Trudy Gold
How Did Enlightenment Thinkers View the Jews?
Summary
The lecture explores the Enlightenment thinkers’ perspectives on Jews and their impact on Jewish history by contextualizing it within the tumultuous European landscape after the Thirty Years’ War, highlighting how it aimed to apply reason to theology, education, and law, fostering a tolerant, open-minded society. The Enlightenment challenged absolutism and championed the general well-being of society, particularly the middle class. The lecture underscores how Enlightenment ideals propelled debates about Jews’ role in society, ultimately leading to their emancipation in Western and Central Europe by 1878.
Trudy Gold
Trudy Gold was the CEO of the London Jewish Cultural Centre and a founding member of the British delegation to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA). Throughout her career she taught modern Jewish history at schools, universities, and to adult groups and ran seminars on Holocaust education in the UK, Eastern Europe, and China. She also led Jewish educational tours all over the world. Trudy was the educational director of the student resources “Understanding the Holocaust” and “Holocaust Explained” and the author of The Timechart History of Jewish Civilization.