Join Fordham University’s Center for Jewish Studies on Wednesday, 17 February at 1:00pm EST for an interview with Ephraim Shoham-Steiner on his recently published book Jews and Crime in Medieval Europe. Hosted by Fordham University and the New York Public Library, Ephraim will be in conversation with Fordham history professors Nicholas Paul and Magda Teter.
Shoham-Steiner is a professor of Medieval Jewish History in the Department of Jewish History at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Be’er-Shevah Israel (BGU).
Beginning in the Middle Ages, Jews were often portrayed as criminals driven by greed. While these accusations were often unfounded, at times criminal accusations against Jews were not altogether baseless. Drawing on a variety of legal, liturgical, literary, and archival sources, Ephraim examines the reasons for Jewish involvement in crime, the social profile of Jews who performed crimes, and the mechanisms employed by the legal and communal body to deal with Jewish criminals and with crimes committed by Jews. A society’s attitude toward individuals identified as criminals—by others or themselves—can serve as a window into that society’s mores and provide insight into how transgressors understood themselves and society’s attitudes toward them.
This event is a joint initiative of Fordham University’s Center for Jewish Studies and the New York Public Library and is a part of the Fordham-NYPL Joint Research Fellowship Program in Jewish Studies.
This event is predicted to be very popular, and advantage register is encouraged and required. Please register here.
Medieval Art Research 