Practicing piety in medieval Ashkenaz : men, women, and everyday religious observance / Elisheva Baumgarten.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Baumgarten, Elisheva, author.

Series:

Jewish culture and contexts.

Jewish Culture and Contexts

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Judaism--Europe--History--To 1500.

Judaism.

Jewish way of life--History--To 1500.

Jewish way of life.

Ashkenazim--History--To 1500.

Ashkenazim.

Hasidism, Medieval.

Jews--Europe--Social life and customs--To 1500.

Jews.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (344 p.)

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania : University of Pennsylvania Press, 2014.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

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.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1. Standing Before God: Purity and Impurity in the Synagogue

Chapter 2. Jewish Fasting and Atonement in a Christian Context

Chapter 3. Communal Charity: Evidence from Medieval Nürnberg

Chapter 4. Positive Time-Bound Commandments: Class, Gender, and Transformation

Chapter 5. Conspicuous in the City: Medieval Jews in Urban Centers

Chapter 6. Feigning Piety: Tracing Two Tales of Pious Pretenders

Chapter 7. Practicing Piety: Social and Comparative Perspectives

Abbreviations

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Acknowledgments

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9780812223705

0812223705

9780812290127

0812290127

OCLC:

893181912