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Jewish Studies As a Framework for Exploring Mormon Studies Brigham Young University BYU ScholarsArchive Faculty Publications 2020-4 “Wissenschaft des” Mormonism: Jewish Studies as a Framework for Exploring Mormon Studies Trevan Hatch Brigham Young University - Provo, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/facpub Part of the Comparative Methodologies and Theories Commons, Jewish Studies Commons, and the Mormon Studies Commons BYU ScholarsArchive Citation Hatch, Trevan, "“Wissenschaft des” Mormonism: Jewish Studies as a Framework for Exploring Mormon Studies" (2020). Faculty Publications. 3821. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/facpub/3821 This Peer-Reviewed Article is brought to you for free and open access by BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. “Wissenschaft des” Mormonism: Jewish Studies as a Framework for Exploring Mormon Studies Trevan G. Hatch Recently, a significant amount of attention has been directed at the who, what, where, and how of Mormon studies.1 For example, since 2009, at least six major forums, comprising sixty-two essays and presentations (with dozens of other stand-alone pieces appearing in other venues), were dedicated to discussing the nature and future of Mormon studies as an academic field.2 Many of these essays discuss TREVAN G. HATCH is the Ancient Near Eastern Studies and Religious Studies librarian and an adjunct professor in the Department of Ancient Scripture at Brigham Young University. 1 Richard Bushman, “The Commencement of Mormon Studies,” in New Perspectives in Mormon Studies: Creating and Crossing Boundaries, ed. Quincy D. Newell and Eric F. Mason (Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 2013), 197–214; Blair Hodges, “Mormon Studies: A Bibliographic Essay,” Mormon Studies Review 1 (2014): 223–35; Patrick Q. Mason, “Mormon Stud- ies: The Emergence and State of the Field,” in Directions for Mormon Studies in the Twenty-First Century, ed. Patrick Q. Mason (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 2016), 1–12. 2 Keith A. Erekson et al., “What Will We Do Now That New Mormon History Is Old: A Roundtable,” Journal of Mormon History 35, no. 3 (2009): 190–233; Rachel Cope et al., “New Ways In: Writing Interdisciplinary Mormon History,” Journal of Mormon History 38, no. 2 (Spring 2012): 99–144; Mormon Studies Review 1 (2014): 9–16, 29–102, 223–35; Mormon Studies Review 2 (2015): 1–74; Mason, Directions for Mormon Studies in the Twenty-First Century; Richard L. Bushman Colloquim, “Mormonism in the Academy: Teaching, Scholarship, and Faith; A Scholars’ Colloquium in Honor of Richard L. Bushman,” Brigham Young University, June 17–18, 2016. 96 JMH_46_2_text.indd 96 12/11/19 12:33 PM Trevan G. Hatch/Jewish Studies as Framework 97 the definitions, challenges, opportunities, research gaps, sources, and disciplines of Mormon studies from a variety of angles. Some are highly nuanced treatments of particular aspects of Mormon studies, and others are more general. This article presents the history and state of Jewish studies, which I offer as a framework for examining the current state of Mormon studies. Jewish studies seems to be a useful model or point of comparison for Mormon studies. Unlike the academic study of other religions in the United States—such as Buddhism, Hinduism, and Islam—which are primarily directed by outsiders,3 Jewish studies and Mormon stud- ies are largely directed by insiders, so they tend to experience similar tensions and dynamics, as presented in this paper. Jewish studies is also similar to Mormon studies in its journey into the American academy; both the Association of Jewish Studies and the Mormon History Association were founded in the 1960s. The treatment here of Jewish studies includes a broad examina- tion of particular themes, trends, phenomena, and tensions for the purpose of comparison. I will discuss the Wissenschaft des Judentums movement and its impact on the study of Judaism in the American academy. I will also explain the shift away from it to Jewish studies in the United States. The primary objective is to use the experience of Jewish studies as a means for scholars of religious studies to discuss the state and future of Mormon studies. Given space constraints I will not attempt to identify all the similarities between Jewish studies and Mormon studies. I will identify some of these similarities, but I encourage the reader to keep the field of Mormon studies in mind while proceeding through my explanation of Jewish studies. I con- clude with my own preliminary assessment of the history and state of Mormon studies based on this comparison. Wissenschaft des Judentums Jewish communities throughout Europe, particularly young Jews, gradually moved to a more secular worldview during the Enlighten- ment. The Haskalah—the “Jewish Enlightenment,” literally meaning “intellect” (from sekhel)—was an intellectual movement among European Jews that took shape in the last few decades of the eigh- teenth century. The father of the Haskalah, Moses Mendelssohn (d. 1786), became famous in Germany for his philosophical works, and 3 Richard C. Martin, in Approaches to Islam in Religious Studies, ed. Richard C. Martin (Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona Press, 1985), 9. JMH_46_2_text.indd 97 12/11/19 12:33 PM 98 The Journal of Mormon History was known among Jews for his strong accommodationist approach. During the Enlightenment, rationalism was the dominant school of thought. As Auerbach explained: “The Enlightenment instigated nothing less than ‘a radical rupture not only with traditional habits and beliefs but with the fundamental vision according to which Jews had long understood the world.’ For the first time in eighteen cen- turies, since their loss of national independence, Jews were free to define themselves.”4 Mendelssohn became influential in redefining Judaism for many Jews. He argued that since religion is true it must also be rational; since Judaism is a religion and religion is true, then Judaism is true and rational. When Mendelssohn defined Judaism as a rational reli- gion, it influenced the way some German Jews interpreted Judaism.5 Haskalah’s proponents (called maskilim) sought to obtain secular education and adopt predominant European customs. Before the Haskalah, the Jewish community was largely isolated; consequently, the rabbi was the primary figure for disseminating ideas. Young Jews during this generation were raised in a society consumed with religious reform, political emancipation, and anti-Semitism.6 Some Jews began matriculating in German universities, which exposed them to the methods of history, classics, and philosophy. In 1819, the first generation of trained Jewish academics formed a society in Berlin, which later became known as Wissenschaft des Judentums meaning the “scientific study of Judaism.” The purpose of it was to apply critical historical scholarship to Jewish sources. Schorsch identified Wissenschaft des Judentums as the most important legacy of German Jewry because “it embodies a basic shift in perspective from the dogmatic to the undogmatic, from the exegetical to the conceptual, [and] from the acceptance of unexamined knowledge to a deep concern with method.”7 Hughes explained, however, that the society’s vision was “not simply academic, but political: Jewish 4 Jerold S. Auerbach, Rabbis and Lawyers: The Journey from Torah to Con- stitution (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1990), 72. 5 Amos Elon, The Pity of It All: A History of Jews in Germany, 1743–1933 (New York: Metropolitan Books, 2002), 33–100. 6 Aaron Hughes, The Study of Judaism: Authenticity, Identity, Scholarship (Albany, NY: SUNY Press), 41. 7 Ismar Schorsch, From Text to Context: The Turn to History in Modern Juda- ism (Hanover, NH: Published for Brandeis University Press by University Press of New England, 1994), 153. JMH_46_2_text.indd 98 12/11/19 12:33 PM Trevan G. Hatch/Jewish Studies as Framework 99 self-improvement through scholarship would ideally lead to full political emancipation.”8 Self-improvement was a focus because many Jews had become disenfranchised with the religious aspects of Judaism. The founders of Wissenschaft des Judentums had a twofold objective: “[They sought] to bring ordinary Jews into the orbit of German Kultur and at the same time reinforce their Jewish identity by bridging the gulf between secular and religious education. [They] were eager to spread knowledge about the former and help young Jews to remain Jews even as (like many young Christians) they lost some of the latter.”9 The new society sought to illustrate to young Jews that Judaism as a cultural tradition and civilization deserved attention and apprecia- tion, which, in turn, might revitalize their religious connection. The means to achieve this objective was through adoption of scientific inquiry—that is, methods of academic exploration of Jewish history, literature, music, poetry, philosophy, and even liturgy.10 Because several protagonists of Wissenschaft des Judentums in Germany were rabbis,11 the fundamental motivation was grounded in scholarship, not as much for scholarship’s sake as for convincing young Jews to stay connected to Judaism. In other words, it had the appearance of scholarship but was really a “religious enterprise,” grounded in apologetics.12 It was not meant to explain the Jewish experience but to serve the Jewish faith. The reader familiar with the work of Mormon scholars in the past two generations—most of whom were employed at either Brigham Young University’s department of Religious Education or the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Church History Department—might see the similarity with this approach. Most of the publications coming from Mormon scholars who study religion were being published by the church or by Deseret Book Company; this body of literature had the appearance of scholar- ship but was really a religious enterprise grounded in apologetics. 8 Hughes, The Study of Judaism, 42. 9 Elon, The Pity of It All, 110.
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