Jews Protection From Their Non Jewish Neighbors example essay topic

The first Jews that settled in Ashkenaz developed their communities based on internal and external factors. Their communities were developed on extremely different ideas than those of the communities in Spain. The most popular external factor that lead to the formation of a community in Ashkenaz was the establishment of charters. These charters granted by the king / bishops offered many enticing privileges to the Jews if in return they settled in the countries of Ashkenaz. The kings / bishops in these areas wanted Jews to settle in their kingdoms since the Jews had an efficient and effective network of commerce and would help to boost the economy. An archbishop of Speyer invited the Jews to settle in his city "in order to enhance a thousand fold the respect accorded to our town".

This is evidence of the high value attached to Jews for settlement of a new town. Some of the many kings who offered the Jews a charter are King Charlemagne (offered charters to Jews of France and maybe Germany), Henry IV (he issued charters to the Jews of Speyer and Worms). The names of the bishops are not as well known as the names of the kings. One bishop that is known by name is Rdiger Huozmann (Bishop of Speyer).

This bishop granted the Jews protection from their non-Jewish neighbors, "far reaching" trading rights, permission to build a protective wall around their quarters, exemption from taxes, judicial autonomy, land granted by the church for burial and more. Most charters had very similar grants to these. The internal reason why the Jews settled in Ashkenaz was because they wanted to settle there. The Jews were trying to escape persecution and the charters offered them protection and rights. They could make a fresh start in a new country under new laws.

This was a new opportunity to thrive and the Jews took advantage of the moment. The Jewish way of life in Ashkenaz vastly differed from their lifestyle in Spain. In Ashkenaz Jews led a very insular and self-sufficient life as opposed to the integrated lifestyle of covivencia in Spain. Jews increasingly restricted themselves to the Jewish quarter in town this gave them a greater feeling of security and also allowed them to establish a stronger religious community. The Kah al (the religious leadership) created religious institutions based on the Gemara h that allowed the Jews (kehillah) to remain very separate from their non-Jewish neighbors. Although the Jewish community enjoyed a great deal of autonomy and lived very separate from their non-Jewish neighbors they did interact with them for business.

In fact the language Yiddish (mixture of Hebrew and German) evolved from their business dealing with their non-Jewish neighbors. Also from the enormous amount of Hala chic issues that arose from dealing with the non-Jews it is obvious that although the Jewish peoples interaction with the gentiles was slim it had a great impact on their lives. In conclusion, Jews were attracted to the countries of Ashkenaz for internal as well as external reasons. The communities they established in Ashkenaz were significantly different from the communities established in Spain. The Spanish communities were integrated where as the communities of Ashkenaz were very separate from their gentile neighbors..