167
the groups, and various different
religious traditions evolved. In
Spain, a Golden Age of Jewish
thinking flourished between the
10th and 12th centuries, which
produced great philosophers such
as Moses Maimonides. This was
also the center, in the Middle Ages,
of interest in the more mystical
aspects of Judaism, known as
kabbalah. In eastern Europe, a
number of the more isolated small
Jewish settlements, the shtetls,
found that the scholarliness of
their religion did little to promote
strong community ties, and a
more spiritual movement,
Hasidism, emerged as a result. In
the following centuries, there were
further divisions in Judaism, largely
over matters of interpretation of
Jewish Law. Orthodox Judaism
advocated a strict adherence to the
Torah, which was considered to be
divine in origin, while Reform and
Conservative Judaism took a less
rigorous approach, regarding the
Torah more as a set of guidelines
rather than obligations. An issue
that divided the different branches
of Judaism in the 20th century was
the status of women. In spite of the
doctrine ruling that Jewish identity
is passed down solely through the
maternal line, women were not able
to play an active part in religious
ceremonies until recently.Oppression and identity
Largely because of their position
as displaced immigrants and
their distinctive faith, Jews have
been widely persecuted throughout
their history. In many places, they
have been isolated in ghettos, and
suffered violent vilification andattacks. From the 18th century
on, countries such as the US and
France granted them full rights,
and there was a movement toward
greater integration. However, this
posed a question of identity. Were
the Jewish people a religious,
ethnic, cultural, or national group?
Zionism, which arose in response,
pressed for the formation of a Jewish
state, and matters were brought to
a head in the aftermath of the
Holocaust with the formation of
the State of Israel in 1948. Today,
it is difficult to assess how many
followers of Judaism there are,
because many who identify
themselves as Jewish are not
actively religious. However, it is
estimated that there are more than
13 million Jewish people in the
world, the majority of them living
in either North America or Israel. ■JUDAISM
18 TH CENTURY
1775, 1789 19 TH CENTURY 1896 1948
LATE 18 TH CENTURY 1881–1920 1938– 45 1972
Hasidism is
founded in Eastern
Europe as a
reaction against
the austerity of
legalistic Judaism.Revolutions in France
and America lead to
Jews being given full
rights and freedom
of religion.The Reform,
Orthodox, and
Conservative
movements
separate.Theodor Herzl
starts the modern
movement of Zionism
with the publication
of The Jewish State.The State of Israel
is founded.The Jewish
Enlightenment
(Haskalah) occurs;
Jews in western Europe
integrate more fully into
their adopted societies.Thousands of Jews
are killed and
millions more
displaced in waves
of pogroms in
Russia and Ukraine.Nazi Germany
persecutes and
executes millions
of Jews in the
Holocaust.The first female
rabbi is ordained
within the Reform
movement.