ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Jewish Enlightenment

Okay kiddo, so a while back there was a group of Jewish people who wanted to change the way things were done in their community. They wanted to be more like the non-Jewish people they saw around them who had more freedom and rights. This group was called the Jewish Enlightenment, or the Haskalah in Hebrew.

They believed that Jewish people should be able to learn about science, philosophy, and other subjects that were considered taboo at the time. They also wanted to modernize Jewish education, create secular Jewish literature and music, and integrate more with non-Jewish society.

This was a big change for Jewish people because for a long time they had been separated from other cultures and kept to themselves. But the Jewish Enlightenment thinkers believed that in order to succeed and thrive in the modern world, they had to adapt and change.

The Jewish Enlightenment was a really important time for Jewish history because it led to a lot of advancements in education, literature, and even politics. It helped Jewish people become more integrated into society and allowed them to have more freedom in their lives.

So, in summary, the Jewish Enlightenment was a time when Jewish people wanted to modernize and become more like the non-Jewish people around them in order to succeed in the modern world. It was a big step forward for Jewish people and allowed them to have more freedom and rights.