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The Rise of Ashkenazi Culture in Eastern Europe

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The Rise of Ashkenazi Culture in Eastern Europe

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Encyclopedia of Jewish and Israeli history, politics and culture, with biographies, statistics, articles and documents on topics from anti-Semitism to Zionism.

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In 1478, the Catholic Monarchs began the famous Inquisition to purify Catholicism in all their territories.

The Inquisition was established to act as a tribunal to identify heretics and bring them to justice. This added fuel to the fire of hatred between Jews and Christians; if you had an argument with a neighbor or acquaintance, you could accuse them of being Jewish and they would be taken to the tribunal and face real danger. This easy avenue for revenge led the number of false accusations to increase significantly.

Both the government and other officials proclaimed the importance of spreading real Catholicism. They made laws forbidding intermarriage between Christians and Jews or converts, which would destroy their ideal of purity of blood ( pureza de la sangre). Due to the increasing animosity, many Jews who did not renounce their faith were killed or expelled from Spain. They took with them a great deal of the culture and traditions that until this point had enriched the country.

In reality, the purpose of the Spanish Inquisition stemmed from the Christians' fear that the growing Jewish population would become more powerful than them. The Jews were a threat to the monarchy, and the Catholic Monarchs saw the Inquisition as a way to root out the source of one of their biggest problems.

Furthermore, in the 15th century the territory of present-day Spain was at war with Italy and the Catholic Monarchs had recently reconquered Granada, making poor economic conditions widespread among the majority of the population. Since the Jewish community enjoyed a higher socioeconomic status, the Catholic Monarchs feared a popular uprising and the expulsion of the Jews meant the end of this problem as well as the acquisition of their property after they were killed or fled the country.

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In 1478, the Catholic Monarchs began the famous Inquisition to purify Catholicism in all their territories. The Inquisition was established to act as a tribunal to identify heretics and bring them to justice.

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The Jews of Spain and Portugal: Before the Inquisition

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The Jews of Spain and Portugal: Before the Inquisition

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http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/spain-virtual-jewish-history-tour

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Encyclopedia of Jewish and Israeli history, politics and culture, with biographies, statistics, articles and documents on topics from anti-Semitism to Zionism.

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Long after the ancient city of Babylon and the kingdom of Babylonia had ceased to exist, the Jews continued to use the name "Babel" to designate Mesopotamia, the "land of the two rivers." Indeed, the Babylonian diaspora did not resemble any other. Its antiquity and the fact that it remained the only large Jewish community outside the Roman Empire made it a world apart. Since Mesopotamian Jewry was never embraced by the seductive and highly assimilative influence of the Greco-Roman civilization, it could develop its own original forms of social life and autonomous institutions.

Abraham Slept Here

The roots of the Babylonian community were very ancient, dating as far back as the end of the biblical period and the deportations from the Land of Israel, which both preceded and followed the destruction of the First Temple (586 B.C.E.). As it grew and prospered, the community tended to emphasize its antiquity.

By the time it had produced its own version of the Talmud, it manifested a kind of "local patriotism." Was not Abraham the Father of the Nation born "beyond the river" (Euphrates)? Were not the Euphrates and the Tigris the two rivers which flowed out of Eden according to Genesis (2:14)? The Jews of Babylonia, therefore, considered themselves the aristocracy of the Jewish people. Even the land of Mesopotamia acquired an aura of sanctity in their eyes, second to the land of Israel, of course, but holier than all other countries.

Seleucid and Parthian Rule

The history of this community during the first millennium of its existence remains obscure. Following the Hellenistic conquest of the East, the Jews of Babylonia, like their brethren in Palestine, came under Seleucid rule. From the second century B.C.E. until the third century C.E., they were subjects of the Arsacid Parthians. The Parthian kingdom, a loose federation of feudal principalities, was a convenient structure for them as long as they gave their support in times of war, the rulers kept out of the internal affairs of the ethnic groups under their domination.

The little that is known of the Jews there at the time come from the quill of Josephus Flavius: they were very numerous and their brethren in Judea sought their help while preparing their revolt against Rome. This Roman historian also mentions two episodes which he most probably learned from literary fragments: the adventure of two brothers from Nechardea who had founded a kind of thieves-state near the city of Seleucia, and the famous conversion of the king of Adiabene to Judaism.

The Jewish Community Blossoms under Sassian Rule

It is only after the fall of the Second Temple (70 C.E.) and the Bar Kokhba Revolt (132-135 C.E.) that one can truly follow the history of Babylonian Jewry, which becomes even clearer after the fall of the Parthian regime and the accession of the Sassian dynasty (224 C.E.). Sources relating to the first two centuries of the Christian era make no mention in any form of organized Torah studies in Babylonia and note hardly any Babylonian scholars. We do know that Rabbi Akiva, in his many travels, arrived in Nechardea where he announced the leap year.

After Bar Kokhba's revolt, we hear for the first time about groups of sages who "went down" to Babylonia, undoubtedly following the religious persecution which followed the crushing of the revolt. In Babylon, the nephew of Rabbi Joshua, Hanania, attempted to proclaim the order of the Hebrew calendar, a prerogative which until then had been indisputably reserved for the leadership in Palestine. Although Hanania was forced to make a retraction, it was nevertheless the first manifestation of Babylonian independence from the Palestinian center.

"The Prince of Exile"

During the late second or early third century, we hear about [a title for] this community's political [leader] for the first time: Rosh ha-golah (the exilarch, "prince of exile"). Although nothing is known about the origins of this institution, it is certain that Babylonian Jews in the talmudic period regarded the exilarch as a scion of the House of David. Many talmudic texts compare his attributes to that of the nasi [prince] in the Land of Israel-another manifestation of the singular status of this Jewry.

The new Sassian regime, unlike the Parthian, was far more centralized and strictly Zoroastrian. Certain Jewish sages were afraid that the kind and the clergy would interfere in community affairs. Others, on the other hand, hoped to find a modus vivendi with the Sassians. The sage Samuel summarized this attitude in his famous saying Dina de-malkhuta Dina, the law of the land is law. On the whole, the Jews of Babylon adopted this view, which brought them an extensive period of prosperity and cultural blossoming.

Babylonian Academies

It was during this period that Babylonia emerged as the great center of religious studies which rivaled Palestine. Between the third and the fifth centuries, Babylonian academies-the future yeshivot-established a method of commentary on the Bible which became the basis for the Babylonian Talmud. This tradition, later disseminated by the geonim (heads of the Babylonian academies), was to be accepted by the entire Jewish world. Paradoxically perhaps, the sons of a community of which nothing is known prior to the third century, determined the norms and behavior of Jews throughout the world for fifteen centuries.

Reprinted with permission from A Historical Atlas of the Jewish People edited by Eli Barnavi and published by Schocken Books.

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Long after the ancient city of Babylon and the kingdom of Babylonia had ceased to exist, the Jews continued to use the name "Babel" to designate Mesopotamia, the "land of the two rivers." Indeed, the Babylonian diaspora did not resemble any other.

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Pharisees, Essenes, Zealots and Sadducees of the 1st Century

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Pharisees, Essenes, Zealots and Sadducees of the 1st Century

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Reprinted with permission from Jerusalem: Portrait of the City in the Second Temple Period (Jewish Publication Society).

Defining Sectarianism

A notable development in Hasmonean times was the emergence of identifiable religious sects. The term "sect" requires some clarification, as it usually is used in regard to Christian groups that periodically broke way from the Church for social and ideological reasons. In this period, only the Essenes of Qumran come close to fitting that definition.

Other groups, such as the Pharisees, Sadducees, Hasidians of Maccabean days, Sicarii, and early Christians, all operated in Jerusalem and wider Judean society and were not a priori opposed to the religious establishment. The term "sect" is thus not the most appropriate for our historical context. Nevertheless, we have retained it out of convenience, since it is universally used with reference to these groups.

When Did Second Temple Sects Begin?

All evidence points to the beginning of the Hasmonean era [2nd century BCE] as the time when the number of Second Temple sects crystallized. While some scholars have posited the existence of these sects, or perhaps more accurately proto‑sects, as early as the fourth and third centuries, such theories are entirely speculative as there are no data to substantiate them.

Josephus [historian, soldier and political figure (1st century CE)], however, first mentions the existence of sects in the middle of the second century, and the development of the communal, sectarian center in Qumran can be dated to its latter half [... ] [ Qumran, a settlement on the shores of the Dead Sea, served as headquarters for the Essenes in Second Temple times and is currently a major archeological site.]

Why Did Sects Form?

Religious sectarianism was indeed an unusual occurrence within ancient Judaism. Neither before the second century B.C.E. nor after 70 C.E. did the same range of organized sects exist among Jews, and thus the situation that first crystallized under the Hasmoneans was indeed sui generis. The historical circumstances of the middle second century would seem to have been most conducive for spawning such groups. This was indeed a time of transition and upheaval. Jewish society had been coping for decades with the attractiveness, threat, or both of Hellenism, a process [...] that culminated in the transformation of Jerusalem into a polis in 175.

Following the trauma of Antiochus' persecutions [Antiochus IV (ruled 175-164 BCE) forced Jews to abandon key Jewish practices and adopt Greek ways], and the desecration of the Temple [Antiochus IV consecrated the Temple to Zeus], the emergence of the new Hasmonean society was undoubtedly viewed by many with exhilaration and pride but by others, perhaps, with disdain and a source of profound disillusionment.

Some may have been alienated by the effects of urbanization; by the awareness of Hellenistic influences that, instead of being checked, were now making ever‑greater inroads under the Hasmoneans; by the Hasmonean usurpation of the high priesthood and the family's problematic behavior (to some) in that position; by the overly ambitious military designs and increasingly centralized authority achieved by the Hasmoneans; by their combining of political and religious roles; and by the emergence of a vigorous anti-gentile policy.

Some or all of these factors may account for the creation of alternative religious groupings, principal among which were the above‑mentioned sects. Since there were striking differences among these sects, it is likely that many of the factors listed above (and others as well) played varying roles in the formation of each.

Sects and the City

Jerusalem was the focus of much of this sectarian activity. The Sadducees, by virtue of their being priests and involved in Temple affairs, were clearly based in the city. So, too, were the Pharisees [...] The struggle between the Pharisees and Sadducees throughout this period seems to indicate that each group was well represented in Jerusalem. Moreover, while the Essenes were concentrated in the Judean Desert, they also had a foothold throughout the country and in Jerusalem as well.

Commonalities Among the Sects

The various sects in Hasmonean Jerusalem shared a number of characteristics with one another, although they also differed in significant ways. We will deal with these similarities and differences, respectively. Common to the groups was the fact that they were all voluntary frameworks. People searching for religious messages and inspiration may have become acquainted with several sects over the course of time and, as a consequence, were exposed to a series of religious figures and frameworks, as did Josephus in relating his own experience in the first century C.E.

These sects were neither cut from one cloth nor large in number. Not all priests were Sadducees or Essenes, and not all Essenes were priests. Moreover, the early Pharisees do not appear to have had any one particular social trait in common. However, most members of the sects, especially among the leadership, seem to have hailed from the socially, economically, and religiously established classes of Jerusalem society. The prominence of both the Sadducees and Pharisees in John Hyrcanus' court [he was a Hasmonean ruler from 134 to 104 BCE] is a striking case in point.

The small size of these groups is attested by the fact that even during Herod's rule [37-4 BCE] the Pharisees numbered only some six thousand, and in the first century there were approximately four thousand Essenes. The Essene communal site at Qumran, specifically its dining area, could accommodate perhaps as many as two hundred members at any one time and roughly indicates the sect's size. The Sadducees, for their part, were even fewer in number, if a comment by Josephus regarding the first century C.E. may be considered relevant to the Hasmonean era.

Identity, Purity, and Boundaries

In choosing to belong to one particular sect, individuals were establishing their personal and collective identity vis-à-vis others. Thus each sect meticulously erected walls around itself to separate its members from other sects, ordinary Jews, and non‑Jews. This social separation was rigorously mandated and articulated in a variety of ways.

The Essenes residing in Qumran expressed this tendency in the extreme. The guidelines for entry into this sect, as well as the harsh punishment meted out to those who failed to keep its rules, indicate the determination to maintain communal standards at all costs. The Pharisees as well tended to separate them selves from the masses in certain crucial areas. The laws dealing with the havurah [community] with its stringent rules of both membership and separation from 'am ha‑aret (the ordinary Jew), are a case in point. For both the Qumran Essenes and the Pharisees, one of the crucial means of maintaining this separation was through the strict observance of purity rules.

The need for constant purification was always present, as the miqva'ot (ritual baths) of Qumran and the attestations of Josephus and the scrolls repeatedly emphasize. Part of the daily ritual of the Essenes in general, and particularly at Qumran, was immersion before the communal meal and the liturgy that accompanied it. These purity regulations, which differed in many aspects from one sect to the other, probably served to restrict any kind of social contact with those outside one's group.

Law and Study

With the publication of several halakhic [legal] scrolls and fragments, we have become more aware of late of the degree to which Jewish law was a pivotal factor in the self‑definition of the sects, as reflected in rabbinic literature. This has helped refocus attention on the importance of legal matters-and not only theological issues-in defining and distinguishing these groups.

Another common feature of the sects, at least regarding those for which we have information, is the centrality of Torah study. The Pharisaic emphasis on this activity is reflected in both the statements found in Mishnah Avot and the repeated claim made by Josephus that this group excelled in its precise knowledge of the Law. At Qumran, study was an ongoing activity throughout the day and night.

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Reprinted with permission from Jerusalem: Portrait of the City in the Second Temple Period (Jewish Publication Society). A notable development in Hasmonean times was the emergence of identifiable religious sects. The term "sect" requires some clarification, as it usually is used in regard to Christian groups that periodically broke way from the Church for social and ideological reasons.

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1) The story of the Jewish People is MY story!
2) Jews innovate in every period to make Judaism relevant to themselves
3) There is NO ONE RIGHT WAY to be Jewish
4) I share a common history with other Jewish people.

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Encyclopedia of Jewish and Israeli history, politics and culture, with biographies, statistics, articles and documents on topics from anti-Semitism to Zionism.

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How the Jewish People became a People with a Land (according to the Torah) | Sefaria Source Sheet Builder

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A source sheet by created with Sefaria's Source Sheet Builder.

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Foundational Myths: The Exodus from Egypt and the Receiving the 10 Commandments

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Foundational Myths: The Exodus from Egypt and the Receiving the 10 Commandments