Jewish History Soundbites

Among the many manifestations of medieval European antisemitism was the blood libel – the infamous false accusations of ritual murder which were used against Jewish communities for a millennium, resulting in many innocent Jewish lives lost and a climate of fear and danger surrounding the Pesach holiday. Directly related to the Christian holiday of Easter, the specific accusation of ritual murder developed in England in 1144, with the first recorded blood libel surrounding the death of William of Norwich. It soon spread to continental Europe, and remains to this day in some parts of the world. Aside from the challenges inherent in confronting the blood libel itself, many seminal events in Jewish history had their roots in a blood libel, such that it has cemented itself as a tragic component of the collective Jewish experience.    

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Rav Yosef Chaim (1835-1909), better known by his popular work Ben Ish Chai, was an important leader of the Baghdad Jewish community of the 19th century, whose influence reached across the Ottoman Empire and beyond. Having grown up in the rabbinical aristocracy of Baghdad, he succeeded his father’s position in 1859, serving the Jewish community for the next half century. This was primarily through his masterful oratorical skills, which he delivered twice daily, every Shabbos and on special occasions to the entire community. He wrote tens of works on the entire gamut of Torah literature, and financed his own publication costs to have them printed in Jerusalem. He made a historic journey to the Land of Israel in 1869, and at the end of his life inspired the Calcutta based philanthropist Yosef Avraham Shalom to fund the establishment of the famed Porat Yosef yeshiva. His innovative halachic methodology influences the world of Sephardic psak until today.

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External forces of the modern era such as political & economic changes, emancipation, the collapse of the kahal autonomy, technological advancement, wars, urbanization & immigration, led to the mass secularization of the Jewish People in the modern era. Conversely Orthodoxy was defined and strengthened through confronting its struggles during this time. Many non-orthodox internal Jewish movements arose over the course of the 18th-20th centuries, each one attempting to redefine Jewish identity in the modern era. While most Jews secularized and assimilated, various internal Jewish movements from Reform & Haskala to Jewish nationalism, attempted to create an alternative sense of Jewish identity for modern times.

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The secularization of the Jewish People in the modern era really begins as a slow but growing trend within the communities of the Spanish Jewish diaspora of northern Europe in the 16th century. In the pre modern era, the legally backed autonomy of the Kahal – the Jewish autonomous communal structure, ensured that at least externally and superficially, the Jewish individual maintained a nominal Jewish religious identity and mode of observance. With the advent of the modern era, the rise of the nation-state, with its view of the individual citizen as an entity, the kahal lost its autonomous jurisdiction, religious affiliation was no longer the sole arbiter of identity, and secularism became possible for the first time in European history. As religious observance became a matter of personal choice, this voluntary association emerged as a defensive posture, which ultimately strengthened orthodox identity. Changes in legislation – especially emancipation and compulsory education laws – and the massive immigration to the United States at the turn of the 19th & 20th centuries, led to large swaths of Jewry embracing secularization in a growing trend which was bereft of ideology, leadership or a formal platform. It was rather a function of modernity, and its reality of integration into surrounding society.

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The modern era brought many external changes which challenged the centuries old Jewish communal structure. Political change, emancipation, wars, revolution, economic development, technological advancement, the industrial revolution, urbanization, immigration and other external forces, all contributed towards a growing trend of secularization among the general European as well as the Jewish population. This convergence of factors and the movement towards secularization threatened the religious status quo.

            Internal Jewish movements such as Jewish Haskala, Reform, Neolog and others arose in Germany, Galicia, Russia & Hungary, which sought to redefine Jewish identity in the modern era, and make it more compatible to integrate into an emancipated European society. Religious figures from the traditional establishment struggled with these new movements, redefining Orthodoxy in the process. Orthodoxy in the modern era came to define Jewish identity through its very struggle with modernity. Its combative confrontation with rival Jewish movements regarding the new means of defining Jewish identity in the modern era strengthened Orthodoxy, and paved the way for the flourishing of Orthodoxy as a movement in the modern era.

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Cross River, a leading financial institution committed to supporting its communities, is proud to sponsor Jewish History Soundbites. As a trusted partner for individuals and businesses, Cross River understands the importance of preserving and celebrating our heritage. By sponsoring this podcast, they demonstrate their unwavering dedication to enriching the lives of the communities in which they serve. Visit Cross River at https://www.crossriver.com/

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For sponsorship opportunities about your favorite topics of Jewish history or feedback contact Yehuda at:  [email protected]