יצחק אייכל — ה'יזם' של תנועת ההשכלה בגרמניה

Isaac Euchel (1756–1804), author, satirist, one of the leading maskilim of Koenigsberg and editor of Ha-Me'assef, was one of 'Mendelssohn's disciples', a term frequently employed by historians in describing the groups of maskilim active both during Mendelssohn's lifetime and following his death. The present article examines Euchel's central role in the organization of the Haskalah movement in Germany in the 1780s. Based, among other sources, on an autobiography heretofore overlooked by scholars, the author retraces Euchel's life and in the process sheds light on the crucible that forged the profile of a Jewish maskil. Euchel developed a far-reaching vision for the dissemination of haskalah throughout Germany, and strove to fulfill that dream by establishing social and organizational frameworks for maskilim. The study focuses on these endeavours, and particularly on the activities of a country-wide society of maskilim envisioned by Euchel, Die Gesellschaft zur Beförderung des Guten und Edlen. The statutes of that society are another hitherto untapped source of major historical value, and a comparison of these regulations with the activities and organization of German Lesegesellschaften is most illuminating. Euchel's plans for the establishment of educational institutions, as well as his ideas on ridding the Jewish community of its shortcomings are also discussed. The article concludes with a description of the transformation undergone by the Jewish community in Berlin, beginning in 1786 with the death of Mendelssohn. In the aftermath of that event moderate maskilim such as Euchel experienced disappointment and a feeling of being 'left behind', having despaired of ever seeing their vision of an enlightened future materialize. That vision no longer suited the processes of acculturation and emancipation that had taken over Jewish society in Berlin, nor was it consistent with the growing deistic influences on modern thought and the emerging fashion of 'salons' that was spreading through the social-cultural sphere.