Neolog: Reforming Judaism in a Hungarian Milieu

This article explores the mentality of Neolog Judaism and how its early proponents fashioned a centrist, non-ideological alternative to both Orthodoxy and German-Jewish style Reform Judaism, an alternative that emphasized Judaism’s inherent compatibility with and adaptability to the demands of citizenship. Early proponents of this Neolog mentality, such as Aron Chorin and Leopold Löw, argued that adapting Jewish practice within the framework and systemic rules of Jewish law, precedent, and custom would not undermine a commitment to traditional Judaism in any way, as Orthodox jeremiads predicted; nor would it require the sort of re-definition of Judaism that Reform Jews advocated. Four aspects of Neolog mentality, in particular, laid the foundation for this outlook: a belief that Judaism has always been inherently malleable and diverse; a willingness to see leniency as no less authentic an option than stringency (in contrast to the “humra culture” that has defined Orthodox Judaism for the last two centuries); a preference for unity over schism (contra the secession of Orthodox communities in Germany and Hungary); and the use of halachic precedent and argumentation as a mandatory part of the rationale for innovation.

Situating Benamozegh in the Debate on Jewish Universalism

Chapter 6 situates Benamozegh in the debate about universalism in his time, and about the universalism of Judaism found in the works of Spinoza, Kant, and Mendelssohn. The claim of Jewish universalism, an index of Judaism’s adequation with the modern world, must be measured against the competing claims of philosophy, Christianity, and Reform Judaism. Benamozegh also sought to establish the universalism of Judaism based on its antecedence in religious history, thus grounding himself in a sort of modern historicism that he resisted when it came to biblical criticism. He also strove to establish Judaism as a delicate articulation between reason and feelings, which rested on the nascent fields of psychology or anthropology and thus on a more scientific universalism.

Rosa Sonneschein’s Fin-the-Siècle Fiction: The Clashing Worlds of Zionism, Reform Judaism, Feminism and Conformity

Rosa Sonneschein (1847–1932) was an important figure in late nineteenth-century American journalism, activism, and fiction. While a few brief studies were dedicated to her biography and to her role as a Jewish social activist, editor, and contributor to The American Jewess, no critical work has been devoted as yet to her literary production. The aim of this essay is to rectify this critical neglect by examining Sonneschein’s wide literary opus and by investigating its connection, if any, to the views she expressed as a journalist and a public speaker. This essay will explore Sonneschein’s threefold literary oeuvre, consisting of the following genres: Jewish fiction, non-Jewish fiction, and literary sketches. It will also try to explicate Rosa’s often conflicting stance with regard to Judaism, feminism, and Zionism, a standpoint which should be examined in the context of the fin-the-siècle’s turbulent changes American society had to cope with, especially pertaining to massive immigration, religious and social reforms, suffrage and temperance movements, etc.

A Renaissance of Jewish Studies in Contemporary Germany

This paper provides an overview of the development of Jewish studies in Germany since reunification. After a brief historical review of the subject in the nineteenth century with the development of modern Reform Judaism and the science of Judaism (Wissenschaft des Judentums) created by Jewish religious and secular scholars, it focuses on the development of the past thirty years, in which not only the Jewish community but also Jewish studies have increased in importance. The growth of the Jewish community was largely due to immigration from the Soviet Union, but also partly to young Israelis who moved to Berlin. In line with these different backgrounds, a new interest in diaspora research emerged. The paper also deals with the difference between German Jewish studies (necessarily shaped by the Holocaust) and those of most other countries, where Jewish studies are mainly designed by Jewish scholars.

“The Pattern for Jewish Reformation”: The Impact of Lessing on Nineteenth-Century German Jewish Religious Thought

The widespread Jewish sympathies for Lessing’s pre-Hegelian, pro-Jewish, progressive Deism from the Education of the Human Race spurred some Jewish authors to return to and discuss Lessing’s religious thought within the theological endeavors of the Wissenschaft des Judentums in nineteenth-century Germany. To be able to rely on Lessing, even retroactively, was welcome proof for Jewish Reformers that the humanistic approach to religious problems that stood at the very center of their project was at once Jewish and universal. It was the spirit of Lessing’s Education that was appropriated here for Judaism rather than Lessing’s letter. With Lessing in the camp of Reform Judaism the intended modernization of Judaism was safeguarded against the accusation of political and social egoism on the part of the Jews. It was the universal idea of religious progress that they shared with Lessing, not just the sloughing off of the yoke of outdated talmudic law.

Sir Sigmund Sternberg

This chapter provides an obituary for Sir Sigmund Sternberg. It mentions that Sir Sternberg was a long-standing president of the Institute for Polish-Jewish Studies, who died on 18 October 2016 at the age of 95. It also talks about Sir Sternberg's founding of the Three Faiths Forum, which is a dialogue group of Christians, Muslims, and Jews which he set up in 1997 with Sheikh Dr Zaki Badawi and the Reverend Dr. Marcus Braybrooke. The chapter describes Sir Sternberg's interfaith campaigning that won him the 1998 Templeton Prize for progress in religion. It notes Sir Sternberg as a generous supporter of Reform Judaism, particularly of the Leo Baeck College, which the most important Reform rabbinical college in Europe.

Slepoy. The New Sulamith: The Song of Songs in the Commentaries of Raphael Breuer and Joseph Carlebach

The present paper analyses two commentaries on the Song of Songs, written by two representatives of the Jewish Neoorthodox movement in Germany at the beginning of the 20th century, Raphael Breuer (1881–1932) and Joseph Carlebach (1883–1942). Remaining on the positions of Orthodox Judaism, the authors, however, leaved the traditional interpretation of the Song of Songs as an allegory for the love between God and the People of Israel. But while Joseph Carlebach understands the Song of Songs as a hymn to traditional Jewish family values, Raphael Breuer interprets it rather as a warning of the pre- and extramarital sexual relations. Raphael Breuer’s provocative interpretation was strongly opposed even by numerous representatives of the Neo-orthodox Judaism. Due to this severe reaction, Breuer was forced to publish another commentary on Song of Songs, in which he committed himself to the traditional understanding of it as an allegory. In the present paper is shown to what extent the commentaries of Breuer and Carlebach can be understood as a reaction of the Jewish Orthodoxy to challenging the traditional Jewish family values by Reform Judaism and “Modern world”.