EUROPE AROUND THE 12TH CENTURY
Click on Jewish Historical Seminars Destinations
THE JEWS OF ALSACE, LORRAINE AND THE RHINELAND
The Rise of Ashkenazi Jewry
The seminar in northern France seeks to analyse the background
of Franco-German Jewry, commonly called Ashkenazi. The roots of
the main branch of Jewry go back to the IX century when small communities
of wealthy and learned Jews with their entourage settled in the
Rhineland and northern France. They were treated as favoured immigrants
from Italy, Provence and Spain. The tiny communities of Franco-Germany
grew to become centers of commerce and finance and above all seats
of Jewish learning. Major themes in the seminar include: the study
of Torah and the Talmud which reached their peak in the XI-XIII
centuries, Rashi and the Tossafists, Hasside Askenaz, persecutions
and massacres from the First Crusade to the 1348 Black Plague and
the eventual expulsions. Our visit will take us to important Jewish
sites in Alsace, Lorraine and the Rhineland.
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THE JEWS OF ARAGON
AND CATALONIA
Between Ashkenaz and Sepharad (Northern Spain)
This trip examines characteristics of the Jewish communities in the two
most important constituents of the medieval Crown of Aragon, one of the
major Hispanic Kingdoms. The region is at a crossroad between Christian
Europe and the world of Islam, between Ashkenazi and Sephardi Jewry. The
impact of this on the history of the local Jews is analyzed in some the
lectures. Various aspects of Jewish life in Catalonia-Aragon are presented.
We stay in the fascinating northern regional capital of Zaragoza and in
Barcelona, one of the most beautiful cities in Europe. A special visit
takes place to Gerona, an important Kabbalistic center. We also tour Figueras
where a Jewish community existed, while there we visit the Dali Museum.
The other visits are to charming villages and small cities where Jews had
lived.
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JEWISH LIFE IN THE BALKANS
Jewish Sights and Sites in Bosnia and Croatia
The seminar is dedicated to the history of the Jews in the Balkans,
in the area that is now included in Bosnia and Croatia. The Balkans is the
meeting point between East and West, Islam and Christianity. This has deeply
affected the Jews who have lived in the region ever since antiquity and had
belonged to the Hellenistic and later Romaniot branch of Jewry. The arrival
of the Sefardi Jews, expelled from the Iberian Peninsula, added much importance
to the Jewish presence in the Balkans, which, by the end of the fifteenth
century was mostly part of the Ottoman Empire. The Sefardi Jews who were
also joined by Ashkenazi and Italian Jews maintained a very clear predominance
throughout the region. Ladino became the language of most Jews and the prevalent
liturgy and traditions were those of Sefarad. It was here that the Zionist
idea was heard long before Jews elsewhere heard it from Pinsker or Herzl.
The seminar will examine the religious, cultural, linguistic, social, political,
economic and communal life of the Jews who lived among Muslims, Orthodox
and Catholics, on the border where Islam and Christianity met and clashed.
The tragic end of many communities came with the Holocaust.
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THE JEWS OF BOHEMIA AND
MORAVIA
Reality and Fantasy: In the Footsteps of the Maharal and the Golem
In the heart of Europe, in the early days of the Middle Ages, the foundations
of a vibrant Jewish life were laid. It took place within the precincts of the
independent Jewish Town, separated from the Old Town of Prague. This community
drew its inspiration from the traditional sources of Judaism brought from distant
eastern lands by early Jewish settlers whose adventurous spirit and search
for livelihood and safe haven brought them to the heartland of Christendom.
By the 12th century Jewish culture was flourishing in Prague, the rest of Bohemia
and neighboring Moravia. Scholars such as Abraham ben Aziel and Yitshak ben
Moshe (Or Zaru'a) illustrate the great achievements of Bohemian and Moravian
Jewry in the field of rabbinics. In the 16th century Prague became an important
center of Jewish scholarship. Hebrew printing in Prague was the first to be
established north of the Alps. An eminent list of fine scholars included the
Maharal and the scientists David Gans and Joseph Delmedigo.
Periods of relative peace and horrible massacres characterize the history of
the Jews in this region. Judaizing Hussites added color to a fascinating Judeo-Christian
relationship that led to the emergence of the Judaistic Abrahamite sect and to
the temporary expulsion of the Jews in 1541. By the end of the 17th century there
were 12,000 Jews in Prague. The number and importance of the Jews in the Czech
territories increased constantly. This is seen in literature where German-speaking
Czech Jews played a leading role. Kafka, Brod, Erfel and Baum are just a few
examples. The German occupation during the Second World War exterminated Czech
Jewry but left synagogues and ritual objects that are sad reminders of a glorious
past. Our seminar will visit historical sites in Prague, Terezin, Kolin, Polna,
Trebic, Boskovic, Holesov, Brno and Breznice.
THE JEWS OF BUKHARA
The seminar on the Jews of Bukhara brings us to the heart of Central Asia to
study the history and culture of a community that belonged to a branch of
Jewry that has been very much ignored for centuries. The Jews of Bukhara
belong to the Persian-speaking Jews who had been in the sphere of influence
of Babylonian Jewry from Biblical times to the late Geonic period. The seminar
will examine their origins, their religious, cultural and communal life and
their life in periods of efflorescence and discrimination. Under Sassanid,
Mongol and Muslim rule, Bukharan Jews created their own customs and lore,
while at times suffering severe setbacks, including forcible conversions.
The last period under Russian and communist regime is studied on the basis
of little known sources. While visiting the exotic and picturesque sites
in Khiva, Bukhara, Sharizabz, Samarkand and Tashkent, we will walk through
the Jews' Mahallas (Quarters) and see their synagogues of the past and at
present. We will uncover the hardly known history, culture, literature, customs,
costumes, and music of a Jewish community that has been on the periphery
of the Jewish world. The seminar will allow us to feel, taste and enjoy a
Jewish experience that belongs to the past.
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THE JEWS OF CHINA
The first Jewish settlers in China were Persian-speaking Jews who arrived in Kaifeng in the ninth or tenth century. These Jews lived in China for centuries in almost total isolation from the Jewish world. They maintained their Jewish identity while integrating in the social, economic and political life of the region. Until the middle of the nineteenth century the Jews of Kaifeng maintained their Jewish identity and their organized communal life. Their descendants today still identify themselves as Jews. A second Jewish Diaspora in China came into being in the middle of the nineteenth century when British and other European powers established their foothold and zones of influence in China. The Jews who settled in Hong Kong and Shanghai were "Baghdadi" Jews from Iraq and India who succeeded in founding powerful financial enterprises. Their synagogues and homes reflect wealth and grandeur. The community of "Baghdadi" Jews, such as the Sassoons and the Kadoories, remained a dominant factor in continental China until the Second World War, The third Jewish Diaspora in China is of Russian origin. Russian Jews who fled from Russia following the 1904-5 War and the 1917 Revolution settled mostly in Shanghai and conducted a very intensive Jewish life. Refugees fleeing from the Nazi persecutions formed the fourth Jewish Diaspora in China. These refugees established communities in Harbin, Tientsin and Shanghai where they were able to create a very intensive Jewish life. Under the communist regime of Mao Tse Tung the three Jewish Diasporas in continental China disappeared. During our seminar we will visit the sites of Jewish importance in Kaifeng, Shanghai, Harbin and Hong Kong. Our visits in Beijing and Xian offer us a spectacular look and insight into the culture and history of China. The seminar deals with the history of a great civilization in the most important and ancient culture in the Far East.
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THE JEWS AT THE EDGE OF THE EARTH
The Jews of England in Medieval and Modern Times
Our seminar on Anglo-Jewry consists of two distinct chapters in
the history of the Jews in England. The distinction is made clear in the
series of lectures offered daily, but is hardly achieved in the itinerary
where the medieval and the modern are intertwined. The first chapter is the
story of medieval English Jewry whose origin was in Normandy subsequent to
the conquest of the island by William the Conquerer in 1066. The happy beginnings
following the Norman conquest ended tragically with the expulsion of 1290,
the first expulsion of the Jews from any European land. During a little more
than two centuries the Jews of England formed their own communities scattered
throughout England, influenced deeply the country’s economy, and maintained
their own social, religious, educational institutions. Their scholars were
part of the Tossafists of Franco-Germany. The second chapter tells the return
of the Jews to England as Crypto-Jews who returned to Judaism in the seventeenth
century. Following the Spanish and Portuguese Jews, immigrants from central
and eastern Europe brought their Ashkenazi culture to the edge of the world
where Jewish immigrants from different backgrounds and eras created a Jewish
community in search of its identity. A special historical experience awaits
us in Cambridge where we visit the Cairo Geniza.
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THE JEWS OF GEORGIA
Their History and Culture
According to a tradition of Georgian Jews they are descendants of the Ten Tribes exiled by the Assyrians in the 8th century BCE. The first Jews, however, must have come in the early centuries of the CE when Judeo-Christians converted the local people to Christianity. The Jews of Georgia came from Byzantium, Persia and Armenia. After its conquest by the Arabs, the county remained Christian. A Jewish sect that rejected some major Jewish laws and practices emerged in the 9th century. At that time the Jews of Georgia had as their neighbors the Khazars. In the course of time Georgian Jews became serfs after loosing their property. The Russian occupation of Georgia in the second half of the 19th century opened a new chapter in the history of Georgian Jewry. They were now in contact with the Jews of Russia. From then on Georgian Jewry was under the impact of the developments and processes that prevailed in the territories dominated by Russia. Georgian Jews took a leading role in the struggle for the right to immigrate to Israel. The seminar will cover the fascinating story of a very special Jewish community.
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THE JEWS OF GREECE THROUGH THE AGES
JEWISH LIFE UNDER HELLENES, BYZANTINES, TURKS AND GREEKS
Our seminar presents the uninterrupted history of more than two thousand five
hundred years of Jewish life in the Greek mainland and islands. The meeting
and clash between Judaism and Hellenism, between Romaniot and Sefardi Jewry,
between Jews and their Greek or Turkish neighbors is a central theme of the
seminar. Some of the most exciting chapters of Jewish history are covered in
lectures on Hellenistic Judaism, Romaniot Jewry and the Shabbetai Zvi Movement.
A symposium with local experts concentrates on clothes, ritual objects and
music of Greek Jewry. In addition, visits to ancient, medieval and modern Jewish
sites present a panoramic and penetrating view of the history of the Jews in
Greece. Among sites which will be visited are the most ancient synagogue of
the diaspora in Delos and a synagogue of an almost vanished community of Romaniot
Jews in Chalkis.
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HUNGARIAN JEWRY
Tradition and Conflict
The seminar surveys the history of the Jews in Hungary from medieval to modern times. Royal protection and intensive economic activities from the 11th century onwards caused hatred and antagonism followed by blood-libels and expulsions. Even in these periods of oppression centers of Torah study flourished in Hungary. Under Ottoman rule the position of the Jews improved immensely. Some Sephardi Jews from the Balkans settled in Ottoman Hungary as they were attracted by these favorable conditions. In modern times the number of Jews increased constantly and in the post-emancipation period they were found in large numbers in many professional, financial and literary fields. Haskalah and Reform were opposed vehemently by the Orthodox and Hassidim. German, Yiddish and Hungarian speaking Jews added to this internal strife. Political anti-semitism grew in strength as the Jews integrated more deeply in Hungarian life. Hungary became the stronghold of the anti-Zionist Neture Karta and also the birth place of Herzl, the founder of political Zionism. The country offers a fascinating example of fully integrated Jews, Zionist enthusiasts and extreme Orthodox. Whatever their identity was the Holocaust made no distinction between them and the Second World War proved disastrous for Hungarian Jewry. Their partial survival after the Holocaust is the story of a miraculous revival.
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JEWISH LIFE IN MOROCCO
Jewish
life in Morocco began in antiquity and legends relate about the settlement
of Jews in Biblical times. Epigraphic evidence shows the existence of Jews
in Morocco in the early centuries of the Common Era. Jews lived there with
the Berbers long before the Muslim Arabs conquered North Africa. They succeeded
in converting several Berber tribes and in establishing a powerful community.
Under Arab rule Jewish life underwent ups and downs. A period of decline
starting in the 14th century was followed by a flourishing era with the arrival
of the Jews expelled from Spain. An exciting and interesting meeting of the
local and the Sephardi Jews led to religious and cultural clashes and symbiosis.
Morocco became a center of mysticism and a haven for the conversos. While
Jews lived in their special quarters, the mellahs, they developed
a rich and fascinating way of life. From the 18th century European influence
affected deeply Jewish life and with the establishment of the French protectorate
the Jews of Morocco underwent a serious transformation. Our visit will concentrate
on the remains of a fascinating Jewish past besides sites of general historical
interest. The seminar will examine the history, religion, culture, folklore
and customs of Moroccan Jewry.
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THE JEWS OF THE NETHERLANDS
AND ENGLAND
The return to Judaism of New Christians, whose Iberian ancestors were forcibly
converted to Catholicism, is one of the two topics of our seminar in the Netherlands
and England. The fascinating story of the reestablishment of Jewish communities
in Western Europe since the medieval expulsions will be thoroughly studied during
our visit to the most important localities of Jewish interest. While in England
we shall study the history of medieval Anglo-Jewry and visit places related to
Jewish life between 1066 and 1290. Our seminar covers all aspects of Jewish life
of a relatively little known Jewish community in the Middle Ages from the arrival
of the Jews with William the Conqueror until the expulsion in 1290. The second
part of our seminar in England concentrateson the establishment of the congregations
of the Spanish and Portuguese Jews in the seventeenth century and the communal,
religious and social life of these Sephardi Jews of converso origin.
THE JEWS OF PIEDMONT AND LOMBARDY
The trip is devoted to the history and culture of the Jews in two regions of
northern Italy, Piedmont and Lombardy. These areas are a meeting point between
Italy, Germany, France, Provence and Spain. Piedmont, which was part of the Duchy
of Savoy from 1713, attracted settlers who escaped persecution and oppression
in neighboring countries from the fourteenth Century onwards. Some of the Piedmontese
communities preserved, for generations, their customs and liturgy that had long
disappeared in their country of origin. The remaining, but often completely abandoned
synagogues, are beautiful pieces of art, little known to the Jewish world. There
is historic evidence of a Jewish presence in the Lombardy region dating back
to the twelfth century. Although there were never large numbers of Jewish settlers
in the Duchy of Milan, important cultural and religious centers emerged. Jews
were allowed to settle in the region on condition that they would give loans
to the local Christian population. Lombardy also became a successful center of
Hebrew printing. The lively Jewish community was able to establish beautiful
synagogues of which many remain. While in Italy we stay in Turin and Milan and visit the many charming nearby villages where the Jews had lived.
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THE JEWS OF PORTUGAL
The tragic
story of Portuguese Jewry from the earliest times to the forcible
conversion of 1497 and beyond is the theme of this study tour of
the Jews of Portugal. The itinerary includes
the main localities and remnants of Jewish interest which enable
us to reconstruct Jewish life in medieval Portugal and crypto-Jewish
life for five centuries. Daily lectures survey various aspects
of Jewish history in Portugal including the origins of Portuguese
Jewry, communal and social life, the Jews in the service of the
crown, cultural and religious life, science and literature, Hebrew
books from Portugal, the arrival of Castilian Jews after 1492,
Spanish and Portuguese Jewry between expulsion and conversion,
exodus and flight, the Portuguese Inquisition and auto-da-fe, crypto-Jews
from 1497 to 2000, and the Portuguese diaspora in the east and
west. The seminar examines the fascinating chapters in Jewish
history, the life of a community that reflects heroism, loyalty,
martyrdom and suffering.
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THE JEWS OF PROVENCE
A Stronghold of Jewish Culture, Mysticism and Philosophy
The beginnings of Provençal Jewry go back to antiquity when Jews settled in the first province conquered by Rome outside Italy. The Jews of Provence belonged to the communities that were in the sphere of influence of the Center in Israel. They maintained their original Jewish culture between the two major centers of Jewish life in the Middle Ages: Sepharad and Ashkenaz. While Provence was the birth place of Kabbalah, it also developed into a center of the Serphardi type of Jewish culture, combining Jewish studies, Hebrew language and Jewish philosophy with sciences and medicine. In Provence the different trends met and clashed and a series of controversies tore apart the Jews. The seminar will examine the characteristics of a unique Jewish culture that came to an abrupt end and for centuries was almost totally unknown in the Jewish world. The concluding session will refer to the Popes' Jews who remained until the French Revolution in an inland enclosure as the only Jewish remnants in Western Europe after a long series of expulsions.
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THE JEWS OF THE TWO SICILIES
From Antiquity to the Middle Ages
The seminar on the Jews of the Two Sicilies
is divided into two parts. The first part will concentrate on
the southern Italy, on the regions of Apulia and Campania where
Jews lived from antiquity till the end of the Middle Ages. Our
study of the history of the Jews in southern Italy will take
us to Bari, Trani, Venosa, Pompeii and Naples where we will visit
sites of Jewish interest and see the most important relics of
the Jewish past. The second part of our seminar will take place
in Sicily where we will visit the Jewish quarters, Jewish sites
and remains, ancient and medieval monuments in Palermo, Caltabellotta,
Agrigento, Agira and Siracusa. Our seminar will reveal the little
known or almost forgotten cultural heritage of communities in
southern Italy and Sicily that have long ceased to exist and
their memory has almost faded away.
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SOUTHERN ITALY - PUGLIA AND CAMPANIA
The seminar on the Jews of Southern Italy will concentrate on the
regions of Puglia and Campania where Jews lived from antiquity
till the end of the Middle Ages. Our study of the history of
the Jews in Southern Italy will take us to Lecce, Otranto, Oria,
Brindisi, Bari, Trani, Taranto, Matera, Venosa, Lavello, Pompeii,
Ercolano and Naples where we will visit sites of Jewish interest
and see the most important relics of the Jewish past. Our seminar
will reveal the little known or almost forgotten cultural heritage
of communities in Southern Italy that have long ceased to exist
and their memory has almost faded away. We will uncover little
known chapters in ancient Jewish history that are essential for
a proper understanding of communities that would emerge and rise
to prominence elsewhere in Europe.
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SPANISH JEWRY: FROM SETTLEMENT TO EXPULSION
The Jews of Andalusia and Castile
This travel seminar focuses on the Jews of the Iberian Peninsula from Roman times until the Expulsion and concentrates on the
great contributions of Spanish Jewry to our religion and culture.
Lectures cover the unique position of the Jews, their rich cultural
and religious achievements, their literary and scientific work,
their political and economic endeavors, and their suffering under
the Inquisition and final expulsion or conversion. Lectures provide
insight into the life of Muslims and Christians as well as the
Jews in Spain. Among places to be visited are Seville, Cordova,
Granada, Madrid, Toledo, Segovia and Avila.
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THE JEWS OF SLOVAKIA
Our seminar in Slovakia covers the country from west to east and
from north to south with emphasis on localities where Jewish
life flourished in the past and where important Jewish remains
have survived. In the course of twelve days, we cover a history
of more than half a millennium of Jewish life which is still
little known. Despite Hungarian and Moravian Jewish influence,
Slovak Jewry has retained its own unique character. Jewish tradition,
defended by scholars of the caliber of the Hatam Sofer, and reform
changes introduced by supporters of modernity and emancipation
clashed in Slovakia and split its Jewry. Our trip is an attempt
to penetrate into the depth of the history of a Jewish community
which has attracted little attention of scholars and has suffered
a very savage attack during the Holocaust. The tragedy of the
Holocaust is in bitter contrast to the beautiful and peaceful
countryside we visit.
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THE JEWS OF TURKEY
FROM CONSTANTINOPLE TO ISTANBUL
Jews have lived in Asia Minor from antiquity
to modern times without interruption. As political dominion changed
hands, Jewish life underwent transformation. Under Greek, Hellenistic,
Roman, Byzantine and Turkish rule, Jewish life changed external
characteristics while retaining the basic ingredients which ensured
Jewish continuity throughout the ages. Hellenistic and Byzantine
Jews, Ashkenazi and Italian Jews, Spanish and Portuguese Jews
have all contributed their share to a history of a two thousand
year old community that was a bridge between east and west, north
and south. Major Jewish monuments and important Hellenistic,
Byzantine and Turkish sites illustrate the fascinating history
of a community that has played an important role in shaping the
course of Jewish history. The seminar examines the most important
aspects of Jewish life in Asia Minor during the past two thousand
years.
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THE JEWS OF THE GRAND DUCHY OF TUSCANY
The seminar is dedicated to the history and culture of the Jews
in the Italian region that is known today as Tuscany and in the
past the Grand Duchy of Tuscany. Although our information about
the presence of Jews in the area goes back to the 6th century,
we know little about Jewish life in Tuscan lands in the early
Middle Ages. However, we know that several founders of the Ashkenazi
communities in the 9th and 10th centuries came from Lucca where
there was an important yeshivah in the 9th century.
Franco-German Jewish ritual and tradition owe much to the scholars
of Lucca. Visiting the important sites of Jewish interest, we
will study the cultural, religious, social, economic and communal
life of the Jews in Tuscany from the earliest until modern times.
Visiting synagogues and ghettos, we will attempt to reconstruct
Jewish life in places where Jews hardly exist any more. As Jewish
communities in Tuscany grew and developed, they created institutions
and enterprises that influenced world Jewry. The impact of Tuscan
Jews on the religious, cultural and economic life of the Jews in
Italy and on communities throughout the world will be studied thoroughly.
The lectures will present the account and sights of the Jewish
past which we will explore in Pitigliano, Sorano, Sovana, Siena,
Monte San Savino, Arezzo, San Gimignano, Firenze, Prato, Pistoia,
Pisa and Livorno.
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THE JEWS OF TRANSYLVANIA
THROUGH THE AGES
While Jews lived in Transylvania in antiquity and the Middle Ages,
the history of the community begins in the early seventeenth century
when the Prince of Transylvania invited Sefardi Jews from the Ottoman
Empire to settle in the country that was devastated by invasions.
The Jewish community grew in size and strength and in consequence
of political circumstances it underwent a serious process of Magyarization.
Our seminar will examine the development of Jewish life in Transylvania
under contradictory influences, from deep commitment to Jewish
culture to genuine attempts to be integrated into Transylvanian
or Hungarian society. During the trip we will visit some of the
most important sites of Jewish life in Transylvania with a general
introduction to Romanian Jewry in Bucharest.
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UNDER POPES AND DUKES
THE
JEWS IN UMBRIA, MARCHE, ROMAGNA, AND EMILIA
Our seminar focuses on the
history of the Jews under the Pope and in the regions of Italy
known as Umbria, Marche, Romagna and Emilia. The political changes
in the course of the Middle Ages do not allow us, except for
the Papal state, to define the political frameworks in which
Jews lived in this area which was at the beginning part of the
Holy Roman Empire. Jews lived in Rome since the Second Temple
period and throughout the Middle Ages under the Popes whose territories
included large parts of Umbria, Marche and Romagna by the beginning
of the thirteenth centuries. We will study the Popes’ attitude
towards the Jews and Jewish life in the communities that lived
for some time under their jurisdiction. By the fifteenth century
the Pope held sovereignty over the Jews in Rome, Spoleto, Umbria,
Marche, Romagna and large parts of Emilia. Travelling from south
to north, in keeping with papal expansion we will study the political,
social, religious, cultural and economic life of the Jews in
these areas. In our tour we will visit Tivoli, Assisi, Ancona,
Senigallia, Pesaro, Urbino, Bertinoro, Ravenna, Lugo di Romagna,
Bologna, Modena, Soragna, Ferrara and Parma where we will see
the Jewish monuments and the sites of general interest.
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