History of Ashkenazi Jews

Ashkenazi Jews, also known as Ashkenazic Jews or simply Ashkenazim (Hebrew: אַשְׁכְּנַזִּים, Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation: [ˌaʃkəˈnazim], singular: [ˌaʃkəˈnazi], Modern Hebrew: [aʃkenaˈzim, aʃkenaˈzi]; also יְהוּדֵי אַשְׁכְּנַז Y'hudey Ashkenaz),[18] are a Jewish diaspora population who coalesced in the Holy Roman Empire around the end of the first millennium.[19]

The traditional diaspora language of Ashkenazi Jews is Yiddish (a Germanic language with elements of Hebrew and Aramaic), developed after they had moved into northern Europe: beginning with Germany and France in the Middle Ages. For centuries they used Hebrew only as a sacred language, until the revival of Hebrew as a common language in Israel. Throughout their time in Europe, Ashkenazim have made many important contributions to its philosophy, scholarship, literature, art, music and science.[20][21][22][23]

The term "Ashkenazi" refers to Jewish settlers who established communities along the Rhine river in Western Germany and in Northern France dating to the Middle Ages.[24] Once there, they adapted traditions carried from Babylon, the Holy Land, and the Western Mediterranean to their new environment.[25] The Ashkenazi religious rite developed in cities such as Mainz, Worms, and Troyes. The eminent French Rishon rabbi Shlomo Itzhaki (Rashi) would have a significant influence on the Jewish religion.

In the late Middle Ages, due to religious persecution, the majority of the Ashkenazi population shifted steadily eastward,[26] moving out of the Holy Roman Empire into the areas later part of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (comprising parts of present-day Belarus, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Poland, Russia, and Ukraine).[27][28] In the course of the late 18th and 19th centuries, those Jews who remained in or returned to the German lands generated a cultural reorientation; under the influence of the Haskalah and the struggle for emancipation, as well as the intellectual and cultural ferment in urban centers, they gradually abandoned the use of Yiddish and adopted German, while developing new forms of Jewish religious life and cultural identity.[29]

The Holocaust of the Second World War decimated the Ashkenazim, affecting almost every Jewish family.[30][31] It is estimated that in the 11th century Ashkenazi Jews composed three percent of the world's total Jewish population, while an estimate made in 1930 (near the population's peak) had them as 92 percent of the world's Jews.[32] Immediately prior to the Holocaust, the number of Jews in the world stood at approximately 16.7 million.[33] Statistical figures vary for the contemporary demography of Ashkenazi Jews, ranging from 10 million[1] to 11.2 million.[2] Sergio Della Pergola, in a rough calculation of Sephardic and Mizrahi Jews, implies that Ashkenazi Jews make up less than 74% of Jews worldwide.[34] Other estimates place Ashkenazi Jews as making up about 75% of Jews worldwide.[35]

Genetic studies on Ashkenazim—researching both their paternal and maternal lineages—suggest a predominant amount of shared Middle Eastern ancestry, complemented by varying percentages of European admixture. These studies have arrived at diverging conclusions regarding both the degree and the sources of their European ancestry, and have generally focused on the extent of the European genetic origin observed in Ashkenazi maternal lineages.[36] Ashkenazi Jews are popularly contrasted with Sephardi Jews (also called Sephardim), who descend from Jews who settled in the Iberian Peninsula, and Mizrahi Jews, who descend from Jews who remained in the Middle East.

Orang Yahudi Ashkenazi, juga dikenali sebagai Yahudi Ashkenazic atau hanya Ashkenazim (Ibrani: אַשְׁכְּנַזִּים, pengucapan Ashkenazi Ibrani: [ˌaʃkənazim], tunggal: [ˌaʃkənazi], Ibrani moden: [aʃkenazim, aʃkenazi], juga יְהוּדֵי אַשְׁכְּכַּ Y'hudey Ashkenaz) ] adalah populasi diaspora Yahudi yang bersatu dalam Empayar Rom Suci menjelang akhir milenium pertama. [19]

Bahasa kaum diaspora tradisional Yahudi Ashkenazi adalah bahasa Yiddish (bahasa Jerman dengan unsur-unsur bahasa Ibrani dan Aramaik), yang dibangunkan setelah mereka berpindah ke Eropah utara: bermula dengan Jerman dan Perancis pada Zaman Pertengahan. Selama berabad-abad mereka menggunakan bahasa Ibrani hanya sebagai bahasa suci, sehingga kebangkitan bahasa Ibrani sebagai bahasa umum di Israel. Sepanjang masa mereka di Eropah, Ashkenazim telah membuat banyak sumbangan penting kepada falsafah, biasiswa, kesusasteraan, seni, muzik dan sains. [20] [21] [22] [23]

Istilah "Ashkenazi" merujuk kepada peneroka Yahudi yang menubuhkan komuniti di sepanjang Sungai Rhine di Jerman Barat dan di Perancis Utara yang bertarikh pada Zaman Pertengahan. [24] Setelah itu, mereka menyesuaikan tradisi yang dibawa dari Babylon, Tanah Suci, dan Mediterranean Barat ke persekitaran baru mereka. [25] Upacara agama Ashkenazi berkembang di bandar-bandar seperti Mainz, Worms, dan Troyes. Rishon rabbi Perancis yang terkenal Shlomo Itzhaki (Rashi) akan mempunyai pengaruh penting terhadap agama Yahudi.

Pada akhir Abad Pertengahan, kerana penganiayaan agama, majoriti penduduk Ashkenazi beralih ke arah timur, [26] bergerak keluar dari Empayar Rom Suci ke kawasan-kawasan yang kemudian menjadi sebahagian daripada Komanwel Poland-Lithuania (yang merangkumi sebahagian dari masa kini Belarus , Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Poland, Rusia, dan Ukraine). [27] [28] Dalam perjalanan akhir abad ke-18 dan ke-19, orang-orang Yahudi yang tinggal di atau kembali ke tanah Jerman telah menghasilkan reorientasi budaya; di bawah pengaruh Haskalah dan perjuangan untuk pembebasan, serta penanaman intelektual dan budaya di pusat-pusat bandar, mereka secara beransur-ansur meninggalkan penggunaan orang Yiddish dan mengadopsi Jerman, sambil membangun bentuk baru kehidupan agama Yahudi dan identiti budaya. [29]

Holocaust Perang Dunia Kedua menghancurkan Ashkenazim, yang menjejaskan hampir setiap keluarga Yahudi. [30] [31] Dianggarkan bahawa pada abad ke-11, Ashkenazi Yahudi menyusun tiga peratus jumlah penduduk Yahudi di dunia, sementara anggaran yang dibuat pada tahun 1930 (berhampiran puncak populasi) menjadikan mereka sebagai 92 peratus daripada Yahudi dunia. [32] Sejurus sebelum Holocaust, jumlah Yahudi di dunia berjumlah kira-kira 16.7 juta. [33] Angka statistik berbeza untuk demografi kontemporari Yahudi Ashkenazi, antara 10 juta [1] hingga 11.2 juta. [2] Sergio Della Pergola, dalam pengiraan kasar kaum Yahudi Sephardic dan Mizrahi, menunjukkan bahawa Yahudi Ashkenazi membentuk kurang daripada 74% orang Yahudi di seluruh dunia. [34] Perkiraan lain meletakkan Yahudi Ashkenazi sebagai membentuk kira-kira 75% orang Yahudi di seluruh dunia. [35]

Kajian-kajian genetik mengenai Ashkenazim-meneliti kedua keturunan mereka dan keturunan ibu-mencadangkan jumlah yang besar dari keturunan Timur Tengah yang dikongsi, dilengkapi dengan peratusan berbeza-beza admixture Eropah. Kajian-kajian ini telah menyimpulkan kesimpulan mengenai kedua-dua darjah dan sumber-sumber keturunan mereka di Eropah, dan secara amnya menumpukan pada sejauh mana asal-usul genetik Eropah yang diperhatikan dalam garis keturunan Ashkenazi. [36] Orang Yahudi Ashkenazi berbeza dengan Yahudi Sephardi (juga disebut Sephardim), yang turun dari orang Yahudi yang menetap di Semenanjung Iberia, dan Yahudi Mizrahi, yang turun dari orang Yahudi yang tinggal di Timur Tengah.