Enlightened Rabbis as Reformers in Russian Jewish Society

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the rabbis in Russia in the 1860s and 1870s who, with a measure of enlightenment, aspired to reform Jewish society. In this period, the gap between maskilim and traditional Jews was not as wide as is usually thought. The chapter then cautions against a simple dualistic view of the relationship between Haskalah and tradition, describing a group of Lithuanian rabbis who were involved in demands for reform in the spirit of an Enlightenment which turned Zionist in the 1880s. Like the moderate maskilim in eastern Europe, these rabbis tried to fuse Enlightenment and tradition. Ultimately, they can be regarded as the source of modern Orthodoxy in Israel and the United States.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationNew Perspectives on the Haskalah
EditorsShmuel Feiner, David Sorkin
Place of PublicationLiverpool
PublisherLiverpool University Press
Chapter10
Pages166-183
Number of pages18
ISBN (Electronic)9781909821316, 9781800340145
ISBN (Print)9781904113263, 9781874774617
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Jun 2001

Publication series

NameThe Littman Library of Jewish Civilization Series

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