Carthaginians speaks Hebrew?

[Cimon]

in school i have to write an essay in history about this. many jews had to immigrate to eastern europe because of religious treatments in central europe in the 15th 16th 17th and mostly it was not allowed for jews to settle free in towns, so they lived in the "städtle" for there own and the language was a little bit protected by the times.
but i think it´s more polish than russian, but i don´t know if there are big differences...

There is some Polish in there too, but it's more minimal than German or Russian, I think. Not a true scholar on the subject by any means, so I could very well be wrong.

You're point about the migrations to Eastern Europe is well-taken. Interestingly, one of the theories (and it is only a theory as far as I know) about why Jews were involved in moneylending and other capital-intensive industries has to do with the fact that Jews were forced to migrate so often. Because they might be forced out of an area at the drop of a hat, they couldn't afford to have heavy merchandise that had to be loaded and transported quickly. Rather, they could only take what they could carry or load quickly, and money was often the easiest item to move and had currency everywhere.

There are of course other equally plausible factors that could explain it, either in whole or in part (the Christian prohibition against usury comes to mind), but I think it's an interesting theory nonetheless.

[Tellos Athenaios]

There is some Polish in there too, but it's more minimal than German or Russian, I think. Not a true scholar on the subject by any means, so I could very well be wrong.

You're point about the migrations to Eastern Europe is well-taken. Interestingly, one of the theories (and it is only a theory as far as I know) about why Jews were involved in moneylending and other capital-intensive industries has to do with the fact that Jews were forced to migrate so often. Because they might be forced out of an area at the drop of a hat, they couldn't afford to have heavy merchandise that had to be loaded and transported quickly. Rather, they could only take what they could carry or load quickly, and money was often the easiest item to move and had currency everywhere.

There are of course other equally plausible factors that could explain it, either in whole or in part (the Christian prohibition against usury comes to mind), but I think it's an interesting theory nonetheless.

AFAIK Jews were [often] not allowed to possess any land; and this may have had something to do with it as well?

[Cimon]

AFAIK Jews were [often] not allowed to possess any land; and this may have had something to do with it as well?

Yes, there were certainly restrictions against what Jews could and couldn't do/own, and the restriction against holding land would certainly be a contributing factor. Still, I think it is important to remember that those restrictions didn't hold in all places at all times. For example, we tend to think of the Spanish kingdom as one of the more restrictive states toward medieval Jews due to the expulsion in 1492. However, until roughly the 1300s, Jews were allowed to hold real estate in Castillian Spain, and many (some of whom were conversos) were individually very well-respected in their communities, even if the Jewish community as a whole was not.

One of the few things that did not change from place to place was the myth of the blood libel. The short (medieval) version is that Jews would kidnap a young Christian boy, and then commit human sacrifice, usually at night, as part of a religious ritual. This was such a fear, that the Venetian ghetto only had two bridges in or out of it, and these were raised from dark until dawn. The blood libel led to many pogroms against Jews throughout history, even into the 20th century in Eastern Europe and Russia, and the myth is still advanced in some parts of the world. (Interestingly, the first account of the theory comes from 1st century Alexandria, where a writer (whose name escapes me) claimed that Jews murdered young Greeks in the temple in Jerusalem.)

Circling back around, that is why I think the theory I mentioned above, while certainly not the whole story, has some merit. Yes, the prohibition against usury would contribute, and yes restrictions on land-holding would contribute as well (as would other factors), but the fear/persecution of Jews has a lot to do with the "career-choices" in my very humble opinion.

[Ibrahim]

I see no way that this blood libel is true; why would a religion explicitly and vehemently ban human sacrafice (a.k.a story of Abraham and his son (which one is dependant on religion), turn around and slaughter greeks/ christians/ palestinians or something? It simply makes no sense. that's like Islam banning Alcohol(true), then turning around and everyone is drinking like selim the sot.

then again, bigotry or hatred warrants no logic to it unfortunately.

[Leviathan DarklyCute]

I see no way that this blood libel is true; why would a religion explicitly and vehemently ban human sacrafice (a.k.a story of Abraham and his son (which one is dependant on religion), turn around and slaughter greeks/ christians/ palestinians or something? It simply makes no sense. that's like Islam banning Alcohol(true), then turning around and everyone is drinking like selim the sot.

then again, bigotry or hatred warrants no logic to it unfortunately.

Isn't it exactly the same way for christians and muslims? ;)

[AlexanderSextus]

The short (medieval) version is that Jews would kidnap a young Christian boy, and then commit human sacrifice, usually at night, as part of a religious ritual.

did anyone hear the joke Lewis Black made about this?

The christians used to think we'd kidnap their kids at night and kill them. thats bullshit. we'd kidnap them........and make them work for us, and thats totally different.

i LOL'ed @ that one.

[Rilder]

Bah at least Judism is recognized as a major religion... My Hellenistic Pagan beliefs are barely recognized anymore. :(