#teaching medieval Judaism: #thread #medievaltwitter

Arthurian/chivalric lit: there are 2 rewritings which work well & reflect medieval Jewish culture and values. Translated into English

Meleck Artus (1279) Grail=charity bowl!
Bevis of Hampton (Yiddish, 1507) Josiane=Jewish!

For a Jewish account of Jewish persecution, see the Hebrew Crusade Chronicles (about c.1096). They are translated into English. Sad but explore difficult issues like forced baptism, suicide and the power of prayer. They recall the mass suicide of besieged Jews at Masada, c.70 CE.

According to the Jewish calendar, medieval and modern, today's date is Cheshvan 5779. Medieval Jewish people, like other medieval people, loved the zodiac, astronomy, prognostication. Here is an example from 14thc Catalonia @upennlib LJS 57

For everyday life in village communities, there is nothing better than the Ma’aseh Book, a collection of Yiddish tales compiled at end of Middle Ages (translated into English by Gaster). Everyday problems about marriage, dietary laws, etc. Legends about superhero rabbis @MRaschko

Haggadahs, Passover prayerbooks, are the best illustrated MSS of the Jewish Middle Ages. They are *very* similar to today's. Passover starts Fri, 4/19. Some famous medieval haggadot are Golden Haggadah, Sarajevo Haggadah, Birds' Head, and many more. You can explore many online!

Judaism & book history go together. We chant the bible from a parchment scroll, just as we did 1000 years ago. There are cool rules about handling Torah scrolls. One of the most important medieval Torahs is the Aleppo (Codex). Its story is part of the story of the Jewish people

Medieval travel-writing/fantasy:

Eldad the Danite (9thc Ethiopian Jewish traveler). Maybe! Lots o' fantasy but extremely important to later writers (see the rescue of the Beta Israel)

Benjamin of Tudela (12thc mostly real account) of his travels to far-flung Jewish communities

For two great manuscripts depicting medieval Jewish life, see
@britishlibrary MS Or 5024 (Italy, 1374) & @britishlibrary Add MS 26957, a prayerbook written for a woman, Maraviglia. Hebrew reads right-left. Vowels are represented by the lines & dots above and below the letters.

The Jews were expelled from England in 1290. But I promise that medieval Jewish culture can still enrich your Medieval English lit survey if you are a little flexible about place/date. Here's a manuscript (left, @upennlib LJS 477) written in Oxford right before the expulsion.