Ancient Jews

Ancient Jews

Ancient Jews resided in Spain all the way to the Sahara under both Christian and Muslim rule. There was no independent Jewish state starting from the obliteration of the Second Jewish Temple in 70 Anno Domini up to the establishment of Israeli State in the year 1948. Despite the Jews facing similar experiences in their domains, one key aspect was that there was no clear distinction between the state and religious factions. Jewish life at the time was subject to different experiences as the distinction between the Church and State accompanied by a lack of standard religious rules concerning Jews, triggered an arbitrary application of ruthless doctrines in punishment.

In Islamic rule, Jews were controlled under the Pact of Omar. This 17th Century agreement made it mandatory for non-Muslims living under Islamic rules to adhere to a myriad of discriminatory laws. These laws were tailored to subdue non-Muslims in a bid to make them inferior forcefully and loyal subjects. For instance, non-Muslims were required to treat Muslims with utmost respect and bow while in their presence, and Jewish synagogues were to be rebuilt only when warranted and in plebeian formations.

The Muslim conquest grew as well as also diminished in the Middle Ages period. Islamic rule reached Jewish communities including, Toledo, Grenada, Constantinople, Baghdad, Salonika, Seville, Jerusalem, and Cairo. In general, the Jews enjoyed relative security and peace in these regions coupled with occasional incidences of violence and persecution. Spain was one of the territories at the time conquered by Muslims. The Islamists invaded and subdued Andalusia present-day Spain in the year 711. The Middle of the 8th Century marked the incorporation of Persian cultures and the establishment of a mighty army with centralized power under the leadership and guidance of the leader known as Abd al Rahman. This great man and his tolerant successors allowed the Jews to become elite and experience social and cultural growth, a move that was unprecedented in the ancient world and termed as the Golden age for Jewish culture in Spain, Egypt, and North Africa.

Nevertheless, the Golden Age began to disintegrate in the year 976 when Andalusia became embroiled in succession rivalry in an attempt to ensure political stability. These succession battles and political upheavals led to the re-emergence of Christians’ clamor to reconquer Andalusia, present-day Spain. Tensions were sparked in the province of Grenada, where Ibn Nagrela was the Jewish Muslim leader with control and considerable power. The biblical guru and Hebrew poet commanded Grenada’s military armies while adorning apparel inscribed with Koran scripture writings. Muslim rulers were then apprehensive that Nagrela, as a Jew, exercised and seized absolute power, thus contravening the Pact of Omar. As a result, Jewish dominance in small kingdoms was quelled, leading to the slaughter and arbitrary persecution of Jews.

The Christians managed to reconquer Spain in 1248. This, in effect, subjected the Jews to the new rule that was both sacred and secular. The Jews no longer had the intrinsic, inherent right to live within Christendom territory from the 11th Century onwards. The residency of the Jews was expressly founded and based on a charter that was issued by a ruler who offered them special protection within his community precincts. Ancient Christian Europe enabled the settlement of Jews in Germany, France, Italy, and Spain up to 1300, after which the Jews were forced to migrate to eastern regions, which primarily consisted of Poland. By 1500, numerous European Jews had moved to Poland. During that time, the Church regrouped into regional, local, Lateran, and national councils that enumerated the population of Jews as their key focus.

Conversion to Christianity was considered a primary concern in Spain, where the integration of anti-Judaism and secular sentiments led to massive forced conversions. The most popular example, in this case, was “The Great Conversion” of 1391 that resulted in the transformation of 100,000 Andalusian Jews, persecution, and murder of another 100,000 and the fleeing to Muslim territory of also another 100,000 Jews. These compulsory Christianity conversions elicited a humongous influx of conversos that is new Christian followers. A specific portion of these Jews discreetly practiced and revered their Judaism practices and was mainly referred to as Marranos, a despicable term that meant little pigs. It, however, proved difficult and cumbersome to assimilate these Jew communities regardless of whether they were converted to Christianity or chose to practice Judaism secretly.

The King and Queen then that is King Ferdinand, and Queen Isabella decided to devise a ruthless method of the inquisition in 1481 that involved an inquiry controlled and operated by the Church with the intention of sieving out and punishing heretics. This inquiry technique served to obliterate the population of Jews who were deemed as Judaism heretics. This infamous and murderous campaign that was propagated by the Church and facilitated by Catholic Monarchs came to be known as the ”Alhambra Decree”. It was a specific order made to all practicing Jews on 31st March 1492, giving them notice of their expulsion from the territories of Aragon and Castile with effect by the end of July that specific year. As a result of the Decree, the Jews were allowed to carry all their possessions with the exception of minted money, silver and gold. They were granted a three-month safe passage and instructed that failure to heed to the Monarch’s orders by the stipulated deadline would lead to their immediate execution.

The Alhambra Decree had significant effects on the Jewish population in Europe. However, the said Decree remained in force until its formal revocation on 16th December 1968. As at the time of its formal cancellation, the world was already geared towards protecting religious freedom; hence Jews were still able to freely practice Judaism in Spain as well as utilize and build synagogues for worship. To compensate the Jews for the past transgressions committed against them, the Spanish Government passed a law in 2014 that granted Jews of Spanish descent dual citizenship. The net effect of this legislation is such that Jews who can prove Spanish descent are now able to either become Spanish nationals without residing in Spain.

Massive Christian conversions had an essential goal in the ancient Christian Crusades. In this instance, Christians were enthusiastic about converting the “holy land.” The main objective was for Christians to gain control over and govern the holy land in the name of Christianity. Pope Urban II propounded the movement’s ideology in 1095, and it commenced in that same year and went on for an astounding 300 years period. The first Crusade proved to be immensely unsafe for the Jews who resided in Europe. The Crusades wiped out three crucial centers for the Ashkenazi, which were Mainz, Worms, and Cologne. Despite this devastation actions, it is interesting to note that the European Jews remained unscathed from 1096. This was elicited by the fact the Holy Church under the leadership of the Pope emphasized the crusade war armies to let the Jews live. This move served to mitigate the Anti-Jewish sentiments, killings, and persecution in Europe to make them minimal. The account of Medieval Judaism in the Crusade sense in Spain was one where Jews resided as part of communities that incessantly claimed to exercise supremacy over a faith that had root origins linked to their way of life and culture. In essence, Jewish life in Spain was tremendously controlled by the political workings of the Christians and Muslims.

The migration of Jews to Poland, which happened in the 13th Century marked the beginning of a new and different era for the Jewish communities. In contrast to Spain, Poland was considered a paradise for the Jewish Community and the most tolerant territory in Europe. Poland, at the time, became a haven for the expelled and persecuted Jewish people. Jews residing in Western Europe had always been accused of being the cause for the natural calamities that befell Europe in those times. This premise made the Jews a consistent target for persecution during the Crusades. These Crusades never spilled over to the territory of Poland; hence numerous Jews escaped to Poland seeking a haven.

Furthermore, Jewish settlement in Poland was allowed by the Polish rulers who hoped that such settlement would lead to an upsurge in economic and trade activities boosting Poland’s development. The Jews in Poland were granted local privileges in the 13th Century. They were free to practice their religion and considered direct inhabitants of the Kingdom of Poland. Since the Jewish people were mostly involved in the buying and selling of goods, they had vast contacts across the ancient world, which proved instrumental in importing luxury merchandise to Poland that included exotic fabrics, spices, tools, and weapons.

The Jewish Community transitioned to a ”Golden Age” in the 16th Century since Poland experience a boost in cultural and economic growth. The Kingdom of Poland became an integral center of Jewish knowledge with numerous religious works of literature written on Jewish culture, which was utilized over the ages to date. A key element in the Golden Age was elicited when the Polish King decreed the establishment of a Jewish Community body and recognized the Jewish People as a part of the Polish people akin to the clergy, merchants, peasants, and nobles. The success and development of the Jews in this age ignited Christian resentment, which resulted in some of the Jewish trade caravans being attacked and their goods looted.

The Jewish people of Poland, having learned from their experience in Europe, grouped themselves into communities. Besides, they attempted to convince their local authorities to enact a Jewish Charter of rights and privileges. This request was granted in 1264 by Boleslaw, the supreme leader in western Poland. The Charter served to cushion the Jews in terms of political rights. The Jews in the written agreement were granted autonomy to participate in commercial activities, including financial transactions. In essence, the Charter recognized the Jews as a people of Poland with the right to own property within the territory of Poland and organize their internal affairs devoid of arbitrary state control. Jews were also considered equals in the royal houses, and the Charter further imposed a duty on them to respect and submit to their chosen rulers. The Jewish Community in this period enjoyed some of the best privileges ever granted in Ancient Europe; hence the 14th to 16th centuries populations witnessed the springing up of about 150 new Jewish groupings in Polish land.

The Charter enabled the Jewish communities to gain advantages such as protection from forceful conversion and kidnapping. A person who was to be found guilty of such acts was to face severe punishment from the Polish authorities. These protective measures rattled the church authorities in Europe included the Papal syndicate, which convocated in 1267 and resolved to ensure implementation of strict separatist policies to distinguish between Polish Jews and Christians clearly. The church workings triggered the imposition of discriminatory regulations requiring the Jews to adorn conspicuous headgear and be prohibited from wielding public authority. All in all, these Church restrictions did not have any devastating effect on the welfare of Jews in Poland.

Moreover, the Church vehemently opposed any social and intimate relationships between the local people and the Jews in Poland. They were so threatened by the existence of Jews who had put up enterprises and small workshops. The Jews employed domestic Slavic slaves to assist them in setting up their local industries. It is worth noting that these Jews were young bachelors from the south and west of Europe who, in the ordinary course of their lives, had the desire to start families. Jewish law required them to release their slaves after the lapse of seven years. The effect of this was that some of the Jewish men choose to marry the women slaves upon granting them freedom. They tasked the women with the role of managing their households as their spouse on condition that they accepted to practice Judaism. This practice made the Church authorities ferociously angry, but that notwithstanding the Jews were now in a territory where they were deemed as equals with rights and privileges including the right to marry a spouse of their preference.

In summary, one cannot deny the fact that the Jewish communities faced enormous atrocities in Europe. The persecution of Jews in Spanish Europe was triggered by the belief that the Christians were to get rid of the Jews in the holy land and declare supremacy over their faith. In contrast to Poland, where the Jews were treated as equals, Spanish Europe Jews were viewed as a scourge to society and deemed to have been responsible for natural calamities such as plagues leading to their expulsion. All of the injustice committed against Jews was carried out in the fallacy of religion. Yet, it was so cruel and had devastating effects on Jews in Europe who had no class and always found themselves in the embroiling conflict and war between Muslims and Christians. Contrary to Europe’s anti-Semitism attitude towards the Jews, the Polish rulers in the wake of the Jewish community expulsion seized the opportunity to accord the Jews equal rights to boost the economic and cultural development of Poland. The Jewish Community, as a result of their horrific experiences in Europe, became well organized in Poland, and the end achieved commercial autonomy coupled with a recognition of their race in Poland.