Chapter 16 - Annual Cycle and Life Cycle

Summary

This article follows the medieval Jewish life and annual cycles in Northern Europe during the High Middle Ages, using life cycle and annual cycle events as a prism for understanding the ways medieval Jews defined and recreated their ethnic and communal identities. Birth, death, marriage as well as feasts and fasts were all opportunities for a public affirmation of values as well as an expression of current social tensions and conflicts. An analysis of the objects, liturgy, space, symbols and people that were part of each ritual, allows a better understanding of communal and religious hierarchies and concerns. Jewish life and annual cycle events also often incorporated or polemicized features of the surrounding Christian cultures’ parallel celebrations and as a result can teach us about inter-religious dialogue and competition.