Of the Talmudists of this period, the greatest is Solomon ben Isaac (Rashi) of Troyes (1040-1105). He wrote a commentary on almost the whole Babylonian Talmud printed in all Talmuds, and a standard work to-day. He is the author of commentaries on most of the Biblical books. His commentary on the Pentateuch contains in clear and concise language the Rabbinic interpretation of the Mosaic law and well-chosen homiletical interpretations from the Midrash, and is one of the most popular works in the Rabbinic literature. It has been printed with the text of the Pentateuch innumerable times, and is a very popular text-book in Jewish study circles all over the world. Rashi wrote other Rabbinic works and religious hymns. The most prominent Rabbinic author of this period in Spain was Isaac Alfasi (born in Fez, 1013; died in Spain, 1103). He wrote an abridged Talmud, omitting all discussions of matters not of legal interest and all the laws not in force after the destruction of the Temple. By this method he facilitated the rendering of legal decisions. In Italy there lived at this time Nathan ben Jehiel of Rome, who wrote a Talmud dictionary “Aruk,” using the work of the same title by Zemach Gaon.
Rashi’s grandsons, Samuel, Isaac and Jacob ben Meir were also prominent Talmudic authors. Samuel ben Meir (Rashbam) wrote several Talmudic treatises, supplements to his grandfather’s commentaries, and a commentary on the Pentateuch somewhat more free from the blind, unrestricted submission to Rabbinic authority which characterizes his grandfather’s work. The greatest Talmudist among the brothers was Jacob ben Meir (Rabbenu Tam, died 1171), whose chief work is “Sefer Hayashar,” in which he proclaims the principle that the contradictions in the Talmud must be harmonized. These men are the founders of a school of authors known as Tosafists, from “Tosafot” (Additions), glosses to Rashi’s Talmud commentary. These glosses are printed in most of our editions of the Talmud. Through the activities of these men the French province of Champagne and Western Germany became the chief seats of Rabbinic studies.
CHAPTER VI
PERIOD OF OPPRESSION (1215-1492)
During the thirteenth century the persecutions of the Jews continued, although they are of a more sporadic character than those of the time of the crusades. In 1235 a number of Jews were killed in Fulda on the charge of ritual murder. This is the first distinct case of its kind, but was frequently repeated in France and various places in Germany, although Emperor Frederick II (1236) and Pope Innocent IV (1247) defended the Jews against this accusation.
An important change in the political condition of the Jews resulted from the law of Frederick the Belligerent of Austria (1244). In this law the territorial ruler for the first time proclaimed his right to legislate for the Jews, heretofore considered the exclusive privilege of the Emperor of Germany, as overlord of all the Jews. This law deals largely with the regulation of money-lending. It permits a very high rate of interest, and allows the Jews to be tried in accordance with their own laws. It prohibits all violence toward the persons and properties of the Jews, their synagogues and cemeteries, and forbids the forcible baptism of Jewish children. It became the prototype for all similar mediæval legislation, and was repeated almost verbatim in subsequent laws issued by the kings of Bohemia, Hungary, the Dukes of Saxony and Silesia, and others during the thirteenth century.
In England, the Jews were constantly being blackmailed by King John (1199-1216) and by King Henry III (1216-1272). The most notable and typical instance of the extortion of money from the Jews, is that reported of King John, who imprisoned a Jew and ordered that one of his teeth should be drawn every day until he agreed to pay the sum demanded of him. The heavy taxes laid upon the Jews forced them to charge higher rates of interest, thus embittering the people against them, and making them so miserable that they asked to be permitted to emigrate. Finally Edward I, in 1290, ordered the expulsion of all the Jews from England. They were permitted to take their property with them, and a sea captain, who put the Jewish exiles aboard his vessel on a sand bar where they were drowned by the high tide, was put to death.
In France the vassals possessed power independent of the crown. There the Jews were expelled from the territory of the king and recalled several times during the fourteenth century. At each expulsion they were robbed, so that an assembly of Jewish notables proposed to declare it unlawful, under penalty of excommunication, for any Jew to settle in territory from which the Jews had been previously expelled. Judah Hechasid, author of a book on religious ethics, however, condemned this resolution because it would not be effective and merely cause the Jews to transgress the law.
A very serious persecution broke out in Franconia, in 1298, the Jews being accused of desecrating the host in Roettingen. This is the first case of this kind, often repeated up to the sixteenth century. The leader of the mob was a man named Rindfleisch. Another bloody persecution broke out in Alsace, in 1336, under the leadership of an innkeeper, John Armleder, so-called because he fastened to his arm a patch of leather which was imitated by all his followers. These riots were finally suppressed after having brought great misery upon the Jews, but the evil-doers were not punished.