Regional Identities and Cultures of Medieval Jews

Javier Castaño is a research fellow in Jewish history at the Spanish National Scientific Research Council in Madrid. He is a former editor of the journal 'Sefarad'. Talya Fishman is Associate Professor of Jewish Intellectual and Cultural History of the Medieval and Early Modern Periods at the University of Pennsylvania. She is the author of 'Becoming the People of the Talmud: Oral Torah as Written Tradition in Medieval Jewish Cultures' (2013). Ephraim Kanarfogel is E. Billi Ivry University Professor of Jewish History, Literature and Law at Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies,Yeshiva University. He is a leading expert in the fields of medieval Jewish history and rabbinic literature, an ordained rabbi and Torah scholar and the authorof numerous books, including Between Rashi and Maimonides: Studies in Medieval Jewish Thought, Literature, and Exegesis (2010).

• List of ContributorsNote on TransliterationIntroduction - Talya FishmanPart I. Identity Claims1.  The Emergence of the Medieval Jewish Diaspora(s) of Europe from the Ninth to the Twelfth Centuries, with Some Thoughts on Historical DNA Studies - Michael Toch2. Medieval Jewish Legends on the Decline of the Babylonian Centre and the Primacy of Other Geographical Centres - Avraham GrossmanPart II. The Impact of Non-Jewish Cultures on Regional Traditions3. The Sacrifice of the Souls of the Righteous upon the Heavenly Altar: Transformations of Apocalyptic Traditions in Medieval Ashkenaz - Paul Mandel4. The Bifurcated Legacy of Rabbi Moses Hadarshan and the Rise of Peshat Exegesis in Medieval France - Hananel Mack5. A New Look at Medieval Jewish Exegetical Constructions of Peshat in Christian and Muslim Lands: Rashbam and Maimonides - Mordechai Z. Cohen6. The ‘Our Talmud’ Tradition and the Predilection for Works of Applied Law in Early Sephardi Rabbinic Culture - Talya FishmanPart III. Geopolitical Boundaries and Their Impact on Jewish Regional Identities7. From Germany to Northern France and Back Again: A Tale of Two Tosafist Centres - Ephraim Kanarfogel8. Rabbinic Politics, Royal Conquest, and the Creation of a Halakhic Tradition in Medieval Provence - Pinchas Roth9. Mediterranean Regionalism in Hebrew Panegyric Poetry - Jonathan Decter10. Framings of Sephardi Identity in Ashkenazi Prayer Books - Elisabeth Hollender11. Minhag and Migration: Yiddish Custom Books from Sixteenth-Century Italy - Lucia RaspePart IV. Cultural Content as a Marker of Jewish Regional Identities12. A Collection of Jewish Philosophical Prayers - Y. Tzvi Langermann13. Prophets and Their Impact in the High Middle Ages: A Subculture of Franco-German Jewry - Moshe IdelIndex

‘[The essays] make unexpected and intriguing links between Jewish and non-Jewish literature and ideas, and (rightly) raise as much questions as they seek to answer. In that respect, they have helpfully indicted possible directions of future research.’Stefan C . Reif, Journal of Jewish Studies