Rashi | Page 8

been numerous, and
the number of apostates kept pace with the progress of Christianity.

In the south of France, there were Jewish communities before the fifth
century; in Burgundy and Touraine, in the first half of the sixth century;
and in Austrasia, at the end of the same century. From the Provence,
they ascended the Rhone and the Saone. Others reached Guienne and
Anjou.[2]
Although disturbed at times by the canons of various distrustful Church
councils, or by the sermons of a few vehement bishops, the Jews on the
whole led a peaceful, though not a very prosperous, existence, which
has left scarcely any traces in history and literature. Aside from a few
unimportant names and facts, these centuries mark a gap in the history
of the Jews of France, as in that of their Christian neighbors; and
literature, as it always does, followed the political and economic
destinies of the nation. From the fifth to the tenth century, letters fell
into utter decay, despite the momentary stimulus given by Charlemagne.
The human intellect, to borrow from Guizot, had reached the nadir of
its course. This epoch, however, was not entirely lost to civilization.
The Jews applied themselves to studies, the taste for which developed
more and more strongly. If as yet they could not fly with their own
wings, they remained in relation with the centres [centers sic] of
rabbinical life, the academies in Babylonia, exchanging the products of
the mind at the same time that they bartered merchandise. This slow
process of incubation was perforce fruitful of results.
I
It was in the tenth century, when the political and social troubles that
had agitated Europe since the fall of the Roman Empire were calmed,
that the Jews came forth from their semi- obscurity, either because their
numbers had increased, or because their position had become more
stable, or because they were ready, after mature preparation, to play
their part in the intellectual world.
At this time, the Jews of Northern France nearly without exception
enjoyed happy conditions of existence. From their literature, rather
scholarly than popular, we learn chiefly of their schools and their rabbis;
yet we also learn from it that their employments were the same as those
of the other inhabitants of the country. They were engaged in trade,

many attaining wealth; and a number devoted themselves to agriculture.
They possessed fields and vineyards, for neither the ownership of land
nor residence in the country was forbidden them; and they were also
employed in cattle raising. Often they took Christians into their service.
But the Jews, although they attached themselves to the soil and tried to
take root there, were essentially an urban population. They owned real
estate and devoted themselves to all sorts of industries. They were
allowed to be workmen and to practice every handicraft, inasmuch as
the guilds, those associations, partly religious in character, which
excluded the Jews from their membership rolls, did not begin to be
established until the twelfth century. Sometimes a Jew was entrusted
with a public office, as a rule that of collector of taxes. Not until later,
about the twelfth century, when forced by men and circumstances, did
the Jews make a specialty of moneylending.
The strength of the Jews resided in the fact that they were organized in
communities, which were marked by intense solidarity, and in which
harmony and tranquillity [tranquility sic] were assured by the
rabbinical institutions. Failure to respect these institutions was
punished by excommunication-a severe penalty, for the
excommunicated man encountered the hate of his co-religionists and
was driven to baptism.[3]
At the head of the communities were provosts (praepositi),
charged with surveillance over their interests, and doubtless their
representatives before the civil authority. Many Jews were highly
esteemed by the kings or seigneurs, holding positions of honor and
bearing honorific titles; but in general the Jews of France, unlike those
of Spain, were not permitted to take part in the government, or even
have a share in the political life of the nation. They contented
themselves with the enjoyment of the fruits of their labor and the
peaceful practice of their religion. They were the less disturbed because
they lived under a special regime. Being neither French nor
Christian, they were therefore not citizens; they formed a state within
the state, or rather a colony within the state, and, being neither nobles
nor serfs, they did not have to render military service. They

administered their internal affairs, and in general were not amenable to
civil or ecclesiastical legislation. For the solution of their legal
difficulties they applied to the rabbinical tribunals. In all other respects
they were dependent upon the lord of the lands upon which they
established themselves, provided they were not under the tutelle et
mainbournie of the king. In either case they