Description
Book SynopsisThis book examines Christian ethnographic writing about the Jews in early modern Europe, offering a systematic historical analysis of this literary genre and arguing its importance for better understanding both the period in general and Jewish-Christian relations in particular. The book focuses on nearly 80 texts from Western Europe (mostly Germany) that describe the customs and ceremonies of the contemporary Jews, containing both descriptions and illustrations of their subjects. Deutsch is one of the first scholars to study these unique writings in extensive detail. He examines books in which Christian authors describe Jewish life and provides new interpretations of Christian perceptions of Jews, Christian Hebraism, and the attention paid by the Hebraist to contemporary Jews and Judaism. Since many of the authors were converts, studying their books offers new insights into conversion during the period. Their work presents new perspectives the study of religion, developments in the fie
Trade ReviewDeutsch s careful work makes a significant contribution to the cultural and intellectual history of early modern Europe and to the history of Jewish-Christian relations. His survey of the landscape will enable other historians to offer new case studies and make better use of this literature as sources in their research. His effort to accentuate the more neutral tone and more realistic depictions that characterize some of this literature moves beyond a methodological contribution and offers new possibilities for understanding the place of Jews and Judaism in early modernity. * Marginalia *
Table of ContentsIntroduction ; Chapter 1: A Survey of the Ethnographic Accounts about the Jews ; Chapter 2: May the Lord Make You My Atonement - Yom Kippur in the Ethnographic Accounts on the Jews ; Chapter 3: Admit Him into the Covenant of Abraham? Circumcision and Other Birth Rituals ; Chapter 4: Gorging and Carousing: Accounts on Jewish Dietary Guidelines and Eating Habits ; Chapter 5: An Overview of the Ethnographic Writing about the Jews ; Bibliography
