“Regarding the popular practice by which people arise early in the morning all week long to daven in shul or learn, but on Shabbos they sleep later in the morning, the reason is as follows: Throughout the week, the Torah says about the morning tamid offering, ‘baboker baboker — in the morning, in the morning,’ but regarding the tamid of Shabbos, it does not say ‘in the morning’ but rather ‘and on the day of Shabbos’… This reason was heard by Rabbeinu Yitzchak the son of Rabbi Yehuda in the city of Rome from Rav Hai” (The Mordechai, Maseches Shabbos sec. 398).

The date on which Rabbeinu Yitzchak, the son of Rabbeinu Yehuda, learned this from Rav Hai Gaon was sometime around the year 4768 (1008), during the era of the Geonim. We know that Rabbeinu Yitzchak ben Rabbeinu Yehuda lived in Mainz, a town in Germany. What, then, was he doing in Rome? The answer to that question will help unveil a too-little-known aspect of medieval Jewish history.

When did Jews first arrive in Germany, and what were the conditions they encountered upon their arrival? Were there any Jewish communities or centers of Torah in that country prior to that time?

Much documentation from that era has survived to this day. We are aware, for example, of the ordinances of the “Shum” communities of Speyer, Worms, and Mainz, the cherem beis din, the cherem hayishuv, chezkas dirah, and the takanos of Rabbeinu Gershom, among others. It was a common practice at the time to institute legislation that would be binding for individuals as well as for the community at large.

The many records of communal ordinances attest to the existence of vibrant, dynamic communities possessing a powerful, unique style of leadership, the likes of which is difficult to find throughout the annals of Jewish history. What caused these communities to enact these laws? What did the ordinances require, and why were they necessary? And when did the Jewish communities of Germany become a center of Torah leadership known throughout the world?

Rome Falls and Islam Rises

We tend to consider Rashi and the Baalei HaTosafos the beginning of the era of the Rishonim in Germany, but in truth, that period began long before them. A series of unlikely events took place in various states, which, by Divine hashgachah, helped create the optimal geopolitical conditions necessary for Jewish communities to develop. Thus was a solid foundation built for German Jewry before the period of the Geonim ended, about two generations before Rashi’s lifetime.

In order to understand the chain of events that made Germany a center of Torah study, we must first understand the conditions facing Jews throughout the world, their leaders, and their Torah sages during the period before the Jewish community in Germany began to flourish.