Pre-Yom Kippur Customs

1508

Print image of two rows of people in front of river with fish in it. — This woodcut from *Libellus de Judaica confessione siue sabbato afflictionis* (*A Pamphlet Concerning the Jewish Faith or the Sabbath of Affliction*), the second treatise of a zealous Christian convert from Judaism, Johannes Pfefferkorn, portrays Jews performing the rite of *tashlich* on Rosh Hashanah, when Jews symbolically cast off their sins into a body of water. The aim of the illustration was to ridicule Judaism and Jewish customs. Pfefferkorn advocated for the forcible conversion or expulsion of all Jews and for banning the Talmud and destroying all copies of it. The eyes of all those participating in these rituals are covered, symbolizing a common medieval Christian depiction of Jews as blind—to the truth of Christianity. This followed the images of Synagoga (blindfolded) and Ecclesia (unveiled), personifying the synagogue and the church.

Print image of people indoors holding roosters in top panel and people eating and bathing in bottom panel. — This woodcut from *Libellus de Judaica confessione siue sabbato afflictionis* (*A Pamphlet Concerning the Jewish Faith or the Sabbath of Affliction*), the second treatise of a zealous Christian convert from Judaism, Johannes Pfefferkorn, portrays Jews performing the rite of *tashlich* on Rosh Hashanah, when Jews symbolically cast off their sins into a body of water. The aim of the illustration was to ridicule Judaism and Jewish customs. Pfefferkorn advocated for the forcible conversion or expulsion of all Jews and for banning the Talmud and destroying all copies of it. The eyes of all those participating in these rituals are covered, symbolizing a common medieval Christian depiction of Jews as blind—to the truth of Christianity. This followed the images of Synagoga (blindfolded) and Ecclesia (unveiled), personifying the synagogue and the church.

This woodcut from Libellus de Judaica confessione siue sabbato afflictionis (A Pamphlet Concerning the Jewish Faith or the Sabbath of Affliction), the second treatise of a zealous Christian convert from Judaism, Johannes Pfefferkorn, portrays Jews performing the rite of tashlich on Rosh Hashanah, when Jews symbolically cast off their sins into a body of water. The aim of the illustration was to ridicule Judaism and Jewish customs. Pfefferkorn advocated for the forcible conversion or expulsion of all Jews and for banning the Talmud and destroying all copies of it. The eyes of all those participating in these rituals are covered, symbolizing a common medieval Christian depiction of Jews as blind—to the truth of Christianity. This followed the images of Synagoga (blindfolded) and Ecclesia (unveiled), personifying the synagogue and the church.

Credits

Johann Pfefferkorn, from Libellus de Judaica confessione siue sabbato afflictionis (Nuremberg: Joanne Weyssenburger, 1508). The Freimann Collection, Goethe University of Frankfurt, University Library, from the collection of the Leo Baeck Institute, digitized in cooperation with the Center for Jewish History, New York.
Johann Pfefferkorn, from Libellus de Judaica confessione siue sabbato afflictionis (Nuremberg: Joanne Weyssenburger, 1508). The Freimann Collection, Goethe University of Frankfurt, University Library, from the collection of the Leo Baeck Institute, digitized in cooperation with the Center for Jewish History, New York.

Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 5.