Videos by Lia S T E R N I Z K I Shelah
This paper presentation took place in Oxford University, The United Kingdom, too long ago. It is ... more This paper presentation took place in Oxford University, The United Kingdom, too long ago. It is about a particular manuscript from the Carolingian period, now kept in St Petersburg National Library (Russia). My lecture is of a research study I undertook in order to find out why this depiction of a story about a journey to the Afterlife was made and copied in several manuscripts, my notion and thesis is that this particular small manuscript was made specifically for a Carolingian king (Charles the Bald) in order to make him take a leap of faith whereby he will enthrone archibishop Hincmar of Reims instead of another archibishop at that exact period of time. This is what I was trying to prove, anyway... 81 views
Papers Past & Present by Lia S T E R N I Z K I Shelah
This article explores two late antique and early medieval texts: The Apocalypse of Peter, dated t... more This article explores two late antique and early medieval texts: The Apocalypse of Peter, dated to about the second century CE, and the Apocalypse of Paul, dated to approximately the fourth century CE. I will examine the extant manuscript transmission of both texts in Latin, from the sixth century to about 1000 CE, in order to see how these texts circulated and why they gained the popularity that they did across the centuries. I will argue that the many versions of the texts were copied and used to different aims in different regions and times, according to the immediate needs and messages that the copyists wanted to convey to their readers.
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The Navigation of Saint Brendan is an early medieval Irish text which has been the subject of sch... more The Navigation of Saint Brendan is an early medieval Irish text which has been the subject of scholarly literature. This article seeks to examine not the story in itself, but rather, its manuscript transmission across time and space from the early sixth century to approximately 1000 CE. The aim of the article is to explore the various illustrated manuscripts which have been preserved from the early medieval period and see how and why this popular text has been copied in them throughout history.
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Arguably composed in the second half of the ninth century, the Visio Fratris Rotcharii is a pecul... more Arguably composed in the second half of the ninth century, the Visio Fratris Rotcharii is a peculiar case study of Visionary literature in the early Medieval Latin West. Its sole evidence is preserved in a single ninth century illustrated manuscript which is now kept in St Petersburg's Russian National Library. The text itself is not illustrated, yet it was copied together with a more familiar and popular text called Visio Baronti - composed in the seventh century in Merovingian Francia. The Visio Baronti is fully illustrated in color and detail, whether the Visio Fratris Rotcharii is a relatively short text of four folios long. The text was never crutically edited before, wherefore this article seeks to provide a critical edition of the composition while putting it in its historical context: Ninth century Carolingian France. It was most probably produced in Reims, in a very specific context of a struggle over the episcopal see of Reims between two prominent bishops: Ebbo of Reims and Hincmar. I will argue that the Visio Fratris Rotcharii was designated to play a crucial role in Ebbo's way of getting himself back to Reims after Louis the Pious' death.
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This article thoroughly explores one exempla story which deals with the punishment of sinners in ... more This article thoroughly explores one exempla story which deals with the punishment of sinners in Hell and the reward of the righteous in Heaven.
The exemplum, originating in the Ierushalmi Talmud, appeared in the late
12th or early 13th century in a composition titled "Darkei Tshuva" ("The
Ways of Penance"), which is based on Hilchot Tshuva in Sefer HaRokah by
Rabbi Elazar of Worms. The composition Darkei Tshuva was preserved and
reached us in the Responsa of Rabbi Meir Ben Rabbi Baruch (henceforth: "HaMaharam of Rothenburg"), in the Prague Printed edition of the text.
At the heart of this paper stands the composition's textual analysis, in attempt
to discern its imaginary contents and examine them against the background of
the historical reality and the worldview of Hasidei Ashkenaz.
The first chapter of the article is dedicated to textual analysis of Darkei Tshuva and to its examination in the framework of a much wider phenomenon wherein Vision stories of the Afterlife were put down in writing throughout the Middle Ages. I have found that Darkei Tshuva clearly corresponded much more with early Jewish sources than with contemporary Christian literature. The author indeed based his composition on the Ierushalmi Talmud in his writing, but he edited the original story according to the needs and the didactic aims that were deemed most relevant to his own time and place.
The second chapter of this article dealt with the historical context of Hasidut Ashkenaz, and in particular, with the moral agenda and worldview of righteous penance that Hasidei Ashkenaz had developed in the late 12th and early 13th centuries. One may see how this distinct social group of Hasidei Ashkenaz held a variety of notions and beliefs in regard to penance and morality. Rabbi Elazar of Worms, for example, differed from his teacher, Rabbi Yehuda HaHasid, in his attitude toward the larger Jewish society that was not considered "Hasidim". While both of the Rabbis mentions above perceived sin in a similar way, they disagreed about the systematic way in which the sinner should atone for his sins and perform penance. Rabbi Yehuda HaHasid focused on the image of "Dmut HaChacham" ("The Figure of the Learned"), which the sinner must confess to and receive proper guidance for penance from. This procedure entailed a large extent of shame on behalf of the sinner, and it did not hold ground in practice. Rabbi Elazar of Worms, however, composed a discrete manner of private confession at the centre of which stood the sinner him or herself. According to Elazar of Worms' worldview, the sinner must find the proper atonement for his or her sins in the Bible or in other books which dealt with the issue of penance. Rabbi Elazar of Worms made a great effort to find a way of penance for the whole Jewish society of his day, not just the Hasidim's group, and this is what allowed the Hasidic movement in Ashkenaz to penetrate the social life of the whole Jewish community and influence it, in practice, for decades to come.
The third chapter in this article discussed the meaning of the inclusion of Darkei Tshuva in the Responsa of HaMaharam of Rothenburg. I have attempted to figure out why the issue of penance continued to be as relevant and central as it was in the days of HaMaharam as much as it was in the days of Rabbi Elazar of Worms, and what could the readers in the 13th century make of the exemplum story provided by Elazar of Worms. One must consider the profound transformation processes which took place in the 12th and 13th centuries in the perception of self identity among Christians and, as a result, the changing Christian perception of those who were not Christians. These social, theological and cultural processes culminated in actions against Jews, most of which were offensive and lethal as far as the Crusades are concerned. The reality which the Jewish communities of Ashkenaz faced in this historical period was a Martyrological reality, wherein the phenomenon of Mavet Al Kiddush HaShem played a crucial role. The 13th century in Europe was an eschatological period, in which Jewish and Christian authors related to the matters of life and death, as much as to the notion of life after death. In Darkei Tshuva one could find consolation, and a clear message that penance could bring an eternal life of happiness and glory in the Other World.
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Medieval Travel and Travelers, Real and Imagined: Travel as Transformation
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Historia: Journal of the Historical Society of Israel
In the second half of the ninth century of the Common Era, an unusual, beautifully illustrated ma... more In the second half of the ninth century of the Common Era, an unusual, beautifully illustrated manuscript was produced in the West Frankish kingdom of Charles the Bald (d. 877). The manuscript, now kept in St Petersburg, the National Library of Russia, contains only two early medieval Christian texts, each of which depicts a visionary journey of a monk to the Otherworld: the first is the only surviving illustrated copy of a famous story from the Merovingian period, called ‘Visio Baronti monachi Longoretensis’ (678 or 679 CE), and the second is the otherwise unknown ‘Visio fratris Rotcharii’ – a brief narrative from the Carolingian period – whose solely extant copy came down to us in the form in which it is preserved in the St Petersburg manuscript. The juxtaposition of these two texts raises intriguing questions in regard to the purposes and aims which may lay behind their inclusion in the St Petersburg manuscript. Questions related to the manuscript production and transmission, however, were hardly addressed hitherto and are yet to be answered, as modern scholars seem to have previously focused on the ‘Visio Baronti’ almost entirely exclusively, neither paying adequate attention to the so-called ‘Visio fratris Rotcharii’ in its own right nor subjecting both texts to a thorough scrutiny in relation to one another.
By taking a fresh and close look at the St Petersburg manuscript as a functioning whole, this paper aims to investigate the visionary journey delineated in the ‘Visio fratris Rotcharii’ against the immediate historical context in which it appeared, as well as by means of comparing its structure and content with the earlier text that was copied and preserved with it in the same manuscript. Seeking to unearth and reach a better understanding of surreptitious meanings embedded in the ‘Visio fratris Rotcharii’, the twofold modus operandi offered here will reveal strong indications that this specific text was destined to have a decisive function in the St Petersburg manuscript. I argue that the manuscript as we know it was deliberately and mindfully made by a local ecclesiastical faction in Reims who sought to purify the name and the deeds of one controversial bishop, Ebbo of Reims (d. 851), through cleverly combined literary and artistic uses of Otherworldly journey narratives and images, from beginning to end.
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International Conference Presentations by Lia S T E R N I Z K I Shelah
Whether in their sleep, while consciously awake or temporarily unconscious, men and women belong... more Whether in their sleep, while consciously awake or temporarily unconscious, men and women belonging to different cultures and practicing different religions in various regions of the Mediterranean basin seemed to have shared a peculiarly interesting experience in common since Antiquity and well into the Middle Ages: Visions of human life after death. Stories about venerated heroes, celebrated saints, and even ordinary laymen who purportedly visited the mysterious world beyond the grave and then “came back” to life were popular and had a long oral tradition before having been put down in writing. At certain points in time, however, some of the vivid narratives depicting journeys of souls to the otherworld were found fit for and worthy of preservation in textual form, thereby starting to appear in the historical record of human societies in increasing number, scope, and detail. Unmistakably, there was reason behind the making of these vision texts which, as imaginary and strange as they may seem to a modern audience, were used in practice and therefore meant to serve some actual, multifarious purposes and aims of those who stood behind the texts' production and/or took care to preserve them.
This paper will focus on a specific, exceptionally popular kind of otherworldly vision texts that came down to us from the early Middle Ages, wherein the protagonist encounters and reports about sinners and transgressors he sees during his visit to Hell. As will be demonstrated by examination of few selected case studies in Latin, the tormented souls of people who broke moral, religious, or social rules during their lifetime, along with the many and creative ways in which they were bound to be punished accordingly, received considerable attention and descriptive treatment in the texts under discussion. The aim of my paper is to offer an explanation to this cross-cultural, intellectual phenomenon of punishing wrongdoers in the literary realms of human imagination by evaluating the contents of the narratives in relation to the immediate historical, social, and religious contexts of their provenance, as well as by taking the texts’ manuscript tradition under consideration. The multi-faceted picture that will emerge from the proposed analysis will suggest that the otherworldly vision texts primarily concerned with sinners and rule breakers were, in fact, a powerfully practical vehicle of shaping communities’ perceptions and public opinion about their desired, or dreaded, social realities in “this world” - imagined and real as one.
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Completed between the summer of 593 and the autumn of 594, Pope Gregory I’s fourfold Dialogues on... more Completed between the summer of 593 and the autumn of 594, Pope Gregory I’s fourfold Dialogues on the Miracles of the Italian Fathers were to captivate the minds and the imagination of later generations of medieval readers and modern scholars alike. This work, written in style and format markedly different from those employed in other literary products from the quill of the same author, narrates a multitude of miracle stories of holy men who lived, died, and operated et ante mortem et post mortem in Italy of the late fifth and the sixth centuries. Yet, while the first three books of the Dialogues are primarily dedicated to the recounting and recording of various saints’ miracles, the fourth and final dialogue noticeably deviates from the rest in both scope and matter, presenting one of the earliest thematically consistent and sustained disquisitions on the nature and the fate of the soul in the world beyond the grave to appear in the Latin West.
Few selected episodes in Gregory’s fourth dialogue depict visionary journeys of souls to the Otherworld immediately after death, delineating vivid “visits” of men from different walks of life to the infernal and the heavenly realms of the Christian Afterlife. These stories, often overlooked by historians, will be subjected to textual and contextual scrutiny in this paper which will offer a new reading and evaluation of the seemingly eschatological material worked and embedded in them. Examination of the structure, contents, language, and imagery used by Gregory for the narration of journeys to the Otherworld, against the turbulent historical context of his lifetime and papacy, will provide important clues as to the function of the interestingly “otherworldly” elements and recitations within the larger framework of the Dialogues, suggesting a potential role they may have played in Gregory’s way of coping with the many, complex, and importunate worldly encumbrances he had to endure.
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In the second half of the ninth century, an unusual, beautifully illustrated manuscript was produ... more In the second half of the ninth century, an unusual, beautifully illustrated manuscript was produced in the West Frankish kingdom of Charles the Bald (d. 877). The manuscript, which is now kept in the National Library of St. Petersburg, Russia, contains two early medieval texts of visionary journeys to the Otherworld. The first is the only surviving illustrated copy of the famous Merovingian narrative called “Visio Baronti monachi Longoretensis”, dated to 678 or 679. While this text was considerably popular throughout the Middle Ages, is extant in 27 manuscripts and has been studied by several modern historians, the other visionary journey which was copied in the St. Petersburg manuscript, the so-called “Visio fratris Rotcharii”, has escaped scholarly attention. Its only extant copy came down to us in the St. Petersburg manuscript, was never critically edited before nor thoroughly investigated against its immediate historical context. The aim of this paper is to examine the visionary journey to the Otherworld depicted in the “Visio fratris Rotcharii” both in its own right - against the political, social and religious context in which it appeared – and in relation to the earlier text with which it was copied and preserved, in order to reach a better understanding of this imaginary journey’s structure and aims. Looking at the St. Petersburg manuscript as a whole will reveal strong indications that it was made by a specific ecclesiastical faction in Reims who sought to purify the name and the deeds of the controversial bishop Ebbo of Reims (d. 851) through clever literary uses of Otherworldly journeys.
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The Carolingian period witnessed an enormous surge in the production and replication of manuscrip... more The Carolingian period witnessed an enormous surge in the production and replication of manuscripts which represent the impressive cultural revival that came to characterize it. In this paper, I wish to explore a peculiar case-study of Carolingian visionary literature, the so-called “Visio fratris Rotcharii”, which was most probably produced in the West Frankish kingdom in the second half of the ninth century. This otherworldly vision story of a monk named Rotcharius is considered one of several political vision texts that circulated in the Carolingian Empire after the death of Charlemagne. However, it is unique for two main reasons: Firstly, the text was preserved and came down to us in only one, single copy, as part of an unusual, small-sized and illustrated manuscript which is now kept in the National Library of St. Petersburg, Russia. This manuscript also contains a copy of the famous Merovingian vision story of monk Barontus (Visio Baronti monachi Longoretensis, 678 or 679 AD). Due to problems of inaccessibility to the St. Petersburg manuscript, it has escaped scholarly attention and was never thoroughly studied before as a whole. Secondly and more importantly, the “Visio fratris Rotcharii” is the only vision story dated from the 9th century which portrayed Charlemagne as one of the saints in Heaven, whereas all of the other vision texts dated from this period portrayed the king as one of the sinners tormented in Hell. There are strong indications that the unusual St. Petersburg manuscript was produced by a certain ecclesiastical faction in Reims during the second half of the ninth century, who sought to purify the name and the deeds of a specific bishop, Ebbo of Reims. Therefore, the scope of my paper is to investigate the Visio fratris Rotcharii, as well as the manuscript in which it was preserved as a whole, in hopes of revealing these literary compositions’ ingenious social and political aims in the historical context of the ninth century Carolingian Empire.
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Guest Lectures by Lia S T E R N I Z K I Shelah
In this tutorial, designated for M.A. by Research students in the Institute for Medieval Studies ... more In this tutorial, designated for M.A. by Research students in the Institute for Medieval Studies (IMS) at the University of Leeds, the students were introduced to the process of tracing, identifying, and working with medieval Latin manuscripts for the purposes of their historical research. Contouring a step-by-step workflow, emphasis was put on the importance of examining codices as physical objects - paying heed to their codicological features and characteristics - as well as of approaching each codex as a functioning whole, bearing in mind its contents from beginning to end. Modern editions to medieval texts and some inherent problems they pose were also discussed, in attempt to delineate and clarify for the students what they should be aware of or careful with when relying on modern editions. Special attention was given to case studies of unedited manuscripts, providing the students with essential tips and important guidelines for going about deciphering texts which were never subjected to critical editing before.
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Contributing to a University module taught by Dr. Emilia Jamroziak on Jewish communities in Medie... more Contributing to a University module taught by Dr. Emilia Jamroziak on Jewish communities in Medieval Europe at the School of History, University of Leeds, this presentation was given in October 2014 as part of a broader co-lectureship entitled “Community Structures: Reading, Writing and Learning”. Explained both as a receptacle of text and image in the physical sense and as a powerful cultural symbol whose historical importance lays beyond its material essence, the Hebrew medieval manuscript stood at the heart of my talk, which focused on one of various interrelated aspects of literacy and transmission of knowledge in Jewish communities throughout Europe of the Middle Ages.
Among the topics addressed and discussed in my lecture were: processes involved in the Jewish book production; the significant role of books in the life of individuals and in communal life alike; and the uses of different “Jewish” languages, namely, Hebrew and the vernacular, for different purposes and aims in disparate parts of Europe. The gist of the argument emphasized the extent to which every distinctive immediate historical and geo-cultural context of each community shaped - but was also reflected in - the contemporary manuscripts produced and used by that community.
Taking a close look at several concrete examples from Hebrew codices produced in the German-speaking regions of Western Europe during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, the aim of the final section of my presentation was to demonstrate how these fascinating surviving artifacts – which should be understood and studied as invaluable products of a rich cultural activity - allow the modern observer a rare, unique, and unmediated glance into the perceptions and value systems of the societies for which these manuscripts were created and made readily available for substantial use.
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Memoranda from academic events by Lia S T E R N I Z K I Shelah
Conspectus of a palaeography training day for postgraduate research students of Medieval History ... more Conspectus of a palaeography training day for postgraduate research students of Medieval History in the universities of York, Leeds, and Sheffield, sponsored by the White Rose Consortium and held in King's Manor, University of York, on Friday 5th December, 2014.
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Papers by Lia S T E R N I Z K I Shelah
This report gives a summary of the four-day conference on the Merovingian kingdoms in Mediterrane... more This report gives a summary of the four-day conference on the Merovingian kingdoms in Mediterranean perspective which was held in Freie Universitat, Berlin between the 17th and 20th of December, 2014. Sponsored by the Minerva-Gentner Symposia and organised by Prof. Stefan Esders (Berlin) and Prof. Yitzhak Hen (Be'er Sheva), the conference featured many leading scholars of international renown in Early Medieval History, Archaeology and Merovingian studies, whose presentations amount to an up-to-date and exceptional contribution to the existing state of knowledge on the reciprocal relationships between the Frankish kingdoms, the Byzantine Empire, and the Islamic world in the Merovingain period. The crux of each paper is provided in this conference report, as well as an outline of the main themes drawn out by the participants.
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Networks and Neighbours, Apr 30, 2015
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Videos by Lia S T E R N I Z K I Shelah
Papers Past & Present by Lia S T E R N I Z K I Shelah
The exemplum, originating in the Ierushalmi Talmud, appeared in the late
12th or early 13th century in a composition titled "Darkei Tshuva" ("The
Ways of Penance"), which is based on Hilchot Tshuva in Sefer HaRokah by
Rabbi Elazar of Worms. The composition Darkei Tshuva was preserved and
reached us in the Responsa of Rabbi Meir Ben Rabbi Baruch (henceforth: "HaMaharam of Rothenburg"), in the Prague Printed edition of the text.
At the heart of this paper stands the composition's textual analysis, in attempt
to discern its imaginary contents and examine them against the background of
the historical reality and the worldview of Hasidei Ashkenaz.
The first chapter of the article is dedicated to textual analysis of Darkei Tshuva and to its examination in the framework of a much wider phenomenon wherein Vision stories of the Afterlife were put down in writing throughout the Middle Ages. I have found that Darkei Tshuva clearly corresponded much more with early Jewish sources than with contemporary Christian literature. The author indeed based his composition on the Ierushalmi Talmud in his writing, but he edited the original story according to the needs and the didactic aims that were deemed most relevant to his own time and place.
The second chapter of this article dealt with the historical context of Hasidut Ashkenaz, and in particular, with the moral agenda and worldview of righteous penance that Hasidei Ashkenaz had developed in the late 12th and early 13th centuries. One may see how this distinct social group of Hasidei Ashkenaz held a variety of notions and beliefs in regard to penance and morality. Rabbi Elazar of Worms, for example, differed from his teacher, Rabbi Yehuda HaHasid, in his attitude toward the larger Jewish society that was not considered "Hasidim". While both of the Rabbis mentions above perceived sin in a similar way, they disagreed about the systematic way in which the sinner should atone for his sins and perform penance. Rabbi Yehuda HaHasid focused on the image of "Dmut HaChacham" ("The Figure of the Learned"), which the sinner must confess to and receive proper guidance for penance from. This procedure entailed a large extent of shame on behalf of the sinner, and it did not hold ground in practice. Rabbi Elazar of Worms, however, composed a discrete manner of private confession at the centre of which stood the sinner him or herself. According to Elazar of Worms' worldview, the sinner must find the proper atonement for his or her sins in the Bible or in other books which dealt with the issue of penance. Rabbi Elazar of Worms made a great effort to find a way of penance for the whole Jewish society of his day, not just the Hasidim's group, and this is what allowed the Hasidic movement in Ashkenaz to penetrate the social life of the whole Jewish community and influence it, in practice, for decades to come.
The third chapter in this article discussed the meaning of the inclusion of Darkei Tshuva in the Responsa of HaMaharam of Rothenburg. I have attempted to figure out why the issue of penance continued to be as relevant and central as it was in the days of HaMaharam as much as it was in the days of Rabbi Elazar of Worms, and what could the readers in the 13th century make of the exemplum story provided by Elazar of Worms. One must consider the profound transformation processes which took place in the 12th and 13th centuries in the perception of self identity among Christians and, as a result, the changing Christian perception of those who were not Christians. These social, theological and cultural processes culminated in actions against Jews, most of which were offensive and lethal as far as the Crusades are concerned. The reality which the Jewish communities of Ashkenaz faced in this historical period was a Martyrological reality, wherein the phenomenon of Mavet Al Kiddush HaShem played a crucial role. The 13th century in Europe was an eschatological period, in which Jewish and Christian authors related to the matters of life and death, as much as to the notion of life after death. In Darkei Tshuva one could find consolation, and a clear message that penance could bring an eternal life of happiness and glory in the Other World.
By taking a fresh and close look at the St Petersburg manuscript as a functioning whole, this paper aims to investigate the visionary journey delineated in the ‘Visio fratris Rotcharii’ against the immediate historical context in which it appeared, as well as by means of comparing its structure and content with the earlier text that was copied and preserved with it in the same manuscript. Seeking to unearth and reach a better understanding of surreptitious meanings embedded in the ‘Visio fratris Rotcharii’, the twofold modus operandi offered here will reveal strong indications that this specific text was destined to have a decisive function in the St Petersburg manuscript. I argue that the manuscript as we know it was deliberately and mindfully made by a local ecclesiastical faction in Reims who sought to purify the name and the deeds of one controversial bishop, Ebbo of Reims (d. 851), through cleverly combined literary and artistic uses of Otherworldly journey narratives and images, from beginning to end.
International Conference Presentations by Lia S T E R N I Z K I Shelah
This paper will focus on a specific, exceptionally popular kind of otherworldly vision texts that came down to us from the early Middle Ages, wherein the protagonist encounters and reports about sinners and transgressors he sees during his visit to Hell. As will be demonstrated by examination of few selected case studies in Latin, the tormented souls of people who broke moral, religious, or social rules during their lifetime, along with the many and creative ways in which they were bound to be punished accordingly, received considerable attention and descriptive treatment in the texts under discussion. The aim of my paper is to offer an explanation to this cross-cultural, intellectual phenomenon of punishing wrongdoers in the literary realms of human imagination by evaluating the contents of the narratives in relation to the immediate historical, social, and religious contexts of their provenance, as well as by taking the texts’ manuscript tradition under consideration. The multi-faceted picture that will emerge from the proposed analysis will suggest that the otherworldly vision texts primarily concerned with sinners and rule breakers were, in fact, a powerfully practical vehicle of shaping communities’ perceptions and public opinion about their desired, or dreaded, social realities in “this world” - imagined and real as one.
Few selected episodes in Gregory’s fourth dialogue depict visionary journeys of souls to the Otherworld immediately after death, delineating vivid “visits” of men from different walks of life to the infernal and the heavenly realms of the Christian Afterlife. These stories, often overlooked by historians, will be subjected to textual and contextual scrutiny in this paper which will offer a new reading and evaluation of the seemingly eschatological material worked and embedded in them. Examination of the structure, contents, language, and imagery used by Gregory for the narration of journeys to the Otherworld, against the turbulent historical context of his lifetime and papacy, will provide important clues as to the function of the interestingly “otherworldly” elements and recitations within the larger framework of the Dialogues, suggesting a potential role they may have played in Gregory’s way of coping with the many, complex, and importunate worldly encumbrances he had to endure.
Guest Lectures by Lia S T E R N I Z K I Shelah
Among the topics addressed and discussed in my lecture were: processes involved in the Jewish book production; the significant role of books in the life of individuals and in communal life alike; and the uses of different “Jewish” languages, namely, Hebrew and the vernacular, for different purposes and aims in disparate parts of Europe. The gist of the argument emphasized the extent to which every distinctive immediate historical and geo-cultural context of each community shaped - but was also reflected in - the contemporary manuscripts produced and used by that community.
Taking a close look at several concrete examples from Hebrew codices produced in the German-speaking regions of Western Europe during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, the aim of the final section of my presentation was to demonstrate how these fascinating surviving artifacts – which should be understood and studied as invaluable products of a rich cultural activity - allow the modern observer a rare, unique, and unmediated glance into the perceptions and value systems of the societies for which these manuscripts were created and made readily available for substantial use.
Memoranda from academic events by Lia S T E R N I Z K I Shelah
Papers by Lia S T E R N I Z K I Shelah
The exemplum, originating in the Ierushalmi Talmud, appeared in the late
12th or early 13th century in a composition titled "Darkei Tshuva" ("The
Ways of Penance"), which is based on Hilchot Tshuva in Sefer HaRokah by
Rabbi Elazar of Worms. The composition Darkei Tshuva was preserved and
reached us in the Responsa of Rabbi Meir Ben Rabbi Baruch (henceforth: "HaMaharam of Rothenburg"), in the Prague Printed edition of the text.
At the heart of this paper stands the composition's textual analysis, in attempt
to discern its imaginary contents and examine them against the background of
the historical reality and the worldview of Hasidei Ashkenaz.
The first chapter of the article is dedicated to textual analysis of Darkei Tshuva and to its examination in the framework of a much wider phenomenon wherein Vision stories of the Afterlife were put down in writing throughout the Middle Ages. I have found that Darkei Tshuva clearly corresponded much more with early Jewish sources than with contemporary Christian literature. The author indeed based his composition on the Ierushalmi Talmud in his writing, but he edited the original story according to the needs and the didactic aims that were deemed most relevant to his own time and place.
The second chapter of this article dealt with the historical context of Hasidut Ashkenaz, and in particular, with the moral agenda and worldview of righteous penance that Hasidei Ashkenaz had developed in the late 12th and early 13th centuries. One may see how this distinct social group of Hasidei Ashkenaz held a variety of notions and beliefs in regard to penance and morality. Rabbi Elazar of Worms, for example, differed from his teacher, Rabbi Yehuda HaHasid, in his attitude toward the larger Jewish society that was not considered "Hasidim". While both of the Rabbis mentions above perceived sin in a similar way, they disagreed about the systematic way in which the sinner should atone for his sins and perform penance. Rabbi Yehuda HaHasid focused on the image of "Dmut HaChacham" ("The Figure of the Learned"), which the sinner must confess to and receive proper guidance for penance from. This procedure entailed a large extent of shame on behalf of the sinner, and it did not hold ground in practice. Rabbi Elazar of Worms, however, composed a discrete manner of private confession at the centre of which stood the sinner him or herself. According to Elazar of Worms' worldview, the sinner must find the proper atonement for his or her sins in the Bible or in other books which dealt with the issue of penance. Rabbi Elazar of Worms made a great effort to find a way of penance for the whole Jewish society of his day, not just the Hasidim's group, and this is what allowed the Hasidic movement in Ashkenaz to penetrate the social life of the whole Jewish community and influence it, in practice, for decades to come.
The third chapter in this article discussed the meaning of the inclusion of Darkei Tshuva in the Responsa of HaMaharam of Rothenburg. I have attempted to figure out why the issue of penance continued to be as relevant and central as it was in the days of HaMaharam as much as it was in the days of Rabbi Elazar of Worms, and what could the readers in the 13th century make of the exemplum story provided by Elazar of Worms. One must consider the profound transformation processes which took place in the 12th and 13th centuries in the perception of self identity among Christians and, as a result, the changing Christian perception of those who were not Christians. These social, theological and cultural processes culminated in actions against Jews, most of which were offensive and lethal as far as the Crusades are concerned. The reality which the Jewish communities of Ashkenaz faced in this historical period was a Martyrological reality, wherein the phenomenon of Mavet Al Kiddush HaShem played a crucial role. The 13th century in Europe was an eschatological period, in which Jewish and Christian authors related to the matters of life and death, as much as to the notion of life after death. In Darkei Tshuva one could find consolation, and a clear message that penance could bring an eternal life of happiness and glory in the Other World.
By taking a fresh and close look at the St Petersburg manuscript as a functioning whole, this paper aims to investigate the visionary journey delineated in the ‘Visio fratris Rotcharii’ against the immediate historical context in which it appeared, as well as by means of comparing its structure and content with the earlier text that was copied and preserved with it in the same manuscript. Seeking to unearth and reach a better understanding of surreptitious meanings embedded in the ‘Visio fratris Rotcharii’, the twofold modus operandi offered here will reveal strong indications that this specific text was destined to have a decisive function in the St Petersburg manuscript. I argue that the manuscript as we know it was deliberately and mindfully made by a local ecclesiastical faction in Reims who sought to purify the name and the deeds of one controversial bishop, Ebbo of Reims (d. 851), through cleverly combined literary and artistic uses of Otherworldly journey narratives and images, from beginning to end.
This paper will focus on a specific, exceptionally popular kind of otherworldly vision texts that came down to us from the early Middle Ages, wherein the protagonist encounters and reports about sinners and transgressors he sees during his visit to Hell. As will be demonstrated by examination of few selected case studies in Latin, the tormented souls of people who broke moral, religious, or social rules during their lifetime, along with the many and creative ways in which they were bound to be punished accordingly, received considerable attention and descriptive treatment in the texts under discussion. The aim of my paper is to offer an explanation to this cross-cultural, intellectual phenomenon of punishing wrongdoers in the literary realms of human imagination by evaluating the contents of the narratives in relation to the immediate historical, social, and religious contexts of their provenance, as well as by taking the texts’ manuscript tradition under consideration. The multi-faceted picture that will emerge from the proposed analysis will suggest that the otherworldly vision texts primarily concerned with sinners and rule breakers were, in fact, a powerfully practical vehicle of shaping communities’ perceptions and public opinion about their desired, or dreaded, social realities in “this world” - imagined and real as one.
Few selected episodes in Gregory’s fourth dialogue depict visionary journeys of souls to the Otherworld immediately after death, delineating vivid “visits” of men from different walks of life to the infernal and the heavenly realms of the Christian Afterlife. These stories, often overlooked by historians, will be subjected to textual and contextual scrutiny in this paper which will offer a new reading and evaluation of the seemingly eschatological material worked and embedded in them. Examination of the structure, contents, language, and imagery used by Gregory for the narration of journeys to the Otherworld, against the turbulent historical context of his lifetime and papacy, will provide important clues as to the function of the interestingly “otherworldly” elements and recitations within the larger framework of the Dialogues, suggesting a potential role they may have played in Gregory’s way of coping with the many, complex, and importunate worldly encumbrances he had to endure.
Among the topics addressed and discussed in my lecture were: processes involved in the Jewish book production; the significant role of books in the life of individuals and in communal life alike; and the uses of different “Jewish” languages, namely, Hebrew and the vernacular, for different purposes and aims in disparate parts of Europe. The gist of the argument emphasized the extent to which every distinctive immediate historical and geo-cultural context of each community shaped - but was also reflected in - the contemporary manuscripts produced and used by that community.
Taking a close look at several concrete examples from Hebrew codices produced in the German-speaking regions of Western Europe during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, the aim of the final section of my presentation was to demonstrate how these fascinating surviving artifacts – which should be understood and studied as invaluable products of a rich cultural activity - allow the modern observer a rare, unique, and unmediated glance into the perceptions and value systems of the societies for which these manuscripts were created and made readily available for substantial use.