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

See Examples For:

Haskalah

Had Montefiore's visit resulted merely in arousing his brethren's self-consciousness, he had earned a place in the history of Haskalah, for self-consciousness is the most potent factor in the culture of mankind.

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

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

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

For this reason also I have marked the boundaries of the Haskalah epochs in correspondence to the dates of the reigns of the several czars, though the correspondence is not always exact.

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.

Hasidim, 65;   their teachings, 66, 67, 150;   spread, 69;   persecuted by the Mitnaggedim, 76, 131;   efforts at reconciliation with Mitnaggedim, 120-121, 260;   reformed, 122;   united with Mitnaggedim against Haskalah, 134;   fought by Maskilim, 168.

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