fsks@unc.UUCP (Frank Silbermann) (09/18/85)
In article <3780091@csd2.UUCP> martillo@csd2.UUCP (Joachim Martillo) writes: >In re: Jewish Behavior. > >Unfortunately somewhere along the last couple of centuries the vast >majority of Ashkenazim dropped out from the Jewish world and adopted >western ways. I think the corruption began when Ashkenazim adopted >some very explicit Christian practices many centuries ago. Would you please give some more examples? I don't know enough about Sephardi practice and Christianity to be able to recognize which Askenasi practices are intrinsically Jewish versus copied from Christians (except, perhaps, for the Askenasi tradition of monagamy). >Then Ashkenazim took the attitude that Yahudut was foremost a religion >This attitude would have been an anathema to all the great sages of the >Sefardi world. What happens when we come to an age like now when religion >is not so important? Most of the Jews become either Rosens or Harazduks. The Ashkenazim did not take this approach by choice. Napolean Bonaparte was on the verge of completely BANNING Judaism from his realm (which at one time covered nearly the whole European mainland), believing Jewish nationality was incompatible with his goal of making all Europeans citizens of the French Empire. It is only when Jews agreed to consider Judaism as a religion, analogous to Catholocism, and not a nationality, that he relented and decided to permit Jews to remain within his empire. Complete assimilation within one generation is quite difficult. One would have to renounce one's entire background, one's friends and family. Gradual assimilation spread over the course of a few generations is much easier. I believe that Jews avoided assimilation most effectively in those environments where no "in-between" status was available. In societies where an individual did not have to declare his loyalties (and then live by them), the rate of assimilation was much greater. Sephardi Jews were just "luckier" in that they tended to live in areas fitting the former description, whereas (in the last 150 years) Askenasi have lived within the latter type of environment. I don't believe the Sephardi tradition itself is inherently less vulnerable to decay. Frank Silbermann