On the History of the Jews in Twelfth-and Thirteenth-Century Poland

Summary

THE PRESENT STATE OF RESEARCH

JEWISH traders of Ashkenazi origin passed through Poland on their way to Russia on business as early as the first half of the eleventh century. A considerable amount of relevant material on this subject was assembled by Ephraim (Franciszek) Kupfer. These itinerant Jews probably established some permanent settlements in various parts of Poland. Thus, we know of a Jewish presence in Cracow in the first half of the eleventh century. This presence included a regularly functioning religious court (beit din), empowered to issue religious rulings, to enforce its decisions, and to impose fines on Jews travelling through the city, in the spirit of—perhaps even inspired by—one of the takanot of Rabbenu Gershom Me'or Hagolah. Our information touches upon a financial dispute; the problem, a complicated one, was briefly discussed by R. Judah Hakohen, author of Sefer hadinin, a student of R. Gershom who was active in Mainz during the first half of the eleventh century. It is highly significant that most of our historical information about Jews in eleventhcentury Poland derives from R. Judah's responsa. This is due to the regular communications on halakhic matters between him and Polish rabbis, who seem to have considered themselves his disciples. Combined with Polish Jews’ observance of the takanot of R. Gershom, we thus have evidence of a strong historical and social affinity between these Jews and their co-religionists in Germany—most probably the parent community of the early Jewish settlement in Poland.

The Jewish traders who passed through Poland in the twelfth century included scholars and other individuals versed in religious learning. We have evidence to that effect from R. Eleazar ben Nathan (known as Raban), active in the first half of the twelfth century, and from R. Isaac ben R. Dorbelo, of the second half of the same century, one of the editors of the version of Maḥzor Vitry underlying the printed edition. The latter writes: ‘Since we are not as well versed … as our predecessors, we should be circumspect, lest people accustom themselves to be lazy and rule leniently, as I have seen in the kingdom of Poland among the traders who travel the road.’