Enlightenment Demo

Question 1

Enlightenment/Haskala

Answer 1

• The people of Europe became enlightened:
• learned to read and write
• appreciated knowledge
• appreciated logic, refused to accept - any teaching of the church if it contradicted logic
• Famous philosophers (John Locke, Montesquieu and Voltaire) wrote about democracy, rights of the people and freedom of religion

Question 2

court jew

Answer 2

• The first Jews to get out of the ghetto and become part of general society
• They worked for the rulers, and were granted special privileges:
• They were allowed to live out of the ghetto
• Were allowed to bring with them members of their family and staff
• They were free to travel
• Were not taxed as heavily as Jews in the ghetto
  exposed to enlightenment, and were the reason for the emergence of new - Jewish communities outside the ghettos

Question 3

Ghetto Jew

Answer 3

• The place where Jews in Europe were isolated from the rest of the general society at the start of the 1800s.
• They could only leave the ghetto with a permit
• Harsh conditions
• Jews could make living only as money lenders, peddlers, or merchants of used garment

Question 4

Why did the Court Jews become the new role models for many Jews in Europe?

Answer 4

Every jew wanted to follow their example to get out of the ghetto and have the privileges of the jews out of the ghetto

Question 5

yiddish

Answer 5

Language spoken by the Jews of Europe before learning German when they left the ghettos

Question 6

talmid chacham

Answer 6

• Scholars
• Role models for the Jews during the middle ages

Question 7

moses mendelssohn

Answer 7

• Mendelssohn expected the Jews to leave the “mental ghetto” and to become acculturated into general society.
• He expects them to study German, to go to university, to dress with modern clothes and to become enlightened.
• He believed that the Jews should be able to balance being enlightened, while following all the laws of Judaism.

Question 8

Mendelssohn’s 3 steps to become acculturated and enlightened

Answer 8

1. Established modern Jewish schools where both Jewish and secular subjects were taught
2. Translated the Bible into German (with Hebrew letters) in order to teach the Jews to speak German
3. Established “The Meassef” - A Jewish magazine in German and Hebrew (Mendelssohn was against Yiddish which was in his eyes the language of the Ghetto). In this magazine he published articles about Jewish and secular subjects

Question 9

mental ghetto

Answer 9

The mindset of how Jews were treated/their lifestyle in the ghetto

Question 10

physical ghetto

Answer 10

Leaving the actual ghetto and having the privileges of Jews outside the ghetto

Question 11

modern jewish school

Answer 11

where both Jewish and secular subjects were taught

Question 12

translation of the Bible (transliteration)

Answer 12

Translated the Bible into German (with Hebrew letters) in order to teach the Jews to speak German

Question 13

HaMeasseff

Answer 13

A Jewish magazine in German and Hebrew that published articles about Jewish and secular subjects

Question 14

salon

Answer 14

• Place where people gather to talk about music, politics, philosophy, literature, and art
• Mendelssohn met many enlightened people in salons in Berlin

Question 15

Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

Answer 15

famous play writer

Question 16

what are lessing’s 2 famous plays?

Answer 16

1. “The Jews” → famous play with the purpose of proving that even among the Jews there were decent and honest people
2. “Nathan the Wise” → Lessing admired Mendelssohn and wrote a play based on Mendelssohn’s character, where he also praised the Jews

Question 17

Christian Dohm

Answer 17

• an enlightened man who worked as an economist in the court of the Kaiser
• wrote an essay with recommendations to give the Jews rights. He claimed that the Jews were corrupted with money because for many generations they were not allowed to do anything else, but money lending.
• He believed that if the Jews would get rights, they would become useful citizens.

Question 18

emancipation

Answer 18

Giving the people social and political rights