Anti-Semitism always bubbled just below the surface. At certain times, Jews were forced to wear distinctive clothing, and mark their names on the outside of their doors. Actions like this led to further reprisals and alienation. But it is also ironic that in some ways the same restrictions that made life difficult made the people strong. Many became small businessmen, merchants, and money lenders. A few thrived, becoming wealthy by the standards of the times. The Yiddish civilization flowered in this imperfect world. Communities grew, and syna- gogues were built. Families raised children, cele- brated marriages and buried their dead. The full cycle of life blossomed and wilted, and blossomed again, and again. One myth about the Jews relates to money lending. This practice was forbidden by all the major religions prior to the year 1250. In that year the Jews were forbidden from working specific jobs and pushed into towns. Those same restric- tions prompted them to take up business careers. Money lending was just one alternative. Some of those new urban-dwelling merchants became wealthy. It was those men who gathered enough wealth to have money to lend. - Stephen Shooster
New York, there is a library called YiVO dedicated to its preservation. When Yiddish was transcribed into English, the Jews, at first, resisted. Latin letters were abhorred as the language of the church, but most Americans couldn’t read Hebrew, so tran- scription was the only way to reveal the stories to a wider audience. These stories are windows into a lost time and place.
Among the best are the writers: Shalom Aleichem and Isaac Singer
Wherever the Jews settled, they learned the local language along with Hebrew and in the east, Yiddish. Living in different regions yet speaking a common language made them well-suited for commerce. Large portions of the international Jewish population maintain a strict adherence to religion. Because of their strange customs and extensive language skills, they have been characterized as, A Nation Among Nations . Their meetings sparked concern among the ruling classes. Conversely, the Jews became ideal agents for those very same rulers. In doing so, they collected taxes, managed workers and took care of proper- ty. Mixed feelings helped fan anti-Semitic actions from the locals who were often jealous and vindic- tive. The result was an uneasy truce, a powder keg. Yet, for the most part, the various sects of people kept to themselves. In those years the measure of success was the number of children they had and the location of one’s seat in the syna- gogue. Much of an Orthodox Jew’s time was spent in prayer. It was a different sort of time. A myriad of customs and institutions defined just about every aspect of their lives. Disease and famine were near companions. Child mortality was very high.
Reference -
Yiddish Civilization - The Rise and Fall of a Forgotten Nation by Paul Kriwaczek 2006
Note: A scythe is a long wooden stick with a cutting blade at the bottom and a handle in the center. It is a well-balanced tool for mowing fields of grain by hand. Since the land was well-suited for growing grain, the region became known as the breadbasket of Europe.
Man holding a Scythe.
14
Made with FlippingBook. PDF to flipbook with ease