3/16/11
What was European Jewish life like during the early modern period?
v Ghettos
¨ 1516 First Ghetto in Venice
Ø Why?
Feared that Jews will kill their babies from the Holy Child of LaGuardia scandal
However, they did not want to expel the Jews because they were good for the economy, so they compromised by containing Jews in the ghetto- it was a way to get rid of the Jews and keep them at the same time
¨ Elsewhere (other ghettos), economic opportunities for Jews were declining
Ø Christians were taking over the Jews’ jobs (including money lending)
Ø More Jews were used clothes dealers and pawnbrokers (you give something valuable for a loan of what the object is worth)
Ø Exceptions
A few richer Jews keep the ghetto alive- doctors, financial advisors/lenders to royalty (ex- Mordecai Meisel)
3/17/11
¨ Shtadlan
Ø Job
Community appointed representative to outside powers
Defend Jewish community
Make sure bad laws are not put in place
Ø Usually wealthy and has a personal relationship with the royalty
Ø R. Joselman of Rosheim
Got Reuchlin to help him, and they convinced Charles V not to give all the copies of the Talmud to Pfefferkorn to burn
Lived during the time of Emperor Charles V
¶ As Charles V of the HRE, Jews were permitted to be Jewish, and there was no Inquisition, but he was also Charles I of Spain, where there were no open Jews and the Inquisition
Ø So, Charles decided to be consistent, so he brought the Inquisition to the HRE
¶ R. Joselman needed to talk to Charles on behalf of the Jews, but Charles was in Spain, where Jews were not allowed to go. So R. Joselman risked his life to go to Spain to talk to Charles
Ø He got out of Spain alive, and convinced Charles not to bring the Inquisition to HRE
¨ Cheering up the ghetto
Ø Learning
Learning is the recreation for Jewish medieval man
When Jewish men had free time, they learned
Ø Holidays
Masquerades on Purim
Put on skits and parodies
Ø Weddings
Everyone in the ghetto was invited to a wedding
Everyone in the ghetto helped prepare for the wedding
¨ Insecurity
Ø People did not feel safe
Ø Jews were forced to attend missionary conversion sermons
Ø Mobs broke into the ghettos to trash the place
Frankfort 1612
¶ Led by Fettmilch
¶ Jews barely made it out alive
¶ Finally, some local Christians told the government to help suppress the mob (they were afraid the mob would come to them)
¶ à Frankfort Purim. Often Jews celebrated “Purims” if they were supposed to be massacred but were saved
Ø LEGEND Golem of Prague (Maharal of Prague- R. Judah Loew ben Bezalel)
A golem is a creature made by clay that was animated by the “shem hameforash” and the word “emet”- truth
The Golem protected the Jews of Prague
Regardless of whether this is true or not, clearly the Jews needed something to comfort them
Ø False hopes
David haReuveni
¶ Pretended to be a representative from the tribe of Reuben and that the 10 lost tribes were alive and well. He wanted to form and alliance with the Pope to re-conquer Israel à Portugal à HRE where Charles V imprisoned him
Shlomo Molcho
¶ Converso
¶ Impressed with David haReuveni
¶ Became openly Jewish and left Portugal to study as a Jew
¶ He pretended to be Elijah the prophet and told all the Jews to repent
¶ The emperor caught him and killed him for heresy
3/22/11
How did Poland become a main center of Jewish life?
v 1264 Boleslav the Pious
¨ Issued a charter to the Jews to encourage them to come to Poland
Ø Promised protection and granted them the right to run their community according to halacha
Ø Why?
Economics
Ø However, few Jews came, because there wasn’t much in Poland- there were no shuls, yeshivas, etc
v 1344 Casmir the Great
¨ Basically reissued Boleslav’s charter as his own, hoping that the Jews would come this time
¨ This time, many more Jews came. Why now?
Ø Jews were suffering from the effects of the black death, and wanted to escape the accusations and persecution
Ø The repetition of the offer convinced Jews that the promises were real
v Economic role
¨ Merchants
Ø Cattle, horses
Ø Worked within urban areas, as well as internationally
Ø Many trade routes developed through Poland with Western Europe and the Ottoman Empire, between Hungary and Bohemia and the Black Sea
¨ Craftsmen
Ø Especially cloth dyeing, metal workers, tailors, jewelers,
¨ Moneylenders and tax farmers
Ø The government said a city owed X amount in taxes, so the tax farmer would give the government that much, and he would collect money from the city and whatever extra he collected he was allowed to keep (it was a very unpopular job)
¨ Government services
Ø Money production (making paper money)
3/23/11
¨ Economic activities à the usual problems
Ø Non Jews resented the Jewish competition
Ø Pressure from German merchants à Jews agreed to limit their businesses 1485 (a Jew can buy and sell to anyone, except they cannot buy from a gentile and sell to a gentile. Also, pawn shops can buy and sell to anyone)
Ø 1494 riots against the Jews (2 years after expulsion- made Jews seem undesirable and unwanted) in Cracow à Jews were blamed for the riots à 1495 Jews were expelled from Cracow
However, many Jews moved from Cracow to the suburb of Kazimierz, and brought their business with them. Cracow realized that their revenue went down after they expelled the Jews, so they extended the borders of Cracow to include Kazimierz
v Organized Jewish community = Kahal
¨ Usual organization: Rosh haKahal, gabbaim, and dayanim ran Jewish affairs
¨ Usual functions
Ø Maintain a charity fund, shul, mikva, hospital and old age home (in the larger communities), tax collecting for the Kahal and the secular government,
Ø Cheder
Elementary school that was the start of an “egalitarian elitist” education
Start at age three, when every boy comes to learn aleph bais. Some three year olds are ready, but others are not. Those who were ready to read were taught how to read, and those who could not were either sent home to come back next year, or played in the corner with the other three year olds who could not read
At age five, some children learned Chumash with Rashi, while others were still not ready to read
Once a child mastered Chumash and Rashi, he was sent to another rebbe who taught him mishna
This is designed to push the brighter kids faster, and get the slower kids to master Chumash and Rashi. Each kid was able to progress at his own speed
The genius students progressed to become “gadolei hador”- leaders of the generation, and everyone else eventually learned a trade
Egalitarian because everyone has an equal chance and opportunity to become a scholar, but elitist because the smarter children were given the most attention and opportunities
Girls don’t go to cheder, but they were better educated than girls in the non Jewish communities
¶ They learned how to read Hebrew, and learned tzena r’enah (Chumash in Yiddish). Their mothers or another lady educated them. However, not all girls learned how to read
¶ Girls also learned from their mothers practical, everyday laws- how to open and kasher a chicken, know when to ask a shaila, maintain a kosher home, etc
Ø Regulate business according to halacha (business conflicts went to Beit Din, not the secular court)
Most extreme penalties were excommunication
1551 King Sigismund Augustus
¶ Offered to back up the Jewish Beit Din with a death penalty to any Jew who did not obey what the Beit Din imposed
3/25/11
v Va’ad Arba Aratzot- Council of the Four Lands
¨ Nationwide representation for the Jews of Great Poland, Little Poland, Volhynia, and Ruthenia
¨ All the different Kahals sent representatives to this national government
Ø Representatives were mostly businessmen, with a few Rabbis
A rabbi headed the law and culture committee
A businessman headed the tax committee
¨ Shtadlan appointed by Vaad- Jewish community’s representative to secular courts
v Poland was known for its Jewish scholarship
¨ R. Moses Isserles (“rema”)
Ø Compared to Rambam- “Maimonides of Polish Jewry”
Ø Mappah for Shulchan Aruch- Ashkenazi (Polish) minhag commentary on the Sephardi customs
¨ Mahrsha, Maharshal, and the “Bach” wrote commentaries and helped form “modern orthodox” view of Judaism
v Yiddish
¨ Mixture of German, Hebrew, Slavic (and anything else people spoke)
¨ Literature- novels, poems for the common man (and women)
3/29/11
How did Jewish life develop in Holland?
v Religious toleration and economic opportunity
¨ (Dutch are leaders in exploration and trade)
¨ 2 Jewish communities in Amsterdam that stayed separate
Ø Sephardim
Mostly former marranos who fled Spain and Portugal so they could freely practice Judaism
Often rich, and sometimes former nobles
Weak in Torah knowledge
Ø Ashkenazim
Often penniless refugees from the Germanic states after the 30 Year’s War
Strong Torah knowledge
v New challenges
¨ Uriel da Costa
Ø Marrano born in Portugal. Wanted to become closer to G-d, so he went to a seminary to become a priest, but there were too many rules, so he snuck out and left to Amsterdam. He begged to become a ba’al teshuvah, and they started explaining him the rules of Judaism. But then he realized the Jews also had to many rules and rituals. He came to the realization that these rules all came from the Talmud, which he decided was wrong. He tried to tell people that the Talmud was wrong; no one listened, so he published a book critiquing the Talmud. He was excommunicated. In his excommunication, he realized that the written Torah was also wrong. He was lonely in excommunication, so he went back to Judaism and did teshuvah, but then he started critiquing the Torah, then he was excommunicated, then he felt lonely and came back. This happened a few times, until he ultimately committed suicide.
Ø He is important became he was one of the first to challenge oral Torah as well as written Torah
Ø He was a free thinker, which the orthodox viewed as the beginning of their modern problems
¨ Baruch Spinoza
Ø Born in Amsterdam, was a great student, and expected to grow up and become a Gadol Hador. He began studying Jewish philosophy, which led to him studying Christian philosophy. He studied with and began to hang out with freethinking Christians. Slowly, he gave up many mitzvoth, and the community excommunicated him. He wasn’t mad; he just went and stayed with his Christian friends. He wrote that halachah was made up by the rabbis and did not come from G-d, and Jews only had to follow halachah during the time when the Beit HaMikdash existed. Also, Torah is only valid if it agreed with natural law. He thought that the traditional authors of the books of tanach did not actually write them
Ø Spinoza took on the name Benedictus Spinoza, and created a Jewish philosophy based on the idea that there is a G-d and one needs ethics, but halacha is not from G-d, and the Torah is not useful unless it agrees with natural law
Ø He did not wish to go back to the Jewish community. Actually, he dissed the Rabbis of being power hungry, the Jews are hated by others because they hate everyone else, and the BHMK was destroyed because G-d hates the Jews as well
Ø In his own time, Spinoza had no impact
Ø “Bug”- Spinoza a philosopher and a Jew, but I argue that he was not a “Jewish philosopher” because he did not follow Jewish tradition
3/30/11
How did Jews find good lives in England and the New World?
v England
¨ Jews had been expelled in 1291
¨ Menasha Ben Israel
Ø Lived in Holland and experienced the good life there, and wondered why all the Jews did not live there. But Holland was too small, so maybe they could get a place for Jews to live in England
Ø Met with Cromwell
Religious argument- Jews and some Christians believe that Messiah will only come when the Jews are scattered everywhere, and the Jews were scattered everywhere except England
Also, Holland was extremely prosperous because of the Jews, so it would be a good idea to bring Jews into England to boost England’s economy, and they won’t ruin England
Ø Cromwell left it to Parliament à debate and no answer
Ø The Jews returned “unofficially”, which was good because the government couldn’t put any restrictions on the Jews. The Jews tried as much as they could to blend and not stand out. However, Jews were not equal (couldn’t be in Parliament)
Ø Official recognition that the Jews were there
They had permission to start a cemetery
v New World
¨ Inhabited by Spanish and Portuguese (marranos) who settled hoping there would be no Inquisition- they were wrong
¨ Recife (Portuguese)
Ø In the city of Recife there was a Dutch takeover where the Jews were given the same freedoms as they had in Holland
The Jews/marranos came out of hiding
Ø After 20 years, Portuguese vs. Dutch, and Dutch lost
Portuguese retook Recife
Expelled the Jews
¶ Many Jews went to the Dutch colony in the New World (New Amsterdam) à they wanted to live as open Jews
¶ Some went to Holland (also a Dutch colony) but not many went because it was a far journey
v New Amsterdam
¨ Peter Stuyvesant did not want the Jews to stay in New Amsterdam (he was an anti-Semite)
Ø The Jews petitioned to stay to Peter’s boss (Dutch West Indies Company) while Peter wrote a letter saying why the Jews should not be allowed to stay (he believed they were a burden)
Ø The Dutch West Indies company ordered him to let them stay with a condition that the Jews support their own poor
Reasons why DWIC favored the Jews
¶ Jews were good citizens who followed the rules
¶ Jews fought with the Dutch against the Portuguese
4/4/11
¨ Asser Levy
Ø Was a guard of Wall Street, showed up for duty, and was told he had to pay a tax and couldn’t do guard duty. He didn’t want to do so, so he went to court and won. He kept on doing things, was told he was not allowed to, and went to court to get the right to do so
Ø He wanted equality- guard duty, owning his own butcher shop
Ø Earned enough money and became a burgher (full citizen)
¨ Problems in Jewish life
Ø There was no autonomy, no kahal, no yeshiva, no rabbis, hard to get Kosher meat, etc
Ø Hard to observe Judaism
Why did problems develop in 17th century Poland?
v End of the Jagellonian dynasty 1572
¨ Nobles chose a very weak ruler and made him king
¨ Poland no longer had strong kings to protect the Jews
v Jews participated in the Arenda system
¨ Jews would become managers on noble estates in rural areas, and kept anything extra that he was able to make
¨ à Resentment of Jews by peasants, especially by Ukrainian peasants, who resented Polish rule and Jewish overseers à Chmielnicki revolt 1648-49t
Ø Chmielnicki was the leader of the Cossacks, who were fierce, merciless horsemen
Ø They attacked the Jews and tortured them and killed at least 100,000 (biggest mass murder until the Holocaust)
Ø Towns were wiped out, communities were destroyed
Ø Jews tried to make sense of it all, and came to the conclusion to expect the Mashiach (and Shabbetai Zevi came along, and claimed to be the Mashiach)
4/7/11
v Shabbetai Zevi
¨ Pretended to be the Messiah
¨ Went to Constantinople to meet the Sultan who threw him in Jail. His followers sent him gifts, which the Sultan did not like, so he offered Shabbetai Zevi to either convert to Islam or death. After this, Shabbetai’s followers split into three
Ø 1/3 became Muslims too, called the Donmeh. They were like all other Muslims, except they expected Shabbetai Zevi to come back
Ø 1/3 “Sadder but wiser”- tried to rebuild their lives and created a sense of caution about kabala
Ø 1/3 believed it was the right time for Messiah, so they went looking for a new Messiah
Ø
v
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