In many places societies were founded under the
name of Lovers of the New Haskalah, the members of which
observed such secrecy that even their kinsmen and those among
whom they dwelt were unaware of their existence. If through the
discovery of some forbidden book any of them happened to be
detected, he never betrayed his friends. Such a one was usually
compelled to marry, so that, being burdened with family cares,
he might desist from his unpopular pursuits.
From which it would appear that though the opposition to Haskalah in
Russia was by no means as violent as had been the opposition to
enlightenment in France, for instance, or even among the Jews of Germany
and Austria,[21] it was a bitter and stubborn conflict between parents
and children in the adjustment of old ideals to a new environment.
Aside from the hindrances which Haskalah encountered because of
Nicholas's conversionist policy, it was greatly hampered by the
geographical distribution of the Jews. Here again the czar defeated his
own end by segregating the three or four million of his Jewish subjects
in certain districts, technically called the Pale, the greatest ghetto
the world has ever known.
Pages:
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195