5-4
Paragraphs 8, 9, and 14 delimit religious practice and autonomy: Jews were permitted to live according to the Talmudic canon, including ritual slaughter and burying their dead. They were allowed to celebrate their holidays and entertain visiting Jews; but such visitors had to move on quickly, although the letter of 1615 mentioned no explicit time limit. Jews could erect open shelters for the feast of Tabernacles (Sukkoth), but they had to behave decently, without excessive noise or drunkenness. They also had to respect the dignity of gentile celebrations. This latter imposition could have serious consequences: in 1722 two Jews were fined 6 fl. for not taking off their hats on a Sunday while the church bells were tolling [R153].
The permission to sell ritually slaughtered meat created an unintended source of conflict with the local butchers. The production of kosher meat actually involves a two-stage process. The first stage, the actual killing of the animal, is relatively straightforward and can be handled by any minimally trained ritual slaughterer. The second stage, that is, removing various anatomical components that would render the meat non-kosher if left, is relatively straightforward for the front quarters of the animal, but much more complex for the hindquarters.10 Consequently, any slaughterer can handle front quarters, but the highly trained specialists that are competent to render hindquarters kosher are more difficult to find in little towns and villages. Many observant Jews abstain from eating meat from animals’ hindquarters for this reason altogether; this meat is sold to people not concerned with kosher laws, that is, gentiles. This little ritual idiosyncrasy of the Jews brought much, relatively inexpensive hindquarter meat to the general market and in turn lowered meat prices, much to the dismay of gentile butchers [R4736].11
Paragraphs 16 and 17 set standards for order and cleanliness: Houses and lanes had to be cleaned regularly. Meat, clothing, and other implements were not permitted to be washed in public wells. Waste had to be disposed properly at assigned places.
Paragraph 21 sets the protection tax: The total annual tax for each family was set initially at 20 fl. due each year at Easter. Of these, 10 fl. constituted a direct tax to the count, 7 fl. went to the emperor, and another 3 fl. covered various extra charges. These amounts must be compared with other taxes the count collected: the entire town of Stühlingen had to submit 10 fl. per year, the village of Stühlingen 12 fl., the villages of Schwaningen and Mauchen 4 fl. each, Lempach and Weizen 3½ fl., and Eberfingen and Eggingen 2½ fl.12 In other words, the annual tax of each Jewish family to the count was as much as that of all the citizens of the town of Stühlingen together.
7 Rabbi Eliezer ben Naftali Herz Treves, whom we have already met in the previous chapter, served n the rabbinical panel of Frankfurt. It is likely that his printing expertise was relevant in regard to the Burgau printing enterprise.
8 Rohrbacher, “Ungleiche Partnerschaft,” 204.
9 Zimmer, Jewish Synods, 192.
10Zivotofsky, “Tzarich Iyun.”
11Mordstein, Selbstbewusste Untertänigkeit, 241.
12Brandeck, Geschichte der Stadt, 133.
