Mothers and Children. Jewish Family Life in Medieval Europe - Elisheva Baumgarten

ular social order. Unlike studies of customs that have focused only on the Jew-
ish tradition, the comparative approach employed here reveals the shared
mentalities of Jews and their Christian neighbors. This comparison has great
potential for social interpretation. Whereas the theological and religious dif-
ferences were most prominent and all encompassing in theological writings, a
comparison of these rites reveals the gender codes of a common society in
which both Jews and Christians lived. Whether studying the co-parents/ba’alei
brit, the rituals to protect the baby from demons, or the customs of the par-
turient, these shared codes and beliefs demonstrate the joint social structures
of Jews and Christians in medieval and early modern Europe.
At the same time, religious and theological tensions were ever present.
Whether in the case of baptism and circumcision, each ritual symbolizing the
separate identities of Jews and Christians, or in the case of Marian devotion,
these same rituals symbolized the difference between Jews and Christians.

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