Papers by Rainer Josef Barzen
Brepols Publishers eBooks, 2004
Polin Studies in Polish Jewry, Volume 34, 2021
The migration of the French–Rhenish takanot from the Rhineland to the new, prosperous Jewish comm... more The migration of the French–Rhenish takanot from the Rhineland to the new, prosperous Jewish communities of the Kingdom of Poland and later the Polish–Lithuanian Common wealth must be understood in the context of the eastern migration of Ashkenazi Jews. The authority of the takanot was increased by the Ashkenazi elite who from the fourteenth century on emigrated increasingly from the German lands. In the fourteenth and fifteenth century, this elite had already begun to influence the existing Jewish communities in the Kingdom of Poland. However, this process of Ashkenization had an earlier precedent.92 The local Jewish communities in the former Slavonic regions between the Elbe, Saale, and Oder rivers in the eastern part of the Holy Roman Empire had already experienced this transformation. This taking over of an existing Jewish community by an immigrant group can be compared to the phenomenon of Sephardi immigration into the Jewish communities of North Africa and the eastern Mediterranean region, which took place at about the same time. In both regions the newly arrived immigrants maintained a new diaspora consciousness towards the old homeland of their ancestors, and named themselves after their countries of origin, ‘Spanish’ and ‘German’, ‘Sephardim’ and ‘Ashkenazim’. At the same time, this Ashkenization created something new in the Jewish world. Based on late medieval German halakhic traditions which were brought to the small, non-Ashkenazi Jewish communities in Poland, a new Jewish civilization was formed outside the German lands, which could also spread eastwards with the expansion of Polish-ruled territory: early modern Ashkenazi Judaism.
Philology and Aesthetics: Figurative Masorah in Western European Manuscripts, hg. von Hanna Lis in Zusammenarbeit mit Jonas Leipziger (Judentum und Umwelt / Realms of Judaism 85). Frankfurt am Main [u.a.]: Peter Lang 2021, 35-57., 2021
In an Ashkenazi Bible manuscript from 1299 (MS Vienna, ÖNB, Cod. hebr. 16), the masora magna was ... more In an Ashkenazi Bible manuscript from 1299 (MS Vienna, ÖNB, Cod. hebr. 16), the masora magna was added to the Bible text in micrographic script. The text of the masora forms letters, which in turn form words and this design was applied to all the titles of the individual biblical books. In the same way, with the help of the micro graphic masora magna, the Masorete Aberzush added a memorial inscription to the Book of Psalms in commemoration of his murdered family members. The inscription extends across the bottom of 42 pages of the codex. There is a content related inter dependence between the sections of the inscription and the psalms on each respective page. This indicates that the place and form of the commemoration of the dead are therefore consciously chosen and executed by the Masorete when creating the masora. The relationship of the text of the psalms to Aberzush’s inscription is bidirectional. The potential reader of the manuscript should be involved with the Masorete as an active participant in the commemoration of the dead. This form of commemoration, therefore, transforms what began as a private manuscript into a “public space” in which future generations of readers will carry on the now public remembrance of the dead. The phenomena described are also observable in a 16th - century manuscript (MS Munich, BStB, Cod. hebr. 393). Known by the title “Megilat Ta‘anit Batra”, this fasting calendar was handed down in an extended version that includes addi tional fasting days. The extra days were added by an unknown author from the 14th century and represent his personal commemoration of his departed teacher and daughter. The author's intention to turn a private commemoration into a public affair through later readership became a reality through the copying of the text into a later manuscript. The new transmission context represents a transformation from a private to a public memorial. In both cases, these codices became public spaces of commemoration.
In Sefer Hasidim in Context, hg. von Elisheva Baumgarten, Elisabeth Hollender und Ephraim Shoham-Steiner. (3 Karten). Jewish History 34 (2021), 53-81., 2021
The present study interprets and frames a long-standing question concerning Judah he-H. asid's mo... more The present study interprets and frames a long-standing question concerning Judah he-H. asid's motivations in migrating to Regensburg against the social and geographical contexts of the Jews of Ashkenaz. By examining the use of Hebrew geographic terminology during the High Middle Ages (Loter, Ashkenaz, Ashkelonia), the article demonstrates that twelfth-century Jews perceived and were engaged in contemporary political and territorial processes of the surrounding kingdom. The Hebrew terms describe the cultural tripartite division of the German kingdom (Regnum Teutonicum) in Lotharingia, the five duchies of the earlier tribes (Saxony, Franconia, Thuringia, Swabia, and Bavaria), and the still Slavic territories of the East. These imperial territories were settled and Christianized by mostly German migrants from the west of the kingdom from the eleventh century onwards. Comparable developments are evident in the movement and expansion of Jewish settlement in the German Kingdom. After many Jewish communities were founded in the Ashkenazic heartlands, beginning in cities on the Rhine, Main, and the Danube, i.e., in the territories of the five duchies (Ashkenaz), Jewish settlers founded new communities and settlements in the still Slavic areas (Ashkelonia), beyond the Elbe and Saale rivers, as part of the German settlement movement. Judah he-H. asid's family's migration is part of this development. With his relocation to Regensburg, he lived on the border of the Ashkenazic heartland (Old/West Ashkenaz) and the new Ashkenazic settlement areas in Ashkelonia (New/Eastern Ashkenaz). In Regensburg he became one of the central spiritual and halakhic authorities for the communities of the eastern neighboring territories. Through his work Judah he-H. asid opened the way to an "Ashkenazation" of the Jewish communities in eastern Central Europe and Eastern Europe. Keywords Medieval Ashkenaz • Jews in Slavic lands • German Eastern expansion • Ashkenazic migration • Judah he-H. asid
![Research paper thumbnail of ["Jewish Presence at Rural Settlements in the High and Late Middle Ages in Ahkenaz. Typology, Structure and Interconnectedness."] "Ländliche Jüdische Siedlungen und Niederlassungen im Hoch- und Spätmittelalter in Aschkenas. Typologie, Struktur und Vernetzung."](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/55552808/thumbnails/1.jpg)
Research on Jewish settlement in the German lands during the high and later medieval periods has ... more Research on Jewish settlement in the German lands during the high and later medieval periods has tended to focus on the lives of Jews in their urban communities. The present study aims at elucidating the history of medieval Jewish settlements from the perspective of the rural periphery. It shows that the incomplete picture of a predominantly urban Jewish population has to be complemented by a continuity of Jewish presence in rural contexts. Sources of mostly non-Jewish provenance can serve to delineate the spread of rural Jewish settlements, while the terminology used for them can be derived from medieval Hebrew documents. Internal Jewish sources also offer insights concerning the autonomy enjoyed by rural Jewish settlers and their dependence on the urban communities. The development of a rural Jewish presence is traced in light of the question whether there was any continuity with the early modern institution of territorial Jewries (Landjudenschaften).¹
Inhaltsverzeichnis Jüdische Memorbücher Das Nürnberger Memorbuch im Lichte der Forschung En... more Inhaltsverzeichnis Jüdische Memorbücher Das Nürnberger Memorbuch im Lichte der Forschung Entstehung und Funktion des "Nürnberger Memorbuches" Erhaltungszustand und Gliederung der Handschrift Form, Aufbau und Inhalt der Handschrift Die Dokumentation des Nürnberger Memorbuchs innerhalb des Corpusprojektes Hebräische Begriffe und Teileditionen hebräischer Textabschnitte in den Einträgen zum Nürnberger Memorbuch Download als .pdf
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Papers by Rainer Josef Barzen
Rainer Josef Barzen untersucht in seiner Studie einleitend die historischen Beziehungen der Gemeinden Mainz, Worms und Speyer sowie die Entstehungsgeschichte der gemeinsamen Rechtssatzungen. Der zweite Teil enthält die vollständige Edition der neun bekannten Versionen der Rechtssatzungen, wie sie vom 13. bis zum 15. Jahrhundert entstanden sind. Sie werden sowohl in einer synoptischen Form als auch als separate Texte im hebräischen Original und in deutscher Übersetzung mit umfassender Kommentierung vorgelegt.
"Converting Wor[l]ds". International Conference
May 18 – 21, 2015
"The Jewish Neighborhood". International Conference
April 12 – 14, 2015