Creativity and Confrontation: The History of Medieval Jewry

In his first lecture, Rabbi Schacter explains why knowledge of medieval Jewish history is critical to a proper understanding of the modern era. He also discusses the structure of this course, and why Jewish life in the Middle Ages is uniquely suited to helping us appreciate the majesty, significance, and vibrancy of the Jewish story. 

Jews in Western Europe lived under Christian rule for many centuries. In this episode, Rabbi Schacter describes the emergence of Christianity and the theological arguments that shaped Christian thinking about Jews. He also discusses how Christians and Jews treated each other then, and considers how the past sheds light on Christian attitudes toward Jews today.

The small Jewish communities of early medieval Western Europe were initially treated well. That changed radically during the Crusades. But as Rabbi Schacter shows in this episode, even as classical European anti-Semitism began to take shape, Jews made important intellectual achievements that continue to affect Jewish life today. 

In medieval times, Jews were generally better off under Islamic, rather than Christian, rule. In this episode, Rabbi Schacter explores why that was. He discusses the rise of Mohammed, Muslim attitudes toward Jews, and how those feelings manifested themselves. Rabbi Schacter also analyzes how Muslim authority affected the development of Judaism and medieval Jewish communities.

In this episode, Rabbi Schacter discusses two of the major focuses of medieval Jewish intellectual life: Talmud study and Jewish philosophy. He explains how Talmud study became so important to Judaism, and some of the major codes of Jewish law that emerged from it. He also surveys the lives of three of Jewish philosophy's leading figures—Saadya Gaon, Yehuda Halevi, and Maimonides—and analyzes their work on the relationship between faith and reason.

As Christian anti-Semitism grew, many Jews turned to a new way of thinking about Judaism: mysticism. Jews used mysticism to try to become closer to God even when it seemed as if he was further away than ever. Rabbi Schacter explains the basics of Jewish mysticism, the role it played in the life of medieval Jews, and the ways in which Christian anti-Semitism evolved in the High Middle Ages.

For a time, the Jewish community in Spain was the center of the Jewish world, making important communal and intellectual achievements. But after Christians recaptured control of Spain and Ferdinand and Isabella ascended the throne, it all came to a tragic end. In this lecture, Rabbi Schacter discusses Jewish life in Spain before the expulsion, why the expulsion happened, and how it impacted Jews in Spain and across the Mediterranean basin.

The medieval Jewish community of Poland was one of the strongest diasporic communities in Jewish history. Jews maintained a great deal of autonomy, which they used to build large communities, pursue religious scholarship, and engage in commerce. But as Rabbi Schacter explains in this episode, the Chmielnicki Massacres, in which vast numbers of Jews were murdered and dislocated, brought that era to an end.

In the late medieval period, messianism developed a powerful hold on the Jewish imagination, culminating in the emergence of Shabbetai Tzvi, a figure who Jews across the world believed to be the messiah. In this episode, Rabbi Schacter explores why this messianic movement became so popular, and how it all unraveled.

As the medieval period came to an end, Jews previously expelled from Western Europe began to return and live openly as Jews. In the final episode of this course, Rabbi Schacter discusses this geographic shift, as well as the remarkable phenomenon of the conversos—Jews who secretly maintained their Jewish identity and passed it on to their descendants—and the challenges they faced.