Fourth edition of the "Genisa-Blätter" published

Genizot – Jewish repositories of books and ritual objects no longer in use – have so far received little attention in research. Yet they are of great importance as sources from originally Jewish hands, as they can deepen our understanding of ritual practices in the context of local communities.

The fourth issue of Genisa-Blätter, now published, focuses on questions of Jewish ritual practices and their meaning, their objects and actors. The nine contributions approach these aspects through concrete finds from genizot of Central European Jewish communities, including religious texts such as the fragment of a Torah scroll as well as a minhagim book, personal documents or musical notes and pieces of clothing.

The "Genisa-Blätter IV" results – like the previous ones – from an interdisciplinary workshop held in March 2019: "From Medieval Cairo to Modern Veitshöchheim. Jewish Religious Practices in the Mirror of Genizah Sources." This was a cooperative event organized by the European Center for Jewish Music at the Hanover University of Music, Drama, and Media, the Research Centre "Dynamics of Ritual Practices in Judaism in Pluralistic Contexts from Antiquity to the Present" at the Max-Weber-Kolleg of the University of Erfurt, the Chair of Jewish Studies at the Otto-Friedrich-University of Bamberg, and the Association for Jewish Studies e.V.

One of the editors (Rebecca Ullrich) was a junior researcher at the Research Centre "Dynamics of Ritual Practices" at the University of Erfurt (Director: Prof. Dr. Benedikt Kranemann).

More information at this link:        
https://shop.verlag.uni-potsdam.de/shop/genisa-blaetter-iv/