Recha Freier ( Hebrew : רחה פריאר) born Recha Schweitzer , (October 29, 1892 in Norden , East Frisia – April 2, 1984 in Jerusalem ) founded the Youth Aliyah organization in 1933. The organization saved the lives of 7,000 Jewish children by helping them to leave Nazi Germany for Mandatory Palestine before and during the Holocaust.
177-462: Recha Freier was also a poet, musician, teacher and social activist. Recha Schweitzer was born into a Jewish Orthodox family. Her parents were Bertha (née Levy, 1862–1945 in Theresienstadt ), a French and English teacher, and Menashe Schweitzer (1856–1929), who taught several subjects at a Jewish primary school. She grew up in a music-loving family and learned to play the piano. Already as
354-645: A personal God in his opening six articles. The six concern God's status as the sole creator, his oneness, his impalpability, that he is first and last, that God alone, and no other being, may be worshipped, and that he is omniscient. The supremacy of the God of Israel is even applied to non-Jews. According to most rabbinic opinions, non-Jews are banned from the worship of other deities. However, they are allowed to " associate " lower divine beings with their faith in God (mostly to allow contact with Christians , accepting that they were not idolaters with whom business dealings and
531-418: A book about his experiences. We were happy enough working on the land, but we knew more and more certainly that the ways of the old settlements were not for us. This was not the way we hoped to settle the country—this old way with Jews on top and Arabs working for them; anyway, we thought that there shouldn't be employers and employed at all. There must be a better way. Though Baratz and others wanted to farm
708-681: A chance to expand through new members and inexpensive labour, but it also meant that Ashkenazi kibbutzim would have to adapt to Jews whose background was far different from their own. Until the 1950s, nearly all kibbutzniks were from Eastern Europe, culturally different from the Jews of Morocco , Tunisia , and Iraq . Many kibbutzim hired Mizrahi Jews as labourers but were less inclined to grant them membership. Ideological disputes were also widespread, leading to painful splits, sometimes even of individual kibbutzim, and to polarisation and animosity among members. Israel had been initially recognized by both
885-560: A child Recha Schweitzer was confronted with antisemitism : a notice in Norden's city park stated that "Dogs and Jews are forbidden." In 1897 her family moved to Silesia , where she received home-schooling for a while before attending the lycée in Glogau , where she was mocked by her classmates because she wouldn't write on the Sabbath. Her reaction to the humiliation inflicted upon her had
1062-428: A consensus on the adaptation of halakha . Their initiative was thwarted by a combination of radical, secularist maskilim and leading conservative rabbis. This was highlighted during the battle that erupted after Moshe Leib Lilienblum 's 1868 call for a reconsideration of Talmudic strictures. Reines, Pines and their associates gradually formed the nucleus of Religious Zionism , while their conservative opponents adopted
1239-519: A creed, although the 13 principles expounded by Maimonides in his 1160s Commentary on the Mishna , remained the most widely accepted. Various points were contested by many of Maimonides' contemporaries and later sages, such as the exact formulation and the status of disbelievers (either misinformed or expelled heretics). Similarly, Albo listed only three fundamentals, and did not regard the Messiah as
1416-440: A decade; the lifting of formal discrimination also strongly affected the Jews of independent Poland , Lithuania and other states. In the 1930s, it was estimated that no more than 20%–33% of Poland's Jews, the last stronghold of traditionalism where many were still living in rural and culturally-secluded communities, could be considered strictly observant. Only upon having become an embattled (though still quite large) minority, did
1593-419: A different response, which first arose in its very epicenter. Severe protests did not affect Temple congregants, eventually leading the wardens of Hamburg's Jewish community to a comprehensive compromise for the sake of unity. They replaced the elderly, traditional Chief Dayan Baruch Oser with Isaac Bernays . The latter was a university graduate, clean-shaven, and modern, who could appeal to the acculturated and
1770-455: A gentile play an organ on the Sabbath, were combined with theological issues. The Temple's revised prayer book omitted or rephrased petitions for the coming of the Messiah and renewal of sacrifices ( post factum , it was considered to be the first Reform liturgy). More than anything else, this doctrinal breach alarmed the traditionalists. Dozens of rabbis from across Europe united in support of
1947-592: A key tenet. Many who objected argued that the entire corpus of the Torah and the sayings of ancient sages were of canonical stature, rather than a few selected points. In later centuries, the 13 Principles became considered universally binding and cardinal by Orthodox authorities. During the Middle Ages, two systems of thought competed for primacy. The rationalist-philosophic school endeavored to present all commandments as serving higher moral and ethical purposes, while
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#17327912346002124-503: A learned few). The combination of religious conservatism and modernity in everything else was emulated elsewhere, earning the label " Neo-Orthodoxy ". Bernays and his like-minded followers, such as Rabbi Jacob Ettlinger , fully accepted the platform of the moderate Haskalah , taking away its progressive edge. While old-style traditional life continued in Germany until the 1840s, secularization and acculturation turned Neo-Orthodoxy into
2301-531: A lifelong impact on her and made her become a full-hearted Zionist. Recha Schweitzer completed her gymnasial studies in Breslau , passed the exams for teachers of religion, and studied as a graduate student of philology in Breslau and Munich . In 1919 she married Rabbi Dr. Moritz "Moshe" Freier (1889–1969), with whom she moved to Eschwege , Sofia , and finally in 1925 to Berlin , where her husband worked as
2478-479: A middle-class lifestyle. With time, the kibbutz members' sense of identification with the kibbutz and its goals decreased. This process originated from personal frustrations among the kibbutz members as a result of internal processes, from the growing stratification and inequality due to the growth of capitalistic practices, and a generation born and raised in the kibbutzim that did not necessarily inherit their parents’ fiery ideological and motivational drive to “settle
2655-521: A mistake of the common masses) was to be meticulously observed and revered. Sofer was frank and vehement about his stance, stating during the Hamburg dispute that prayers in the vernacular were not problematic per se , but he forbade them because they constituted an innovation. He succinctly expressed his attitude in wordplay he borrowed from the Talmud: "The new ( Chadash , originally meaning new grain)
2832-456: A modernized synagogue in Pressburg and other innovations, and his yeshiva was nearly closed by warden Wolf Breisach. But in 1822, three poor (and therefore traditional) community members, whose deceased apostate brother bequeathed them a large fortune, rose to the wardens' board. Breisach died soon after, and the Pressburg community became dominated by the conservatives. Sofer also possessed
3009-457: A more prominent military role. Rifles were purchased or manufactured and kibbutz members drilled and practiced shooting. Yigal Allon , an Israeli soldier and statesman, explained the role of kibbutzim in the military activities of the Yishuv : The planning and development of pioneering Zionist were from the start at least partly determined by politico-strategic needs. The choice of the location of
3186-504: A partition. By 2005, that number went down to one, and ceased to exist when that synagogue resigned from the OU in 2015 after understanding that the OU was planning to expel it. In the postwar era, the vague traditional coalition came to a definite end. During and after the Holocaust , a new wave of strictly observant refugees arrived from Eastern and Central Europe. They typically regarded
3363-444: A percentage of their reparations. Reparations that were turned over to the collective were used for building expansion and even recreational activities. The split between different factions within the kibbutz movement evolved between 1948 and 1954, when finally three kibbutz federations emerged, each aligned to a different Labour party : Ihud with Mapai , Meuhad with Ahdut HaAvoda , and Artzi with Mapam . Kibbutzniks enjoyed
3540-512: A polemic instigated by Hirsch. Lesser became a rallying point for conservative elements, concerned mainly with public standards of observance in critical fields such as marriage. A broad non-Reform, relatively traditional camp slowly coalesced as the minority within American Jewry, serving the nonobservant. Their synagogues liberalized their approach: omission of piyyutim from the liturgy; English-language sermons; secular education for
3717-626: A rabbi. Their sons Shalhevet , Ammud and Zerem were born in 1920, 1923 and 1926 respectively, and their daughter Ma'ayan in 1929. During this time, in addition to her family obligations, Recha Freier worked as a teacher at a German high school in Sofia, and as a writer and folklorist. In 1932, one year before the Nazi seizure of power , Recha Freier was asked by her husband to assist five Jewish teenage boys who were denied professional training and employment due to their Jewish background. After turning first to
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#17327912346003894-581: A rabbinic ordination and limited knowledge would have marked him as a heretic by European standards . In 1845 he introduced the words "Orthodox" and "Orthodoxy" into the American Jewish discourse, explicitly to oppose Reform. Leeser was a staunch proponent of Zecharias Frankel , whom he considered the "leader of the Orthodox party". at a time when Positive-Historical and Orthodox positions were hardly distinguishable. In 1861, Leeser defended Frankel in
4071-680: A rabbinical seminary including secular studies. The progressives viewed him as too conservative. After four years of constant strife, he lost faith in the possibility of reuniting the Jewish public. In 1851, a group in Frankfurt am Main that opposed the Reform character of the Jewish community turned to Hirsch. He led them for the remainder of his life, finding Frankfurt a hospitable site for his unique ideology, which amalgamated acculturation, dogmatic theology, thorough observance, and strict secession from
4248-400: A remnant of the past and lending credit to their own rival ideology. Thus, the term Orthodox is often used generically to refer to traditional (even if only in the sense that it is unrelated to modernist movement) synagogues, rites, and observances. Academic research noted that the formation of Orthodox ideology and organizations was itself influenced by modernity. This was brought about by
4425-404: A role in defining the borders of the Jewish state-to-be. By the late 1930s, when it appeared that Palestine would be partitioned between Arabs and Jews, kibbutzim were established in outlying areas to ensure that the land would be incorporated into the Jewish state. In 1946, on the day after Yom Kippur , eleven new "Tower and Stockade" kibbutzim were hurriedly established in the northern part of
4602-546: A salvific Messiah -King who will restore the Temple in Jerusalem and gather the people to Zion . Orthodox Judaism is not a centralized denomination. Relations between its different subgroups are often strained, and the exact limits of Orthodoxy are subject to intense debate. Very roughly, it may be divided between Haredi Judaism (ultra-Orthodox), which is more conservative and reclusive, and Modern Orthodox Judaism , which
4779-562: A steady and gradual improvement in their standard of living in the first few decades after independence. In the 1960s, the kibbutzim standard of living improved faster than Israel's general population. Most kibbutz swimming pools date from the 1960s. Kibbutzim also continued to play an outsize role in Israel's defence apparatus. In the 1950s and 1960s many kibbutzim were in fact founded by an Israel Defense Forces group called Nahal . Many of these 1950s and 1960s Nahal kibbutzim were founded on
4956-405: A strong base in the form of his yeshiva , the world's largest at the time, with hundreds of students. And crucially, the large and privileged Hungarian nobility blocked most imperial reforms in the backward country, including those relevant to the Jews. Hungarian Jewry retained its pre-modern character well into the 19th century, allowing Sofer's disciples to establish a score of new yeshivas , at
5133-453: A sub-component of the Israeli economic crisis of the 1980s ). During the 1980s, following the peak of the kibbutzim crisis, many people started leaving their kibbutzim, and there was considerable tension due to the economic situation. In order to cope with the situation, some kibbutzim began to change in various ways. The changes that occurred could be divided into three main types: Since
5310-485: A symbol of Reform in Germany since 1818, so much that Hildesheimer seminarians had to sign a declaration that they would never serve in a synagogue that introduced one – was accepted with little qualm by the French Consistoire in 1856, as part of a series of synagogue regulations passed by Chief Rabbi Salomon Ulmann . Even Rabbi Solomon Klein of Colmar , the leader of Alsatian conservatives who partook in
5487-405: A time when these institutions were rapidly closing in the west, and a strong rabbinate to appoint them. A generation later, a self-aware Orthodoxy was well entrenched in the country. Hungarian Jewry gave rise both to Orthodoxy in general, in the sense of a comprehensive response to modernity, and specifically to the traditionalist, militant ultra-Orthodoxy . The 1818–1821 controversy also elicited
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5664-496: A united observant pro-Zionist front would be formed, were dashed between 1897 and 1899, as both the Eastern European nationalist intellectuals and Theodor Herzl himself revealed an uncompromising secularist agenda, forcing traditionalist leaders to pick sides. In 1900, the anti-Zionist pamphlet Or la-Yesharim , endorsed by many Russian and Polish rabbis, largely demarcated the lines between the proto- Haredi majority and
5841-491: A white tablecloth and fine food and work was not done on Saturday if it could be avoided. Only later did some kibbutzim adopt Yom Kippur as the day to discuss fears for the future of the kibbutz. Kibbutzim also had collective Bar and Bat Mitzvahs for their children. Kibbutznikim did not pray three times a day like their parents and grandparents, but would mark holidays like Shavuot , Sukkot , and Passover with dances, meals, and celebrations. One Jewish holiday, Tu BiShvat ,
6018-421: A year. German Neo-Orthodoxy, in the meantime, developed a keen interest in the traditional Jewish masses of Russia and Poland; if at the past they were considered primitive, a disillusionment with emancipation and enlightenment made many young assimilated German Orthodox youth embark on journeys to East European yeshivot , in search of authenticity. The German secessionists already possessed a platform of their own,
6195-514: Is crushed, the legs fail, the head hurts, the sun burns and weakens," wrote one of the pioneers. At times, half of the kibbutz members could not report for work and many left. Despite the difficulties, by 1914, Degania had fifty members. Other kibbutzim were founded around the Sea of Galilee and the nearby Jezreel Valley . The fall of the Ottoman Empire at the end of World War I , followed by
6372-525: Is forbidden by the Torah anywhere." Regarding the new, ideologically-driven sinners, Sofer commented in 1818 that they should have been anathemized and banished from the People of Israel like earlier heretical sects. Unlike most, if not all, rabbis in Central Europe, who had little choice but to compromise, Sofer enjoyed unique circumstances. He, too, had to tread carefully during the 1810s, tolerating
6549-402: Is often described as extremely conservative, ossifying a once-dynamic tradition due to the fear of legitimizing change. While this was sometimes true, its defining feature was not forbidding change and "freezing" Jewish heritage, but rather the need to adapt to the segment of Judaism in a modern world inhospitable to traditional practice. Orthodoxy often involved much accommodation and leniency. In
6726-417: Is relatively open to outer society and partakes in secular life and culture. Each of those is itself formed of independent streams. These are almost uniformly exclusionist, regarding Orthodoxy as the only legitimate form of Judaism. While adhering to traditional beliefs, the movement is a modern phenomenon. It arose as a result of the breakdown of the autonomous Jewish community since the late 18th century, and
6903-578: The Czar 's government all had little influence. School modernization under Max Lilienthal , the growth of rabbinical seminaries and the mandating to appoint clerks known as "official rabbis" all had little impact. Communal autonomy and the rabbinic courts' jurisdiction were abolished in 1844, but economic and social seclusion remained, ensuring the de facto authority of Jewish institutions and traditions. In 1880, only 21,308 Jewish pupils attended government schools, out of some 5 million Jews; In 1897, 97% of
7080-643: The Freie Vereinigung für die Interessen des Orthodoxen Judentums , founded by Samson Raphael Hirsch in 1885. In 1912, two German FVIOJ leaders, Isaac Breuer and Jacob Rosenheim , managed to organize a meeting of 300 seceding Mizrahi, proto- Haredi and secessionist Neo-Orthodox delegate in Katowice , creating the Agudath Israel party. While the Germans were a tiny minority in comparison to
7257-484: The French Revolution , was more and more inclined to tolerate Jews as a religious sect, but not as an autonomous entity, and sought to reform and integrate them as "useful subjects". Jewish emancipation and equal rights were discussed. The Christian (and especially Protestant ) separation of "religious" and "secular" was applied to Jewish affairs, to which these concepts were alien. The rabbis were bemused when
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7434-545: The Graf-Wellhausen hypothesis formed the classical Orthodox response to Higher Criticism. Hoffman declared that for him, the unity of the Pentateuch was a given, regardless of research. Hirsch often lambasted Hoffman for contextualizing rabbinic literature. All of them stressed the importance of dogmatic adherence to Torah min ha-Shamayim , which led them to conflict with Rabbi Zecharias Frankel , Chancellor of
7611-509: The Hamburg Temple in 1818 mobilized the conservative elements. The organizers of the synagogue wished to appeal to acculturated Jews with a modernized ritual. They openly defied not just the local rabbinic court that ordered them to desist, but published learned tracts that castigated the entire rabbinical elite as hypocritical and obscurant . The moral threat they posed to rabbinic authority, as well as halakhic issues such as having
7788-533: The Hebrew University of Jerusalem for her initial idea of "organized transport of youth into kibbutzim ", and in 1981 she received the Israel Prize for her life's work, her outstanding contribution to the people and State of Israel, in the field of Social Welfare, Community and Youth. Recha Freier died in 1984 in Jerusalem. Orthodox Judaism Orthodox Judaism is a collective term for
7965-493: The Jewish Theological Seminary of Breslau . Unlike the Reform camp, Frankel insisted on strict observance and displayed great reverence towards tradition. But though appreciated by conservatives, his practice of Wissenschaft left him suspect to Hirsch and Hildesheimer. They demanded again and again that he state his beliefs concerning the nature of revelation. In 1859, Frankel published a critical study of
8142-490: The Mishnah , and added that all commandments classified as " Law given to Moses at Sinai " were merely customs (he broadened Asher ben Jehiel 's opinion). Hirsch and Hildesheimer seized the opportunity and launched a public campaign against him, accusing him of heresy. Concerned that public opinion regarded both neo-Orthodoxy and Frankel's "Positive-Historical School" centered at Breslau as similarly observant and traditionalist,
8319-495: The Sabbateans or Frankists , against whom sanctions were levied. Their attitudes did not fit the criteria set when faith was a normative and self-evident part of worldly life, but rested on the realities of the new, secularized age. The wardens' class, which wielded most power within the communities, was rapidly acculturating and often sought to oblige the state's agenda. Rabbi Elazar Fleckeles , who returned to Prague from
8496-565: The Sabbath and holidays, consuming only kosher food, praying thrice a day, studying the Torah often, donning head covering and tassels for men and modest clothing for women, and so forth. Other key doctrines include belief in a future bodily resurrection of the dead , divine reward and punishment for the righteous and the sinners, the Election of Israel as a people bound by a covenant with God , and an eventual Messianic Age ruled by
8673-587: The Sages . The more radical among the Wissenschaft rabbis, unwilling to limit critical analysis or its practical application, coalesced around Rabbi Abraham Geiger to establish Reform Judaism . Between 1844 and 1846, Geiger organized three rabbinical synods in Braunschweig , Frankfurt and Breslau , to determine how to refashion Judaism for present times. The Reform conferences were met with uproar by
8850-521: The Second Aliyah planned to become farmers; almost the sole career available in the agrarian economy of Ottoman Palestine. The first kibbutz was Degania Alef , founded in 1910. Some founders of the Kibbutz movement in Israel were influenced by the ideals of Ancient Sparta , particularly in education and communal living. Yosef Baratz , one of the pioneers of the kibbutz movement, wrote
9027-662: The Slánský trial in which an envoy of Hashomer Hatzair in Prague was tried. Another controversy involved the Reparations Agreement between Israel and West Germany . Should kibbutz members turn over income that was the product of a very personal loss? If Holocaust survivors were allowed to keep their reparation money, what would that mean for the principle of equality? Eventually, many kibbutzim made this one concession to inequality by letting Holocaust survivors keep all or
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#17327912346009204-674: The Syrian tank advance into the Galilee with Molotov cocktails . Maagan Michael manufactured the bullets for the Sten guns that won the war. Maagan Michael's clandestine ammunition factory was later separated from the kibbutz and grew into Israel Military Industries . The establishment of Israel and the flood of Jewish refugees from Europe and the Arab world presented challenges and opportunities for kibbutzim. The immigrant tide offered kibbutzim
9381-758: The United States and the Soviet Union . For the first three years of its existence, Israel was in the Non-Aligned Movement , but David Ben-Gurion gradually began to take sides with the West . The question of which side of the Cold War Israel should choose created fissures in the kibbutz movement. Dining halls segregated according to politics and a few kibbutzim even had Marxist members leave. The disillusionment particularly set in after
9558-491: The historical-critical study of scripture and the dominant philosophies of the day, especially Kant and Hegel . Influenced by the critical " Science of Judaism " ( Wissenschaft des Judentums ) pioneered by Leopold Zunz , and often in emulation of the Liberal Protestant milieu, they reexamined and undermined beliefs held as sacred in traditional circles, especially the notion of an unbroken chain from Sinai to
9735-608: The "birthday of the trees" was substantially revived by kibbutzim. All in all, holidays with some kind of agricultural component, like Passover and Sukkot, were the most significant for kibbutzim. Religious kibbutzim were established in clusters before the establishment of the State, creating the Religious Kibbutz Movement . The first religious kibbutz was Ein Tzurim , founded in 1946. Arab opposition increased as
9912-429: The "collaborative model" ( הזרם השיתופי ). There are now three kibbutz compensation models. 1) The traditional collective kibbutz/kibbutz shitufi , in which members are compensated equally, regardless of what work each member does; 2) the mixed model kibbutz/kibbutz meshulav , in which each member is given a small percentage of his or their salary along with a basic component given equally to all kibbutz members; and 3)
10089-558: The "peace camp". The party paper Al HaMishmar (On the Watch) presented this view. Kibbutzim were run as collective enterprises within Israel's partly free market system. Internally kibbutzim also practiced active democracy, with elections held for kibbutz functions and full participation in national elections in which the members generally voted along the lines of the kibbutz movement ideology. Jewish religious practices were banned or discouraged in many far left kibbutzim. Kibbutzim were not
10266-455: The "zealots" were shocked by the demise of the traditional world into which they had been born. Like Moses Sofer a generation before them, these Orthodox émigrés moved east, to a pre-modern environment that they were determined to safeguard. Lichtenstein ruled out any compromise with modernity, insisting on maintaining Yiddish and traditional dress. They considered the Neologs as already beyond
10443-530: The "zealots"' cause, dismissed their legal arguments. In 1865, the ultra-Orthodox convened in Nagymihály and issued a ban on various synagogue reforms, intended not against the Neologs but against developments in the Orthodox camp, especially after Samuel Sofer violated his father's expressed ban and instituted vernacular sermons in Pressburg. Schick, the country's most prominent decisor, and other leading rabbis refused to sign, though they did not publicly oppose
10620-653: The 1917 Balfour Declaration and the wave of Jewish settlers to Palestine began to tilt the demographic balance of the area. Arabs responded with bloody riots in Jerusalem in 1920 , Jaffa in 1921 and in Hebron in 1929 . In the late 1930s, Arab–Jewish violence became virtually constant; the 1936–39 Arab revolt in Palestine is also known as the "Great Uprising" in Palestinian historiography. Kibbutzim began to assume
10797-403: The 1930s and 1940s. In 1922, there were 700 people living on kibbutzim in Palestine. By 1927, the number had risen to 2,000. When World War II erupted, 24,105 people were living on 79 kibbutzim, comprising 5% of the Jewish population of Mandate Palestine. In 1950, the figures went up to 65,000, accounting for 7.5% of the population. In 1989, the kibbutz population peaked at 129,000. By 2010,
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#173279123460010974-707: The 5.2 million Jews in the Pale of Settlement and Congress Poland spoke Yiddish their mother tongue, and only 26% were literate in Russian. Though the Eastern European Haskalah challenged the traditional establishment, it flourished from the 1820s until the 1890s. Unlike its western counterpart, it thrived despite ongoing acculturation. The leading rabbis maintained the concept of communal unity: in 1882, when an Orthodox party in Galicia appealed for
11151-502: The Breslau School, who don silk gloves at their work, and Geiger who wields a sledgehammer . During the 1840s in Germany, as traditionalists became a clear minority, some Orthodox rabbis, such as Salomo Eger of Posen , urged the adoption of Moses Sofer 's position and to anathemize the principally nonobservant. Eating, worshipping or marrying with them were to be banned. Rabbi Jacob Ettlinger , whose journal Treue Zionswächter
11328-674: The Diaspora stood palpably before my eyes", she wrote. After that she strove incessantly to save the Jewish youth of Germany. The difficulties which Recha Freier faced were immense. Jewish organizations and parents were skeptical about the plan to send children alone to a distant country. In January 1933, Recha Freier founded in Berlin the Committee for the Assistance of Jewish Youth or Youth Aliyah ( Hilfskomitee für Jüdische Jugend ), which
11505-602: The Eastern Europeans, their modern education made them a prominent elite in the new organization, which strove to provide a comprehensive response to world Jewry's challenges in a strictly observant spirit. The Agudah immediately formed its Council of Torah Sages as supreme rabbinic leadership body. Many ultra-traditionalist elements in Eastern Europe, like the Belz and Lubavitch Hasidim, refused to join, viewing
11682-464: The Frankfurt community, and decreed that all Orthodox should do the same. However, unlike the heterogeneous congregations of Hungary, which often consisted of recent immigrants, Frankfurt and most German communities were close-knit. The majority of Hirsch's congregants enlisted Rabbi Seligman Baer Bamberger , who was older and more conservative. Bamberger was concerned with the principal of unity among
11859-410: The Hamburg rabbinic court, banning the major practices enacted there and offering halakhic grounds for forbidding any changes. Most historians concur that the 1818–1821 Hamburg Temple dispute , with its concerted backlash against Reform and the emergence of a self-aware conservative ideology, marks the beginning of Orthodox Judaism. The leader and organizer of the Orthodox camp during the dispute, and
12036-603: The Hungarian ultra-Orthodox struggled to provide strong halakhic arguments. Michael Silber wrote: "These issues, even most of the religious reforms, fell into gray areas not easily treated within Halakha. It was often too flexible or ambiguous, at times silent, or worse yet, embarrassingly lenient." Schlesinger was forced to venture outside of normative law, into mystical writings and other fringe sources, to buttress his ideology. Most Hungarian Orthodox rabbis, while sympathetic to
12213-654: The Institute for the Research of the Kibbutz and the Cooperative Idea believes that by the end of 2012, there will be more kibbutzim switching to some alternative model. First Aliyah immigrants were largely religious, but those of the Second Aliyah were mainly secular. A Jewish work ethic thus replaced religious practice. Berl Katznelson , a Labor Zionist leader articulated this when he said "Everywhere
12390-427: The Jewish Employment Agency, who could only counsel patience, she conceived the idea that the boys instead could be sent to Palestine , where they could be trained as farmers in the Jewish workers' settlements. By the end of 1932, the first group of youth left Berlin with the help of funds donated by Wilfrid Israel to Freier. This proved to be the beginning of the Youth Aliyah. "The utter senselessness of Jewish life in
12567-409: The Jewish labourer goes, the divine presence goes with him." The first kibbutzim were founded in the upper Jordan Valley , the Jezreel Valley and the Sharon coastal plain . The land was available for purchase because it was marshy and malaria-infested. The Zionists believed that the Arab population would be grateful for the economic benefits that developing the land would bring. Their approach
12744-454: The Law and commandments rests on coercion, enabling to force obedience and punish the transgressor. Denying this fact is akin to denying the sun at noon. However, maskilic '-rabbinic rivalry ended in most of Central Europe, as governments imposed modernization upon their Jewish subjects. Schools replaced traditional cheders , and standard German began to supplant Yiddish . Differences between
12921-599: The Life of Süsskind von Trimberg , written for the "Testimonium" series, 1982), Josef Tal ( Amnon and Tamar , 1958, based on the Book of Samuel ), and Yitzchak Sadai ( Trail 19 , 1982). Recha Freier, through her activities in the Youth Aliyah, saved over 7,000 young Jews who immigrated to Palestine and were absorbed into the Yishuv . Recognition first came in 1975, when the 83-year-old received an honorary doctorate from
13098-477: The Middle Ages, Maimonides and his contemporaries reported that anthropomorphic conceptions of God were quite common in their time. Kibbutz A kibbutz ( Hebrew : קִבּוּץ / קיבוץ , lit. ' gathering, clustering ' ; pl. : kibbutzim קִבּוּצִים / קיבוצים ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture . The first kibbutz, established in 1910,
13275-553: The Mizrahi minority, and terminated dialogue; in 1911, when the 10th World Zionist Congress voted in favour of propagating non-religious cultural work and education, a large segment of the Mizrahi seceded and joined the anti-Zionists. In 1907, Eastern European proto- Haredi elements formed the Knesseth Israel party, a modern framework created in recognition of the deficiencies of existing institutions. It dissipated within
13452-643: The Nations"). The USSR voted at the UN for establishment of Israel. Stalin became hostile to Israel after it became apparent that Israel would not turn communist, so the USSR began serving diplomatic and military interests of various nations in the Arab world . This caused major crises and mass exit in both Kibbutz Meuchad and Kibbutz Artzi kibbutzim, especially after the 1952 Rudolf Slánský Prague show trials in which most of
13629-560: The Negev to give Israel a better claim to this arid, but strategically important, region. The Marxist faction of the kibbutz movement, Kibbutz Artzi, favoured a one-state solution over partition, but advocated free Jewish immigration, which the Arabs opposed. Kibbutzniks fought in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War , emerging from the conflict with enhanced prestige in the nascent State of Israel. Members of Kibbutz Degania were instrumental in stopping
13806-529: The Orthodox need to tolerate the nonobservant majority: Many of their own congregants were far removed from strict practice. For example, he allowed congregants to drink wine poured by Sabbath desecrators, and to ignore other halakhic sanctions. Yet German neo-Orthodoxy could not legitimize nonobservance, and adopted a hierarchical approach, softer than traditional sanctions, but no less intent on differentiating sinners and righteous. Reform rabbis or lay leaders, considered ideological opponents, were castigated, while
13983-592: The Orthodox seceded from the Congress and appealed to Parliament in the name of religious freedom. This demonstrated the internalization of the new circumstances: Twenty years before, in 1851, Orthodox leader Meir Eisenstaedter petitioned the authorities to restore the old coercive powers of the communities. In 1871 the government recognized a separate Orthodox national committee. Communities that refused to join either side, labeled "Status Quo", were subject to Orthodox condemnation even when impeccably conservative. However,
14160-437: The Orthodox tolerated nonobservant Jews as long as they affiliated with the national committee: Adam Ferziger claimed that membership and loyalty, rather than beliefs and ritual behavior, emerged as the definitive manifestation of Jewish identity. The Hungarian schism was the most radical internal separation among the Jews of Europe. Hildesheimer returned to Germany soon after, disillusioned though not as pessimistic as Hirsch. He
14337-595: The Orthodox. Warden Hirsch Lehren of Amsterdam and Rabbi Jacob Ettlinger of Altona both organized anti-Reform manifestos, denouncing the new initiatives, signed by scores of rabbis from Europe and the Middle East. The tone of the signatories varied considerably along geographic lines: letters from traditional societies in Eastern Europe and the Ottoman Empire implored local leaders to petition
14514-502: The People Israel and dismissive of Hirsch, whom he regarded as unlearned and overly assimilated. He decreed that since the mother community was willing to finance Orthodox services and allow them religious freedom, secession was unwarranted. Eventually, less than 80 families from Hirsch's 300-strong congregation followed their rabbi. The vast majority of the 15%–20% of German Jews affiliated with Orthodox institutions cared little for
14691-659: The Talmudic exegesis , which derived laws from the Torah 's text by employing hermeneutics , was binding d'Oraita . Geiger and others presented exegesis as an arbitrary, illogical process, and consequently defenders of tradition embraced Maimonides ' claim that the Sages merely buttressed already received laws with biblical citations, rather than actually deriving them. Jay Harris commented, "An insulated orthodox, or, rather, traditional rabbinate, feeling no pressing need to defend
14868-424: The Temple leaders. He introduced secular studies for children, wore a cassock like a Protestant clergyman, and delivered vernacular sermons. He forbade the spontaneous, informal character of synagogue conduct typical of Ashkenazi tradition, and ordered prayers to be somber and dignified. Bernays' style re-unified the Hamburg community by accommodating their aesthetic demands (but not theological ones, raised by only
15045-732: The UOR as overly Americanized. Typical of these was Rabbi Aaron Kotler , who established Lakewood Yeshiva in New Jersey in 1943. Alarmed by the American innovations, Kotler turned his institution into an enclave, around which a community slowly evolved. It was unlike his prewar yeshiva at Kletsk , Poland , whose students mingled with the rest of the population. Lakewood pioneered the homogeneous, voluntary and enclavist model of postwar Haredi communities, which were independent entities developing their own subculture. The new arrivals soon dominated
15222-510: The Youth Aliyah. In 1943, Freier established the Agricultural Training Center for Israeli children whose aim it was to provide a proper education for children from impoverished families; children living in inferior social conditions. This she did by arranging for these children to be brought up in a Kibbutz , in workers’ settlements or in family units set up for this purpose. Henrietta Szold is often wrongly credited as
15399-474: The accused and executed party functionaries were Jews and the 1953 Doctors' plot in Moscow of mostly Jews. Nonetheless many kibbutzim cancelled Purim celebrations when Stalin collapsed on March 1, 1953. Despite Communist atrocities and increasing state antisemitism in the USSR and its satellites many in the far left kibbutz movement, like Hashomer Hatzair (The Young Guard) viewed Stalin with awe and leader of
15576-556: The affluent wardens' class ( parnasim ), judicially subject to rabbinical courts , which governed most civil matters. The rabbinical class monopolized education and morals, much like the Christian clergy. Jewish Law was considered normative and enforced upon transgressors (common sinning was rebuked, but tolerated) invoking all communal sanctions: imprisonment, taxation, flogging, pillorying, and, especially, excommunication . Cultural, economic, and social exchange with non-Jewish society
15753-457: The arrival of the British, brought with it benefits for the Jewish community of Palestine and its kibbutzim. The Ottoman authorities had made immigration to Palestine difficult and restricted land purchases. Rising antisemitism forced many Jews to flee Eastern Europe. To escape the pogroms , tens of thousands of Russian Jews immigrated to Palestine in the early 1920s, in a wave of immigration that
15930-546: The attributes of God in Judaism : one and indivisible, preceding all creation, which God alone brought into being, eternal, omniscient, omnipotent, absolutely incorporeal, and beyond human reason. This basis is evoked in many foundational texts, and is repeated often in daily prayers, such as in Judaism's creed-like Shema Yisrael : "Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One." Maimonides delineated this understanding of
16107-494: The authorities and have them ban the movement. Signers from Central and Western Europe used terms commensurate with the liberal age. All were implored by the petitioners to be brief and accessible; complex halakhic arguments, intended to convince the rabbinic elite in past generations, were replaced by an appeal to the secularized masses. The struggle with Wissenschaft criticism shaped the Orthodox. For centuries, Ashkenazi rabbinic authorities espoused Nahmanides ' position that
16284-700: The castigation of Zecharias Frankel, allowed the instrument in his community. In England, Rabbi Nathan Marcus Adler 's United Synagogue shared a similar approach: It was vehemently conservative in principle and combated ideological reformers , yet served a nonobservant public – as Todd Endelman noted, "While respectful of tradition, most English-born Jews were not orthodox in terms of personal practice. Nonetheless they were content to remain within an orthodox congregational framework" – and introduced considerable synagogue reforms. The slow pace of modernization in Russia, Congress Poland and Romanian principalities delayed
16461-407: The clergy; and many did not partition men and women. In 1885, the antinomian Pittsburgh Platform moved conservative religious leaders to found the Jewish Theological Seminary of America (JTS). Orthodoxy never became consistent and was mainly motivated by a rejection of Reform. They variously termed their ideology as "Enlightened Orthodoxy" or " Conservative Judaism ". The latter gradually became
16638-568: The common mass was to be carefully handled. Some German neo-Orthodox believed that while doomed to minority status in their native country, their ideology could successfully confront modernity and unify Judaism in more traditional communities to the east. In 1847, Hirsch was elected Chief Rabbi of Moravia , where old rabbinic culture and yeshiva s were still extant. His expectations were dashed as traditionalist rabbis scorned him for his European manners and lack of Talmudic acumen. They became enraged by his attempts to reform synagogues and to establish
16815-482: The common treasury. If a member received a gift in services—like a visit to a relative or a trip abroad paid for by a parent—there could be arguments at members' meetings about the propriety of accepting such a gift. Up until recently, members ate meals together in the communal dining hall. This was seen as an important aspect of communal life. When the first children were born at the kibbutz there were inevitably some ethical dilemmas that needed to be solved. One of these
16992-445: The continuum of received precedent through the ages. It regards the entire halakhic system as ultimately grounded in immutable revelation, essentially beyond external and historical influence. More than any theoretical issue, obeying the dietary , purity , ethical and other laws of halakha is the hallmark of Orthodoxy. Practicing members are easily distinguishable by their lifestyle, refraining from doing numerous routine actions on
17169-488: The countryside in 1783, recalled that he first faced there "new vices" of principled irreverence towards tradition, rather than "old vices" such as gossip or fornication. In Hamburg , Rabbi Raphael Cohen attempted to reinforce traditional norms. Cohen ordered the men in his community to grow a beard, forbade holding hands with one's wife in public, and decried women who wore wigs, instead of visible headgear , to cover their hair; Cohen taxed and otherwise persecuted members of
17346-529: The crisis of traditional society for decades. , Harsh discrimination and active persecution of Jews continued there until 1917. Old-style education in the heder and yeshiva remained the norm, retaining Hebrew as the language of the elite and Yiddish as the vernacular. The defining fault-line of Eastern European Jews was between the Hasidim and the Misnagdic reaction against them. Reform attempts by
17523-623: The customary Hebrew word for husband ba'ali (lit. "my master"). The children slept in children's houses and visited their parents only a few hours a day. There were also differences in religion. Kibbutz Artzi and United Kibbutz Movement kibbutzim were secular , even staunchly atheistic , proudly trying to be " monasteries without God". Although most mainstream kibbutznikim also disdained the Orthodox Judaism of their parents, they wanted their new communities to have Jewish characteristics nonetheless. Friday nights were still Shabbat with
17700-474: The decree. On the other end of the spectrum, Hildesheimer's planned seminary was too radical for the same mainstream rabbis, and he became marginalized and isolated by 1864. The internal Orthodox division was complicated by growing tension with the Neologs. In 1869, the Hungarian government convened a General Jewish Congress that was aimed at creating a national representative body. Fearing Neolog domination,
17877-505: The divinely revealed status of the Torah and a strict observance of halakha , separating it from Conservative ideology. Physically separate seating (symbolized by gender partitions ) became the distinguishing mark of Orthodox/Conservative affiliation in the 1950s, and as pushed by the RCA. However, many Modern Orthodox followers were barely observant, and many synagogues did not use a gender partition. As late as 1997, seven OU congregations lacked
18054-494: The emergence of distinctly Orthodox communities and ideologies, were the exception rather than the rule in Central and Western Europe. France, Britain, Bohemia, Austria and other countries saw both a virtual disappearance of traditional Jewish life, and no serious interest in bridging Judaism and modernity. The official rabbinate remained technically traditional, in the default sense of not introducing ideological change. The organ –
18231-564: The end of the kibbutz concept. Among the communities that have recently officially ceased being kibbutzim are Megiddo in the Jezreel Valley, HagGoshrim in the Upper Galilee, Beyt Nir in the Negev, etc. These processes have created the "renewing kibbutz" ( הקיבוץ המתחדש )—a kibbutz settlement pattern not fully based on the original values of the kibbutz. Kibbutzim continuing under the original kibbutz values are associated with
18408-694: The epithet Haredim (generic term for the observant and the pious). Jewish nationalism, particularly Zionism , with its nonobservant if not staunchly secular partisans, was the key question facing Eastern European traditionalists, although it was tangled with modernization. Salmon claimed that the future Zionists were: supportive of a national agenda; motivated by criticism of Jewish society; supportive of modernity; tolerant of nonobservance; and approving of traditional faith and practice. Their proto- Haredi opponents sharply rejected all he former positions and espoused staunch conservatism, which idealized existing norms. Any illusion that differences could be blanded and
18585-571: The establishment and the Enlightened became irrelevant, and the former often embraced the views of the latter (now antiquated, as more aggressive modes of acculturation replaced the Haskalahs program). In 1810, when philanthropist Israel Jacobson opened what was later identified as the first Reform synagogue in Seesen , with modernized rituals, he encountered little protest. The founding of
18762-616: The form of the Haskalah (Jewish Enlightenment) movement which came to the fore in 1782. Hartwig Wessely , Moses Mendelssohn , and other maskilim called for a reform of Jewish education , abolition of coercion in matters of conscience , and other modernizing measures. They bypassed rabbinic approval and set themselves, at least implicitly, as a rival intellectual elite. A bitter struggle ensued. Reacting to Mendelssohn's assertion that freedom of conscience must replace communal censure, Rabbi Cohen of Hamburg commented: The very foundation of
18939-422: The founder of the Youth Aliyah. It was only after Henrietta Szold's death in 1945, when Moshe Kol was at the head of the Youth Aliyah organization (1947-1966), that Freier's achievements in establishing the organization and in saving thousands of German Jewish youth was recognized. This came about after Freier brought a lawsuit against Kol, alleging that her role in establishing the Youth Aliyah movement and in saving
19116-428: The heavens.... At the center of our camp a fire burns, and under the weight of the hora the earth groans a rhythmic groan, accompanied by wild songs". Kibbutzim founded in the 1920s tended to be larger than the kibbutzim like Degania that were founded prior to World War I. Degania had had twelve members at its founding. Eyn Harod , founded only a decade later, began with 215 members. Kibbutzim grew and flourished in
19293-571: The heir of late Hatam Sofer, considered appointing Hildesheimer as his assistant-rabbi in Pressburg and instituting secular studies in the city's great yeshiva . The rabbi of Eisenstadt believed that only a full-fledged modern rabbinical seminary could fulfill his neo-Orthodox agenda. In the 1850s and 1860s, however, a radical reactionary Orthodox party coalesced in the northeastern regions of Hungary . Led by Rabbi Hillel Lichtenstein , his son-in-law Akiva Yosef Schlesinger and decisor Chaim Sofer ,
19470-511: The help of professional smugglers. Even after entering Yugoslavia she continued her activities and managed to save 150 youths whose parents had already perished in concentration camps. After a sojourn of several months in Yugoslavia she continued to Palestine in 1941. When Freier arrived in Jerusalem, Szold told Freier that there was no room for her in the running of the Youth Aliyah in Palestine. Thus Freier withdrew from her formal role within
19647-505: The importance of daily practice and adherence to halakha (Jewish law) mooted theoretical issues. Others dismissed this view entirely, citing ancient rabbinic debates that castigated various heresies with little reference to observance. However, even without a uniform doctrine, Orthodox Judaism is basically united in its core beliefs. Disavowing them is a major blasphemy . . Several medieval authorities attempted to codify these beliefs, including Saadia Gaon and Joseph Albo . Each composed
19824-423: The issues raised by modernization. They themselves often disliked the name that was earlier adopted by eastern Christianity, preferring titles such as "Torah-true" ( gesetztreu ). They often declared they used it only as a convenience. German Orthodox leader Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch referred to "the conviction commonly designated as Orthodox Judaism"; in 1882, when Rabbi Azriel Hildesheimer became convinced that
20001-596: The kibbutzim are organised in the secular Kibbutz Movement with some 230 kibbutzim, the Religious Kibbutz Movement with 16 kibbutzim and the much smaller religious Poalei Agudat Yisrael with two kibbutzim, all part of the wider communal settlement movement . The kibbutzim were founded by members of the Bilu movement who emigrated to Palestine . Like the members of the First Aliyah (1881-1903) who came before them and established agricultural villages, most members of
20178-470: The land themselves, becoming independent farmers was not a realistic option in 1909. As Arthur Ruppin , a proponent of Jewish agricultural colonization of the Trans-Jordan, would later say, "The question was not whether group settlement was preferable to individual settlement; it was rather one of either group settlement or no settlement at all." Ottoman Palestine was a harsh environment. The Galilee
20355-410: The land”. Over the years, some kibbutz members established professional careers outside the kibbutz, accumulating power, privileges and prestige. The balance between individual values and values of the kibbutz began to tip, and work motivation was affected. An emphasis was placed on social compensation to encourage productivity. These processes occurred in parallel with a severe economic crisis (itself
20532-733: The left-wing Mapam party. In 1928, Degania and other small kibbutzim formed Hever Hakvutzot ("The Kvutzot Association"). Kvutzot were deliberately small, not exceeding 200 members, in the belief that this was imperative for maintaining trust. Kvutzot did not have youth-group affiliations in Europe. Kibbutzim affiliated with the United Kibbutz Movement took in as many members as they could. Givat Brenner eventually came to have more than 1,500 members. Artzi kibbutzim were also more devoted to gender equality than other kibbutzim. Women called their husbands ishi ("my man") rather than
20709-428: The like are forbidden.) The utter imperceptibility of God, considered as beyond human reason and only reachable through what he chooses to reveal, was emphasized among others in the ancient ban on making any image of him . Maimonides and virtually all sages in his time and thereafter stressed that the creator is incorporeal, lacking "any semblance of a body". While incorporeality has almost been taken for granted since
20886-521: The lives of thousands of Jewish youth from Europe, was being purposely ignored. By 1939, Youth Aliyah saved 7,000 youths, who made aliya to Palestine and were absorbed into worker's settlements. In 1958, Freier established the Israel Composer's Fund, and in 1966 she founded, together with the composer Roman Haubenstock-Ramati , the Festival "Testimonium" ("Witness"), designed to support
21063-471: The local traditionalists complete their transformation into Orthodox, albeit never as starkly as in Hungary or Germany. Eastern European Orthodoxy, whether Agudah or Mizrahi, always preferred cultural and educational independence to communal secession, and maintained strong ties and self-identification with the general Jewish public. Within its ranks, the 150-years-long struggle between Hasidim and Misnagdim
21240-432: The mid-1980s, research on Orthodox Judaism became a scholarly discipline, examining how the need to confront modernity shaped and changed its beliefs, ideologies, social structure, and halakhic rulings, separating it from traditional Jewish society. Until the latter half of the 18th century, Jewish communities in Central and Western Europe were autonomous entities, with distinct privileges and obligations. They were led by
21417-435: The mid-1990s, the number of kibbutzim making significant changes in their lifestyle has continued to grow, while the resistance to these changes has gradually decreased, with only a few dozen kibbutzim still functioning under more traditional models. It is important to note, however, that each kibbutz has undergone different processes of change. There are many people, outside and inside the kibbutzim, who claim these changes bring
21594-442: The most influential figure in early Orthodoxy, was Rabbi Moses Sofer of Pressburg , Hungary . Historian Jacob Katz regarded him as the first to grasp the realities of the modern age. Sofer understood that what remained of his political clout would soon disappear, and that he had largely lost the ability to enforce observance; as Katz wrote, "obedience to halakha became dependent on recognizing its validity, and this very validity
21771-485: The movement as a dangerous innovation; and the organized Orthodox in Hungary rejected it as well, especially after it did not affirm a commitment to communal secession in 1923. In the Interwar period , sweeping secularization and acculturation deracinated old Jewish society in Eastern Europe. The October Revolution granted civil equality and imposed anti-religious persecutions, radically transforming Russian Jewry within
21948-447: The movement both tolerated and advocated modernization: Traditionally rare formal religious education for girls was introduced; modesty and gender separation were relaxed to match German society; men went clean-shaven and dressed like Gentiles; and exclusive Torah study virtually disappeared. Basic religious studies incorporating German Bildung provided children with practical halakhic knowledge for thriving in modern society. Ritual
22125-475: The mystical tradition, exemplified in Kabbalah , assigned each rite with a role in hidden dimensions of reality. Sheer obedience, derived from faithfulness to one's community and ancestry, was believed sufficient for the common people, while the educated chose one of the two schools. In the modern era, the prestige of both declined, and "naive faith" became popular. At a time when contemplation in matters of belief
22302-521: The need to defend the very concept of tradition in a world where that was no longer self-evident. When secularization and the dismantlement of communal structures uprooted the old order of Jewish life, traditionalist elements united to form groups that had a specific self-understanding. This, and all that it entailed, constituted a notable change, for the Orthodox had to adapt to modern society no less than anyone else; they developed novel, sometimes radical, means of action and modes of thought. "Orthodoxization"
22479-670: The non-Orthodox. That year, Hildesheimer visited Hungary. Confounded by urbanization and acculturation – and the rise of Neology , a nonobservant laity served by rabbis who mostly favoured the Positive-Historical approach – the elderly local rabbis at first welcomed Hildesheimer. He opened a modern school in Eisenstadt that included secular studies in the curriculum. Traditionalists such as Moshe Schick and Yehudah Aszód sent their sons to study there. Samuel Benjamin Sofer ,
22656-590: The norm. Separation of church and state and dynamic religiosity along the Protestant model shaped synagogue life. In the mid-19th century, Reform Judaism spread rapidly, made popular by formally abandoning traditions that few upheld. The United States was labeled the Treife Medina , or "Profane Country", in Yiddish . Isaac Leeser was an ultra-traditionalist in the American context, although his lack of
22833-576: The notion that the Oral and Written Law were intertwined and inseparable. Wissenschaft posed a greater challenge to the modernized neo-Orthodox than to the traditionalist. Hirsch and Hildesheimer divided on the matter, anticipating modernist Orthodox attitudes to the historical-critical method. Hirsch argued that analyzing minutiae of tradition as products of their historical context was akin to denying its divine origin and timeless relevance. Hildesheimer consented to research under limits, subjugating it to
23010-505: The now-lost communal autonomy, the Neo-Orthodox turned Judaism from an all-encompassing practice into a private religious conviction. In the late 1830s, modernist pressures in Germany shifted from the secularization debate, moving into the "purely religious" sphere of theology and liturgy. A new generation of university-trained rabbis (many German states required communal rabbis to possess such education) sought to reconcile Judaism with
23187-718: The number decreased to about 100,000; the number of kibbutzim in Israel was 270. In 1927, the United Kibbutz Movement was established. Several Hashomer Hatzair kibbutzim banded together to form Kibbutz Artzi . In 1936, Socialist League of Palestine was founded, and served as an urban ally of HaKibbutz HaArtzi. In 1946, HaKibbutz HaArtzi and the Socialist League combined to form the Hashomer Hatzair Workers Party of Palestine which in 1948, merged with Ahdut HaAvoda to form
23364-427: The observant community lest any compromise legitimize the progressives' claim that the law was fluid or redundant. He was unwilling to trade halakhic opinions for those he considered to be pretending to honor the rules of rabbinic discourse, while intending to undermine them. Sofer regarded traditional customs as equivalent to vows; he warned in 1793 that even the "custom of ignoramuses" (one known to be rooted solely in
23541-514: The only contemporary communal enterprises: pre-war Palestine also saw the development of communal villages called moshavim . In a moshav , marketing and major farm purchases were collective, but other aspects of life were private. In 2009, most votes from kibbutzim went to Kadima , Labor , and Meretz . The principle of equality was taken extremely seriously up until the 1970s. Kibbutzniks did not individually own tools, or even clothing. Gifts and income received from outside were turned over to
23718-523: The pale of Jewishness, and were more concerned with neo-Orthodoxy, which they regarded as a thinly-veiled gateway for a similar fate. Chaim Sofer summarized their view of Hildesheimer: "The wicked Hildesheimer is the horse and chariot of the Evil Inclination ... All the heretics in the last century did not seek to undermine the Law and the Faith as he does." In their struggle against acculturation,
23895-589: The permits without the knowledge of the officers of the Reich Association of Jews in Germany, Freier was informed that she was not allowed to take any more permits, and was ousted from the Zionist leadership in Berlin, including her position as the director of the Youth Aliyah offices. Freier remained in Nazi Germany until the middle of 1940 and then crossed the border into Yugoslavia illegally with
24072-626: The plan, finding it unfeasible, but eventually accepted the role offered to her by Freier and thus become the director of Youth Aliyah's Jerusalem office. In 1938, Recha Freier worked alongside people such as Aaron Menschel, director of the Vienna Youth Aliyah office, in an endeavor to save Austrian Jews. In this year too, largely coinciding with the Kristallnacht pogrom, Jews in Germany of Polish Nationality, were arrested and sent to concentration camps. Freier endeavored to obtain
24249-680: The polemics. They did not secede over reasons of finance and familial relations. Only a handful of Secessionist, Austrittorthodox , communities were established in the Reich; almost everyone remained Communal Orthodox, Gemeindeortodox , within Liberal mother congregations. The Communal Orthodox argued that their approach was true to Jewish unity and decisive in maintaining public standards of observance and traditional education in Liberal communities. The Secessionists viewed them as hypocritical middle-of-the-roaders. The conflicts in Hungary and Germany, and
24426-588: The precarious and porous borders of the state. In the Six-Day War , when Israel lost 800 soldiers, 200 of them were from kibbutzim. The prestige that kibbutzniks enjoyed in Israel in the 1960s was reflected in the Knesset . Though only 4% of Israelis were kibbutzniks, kibbutzniks made up 15% of Israel's parliament. As late as the 1970s, kibbutzim seemed to be thriving in every way. Kibbutzniks performed working-class, or even peasant-class, occupations, yet enjoyed
24603-409: The predetermined sanctity of the subject matter and accepting its results only when they accorded with the latter. More importantly, while he was content to engage academically, he opposed its practical application in religious questions, requiring traditional methods to be used. Hildesheimer's approach was emulated by his disciple Rabbi David Zvi Hoffmann , a scholar and apologetic. His polemic against
24780-661: The preferred term. Strictly traditionalist Eastern European immigrants formed the Union of Orthodox Rabbis (UOR) in 1902, in direct opposition to the Americanized OU and JTS. The UOR frowned upon English-language sermons, secular education and any acculturation. In 1897, an old-style yeshiva , Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS), was founded in New York. Its students rebelled in 1908, demanding rabbinic training more like that of their JTS peers. In 1915, RIETS
24957-486: The priestly caste who left the city to marry divorcees, men who appealed to state courts , those who ate food cooked by Gentiles , and other transgressors. Hamburg's Jews repeatedly appealed to the civil authorities, which eventually justified Cohen. However, the unprecedented meddling in his jurisdiction profoundly shocked him and dealt a blow to the prestige of the rabbinate. An ideological challenge to rabbinic authority, in contrast to prosaic secularization, appeared in
25134-436: The public understood that his philosophy and Liberal Judaism were radically different, he removed the word Orthodox from the name of his Hildesheimer Rabbinical Seminary . By the 1920s, the term had become common and accepted even in Eastern Europe. Orthodoxy perceives itself as the only authentic continuation of Judaism as it was until the crisis of modernity. Its progressive opponents often shared this view, regarding it as
25311-637: The release of these Jews from the camps. This became possible by making use of permits issued by the Nazi authorities and given to the Jewish representative body—the Reich Association of Jews in Germany—for distribution to such Jews as could undertake to leave Germany within two weeks of receiving the permit. Freier took 100 such permits, without permission, and filled in the names of Jewish concentration camp prisoners. These prisoners were released and ultimately reached Palestine. When it became known that Freier had taken
25488-466: The renewing kibbutz/kibbutz mithadesh , in which a member's income consists solely of their individual income from his work and sometimes includes income from other kibbutz sources. According to a survey conducted by the University of Haifa 188 of all kibbutzim (72%) are now converted to the "renewing kibbutz" model, which could be described as more individualistic kibbutz. Dr. Shlomo Getz, head of
25665-464: The right of secession, the Netziv and other Russian rabbis forbade it for contradicting the idea of Israel's unity. In the 1860s and 1870s, moderate maskilic rabbis like Yitzchak Yaacov Reines and Yechiel Michel Pines called for inclusion of secular studies in the heder s and yeshiva s, anticipating a communal disintegration as in the west. Instead they proposed a careful modernization, based on
25842-494: The session would begin with a group dance. Remembering her youth on a kibbutz on the shores of the Kinneret , one woman said: "Oh, how beautiful it was when we all took part in the discussions, [they were] nights of searching for one another—that is what I call those hallowed nights. During the moments of silence, it seemed to me that from each heart a spark would burst forth, and the sparks would unite in one great flame penetrating
26019-408: The setting to music the stories of central events in the life of the Jewish people. For this purpose she managed to engage the help of notable composers, both Jewish and non-Jewish, such as Ben-Zion Orgad , Mauricio Kagel , Karlheinz Stockhausen , Iannis Xenakis , Lukas Foss and others. She also wrote a number of libretti for Israeli composers. These included Mark Kopytman ( Chamber Scenes from
26196-399: The settlements, for instance, was influenced not only by considerations of economic viability but also and even chiefly by the needs of local defense, overall settlement strategy, and by the role such blocks of settlements might play in some future, perhaps decisive all-out struggle. Accordingly, land was purchased, or more often reclaimed, in remote parts of the country. Kibbutzim also played
26373-543: The southern end of the Sea of Galilee near the Arab village of Umm Juni/Juniya. These teenagers had hitherto worked as day laborers converting wetlands for human development, as masons, or as hands at the older Jewish settlements. Their dream was now to work for themselves, building up the land. They called their community " Kvutzat Degania" (lit. "collective of wheat" or "community of cereal grains"), now Degania Alef . The founders of Degania endured backbreaking labor: "The body
26550-481: The state expected them to assume pastoral care, foregoing their principal judicial role. Of secondary importance, much less than the civil and legal transformations, were the ideas of Enlightenment that chafed at the authority of tradition and faith. By the end of the 18th century, the weakened rabbinic establishment was facing a new kind of transgressor: they could not be classified as tolerable sinners overcome by their urges ( khote le-te'avon ), or as schismatics like
26727-454: The strict right-wing of German Jewry. It was fully articulated by Bernays' mid-century disciples Samson Raphael Hirsch and Azriel Hildesheimer . Hirsch, a Hamburg native who was ten during the Temple dispute, combined Orthodox dogmatism and militancy against rival interpretations of Judaism, granting leniency on many cultural issues and embraced German culture. The novel mixture termed Neo-Orthodoxy spread. While insisting on strict observance,
26904-527: The suffix -nik being of Slavic origin. In 2010, there were 270 kibbutzim in Israel with a total population of 126,000. Their factories and farms account for 9% of Israel's industrial output, worth US$ 8 billion , and 40% of its agricultural output, worth over US$ 1.7 billion. Some kibbutzim had also developed substantial high-tech and military industries. For example, in 2010, Kibbutz Sasa , containing some 200 members, generated US$ 850 million in annual revenue from its military- plastics industry . Currently
27081-537: The term Orthodox Jews was made in the Berlinische Monatsschrift in 1795. The word Orthodox was borrowed from the general German Enlightenment discourse, and used to denote those Jews who opposed Enlightenment. During the early and mid-19th century, with the advent of the progressive movements among German Jews, and especially early Reform Judaism , the title Orthodox became the epithet of traditionalists who espoused conservative positions on
27258-427: The traditionalist branches of contemporary Judaism . Theologically , it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah , both Written and Oral , as literally revealed by God on Mount Sinai and faithfully transmitted ever since. Orthodox Judaism therefore advocates a strict observance of Jewish Law, or halakha , which is to be interpreted and determined only according to traditional methods and in adherence to
27435-567: The traditionalist wing of American Jewry, forcing locals to adopt their views. The younger generation in the JTS and the Rabbinical Assembly concurrently demanded greater clarity, theological unambiguity and halakhic independence from the Orthodox veto on serious innovations. In 1935, for example, the RA shelved its proposal for a solution to the agunah predicament. "Conservative Judaism"
27612-430: The two stressed that the difference was dogmatic and not halakhic . They managed to tarnish Frankel's reputation in the traditional camp and delegitimized him for many. The Positive-Historical School is regarded by Conservative Judaism as an intellectual forerunner. While Hildesheimer distinguished Frankel's observant disciples from Reform proponents, he wrote in his diary: how meager is the principal difference between
27789-484: The validity of the Oral Law, could confidently appropriate the vision of most medieval rabbinic scholars; a defensive German Orthodoxy, by contrast, could not. ... Thus began a shift in understanding that led Orthodox rabbis and historians in the modern period to insist that the entire Oral Law was revealed by God to Moses at Sinai." 19th-Century Orthodox commentaries, like those authored by Malbim , attempted to amplify
27966-401: The young. Bernays signified a new era, and historians marked him as the first modern rabbi, fitting the demands of emancipation: his contract forbade him to tax, punish, or coerce, and he lacked political or judiciary power. He was forbidden from interfering in the Temple's conduct. Conservative in the principal issues of faith, in aesthetic, cultural, and civil matters, Bernays was a reformer and
28143-473: Was Degania . Today, farming has been partly supplanted by other economic branches, including industrial plants and high-tech enterprises . Kibbutzim began as utopian communities, a combination of socialism and Zionism . In recent decades, some kibbutzim have been privatized and changes have been made in the communal lifestyle. A member of a kibbutz is called a kibbutznik ( Hebrew : קִבּוּצְנִיק / קיבוצניק ; plural kibbutznikim or kibbutzniks ),
28320-538: Was a contingent process, drawing from local circumstances and dependent on the threat sensed by its proponents: a sharply-delineated Orthodox identity appeared in Central Europe, in Germany and Hungary, by the 1860s; a less stark one emerged in Eastern Europe during the Interwar period . Among the Jews of the Muslim lands , similar processes on a large scale began only around the 1970s, after they immigrated to Israel. Orthodoxy
28497-484: Was adopted as an exclusive label by most JTS graduates and RA members, became a distinct movement. In 1950, the Conservatives signaled their break with Orthodoxy by acceptance of a far-reaching legal decision, which allowed one to drive to the synagogue and to use electricity on Sabbath. Judaism never formulated a conclusive credo ; whether it reflects a dogma remains controversial. Some researchers argued that
28674-421: Was appointed rabbi of the Orthodox sub-community in Berlin (which had separate religious institutions but was not formally independent of the Liberal majority), where he finally established his seminary. In 1877, a law enabling Jews to secede from their communities without baptism was passed in Germany. It was a stark example that Judaism was now confessional, not corporate. Hirsch withdrew his congregation from
28851-526: Was associated with secularization, luminaries such as Yisrael Meir Kagan stressed the importance of simple, unsophisticated commitment to the precepts passed down from the Beatified Sages. This became standard in the ultra-Orthodox world. Judaism adheres to monotheism , the belief in one God. The basic tenets of Orthodoxy, drawn from ancient sources like the Talmud and later sages, chiefly include
29028-554: Was called the Third Aliyah . Zionist Jewish youth movements flourished in the 1920s, from right-wing movements like Betar to left-wing socialist groups such as Dror, Brit Haolim, Qadima, HabBonim (now Habonim Dror ), and Hashomer Hatzair . In contrast to those who came as part of the Second Aliyah, these youth group members had some agricultural training before embarking. Members of the Second Aliyah and Third Aliyah were also less likely to be Russian, since emigration from Russia
29205-435: Was challenged by those who did not obey". He was deeply troubled by reports from his native Frankfurt and the arrival from the west of dismissed rabbis, ejected by progressive wardens, or pious families, fearing for the education of their children. These émigrés often became ardent followers. Sofer's response to the crisis of traditional Jewish society was unremitting conservatism, canonizing every detail of prevalent norms in
29382-539: Was closed off after the Russian Revolution . European Jews who settled on kibbutzim between the World Wars were from other countries in Eastern Europe, including Germany . In the early days, communal meetings were limited to practical matters, but in the 1920s and 1930s, they became more informal. Instead of meeting in the dining room, the group would sit around a campfire. Rather than reading minutes,
29559-663: Was largely subsided; the latter were even dubbed henceforth as "Litvaks", as the anti-Hasidic component in their identity was marginalized. In the interwar period, Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan emerged as the popular leader of the Eastern European Orthodox, particularly the Agudah-leaning. American Jewry of the 19th century was small and lacked traditional institutions or strong rabbinic presence due to its immigrant-based nature. This informality allow religious innovation to flourish. Voluntary congregations were
29736-473: Was limited and regulated. This state of affairs came to an end with the rise of the modern, centralized state, which appropriated all authority. The nobility, clergy, urban guilds, and all other corporate estates were gradually stripped of privileges, inadvertently creating a more equal and secularized society. The Jews were one of the groups affected: excommunication was banned, and rabbinic courts lost almost all their jurisdiction. The state, especially following
29913-558: Was much shaped by a conscious struggle against the pressures of secularization , acculturation and rival alternatives. The strictly observant Orthodox are a definite minority among all Jews, but there are also numerous semi- and non-practicing persons who are officially affiliated or personally identify with the movement. In total, Orthodox Judaism is the largest Jewish religious group, estimated to have over 2 million practicing adherents, and at least an equal number of nominal members or self-identifying supporters. The earliest known mention of
30090-406: Was recognized by the World Zionist Congress but which at that stage received no financial support. Recha Freier contacted the labor movement in Palestine, as well as Henrietta Szold , the founder of Hadassah , who had at her disposal the support, financial and otherwise, of American Jewry. Freier asked Szold to take charge of the teenagers after their arrival in Palestine. Szold initially opposed
30267-475: Was reformed to match prevalent aesthetic conceptions, much like non-Orthodox synagogues though without the ideological undertone, and the liturgy was often abbreviated. Neo-Orthodoxy mostly did not attempt to reconcile its conduct and halakhic or moral norms. Instead it adopted compartmentalization, de facto limiting Judaism to the private and religious spheres, while otherwise yielding to outer society. While conservative Rabbis in Hungary still thought in terms of
30444-550: Was reorganized as a Modern Orthodox institution, and a merger with the JTS was discussed. In 1923, the Rabbinical Council of America was established as the OU's clerical association. Between the ultra-Orthodox and Conservatives, Modern Orthodoxy emerged as a distinct movement. Its postwar leader, Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik , left Agudas Israel to adopt a positive, if reserved, attitude toward Western culture. As dean of RIETS and honorary chair of RCA's halakha committee, Soloveitchik shaped Modern Orthodoxy for decades. RCA stressed
30621-545: Was simply the most logical way to be secure in an unwelcoming land. On top of safety considerations, establishing a farm was a capital-intensive project; collectively , the founders of the kibbutzim had the resources to establish something lasting, while independently they did not. Finally, the land had been purchased by the greater Jewish community. From around the world, Jews dropped coins into Jewish National Fund "Blue Boxes" for land purchases in Palestine. In 1909, Baratz, nine other men, and two women established themselves at
30798-411: Was swampy, the Judaean Mountains rocky, and the south of the country, the Negev , was a desert. To make things more challenging, most of the settlers had no prior farming experience. The sanitary conditions were also poor. Malaria , typhus and cholera were rampant. Bedouins would raid farms and settled areas. Sabotage of irrigation canals and burning of crops were also common. Living collectively
30975-608: Was that the enemies of the Arab peasants were the Arab landowners (called effendis ), not fellow Jewish farmers. Kibbutz members were not classic Marxists though their system partially resembled Communism . Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels both shared a disdain for conventional formulations of the nation state and Leninists were hostile to Zionism. Nevertheless, in the late 1930s, two kibbutz leaders, Tabenkin and Yaari, initially attracted to anarchist ideas, pushed their movements to reverence of Joseph Stalin 's dictatorship and of Stalin whom many called Shemesh HaAmim ("The Sun of
31152-408: Was that the kibbutz was striving for equality, including the equality of the sexes. Women were only seen as separate because they gave birth to children, automatically tying them to the domestic sphere . In order to liberate women and promote gender equality, they could not be tied to solely domestic duties and child care giving. The Kibbutz wanted to give women the opportunity to continue their work in
31329-485: Was the first regular Orthodox newspaper, signifying the coalescence of a distinct Orthodox millieu, rejected their call. Ettlinger, and German neo-Orthodoxy in his wake, chose to regard the modern secularized Jew as a transgressor rather than a schismatic. He adopted Maimonides' interpretation of the Talmudic concept tinok shenishba (captured infant), a Jew by birth who was not raised as such and therefore could be absolved for not practicing, and greatly expanded it to serve
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