From the Revolution to the Rothschilds: Emancipation & French Jewry

[Music] a date which will live in INF both of those projects initiatives got off the ground because of the G the 11 OIC team members slain in West Germany theer at out of the 24 who were killed were Americans who had come to learn in Cen I say one million to his children who were made to be [Music] C whoever heard such beautiful words it is never too little it is never too late and it is Never Enough Jewish history sound bites bringing alive the world of our glorious past here is our host live from Jerusalem Jewish historian Anor guide Yehuda gabber welcome everyone to Jewish history soundbites this is Yehuda gber with another episode of Jewish history sandites and before I get to the topic of this episode about emancipation the Jewish people in modern times and starting with the French Jewish Community where emancipation starts and why it's important and what the story and development and the process was I just want to um make a few comments about from letters from the uh listeners of Jewish history sound bites and recently I had a mini series on raran Cutler so it was interesting that I pointed out that that the Lakewood Yesa started in biva Lakewood started in White Plains and I discussed F's role in that founding and I got a couple of uh comments from listeners about how was an important that I pointed it out and one even thanked me especially but it turns out that um that there was another figure involved so I thought that I was uh you know taking taking taking the task the common knowledge that R Cutler was there from the beginning and by pointing out that was involved but it turns out that it was actually someone else entirely who really started it someone who I had never even heard of I looked into after a listener pointed this out to me so thank you for this knowledgeable and dedicated listener for uh helping out with this information there was a fellow by the name of Hill bishko from Williamsburg who had a popular library of Jewish books that the Yeshiva students at that time would would uh would use and he wanted to open this Kyo and he opened it in White Plains and he was the founder and on the original letter head of Bas Mish kavaya it lists this rill bishko Who's involved in a lot of Jewish projects at that time this was not his only initiative um both in Europe and then later on in the United States a very active individual um and he founded Baya and he actually his the first r that he h hired was the Lash Gordon old rash of lja was in America fundraising and then ended up living there for many years and was affiliated with the lumja branch in P for a long time a very interesting and fascinating individual and Gordon was the nominated as the r was also on the letterhead for a period of time during the beginning um so this hill bishko was actually the founder of uh sorry of U excuse me of of L of B in White Plains at that time and eventually he brings rabaran in and uh and uh and then with the move to Lakewood and thenar took over at the leadership at the helm another correction I received was I related a story about how um the way I set it over was that rabaran had received uh um a sum of money for officiating at a wedding and when was he was told that um that it's for his own personal use and not for the lakea so he decided to donate it to and the correction I receiv was that it was actually with his son R Cutler and the sum was $2,000 a significant sum of money and um and and RN decided not to keep it for himself but and since he was PL it was for the lake with Shiva but when he was told that it was for himself he decided to give it to donate it to and uh you know again great people so the story is said about rabar and it turns out rer it says a lot about both of them the father and the son about who they were were were okay um we'll take take it other other letters will sa for another time because I want to get into the Emancipation um emancipation I give a lot of lectures lately and I'm available for for lectures and and uh sponsorships for these episodes and and uh and stuff like that so you could be in touch with me about all kinds of things lectures virtual tours sponsorships but one of the primary topics that uh both the audiences want to hear and what I like enjoy it on is changes that uh swept over the Jewish people in the modern era and all different types of changes spiritual move movements like and the Yeshiva movement and political movements like Zionism and other things immigration to new countries New Horizons new Vistas and things like emancipation and and other other uh changes like that which kind of defines us uh who we are today and there's if there's one thing probably more than anything else that that was a change in modern times for the Jewish people that was emanci I would I would guess venture to say uh if I dare do so that emancipation is probably the most fundamental and greatest change that overcame the Jewish people in modern times and something that we don't speak about enough so this episode would just be an introductory uh episode I hope to uh give more on it in the future and if it's a topic that you like you can be in touch with me about sponsorship but the reason is is because it's something that we take for granted today emancipation means citizenship Equal Rights Voting uh uh to the right to vote uh uh um equality before the law uh the equal right to education or opportunity in in in the business world all these stuff that we take pretty much for granted in Western democracies or Israel which you know considers itself for some reason a western democracy or any anything else the the it's it's something that we really take for granted and it's important to understand that uh how that developed because it simply didn't exist until 200 years ago um for anyone especially not for the Jews um so to to to to and the influence that it had on the development of the Jewish community and the change in the structure of the Jewish community and the the far-reaching consequences of integration a culture ation secularization again things that we take for granted that exist within the Jewish world over the course of the 20th now 21st century that emancipation has had much more of an effect on integration a culturation and eventually secularization or even possibly assimilation much more than other movements such as the HCA such as the reform we tend to give them much more credit than they deserve but um emancipation and what foreign governments with Sovereign non-jewish external forces governments and technology and Industrial Revolution all things like that definitely had much more of an effect on on uh on Jewish integration than than any internal Jewish movement such as the hola um so the the the Emancipation begins in France we're going to focus on that this time the French Revolution with its value systems of Liberty and equality and Brotherhood and uh rationality and getting rid of the old monarchist and and you know religious based feudal system and all that the the brings brings with it the Republicans the jacobians all the the uh movement within the French Revolution and the literally to overturn the world and its values um changed changed the way Modern Man and and the Western culture started to look at its the role of State the role of the nation and the role of the citizens the people within the state and uh and its and the relation and obligations that they have to each other so the revolution leads to a decision to Grant emancipation both to all the different classes within French non-jewish society and what comes to become a dominant feature of 19th century uh political life in Europe is that the Jewish minority which again is pretty much the minority of Europe at that time you do have Christian minorities in Catholic countries the Protestants are a minority and Protestant countries the Catholics are a minority but in a sense the Jews are always a certain Outsider and the measuring stick of revolutionary F fervor in European nations of the 19th century and the measuring stick of liberal policies and the measuring stick of what type of government it is especially with the rise of Romanticism and nationalism towards the end of the 19th century is the measure of emancipation uh uh that they give to its minority Jewish population so the Jewish question becomes a huge question of the 19th century and that of course you know explodes with the with the at the end of this the close of the century a century After the revolution in France once again with the dfus trial because it becomes a political issue between the Liberals and the conservatives within the society with the liberal leading the prus uh uh um um um movement uh um because it becomes a symbol of what what the values of the uh value system of the Revolution uh is and it starts right away you know after the revolution there's debates for instance about how should we Grant citizenship to the Jewish communities of alsat alsat Lorraine Strasburg which is areas which are always in between France and Germany it's is it German territory is it French territory so the Jews who live there are they really French maybe they're really German and maybe we'll give the Jews of we'll Grant emancipation to the Jews of the Paris area or northern France but maybe not to alets uh maybe not to the Jews of Strasburg maybe they're different and and this becomes a question what makes someone different what makes someone more French and less French and then with the movement past the revolutionary era when Napoleon rise with Napoleon's rise to power the Jewish question arises once again Napoleon which is a fascinating story in itself Napoleon convenes a Sanhedrin the grand Sanhedrin and the grand Sanhedrin is is is a very interesting uh proposal to have a bunch of Jewish both Layman and rabbis and all types of rabbis traditional rabbis and reformed rabbis and there's the head of the s is a fellow by the name of R David Zin who is a traditional Rabbi a lot of the large percentage of the rabbis did come from alsat which was the whole Strasburg area was much more traditional or what we would call today Orthodox area he wrote a safer Yad David which is I think only published recently so he's the chairman of the this supposed Sanhedrin the grand s hedrin and and Napoleon gave them submitted to or Napoleon's government rather submitted them 12 questions that they had to answer uh about the mainly a lot of it some of it some of them were about um internal Jewish questions mainly about the relation of the Jewish people to their non-jewish neighbors and especially Vis Vis the the the government the The Sovereign the state um perhaps the most important question that was submitted to the assembly was do the Jews born in France and treated by the laws French citizens acknowledge France as their country are they bound to defend it are they bound to obey the laws and follow the directions of the civil code and the answer that the assembly gives is that the Jews in France are have received emancipation and citizenship equal rights we're completely French we speak French we this is what 15 years after 18 years after the revolution even less of years after they've re you know received citizenship were're French and they say an amazing line in there and their written you know they summarize their written answers an amazing line and they say basically the summary of it is the gist of it is is that a Jew a French Jew if he would be in England and he would be amongst English Jews fellow Jews he will feel less comfortable and less at home because he's not among Frenchmen whereas if he's in France he's amongst his home and his people and that's and that's how they saw themselves and that's definitely what they wanted to tell Napoleon and his government and and that's what you know mancipation was able to uh to accomplish um so the that's that's another stage now there's the post Napoleon Napoleon you know with the his sweeping across Europe he brings different reforms in Germany Austrian in the countries of of of Europe and there's this when when he's once he he's defeated um after waterl he there's a aggression it goes backwards especially in Germany all the napoleanic era reforms you know go back and are rolled back and and the Jews across Europe have to wait quite a bit of time especially in Germany for for emancipation of course the majority of the Jewish people lives in Eastern Europe in in and they don't receive emancipation till the Russian Revolution in 1917 but um but the Jews of Austria the galitzia Jews reive in 1867 and the German Jews receive also the last quarter of the uh of of the 19th century but if we go back to France there's a rise of a very interesting individual a fellow by the name of Adolf creu creier uh and he he um becomes a major politician in 19 century France and he's Jewish and he comes to symbolize the uh the success of the Emancipation the succcess of the revolution of the integration of Jews into French society and the way French Jews start to see themselves um in in in as far as their role amongst among the Jewish people because cremier is one of the leaders I mentioned this in the episode on the Damascus blood liel he's the one who goes down also Moses Monta Fury uh from England um in 1840 Damascus blood liel to to uh be you know to make it a international Jewish question and defending Jewish rights wherever they are creier is also part of and this is an expression of of again of the Emancipation uh is in 1860 the founding of the first International Jewish organization that sees the Jewish people as one entity and that the the Jews who have received the mancipation and are in a better situation than a lot of their Brethren around the world having a responsibility to them and that and that organization is called the Elance alance the uh in Hebrew the Hebrew name of it is and they everyone Jews are responsible for one another and we have to invest in helping Jews around the world in education in in showing them how the success of French jewry is in becoming French language French culture and uh and the success of of of of the post emancipatory uh world for the Jewish community and therefore they see themselves as somewhat of a of a Vanguard in 1870 CR 1870 cremia scores another success Algeria which was a French Colony that had was considered as far as the French government was concerned and not not not a regular Colony but actually French territory um so he succeeds in convincing a law to go through the French Parliament that Algerian jury Algerian sapharic jury should become French citizens the Cru law um and was a revolutionary moment because they he sees it as the goal to get emancipation for jury all over and here he has an opportunity for Algerian jury not only that but if we see them as French and French Jews can be loyal French citizens so Algerian Jews can be loyal French citizens and uh the Muslims in Algeria do not receive citizenship so the Algerian jeury becomes an elite which causes resentment which has long longterm effects well into the 20th century to the postcolonial era Algerian long war against French colonialism in the 1950s and 60s and it has big ramifications for the Algerian Jewish Community who are French not only that but but it it causes for the French colonists who are who are Christian French and they come and they encounter Algerian jury who they see as not very different from their Muslim neighbors they say why are these people privileged to have French citizenship so both from the colonists the European colonists Italian and French colonists primarily and from the Muslim majority who does not receive French citizenship this emancipated Jewish Community um is in a interesting situation another stop on the way that I would point out even though it's not directly related to the Jews is but I find it just very interesting is a speech by an individual named Ernest renan Ernest renan was a a French intellectual of the 19th century and he non-jewish and he's you know a scholar of Semitic langage and wrote all kinds of books and you know a bit of philosopher also and he gives a speech in 1882 in the sbone in Paris and the name of the speech is what is a nation by 1882 there's the rise of you know the ideals of the Revolution have been not abandoned but uh the age of liberalism and and uh and rationalism and all that has changed in Europe in the in the spirit of Romanticism and modern nationalism which are connected and and he's grappling with that idea he's grappling with the with the idea of nationalism and how it fits in to the liberalist ideals of the Revolution and the name of his speech is what is a nation and he tries to Define it whereas German philosophers were already at the last quarter of the 20th century defining a nation by objective criteria like race or ethnic groupings others were saying religion uh those characteristics and renan negates those ways of defining the nation and he formulates a new way of defining what nationalism is is that it's the existence of a nation is a daily plebis site those are his words in other words a a will of the people to continue living together and wanting to do more together and it's a constant will of the people and therefore he comes to the conclusion that nationalism can have a beginning and it can have an end and he makes a prediction that one day when it ends it'll be replaced by a European Confederation of European States um and he says that other uh basis of nationalism such as race such as borders geographical borders will lead to Untold Bloodshed in The Next Century if you use that as the basis of nationalism as opposed to my idea that it's a daily pleite of the will of the people to continue to work together um um irrespective of their background so again the Jews aren't mentioned explicitly in the speech but they're obviously hovering in the shadows and being that they're the ultimate minority uh in in France and in Europe at that time the next question we want to examine is does emancipation make anti-Semitism disappear again I'm being very very general in this episode there's a lot of details to go into perhaps a new opportunities we'll come up to do further episodes on this topic so we'll go into more details um doesn't make it this anti-Semitism disappear and it doesn't in fact modern anti-Semitism Rises and expands and the disillusionment with emancipation along with the fact that the majority of the Jewish people in Europe are living in the zarus Russian Empire and never receive emancipation what they're trying to and it never happens leads to many to turn inwards towards towards uh uh Jewish nationalism and Leon pinsker writes in 1882 Auto emancipation the Jews the Emancipation failed either in Western Europe because it didn't make anti-Semitism disappear or in Eastern Europe where they never received emancipation so the Jews have to emancipate themselves and they have to become their own Nation the same thing with Moses hes we go back to France France hes is a Jewish Frenchman later lives in Germany and he uh he uh he's first he's a socialist he's friends with Marx and F angles and the um eventually has a Fallout with them but he discovers his Jewish identity and his and leads him also to to lead to the idea of Jewish nationalism and he's one of the Proto zionists uh of of of the you know pre Zionist era um but um but in the in that in that context of of Eastern Europe not receiving emancipation as and ver vers versus Western Europe where the Jews did receive emancipation so we have the interesting situation where once the immigration be immigration begins from the Russian Empire to other countries so you have a Russian Jewish Community establishing themselves in France and looking for those equal rights seeking French citizenship rabis salant who who lived in Western year for most of his his later years he becomes the rabbi unofficial Rabbi of the Russian Jewish community in France in Paris for two years from 1880 to 1882 and he and he is trying to connect them trying to see well what does emancipation do what does Liv living in the west do what does that do to Jewish traditional life um and that's and that's a big question because traditional life seems to be eroding there's a interesting Rabbi who's the rabbi for many many years in first in Paris and then he's the chief Rabbi of the French Orthodox Jewish Community s and uh he's actually the last government appointee Rabbi because two years after his passing the French government adopts a separation of church and state so the rabbi is no longer a government employee but s sou Khan was he was the recognized by the government and he's he's definitely a a fascinating story of his role in allance and Zionism and influencing the Roth Childs to support the settlement in Palestine and he's he's actually D's Rabbi he was his mad kadushin so he was very involved in the dfus trial as well and and you know trying to prove his innocence and uh um um so that's that's again an expression of of uh a rabbi an orthodox traditional Rabbi in the post emancipation world but what I want to use last few minutes is to to use the Rothchild family as a prism of what the Emancipation means means both as far as the opportunities it gives as far as an anti-semitic backlash as far as what it does to Jewish traditional life and it's a perfect example because rch child became a paradigm of Jewish success and it's in theory it's the success of the Emancipation the Rothchilds originate from Germany and Frankfurt but they have branches all over Europe and the French Branch becomes a very prominent Branch you know the stle Jews in Eastern Europe used to talk about wrathchild like the like in the Lakewood coffee room they talk about reets today and the legood coffee I remember I recall fondly my the on man El man I spent in Lakewood I think I spent more time in the coffee room than I did in the in the B medes it was I mean I have only positive memories it was so much fun it was probably the last time I knew current events and since then I've been stuck in history but um you know everything goes down and and everything is discussed and analyzed and and amazing sole Jews used to talk like that about rth child and you know we know Shalom Alim puts into the mouth of tuvia the Milkman about if I were rth child and the Jewish humor is full of if I were Rothchild I'd be richer than Rothchild because I'd still be a tailor and make some money on the side and all all kinds of drugs like that Rothchild became a symbol of the Jewish success they're the biggest banking family in Europe they're literally the wealthiest people in the world Nathan Rothchild in London was a wealthy person in the world at the time they receive titles from titles right hereditary titles they become Vons and S and uh from first the Austrian government later the Queen Victoria bestows it on the English branch and the they you know they're they're among the European aristocracy they make it they're they have they have branches in Naples in Italy in Paris in Austria in in in I'm sorry in Vienna in Paris in in Frankfurt which closes down in the Next Generation because there's no male heirs and they want to keep it a very strong family business and they you know they keep it very internal U everyone tries to marry their first cousins the first two three generations till they start assimilating an intermarrying which is part of you know what the story is of the Rothchilds and uh and they they are P they become the leadership of the Jewish people right Edmund de Rothchild is the one who supports the first Zionist colonies of the first Al and all kinds of other philanthropic uh efforts uh the one who receives who's the recipient of the balford Declaration is Walter Rothchild uh who's who's the natural address it sent his home address from Lord balur and he's you know Walter Rothchild is a member of parliament himself his father Lionel Rothchild was the first Jewish member of the British Parliament and the British law had to be changed to allow him to go into Parliament because the oath of office until that time was on a Christian faith and they actually had to pass a law through British Parliament to change that to enable Roth child to make to take the oath um and uh you know like I said the Frankfurt Branch disappears um eventually the you know in the 20th century the Austrian family uh has to go into Exile because the Nazis Nazi takeover of Austria in 1938 they Tes has them take over all their Banks and assets um that's much later of course but the the French and and uh and the um and the English branches of of the Rothchild family now Nathan Rothchild like I said is the wealthiest person in Europe in the world and he was you know he financed Duke Wellington in in his battles against Napoleon and he um and there was all kinds of anti-Semitic myths made up about it that he took advantage of it and which Neil Ferguson and others have disproved but but the the uh the idea was is that he he um he his brother-in-law by the way was Moses mon Fury the other wealthy Jew of of of of England at the time they both married sisters cones and um and Nathan uh Nathan rild um his uh the his his his power and his you know their their banking Empire that they created and finance and the businesses that they're involved with their in mining and in and in in in in all different Rising companies they they funded CLE roads in his in his African they basically the rth Childs are basically responsible for for founding the the colony of rhia um today I think it's Zimbabwe um The debir Diamond company was funded by invested in by the Rothchilds other all the great companies of the 19th century world of Industry and finance High Finance international finance was the Rothchild they're the most powerful you know banking in the in the world involved in the Russell Japanese war on the Japanese government side buying up Japanese war bonds all kinds of other things now the so so the the uh the the result of that is is that they both um on both sides they take a leadership position in the Jewish world but on the other hand as the generations continue there's a certain integration a culturation even assimilation even intermarriage even descendants who aren't Jewish um there's on the other hand the rth child becomes a stereotype an anti-semitic stereotyp there's all types of tropes that there see conspiracy theories they control the world and they control the governments and and we see it later expressed in Nazi anti-Semitism and the the document Nazi documentary The Eternal Jew the Roth Childs feature prominently and uh with even footage taken from a Hollywood film that was about the Roth Childs in 1934 a couple years earlier and um but even before the Nazis already in the protocols of the Elders of Zion which was a zaris Russian anti-semitic invention in French anti-Semitism in in in anti-Semitism of the late 19th century the Roth Childs are featured as the typical uh stereotypical Jewish Merchant Banker financier the modern version of the medieval uh uh money lender uh the modern day and that's literally how they rep they're presented so the success of the Emancipation doesn't do away with the anti-Semitism and it's best expressed through the rise of the Rothchild family now all these subtopics there's what to expand on so I hope to have more episodes on this so be in touch with me about sponsorships of these or other or other favorite topics whatever you like and this was Yuda gab three sound bites you can reach me at yge and excuse me the old one at Yehuda yehud gab.com for questions comments sources tours trips virtual tours lectures sponsorships you can subscribe to Jewish history sound bites on podbean or your favorite podcast platform follow us on Twitter atj soundbites and I hope you enjoyed