The Transformation of German Jewry, 1780-1840

^IWinner of the 1989 Present Tense/Joel H. Cavior Award^R

This treatise argues that the emancipation of German Jews and their subsequent encounter with German culture led not to assimilation, but to the creation of a new Jewish identity and community - a subculture - that produced many of Judaism's modern movements, artists, scientists and academics.In the period from 1780 to 1840 German Jewry underwent a twofold revolution that set the basic patterns of its experience for the century to follow: the end of the Jews's feudal status as an autonomous community forced them to face a protracted process of political and civic emancipation and a far-reaching social metamorphosis, while their encounter with the surrounding culture resulted in an intense productivity. In this groundbreaking study, David Sorkin argues that emancipation and the encounter with German culture and society led not to assimilation but to the creation of a new Jewish identity and community - a vibrant subculture - that produced many of Judaism's modern movements and a pantheon of outstanding writers, artists, composers, scientists, and academics.