Jews at the crossroads : tradition and accommodation during the golden age of the Hungarian nobility, 1729-1878 / Howard N. Lupovitch.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Lupovitch, Howard N.

Contributor:

Class of 1891 Department of Arts Fund.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Jews--Hungary--Miskolc--History--18th century.

Jews.

Jews--Hungary--Miskolc--History--19th century.

Jews--Hungary--Miskolc--Politics and government--18th century.

Jews--Hungary--Miskolc--Politics and government--19th century.

Jews--Emancipation--Hungary--Miskolc.

Jewish leadership--Hungary--Miskolc--History.

Jewish leadership.

History.

Jews--Emancipation.

Politics and government.

Miskolc (Hungary)--Ethnic relations.

Miskolc (Hungary).

Hungary--Miskolc.

Physical Description:

xxviii, 277 pages : illustrations, map ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Budapest ; New York : Central European University Press, 2007.

Summary:

The present volume examines the social and political history of the Jews of Miskolc-the third largest Jewish community in Hungary-and presents the wider transformation of Jewish identity during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It explores the emergence of a moderate, accommodating form of traditional Judaism that combined elements of tradition and innovation, thereby creating an alternative to Orthodox and Neolog Judaism. This form of traditional Judaism reconciled the demands of religious tradition with the expectations of Magyarization and citizenship, thus allowing traditional Jews to be patriotic Magyars.

By focusing on Hungary, this book seeks to correct a trend in modern Jewish historiography that views Habsburg Jewish History as an extension of German Jewish History, most notably with regard to emancipation and enlightenment. Rather than trying to fit Hungarian Jewry into a conventional Germano-centric taxonomy, this work places Hungarian Jews in the distinct contexts of the Habsburg Monarchy and the Danube Basin, positing a more seamless nexus between the eighteenth and nineteenth century. This nexus was rooted in a series of political experiments by Habsburg sovereigns and Hungarian noblemen that culminated in civic equality, and in the gradual expansion of traditional Judaism to meet the challenges of the age. Book jacket.

Contents:

Introduction: Rethinking the Rhythms of Emancipation and Enlightenment 1

Chapter 1 Eighteenth Century Pastorale: The Allures and Uncertainties of the Hungarian Frontier 27

Chapter 2 Crown, Town, Magnate, and Jew: Corporate Politics in Borsod County 57

Chapter 3 The Hevra Kadisha and the Rise of the Family Syndicate 77

Chapter 4 Jews in the Time of Cholera: The Epidemic of 1831 and Its Aftermath 105

Chapter 5 The Kehilla and the Business of Religion 133

Chapter 6 Educational Reform and Religious Identity 161

Chapter 7 Szechenyi's Soup at Szemere's Table: Miskolc Jewry and the Era of Reform, 1836-1848 189

Chapter 8 Revolution by Proxy: Jews in the Hinterland 217

Chapter 9 Coming of Age, 1851-1878 233

Conclusion: 1878 and Beyond: Two Chambers of One Heart 261

Appendix "Words of Peace and Truth": A Call for Unity by Moses Ezekiel Fischmann 269.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Class of 1891 Department of Arts Fund.

ISBN:

9637326669

9789637326660

OCLC:

70158456