In and Out : the Prague Circle and Czech Jewry

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Bohemian Jewry is of necessity difficult to categorize as a unitary element in terms of tendency and affiliation. The Jewish community is very ancient and undeniably local. But Bohemian character is of various kinds and colours. We should be wary of confounding collective generalizations with individual preferences and character. We can however generalize about group tendencies to associate with the Czech or German element, or, on the other hand, with a perceived need to reinforce and adapt an inbuilt separateness. These are the forces and the counterforces. We are considering here a nugatory minority staking out a claim, either to be included within the larger blocks of the population, or, contrarily, to be recognized as a legitimate and actual sub-section. The difficulties that Masaryk encountered in the accommodation of rival patterns of ethnic, religious and linguistic difference within a single governable unit, were also within the experience of the Jews, in their own accommodation to the changing scenario.