Modernity Within Tradition: The Social History of Orthodox Jewry in Imperial Germany (review)

102 SHOFAR Summer 1994 Vol. 12, No.4 Final Solution it was white prisoners and white executioners; when a massacre took place in the camp of the enemies of Man, one could not ask the other camp-that is, those in charge of humanity's progress-to sink into eternal mourning." Alain Finkielkraut, in his outrage at the manipulation of Third-World rhetoric to defend a Nazi and at the associated charge of crimes·against humanity adapted by the French court, has written an extended essay of real value and vision. Spawned by the fusion of Jewish intellectual ambition with French literary tradition, Remembering in Vain represents a "postjournalist's" victory over "news" and a triumph of belles lettres over more immediate methodologies. Aware of the many ironies and paradoxes of his subject, Finkielkraut weaves them into a subtle and productive analysis without being paralyzed himself by their moral and legal peculiarities. I am able, then, to recommend this fine book not only to students of the Holocaust and international law, but to any and all students of "humanity" and "human progress." Louis Rene Beres Political Science Department Purdue University Modernity Within Tradition: The Social History of OrthodoxJewry in Imperial Germany, by Mordechai Breuer, translated by Elizabeth Petuchowski. New York: Columbia University Press, 1992. 514 pp. $47.50. When, way back during the 1970s, young scholars like David Ellenson, Steven Lowenstein, and myself-to mention just a few-decided to write about Orthodox Judaism in Germany, we were motivated by a number of factors, one of which was the lack of attention then being given to Orthodoxy in the scholarly literature of Jewish Studies, in contrast, for example, to the focus on the history of Reform Judaism. The picture of German Jewry even in the scholarly literature focused on urbanized Jews with an emphasis on assimilation, and sorely neglected the considerable percentage of rural and small-town Jews, as well as traditional Jews whether in small settlements or in the largest urban areas. The scholarly situation-though not the popular conception-has since changed rather emphatically. On the whole, Orthodox Judaism in a spectrum of different geographic settings, including both Western and Eastern Europe of the Book Reviews 103 nineteenth century and American and Israel of the twentieth, is now very much in academic vogue. Mordechai Breuer's social memoir ofOrthodoxJewish life in Germany is a truly significant contribution to the growing literature on Orthodox Judaism in general and in Germany specifically. Breuer has harnessed not only his training as a professional historian, but what is more important in this case, he has brought to bear his virtually unsurpassable first-hand knowledge of the people, events, and literature that make up the story he has told with great empathy. Scion of the renowned Samson Raphael Hirsch and the Breuer family that succeeded Hirsch in Frankfurt, he has provided us with a wealth of information, strengthened by a broad conceptual framework. For several reasons, the book does not until its final chapters have a strong chronological framework. Although defined as a history of the Imperial period, Breuer freely goes backward in time especially to under~core the significance of Hirsch's contributions. (Hirsch lived from 1808 to 1888 and came to Frankfurt in 1851; his major written works except for most of his commentaries date from before 1870.) The bulk of the work is organized by themes such as "Orthodoxy and German Culture," "Education and Training," "Literature, Art, and Science," and "Economy and Society." In these chapters, Breuer rightfully brings relevant materials regardless of date that contribute to a broad picture of Orthodox attitudes toward several of the major issues it faced in its confrontation with modernity. Breuer raises a number of difficult questions in this book and deals with them adeptly. His discussions on different Orthodox attitudes toward critical scholarship is encompassing and conclusive. His observations on Neo-Orthodoxy as cut off from both the Jewish majority and the surrounding German culture and on the changes in Orthodox attitudes that coincided with the first World War and the end of the Reich are both moving and insightful. His questions about Orthodoxy and German culture are fresh and revealing. Also, despite...