A Few Words to the Jews

This rare example of nineteenth-century Anglo-Jewish writing offers a fascinating insight into the social life of Victorian Jews.

Charlotte Montefiore (Author)

9781108020367, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 28 October 2010

222 pages
21.6 x 14 x 1.3 cm, 0.29 kg

Charlotte Montefiore (1818–1854) published A Few Words to the Jews anonymously in 1853. The volume is a collection of essays on Anglo-Jewish life, covering topics including the Sabbath, Jewish women, religious reform and practice, Jewish materialism, immortality, the idea of truth, and religious festivals. The essays, like Montefiore's collection of short stories, The Cheap Jewish Library, and her novel, Caleb Asher, carry a strong message of social justice. Montefiore, a wealthy, aristocratic and influential Jew, was deeply involved in social welfare and the education of young people within her community, establishing a number of foundations to aid underprivileged Jews, including the Jewish Emigration Society. In A Few Words Montefiore argued her case against inequality and economic exploitation within Jewish communities. The work offers a fascinating insight into the life and politics of Victorian Jews. For more information on this author, see http://orlando.cambridge.org/public/svPeople?person_id=montc2

1. The present age and Judaism
2. God's truth and man's truth
3. The labourer's Sabbath
4. Thoughts on the day of rest
5. The Passover
6. The feast of weeks
7. The Jewish woman
8. On immortality
9. The island of jewels.

Subject Areas: History of ideas [JFCX]