Throughout the 18th century, an ever-sharper distinction emerged between Jews of the old order and those who were self-consciously of a new world.
A long, circuitous search for identity began, and it was no longer evident that the definition of Jewishness would be based on the beliefs and practices surrounding the study of the Torah.
In this book, Shmuel Feiner reconstructs this evolution by listening to the voices of those who participated in the process and by deciphering its cultural codes and meanings.