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The Enlightenment
The Enlightenment was a movement in the 17th and 18th centuries that focused on reforming society through reason. Intellectuals challenged the Church, life, superstitions, and politics. They focused on science and math as a tool for improving the lives of all humans. -
Immigration to America
The first few Jews arrived in America in 1654 while escaping the Porteguese. Since then, there have been three major waves of Jewish immigration. The first was the Spanish-Porteguese Jews in the 17th-18th centuries, but they didn't get political emancipation until 1780. Later, 144,000 German Jews moved to America from 1830-1860. In the third immigration, 3.5 million Jews came from Eastern Europe to settle in America between 1880-1924 to seek a better life. -
Cherem of Baruch Spinoza
Spinoza challenged Rabbinic authority when he became the first secular Jew. Clasically, a Jew who was put into Cherem had two choices: to convert to Christianity or return to Judaism. Spinoza did neither. He lived in Chrisitan society without accepting their religion and became a famous philosopher who helped trigger the Enlightenment with his modern thought. -
Hasidism is founded
Hasdism was first founded around 1750 by the Baal Shem Tov in reaction to the Haskalah. Jews who lived in Eastern European shtetls were confused because they did not identify with the Maskilim, but nor did they have the time to learn all day because they were the working class. The Baal Shem Tov saved Judaism by inventing Hasidism, which stresed a personal connection with God by serving him with specific intent. Their lives centered around the Rebbe. -
Jews are influenced by the Haskalah
The Enlightenment, or Haskalah in Hebrew, spread throughout Western Europe and influenced many Jews, called Maskillim, in the mid 1700's. They followed Spinoza and assimilated into secular culture. No longer did they believe in strictly adhering to Rabbinic authority- rather, they wanted a secular education, inidviduality, and a God they could follow based on their own beliefs. Moses Mendelssohn was the father of the Haskalah movement. -
Formation of the Misnagdish Movement
The Misnagdidh movement was a reaction to Hasidism. The name of their movement means "against," because they wanted to counteract the spread of Hasidism. They believed that a Jewish male should learn all day in Yeshiva, memorizing Gemara and learning to lead the community. They established rigorious Yeshivas- most notably Viloshyn and Yeshivat Chochmei Lublin. The movement was located in Lithuania, Northern Poland, and Northern Russia. -
Emancipation in America
America became the first country in the world to grant political emancipation to the Jews in 1780. There weren't many Jews in the country yet, so emancipation didn't really effect the Jews until the next century. -
The French Revolution
The French Revolution began in 1789 when the lower class rebelled against the aristocracy based on the prinicples of liberty, equality, and individual rights. After the Revolution, France was in turmoil, and Napoleon took over in 1804. He seeked to unify his French empire under one system of law, language, culture, and eductaion. -
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Jewish Emancipation in Europe
As a result of the Enlightenment, many nations began to recognize the rights of the Jewish people by granting them citizenship. It was a long process, but by 1871, almost every county in Western Europe had granted the Jews equal rights. -
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The American-Jewish Experience
Though there were Jews in America since the 17th century, American Jewish life didn't really pick up until the 19th century. From the tenemenets to the suburbs, Jews have found a home in America and prospered. -
Napoleon's Sanhedrin
In 1806, Napoleon convened the Jewish Sanhedrin for the first time in 1800 years. In order to test the Jews' loyalty, Napoleon sent the the Sanhedrin 12 complex questions about Jewish law and their role as French citizens. The Sanhedrin had to impress Napoleon without causing the Jews to assimilate, but the rabbis renounced much of their power to ensure Jewish equality. -
Reform Judaism
After Jews were granted polticial emancipation, they were able to rewrite Judaism for the first time. The Jews in Germany insituted many reforms based on the beliefs that there should be no talk of Jewish nationhood and that there is no proof God wrote the Torah. They insituted German sermons and prayers, musical instruments and a choir in prayer, no amidah, no seperate seating, and synagogues should be called temples to mimic the Lutherans. The first Reform temple was the Hamburg temple. -
Rav Hirsch responds to Reform
Rav Samson Raphael Hirsch created the Neo-Orthodox movement as a response to the innovations made by the Reform Jews. He believed in balancing Orthodoxy and secularism (Torah umadah). He thought that the ideal Jew was the Jissroelmensch, or an enlightened Jew who observed the precepts. Rav Hirsch influenced many Jews not only in Europe, but in America as well. -
To the Lower East Side...
When the poor Jews from the Pale of Settlement arrived in America, they settled in the Lower East Side. They lived in run-down tenements without space, clean conditions, or money. Many of these Jews worked in squalid factories to earn a few pennies. One such factory was the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, which burnt down in 1911, killing 146 women. This outrageous fire sparked a cry for laws for regulations to protect workers in American factories. -
BILU Manifesto is published
In 1882, young Jews responded to the classic depiction of the Jew as timid. These young Jews didn't like the way they were treated in Hungary, so they took action and moved to Israel in the first aliyah. These Jews named their gourp BILU and became the pioneers who buillt up a new society in Israel from scratch. -
Pale of Settlement
Even though the Pale of Settlement had been around since the late 1700's, conditions remained atrocious for the Jews. They often had to live through pogroms, or organized riots against Jews. They also had to pay high taxes, live in miserable conditions, face unconsented drafts into the army, horrible jobs, and cruel soldiers. -
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The Revial of Zionism in Modern Europe
Even though Jews had prayed to return to Israel for hundreds of years, they began to take action in the late 1800's. Many movements were established to advocated for Jewish self-determination in Israel. -
America Industrializes
At the end of the 19th century, America industrialized and began relying on assembly lines and quick, cheap production. The goal was to produce large quantities cheaply and quickly, which is why the factories had such bad conditions for the workers. This is good for the Jewish immigrants because instead of learning an entire set of skills, they just needed to learn one step of the process. -
Zionistic Groups are established
In 1896, Herzl wrote his work about the solution to the Jewish question. Herzl believed in Political Zionism, or that Jews needed sef-determination. Later, Ahad Haam stressed Cultural Zionism, or breaking with European culture to establish a strong Jewish culture in Israel. Rav Kook stressed Religious Zionism, or settling Israel for religious purposes and influencing all the nations. A.D Gordon stressed Labor Zionism, or working the land in Israel to prove that not all Jews are weak Rabbis. -
Kishinev Pogrom
Under Czar Nicholar Alexander II, one of the most awful pogroms in Jewish History occured in the city of Kishinev, Russia. Over 120 Jews were killed, 500 were injured, houses were looted, and women were raped in front of their families. This is a tipping point for the Jews and inspires them to create their own nation. Bialik was a reporter who reported on the pogrom and wrote a famous poem called In the City of Slaughter. He became the national poet of Israel later in his life. -
Balfour Declaration
In 1917, British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour wrote a letter to Lionel Rothschild promising the establishment of a Jewish homeland in Israel. The British knew they'd inherit the Palestinian Mandate, and they wanted to win over the Jews. -
WWII Ends
After WWII, Jews lived in Displaced Persons camps until 1952. Allied officers ran the DP camps, which were located in former Concentration Camps. The Jews formed a community in each DP camp-- setting up orginizations, schools, and governing bodies. During the 8 years the camps existed, many Jews immigrated to America. -
State of Israel is established
In 1948, the work, sweat and blood the Jews contirbuted in order to secure a Jewish state paid off when Israel was established. -
Conservative Judaism takes root
Conservative Judaism first started in 1883 as a reaction to the Trefa Banquet. The movement really gained traction in the 1950's among prosperous Jews living in the suburbs. The Conservative Movement stressed modernity, change, and incorporating American ideals into Judaism. Conservatism appealed to many people, and they founded the Jewish Theological Seminary to train future leaders.
