Najstarija židovska bogoštovna općina u Hrvatskoj

Abstract

Dr Julije Diamant u svom radu o najstarijoj jevrejskog bogoštovnoj opštini u Hrvatskoj konstatuje da je do vremena u kome je on pisao ovaj članak, objektivna istorijska nauka samo smela pretpostaviti da je na području teritorije Hrvatske bilo Jevreja još pre dolaska Hrvata, dakle i pre VII veka. Ovu je opravdanu pretpostavku nauka crpela iz dva izvora. Prvi je čuvena "Geographica" ("Geografija") enciklopedija geografskog znanja u 17 svezaka koju je na grčkom napisao najznamenitiji grčki geograf i putnik Strabon koji je proputovao gotovo celi tada poznati svet i koji je završio svoje obimno delo nekoliko godina pre građanskog (hrišćanskog) računanja vremena. Drugi izvor za spomenutu pretpostavku potiče od svetog Hijeronimusa (Hieronymos) koji je rođen u Dalmaciji ili na granici Štajerske, koji je takođe mnogo putovao i konačno se smirio u Betlehemu krajem IV veka. Pretpostavlja se, takođe, da značajan porast broja Jevreja na području današnje Hrvatske datira još od I veka kada je to bila rimska kolonija pod imenom "Pannonia Savia", u kojoj je bilo znamenitih trgovačkih gradova kao: Mursa (Osijek), Cibalac (Vinkovci), Sirmium (Mitrovica) i Siscia (Sisak). Zbog toga je istorijska nauka s pravom mogla predvideti da su Jevreji uglavnom kao trgovci, pratili rimske legije kroz sve provincije i tako stigli i do ovih prostora. U tekstu autor navodi i druge izvore i dokaze o prisustvu Jevreja a potom i organizovanju bogoštovnih opština. Iako je u ranijem tekstu ("Jahrbuch des JMJT") koji je J. Diamant pisao pre 12 godina bio skeptičan u odnosu na opstanak "hrvatskog židovstva", u ovom radu on zaključuje da se stanje bitno poboljšava i da ove opštine imaju budućnost.

Dr. Julije Diamant in his work on the oldest Jewish religious community in Croatia states that by the time he wrote this article, objective historical science could only assume that there were Jews in Croatia before the arrival of the Croats, ie before the 7th century. Science found this justified assumption from two sources. The first is the famous "Geographica" encyclopedia of geographical knowledge in 17 volumes, written in Greek by the most famous Greek geographer and traveler Strabo, who traveled almost the entire known world and who finished his extensive work a few years before the civil (Christian) time calculations. Another source for the mentioned assumption comes from Saint Hieronymos, who was born in Dalmatia or on the border of Štajerska, who also traveled a lot and finally settled in Bethlehem at the end of the 4th century. It is also assumed that a significant increase in the number of Jews in today's Croatia dates back to the first century when it was a Roman colony called "Pannonia Savia", which had famous trading cities such as Mursa (Osijek), Cibalac (Vinkovci), Sirmium (Mitrovica) and Siscia (Sisak). Therefore, historical science could rightly predict that the Jews, mostly as merchants, followed the Roman legions through all the provinces and thus reached these areas. In the text, the author cites other sources and evidence of the presence of Jews and then the organization of religious communities. Although in an earlier text ("Jahrbuch des JMJT") written by J. Diamant 12 years ago, he was skeptical about the survival of "Croatian Jewry", in this paper he concludes that the situation is significantly improving and that these communities have a future.