Today’s word of the day, thanks to Vocabulary.com, is deracinate. Deracinate is a verb that means “to pull up by the roots” or “to isolate or alienate (a person) from a native or customary culture or environment” (https://www.dictionary.com/browse/deracinate). Merriam-Webster says, “to remove or separate from a native environment or culture, especially to remove the racial or ethnic characteristics or influences from” (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/deracinate).

Then M-W adds some additional information: “There is a hint about the roots of deracinate in its first definition. Deracinate was borrowed into English in the late 16th century from Middle French and can be traced back to the Latin word radix, meaning ‘root.’ Although deracinate began life referring to literal plant roots, it quickly took on a second, metaphorical, meaning suggesting removal of anyone or anything from native roots or culture. Other offspring of radix include eradicate (‘to pull up by the roots’ or ‘to do away with as completely as if by pulling up by the roots’) and radish (the name for a crisp, edible root). Though the second sense of deracinate mentions racial characteristics and influence, the words racial and race derive from razza, an Italian word of uncertain origin” (ibid.).

The Latin word radix is found in a famous Latin expression that is often mistranslated: Cupiditas radix malorum est. The literal translation of the phrase is, “Lust is the root of evil,” but cupiditas, which does mean “lust,” has more of the sense of “lusting after things” or “greed” than “lusting after women or men.” Thus we get the translation, “Love of money is the root of all evil.” But then that is shortened to “Money is the root of all evil,” which is not true at all. Money is just a tool employed in modern societies to facilitate the exchange of goods and services. Tools are not in and of themselves capable of being evil. It is when tools are misused or misvalued that evil can occur. If money were the root of evil, the Latin would be pecunia est radix mali.

According to the On This Day website, on this date in 1430, Jews were expelled from Speyer, Germany. After doing a little research, I’m not sure about that date, but the history is interesting.

Speyer is a city in the Rhineland Palatinate, a territory in central western Germany, bordering on Luxembourg. It has been there for more than 2000, and the Romans first established an encampment there is 10 BC (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speyer). In 1030, the Holy Roman Emperor Conrad II built a cathedral in Speyer which today is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

In 1084, the first Jewish community settled in Speyer. They may have been fleeing pogroms in Mainz, the capital of the Rhineland Palatinate, or Worms. They were invited to Speyer by Rüdiger Huzmann, the Bishop of Speyer from 1075 to 1090. Huzmann wrote, “In the name of the holy and undivided Trinity, I, Rüdiger, with the surname of Huzmann, bishop of Speyer, in my endeavor to turn the village of Speyer into a city, believed to multiply its image a thousand times by also inviting Jews. I had them settle outside the quarters of the other inhabitants and as not to have them disquieted by the insolence of the lowly folk I had them surrounded by a wall” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Speyer). Huzmann’s agreement with the Jews in Speyer gave them more rights and privileges than any Jews in Europe, and eventually those rights were extended throughout the Holy Roman Empire.

But even with the rights granted to the Jews in Speyer, life was sometimes very difficult. In 1096, just a dozen years after establishing the community at Speyer, a plague spread throughout the Empire, and many people blamed the Jews. The Jews of Speyer faced a relatively mild pogrom, not nearly as serious as the ones faced by Jews in Mainz and Worms. In 1195, the daughter of a rabbi was accused of ritual murder; she was executed, and her body was put on display for three days. This incident led to Jews fleeing their homes, which were then ransacked (ibid.).

In 1282, a man named Herbord accused the Jewish community of murdering his grandson. The locals appealed to the provincial synod, and the next year the Emperor laid heavy fines upon the Jewish community. The response among some of the Jews was to leave Germany for a return to the Holy Land; some of them actually succeeded, and their properties in Speyer (and Mainz and Worms and other towns around) were confiscated by the authorities (ibid.).

In 1343, after the body of a Christian was found dead, the Jewish community was again attacked, with individuals “tortured and burned at the stake” (ibid.). The next year the Emperor approved the confiscation of the properties of these Jews. In 1348 and 1349, when the Black Plague afflicted Europe, killing roughly 1/3 of the population, the Christians of Speyer again blamed the Jews, and the entire Jewish community was wiped out.

Between 1349 and 1435, the Jews were sometimes invited back into the city, and then at other times driven from the city. They were completely banned from Speyer from 1405 until 1421 (ibid.). Then they were clearly back in Speyer, based on some documents in the public record: “There is a document from 1434 in which the Speyer council renewed the right of the Jews to live in the city for another six years, for which 5 to 35 Gilders were to be paid per household. Yet, the council again had to yield to the demands of the citizens and decree an expulsion; as early as the following year, on 8 May 1435, the Jews were again expelled “for ever” from the city. The decree said: The council is compelled to banish the Jews; but it has no designs upon their lives or their property: it only revokes their rights of citizenship and of settlement” (ibid.).

The Jews were back again in 1467, though with many restrictions, including having to wear pointed hats. In 1472, the city tried forced baptisms, and many Jews committed suicide rather than yielding (ibid.). By 1500 or so, there were no Jews living in Speyer. Eventually, of course, Jews came back to Speyer, though the numbers were small. In 1938, Kristallnacht hit Speyer hard. The synagogue was robbed of scrolls, records, and artworks. Up until 1996, there was no Jewish community in Speyer, but in that year some Jews came together to reestablish their community and to rebuild the synagogue. The new synagogue was consecrated in 2011.

Given the history of the Jews in Speyer, one has to wonder. Were the Jews deracinated from Speyer? Can any of them claim Speyer as their “native or customary culture or environment”? It is a question that one can ask not only of the Jews in Speyer but of all sorts of people in many different places.

Today’s image is a photo of the “Pool of the medieval mikveh in Speyer, dating back to 1128” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Speyer#/media/File:Judenbad_Speyer_6_View_from_the_first_room_down.jpg). A mikveh is a ritual bath: “Jewish law requires that one immerse in a mikveh as part of the process of conversion to Judaism. It also requires women to immerse before getting married and when observing the laws of niddah (menstrual purity). There are also various other reasons—both traditional and modern—that women, as well as men and Jews who are gender-non-conforming, visit the mikveh” (https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/the-mikveh/).