Russia In The 1850s Flashcards
Most of the tzars decrees….
Nevertheless….
1) we’re not consistently enforced
2) it had every negative effect on Jewish life
Who is on of the people that tried to help the Jews
Sir Moses Montefiore
Wher was Montefiore born
Into a Sephardic family in London in the late 1700s
As a result of Montefiore connections with…..
Rothschild family - they became really wealthy and retired at the age of 40
How many years did he spent helping Jews
62
He dedicated his life to help people live til
102
What did Montefiore become
The rep of the Jewish people to many governments and world leaders
What did Montefiore remain
An observant Jew his entire life and admired by Jews throughout the world
Although Montefiore had no
Children
Hundreds of Jewish institutions (hospitals,schools,etc) were named after him as a memory
What happened in 1840
A blood libel in Damascus, syria
Who was found murderer?
Who was accused?
Who arrested who? What was done to them
A priest and his servant
Jews
Turkish govt arrested the leaders of the Jewish community
Torched them upon with they “confessed” and imposed a huge fire on the Jewish community
Who protested?
What did Montefiore do?
Jews around the world
He was friendly with the queen of England and protested to het
How did the queen of England respond
Arranged to meet with then the turkish govt and succeeded in getting the pressure of the jews
And all future blood libels were banned in the ottoman empire
What about the French diplomat during the blood libel
Knew it wasn’t the Jews
How did wessrern assimilated Jews react that the French diplomat knew it wasn’t the jews ring the blood libel
Shocked at this revelation
What happened in 1846
Moses went to Russian to try and make life easier there
He traveled in his own carriage with 6 white horses - the way royalty traveled
What did Montefiore bring when he went to russia
A letter for tzar from the queen of england
How did the tzar react
This was the
He was mildly impressed
And he eased up a little on the news
First time Russian govt was made aware that the world cares about how they treat the Jews
Where did Moses travel after Russian
What did he do there
To Palestine
He established the first community outside the walls of ירושלים
What did the community have
first community outside the walls of ירושלים by Monetfiore
A windmill which was to be used for Jews to earn a living by producing flour
What happened in Montefiores and 100th birthday
The queen ignited him
What age did Montefiore die
By which what
103 by which he had had given most of his money to charity
What happened in 1854 in Russia
Russia fought and lost the Crimean war to turkey britian France and Austria
About 250,000 Russians were killed
What did the tzar realize
That compared to other countries Russia was very backward
What did the tzars ministets convince
Him that one way to modernize would be to abolish some of the harsh decrees
What did the tzar try to do
What was the result
Reform the govt
Freed the surfs (peasants who belonged to the kings)
Things got slightly better for Jews about 10-15 yrs
What was the Jewish life in Germany mid 1800s
There were not many Orthodox Jews remaining
What did most ppl in Germany believe
In fact there was
That there was no future for Orthodox Jews in Germany
An organization called “the society for the science of Judaism”
What was the goal of this organization
“the society for the science of Judaism
To create a mueseum of what Jewish life once was
As time went on
What happened to most of its members
the society for the science of Judaism”
Converted to Christianity
Who is the person most reviving orthodox Jewish life in Germany
Rabbi Samson rafael hirsch
What did rabbi hirsch devote most of his life to
Fighting reform and showing Jews that they can enjoy all the benefits and opportunities that Germany was giving them without compromising on their Judaism
Where was hirsch born
How well was he educated
In 1808 in Hungary
A Torah scholar but also educated secular studies as well
What did rabbi hirsch give up
His position as chief rabbi of Moravia (25,000 Jews) to become the rabbi of a small synagogue in frankfort, Germany (100 families)
What language did hirsch speak in and to who?
What did he write and comment in? And on what
1) German - people of his synagogue
2) German - Chumash
And what did Hirsh do to Germany
Preach loyalty to Germany
But Hirsh was
Fiercely dedicated to following Jewish law and customs
What was one of hirsch themes in his writing
What’s the greatest thing a Jew can do to accomplish this goal
Was that Judaism was a mission to civilize the world
The greatest thing a Jew can do to accomplish this goal is to observe Torah
Every Jew can fulfill the highest ideal by
Being observant
What did hirsch teach about torah
It doesn’t change or evolve
When the world changes we apply the law of the Torah to the new situation
What did rav hirsch spent years doing
2 reasons for this
Trying to receive official govt recognition for Orthodox Jews in Frankfurt
1) reform leaders who controlled money from the govt were not finding orthodox institutions
2) Bering part of the same organization as reform implies recognition of reform as a legitimate version of Judaism
what was rav hirsh successful in rebuilding
frankfurt into a major orthodox jewish community
when did rav hirsch die
1888
prior to ww2
where did many of the farnkfurt memebers reestablish themselves
in washington heights manhattan
who was in the early 1800s in the city of presbury
great rabbi R Moshe Sofer the Chasam Sofer
What kind of leader was rav Moshe sofer
What did he refuse
1) major leader against reform
2) refused to compromise or change even the smallest customs bc he felt that change could ultimately lead to assimilation
What was rav Moshe a favor of
What about most rabbis
The opinion that reform could be totally cut off from the Jewish people
However most rabbis didn’t agree
