Publications

2018
Lehmann, Ariella . MA dissertation: Shabbat in Germany and Northern France (Ashkenaz) between the 12th -15th centuries. The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 2018.
Dermer, Nureet . MA dissertation: The Jews in the Tax Lists (Taille) of Late 13th Century Paris: the Socio-Economic and Cultural Lives of Jewish Men and Women in Christian Neighborhoods. The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 2018.
Reflections of Everyday Jewish Life: Evidence from Medieval Cemeteries
Baumgarten, Elisheva . Reflections of Everyday Jewish Life: Evidence from Medieval Cemeteries. In Les vivants et les morts dans les sociétés médiévales: XLVIIIe Congrès de la SHMESP (Jérusalem, 2017), 95–104. Éditions de la Sorbonne, 2018. http://books.openedition.org/psorbonne/53683.
Annual Cycle and Life Cycle
Baumgarten, Elisheva . Annual Cycle and Life Cycle. In The Cambridge History of Judaism, 416–439. 1st ed. Cambridge University Press, 2018. https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/9781139048880%23CN-bp-16/type/book_part.
The Family
Baumgarten, Elisheva . The Family. In The Cambridge History of Judaism, 440–462. 1st ed. Cambridge University Press, 2018. https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/9781139048880%23CN-bp-17/type/book_part.
Love Conquers All: The Erfurt Girdle as a Source for Understanding Medieval Jewish Love and Romance
Noy, Ido . Love Conquers All: The Erfurt Girdle as a Source for Understanding Medieval Jewish Love and Romance. IMAGES 11, no. 1 (2018): 227–246. https://brill.com/view/journals/ima/11/1/article-p227_15.xml. Abstract
Abstract The discovery of pawned objects in treasure troves attributed to Jews enables investigation of the use and understanding of these objects by Jews, especially regarding those of a more secular nature, i.e. objects that have little relationship to Jewish or Christian liturgy and that lack explicit Jewish or Christian religious iconography or inscriptions. One of these pawned objects is a girdle, which was found in a Jewish context in Erfurt. Through examining this girdle in the context of similar imagery in Jewish art, we see that Jews were not only exposed to such girdles but also were well aware of their symbolic meaning in noble love and romance .
Appropriation and Differentiation: Jewish Identity in Medieval Ashkenaz
Baumgarten, Elisheva . Appropriation and Differentiation: Jewish Identity in Medieval Ashkenaz. AJS Review 42, no. 1 (2018): 39–63. https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0364009418000053/type/journal_article. Abstract
This article discusses the ways scholars have outlined the process of Jewish adaptation (or lack of it) from their Christian surroundings in northern Europe during the High Middle Ages. Using the example of penitential fasting, the first two sections of the article describe medieval Jewish practices and some of the approaches that have been used to explain the similarity between medieval Jewish and contemporary Christian customs. The last two sections of the article suggest that in addition to looking for texts that connect between Jewish and Christian thought and beliefs behind these customs, it is useful to examine what medieval Jews and Christians saw of each other's customs living in close urban quarters. Finally, the article suggests that when shaping medieval Jewish and Christian identity, the differences emphasized in shared everyday actions and visible practice were no less important than theological distinctions. As part of the discussion throughout the article, the terminology used by scholars to describe the process of Jewish appropriation from the local surroundings is described, focusing on terms such as “influence” and “inward acculturation,” as well as “appropriation.”
‘Like Adam and Eve’: Biblical Models and Jewish Daily Life in Medieval Christian Europe
Baumgarten, Elisheva . ‘Like Adam and Eve’: Biblical Models and Jewish Daily Life in Medieval Christian Europe. Irish Theological Quarterly 83, no. 1 (2018): 44–61. http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0021140017742802.
The Medieval European Jewish Family in Context
Baumgarten, Elisheva . The Medieval European Jewish Family in Context. In Cambridge Medieval Jewish History, 440-464. Cambridge University Press, 2018.
Medieval Jewish Life Cycle and Annual Cycle Rituals in Christian Europe
Baumgarten, Elisheva . Medieval Jewish Life Cycle and Annual Cycle Rituals in Christian Europe. In Cambridge Medieval Jewish History, 416-439. Cambridge University Press, 2018.
Praying separately? Gender in medieval Ashkenazi Synagogues (thirteenth-fourteenth centuries)
Baumgarten, Elisheva . Praying separately? Gender in medieval Ashkenazi Synagogues (thirteenth-fourteenth centuries). Clio. Women, Gender, History 44 (2018): 43-62.Abstract

This article explores the place and religious activities of medieval Jewish women in northern France and especially in Germany during the High Middle Ages. The centrality of the synagogue in Jewish life in medieval Ashkenazi communities invites a reassessment of the role of women in the synagogue and of their ritual participation more generally. The article is based on four exemplary case studies, the first of which relates to Dolce, the famous wife of the German rabbi R. Eleazar b. Judah. The article then addresses the question of women’s presence in the synagogue when menstruating and during the circumcision ceremony, and ends with a look at changing attitudes toward women benefactors. Based on an analysis of liturgical, archaeological, halakhic and poetic sources, this article demonstrates the extent to which women were active and present in Ashkenazi synagogues and provides an explanation of their gradual segregation and marginalization starting in the thirteenth century.
Retelling the Crusaders’ Defeat in Hungary: Cultural Contact between Jewish and Christian Chroniclers
Barzilay, Tzafrir . Retelling the Crusaders’ Defeat in Hungary: Cultural Contact between Jewish and Christian Chroniclers. Jewish History 31, no. 3-4 (2018): 173-196. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10835-018-9288-2. Abstract
This essay examines similarities between the Hebrew chronicle of Shlomo bar Shimshon and the Latin chronicle of Albert of Aachen. Both sources describe the massacre of Rhineland Jews during the First Crusade and the subsequent defeat of the Crusaders by the Hungarians and the Bulgarians. On the basis of similarities in structure, content, and language between these two accounts, I argue that Shlomo chose to integrate at least one Christian source into his narrative. At the same time, I assert that it is unlikely that Shlomo’s Hebrew account was translated directly from Albert’s Latin chronicle. I present evidence indicating that the information conveyed in the Latin text reached the Jewish chronicler via vernacular channels, either oral or written.
2017
David Shyovitz, A Remembrance of His Wonders: Nature and the Supernatural in Medieval Ashkenaz, reviewed by Miri Fenton
Fenton, Miri . David Shyovitz, A Remembrance of His Wonders: Nature and the Supernatural in Medieval Ashkenaz, reviewed by Miri Fenton (2017).
Minority Dress Codes and the Law: A Jewish-Christian Comparison
Baumgarten, Elisheva . Minority Dress Codes and the Law: A Jewish-Christian Comparison. In Religious Minorities in Christian, Jewish and Muslim Law (5th - 15th centuries), 8:289–299. Turnhout: Brepols Publishers, 2017. https://www.brepolsonline.net/doi/book/10.1484/M.RELMIN-EB.5.109274.
Reflections of Everyday Jewish Life: Evidence from Medieval Cemeteries
Baumgarten, Elisheva . Reflections of Everyday Jewish Life: Evidence from Medieval Cemeteries. In Les vivants et Les morts dans les sociétés médiévales (Histoire ancienne et médiévale) (French Edition), 95–104. Editions de la Sorbonne., 2017.
Why are there Two Medieval Copies of the Holy Sepulcher in Pisa? A Comparative Analysis of San Sepolcro and the Baptistery
Bodner, Neta B. . Why are there Two Medieval Copies of the Holy Sepulcher in Pisa? A Comparative Analysis of San Sepolcro and the Baptistery. Viator 48, no. 3 (2017): 103–124. https://www.brepolsonline.net/doi/10.1484/J.VIATOR.5.116350.
"Tales in Context: A Historical Approach" Epilogue.
Baumgarten, Elisheva . "Tales in Context: A Historical Approach" Epilogue.. In Tales in context: Sefer ha-Ma'asim in medieval Northern France: (Bodleian Library, University of Oxford, Ms. Bodl. Or. 135), 687–672. Detroit, Michigan: Wayne State University Press, 2017.
Religious minorities in Christian, Jewish and Muslim law (5th-15th centuries)
Berend, Nora, Youna Hameau-Masset, Capucine Nemo-Pekelman, and John Victor Tolan, eds. Religious minorities in Christian, Jewish and Muslim law (5th-15th centuries). Religion and law in medieval Christian and Muslim societies. Turnhout: Brepols, 2017.Abstract
The fruit of a sustained and close collaboration between historians, linguists and jurists working on the Christian, Muslim and Jewish societies of the Middle Ages, this book explores the theme of religious coexistence (and the problems it poses) from a resolutely comparative perspective. The authors concentrate on a key aspect of this coexistence: the legal status attributed to Jews and Muslims in Christendom and to dhimmis in Islamic lands." –Back cover
Motherhood and Ma’asim: Maternal Agency in Medieval Hebrew Stories
Baumgarten, Elisheva . Motherhood and Ma’asim: Maternal Agency in Medieval Hebrew Stories. In Mothers in the Jewish Cultural Imagination, 345-357. Littman Library of Jewish Civilization, 2017.Abstract
This article examines the roles of mothers in the 13th century composition Sefer ha-ma'asim written in Hebrew in Champagne
Entangled Histories: Knowledge, Authority, and Jewish Culture in the Thirteenth Century
Baumgarten, Elisheva, Ruth Mazo Karras, and Katelyn Mesler, eds. Entangled Histories: Knowledge, Authority, and Jewish Culture in the Thirteenth Century. 1st ed. Philadelphia: (Penn) University of Pennsylvania Press, 2017. http://www.upenn.edu/pennpress/book/15555.html. Abstract
From Halakhic innovation to blood libels, from the establishment of new mendicant orders to the institutionalization of Islamicate bureaucracy, and from the development of the inquisitorial process to the rise of yeshivas, universities, and madrasas, the long thirteenth century saw a profusion of political, cultural, and intellectual changes in Europe and the Mediterranean basin. These were informed by, and in turn informed, the religious communities from which they arose. In city streets and government buildings, Jews, Christians, and Muslims lived, worked, and disputed with one another, sharing and shaping their respective cultures in the process. The interaction born of these relationships between minority and majority cultures, from love and friendship to hostility and violence, can be described as a complex and irreducible "entanglement." The contributors to Entangled Histories: Knowledge, Authority, and Jewish Culture in the Thirteenth Century argue that this admixture of persecution and cooperation was at the foundation of Jewish experience in the Middle Ages.
 

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