Shalom Israel - Iosif Klein Medesan Jurnalist - 46 Evreii in Estul Europei

Shalom Israel

O emisiune despre Istoria, Cultura si Religia poporului Israel

Emisiunea 46 - Evreii in Estul Europei

Invitat: Iosif Klein Medesan, Jurnalist
Moderator: Pastor Ioan Peia

Evreii din Estul Europei in Evul Mediu

Intro

Stimati telespectatori, bine v-am regasit la emisiunea Shalom Israel, o emisiune despre istoria, cultura, religia si viata poporului Israel.

„Plecati si nu va mai intoarceti. Lasati tot ce aveti aici. Tot ce aveti voi este al nostru.” Aceasta a fost mesajul pe care de-a lungul Evului Mediu evreii l-au primit constant in tarile din Vestul Europei.

Aceasta perioada de timp este cunoscuta in istoria evreilor continentului nostru ca Era Expulzarilor.

Expulzarea din Spania secolului 15 (1492) a produs o rana in evreimea mondiala care nu s-a vindecat complect nici pana in ziua de azi. Daca aceasta prigonire si dezradacinare fortata a evreilor s-a putut petrece in Spania unde comunitatile evreiesti au cunoscut o dezvoltare fara precedent in Europa, atunci nu este surprinzator faptul ca aceleasi lucruri s-au putut intampla din nou si din nou de-a lungul Evului Mediu si pana la mijlocul secolului trecut.

In cadrul acestei emisiuni am dori sa intelegem impreuna cateva aspecte legate de viata comunitatilor evreiesti din Estul Europei in perioada Evului Mediu. Istoria Israelului nu inseamna numai istoria cuprinsa in Sfintele Scripturi. Ca orice natiune Israelul are o Istorie bogata care se cuvine a fi cunoscuta, pentru ca ea dezvaluie modul in care Dumnezeu a lucrat si lucreaza in si prin poporul ales in lumea in care traim.

Ne bucuram sa avem din nou in studioul nostru pe Domnul Iosif Klein Medesan, Jurnalist si membru al Comunitatii Evreilor din Romania.

Bine ati revenit in studioul nostru domnule Iosif Klein.

1. In primul rand domnule Klein am dori sa ne impartasiti pe larg ce inseamna Era Expulzarilor populatiei evreiesti din Vestul Europei si cand a inceput?
R. Sicut Judaeis
Sicut Judaeis (the "Constitution for the Jews") was the official position of the papacy regarding Jews throughout the Middle Ages and later. The first bull was issued in about 1120 by Calixtus II, intended to protect Jews who suffered during the First Crusade, and was reaffirmed by many popes, even until the 15th century.
The constitution forbade, besides other things, Christians from forcing Jews to convert, or to harm them, or to take their property, or to disturb the celebration of their festivals, or to interfere with their cemeteries, on pain of excommunication.
History of the Jews and the Crusades
The trials the Jews periodically endured in the various Christian West kingdoms echoed the catastrophes that occurred during Crusades. In the First Crusade (1096) flourishing communities on the Rhine and the Danube were utterly destroyed; see German Crusade, 1096. In the Second Crusade (1147) the Jews in France suffered especially. Philip Augustus treated them with exceptional severity. In his days the Third Crusade took place (1188); and the preparations for it proved to be momentous for the English Jews. After being the victim of increasing oppression that made living all but impossible, Jews were banished from England in 1290; and 365 years passed before they were allowed to settle again in the British Isles (see History of the Jews in England). The Jews were also subjected to attacks by the Shepherds' Crusades of 1251 and 1320.
Blood libel against Jews and Host desecration
Throughout the Middle Ages, Jews were frequently accused of ritual murder and of using human blood (allegedly, the blood of Christian children was especially coveted) in Jewish services. In many cases, such libels served as the basis for cults, in which the alleged victims of human sacrifice were elevated to the status of martyr. In over 20 cases, the Catholic Church canonized these ritually murdered children as Saints, as it was in the cases of Little Saint Hugh of Lincoln (d. 1255) or Simon of Trent (d. 1475). Although the first known instance of blood libel is found in the writings of Apion, who claimed that the Jews sacrificed Greeks in the Temple of Jerusalem, no further incidents are recorded until the 12th century, when blood libels began to proliferate.
In some cases, the authorities spoke against the accusations, for example Pope Innocent III wrote in 1199:
No Christian shall do the Jews any personal injury, except in executing the judgments of a judge, or deprive them of their possessions, or change the rights and privileges which they have been accustomed to have. During the celebration of their festivals, no one shall disturb them by beating them with clubs or by throwing stones at them. No one shall compel them to render any services except those which they have been accustomed to render. And to prevent the baseness and avarice of wicked men we forbid anyone to deface or damage their cemeteries or to extort money from them by threatening to exhume the bodies of their dead.[1]
The charge was circulated that they wished to dishonor the Host, which Catholics believe is the body of Jesus Christ.
Black Death#Persecutions
When the Black Death raged through Europe, the charge was given that the Jews had poisoned the wells.[2] The only court of appeal that regarded itself as their appointed protector, according to historical conceptions, was the "Holy Roman Emperor." The emperor, as legal successor to Titus, who had acquired the Jews for his special property through the destruction of the Temple in the year 70, claimed the rights of possession and protection over all the Jews in the former Roman empire.
Expulsions
The Jews, who were driven out of England in 1290, out of France in 1394, and out of numerous districts of Germany, Italy, and the Balkan peninsula between 1350 and 1450, were scattered in all directions, and fled preferably to the new Slavic kingdoms, where for the time being other confessions were still tolerated. Here they found a sure refuge under benevolent rulers and acquired a certain prosperity, in the enjoyment of which the study of the Talmud was followed with renewed vigor. Together with their faith, they took with them the German language and customs, which they have cultivated in a Slavic environment with unexampled faithfulness for centuries.
As in Slavic countries, so also under Muslim rule the persecuted Jews often found a humane reception, especially from the eighth century onward on the Iberian peninsula. But even as early as the thirteenth century the Arabs could no longer offer a real resistance to the advancing force of Christian kings; and with the fall of political power Arabic culture declined, after having been transmitted to the Occident at about the same period, chiefly through the Jews in the north of Spain and in the south of France. At that time there was no field of learning the Spanish Jews did not cultivate. They studied the secular sciences with the same zeal as the Bible and Talmud.
But the growing influence of the Church gradually crowded them out of this advantageous position. At first the attempt was made to win them to Christianity through writings and religious disputations; and when these attempts failed they were ever more and more restricted in the exercise of their civil rights. Soon they were obliged to live in separate quarters of the cities and to wear humiliating badges on their clothing. Thereby they were made a prey to the scorn and hatred of their fellow citizens. In 1391, when a fanatical mob killed four thousand Jews in Seville alone, many in their fright sought refuge in baptism. And although they often continued to observe in secret the laws of their fathers the Inquisition soon rooted out these pretended Christians or Marranos. Thousands were thrown into prison, tortured, and burned, until a project was formed to sweep all Spain clean of unbelievers. The plan matured when in 1492 the last Moorish fortress fell into the hands of the Christians. Queen Isabella of Spain issued an edict banishing all Jews from Spain for acts of, "a serious a detestable crime," a reference to the ritual murder of the infant Christopher of La Guardia, Spain, which was tried in court in 1491, and who was later made into a Saint (see above).

2. Care a fost raspunsul comunitatilor evreiesti la expulzarile la care au fost supusi, cum s-au adaptat evreii dupa ce au fost fortati sa plece din locurile in care stramosii lor locuiau de sute de ani?

R.

3. De ce au deveniti evreii cunoscuti in aceasta perioada de timp drept camatarii continentului si cum a influentat acest lucru viata lor?

R.

4. Unde s-au refugiat evreii datorita expulzarilor succesive din vestul continentului?

R. Many of the Jews fled to the Balkan peninsula, where a few decades before the Crescent had won a victory over the Cross through the Ottoman Turks. Sultan Bayazid II of the Ottoman Empire, learning about the expulsion of Jews from Spain, dispatched the Ottoman Navy to bring the Jews safely to Ottoman lands, mainly to the cities of Salonica (currently in Greece) and Smyrna (currently in Turkey). Judeo-Spanish (a form of medieval Spanish influenced by Hebrew) was widely spoken by the Jewish communities of the Turkish Empire into the 20th century.
5. Cum s-a convertit un rege Hun/Turk la iudaism si a creat un regat al evreilor in sudul Rusiei, in regiunea Volga, imperiul Khazarilor?
?

R.

6. Care a fost situatia evreilor in Rusia Evului Mediu dupa distrugerea regatului khazarilor?

R.

7. Putem spune ca binecuvantarea lui Dumnezeu data lui Avraam s-a rasfrant peste natiunile care au bine primit pe evrei in tara lor? Care au fost consecintele expulzarii evreilor din Rusia si asezarii lor in Polonia?

R.

8. Ce statut special au primit evreii in Polonia si care au fost urmarile pentru dezvoltarea comunitatilor evreiesti?

R. Statute of Kalisz. 1264 – King Boleslaw the Pius

9. Cum s-au organizat si prosperat evreii in Polonia in aceasta era a libertatii?

R. The Kahal, The Council of the Four Lands

10. Viata evreilor din Estul Europei a a fost marcata de o limba care s-a nascut datorita barierele ridicate intre comunitatile evreiesti si vecinii lor. Aceasta limba se numeste Yddish. Cum s-a nascut aceasta forma de comunicare a evreilor, specifica pentru cei ce au locuit in Estul Europei?

R.

11. Ce cultura s-a dezvoltat ca o consecinta a adoptarii acetui nou limbaj si care sunt oamenii de cultura evrei care prin operele lor in limba Yddish au imbogatit mostenirea culturala universala?

R.

12. Dar aceasta perioada de inflorire a comunitatilor evreiesti din Polonia a fost brutal oprita de cazacii unui antisemit nationalist ucrainean, Chmielnicki.

R. Din nou o luam de la capat? S-au intrebat evreii.

Final

Stimati telespectatori. Expulzarile au facut parte din viata evreilor din Evul Mediu. Ori de cate ori ei au prosperat intr-o anumita tara sau regiune au starnit invidia celor din jur care i-au alungat din tinuturile lor.

O intreaga imparatie a Khazarilor s-a convertit la iudaism, oferind un loc de adapost si dezvoltare economica, culturala si religioasa evreilor, unica in istoria Evului Mediu.

Polonia sec 13 au bine primit pentru o perioada de timp pe evrei recunoscand ca acestia poate sa-o ajute sa devina o superputere a lumii. De aceea comunitatile evreiesti au prosperat in Polonia si de aceea a putut sa se nasca o prima forma de auto-guvernare a evreilor. In acest context evreii si-au putut dezvolta viata culturala si religioasa cautand sa implineasca cerintele Cuvantului lui Dumnezeu.

Un limbaj nou, specific evreilor veniti din Germania in Polonia s-a extins in multe comunitati evreiesti din Estul Europei, inclusiv Romania. Acest limbaj continua sa existe si in zilele noastre.

Dar asa cum istoria ne arata antisemitismul s-a dezvoltat totdeauna in paralel cu perioadele de prosperitate ale evreilor. Cazacii lui Chmielnicki vor risipi sperantele evreilor din Polonia si ii vor forta sa priveasca viitorul din alte perspective.

Un popor cu o istorie facinanta care a marcat istoria intregii lumi pentru ca Cel Viu si Adevarat, Imparatul Imparatilor si Domnul Domnilor, Singurul Dumnezeu, Dumnezeul Lui Avraam, Isaac si Iaacov vegheaza asupra poporului Sau ales.

Domnule Iosif Klein va multumim pentru participarea la aceasta emisiune si va invitam sa descoperim din nou impreuna istoria Israelului intr-o noua emisiune.

Stimati telespectoatori va multumim pentru atentia cu care ne-ati urmarit. Pana la emisiunea urmatoare va dorim tuturor Shalom! Shalom Israel! Shalom Romania!