TH E H I STO RY O F TH E JEWS B Y fid t t at h menta l J B E 39 . b ) , iBb PROFES S OR WI H I T RY AND LI T RAT RE OF J E S H S O E U , B RE I LL G I I ATI W C C C o. HE UN ON O E E, N NN , S ECOND EDI TI ON Revised a nd E n la rged NEW YORK BLOCH PUBLI SHING COMPANY “ ” TH E J EWI SH B OOK CONCERN PYRI G T 1 1 0 1 2 1 CO H , 9 , 9 , B LOCH PUBLISHI NG COM PANY P re ss o f % i J . J L t t l e I m . 86 ve s Co p a n y w rk Y U . S . Ne . o , A TAB LE OF CONTENTS CH APTE R PAGE R M TH E AB YL I A APTI VI TY 86 B C To I . F O B ON N C , 5 , TH E TR CTI TH E EC D M PL DES U ON OF S ON TE E, 0 7 C E . R M TH E TR CTI R AL M 0 TO II . F O DES U ON OF JE US E , 7 , TH E MPL TI TH E I A CO E ON OF M SH N H , II - I . ERA TH E ALM D 200 600 OF T U , Religiou s Histo ry o f t h e Era IV. R M TH E I LA M 622 TO TH E ERA F O R SE OF IS , , OF TH E R AD 1 0 6 C US ES , 9 Literary Activity o f t h e P erio d - V. TH E W R P 1 0 0 1 2 1 JE S OF EU O E, 4 5 Spirit ual Lif e o f t h e P erio d VI - . RI D OPPR I 1 2 1 1 2 PE O OF ESS ON , 5 49 ewi h it era t ur e irt een t o Fi een J s D , Th th ft th Cen tury - VII . TH E RI D MPR VE M T 1 2 1 1 PE O OF I O EN , 49 79 I ntellect ual a n d Literary Lif e V I T I I . H E PERIOD OF E MA NCI PATI ON FRO M 1 791 Culture in t h e Nin et een t h Cen tu ry PREFACE TO FIRST EDITI ON TH ERE are two main difficul ties confronting the i o . histor an , when he attempts to write hist ry He w : must al ays ask himself , First Are the facts which I o : DO find rec rded really facts , and second I interpret “ o % i in o d u Con them c rrectly Th ers , his Hist ire 1 . 1 185 . 7 o f sulat, Paris , , Vol XI , p , speaks the o f o enthusiasm with which the Jews P rtugal , who numbered received the French tro ops in 1809. There were perhaps n o t t wo hundred Jews living in o i n o P rtugal at that t me , and they played part in pub ff t o o o lic a airs . In an address the c nventi n of the m o o o Order Brith Abraha , May r Gayn r , of New Y rk , “ o n 15 1910: said May , The great Frederick issued a general privilege , and declared it as a maxim , that Oppressi o n O f the Jews never brought prosperity to o o n ot o l any state , and Nap le n nly fol owed the same ” o c urse but co nvo ked the Sanhedrin . The facts are or o is on in the main c rect, but the presentati n all wr g . “ ” Frederick issued his Revidierte Gen e ra lprivilegium o f 17 1750 Of April , , for the Jews Prussia , but it is based o n the mediaeval idea of restrictio ns in the mos t o f n elementary rights human beings . His sentime t with regard t o the Jew s is evident fr o m a letter which o t o von H o- m 17 1780 he wr te the Minister y , May , , in “ which he says : I f the Jews were expelled and Chris o o tians w uld take their places as innkeepers , it w uld fo r o o o w e o be the g d o f the c untry , and w uld have ” mo re human beings and less Jews (Mona t ssch/rift u er d ie Geschich t e un d Wiss ens ch a - t d es J u d m t u m f f , 1 895 . o o o on , p Nap leon had by the c nv cati of “ ” the Assembly o f Jewish N o tables and the sub se 1806— 1807 quent Sanhedrin , , insulted the Jews . The o f 27 1791 law September , , had declared them as citi 5 6 PREFACE n o ze s , and he asked them whether they c nsidered France as their fatherland , and when these and simi lar questio ns were answered in the affirmative with i ro - o o-f o o n evert h e emphat c p testati n l yalty, Napole n less reintro duced the mediaeval principle o f Jewish dis abilities by issuing laws restricting Jews in do ing o o o business on credit . The facts qu ted by May r Gayn r m pro ve the Oppo site o f what he wished t o pro ve by the . These instances taken fro m Jewish hist ory co uld be multiplied endlessly fro m every peri o d and every sec ’ io o f w o o i o con t n the rld s hist ry . Jew sh hist ry has to w on d ifficu lt ies o tend with t o additi al . It extends ver o f i o o every part the civil zed w rld , but it lacks chr no o a t i m t o o l gical sequence , least unt l we co e m dern o if m times . An ther d ficulty is tha t it deals with al o st w o f every kno n spiritual activity mankind , The stu in t o w h o o dent , order understand Je is hist ry , sh uld kno w the constantly shifting b o undary lines. o f the i o a n i 1870 Ital an states fr m medi eval times u t l , and he S h o uld kn o w s o mething o f the mo rph o lo gical theo ries o f w o f o o o Hebre grammar and sch lastic phil s phy . These difficulties make themselves especially felt in n o o o f a brief manual , and , d ubt, every teacher Jew o r ish hist ry must have had such an expe ience . The 93 a Rabbis (Sanhedrin , b) find fault with Nehemi h fo r o o f or o f having sp ken ill his predecess s in fice (Neh . d o n ot re V , I wish to incur the same censure . It mains fo r the student and the teacher wh o use my b o o k t o j udge whether I improved upo n my pred eces i s o rs . My o bj ect was to place n the hand o f the stu wh o a on dent , is guided by capable teacher, a c cise an d yet readable manual o f the wh o le p o st —biblical o c hist ry . The bibli al peri o d I intenti o nally omit ih o t o o o o o ted , rder av id c ntested gr und and t allo w the b o o k t o be used in all scho o ls regardless o f o ff d gmatic di erences . OTT R E T H G HA D D U S C . C T 0 1910 CIN IN NA I , , July, . PREFACE TO SECOND EDITI ON IT is not frequent that an auth o r on any Jewish subj ect receives the enco uragement o f a demand fo r o o f o o m o f a second editi n his b k . My volu e Jewish t o i in histo ry which is again submitted the publ c , e a o f re t nded primarily as manual instruction , is vised ch iefly by being bro ught up t o date . This re visi o n became necessary o wing t o the great changes which the Wo rld War has produced in Central and n o t o o t o o Eastern Eur ope . Desiring t enlarge the b ok o o much , I have added merely the m st imp rtant facts and names in modern Jewish histo ry . In the chap l o o o in ters dea ing with the lder ep chs , nly a few n sig ificant additions have been made . Other changes m for are merely textual . It still re ains the intelligent t o x o o teacher e plain the facts given in the b k which , o f o by the very nature its intenti n , makes dry read ing for the uninitiated .