Ahuva Liberles
Tel Aviv University, Jewish History, Faculty Member
- My roots lie both in the field of history and in the world of teacher training in the Humanities. My passion resides ... moreMy roots lie both in the field of history and in the world of teacher training in the Humanities. My passion resides in meaningful collaboration between people, hard work, innovation, and individual and team excellence.
My research and teaching path has taken me to pursue two different yet intertwined fields: My first research avenue is the social and intellectual history of Jews in pre-modern Europe (1100-1600), with special interests in family life, identity formation, marginality, disability studies, and inter-religious encounters. Second, I am invested in the field of education; developing pedagogical skills in teaching history and humanities, with a special interest in the formative process of transforming from student to teacher, and teaching a multi-narrative history.edit
Believing or Belonging? [English abstract and table of contents]
Religious Conversion, Family Life, and the Jewish Community in Late Medieval German Lands Thesis for the degree of “Doctor of Philosophy” AHUVA LIBERLES NOIMAN
Religious Conversion, Family Life, and the Jewish Community in Late Medieval German Lands Thesis for the degree of “Doctor of Philosophy” AHUVA LIBERLES NOIMAN
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
בניגוד לרבים מבני דורו שראו בחיוב או לפחות הבינו את הצורך בנסיעות למרחקים ובכללן נסיעה לארץ ישראל, רבי יהודה החסיד (נפטר בשנת 1217), מהדמויות המרכזיות בקרב חוג חסידי אשכנז, שלל אותן והתנגד להן. במאמר זה אפרוס את גישתו כלפי היציאה מן המרחב... more
בניגוד לרבים מבני דורו שראו בחיוב או לפחות הבינו את הצורך בנסיעות למרחקים ובכללן נסיעה לארץ ישראל, רבי יהודה החסיד (נפטר בשנת 1217), מהדמויות המרכזיות בקרב חוג חסידי אשכנז, שלל אותן והתנגד להן. במאמר זה אפרוס את גישתו כלפי היציאה מן המרחב המקומי, שאותה ביטא בבהירות בכתביו ובעיקר ב"ספר חסידים" שהוא מחברו העיקרי. לאורה אציע לשקול מחדש את הדעה המקובלת במחקר שלפיה ראיית ה עולם המשיחית של ר' יהודה החסיד היא שגרמה ליחסו השלילי לעלייה לארץ ישראל, ואבקש לטעון שהיא לא הייתה הסיבה היחידה. סיבות נוספות ליחס זה הן החסרונות הרוחניים והפיזיים הרבים הכרוכים בנסיעה למרחקים והבנת תפקידם המכריע של ה'חכם' והקהילה החסידית המקומית בתהליך הכפרה של חסידיו (כיחידים).
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This paper examines R. Judah he-Hasid's approach toward journeys to distant places, including pilgrimages to the land of Israel. Unlike other twelfth-century rabbinic authorities who did not object to travel for various purposes and, in... more
This paper examines R. Judah he-Hasid's approach toward journeys to distant places, including pilgrimages to the land of Israel. Unlike other twelfth-century rabbinic authorities who did not object to travel for various purposes and, in certain cases, even encouraged it, R. Judah he-Hasid held a uniform, consistent approach that opposed almost any journey beyond the local area. Some scholars have suggested that R. Judah he-Hasid's opposition to undertaking a pilgrimage to the land of Israel reflects his opposition to messianic activism. However, this study suggests that R. Judah he-Hasid's negative approach towards traveling to Palestine ought to be examined in light of his overall rejection of travel. In his writings, R. Judah he-Hasid laid out a new path to achieve redemption and atonement for one's sins. This path does not depend on physical journeys to holy places or on the national redemption of the Jewish people but rather aimed at achieving personal redemption, through the adoption of the pietistic way of life as detailed by R. Judah he-Hasid in Sefer Hasidim: repentance by confessing one's sins before a sage and performing the prescribed mortification rites. This approach remained unique in Jewish thought, yet one can find parallels in Christian theology of the tension between stability and inner self-improvement, on the one hand, and the advantages of a physical journey to holy sites to achieve atonement for sins.
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This paper is a review essay on a new publication concerning Anglo-Jewish history: Lauren Fogle, The King's Converts: Jewish Conversion in Medieval London. After addressing the contents of the aforementioned monograph, I concentrate on... more
This paper is a review essay on a new publication concerning Anglo-Jewish history: Lauren Fogle, The King's Converts: Jewish Conversion in Medieval London. After addressing the contents of the aforementioned monograph, I concentrate on new aspects of research on Jewish medieval conversion to Christianity. The second part of the essay is dedicated to some methodological concerns. The essay closes with a discussion on the necessity of integrating the perspective of Jewish sources when writing about Jews.
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February 17, 2022, 12 noon PST Ahuva Liberles Where No One Knows Your Name: Vagabonds, Delinquents, and Religious Conversion in Late Medieval Europe Responding: David Nirenberg This lecture will examine life stories of individuals who... more
February 17, 2022, 12 noon PST
Ahuva Liberles
Where No One Knows Your Name: Vagabonds, Delinquents, and Religious Conversion in Late Medieval Europe
Responding: David Nirenberg
This lecture will examine life stories of individuals who lived on the margins of late medieval German-Jewish societies to re-examine the definition of "belonging" to the Jewish community through its boundaries. After the persecution that followed the Black Death (1348-1351), the legal status of Jews in the German lands had weakened. Many cities chose to expel the Jews, others recanted the privileges granted in earlier centuries. What roles did the fifteenth-century Jewish community play in legal procedures regarding Jewish criminals and transgressors? Was communal Jewish solidarity exhibited also towards Jews living on its moral and religious margins, and what were its limits during this unstable era, when many Jewish communities were expelled time and again? This research is based on numerous court records which lay in the archival troves of Southern Germany, Austria, and northern Italy, juxtaposed with exciting contemporary Hebrew documents. The various genres and sources of different origins will paint a rich and diverse picture of the past and reveal multiple narratives of entangled pre-modern life.
Ahuva Liberles
Where No One Knows Your Name: Vagabonds, Delinquents, and Religious Conversion in Late Medieval Europe
Responding: David Nirenberg
This lecture will examine life stories of individuals who lived on the margins of late medieval German-Jewish societies to re-examine the definition of "belonging" to the Jewish community through its boundaries. After the persecution that followed the Black Death (1348-1351), the legal status of Jews in the German lands had weakened. Many cities chose to expel the Jews, others recanted the privileges granted in earlier centuries. What roles did the fifteenth-century Jewish community play in legal procedures regarding Jewish criminals and transgressors? Was communal Jewish solidarity exhibited also towards Jews living on its moral and religious margins, and what were its limits during this unstable era, when many Jewish communities were expelled time and again? This research is based on numerous court records which lay in the archival troves of Southern Germany, Austria, and northern Italy, juxtaposed with exciting contemporary Hebrew documents. The various genres and sources of different origins will paint a rich and diverse picture of the past and reveal multiple narratives of entangled pre-modern life.
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Research Interests:
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This paper focuses on different ways converted orphaned children from the persecutions of the Jews in Vienna in 1421 were perceived by adult society. The paper examines two legal cases brought in front of Jewish medieval courts and one... more
This paper focuses on different ways converted orphaned children from the persecutions of the Jews in Vienna in 1421 were perceived by adult society. The paper examines two legal cases brought in front of Jewish medieval courts and one theoretical legal discussion – all three were recorded in contemporary rabbinic responsa (written decisions and rulings by religious scholars in response to questions addressed to them). Following the examination of the Hebrew documents, the paper discusses two Austrian archival documents formerly researched by Historians Marta Keil and Eveline Brugger, concerning a sum of money put aside by Duke Albrecht V for a converted child from the Viennese events of 1421 until he came of age, and chose to remain loyal to his adopted faith. These legal sources, of Jewish and Christian origin, discuss the religious affiliation of the Jewish children who were forced into baptism. Moreover, they demonstrate that the ages twelve or thirteen used by 15th-century rulers as a watershed or an age threshold, after which the young converts should be considered responsible for their religious status and their conversion complete, regardless of the violent consequences that led them into a new religion.
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in: Lost Neighborhood: Discovering the medieval Jewish quarter of Munich. Eva Haverkamp-Rott and Astrid Riedler Pohlers organizers. AUSSTELLUNG IN DER AUSLEIHHALLE
DER UNIVERSITÄTSBIBLIOTHEK DER LMU MÜNCHEN .
DER UNIVERSITÄTSBIBLIOTHEK DER LMU MÜNCHEN .
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The Center for the Study of Conversion and Inter-Religious Encounters
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Eva Haverkamp-Rott and Astrid Riedler-Pohlers. With collaboration of: Michael Brocke, Rachel Furst, Katharina Hupe, Andreas Lehnertz, Ahuva Liberles Noiman, Peter Müller Reinholz, Sophia Schmitt
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In his exciting new book, Brothers from Afar, Ephraim Kanarfogel tackles one of the greatest challenges for the religious leaders of the Jewish minority in Christian Europe —the mild but constant seepage of Jews into the arms of the... more
In his exciting new book, Brothers from Afar, Ephraim Kanarfogel tackles one of the greatest challenges for the religious leaders of the Jewish minority in Christian Europe —the mild but constant seepage of Jews into the arms of the Christian religion, by choice or under threats and coercion. Focusing on medieval northern Europe, this book presents the diverse rabbinic approaches to apostasy and shows how these approaches were translated into rabbinic decisions. Kanarfogel also identifies the complexity of rabbinic attitudes toward individuals who sought to rejoin the Jewish community after their conversion, and how these judgments were challenged and changed over the course of the Middle Ages and in different geographic areas. This book is the conclusive outcome of the author’s many years of extensive research on this subject.
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In This Land tells the fascinating story of the social and intellectual fabric of rabbinic scholars who lived in medieval southern France, a time and place that was a patchwork of diverse and intertwined political and ethnic entities. The... more
In This Land tells the fascinating story of the social and intellectual fabric of rabbinic scholars who lived in medieval southern France, a time and place that was a patchwork of diverse and intertwined political and ethnic entities. The book sheds much light on the struggle of the Jewish immigrants from England and France, after the expulsions of 1290 and 1306, to maintain their unique communal identity as a tight-knit French-Jewish minority. This was made all the more challenging as the refugees saw themselves as occupying a higher standing than the indigenous Jews who absorbed them.
https://traditiononline.org/pinchas-roth-in-this-land-jewish-life-and-legal-culture-in-late-medieval-provence/
https://traditiononline.org/pinchas-roth-in-this-land-jewish-life-and-legal-culture-in-late-medieval-provence/
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Gender and custody rights in 15th century German Lands
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Colloquium: Selma Stern Zentrum für Jüdische Studien Berlin-Brandenburg
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at: Rethinking Jewish and Non-Jewish Relations: Transdisciplinary Conference for Early Career Researchers in Jewish Studies Veranstalter Susanne Korbel, Anna Lidor-Osprian, Lukas Nievoll, Thomas Stoppacher; A cooperation between the... more
at: Rethinking Jewish and Non-Jewish Relations: Transdisciplinary Conference for Early Career Researchers in Jewish Studies
Veranstalter Susanne Korbel, Anna Lidor-Osprian, Lukas Nievoll, Thomas Stoppacher; A cooperation between the Center for Jewish Studies and the Institute for History, Department for Medieval History and Historical Aid Studies of the University of Graz.
Vom - Bis07.05.2018 - 09.05.201
Veranstalter Susanne Korbel, Anna Lidor-Osprian, Lukas Nievoll, Thomas Stoppacher; A cooperation between the Center for Jewish Studies and the Institute for History, Department for Medieval History and Historical Aid Studies of the University of Graz.
Vom - Bis07.05.2018 - 09.05.201
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Lecture at the Museum for Islamic and Near Eastern Cultures
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Concepts of Localization in the Writings of Rabbi
Judah heHasid
Judah heHasid
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Juden und Christen
in Bayern, Böhmen und
Österreich (1349–1648)
Interwoven Regional
Worlds: Jews and
Christians in Bavaria,
Bohemia and Austria
(1349–1648)
in Bayern, Böhmen und
Österreich (1349–1648)
Interwoven Regional
Worlds: Jews and
Christians in Bavaria,
Bohemia and Austria
(1349–1648)