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UMD HIST 282 - Medieval Jewish Religion, Culture, and Practice

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1Medieval Jewish Religion,Culture, and Practice Problem of Diaspora: “Of” or merely “in” the wider society? Divergent Jewish traditions and their contexts. Divergent intellectual traditions in Islamic and Christianlands. Gender norms and practices Initiation (for boys) into Torah Appropriation, Polemic Parody?November 27, 2006Problem of Diaspora: “Of” ormerely “In” the Wider Society? A broad problematic in the study of anydiaspora. To great extent, focus on diaspora meansattention to the experiences in the “host”society (enslavement, segregation and theAfrican American experience; status,economic restrictions, persectution, for Med.Jews. Frequently tell us mu ch about the “host”society’s values, structures, politics.Divergent Jewish traditions andtheir contexts Jews in Medieval society lived in a variety ofsocial contexts: Mediterranean Islamic/Arab societies Christian societies of Northern Europe[But also, Byzantine Empire, Eastern Europe (toward the end of theM.A.s), Persia and elsewhere] Can see divergences in: Intellectual developments Gender norms and practices Other features Footnote: Ashkenaz, Sepharad2Divergent Jewish intellectual traditions inIslamic and Christian lands (i)In the Islamic (and post-Islamic, e.g., Spain) lands Talmud is prolegomenon to a complete education(See, e.g., presuppositions in Maimonides’s Guide; curriculumhanded out 11/27) Rational theology and Greek philosophy (Platonicand Aristotelian) studied and had an impact Influence also of grammatical studies (|| Qurʼanicstudies) Poetry, stylistics, esthetics, modeled on Arabic-language culture.Divergent Jewish intellectual traditions inIslamic and Christian lands (ii) In the Ashkenazic lands Bible, Talmud, law substantially made up Jewish education Rashi (1040–1105) and Tosafot (a “school” including Rashi’sgrandsons) reflect both the internalist focus, and (esp.Tosafot) some features of wider Christian intellectualtradition (scholastic dialectic) Some perpetuation of older Palestinian Jewish poetictradition (piyyut) A period of peshat (i.e., contextual interpretation) in 11th-12th centuries Scholars of So. France, 12th C onwards (e.g.,Ramban = Moses b. Nahman = Nahmanides)harmonize these traditionGender norms and practices Medieval Christian world: Greater public visibility Monogamy (“ban [herem] of R. Gershom,” 960-1028) Ideal of child marriage (for boys and esp. girls) (Tosafot) Greater openness to divorce Medieval Islamic world: Ideal of seclusion Accepted polygyny (negotiable in marriage contracts) Marriage between girl in teens and older man Less openness to divorce3Seclusion (or not) of women Maimonides on communal norms (12thC. Egypt) Responsum of Kalonymus of Lucca(10th C, in Mainz, to Moses of Arles)Initiation (for boys) into TorahAppropriation, Polemic, Parody? Appropriation: use of borrowed culturalelements—sometimes knowingly—for internalpurposes (e.g., philosophy in the Islamicworld) Polemic: using elements of “host” culture forcritical, combative purposes (e.g., in peshatinterpretation in Christian world) Parody: knowing and combative use ofimportant symbols of the “host.” E.g., imagining Haman as hanged on a cross. Iconography in depicting the initiation into Torah4Iconography and Parody?Initiation into Torah: Leipzig Mahzor,Ms. Vollers 1102, 13/14th Chttp://david.juden.at/images/69_Keil.jpgAdoration of the Magi: MS. LUDWIG VII 1, FOL. 25V, Regensburg 11th


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UMD HIST 282 - Medieval Jewish Religion, Culture, and Practice

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