Sprache:
Englisch
Erscheinungsjahr:
1991
Titel der Quelle:
Judaism; a Journal of Jewish Life & Thought
Angaben zur Quelle:
40,2 (1991) 148-170
Schlagwort(e):
Christianity and other religions Judaism To 1500
;
History
;
Yiddish literature History and criticism
;
Jews Folklore
Kurzfassung:
The legend of the Jewish Pope developed in the Middle Ages. It is found in three Hebrew manuscripts and in a later Yiddish printed version. The story relates how a Jewish boy is kidnapped and forcibly converted, given religious training, and through his brilliance is eventually elected as Pope. In the two Ashkenazi versions he is the son of Rabbi Shimon the Great of Mainz, and in the two Sephardi versions he is the son of Rabbi Shlomo ibn Aderet of Barcelona. In all cases, a meeting occurs between son and father, and the son (Pope) repents - in the manuscript versions, through martyrdom, and in the later version, with a return to his home and Judaism. Discusses the medieval Jewish worldview - belief in the ultimate truth of Judaism and refusal to compromise with Christianity even in the face of forced conversion, disputations, and martyrdom. Historical and structural analysis of the legend shows a consistent picture of a society constructed of binary oppositions, especially between Judaism and Christianity, and between this world and the World to Come.
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