West and East in Ashkenaz in the Time of Judah he-Ḥasid

The present study interprets and frames a long-standing question concerning Judah he-Ḥasid’s motivations in migrating to Regensburg against the social and geographical contexts of the Jews of Ashkenaz. By examining the use of Hebrew geographic terminology during the High Middle Ages (Loter, Ashkenaz, Ashkelonia), the article demonstrates that twelfth-century Jews perceived and were engaged in contemporary political and territorial processes of the surrounding kingdom. The Hebrew terms describe the cultural tripartite division of the German kingdom (Regnum Teutonicum) in Lotharingia, the five duchies of the earlier tribes (Saxony, Franconia, Thuringia, Swabia, and Bavaria), and the still Slavic territories of the East. These imperial territories were settled and Christianized by mostly German migrants from the west of the kingdom from the eleventh century onwards. Comparable developments are evident in the movement and expansion of Jewish settlement in the German Kingdom. After many Jewish communities were founded in the Ashkenazic heartlands, beginning in cities on the Rhine, Main, and the Danube, i.e., in the territories of the five duchies (Ashkenaz), Jewish settlers founded new communities and settlements in the still Slavic areas (Ashkelonia), beyond the Elbe and Saale rivers, as part of the German settlement movement. Judah he-Ḥasid’s family’s migration is part of this development. With his relocation to Regensburg, he lived on the border of the Ashkenazic heartland (Old/West Ashkenaz) and the new Ashkenazic settlement areas in Ashkelonia (New/Eastern Ashkenaz). In Regensburg he became one of the central spiritual and halakhic authorities for the communities of the eastern neighboring territories. Through his work Judah he-Ḥasid opened the way to an “Ashkenazation” of the Jewish communities in eastern Central Europe and Eastern Europe.

The emigration of the Kalonymous family from Speyer to Regensburg at the end of the twelfth century remains shrouded in mystery. Apart from pietistic motivations, why did Samuel, Abraham, and Judah he-H . asid leave the Rhineland? Why did they choose Regensburg as their destination? What opportunity or motivation may have played a role in the Kalonymous family moving its place of residence from the center of the German kingdom at the time (the Middle Rhine region) to its periphery (the eastern edge of the kingdom)?
I propose to answer this frequently discussed issue by framing it within the context of the settlement of Jews in Ashkenaz and the expansion of the Jewish settlement area to Central and Eastern Europe. Starting with the term "Ashkenaz" as the Hebrew term for the "German lands" beginning in the twelfth century, I show how Hebrew geographic terminologies of the High Middle Ages can be utilized as a reflection of general political territorial developments. I demonstrate that the Kalonymous's move to Regensburg should be understood as part of a new movement that would bring about further Jewish communal settlements in the eastern territories of the German kingdom in subsequent generations. This Jewish settlement movement can also be viewed as part of a wider pattern of settlement movement that affected the non-Jewish population of the German kingdom, which began with the domestic colonization of the western territories and between the eleventh and fourteenth centuries led to the settlement, conquest, and ethnic and economic transformation of new regions.
The Jewish side of this movement, which can be reconstructed from settlement documentation, 1 is illustrated in the Hebrew terminology for geopolitical entities in high medieval Hebrew literature. A comparison of Hebrew geographical terms with contemporaneous Latin and vernacular variants and their geographical meanings helps clarify the extent to which Hebrew terms either reflected a "Jewish" perception of space or, conversely, served "only" as separate terminologies for a perception of the geopolitical world common to both Jews and Christians.

Ashkenaz and its Borders from a Western Perspective
Is it possible to delineate the borders of this Ashkenaz and understand something about a "Jewish perception" of its inner political structure? We know that twelfth-century scholars were familiar with the internal political structures of their countries of residence. Most of the explicit references to boundaries and geopolitical entities presented here were written by Jewish scholars from Western Ashkenaz and France, who were aware of and addressed the geopolitical conditions of their time. As we will see, they know enough about Christian settlement history and geopolitical constructs to adapt their division of Jewish space to its Christian parallels. The geographical description of the effective range of the takkanot (communal ordinances) implemented by Rabbi Jacob b. Meir, known as Rabbenu Tam (Jerusalem, 1978), 2:602, § 156 and 627; Kraus, "Names," 432; Germania Judaica, 1:xvii-xviii, nn. 9-10 (on "Alemania"). 14 Neubauer and Stern, Hebräische Berichte, 58. Therefore have we taken counsel together, the elders of Troyes and her Sages, and those of her vicinity, the Sages of Dijon and its vicinity, the leaders of Auxere and of Sens and its suburbs, the elders of Orleans, and the vicinity, our brothers, the inhabitants of Chalons, the Sages of Reims and its county, and our masters of Paris, and their neighbors, the scholars of Melun and Etampes, and the inhabitants of Normandy, and the land of the sea [Bretagne?] 16 , and Anjou and Poitiers, the greatest of our generation, the inhabitants of the land of Loter [Lorraine].
This quote exhibits the author's intimate familiarity with prevailing geopolitical conditions in the kingdom of France. Moreover, the list mentions the political entity of "Lorraine/Lotharingia," 17 known in Hebrew as "Loter," 18 beyond the eastern borders of the kingdom of France.
Another, probably later transmission of the same takkanot of Rabbenu Tam emphasizes that Ashkenaz lies east of Loter. Thus, both terms were used in the same context and carried different meanings: 19 This is the writing called "s . ats ha-mate," which was decided and introduced by our Master Samuel, the son of our Master Meir, and of Master Jacob, son of Master Meir and of Master Isaac . . . [The text] was sent to the entire Diaspora in the kingdom of Z . arfat and Loter and Ashkenaz . . . 16 Concerning the translation "Bretagne" see Norman Golb, The Jews in Medieval Normandy: A Social and Intellectual History (Cambridge and New York, 1998), 175. 17 In describing "Lorraine" here, Rabbenu Tam is indicating the medieval territory of the former Frankish "Lotharingia," between the future Western Frankish Empire and the future Eastern Frankish Empire. On "Lorraine/Lotharingia" as a medieval cultural and political concept see Thomas Bauer, Lotharingien als historischer Raum: Raumbildung und Raumbewußtsein im Mittelalter, Rheinisches Archiv 136 (Cologne, 1997), 12-43. 18 On the meaning of the Hebrew term "Loter" see Ginsburger, "Lothringen," Germania Judaica, 1:160-63; Max Weinreich, "The Historical-Geographic Determinants: Loter, the Cradle of Yiddish," in History of the Yiddish Language, ed. Max Weinreich, trans. Shlomo Noble (Chicago, 1980), 328-47; idem, "Di historish-geografishe determinaten Loter, dem wigele von yidish," in Geshikhte fun der yidisher shprakh, 4 vols., ed. Max Weinreich (New York, 1973 The fact that circular letters under the authority of Rabbenu Tam were sent both to Loter and to Ashkenaz can be reconstructed from other transmissions. These prove that the circulars, containing the takkanot of Rabbenu Tam, were confirmed by signature by both Eliezer b. Shimshon in Cologne and Eliezer b. Natan in Mainz. 20 Thus, the first of these recipients is to be sought in the community of Cologne, which was situated in the area known as Loter. 21 The community of Mainz, represented by Eliezer b. Natan, could be the destination referred to as "Ashkenaz," 22 an understanding that also reflects the political reality of the city of Mainz and its surroundings, since, like Worms and Speyer, it never was viewed as part of Lorraine. 23 If Mainz is to be found in "Ashkenaz," what kind of geographical phenomenon or political entity does "Ashkenaz" refer to in the twelfth century? After the demise of the Roman Empire, in the early Middle Ages, the duchies of five Germanic tribes were established east of the Rhine and the future Lorraine, later to become part of the Frankish Empire. 24 After the partitions of the Frankish Empire (843, 855, 870, and 880), these duchies (Saxony, Franconia, Bavaria, Swabia, and Thuringia) began to form a separate entity. 25 This political unit, known later also as "Regnum Teutonicum" (the German Kingdom), 26 was initially formed as a union of these five tribal duchies alone, without Lorraine to the west. These duchies and their names were not unknown to thirteenth century Hebrew writers either. In one of his responsa Meir of Rothenburg mentions the following regions: 27 Sassonia (Saxony), 28 Franka (Franconia), 29 Elsass (Alsace), 30 Rhenus, 31 and Baijern (Bavaria) 32 Similarly, at the end of his ethical will, Judah he-H . asid mentions the geo- graphical term "Erez . Shvaben (Swabia)." 33 This political union of the five tribal duchies into the "regnum" (kingdom) may be attributable to a process that followed the Christianization of these regions in the seventh and eighth centuries; 34 it became the foundation of a common culture of this "union" of territories. Only later, in the ninth century, was the Duchy of Lorraine incorporated into the united east-Frankish/early-German "regnum," a process that was consolidated in the tenth century. 35 Nevertheless, because of its earlier Christianization and its Roman roots, Lorraine ("Lotharingia" = "Loter") continued to be perceived as a separate region in the following centuries, 36 distinct from the five tribal duchies.
From the Elbe to the Rhine / and back to Hungary / there are the best people / I have ever seen in the world.
Noteworthy are the eastern borders of the "German lands" ("diutsche lande") on the Elbe River and the Hungarian border.

Ashkenaz and its Eastern Borders
The geographic localization of Ashkenaz, particularly its eastern border, was transmitted quite precisely in Hebrew writings from the thirteenth century that originated in the vicinity of Provence/Iberia. David Kimh . i (d. 1235), commonly known as the Radak, was a contemporary of Judah he-H . asid who lived in southern France. Radak quite clearly describes what we have identified as "German lands," or "Regnum Teutonicum," in his biblical commentary on the book of Obadiah, where the prophet refers to the lands of Ashkenaz/Alemania: 44 At first, Kimh . i's description seems unclear. Three countries are named: Z . arfat, Alemania, and Ashkelonia. While "Z . arfat" can probably be identified with the (northern) kingdom of France, or at least with the Île de France (the "royal domain," "Frans . ia"), 46 the use of the term Ashkenaz alongside Alemania and Ashkelonia 47 is confusing. I therefore suggest an interpretation that is compatible with the historical political situation of the German lands at the turn of the eleventh to twelfth centuries. I believe Kimh . i uses the term Erez . Ashkenaz for the combined entity of Alemania and Ashkelonia (Sklavonia/Slavonia). The latter refers to the region bordering on Alemania (the German speaking areas, the "five duchies"), which in the eleventh and twelfth centuries was still primarily occupied by Slavs ("Canaanites" = Slavs/Sclaves). 48 It may also imply the gradual pervasion and transformation 45 The definition of the inhabitants of "Alemania" as Slavs ("Canaanites") is partially correct at least for the twelfth century in taking the eastern Slavic territories of the German Kingdom in consideration; see discussion above. See also Kraus, "Die Hebräischen Benennungen," 398-99. Further explanations can be found in an earlier meaning of the word "Kenaan"; see Rieger, "Deutschland," 457. Others view it as an older folk tradition; see Wallach, "Ashkenaz = Germany," 103. 46  of Ashkelonia (Sklavonia/Slavonia) by the constant trickle of residents from "Alemania," the German speaking lands. On the other hand, the term "Ashkenaz" may stand for the "Regnum Teutonicum" itself, 49 which, around 1200, already united the German speaking territories of the five duchies, the bilingual Lorraine, and the new, still Slavic-dominated territories in the East. 50 Meir of Rothenburg was also familiar with the ethnic and linguistic distinctions between the aforementioned countries (Romance/French, Germanic/German, Slavic/Sorbian/Czech) and viewed these as the decisive characteristics for differentiating between these countries. It seems that "Z . arfat" and the "island land (England)" and "Ashkenaz" and the "Land of Kenaan" are separate countries because their languages are distinct (from one another). 51 Radak's description of the geopolitical situation quite precisely depicts the political and ethnic developments on the eastern edge of the German lands at the end of the twelfth century. For one, Radak was familiar with the use of the Hebrew name "Ashkenaz," alongside the Romance "Alemania," to indicate the German language area. But Radak also included the area bordering Ashkenaz on the east, which was still partly Slavic and was known to him as Ashkelonia (Sklavonia/Slavonia), and familiar to some of his contemporaries as Kenaan. 52 This conforms to the political reality at the eastern edge of the five duchies in the twelfth century. Beginning in the tenth and eleventh centuries, new political entities had developed in the southeast through German settlements; in just a few generations these settlements had 72,[80][81]. See also Dovid Katz, "Knaanic in the Medieval and Modern Scholarly Imagination," in Knaanic Language: Structure and Historical Background, ed. Ondřej Bláha, Robert Dittmann, and Lenka Uličná (Prague, 2013), 157. On the interpretation concerning the land of "Canaanites" (the Slavs) as the Land of slave traders see Gen 9:9-28 and Katz, "Knaanic," 185. 49 See the terminology used by Benjamin of Tudela: "This is the commencement of the land of Alemania, a land of mountains and hills, and all the [Jewish] communities of Alemania are situated at the great River Rhine, from the city of Cologne, which is the head of the kingdom, until the city of Regensburg, a distance of fifteen days' journey at the other extremity of Alemania, otherwise called Ashkenaz." See Adler, Benjamin of Tudela, 71, 79. See also map 1. 50 Rieger, "Die Sprachen Deutschlands," 301. 51 MRC 117. 52 On the terminology "Kenaan" for the "Slavic lands," i.e., the land of the slaves from a western perspective, see Max Weinreich, "Yiddish, Knaanic, Slavic: The Basic Relationships," in For Roman Jakobson: Essays on the Occasion of His Sixtieth Birthday, ed. Morris Halle (The Hague, 1956), 623 n. 5; Jakobson and Halle, "The Term Canaan," 148-49. Rieger, "Die Sprachen Deutschlands," 301; Katz, "Knaanic," 181, 182 (map). On "Kenaan" as "Bohemia" see below n. 60. transformed the eastern regions of the German empire, particularly in Austria, Carinthia, and Styria. 53 Thus, the German language and settlement area was extended 54 to the Hungarian border already in the eleventh century (as described by Walter von der Vogelweide), 55 and by the twelfth century this situation was self-evident. This tendency toward political, ethnic, and linguistic expansion of the German lands continued to the northeast, crossing the Elbe and Saale rivers in the twelfth century and the Oder river in the thirteenth century (see map 2). 56 New political entities were created within the new borders of the empire, based on existing Slavic tribal societies 57 combined with the new German settlers; they became known as Meissen, Lusatia,Brandenburg,Mecklenburg,Pomerania,and Silesia. 58  Walter Schlesinger, ed., Die deutsche Ostsiedlung des Mittelalters als Problem der europäischen Geschichte (Sigmaringen, 1975). On the shift of the German language border to the East between the years 1000 and 1500, as well as the German-Slavic language contact see Rolf Bergmann, "Deutsche Sprache und Römisches Reich im Mittelalter," in Heilig, Römisch, Deutsch, 165-66 with further references. 57 On the so called "Germania Slavica," the western Slavic tribes between the Baltic Sea and the Alps see Haverkamp and Prinz, Europäische Grundlagen, 362-76, § 11;Wolfgang H. Fritze, ed., Germania Slavica I (Berlin, 1980) Bohemian (Czech) kingdom 59 (hereafter also called "Kenaan" 60 in Hebrew sources) was paralleled by an eastward extension of Ashkenazic Jewish settlements. Just a few generations later than Radak's description of the borders of "Ashkenaz," Jewish settlers, in a move corresponding to that of their German Christian neighbors, 61 had created a new "Ashkenaz" ("East Ashkenaz") in the new eastern territories, 62 alongside the "old Ashkenaz" (or "West Ashkenaz") 63 , and with it opportunities to establish new Jewish communities 64 and centers of Jewish scholarship. 65 The new Jewish arrivals from the west to "East Ashkenaz" sometimes encountered preexisting Jewish com-  7, no. 1 (1997): 72-75;Alfred Haverkamp, "Jüdische Kultur beiderseits der Alpen in kulturlandschaftlichen Differenzierungen," in Wieczorek, Schneidmüller, and Weinfurter, Die Staufer und Italien, 1:328. 63 Adapting the definition of Max Weinreich "Ashkenaz I" for the medieval German-speaking area, we may speak here as well of "Ashkenaz Ia (Old Ashkenaz/West Ashkenaz)" and "Ashkenaz Ib (New Ashkenaz/East Ashkenaz)." See above, n. 2. 64 On the new Jewish settlements of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries in these new settlement areas (Mecklenburg, Pomerania, Brandenburg, Meissen, and Silesia)  munities, not only in Prague, 66 but also in Meissen, 67 Spandau, 68 and perhaps in Magdeburg, 69 Vienna, 70 and other places, which leads to the conclusion that Jewish settlement was also taking place from the east (Cracow, Kiev, and Constantinople). 71 Likewise, there was lively interaction between the various Jewish cultural spheres, whereby-as with the German Christian settlements-the Ashkenazic tradition in its new local variants dominated, and in most cases displaced, the preexisting Jewish culture. 72 At the borderline between the old German lands (West Ashkenaz) and the new German lands (East Ashkenaz), two cities stand out as the gateways to the new settlement regions: Magdeburg, a gateway for the new settlement movement to the northeast, and Regensburg (where Judah he-H . asid lived), as the starting point for trade and transport, communication of ideas, goods, and people southeastwards (to Austria, Hungary, and Byzantium) and eastwards (to Bohemia/Prague, Poland/Cracow,and Russ/Kiev). 73

Regensburg in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries
When the pious Kalonymides of the Rhineland moved from Speyer to Regensburg in the second half of the twelfth century, 74 or perhaps even decades earlier, 75 it only appears that this prominent branch of the Kalonymous family moved its residence from the center to the periphery of the German kingdom. While as seen in the settlement map, 76 Regensburg lies in the extreme east of the old German language area, in the transitional zone to the new settlements and the Slavic world, due to its Roman roots in the twelfth century it is comparable to the Rhenish cities. Ever since the development of the Bavarian tribal duchy and until the days of emperor Frederick I Barbarossa, and thus also Judah he-H . asid, Regensburg served as the duchy's spiritual and political center, the seat of the local bishopric, the seat of one of the most important monasteries of Bavaria (St. Emmeran 77 ), and the residence of the Bavarian duke. 78 Its function as a gateway to its neighbors to the east and to the kingdom's new territories was reflected in the city's economic rise, manifested in its building projects, especially the building of the Stone Bridge (1135/1146) as the city's economically vital crossing point. During the Salian (1024-1125) and Staufer (1138-1254) eras, Regensburg was one of the most important residences of the Roman-German kings and emperors in the Holy Roman Empire. 79 During the reign of Emperor Frederick I, the emperor was as frequently present in Regensburg as in the Rhenish cathedral cities. 80 The city's geopolitical significance as the gateway to the east and the route to Constantinople and the Orient along the Danube River was more than evident to the twelfth century emperors. Both the Second Crusade (1146) under Conrad III and the Third Crusade (1189) under Emperor Frederick I began in Regensburg; 81 Judah he-H . asid most probably witnessed the latter event.
The Jewish community that the Rhenish Kalonymous family (Judah he-H . asid, his brother, and his father) joined was one of the oldest in twelfth century Ashkenaz. 82 While the Regensburg community was not blessed with a large number of transregional scholars, it should be noted that some of these scholars-Ephraim b. Isaac, Moses b. Yoel, and Isaac b. Mordechai-were in contact with centers in France and had studied under Rabbenu Tam. 83 The community's reputation seems to have suffered from its behavior during the persecutions of the First Crusade in 1096, where unlike their brothers in faith along the Rhine, the majority of the Jewish community preferred to temporarily convert rather than die as martyrs. Accepting figures of authority from the ShUM communities, with their strict practices of asceticism and their restrictive notions of piety, might have helped move their forefathers' disgrace into the background. 84 What is certain is that the presence of the Rhenish Kalonymous family, the most prominent representatives of Rhenish H . asidism, raised the stature of the Regensburg congregation interregionally. This was first evident in the person of Judah he-H . asid and how he functioned and was perceived already during his lifetime. Judah he-H . asid seems to have taken an important position within the community, as is indicated by a source referring to his donation for the renovation work on the synagogue. 85 As a member of one of the most important scholarly families and as the key figure of a small, radical religious group, through the writing of responsa Judah he-H . asid became the spiritual leader of circles of Jewish scholars both from communities in the old western territories 86 and from communities beyond the old boundary between Germania and Slavica. 87 These included not only representatives of preexisting Jewish communities in Bohemia 88 and Poland,89 but also members of the communities characterized by increasingly hybrid Jewish traditions, in settlements in the new German territories such as Meissen or perhaps even Vienna. The orientation to the east was natural for the Jews of Regensburg as well, as the accounts of Petachia's travels from Regensburg to the east 90 demonstrate. The fact that scholars from former or still Slavic territories of the following generation moved freely along both sides of the old line of demarcation between east and west is made clear by biographies of people like Isaac Or Zarua' 91 and others. 92

The Geographical Boundaries of Judah he-H . asid's World
The extent to which these new geographical realities of east and west, of old communities and newly established communities, belonged to the everyday reality of Judah he-H . asid and were reflected by him is made clear by a fascinating, but obscure, note at the end of his so-called "testament": 93 No rabbi should settle in Heidelberg, for he will not long survive. No kohen should settle in Regensburg, neither should Eleazar [of Worms]. No one should settle in Augsburg. No married couple should settle . . . in Austria, but if it has already happened, they should leave the duchy (malkut) every year for one month.
If we look at the geographical entities mentioned in this quote, and the order in which they are mentioned, we can trace a path from Heidelberg, not far from Speyer (Judah's previous residence) and under the purview of the ShUM communities, the old center of the west; via Augsburg, a new, young community, still in the west; to Regensburg, Judah he-H . asid's new place of residence and the center of the geographical space referred to in the quote; and finally to Austria (probably Vienna) in the new east, at the other geographical end of the list. It stands to reason, given the nature of Rabbi Judah's ethical will, that during the time the testament was drawn up, all of the places mentioned possessed Jewish residents who either sympathized with Judah he-H . asid's position or reacted to it. Rabbi Judah, therefore, is leaving 93 See Margaliot, Sefer Hasidim, 28, no. 51. Translation by the author. On the ethical will and testament of Judah he-H . asid see Ivan G. Marcus, Sefer Hasidim and the Ashkenazic Book in Medieval Europe (Philadelphia, 2018), 34. Also see Maoz Kahana's paper in this volume.
instructions for people close within his small religious circle, 94 for whom he feels himself responsible and over whom he claims a high level of authority. 95 The dispersion of these followers from the Middle Rhine to Austria corresponds to the geographical trajectory of his own life, but also to the pattern of new Jewish settlement movements, from the ShUM communities to the old peripheries, from the old centers to the new centers, from "old Ashkenaz" to the "new Ashkenaz," from west to east.

Map 2 (Jewish Settlements) and Map 3 (Regional Perspective)
My intention was to map all known Jewish settlements of the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth centuries documented in the source literature discussed in the article. However, due to the scale and size of the map this task is virtually impossible. This is especially true of regions that already had a relatively high density of Jewish settlements during this period. These include Champagne, the Rhineland, as well as Alsace, Swabia, Franconia, Hesse, western Switzerland, the Franche-Comté, Burgundy, and Lorraine. For these regions see the detailed atlas in Haverkamp, Geschichte der Juden im Mittelalter von der Nordsee bis zu den Südalpen, that presents a nuanced, comprehensive cartographic representation.
In general, the data relating to the twelfth century in the accompanying maps is complete, while the representation of the Jewish settlement in the thirteenth century west of the Holy Roman Empire, east of the Kingdom of France, is partial due to the map's scale.
For the Jewish settlements in present-day eastern Germany, to the east of the Elbe and Saale, as well as in the territory of present-day Austria, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, and Poland, I strived to present a complete picture of the known Jewish settlements for the entire period.
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