Conclusion

Abstract

This chapter depicts the efflorescence of Prague's rabbinic culture and the mystical character that animated it during the latter half of the eighteenth century. It demonstrates how traditional society flourished during Ezekiel Landau's tenure despite the dramatic political changes imposed on Prague Jews, beginning with Joseph II's Toleranzpatent of 1781. It also recounts how the Jewish community maintained its independent judiciary system, housed several academies of higher Jewish learning, and was home to over fifty prominent rabbinic figures. The chapter talks about Prague's rabbinic scholars who produced a wide range of writings, focusing primarily on talmudic, halakhic, and kabbalistic matters. It reviews Landau's several talmudic commentaries, numerous sermons, glosses on kabbalistic treatises, and a two-volume collection of responsa that immediately gained authoritative status.