World Union of Jewish Studies / האיגוד העולמי למדעי היהדות

/ השפעת המהפכה על היהודים הכפריים באלזס, באדן ושוייץ: עיון משווה THE IMPACT OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION ON RURAL JEWRY IN ALSACE, BADEN ANDSWITZERLAND: A COMPARISONAuthor(s): URI KAUFMANN and אורי קאופמןSource: Proceedings of the World Congress of Jewish Studies / דברי הקונגרס העולמי למדעיחטיבה ב, / DIVISION B, VOLUME II: THE HISTORY OF THE JEWISH PEOPLE ,היהדות, כרך יכרך שני: תולדות עם ישראלpp. 239-242 תשמ"ט / 1989Published by: World Union of Jewish Studies / האיגוד העולמי למדעי היהדותStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/23535638 .

Accessed: 19/06/2014 15:01

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

.

World Union of Jewish Studies / האיגוד העולמי למדעי היהדות is collaborating with JSTOR todigitize, preserve and extend access to Proceedings of the World Congress of Jewish Studies /דברי הקונגרס העולמי למדעי היהדות

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 62.122.79.21 on Thu, 19 Jun 2014 15:01:27 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

THE IMPACT OFTHE FRENCH REVOLUTION ON RURAL JEWRY

IN ALSACE, BADEN AND SWITZERLAND: A COMPARISON

URIKAUFMANN

In this realm rural Jewry was dominant at the outbreak of the Revolution. There only existed two urban

communities of some importance: Mannheim and Karlsruhe.* Other urban centers as Frankfurt, Metz or Worms were situated north of this region. For these rural Jews freedom of settlement was the most important aim to be achieved. The gradual transformation of rural to urban Jewry can be regarded as the significant impact of the French revolution. But the way to achieve it was different in the three countries.

In Alsace Jews got freedom of setdement by September 1791.2 In the years until the decrct infame of 1808 they moved to the cities and towns were they were not allowed before and established rural communities in the neighbouring regions of the ssouth, west and north. The Jews of the Sundgau (south Haut-Rhin) tried to get setdement permissions in their old sales territories. Mosdy their bids were refused

until the 1860ies.3 In Baden privileged urban Jews could get political rights after the decree of 1809 but

very few received them. Rural Jewry was not allowed to move in the cides. Official policy tried to

"educate" especially rural Jewry drawing them to "productive" occupations as craftmanship and farming/* This pattern was copied by Swiss politicians even after the successfull rise to power of the Liberals in the

important cantons of Switzerland in 1831. Some few hundreds entered Swiss towns and cities by virtue of

individual privilege. Only in the 1850ies the migration in both countries gained some momentum ? In Alsace Jews were restricted by the decret infame between 1808 and 1818. It was not prolonged any more. Soon Strasbourg and Colmar turned to be important Jewish centers. Smaller towns but also other

villages or market places were populated by immigrant rural Jews from neighbouring villages. There existed some saturation grade for migrating and concentrating in cities because Jews were active in the same occupational branches as textile, real estate, live stock and horse trade. This mutual competition was

very hard. Migration movement was very much accelerated by the establishing of a railway system

between the 1840ies and 1860ies/' In Baden and Switzerland this happened exactly when Jews were granted freedom of settlement. This

process was earlier in Alsace because after the 1818 Jews enjoyed full liberty. In Baden and Switzerland it

' Pinkas Hakehillot, Germany, Württemberg, Baden, Hohenzollern, Jerusalem 1986, Mannheim counted in 1761 225 Jew. families (p. 373), Karlsruhe 1750 75 Jew. Families (p.444), now: "Pinkas". 2 Mahler, Raphael: A History of Modem Jewry 1780-1815, London 1971, p.35-47. 3 Weldler II p.51-63. 4

Rürup 197 p.22-26. 3

Toury, Jacob: Soziale und politische Geschichte der Juden, Düsseldorf 1977, p.41. ® Rosenthal, Berthold: Heimatgeschichte der badischen Juden, Bühl 1927, p.309-311. Weldler II p.140-145.

239

This content downloaded from 62.122.79.21 on Thu, 19 Jun 2014 15:01:27 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

URI KAUFMANN

was later, more condensed and intensive. Thus French Revolution had its concrete impact in starting the

process of transformation of rural to urban Jewry. Mostly Jews did not change their occupation. Vocational training in trade professions was better and the son of a peddler turned to be a "Kaufmann" with a diploma of a trade school. In this region liberal

professions were not as popular as in the big administrative cities and capitals as Paris or Berlin. But new

dimensions were added to the old occcupational structure by entering confection-trade and the department store system in the second half of the 19th century. Rural Jewry was not enthusiastic over revolutionary plans modeling a new rational religion. Religious reform rested an affair of German Jewry of urban centers not being comprised in this realm (Hamburg, Berlin, Breslau). Only Mannheim with Rabbi Moses Prager stuck to the liberal movement, acompained

reformed prayers with an orgue after June 1854J Rural Jewry was heavily imbued with popular beliefs

partly absorbed from the neighbouring society during an interesting process beginning in probably in

High Middle Ages (i.e. ceremony of the Holekrash) still deserving research.8 The precautions gainst evil

spirits, i.e. in favour of a child bearing mother were quite the same.9 Practical mysticism was enclothed in often very opaque hebrew phrases and words. The vivid description of Daniel Stauben (pseud.) made in the late fifties of the 19th century in Alsace shows that in "old-emancipated" Alsace Jewish popular

beliefs remained vigorous.'0 It is perhaps this dominance of conservative rural Judaism in this region which explains the failure of any wide scale reform movement until the end of the 19th cent. In the case of Baden another reason explaining conservativism could be the demands of liberal politicians in the year 1831 to refonm Judaism before they

were granted legal equality. This surely had a contra-productive effect11

Political consciousness seems to have changed quite rapidly.1^ Rural Jewry applied for emancipation in

Alsace at the outbreak of the Revolution1^ and in Switzerland in 1798.14 The change of Swiss

constitution and government prompted another two petitions in 1803•^ Rural Jews always pleaded for individual settlement permissions for Swiss places but were refused even after the liberals had risen to

power.111 This year caused a change in Baden too. 4 Petitions were submitted by Jews to the second chamber of the

Baden Landtag.1^ One was composed by the teacher Jacob Ullmann of Wangen (on the shores of the Lake

of Constance).1^ It is an interesting source for the political consciousness of rural Jewry. He makes use

2 Rosenthal, op. cit. p.364. It is noteworthy that the urban Jewish communities of Freiburg, Konstanz and

Offenburg later followed his prayer book version, see p.369. ^

Trachtenberg, Joshua: Jewish Magic and Superstition (...), New York 1984 (7th. print.), p.41-43. 9 Ibid. p. 160. 1® Stauben, Daniel: Scenes de la vie juive en Alsace 1860, see also the recent translation into German made by Claude Alain Sulzer: Id.: Eine Reise zu den Juden auf dem Lande, Augsburg 1986. Prof. Freddy Raphael claims that these practices were followed until second World War, see: Raphael, Freddy: Du berceau ä la tombe, in: Juifs en Alsace, Toulouse 1977, p.231246־. H Rosenthal, op. cit. p. 265f. p. 339: see also the order of the 11.2.1824 demanding changes in the service which were not to realize. 12 This assumption contradicts to some extent the hypothesis of Reinhard Rtirup, op.cit. p.55f, where he speaks of the passivity of rural Jewry to "social and religious reforms". Citizenship for Jews was a social reform rural Jews endeavoured for. 13

Weyl, Robert: Les Juifs dsAlsace et les droits de Fhomme, in: Saisons d"Alsace Nr. 86 (1984) p. 134. M Weldler I p.97 (1798 XII 14). 15 Ibid. p. 106-109 (1803 VI 29, 1803 VIII 5). 16 Ibid, vol.1 p.219-223, vol.II p. 198-236 (details of various cantons). 12 Rosenthal op. cit. p.258. 1^ Generallandesarchiv Karlsruhe (FRG) 231/1423, p.124-149 (18.4.1831).

240

This content downloaded from 62.122.79.21 on Thu, 19 Jun 2014 15:01:27 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

THE IMPACT OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION ON RURAL JEWRY

of the term "Jewish people" while his urban colleagues put the accent on the "Badenians of the mosaic faith". The judgement on the treating of Jews by law is much stronger. France is prominently cited as

grand example. Petty trade, the dominant occupation of rural Jewry, is seen in a positive light favouring consumption. Common places with the others were the image of linear development and the special place Baden could have as avant-garde of freedom for the Jews in Germany. All these petitions were turned down, nevertheless Jews petitioned to the Landtag until 1846 when the

majority of the deputies were in favour of emancipation.^ In 1846 they collected 1315 signatures which

means that rural Jewry also gave its consent^ The cordial welcome for the prominent fighter for

emancipation Gabriel Riesser through Franconia in Mai 1838 adds another proof that the new political

consciousness entered quite fast even remote "Jewish villages" in southern Germany.2' In Switzerland the association of Jews in Endingen in favour of emancipation rapidly gained in the few

first months of its existence in 1839 one fifth of all family fathers.^ In its petition drawn by the teacher

M.G.Dreyfuss a fine distinction was drawn between the feeling "at home" and the feeling "for the state", which still needed some development France, Britain and some German moves were cited as examples to imitate. Protests were uttered again the "foreign French Jews" who partly were better treated by Swiss authortities. They also played on the famous notion or mythos of "the free Swiss", becoming more

important with the takeover of power by the Liberals in a land which was surrounded in 1839 by quite reactionary powers. This change of political consciousness was not much welcomed by the rural Gentile population. Even in

Alsace, where Jews enjoyed political rights since 1791, the new behaviour of Jews, i.e. entering the

political process, played a role in the mentality of the peasants. The most brutal pogroms of the year 1848 happended in Durmenach where a Jewish mayor had been elected before. In Niederhagenthal the

promoting of Jewish candidates to the national assembly served as a pretext for plundering. But Jews hatred knew no borders, peasants ravaging Jewish houses in Baden as well as in Alsace. The two Jewish

villages of Switzerland did not suffer because the conditions in March/May 1848 were peaceful.23 A new constitution was adopted the same year which unified Switzerland in a certain way.

Summary

The impact of the French Revolution on rural Jewry was first one of a changing political consciousness. The strong sense of mutual belonging in traditional society was useful in establishing new Jewish communities in neighboring regions of the Alsace. Migration was quite rapid there until a certain "saturation grade" caused by mutual occupational competition. In Baden and Switzerland only individual

privileged Jews got entrance to new places (towns and villages) until the 1860ies. New religious thinking found no direct and immediate way to rural Jewry until the end of the 19th

century. Practical mysticism was widespread even after this. The leave of young dynamic entrepreneurs to the cities fostered the conservatice character of the rest of rural Jewry. The lack of an old established urban

"progressive group" may partly explain why the reform movement gained not much adherents in this

region. The change was very slow as the memoirs and stories of Jacob Picards show.^4 But still it is

interesting that at least some promoters of modernization had grown up in villages: The modern

pedagogue Karl Rehfuss (1792-1842)25י FYof. of oriental languages Gustav Weil (1808-1889)26, scion of

'9 Rosenthal op.cit. p.284. 20 Ibid, p.279. 2' Seifensieder. Jacob: Gabriel Riesser. Ein deutscher Mann jüdischen Glaubens, Frankfurt 1920, p.64f. 22 Staatsarchiv Aarau IA 9, C, Fase. 1. 22 Weidler II, op. cit. p.25-29. 24 Picard, Jacob: Die alte Lehre. Geschichten und Anekdoten, Stuttgart 1963. .Pinkas op.cit. p.311 ־י226 Ibid. p.312.

241

This content downloaded from 62.122.79.21 on Thu, 19 Jun 2014 15:01:27 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

URI KAUFMANN

a rabbinic family active in Sulzburg, both living in Heidelberg and Markus Getsch Dreyfuss, oscillating

between his native Endingen, Geneva and later Zurich."^ He was the champion for Swiss emancipation amidst "native" Swiss Jewry of Aargau. As an example of the Alsace can be cited Alexandre Weill (1811

1899), moving to Paris and forming a part of the literary bohemia.28

Rural Jewry was not so articulate and educated as their urban fellows and it is obvious that articulate teachers took an impressive part in the fight for emancipation. The most concrete impact of the French Revolution was the transformation of rural into urban Jewry by freedom of settlement In the new centers the urban Jews established Jewish communities by their sense of mutual traditional belonging. They were most useful in establishing continuity from traditional to modern society refusing to be "changed", "bettered" or "productivised" as some revolutionaries hoped and liberal politicians in the 1830ies in Baden

and Switzerland demanded.

Weldler I op.cit. p.l82f. ™

Encyclopaedia Judaica, Jerusalem 1971, vol.16, col.397.

242

This content downloaded from 62.122.79.21 on Thu, 19 Jun 2014 15:01:27 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions