The Sturgeon Controversy of 1803 and the Birth of Orthodox Judaism - Howard Lupovitch
The Sturgeon Controversy (circa 1800) was a relatively minor dispute over whether or not sturgeon is kosher,
which escalated into a conflict that nearly split the Jews of Hungary and Slovakia into separate religious
denominations. In the two sides of this conflict we see the emergence of two religious outlooks: Neolog (the
Hungarian version of Reform Judaism, which eventually affiliated with Conservative Judaism) and Orthodoxy.
For this reason the controversy gives us an opportunity to “look behind the curtain” and see how these religious
movements got started and why they disagreed (and often still disagree) so vehemently.
Dr. Howard N. Lupovitch is the Waks Family Associate Professor of Jewish History in the Department of History
at the University of Western Ontario.