“Unhealed Breach” or a Good Divorce? The Hungarian Jewish Congress (1868–69) and the “Schism” in Historical Perspective

PROGRAM

DAY 1

5 February, Tuesday

Location: Eötvös Loránd University, 1088 Budapest, Múzeum krt. 4/A. Meeting Hall (039.)

13.00 Greetings and Introductions

András Heisler, President, Federation of Hungarian Jewish Communities

From the Austro-Hungarian Compromise to the Jewish Congress: The Formative Years of Liberal Hungary – Tibor Frank, prof. emeritus, Eötvös Loránd University

 

First panel (13.30–15.00) – Context

Chair: Mary Gluck (Brown University)

The Pursuit of the Sanhedrin: The Hungarian Jewish Congress in the Tradition of Nineteenth-Century Synods – Carsten Wilke (Central European University)

Confessional Autonomy in Hungary: József Eötvös's Point of View – Gábor Gángó (Max Weber Center for Advanced Cultural and Social Studies, University of Erfurt)

Truth and/or Peace: The Political Toolbox of the Jewish Congress – Tamás Turán (Institute for Minority Studies, HAS; Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest)

 

Keynote (18:00-18:45)

Chair: Géza Komoróczy (prof. emeritus, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest)

The Inevitable Breach? The Congress of 1868–69 and the Fissures within Hungarian Jewry

Michael K. Silber (The Hebrew University, Jerusalem)

 

DAY 2

6 February, Wednesday

Location: MTA HTK, 1097, Budapest, Tóth Kálmán u. 4. K 011-12.

9.00 Greetings

Attila Papp Z., Director, Institute for Minority Studies, HAS

 

Second panel (9.00-10.30) – Struggles

Chair: Tamás Biró (Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest)

Defending the Old from the New: The Preservative Aims of the Hungarian Jewish Congress – Howard Lupovitch (Wayne State University)

The Progresssive Political Role of Rabbi Mihály Morgenstern during the Congress of 1868–69 – Mihály Huszár (Museum of Marcali)

The Divide of the Jewish Community from Nagyvárad after the Hungarian Jewish Congress (1868–1869). The Creation of the Community Status-quo ante from Nagyvárad – Edith-Emese Bodo (University of Oradea)

 

Third panel (11.00-12.30) – Echoes

Chair: Michael L. Miller (Central European University)

Cisleithanian Lesson from the Schism – Daniel Baránek (Jewish Museum in Prague)

The Echoes of the Hungarian Jewish Congress (1868–69) Among the Jewish Communities in Croatia – Ljiljana Dobrovšak (Institute of Social Sciences Ivo Pilar, Zagreb)

From the Other Side of the World: American Jews look to Budapest – Elena Hoffenberg (University of Haifa)

 

Fourth panel (14.00-15.30) – After-effects

Chair: László Csorba (Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest)

Unfinished Emancipation: the "Schism" in Context of Religious Equality of the Jews – Anikó Prepuk (University of Debrecen)

Why did the Neolog Establishment Strive for the Reunification of Hungarian Jewry? – Miklós Konrád (Institute of History, HAS)

Reunification Efforts and Metalanguages in Hungarian Jewish Press – Norbert Glässer (University of Szeged) and András Zima (Jewish Theological Seminary – University of Jewish Studies, Budapest)

 

Fifth panel (16.00-17.00) – Orthodox Implications

Chair: Michael K. Silber (The Hebrew University, Jerusalem)

What Was it All About? Two Orthodox Retrospectives on the 1869 Schism – Yoav Sorek (Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Israel)

The Geography of Post-Schism Responsa in the Hungarian Hinterlands: The Case of Bychkiv – Elli Fischer (Tel Aviv University)