Supplement series 1

Cultural Revolution in Berlin. Jews in the age of Enlightenment.

Shmuel Feiner and Natalie Naimark-Goldberg

Taking their inspiration from the eighteenth-century Enlightenment movement, young Jewish intellectuals (the maskilim) in Germany set out to revolutionize the culture of their society. They aimed at overturning the rabbinic monopoly over education, publications, political rights and religious tolerance. In turn, the end of Jewish isolation produced a fruitful contribution to philosophy, science and art in modern European society.

This story is based on material held at the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies and derived from a collection assembled by the great nineteenth century scholar Leopold Zunz. Cultural Revolution in Berlin is richly illustrated with eighteenth-century manuscripts, books and pamphlets, some of which are published here for the first time. It provides an excellent introduction to Haskalah and will serve as an attractive textbook for courses in modern Jewish history. A list of digitized rare sources offers a valuable tool for further research.