User:Elamin1/SchUM Cities

The SchUM sites of Spire, Worms and Mayence or SCHUM ((he) שו״ם) are a group of three cities in the Rhine valley (Spire, Worms and Mainz) which had large Jewish communities cooperating with each other in the Middle Ages, and recognized as being at the origin of the Ashkenazi culture in central Europe.

The word "SchUM" is an acronym composed of the first letters of Hebrew names of Latin origin: Schin (Sch) for S(ch)pira (ʃpiːra), Vav (U) for Warmaisa, and Mem (M) for Magenza.

History
The community of the three cities formed a committee — in Hebrew: Wa'ad SchUM — which represented them to the government and which made binding resolutions for the Jewish communities. Wa'ad SchUM could, for example, impose a tax fine to punish false declarations or confiscate the right to testify.

SchUM cities cooperated on the interpretation of religious laws, such as Takkanot SchUM (תקנות שו״ם). These centers were renowned among European Jews. SchUM towns were among the most influential of Ashkenazic communities in the early 13th century. They are therefore recognized as being at the origin of the Ashkenazi culture in Central Europe. Gershom ben Yehouda and Rashi are the best known of their sages.

The symbol for the three cities is garlic, known as schum (שום) in Hebrew in the Bible.

The prosperity of the SchUM cities ended after four centuries, around 1350, since these large communities were wiped out by the Black Death and massacres. Subsequently, other small communities settled there but they never regained the importance of their predecessors.

The city of Worms has launched an initiative with UNESCO to have the three SchUM cities and their Jewish monuments listed as World Heritage Sites. Rhineland-Palatinate proposed in the summer of 2012 at the permanent conference of the Ministers of Education of the Länder that they be included in the list of proposals.

On July 27, 2021, the "SchUM Sites of Speyer, Worms and Mainz" were included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.


 * Michael Huyer: Mittelalterliche Judengemeinden am Rhein – Die SCHUM-Städte. In: Landeszentrale für politische Bildung Rheinland-Pfalz, 2004, PDF-Datei; 894 kB, 8 S.
 * Magenza, das jüdische Mainz auf mainz.de
 * Gerd Mentgen: Die Juden in den „SCHUM“-Gemeinden Speyer, Worms und Mainz. Gelobt und gepriesen vor allen Gemeinden des Reichs. In: Damals, 16. Juni 2012
 * Andreas Pecht: Das alte jüdische Zentrum am Rhein. In: Drei rheinland-pfälzische Anträge auf Welterbetitel der Unesco, 27. Dezember 2012, Teil 3, abgerufen 19. Januar 2013
 * Martina Conrad: Alte jüdische Zentren am Rhein. Die SchUM-Städte Speyer, Worms und Mainz. Documentaire radiophonique, in: SWR2 Wissen, 26. April 2013, PDF-Datei, 125 kB, 10 S., Audio-Datei, 28 min
 * SchUM-Städte am Rhein – Jüdisches Erbe für die Welt