Stephen Wilson
- Published in print:
- 1984
- Published Online:
- February 2021
- ISBN:
- 9780197100523
- eISBN:
- 9781800340992
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3828/liverpool/9780197100523.003.0019
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This chapter highlights the ways in which French Jews reacted to the various kinds of hostility directed against them. Three general points can be made in conclusion. First, despite the process of ...
More
This chapter highlights the ways in which French Jews reacted to the various kinds of hostility directed against them. Three general points can be made in conclusion. First, despite the process of assimilation, Jews in France at the turn of this century retained many of the characteristics of an unassimilated minority, characteristics which antisemitism strengthened. The Jewish opposition to antisemitism was mainly the option of individuals responding to some general sense of Jewish solidarity but lacking the support of established collective organizations, and it frequently involved great personal sacrifice. Second, although the element of individual courage in such behaviour cannot be overlooked, the main factor for its interpretation in socio-historical terms seems to be a confidence based on Jewish assessment of the strength and meaning of antisemitism in France. Third, the often negative response of Jews to antisemitism must be related to the nature of antisemitism which have been analysed in the previous chapters. The Jews were not simply the objects of explicit acts of discrimination or threats, to which they could react, or against which they could defend themselves. They were the central characters in someone else's mythical view of the world, which was, in important ways, a much less comfortable position to be in, if only because there was no clear way to extricate themselves from it.Less
This chapter highlights the ways in which French Jews reacted to the various kinds of hostility directed against them. Three general points can be made in conclusion. First, despite the process of assimilation, Jews in France at the turn of this century retained many of the characteristics of an unassimilated minority, characteristics which antisemitism strengthened. The Jewish opposition to antisemitism was mainly the option of individuals responding to some general sense of Jewish solidarity but lacking the support of established collective organizations, and it frequently involved great personal sacrifice. Second, although the element of individual courage in such behaviour cannot be overlooked, the main factor for its interpretation in socio-historical terms seems to be a confidence based on Jewish assessment of the strength and meaning of antisemitism in France. Third, the often negative response of Jews to antisemitism must be related to the nature of antisemitism which have been analysed in the previous chapters. The Jews were not simply the objects of explicit acts of discrimination or threats, to which they could react, or against which they could defend themselves. They were the central characters in someone else's mythical view of the world, which was, in important ways, a much less comfortable position to be in, if only because there was no clear way to extricate themselves from it.
Matthias B. Lehmann
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- May 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780804789653
- eISBN:
- 9780804792462
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9780804789653.001.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Jewish Studies
Emissaries from the Holy Land tells the story of a philanthropic network that was overseen by the Jewish community leadership in the Ottoman capital city of Istanbul between the 1720s and the 1820s ...
More
Emissaries from the Holy Land tells the story of a philanthropic network that was overseen by the Jewish community leadership in the Ottoman capital city of Istanbul between the 1720s and the 1820s in support of the impoverished Jews of Palestine. Putting the notion of Jewish solidarity, Jewish unity, and the enduring centrality of the Holy Land for the Jewish world to the test, the community leadership in Palestine and their allies in Istanbul dispatched rabbinic emissaries on fundraising missions everywhere from the shores of the Mediterranean to the port cities of the Atlantic seaboard, from the Caribbean to India. This book explores how this eighteenth-century philanthropic network was organized and how relations of trust and solidarity were built across vast geographic differences. It looks at how the emissaries and their supporters understood the relationship between the Jewish diaspora and the Land of Israel, and it shows how cross-cultural encounters and competing claims for financial support involving Sephardic, Ashkenazi, and North African emissaries and communities contributed to the transformation of Jewish identity in the eighteenth century.Less
Emissaries from the Holy Land tells the story of a philanthropic network that was overseen by the Jewish community leadership in the Ottoman capital city of Istanbul between the 1720s and the 1820s in support of the impoverished Jews of Palestine. Putting the notion of Jewish solidarity, Jewish unity, and the enduring centrality of the Holy Land for the Jewish world to the test, the community leadership in Palestine and their allies in Istanbul dispatched rabbinic emissaries on fundraising missions everywhere from the shores of the Mediterranean to the port cities of the Atlantic seaboard, from the Caribbean to India. This book explores how this eighteenth-century philanthropic network was organized and how relations of trust and solidarity were built across vast geographic differences. It looks at how the emissaries and their supporters understood the relationship between the Jewish diaspora and the Land of Israel, and it shows how cross-cultural encounters and competing claims for financial support involving Sephardic, Ashkenazi, and North African emissaries and communities contributed to the transformation of Jewish identity in the eighteenth century.
Adam Teller
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- September 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780691161747
- eISBN:
- 9780691199863
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691161747.003.0027
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This concluding chapter assesses whether the fate of the Polish Jewish refugees in each of the three major arenas in which they found themselves was really a single, interconnected refugee crisis or ...
More
This concluding chapter assesses whether the fate of the Polish Jewish refugees in each of the three major arenas in which they found themselves was really a single, interconnected refugee crisis or whether there were, in fact, three different crises sparked by a common cause: the mid-seventeenth-century wars of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Underlying all of the differences in the conditions in each of the three regions were numerous commonalities. Perhaps most important was the sense of solidarity that induced Jews to come to the aid of other Jews in distress. The term most commonly used at the time to describe this connection was “brotherhood.” The phenomena examined in this book are indeed, therefore, aspects of a single refugee crisis. The chapter then considers how large the problem was and how well Jewish society dealt with its challenges. It also highlights the effects of the refugee crisis on Jewish society, both while it was happening and in the longer term, and the importance of the crisis for the course of early modern and modern Jewish history in general.Less
This concluding chapter assesses whether the fate of the Polish Jewish refugees in each of the three major arenas in which they found themselves was really a single, interconnected refugee crisis or whether there were, in fact, three different crises sparked by a common cause: the mid-seventeenth-century wars of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Underlying all of the differences in the conditions in each of the three regions were numerous commonalities. Perhaps most important was the sense of solidarity that induced Jews to come to the aid of other Jews in distress. The term most commonly used at the time to describe this connection was “brotherhood.” The phenomena examined in this book are indeed, therefore, aspects of a single refugee crisis. The chapter then considers how large the problem was and how well Jewish society dealt with its challenges. It also highlights the effects of the refugee crisis on Jewish society, both while it was happening and in the longer term, and the importance of the crisis for the course of early modern and modern Jewish history in general.
Richard Bolchover
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- February 2021
- ISBN:
- 9781874774808
- eISBN:
- 9781800340022
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3828/liverpool/9781874774808.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This introductory chapter centres the volume's discussion on the Anglo-Jewish community during World War II. Here, the major themes lie not within the Holocaust itself, but in the Anglo-Jewish ...
More
This introductory chapter centres the volume's discussion on the Anglo-Jewish community during World War II. Here, the major themes lie not within the Holocaust itself, but in the Anglo-Jewish response to it. The chapter briefly discusses the history of the Anglo-Jewish community, explaining in particular the East End/West End divide of the London Jewish community, which by the time of the war had since faded away. Additionally, the chapter provides an overview of the historical documents, sources, and other materials which focus largely on the Anglo-Jewish community, taking care to exclude materials which focus on the Holocaust in particular. What emerges here then is an argument that the Jews constituted a people who, even after emancipation, remained united by strong cultural bonds.Less
This introductory chapter centres the volume's discussion on the Anglo-Jewish community during World War II. Here, the major themes lie not within the Holocaust itself, but in the Anglo-Jewish response to it. The chapter briefly discusses the history of the Anglo-Jewish community, explaining in particular the East End/West End divide of the London Jewish community, which by the time of the war had since faded away. Additionally, the chapter provides an overview of the historical documents, sources, and other materials which focus largely on the Anglo-Jewish community, taking care to exclude materials which focus on the Holocaust in particular. What emerges here then is an argument that the Jews constituted a people who, even after emancipation, remained united by strong cultural bonds.
Jonathan Ray
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- March 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780814729113
- eISBN:
- 9780814729120
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
- DOI:
- 10.18574/nyu/9780814729113.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This chapter looks at Jewish religious identity. Religion operated as an organizing principle in Sephardic life. The key elements of this process included the adoption of local customs in new areas ...
More
This chapter looks at Jewish religious identity. Religion operated as an organizing principle in Sephardic life. The key elements of this process included the adoption of local customs in new areas of settlement, the importance of public displays of piety and allotment of honors, and the different ways in which rabbis and average Jews dealt with the religious identity of the former Conversos who reverted to Judaism during this period. The shared set of religious values and legal tradition that had bound together Mediterranean Jewry for centuries continued to allow for mutual recognition, understanding, and support throughout the Jewish world. However, the divisions between rabbinic ideals and popular practice that had strained Jewish solidarity before 1492 remained a defining characteristic of Sephardic life.Less
This chapter looks at Jewish religious identity. Religion operated as an organizing principle in Sephardic life. The key elements of this process included the adoption of local customs in new areas of settlement, the importance of public displays of piety and allotment of honors, and the different ways in which rabbis and average Jews dealt with the religious identity of the former Conversos who reverted to Judaism during this period. The shared set of religious values and legal tradition that had bound together Mediterranean Jewry for centuries continued to allow for mutual recognition, understanding, and support throughout the Jewish world. However, the divisions between rabbinic ideals and popular practice that had strained Jewish solidarity before 1492 remained a defining characteristic of Sephardic life.
Adam Teller
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- September 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780691161747
- eISBN:
- 9780691199863
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691161747.003.0018
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This chapter provides an overview of the Polish–Lithuanian Jews' flight westward after 1648. Three major issues underlie the discussion as a whole. First is the nature of Jewish solidarity in those ...
More
This chapter provides an overview of the Polish–Lithuanian Jews' flight westward after 1648. Three major issues underlie the discussion as a whole. First is the nature of Jewish solidarity in those years and the fate of the Jewish refugees outside Poland–Lithuania when the religious imperative to ransom captives was not a relevant issue. Second is the policies adopted by the states of the Holy Roman Empire toward the refugees and their impact on the refugees themselves as they tried to rebuild their lives on German lands. Third is the new social and cultural formations created by the encounter of “eastern” and “western” Ashkenazim in the wake of the refugee crisis and their consequences for the development of German Jewry in both the short and long term.Less
This chapter provides an overview of the Polish–Lithuanian Jews' flight westward after 1648. Three major issues underlie the discussion as a whole. First is the nature of Jewish solidarity in those years and the fate of the Jewish refugees outside Poland–Lithuania when the religious imperative to ransom captives was not a relevant issue. Second is the policies adopted by the states of the Holy Roman Empire toward the refugees and their impact on the refugees themselves as they tried to rebuild their lives on German lands. Third is the new social and cultural formations created by the encounter of “eastern” and “western” Ashkenazim in the wake of the refugee crisis and their consequences for the development of German Jewry in both the short and long term.