IMC 2014: Sessions

Session 738: Custom and Representation: Current Research, III

Organiser:	Eva Frojmovic, Centre for Jewish Studies, University of Leeds
Moderator/Chair:	Zsófia Buda, Independent Scholar, Oxford
Paper 738-a	Between Minhag, Halakhah, and Taboo: Ashkenazi Uses of Art in the 12th and 13th Century (Language: English) Eva Frojmovic, Centre for Jewish Studies, University of Leeds Index terms: Hebrew and Jewish Studies, Religious Life
Paper 738-b	Light and Liturgy in Medieval Synagogues of Ashkenaz (Language: English) Annette Weber, Lehrstuhl für Jüdische Kunst, Hochschule für Jüdische Studien, Heidelberg Index terms: Hebrew and Jewish Studies, Religious Life
Abstract	Medieval Minhag (Custom) has been the subject of considerable research since Olam ke-minhago noheg was published in 1996. Recently the interdisciplinary research on minhag has gained momentum (see http://calenda.org/208529?lang=en). Minhag was lived in creative tension with Halakhah, especially in medieval Ashkenaz. Also worthy of consideration is the relationship between minhag and custom in the non-Jewish contemporary cultures, for example as 'usus' or 'ritus'. Minhag was lived experience, but is now only to be studied via representations, be they literary or visual. This session welcomes current research about representations of minhag, both in literary texts and visual image.