Book Description

The Leo Baeck Institute, to whose late president this book is dedicated, has three branches, located in Jerusalem, London, and New York. Its chief aim is the collection of documents describing the history of Jews in German-speaking countries, the manifold aspects of the association of the two ethnic groups, over a period of about 150 years; that is, from the time of the Enlightenment until the rise to power of the Nazi regime. Twenty-three Year Books (1956-1978) so far and many additional vol umes about special fields have been published by the institute. They offer an impressive documentation of the role Jews played in Germany, some of their great achievements, the difficulties they encountered in their struggle for equal rights, as well as its slow but seemingly success ful progress. A wealth of interesting material describes the mutual stimu lation of the creative forces of the two ethnic groups in a great variety of fields-literature, music, the performing arts, philosophy, humanities, the shaping of public opinion, economy, commerce, and industry. Since the destruction of the Second Temple by the Romans, there have been only a few periods during which Jews played such an eminent role in the history of their host nation. As was forcefully emphasized by Gerson D.