Jewish martyrs in the pagan and Christian worlds / Shmuel Shepkaru.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Shepkaru, Shmuel, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Martyrdom--Judaism--History--To 1500.

Martyrdom.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xii, 414 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Other Title:

Jewish Martyrs in the Pagan & Christian Worlds

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2006.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

This book presents a linear history of Jewish martyrdom, from the Hellenistic period to the high Middle Ages. Following the chronology of sources, the study challenges the general consensus that martyrdom was an original Hellenistic Jewish idea. Instead, Jews like Philo and Josephus internalised the idealised Roman concept of voluntary death and presented it as an old Jewish practice. The centrality of self-sacrifice in Christianity further stimulated the development of rabbinic martyrology and the talmudic guidelines for passive martyrdom. However, when forced to choose between death and conversion in medieval Christendom, European Jews went beyond these guidelines, sacrificing themselves and loved ones. Through death not only did they attempt to prove their religiosity, but also to disprove the religious legitimacy of their Christian persecutors. While martyrs and martyrologies intended to show how Judaism differed from Christianity, they, in fact, reveal a common mindset.

Contents:

Mythic martyrs

Between God and Caesar

"It is written in the law"

Byzantine burnt offerings

Zarfat

Ve-Ashkenaz : traditional manifestations

Ve-Ashkenaz : manifestations of a milieu

Singing in the fire

Fire from heaven

Shifting paradigms.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).

Includes bibliographical references (p. 371-407) and index.

ISBN:

1-107-15165-1

1-281-10858-8

9786611108588

1-139-13094-3

0-511-34491-0

0-511-34454-6

0-511-34415-5

0-511-49911-6

0-511-34525-9

OCLC:

185082144