Vilna on the Seine: Jewish Intellectuals in France Seine 1968

This book tells the story of two generations of Jewish intellectuals living in France. The older group, born at the turn of the 20th century, are Lithuanian immigrants who were educated in Jewish and European cultures. The younger, student radicals in 1968, have recently embraced different forms of Judaism, all of them based on the rich and varied traditions of Lithuanian Jews. The author traces the life histories of several immigrant scholars who have influenced the young, such as Mordecai Litvine, master translator of French poetry into Yiddish, Emmanuel Levinas, eminent philosopher who uses the Torah and Talmud to speak about contemporary ethical issues, Jacob Gordin, specialist in Jewish mysticism and heroic teacher during the Second World War, and Olga Katunal, political activist and scholar of European philosophy and religious thought. The author then shows how members of the younger generation have applied the teachings of these figures. Some have become minority nationalists committed to developing a secular culture for Jews in France. Others have found new ways to live as assimilated Jews with a deeper understanding of the Jewish Enlightenment. Still others have become ultra-Orthodox Jews and retreated into religious communities modelled on the old Lithuanian yeshiva. The author's portraits describe the political and spiritual struggles of Eastern European Jews earlier this century and suggest that the choices they eventually made have meaning for Jews in the Diaspora today.