Jews and Freemasonry in the nineteenth century
The relationship between Judaism and Freemasonry features very little in the historiography of Jews in the nineteenth century, and even less in that of Jews during the Enlightenment. As such, there is a need to provide an overview of the areas that have previously been investigated, so as to identify avenues of future research for completing the gaps in our knowledge.
The presence of Jews in Masonic lodges in the first century of Speculative Freemasonry’s existence contributed to gradually fragmenting Jewish society and bringing about the pluralism that would henceforth characterize it. From the eighteenth century onward, the appeal of the lodges for Christians, but also some Jews, reflected an increased rejection of religious institutions, the desire to bring men together beyond religious divides, the weakening of traditional bonds, and the foregrounding of the individual. As Judaism allowed for a degree of freedom of conscience, it was not in fact difficult for the Jews who freed themselves from the weight of tradition and the social fetters of their community of origin to decide to become a member of a société de pensée (intellectual society) foreign to Judaism. From the Jewish point of view, there were therefore no real religious obstacles to becoming a Mason; instead, it required more of a preliminary social change, in the general context of Jewish integration into the surrounding society, which was at its height in the nineteenth century.
But what kind of reception awaited them in the lodges? And what influence did the Masons have on the life of nineteenth-century Jewish elites and communities?
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