This course is no longer offered

10302 German Jewry: 1781-1917 1

Credits: 6 advanced credits in Modern History of the Jewish People

Prerequisites: 36 credits, including Jews in an Era of Transition and Germany 1770-1830: From 'Kulturvolk' to National Culture. Students must also fulfill all English requirements.

The course Jews in an Era of Transition discussed the changes which took place in various Jewish communities following the modernization processes they encountered. In this course students enhance their knowledge and specialize in the changes which occurred in a community which significantly influenced the spiritual world of Jewish society in the modern age - German Jewry.

The course material includes Shulamit Volkov, Between Dissimilation and Assimilation – German Jewry 1780-1918 (2002, in Hebrew). The course includes guided reading of research studies and primary sources. Students choose a topic for a seminar paper in coordination with a supervisor, subject to the availability of source material (in Hebrew or in a language which the student understands).

Topics: Background and basic characteristics of German history during the period discussed; Initial changes in Jewish society and in its customs in 18th century Germany; The Jewish Enlightenment movement; The Emancipation controversy; The wisdom of Israel; Religious schools in German Jewry; Major political schools in German Jewry at the end of the 19th century.

Examples of seminar paper topics:

Religion and State in Moshe Mendelssohn’s “Jerusalem”; The Emancipation controversy in the years 1781-1830; The beginnings of the movement for religious change; The foundations of “Historical Judaism” according to Rabbi Zecharya Frankel; “Torah and the way of life (derech eretz)” in the teachings of Rabbi Shimshon Raphael Hirsh; Jewishness vs. Germanness in the central organization of German Jewry; The beginning of Zionism in Germany.


1Students taking this course may only take one additional course from among the following: French Jewry from the French Revolution to the Dreyfus Affair (10308), Modernization of East European Jewry (10310), The Jews of North Africa: 1830-1956 (10311). Students may not take both courses in the same semester.