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.

Yahudi Ashkenazi, juga dikenal sebagai Yahudi Ashkenazic atau hanya Ashkenazim (bahasa Ibrani: אַשְׁכְּנַזִּים, pengucapan Ashkenazi bahasa Ibrani: [ˌaʃkəˈnazim], tunggal: [ʃaʃkəˈnazi], bahasa Ibrani modern: [aʃkena ,zim, aʃkenaˈzi]; ] adalah populasi diaspora Yahudi yang bergabung di Kekaisaran Romawi Suci sekitar akhir milenium pertama. [19]

Bahasa diaspora tradisional Yahudi Ashkenazi adalah Yiddish (bahasa Jerman dengan unsur-unsur Ibrani dan Aram), dikembangkan setelah mereka pindah ke Eropa utara: dimulai dengan Jerman dan Prancis pada Abad Pertengahan. Selama berabad-abad mereka menggunakan bahasa Ibrani hanya sebagai bahasa suci, sampai kebangkitan kembali bahasa Ibrani sebagai bahasa umum di Israel. Sepanjang waktu mereka di Eropa, Ashkenazim telah membuat banyak kontribusi penting untuk filsafat, beasiswa, sastra, seni, musik dan sains. [20] [21] [22] [23]

Istilah "Ashkenazi" mengacu pada pemukim Yahudi yang membangun komunitas di sepanjang sungai Rhine di Jerman Barat dan di Perancis Utara yang berasal dari Abad Pertengahan. [24] Setiba di sana, mereka mengadaptasi tradisi yang dibawa dari Babel, Tanah Suci, dan Mediterania Barat ke lingkungan baru mereka. [25] Ritual agama Ashkenazi dikembangkan di kota-kota seperti Mainz, Worms, dan Troyes. Rabbi Rishon Prancis yang terkenal Shlomo Itzhaki (Rashi) akan memiliki pengaruh yang signifikan terhadap agama Yahudi.

Pada akhir Abad Pertengahan, karena penganiayaan agama, mayoritas populasi Ashkenazi bergeser terus ke timur, [26] pindah dari Kekaisaran Romawi Suci ke daerah-daerah yang kemudian menjadi bagian dari Persemakmuran Polandia-Lithuania (terdiri dari beberapa bagian dari Belarus saat ini) , Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Polandia, Rusia, dan Ukraina). [27] [28] Pada akhir abad ke-18 dan 19, orang-orang Yahudi yang tetap tinggal atau kembali ke tanah Jerman menghasilkan reorientasi budaya; di bawah pengaruh Haskalah dan perjuangan untuk emansipasi, serta gejolak intelektual dan budaya di pusat-pusat kota, mereka secara bertahap meninggalkan penggunaan bahasa Yiddish dan mengadopsi Jerman, sambil mengembangkan bentuk-bentuk baru kehidupan religius Yahudi dan identitas budaya. [29]

Holocaust dari Perang Dunia Kedua memusnahkan Ashkenazim, mempengaruhi hampir setiap keluarga Yahudi. [30] [31] Diperkirakan bahwa pada abad ke-11 orang-orang Yahudi Ashkenazi terdiri dari tiga persen dari total populasi Yahudi di dunia, sementara perkiraan yang dibuat pada tahun 1930 (dekat puncak populasi) menjadikan mereka sebagai 92 persen dari orang Yahudi di dunia. [32] Segera sebelum Holocaust, jumlah orang Yahudi di dunia sekitar 16,7 juta. [33] Angka statistik bervariasi untuk demografi kontemporer Yahudi Ashkenazi, mulai dari 10 juta [1] hingga 11,2 juta. [2] Sergio Della Pergola, dalam perhitungan kasar Yahudi Sephardic dan Mizrahi, menyiratkan bahwa orang Yahudi Ashkenazi membentuk kurang dari 74% orang Yahudi di seluruh dunia. [34] Perkiraan lain menempatkan Yahudi Ashkenazi membentuk sekitar 75% orang Yahudi di seluruh dunia. [35]

Studi genetika tentang Ashkenazim — yang meneliti garis keturunan ayah dan ibu mereka — menunjukkan sejumlah besar keturunan Timur Tengah bersama, yang dilengkapi dengan berbagai persentase campuran Eropa. Studi-studi ini telah sampai pada kesimpulan yang berbeda mengenai tingkat dan sumber nenek moyang Eropa mereka, dan umumnya berfokus pada sejauh mana asal genetik Eropa yang diamati dalam garis keturunan ibu Ashkenazi. [36] Yahudi Ashkenazi secara populer kontras dengan Yahudi Sephardi (juga disebut Sephardim), yang keturunan Yahudi yang tinggal di Semenanjung Iberia, dan Yahudi Mizrahi, yang keturunan Yahudi yang masih tinggal di Timur Tengah.