API tools faq
paste
Advertisement
jonstond2

Eastern European Haskalah (Jewish Studies)

jonstond2
Jun 13th, 2018
210
0
Never
Add comment
Not a member of Pastebin yet? Sign Up, it unlocks many cool features!
text 103.91 KB | None | 0 0
raw download clone embed print report
  1.  
  2. Introduction
  3. The eastern European Haskalah (Jewish enlightenment) first appeared in the late 18th century. At this time, only a small group of local Jews had adopted the worldview and the ideology of the European Enlightenment, some of them through their ties with the Jewish enlightenment circles in German-speaking areas and others via a close acquaintance with the philosophy and literature of the European Enlightenment at-large. However, unlike what is known as the “Berlin Haskalah,” which emerged as part of the spirit of the German enlightenment (Aufklärung) and that dominated the world of local intellectual circles, eastern European Haskalah emerged, in most cases, as an isolated ideological and social phenomenon, detached from the Russian, Polish, Lithuanian, or Ukrainian cultural and intellectual circles. The same is true concerning social settings within the local Jewish society. While German Jewish society welcomed, in general, the idea of adopting the values of the European Enlightenment, eastern European Maskilim were considered by most local Jews, at least until the last quarter of the 19th century, as those individuals whose ultimate target was to undermine the cultural and religious foundations of traditional Jewish society. Nevertheless, at the beginning of the 19th century this phenomenon began to spread in the local Jewish communities, primarily through the Maskilic schools for boys and girls, founded in Galicia, Congress Poland, and the Jewish Lithuanian cultural area. Simultaneously, local Jewish intellectuals, such as Nachman Krochmal, Mendel Lefin, Shlomo Yehudah Rapoport, and Isaac Ber Levinsohn, contributed to its unique cohesive ideological and conceptual expression. In the coming decades, following the impressive spread of the Maskilic educational system, the increase in the Maskilic literary and poetic oeuvre, as well as the establishment of Maskilic synagogues, this ideology acquired a social expression in the form of local Maskilic circles that were characterized by ideological cohesion and social strength. Thus, the “republic of letters,” considered by some historians of the Berlin Haskalah as the very essence of the phenomenon, was in this region concentrated within a small segment of a much wider phenomenon, which encompassed large group of Jews who internalized the ideology and the values of the Enlightenment and that found expression, accordingly, within their religious, cultural, and economic life. One of the main characteristics of this Haskalah was its conservative nature, based on its tendency to combine a traditional religious worldview with adoption of the values of the European Enlightenment, such as rationalism, humanism, and universalism. Another remarkable characters of this Haskalah is the way it served as a platform for new cultural, social, and political phenomena, such as the emerging modern Hebrew and Yiddish literature, as well as the influence it exerted among Russian Jewish intelligentsia and, to a certain extent, eastern European Jews in the late-19th-century Jewish and non-Jewish political movements. Despite the traditional tendency to identify every phenomenon that took place in eastern Europe within the overall framework of the “eastern European Haskalah,” different Haskalot (enlightenments) could be found in various regions, such as the Galician Haskalah, the Polish Haskalah, and the Lithuanian Haskalah. Each one of these “branches” of the eastern European Haskalah had its own character, which developed in accordance with local and unique religious, social, and political circumstances. By the last third of the 19th century, with the spread of new ideologies, such as socialism and nationalism, as well as with the rise of secularism and the onset of mass immigration, the eastern European Haskalah, as an ideology and as a way of life, lost its relevancy and disappeared from local Jewish society.
  4.  
  5. General Overviews
  6. Research interest in the eastern European Haskalah has grown since the early 1980s, and various attempts have been made to present a comprehensive picture of this phenomenon. These attempts treat different aspects. While Stanislawski 1983 analyzes the Haskalah as part of the author’s research of 19th-century Russian Jewry, Feiner 2004, Feiner and Sorkin 2001, and Etkes 1993 discuss this phenomenon as a unique issue that deserves detailed consideration. Likewise, some researchers, in works such as Bartal 2011, concentrate on the relationships of the local Maskilim with other local religious groups, or on the state of Haskalah research as a reflection of changing ideological worldviews, as found in Zalkin 2005 and Zalkin 2009.
  7.  
  8. Bartal, Israel. “Eastern European Haskalah and the Karaites: Christian Hebraism and Imperial Politics.” In Kara’ei mizrakh Eiropa ba-dorot ha-akharonim. Edited by Dan Y. Shapira and Daniel J. Lasker, 57–67. Jerusalem: Ben-Zvi Institute, 2011.
  9.  
  10. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  11.  
  12. An investigation into the roots and the nature of the contacts between Maskilim and Karaites. The author points to several reasons for the Maskilic interest in the Karaites, and discusses the Maskilic positive image of the Karaite as “reformed” Jews, as it is represented in contemporary Maskilic writings.
  13.  
  14. Find this resource:
  15.  
  16. Etkes, Immanuel, ed. Ha-Dat ve-ha-Hayim: Tenuat ha-Haskalah ha-Yehudit be-Mizrakh Eiropa. Jerusalem: Zalman Shazar, 1993.
  17.  
  18. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  19.  
  20. A collection of articles discusses various aspects of the Jewish enlightenment in eastern Europe, including its roots, its developments during the 19th century, and its relations with the Hasidic movement. The collection also includes a selection of annotated bibliography of the research of the Haskalah.
  21.  
  22. Find this resource:
  23.  
  24. Feiner, Shmuel. Haskalah and History: The Emergence of Modern Jewish Historical Consciousness. Oxford: Littman Library of Jewish Civilization, 2002.
  25.  
  26. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  27.  
  28. In this book, the author discusses the attitude of the Maskilim toward history as a key to understanding their worldview. The book reviews the development of “Maskilic history” from late-18th-century Germany to 19th-century Galicia and the Russian empire, as well as the ways used by the Maskilim to disseminate it among the Jewish masses.
  29.  
  30. Find this resource:
  31.  
  32. Feiner, Shmuel. The Jewish Enlightenment. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2004.
  33.  
  34. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  35.  
  36. This book reconstructs the roots of the Haskalah in the 18th century. According to the author’s view, the Haskalah, which he defines as a “Republic of Letters,” provided an avenue for secularization of Jewish society and culture during this period, sowing the seeds of Jewish liberalism and modern ideology.
  37.  
  38. Find this resource:
  39.  
  40. Feiner, Shmuel. Milkhemet Tarbut: Tenuat ha-Haskalah ha-Yehudit ba-Me’ah ha-19. Jerusalem: Carmel, 2010.
  41.  
  42. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  43.  
  44. The author claims that the main goal of the Haskalah was to conduct a cultural war against traditional Jewish society. This perception is based on an analysis of the foundations of this movement, the formative experiences of its members, its self-consciousness and formative values, as well as the ongoing struggles against its opponents.
  45.  
  46. Find this resource:
  47.  
  48. Feiner, Shmuel, and David Sorkin, eds. New Perspectives on the Haskalah. London: Littman Library of Jewish Civilization, 2001.
  49.  
  50. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  51.  
  52. A collection of essays reflects the state of the research of the Jewish enlightenment at the end of the 20th century. The second part of the volume is dedicated to some well-known figures of the eastern European Haskalah, as well as to literary and social aspects of this phenomenon.
  53.  
  54. Find this resource:
  55.  
  56. Stanislawski, Michael. Tsar Nicholas I and the Jews: The Transformation of Jewish Society in Russia, 1825–1855. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1983.
  57.  
  58. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  59.  
  60. Two chapters in this book deal with the Haskalah. The chapter on the beginnings of the Russian Haskalah points to the common interests of the Russian minister of education and some early Maskilim. The chapter on the enlightenment of the Jews focuses on the official educational system for the Jews.
  61.  
  62. Find this resource:
  63.  
  64. Zalkin, Mordechai. “Mekhkar Ha-Haskalah be-Mizrakh Eiropa: Hasha’rah be-hasha’rah ve-dimion be-dimion?” In Ha-Haskalah li-Gevaneha. Edited by Shmuel Feiner and Israel Bartal, 165–182. Jerusalem: Magnes, 2005.
  65.  
  66. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  67.  
  68. The author points to a number of fundamental problems that characterize the contemporary study of the Haskalah: an excess focus on the conceptual and ideological aspects at the expense of the social, economic, local, and regional ones; rare use of archival sources; and little use of research findings of contemporary eastern European scholars. Translated as: “The study of eastern European Haskalah.”
  69.  
  70. Find this resource:
  71.  
  72. Zalkin, Mordechai. “Bein ’ba’alei ha-enoshiyut’ le-’ba’alei ha-leumiyut’: gilgulei mehkar ha-neorut ha-yehudit be-medinat Israel.” Zion 74 (2009): 177–192.
  73.  
  74. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  75.  
  76. Until the 1980s, the Jewish enlightenment was regarded as a marginal phenomenon in historical research conducted in Israeli academia. This fact can be attributed to the self-perception of those among Israeli academia as an institution aimed at promoting nationalist worldview and goals, which were regarded as contrary to the universalistic character of the enlightenment. Translated as: “Between the humanities and the nationalist developments: On the study of the Jewish enlightenment in the State of Israel.”
  77.  
  78. Find this resource:
  79.  
  80. Memoirs, Autobiographies, and Letters
  81. Memoirs, letters, and autobiographies were popular literary genres among the eastern European Maskilim. Naturally, private letters sent by Maskilim, such as found in Dinur 1970, Frozer 1962, and Lilienblum and Gordon 1968, have been used by historians to analyze different aspects of the life and thought of these Maskilim. With regard to the few memoirs composed by contemporary Maskilim, such as found in Gottlober 1976, Levin 1968, and Lilienblum 1970, despite the fact that most of these texts were written many years after the events in which they deal took place, as well as the inherent subjectivity that characterizes this genre, they constitute a valuable historical source that merits a critical and careful reading, especially when no alternative sources are available. The following citations offer a sample of several of the most popular and valuable texts of this genre.
  82.  
  83. Dinur, Benzion, ed. Mikhtavei Avraham Mapu. Jerusalem: Bialik Institute, 1970.
  84.  
  85. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  86.  
  87. A collection of two hundred letters, sent by the famous Maskil and author Abraham Mapu to his brother, several of his colleagues and some Jewish public figures, in the years from 1843 to 1867. These letters contain valuable information on different aspects of contemporary Maskilic life.
  88.  
  89. Find this resource:
  90.  
  91. Frozer, Moshe. “Igrot Moshe Frozer le-Yehudah Leib Gordon.” Ha-Avar 9 (1962): 176–193.
  92.  
  93. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  94.  
  95. See also Ha-Avar 11 (1964): 131–178. Forty-six letters sent by the Maskil, teacher, and bookseller Moshe Frozer to his friend the famous poet Judah Leib Gordon. These letters contain valuable information on the history of the Haskalah in mid-19th-century Lithuania. Note: These are NOT different versions of the cited text. The first part was published in Volume 9 and the second part in Volume 11.
  96.  
  97. Find this resource:
  98.  
  99. Ginzburg, Mordechai Aharon. Aviezer. Vilnius: Finn & Rozenkrants, 1864.
  100.  
  101. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  102.  
  103. A revealing description of the life of a young Maskil, including personal, family, cultural and educational aspects. The personal story serves as a platform for a discussion of some problematic aspects of contemporary Jewish life, such as inadequate education and juvenile marriage.
  104.  
  105. Find this resource:
  106.  
  107. Gottlober, Abraham. Zikhronot u-Masa’ot. Jerusalem: Bialik Institute, 1976.
  108.  
  109. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  110.  
  111. The memoirs of one of the leading figures of the mid-19th-century eastern European Haskalah, which includes valuable material on the history of the phenomenon as well as on the cultural, religious, and social identity of the writer.
  112.  
  113. Find this resource:
  114.  
  115. Levin, Yehuda Leib. Zikhronot ve-Hegionot. Jerusalem: Bialik Institute, 1968.
  116.  
  117. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  118.  
  119. The autobiography of an eastern European Maskil, a poet, writer, and publicist.
  120.  
  121. Find this resource:
  122.  
  123. Lilienblum, Moshe Leib. Ketavim Otobiografi’im. 3 vols. Jerusalem: Bialik Institute, 1970.
  124.  
  125. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  126.  
  127. The memoirs of the most famous Maskil in the Russian empire in the second half of the 19th century.
  128.  
  129. Find this resource:
  130.  
  131. Lilienblum, Moshe Leib, and Judah Leib Gordon. Igrot M. L. Lilienblum le-Y. L. Gordon. Jerusalem: Magnes, 1968.
  132.  
  133. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  134.  
  135. Correspondence between two of the most prominent 19th-century Maskilim, the author Moshe Leib Lilienblum and the poet Judah Leib Gordon, during the years 1868–1889. The letters deal with issues concerning contemporary Jewish life in Russia and discussions regarding Maskilic issues.
  136.  
  137. Find this resource:
  138.  
  139. Mandelshtam, Benjamin. Hazon la-Mo’ad. Vienna: Georg Brag, 1877.
  140.  
  141. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  142.  
  143. Two-volume book that describes, in a first-person narrative, the world of a Lithuanian Maskil in the mid-19th century as well as the struggle of those in enlightened circles to gain legitimacy in the Jewish public sphere.
  144.  
  145. Find this resource:
  146.  
  147. Pelli, Moshe. “The Literary Genre of Autobiography in Hebrew Enlightenment Literature, Mordechay Ginzburg Aviezer.” Modern Judaism 10 (1990): 159–170.
  148.  
  149. DOI: 10.1093/mj/10.2.159Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  150.  
  151. A survey of three central themes in Maskilic autobiography as they are reflected in Ginzburg’s autobiography: the centrality of the individual, the quest of truth, and the consideration of social criticism.
  152.  
  153. Find this resource:
  154.  
  155. Wengeroff, Pauline. Memoirs of a Grandmother: Scenes from the Cultural History of the Jews of Russia in the Nineteenth Century. Translated with an introduction, notes, and commentary by Shulamit S. Magnus. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2010.
  156.  
  157. DOI: 10.11126/stanford/9780804768795.001.0001Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  158.  
  159. The memoirs of a Jewish woman, born in 1833 to a wealthy, learned family. Using her own life’s odyssey as a journey devoid of traditional observance, the author depicts the emergence of Jewish modernity in 19th-century Russia, partially as a result of the Haskalah, with all the cultural and social consequences it entailed. Originally published as Memoiren einer Grossmutter: Bilder aus der kulturgeschichte der Juden Russland im 19. Jahrhundert (Berlin: M. Poppelauer, 1908–1910).
  160.  
  161. Find this resource:
  162.  
  163. Werses, Shmuel. “Darkhei ha-Otobiographia be-Tekufat ha-Haskalah.” Gilionot 17 (1945): 175–183.
  164.  
  165. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  166.  
  167. An analysis of the autobiographies of Solomon Maimon, Mordechai Aharon Gintsburg, Isaac Samuel Reggio, Samuel David Luzzatto, Meir Letteris, Samuel Joseph Finn, and Judah Leib Gordon.
  168.  
  169. Find this resource:
  170.  
  171. Definitions
  172. One of the most problematic and unsolved questions, which has had a significant effect on research of the Haskalah, is how to define this concept thematically, socially, and chronologically, as well as other related concepts, such as Maskil, Haskalah literature, etc. While Feiner 2001 prefers a historical definition, Barzilay 1991, Shavit, 1990, and Litvak 2012 tend to define it in literary terms. The following sources represent the diversity of approaches to this question among researchers of the Haskalah.
  173.  
  174. Barzilay, Isaac. “Gilgulei musag ha-‘Haskalah’ be-hagutu shel Peretz Smolenskin.” In Mehkarim be-Sifrut Am Yisrael u-ve-Tarbut Teiman. Edited by Yehudit Dishon and Ephraim Hazan, 425–436. Ramat Gan, Israel: Bar Ilan University Press, 1991.
  175.  
  176. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  177.  
  178. The author analyzes the famous author Peretz Smolenskin’s perception of the Haskalah as a destructive phenomenon, which undermined the existential foundations of the Jewish people. Translated as: “The metamorphoses of the concept ‘Enlightenment’ (‘Haskalah’) in Perez Smolenskin’s thought.”
  179.  
  180. Find this resource:
  181.  
  182. Feiner, Shmuel. “He-hevra, ha-sifrut ve-ha-Haskalah ha-yehudit be-Russia be-einei ha-bikoret ha-radikalit shel I. A. Kovner.” Zion 55 (1990): 283–316.
  183.  
  184. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  185.  
  186. A discussion of the “radical Haskalah,” a phenomenon that, according to the author, characterized the eastern European Haskalah in the second half of the 19th century. The article concentrates on the representation of this phenomenon in the biography of, and the literary work of, the Maskil Isaac Aizik Kowner. Translated as: “Jewish society, literature and Haskalah in Russia, as represented in the radical criticism of I. E. Kowner.”
  187.  
  188. Find this resource:
  189.  
  190. Feiner, Shmuel. “Towards a Historical Definition of the Haskalah.” In New Perspectives on the Haskalah. Edited by Shmuel Feiner and David Sorkin, 184–219. London: Littman Library of Jewish Civilization, 2001.
  191.  
  192. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  193.  
  194. The author reviews the historiographic tradition in search of a definition of the Haskalah and argues that it can be considered a trend in which modernizing intellectuals aspired to transform the cultural identity of traditional Jewish society.
  195.  
  196. Find this resource:
  197.  
  198. Litvak, Olga. Haskalah: The Romantic Movement in Judaism. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2012.
  199.  
  200. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  201.  
  202. The author’s main thesis is that the essence of the eastern European Haskalah lay in its role as a Jewish religious revival phenomenon, and that the Maskilim, a group of intellectuals, emerged as the authors of a Jewish romantic revolution.
  203.  
  204. Find this resource:
  205.  
  206. Shavit, Uzi. “Ha-‘Haskalah’ mahi? Le-beirur musag ha-‘Haskalah’ ba-sifrut ha-ivrit.” Mehkarei Yerushalayim be-Sifrut Ivrit 12 (1990): 51–83.
  207.  
  208. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  209.  
  210. A detailed review on the use of the term Haskalah in the Jewish philosophical and cultural discourse, as well as in Hebrew literature and journalism during the 18th and 19th centuries. Translated as: “An examination of the term ‘Haskala’ in Hebrew literature.”
  211.  
  212. Find this resource:
  213.  
  214. Origins and Developments
  215. Since the Haskalah was traditionally perceived as a “German” phenomenon, the eastern European Haskalah has been considered mainly as a stepdaughter of the Berlin Haskalah. This viewpoint is reflected, for instance, in Etkes 1987 and Sinkoff 1996. Yet other historians have tried to trace the inner dynamics of this phenomenon in works such as Nardi 1993 and Dohrn 2005, as well as examining its rise and fall. The vagueness of the meaning of this term is well reflected in the discussion regarding related cultural phenomena similar to the Haskalah that took place during the late 19th century, which Feiner 1996 and Feiner 2002 (cited under General Overviews) describe as “pseudo-enlightenment.”
  216.  
  217. Dohrn, Verena. “Die Transformation der Haskala zum ‘prosvescenie’ in der Überlieferung.” Judaica 61.2 (2005): 110–127.
  218.  
  219. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  220.  
  221. The author reviews the different channels through which the Haskalah in the Russian Empire lost its unique Jewish character and was transformed into “Russian enlightenment.” The author examines ideological programs, public discourse, memoirs, literature, and biographies.
  222.  
  223. Find this resource:
  224.  
  225. Etkes, Immanuel. “Immanent Factors and External Influences in the Development of the Haskalah Movement in Russia.” In Toward Modernity: The European Jewish Model. Edited by Jacob Katz, 13–32. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction, 1987.
  226.  
  227. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  228.  
  229. In the view of the author the Russian Haskalah was both influenced and shaped by two major factors: the Jewish philosophical and scientific heritage of the Middle Ages and the model set by the Berlin Haskalah of the late 18th century.
  230.  
  231. Find this resource:
  232.  
  233. Feiner, Shmuel. “The Pseudo-Enlightenment and the Question of Jewish Modernization.” Jewish Social Studies 3 (1996): 62–88.
  234.  
  235. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  236.  
  237. The author argues that following the model prevalent in central and western Europe, the phenomenon of a “pseudo-enlightenment,” that is, adopting some behavioral elements prevalent among the Maskilim without internalizing the Haskalah ideology, assumed a growing important in eastern Europe beginning in the 1860s and motivated a change in the concept of social reality by the local Maskilim.
  238.  
  239. Find this resource:
  240.  
  241. Nardi, Tzvia. “Temurot be-Tenuat ha-Haskalah be-Russia bi-Shenot ha-Shishim ve-ha-Shiv’im shel ha-Me’ah ha-19.” In Ha-Dat ve-ha-Hayim: Tenuat ha-Haskalah ha-Yehudit be-Mizrakh Eiropa. Edited by Immanuel Etkes, 300–327. Jerusalem: Zalman Shazar, 1993.
  242.  
  243. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  244.  
  245. The author points to the changes experienced by the eastern European Haskalah in the 1860s and the 1870s. Her review is based on an examination of the main characteristics of this change: the rise of a generation of young Maskilim and their positivist and materialistic worldview.
  246.  
  247. Find this resource:
  248.  
  249. Sinkoff, Nancy. Tradition and Transition: Mendel Lefin of Satanów and the Beginnings of the Jewish Enlightenment in Eastern Europe, 1749–1826. PhD diss., Columbia University, 1996.
  250.  
  251. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  252.  
  253. Sinkoff presents Mendel Lefin as one of the forerunners of the Haskalah in eastern Europe, as a firm opponent of the Hasidic movement, and as a natural philosopher.
  254.  
  255. Find this resource:
  256.  
  257. Hebrew Ideological Texts
  258. Although Haskalah constituted a phenomenon based on an ideological worldview, thinkers were quiet a rare phenomenon in eastern European Maskilic circles. Actually, most of those we consider as thinkers never published a comprehensive conceptual book concerning the meaning and the formative principles of the Jewish enlightenment. Apart from Te’udah Be-Yisrael (Levinsohn 1828), most of their writings concentrated on anti-Hasidic themes, such as Erter 1858 and Perl 1819; on ethical questions (Lefin 1844; and on historical concepts (Finn 1881 and Krokhmal 1851). Traditionally, most of these books were written and published in Hebrew.
  259.  
  260. Erter, Isaac. Ha-Zofe le-Beit Yisrael. Vienna: Adalbert Della Torre, 1858.
  261.  
  262. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  263.  
  264. A collection of Maskilic satires, composed by a Galician physician, criticizing, among other subjects, the Hasidic movement, its mystical nature, and its leaders.
  265.  
  266. Find this resource:
  267.  
  268. Finn, Shmuel Yossef. Safah la-Ne’emanim. Vilnius, Russia: Judah L. Matz, 1881.
  269.  
  270. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  271.  
  272. In this book the author claims that the dissemination of religious Haskalah was always an immanent element of the cultural identity of the Jewish people. To prove his point he presents a long list of relevant Hebrew books and authors, from biblical times to the 19th century.
  273.  
  274. Find this resource:
  275.  
  276. Finn, Shmuel Yossef. Me-Haskalah Lokhemet le-Haskalah Meshameret: Mivkhar mi-Kitvei Rash”I Finn. Edited by Shmuel Feiner. Jerusalem: Dinur Center, 1993.
  277.  
  278. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  279.  
  280. A collection of essays, articles, and letters written by the Vilna historian, educator, and journalist Samuel Joseph Finn, with an introduction by Shmuel Feiner.
  281.  
  282. Find this resource:
  283.  
  284. Krokhmal, Nachman. Moreh Nevukhei ha-Zman. Lemberg, Russia: Schneider, 1851.
  285.  
  286. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  287.  
  288. This book examines the term Judaism in philological and historical discussions in the context of historical processes.
  289.  
  290. Find this resource:
  291.  
  292. Lefin, Menakhem Mendel. Sefer Heshbon ha-Nefesh. Vilnius, Russia: Romm & Typograph, 1844.
  293.  
  294. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  295.  
  296. One of the most popular 19th-century Maskilic books that discusses the ethical aspects of the self, following the writings of Benjamin Franklin.
  297.  
  298. Find this resource:
  299.  
  300. Levinsohn, Isaac Ber. Te’udah be-Yisrael. Vilnius, Russia: Mannes & Simel, 1828.
  301.  
  302. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  303.  
  304. Levinsohn’s first book and his most well known; considered by historians as the formative ideological text of the eastern European Haskalah.
  305.  
  306. Find this resource:
  307.  
  308. Perl, Joseph. Megaleh Temirin. Vienna: Straus, 1819.
  309.  
  310. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  311.  
  312. Anti-Hasidic book, edited as a collection of fictional Hasidic letters concerning a mysterious book sent to the authorities so as to defame the Hasidic movement.
  313.  
  314. Find this resource:
  315.  
  316. Slutsky, Yehuda. Tenuat ha-Haskalah be-Yahadut Russia. Jerusalem: Zalman Shazar institute, 1977.
  317.  
  318. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  319.  
  320. Collection of representative annotated primary eastern European Maskilic texts, with a short historical introduction.
  321.  
  322. Find this resource:
  323.  
  324. Significant Figures
  325. “Who is a Maskil?” is a question that has accompanied research into the Haskalah for many years. Traditionally, researchers, in works such as Barzilay 1969, Barzilay 1999 (both cited under Thinkers), Pelli 1990 (cited under Memoirs, Autobiographies, and Letters), Feiner 1988 (cited under Thinkers), and Werses 1997 (cited under Educators), have identified the Haskalah with literary work, so the adjective Maskil has been attributed solely to the members of the “Republic of Letters,” namely thinkers, writers, and poets. Haskalah research in recent years, represented by Bartal 1990 (cited under Writers), Etkes 1980 (cited under Thinkers), Manekin 2006 (cited under Educators), Robinson 1995 (cited under Scientists), Zalkin 2001 (cited under Public Figures), and Zalkin 2005 (cited under Educators), which focused on social, cultural, and educational aspects of this phenomenon, expanded the meaning of this term to identify those who have internalized Haskalah values although they constitute nothing more than consumers of the Maskilic literary work.
  326.  
  327. Writers
  328. Following research on the Haskalah in German-speaking areas, researchers identify contemporary eastern European writers as those who took upon themselves the mission of promoting and disseminating the Haskalah ideology among different social circles in eastern Europe. Thus, by analyzing these writer’s texts, historians, in works such as Bartal 1990, Roskies 1975, Sinkoff 2001, and Stanislawski 1988, aim to understand the essence of the Haskalah as well as the reasons for its relatively impressive success.
  329.  
  330. Bartal, Israel. “Mordechai Aharon Günzburg: A Lithuanian Maskil Faces Modernity.” In From East and West: Jews in a Changing Europe, 1750–1870. Edited by Frances Malino and David Sorkin, 126–147. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1990.
  331.  
  332. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  333.  
  334. An analysis of the spiritual and cultural world of an early Lithuanian Maskil (b. 1795–d. 1847), who, according to the author, endeavored to reform his Russian Jewish brethren and to imbue them with the spirit of the new age, a spirit that, due to its possible consequences, also terrified him.
  335.  
  336. Find this resource:
  337.  
  338. Roskies, David. “Ayzik-Meyer Dik and the Rise of Yiddish Popular Literature.” PhD diss., Brandeis University, 1975.
  339.  
  340. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  341.  
  342. A bio-bibliography of Ayzik-Meyer Dik, the 19th-century Vilna Maskil, a prominent figure in the local and literary Maskilic circle, and the most popular Yiddish writer in mid-19th-century eastern Europe.
  343.  
  344. Find this resource:
  345.  
  346. Sinkoff, Nancy. “Strategy and Ruse in the Haskalah of Mendel Lefin of Satanow.” In New Perspectives on the Haskalah. Edited by Shmuel Feiner and David Sorkin, 86–102. London: Littman Library of Jewish Civilization, 2001.
  347.  
  348. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  349.  
  350. In this article the author presents and analyzes Mendel Lefin’s Hebrew translation of two travelogues of Joachim Heinrich Campe, which aimed at broaden the geographic horizons of eastern European Jewry.
  351.  
  352. Find this resource:
  353.  
  354. Stanislawski, Michael. For Whom Do I Toil? Jehuda Leib Gordon and the Crisis of Russian Jewry. New York: Oxford University Press, 1988.
  355.  
  356. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  357.  
  358. A biography that concentrates on an attempt to chronicle and analyze the role played by Gordon as a poet, a politician, a journalist, a writer, an intellectual, and a key figure in the cultural and political life of Jews in the second half of the 19th century in Russia.
  359.  
  360. Find this resource:
  361.  
  362. Thinkers
  363. Although it was, first and foremost, an ideological phenomenon, the origins of the eastern European Haskalah lay not with thinkers or philosophers and it was never led by them. However, following the common tendency of research into the European Enlightenment to consider philosophers as the forefathers of this phenomenon, historians of the Haskalah have also endeavored to form a similar Maskilic Pantheon. Thus, the “Russian” members of this grouping were, according to Barzilay 1969, Etkes 1980, and Schreiner 1991, Manasseh of Ilya and Isaac Ber Levinsohn, while the role of the Galician thinkers, such as Shlomo Yehuda Rapaport and Nachman Krokhmal, is described in Barzilay 1969, Harris 1991, and Turner 2005.
  364.  
  365. Barzilay, Isaac. Shlomo Yehuda Rapaport (Shir), 1790–1867, and His Contemporaries: Some Aspects of Jewish Scholarship of the Nineteenth Century. Ramat Gan, Israel: Massada, 1969.
  366.  
  367. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  368.  
  369. The book traces the scholarly growth and the contribution of Rapoport to contemporary Jewish public discourse as well as his polemics with his Maskilic counterparts, such as Samuel David Luzzatto, Marcus Jost, Abraham Geiger, and Zachariah Frankel.
  370.  
  371. Find this resource:
  372.  
  373. Barzilay, Isaac. Manasseh of Ilya: Precursor of Modernity among the Jews of Eastern Europe. Jerusalem: Magnes, 1999.
  374.  
  375. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  376.  
  377. A biography of one of the earliest late-18th-century eastern European Maskilim. Apart from biographical information, the author discusses Manasseh’s attitude to Hasidism.
  378.  
  379. Find this resource:
  380.  
  381. Etkes, Immanuel. “Ha-Gr’a ve-ha-Haskalah – Tadmit u-metsiut.” In Prakim be-Toldot ha-Hehevra ha-Yehudit be-Yemei ha-Beinayim uva-Et ha-Hadasha. Edited by Immanuel Etkes and Yosef Salmon, 192–217. Jerusalem: Magnes, 1980.
  382.  
  383. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  384.  
  385. Following a detailed analysis of the Gaon’s writings and his image in early Haskalah historiography, the author claims that the Gaon was neither a harbinger of the Haskalah nor a figure that influenced its emergence in eastern Europe. Translated as: “The Gaon of Vilna and the Haskalah: Image and reality.”
  386.  
  387. Find this resource:
  388.  
  389. Feiner, Shmuel. “‘Ha-Matzref’: ‘Ha-sefer ha-avud’ shel ha-Haskalah be-Russia u-mekhabro Yitzkhak Aizik Kovner.” Tarbiz 58 (1988): 261–276.
  390.  
  391. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  392.  
  393. A biography of the 19th-century Lithuanian Maskil Isaac Aizik Kowner, his literary career, and his criticism of traditional Jewish society. Translated as: “Ha-Mazref: The ‘lost book’ of the Russian Haskalah and its author Isaak Iyzik Kowner.”
  394.  
  395. Find this resource:
  396.  
  397. Harris, Jay. Nachman Krochmal: Guiding the Perplexed of the Modern Age. New York: New York University Press, 1991.
  398.  
  399. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  400.  
  401. Following a short biographical sketch of Nachman Krochmal, this book concentrates on an analysis of different aspects of his theological and philosophical oeuvre. The author discusses Krochmal’s attitude toward metaphysics and the Jewish faith, his theory of history, the rabbinic tradition, and the perplexities of the Aggadah.
  402.  
  403. Find this resource:
  404.  
  405. Schreiner, Stefan. “Isaak Ber Lewinsohn: Der Mendelssohn der Russischen Juden.” Judaica 47.1–2 (1991): 82–92.
  406.  
  407. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  408.  
  409. The author presents Lewinsohn as the founding father of the eastern European Haskalah, a local model of the German Jewish philosopher Moses Mendelssohn. This assertion is based on an analysis of Lewinsohn’s writings and supported by a limited number of expressions of appreciation of and estime for Lewinsohn by contemporary local Maskilim.
  410.  
  411. Find this resource:
  412.  
  413. Turner, Joseph. “Ma’amad ha-Ru’akh be-tefisat ha-historia shel rabbi Nakhman Krokhmal.” In Derekh Ha-Rua’kh. Edited by Yehoyada Amir, 289–323. Jerusalem: Mandel Institute of Jewish Studies, 2005.
  414.  
  415. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  416.  
  417. A systematic explication of the manner in which Rabbi Nahman Krochmal used such terms as spirit and history in the context of his book The Guide for the Perplexed of Our Time. It further demonstrates how these terms provide the basis for his understanding of the problems confronting Jewish life in the modern period. Translated as: “The notion of ‘spirit’ in Rabbi Nachman Krochmal’s conception of history.”
  418.  
  419. Find this resource:
  420.  
  421. Scientists
  422. The sciences and scientific thought were considered by eastern European Maskilim as embodying the essence of the rationalistic principle, which was so central to the ideology of the Enlightenment. However, due to their limited access to contemporary scientific sources and education, very few of them were actually involved in the world of science. Exceptions included the physician Judah Hurwitz, as discussed in Feiner 1998, and Chaim Selig Slonimsky, a journalist, educator, and, above all, the most important popularizer of scientific literature who is portrayed in Goldberg 1970 and Robinson 1995.
  423.  
  424. Feiner, Shmuel. “Atheism, Enthusiasm and Early Haskalah: The Case of Jehuda Hurwitz of Vilna.” In The Gaon of Vilnius and the Annals of Jewish Culture. Edited by Izraelis Lempertas, 169–178. Vilnius, Lithuania: Vilnius University Publishing House, 1998.
  425.  
  426. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  427.  
  428. Feiner aims to classify an 18th-century Jewish physician and author in the Maskilic period. The author’s conclusion is that Hurwitz was not a forerunner of the Maskilic era but an early Maskil who embodied a special intellectual stance that emerged as a reaction to questions raised by his generation.
  429.  
  430. Find this resource:
  431.  
  432. Goldberg, Isaac. “Chaim Selig Slonimski: 19th Century Popularizer of Science.” In Samuel K. Mirsky Memorial Volume: Studies in Jewish Law, Philosophy, and Literature. Edited by Gersion Appel, 247–261. New York: Yeshiva University Press, 1970.
  433.  
  434. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  435.  
  436. A discussion of the role played by the educator, writer, and journalist Haim Selig Slonimski in disseminating knowledge of the popular natural sciences within eastern European Jewish society during the 19th century.
  437.  
  438. Find this resource:
  439.  
  440. Robinson, Ira. “Hayyim Selig Slonimski and the Diffusion of Science among Russian Jewry in the Nineteenth Century.” In The Interaction of Scientific and Jewish Cultures in Modern Times. Edited by Yakov Rabkin and Ira Robinson, 49–65. Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen, 1995.
  441.  
  442. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  443.  
  444. In examining his scientific writings, the author portrays H. S. Slonimski as a central figure in disseminating a scientific outlook among the Jews of eastern Europe during the 19th century.
  445.  
  446. Find this resource:
  447.  
  448. Public Figures
  449. As mentioned, the eastern European Haskalah was not a close elitist intellectual circle of writers and thinkers but more closely resembled a popular phenomenon in which members of all society’s strata were represented. Thus, as evident in Fishman 1987, Manekin 2012, Schochat 1979, and Zalkin 2001, public figures as rabbis, scholars, and community leaders played a significant role in developing and consolidating the Maskilic reality in the Haskalah era.
  450.  
  451. Fishman, David. “A Polish Rabbi Meets the Berlin Haskalah: The Case of Baruch Schick.” AJS Review 12 (1987): 95–121.
  452.  
  453. DOI: 10.1017/S0364009400001872Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  454.  
  455. In this essay, the author analyzes Schick’s cultural and social background, which served as the basis on which he absorbed several principles of the Berlin Haskalah.
  456.  
  457. Find this resource:
  458.  
  459. Manekin, Rachel. “A Jewish Lithuanian Preacher in the Context of Religious Enlightenment: The Case of Israel Lobel.” Jewish Culture and History 13.2–3 (2012): 134–152.
  460.  
  461. DOI: 10.1080/1462169X.2012.729972Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  462.  
  463. Based on archival documents, as well as a new reading of his writings, the author reconstructs the political and legal context of Lobel’s journey to Galicia in order to prevent the rapid spread of Hasidism. According to her analysis, Lobel can be placed in the context of the late-18th-century German religious enlightenment.
  464.  
  465. Find this resource:
  466.  
  467. Schochat, Azriel. “Hashkafotav ha-asimilatoriyot shel Zalkin Minor, ’Ha-rav mi-ta’am’ shel kehilat Moskva.” Zion 44 (1979): 303–320.
  468.  
  469. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  470.  
  471. Based on an analysis of this rabbi’s sermons, delivered mainly when he served as the official rabbi of the Jewish community of Moscow, the author portrays Minor as a firm supporter of cultural assimilation. Translated as: “The assimilatory views of Zalkind Minor, ‘crown rabbi’ of Moscow.”
  472.  
  473. Find this resource:
  474.  
  475. Zalkin, Mordechai. “Samuel and Mattityahu Strashun: Between Tradition and Innovation.” In Mattityahu Strashun, 1817–1885: Scholar, Leader and Book Collector. Edited by Aviva Astrinsky, 1–28. New York: Yivo Institute for Jewish Research, 2001.
  476.  
  477. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  478.  
  479. This study investigates the world of the Strashuns, who played a prominent role in the intellectual and cultural world of the Jews in 19th-century Vilnius. Examines the life of the father, who formulated a new complex cultural identity, and the son, Mattityahu, a prominent Maskilic figure, teacher, book collector, and community leader.
  480.  
  481. Find this resource:
  482.  
  483. Educators
  484. Education was considered by the Maskilim as the most effective instrument for disseminating the ideology of the Enlightenment among eastern European Jews. Thus, as Adler 2005, Manekin 2006, Werses 1997, and Zalkin 2005 show, this worldview was manifested not only in teaching, very common among local Maskilim, but also in other activities in education, such as in establishing Maskilic schools, formulating curricula, cooperating with the state’s educational authorities, and serving as school principals.
  485.  
  486. Adler, Eliyana. “Enlightened Self-Interest: The Men and Women Who Opened Schools for Jewish Girls in Late Imperial Russia.” Studies in Jewish Civilization 16 (2005): 265–284.
  487.  
  488. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  489.  
  490. In this article, the author discusses the character and the motives of the men and women who opened or ran private schools for Jewish girls. Following a detailed analysis of their motives and means, she concludes that most of those who were involved in this project did so out of a combination of enlightened concerns and pure self-interest.
  491.  
  492. Find this resource:
  493.  
  494. Manekin, Rachel. “Naftali Hertz Homberg: Ha-demut ve-ha-dimui.” Zion 71 (2006): 153–202.
  495.  
  496. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  497.  
  498. In the author’s view, Homberg, a central figure in the Galician Haskalah, was never alienated from Judaism, nor did he call for the abolition, or weakening, of the ceremonial law. He did, however, support full integration of the Jews in the Austrian state. Translated as: “Herz Homberg: The individual and the image.”
  499.  
  500. Find this resource:
  501.  
  502. Werses, Shmuel. “Mordechai Plungian: Diokan shel Maskil nusakh ha-ir Vilna.” In Bein Historia le-Sifrut: Sefer Yovel le-Yitzkhak Barzilay. Edited by Stanley Nash, 149–161. Tel Aviv: Hakibbutz Hameuchad, 1997.
  503.  
  504. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  505.  
  506. A biographical treatment of the life, the educational, and the literary activities of a 19th-century Lithuanian Maskil. Translated as: “Mordechai Plungian: Portrait of a Vilna Maskil.”
  507.  
  508. Find this resource:
  509.  
  510. Zalkin, Mordechai. “Yitzhak Rumsch: Bein ’Haskalat ha-periferia’ le-’Haskalah periferialit.” In Olam Yashan—Adam Hadash. Edited by Eli Tzur, 185–213. Beer Sheva, Israel: Ben-Gurion University Press, 2005.
  511.  
  512. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  513.  
  514. In this article the author portrays the educational and literary career of a 19th-century Lithuanian Maskil who dedicated his life to modernizing Jewish education in the remote Lithuanian town of Panevezhys. Translated as: “Itzhak Rumsch: Between ‘education of the periphery’ and ‘peripheral education.’”
  515.  
  516. Find this resource:
  517.  
  518. Journalists
  519. Another very popular occupation by the Maskilim, drawn to it by a combination of ideological and economic motives, was journalism. Well aware of the potential of print media in shaping public opinion and legitimizing the Haskalah ideology, the eastern European Maskilim were active in this arena from the early 1840s until the turn of the 20th century, as shown in Spicehandler 1960, Zalkin 2007, Meir 2008, and Tal 2011. At the same time, they had to cope with differing ideological currents and formal obstacles, as discussed in Kouts 2010 and Soffer 2007.
  520.  
  521. Kouts, Gideon. “Hebrew Journalists in European Empires: Control, Censorship and How They Bypassed It.” Studia Judaica 13 (2010): 105–122.
  522.  
  523. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  524.  
  525. In this article the author discusses one of the main obstacles that writers and editors of eastern European Maskilic newspapers and journals faced—censorship. In a lengthy, detailed discussion, he analyzes different aspects of this phenomenon: Jewish self-censorship, originating from ideological and political controversies; state censorship; and the role played in this issue by converted Jews.
  526.  
  527. Find this resource:
  528.  
  529. Лемпертене, Лариса. “Vilenski evreiski prosvetiteli – zachinateli evreiskoi periodichskoi pichati v Rossiskoi imperii.” In Imperinis Vilnius, 1795–1918: Kultūros riboženkliai ir vietinės tapatybėс. Edited by Jelena Konickaja ir Rymutė Kvaraciejienė, 75–85. Vilnius, Lithuania: Lietuvių literatūros ir tautosakos institutas, 2009.
  530.  
  531. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  532.  
  533. The author describes the pioneering efforts of Vilna Maskilim in the development of the modern Jewish press in considering the periodicals Pirkhei Tzafon (1841–1844) and Ha-Karmel (1861–1866).
  534.  
  535. Find this resource:
  536.  
  537. Meir, Jonathan. “Mikhael Levi Rodkinson: bein Hasidut le-Haskalah.” Kabala 18 (2008): 229–286.
  538.  
  539. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  540.  
  541. A detailed biographical sketch of Mikhael Levi Rodkinson, a Maskil, journalist, and traveler, followed by a discussion of his social and literary activities. Translated as: “Mikhael Levi Rodkinson: Between Hasidism and Haskalah.”
  542.  
  543. Find this resource:
  544.  
  545. Soffer, Oren. Ein le-falpel! Iton ha-Tzfirah ve-ha-modernizatzia shel ha-siakh ha-hevrati ve-ha-politi. Jerusalem: Bialik Institute, 2007.
  546.  
  547. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  548.  
  549. Based on analyzing Ha-Tzfira, a Maskilic newspaper, the author discusses different issues dealt with by the 19th-century Maskilic press, such as how traditional religious Hebrew discourse was transformed into modern secular, social, and political discourse. He traces the developing stages of journalistic discourse, from popular scientific writings to the efforts of political publicists and finally to the Zionist political tracts. Translated as: “There is no place for pilpul! HaTzfira journal and the modernization of sociopolitical discourse.”
  550.  
  551. Find this resource:
  552.  
  553. Spicehandler, Ezra. “J. H. Schor, Maskil and Reformist.” Hebrew Union College Annual 31 (1960): 181–222.
  554.  
  555. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  556.  
  557. See also Hebrew Union College Annual 40–41 (1970–1971): 503–528. A critical biographical treatment of the career of Joshua Hecshel Schor, a famous Galician Jewish polemicist who made extensive use of the printed media to disseminate and promote his Maskilic agenda and who is considered by the author as a leader of the radical wing of the Haskalah in 19th-century Galicia.
  558.  
  559. Find this resource:
  560.  
  561. Tal, David. Yehuda Leib Kantor: Halutz ha-yomon ha-ivri. Tel Aviv: Ha-kibbutz Ha-meuchad, 2011.
  562.  
  563. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  564.  
  565. A detailed biography of Kantor, a Maskil, rabbi, physician, and journalist, who founded in 1886 the first Hebrew daily, Hayom. In addition to providing a personal biography, the author discusses Kantor’s vision of the Jewish press, the ideologically neutral character of his newspaper, and his impact on Jewish public discourse of the time.
  566.  
  567. Find this resource:
  568.  
  569. Zalkin, Mordechai. “‘Al takhdelu bo beineinu’: ktav ha-et ’Pirkhei Tzafon’ ve-tafkido ba-ma’arakh ha-hevrati-maskili ba-imperia ha-Russit.” Kesher 35 (2007): 63–69.
  570.  
  571. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  572.  
  573. A study of the origins of the pioneering Maskilic periodical published in the Russian Empire in the 19th century, with an emphasis on the motives and the modus operandi of the Maskilim who established this periodical and determined its content and character. Translated as: “The periodical Pirhei Tsafon and its role in the social system of the Haskalah movement in the Russian Empire.”
  574.  
  575. Find this resource:
  576.  
  577. Local Aspects
  578. The traditional division of Europe between West and East, as well as the perception of the German-speaking regions as constituting the center of modern culture, has been adopted by many of those who have studied the Haskalah. As a result, research into the history of the Haskalah has drawn a bipolar picture, one that features Berlin versus eastern Europe, with the latter considered as secondary and as a region where the Haskalah is distinguished mainly by cultural activity. Recent research challenges both these concepts and presents a picture of different enlightenments, whose origins and characteristics can be placed within local and national contexts.
  579.  
  580. Poland
  581. Following the premise of different enlightenments, Shatzky 1952, Wodzinski 2004a, Zalkin 2001a, and Zalkin 2001b point to the unique character of the Haskalah centers in Poland. The singularity of these locales resulted from the socioreligious structure of the Polish Jewish community, as discussed in Bartal 2002; from political circumstances, as argued in Baker 1990; and from the complex relationships with progressive elements among the local non-Jewish society, as described in Wodzinski 2003 and Wodzinski 2004b.
  582.  
  583. Baker, Mark. “The Reassessment of Haskalah Ideology in the Aftermath of the 1863 Polish Revolt.” Polin 5 (1990): 221–249.
  584.  
  585. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  586.  
  587. Following the 1863 Polish revolt the eastern European Maskilim, and Polish Maskilim among them, reformulated their political identity in considering themselves Russian Jews living in an empire composed of numerous minority groups.
  588.  
  589. Find this resource:
  590.  
  591. Bartal, Israel. “Pinsk shel Ma’alh u-Pinsk shel mata: Hasidim u-maskilim, metziut u-bidion.” In Mi-Vilna le-Yerushalayim. Edited by David Assaf, Israel Bartal, Shmuel Feiner, Yehuda Friedlander, Avner Holtzman, and Chava Turniansky, 259–283. Jerusalem: Magnes, 2002.
  592.  
  593. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  594.  
  595. The author discusses the way in which Judah Leib Gordon, one of the most prominent figures of 19th-century Maskilic society, depicts the Jewish community of Pinsk from a Maskilic perspective. The author affirms that the story is but an attempt to merge old enlightened conventions with a new political and social reality. Translated as: “Pinsk in heaven and Pinsk on earth: Hasidism and Maskilim, history and fiction.”
  596.  
  597. Find this resource:
  598.  
  599. Shatzky, Jacob. “Haskalah in Zamosc.” Yivo Bletter 36 (1952): 24–49.
  600.  
  601. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  602.  
  603. A detailed historical survey of the long history of this city as a Maskilic center, which, according to the author, began as early as the mid-18th century. The review focuses on several families and well-known local figures, for which this city’s Maskilic atmosphere served as a catalyst to their Maskilic careers.
  604.  
  605. Find this resource:
  606.  
  607. Sinkoff, Nancy. Out of the Shtetl: Making Jews Modern in the Polish Borderlands. Providence: Brown Judaic Studies, 2004.
  608.  
  609. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  610.  
  611. This book is an intellectual biography of Mendel Lefin of Satanow (b. 1749–d. 1826), a central figure in the Jewish enlightenment in Poland, and of one of his most important disciples, Joseph Perl. The author’s main argument is that while the moderate Haskalah advanced by Lefin and Perl failed to sway the majority of eastern European Jews to adhere to the Maskilic movement, they constituted the most important Polish Jewish proponents of a vision of modern Jewish life that harmonized European culture with traditional rabbinic Judaism.
  612.  
  613. Find this resource:
  614.  
  615. Wodzinski, Marcin. “Dlaczego polscy maskile pisali po polsku? Z ideowej charakterystyki oswiecenia zydowskiego w Królestwie Kongresowym.” In Ortodoksja, emancypacja, asymilacja. Edited by Konrad Zielinski and Monika Adamczyk-Garbowska, 79–95. Lublin, Poland: Wydawn, 2003.
  616.  
  617. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  618.  
  619. The main thesis presented in this article is that Polish Maskilim used the Polish language because of their close symbiosis with the Polish government, and that many of their publications were aimed at influencing state policies concerning Jewish matters.
  620.  
  621. Find this resource:
  622.  
  623. Wodzinski, Marcin. “Good Maskilim and Bad Assimilationists, or, Toward a New Historiography of the Haskalah in Poland.” Jewish Social Studies 10.3 (2004a): 87–122.
  624.  
  625. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  626.  
  627. An initial attempt to characterize the Jewish enlightenment and its members in Congress Poland as a separate movement with its own unique social and ideological characteristics, yet one that also constituted an integral part of the Haskalah in central and eastern Europe.
  628.  
  629. Find this resource:
  630.  
  631. Wodzinski, Marcin. “Language, Ideology and the Beginnings of the Integrationist Movement in the Kingdom of Poland in the 1860s.” East European Jewish Affairs 34.2 (2004b): 21–40.
  632.  
  633. DOI: 10.1080/1350167052000340869Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  634.  
  635. The author portrays the Jewish Maskilim in Poland, whose ideology was propagated in their newspaper ha-Zefirah, as one of the subgroups of what he considers the “progressive camp” within 19th-century Polish Jewry.
  636.  
  637. Find this resource:
  638.  
  639. Zalkin, Mordechai. “Ha-Haskalah ha-Yehudit be-Polin: Kavim le-Diyun.” In Kiyum va-Shever: Yehudei Polin le-Doroteihem. Vol. 2. Edited by Israel Bartal and Israel Gutman, 391–413. Jerusalem: Zalman Shazar Center, 2001a.
  640.  
  641. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  642.  
  643. An initial attempt to draw the outlines of the origins, characteristics, and development of the Haskalah in the 19th-century Kingdom of Poland. This issue is examined, on a geographical basis, using literary, educational, social, and religious criteria.
  644.  
  645. Find this resource:
  646.  
  647. Zalkin, Mordechai. “Ha-Haskalah ha-yehudit be-Krakov ba-me’ah ha-19.” In Kroke-Kazimierz-Cracow. Edited by Elchanan Reiner, 131–153. Tel Aviv: Tel Aviv University Press, 2001b.
  648.  
  649. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  650.  
  651. The author points to a three-step process that characterized the consolidation of the local Maskilic circle: a change in the inner cultural code of enlightened individuals, usually autodidacts; social-intellectual activities leading to the formulation of a common collective cultural identity; and an institutionalization process that took place mainly in the educational and publishing spheres.
  652.  
  653. Find this resource:
  654.  
  655. Galicia
  656. Galicia constituted an “undefined zone,” geographically, politically, and culturally located between central and eastern Europe, and the local Haskalah was similarly defined. Thus, many researchers agree, in works such as Bartal 1987, Cohen 2009, and Holzer 1999, that this unique location had a significant impact on the local Maskilim. They were characterized, as noted in Gelber 1956 and Manekin 2008, by fusion of the relatively radical openness of the German Haskalah and the traditional conservative tendency of the Lithuanian Haskalah.
  657.  
  658. Bartal, Israel. “The Heavenly City of Germany and Absolutism à la Mode d’Autriche: The Rise of the Haskalah in Galicia.” In Toward Modernity: The European Jewish Model. Edited by Jacob Katz, 33–42. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction, 1987.
  659.  
  660. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  661.  
  662. According to the author’s historical analysis, the Galician Haskalah, as part of the surrounding social and political environment, was torn between two poles: the Polish and Lithuanian Jewish cultural arena and the model that crystallized in late-18th-century Berlin.
  663.  
  664. Find this resource:
  665.  
  666. Cohen, Haim. “Yaha Sh ve-Hug he-Halutz, 1852–1888: Ha-Perek ha-Radicali be-Toldot ha-Haskalah be-Galicia.” PhD diss., Bar Ilan University, 2009.
  667.  
  668. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  669.  
  670. In this dissertation, the author describes in detail the Maskilic center in the city of Brody, which served as the location for the periodical he-Halutz, edited by Schor, a publication that served as one of the most radical, thought-provoking, and inspirational platforms for the contemporary Galician Haskalah.
  671.  
  672. Find this resource:
  673.  
  674. Gelber, Nathan Michael. “Tenuat ha-Haskalah.” In Entsyklopedia shel Galuiot: Lwow Volume. Edited by Nathan Michael Gelber, 215–246. Jerusalem: Encyclopedia of Jewish Diaspora, 1956.
  675.  
  676. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  677.  
  678. A detailed review of the Maskilic center in this city, one of the most important and influential Jewish communities in Galicia from the late 18th century; surveys the political, literary, educational, and cultural aspects of the phenomenon.
  679.  
  680. Find this resource:
  681.  
  682. Holzer, Jerzy. “Enlightenment, Assimilation and Modern Identity: The Jewish Elite in Galicia.” Polin 12 (1999): 79–85.
  683.  
  684. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  685.  
  686. The author presents the Haskalah as a significant factor in the world of the Jews of Galicia. His discussion centers on the degree of participation of local Jews in elementary and higher education institutions as well as on the significant volume of local Maskilic literature produced.
  687.  
  688. Find this resource:
  689.  
  690. Manekin, Rachel. “Ha-herem be-Lemberg bi-shnat 1816: ravrevanut maskilit ve-historiografia Yehudit.” Zion 73 (2008): 173–198.
  691.  
  692. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  693.  
  694. This article deals with the ban placed on some Maskilim from Lemberg by the town’s rabbi in 1816. Based on archival materials, the author reassesses the standard account of the event, based on Maskilic sources, and she offers a new viewpoint concerning the responsibility of the town’s rabbi for the event as well as on the number and the names of those banned. Translated as: “The 1916 Herem in Lemberg: Maskilic triumphalism and Jewish historiography.”
  695.  
  696. Find this resource:
  697.  
  698. Russia, Lithuania, and Belarus
  699. Jewish culture in Lithuania, centered mainly in the city of Vilnius (Vilna), is considered the cradle of the Haskalah in the Pale of Settlement. Raisin 1913, Zalkin 2000, Klausner 1989, and Breuer 1997 identify the source of the original cultural, organizational, educational, and political initiatives of most of the Maskilim. During the second half of the 19th century, with the rise of St. Petersburg as the political and cultural center, the Jewish oligarchs in the Russian capital served as the most effective promoters of Maskilic activities, as seen in Rosenthal 1890.
  700.  
  701. Breuer, Edward. “The Haskalah in Vilna: R. Yehezkel Feivel’s ‘Toldot Adam.’” Torah u-Madda 7 (1997): 15–40.
  702.  
  703. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  704.  
  705. The author claims that this book, published by a traditional Lithuanian Maggid at the turn of the 19th century, and its use of traditional and Maskilic material, sheds much light on important patterns of eastern European culture as well as on the influence of the Berlin Haskalah.
  706.  
  707. Find this resource:
  708.  
  709. Cherikover, Ilya. Istoria obshchestva dlya rasprostraneniya prosveshcheniya mezhdu evreyami v Rossii (Kulturnye techeniya v russkom evreistve, 1863–1913). St. Petersburg, Russia: Fleitman, 1913.
  710.  
  711. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  712.  
  713. An early account of the history, aims, and activities of “the Society for the Promotion of the Haskalah among the Jews of Russia.”
  714.  
  715. Find this resource:
  716.  
  717. Dohrn, Verena. “The Rabbinical Schools as Institutions of Socialization in Tsarist Russia, 1847–1873.” Polin 14 (2001): 83–104.
  718.  
  719. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  720.  
  721. Following a detailed description and analysis of the students, daily institutional practices, curricula, teaching staff, and physical conditions in the Maskilic rabbinical seminaries in Vilnius and Zhitomir, the author argues that this system accommodated Jewish identity, cultivated solidarity among the Maskilim, and encouraged the establishment of a new and different eastern European Jewish way of life.
  722.  
  723. Find this resource:
  724.  
  725. Fishman, David. Russia’s First Modern Jews: The Jews of Shklov. New York: New York University Press, 1995.
  726.  
  727. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  728.  
  729. This book focuses on the social and intellectual odysseys of a group of Maskilim and rabbis, and their varied attempts to transform the cultural character of the Jewish community of Shklov, a small town in northeastern Belorussia (present-day Belarus), during the last quarter of the 18th century.
  730.  
  731. Find this resource:
  732.  
  733. Klausner, Israel. Vilna: Jerusalem of Lithuania, Dorot Rishonim, 1495–1881. Tel Aviv: Ha-Kibutz Ha-Meuchad, 1989.
  734.  
  735. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  736.  
  737. As part of a comprehensive study of the history of the Jewish community in Vilnius, the author devotes an extensive discussion to various aspects of the local Haskalah. In this context, he describes the local enlightened educational system as well as some key figures in the local sociocultural Maskilic community, including writers, poets, and teachers.
  738.  
  739. Find this resource:
  740.  
  741. Raisin, Jacob. The Haskalah Movement in Russia. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1913.
  742.  
  743. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  744.  
  745. An early general historical survey of the history of the Jewish enlightenment in Russia, based mainly on secondary sources.
  746.  
  747. Find this resource:
  748.  
  749. Rosenthal, Leon. Toledot Hevrat Marbei Haskalah be-Eretz Russia m-Shenat 1863 ad Shenat 1885. St. Petersburg, Russia: Pinnes, 1890.
  750.  
  751. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  752.  
  753. The first volume contains the protocols of the meetings of the leadership of the Society for the Dissemination of the Enlightenment among Jews in Russia, mostly concerning Maskilic projects. The second volume contains letters, requests for financial aid, and petitions sent to the society by students, writers, teachers, and poets, many of them members of Maskilic circles and institutions throughout the Russian Empire. It is preceded by a detailed biography of the author.
  754.  
  755. Find this resource:
  756.  
  757. Zalkin, Mordechai. Ba’alot Ha-Shakhar: Ha-Haskalah ha-Yehudit ba-Imperia ha-Russit ba-Me’ah ha-Tesha Esre. Jerusalem: Magnes, 2000.
  758.  
  759. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  760.  
  761. A detailed study that focuses on the demographical, social, economic, educational, and cultural aspects of the Haskalah in the first half of the 19th century in the Russian Empire. The first chapter deals with a definition of the term Maskil while the last chapter treats the unique character of this Haskalah.
  762.  
  763. Find this resource:
  764.  
  765. Romania
  766. For unknown reasons the history of the Jews in Romania, including that of the local Maskilic activities, has remained on the margins of Jewish historiography. Little is known about the history of Maskilic circles and activities in Romania, apart from some initial works such as Fărcăşan 2002. However, several aspects, mainly dealing with educational and cultural activities, have been treated by researchers in works such as Rotman 1999 and Sulițeanu 2000.
  767.  
  768. Fărcăşan, Simona. “The Impact of the Haskalah Movement on the Romanian Jewry during the 19th Century.” Studia Hebraica 2 (2002): 97–105.
  769.  
  770. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  771.  
  772. An initial attempt to examine the origins of the Haskalah in Romania and the reasons for its relative lack of success in this region. The author explains this failure by the unique cultural, religious, and political environment in this area, including the difficulties posed by both Hasidic society and anti-Semitic circles.
  773.  
  774. Find this resource:
  775.  
  776. Rotman, Liviu. Hevra be-re’i ha-hinukh: Beit ha-sefer ha-yehudi-ha-Romani 1851–1914. Tel Aviv: Tel Aviv University Press, 1999.
  777.  
  778. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  779.  
  780. This book, a pioneering research effort concerning the modernization of Jewish education in Romania, does not concentrate specifically on Maskilic schools. However, while surveying different aspects of the modernization process, the author indicates the impact of the Haskalah ideology, as well as of local Maskilim, on this development. Translated as: “Education as a reflection of society: The Jewish-Romanian School, 1851–1914.”
  781.  
  782. Find this resource:
  783.  
  784. Sulițeanu, Ghizela. “On the ‘Hascala’ Movement and the Traditional Music of Jews in Romania.” East European Meetings in Ethnomusicology 7 (2000): 48–66.
  785.  
  786. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  787.  
  788. This article treats the way the Haskalah was reflected in the traditional music of the Ashkenazic and Sephardic Jews in Romania. The author discusses the influence of the Haskalah on the cultural identity of Romanian Jewry as well as the Haskalah serving as an important factor in the birth of the local Yiddish-language theater.
  789.  
  790. Find this resource:
  791.  
  792. Central and South Ukraine
  793. Central and South Ukraine are known in Jewish public discourse, as well as in Jewish historiography, as the land of the bitterest rival of the Haskalah, namely Hasidism. However, as shown in Goldberg 1956, Melamed 1996, and Osherowicz 1961, the Haskalah had gained a significant foothold here as early as the beginning of the 19th century. This was apparent mainly in several major Jewish centers, such as Uman, Zhitomir and Odessa, as treated in Horowitz 2013, Piekarz 1971, and Zipperstein 1982.
  794.  
  795. Goldberg, Reuven. “Le-Reshit ha-Haskalah be-Drom Russia.” Orlogin 12 (1956): 256–268.
  796.  
  797. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  798.  
  799. An initial review of the early stage of the expansion of the Jewish enlightenment in Podolia and Volhynia.
  800.  
  801. Find this resource:
  802.  
  803. Horowitz, Brian. “An Innovative Agent of an Alternative Jewish Politics: The Odessa Branch of the Society for the Promotion of Enlightenment among the Jews of Russia.” In Russian Ideas: Jewish Presence: Essays on Russian-Jewish Intellectual Life. Edited by Brian Horowitz, 72–86. Boston: Academic Studies Press, 2013.
  804.  
  805. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  806.  
  807. A collective portrait of the members of the Odessa branch of the “Society”—Lev Pinsker, Emanuel Soloveichik, I. Tarnovsky, and Reuven Kulisher—all characterized by the author as intellectuals who adopted the radical position of full-scale Russification; also treats their activities in publishing and education.
  808.  
  809. Find this resource:
  810.  
  811. Melamed, Efim. “Sources on the History of Jewish Enlightenment and Culture in the Zhitomir Region State Archive.” East European Jewish Affairs 26.2 (1996): 97–101.
  812.  
  813. DOI: 10.1080/13501679608577833Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  814.  
  815. An initial survey of local archival collections covering the period 1844–1919, which are directly relevant to a wide range of aspects of the history of Jewish enlightened education in this region.
  816.  
  817. Find this resource:
  818.  
  819. Osherowicz, Mendel. “Di Haskole bai Yidden in Ukraine.” In Yidden in Ukraine. Edited by Mendel Osherowicz, Jacob Leshchinsky, Philip Friedman, and Abraham Kihn, 279–336. New York: Geselschaft zu Faraibiken dem Andenk fun Ukrainer Yidden, 1961.
  820.  
  821. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  822.  
  823. A comprehensive and detailed discussion of the development and spread of the Jewish enlightenment in Ukraine, focusing on ideological and literary aspects.
  824.  
  825. Find this resource:
  826.  
  827. Piekarz, Mendel. “Parashat Uman be-Hayei R’ Nahman mi-Braslav u-mashmauta be-toldoteha u-ve-masekhet ra’aionoteha shel hasidut Braslav.” Zion 36 (1971): 61–87.
  828.  
  829. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  830.  
  831. The author describes Rabbi Nahman’s social and intellectual contacts with the local Maskilic circle in the town of Uman. Translated as: “The Uman period in the life of R. Nahman of Brazlay and its importance in the development of Brazlav Hasidic thought.”
  832.  
  833. Find this resource:
  834.  
  835. Zipperstein, Steven. “Jewish Enlightenment in Odessa: Cultural Characteristics, 1794–1871.” Jewish Social Studies 44.1 (1982): 19–36.
  836.  
  837. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  838.  
  839. A detailed analysis of the development of the Haskalah in Odessa and its unique character among eastern European Maskilic. Its special character is attributed to the unique cultural and economic atmosphere found in the city in the 19th century and to the intense involvement of local Jews in all aspects of the city’s life.
  840.  
  841. Find this resource:
  842.  
  843. Social Aspects
  844. In the light of recent broader understanding of the Haskalah beyond its literary expressions, as well as the rise in the popularity of social history in the 20th century, contemporary research examines different aspects of the Maskilic social reality. Biale 1992 and Zalkin 1998 treat the Maskilic family. Zalkin 2004 deals with personal aspects. The Maskilic environment is discussed in Zalkin 2009 and Zipperstein 1983, and the economic agenda is analyzed in Levin 1976.
  845.  
  846. Biale, David. “Eros and Enlightenment.” In Eros and the Jews: From Biblical Israel to Contemporary America. By David Biale, 149–175. New York: Basic Books, 1992.
  847.  
  848. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  849.  
  850. Based on analysis of the biographies of eastern European Maskilim, the author argues that they (a “small group of intellectuals”) revolted against traditional society and wanted to revolutionize the politics of marriage and the family along the lines of romantic love and bourgeois marital relations, ideas they borrowed from Western literature.
  851.  
  852. Find this resource:
  853.  
  854. Levin, Mordechai. Erkhei Hevra ve-Kalkala ba-Idiologia shel Tekufat ha-Haskalah. Jerusalem: Bialik Institute, 1976.
  855.  
  856. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  857.  
  858. A comprehensive detailed study on the social and economic ideology and reality of the eastern European Haskalah and the ways in which that reality was reflected in the life of the Maskilim.
  859.  
  860. Find this resource:
  861.  
  862. Zalkin, Mordechai. “Ha-mishpakha ha-maskilit u-mekoma be-hitpatkhut tenuat ha-Haskalah ha-yehudit be-mizrakh Eiropa.” In Eros, Eirusin ve-Isurim. Edited by Israel Bartal and Isaiah Gafni, 239–251. Jerusalem: Zalman Shazar Center, 1998.
  863.  
  864. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  865.  
  866. According to the author’s view, the Maskilic activities in the urban centers of the Pale of Settlement centered on Maskilic families, who served as an ideological and social platform, as well as agents, who supported young Jews who were persecuted by conservative circles for their Maskilic tendencies. Translated as: “The Maskil family and its role in the development of the Jewish Haskalah movement in eastern Europe.”
  867.  
  868. Find this resource:
  869.  
  870. Zalkin, Mordechai. “Ha-Haskalah ha-yehudit u-she’elat ha-otonomia.” In Kehal Israel: Ha-Shilton ha-Atzmi ha-Yehudi le-Dorotav, ha-Et ha-Hadasha. Edited by Israel Bartal, 147–163. Jerusalem: Zalman Shazar Center, 2004.
  871.  
  872. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  873.  
  874. The author reviews the Maskilic discourse on the question of Jewish autonomy, the criticism of the dysfunction of Jewish autonomous institutions, and the dilemma posed by the desire of the Maskilim to preserve this autonomy at the same time they sought to nurture their personal autonomy in all its aspects. Translated as: “The Jewish enlightenment and the question of autonomy.”
  875.  
  876. Find this resource:
  877.  
  878. Zalkin, Mordechai. “‘Kavu le-shalom ve-ayin’: perek be-toldot beit ha-kneset ha-maskili ‘Tahart ha-Kodesh’ be-Vilna.” In Yashan mi-Penei Hadash, II. Edited by David Assaf and Ada Rapoport-Albert, 385–403. Jerusalem: Zalman Shazar Center, 2009.
  879.  
  880. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  881.  
  882. The author analyzes the origins and the nature of the Maskilic synagogue established by the mid-19th century in Vilna (Vilnius) and the role it played in the local Maskilic religious, social and political life. Translated as: “The synagogue as social arena: The Maskilic synagogue Taharat ha-Kodesh in Vilna.”
  883.  
  884. Find this resource:
  885.  
  886. Zipperstein, Steven. “Russian Maskilim and the City.” In The Legacy of Jewish Migration: 1881 and Its Impact. Edited by David Berger, 31–45. New York: Atlantic Research, 1983.
  887.  
  888. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  889.  
  890. This article analyzes the challenges eastern European Maskilim faced in confronting urbanization and the rapid growth of the Jewish population in the major eastern European urban centers. According to the author’s analysis, the cultural environment found in large cities helped persuade them of the need to revise the categories they used to interpret reality.
  891.  
  892. Find this resource:
  893.  
  894. Cultural Aspects
  895. Since the Haskalah was initially a cultural phenomenon, much scholarly attention has been devoted to the cultural aspects of this phenomenon, mainly in its literary manifestation. However, recent research has focused on some unexamined perspectives, such as the impact of the Haskalah ideology on the cultural world of Russia Jewry, as described in Slutsky 1960 and Zipperstein 1983; the external cultural influences, discussed in Sinkoff 2000; scientific aspects, analyzed in Zalkin 2005; and the role played by Maskilic public media, as treated in Zalkin 2012.
  896.  
  897. Horowitz, Brian. Jewish Philanthropy and Enlightenment in Late-Tsarist Russia. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2009.
  898.  
  899. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  900.  
  901. This book deals with the activities of the Society for the Promotion of the Enlightenment among the Jews of Russia. The author offers a study of the society, which served as a model of how individuals and institutions struggled to retain a strong Jewish identity while integrating into the surrounding society.
  902.  
  903. Find this resource:
  904.  
  905. Shazky, Jacob. Kultur Geschichte fun der Hascole in Lite. Buenos Aires: Zentral Farband fun Poilishe Yidden in Argentine, 1950.
  906.  
  907. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  908.  
  909. A post–World War II attempt to trace the origins of the Haskalah in Lithuania, its main contemporary figures, as well as its educational and literary activities.
  910.  
  911. Find this resource:
  912.  
  913. Sinkoff, Nancy. “Benjamin Franklin in Jewish Eastern Europe: Cultural Appropriation in the Age of the Enlightenment.” Journal of the History of Ideas 61.1 (2000): 133–152.
  914.  
  915. DOI: 10.1353/jhi.2000.0010Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  916.  
  917. This article examines the adaptation of sections of Benjamin Franklin’s French memoirs into Hebrew by the Maskil Mendel Lefin of Satanow. Satanow’s work introduced Franklin’s program of moral self-reform to traditional Jewish youth in eastern Europe, which led not only to the spread of Enlightenment ideas, but also to the effort to combat the penetration of Hasidic techniques of expiating sin.
  918.  
  919. Find this resource:
  920.  
  921. Slutsky, Yehuda. “Tzmikhata shel ha-inteligentsia ha-yehudit-Russit.” Zion 25 (1960): 212–237.
  922.  
  923. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  924.  
  925. The author views the Haskalah as one of the factors that furthered the spread of knowledge among Russian Jews. He affirms that the Haskalah exhorted Jews everywhere, for ideological reasons, to learn the local tongue as a necessary step toward complete emancipation. Translated as: “The emergence of the Russo-Jewish intelligentsia.”
  926.  
  927. Find this resource:
  928.  
  929. Zalkin, Mordechai. “Scientific Thinking and Cultural Transformation in Nineteenth-Century East European Jewish Society.” Aleph 5 (2005): 249–271.
  930.  
  931. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  932.  
  933. This article discusses the development of scientific thought among 19th-century eastern European Maskilim, including their popular and semi-professional scientific publications that enjoyed impressive circulation also outside the Maskilic circles.
  934.  
  935. Find this resource:
  936.  
  937. Zalkin, Mordechai. “‘Le-ma’an harem keren ha-Haskalah’ – ha-Drasha be-sheirut ha-idiologia ha-maskilit.” In Doresh Tov le-Amo: ha-Darshan, ha-Derasha ve-Sifrut ha-Derush ba-Tarbut ha-Yehudit. Edited by Kimmy Caplan, Carmi Horowitz, and Nahem Ilan, 115–130. Jerusalem: Zalman Shazar Center, 2012.
  938.  
  939. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  940.  
  941. The author demonstrates how Maskilim in eastern Europe made use of the traditional rhetorical and literary template—the sermon—to disseminate their cultural worldview and thus to influence the religious and cultural agenda of eastern European Jewish society. Translated as: “‘In praise of Haskalah’: Sermons in the service of Haskalah ideology.”
  942.  
  943. Find this resource:
  944.  
  945. Zipperstein, Steven. “Haskalah, Cultural Change and 19th Century Russian Jewry: A Reassessment.” Journal of Jewish Studies 34.2 (1983): 191–207.
  946.  
  947. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  948.  
  949. A review of several factors, which influenced the dissemination of new ideas, and the disintegration of old taboos among Russian Jewry. The Haskalah, with its emphasis on the reconciliation of old and new forms, played a central role in this process, while making more headway in Russia than elsewhere.
  950.  
  951. Find this resource:
  952.  
  953. Political Aspects
  954. Political thought as well as political activities played an integral part in the Maskilic world in eastern Europe. Scholars have examined different aspects of the political worldview of the Maskilim. Dohrn 2004 and Stanislawski 1983 discuss the roots of Maskilic political thought; Etkes 1978, Gutterman 1978, Lederhendler 1989, Shohat 1976, and Wodzinski 2009 analyze different modes of discourse and cooperation between the authorities and local Maskilic circles, while the impact of the Haskalah on other Jewish political ideologies is treated in Bartal 1993, Haberer 1992, and Zalkin 2012 (cited under Cultural Aspects).
  955.  
  956. Bartal, Israel. “Bein Haskalah radikalit le-sozialism Yehudi.” In Ha-Dat ve-ha-Hayim: Tenuat ha-Haskalah ha-Yehudit be-Mizrakh Eiropa. Edited by Immanuel Etkes, 328–335. Jerusalem: Zalman Shazar, 1993.
  957.  
  958. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  959.  
  960. A discussion of the collective characters of the radical Maskilim in Russia and the reasons they adopted the socialist worldview.
  961.  
  962. Find this resource:
  963.  
  964. Dohrn, Verena. “Maimonides und die Haskala in Russland: Leon Mandel’stams politisches Vermächtnis.” In Moses Maimonides, 1138–1204: His Religious, Scientific, and Philosophical “Wirkungsgeschichte” in Different Cultural Contexts. Edited by Görge K. Hasselhoff and Otfried Fraisse, 363–384. Würzburg, Germany: Ergon Verlag, 2004.
  965.  
  966. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  967.  
  968. Following an introduction regarding the general meaning of the term Haskalah and the program of educational reform of the Jews, the author discusses the use of different aspects of Maimonides’s philosophy made by the Maskil Leon Mandelshtam as part of his efforts to legitimize and disseminate the Maskilic worldview.
  969.  
  970. Find this resource:
  971.  
  972. Etkes, Immanuel. “Parashat ’ha-Haskalah mi-Ta’am’ ve-ha-tmura be-ma’amad tenuat ha-Haskalah be-Russia.” Zion 43 (1978): 264–313.
  973.  
  974. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  975.  
  976. A detailed description of the Russian government’s attempt to force reform upon traditional Jewish education in the early 1840s, known as “compulsory Enlightenment.” This initiative and the ensuing struggle brought about a radical change in the balance of power and in the relations between the Maskilim and those who advocated tradition. Translated as: “‘Compulsory enlightenment’ as a crossroads in the history of the Haskalah movement in Russia.”
  977.  
  978. Find this resource:
  979.  
  980. Gutterman, Alexander. “‘Sefer Refu’ot’ le-Dr. Markuze ve-hatza’otav le-tikunim be-khayei ha-yehudim.” GAL-ED 4 (1978): 35–53.
  981.  
  982. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  983.  
  984. As part of a general survey of reform programs submitted by Jews to the Polish authorities in the late 18th century, the author examines the proposals suggested by Dr. Marcuse, which touched on three main subjects: economics and the improvement of living conditions, child education, and the eradication of superstitions. Translated as: “Dr. Moses Marcuse’s proposals for reforms in the life of the Jews.”
  985.  
  986. Find this resource:
  987.  
  988. Haberer, Erich. “Haskalah and the Roots of Jewish Radicalism in Nineteenth Century Russia.” Studies in Jewish Civilization 3 (1992): 123–147.
  989.  
  990. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  991.  
  992. This article points to the immanent connection between the Haskalah and the rise of early Jewish radicalism in the second half of the 19th century in Russia, as part of the formation of an enlightened secularized Russian Jewish intelligentsia.
  993.  
  994. Find this resource:
  995.  
  996. Lederhendler, Eli. The Road to Modern Jewish Politics. New York: Oxford University Press 1989.
  997.  
  998. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  999.  
  1000. This book analyzes the transformation of Jewish political thinking and activism in 19th-century Russia, from traditional intercommunal politics and lobbying to new political ideologies and frameworks, a process in which the local Maskilim played a significant role.
  1001.  
  1002. Find this resource:
  1003.  
  1004. Shohat, Azriel. Mossad ha-Rabbanut mi-Ta’am be-Russia. Haifa, Israel: Haifa University Press, 1976.
  1005.  
  1006. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1007.  
  1008. The only comprehensive study to date that examines the phenomenon of the “Official Rabbinate” in the Russian Empire in the 19th century. The author examines the Maskilic “rabbinical seminaries” in which these rabbis were trained; the public discourse that accompanied the activities of the rabbis, and various suggestions discussed to solve the question of the “Dual Rabbinate.”
  1009.  
  1010. Find this resource:
  1011.  
  1012. Stanislawski, Michael. “The Tsarist Mishneh Torah: A Study in the Cultural Politics of the Russian Haskalah.” Proceedings of the American Academy for Jewish Research 50 (1983): 165–183.
  1013.  
  1014. DOI: 10.2307/3622695Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1015.  
  1016. This text, composed by the Maskil Leon Mandelshtam for use in Jewish school classes, is, according to the author, an excellent example of the use of the writings of Maimonides for Maskilic purposes, an instructive guide to the limits of the tsarist censorship, and a subtle argument for the civic and religious reform of the Jews.
  1017.  
  1018. Find this resource:
  1019.  
  1020. Wodzinski, Marcin. “Haskalah and Politics Reconsidered: The Case of the Kingdom of Poland, 1815–1860.” In Yashan mi-Penei Hadash. Vol. 2. Edited by David Assaf and Ada Rapoport-Albert, 163–197. Jerusalem: Zalman Shazar Center, 2009.
  1021.  
  1022. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1023.  
  1024. A comprehensive discussion on the political activities of the Maskilim in Congress Poland since 1818. In the author’s view, the Shtadlanut (lobbying) of the Maskilim was concerned primarily with protecting the interests of the entire Polish Jewish community. This effort resulted mainly from the weakening of the alliance between the Haskalah and the state authorities. Translated as: “Haskalah and politics reconsidered: The case of the Kingdom of Poland, 1815–1860.”
  1025.  
  1026. Find this resource:
  1027.  
  1028. Gender
  1029. Since the 1990s increasing attention has been given to research into gender in considering Maskilic thought and life. A review of these studies reveals two conflicting approaches. The first, represented in Cohen 2004, Cohen 2008, Feiner 1993, and Parush 2004, views the Haskalah mainly as a male-only club and points to the negative attitude of male Maskilim toward women who made efforts to join the club. The second group, represented in Adler 2005, Orchan 2013, and Werses 2004, considers different intellectual and cultural aspects of Jewish women who viewed themselves members of the broad Maskilic society without looking for the approval of the Maskilic men’s literary circle.
  1030.  
  1031. Adler, Eliyana. “Women’s Education in the Pages of the Russian Jewish Press.” Polin 18 (2005): 121–132.
  1032.  
  1033. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1034.  
  1035. As part of her comprehensive research into modern education for Jewish girls in Russia, the author describes and analyzes several aspects of the public interest in this development and its representation in the local press.
  1036.  
  1037. Find this resource:
  1038.  
  1039. Balin, Carole. To Reveal Our Hearts: Jewish Women Writers in Tsarist Russia. Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College Press, 2000.
  1040.  
  1041. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1042.  
  1043. This volume presents the biographies and the literary careers of five Jewish women writers in late-19th-century Russia. Though four of them were born after the age of the Haskalah, their biographies and writings reflect the ideal of the enlightened woman in Russian Haskalah thought. Their education, behavioral patterns, cultural world, and careers revealed that they not only lived up to the Maskilic ideal, but also formed part of a wider phenomenon—Russian women stepping out of subservient roles to prove their mettle in the intellectual arena.
  1044.  
  1045. Find this resource:
  1046.  
  1047. Cohen, Tova. “Appropriating the Bible: Women and Haskalah in 19th Century.” In Men and Women: Gender, Judaism and Democracy. Edited by Rachel Elior, 125–141. Jerusalem: Van Leer, 2004.
  1048.  
  1049. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1050.  
  1051. Based on a sample of three contemporary Jewish women writers, the author claims that they represent an unknown phenomenon in the development of the Haskalah culture and that few of these women even tried to penetrate the world of canonical male textual knowledge. Translated as: “Appropriating the Bible: Women and Haskalah in the 19th century.”
  1052.  
  1053. Find this resource:
  1054.  
  1055. Cohen, Tova. “Portrait of the ‘Maskilah’ as a Young Woman.” Nashim 15 (2008): 9–29.
  1056.  
  1057. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1058.  
  1059. This article is an attempt to “compose” a biography of the typical Maskilah, based on the Hebrew writings of about thirty Maskilot. The author claims that a summary of their achievements permits us to revise the traditional view of the Haskalah as an exclusively male club.
  1060.  
  1061. Find this resource:
  1062.  
  1063. Cohen, Tova, and Shmuel Feiner. Kol Almah Ivria: Kitvei Nashim Maskilot ba-Me’ah ha-Tesha Esra. Tel Aviv: Hakibbutz Hameuchad, 2006.
  1064.  
  1065. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1066.  
  1067. A collection of letters, articles, and stories written during the 19th century by Maskilic women, some of them from eastern Europe.
  1068.  
  1069. Find this resource:
  1070.  
  1071. Feiner, Shmuel. “Ha-isha ha-yehudiya ha-modernit: Mikre mivkhan be-yakhasei ha-Haskalah ve-ha-moderna.” Zion 58 (1993): 453–499.
  1072.  
  1073. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1074.  
  1075. This article examines the attitude of the Maskilim to the appearance of modern Jewish women in Russia. The “woman’s issue” served as a topic of debate among radical and moderate Maskilim, and the author’s conclusion is that the modern woman was perceived more as a threat to the Maskilim than as the embodiment of an ideal dream. Translated as: “The modern Jewish woman: A test case in the relationship between Haskalah and modernity.”
  1076.  
  1077. Find this resource:
  1078.  
  1079. Orchan, Nurit. Yotz’ot me-Arba Amot: Nashim Kotvot ba-Itonut be-Yiddish ba-Imperia ha-Russit. Jerusalem: Zalman Shazar, 2013.
  1080.  
  1081. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1082.  
  1083. The story of more than two hundred Jewish women who published hundreds of articles, essays, dramas, stories, and novels in the late-19th-century Yiddish Press. The book sheds light on how they viewed the transition of Jewish society and culture from traditional to modern.
  1084.  
  1085. Find this resource:
  1086.  
  1087. Parush, Iris. Reading Jewish Women: Marginality and Modernization in Nineteenth-Century Eastern European Jewish Society. Waltham, MA: Brandeis University Press, 2004.
  1088.  
  1089. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1090.  
  1091. An examination of the world of Jewish literate women in 19th-century Russia and their reading habits. The author’s main claim is that because rabbinical authorities marginalized Jewish women, they were free to read secular literature in different languages and thus became significant conduits for Haskalah ideas.
  1092.  
  1093. Find this resource:
  1094.  
  1095. Werses, Shmuel, ed. Yedidato shel ha-Meshorer: Igrot Miriam Markel-Mozessohn el Yehuda Leib Gordon. Jerusalem: Bialik Institute, 2004.
  1096.  
  1097. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1098.  
  1099. A collection of letters sent by Miriam Markel–Mozessohn to the writers Judah Leib Gordon and Abraham Mapu as well as Gordon’s letters to her. These letters reveals her rich intellectual and cultural knowledge as well as her interest in contemporary social and cultural issues.
  1100.  
  1101. Find this resource:
  1102.  
  1103. Education
  1104. Education played a major role in the thought and the activities of the eastern European Maskilic world. Like their counterparts in central Europe, eastern European Maskilim realized that modern education could contribute not only to consolidation of Maskilic cultural identity, but also to training future Maskilic adherents. In addition to general overviews of Maskilic educational thought and activities—Levin 1997, Shatzky 1943, and Zipperstein 1988—particular aspects of this subject have been the subject of much research since the 1990s. Adler 2011 treats girl’s education. Kraiz 1999 and Zalkin 2008 are studies of private Maskilic schools. Slutsky 1960 deals with the training of teachers.
  1105.  
  1106. Adler, Eliyana. In Her Hands: The Education of Jewish Girls in Tsarist Russia. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 2011.
  1107.  
  1108. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1109.  
  1110. A comprehensive and detailed study of the emergence and development of the modern education system for Jewish girls in the Russian Empire in the 19th century. In addition to a detailed analysis of the organizational and educational aspects of these schools, the author discusses the public discourse on this development.
  1111.  
  1112. Find this resource:
  1113.  
  1114. Kraiz, Semion. “Batei sefer yehudim pratiyim – gorem Russificatory oh gorem Yehudi meshamer?” In Hinukh ve-Historia. Edited by Rivka Feldhay and Immanuel Etkes, 285–296. Jerusalem: Zalman Shazar Center, 1999.
  1115.  
  1116. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1117.  
  1118. During the 1860s and 1870s most of the private Jewish schools served as a platform for Russification, and only a few schools promoted the Jewish identity of their students. Only with the rise of a Jewish national ideology did the number of schools that provided a proper Jewish education grow significantly. Translated as: “Private Jewish schools: A factor of Russification or of Jewish conservatism?”
  1119.  
  1120. Find this resource:
  1121.  
  1122. Levin, Sabina. Perakim be-Toldot ha-Hinukh ha-Yehudi be-Polin ba-Me’ah ha-Teshah Esre u-be-Reshit ha-Me’ah ha-Esrim. Tel Aviv: Tel Aviv University Press, 1997.
  1123.  
  1124. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1125.  
  1126. This book examines modern Jewish education in Poland in the 19th century and the early 20th century. The author examines developments concerning the schools established in Warsaw since 1818, the corresponding process that took place in Lódź, and the strike at the major schools in 1905.
  1127.  
  1128. Find this resource:
  1129.  
  1130. Lozhinsky, Samuel Gorachevich. Kazennei evreiski uchilishcha. Peterburg: Vtoraia gosudarstvenaia tipografia, 1920.
  1131.  
  1132. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1133.  
  1134. A collection of 525 documents (reports, letters, statistics) from the years 1840 to 1850 concerning various aspects of the Russian government’s program of modernizing Jewish education.
  1135.  
  1136. Find this resource:
  1137.  
  1138. Shatzky, Jacob. Yiddishe Bildungs-Politic in Poilen fun 1806 biz 1866. New York: Yiddisher Wissenschaftlekher Institute, 1943.
  1139.  
  1140. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1141.  
  1142. The most comprehensive detailed research on Jewish educational policies in Poland in the 19th century. The author focuses mainly on the modernization of Jewish education and the involvement of local Maskilim in this process. The book also includes documents regarding the oldest school for Jewish girls in Warsaw and the Jewish students at the Institute of Agriculture.
  1143.  
  1144. Find this resource:
  1145.  
  1146. Slutsky, Judah. “Beit ha-Midrash le-Rabbanim be-Vilna.” He’avar 7 (1960): 29–48.
  1147.  
  1148. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1149.  
  1150. This article traces the establishment, development, and decline of the Maskilic rabbinical seminary, founded in Vilna (Vilnius) in 1847. The author examines the teaching staff, the intellectual and religious world of the students, the curriculum, and the relationship with the traditional society.
  1151.  
  1152. Find this resource:
  1153.  
  1154. Zalkin, Mordechai. El Heikhal ha-Haskalah: Tahalikhei Modernizatsia ba-Hinukh ha-Yehudi be-Mizrakh Eiropa ba-Me’ah ha-Tesha Esre. Tel Aviv: Hakibbutz Hameuchad, 2008.
  1155.  
  1156. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1157.  
  1158. A comprehensive and detailed study of the roots and the development of the private Maskilic educational system in the Russian Empire in the 19th century. The author examines the Heder and its implications in shaping the educational worldview of the Maskilim, the strategy and tactics of the Maskilim in consolidating their educational policy, and the modern Jewish schools and the Maskilic teachers.
  1159.  
  1160. Find this resource:
  1161.  
  1162. Zipperstein, Steven. “Transforming the ‘Heder’: Maskilic Politics in Imperial Russia.” In Jewish History: Essays in Honor of Chimen Abramsky. Edited by Ada Rapoport-Albert and Steven J. Zipperstein, 87–109. London: P. Halban, 1988.
  1163.  
  1164. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1165.  
  1166. The attitude of the Society for the Promotions of Enlightenment among the Jews of Russia (OPE) toward the eradication of the Heder. The author discusses the impact of ideological and practical considerations of the OPE leadership’s stance, which led to other solutions, such as the “reformed Heder,” and support for Jewish modern schools.
  1167.  
  1168. Find this resource:
  1169.  
  1170. Haskalah and Hasidism
  1171. Haskalah and Hasidism were, and to a certain extent still are, considered as the two ideologies and social environments in 19th-century eastern Europe that stood in opposition to each other. Scholars have attempted to uncover the basic roots of, as well as different aspects to, this conflict. Bartal 1995 discusses the parasitic image of the Hasidim, and Wodzinski 2005 aims to explain it in its local contexts. At the same time, historians, in works such as Feiner 1986, Gertner 2009, Rapoport-Albert 2002, and Wodzinski 2002, have pointed to contemporary voices who tried to minimize the mutual hostility, mainly by emphasizing positive aspects of Hasidism. Attention, such as the work of Bartal 1996, has also been given to the ways in which this conflict was expressed in a variety of contemporary sources, such as in literature.
  1172.  
  1173. Bartal, Israel. “Le’an Halakh Zror ha-Kesef? Ha-Bikoret ha-Maskilit al Hebeteha ha-kalkali’im Shel ha-Hasidut.” In Dat ve-Kalkalah: Yahasei Gomlin. Edited by Menahem Ben-Sasson, 375–385. Jerusalem: Zalman Shazar Center, 1995.
  1174.  
  1175. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1176.  
  1177. The author examines the background of the Maskilic-Hasidic conflict in the context of Hasidic economic activity, and discusses the use made by Maskilic writers in literary conventions to shape the economic reality, regardless of the actual economic activity of the Hasidim.
  1178.  
  1179. Find this resource:
  1180.  
  1181. Bartal, Israel. “The Imprint of Haskalah Literature on the Historiography of Hasidism.” In Hasidism Reappraised. Edited by Ada Rapoport-Albert, 367–375. London: Valentine Mitchell, 1996.
  1182.  
  1183. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1184.  
  1185. To substantiate his topic as presented in the title, the author examines some interpretive models that, formulated by the Maskilim, and have endured in histories of Hasidism. Following that, he gives a brief overview of works that display the range of affinities between Haskalah literature and modern historiography.
  1186.  
  1187. Find this resource:
  1188.  
  1189. Feiner, Shmuel. “Ha-mifne be-ha’arakhat ha-Hasidut: Eliezer Zweifel ve-ha-Haskalah ha-metuna be-Russia.” Zion 51 (1986): 167–210.
  1190.  
  1191. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1192.  
  1193. Zweifel’s book Shalom al Yisrael (Peace upon Israel) marked the first attempt to retreat from the traditional Maskilic hostile stand toward Hasidism. His main argument is that Hasidism is a legitimate trend, which expresses “the spirit of the time” while contributing in its own unique way to Judaism as all-encompassing faith. Translated as: “The turning point in the evaluation of Hasidism: Eliezer Zweifel and the moderate Haskalah in Russia.”
  1194.  
  1195. Find this resource:
  1196.  
  1197. Gertner, Haim. “Dimui u-metziut be-yakhasi maskilim ve-hasidim: parashat minuio shel Shlomo Yehudah Rapoport le-rabbanut Tarnopol.” In Yashan mi-Penei Hadash. Vol. 2. Edited by David Assaf and Ada Rapoport-Albert, 355–383. Jerusalem: Zalman Shazar Center, 2009.
  1198.  
  1199. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1200.  
  1201. A reexamination of the argument that the struggle of the Maskilim was primarily anti-Hasidic and that the Hasidic response was uncompromising and violent. In the author’s view, the nature of the conflict was more complex and included some elements of mutual discourse, while the type of language used by both sides constituted part of the struggle itself. Translated as: “Image and reality in the relationship between Maskilim and Hasidim: The case of Shlomo Yehudah Rapoport’s appointment to the rabbinate of Tarnopol.”
  1202.  
  1203. Find this resource:
  1204.  
  1205. Lurie, Ilia, and Arkadii Zeltser. “Moses Berlin and Lubavich Hasidism: A Landmark in the Conflict between Haskalah and Hasidism.” Shvut 5 (1997): 32–64.
  1206.  
  1207. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1208.  
  1209. Based on a wide range of archival documents, this essay discusses the bitter conflict between Moses Berlin, a learned Jew in the Department of Spiritual Affairs of Foreign Denominations and the Lubavich Hasidic court. According to the authors’ analysis of the primary sources, apart from the opposing ideological differences, the motives behind the Hasidic campaign against Berlin were mainly political, originating in the fear that, by his appointment he might exert direct influence on government policies in regard to local Jews, in general, and the Hasidic community, in particular.
  1210.  
  1211. Find this resource:
  1212.  
  1213. Mahler, Raphael. Hasidism and the Jewish Enlightenment: Their Confrontations in Galicia and Poland in the First half of the Nineteenth Century. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1985.
  1214.  
  1215. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1216.  
  1217. A collection of essays on different aspects of the Hasidut and Haskalah in Congress Poland and Galicia, mainly on the conflicts between these two sociocultural movements. The conflict is presented and interpreted through the Marxist worldview of the author.
  1218.  
  1219. Find this resource:
  1220.  
  1221. Rapoport-Albert, Ada. “‘Eize she’elot u-teshuvot al derekh Shealtiel ve-Yehoiada’: sanegoria maskilit al ha-hasidut bi-ktav yad alum shem mi-beit midrasho shel Eliezer Tzvi Zweifel.” In Mi-Vilna le-Yerushalayim. Edited by David Assaf, Israel Bartal, Shmuel Feiner, Yehuda Friedlander, Avner Holtzman, and Chava Turniansky, 71–122. Jerusalem: Magnes, 2002.
  1222.  
  1223. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1224.  
  1225. An unknown pro-Hasidic annotated manuscript, which in the introduction the author attributes to the close circle of the Maskil Eliezer Zvi Zweifel. This attribution is based on a variety of content-related, structural, and linguistic affinities to Zweifel’s printed works. Translated as: “A Maskilic tract in defense of Hasidism in an anonymous manuscript from the circle of E. Z. Zweifel.”
  1226.  
  1227. Find this resource:
  1228.  
  1229. Werses, Shmuel. “Bein shnei olamot – Ya’acov Shmuel Bik bein Haskalah le-hasidut: Iyun mekhudash.” GAL-ED 9 (1986): 27–76.
  1230.  
  1231. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1232.  
  1233. Based on archival documents, the author portrays Bik as a unique Galician Maskilic figure, a seeker of ideological paths based on a synthesis of nationalism, Jewish tradition, progress, and reform in the spirit of the Haskalah. Translated as: “Between two worlds: Yaakov Shmuel Bik between Haskalah and Hasidism: A new scrutiny.”
  1234.  
  1235. Find this resource:
  1236.  
  1237. Wodzinski, Marcin. “Jakub Tugendhold and the First Maskilic Defense of Hasidism.” Gal-Ed 18 (2002): 13–41.
  1238.  
  1239. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1240.  
  1241. Jacob Tugendhold, the founder of Poland’s first state-run Jewish elementary schools in the early 19th century, a government-appointed censor of Hebrew publications, and the director of the Warsaw rabbinical seminary, was one of the most prominent Maskilim in 19th-century Poland. His moderate attitude toward Hasidism presented in this article as innovative among progressive Jews in Poland. This argument is based on his treatment of Hasidism as one of the rightful segments of Judaism, while pointing out this movement’s positive aspects in terms of its sense of solidarity and its concern for religious education and for fulfilling religious regulations.
  1242.  
  1243. Find this resource:
  1244.  
  1245. Wodzinski, Marcin. Haskalah and Hasidism in the Kingdom of Poland: A History of Conflict. Oxford: Littman Library of Jewish Civilization, 2005.
  1246.  
  1247. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1248.  
  1249. While reconstructing the ways that the conflict between the Haskalah and Hasidism manifested itself, the author examines the motives, methods, and consequences of this conflict. Extensive consideration is given to the professional, social, institutional, and ideological characteristics of the Polish Haskalah as well as to its geographic extent.
  1250.  
  1251. Find this resource:
  1252.  
  1253. Haskalah and Jewish Nationalism
  1254. Based on the centrality of the principle of universalism in the thought of the Enlightenment, the Haskalah was considered by many historians, in works such as Lederhendler 1991, Shohat 1981, and Stanislawski 1989, as detached from the ideology of Jewish nationalism. However, another attitude prevalent in the historical research, represented, for example, in Bartal 1998a, Bartal 1998b, Lehnardt 2011, and Shifris 2011, points to affinities between the eastern European Haskalah and the rise of Jewish national consciousness.
  1255.  
  1256. Bartal, Israel. “Response to Modernity: Haskalah, Orthodoxy and Nationalism in Eastern Europe.” In Zionism and Religion. Edited by Shmuel Almog, Jehuda Reinharz, and Anita Shapira, 13–24. Waltham, MA: Brandeis University Press, 1998a.
  1257.  
  1258. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1259.  
  1260. The author argues that the first blossomings of modern Jewish nationalism in eastern Europe appeared in connection with the moderate Haskalah, and that synthesis with important elements of the radical Haskalah made possible the consolidation of a national awareness.
  1261.  
  1262. Find this resource:
  1263.  
  1264. Bartal, Israel. “Ha-shikhekha ve-ha-zekhira: Eretz Yisrael be-toda’at tenuat ha-Haskalah be-mizrakh Eiropa.” In Eretz Yisrael ba-Hagut ha-Yehudit ba-Et ha-Hadasha. Edited by Aviezer Ravitzky, 413–423. Jerusalem: Ben-Zvi Institute, 1998b.
  1265.  
  1266. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1267.  
  1268. Contrary to the accusations of Zionist historiography, members of the Haskalah in eastern Europe created new channels of affinity with the land of Israel as part of their efforts to preserve their unique Jewish identity by fostering the cultural characters of the Jewish people. Translated as: “To forget and remember: The land of Israel in the eastern European Haskalah movement.”
  1269.  
  1270. Find this resource:
  1271.  
  1272. Bartal, Israel. “‘Ha-bari’akh ha-tikhon’: toda’ah kevutzatit be-haskalat mizrakh Eiropa.” In Ha-Haskalah li-Gevaneha. Edited by Shmuel Feiner and Israel Bartal, 149–164. Jerusalem: Magnes, 2005.
  1273.  
  1274. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1275.  
  1276. The eastern European Haskalah was but one of the ways employed by Jewish society in its attempt to maintain a distinct collective identity, mainly in confronting the challenges posed by the policy of the imperial state. Thus, in practice, the Haskalah drew its authority from the ideological and political alliance with the state authorities. Translated as: “Haskalah as proto-nationalism.”
  1277.  
  1278. Find this resource:
  1279.  
  1280. Lederhendler, Eli. “Interpreting Messianic Rhetoric in the Russian Haskalah and Early Zionism.” Studies in Contemporary Jewry 7 (1991): 14–33.
  1281.  
  1282. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1283.  
  1284. According to the author’s view, the Russian Maskilim acted in order to narrow the gap between “this world” and “the days of the Messiah,” mainly by emptying Messianism of its eschatological and supernatural content, while their metaphorical use of messianic terminology was a way of fostering a this-worldly consciousness.
  1285.  
  1286. Find this resource:
  1287.  
  1288. Lehnardt, Andreas. “Vor-zionistische Vorstellungen von Staatlichkeit in der osteuropäischen Haskala.” In Die politische Aufgabe von Religion: Perspektiven der drei monotheistischen Religionen. Edited by Irene Dingel and Christiane Tietz, 37–53. Göttingen, Germany: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2011.
  1289.  
  1290. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1291.  
  1292. The author analyzes what he considers as some proto-Zionist ideas of statehood in the writings of eastern European Maskilim, such as Joseph Perl and Nachman Krochmal.
  1293.  
  1294. Find this resource:
  1295.  
  1296. Shifris, Nathan. “Shlomo Yehuda Rapoport (Shir), 1790–1867: Torah, Haskalah, Hokhmat Israel, ve-Reshita shel ha-Leumiut ha-Yehudit ha-Modernit.” PhD diss., Hebrew University, 2011.
  1297.  
  1298. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1299.  
  1300. A dissertation that presents Rapoport not only as a leading member of the local Jewish Galician Haskalah, but also as one of the most significant figures in the creation of early modern Jewish nationalism.
  1301.  
  1302. Find this resource:
  1303.  
  1304. Shohat, Azriel. “Hitrofefut ha-Tsipiyot ha-Meshikhiyot Etsel Rishonei ha-Maskilim ve-ha-Hatkhalot le-She’ifat ha-Hishtalvut ba-Hevra ha-Russit.” Iyun va-Ma’as 2 (1981): 205–226.
  1305.  
  1306. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1307.  
  1308. In this article, the author discusses different phrases used by local Maskilim that point to a weakening of their traditional messianic expectations.
  1309.  
  1310. Find this resource:
  1311.  
  1312. Shohat, Azriel. “Yahasam shel Maskilim be-Russia el ha-Lashon ha-Ivrit.” In Sefer Avraham Even-Shushan. Edited by Ben-Zion Luria, 353–430. Jerusalem: Kiryat Sefer, 1985.
  1313.  
  1314. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1315.  
  1316. A detailed review of the attitude of the Maskilic writers in Russia to the Hebrew language, from Isaac Ber Levinsohn to Peretz Smolenskin.
  1317.  
  1318. Find this resource:
  1319.  
  1320. Stanislawski, Michael. “Haskalah and Zionism: A Reexamination.” In Vision Confronts Reality: Historical Perspectives on the Contemporary Jewish Agenda. Edited by Ruth Kozodoy, David Sidorsky, and Kalman Sultanik, 56–67. Rutherford, NJ: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1989.
  1321.  
  1322. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1323.  
  1324. A reexamination of the connections between the Haskalah and the Zionist movement through the study of the views on Zionism held by the poet Judah Leib Gordon. To Gordon, the author claims, the idea that the Jews ought to be a nation like all others is hollow, shallow, and self-defeating.
  1325.  
  1326. Find this resource:
Advertisement
Add Comment
Please, Sign In to add comment
Advertisement
Public Pastes
Advertisement
We use cookies for various purposes including analytics. By continuing to use Pastebin, you agree to our use of cookies as described in the Cookies Policy.  OK, I Understand
Not a member of Pastebin yet?
Sign Up, it unlocks many cool features!