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[German Version] I. Terminology The word society ( societas, société) has changed from a term denoting particular forms and modes of human coexistence to a term (in both sg. and pl.) denoting the totality of human coexistence; it has thus become the basic term of the theoretical sciences that deal with human coexistence. The German equivalent, …

[German Version] I. From the Exile to the Arab Conquest – II. To 1800 – III. 1800 to the Present I. From the Exile to the Arab Conquest In 539 bce, the Persian ruler Cyrus conquered the kingdom of Babylonia. He is reputed to have permitted a group of Judahites deported to Mesopotamia to return to their homeland (“Babylonian Exile”). It would have been consonant with the restorative policies of Cyrus to present himself as the liberator of various nations, reestablishing their gods and cults destroyed by the Babylonians, bu…

[German Version] The Reform movement in Judaism (III) emerged as a religious response to the increasing intellectual, social, and political integration of Jews in Central Europe, especially Germany, during the first decades of the 19th century. The debate with the Enlightenment had raised questions as to the viability of traditional Judaism in the modern world and evoked a clearly perceptible need to adapt Judaism to the new conditions of Jewish life outside the medieval ghetto. Reforms were introduced in worship, including greater emphasis on external norms of conduct…

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[German Version] I. Terminology – II. Emancipation as a Socio-historical Process – III. The Significance of Emancipation in Judaism – IV. Emancipation of Women – V. Practical Theology and Education Theory…