A careful inspection of the Medieval and pre-modern Jewish history can reveal two characteristic trends that define the establishment of a successful Jewish community outside the land of Israel. One of these trends represents the totality of the external surrounding forces that affect the emerge of the Jewish community in a certain region, such as persecutions, negative actions, imposed limiting legislation, and stereotypical attitudes from the surrounding non-Jewish world. As a response to the first trend, the second trend can be defined as the Jewish cultural resilience and productive interactions between Jews and non-Jews which allow the Jewish community to redefine itself and thrive in spite of the challenging circumstances. These trends can be traced by observing the foundation and emergence of various Jewish communities in Europe and certain influential figures that allowed this to be possible.
In the course of the 16th century, Poland and Lithuania become the centers of Ashkenazi life. By the end of the 17th century, the largest Jewish community in the world was located in this region, with a population of 150,000-170,000 Jews. In the Jewish Diaspora, there was an awareness of favorable conditions. Rabbi Moses Isserles of Cracow (1520-1572) acknowledges that this region is not characterized by the anti-Semitic attitudes found in Germany. The factors that made this possible were stemming from the nature of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, which was established in 1569 as a multi-ethnic and multi-religious state. Forty percent of the population here was Polish, and there were many other ethnic minorities present here such as Ukrainians, Russians, Lithuanians, Italians, Scots, Germans, Armenians, and Jews. In terms of religions, there was Catholicism, Orthodoxy, Protestantism, Islam, and Judaism. These factors allowed for a favorable attitude to develop towards other minorities, including Jews. Yet, in 1572, after the death of the last Jagellonian king (1572), the governing body in Poland changed, and the King had very limited power which was concentrated in the hands of the nobles. Moreover, Poland was divided in large estates owned by nobles who attracted the Jewish population to work for them. Thus, the Jews could serve as intermediaries to farm taxes, administer the estates, market produce, and provide various goods to the economy. The Jewish population becomes a predominant part of the urban middle class, which exposes the Jewish community to jealousy an opposition from the Polish peasantry and anti-Jewish sentiments develop.
The Chmielnicki Massacres takes place in 1648 and the Cossacks, a group of independent warriors, attack the Polish nobility and thousands of Jews and Catholic Poles are massacred. The life of the Jewish communities here was severely disrupted and 20,000 out of 40,000 Jews died while many others fled westward. Soon after the attacks, the Jewish community takes measures to establish itself anew. The Rabbinical leaders of the community maintain order and adapt the Jewish law to be in tune with the necessities of the daily life. Moreover, each community places great emphasis on educating its members which helps the community thrive academically as in no other place.
Another example of Jews achieving success in spite of the external challenges can be found in the model of the Jewish community living in Amsterdam. To avoid the mass conversions in Spain and then Portugal, there were waves of emigration out of Iberian Peninsula to France, Italy, Antwerp, Hamburg, and Amsterdam. Amsterdam was a successful port city, which in 17th century was a center of world trade providing religious toleration in exchange for economic support. The community in Amsterdam is a type of community that needed to take steps to reinvent itself as its members were brought up as Catholics unaware of rabbinic tradition. Yet, living in a favorable environment, the Portuguese Jews thrived and became influential in commercial networks as well as working in sugar refineries, tobacco workshops, and in cutting and polishing diamonds.
Correspondingly, the Jewish community of England had been expelled in 1290. There were stereotypical attitudes present here which included the demonization of absent Jews with negative and stereotypical characterizations. There was only a discrete presence of small Portuguese New Christian groups in the 16th century, and by the 17th century the Jews would practice their religion only in secret living outwardly as Catholics. With the new interest o Protestants in studying the Hebrew Scriptures and their desire to understand the roots of their Christian past, certain measures of toleration developed. The Puritans were interested in Hebrew, being the language of the Bible, as well as in other Messianic topics related to the New Testament. Menasseh ben Israel, an Amsterdam rabbi, was an influential figure in bringing back the Jews to England. At the Whitehall Conference he presented his work “The Humble Addresses” dedicated to Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of the English Commonwealth, where he praised the virtues of the Jewish nation and requested that the Jews be granted readmission to England, equality, freedom of worship, the possibility to build synagogues and to keep cemeteries. However, there was opposition from lower clergy and especially Christian merchants and though no positive legislation was enacted, the Jews were allowed to come to England.
Eventually, in 1656-1657 the Jews to have a synagogue and buy a burial plot. There is a fast growth of the community as in early 1680s, there are 400 people while by 1695, there were 800 families. Though no formal set of laws is established to define the Jewish community, the community is formed on a voluntary basis. The Jews here become prominent merchants, trading coral and diamonds, and succeed in establishing themselves, like the Jews of Amstedam, Poland and Lithuania.
From these trends, it is evident that though the Jewish communities lived in various places and were faced with challenging circumstances, when the Jews were allowed to practice their religion, they provided great benefits for the surrounding society helping the state economy grow. The Jews also thrived intellectually and culturally in their communities. However, when Jews were ostracized, excluded or forced to leave, and in turn their communities were disintegrated as a result of limiting measures, they sought to reestablish themselves elsewhere and flourished in a different environment where they could live and practice their religion. If this was not possible, they tried to adapt themselves and maintained their ties to Judaism in secret until favorable circumstances allowed them to return to Judaism.
Sources: College Course- History of the Jewish People
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