Haskalah

Haskalah (Hebrew, “enlightenment”), cultural movement that attempted to reform traditional Jewish customs. It was initiated during the late 18th century by some Jews who had experienced European lifestyle and wanted to modernize Jewish customs to fit more easily into mainstream society, after centuries of Jewish discrimination. Haskalah incorporated such ideas as having Jews wear a more contemporary dress instead of the traditional Jewish clothing and having Jews adopt the local language instead of speaking Yiddish. The movement also encouraged Jews to add nonreligious curriculum to schools and to begin careers in the liberal arts.