Commemoration in Medieval Jewish Culture

This project explores the various forms of individual and community commemoration and their roles within Jewish identity in the Middle Ages. I ask the question how the deceased were commemorated by their families and the community outside of the cemetery. I also investigate how this commemoration echoed within individual and community life, influencing and shaping the individual identities and  self-image of the communities. The Ashkenazi commemoration of the dead found its first expression in liturgy in the 12th century. Liturgical poetry (Piyutim), as well as other prayers and lists of martyrs, represented the persecution experiences of the first crusade and were positioned in the service of certain holydays. The lists of martyrs and deceased community benefactors used for this purpose were compiled into memorbooks from the 13th century on, with the Nuremberg memorbook currently the oldest known manuscript of an Ashkenazi memorbook to have survived. This analysis provides insight into the origin and structure of the text as well as the liturgical and non-liturgical functions of this new literary genre. The communal and individual commemoration of the dead also finds expression outside of the prayer service, within the framework of the Jewish annual cycle and in public spaces. Thus, commemoration is also incorprated into, for example, Lenten calendars, inscriptions on synagogues, commemorative inscriptions for the victims of persecution, and entries in manuscripts intended for public use. The results of this project will be presented as a Habilitation thesis by Dr. Rainer Josef Barzen in 2024. Publications: -Rainer Josef Barzen, "Personal Grief between Private and Public Space: A Micrographic Inscription as a Historical Source (Ms Vienna Cod. hebr. 16)". In Philology and Aesthetics: Figurative Masorah in Western European Manuscripts, edited by Hanna Lis together with Jonas Leipziger (Judentum und Umwelt / Realms of Judaism 85). Frankfurt am Main [u.a.]: Peter Lang 2021, 35-57. -Rainer Josef Barzen, "Materialization of Memoria. Memory and Remembrance of Benefactors in Building Inscriptions in Medieval Ashkenaz". In Visual and Material in Premodern Jewish Culture, edited by Katrin Kogman-Appel, Elisheva Baumgarten, Elisabeth Hollender und Ephraim Shoham-Steiner. Turnhout: Brepols 2022 (including transcripts of the 18 inscriptions) (forthcoming, in print). Podcast 2021: -Rainer Josef Barzen, "Gedenke Oh Herr Deiner Heiligen Gemeinden". Wie erinnerten sich Juden ihrer Toten und Märtyrer im mittelalterlichen Deutschland. In: Zugehörig oder ausgegrenzt? 1.700 Jahre Jüdisches Leben in Deutschland. Ein Forschungs-Podcast aus dem Exzellenzcluster "Religion und Politik" im Themenjahr "Zugehörigkeit und Abgrenzung" mit dem Institut für Jüdische Studien der Universität Münster Link ["Remember O Lord Your Holy Congregations". How did Jews remember their dead and martyrs in medieval Germany? In: Belonging or marginalized? 1,700 years of Jewish life in Germany. A research podcast from the Cluster of Excellence "Religion and Politics" in the annual theme "Belonging and Demarcation" with the Institute for Jewish Studies at the University of Münster]