Peering Through the Lattices"

by Kanarfogel, Ephraim

• ISBN13: 9780814325315
• ISBN10: 0814325319
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2000-06-01
• Publisher: Wayne State Univ Pr

Summary

During the high Middle Ages, the tosafists flourished in northern Europe and revolutionized the study of the Talmud. These Jewish scholars did not participate in the philosophical and religious thought that concerned Christendom, and today they are seen as having played a limited role in mystical or esoteric studies. Ephraim Kanarfogel now challenges this conventional view of the tosafists, showing that many individuals were influenced by ascetic and pietistic practices and were involved with mystical and magical doctrines. He traces the presence of these disciplines in the pre-Crusade period, shows how they are intertwined, and suggests that the widely available Hekhalot literature was an important conduit for this material He also demonstrates that the asceticism and esotericism of the German Pietists were an integral part of Ashkenazic rabbinic culture after the failure of Rashbam and other early tosafists to suppress these aspects of pre-Crusade thinking.

Author Biography

Ephraim Kanarfogel is E. Billi Ivry Professor of Jewish History and chair of the Rebecca Ivry Department of Jewish Studies at Stern College for Women, Yeshiva University.

Table of Contents

Preface	9	(13)
Acknowledgments	13	(4)
Abbreviations	17	(2)
Introduction: Perceptions of Tosafist Spirituality	19	(14)
Asceticism, Pietism, and Perishut	33	(60)
Pietistic Tendencies in Prayer and Ritual	93	(38)
Mysticism and Magic: Pre-Crusade Traditions and the Reaction of Early Tosafists	131	(58)
Between Tosafists and German Pietists	189	(32)
Integration and Expansion during the Thirteenth Century	221	(30)
Conclusions and Implications	251	(8)
Appendix: Ashkenazic Rabbinic Scholars	259	(2)
Index of Manuscript References	261	(4)
Index of Names and Subjects	265