Call and Response: European Jewish Emigration to Egypt and Palestine in the Middle Ages
In explaining the 13th-century emigration of French Jews to Palestine scholars have posited a number of factors: economic hardship, messianic expectation, and a desire to fulfill the miṣvot specific to the land of Israel. Because of the types of sources available, scholars have tended to focus on ra...
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Penn Press
1999
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| In: |
The Jewish quarterly review
Year: 1999, Volume: 90, Issue: 1/2, Pages: 61-101 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | In explaining the 13th-century emigration of French Jews to Palestine scholars have posited a number of factors: economic hardship, messianic expectation, and a desire to fulfill the miṣvot specific to the land of Israel. Because of the types of sources available, scholars have tended to focus on rabbis who settled in the Middle East. Some have even argued that only rabbis and individuals connected with a rabbi's household participated in the ʿaliyah. However, Cairo Geniza material reveals the role of non-rabbinic figures and minor scholars, in addition to that of the French rabbis. For some emigrants to the Middle East, we have no indication why they left their homeland. For others, Ephraim Kanarfogel's hypothesis that the rabbis wished to fulfill extra miṣvot seems correct. It can be further shown that this desire stemmed from European Jewish messianic theology. The unsuccessful attempts of the Muslims and Christians to dwell in the Holy Land were seen as signs of God's promises to reserve and restore the land to Jewish rule. Certain north European Jews seem to have attempted to hasten this prophesied event by settling in the Holy Land, in contrast to most of their south European coreligionists. Ultimately, however, only further research and the discovery of more documentation can answer questions about the motivation and influence of medieval European Jews in Egypt and Palastine. |
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| ISSN: | 1553-0604 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: The Jewish quarterly review
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.2307/1455396 |