THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
'Church, State and the Jew' Documents Medieval Jewry
By ALLEN A. WARSEN
Q
:10
Chazan's
Robert
"Church, State and Jew in
the Middle Ages" (Behrman
House) provides a new ap-
proach to the study and
understanding of medieval
Jewish history.
Consisting of a collection
of documents, the volume is
divided into six parts, each
preceded by brief introduc-
tory remarks. The docu-
ments are prefaced by
explanatory notes and cover
the period from the 11th
through the 13th centuries.
The author commences
his study with a brief de-
scription of the Jewish posi-
tion in medieval Europe. He
writes: The Jewish situa-
tion in medieval western
Christendom was a most
difficult one. Constituting
only a tiny minority of the
population, the Jews were
widely viewed as latecom-
ers and interlopers.
In a society that was
highly homogeneous,
united primarily by the
Roman Catholic Church
and its standards of
Christian practice and
belief, the Jews stood out
as the major dissenting
element in society, a
people in fact stigmatized
not only by religious dis-
sent but by the charge of
deicide as well. To the ex-
tent that feelings of na-
tional and ethnic identity
developed in medieval
western Europe, the
Jews were isolated yet
further . ."
In addition, Christian
zealots in Naples and
elsewhere forcefully con-
verted Jews. To put an end
to this unconscionable prac-
tice, Pope Gregory wrote a
letter to Pascasius, bishop of
Naples, advising him that
those who sincerely wish to
lead people who stand out-
side the Christian religion
into the proper faith should
strive to do so by gentle
means rather than by harsh
means."
However, the Fourth To-
ledan Council passed an
addendum to Gregory's let-
ter. It reads in part: "Just as
Jews are not to be forced
into the faith, so too, once
converted, they are not
permitted to leave it."
It is significant to note
that Pope Gregory who op-
posed forced conversions,
forbade Jews to construct
synagogues and own Chris-
tian slaves. He permitted
them to have serfs.
The documents dealing
with state charters pro-
vide an insight into the
relationship between the
secular authorities and
the Jews. A good exam-
ple is the charter issued
in 1254 by Duke Boleslav
of Greater Poland. The
charter begins with a
preamble and is followed
by a set of rules: some
provide protection for
the Jews, their property
and houses of worship;
others regulate Jewish
trade and the relation-
ship between Jew and
Jew, and Jew and gen-
tile:
• "If a Christian should
r
and northern Europe, the
author notes, "the con-
flagration was a tragic
event that threatened
profoundly the flourish-
ing intellectual tradition
which these Jews had
painstakingly created."
Their grief and mental
anguish are reflected in an
elegy composed by Meir
Rothenburg, "then a stu-
dent in Paris and destined
to become one of the
foremost authorities of
German Jewry."
The first and last stanzas
of this powerful poetic corn-
position follow:
0 Thou Consumed By Fire
— seek out the welfare of
Reprehensible were those who mourn thee,
the missionarizing activi- Who desire desperately to
ties of the Christian dwell in your court-
clergy among the Jewish yard;Those who yearn for
people. They included the soil of the one true land,
religious disputations, Who suffer in astonishment
forced attendance at over the scorching of your
conversionary sermons parchment pages;
and libellous accusations Those who walk in dark de-
against Jewish sacred spair without illumination,
books, especially the Who hope daily for a light
that will burst forth upon
Talmud.
them and upon you.
King James I of Aragon, a
* * *
religious fanatic who was May the Lord comfort you in
determined to force Jews to accord with your suffering;
attend missionarizing ser-
May He return the tribes of
mons, issued this obnoxious Yeshurun and raise you
decree: ". . whenever an from lowliness.
archbishop, bishops, or
You shall yet_ bedeck your-
Dominican or Franciscan fr- self with Scarlet and take up
iars visit a town or a place
where Saracens (Moslems)
or Jews dwell, and
whenever they wish to pre-
ach the word of God to the
said Jews or Saracens, these
shall gather at their call
and shall patiently listen to
their preaching. Our offi-
cers, if they want to attain
our favor, shall heedless of
excuse, compel them to do
this."
The most notorious mis-
sionarizers were the con-
verts, friars Paul Christian
and Nicholas Donin. Influ-
enced by Paul Christian's
diabolical untruths, King
Louis IX of France insti-
tuted the Jewish badge.
As a result of Donin's al-
legations that the Talmud
blasphemes and ridicules
Christianity, a tribunal of
ecclesiastical judges in
Paris condemned it.
"Shortly thereafter quan-
tities of the Talmud texts
were consigned to the
flames."
For the Jews of France
kill a Jew, he shall be
punished with the proper
sentence and all his mova-
ble and immovable property
shall pass into our power."
• If anyone wickedly
throws something on the
synagogues of the Jews, we
order that he pay two ta-
lents to our palatine (royal
court)."
• If a Jew has wounded
another Jew, he may not re-
fuse to pay to his judge a fine
according to the customs of
our land."
• We wish that no one
dare to force a Jew to pay-
ment of pledges on his holi-
day."
the drum,
Going forth in dance and
exulting.
My heart also shall be up-
Y.
15
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IDB Stock Splits,
Bonds Offered
NEW YORK — Share-
holders in Israel's IDB Ban-
kholding Corp. will benefit
from a two-for-one split in
the company's outstanding
stock on March 6.
The Tel Aviv based com-
pany has also announced a
sale of securities designed to
raise some $26 million. Pro-
ceeds from the bonds, which
are available to Israeli resi-
dents, will be invested in
IDB's main subsidiary, Is-
rael Discount Bank
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lifted when my Lord shines
forth upon you,
Lighting your shadows and
illuminating your darkness.
Friday, January 16, 1981
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