Thursday, December 11, 2008
Most Suprising
The most surprising thing I learned in class concerned American Jews and it was the Trial of Leo Frank which is why I am writing my final paper on him. I never heard of this happening before this class and I was shocked that it even happened. While researching for my paper I found a video on youtube that talked about Frank and how in Marietta, Georgia if you mention Leo Frank or Mary Phagan's name not many people will know who you are talking about. There is a small plaque on the side of an office building next to the freeway that is in memory of what occured but who is going to see it. This is not just something that should be looked over, it was a serious issue. During the trial a black man accussed Frank of murdering Mary Phagan and they took his word over a white Jew. In the south during this time they would never take a black man's word over a white mans. The way the whole case was handled was ridiculous. They went the complete opposite way then where the evidence pointed them and after Frank was ruled guilty at the trial his last chance was in Governor John M. Slaton's hands. Unfortunately, he chose the right decision and payed for it by being hung by an angry group of prostestors. After the lynching of Leo Frank, 33 members of the group called the Knights of Mary Phagan formed the new Ku Klux Klan of Georgia. It is unbelievable to consider how this murder turned into a sick and twisted piece of history and sadly 3 innocent people died.
My View on Jewish History and How it has Changed
At the beginning of this class I had an idea of what Jews had gone through to get to where they are today. Especially, with my family history my grandpa would tell my brother and I stories and my mom made sure I knew where my family came from. I definitely learned a lot from this class starting from the first day.
I've always known that Jews have suffered and been persecuted throughout the years but not to the extent that we discussed. I never knew that Jews converted to escape Poland and who knows how many of those Jews stayed Christian and lost there Jewish heritage. We have always been seen as the under dogs but it makes me proud to be a Jew because we have fought to be where we are today and have earned our place.
When the Jews came to America I thought they were welcomed with open arms and did not realize that immigration of Jews was almost completely shut down. The effects that could have had would have been huge considering that my grandpa is dutch and came from Holland after the war so that bill could have been passed and my grandma was American so they never would have met and I would not be here today.
I've always known that Jews have suffered and been persecuted throughout the years but not to the extent that we discussed. I never knew that Jews converted to escape Poland and who knows how many of those Jews stayed Christian and lost there Jewish heritage. We have always been seen as the under dogs but it makes me proud to be a Jew because we have fought to be where we are today and have earned our place.
When the Jews came to America I thought they were welcomed with open arms and did not realize that immigration of Jews was almost completely shut down. The effects that could have had would have been huge considering that my grandpa is dutch and came from Holland after the war so that bill could have been passed and my grandma was American so they never would have met and I would not be here today.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Aftermath
The Germans had recently deported the Jews of Salonica, and they had no idea of who was still living in the ghetto, which was swarmed with squatters and refugees. Hammond's testimony is a reminder that although the Jews were gone, their presence lived on in the tangible shape of empty homes, communal buildings, shops, factories, and entire quarters. In a matter of weeks nearly one-fifth of the population of a large city had been deported, leaving their property and possesions behind them.
The Germans themselves looted the villas of the elite and Jewish-owned warehouses; van took away pianos, wardrobes, furniture, carpets, electric lights, and clothing of all kinds. It was in the words of one journalist, a "general and shameless pillaging". Experience in Germany and Austria had tought the SS the importance of organizing the takeover of Jewish property properly. "Wild" looting was inefficient and dangerous and usually led to a free-for-all.
The Germans finally pulled out at the end of October 1944, and hundreds of Jews had survived and slowly headed back to Salonica. The survivors found Salonica transformed and unrecognizable. Jewish tombstones were found in urinals and driveways, and had been used to make up the dance floor of a taverna built over a corner of the former cemtery itself. The UN Relief & Rehabilitation Agency was active in the city helping Jews and Christians alike and one of its officials, Bella Mazur, who had been seconded from the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee spent her spare time "trying to help organize the community so it can have an official set-up. Jewish survivors were dependent on the UNRRA for food and clothing.
The Germans themselves looted the villas of the elite and Jewish-owned warehouses; van took away pianos, wardrobes, furniture, carpets, electric lights, and clothing of all kinds. It was in the words of one journalist, a "general and shameless pillaging". Experience in Germany and Austria had tought the SS the importance of organizing the takeover of Jewish property properly. "Wild" looting was inefficient and dangerous and usually led to a free-for-all.
The Germans finally pulled out at the end of October 1944, and hundreds of Jews had survived and slowly headed back to Salonica. The survivors found Salonica transformed and unrecognizable. Jewish tombstones were found in urinals and driveways, and had been used to make up the dance floor of a taverna built over a corner of the former cemtery itself. The UN Relief & Rehabilitation Agency was active in the city helping Jews and Christians alike and one of its officials, Bella Mazur, who had been seconded from the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee spent her spare time "trying to help organize the community so it can have an official set-up. Jewish survivors were dependent on the UNRRA for food and clothing.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
The Diabolization of The Jews
The Jew as International Conspirator
The idea of Racism was often combined with the belief that Jews were conspiring to take over Germany and the world. The myth of a Jewish conspiracy began with the forgery of the Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion. The Protocols was written in France in the 1890's by an unknown author in the service of the Russian secret police. The forger describes an alleged meeting of the Jewish elders in the ancient Jewish cemetery in Prague where they plan to take over the world and to reduce non-Jews to slavery. To implement this plan it would require them to undermine religion, assassinate monarchs, and weaken aristocracy and hatch revolutions. This included the French revolution which would spread the idea of liberty and equality. The Jews would also manipulate the stock exchange and cause economic crisis. Published in 1903 in Russia, the Protocols were widely distributed after World War I and was commonly believed.
Communism As A Jewish Conspiracy
In Russia under the communist government led by Vladimir Lenin, Jews were seen as excessively represented. In the 1870's the Jews increasingly discriminated against, barred progressively from universities, liberal professions, professoriate, the civil service and military careers except conscripts. In 1881 an official policy of anti-semitism came about and the black hundreds (dressed in black uniforms and dedicated to ravaging Jewish districts) of the Union of Russian People were organized in 1905. The Jews were still tortured even during the civil war, where no less than 100,000 Jews were killed. On the other hand, the Soviets defended the Jews with force, punished militia units that engaged in pogroms and outlawed anti-semitism as criminal.
The Protocols in Germany and in the United States
After the defeat of the Bolsheviks in the civil war and the soviet regime was secured it provided many opportunities for the Jews. They were able to start working again at universities and other higher positions. This was until Joseph Stalin came into power and anti-semitism and murderous purges where the norm until he died in 1953.
In 1921, the Protocols were proven to be a forgery by Philip Graves, an English journalist but it continued to be distrbuted. The Protocols was challenged in the court of law as being fraudulent. In 1934, several people with connections to the Nazis were tied to the editing, publication and distribution of the Protocols were put on trial. The judge denounced the Protocols as "ridiculous nonsense". The topic of and international Jewish conspiracy remained a core idea of Nazi propaganda until the war ended. In the United States the Protocols were also widely accepted. In 1920, Henry Ford published the International Jew: The World's Foremost Problem, a reprint of the Protocols that he had in his newspaper Dearborn Independent. In this printing the Jews were blamed for World War I and the Bolshevik Revolution. Eventually, Ford was confronted with a lawsuit and was forced to stop publication in 1927 and apologized for his "error" to the Jewish American community even though he later blamed Jewish bankers for starting World War II.
This is what my part of our presentation covered. I thought all of this was very interesting how anti-semitism spread around the world. I never knew that there was a publishing behind the idea that Jews were trying to take over the world and you can't trust them one bit.
The idea of Racism was often combined with the belief that Jews were conspiring to take over Germany and the world. The myth of a Jewish conspiracy began with the forgery of the Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion. The Protocols was written in France in the 1890's by an unknown author in the service of the Russian secret police. The forger describes an alleged meeting of the Jewish elders in the ancient Jewish cemetery in Prague where they plan to take over the world and to reduce non-Jews to slavery. To implement this plan it would require them to undermine religion, assassinate monarchs, and weaken aristocracy and hatch revolutions. This included the French revolution which would spread the idea of liberty and equality. The Jews would also manipulate the stock exchange and cause economic crisis. Published in 1903 in Russia, the Protocols were widely distributed after World War I and was commonly believed.
Communism As A Jewish Conspiracy
In Russia under the communist government led by Vladimir Lenin, Jews were seen as excessively represented. In the 1870's the Jews increasingly discriminated against, barred progressively from universities, liberal professions, professoriate, the civil service and military careers except conscripts. In 1881 an official policy of anti-semitism came about and the black hundreds (dressed in black uniforms and dedicated to ravaging Jewish districts) of the Union of Russian People were organized in 1905. The Jews were still tortured even during the civil war, where no less than 100,000 Jews were killed. On the other hand, the Soviets defended the Jews with force, punished militia units that engaged in pogroms and outlawed anti-semitism as criminal.
The Protocols in Germany and in the United States
After the defeat of the Bolsheviks in the civil war and the soviet regime was secured it provided many opportunities for the Jews. They were able to start working again at universities and other higher positions. This was until Joseph Stalin came into power and anti-semitism and murderous purges where the norm until he died in 1953.
In 1921, the Protocols were proven to be a forgery by Philip Graves, an English journalist but it continued to be distrbuted. The Protocols was challenged in the court of law as being fraudulent. In 1934, several people with connections to the Nazis were tied to the editing, publication and distribution of the Protocols were put on trial. The judge denounced the Protocols as "ridiculous nonsense". The topic of and international Jewish conspiracy remained a core idea of Nazi propaganda until the war ended. In the United States the Protocols were also widely accepted. In 1920, Henry Ford published the International Jew: The World's Foremost Problem, a reprint of the Protocols that he had in his newspaper Dearborn Independent. In this printing the Jews were blamed for World War I and the Bolshevik Revolution. Eventually, Ford was confronted with a lawsuit and was forced to stop publication in 1927 and apologized for his "error" to the Jewish American community even though he later blamed Jewish bankers for starting World War II.
This is what my part of our presentation covered. I thought all of this was very interesting how anti-semitism spread around the world. I never knew that there was a publishing behind the idea that Jews were trying to take over the world and you can't trust them one bit.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Greeks and Jews
What is the fate of the Jews in Salonica during and after the First World War?
The Jews of Salonica went to a few different places a minority went to Palestine, some did emigrate to France and the United States. The vast majority, their home was the city, and if asked they would have naturally described their nationality - as one emigrant did to the French authorities in 1916 - as "Salonicans".
From the Greek point of view, the key to turning Jews into full citizens of their new country was language. Before 1912, a few Jews in Salonica had bothered to learn Greek. From 1915, however, all Jewish community schools in receipt of public funds were obliged to teach it. Jewish children were not forced to attend what greek civil servants called "our schools" whose instruction was described as "rather classical" and "incompatible with Jewish customs and nature" and instead Athens invested in the Jewish schools themselves, providing language teachers, and later actual buildings. In this way, the younger generation learned Greek quickly and by the Second World War, many Jewish children were fluent, having taken part in school productions of such Greek classics as "Golfo and Shepherdess", or the stirring story of Leonidas and the 300.
The language question reflected the spectrum of attitudes to assimilation more generally among the city's Jews. French remained the language of the cultured eite, especially among those of the wealthy enough to send their children to foreign schools. Local communities stood up to the continued use of Judeo-Spanish, the vernacular of the workers. But a middle-class minority stressed the need for fluency in Greek in order to "give Greece good Greek citizens who will, at the same time, be no less good Jews."
"If I speak about assimilation", wrote one, "I do so not out of Greek patriotism but for the sake of Jewish interests. I believe that in order for the Jews to be able to live here, they need to assimilate to the environment in which they live. The fewer barriers there are between Greeks and Jews, the easier it will be for us to live here. Our purpose is not to be obstentatiously patriotic, but to safeguard the existence of the Jewish population. If assimilation is not the correct means of doing this, let us suggest another way."
This view was opposed mainly by the zionists. They accused the alliance of betraying Judaism and demanded a prominent place in the school curriculum for Hebrew. Jews began to emigrate from 1910 onwards, they went mostly to France and Italy, or across the Atlantic. The figures are uncertain, but by 1930 htousands of Salonican Jews had settled in Paris, and there were smaller communities everywhere from New York to Naples.
The Jews of Salonica went to a few different places a minority went to Palestine, some did emigrate to France and the United States. The vast majority, their home was the city, and if asked they would have naturally described their nationality - as one emigrant did to the French authorities in 1916 - as "Salonicans".
From the Greek point of view, the key to turning Jews into full citizens of their new country was language. Before 1912, a few Jews in Salonica had bothered to learn Greek. From 1915, however, all Jewish community schools in receipt of public funds were obliged to teach it. Jewish children were not forced to attend what greek civil servants called "our schools" whose instruction was described as "rather classical" and "incompatible with Jewish customs and nature" and instead Athens invested in the Jewish schools themselves, providing language teachers, and later actual buildings. In this way, the younger generation learned Greek quickly and by the Second World War, many Jewish children were fluent, having taken part in school productions of such Greek classics as "Golfo and Shepherdess", or the stirring story of Leonidas and the 300.
The language question reflected the spectrum of attitudes to assimilation more generally among the city's Jews. French remained the language of the cultured eite, especially among those of the wealthy enough to send their children to foreign schools. Local communities stood up to the continued use of Judeo-Spanish, the vernacular of the workers. But a middle-class minority stressed the need for fluency in Greek in order to "give Greece good Greek citizens who will, at the same time, be no less good Jews."
"If I speak about assimilation", wrote one, "I do so not out of Greek patriotism but for the sake of Jewish interests. I believe that in order for the Jews to be able to live here, they need to assimilate to the environment in which they live. The fewer barriers there are between Greeks and Jews, the easier it will be for us to live here. Our purpose is not to be obstentatiously patriotic, but to safeguard the existence of the Jewish population. If assimilation is not the correct means of doing this, let us suggest another way."
This view was opposed mainly by the zionists. They accused the alliance of betraying Judaism and demanded a prominent place in the school curriculum for Hebrew. Jews began to emigrate from 1910 onwards, they went mostly to France and Italy, or across the Atlantic. The figures are uncertain, but by 1930 htousands of Salonican Jews had settled in Paris, and there were smaller communities everywhere from New York to Naples.
Friday, November 7, 2008
Sachar "The Legacy of Progressivism: Immigrant Jewry in the United States
Eastern Jews became politically active by supporting the American Socialist's party who's leader was Eugene Debs. Debs accepted Czechs, Hungarians, Poles, Serbs, Finns, Jews and others. They would register autonomously in their own foreign language. Jews were working mostly in the garment industry in sweatshops and we very unhappy. The Jews tried to unionize but were unsuccessful, until Morris Hillquit led an effort to establish an umbrella organization for the Jews which was called United Hebrew Trades which still had its struggles. A series of "intramural" developments that gave Jewish inionism a new vitality. One was the early ywentieth-century wave of Bundists. Another factor was the growth of the garment factory to help Jews really establish themselves and create a more solid economy for them to grow on. In 1900 they established a group called the International Ladies' Garment Workers Union (ILGWU).
For Jews to "Americanize" there were a few parts. First was the language most of the Jews who came from Eastern Europe no matter what language they did speak were now speaking Yiddish. The Jews even had a News Papaer that was published in Yiddish in New york. The biggest turn for the Jews was the Russian revolution of March 1917. The fall of the tsar meant freedom for all of the Jews. One of the revolutions most decisive consequences was the fact that the US was entering the war. Hundereds of the Jews were caught up in the mood of the was and intesified American Patriotism.
After the war restrictions on immigration and immigrants completely changed. Restrictions were affecting higher education and Jews were being not being admitted into the Ivy League schools as often as they were pre-war. In the business world they were limiting their hiring and directed advertising toward Christians. Athough Jews were losing their economic status they had already left there mark which we could see in the garment industry. Jews were gaining ground in the area of real estate and also cosmetics. In 1929, the onset of the Great Deprssion took some blows on American Jews. Jews who had just graduated from higher education were screwed since they had just enetered the white-collar ranks and were so low on the totem pole that they lost their chance for economic security.
For Jews to "Americanize" there were a few parts. First was the language most of the Jews who came from Eastern Europe no matter what language they did speak were now speaking Yiddish. The Jews even had a News Papaer that was published in Yiddish in New york. The biggest turn for the Jews was the Russian revolution of March 1917. The fall of the tsar meant freedom for all of the Jews. One of the revolutions most decisive consequences was the fact that the US was entering the war. Hundereds of the Jews were caught up in the mood of the was and intesified American Patriotism.
After the war restrictions on immigration and immigrants completely changed. Restrictions were affecting higher education and Jews were being not being admitted into the Ivy League schools as often as they were pre-war. In the business world they were limiting their hiring and directed advertising toward Christians. Athough Jews were losing their economic status they had already left there mark which we could see in the garment industry. Jews were gaining ground in the area of real estate and also cosmetics. In 1929, the onset of the Great Deprssion took some blows on American Jews. Jews who had just graduated from higher education were screwed since they had just enetered the white-collar ranks and were so low on the totem pole that they lost their chance for economic security.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Speaker
Tonight for class we heard from Dr. Peter Fritzsche who's a professor at a school in Illinois and he talked about the Holocaust and the role of the German people and how they were treated/acted during the Nazi rule. It was a very interesting to see his thoughts and perceptions of how the Germans thought they were victims too.
He discussed how the German people felt as though they were suffering during this time as well. Germans were devoted to do whatever they needed for their country and this is why they were able to still kill innocent women and children because it acted as justification for their own situation. this entire situation can be compared to our current situation in the United states with the War in Iraq. The United states was not only split when it came to election time but our decision to elect George W. Bush led to this country still being split on his decision of sending troops to Iraq but now that we have soldiers over there our country needs to be supportive and realize that those are innocent people who are risking their own lives for OUR country. What is the difference between what occurred in Germany in the 1930's and todays world. Is this war really necessary? What are we going to achieve out of it? How many people are going to die before it is over? These are all questions that could have been asked before the Holocaust happened. What is the difference when any war happens two countries are going into battle and only one is going to come out on top.
He discussed how the German people felt as though they were suffering during this time as well. Germans were devoted to do whatever they needed for their country and this is why they were able to still kill innocent women and children because it acted as justification for their own situation. this entire situation can be compared to our current situation in the United states with the War in Iraq. The United states was not only split when it came to election time but our decision to elect George W. Bush led to this country still being split on his decision of sending troops to Iraq but now that we have soldiers over there our country needs to be supportive and realize that those are innocent people who are risking their own lives for OUR country. What is the difference between what occurred in Germany in the 1930's and todays world. Is this war really necessary? What are we going to achieve out of it? How many people are going to die before it is over? These are all questions that could have been asked before the Holocaust happened. What is the difference when any war happens two countries are going into battle and only one is going to come out on top.
Friday, October 3, 2008
Political Emancipation in Europe
Jews should not be banned from entering the country and having some type of citizenship. We can see the progress they are making during this time towards making jews "legal" in a sense. The jews could be naturalized or granted citizenship. Some people believed that there was no way jews could assimilate so there was no reason to accept them into their countries and cultures. They thought that jews would never be as good as non-jews morally and culturally.
Katz talks about how make ashkenazic jews are conspicuous because of the way they dress, their beards and their way of speech (yiddish) which acted as a barrier for jews to be accepted by christians. Jews also had an accent when using the german language and this can be compared to the way US citizens compare peoples accents in the north vs the south. But this plays no role in whether people from the south are citizens of the US because they sound different. Although we have our stereotypes due to their accents it still doesn't change their citizenship.
In any given country a community can have control over its members which means they can possibly influence a persons religion, education, morals, laws and sometimes marriage. You being a part of this community is completely voluntary and in the jews case it was but they were paying taxes in their community and not always to the country they were in. So the french nation came up with an idea to get rid of the communal autonomy and now each jew would individually become a citizen to the country they were living in. This meant that they would now have to follow the laws of that country and have no more obligation to their jewish community if they didn't want to. It just made the country come together as one and not separate the jews from everyone else.
Katz talks about how make ashkenazic jews are conspicuous because of the way they dress, their beards and their way of speech (yiddish) which acted as a barrier for jews to be accepted by christians. Jews also had an accent when using the german language and this can be compared to the way US citizens compare peoples accents in the north vs the south. But this plays no role in whether people from the south are citizens of the US because they sound different. Although we have our stereotypes due to their accents it still doesn't change their citizenship.
In any given country a community can have control over its members which means they can possibly influence a persons religion, education, morals, laws and sometimes marriage. You being a part of this community is completely voluntary and in the jews case it was but they were paying taxes in their community and not always to the country they were in. So the french nation came up with an idea to get rid of the communal autonomy and now each jew would individually become a citizen to the country they were living in. This meant that they would now have to follow the laws of that country and have no more obligation to their jewish community if they didn't want to. It just made the country come together as one and not separate the jews from everyone else.
Friday, September 26, 2008
Tkhine of the Matriarchs for the Shofar
In this article they talk about the blowing of the Shofar and how the sound of it is used to blow your sins away and confuse Satan so he can't accuse us. I didn't know that any Jews ever believed in Satan. This is an interesting fact and it makes it sound like the Jews were extremely scared and thought their family members would look down on their sorrow. They were also afraid of having their children lose their mother or father because it caused anguish when Isaac was taken from Sarah. They are praying more for the future than asking for forgiveness from their past which is the whole reason of Rosh Hoshanah and blowing the Shofar.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Sachar vs. Katz on Jewish life in Europe
According to Jacob Katz, Professor Emeritus of Social History at the
In Sachar’s article he discusses how Jews were treated in the 16th - 19th centuries. He talks about how Europeans were determined to exploit this Jewish talent for producing liquid wealth, substantial numbers of rulers were willing intermittently to protect their Jews as dependable sources of taxes and loans. Thus, Habsburg Emperor Ferdinand II, although a militant early-seventeenth century defender of the Counter-Reformation, was unwilling to dispense with Jewish funds for his military campaigns. Neither would Protestant kings and dukes. It was strictly as a quid pro quo for their money, therefore, that Jewish communities were allowed to revive in a succession of Protestant and Catholic dominions. By the mid-1700s, the Jewish demography in Central and Western Europe may have approached 300,000 - 400,000. For being able to return, the Jews paid a price that transcended loans and taxes. Responding to the demands of clergy and of local guild members, state and local governments limited Jews to vocations disdained by gentiles. For this reason, perhaps as many as three-fourths of the Jews in Central and Western Europe were limited to the precarious occupations of retail peddling, hawking, and street-banking, that is, money lending. Some Jews managed to earn enough to establish small shops but most did not. In their struggle for a livelihood, they generated a sizable underclass of beggars, fencers, pimps, even robbers, thereby creating a self-fulfilling gentile scenario of Jews, one that would be endlessly invoked by Jew-haters throughout the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Nevertheless, there remained constraints on Jewish life that eventually became insupportable. One of these was the ghetto. These walled slum-shanty neighborhoods effectively barred Jews from all but the narrowest, commercial, daytime interaction with the gentile citizens. Although, the first Spanish and Italian ghettos of the late medieval era actually had been requested by the Jews themselves as private, self-governing “territories”. In this new and open terrain, Jews preserved and developed their own religious and cultural traditions even more freely than in the German-speaking world. Jewish settlement was densest in eastern and southern Poland, especially in the Ukrainian and Belorussian areas that had been annexed in the sixteenth century.
After reading both of these articles Katz doesn’t discuss the way Jews are treated as much as Sachar. But Sachar discusses how Jews were exiled and basically pushed around Europe for 3 or 4 centuries until they came to eastern and southern Poland where they were able to start their own tradition. Unlike Katz who discussed the values and where our traditions come from as Jews whether we grow up with them or are they just engrained in us from our forefathers.
Monday, September 8, 2008
The Arrival of the Sefardim
The Jews were such an integral part of Salonica that it seemed impossible to imagine they had not always been there. There were Jews in the city before there were any Christians. So in 1492 Ferdinand and Isabella forced thousands out of their homeland, and shortly after Sicily, Sardinia, Navarre, Provence and Naples did the same. By the mid 16th century Jews had been evicted from most of western Europe. Many of the Jews from this area converted or went underground as Marranos, still practicing Judaism. The entire Jewish world shifted eastwards to the safe havens of Poland and the Ottoman domains.
The expulsion of the Jews formed part of a bitter struggle for power between Islam and Catholocism. In the midst of this bitter conflict the Ottoman exploited their enemy's anti-jewish measures. The Balkans remained overwhelmingly Christian, Asian and Arab lands. and all the towns in the empire, it was Salonica which benefited most. Since 1453, while Istanbul's population had been growing at an incredible rate thanks to compulsory resettlement and immigration by Muslims, Greeks and Armenians, tuning it into perhaps the largest city in Europe, Salonica lagged far behind.
Through religious devotion and study, they turned Salonica into a "new Jerusalem", wrapping their new place of exile in the mantle of biblical geography was a way of coming to feel at home. "The Jews of Europe and other countries, persecuted and banished, have come to find a refuge".
The expulsion of the Jews formed part of a bitter struggle for power between Islam and Catholocism. In the midst of this bitter conflict the Ottoman exploited their enemy's anti-jewish measures. The Balkans remained overwhelmingly Christian, Asian and Arab lands. and all the towns in the empire, it was Salonica which benefited most. Since 1453, while Istanbul's population had been growing at an incredible rate thanks to compulsory resettlement and immigration by Muslims, Greeks and Armenians, tuning it into perhaps the largest city in Europe, Salonica lagged far behind.
Through religious devotion and study, they turned Salonica into a "new Jerusalem", wrapping their new place of exile in the mantle of biblical geography was a way of coming to feel at home. "The Jews of Europe and other countries, persecuted and banished, have come to find a refuge".
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
The Origins of Sephardic Jewry in the Medieval Arab World
1. The Sephardim are Jews of Spain
2. Jewish history under Muslim rule should be seen in a more balanced, realistic light because of its sense of noble descent; its tradition of service to gentile rulers; its high cultural achievement in philosophy and poetry; and its history of crypto-judaism.
3. Jewish life under Muslim rule was generally easier than under Christian rule according to Cohen because Jews were accepted as peers and were able to practice Judaism without question.
4. Jews living under Muslim rule felt much greater security than Jews living under the cross. Jews would normally bring up legal cases before the Jewish bet din.
5. The economic roles of Jews in Muslim during the Middle ages was well integrated they participated in every walk of life characteristic of society at large versus the Jews in Christian lands where Jews were almost always economic pariahs. They were long-distance merchants in the early medieval Europe, where predominantly rural society frowned upon the alien merchant and his profit seeking acquisitiveness.
6. The Christian Reconquista led to the downfall of Jews in Christian Spain.
7. Spanish Jews fled to Muslim territories, stretching from nearby Morocco and Algeria, to Egypt, Palestine, and Syria, as well as to the Muslim Ottoman Empire in Anatolia, Turkey and the Balkans after the expulsion. The ottomans welcomed them in because they had an enemy in common, and the Jewish immigrants now applied their political and economic talents toward Ottoman interests.
2. Jewish history under Muslim rule should be seen in a more balanced, realistic light because of its sense of noble descent; its tradition of service to gentile rulers; its high cultural achievement in philosophy and poetry; and its history of crypto-judaism.
3. Jewish life under Muslim rule was generally easier than under Christian rule according to Cohen because Jews were accepted as peers and were able to practice Judaism without question.
4. Jews living under Muslim rule felt much greater security than Jews living under the cross. Jews would normally bring up legal cases before the Jewish bet din.
5. The economic roles of Jews in Muslim during the Middle ages was well integrated they participated in every walk of life characteristic of society at large versus the Jews in Christian lands where Jews were almost always economic pariahs. They were long-distance merchants in the early medieval Europe, where predominantly rural society frowned upon the alien merchant and his profit seeking acquisitiveness.
6. The Christian Reconquista led to the downfall of Jews in Christian Spain.
7. Spanish Jews fled to Muslim territories, stretching from nearby Morocco and Algeria, to Egypt, Palestine, and Syria, as well as to the Muslim Ottoman Empire in Anatolia, Turkey and the Balkans after the expulsion. The ottomans welcomed them in because they had an enemy in common, and the Jewish immigrants now applied their political and economic talents toward Ottoman interests.
Monday, September 1, 2008
8/29/08 - The Expulsion from Spain
1. According to the Italian Jew the last few days of Spanish Jewry were not as bad compared to the beginning when they were expelled from Spain or forced to convert to Christianity. The King of Naples was very accepting of the Jews and supplied them with as much food as he could unfortunately due to the large numbers of Jews many died from famine.
2. The main reason for the expulsion of the Jews was that they were encouraging the Marranos to persist in their Jewishness which would not allow them to become good Christians.
3. The leaders of the Jews were Rabbi Dan Abraham Seneor, leader of the Spanish congregations. Also, Rabbi Meur Melamed, who was the secretary to the King and Don Isaac Abravanel, who fled to Castile from the King of Portugal. In response to the order they converted to Christianity.
4. Don Abraham Seneor - converted to Christianity at the age of eighty
Don Isaac Abravanel - fled to Castile from the King of Portugal, and occupied an equally prominent position at the Spanish Royal Court until he was later expelled. Then he went to Naples and was highly esteemed by the King of Naples.
5. The refugees went to Portugal, North Africa (Fez, Tlemcen, Berber provinces), Sicily and Naples.
6. The refugees were treated very poorly everywhere they went except Naples where they were actually given food and not robbed of every cent they had on them.
7. The Jews of Northern Africa acted very charitable toward their fellow Jews. Fellow Jews in Naples supplied them with food as much as they could, and also tried to collect money to sustain them in Naples.
2. The main reason for the expulsion of the Jews was that they were encouraging the Marranos to persist in their Jewishness which would not allow them to become good Christians.
3. The leaders of the Jews were Rabbi Dan Abraham Seneor, leader of the Spanish congregations. Also, Rabbi Meur Melamed, who was the secretary to the King and Don Isaac Abravanel, who fled to Castile from the King of Portugal. In response to the order they converted to Christianity.
4. Don Abraham Seneor - converted to Christianity at the age of eighty
Don Isaac Abravanel - fled to Castile from the King of Portugal, and occupied an equally prominent position at the Spanish Royal Court until he was later expelled. Then he went to Naples and was highly esteemed by the King of Naples.
5. The refugees went to Portugal, North Africa (Fez, Tlemcen, Berber provinces), Sicily and Naples.
6. The refugees were treated very poorly everywhere they went except Naples where they were actually given food and not robbed of every cent they had on them.
7. The Jews of Northern Africa acted very charitable toward their fellow Jews. Fellow Jews in Naples supplied them with food as much as they could, and also tried to collect money to sustain them in Naples.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
