German Jews Beyond Judaism

By: George L. Mosse, David J. Sorkin

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Paperback | 10 June 2025

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112 Pages

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22.9 x 15.2

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First published in 1985, German Jews Beyond Judaism is George L. Mosseâs sweeping exploration of German Jewish secular identity across the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. In Germany, Jews were emancipated at a time when cultural education was becoming an integral part of German society. They felt a powerful urge to find their Jewish substance within German culture and thus craft an identity as both Germans and Jews. Mosse argues that they did so by adopting the concept of Bildung-the idea of intellectual and moral self-cultivation-combined with key Enlightenment ideals of human potential, individualism, and the connection between knowledge and morality through aesthetics. He traces how Jewish artists, writers, and thinkers actively sought to participate in German culture through popular culture, scholarship, and political activity. Despite the eventual dissolution of German-Jewish dialogue due to the emergence of a virulently racist nationalism, important Jewish heritage emerged as a result of this attempt to integrate both identities. German Jews Beyond Judaism was, in Mosseâs own estimation, his âmost personal book, almost a confession of faith.â David J. Sorkinâs new critical introduction illustrates how Mosseâs life and values both shaped and exemplified his historical analysis and offers potential meanings of his intellectual legacy for the present day.

Industry Reviews

"Immensely stimulating, rich in information and insight. A master of surprising detail, Mosse maintains a broad vision that is ever alert to the moral questions and occasional light bequeathed to us by history." - Studies in Contemporary Jewry "A small book that analyzes a very large idea, the sustaining idea, in fact, of the German Jewish community in the century and a half that saw its emergence into the modern world and its ultimate dispersion and destruction. . . . A moving elegy to the ideals of this now defunct community." - The American Scholar

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