languages.
 * Mendelssohn began to publish philosophical essays in German.
 * In 1750, Mendelssohn began to serve as a teacher in the house of Isaac Bernhard, the owner of a silk factory.
 * Mendelssohn conceived of God as a perfect Being and had faith in God’s wisdom, righteousness, mercy and goodness.
 * Like the deists, he claimed that reason could discover the reality of God, divine providence and immortality of the soul. He was the first to speak out against the use of excommunication as a religious threat
 * At the height of his career, in 1769, Mendelssohn was publicly challenged by a Christian apologist, a Zurich pastor named John Lavater, to defend the superiority of Judaism over Christianity.
 * From then on, he was involved in defending Judaism in print.
 * In 1783, he published Jerusalem, or On Religious Power and Judaism

The Jewish Enlightenment http://media.proquest.com.ezproxy.library.wisc.edu/media/pq/classic/doc/744070231/fmt/ai/rep/SPDF?cit%3Aauth=Breuer%2C+Edward&cit%3Atitle=In+defense+of+tradition%3A+The+Masoretic+text+and+its+rabbinic+interpretation+in+the+early+German+Haskalah&cit%3Apub=ProQuest+Dissertations+and+Theses&cit%3Avol=&cit%3Aiss=&cit%3Apg=&cit%3Adate=1990&ic=true&cit%3Aprod=ProQuest+Dissertations+%26+Theses+Global&_a=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&_s=6MtQMtzLnpZfxfAHVR5Ue7CI4e4%3D ° Some of the elite members of Jewish society knew European languages. ° Absolutist governments in Germany, Austria and Russia deprived the Jewish community’s leadership of its authority and many Jews became "Court Jews." → Using their connections with Jewish businessmen to serve as military contractors, managers of mints, founders of new industries and providers to the court of precious stones and clothing, they gave economic assistance to the local rulers. → Court Jews were protected by the rulers and acted as did everyone else in society in their speech, manners, and awareness of European literature and ideas. ° General Enlightenment (1600s to late 1700s) → Many Jewish women began to frequent non-Jewish salons and to campaign for emancipation. → In Western Europe and the German states, observance of Jewish law, Haskalah, started to be neglected. ° Some traditional German scholars and leaders, such as the doctor and author of Ma’aseh Tuviyyah, Tobias b. Moses Cohn, appreciated secular culture. °Most important feature during this time period was the German Auflarung → Was able to boast of native figures who competed with the finest Western European writers, scholars, and intellectuals. ° Aside from externalities of language and dress, the Jews internalized the cultural and intellectual norms of the German society ° The movement, becoming known as the German or berlin Haskalah, → Offered many effects to the challenges of German society ° Represented a new generation of Jews → He maintained a leading role in the German Haskalah one of the founding editors of Ha-Me/assef ° Euchel was exposed to European languages and culture while living in Prussian centers → Berlin and Kcnigsberg → His interests turned towards promoting the educational interests of the Enlightenment with other Jews ° The first Jew to bring secular culture to those living an Orthodox Jewish life. ° Valued reason and felt that anyone could arrive logically at religious truths. ° Argued that what makes Judaism unique is its divine revelation of a code of law. ° Wrote many philosophical treatises and is considered the father of the Jewish Enlightenment ° Mendelssohn's commitment to Judaism lead to tensions even with some of those who subscribed to Enlightenment philosophy. ° Faithful Christians who were less opposed to his rationalistic ideas than to his adherence to Judaism → Found it difficult to accept this 'Juif de Berlin.' ° In most of Western Europe, the Haskalah ended with large numbers of Jews assimilating. → Many Jews stopped adhering to Jewish law. → The struggle for emancipation in Germany awakened some doubts about the future of Jews in Europe and eventually led to both immigrations to America and Zionism ° In Russia anti-Semitism ended the Haskalah. → Some Jews responded to this anti-Semitism by campaigning for emancipation →Others joined revolutionary movements and assimilated → Some turned to Jewish nationalism in the form of the Zionist Hibbat Zion movement.
 * As early as the 1740s, many German Jews and some individual Polish and Lithuanian Jews had a desire for secular education. the German-Jewish Enlightenment of the late eighteenth century, the Haskalah, marks the political, social, and intellectual transition of European Jewry to modernity.
 * The lower class was also exposed to the outside world
 * 18th century
 * Isaac Euchel
 * Moses Mendelssohn
 * The End of the Enlightenment

Reorganization of the German Jewish Community http://www.worldlibrary.in/articles/eng/German_Jewish ° Accepting the modern spirit of liberalism ° Defended traditional customs: denying the modern "spirit" ° Zachary Frankel → Created a moderate reform movement → In assurance with German communities, public worships were reorganized ° Enforced by the state due to a want for the addition of religious structure to secular education of Jewish children ° Talmudic school- started to empty → Rabbinical seminaries were founded → Talmudic instruction followed the methods introduced by Zacharias Frankel in the Jewish Theological Seminary → Started an attention to religious literature → Textbooks on religion: biblical and Jewish history: Translations and explanations of the bible and prayer books ° Started to thrive- → German preachers: M. Sachs, and M. Joel → Synagogal music accepted with the help of Louis Lewandowski ° Cultivated Jewish literature ° Associations created → Teachers, Rabbis, leaders of congregations
 * The empowerment of the Jews, and the rebirth of Jewish science led to a transfer of Ancient traditions to the newer generations.
 * Geiger and Holdeim
 * Samson Raphael Hirsch
 * Neither of these beliefs were followed by the faithful Jews
 * Reduction of medieval additions to the prayer
 * Intro to congregational singing
 * Regular sermons
 * Required scientifically trained rabbis.
 * Religious Schools
 * Pulpit oratory
 * Evolution

The Birth of the Jewish Reform movement https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/1450629.pdf The Beginnings of the Reform Movement in Judaism David Philipsson

° Many Jews felt a tension between Jewish tradition and the way they were now leading their lives-religiously- resulting in less tradition ° As the insular religious society that reinforced such observance disintegrated, it was easy to fall away from vigilant observance without deliberately breaking with Judaism. ° Reformed traditional Judaism to meet their new needs and to express their spiritual desires ° Formed a movement → Set of religious beliefs: Practices that were considered expected and tradition ° First modern response to the Jew's emancipation ° Reform Judaism is different in all countries → Stress of autonomy on both the congregation and individual ° Practices → Circumcisions were abandoned → Rabbis: wore vests after protestant ministers: Instrumental accompaniment: pipe organs → Prayer book: The traditional Hebrew prayer book was replaced by German text → Reform synagogues : began being called temples which were previously considered the Temple of Jerusalem ° Judaism changes at the same pace as the rest of society ° Can adapt religious beliefs and practices to the needs of the Jewish people throughout the generation.
 * The increasing political centralization of the late 18th and early 19th centuries undermined the societal structure that perpetuated traditional Jewish life.
 * Enlightenment ideas began to influence many intellectuals
 * The resulting political, economic, and social changes were overpowering
 * Some tried to reconcile their religious heritage with their new social surroundings
 * Reform Judaism
 * Reform communities- compose of similar beliefs