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Analysis Of Elisheva Baumgarten 's ' Mothers And Children ' Essay

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Elisheva Baumgarten’s work stands as a model for students and scholars alike in its comprehensive review of little-known writings and other sources from medieval Ashkenazi Jews as well as in its meticulous analysis of the often ambiguous writings. In Mothers and Children, Baumgarten examines a plethora of primary sources to explore the inner dynamics of Jewish families; she then uses this information to draw objective conclusions about the relationship between the Jewish and Christian communities in the middle ages. In Baumgarten’s own words, “The premise of this study is that it is impossible to comprehend the history of medieval Jews without an in-depth understanding of the society in which they lived” (p.7). As the name of the book implies, she focuses on the relationship between Jewish mothers and children as well as their Christian counterparts; she chose women and children for two reasons: first, because there has been less research done on them than on men, and second, because women as a group had more frequent and more intimate contact with neighboring Christian communities (Baumgarten thoroughly explores why this is). Thus, women are better subjects as it relates to the relationship between Jewish and Christian societies. She then uses this information as a metaphoric keyhole through which she can examine their society as a whole. Baumgarten divides the book into five chapters: Birth, Circumcision and Baptism, Additional Birth Rituals, Maternal Nursing and Wet

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