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Astronomy,
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A look at Jewish life in the Middle Ages.

ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM

AppleTree Editor

et out your lutes and your harps and your
flutes. Think kings and queens and days
gone by a long, long, long time ago.
Welcome to the Middle Ages (13th to 15th
centuries C.E.).
Here, you will meet up with your long-lost predeces-
sors and learn of angels and meals of pigeon, braided
hair with pearls, elaborate wedding rings and why cats were so
beloved.

#1) Many Jews in the Middle Ages
believed in angels, but these had noth-
ing to do with the happy, flying cherubs
so frequently pictured everywhere these
days.
Instead, they believed that each man,
woman and child had a guardian angel,
much as Lot and his daughters had guardian angels who took
them away from the cursed cities. Not only did each Jew have
a guardian angel, they believed, but he also had a wicked one
who would tempt him to do wrong.

#2) Sephardi Jews living in medieval times
were practically obsessed with heraldry.
Numerous examples of such heraldry exists,
though very little of it reflects an individual
family's history or interests. Nor did
such heraldry tell anything about the
Jewish community. A coat of arms was
granted only to those who held an
official title — a privilege certainly never given any-
one Jewish. So what was on a coat of arms found in
the homes of medieval Jews? Decorations in honor of
the kings and princes in the country wherever they resided.

#3) One creature appears more than almost any other in
Jewish illuminated manuscripts from the Middle Ages. Can
you guess what it was?
Dogs were drawn frequently, as were deer and rabbits. But
none of these was so ubiquitous as the mouse. This is, no
doubt, because mice were a serious problem in the homes of
all citizens, whatever their faith. So virtually every household
also counted among its denizens a cat.

#4) Today, on holidays like Tisha b'Av and
Yom Kippur, when we are enjoined not to
wear leather, most Jews can find something
else accommodating in their closet — ten-
nis shoes, for example, or plastic sandals. In
Medieval times no such luxuries existed, so
Jews went barefoot the whole day.

#5) The particular
design of the shofar as
we know it began in
the Middle Ages. (A
shofar, of course, is
carved from an ani-
mal's horn.)
From these days, we see the first illustrations of the long
shofar horn, which turns slightly at the end.

#6) It was popular among Jews of the
time to have a kind of community wed-
ding ring to be used by anyone who
cared to do so. The ring was very large
(and so, obviously, symbolic; not even
the most pretentious person could have
worn something this big). Elaborately
decorated, it often featured a tiny house representing the
synagogue. Some rings also had the words "Mazel Tov"
inscribed on them.

#7) Popular hairstyles among unmarried Jewish women
and girls reflected those of the general culture, including
slightly rolled on the side, in a bun covered with a small
veil, or in one long braid interwoven with a cloth of the
same color as the girl's dress. If the occasion called for a
fancier look, she might weave pearls or jewels into her
braid, as well.

#8) At the same time, Jewish married women all covered
their hair — no matter what country and without inter-
ruption throughout the Middle Ages.
Unlike today, however, covering one's hair was de
rigueur for every married woman. Directed by the writ-
ings of Paul, Christian women also covered their hair. No
one, however, wore a sheitel or wig; instead, women cov-
ered their locks with an attractive cloth.

.

#9) One of the favorite subjects of Jewish
artists of the Middle Ages was the whale that
consumed Jonah. Jews of the day were pro-
foundly concerned with guilt, redemption
and penitence, which are reflected in that
art. Jonah, of course, sinned, but was greatly sorrowful for
that sin and made sincere efforts to repent.

#10) By the beginning of the 10th century, Jews were
famed for their wine-making skills, and this reputation
carried through to the Middle Ages.
So even while kings and queens and the Catholic
Church were constantly restricting and otherwise perse-
cuting the Jewish community, they also were coming to
Jews to buy the wine used for mass.

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