Jewish Martyrs In The Pagan And Christian Worlds

P1: JZZ 0521842816agg.xml CB899/Shepkaru 0 521 84281 6 This page intentionally left blank August 11, 2005 17:44 P1: JZZ 0521842816agg.xml CB899/Shepkaru 0 521 84281 6 August 11, 2005 jewish martyrs in the pagan and christian worlds This book presents a linear history of Jewish martyrdom, from the Hellenistic period to the high Middle Ages. Following the chronology of sources, the study challenges the general consensus that martyrdom was an original Hellenistic Jewish idea. Instead, Jews such as Philo and Josephus internalized the idealized Roman concept of voluntary death and presented it as an old Jewish practice. The centrality of self-sacrifice in Christianity further stimulated the development of rabbinic martyrology and the Talmudic guidelines for passive martyrdom. However, when forced to choose between death and conversion in medieval Christendom, European Jews went beyond these guidelines, sacrificing themselves and loved ones. Through death they attempted not only to prove their religiosity but also to disprove the religious legitimacy of their Christian persecutors. Although martyrs and martyrologies intended to show how Judaisim differed from Christianity, they, in fact, reveal a common mind-set. Although the medieval martyrological option was played down during the Holocaust, medieval martyrologies still feature in Ashkenazic prayers of today. Shmuel Shepkaru is Assistant Professor of Jewish Studies and history at The University of Oklahoma. i 17:44 P1: JZZ 0521842816agg.xml CB899/Shepkaru 0 521 84281 6 August 11, 2005 ii 17:44 P1: JZZ 0521842816agg.xml CB899/Shepkaru 0 521 84281 6 August 11, 2005 Jewish Martyrs in the Pagan and Christian Worlds shmuel shepkaru The University of Oklahoma iii 17:44 CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo Cambridge University Press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 8RU, UK Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521842815 © Shmuel Shepkaru 2006 This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provision of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published in print format 2005 eBook (EBL) ISBN-13 978-0-511-34454-1 ISBN-10 0-511-34454-6 eBook (EBL) hardback ISBN-13 978-0-521-84281-5 hardback ISBN-10 0-521-84281-6 Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of urls for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate. P1: JZZ 0521842816agg.xml CB899/Shepkaru 0 521 84281 6 August 11, 2005 For Shizuka and Leon
v 17:44 P1: JZZ 0521842816agg.xml CB899/Shepkaru “ 0 521 84281 6 August 11, 2005 The tyrant dies and his rule is over, the martyr dies and his rule begins.” So¨ren Kierkegaard
vi 17:44 P1: JZZ 0521842816agg.xml CB899/Shepkaru 0 521 84281 6 August 11, 2005 Contents Preface 1 2 3 4 page xi Introduction 1 Mythic Martyrs 6 Daniel 1 Maccabees 2 Maccabees Daniel, First Maccabees, and Second Maccabees 7 11 19 25 Between God and Caesar 34 Philo of Alexandria Josephus Flavius