They also
continued in ordinary trade; as late as the 13th
century they dealt in wool, attended the Cologne
fairs, and traded with Russia and Hungary; during
most of the Middle Ages there were even Jewish
*craftsmen and Jews had some contact with
*agriculture.
However money lending, conceived by the Church as
usury, became the hallmark [[stamp]] of Jewish
life in Germany. About 100 to 150 years after
usury became the main occupation of Jews in
England and France, it became central to the
livelihood of Jews in Germany also. Jews hatred
and the evel *image of the Jew as conceived in the
popular imagination were nourished by this
economic pattern. Owing to the scarcity of money
and lack of firm securities the rate of interest
was extremely high.
In 1244 the Jews of *
Austria
were given a bill of rights by Duke *Frederick II
based on the assumption that interest was the
Jews' main source of income; the bill contained
detailed regulations on money lending, and the
rate of interest was fixed at 173 1/3 %. This kind
of charter for Jews became typical of those
granted in central and eastern Germany (and
Poland) in the 13th and 14th centuries. Borrowing
money from Jews against pawns became usual among
the nobility and the townspeople, and enabled
rabble-rousers to accuse the Jews of "sucking
Christian blood" and of associating (col. 461)
moneylenders. The Jews insisted on their right to
refuse to return pawns unless reimbursed, a right
confirmed as early as 1090.
After the end of the 11th century the social
status of the Jews steadily deteriorated. The
Landesfrieden
("peace of the land") issued in 1103 includes the
Jews among persons who bear no arms and are
therefore to be spared violence and defended.
[Daily danger of
violence against the Jews since 1096 with
generalizations - criminal Church maintains
"perpetual serfdom and degradation" - definition
as "servants" by Emperor Frederick II]
The concepts which had determined the status of
the Jews from the beginning of their settlement in
Germany were now applied with increasing cruelty
and vigor. The German political view was molded by
a combination of tribal and state concepts which
could not regard those who were alien in blood and
faith as citizens of the state, while the Church
had always claimed that the sins of the Jews
condemn them to perpetual serfdom and degradation.
The The need of the Jews for refuge and protection
was now utilized by the urge to oppress and
exploit them.
A long-drawn-out process of legal and social
development was finally summed up in 1236 by
Emperor Frederick II, when he declared all the
Jews of Germany
*Servi
camerae nostri ("servants of our
treasury; Aronius, Regesten, 216 no. 496). This
meant that from the legal point of view the Jews
and their property were possessions of the emperor
and hence entirely at his mercy. However they
never fully experienced the severity of this
concept as it was never fully applied to them; in
a way, their status as servants of the imperial
treasury was even welcomed for it assured them of
imperial protection, protection which no other
German authority was able or willing to afford
them.
Long after the concept of the servitude of the
Jews had been applied in Germany, *Meir b. Baruch
of Rothenburg conceived that [[...] to any (col.
462)
particular place as gentiles are; for they are
regarded as impoverished freemen who have not been
sold into slavery; the government attitude is
according to this" (Responsa, ed. Prague, no.
1001; cf. Tos. to BK 58a). The concepts that
Jewish lives were not inviolable and that the Jews
were in servitude to the country's rulers led to
renewed outbursts of anti-Jewish violence whenever
a critical situation arose.
[Second Crusade
1146: protection in castles and preaching of
Bernard of Clairvaux calm the mob down]
The second Crusade (1146), which was again
accompanied by widespread anti-Jewish agitation,
was also a living nightmare for the Jews. However
the experience of 1096 had taught a lesson both to
the Jews and to the authorities: the Jews took
refuge in the castles of the nobility, whenever
possible having the entire citadel to themselves
until the danger passed (see A.M. Habermann, op.
cit. [[A. M. Habermann (ed.),
Gezerot Ashkenaz
ve-Zarefat (Ẓarefat) (1945)]] 117). The
preaching of *Bernard of Clairvaux against doing
the Jews physical harm also helped to restrain the
masses. Thus a repetition of the earlier
terrorization and slaughter did not take place.
Between the second Crusade and the beginning of
the 13th century the Jews were subjected to
numerous attacks and libels but relatively few
lost their lives as a result.
[[To the contrary the Jews in Palestine suffered
incredibly every time when "Christian" Crusaders
arrived in Palestine. The Jewish population in
Palestine was totally eliminated]].
SPIRITUAL LIFE.
[New prayers
after the first crusade after 1096]
The events of 1096 had shaken German Jewry to the
core; its response came in the form of tremendous
spiritual and social creativity. Succeeding
generations glorified the deeds of the martyrs and
created a whole doctrine around the sanctification
of God by martyrdom (
kiddush ha-Shem). The ideas of
self-sacrifice,
*akedah,
of choosing to meet "the Great Light" rather than
apostasy, and of standing up to the attacker, were
now formulated and transmitted as permanent
principles. A (col. 463)
special blessing was inserted into the prayer book
to be recited by those who were about to be slain.
The martyrs of Xanten had their own prayer:
"May the Almighty avenge the blood of His servants
which has been shed, and will be shed after us, in
the days of those who survive us and before their
very eyes: may the Almighty save us from men of
evil, from destruction and idolatry and from the
impurity of the gentiles" (A.M. Habermann, op.
cit. [[A. M. Habermann (ed.),
Gezerot Ashkenaz
ve-Zarefat (Ẓarefat) (1945)]] 49).
This prayer expresses the general mood of the
German Jews in this period and of the "leaders in
martyrdom" in particular.
[Hasidism, pious
Jewish men with new rules]
In the 12th and 13th centuries a group known as
Hasidim [[Ḥasidim]] (pious men) came into being,
distinguished by their piety in thought and deed
(see *Hasidei (Ḥasidei) Ashkenaz). The way of life
to which this group adhered was established, in
the main, by the members of a single family:
*Samuel b. Kalonymos he-Hasid (Ḥasid) of Speyer,
his son *Judah b. Samuel he-Hasid (Ḥasid) of
Regensburg, and their relative *Eleazar b. Judah
(ha-Roke'ah (Roke'aḥ) of Worms.
These formulated the principles of perfect piety:
observance of "Heavenly Law" (
din shamayim)
which which is above and beyond the "Law of the
Torah", for the latter was given to man taking
into account his
yezer (yeẓer) ha-ra ("evil
urge"). They taught that one should regard
property as being held on trust (from God) only,
and that one should abstain from lust without
retiring from family and public life.
Sefer Hasidim
(Ḥasidim) and Sefer ha-Roke'ah (Roke'aḥ),
two works written by these men, express the
feelings and ideas of the Hasidim (Ḥasidim) of
Germany on the greatness of God, on man's conduct
in life, on ghosts and spirits, on sexual
temptation and how to withstand it, on the true
observance of commandments, and on love of
learning as a foremost religious value. (col. 464)
SOCIAL LIFE
[Creation of
Jewish quarters with walls for safety - intense
social and religious life]
During this period further consolidation of the
Jewish communal leadership in Germany took place.
Jews increasingly restricted themselves to the
Jewish quarter in the town, which gave them a
greater feeling of security and made possible the
development of an intense social life. The
meliores
(leading families) accepted the authority of the
most eminent scholars. Torah learning was not
interrupted in times of trouble and danger. It
even received additional impetus from the need to
provide leadership for the Jewish public and
guidance to the individual, while the number of
outstanding scholars also increased. Even the
source of livelihood that was forced upon the Jews
- lending money against interest - came to be
appreciated as an advantage since it left time to
spare for Torah study.
[Money business
as main source - community structures]
Money lending also determined the artificial
structure of Jewish life; the Jews derived their
income mainly from non-Jews, and there was hardly
any economic exploitation of one Jews by another.
As a result, there was a large measure of social
cohesion in the German communities.
The average community maintained a synagogue, a
cemetery (or, if it was too small, obtained burial
rights in a neighboring town), a bathhouse, and a
place for weddings and other public festivities. A
scholar attracted groups of students who lived in
his home and were cared for by the scholar's wife
(A.M. Habermann, op. cit., 165-6). Meir b. Baruch
of Rothenburg attests that his house was spacious
and included "a bet midrash ... a winter house
[i.e. the main living quarters] ... a courtyard
for public use ... a cool upper room where I eat
in summer and ... a room ... for each student"
(Responsa, ed. Cremona, no.. 108).
[[...]]
In the 12th century the Jews still took part in
the defense of the towns in which they lived.
Eleazar b. Judah tells of "the siege of Worms by a
great host on the Sabbath, when we permitted all
the Jews to take up arms ... for if they had not
helped the townspeople they would have been killed
... therefore we permitted it" (
Sefer ha-Roke'ah
(Roke'aḥ) (Cremona, 1557), 23a,
Hilkhot Eruvin,
no. 197).
[New Jewish
communities in eastern Europe]
In this period, Jews also moved with the eastward
trend of the population, and new Jewish
communities were established in the east and
southeast. Those who joined in the movement of the
urban population eastward encountered the terrors
and problems of new colonists:
"When you build houses in the forest you find the
inhabitants stricken with plague since the place
is haunted by spirits ... They asked the sage what
they should do; he answered: Take the Ten
Commandments and a Torah Scroll and stretch out a
cord the length or the ground, and bring the Torah
Scroll to the cord ... and then at the end say:
'Before God, before the Torah, and before Israel
its guardians, may no demon nor she-demon come to
this (col. 466)
place from today and for ever' " (Sefer Hasidim
(Ḥasidim) (ed. Wistinetzki, no. 371).
13TH CENTURY (col. 467)
Encyclopaedia
Judaica (1971): Germany, vol. 7, col.
463-464. Map of the major medieval
Jewish communities in Germany in the
13th century: Koenigsberg, Emden,
Oldenburg, Bremen, Lueneburg,
Osnabrueck, Hanover, Berlin, Frankfort
on the Oder, Schwienitz, Magdeburg,
Zerbst, Halberstadt, Hildesheim, Hameln,
Muenster, Anhalt, Xanten, Bochum,
Duesburg, Paderborn, Goettingen,
Nordhausen, Halle on the Saale, Cottbus,
Glogau, Breslau, Goerlitz, Dresden,
Leipzig, Merseburg, Muehlhausen, Erfurt,
Arnstadt, Marburg on the Lahn, Cologne,
Aachen, Bonn, Ahrweiler, Andernach,
Coblenz, Bingen, Mainz, Wiesbaden,
Roedelheim, Frankfort on the Main,
Friedberg, Limburg, Wetzlar, Fulda,
Kissingen, Hanau, Offenbach,
Aschaffenburg, Oppenheim, Trier,
Kreuznach, Schweinfurt, Bamberg,
Wuerzburg, Heidingsfeld, Kitzingen,
Worms, Weinheim, Kaiserlslautern,
Speyer, Heidelberg, Bruchsal, Heilbronn,
Ettlingen, Pforzheim, Baden-Baden,
Stuttgart, Tuebingen, Freiburg,
Ensisheim, Constance, Lindau, Ulm,
Memmingen, Augsburg, Munich, Regensburg,
Deggendorf, Linz, Vienna, Graz, Ansbach,
Sulzbach, Amberg, and Prague
|
[Discrimination laws
by Lateran Council of the Church: badge - blood
libels and taxes]
The 13th century brought new troubles upon the
Jews. The Fourth *Lateran Council (1215) [[by the
criminal anti-Jewish Church]] decreed that the
clergy were to restrict business relations between
Christians and Jews, that Jews had to wear signs
distinguishing them from the Christians (see *
badge),
and
that they were not to hold any public office.
[[There were also laws that Jews had to wear
special clothes and special pointed and colored
hats]].
In 1235 the first case of *blood libel occurred in
Germany (in *Fulda) and in the second half of the
13th century the libel of *Host desecration began
to spread in the country. These accusations were
to cost many Jewish lives, to cause Jews much
anxiety and anguish, and to bring about further
deterioration of their image in the eyes of their
Christian neighbors, who now came to regard them
as corrupt beings, capable of the most abominable
crimes.
The acceptance of such views of the Jews by the
masses occurred at a time when imperial rule was
weakening, and the right to the Jews' "servitude
to the treasury" was passed on or transferred in
different ways and for differing reasons to
various local competencies. Religious fanaticism
was rising [[provoked by criminal preaching
"Christian" priests etc. of the criminal Church]]
and caused a social ferment in the cities, where
the mob vented their anger on the Jews.
In 1241, when the Jews of *Frankfort on the Main
tried to prevent one of their people from
converting to Christianity, a
Judenschlacht
(Jews' slaughter) took place, in which the entire
community was butchered by the Christian mob. In
1259 a synod of the Mainz archdiocese ordered that
Jews within its borders should wear the yellow
badge. In 1285 the entire Jewish community of
*Munich - some 180 persons - was burned to death,
victims of a libel that had been spread against
them.
The Jews also had a heavy tax burden. A partial
list of imperial revenue, dating from 1241,
reveals that in 25 Jewish communities the Jews
paid 857 marks, amounting to 12% of the entire
imperial tax revenue for the year (7,127.5 marks)
and 20% of the total raised in the German cities.
In addition to the regular taxes the Jews also had
to make payments in the form of "presents" and
bribes, (col. 467)
or money was simply extorted from them.
[Cultural and social
life: The basic Jewish law (takkanot) - leading role of
Speyer, Worms, and Mainz]
In this period - the second half of the 13th
century - German Jewry produced great spiritual
leaders. (col. 468)
Community institutions developed. The community
leaders and scholars - in gatherings on fair-days
- issued
takkanot
regulating [[major legislative enactment within
halakha (Jewish law)]] many spheres of life which
were binding upon individual communities or groups
of several communities.
In the 13th century, *Eliezer b. Joel ha-Levi of
Bonn established the principle that a majority
decision also obligated the opposing minority, and
unanimity was not required (contradicting the
12th-century French scholar Jacob b. Meir *Tam).
Communal offices which had come into existence in
the 12th and 13th centuries are listed in a
document issued by the Cologne community in 1301:
Nos Episcopus, magistratus Judeorum ac universi
Judei civitatis Coloniensis ("We the bishop [i.e.,
the leader], and officers of the Jews and the
entire Jewish community of Cologne"; see
Judenschreinsbuch,
92-93).
From 1220 onward, the
"Takkanot Shum", regulations
issued by three of the great communities on the
Rhine -
Speyer,
Worms, and Mainz [[...]] - have been
preserved; joint meeting of the leaders of these
three communities had a decisive influence on all
the Jewish communities in Germany. (col. 465)
German Jewry developed an independent leadership
with a series of honors and degrees of rank. The
intimacy of the small community enabled a person
who felt wronged to turn to the public by means of
interruption of prayer (see
*bittul ha-tamid)
in synagogue until he received redress. Families
experienced the usual sorrows and joys, and also
had their share of frivolities: "wild young men
... who liked gambling" (
Sefer Hasidim (Ḥasidim)), ed. by
J. Wistinetzki (1924), no. 109) and practical
jokes at festivities (see also Tos. to Suk. 45a,
s.v.
Mi-Yad
Tinnokot).
The main purpose of the
takkanot was to strengthen
religious life and especially to provide for
increased study of the Torah, the observance of
sexual purity laws, of the Sabbath, etc. They also
introduced innovations designed to strengthen
community life: the obligation on the part of each
individual to pay his tax assessment and to
refrain from false declarations, and the right of
the community officers to transfer funds from one
purpose to another, when the common good required
it. Considerable emphasis was put on strengthening
the authority of the community leadership: members
of the community were not permitted to accept
appointments by the authorities or to ask the
authorities for exemption from community taxes;
every dispute between Jews had to be brought
before Jewish judges, and Jews were not allowed to
apply to non-Jewish courts. Excommunication of an
individual required the consent of the community,
as did the divorce of a wife. Gambling was
outlawed and regulations were issued for the
preservation of order in the synagogues and law
courts and at public celebrations. Lending money
to Jews against the payment of interest, and
insulting anyone in public were also prohibited.
(col. 466)
Foremost was Meir b. Baruch of Rothenburg, whose
responsa and instructions guided several
generations of Jews. He attacked manifestations of
injustice or high-handedness in communal affairs,
and in his threnodies and other writings gave
expression to the sufferings of his people. In the
end, his own fate symbolized the distress of the
Jews: trying to escape overseas, like other
persecuted Jews in Germany, he was arrested,
handed over to the emperor, and died in jail in
1293. (col. 468)
Encyclopaedia
Judaica
(1971):
Germany, vol. 7, col. 465. Illustration
showing Jews receiving a charter of
privileges from Emperor Henry VII in
1312. From: Codex Baldvini; Koblenz,
Municipal Archives. [[See that the Jews
were forced to wear pointed "Jewish
hats", and the horse of the Emperor is
staying in the air]].
|
x
|
Encyclopaedia
Judaica
(1971): Germany, vol. 7, col. 468.
Woodcut of the blowing of the shofar in
the synagogue, with women and children
behind the screen in the foreground.
From J.J. Pfefferkorn: Judenbeichte
[[Jewish confession]]; Cologne, 1508
|
PERSECUTIONS OF
THE 14TH CENTURY
At the end of the 13th century and the first half
of the 14th, anti-Jewish excesses by the mob
increased in vehemence and frequency [[provoked by
criminal preaching "Christian" priests etc. of the
criminal Church]] , and the authorities were also
increasingly oppressive.
[[Defeat of the
Crusader states in Palestine and the harsh
consequences in Europe since 1291
The situation of the criminal Church was
aggravating in Europe after the definite defeat in
Palestine and after the loss of the last Crusader
state in Palestine since 1291. After this defeat
many alternative "Christian" religious groups in
Europe were coming up which were against the
criminal Pope. So the criminal Church under the
criminal Pope became even more criminal now. The
Pope let pursue any alternative "Christian"
religious group, organized special wars against
them, and the Jews were also one of the persecuted
groups. Inquisition with stakes was installed.
There developed also a Church cult against the
Jews with anti-Jewish prayers and hatred. At the
same time the Jewish methods of money lending
under the Church's ban are never mentioned in
detail, and "Christian" suffering under the
pre-capitalist rules is never mentioned. So, the
Pope was playing with the two groups, the
"Christians" and the Jews]].
[14th century:
Jewish taxes - calumniations, pogroms and
massacres: Rindfleisch, Armleder, Black Death -
and coming back]
In 1342 Louis IV of Bavaria decreed that "every
male Jew and every Jewish widow, of 12 years and
above, is obliged to pay a yearly tax of one
gulden". This poll tax was designed to increase
the income that the emperor derived from the Jews,
which had declined as the result of their
"transfer" to lower authorities, and came in
addition to the other taxes exacted from the Jews.
In 1356 Emperor *Charles IV transferred his claim
over the Jews to the Imperial Electors.
Within a period of 50 years the Jews of Germany
suffered three devastating blows. In 1298-99, when
civil war had broken out in southwest Germany, the
Jews were accused of Host desecration, and the
Jew-baiter, *Rindfleisch, gathered a mob around
him which fell upon the Jews of Franconia,
Bavaria, and the surrounding area, destroying no
less than 140 communities (including *Rothenburg,
Wuerzburg, *Nuremberg, and Bamberg). Many Jews
chose a martyr's death and in many places also
offered armed resistance.
The period 1336-37 was marked by the catastrophe
of the *Armleder massacres, in the course of which
110 communities, from Bavaria to Alsace, were
destroyed by rioting peasants.
Finally, in the massacres during the *Black Death,
in 1348-50, 300 Jewish communities were (col. 468)
destroyed in all parts of the country, and the
Jews either killed, or driven out as "poisoners of
wells".
[[It can be admitted that the big part were on
flight to the countryside]].
The greatest Jewish scholar of the time,
*Alexander Suslin ha-Kohen, was among those slain
in Erfurt, in 1349. As a result of these three
onslaughts, the structure of Jewish life in
Germany suffered a severe blow. Nevertheless, only
a short while later, Jews were again permitted to
take up residence in German cities, where there
was no one else to fulfill their function in
society of moneylenders. Only a few weeks after
the slaughter of the Jews of *Augsburg the bishop
permitted some to return to the city; between 1352
and 1355 Jews reappeared in Erfurt, Nuremberg,
*Ulm, Speyer, Worms, and Trier.
[Anti-Jewish laws
after the coming back - cultural life - route to
Poland - no change of the anti-Jewish habits in
the criminal "Christian" Church until
Reformation]
Their residence was now based on contracts which
contained severe restrictions and imposed numerous
payments on them. There was also increased
exploitation of the Jews by the emperor;a
moratorium on debts, declared by *Wenceslas in
1385 and again in 1390, dealt a severe blow to the
economic situation of the Jews. Jewish vitality,
however, was able to assert itself even in the
adverse conditions that prevailed after the Black
Death massacres.
The scholars assured the continuity of Jewish
creativity. In 1365, *Meir b. Baruch ha-Levi
established a new school in Vienna, based upon the
customs and traditions of the Rhine communities,
and his disciples - the *Sages of Austria" -
became the spiritual leaders of German Jewry.
In east and south Germany, with fewer towns and a
relatively backward economy, Jews found it easier
to earn their livelihood. This was also the route
to *Poland, which gradually turned into a refuge
for the Jews.
Until the Reformation there was no change in the
precarious situation of the Jews of Germany. On
the one hand, the disintegration of the Empire
prevented large-scale countrywide expulsions: when
the Jews were driven out of one locality they were
able to bide their time in a neighboring place,
and after a short while return to their previous
homes; on the other hand, the lack of a
central authority put the Jews at the mercy of
local rulers. In general, the emperor, the
princes, and the leading classes in the towns gave
their protection to the Jews; yet a single fanatic
anti-Jewish preacher, John of *Capistrano, found
it possible to inflame the masses against the Jews
and to initiate a new wave of persecutions
(1450-59) which culminated in the expulsion of the
Jews from Breslau.
15TH CENTURY
[Expulsions]
The 15th century was generally marked by libels
against Jews and their expulsion from certain
areas: in 1400 the Jews were expelled from Prague;
in 1420, 1438, 1462, and 1473 there were
successive expulsions from Mainz; in 1420-21 from
Austria; in 1424 from Cologne; in 1440 from
Augsburg; in 1475 the blood libel was raised in
Trent, resulting in anti-Jewish agitation and
riots all over Germany, and the expulsion of the
Jews from *Tyrol; in 1492 it was the turn of the
Host desecration libel in *Mecklenburg, and the
expulsion of the Jews from there; in 1493 they
were driven out of *Magdeburg, and in the period
1450-1500, out of many towns in Bavaria,
Franconia, and Swabia; in 1499 from Nuremberg; in
1510 there was another Host desecration libel and
expulsion from *Brandenburg; in the same year
expulsion from Alsace; and in 1519 from
Regensburg.
[[The coming back of the Jews some years later is
mentioned later]].
Encyclopaedia
Judaica
(1971): Germany, vol. 7, col. 466.
Fifteenth-century woodcut showing the
burning of Jewish martyrs. From
Schedel's Weltchronik, 1493 [[See that
the Jews were forced to wear pointed
"Jewish hats", and the "Christ" is
bringing more wood for the fire]].
|
x
|
Encyclopaedia
Judaica
(1971): Germany, vol. 7, col. 467.
Fifteenth-century woodcut published and
widely disseminated in Germany showing
the martyrdom of the Jews of Trent
following the blood libel of 1475. [[See
that the Jews were forced to wear
pointed "Jewish hats", the "Christ" sets
the fire, and other "Christians" are
watching the scene]].
|
[Trade and
management besides money lending - Jews
connected with the government in Poland - Jewish
poverty in Germany]
Nevertheless, in the course of the 15th century,
amid these tribulations, Jews were also able to
branch out into occupations other than money
lending. In the south German communities, there
were Jewish wine merchants and petty traders. Jews
also began to play a role in the expanding
commercial life, acting as intermediaries between
the large agricultural producer (such as the
monasteries) and the rising city merchant;
expelled from the cities and forced to live in the
small towns and villages, the Jews bought wool,
flax, etc., from the large storehouses and sold
these commodities to the wholesale merchant. This
(col. 469)
was the beginning of a process which culminated in
Poland in the 16th and 17th centuries with the
Jews entering the service of the nobility as
managers of their estates. Jewish life in the
small communities of Germany was frequently marked
by great material and spiritual hardship.
[Social and
cultural life: festivals - laws - quarrels and
disputations of the rabbis in Germany]
Yet the Jews did all in their power to fulfill the
commandments of their faith. Israel *Isserlein's Pesakim u-Khetavim
(Venice, 1545), para. 52, records a "curious
event" in south Germany, when several communities
had only a single etrog to share among them on the
Sukkot festival; they cut the fruit up and sent a
piece to each community, and although shriveled by
the time it reached its destination, the Jews made
the prescribed blessing over their slice of etrog on the
first day of the festival.
Despite their poverty and sufferings, Jews held on
to the normal joys of life. Jacob Moses *Moellin
permitted "placing tree branches in water on the
Sabbath ... in order to provide a source of joy
for the house" (Jacob b. Moses Moellin, Maharil
(Cremona, 1558), 38b); when asked about
celebrating a wedding in a community where a local
ordinance forbade the participation of musicians,
the same rabbi advised that the wedding be moved
to another community, where music could be made,
rather than have the bride and bridegroom forego
the pleasure (ibid.,
41b).
Even at a time when persecutions were actually
taking place, the Jews persisted in their way of
life and in study of the Torah. Thus Moses *Mintz,
while writing a halakhic decision, records that
"the time limit given us by the bishop [of
Bamberg] for leaving the town has been reached,
for he would not allow us a single additional day
or even hour" (Resp. Maharam Mintz, para. 48). The
rabbis' position became widely acknowledged in
this period, and they were regarded as "the
leaders". It may be assumed that it was Meir b.
Baruch ha-Levi's school that established the
custom of semikhah
(rabbinical ordination) and of awarding the title
of *Morenu ("our teacher") to a graduate rabbi, a
custom which Ashkenazi Jews have still retained.
At the same time the rabbis often engaged in
bitter quarrels over the question of jurisdiction,
and the position of the rabbi. These quarrels
largely resulted from the difficulties facing the
Jewish spiritual leaders, who tried, in a
permanent state of insecurity, to rebuild
communities that had been destroyed. The
rabbinical leaders of this period - Meir b. Baruch
ha-Levi and his disciples, Jacob b. Moses Moellin,
Israel Isserlein (author of Terumat ha-Deshen),
Moses Mintz, Israel b. Hayyim (Ḥayyim) *Bruna, and
others - were dedicated men who did all in their
power to establish new yeshivot [[religious Torah
schools]] and spread the study of Torah, but they
did not achieve the degree of leadership displayed
by their predecessors.
An extreme example of a scholar devoted to his
yeshivah was that of Jacob b. Moses Moellin "who
would (col. 470)
live in a house alone with his students, next to
the house of his wife the 'rabbanit', while her
sons were with her in her house; nor did he enjoy
a mite of his wife's property during her lifetime
or eat with her. Only the communal leaders
supplied him with sufficient means to support the
students of his yeshivah, while he himself earned
a livelihood as a marriage broker" (Maharil 76a).
His yeshivah was attended not only by poor
scholars, but by "those rich and pampered youths
who had tables made for them - when they sat down
in their seats they could turn the table in any
direction they pleased, and kept many books on
them" (Leket
Yosher, ed. by J. Freimann (1903), YD
39). The debate with Christianity did not die down
in this period, and Yom Tov Lipmann *Muelhausen
raised it to new heights of sharp polemical
argument in his Sefer ha-Nizzahon (Sefer
ha-Niẓẓaḥon) (see *Disputations).
[Tax
restrictions]
Emperors resorted to the most extreme measures in
order to extort money from the Jews.
[[The Emperors were directly connected with the
criminal "Christian" church because the second son
had to be a clergyman]].
The most extortionate was Sigismund who demanded
one-third of their property. Their desire to
increase the income extracted from the Jews
induced the emperors to utilize the high prestige
enjoyed by the rabbis by attempting to appoint one
of them "chief rabbi" (Hochmeister). In 1407, Rupert of
Wittelsbach appointed Israel b. Isaac of Nuremberg
to this office, and sought to give him sole powers
of sequestering Jewish property.
The communities, however, refused to acknowledge
the authority of a Jew appointed by gentiles and
eventually the king abandoned his attempt.
Sigismund named several "chief rabbis" for the
purpose of improving the collection of the
oppressive taxes that he imposed upon the Jews,
including well-known rabbinical leaders. It is not
clear, however, to what extent these appointments
were recognized by the communities, and the
responsa literature of the period contains no
specific references to such appointments. At any
rate, a proposal made by Seligmann Oppenheim Bin
(see *Bingen) to convene a conference which would
create a chief rabbinate was rejected by most of
his rabbinical colleagues.
[Summary]
In sum, the last few centuries of the Middle Ages
were a period of severe and difficult changes for
the Jews of Germany. The center of gravity, both
in population and intellectual activity, shifted
steadily eastward. From their position as
desirable traders the Jews were driven by the
religious and social forces which gained
ascendancy in the 12th and 13th centuries into the
despised occupation of usury. The 50 years
from1298 to 1348 took a tragic toll in both life
and property. Throughout the trials and
tribulations of the Middle Ages the Jews of
Germany succeeded in preserving their human
dignity and ancestral heritage. They displayed
their own creative powers in halakhic literature
and religious poetry, and in the establishment of
communal institutions. Although they did not
disdain the innocent joys of life, they were
exacting in the application of the Law and were
imbued with the spirit of ascetic piety.
Kiddush ha-Shem
- martyrdom for the sanctification of God - and
their particular pietism (Hasidut (Ḥasidut)
Ashkenaz), in both theory and practice, were
authentic contributions of German Jewry to the
realm of supreme Jewish values. When the age of
the Reformation set in, German Jewry, although of
lesser stature than their ancestors on the Rhine
in organization, learning, and religious spirit,
was strong enough to stand up to the challenge of
a changing world.
[H.H.B.-S.]> (col. 471)
[[...]]
[More expulsions
from cities]
When the Middle Ages came to an end, the Jews had
suffered expulsion from most German cities, as
well as from many other dioceses and localities:
(col. 471)
*Heilbronn 1475, *Tuebingen 1477, Bamberg 1478,
*Esslingen 1490, Mecklenburg 1492, Magdeburg 1493,
*Reutlingen 1495, Wuerttemberg and Wuerzburg 1498,
Nuremberg and Ulm 1499, *Noerdlingen 1507, the
state of Brandenburg 1510, Regensburg 1519,
Rottenburg 1520, and *Saxony 1537. (col. 472)
[[...]]
[[All these expulsions were performed with the
authorization of the criminal Church. The neighbor
towns often admitted the Jews as welcome tax
payers and merchants]]:
[Tax struggle
- protected and welcome Jews because they
pay taxes]
The Jews were also caught in the struggle between
the emperor, on the one hand, and the princes and
cities, on the other. The emperors, whose power
was on the decline, made efforts to retain their
control of the Jews, to protect them against local
potentates and to remain the sole beneficiaries of
the taxes paid by the Jews. The opposing forces,
bent upon establishing their independence of the
emperor, also tried to extend their supremacy over
the Jews and tax them.
When (col. 472)
attacking the Jews the princes and city
governments were not only motivated by the
traditional hatred, but also by their desire to
reduce the emperor's authority and force the Jews
to seek protection from them rather than the
emperor. As a result, the Jews were often forced
to pay taxes to two or even three different
authorities. This situation, however, also
prevented a general expulsion of the Jews from
Germany at a time when this had become the lot of
the Jews in most countries of Western Europe.
The Jews also became the subject of controversy
between the local rulers and the Estates (Staende)
- the nobility, the ruling clergy, and the
privileged townsmen. The latter had the power of
levying taxes and tried to extend their power in
various ways, including control of the Jews. To
some degree the persecutions of Jews in the 15th
and 16th centuries, which coincided with a rise in
the power of the Estates, were the result of this
struggle; thus, the Host desecration libel against
Jews in Brandenburg, in 1510, was also an
expression of the opposition of the Estates to
Elector Joachim I, who had given several Jews
permission to settle in the country, despite the
Estates' objections.
[Welcome Jewish
refugees because they pay taxes and because of
their skills in trading]
Other internal differences also affected the
situation of the Jews, such as the antagonism
between the princes and the landed gentry, and the
cities. The former would permit Jews who had been
expelled from the cities to settle on their lands,
thereby gaining additional taxpayers who were also
skilled merchants able to compete with the hated
townsmen and provide the princes and estate-owners
with better and cheaper supplies. For example, the
Jews who had been expelled from Augsburg were
offered refuge in the nearby villages; those who
had been driven out of Nuremberg were permitted to
settle in *Fuerth; the Count of *Oettingen
accepted the Jews of Noerdlingen; and the Count of
*Hanau lent his protection to the Portuguese Jews
to whom the neighboring municipality of Frankfort
had refused permission to settle. (col. 473)
Jews were prohibited from practicing most
occupations. From engaging in commerce at the
beginning of he Middle Ages and in finance at the
end, they now had to earn a livelihood from
hawking haberdashery, peddling, money lending, and
pawnbroking in the small towns and villages.
Interest rates were subject to severe regulations,
and wearing of the humiliating badge [[and Jewish
clothing and Jewish hat]] was enforced. In various
states Jews were prohibited from building new
synagogues and from holding discussions on
religious questions without Church authorization.
However, Emperor *Charles V (at assemblies of the
Reichstag in Augsburg 1530, Regensburg 1541,
Speyer 1544, and Augsburg 1548) authorized in full
the charters granted to the Jews by previous
emperors.