Reconstructing early modern religious lives: the exemplary and the mundane

Chava Weissler

Polin: Studies in Polish Jewry Volume 14 ◽

10.3828/liverpool/9781874774693.003.0031 ◽

2001 ◽

pp. 385-387

Author(s):

Norma Baumel Joseph

Keyword(s):

Early Modern ◽

Jewish Women ◽

The Past ◽

New Material ◽

Religious Lives

This chapter focuses on Chava Weissler's book on the personal devotional prayers of early modern Jewish women, Voices of the Matriarchs. Blending previously published articles, new material, and important methodological insights, this book brings to the reader a fully developed picture of the context, concerns, and religious lives of a previously invisible group. It also raises serious questions regarding our ability to know about and understand the past. The chapter shows how the author is candid about her own purposes, reservations, loyalties, and aspirations. Throughout the book, the author presents distinct texts, often several concerning the same function, in order to portray the variety of religious personalities exposed in these Yiddish prayers.

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Doing the Paperwork

The Medieval History Journal ◽

10.1177/0971945815599084 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 18 (2) ◽

pp. 404-429

Author(s):

Constantin Rieske

Keyword(s):

Early Modern ◽

Religious Identity ◽

Early Modern Europe ◽

Conversion Narratives ◽

The World ◽

Spiritual Autobiographies ◽

Religious Lives ◽

Modern Europe

Changing faith in early modern Europe created a significant amount of paperwork. Converts narrated their stories on numerous pages and thus (re)wrote their religious lives. Giving detailed insights into their conversion histories, their personal (re)turning to God, they created and exposed themselves in their autobiographical writings. Converts carefully composed conversion narratives to be recognized as “true believers” by their communities. Writing their spiritual autobiographies helped them to re-establish relations with both the world and themselves, which had been lost during their changes of faith. Converts not only fashioned a new self, they also became a new subject. Doing the paperwork was the final step in assuming both a new religious position and a new religious identity.

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