Ahad Ha-London's Analysis

After his initial arrival in London, in 1908, Ahad Ha-am engaged in a round of visits, at the rate of one per week, in which he introduced himself to the elites of the Anglo-Jewish community. He was well received not only due to his extraordinary knowledge or his political writings but also because he represented a novelty for the English Jewry. There he was, an Eastern European intellectual Jew, contrasting with the waves of poor, uncultured brethren from Russia or Galicia. Little did these prominent people knew that they were keenly observed and thus, one day, from his lodging house located near the British Museum, he wrote to Simon Dubnow: “Judaism in our sense of the word is in galuth here much more than in Russia. There are Jewish meetings,
I think these two chapters are intertwined and are an explanation of the permutations which rendered the English Jewry as a distinctive element in the Galuth and later on paved the way for an easier assimilation. One of them debates how immigrants transferred their old occupations – peddling, tailoring- to a new setting where technological developments already started to eliminate outwork. Under these conditions, innovation was the word of the day, therefore Jewish tailors created the inexpensive clothes of presentable quality and appearance against the tyranny of a “one man, one garment” creed. The other chapter focuses on religious life and insists on the laxity which characterized Judaism in England. According to Gartner, religious laxity was not something related to an intrinsic cause such as resentment or rejection of Judaism but it was more of a response to the adjustments in a new country with different conditions, which required work even on Sabbath. Avoiding sentimentalism and trying to be as scientific as possible, it is hard not to sympathize with the Jewish immigrant who probably felt that he was losing his most important connection not only with his community and his past life, but also with his