Tuesday, January 7, 2014

JUDAISM EVOLVES....past 150 years #1

HERE  WE  START  ON  A  VERY  INFORMATIVE  STUDY  OF  JUDAISM  OVER  THE  LAST  150  YEARS..... HOW  IT  EVOLVED  INTO  VARIOUS  RELIGIOUS  FORMS.

THIS  IS  TAKEN  FROM  THE  LECTURES  BY  PROFESSOR  SHAI  CHERRY,  AND  HIS  24  LECTURES  CALLED  "INTRODUCTION  TO  JUDAISM"  FROM  THE  TEACHING  COMPANY  -  THE  GREAT  COURSES.


WITH  THIS  LECTURE  WE  MOVE  INTO  THE  MODERN  PERIOD  AND  SPECIFICALLY  WE'RE  GOING  TO  BE  LOOKING  AT  ISSUES  LIKE  EMANCIPATION, ENLIGHTENMENT,  AND  THE  BEGINNING  OF  REFORMED  JUDAISM  IN  GERMANY  IN  THE  19TH  CENTURY.

BUT  BEFORE  WE  GET  THERE,  WE  SHOULD  SPEND  A  MOMENT  AND  TRY  TO  UNDERSTAND  WHAT  THE  POLITICAL  SITUATION  WAS  LIKE  FOR  JEWS  IN  THE  MIDDLE  AGES.

THROUGHOUT  THE  MIDDLE  AGES  THE  JEWS  LIVED  IN  SELF-GOVERNING  AUTONOMOUS  CO-OPERATIONS,  AS  "GUESTS"  OF  THE  HOST  COUNTRIES.  IN  OTHER  WORDS  A  SOVEREIGN  FOR  WHATEVER  REASONS,  UNUSUALLY  HAVING TO  DO  WITH  ECONOMICS,  WOULD  INVITE  THE  JEWISH  COMMUNITY  IN,  AND  WOULD  BE  VERY  SPECIFIC  ABOUT  THE  KINDS  OF  VOCATIONS  AND  KINDS  OF EMPLOYMENT,  THAT  THE  JEWS  COULD  ENGAGE  IN,  IN  THAT  COMMUNITY;  SOMETIMES  THEY  ADHERED  TO  THE  LATTER  OF  THE  LAW  AND  SOMETIMES  THEY  DIDN'T.

BUT  USUALLY  THESE  ECONOMIC  INCENTIVES  BROUGHT  JEWS  TO  NEW  COMMUNITIES  AND  THE  TAXES  THAT  WERE  COLLECTED  WEREN'T  COLLECTED  FROM  EACH  INDIVIDUAL  JEW,  BUT  IT  WAS  THE  RESPONSIBILITY  OF  THE  "KELA"  -  THE  SELF-GOVERNING  AUTHORITY  TO  COLLECT  TAXES  FROM  THE  INDIVIDUALS  AND  TO  PAY  THE  SOVEREIGN.

AND  THERE  WAS  NOT  ANY  EXPECTATION  THAT  THE  JEWS  HAD  THE  RIGHT  TO  LIVE  IN  THE  COUNTRY.  THEY  WERE  GUESTS  OF  A  HOST  COUNTRY,  AND  WHEN  THE  HOST  DECIDED  THEY  WERE  NO  LONGER  WELCOME,  THEN  THE  GUESTS  WERE  ASKED  TO  LEAVE.  AND  THIS  DID  HAPPEN  PERIODICALLY  THROUGH  JEWISH  HISTORY.

THIS  USUALLY  CONTRIBUTED  FOR  THE  JEWS  TO  GO  INTO  MORE  "MOBILE"  BUSINESSES,  AND  NOT  INVESTING  IN  REAL-ESTATE,  CAUSE  THERE  WERE  LAWS  THAT  PREVENTED  JEWS  FROM  OWNING  REAL-ESTATE,  VERY  OFTEN.  BUT  THE  JEWS  HAD  A  REPUTATION,  AND  IT  IS  A  TRUTHFUL  REPUTATION,  FOR  BEING  INVOLVED  IN  BANKING,  MONEY  LENDING,  THINGS  THAT  ARE  EASY PORTABLE;  SO  YOU  CAN  GET  UP,  IN  CASE  YOUR  HOST  ASKS  YOU  TO  LEAVE, OR  THE  SOCIAL  SITUATION  BECOMES  UNBEARABLE;  YOU  CAN  PICK-UP  AND  TAKE  OFF.  SO  THE  JEWS  LIVED  AT  THE  SUFFERANCE  OF  THE  RULER  OF  THE  SOCIETY.

AS  WE  MOVE  INTO  THE  MODERN  PERIOD,  WE  GET  DIFFERENT  IDEAS  OF  GOVERNMENT,  PEOPLE  LIKE  JOHN  LOCKE [1632-1704]  WHO  ARE  THINKING  ABOUT  THE  NATURAL  RIGHTS  OF  INDIVIDUALS  AND  THEIR  RELATIONSHIP  TO THE  GOVERNMENT;  THIS  BEGINS  TO  FILTER  DOWN  INTO  THE  SOVEREIGNS  ATTITUDE  TOWARDS  THE  JEWISH  COMMUNITY.

AT  THE  CLOSE  OF  THE  18TH  CENTURY,  NOW,  FALLING  FAR  SHORT  OF  POLITICAL  EQUALITY  THE  EDICT  OF  TOLERANCE,  1782,  WAS  DESIGNED  AND  HERE  I'M  QUOTING"  "IT  IS  OUR  GOAL  TO  MAKE  THE  JEWISH  NATION  USEFUL  AND  SERVICAL  TO  THE  STATE.  MAINLY  THROUGH  BETTER  EDUCATION,  ENLIGHTENMENT  OF  ITS  YOUTH,  AS  WELL  AS  DIRECTING  THEM  TO  THE  SCIENCES,  ARTS,  AND  THE  CRAFTS."

SO  THERE'S  CHANGES,  WINDS  OF  CHANGE  HAPPENING  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE.  THE  "EDICT  OF  TOLERANCE"  WAS  BY  THE  HAPSPUR  EMPEROR  "JOSEPH II  -  1782.  SO  THIS  INVOLVED  THE  GOVERNMENT  WANTING  TO  EDUCATE  THE  JEWS,  THROUGH  A  SECULAR  EDUCATION.  UP  TO  THIS  POINT  JEWS HAD  HAD  ONLY  A  JEWISH  EDUCATION,  AND  THEY  WERE  IN  PARTICULAR  TRADES.  BUT  HERE  YOU  CAN  EASILY  SEE  WHAT  THE  "EDICT  OF  TOLERANCE"  WANTED  TO  DO;  TO  EXPAND  THE  KINDS  OF  TRADES  JEWS  GO  INTO.  TO  MAKE  THEM  MORE  LIKE  THE  OTHER  CITIZENS  OF  THE  STATE.  THIS  DOESN'T  GIVEN  THEM  THE  FULL  RIGHTS,  GIVING  THEM  VOTING  RIGHTS,  BUT  IT'S  ONE  OF  THE  FIRST  MOVES.

THE  FIRST  REAL  EXTENSION  OF  POLITICAL  LIBERTY  AND  POLITICAL  RIGHTS  TO  THE  JEWISH  COMMUNITY  WAS  AS   A  RESULT  OF  THE  FRENCH  REVOLUTION  IN  1789.

SO  THAT  BY  THE  YEAR  1790  JEWS  WERE  RECOGNIZED  AS  CITIZENS  OF  THE  COUNTRY  WHEREIN  THEY  LIVED;  THEY  WERE  EXPECTED  TO  BE  FIRST,  AND  FOREMOST,  FRENCHMEN  AND  ONLY  SECONDLY  MEMBERS  OF  THE  JEWISH  RELIGION.  SO  THEY  WERE  SUPPOSED  TO  HAVE  MORE  IN  COMMON  WITH  THE  FRENCH  CATHOLIC,  NOT  NECESSARILY  NEXT  DOOR,  BECAUSE  MOST  IN  THIS  PERIOD,  THE  JEWS  STILL  LIVED  IN  GHETTOS.  THE  WORD  "GHETTO"  IS  ITALIAN,  PROBABLY  MEANS  "AN  IRON  FOUNDATION"  WHICH  WAS  THE  FIRST  GHETTO  IN  VENICE,  ITALY,  AT  THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE  16TH  CENTURY,  AND  WHETHER  THE  GHETTO  WAS  IMPOSED  BY  THE  GOVERNMENT  OR  NOT,  IT  WAS  SOMETHING  THE  JEWS  DECIDED  TO  LIVE  IN  AS  NEIGHBORHOODS  VOLUNTARILY;  THAT  WAS  THE  NORM  IN  EUROPE  FOR  THE  ENTIRE  MIDDLE  AGES.  THE  JEWS  DIDN'T  BREAK  OUT  OF  THE  JEWISH  NEIGHBORHOODS,  THE  GHETTOS,  UNTIL  THE  19TH  CENTURY  AT  THE  VERY  EARLIEST.

SO  THERE  WAS  AN  EXPECTATION  AMONG  THE  GENTILES  THAT  BY  EXTENDING  CIVIL  RIGHTS  THE  JEWS  WOULD  ACCULTURATE;  DOESN'T  MEAN  THEY  WOULD  ASSIMILATE  AND  GIVE  UP  THEIR  JEWISHNESS,  AND  THEIR  RELIGIOSITY,  BUT  IT  MEANS  THEY  WOULD,  DRESS  LIKE  THEIR  NEIGHBORS,  AND  SPEAK  LIKE  THEIR  NEIGHBORS,  AND  NOT  CONTINUE  TO  SPEAK  "YIDDISH" WHICH  WAS  THE  GENERAL  LANGUAGE  OF  THE  EUROPEAN  JEWRY.

YIDDISH  IS  A  COMBINATION  OF  STREET  GERMAN  AND  HEBREW,  A  FEW  HEBREW  WORDS  THROWN  IN.

SO  THE  VERNACULAR  OF  FRANCE  OR  GERMANY  WOULD  COME  TO  CROWD  OUT  THOSE  DISTINCTIVELY  JEWISH  LANGUAGES.  IN  OTHER  PLACES  THEY  SPOKE  "LADENO"  -  WHICH  IS  SPANISH  AND  HEBREW,  ALTHOUGH  JUST  LIKE  YIDDISH  MOSTLY  SPANISH.

THE  HOPE  WAS  THAT  JUDAISM  WOULD  BECOME  JUST  ANOTHER  CONFESSION, JUST  ANOTHER  RELIGIOUS  FAITH.  SO  YOU  WOULD  HAVE  THE  "HUGUENOTS" FRENCH  PROTESTANTS  AND  FRENCH  CATHOLIC,  AND  THE  FRENCH  JEWS,  AND  WHAT  WOULD  UNITE  THEM  ALL  WOULD  BE  THEIR  FRENCHNESS  AND  THEIR  COMMITMENT  TO  FRANCE  AS  A  NATION,  AS  WELL  AS  THEIR  LOYALTY  TO  FRANCE  AS  A  NATION.  THIS  MEANT  ALSO  THAT,  THE  IDEA  OF  GOING  BACK  TO  ISRAEL,  TO  ESTABLISH  THE  THIRD  JEWISH  COMMONWEALTH  WOULD  NO  LONGER  CLAIM  THEIR  LOYALTIES.

UP  TO  THIS  POINT  THE  JEWS,  NO  MATTER  WHERE  THEY  LIVED,  WHETHER  IN  EUROPE  OR  ASIA,  OR  NORTH  AFRICA,  THEY  UNDERSTOOD  THEMSELVES TO  BE  PART  OF  A  SINGLE  NATION.  AND  SO  THIS  RADICAL  PROJECT  OF  EMANCIPATION  TO  BRING  THE  JEWS  INTO  THE  NATIONS  WHERE  THEY  LIVED,  REALLY  REQUIRED  A  WHOLE  SHIFT  IN  HOW  THE  JEWS  PERCEIVED  THEMSELVES,  AND  HOW  THE  GENTILES  PERCEIVED  THE  JEWS.  THE  HOPE  WAS  THEY  WOULD  LOOSE  THEIR  ETHNIC  PARTICULARITY.
..........

TO  BE  CONTINUED

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