Death in Jewish Life

This volume, a first in its field, examines the degree to which the medieval Ashkenazi were innovative in the area of communal activity surrounding burial and mourning customs. The topics cover liturgical poetry as well as statutory prayers; confessions, final testimonies and acts of charity; funeral and mourning rites; the influences of the surrounding non-Jewish world on the nature of prayers for the dead; the effects of major acts of persecution; and the evidence from tombstones. The treatment is inter-disciplinary.