THE IDEA YEARNING TO BE REALIZED

THE historical context in which the Russian Haskalah was established and developed was marked by a constant struggle with political issues raised by the Russian rulers' policy towards the Jews. In the early 1820s Isaac Baer Levinsohn called for changes in the nature and values of Jewish society, particularly in relation to Jewish occupations and education. He based his demands on what he considered to be the far-reaching promises of Tsar Alexander I's 1804 edict. The close involvement in Jewish affairs of Nicholas I (1825-55) and the members of his government, as well as their attempts to redefine the status of the Jews with regard to military service, autonomy, economics, and education, considerably strengthened the link between government policy and maskilic activity. The maskilim's desire for progress and their hope that what they saw as a 'maskilic– governmental alliance' would be strengthened are strikingly apparent in their propaganda, programmes, poetry, literature, and correspondence. In the maskilic consciousness and in the repertoire of images and common expressions used by the maskilim the term 'benevolent emperor' was not merely an expression of loyalty, obedience, and flattery but also the cornerstone of their ideology. They truly believed that the 'benevolent emperor' would 'heal the wounds and end the tribulations of the Jewish people and the injuries which had crushed them for thousands of years and were as yet unhealed'. Although the facts indicate that the 'maskilic– governmental alliance' was more of a one-sided, optimistic image than a reality, the very existence of the image was important as a source of confidence and hope for the maskilim, and it left its mark on their consciousness of the past.

Russian maskilim of the 1820s and later, including Isaac Baer Levinsohn, Samuel Joseph Fuenn (1818-90), Abraham Baer Gottlober (1811-99), and Benjamin Mandelstamm (1805-86), based their ideology on the perception that the difficult situation of the Jews—their inferior position in the country as well as the quality of their education and characteristics—was the product of political, economic, and religious circumstances, and, in particular, the result of the oppression and intolerance of the pre-modern rulers. Better treatment, religious tolerance, and an acceptance of the precepts of the Haskalah would deliver the Jews from their troubles and the abnormal circumstances of their lives.