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Excommunication of Boruch Spinoza
Spinoza was described as the first modern Jew because he was the first to leave the Jewish community without being a Christian. He was excommunicated because he denied angels and God's authorship of the Torah. Cherem is very serious and one is to have no contact with a person put into cherem. The purpose of it isn't a punishment but to keep the unity in the community, -
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Early modern period
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The Enlightenment
The purpose fo the enlightenment was to reform society using reason, they wanted to challenge ideas that were grounded in tradition and belief. This time period promoted science and intelectual exchange. Before the Enlightenment Jews were not part of the social community, that is where the challenge of emancipation comes in. -
Shtetlakh and Cheder
Most Jews who lived in the shtetl were very poor however their communal life was characterized by the extraordinary sense of responsibility that the people felt for each other. In a shtetl no one was allowed to be indifferent to the poor. Another feature of the shtetlakh was the cheder, a Jewish elementary school. -
Mosses Mendelsohn's birth
Mendelsohn was the first Jew to bring secular culture to those living an Orthodox Jewish life. He thought that anyone could arrive at a religious truth using reason. . The Jewish Enlightenment was a movement among European Jews that advocated the adoption of enlightenment values pressing for better integration into European society. The Haskalah and Jewish integration in European society led to difficulties for Jewish emancipation. -
Meyer Rothschild's birth
The family's ascent to power began when Meyer was born. The Rothschild are to Jewish life what the Rockefeller family is to American life. The brother’s mutual collaboration eventually made them the greatest banking power in all of Europe. Government officials turned to the Rothschild family for help, and in return the family used their power to improve the conditions of all Jews. The Rothschild are an example of a court Jew who represented the Jewish community with access to high notable bodies -
Exommunication of Hasidim
The term mitnagdim referred to people who were opponents of Hasidism. They were opposed to the rise and spread of early Chasidic Judaism. The first attacks on the Hasidic community came during the time of the Baal Shem Tov. The mitnagdim placed a ban on the chasidim and this appeared in the public ripping up of several early Hasidic pamphlets. -
Emancipation in the US
The country in which the Jews had equal rights in 1780 was the United States. People will usually guess France, Germany, or Holland but because fewer people were living in America at the time American Jewry emancipation did not become significant for Jewish life until the next century. -
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political emancipation
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zionism
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Napolean's sanhedrin
N/apoleon convened the Jewish Sanhedrin on Shabbat in order to test the Jews loyalty as French citizen. He did this because the Jews were not integrating well in the French society. -
Birth of Rav Samson Hirsch
The movement of New- Orthodoxy was largely a response to Reform Judaism's innovations in Jewish life. The man associated with this movement was Rav Samson Hirsh. -
The hamburg temple
The Hamburg temple was the synagogue of the Jewish reform movement in Hamburg. It was the first reform synagogue in Germany. The reform movement has effected Judaism as a whole. Reform lost its core values by becoming more like the Germans. -
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The American Experience
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pale of setllement
Pale of settlement is a term given to a region in Russia; Jews lived there in horrible conditions and were treated poorly. The pale of settlement leads to the Zionistic groups because of the pogroms. -
The trefa banquet
The conservative movement was a reaction to the reform. This form of Judaism was more tolerant and growing, when non- kosher food was served at the trefa banquet they realized they had to draw the line somewhere and this was going too far. -
First Zionist Congress
This is where Jews met and spoke about the idea of Israel. Four major types of Zionism emerged. Herzl proposed political Zionism where Israel should serve as a safe haven for all Jews. Ahad Haam advocated for cultural Zionism, which wanted Jews to have a unique culture. A.D. Gordon founded labor Zionism where Jews must work the land. Rav Kook argued for religious Zionism where Jews need to be a light onto the nations and must act morally. -
The first Aliyah
In Bialik's poem "The city of Slaughter" he tries to show that the Jews need to fight back and be proactive. This strikes the idea of Zionism. Bialik puts his destiny where his mouth is and moves to Israel. The first Zionistic pioneers were a group named Bilu. They were small groups of college dropouts who moved to Israel. -
Kishinev Pogrom
One of the most dreadful pogroms in history happened in the city of Kishinev in 1903. This was a turning point for the Jews because it inspired them to take action. The Jews saw themselves as weak and just watched as they were being taken advantage of but they soon realized they needed to get up and make a change. -
World War Two ends
World War two played a big role in the post Holocaust life of the Jewish people. Before the Holocaust the Nazis wanted to wipe out the Jews and their European culture, so the generations of survivors wanted to rebuild what was once in Europe in America. The Holocaust reignites Jewish activism in the organization and the support for Israel. -
Israel is founded
Jews finally receive a homeland where they can govern themselves free of outside interference. -
Settling in America
As Jews started to migrate to the United States they began to receive higher incomes and did very well. The next generation of parents who moved to America lived a very privileged life and really succeeded in America.
