Jewish History Jews in Western Europe (Life Pre-Crusades) Notes

1/3/11

How did the Jews ‘fit’ into Christian Western Europe?

Answer: they did not

v Political system of Medieval Europe: feudal system

¨     Power is decentralized

¨     Lords have vassals

Ø  Exchange of a fief (land) for military service

Ø  All vassals and lords are knights

Ø  Jews were neither vassals nor lords nor knights

¨     Catholic Church also has power (landowners + the king/nobles who want to go to heaven)

¨     Jews had no power or role in the feudal system

¨     Since Jews were literate, they could get jobs as doctors or secretaries.  Unofficially, Jews could have connections

v Economic system: Manorial system

¨     People tried to be self sufficient as much as possible

¨     Only traded salt and luxury items

¨     Lord runs the manner, and serfs and slaves do the work

Ø  Jews were none of these.  Why not?

¡ Couldn’t be lords because Jews were not nobles

¡ Jews weren’t serfs and slaves because they were JEWISH and not Christian.  The nobles made sure that their serfs and slaves were Christians, so any Jews who were serfs or slaves had to convert.

Ø  The Jewish community buys Jewish captives who appear in the slave market

¨     Jews are outside the system: craftsmen and merchants and live in towns

¨     International merchants are often Jews (very wealthy)

Ø  Advantage: Jews could communicate with Jews all over the world in Hebrew

v Social system: Church

¨     The Jews are clearly not a part of it

¨     The Jews created a ‘parallel world’ to the Medieval times

Ø  Jews had their own shuls

Ø  Set up their own funds

Ø  Set up their own institutions (like hospitals) so they did not have to rely on the Christian institutions

¨     Jews and non-Jews only interacted as merchants and craftsmen

1/5/11

How did the Jews create strong communities in medieval W. Europe?

v Origins

¨     Jews had been in the area since Roman times (increased emigration to Europe from Byzantine Empire)

¨     Merchants in medieval period sometimes settled down

¨     Estimated 90% of Jews lived in the Muslim world during the early middle ages

v Strengthening the community

¨     Charlemagne

Ø  Helped the Jews, which was weird because he was so involved in Christianity and the Church

Ø  He called the caliph in Baghdad and asked to send a Torah scholar because he thought the Jews weren’t learning well enough

Ø  Rulers, like Charlemagne, wanted Jews because they influence the economy.  Charlemagne went above and beyond and helped the Jews religiously

¨     Charlemagne’s grandson (Charles the Bold) imported R. Moshe Kalonymous

v Economic interactions

¨     International merchants

Ø  Jews had an advantage because all Jews can communicate together in Hebrew, and are accepted in both Christian and Muslim worlds

Ø  Highly profitable

Ø  Highly dangerous

¡ Ships sink

¡ Pirates

1/10/11

¨     Local merchants

Ø  Some were craftsmen who made things and sold them in their towns

Ø  Others were peddlers who went from one local castle to others to buy and sell things

¡ Sold luxury items, like swords, armor, jewelry, and cloth

Ø  Possible problems shown in a responsa to Rebbenu Gershom Me’or haGolah

¡ The Jews are indirectly causing wars, because they go to a lord and ask if he has anything to sell.  The lord says he will go to war with another lord so he can get something to sell.  So basically the Christians are claiming that the Jews are causing war.  Also, the Jew is buying things for low prices and selling it to someone else for a higher price.  Another problem was quarrelling with customers over pledges and usury.
v Social- the community

¨     Rabbi is the community leader.  He gets the problems from the community (example: the above responsa)

¨     Rebbenu Gershom Me’or haGolah— takkanot (reforms)

Ø  A man can only have 1 wife

¡ Sholom Bayit

¡ They were living in Christian Europe, where Christians had only one wife.  Proof- the Sephardi Jews did not have the one wife rule, and they were living in the Muslim world.

Ø  A man cannot divorce his wife without her consent

¡ Unless his wife refuses to or is incapable of giving consent

Ø  No reading other people’s mail

Ø  No changing the text of something you are copying

¨     Emmergence of two distinct Jewish communities: Ashkenaz and Sephard