The Secularization of Relations between Jews and Non-Jews: An Introduction


better liked as a result , contact with them became closer and more intensive , in the city and the village , in the center and in the periphery . Although various prohibitions still applied to the Jews and humiliating taxes were imposed on them , the idea that improving their standing would be beneficial was now shared by many . At the same time , the Jews , mainly within the new urban centers , became an important part of the bourgeoisie that came into being in that period . Both Jewish and general historiography always tended to emphasize the process of the Jewish “ entry ” into bourgeois society . This process was perceived as part of the integration of the Jews into their surroundings and as an important aspect of their assimilation . In many places , however , mainly in Central and Eastern Europe , this “ entry ” occurred at the very same time that the bourgeoisie came into being , articulated its values , and shaped its way of life . The Jews did not only passively absorb these values and adopt foreign customs . They were also full partners in the formation of the new middle class and in the fashioning of its values . Their being able to take part in this process was dependent on two factors : their own willingness to reach out beyond the boundaries of their traditional life , and the consent of the surrounding society ( in this case , mainly bourgeois society ) to accept them into its ranks . Historians disagree regarding the degree to which the sources of the process in which the two sides drew closer were external , and the extent to which they came from within . We may reasonably assume that they were the result of activity from both directions : the state and the general society became more open to the possibility of including the Jews , while the Jews themselves were now drawn to general culture and to the plethora of new economic and cultural opportunities that suddenly seemed open to them . Externally , as we have seen , it was the new centralized state that first acted to change the status of the Jews . In an effort to reform themselves , the absolute monarchies acted to abolish all the autonomous or semiautonomous corporate bodies that existed within them . The attack on the guilds is an example of such action . In this case , the centralized states also represented the interests of the modern bourgeoisie that wanted to act in the economic sphere without restriction . Artisans’ and merchants’ guilds interfered with this aim . On the other hand , the new state could no longer tolerate bodies possessing such sweeping economic , social , and legal autonomy . The guilds had to dissolve in order to advance a state all of whose subjects were equal before the king . The process was lengthy and painful , but inevitable . Even privileges that had come into being over the course of centuries , in the areas of taxation or regional administration , lost their legitimacy in the new state . In France , they were definitively canceled in the Great Revolution : the monarchy itself was swept away together with them . In England and in Central Europe they were gradually undermined . The unique status of the Jews - as regards both their individual and communal privileges , and the discriminatory taxes and prohibitions from which they had always suffered - all these were no longer legitimate . The Edicts of Tolerance issued in 1782 by the Habsburg Emperor Joseph II are an intriguing example . In a reformist move typical of the times , the emperor wanted to make all his subjects equal before the law and to maximize the benefit from their economic activity . The Edicts of Tolerance relating to the Jews in the various provinces of his empire did not afford them equal rights , nor did they abrogate all the limitations and prohibitions in force . They did , however , weaken the independence of the Jewish communities , while allowing Jews as individuals a greater range of economic freedom . Likewise , in the cultural sphere , Jews were now required to learn German and other secular subjects , either in their own special schools or in general educational institutions . This marked the beginning of their emancipation .

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