The Jewish Community of Speyer
Speyer
In French: Spire; Eng. sometimes Spires
A city in Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany.
Although local traditions, mainly legendary, speak of Jewish settlement in Speyer in Roman times, Jews probably first came to the town in the early 11th century. Documentary evidence for a Jewish settlement in the town dates only from 1084. At that time Jews fled from Mainz for fear of persecution because of a fire they were accused of having caused. The Bishop Ruediger allotted them a special residential quarter and gave them a plot from church lands to be used as a cemetery. They were also allowed to build a protective wall around their quarter. Bishop Ruediger granted them unrestricted freedom of trade and considerable autonomy. The Jews were also expressly allowed to sell to Christians meat which was ritually unclean for Jews, and they did not have to pay any duties or tolls when entering or leaving the town. They were also given permission to employ Christian servants.. By 1096 a synagogue had been built. The Jewish community of Speyer was one of the first Rhine communities to suffer during the first crusade. On a Sabbath, the eighth of Iyyar (May 3, 1096) a mob of crusaders surrounded the synagogue intent upon attacking the community while all were gathered in one spot. Forewarned, the Jews had concluded their service early and fled to their homes. Nevertheless, ten Jews were caught outside their homes and killed. When Bishop John heard of what occurred, he came to the defense of the Jews with his militia, prevented further bloodshed, and punished some of the murderers.
The community grew and prospered during the 12th century; its economic position was excellent, and it established itself as a center of Torah. Among the scholars of Speyer in this period were Eliakim B. Meshullam ha-Levi, a student of Isaac B. Judah of Mainz; Kalonymus B. Isaac, known as a mystic as well as a Talmudist; Isaac B. Asher ha-Levi; Jacob B. Isaac ha-Levi, a German Tosafist and author of a dirge on the crusade period; Samuel B. Kalonymus he-Chasid; Shemariah B. Mordecai, a correspondent of R. Jacob Tam and a great Talmudic authority; Meir B. Kalonymus, the author of a commentary to the Sifra, Sifrei, and Mekhilta; and Judah B. Kalonymus B. Meir, the author of a Talmudic lexicon, Yichusei Tanna'im ve-Amora'im.
In 1195, after severe persecutions following a blood libel, Emperor Henry VI demanded that the Jews be compensated for damages and that the burned synagogue and ruined houses be rebuilt.
In 1282 a blood libel brought suffering upon the community again. In 1286 many Jews of Speyer and the neighboring communities of Worms, Mainz, and Oppenheim were involved in the ill-fated attempt at immigration to Eretz Israel led by Meir B. Baruch of Rothenburg. The community had a high degree of autonomy, administered by a "Judenbischof" together with a Jewish municipal council. In this period the community maintained not only a synagogue and a cemetery, but also a communal wedding hall, a hospital for the indigent poor (Hekdesh), and a Matzot bakery.
At the beginning of the 13th century, the Speyer communities, Worms and Mainz, amended comprehensive community regulations in public affairs, which became known to have a decisive impact on the lives of Jews in the Ashkenaz communities.
The community suffered somewhat during a blood libel in 1342; it was, however, to meet its destruction during the Black Death persecutions in 1349.
With much difficulty the community was rebuilt, but without any of its prior standing as a center of learning. In 1405 the Jews were expelled from the town and allowed to return only in 1421. In 1430 they were again expelled, returning again in 1434, only to be driven out once more a year later. After an interval of 30 years they resided again in Speyer. Karl IV forgave the city's residents for the massacre and robbery they did to the Jews and allowed them to hold the robbery.
In 1467 the town granted the Jews their protection for a period of ten years. Yet in 1468 and 1472 Bishop Matthias von Rammung issued anti-Jewish decrees, including a ban on charging interest and practicing usury; forbidding Jews to appear publicly on Christian feast days; forcing Jews to wear distinctive clothing; forbidding the building of a school or synagogue without the bishop's permission; and an edict confining Speyer Jews to a ghetto.
By that time, however, the number of Jews in Speyer was very small. In fact, from the 16th to the 18th centuries only individual Jews lived in the town. Those who fled from Speyer settled in neighboring places, such as Bruchsal, Berghausen, Harthausen, Dudenhofen, Otterstadt and Landau. In the 19th century the community was renewed; by 1828 it was flourishing once more. A new Talmud Torah was opened and the synagogue was enlarged in 1866. A new Jewish cemetery was consecrated in 1888. At the beginning of the 20th century Dr. Adolf Wolf Salvendi and Dr. Steckelmacher were rabbis of Speyer.
In 1933 there were 264 Jews in Speyer. That same year all the community's cultural associations as well as the Jewish youth societies were banned. In May 1934 the community initiated courses for the study of Hebrew. In 1939 there were still 77 Jews there; of these 51 were deported on October 22, 1940 to the Gurs concentration camp in France and almost all the rest to camps in Eastern Europe.
Jewish ritual objects from the 12th and 15th centuries were preserved in a museum in Speyer.
Shmuel Ben Kalonymos
(Personality)Shmuel Ben Kalonymos. Leader of the Hasidei Ashkenaz (German pietist) movement
He was a member of the Kalonymus family, one of the most important in Germany. He was born in Speyer to where his father had moved from Mainz after the massacres of the First Crusade in 1096. Nothing is known of Shmuel's life and very few of his writings have survived. He apparently wrote exegetical works on the Pentateuch and on Midrash. The fact that he was called 'the pious' and 'the prophet' indicates that he engaged in mysticism. Shmuel contributed to the authorship of the key work of the Hasidei Ashkenaz, the Sefer Hasidim. Its main author was his son Yehuda he-Hasid who probably also lived for many years in Speyer.
Abraham Ben Samuel He-Hasid
(Personality)Abraham Ben Samuel He-Hasid. 12th-13th century poet. Born in Speyer, Germany, he was among the three who constituted the bet din of Speyer (referred to as “the wise men of Speyer”). Unlike his father and brother (Rabbi Judah Ben Samuel He-Hasid), who were both famous for their mysticism and pietism, Abraham was known for his exoteric teachings.
He wrote four elegies describing the suffering of Jews during the Crusades of 1096 and 1147. He died in Speyer, Germany.
David Ben Meshullam of Speyer
(Personality)David Ben Meshullam of Speyer (12th-13th centuries), poet, born in Mainz, Germany, he was probably the son of Rabbi Meshullam, a scholar who lived in Mainz in 1034. On February 19, 1090, David Ben Meshullam, together with Judah Ben Kalonymus and Moshe Ben Jekuthiel, was received by Emperor Henry IV as representative of the Jewish community.
He composed a selihah for the eve of the Day of Atonement which begins with Elohim al Domi le-Dami (God! Be Not Silent on My Blood). The work is still used in German and Polish rituals, yet the original text, which described the horrors of the First Crusade, was changed by censorship. He died in Speyer, Germany.
SHAPIRO
(Family Name)Surnames derive from one of many different origins. Sometimes there may be more than one explanation for the same name. This family name is a toponymic (derived from a geographic name of a town, city, region or country). Surnames that are based on place names do not always testify to direct origin from that place, but may indicate an indirect relation between the name-bearer or his ancestors and the place, such as birth place, temporary residence, trade, or family-relatives.
Shapiro is based on the city of Speyer in Rhenish/Rhineland-Palatinate/Rheinland Pfalz, Bavaria, Germany (in French Spire, and in English Spires). Jews settled there in the 11th century, but were compelled to leave in the 14th century, when they spread to Poland, Bohemia, Hungary and Russia. The three communities of Speyer, Magenca and Worms are known together as the Shum communities, an important spiritual Jewish center, where the Shum regulations were published in the 12th century by scholars from three communities. Jewish family names associated with the city of Speyer include Spira, Spire, Spier, Sprio, Spero, Chapiro, Sprai, Szpir, Saphir and Spear, and Szpajer, Spier and Spira to Spirea. Schapira is documented as a Jewish family name in 1654, and the French variant Chaprat in the mid 20th century. De Spera ("from Speyer") is recorded as a Jewish family name in 1400; Spira in 1530; Spiro in the 16th century; Speyer in 1644; Spire in 1670; and Spir in 1767. These names can also be linked to the Hebrew term Shafer, which means "grace/beauty/loveliness" or Shepar meaning "to be beautiful", hence also be linked to the precious stone called Sapphire.
Distinguished bearers of the Jewish family name Shapiro include the Lithuanian scholar and grammarian Aryeh Leib Ben Isaac Shapiro (1701-1761); the Russian-born Yiddish writer Levi Joshua Shapiro (1878-1948); and the 20th century American anthropologist Henry Lionel Shapiro.
SHAPIRA
(Family Name)Surnames derive from one of many different origins. Sometimes there may be more than one explanation for the same name. This family name is a toponymic (derived from a geographic name of a town, city, region or country). Surnames that are based on place names do not always testify to direct origin from that place, but may indicate an indirect relation between the name-bearer or his ancestors and the place, such as birth place, temporary residence, trade, or family-relatives.
Shapira is a variant of Shapiro, based on the city of Speyer in Rhenish/Rhineland-Palatinate, Bavaria, Germany (in French Spire, and in English Spires). Jews settled there in the 11th century, but were compelled to leave in the 14th century, when they spread to Poland, Bohemia, Hungary and Russia. The three communities of Speyer, Magenca and Worms are known together as the Shum communities, an important spiritual Jewish center, where the Shum regulations were published in the 12th century by scholars from three communities. Jewish family names associated with the city of Speyer include Spira, Spire, Spier, Sprio, Spero, Chapiro, Sprai, Szpir, Saphir and Spear, and Szpajer, Spier and Spira to Spirea. Schapira is documented as a Jewish family name in 1654, and the French variant Chaprat in the mid 20th century. De Spera ("from Speyer") is recorded as a Jewish family name in 1400; Spira in 1530; Spiro in the 16th century; Speyer in 1644; Spire in 1670; and Spir in 1767. These names can also be linked to the Hebrew term Shafer, which means "grace/beauty/loveliness" or Shepar meaning "to be beautiful", hence also be linked to the precious stone called Sapphire.
Distinguished bearers of the Jewish family name Shapira include the Bohemian rabbi, preacher and halachist Elijah Ben Benjamin Wolf Shapira (1660-1712); members of the hassidic Shapira (Spira) family known as the Munkacs dynasty; Abraham Shapira (1870-1965), one of the first Jewish Shomerim ("watchmen") in Eretz Israel; and the Zionist leader Hermann (Zevi Hirsch) Shapira (1848-1898), one of the first leaders of the 'Hibbat Zion' movement.
Tombstone of a Jewish woman from 1365 in thhe museum of Speyer, Germany, 1981
(Photos)of Speyer, dating 1365 in the Speyer Museum,
Germany, 1981
Photo: Robert F. Speyer, Germany
(The Oster Visual Documentation Center, Beit Hatfutsot,
courtesy of Robert F. Speyer, Germany)
Windows of the Synagogue in Speyer, Germany 1981
(Photos)with marked traces of fire damage.
The Synagogue was built probably at the begining of the
12th century.
Speyer Museum, Germany 1981
Photo: Robert F. Speyer, Germany.
(The Oster Visual Documentation Center, Beit Hatfutsot,
courtesy of Robert F. Speyer, Germany)
Judah Ben Samuel He-Hasid
(Personality)Judah Ben Samuel He-Hasid (d. 1217), the main thinker of the medieval school of German pietists, the Hasidei Ashkenaz. Many legends are told of him but little is known of his life, partly because of his extreme humility which discouraged others from citing his name. He lived for many years in the Rhineland, probably in Speyer, and spent his later years in Regensburg where he founded a yeshiva. It seems that many of his works were lost or known only by citation. He was, however, the main author of Sefer Hasidim, the main work of his school, which also includes sections by others including his father. The final compilation was probably made by Judah's disciples after his death. It is the most important Jewish manual of piety and ethics of its time.