National Jewish Book Awards Winner of the Anthologies and Collections Award, 2009. Europe has changed greatly in the last century. Political, social, and ideological transformations have not only redrawn the map of the continent but have rewoven the fabric of its culture. These changes have nourished widespread reassessment in European historical research: in terms of its presuppositions, its methodologies, its directions, its emphases, and its scope. The political boundaries between nations and states, along with the very concepts of 'nation' and 'boundary', have changed significantly, and the self-consciousness of ethnic minorities has likewise evolved in new directions. All these developments have affected how the Jews of Europe perceive themselves, and they help to shape the prism through which historians view the Jewish past. This volume looks at the Jewish past in the spirit of this reassessment. Part I reconsiders the basic parameters of the subject as well as some of its fundamental concepts, suggesting new assumptions and perspectives from which to conduct future studies of European Jewish history. Topics covered here include periodization and the definition of geographical borders, antisemitism, gender and the history of Jewish women, and notions of assimilation. Part II is devoted to articulating the meaning of 'modernity' in the history of European Jewry and demarcating key stages in its crystallization. Contributors here reflect on the defining characteristics of a distinct early modern period in European Jewish history, the Reformation and the Jews, and the fundamental features of the Jewish experience in modern times. Parts III and IV present two scholarly conversations as case studies for the application of the critical and programmatic categories considered thus far: the complex web of relationships between Jews, Christians, and Jewish converts to Christianity (Conversos, New Christians, Marranos) in fifteenth-century Spain; and the impact of American Jewry on Jewish life in Europe in the twentieth century, at a time when the dominant trend was one of migration from Europe to the Americas. This timely volume suggests a new framework for the study of Jewish history and helps to contextualize it within the mainstream of historical scholarship. CONTRIBUTORS: Ram Ben-Shalom, Miriam Bodian, Jeremy Cohen, Judah M. Cohen, David Engel, Gershon David Hundert, Paula Hyman, Maud Mandel, David Nirenberg, Moshe Rosman, David B. Ruderman, Daniel Soyer

The biblical idea of a distinct 'Jewish contribution to civilization' continues to engage Jews and non-Jews alike. This book seeks neither to document nor to discredit the notion, but rather to investigate the idea itself as it has been understood from the seventeenth century to the present. It explores the role that the concept has played in Jewish self-definition, how it has influenced the political, social, and cultural history of the Jews and of others, and whether discussion of the notion still has relevance in the world today. The book offers a broad spectrum of academic opinion: from tempered advocacy to reasoned disavowal, with many variations on the theme in between. It attempts to illustrate the centrality of the question in modern Jewish culture in general, and its importance for modern Jewish studies in particular. Part I addresses the idea itself and considers its ramifications. Richard I. Cohen focuses on the nexus between notions of 'Jewish contribution' and those of 'Jewish superiority'' David N. Myers shifts the focus from 'contribution' to 'civilization', arguing that the latter term often served the interests of Jewish intellectuals far better, and Moshe Rosman shows how the current emphasis on multiculturalism has given the idea of a 'Jewish contribution' new life. Part II turns to the relationship between Judaism and other monotheistic cultures. Elliott Horowitz's essay on the sabbath serves as an instructive test-case for the dynamic and complexity of the 'contribution' debate and a pointer to more general, theoretical issues. David Berger expands on these in his account of how discussion of Christianity's Jewish legacy developed in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and Susannah Heschel shows how the Jewish-Christian encounter has influenced the study of other non-Western 'others'. Daniel Schroeter raises revealing questions about the altogether Eurocentric character of the 'contribution' discourse, which also bore heavily on perceptions of Jews and Judaism in the world of Islam. Part III introduces us to various applications and consequences of the debate. Yaacov Shavit probes the delicate balance forged by nineteenth-century German Jewish intellectuals in defining their identity. Mark Gelber moves the focus to the present and considers the post-war renewal of German Jewish culture and the birth of German-Jewish studies in the context of the 'contribution' discourse. Bringing the volume to its conclusion, David Biale compares three overviews of Jewish culture and civilization published in America in the twentieth and twenty-first-centuries.

The Salvation of Israel investigates Christianity's eschatological Jew: the role and characteristics of the Jews at the end of days in the Christian imagination. It explores the depth of Christian ambivalence regarding these Jews, from Paul's Epistle to the Romans, through late antiquity and the Middle Ages, to the Puritans of the seventeenth century. Jeremy Cohen contends that few aspects of a religion shed as much light on the character and the self-understanding of its adherents as its expectations for the end of time. Moreover, eschatological beliefs express and mold an outlook toward nonbelievers, situating them in an overall scheme of human history and conditioning interaction with them as that history unfolds. Cohen's close readings of biblical commentary, theological texts, and Christian iconography reveal the dual role of the Jews of the last days. For rejecting belief and salvation in Jesus Christ, they have been linked to the false messiah—the Antichrist, the agent of Satan and the exemplary embodiment of evil. Yet from its inception, Christianity has also hinged its hopes for the second coming on the enlightenment and repentance of the Jews; for then, as Paul prophesized, "all Israel will be saved." In its vast historical scope, from the ancient Mediterranean world of early Christianity to seventeenth-century England and New England, The Salvation of Israel offers a nuanced and insightful assessment of Christian attitudes toward Jews, rife with inconsistency and complexity, thus contributing significantly to our understanding of Jewish-Christian relations.

For the student of Jewish history, the topic of this book bears upon the very foundations of Jewish experience in Mediterranean and Western societies during the last two thousand years. Essay contributions from David Flusser, Wayne A. Meeks, S.G.F. Brandon, Marcel Simon, Rosemary Radford Ruether, B. Blumenkranz, Solomon Grayzel, H. Liebeschutz, Lester K. Little, Cecil Roth, Jeremy Cohen, Mark U. Edwards, Jr., Salo W. Baron, Kenneth R. Stow, Lawrence H. Schiffman, Jacob Katz, Ivan G. Marcus, David Berger, and David B. Ruderman.

Solomon ibn Verga was one of the victims of the decrees expelling the Jews from Spain and Portugal in the 1490s, and his Shevet Yehudah (The Scepter of Judah, ca. 1520) numbered among the most popular Hebrew books of the sixteenth century. Its title page lured readers and buyers with a promise to relate "the terrible events and calamities that afflicted the Jews while in the lands of non-Jewish peoples": blood libels, disputations, conspiracies, evil decrees, expulsions, and more. The book itself preserves collective memories, illuminates a critical and transitional phase in Jewish history, and advances a new vision of European society and government. It reflects a world of renaissance, reformation, and global exploration but also one fraught with crisis for Christian majority and Jewish minority alike. Among the multitudes of Iberian Jewish conversos who had received Christian baptism by the end of the fifteenth century, ibn Verga experienced the destruction of Spanish-Portuguese Jewry just as the Catholic Church began to lose exclusive control over the structures of Western religious life; and he joined other Europeans in reevaluating boundaries and affiliations that shaped their identities. In A Historian in Exile, Jeremy Cohen shows how Shevet Yehudah bridges the divide between the medieval and early modern periods, reflecting a contemporary consciousness that a new order had begun to replace the old. Ibn Verga's text engages this receding past in conversation, Cohen contends; it uses historical narrative to challenge regnant assumptions, to offer new solutions to age-old problems, to call Jews to task for bringing much of the hostility toward them upon themselves, and to chart a viable direction for a people seeking a place to call home in a radically transformed world.

Sanctifying the Name of God Jewish Martyrs and Jewish Memories of the First Crusade Jeremy Cohen "A feast of ideas worthy of our very careful attention."--"Speculum" "A major contribution to the study of medieval Jewish history."--Robert Chazan, New York University "This is an important book, beautifully written and cogently argued. Some of Cohen's readings are daring indeed and will surely arouse dissent. Long live debate "--"American Historical Review" "The sufferings of the Rhineland Jews in 1096 were commemorated in three Hebrew narratives, which Professor Jeremy Cohen reexamines in this beautifully written book. . . . The cumulative effect of Cohen's analysis is overwhelming."--"Catholic Historical Review" "The slaughter of the Jews in the Rhineland in 1096 is one of the better-known events of the First Crusade. Cohen analyzes the texts of the Jewish accounts of these massacres in light of the martyrdom tradition of Masada, well-known at that time, and the contemporary Christian cult of self-sacrifice. . . . Recommended."--"Choice" "Cohen's fresh reading of the chronicles opens up a new vista to these complicated sources."--"Journal of Jewish Studies" "This is a beautifully written and thought-out work that raises valuable questions and draws unprecedented attention to important features of these texts; it is sure to provoke fruitful discussion"--"Journal of Religion" How are martyrs made, and how do the memories of martyrs express, nourish, and mold the ideals of the community? "Sanctifying the Name of God" wrestles with these questions against the background of the massacres of Jews in the Rhineland during the outbreak of the First Crusade. Marking the first extensive wave of anti-Jewish violence in medieval Christian Europe, these "Persecutions of 1096" exerted a profound influence on the course of European Jewish history. Jeremy Cohen is Professor of Jewish History at Tel Aviv University. Among his books are "The Friars and the Jews: The Evolution of Medieval Anti-Judaism" and "Living Letters of the Law: Ideas of the Jew in Medieval Christianity." Jewish Culture and Contexts 2004 224 pages 6 x 9 8 illus. ISBN 978-0-8122-1956-2 Paper $28.95s 19.00 ISBN 978-0-8122-0163-5 Ebook $28.95s 19.00 World Rights Religion, History Short copy: "The slaughter of the Jews in the Rhineland in 1096 is one of the better-known events of the First Crusade. Cohen analyzes the texts of the Jewish accounts of these massacres in light of the martyrdom tradition of Masada, well-known at that time, and the contemporary Christian cult of self-sacrifice. . . . Recommended."--"Choice"

Providing a discussion of the Jewish experience in Mediterranean and Western societies over the last 2000 years, these papers concentrate on the doctrinal substance of the Jewish-Christian dispute in the order that it developed. The contributors include David Flusser, Wayne A.Meeks, S.G.F.Brandon, Marcel Simon, Rosemary Radford Ruether, B.Blumenkranz, Solomon Grayzel, H.Liebeschutz, Lester K.Little, Cecil Roth, Mark U.Edwards, Salo W.Baron, Kenneth R.Stow, Lawrence H.Schiffman, Jacob Katz, Ivan G.Marcus, David Berger, and David B.Ruderman. Jeremy Cohen is the author of "The Friars and the Jews: the Evolution of Anti-Judaism" (1982) which received the US National Jewish Book Award for Scholarship.

"Cohen argues that it was in the thirteenth century that a fundamental shift occurred in the Christian perception of both Judaism and Jews in Western Europe, and he attributes this change to the activities of the newly-formed mendicant orders the Dominicans and Franciscans. In order to make this case as effectively as he does, the author has to approach his problem from two different perspectives that of the historian of the medieval church, and that of the Jewish historian. Each of these approaches has its own scholarly literature, its own emphases, its own particular blind spots. It is the principal quality of this book that it focuses a steady, clear light on those dark corners, and will make sense to a variety of readers. . . . Cohen's views will be taken seriously. Indeed, the calm and sensible tone of this book may help stimulate a new scholarly debate." American Jewish History"

The New Testament accounts of Jesus' crucifixion have stood at the bedrock of Christianity since it's birth in the 1st century, and they remain among the essential foundations of Western culture in the 21st. These Gospel narratives of the Passion - the arrest, trial, scourging, and execution of Jesus - cast the Jews as those responsible, directly and indirectly, for the death of their Messiah and the son of God. Cohen tracks the image of the Jew as the murderer of the Messiah and God from its origins to its most recent expressions. A great deal has been written about Christian anti-Semitism, its roots, and its horrific consequences in world history. This is the first book, however to focus on the powerful myth that has driven so much murderous hatred. An important addition to the literature on Jewish-Christian relations, it should appeal to a wide variety of readers in both communities.

Martin D. Yaffe's Judaism and Environmental Ethics: A Reader is a well-conceived exploration of three interrelated questions: Does the Hebrew Bible, or subsequent Jewish tradition, teach environmental responsibility or not? What Jewish teachings, if any, appropriately address today's environmental crisis? Do ecology, Judaism, and philosophy work together, or are they at odds with each other in confronting the current crisis? Yaffe's extensive introduction analyzes and appraises the anthologized essays, each of which serves to deepen and enrich our understanding of current reflection on Judaism and environmental ethics. Brought together in one volume for the first time, the most important scholars in the field touch on diverse disciplines including deep ecology, political philosophy, and biblical hermeneutics. This ambitious book illustrates precisely because of its interdisciplinary focus how longstanding disagreements and controversies may spark further interchange among ecologists, Jews, and philosophers. Both accessible and thoroughly scholarly, this dialogue will benefit anyone interested in ethical and religious considerations of contemporary ecology."

In "Living Letters of the Law," Jeremy Cohen investigates the images of Jews and Judaism in the works of medieval Christian theologians from Augustine to Thomas Aquinas. He reveals how--and why--medieval Christianity fashioned a Jew on the basis of its reading of the Bible, and how this hermeneutically crafted Jew assumed distinctive character and power in Christian thought and culture.
Augustine's doctrine of Jewish witness, which constructed the Jews so as to mandate their survival in a properly ordered Christian world, is the starting point for this illuminating study. Cohen demonstrates how adaptations of this doctrine reflected change in the self-consciousness of early medieval civilization. After exploring the effect of twelfth-century Europe's encounter with Islam on the value of Augustine's Jewish witnesses, he concludes with a new assessment of the reception of Augustine's ideas among thirteenth-century popes and friars.
Consistently linking the medieval idea of the Jew with broader issues of textual criticism, anthropology, and the philosophy of history, this book demonstrates the complex significance of Christianity's "hermeneutical Jew" not only in the history of antisemitism but also in the broad scope of Western intellectual history.

It is not unusual for communication and media researchers to study law or legal issues, nor is it uncommon for legal scholars to study communication law. But it is something of a departure for the two to commingle, which is what Cohen and Gleason have accomplished in this innovative volume. Social Research in Communication and Law is a practical guide for conducting research involving both legal and communication questions. Offering rich citations and examples from existing literature, this engaging volume shows communication law scholars how to make more effective use of the methodologies employed in communication science. Topics addressed include reconciling communication and law, social research approaches to libel, and theories pertaining to freedom of expression. Cohen and Gleason have produced a valuable book that can be effectively used to supplement courses in communication law, history, sociology, and media ethics. In addition, scholars and researchers in the above fields will also benefit from this unique volume. "Cohen and Gleason provide a practical guide for conducting research involving both legal and communication questions. The book shows communication law scholars how to make more effective use of the social science methodologies." --Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media

It is not unusual for communication and media researchers to study law or legal issues, nor is it uncommon for legal scholars to study communication law. But it is something of a departure for the two to commingle, which is what Cohen and Gleason have accomplished in this innovative volume. Social Research in Communication and Law is a practical guide for conducting research involving both legal and communication questions. Offering rich citations and examples from existing literature, this engaging volume shows communication law scholars how to make more effective use of the methodologies employed in communication science. Topics addressed include reconciling communication and law, social research approaches to libel, and theories pertaining to freedom of expression. Cohen and Gleason have produced a valuable book that can be effectively used to supplement courses in communication law, history, sociology, and media ethics. In addition, scholars and researchers in the above fields will also benefit from this unique volume. "Cohen and Gleason provide a practical guide for conducting research involving both legal and communication questions. The book shows communication law scholars how to make more effective use of the social science methodologies." --Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media