Medieval Judaism

Medieval Judaism

MEDIEVAL JUDAISM


        In a review of a Jews in Antiquity by Baile, Martha
Himmelfarb writes, "Biale does not minimize the Jews' subjection
to local or distant lords. But, like Salo Baron before him, he
strives mightily to dispel the picture of Jewish, medieval life
as one long tale of 'suffering and learning.'   Hence the emphasis
upon the 'considerable influence in high governing circles' and
the significant degree of control over day-to-day life enjoyed by
many pre-modern Jewish communities.   Hence, too, the attention to
'the very active political struggles' within those communities.
Normalization of Jewish political life, in this sense at least,
did not have to wait for the rise of Zionism" (Himmelfarb, 1994,
107).
        According to Himmelfarb, Baile gathers a body of references
to Jewish wealth in antiquity, wealth that he insists would have
created anti-Jewish feelings.   Yet given the silence of the
ancient sources, it is hard to imagine that writers would have
emphasized the role of economic factors in antiquity if it were
not for the significant role played by the activities of the Jews
as moneylenders and merchants in the development of anti-Semitism
in medieval Europe.
        Another striking example of the problematic use of a model
drawn from the Christian Middle Ages is an emphasis on an
economic cause for popular animosity toward the Jews.   Medieval
sources neglect to mention such a cause, but ancient historians
are rarely interested in economic causes.   A clear observation
(rather than stereotype) of Jews throughout history reveals that
while the Jewish people inhabit all socioeconomic levels, they
tend to be successful at whatever they do.   It doesn't happen
just because they're Jewish and therefore chosen, it happens
because practicing, committed Jews know all their traditional
history-it's part of Jewish parents' responsibility to teach
their children to continue the Jewish tradition and commitment:...