In Berlin and the Margravate of Brandenburg, the Elector Frederick William I allowed some Jews, expelled from Vienna, to settle in his states on their plea that they were persecuted for conscience’ sake (1671). Still more important was the readmission of the Jews to England by Cromwell in 1654; and, although the bill for their readmission did not pass, their settlement was quietly overlooked and declared by jurists to be legally justified. Another new country was opened to Jewish settlement by the end of the sixteenth century when the Spanish Netherlands had made themselves independent of the Spanish crown. The constitution of the new country was based on perfect religious freedom, and naturally fugitives from the Inquisition were among the first to avail themselves of this opportunity. They were soon joined by the settlers from other countries, and in the seventeenth century Amsterdam was one of the leading Jewish communities of the world.
The greatest importance, however, attaches to the settlement of the Jews in the New World. While in the Spanish colonies there was not only no religious liberty but even persecutions of Marranos culminating in autos-da-fe, as in the mother country, the conquest of Brazil by the Dutch in 1624 resulted in the first organized Jewish community on the American continent. The loss of Brazil in 1654 forced the Jews to emigrate, and some settled in the Dutch and British possessions in Central and South America, Surinam, Curacoa and Jamaica. But the most important settlement was that of New York in 1654. The intolerance of the Dutch, governor Stuyvesant drove some of the newcomers to Newport, R. I. (1657), where Roger Williams had proclaimed full religious liberty.
In 1733 some Portuguese Jews from England availed themselves of the opportunity created by James Oglethorpe, who made Georgia an asylum for convicts who were willing to reform. They sent some of their poor to Savannah. As the governor was unfavorable to the settlement of the Jews, fearing that their presence would prejudice the success of the colony, some Jews went to South Carolina, for which the philosopher John Locke had drafted a liberal constitution (1697). He expressly declared equal rights for non-Christians. They formed a congregation at Charleston in 1750, for a long time the most flourishing Jewish settlement in the territory now comprised in the United States. Yet up to the end of the eighteenth century only six Jewish communities are known: New York, Newport, R. I., Savannah, Ga., Charleston, S. C., Philadelphia, and Lancaster, Pa. These Jews took part in the American Revolution, and their patriotism was expressly recognized in the reply of George Washington to their addresses of congratulation when he was elected President.
An English law of 1740 gave to the Jews in the American colonies full rights of naturalization, also extended to Canada when it became a British possession. The growth of Jewish population was slow and did not begin until the reactionary governments of Europe, after the July revolution of 1830, made the hope of any improvement appear vain. Thus, since 1830 large streams of Jewish immigrants have settled all over the United States. Another far stronger current of immigration began in consequence of the persecutions in Russia in 1881. The Jewish population of America may now accordingly be figured at 2,000,000 souls. In Spanish America the only settlement of any consequence is in Argentine.
INTELLECTUAL AND LITERARY LIFE
The Reformation was promoted by the Renaissance, essentially a critical examination of traditional views. While this movement had not a very deep influence on the Jews, it did not pass entirely unnoticed. Elijah Mizrahi, Chief Rabbi of Constantinople (1455-1525), took notice of the Copernican system, and in his supercommentary on Rashi, tried to harmonize this modern conception of the cosmos with Rabbinic statements. He also wrote a text-book of arithmetic, a commentary on Euclid’s elements, an astronomical book, besides various Talmudic works.
More evident is the influence on Elijah Levita, born in Neustadt-an-der-Aisch, Bavaria, 1468, died in Venice, 1549. Elijah Levita was a teacher of many prominent Christian theologians, both Catholic and Protestant, then very much interested in the study of Hebrew. He wrote various works on Hebrew grammar, among them “Bahur” (1518), a glossary of Rabbinic words, “Tishbi” (1541), and a book on the Massorah, “Massoret ha-Massoret” (1548), in which he laid down the bold and since that time generally-accepted theory that the vowel points and accents were not invented until the eighth century. He was also a writer of popular works, translated the Psalms into Judæo-German and published the Bobo book, a translation of an Italian romance based on the English story of “Sir Bevis of Hampton,” underlying Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” (1540).
Another exponent of the Renaissance was Azariah dei Rossi of Ferrara (1511-1578), who in his work, “Meor Enayim,” a collection of critical essays, defended the theory that the Talmudic writings are not authoritative on matters of history and science, but merely on Rabbinic law. Joseph Solomo del Medigo, born in Crete, 1591, died at Prague, 1655, was an ambiguous character and adventurer, a wanderer during most of his life. In his work, “Elim” (1629), he had the courage to criticize Rabbinic theology, and especially the Kabbala. Leon Modena of Venice (1571-1648), who was a very prolific author, went still further, attacking the Rabbinic law as in many instances incongruous with the Bible, and recommending a change of the religious practices. In the works which he published he merely indicated his liberal ideas; he clearly stated them in works that remained unpublished for two centuries.
In Italy, where secular education was not held in such abhorrence as was the case in Northern Europe, in the seventeenth century two women wrote Italian poetry and made translations from Hebrew. These are Deborah Ascarelli and Sarah Copia Sullam. An attempt to rationalize Talmudic passages was made as early as the beginning of the sixteenth century. Jacob ibn Habib, who was among the exiles from Spain, settled in Constantinople, and collected the Haggadic passages of the Talmud, with the intention of publishing them with an apologetic commentary. He died in 1516 after having finished only part of his work; it was edited after his death by his son. It is even now, as “En Jacob,” a very popular book for the study of Talmudic ethics.
While on one side there was a liberal tendency noticeable in Rabbinic Judaism, on the other a consolidation of the Rabbinic legalism and a progress of mysticism were noticeable. Joseph Caro (1488-1575), a native of Spain who toward the end of his life lived in Safed, Palestine, compiled a brief compendium of the Rabbinic law, “Shulhan Aruk.” It was printed during the author’s lifetime in Venice in 1564, and often reprinted afterwards. The author followed the arrangement of Jacob ben Asher, but otherwise is quite independent. It was his object to give the whole Rabbinic law in one volume, without showing its development and without regard to different opinions. He prepared himself for his work by writing exhaustive commentaries on the codes of Maimonides and Jacob ben Asher. During his lifetime the book was annotated by Moses Isserls of Cracow (1520-1572), who called his notes “Mappah” (tablecloth). It was his object to lay down the practice of the German Jews, neglected by Joseph Caro as a rule. This codification was strongly attacked by some of the more liberal rabbis of the time. Solomon Luria (1500-1573), rabbi of Lublin, but of German descent, took a more critical view of the old sources, although apart from legal decisions he proclaimed his absolute faith in traditions and condemned the liberal tendencies of Abraham ibn Esra and Maimonides.