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

To the student of Haskalah he is interesting, because he marks the close of the old and the beginning of the new era.

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

Livonia, Jewish merchants of, 22;   Gentiles remonstrate on behalf of Jews of, 57;   stronghold of Haskalah, 193-194.

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

The very name of the seat of Haskalah was an abomination to the pious.

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.

Society for the Promotion of Haskalah among the Russian Jews, 237-239, 246, 252, 291-292.

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