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The Oxford handbook of Jewish studies (Edited by Martin Goodman. Associated editors Jeremy Cohen & David Sorkin, 2002) is reviewed by Hanne Trautner-Kromann.Juden, Bürger, Deutsche. Zur Geschichte von Vielfalt und Differenz 1800–1933 (eds. Andreas Gotzmann, Rainer Liedtke, Till van Rahden, 2001) is reviewed by Thorsten Wagner.Frie jøder? Forholdet mellem kristne og jøder i Danmark fra Frihedsbrevet 1814 til Grundloven 1849. Kirkehistoriske studier, III. række nr. 10 (Martin Schwarz Lausten, 2005) is reviewed by Lars Hagensen.Jødene fra Trondheim (Jon Reitan, 2005) is reviewed by Dagfinn Rian.A fusion of traditions. Liturgical music in the Copenhagen synagogue. University of Southern Denmark Studies in History and Social Sciences vol. 310 (Jane Mink Rossen & Uri Sharvit, 2006) is reviewed by Claus Røllum-Larsen.

In this introduction the author gives some comments on the Hebrew or Jewish Bible and the literature of the rabbis, based on the Bible, and then presents the background of the articles included in this volume.

Die zweite Talmuddisputation von Paris 1296 (Ursula Ragacs, 2001) is reviewed by Hanne Trautner-Kromann.De fromme og jøderne. Holdninger till jødendom og jøder i Danmark i pietismens tid (1700-1760) (Martin Schwarz Lausten, 2000) is reviewed by Torbjörn Gustavsson.

To come to the Land. Immigration and settlement in 16th-century Eretz-Israel (Abraham David, 1999) is reviewed by Hanne Trautner-Kromann.In Zion and Jerusalem. The itinerary of rabbi Moses Basola (1521–1523) (ed. Abraham David, 1999) is reviewed by Hanne Trautner-Kromann.The Jews in Palestine in the eighteenth century. Under the patronage of the Istanbul committee of officials for Palestine (Jacob Barnai, 1992) is reviewed by Hanne Trautner-Kromann.The message of a Mitsvah. The Mezuzah in rabbinic literature (Eva-Maria Jansson, 1999) is reviewed by Albert van der Heide.The Jewish-Christian controversy from the earliest times to 1789, Volume I, History (Samuel Krauss, 1996) is reviewed by Hanne Trautner-Kromann.Landet och missionen. Två studier över aktuella israeliska teman (Rune Lindblom & Malin Lindblom, 1999) is reviewed by Eva-Maria Jansson."Mit Zaum und Zügel muss man ihr ungestüm Bändigen" Ps. 32,9. Ein Beitrag zur christlichen Hebraistik und antijüdischen Polemik im Mittelalter (Ursula Ragacs, 1997) is reviewed by Martin Schwarz Lausten.

Jewish polemics against Christianity in the Middle Ages show a striking change in contents and in the linguistic form of the texts after the First Crusade. While the texts up to about 1100 are reports on religious discussions between Jews and Christians, often held in a friendly tone, the texts after 1100 contain aggressive or bitter attacks on the Christians. An example of how this was put into words appears in a Jewish text from the 1250s. In seven points the author gives voice to this protest against the introduction by the French king of a number of harsh edicts against the Jews. There is a marked dividing line between the predominantly aggressive texts from Northern France and the more sober ones from Southern France. On the one hand every single Jewish polemical passage should be analyzed as to form and content, including the context and text type in which the passage occurs, on the other hand the passages should be related to each other including their historical background. By this procedure of comparison every single passage can contribute towards creating a more differentiated and comprehensive picture of the conditions of the Jewish minorities in Christian Europe.