Jewish assimilation

Jewish assimilation (Hebrew: התבוללות‎ , Hitbolelut) refers to the gradual cultural assimilation and social integration of Jews in their surrounding culture as well as the ideological program promoting conform as a potential solution to historic Jewish marginalization in the age of emancipation.

The Jewish holiday Hanukkah stems from the Maccabees' revolt against the Seleucid Empire. Many Jews of the era had adopted the Hellenistic language and culture, which the Maccabee group considered an abomination. Use of the vernacular is an example of acculturation, one of the key characteristics of Jewish assimilation in the modern era.

Jewish assimilation began anew among Ashkenazi Jews on an extensive scale towards the end of the 18th century in Western Europe, especially Germany, as the Haskalah emerged as a culture. Reasons cited for its initial success included hope for better opportunities accompanying assimilation into the non-Jewish European communities, especially among the upper classes. "The concentration of the Jewish population in large cities had a strong impact on their lifestyle and made them more visible in the economy and in the culture." As legal emancipation remained incomplete in Germany, many upper-middle class urban Jews propagated enlightenment ideals, which they believed would allow them to improve their social standing. "The ideologues consequently envisioned a regeneration of German Jewry that would gain it equal rights but would also lead to the formation of a new kind of Jew based on its ideal of man."

Both the Christian and Jewish communities were divided concerning answers to what was known as the Jewish question. The question, coming during the rise of nationalism in Europe, included the extent to which each nation could integrate its Jewish citizens, and if not integrated, how should they be treated and the question solved. The breakdown of the traditional Jewish communal structure, the Kehilla, marked the declining perception of a distinct Jewish nationality among those Jews that promoted emancipation. However, attempts to reduce Judaism to a confession did not necessarily induce an increase in tolerance of the Jews on the part of the majority society.

...
Wikipedia