
1090 AD to 1110 AD, Psalm 102: The First Crusade.
This generation is that of the 1090s and 1100s.
- Resigned [1] to their exile (the Jewish victims of the West and East of the Crusades), they had never conceived of a political project and were expecting from divine benevolence a return to the Holy Land that they wished for, but for which they were not disposed to employ. They did not even conceive that they could do it; they would wait patiently for the advent of Messianic times. The shock they suffered in 1096 was all the more violent. […] (The relatively recent awareness) of the Jewish suffering (during the first crusade has only recently allowed) an awareness of their tragic magnitude and so the year 1096 suddenly changed into a fateful date: the dividing line of the Jewish history of the Middle Ages is revealed in all its grandeur. There will now be before 1096 and after 1096.
(extract of the psalm 102 associated to this generation, verse 1 )
- A prayer for a poor man when he enwraps himself and pours out his speech before the Lord.
The conquest of Toledo in 1085 pushed the Muslims of Spain to appeal to the Almoravids, an external force that has just emerged in North Africa. At first largely reducing their taxes, the Muslims supported the invader with enthusiasm. The economic situation is deteriorating, the tax pressure is increasing. This associated with the exactions of the newcomers involves a rejection of the population:
- To the 2] charges imposed by the army and the organization of the defense were added a corruption that spread rapidly, and abuses of power throughout the hierarchy of the army and the civil service. Insolent, plunderers, generals behave as in conquered countries. They seize everything that makes them want, money, women, jewelry, etc. All means are good for them to enrich themselves, from the thefts to the influence trades. As mediocre as dishonest, they are unable to exploit a victory, to command their soldiers – as thieves as themselves. The state is rapidly falling apart. The roads are less and less safe, invaded by thieves and bandits. Princes and Princesses cover everything because they often participate in the benefits of exactions and power grabs.
While the future darkens for the Jews of Spain, the awakening is even more painful in Christian Europe where religious excesses have nothing to envy to those of the Almoravids. Having initially not reacted to the Byzantine calls for help, Pope Urban II decided to save the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem from the hands of the Turks who had forbidden the city to Christian pilgrims.
Judah Halevi who fled to Christian Spain after the arrival of the Almoravids and during the period of the first Crusade, witnessed the deterioration for the Jews on both sides of his refuge:
- Born [3] in Tuleda around 1070 or 1075, Judah Halevi lived an adventurous existence, against the background of the wars and troubles of his time. The first half of his life was spent in the Muslim kingdoms of the north-east and south of the Peninsula, where he practiced medical art; the invasion of Andalusia by the Almoravids from Morocco pushed him, at the beginning of the 12th century, to seek refuge in Christian Castile. In a letter that dates from this time of his life (later, in 1108, he will return to Muslim Andalusia), he describes the Christian lords, « gigantic and hard », to which he deals; « I am caring for Babel, but she remains disabled. « . Moreover, many are the elegies in which the sensitive soul of the poet sought to interpret the peregrinations of Israel through his own wandering life. « Is there one place to the east or west where we can rest our heads? … How long, my God, will I be devoured by the burning flames between Edom and Ishmael? Which did you make my judges? «
(extract of the psalm 102 associated to this generation, verses 2 to 4 )
- O Lord, hearken to my prayer, and may my cry come to You.
- Do not hide Your countenance from me; on the day of my distress extend Your ear to me; on the day I call, answer me quickly.
It was first necessary to go to Constantinople through the center of Europe, which included many important and prestigious Jewish communities.
Mainz, like Cologne, had been able to deflect the ardor of Godefroy de Bouillon by largely financing his troops and also thanks to the intervention of Henry IV who had taken it firmly. This denier did not want any harm to its Jews who were his major asset in the development of new German cities.
The Jews of Trier also managed to avoid the threat of another « regular » troop led by Peter the Hermit for large sums of money, indicating at the same time their vulnerability to the bourgeois of the city who then attacked them and more precisely to their scrolls of the law:
- The Jews [4] of Trier carried the rollers to a fortified house. Their enemies managed to penetrate through the roof and did their rich clothes and silverware. They then threw the scrolls of the Law on the ground, lacerated them and trampled them underfoot. Later the Jews managed to recover them at the risk of their lives, with the help of the archbishop’s men – the latter was absent from the city – and to carry what was left of it in the episcopal palace. The Jews of the city proclaimed a period of mourning over it, distributed alms, and observed a daily fast from the day after Pesach to the eve of Shavuot (April 9 to May 29, 1096).
(extract of the psalm 102 associated to this generation, verses 5 to 11 )
- Beaten like grass and withered is my heart, for I have forgotten to eat my bread.
- From the sound of my sigh my bones clung to my flesh.
- I was like a bird of the wilderness; I was like an owl of the wasteland.
- I pondered, and I am like a lonely bird on a roof.
- All day long my enemies revile me; those who scorn me swear by me.
- For ashes I ate like bread, and my drinks I mixed with weeping.
- Because of Your fury and Your anger, for You picked me up and cast me down.
Among [5] the martyr communities, the communities of Speyer, Mainz and Worms whose reputation was such that they were called « Kehilot Schoum », the « communities of Schoum » (word formed from the initials of the three names). On the sidelines of the great Crusade, another property more prejudicial to the Jews was organized by a little lord:
- Count [6] Emicho de Flonheim succeeds at this time to gather around him some noble German and French, and a large number of popular elements. Anti-Jewish incidents had already occurred before, but it was Emicho who really set fire to the powders. His crusade was just as badly organized as the other popular crusades and he did not hesitate to attack the large Jewish communities he encountered on his way. […]
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(extract of the psalm 102 associated to this generation, verses 12 to 19 )
- My days are like a lengthening shadow, and I dry out like grass.
- But You, O Lord, will be enthroned forever, and Your mention is to all generations.
- You will rise, You will have mercy on Zion for there is a time to favor it, for the appointed season has arrived.
- For Your servants desired its stones and favored its dust.
- And the nations will fear the name of the Lord, and all the kings of the earth Your glory.
- For the Lord has built up Zion; He has appeared in His glory.
- He has turned to the prayer of those who cried out, and He did not despise their prayer.
- Let this be inscribed for the latest generation, and a [newly] created people will praise Yah.
- My [7] heart is in the East, and I in the depths of the West,
How would I taste for food? How could she be sweet to me?
How will I keep my promises and fulfill my wishes?
While Zion is under the yoke of Edom and me in the Arabian chains?
It would be easy for me to leave all the benefits of Spain,
For it would be so precious for me to see with my own eyes the dust of the desolate sanctuary.
Only seasoned Crusader troops arrive in Constantinople, they are heading to the Holy Land. Their only goal is to reach and liberate Jerusalem, they do not linger in search and destroy Jewish communities in their path. Despite heavy losses, they are successful, Antioch falls in 1098.
Despite this, a Jewish community remained in Jerusalem when the Crusaders became masters of it:
- Jerusalem [8] was definitely conquered July 15, 1099. The fight was fierce and the victims were very numerous. There followed a terrible massacre of the city’s Muslim inhabitants, who were generally disarmed: the blood flowed, reaching the kidneys of the horses, as reported by at least one historian.
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(extract of the psalm 102 associated to this generation, verses 20 and 21 )
- For He has looked down from His holy height; the Lord looked from heaven to earth,
- To hear the cry of the prisoner, to loose the sons of the dying nation;
(extract of the psalm 102 associated to this generation, verses 22 and 23 )
- To proclaim in Zion the name of the Lord and His praise in Jerusalem.
- When peoples gather together, and kingdoms, to serve the Lord.
- Rashi [9] was fifty-five years old, in 1095, during the preaching in Clermont of the crusade by the Champenois Eudes de Lagery, Pope Urban II. To the monk Peter of Amiens, says Peter the Hermit, bringing in Champagne the call that launches the Christians on the road to the Holy Land, Rashi answers. Commenting on the first verses of Genesis: Why begin with » In the beginning » ?, he interprets: – God has made known to His people the power of His works to give them the inheritance of nations. If the peoples of the world came to tell Israel: « You are thieves, it is by violence that you have conquered the lands of the seven nations (the land of Israel)! They would answer, « All the earth belongs to the Holy One, be it. He created it and gave it to whomever he pleased. By an act of His will. He gave it to these peoples, and by another act of His will, He took it back to give it to us « ».
(extract of the psalm 102 associated to this generation, verses 24 to 29 )
- He has afflicted my strength on the way; He has shortened my days.
- I say, « My God, do not take me away in the middle of my days, You Whose years endure throughout all generations.
- In the beginning You founded the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands.
- They will perish but You will endure, and all of them will rot away like a garment; like raiment You will turn them over and they will pass away.
- But You are He, and Your years will not end.
- The children of Your servants will dwell, and their seed will be established before You. »
[1] Simon Schwarzfuchs: « Jews in the time of the Crusades ». (French: « Les Juifs au temps des croisades ». (p. 10) ).
[2] André Clot: « Muslim Spain ». Chapter: « The reyes of taifas ». (French: « L’Espagne musulmane ». Chapitre : « Les reyes de taifas ». (p.199) ).
[3] Leon Poliakov: « History of anti-Semitism, I – The age of faith ». Chapter: « Spain of the three religions ». (French: « Histoire de l’antisémitisme, I – L’âge de la foi ». Chapitre : « L’Espagne des trois religions ». (p. 109) ).
[4] Simon Schwarzfuchs: « Jews at the time of the Crusades / The First Crusade ». (French: « Les Juifs au temps des croisades / La première croisade». (p. 52/53) ).
[5] According to: Simon Schwarzfuchs: « Jews at the time of the Crusades / On the eve of the Crusades ». (French: « Les Juifs au temps des croisades / A la veille des croisades». (p. 16) ).
[6] According to: Simon Schwarzfuchs: « Jews at the time of the Crusades / On the eve of the Crusades ». (French: « Les Juifs au temps des croisades / La première croisade». (p. 53 à 55) ).
[7] Chaim Potok: « A story of the Jewish people ». Chapter: « Islam: The Nightingales in the Sandstorm ». (French: « Une histoire du peuple Juif ». Chapitre : « L’Islam : Les rossignols dans la tempête de sable ». (p. 429) ).
[8] Simon Schwarzfuchs: « Jews at the time of the Crusades / In the Kingdom of Jerusalem ». (French: « Les Juifs au temps des croisades / Dans le royaume de Jérusalem». (p. 99 à 102) ).
[9] (Directed by Jean Baumgarten) « A thousand years of Ashkenazi cultures ». Gérard Nahon: « The wise men of France and Lotharingie ». (French: « Mille ans de cultures ashkénazes ». Gérard Nahon : « Les sages de France et de Lotharingie ». (p.35) ).