Haskalah: the Jewish Enlightenment

Subject Areas : Christianity

سیدلطف الله جلالی ¹ (ندارد)

Received: 2014-10-18 Accepted : 2014-10-18 Published : 2008-03-20

Keywords: Haskalah, Maskil (Maskilim), Jewish Enlightenment, Moses&#x0D, &#x0D, Mendelssohn, Hebrew, Yiddish, Assimilation, productive occupations,

Abstract :

In the late 18th Century C.E., decades after the Western Enlightenment,an Enlightening movement appeared among the European Jews. Thismovement was established by the important Jewish thinker, MosesMendelssohn in Germany and particularly in Berlin. Then it graduallyspread to other cities and countries in Central and Eastern Europe,including France, England, Austria, Poland, Italy and Russia and lastedmore than one century. The adherents of this movement were calledMaskil (pl. Maskilim) that means "an intellectual and open-minded".The central theme of the movement was rationality and criticism oftraditional Jewish life and thought. In practice, it was going to removeseclusion of the Jews and to assimilate them in the non-Jewishsocieties. Therefore, the Maskilim struggled with those symbols ofJewish life which caused their separation and isolation from the rest ofthe society. The specific characteristics of Haskalah were rationality,critical and Philosophical-mindedness, opposition to Yiddish language,promotion of secular education and secular sciences, promotion of locallanguages along with Hebrew, encouraging productive occupations,moving towards assimilation of the Jews in non-Jewish societies ofEurope and trying to involve them in social and political issues of theircountry.