On this day in 1856, Heinrich Heine, the famous Jewish poet and satirist who converted to Lutheranism, passed away. Before his conversion in 1823, the philosopher bemoaned that, “the baptismal certificate is the ticket of admission to European culture…”
Although Heine hoped his conversion would lead to a doctorate and a career as an academic, his repeated attempts to secure a position at a German university, even following his conversion, proved fruitless. In his later years, he told a friend, “I make no secret of my Judaism, to which I have not returned, because I never left it.”
Heine’s very public conversion showcased the dilemma faced by a generation of emancipated European Jews struggling to find their place in European society. Like Heine, these Jews wished to feel a part of their nation, even at the cost of their Judaism, which traditionally, spurned many of the trappings of modern Europe, from food to dress to worship practices.
Fortunately, this dilemma was not limited to laity, and rabbis in Westphalia, Hamburg, Berlin, and elsewhere introduced reforms in Jewish worship, customs, and dress, making it possible for Jews grappling with their identity to feel at once a member of their nation and their religion. These changes represented the birth of Reform Judaism, a movement that ultimately gained its greatest foothold in the United States.
— Rabbi Josh Knobel
The Grade 6 students at Wise School are studying these changes right now, so if you happen across any member of the Class of 2021, feel free to ask them about emancipation, the Christian option, or the birth of Reform Judaism and the many movements it inspired.