WorksheetsHaskalah and Reform Judaism Review
Total questions: 15
Worksheet time: 3mins
The Haskalah
is the Jewish Enlightenment
Can be dated approximately 1870s-1980s
Traces its name from the word kallah
Promoted a Jewish Homeland in Prague
Followers of the Haskalah were called
Haskalaists
Haskalaites
Karaites
Maskilim
The father of the Haskalah was
Felix Mendelssohn
Moses Mendelssohn
Baruch Spinoza
Isaac M. Wise
Mendelssohn wanted to help Jews
have tools to enter the Modern World
speak in Modern Hebrew
translate the Bible into secular languages
move to Palestine
Mendelssohn tried to help Jews enter the modern world by
working to enfranchise Jewish voters
giving women smicha
improving their German skills
translating the Torah into Yiddish
Where did the Haskalah originate?
France and Italy
The Netherlands
Galicia
Greece
When can we date the Haskalah?
approximately 1770s-1880s
approximately 1670s-1880s
approximately 2770s-2880s
approximately 1750s-early 1800s
What is a factor that led to the Reform movement?
Jews in France and Italy were tired of Napoleonic constraints on their religious lifestyles and decided to change their religious traditions to better conform to Napoleonic ideals.
From a religious point of view, many Jews felt a tension between Jewish tradition and the way they were able to lead their lives following their political emancipation in the the late 18th and early 19th centuries
Theoretically many Jews in Scandinavia were envious of the emancipation they saw Jews enjoying in more southern climes and decided to reform their religious traditions in an effort to convince their kings to
When the Reform movement started, European Jews were being recognized for the first time as citizens of the countries in which they lived
True
False
Reform Judaism was part of a theological response to fewer restrictions on Jews in European society (e.g., ghettos and special badges were being abolished; people could settle where they pleased, dress as they liked, and follow the occupations that they wanted).
True
False
Reform Judaism answered the question:
How could emancipated Jews find a middle ground between Halakhic Judaism and a more free and spiritual religious experience that drew on the Zohar?
How could emancipated Jews better copy Protestant worship to avoid conversion and further unwanted assimilation to Teutonic social norms and needs?
How could emancipated Jews remain Jewish while adapting to the prevailing social customs of the European societies in which they were increasingly a part?
Reform Judaism appealed to Jews who were drifting away from traditional Judaism but had not become Christians by
introducing modern aesthetics and strict decorum to make worship more attractive to many central European Jews
abandoning the Shema and principles of Pirkei Avot in favor of retaining "Yeḳum Purḳan" and the "Bameh Madliḳin"
introducing tallit and kippot on both sides of the mehitza
The Pittsburgh Platform was a set of 8 principles decided by a conference of reform Rabbis in America in 1885
True
False
These are the main principles espoused by Reform Judaism until they are revised in 1937 in the Columbus Platform.
True
False
One of the last principles articulated in the Pittsburgh platform is:
Judaism rejects traditional tenets of marriage, including the ketubah, gettim, and taharat ha'mishpocha.
Judaism's need to reject traditional adherence to the Bible and religious tolerance in order to become extreme and uninviting to all but the most ardent German nationalists.
Judaism is an evolutionary faith and no longer a national one:
"We consider ourselves no longer a nation, but a religious community."
