| Assuming that ancient traditions were at the very heart of medieval Jewish practices, I question to what extent the care for the dead in medieval Ashkenaz continued and to what extent it differed from the treatment of the body in earlier periods. Were the halakhic norms regarding the care for the dead in medieval Ashkenaz any different than ancient rabbinic norms or from burial norms in other medieval localities? How did life conditions of Jews in medieval Ashkenaz affect the customs and traditions involving the care for the dead? What can one learn about Ashkenazic Jewry when studying this important field of halakhic practice? Did the care for the dead in medieval Ashkenaz respond to larger developments and practices in the non-Jewish society? I argue that traditional rulings about the care for the dead could not entirely hold sway in a reality so different than, for instance, life conditions in ancient Palestine. I also argue that, in spite of their static nature, religious norms are rarely divorced from concrete life conditions. Therefore, they should be studied historically in a way that takes into account continuity as well as diversions from traditional norms. |
