Sylvain Boulouque

Libertarian Judaism between Assimilation and Rupture

Here I have used a number of specific examples to study the relations between libertarian Jews and the anarchist organised movement. These activists generally joined generic anarchist groups, but their assimilation was not complete. There are a number of major stages marking the evolution and attitude of activists which seem to apply to all groups. The first, which was of varying duration, was the assimilationist phase, in which libertarian Jews shared the hopes and struggles of their comrades. The second aspect studied is the Jewish activists' more or less voluntary break with their comrades, which was in its way an affirmation of their own identity. Finally, I try to identify the areas of conflict, the subjects involved and why they emerged, and I ask if all activists were affected. The material used in this study included the biographies of Bernard Lazare and Henri Dhorr, Ida Mett, Nicolas Tchorbadieff, Volin and Jules Chazoff.