Geschichte der Juden – The History of the Jews

Peter Beer, Geschichte der Juden von ihrer Rückkehr aus der babylonischen Gefangenschaft bis zur Zerstörung des zweyten Tempels, Wien 1808. German | Call Number: Jud. 3698 | Digital copy via Frankfurt's Digital Judaica Collections.

The well-known Maskil and educator from Prague Peter Beer (1758–1868) contributed to the transformation of Jewish education in the Habsburg monarchy by writing numerous textbooks. Alongside his pedagogical work, Beer published poems and articles in Ha-Me'assef. Through the journal he was exposed to the ideas of the Berlin Haskalah and engaged with leading Maskilim. Geschichte der Juden by Beer was a pioneering work in Jewish historiography. While Beer was far from being a professional historian with his work consisting mainly of an uncritical collection of sources, He was critical of rabbinical authorities and community leaders, especially in Eastern Europe and portrayed them as ignorant, and lacking an aesthetic sense. At the same time, he vigorously defended all the Mitzvot. He also advocated to end Jewish autonomy and separatism in exchange for an equal status of Judaism as a religion to the Christian churches.