Videos by Elisheva Baumgarten
This short film summarizes the work of the Beyond the Elite: Jewish Daily Life in Medieval Europe... more This short film summarizes the work of the Beyond the Elite: Jewish Daily Life in Medieval Europe research project (2016-2022), supported by the European Research Council, grant no. 681507. Beyond the Elite is a multifaceted research project that seeks to explore what daily life was like for the Jews of northern France and Germany (Ashkenaz) from 1100 to 1350. Beyond the Elite broadens its gaze, looking past the upper echelons of Jewish society to understand and describe the textures and constructs that made up the lives of the “ordinary” members of these communities. The research team was directed by Prof. Elisheva Baumgarten (Hebrew University of Jerusalem). Members included: Tzafrir Barzilay, Neta Bodner, Nureet Dermer, Aviya Doron, Miri Fenton, Audrey Fingherman, Annika Funke, Etelle Kalaora, Albert Kohn,Ariella Lehman, Andreas Lehnertz, Eyal Levinson, Adi Namia-Cohen, Ido Noy, Erez Rochman-Shachar, Amit Shafran, Hannah Teddy Schachter 119 views
Articles by Elisheva Baumgarten
The Art of Weaving and the Art of Embroidery: Jewish Women’s Professions in a Medieval European Perspective
Festschrift für Sabine von Heusinger, hrsg. von Julia Bruch, Eva-Maria Cersovsky und Andreas Lehnertz (Mittelalter. Interdisziplinäre Forschung und Rezeptionsgeschichte, Beihefte 5,2), S. 71–80,, 2025
Festschrift for Sabine von Heusinger's 60th birthday
This contribution surveys the way Jewish wom... more Festschrift for Sabine von Heusinger's 60th birthday
This contribution surveys the way Jewish women’s crafts and professions are described in a variety of Hebrew, Latin and vernacular sources from medieval Europe, and seeks to incorporate this information into discussions of women’s roles in the medieval economy and economic institutions of the Christian majority. Situating the evidence both within the historiography of Jewish occupations and trades in the Middle Ages and within the context of accepted practices among their Christian neighbors, this piece points to different ways in which this double contextualization can lead to new research questions both for scholars who are interested in women’s work and those interested in the role of Jews in the medieval European economy.
JOFA, 2011
I wrote this article for the JOFA magazine, a Jewish Feminist publication in 2011. The unnamed he... more I wrote this article for the JOFA magazine, a Jewish Feminist publication in 2011. The unnamed heroine of the story I recount is Natalie Zemon Davis. May her memory be a blessing.
This article provides the theoretical and contextual background for Jewish Studies Quarterly 21 n... more This article provides the theoretical and contextual background for Jewish Studies Quarterly 21 nos. 3 and 4 (2021). It situates the Jews of medieval Ashkenaz within their homes and discusses their attachment to and identification with the places where they lived. It surveys approaches to space as used by scholars seeking to understand medieval life and outlines the relevance of these theories to the study of everyday life. Situating the Jews within this area of studies, the article focuses on the tensions and affiliations Jews had within the surrounding Christian space and challenges some of the previous approaches towards these issues. Against this backdrop, the goals of the articles are explained and surveyed, moving from the home to the general environs of medieval towns and cities.
This article examines the use of the words h. asid and h. asidah in a wide variety of medieval te... more This article examines the use of the words h. asid and h. asidah in a wide variety of medieval texts, primarily from Germany, in order to question current scholarly understandings of H. asidei Ashkenaz as a social entity. The article outlines the appearance and contexts in which the term can be found in poems, on tombstones, lists of dead, and in stories. The final section of the article investigates possible parallels for the word h. asid/ah in vernaculars spoken by Jews. The result of this broad survey that seeks out not just men but also women, and that focuses on a variety of genres rather than primarily on Sefer H. asidim, is that the words h. asid and h. asidah did not indicate a particular group, circle, or movement. Rather these terms were used to describe honest, upstanding members of the community who were seen as fulfilling their religious and social duties.
Elisheva Baumgarten, Elisabeth Hollender, Ephraim Shoham-Steiner, “Introduction: Sefer Hasidim – Book, Context, and Afterlife,” in Sefer Hasidim: Book, Context, and Afterlife. Studies in Honor of Ivan G. Marcus [=Jewish History, vol. 34, no. 1-3] (Haifa: University of Haifa Press, 2021), 1-14
A Jew should not say to a non-Jew, "until the day of the idolatrous holiday" or "until a certain ... more A Jew should not say to a non-Jew, "until the day of the idolatrous holiday" or "until a certain saint's day." Rather, he should say "so many weeks," as it is written: "Make no mention of the names of other gods; they shall not be heard on your lips" (Ex. 23:13), and it is written: "And no more will you call Me Ba'ali. For I will remove the names of the Ba'alim from her mouth, and they shall nevermore be mentioned by name" (Hos. 2: 18-19). And even the names of their holidays that are called [by the name of a saint, like Michael], a Jew should not mention them, nor should he say to a non-Jew, "[make an oath] on your belief in your God," and he should not say to him "on your Christianity." 1
Sefer H. asidim, a central source for the history of medieval German Jewry, was compiled by Judah... more Sefer H. asidim, a central source for the history of medieval German Jewry, was compiled by Judah b. Samuel, often called Judah he-H. asid, most probably in early thirteenth century Regensburg. 1 The book contains hundreds of exempla and exegetic passages that convey the authors' ideas and values. 2 Among these is a commentary on Proverbs :, which begins with a fictive confrontation between Jews and Christians: "Disrobing on a chilly day, like vinegar on natron, is one who sings songs to a sorrowful soul" (Prov. :, JPS translation 3): * My thanks to Andreas Lehnertz for his generous help while working on this article. He made many suggestions for bibliography, and I am grateful to him for reading and commenting on multiple drafts and his insightful comments. I also thank Eva Haverkamp for encouraging me to go in this direction and for obtaining useful bibliography for me some time ago. I am honored to dedicate this article to Professor Alfred Haverkamp, from whom I have learned so much and who has done so much to further the study of the Jews in medieval Germany. This article was written under the auspices of the ERC project "Beyond the Elite: Jewish Daily Life in Medieval Europe" supported by the European Research Council under the European Union's Horizon research and innovation programme (grant ). 1 The text can be found in the Wistinetzki edition of Sefer H. asidim (based on the Parma manuscript) as well as in the Bologna one. See: Das Buch der Frommen, nach der Rezension in Cod. De Rossi no. [in Hebrew], ed. by Jehuda WISTINETZKI, Frankfurt a. M. (referred to in future notes as SH. P), and החסיד יהודה רבינו שחיבר חסידים ,ספר ed. by Reuven MARGALIYOT, Jerusalem (referred to in future notes as SH. B). Both these versions and other manuscript versions can be found online: <etc.princeton.edu/sefer_hasidim> [accessed --]. I have utilized this database. 2 About the stories in Sefer H. asidim and the need to further study them see Eli YASSIF: The Exemplary Story in Sefer H. asidim [in Hebrew], in: The Hebrew Collection of Tales in the Middle Ages, ed by Eli YASSIF, Tel Aviv , pp. -. 3 See the NIV translation: "Like one who takes away a garment on a cold day, or like vinegar poured on a wound, is one who sings songs to a heavy heart." I have used the JPS translation
This article examines the use of the words ḥasid and ḥasidah in a wide variety of medieval texts,... more This article examines the use of the words ḥasid and ḥasidah in a wide variety of medieval texts, primarily from Germany, in order to question current scholarly understandings of Ḥasidei Ashkenaz as a social entity. The article outlines the appearance and contexts in which the term can be found in poems, on tombstones, lists of dead, and in stories. The final section of the article investigates possible parallels for the word ḥasid/ah in vernaculars spoken by Jews. The result of this broad survey that seeks out not just men but also women, and that focuses on a variety of genres rather than primarily on Sefer Ḥasidim, is that the words ḥasid and ḥasidah did not indicate a particular group, circle, or movement. Rather these terms were used to describe honest, upstanding members of the community who were seen as fulfilling their religious and social duties.
This article focuses on a chapter in a manual on circumcision written in Worms in the thirteenth ... more This article focuses on a chapter in a manual on circumcision written in Worms in the thirteenth century by Jacob and Gershom haGozrim (the circumcisers). The third chapter of the manual contains medical instruction on how to attend to women in labour and other gynaecological conditions. Whereas the first two chapters of the manual were published in the late nineteenth century, the midwifery chapter has only been recently examined. This article is comprised of a translation of the midwifery text(s) along with an introduction to the text and the community practices it reflects. It outlines the cooperation between medical practitioners, male and female, Jewish and Christian, and discusses the medical remedies recommended and some practices current in thirteenth-century Germany.
Wail and cry charity [tzedakah] and the pious [Hasidim] should weep bitterly for your mother has ... more Wail and cry charity [tzedakah] and the pious [Hasidim] should weep bitterly for your mother has broken, your parent has fallen And the poor lack support and those who study the Torah [lit. hold the Torah] are in fear for lack of the praiseworthy mistress Marat Yokhebed, daughter of R. Yehiel son of R. Ephraim who marveled in her deeds, building synagogues and cemeteries in many communities as well as other charities And also surrounded cemetery [lit. the house of life] with a high wall here and now she has been gathered to God, justice has been buried with her and we have come to bury her on Monday, the second of Av, 5047 [1287] 1 . 1. M. Grünwald, "Le Cimetière de Worms", Revue des études juives, 54 (1938), p. 71-111, p. 107. 2. We also know nothing about her parents despite the importance attributed to them. This is not the family of the famous R. Asher b. Yehiel. 3. See note 236 where the different studies and collections are detailed.
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Videos by Elisheva Baumgarten
Articles by Elisheva Baumgarten
This contribution surveys the way Jewish women’s crafts and professions are described in a variety of Hebrew, Latin and vernacular sources from medieval Europe, and seeks to incorporate this information into discussions of women’s roles in the medieval economy and economic institutions of the Christian majority. Situating the evidence both within the historiography of Jewish occupations and trades in the Middle Ages and within the context of accepted practices among their Christian neighbors, this piece points to different ways in which this double contextualization can lead to new research questions both for scholars who are interested in women’s work and those interested in the role of Jews in the medieval European economy.