Haskalah

American  

[hah-skuh-lah, hah-skaw-luh, hah-skah-lah] / ˌhɑ skəˈlɑ, hɑˈskɔ lə, hɑ skɑˈlɑ /

noun

1. an 18th–19th-century movement among central and eastern European Jews, begun in Germany under the leadership of Moses Mendelssohn, designed to make Jews and Judaism more cosmopolitan in character by promoting knowledge of and contributions to the secular arts and sciences and encouraging adoption of the dress, customs, and language of the general population.

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Etymology

Origin of Haskalah

From the Hebrew word haśkālāh enlightenment

Example Sentences

They might have condemned a Maskil, they had not yet condemned Haskalah.

From The Haskalah Movement in Russia by Raisin, Jacob S.

Though Russian Jewry "has never experienced any of the ritualistic struggles that Germany has witnessed,"14 yet reform and Haskalah always went hand in hand.

From The Haskalah Movement in Russia by Raisin, Jacob S.

While, therefore, in Galicia the Haskalah movement lasted longer than in Germany, it had ceased long before it reached its fullest development in Russia.

From The Haskalah Movement in Russia by Raisin, Jacob S.

The Hebrew language being the best vehicle for the purpose, it was soon impressed into the service of Haskalah.

From The Haskalah Movement in Russia by Raisin, Jacob S.

Gordon's advice, to be a Jew at home and a man abroad, found little favor in his estimation; for Haskalah meant the evolution of a Jewish man sui generis.

From The Haskalah Movement in Russia by Raisin, Jacob S.