American Jewish History: A JPS Guide

1. Mid-1300s–1654: Before the Beginning

1 Mid-1300s–1654 Before the Beginning 1 AMERICAN JEWISH HISTORY When you think of the early history of the Jews in America, what image comes to your mind? Do you picture New York City’s Lower East Side around 1900, its tenements, streets, and sweatshops crowded with Yiddish-speaking immigrants? If you do, you are not alone. The great Eastern European wave of immigration at the end of the 19th century has become the touchstone for contemporary Jewish life in America, and to many people, it represents the experience of this country’s “first” Jewish residents. But that wave of immigrants—primarily Russians, Poles, and Lithuanians—was only one in a long succession of Jewish groups who traveled to the New World. Those who arrived between 1880 and 1920 were preceded by German-speaking Jews in the early- to mid-19th century. In turn, they followed in the footsteps of a hardy band of 23 Jewish settlers from Brazil who first set foot in New Amsterdam in 1654. Although we date the beginnings of Jewish life in America to the arrival of those 23 Jews, Jewish presence in the New World began with another group of intrepid Hispanic Jews, largely forgotten today, who came ashore even earlier. 12 Working in a Sweatshop For most people, the earliest Jewish immigration to America is exclusively represented by photographs from the late 19th and early 20th century, depicting teeming ghetto streets or, as in this case, harsh working conditions. In fact, by the time this photograph was taken, Jews had already been finding their way to the New World for several centuries. Library of Congress Moses ben Maimon—Maimonides (1135–1204) Born in Cordova, Spain, Maimonides was a physician, scholar, and philosopher. He remains the best-known Jewish intellectual of all time, a prime example of the Golden Age of Spanish Jewry. His Guide of the Perplexed provided the Jews of his time with an understanding of how to accept religious faith in the “modern world.” www.legadoandalusia.com 13 MID-1300S–1654: BEFORE THE BEGINNING Persecution of Iberian Jewry After Muslims invaded the Iberian Peninsula in 711 C.E., Jewish inhabitants enjoyed centuries of relative tolerance and freedom under their new rulers— a sort of Golden Age. But by the middle of the 14th century, la Reconquista (the Reconquest, or the movement by Christian leaders to regain control over the Iberian Peninsula) had succeeded in reestablishing most of Spain under Christian rule. Spaniards, suspicious of their non-Christian neighbors, spread wild rumors about Jews, and local governments enacted laws curbing the rights of Jews. Violence against Jews increased, as did entreaties for their conversion. Most attacks were incited by religious fanatics and carried out by street mobs bent only on rape and plunder . In 1355, nearly 1200 Jews were killed in Toledo during one particularly savage attack. In 1371, King Henry II, following a practice instituted by Pope Innocent III in 1216, decreed that Jews had to wear distinctive badges on their clothing and could no longer have Christian names. Church initiatives to convert Jews met with surprising success. Historian Cecil Roth writes, “In some places, the Jews did not wait for the application of compulsion , but anticipated the popular attack by coming forward spontaneously, clamoring for admission to the Church … It was a phenomenon unique in the whole of Jewish history.”1 Conditions worsened for Jews. In some areas they were not allowed to associate with Christians and were restricted to Juderias—ghettos. The Golden Age We who are the remnant of the captive Israelites, are dwelling peacefully in the land of [Spain] … called in the sacred tongue Sefarad … The land is rich, abounding in rivers, springs, and aqueducts; a land of corn, oil and wine, of fruits and all manner of delicacies; it has pleasure-gardens and orchards, fruitful trees of every kind, including the leaves of the tree upon which the silkworm feeds … There are also found among us mountains covered by crocus and with veins of silver, gold, copper, iron, tin, lead, sulphur, porphyry, marble and crystal. (From a letter by Hasdai ibn Shaprut) Hasdai ibn Shaprut (925–975) was the first Jew to attain prominence in Moorish Spain. He was a physician to the caliph and because of his language skills became a trusted and influential adviser. He is credited with establishing a major Talmudic academy in Cordova where Spanish Jews developed their own...