During the Black Death (1347-1350), some Jews died of disease, while others died by fire for accusations of spreading illness. How did medieval Jews respond to such great mortality? This lecture examines how Jewish people dealt with the challenges of plague and how their responses had lasting effects on both medieval Jewish practice and communal life. The first part discusses dance as one common response to the illness and trauma that accompanied the pandemic. The second part discusses how the dramatic increase of mortality radically reshaped Jewish death and burial practices for centuries to come.
Lecture II: Jewish Responses to the Plague: Death and Dancing, held on 14.6.2020 at Beit Avichai By Hannah Teddy Schachter and Miri Fenton, moderated by Dr. Neta Bodner
"Plagues in Historical Perspective: The Jews and the Black Death" A four-part public lecture series in light of COVID-19, featuring the work of of the Beyond the Elite: Jewish Daily Life in Medieval Europe project of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. June 2020
For more on the lecture series: www.bac.org.il/Thoughts/sdaro... For more on the Beyond the Elite research group: beyond-the-elite.huji.ac.il/