Yiddish at Columbia

Ritual > "Discourses"

Diskurs

Amsterdam, 1797

General MS 066

General Manuscript Collection

Ritual and adherence to tradition was definitely not a simple topic.  In late 18th century Amsterdam, the Jewish community split when the Naye Kille (New Community) was established.  Its adherents began publishing pamphlets called Diskursn, written as plays that depicted the “old community” as outdated and superstitious.  The “old” community responded with their own Diskursn, leading to quite a lively interchange in print.  This seems to be a manuscript version of volume 18 of the Naye Kille’s series, in which the protagonists discuss the confusion that occurred upon publication of the Diskursn by the “old” community.

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