1623330467     

483260584                        

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Practicing piety in medieval Ashkenaz : men, women, and everyday religious observance

Baʾumgarṭen, Elishevaʿ, 1969- [Verfasserin/Verfasser]

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania : University of Pennsylvania Press, [2014]

334 Seiten ; 23 cm

Englisch

Publication date taken from publisher's website. - Includes bibliographical references (pages [287]-322) and index

978-0-8122-2370-5 ; 0-8122-2370-5

BM290

LOC-SH: Judaism -- History -- To 1500 -- Europe ; Jewish way of life -- History -- To 1500 ; Ashkenazim -- History -- To 1500 ; Hasidism, Medieval ; Jews -- Social life and customs -- To 1500 -- Europe ; Jews -- Social life and customs -- History -- To 1500 -- France ; Jews -- Social life and customs -- History -- To 1500 -- Germany ; Judaism -- Relations -- Christianity -- History -- To 1500 ; Christianity and other religions -- Judaism -- History -- To 1500

In the urban communities of medieval Germany and northern France, the beliefs, observances, and practices of Jews allowed them to create and define their communities on their own terms as well as in relation to the surrounding Christian society. Although medieval Jewish texts were written by a learned elite, the laity also observed many religious rituals as part of their everyday life. In Practicing Piety in Medieval Ashkenaz, Elisheva Baumgarten asks how Jews, especially those who were not learned, expressed their belonging to a minority community and how their convictions and deeds were made apparent to both their Jewish peers and the Christian majority. Practicing Piety in Medieval Ashkenaz provides a social history of religious practice in context, particularly with regard to the ways Jews and Christians, separately and jointly, treated their male and female members. Medieval Jews often shared practices and beliefs with their Christian neighbors, and numerous notions and norms were appropriated by one community from the other. By depicting a dynamic interfaith landscape and a diverse representation of believers, Baumgarten offers a fresh assessment of Jewish practice and the shared elements that composed the piety of Jews in relation to their Christian neighbors. (Publisher's website)