ABSTRACT
Scarcely had the medieval Jewish communities attained the position of fairly autonomous settlements with a culture more or less distinct from that of their neighbors when profound currents from without and within the ghetto began to stir the imagination and the activity of their inhabitants. Jewish communities of Europe and America are indicative of the inner forces that were gradually breaking down the ghetto walls, and were one phase of the process of dissolution of the ghetto, which was paralleled by the political emancipation and the acquisition of social status from the outside. Two social movements of profound significance swept Judaism before the era of emancipation opened: nationalism and socialism. The old separatism began to break down, and left its marks upon Jewish religious and communal life. The Russian government sought by decree to force the Jews to abandon their characteristic Jewish dress and appearance.
