The Ottoman Empire and Judaism

By the year 1000 B.C.E the Jews had founded Israel as their national state (“Jews”). They actively practiced a very distinctive religion, Judaism. Israel was conquered several times and eventually came under the rule of the Roman Empire (“Jews”). During this time, Jews were legal citizens of the Empire. However, the Jews and Christians diverged quickly; the Jews were marginalized for being different and strange. They rejected the belief that Jesus is the Messiah and other christian laws. Eventually the Jewish revolt in 135 C.E. drove the Jews out of Jerusalem (“Jews”). They then lived throughout the Roman Empire and the materializing medieval states. They lived in their own communities called ghettos because they were not allowed to own land

Jews immersed themselves in studying and Talmud, one of the greatest writings in Jewish literature was written and Jews involved themselves in commerce. Under Islam Jews were able to “preserve their rights and tradition” and this tolerance lead to their “economic and social expansion”. In the court of the Caliph, Jews were trusted and were placed in high positions alongside the Caliph. They emphasized learning and translating Arabic books. “From the second half of the eighteenth century to the end of the eleventh century, Jewish life flourished while contributing greatly to scholarship. A translating program was established...There they translated the Arabic books into romance languages, as well as Greek and Hebrew texts into Arabic.” Their studies resulted in contributions to mathematics, medicine, botany, geography, poetry and philosophy. One really good benefit that Jews gained from living in the Golden Age is being able to have their own civil system within their communities and would only involved Muslim courts if the situation involved a Jew and a

Jews believed made it them more holy through the covenant, but in reality it also created segregation. Jews had to make the decision to preserve their religious covenant with G-d through circumcision, and be excluded from Greek culture. Many Jews chose the secular route, and compromised their religious belief in order to live and thrive in Greece. Because of Greek rule, Jews were forced to find a way to adapt and change their culture and practices in attempt to fit into Greek society. “Hellenization was a way to preserve Jewish culture - and the Jewish community - in an environment where Jews were resented by the native population and highly dependent on their Greek rulers,”

In a time notorious for religious wars and acts of injustice, some empires chose to keep an open mind and benefited greatly. The Ottoman empire used other empires’ religious intolerance to their advantage. They had all religions, even their own, make a contribution to the empire. Muslims and people of conquered lands were forced to served in the military. On the other hand, Jews and Christians had to heavy taxes. By allowing Jews and Christians a safe place to practice their religion it made the empire desirable. With other empires forcing conversions, expelling, or even murdering paying tax was no problem. In exchange for paying these tax the

Religious diversity was allowed in different degrees among the Islamic Empires. Sunni Muslims ruled the Ottoman Empire, but there was a common acceptance of other religions. Mughal rule seemed the most accepting of other religions, as it enforced the Policy of Religious toleration under Akbar the Great. Seemingly least accepting of religious diversity was the Safavid Empire with its loss of religious freedom towards its decline. Religious diversity was accepted in degrees among the Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughal Empires with certain restrictions like Jitza and Devshirme in, but also approbations like the Policy of Religious Toleration in the Mughal Empire also known as the most religiously accepting empire.

The Ottoman Empire was an Islamic religion and those who practiced were called Muslims. The Ottoman Empire survived for more than five centuries. The empire represented a new phase in the long encounter between Christendom and the world of Islam. They established a system by which other religious factions my practice within the empire in exchange for a head tax. Sought to bring unity to the Islamic World and to serve as the strong sword of Islam by protecting the “strong sword of Islam. It ended the Christian Byzantine Empire by conquering Constantine in 1453. (Ways of the World 434)

Jews are human beings with their own history, philosophy, and eccentricities. They are a people apart from others not because of their separate religious beliefs, but because they are an ancient cultivating group of people who have their original antiquities. At the end of the 19th century, millions of Jews are living throughout Europe, and many Jews still do not have the freedoms of movement and live in areas where the government gives them special authorization. Anti-Semitism exists all in the nineteenth century European societies. During the First World War, large Jewish communities advance around the capitals. This concentration of Jewish population in large cities have a strong impact on their lifestyle and make them more visible in the

Throughout the history of the world, the Jewish people have been persecuted and oppressed because of their religious beliefs and faith. Many groups of people have made Jews their scapegoat. Jews have suffered from years of intolerance because people have not understood what the religion really means. They do not understand where and why the religion began, nor the customs of it's people. For one to understand the great hardships, triumphs, and history of the Jewish people one must open-mindedly peruse a greater knowledge of the Jewish people and faith.

I did have a few questions that I was curious about that I wanted to ask Mr. D. As stated earlier, I wanted to know why he consider being Jewish as his race and religion. He stated that his parents taught him that at a young age that being Jewish was his race and religion. He did say that he know other races that are Jewish but it was kind of hard for him to accept that. Like I said before, Jewish people consider themselves as a family and according to Mr. D’s Jewish family, all of them where white. I can understand why he thinks the way he thinks about Jews as a race, I had to consider what time period his parents and Mr. D grew up in. Mr. D and his parents grew up in a time where races did not mixed with each other. So, it would be hard for Mr. D to see other races as Jews, because when he grew up everybody in the Jewish faith was white and his parents did not tell him any differently. I was curious about that because after reading Melanie Kaye/Kantrowitz’s (2013) reading, I wanted to know why Mr. D consider it to be his race and religion. The reading states that Jews are not a race, but it is a religion. The article talked about how many other people of color believe in the Jewish faith and that anyone can believe in the faith. I just needed clarification to why Mr. D thought that.

They brought across the seas their religion and traditions. [1]. This means establishing and maintaining a comfortable distance from the synagogue but participating in some of its events and services. Only 6% of the Russian-speaking Jewish population considers religion “very important,” and another 35% “somewhat important” yet many, including very secular people. They helped established many synagogues in the East Coast spreading across the country. They helped many other people around them have an interest or in a way a conversion to Judaism due to the way the believed in and the way the truly were very holy about it, [2]. “For many others, the strict religious practices of Orthodox Judaism required that they live near an existing Jewish community. Around the turn of the century, nearly one-half of the Jewish population of the United States lived in New York City. There, they would create a world unlike any other in the annals of American immigration”. Also they received a negative side as well from Christians and they were upset thinking they were persuading the people into something bad for not believing the same things they do.

1. Economic- people felt that they had too much economic growth. But the Jews of 17th- 20th century were very poor. So that really does not make much sense to me.

Judaism and Islam have a large history of fighting which has separated them significantly but they have also grown similarly side by side. On one hand there is the oldest religion and on the other one there is the youngest religion but both of them possess the same belief in monotheism, and to a large extent a similar code of law and scriptural authority. These religions share a similar creation story and patriarchy, since the roots of these two are to be found in the basin of Mesopotamia, dubbed the “Fertile Crescent” of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. The story is used here as an opening to introduce a religious law effecting God and the surrounding area of the Arab nations, the Hebrews, the Muslims, and even a mention of Mesopotamian law. Chatim Potok phrases their story in his book Wanderings: Chaim Potok’s history of the Jews and he wrote “Abraham was probably born in the Sumerian City of Ur four thousand years ago a scholar invented a label for the descendants of Shem; he called them Semites,” (23).1

Antin presents an expansive summary of Jewish history that concentrates on the old world and new world for immigrants worldwide,, instead of Jewish ethnisities in Russia or Poltzk. Jewish Immigrants’ History illustrates how religion can effect one’s fate. The ill-fated wars between religions and cultures are mainly to blame for the isolation and extermination of war amongst the

Jews have a fairly long history in Hungary. It is believed that the first Jews settled in Hungary in the 2nd century CE (World Jewish Congress). In 1251 there was a Jewish charter that put all the Jews under royal protection. After this, there was a large number of Jews that moved to Hungary which led to the development of historical communities. After the annexation of Hungary by the Ottoman Turks, Jews lived in peace, as long as they paid taxes. Along with the expulsion of the Ottoman Turks, the Jews disappeared from Hungary. It was not until the 18th century where Ashkenazi Jews starting arriving from Czech and German territories (World Jewish Congress). By the end of the 18th century there were just under 100,000 Jews living in

Baraz, Yevgeniya. "The Position of Jews and Christians in the Ottoman Empire." Inquiriesjournal.com. Inquiries Journal/Student Pulse LLC, 2017.