The ritualization of circumcision in medieval Judaism in relation to Islam and Christianity: an overview

摘要

The paper analyzes the continuous medieval ritualization of Jewish circumcision with regard to interaction with the surrounding Christian and Islamic societies and their interpretations of circumcision as religious and cultural performance. While circumcision in Islamic society might have been regarded as a competing tradition that required the ritualization of Jewish circumcision as religious act, the Christian interpretation of circumcision as functionally parallel to baptism was instrumental in the development of the concept of the salvific power of circumcision. Yet the Jewish development should not be described as transfer of concepts, but as complex negotiation of Jewish and non-Jewish concepts, including the genealogical definition of Judaism and the question of national salvation.View full textDownload full textKeywordscircumcision, salvation, ritualization, liturgical poetry, chair of ElijahRelated var addthis_config = { ui_cobrand: "Taylor & Francis Online", services_compact: "citeulike,netvibes,twitter,technorati,delicious,linkedin,facebook,stumbleupon,digg,google,more", pubid: "ra-4dff56cd6bb1830b" }; Add to shortlist Link Permalink http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0048721X.2012.642574