Two Nations in Your Womb
Perceptions of Jews and Christians in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages
1st Edition
Published on 25. July 2006
Book
Hardback
336 pages
978-0-520-21766-9 (ISBN)
Description
Since it was first published in Hebrew in 2000, this provocative book has been garnering acclaim and stirring controversy for its bold reinterpretation of the relationship between Judaism and Christianity in the Middle Ages, especially in medieval Europe. Looking at a remarkably wide array of source material, Israel Jacob Yuval argues that the inter-religious polemic between Judaism and Christianity served as a substantial component in the mutual formation of each of the two religions. He investigates ancient Jewish Passover rituals; Jewish martyrs in the Rhineland who in 1096 killed their own children; Christian perceptions of those ritual killings; and events of the year 1240, when Jews in northern France and Germany expected the Messiah to arrive. Looking below the surface of these key moments, Yuval finds that, among other things, the impact of Christianity on Talmudic and medieval Judaism was much stronger than previously assumed and that a "rejection of Christianity" became a focal point of early Jewish identity. "Two Nations in Your Womb" will reshape our understanding of Jewish and Christian life in late antiquity and over the centuries.
More details
Edition
First Edition
Language
English
Place of publication
Berkerley
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Cloth over boards
Illustrations
6 b-w photographs, 2 tables
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 25 mm
Weight
726 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-520-21766-9 (9780520217669)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Israel Jacob Yuval is a professor for Jewish History and the Academic Head of "Scholion-Interdisciplinary Research Center in Jewish Studies" at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He is author of Scholars in Their Time: The Religious Leadership of German Jewry in the Late Middle Ages (1988).
Content
List of Illustrations Preface to the Hebrew Edition Preface to the English Edition 1. Introduction: Et Major Serviet Minori (And the Elder Will Serve the Younger) The Thematic Framework The Early Typology: Esau Id Est Edom The Late Typology: Edom Id Est Roma The Conciliatory Approach of Modern Research The Mother, the Daughter, and the Sister 2. Rome or Jerusalem: The Foundations of Jewish-Christian Hostility The Sons of Ephraim and the Son of Joseph Vindicta Salvatoris (The Vengeance of the Savior) Legends of the Destruction--Anti-Christian? The Passover of Egypt and the Passover of Jerusalem Development of the Stories Parallels between the Jewish Haggadah and the Christian "Haggadahs" The "Midrash" of the Haggadah Conclusions A Note on the Research 3. The Vengeance and the Curse: Hostility to Christianity among Ashkenazic Jewry Vengeful Redemption Proselytizing Redemption The Curse The Curse on Yom Kippur Pour Out Thy Wrath The Impression of the Curses on Christians 4. Intersecting Stories: From Martyrdom to Ritual Murder Accusations The Blood Self-Sacrifice Sacrifice of Children The Libel The Impact of the Blood Sacrifice on Christians The Libel of Blois and the Story of Bristol 5. Inverted Ceremonies: The Host, the Matzah, and the Quarrel The Great Sabbath The Burning of Leaven The Eruv of Courtyards The Afikoman Haroset Summary 6. The End of the Millennium (1240): Jewish Hopes, Christian Fears Calculations of the End at the Turn of the Jewish Millennium Messianism, Immigration to the Land of Israel, and Settling the Land Fulda 1235, Paris 1240: Christian Reactions? The Mongolian Threat: The Ten Tribes? Gog and Magog? A Synchronic Overview A Jewish End and a Christian End Index