Amanda Aussems
Blog Question 2
October 25,
2013 (Friday)
How did religious modernization in Europe differ from religious
modernization among Sephardic Jews? What factors in Sephardic life in Muslim
lands led to a different experience of modernization?
During the times of
reform and modernization, the tolerance and acknowledgement of these changes
varied between the Jews in Europe and the Sephardim. The Enlightenment, spread
of knowledge, and worldly interests of the European and Ottoman Jews sparked
religious modernization, in Europe, the Ottoman Empire and North Africa.
However, how modernization and secularization was embraced greatly differed. Jews
North Africa and the Ottoman Empire were more accepting of modernity because it
allowed them new opportunities for education, which would ultimately lead to a
greater economic state. The Ottoman Empire was on a decline at the time so
economic stability and prosperity was highly valued. By receiving Western education,
young Sephardic men were given a chance to make something of themselves and
study to get a prosperous job. In Europe, on the other hand, things were quite
different. Orthodoxy emerged in Europe, as a response to reform. The rabbis
felt it was their duty to “keep Judaism as it has always been” and reform
obstructs the ideas of traditional Judaism. In the Ottoman Empire, there was no
reform movement. Rather, the Sephardim were working with the original framework
of Judaism and seeing how it could fit in with modernity. Additionally, the
authority of Sephardic Rabbis was not challenged, in contrast to what was seen
the Ashkenazi community. Not having separation of Rabbic law and the state
helped to encourage modernization within the Sephardim because the Sephardic Rabbis
never had a reason to protest.
good answer - A.
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