Prague and Cracow

Prague, Cracow Both towns first mentioned by a Jewish merchant Ibrahim Ibn Jakub in the 10th c. (965) On important trade routes Prague – First Jewish settlement around the Maltese Sq. (synagogue burned in 1142) – First Jewish cemetery around Míšeňská St. – Settlement around the present day Spanish synagogue since 11th/12th c. (smaller part)

Czech (Bohemian) Lands Cheb Bible (Eger) Knaan (Czech) words in Hebrew caracters > local Jews spoke Knaan (based on Czech) and currently had Czech based names

Prague – Larger Jewish settlement around the Alteneueshul since 12th/13th c. – Ghetto since 1215, separated with walls and gates – Old-New synagogue (Alteneueshul) – the oldest surviving and functioning synagogue on the North of the Alps – 13th c.

Prague Otakar II of Bohemia – 1253 – servi camerae regiae – The Jews were subjects to the Emperor in the Holy Roman Empire (Frederic II, 1236) – successor of Titus who was said to have acquired the Jews as his private property

Prague Charles IV – Prague became the capital of the Holy Roman Empire in the mid 14 th c. – Nuremberg – pogrom and destruction of the Jewish houses to make place to the church of Our Lady 1389 – large pogrom reported by Avigdor Kara Hussites – Jan Hus was interested in Hebrew and in Rashi Bohemian Brethern – Czech reformation – sympathised with Jews, took care of Jewish cemeteries, etc. Around 1600 – Maharal, David Gans 1729 – the Prague Jewish community with its inhabitants was the second largest one in Europe after Istanbul

Prague Rivka Tiktiner – The first yiddish writer (mameloshn) – Menekhet Rivka (Rivka´s Nurse) Ethical treatise for women Published shortly after 1600 in Prague and in Cracow First book by a Jewish woman Ideal of a religious woman a vivid picture of the domestic life of middle-class Ashkenazi Jewish women in the Renaissance The book is addressed to “young, unexperienced women” – Preached to women, daughter of a rabbi – exceptional education – Simkhes toyre lid – From polish town Tykocin near Bilalystok – Died in 1550, buried at the Prague old Jewish cemetery

Cracow 1050 – existing community – Active in monetary trade, running royal mint 1096 Jews from Prague fled here a pogrom related to the 1st Crusade – Polish bishops refused to participate on crusades Most of Jews came here from Saxony and other German lands – Ashkenazi/Yiddish

Poland Statute of Kalisz, 1264 – General charter of Jewish liberties – Self-government Later attempts of segregation – generaly not accepted due to the profits which the Jews´ economic activity yielded to the princes

Casimir III the Great ( ) Begining of the coalescence of Poland as a sovereign kingdom Welcomed Jews from the Western Europe – 100 years war – Black death (bulbonic plague) – famine Amplified and expanded Statute of Kalisz – (forbids kidnapping of children, dessecration of Jewish cemeteries...) Kazimierz – Jewish quarter established in 1335 after the expulsion of Jews from the town – right behind the town walls – oldest surviving synagogue dates from the 15th c – 1st pogrom in Poznan (Black Death)

Poland 1454 anti-Jewish riots in Silesia inspired by John Capistrano – Papal envoy, franciscan friar – Aim to instigate a rebellion against the Hussites + a campaign against the JewsJj Statute of Nieszawa – Abolished the ancient priviledges of the Jews 1496 – policy of tolerance – Alexander the Jagiellonian – Stimulated Jewish immigration Mid- 16th c. – Jewish life moved to the eastern parts of Poland and Jews settled the countryside Mid-17th c. – Jews in the Commonwealth (5% of population)

Old Synagogue in Kazimierz Crafts and local trade – better conditions in private towns finance Tenancies – small lease holders of mills, breweries and inns Scribes Tax collectors salt industry – important mines in Wieliczka (in Germany in Halle) traditionally worked in wine making (e.g. Rashi in France) and newly in vodka making musicians, tailors etc.

Poland Small group of rich merchants, financiers, tenants of big noble domains Large middle group: small merchants, usurers, craftsmen, kahal employees Large group of poor people: apprentices, carriers, servants, beggars Mediators between towns and country protected by the magnates who needed them

Va´ad 1518 – foundation of the Four Jewish Lands (Va´ad Arba Arazot) each of which was to elect its elders, tax assessors and tax collectors – Sigismund Augustus

Deluge 1648 – Chmielnicki – strong decline of the Jewish population in the Commonwealth (until 1717) – Never a return to the situation before 1648 Mid- 18th c. – Church discrimitation – Jews can not work for nobles or the state  Withdrawal to the shtetlekhs, life in great poverty