Description

For many, the Middle Ages in general evokes a sense of the sinister and brings to mind a world of fear, superstition, and religious fanaticism. For Jews it was a period marked by persecutions, pogroms, and expulsions. Yet at the same time, the Middle Ages was also a time of lively cultural exchange and heightened creativity for Jews. In The Jewish Middle Ages, contributors explore the ways in which the stories of biblical women, including, Eve, Sarah, Hagar, Rebekah, Zipporah, Ruth, Esther, and Judith, make their way into the rich tapestry of medieval Jewish literature, mystical texts, and art, particularly in works emanating from Ashkenazic circles. Contributors include Carol Bakhos, Judith R. Baskin, Elisheva Baumgarten, Dagmar Börner-Klein, Constanza Cordoni, Rachel Elior, Meret Gutmann-Grün, Robert A. Harris, Yuval Katz-Wilfing, Sheila Tuller Keiter, Katrin Kogman-Appel, Gerhard Langer, Aurora Salvatierra Ossorio, and Felicia Waldman. These essays give us a glimpse into the role women played and the authority they assumed in medieval Jewish culture beyond the rabbinic centers of Palestine and Babylonia.

Contents

INTRODUCTION

CULTURAL SETTING

• Elisheva BaumgartenGender and Daily Life in the Jewish Communities of Medieval Europe

1. LATE MIDRASHIC LITERATURE

• Costanza Cordoni “If You Keep Silent in This Crisis” (Esth 4:14): Esther the Medieval Biblical Heroine
• Dagmar Börner-Klein Judith in the Hebrew Literature of the Middle Ages

2. COMMENTARY

• Gerhard Langer The Tradition of Eve in the Commentaries of Rashi and Ramban
• Carol Bakhos Sarah and Hagar in Medieval Jewish Commentaries
• Robert A. Harris The Voice of the Woman: Narrating the Song of Songs in Twelfth-Century Rabbinic Exegesis
• Sheila Tuller Keiter The Irony of the Eshet Hayil: Proverbs 31:10–31 in Jewish Medieval Exegesis

3. HASIDEI ASHKENAZ

• Judith R. Baskin Representations of Biblical Women in the Writings of the Hasidei Ashkenaz

4. POETRY AND PIYYUT

• Aurora Salvatierra Ossorio Biblical Women in the Hebrew Poetry of Al-Andalus
• Meret Gutmann-Grün The Female Figure Zion in the Liturgical Literature of Al-Andalus

5. MYSTICISM

• Rachel Elior The Development of the Feminine Dimension of God in the Jewish Mystical Tradition
• Felicia Waldman The Biblical Woman Who Is Not in the Bible: Feminine Imagery in Kabbalah
• Yuval Katz-Wilfing The Figure of Ruth as a Convert in the Zohar

6. ART

• Katrin Kogman-Appel Female Protagonists in Medieval Jewish Book Art

Bibliography

Contributors

Ancient Sources Index

Modern Author Index

The Jewish Middle Ages

• Eds.
  Carol Bakhos
• Gerhard Langer

Year 2023