Jewish support of socialist movements

1. Why did Jews support socialist movements and become involved in them?

As the 19^th century came to a close, the younger generation of Jews turned to politics to solve their frustrations. When Jews became more involved in left-wing politics, they became more concerned with Jewish needs. This mainly had to do with the Jewish population increasing in the “Pale of Settlement” and their disenfranchisement. “The burgeoning revolutionary ferment sweeping across Russia in the last decades of the nineteenth century attracted Jewish students to socialism”. Many Jews believed to answer when the social revolution will occur, they must rid themselves of the old order.  

2. What socialist groups did Jews found specifically for Jews, and how were they different from other socialist movements?

A secular socialist group known as The General Jewish Labour Bund of Lithuania, Poland and Russia (or Bund) was a newer and more different form of ideals (compared to other socialist groups within that time period). They believed that the Jewish worker was of the highest of importance and actually addressed issues regarding them. Not only did they try to solve issues regarding this working-class but they also offered a Jewish alternative to radical politics. . The Bund also promoted the use of Yiddish as a Jewish national language and the question of when the general social revolution occurred. Essentially, what they did was focused on culture, rather than a state or a place, as the glue of Jewish nationalism.