Trudy Gold
Napoleon, the Jews and Jewish Identity, Part 1
Summary
In this lecture, Trudy Gold discusses the role of Jews during the French Revolution and the era of Napoleon Bonaparte, examining the impact of these historical events on Jewish identity. The Enlightenment ideals of the revolution, embodied in the famous slogan “liberty, equality, fraternity,” are explored within the context of their application to different groups in French society. The French Revolution’s impact on the Jewish population is portrayed as a significant but somewhat incidental aspect of the broader historical context, acknowledging the complexities and nuances of the period.
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.
Yes, so many of these revolutions start out with the greatest of intentions and then they boil over. It happened in communism. Nothing to what happened in the Reign of Terror, but this often happened. You have a revolution, and it needs to be corrected back.
You can take the history of the Jews as one of martyrology. That was certainly Louie Namier’s view. But it’s also an incredible history of survival against all the odds.
To start with you’d learn Hebrew. You would study the Torah and you would study the Talmud. And occasionally, depending on where you studied, maybe the prophets. Mathematics was allowed later.