Italian Jews during the Revolutionary Years 1796-1799: Jewish Jacobinism and Purim Sheni Services

This lecture will discuss Jewish politicisation during the Italian revolutionary triennium 1796-1799. I will first distinguish Jewish historical experiences in the Italian states. Then I will consider Jewish participation in Republican municipalities between 1796 and 1799. Jewish politicisation will be considered as a throughout phenomenon, involving topics such as emancipation, renovation and secularisation, far beyond absolute stances for loyalist or revolutionary parties. Catholic views on Jews are essential in order to understand the emergence of a Jewish “Jacobinism”.

This lecture will also present my postdoctoral research project focused on Italian Jewish written production during the triennium 1796-1799. I will focus on the establishment of Jewish memorial services of Purim Sheni as responses to anti-Jewish violence. Italian rabbis and literati produced special Hebrew hymns and prayers for the community service, as well as individual memories and accounts in Judeo-Italian for private family memory. I will offer a general survey of these memorial texts through historical contextualisation and textual analysis.

Some question will be raised: to which extent did the revolutionary political language affect Jewish political perceptions on power and social order? And in what ways did the Italian revolutionary period have an effect on Jewish-Christian relations?