Item Description:

Triumph of Survival Course- Story of the Jewish People / Creation Till Today Section 8 / OLD IDEAS IN A NEW WORLD:
Jews at the End of the 19th Century
10 Lectures

Brand New Multi-Media History Course from Rabbi Berel Wein!

SECTION 8 / OLD IDEAS IN A NEW WORLD - Jews at the End of the 19th Century includes:

-326 page BOOK, written and adapted by R. Yaakov Astor and culled from the original lectures with current information and insights added from live lectures given to standing-room-only audiences in Israel. The book offers a summary outline, an edited transcript with annotation, suggested readings, thoughts to ponder, maps ( where applicable) and a timeline.
- 10 DVDs, each is a professional quality visual experience, filmed live in Israel
- 10 CDs, allowing you to take the lectures along with you…in the car, to class, as you relax or wherever or whenever you want to make the most of your valuable time.
- 1 MP3 disk which holds all of the lectures in the section so that you can download them onto your iPod, MP3 player, cell phone or computer.

Over the years, Rabbi Berel Wein fans the world over have requested a new and updated version of the most popular lectures in Jewish history.
Known for over a quarter of a century as ‘the voice of Jewish history,’ Rabbi Wein’s world famous Jewish history lectures ( over 1 million distributed ) now combine decades of new experience with the ultimate in high quality production. Each section of this NEW 10-part multi-media premium course, Triumph of Survival- The Story of the Jewish People from Creation Till Today, is offered in BOOK, DVD, CD AND MP3 formats – so that the one the works best for you is at your fingertips.

Section 8 / OLD IDEAS IN A NEW WORLD- Jews at the End of the 19th Century overview:

In this section,we will explore the period in Jewish history that is arguably the most critical for understanding our times: the cataclysmic and creative events of the years 1850 to 1900.

The 19th century saw major upheavals not only in the Jewish world, but the world at large. The after-effects of the Enlightenment were only first beginning to be felt. Enlightenment led to the emancipation of Jews in Western Europe; they were given new legal freedoms and ostensibly made equal. Many chose to convert to Christianity, generally not out of religious conviction but because conversion was the smoothest path for advancement in European society. Other Jews merely dropped Jewish practices and beliefs, becoming part of a mass assimilation unparalleled in Jewish history. Those who retained their Jewish identities and beliefs felt besieged spiritually and physically.

The ideas of the Enlightenment and Emancipation came late to Eastern Europe, where the majority of Jews in the world lived. When these Western ideas came to the East they were never fully accepted. In autocratic strongholds, like the environs of the Czars, they were resisted openly and forcefully. Nevertheless, they got through in one form or another and had a major impact on the general non- Jewish society as well as the Jewish one.

The Jewish world in Eastern Europe in the latter half of the 19th century found itself in this cauldron of competing and often conflicting ideologies and ideologues. Many Jews jumped onto the bandwagon of assimilation – and jumped on with a vengeance in the form of the Haskalah Movement. This, in turn, brought about a reaction from leading rabbis and religious authorities. One result was the Yeshiva Movement. Although it took on a form in the Russian Empire different than the form in the more Westernized Austro-Hungarian Empire, both turned the tide of assimilation by appealing to young Jewish minds hungry for spiritual and intellectual nourishment. Another reaction to Haskalah was the Mussar Movement. Eventually, the Yeshiva Movement and the Mussar Movement would merge into one.

Yet, even as the forces of assimilation – represented by the Haskalah Movement – and the forces of Jewish identity and religion – in the forms of the Yeshiva and Mussar Movements – tried to win over the masses, another movement was gaining form and gathering momentum: the Zionist Movement. Originally a movement of the most pious, religious Jews, it eventually found followers and adherents from non-religious and even anti-religious camps. As all this was happening, a new form of anti-Semitism was on the rise: racial anti-Semitism.

These incredibly powerful forces now surged and simmered in the pot of Jewish life at the close of the 19th century and into the dawn of the 20th century. Through studying these forces we not only gain a profound understanding about a key epoch in Jewish history, but also Jewish destiny as well as the times in which we live.

LECTURES INCLUDED:
OLD IDEAS IN A NEW WORLD - Jews at the End of the 19th Century

1-The 1850's
2-Haskalah
3-The Volozhin Revolution
4-Rabbi Moses Sofer
5-The Mussar Movement
6-Dispute and Dissemination: Expansion of the Mussar Movement
7-Lovers of Zion
8-The New World
9-The New Anti-Semitism and the Dreyfus Trial
10-Political Zionism

“With the advances in digital technology and the demand for a video version of my history audio series ( some of the original lectures were recorded on analog tape over 25 years ago) I decided to create a new, updated and more comprehensive series covering Ancient, Medieval and Modern Jewish history. Triumph of Survival includes a fuller, contemporary overview with relevant anecdotal insights. This series traces the dramatic arc of our history – linking the past to the present in the ongoing, remarkable story of the Jewish people.” Rabbi Berel Wein