The effect of the western Haskalah – also called the Jewish enlightenment – was to make German, not Yiddish or Hebrew, the language of the Jews of German speaking countries. Later, German was close to becoming the language of the Jews of Palestine, and even closer to becoming the language of the United States of America. This lecture by Professor Tudor Parfitt of Florida International University looks at what this would have done for the notion of Jewish unity. What if …