Haskalah and History: The Emergence of a Modern Jewish Historical Consciousness

by Shmuel Feiner, Sondra Silverston (Translator), Chaya Naor (Translator)

Shmuel Feiner's innovative book recreates the historical consciousness that fired the Haskalah - the Jewish Enlightenment movement. The proponents of this movement advocated that Jews should capture the spirit of the future and take their place in wider society, but as Jews - without denying their collective identity and without denying their past. Claiming historical legitimacy for their ideology and their vision of the future, they formulated an ethos of modernity that they projected on to the universal and the Jewish past alike. What was the image of the past that they shaped? What tactics underpinned their use of history? How did their historical awareness change and develop - from the inception of the Haskalah in Germany at the time of Mendelssohn and Wessely, through the centres of Haskalah in Austria, Galicia, and Russia, to the emergence of modern nationalism among their followers in eastern Europe in the last third of the nineteenth century? These are some of the
questions raised in this fascinating exploration of an ideological approach to history which throws a searching new light on the Jewish Enlightenment movement and the emergence of Jewish historical consciousness more generally.

Genres: Jewish, History

416 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

Shmuel Feiner (Hebrew: שמואל פיינר) is professor of Modern Jewish History at Bar Ilan University and holds the Samuel Braun Chair for the History of the Jews in Prussia. His books include Haskalah and History: The Emergence of a Modern Jewish Historical Consciousness and The Jewish Enlightenment (winner of the Koret Jewish Book Award).

Reviews

[Michael Lewyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book answers two separate questions:
1. Who or what was the Haskalah? A group of late 18th and 19th century Jewish intellectuals who generally sought to bring Jews into the European mainstream, but who otherwise had little in common. Some were proto-modern Orthodox Jews, who combined an interest in secular life with rigorous traditional observance. Others were religious reformers of various types.
2. How did maskilim (adherents of the Haskalah) approach history and how was their approach different from that of anti-Haskalah traditionalists? Some traditionalists thought the study of history was a waste of time to the extent it lacked theological significance. Early, moderate maskilim, by contrast, saw history as a source of moral education. In addition, historical study supported the optimism of early maskilim, who believed that enlightened despots were moving Europe towards a future of freedom and tolerance. By the late 19th century, Jewish intellectuals (especially in anti-Semitic Russia) became more pessimistic, and some moved away from the Haskalah towards socialism or Zionism.