Haskalah and Beyond: The Reception of the Hebrew Enlightenment and the Emergence of Haskalah Judaism

268 Pages·2010·10.145 MB·English

by  Moshe Pelli

HASKALAH AND BEYOND

HASKALAH AND BEYOND
The Reception of the Hebrew Enlightenment
and the Emergence of Haskalah Judaism
Moshe Pelli
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Library of Congress Control Number: 2010926181
ISBN: 978-0-7618-5203-2 (paperback: alk. paper)
eiSBN: 978-0-7618-5204-9
The frontispiece from vol. 1 of: Barrow, John, teacher of mathematics. Dictionarium
Polygraphicum: Or, The Whole BODY of ARTS Regularly Digested. Containing, The ARTS
of Designing, Drawing, Painting ... Adorned with proper Sculptures, curiously Eng raven
on more than fifty Copper Plates. Printed for C. Hitch and C. Davis in Pater-noster-Row,
and S. Austen in St. Paul's Church-Yard. London: 1735. Drawn by James Devoto (fl.
1730) and engraved by William Henri Toms (ca. 1700-ca. 1750) (References to these
men are from Benezit: Dictionnaire des peintres).
8"'
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum
requirements of American National Standard for Information
Sciences-Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials,
ANSI Z39.48-1992
FOR MY WIFE, DALIA

CONTENTS
Preface 9
Reception of Haskalah 13
1. Chapter One - The Maskilim's Perception of Haskalah Judaism:
Forming and Reforming, Vision and Revision 15
2. Chapter Two - The Reception of Early German Haskalah in
Nineteenth-Century Haskalah 39
3. Chapter Three-Euchel's Reception Throughout the Nineteenth-
Century Haskalah 85
4. Chapter Four-The Reception of Herder in the Hebrew Haskalah
109
Language of Haskalah: Poetics and Rhetoric 133
5. Chapter Five- On the Role of Melitzah in Early Haskalah
Literature and Its Reception at the End of the Period 135
Periodicals of Haskalah:
Impact on Development of Haskalah 161
6. Chapter Six -Hame'asef: "A New Periodical Never Published
Before" 163
7. Chapter Seven - Bikurei Ha 'itim: The Hebrew Periodical of the
Haskalah in Galicia 181
8. Chapter Eight- Ke_rem Qemed: Qochmat Israel as the 'New
Yavneh' 205
Haskalah and Beyond 231
9. Chapter Nine-Aftermath of the Haskalah: An Overview 233
Bibliography 239
Index 253
About the Author; Books by the Author 267

PREFACE
This book, Haskalah and Beyond, The Reception of the Hebrew
Enlightenment and the Emergence of Haskalah Judaism, deals with the
Hebrew Haskalah (Enlightenment) - the literary, cultural and social
movement that emerged at the end of the eighteenth century in Germany and
flourished in Eastern Europe till the 1880s.
The Haskalah represents the beginning of a new period in Jewish
history. It marks the budding of modernism and perhaps some signs of
secularism surfacing in Judaism and Jewish society.
Its proponents - known as Maskilim (Enlighteners) - were young
intellectuals, writers, and educators, who, having been influenced by the
European Enlightenment, aspired to invigorate the Jewish people. They
perceived the coming of new Age of Reason, which advocated tolerance,
understanding, and humanism among all people.
The Maskilim wished to introduce modernism into Jewish culture and
Jewish life, and to vitalize the Hebrew language and literature. To achieve
their goals, they planned to introduce reforms in Jewish education and bring
it up to date by revising the traditional curriculum, adding to it secular
subjects including science, mathematics, and languages.
While advocating these changes in Judaism, the Maskilim expressed
their intention to adhere to its essentials, and to remain loyal to their
tradition, arguing in effect that they wish to restore Judaism to its original,
pristine state.
Addressing this topic in chapter one, I classified these activities as a
"cultural revolution." In effect, I argued that the Haskalah was a counter
culture. Its manifested orientation intended to modify or replace some of the
contemporary rabbinic cultural framework, institutions and practices and
adopt them for its own needs. It was part of the Maskilim's perception of
their envisioned 'Judaism of the Haskalah.' Consequently, these efforts are
believed to have started a process that ushered in modern times to Judaism.
The pioneering work of the 'founding fathers' of the early Haskalah had
greatly impacted the later developments of the Haskalah in the nineteenth
century. I reached this conclusion on the basis of overt and covert
9