Transformations of Tradition: Herzl, Nordau, Zeitlin and Brenner

My paper focuses on a “Jewish moment” in the history of fin de siècle Central Europe and Russia. During that moment, a peculiar constellation of voices was discussing and representing, in different styles and forms, “the Jewish Question” vis-à-vis modernization, the enlightened critique of tradition and the scientific and literary “alternatives” to the religious worldviews of the past. By the second half of the nineteenth century, the situation of Jews in Europe and Russia seemed to have been immensely improved compared to their reality in the previous century (Avineri 2013). Before the French Revolution, Jews were mostly dwelling in rural areas, in quasi-autonomous communities, suffering from isolation, legally discriminated against and very limited in their ability to acquire higher education or gain socially respected, well-paid professional or public positions. In contrast, thediscourse onEnlightenment that hadgivenbirth to the ideaof citizenship–namely, equal rights to all people livingwithinwell-defined territorial units – has paved the way for the idea of emancipation for the Jews. Thus, the nineteenth centurywitnessed concentrationof Jews inurbanareas and theopening up of the system of education, resulting in the economic and social mobility of many who were beginning to identify themselves as Germans or French of the Mosaic faith. These developments encouraged high expectations – especially among educated Jews – to leave behind their state of social “outcasts” that had been part of the traditional hatred of Jews, ignited, among others, by religious antagonism (Nirenberg 2013). In some European capitals, such as Vienna, Budapest and Berlin, Jews became owners of fancy mansions, sometimes called ‘palaces’, located at the city center. They also started to build magnificent synagogues that signaled the rising economic status of their communities. Their social success as well as their over-representation in economic life, in academic professions, in science as well as in the arts was outstanding. Not unexpectedly, however, their new status has provoked much envy and resentment among their neighbors. Thus, by the second half of the nineteenth century, Jewish life became manifestly ridden with strong new tensions. Among the Jews themselves – not only those who remained religious and tied up to their communities, but mostly among the successful, educated and