Divided Souls: Converts from Judaism in Germany, 1500-1750
| Date: 28 April 2011, 05:06
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Divided Souls: Converts from Judaism in Germany, 1500-1750
By Professor Elisheva Carlebach
* Publisher: Yale University Press
* Number Of Pages: 336
* Publication Date: 2001-07-01
* ISBN-10 / ASIN: 0300084102
* ISBN-13 / EAN: 9780300084108
Product Description:
This pioneering book reevaluates the place of converts from Judaism in the narrative of Jewish history. Long considered beyond the pale of Jewish historiography, converts played a central role in shaping both noxious and positive images of Jews and Judaism for Christian readers. Focusing on German Jews who converted to Christianity in the sixteenth through mid-eighteenth centuries, Elisheva Carlebach explores an extensive and previously unexamined trove of their memoirs and other writings. These fascinating original sources illuminate the Jewish communities that the converts left, the Christian society they entered, and the unabating tensions between the two worlds in early modern German history. The book begins with the medieval images of converts from Judaism and traces the hurdles to social acceptance that they encountered in Germany through early modern times. Carlebach examines the converts' complicated search for community, a quest that was to characterise much of Jewish modernity, and she concludes with a consideration of the converts' painful legacies to the Jewish experience in German lands.
Summary: Nothing's changed
Rating: 5
The author provides a realistic account of Christian treatment of Jews living in Germany during the 1500 - 1750 time period. The focus is what happened to many individual Jews when confronted by demands for religious conversion. Some background is provided to place this in German history within the context of the Span ish iniquisition and before that the 1st crusade both of which specialized in issuing Jewish 'conversion or death' ultimatums.
The narrative is very straightforward and powerful as he unfolds situation after situation in how the Jews were mistreated by Christians. Christian baptism was largely unhelpful even hurtful for thos who chose conversion. Their choices were mostly forced by others who did little to follow through with charity or personal interest in converts welfare.
Martin Luther wasn't alone in his anti-semitic preaching, he followed this same medieval Christian "logic" for the eternal salvation of Jewish souls. It's a very disheartening aspect of thought and resultant very bad behavior that still hasn't been learned by many modern Christians. Catholics and evangelicals appear today with their hands still in the spiritual cookie jar.
Read this book to understand why contemporary Jewish leaders are so strongly opposing Christian missionary efforts. The makeup on today's missionary efforts may look more attractive but they're driven by the same superiority complex as described in this book.
Along with this book I recommend those of Jeremy Cohen, especially his books titled "Santifying the Name" and "Christ Killers". Also the book by B Netanhayu is excellent "Origins of the Inquisition."
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