What Did Medieval Jews Expect for Their Christian Neighbors?

Michie

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Why did Medieval Jews envision divine punishment of Christians at the end of days? Surprisingly, it’s not just because Christians were always trying to kill them.

This essay was originally presented in Hebrew at an “evening of study” in Jerusalem convened on January 1, 1996 to commemorate the thousandth anniversary of the attacks on Jews by crusaders in the spring of 1096. When I began the presentation, I remarked that an Israeli historian whom I had called after arriving in Jerusalem commented on the Jewish penchant for commemorating catastrophes by saying, “You have arrived for the Festival of 1096.” I went on to say that years earlier, the American Academy for Jewish Research had held a conference commemorating the thousandth anniversary of the death of the Jewish courtier Hasdai ibn Shaprut counting from the first year when he might have died. So it is only appropriate that Jews should commemorate the terrible events of 1096 on the very first day of 1996 even though they had taken place in later months. Whatever the timing, the subject of that evening’s presentations remains tragically relevant.

Continued below.
https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/history/articles/the-fate-of-gentiles
 

Pavel Mosko

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Wow that's interesting! I'll have to look at that when I'm in the reading mood. I know this stuff is seen in the Talmud. Lots of anti-gentile verses in that work, there is big Jewish sage theologian that changes the anti-gentile tone just a century or so later.

wow I skimmed it lots of sources as far as Jewish Rabbinic Bible commentary. I added it to my reading list on Chrome.
 
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Bob Crowley

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I read the article. While there's no doubt Jews were persecuted in Christian nations, there also seems to be a lot of self righteous hatred of gentiles.

Which came first - the Christian mistreatment of Jews, or the loudly proclaimed hatred of (Christian) Gentiles?
 
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anna ~ grace

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I read the article. While there's no doubt Jews were persecuted in Christian nations, there also seems to be a lot of self righteous hatred of gentiles.

Which came first - the Christian mistreatment of Jews, or the loudly proclaimed hatred of (Christian) Gentiles?
I would expect the second came first. The ancient Jews cast Netzarim (ancient Messianic Jews who professed Christ yet did not join the Church) out of their synagogues and then pronounced curses against them, and against Gentile Christians. And these were fellow ethnic Jews, Hebrews.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birkat_haMinim
 
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