Anti-Jewish accusations of host desecration and ritual murder, both of medieval origin and nature, became characteristic of the early modern period in Poland. Despite their medieval roots, some of the medieval characteristics of the accusations were gradually lost in the early modern period, even though their traces continue to appear in the sources. The presentation discusses the loss of theological significance of the accusations. The host desecration accusations gradually become church robbery cases, even if some theological rhetoric is retained, and the blood libels become cases of Jewish hostility and not of reenacting of the Crucifixion.
This text reflects Elia Schadeus' position that economic tolerance of Jews and of converts would facilitate conversion to Christianity. It also documents the desperation felt by Jewish converts to Christianity, who had difficulty integrating into both their old and new societies.
Yosef Hacker of Hebrew University in Jerusalem discusses Hayim Vital's Ets Hayim.
The _Triumpho del Govierno Popular, y de la Antiguedad Holandesa_ by Miguel de Barrios (Daniel Levi de Barrios) describes the political and religious 'government' of the community, and includes accounts of its literary and charitable associations, along with poems, encomia, funeral orations, and other miscellanea from de Barrios' Jewish oeuvre. This excerpt constitutes the opening of the work, part of a 58-page introduction which sets a theme for the rest by relating the exilic governance of the Jewish people to the six days of creation, and the restored monarchy of the messianic age to the seventh day, on which God rested. The seven numbered stanzas of the dedicatory poem correspond to the seven sections of this introduction.
In this presentation, Adam Teller discusses the change of status of Jews in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth from the subjects of the King in the late medieval period to subjects of lords, in private dominions during the early modern period. He contrasts two legal documents: a privilege granted to Jews by King Kazimierz Jagiellończyk (1453) and a privilege granted to Jews in the town of Jampol by the town's owner.
Talya Fishman discusses rabbinic views on the Jewishness of conversos in the early modern period.
Elliott Horowitz discusses letters by the fifteenth-century Jewish traveler, Obadiah of Bertinoro, who traveled from northern Italy to Jerusalem, as an example of early modern travel literature and encounters with different cultures.
Elisheva Carlebach discusses the literary legacy of Bella bat Jacob Perlhefter (born c. 1650), accomplished writer, instructor of music and rhythm, and entrepreneurial seventeenth-century businesswoman. Her letters provide a rare glimpse into the life of a seventeenth-century Jewish woman (other than Glikl).
Using Benjamin Slonik's _Seder mitsvot ha-nashim_ (1577), Edward Fram discusses the impact of printing on Jewish culture in the early modern period.
In this presentation Boaz Huss of Ben Gurion University discusses two texts, one from the sixteenth century, and one from the eighteenth century, illustrating the popularization of the Zohar, the foundational kabbalistic text, in the early modern period.
In 1771 the Habsburg ruler Maria Theresia issued a Privilege and a Statute to Jews in Trieste, both to confirm their status and to attract additional Jewish merchants to help develop the Adriatic Free Port. Lois Dubin discusses the legal and historical significance of this privilege.
Until roughly 1789, the hallmark of Jewish communal autonomy was the authority granted to rabbinic courts to adjudicate civil cases involving Jewish litigants. Nevertheless, the exclusive civil jurisdiction of these tribunals was challenged regularly by individuals seeking to resolve their disputes in the general courts. In Metz, the much esteemed rabbinic court (_beit din_) continued to convene until early 1790. Three registers from the _beit din_ are preserved in manuscript at the YIVO Archives in New York. Commencing in 1771, the registers contain nearly two decades of judicial cases totaling 1167 decisions. The texts included are two cases pertaining to the guardianship of orphans -- a common matter before Jewish and general tribunals.
Moshe Rosman discusses the 1739 book by Hillel Baal Shem as an example of early modern Jewish culture. It focuses on the tension between manuscript and print culture, and esoteric and exoteric knowledge. The selected passages highlight Hillel's training, the problems caused by charlatans, the undesirable popularization of mystical techniques fostered by the publication of simplistic handbooks, and the tangled relationship between _ba'al shem_ type practices and "proper" medicine.
No description available.
This presentation discusses two responses to the 1475 trial of Jews accused of ritually murdering a Christian boy, Simon, in the city of Trent. One comes from Pope Sixtus IV and another, a century later, from a Jewish chronicler, Joseph ha-Cohen.