Jews in the Medieval Christian Imagination

“Jews in the Medieval Christian Imagination”
Jeremy Cohen , Tel-Aviv University
Monday, 28 January 2013 – 7:00 PM
Temple Beth Zion-Beth Israel
300 South 18th Street
Philadelphia, PA 19103
Sponsored by: Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies

How did Jews and Judaism emerge as ideas in the Christian imagination during the Middle Ages? In many cases, these ideas grew out of the teachings and needs of Christian theology much more than they reflected real, live encounters between Jews and Christians. Yet such abstractions then proceeded to determine the ways in which Christians related to their real Jewish neighbors. In this illustrated lecture, we shall use select works of medieval art to consider landmark stages in the evolution of this “imaginary” Jew and his/her importance in medieval and modern history.