The Spanish Golden Age under Islam served as a political model for German Jews

Evidence

For Graetz, as with other Wissenschaft des Judentums scholars, the tolerance of the Iberian Peninsula saw Spanish Jewry, especially during its Golden Age under Islam, become an ideal Jewish community. It was one where particularistic identity was retained and full participation in the social and cultural life of the nation was enjoyed. Here was a model for German Jews to emulate. As Graetz wrote, “the height of culture which the nations of modern times are striving to attain, was reached by the Jews of Spain in their most flourishing period” (5:370). This cultural flowering occurred because “many-sided knowledge was considered among the Spanish Jews, as well as among the Andalusian Muslims, as man’s most beautiful ornament” (5:370). — Ivan Davidson Kalmar, Derek Penslar, Orientalism and the Jews, 393

Categorization

• XREF: Echoes the recurring ‘golden age’ myth later critiqued by Sephardi historians; connects to the reader’s interest in idealized pasts as political programs.