The Economic and Material Culture of Jews in Ashkenaz during the Middle Ages

Jewish neighborhoods throughout ancient and medieval times were shaped by halachic requirements that guided the Jews’ way of life; halachic sources, therefore, serve as an excellent means of studying the urban landscape of the period. Dr. Lifshitz’s work focuses on examining medieval European halachic sources, particularly commentary on Tractate Eruvin, as a basis for establishing the interior dynamics – physical, social, religious, and cultural – of Jewish neighborhood building during the period. During the 2016–2017 academic year Dr. Lifshitz wrote three new articles, listed below, and he is currently writing a book based on his findings for this project. This research focuses on business mobility and the day to day workings of trade in the Jewish community – loans and interest, properties, neighborhood structure and perceptions, and the rights of Jews as citizens within the Christian city.

Publications

Articles in Preparation for Publication

“‘Hinhig’: Custom, New and Old in Ashkenaz” (Hebrew), to be published in a peer-reviewed academic journal.

“Laws of purity in Ashkenaz” (Hebrew), to be published in a peer-reviewed academic journal.

“The Country Jews in Medieval Ashkenaz” (Hebrew), to be published in a peer-reviewed academic journal.

Conferences

• April 18, 2016
  Dr. Lifshitz served on the academic steering committee of the Center’s international research workshop “The Jewish Neighborhood in Medieval Ashkenaz: Reading Halakhic Texts”, in which he also presented a paper entitled “Standing during the Reading of the Torah as an Example of Changes in the Minhag of Ashkenaz”.

•  July 4–7, 2016
  Dr. Lifshitz represented the Center at the International Medieval Congress at the University of Leeds, where he presented a paper entitled “Wine Drinking in the Synagogue as a Guild Ceremony in Ashkenaz”.

• July 3–6, 2017
  Dr. Lifshitz represented the Center at the International Medieval Congress at the University of Leeds, where he presented a paper entitled “A Gentile is Not the Other: The Unique Case of Ashkenaz”.