Josel of Rosheim, Martin Luther, and Jewish Politics in 16th-Century Germany

When his proclaimed attempt to purify Christianity failed to precipitate a mass conversion of Jews, Martin Luther declared that “their synagogues . . . should be set on fire, . . . their homes should likewise be broken down and destroyed,” and their sacred books confiscated. He also advocated the execution of rabbis. Josel of Rosheim, a capable and resourceful leader, sought to rebut Luther’s slanders and successfully interceded with the Holy Roman emperor to obtain an official confirmation of Jewish rights and privileges. Eli Kavon comments:

Josel had the title of “chief of the Jews in the German Lands.” Time after time, he had to place his life at risk to defend his fellow Jews. In his [Hebrew-language] memoirs he relates how he had to confront peasants in Alsace [during their 1525 revolt] and convince them not to attack the Jews. . . .

Josel’s genius was rooted in his ability to persuade both Protestants and Catholics, based on the underpinnings of their theology and politics, not to harm Jews and to allow Jews to live in peace and with privileges. Toward the end of his life, he found himself siding with Catholic rulers to provide Jews with protection against Luther and the Protestant Reformation. While he realized that the emperors posed a danger to the Jews as well, he feared Luther most of all.

Read more at Jerusalem Post

More about: Anti-Semitism, German Jewry, History & Ideas, Jewish history, Martin Luther, Reformation

What a Strategic Victory in Gaza Can and Can’t Achieve

On Tuesday, the Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant met in Washington with Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin. Gallant says that he told the former that only “a decisive victory will bring this war to an end.” Shay Shabtai tries to outline what exactly this would entail, arguing that the IDF can and must attain a “strategic” victory, as opposed to merely a tactical or operational one. Yet even after a such a victory Israelis can’t expect to start beating their rifles into plowshares:

Strategic victory is the removal of the enemy’s ability to pose a military threat in the operational arena for many years to come. . . . This means the Israeli military will continue to fight guerrilla and terrorist operatives in the Strip alongside extensive activity by a local civilian government with an effective police force and international and regional economic and civil backing. This should lead in the coming years to the stabilization of the Gaza Strip without Hamas control over it.

In such a scenario, it will be possible to ensure relative quiet for a decade or more. However, it will not be possible to ensure quiet beyond that, since the absence of a fundamental change in the situation on the ground is likely to lead to a long-term erosion of security quiet and the re-creation of challenges to Israel. This is what happened in the West Bank after a decade of relative quiet, and in relatively stable Iraq after the withdrawal of the United States at the end of 2011.

Read more at BESA Center

More about: Gaza War 2023, Hamas, IDF