Two Nations in Your Womb: Perceptions of Jews and Christians in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages
Since it was first published in Hebrew in 2000, this provocative book has been garnering acclaim and stirring controversy for its bold reinterpretation of the relationship between Judaism and Christianity in the Middle Ages, especially in medieval Europe. Looking at a remarkably wide array of source material, Israel Jacob Yuval argues that the inter-religious polemic between Judaism and Christianity served as a substantial component in the mutual formation of each of the two religions. He...
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Since it was first published in Hebrew in 2000, this provocative book has been garnering acclaim and stirring controversy for its bold reinterpretation of the relationship between Judaism and Christianity in the Middle Ages, especially in medieval Europe. Looking at a remarkably wide array of source material, Israel Jacob Yuval argues that the inter-religious polemic between Judaism and Christianity served as a substantial component in the mutual formation of each of the two religions. He investigates ancient Jewish Passover rituals; Jewish martyrs in the Rhineland who in 1096 killed their own children; Christian perceptions of those ritual killings; and events of the year 1240, when Jews in northern France and Germany expected the Messiah to arrive. Looking below the surface of these key moments, Yuval finds that, among other things, the impact of Christianity on Talmudic and medieval Judaism was much stronger than previously assumed and that a "rejection of Christianity" became a focal point of early Jewish identity. Two Nations in Your Womb will reshape our understanding of Jewish and Christian life in late antiquity and over the centuries.
List of Illustrations ixPreface to the Hebrew Edition xiPreface to the English Edition xviiIntroduction: Et Major Serviet Minori (and the Elder Will Serve the Younger) 1The Thematic Framework 1The Early Typology: Esau Id Est Edom 3The Late Typology: Edom Id Est Roma 10The Conciliatory Approach of Modern Research 20The Mother, the Daughter, and the Sister 26Rome of Jerusalem: The Foundations of Jewish-Christian Hostility 31The Sons of Ephraim and the Son of Joseph 33Vindicta Salvatoris (The Vengeance of the Savior) 38Legends of the Destruction-Anti-Christian? 49The Passover of Egypt and the Passover of Jerusalem 56Development of the Stories 62Parallels Between the Jewish Haggadah and the Christian "Haggadahs" 68The "Midrash" of the Haggadah 77Conclusions 87A Note on the Research 90The Vengeance and the Curse: Hostility to Christianity Among Ashkenazic Jewry 92Vengeful Redemption 93Proselytizing Redemption 109The Curse 115The Curse on YomKippur 119Pour Out Thy Wrath 123The Impression of the Curses on Christians 130Intersecting Stories: From Martyrdom to Ritual Murder Accusations 135The Blood 135Self-Sacrifice 144The Sacrifice of Children 154The Libel 159The Impact of the Blood Sacrifice on Christians 161The Libel of Blois and the Story of Bristol 190Inverted Ceremonies: The Host, the Matzah, and the Quarrel 205The Great Sabbath 209The Burning of Leaven 229The Eruv of Courtyards 236The Afikoman 239Haroset 248Summary 255The End of the Millennium (1240): Jewish Hopes, Christian Fears 257Calculations of the End at the Turn of the Jewish Millennium 258Messianism, Immigration to the Land of Israel, and Settling the Land 267Fulda 1235, Paris 1240: Christian Reactions? 274The Mongolian Threat: The Ten Tribes? Gog and Magog? 284A Synchronic Overview 288A Jewish End and a Christian End 291Index 297
