Schism in Hungarian Jewry

The synagogue triangle in Erzsébetváros district, Budapest: within a walking distance from each other, the Orthodox, Status Quo and Neolog sanctuaries.

The Schism in Hungarian Jewry (Hungarian: ortodox–neológ szakadás, "Orthodox-Neolog Schism"; Yiddish: די טיילונג אין אונגארן, trans. Die Teilung in Ungarn, "The Division in Hungary") was the institutional division of the Jewish community in the Kingdom of Hungary between 1869 and 1871, following a failed attempt to establish a national, united representative organization. The founding congress of the new body was held during an ongoing conflict between the traditionalist Orthodox party and its modernist Neolog rivals, which had been raging for decades.

The traditionalists, fearing their opponents would dominate the new body, seceded and then lobbied the government to allow the formation of an independent Orthodox supracommunal organization with a policy of strict separation from the Neologs. When faced with the need to choose between the two, a third faction of "Status Quo" congregations emerged, refusing to join either and remaining fully autonomous, without a higher authority. While a large proportion of communities retained a cohesive affiliation to one group, some communities were affected by the schism, and formed two or even three new congregations, with separate affiliations. The threefold pattern remained a key feature of Hungarian Jewry for generations, even in the territories ceded under the 1920 Treaty of Trianon, until its destruction during the Holocaust.