The Image of the Black in Jewish Culture: A History of the Other

This book traces the development of the image of the Black as other’ in the history of Jewish cultures, from the first formulations in Biblical literature to the age of discovery in early modern times. This is the first comprehensive study of this issue. It is based on a thorough investigation of the relevant sources in Biblical and Rabbinic literature, and the various literary genres that evolved during the Middle Ages, such as Biblical exegesis, travel literature, poetry, philosophy, theology and halakah. Most of these sources have never been studies before in this context. The evolving image of the Black in the history of Jewish culture is being traced here in the conceptual framework of recent post-modern theories of the other’, albeit partially and critically. The study focuses on the mechanisms by which an ethno-religious minority group considered by the dominant majority to be the inferior other’, identifies its own inferior other’. While until recently most scholarly attention has been devoted to the attitudes towards the Jews as other’, this is the first comprehensive discussion of the attitudes of the Jews to their own others’. It considerably adds to our understanding of Jewish-Black relations in modern times.