Studies in Christian-Jewish Relations SCJR 8 (2013) 1 www.bc.edu/scjr REVIEW Elisheva Carlebach and Jacob J. Schachter, Eds. New Perspectives on Jewish-Christian Relations: In Honor of David Berger (Boston and Leiden: Brill, 2012), 547 pp. Ruth Langer, Boston College David Berger has been a trailblazer and leader among Jews studying the relationship between Jews and Christians, espe- cially in the medieval world. It is thus entirely appropriate that this massive festschrift honors him with important contribu- tions from many of the other leading scholars in the field, all but one of them Jews. This wide-ranging collection presents many of the approaches to the study of the relationship be- tween Jews and Christians typical of orthodox participants in the world of Jewish Studies today. The editors have loosely organized the volume into a series of thematic sections, each collecting several narrowly focused, de- tailed articles. It begins with a rather miscellaneous section titled “Christian Triumphalism and Anti-Jewish Violence,” that, in four articles, spans from Josephus to the anti-Jewish ri- ots in Spain in 1391. The second section, titled “Christian Mission and Jewish Conversion,” moves from the thirteenth to the eighteenth centuries, also in four articles. The third, “The Imprint of Christian Society on Internal Jewish Cultural Pat- terns,” consists of three studies of cases that demonstrate the integration of medieval European Jews into their wider com- munities. The fourth, “Jewish Evaluations of Christianity,” ranges from the Meiri and the Tosafists to eighteenth-century concerns about Sabbatianism and Frankism, also in four arti- cles. The fifth, “Jewish Polemical Strategies in Light of Christianity and Islam,” also ranges widely in five articles, most of which focus on medieval biblical hermeneutics. Finally, the volume concludes with “Contemporary Jewish-Christian Rela- tions,” which receives only two articles. Studies in Christian-Jewish Relations 2 SCJR 8 (2013) The “new perspectives” offered by this volume never address large, overarching themes. Instead, the articles each focus nar- rowly on a very specific topic, presenting new documents or new interpretations of known texts. This makes for a volume filled with individually excellent articles, each expanding our knowledge in some “new” way, but they neither individually nor collectively provide the breadth of interpretation or meth- od implied by the volume’s title. Many fascinating articles will be accessible to the reader not versed in the discourse of rabbinic Judaism. This, in general, includes the articles on antiquity. Of those discussing later pe- riods, William Chester Jordan traces transformations in the presentation of Jews in medieval passion narratives. Benjamin Gampel has dug deeply into archival material from Aragon to determine how the action or inaction of governmental authori- ties actually impacted the course of the 1391 riots. Elisheva Baumgarten argues that there is evidence for Jewish and Chris- tian cultural interchange in shared understandings of the efficacy of trial by fire to demonstrate spiritual power, especial- ly in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. Miriam Bodian analyzes the forces shaping the views of Christianity among the early modern Portuguese Jews of Amsterdam in light of their own converso pasts. Jacob J. Schacter’s discussion of the eighteenth-century Rabbi Jacob Emden’s attitudes to Christi- anity and their intersection with his inner-Jewish polemics against Sabbatianism and Frankism is an exceptionally clear and nuanced presentation of a complex topic. Daniel Lasker presents a concise summary and analysis of changing Karaite thinking about Christianity. Michael Wyschogrod’s essay re- sponds, from a Jewish perspective, to the Pontifical Biblical Commission’s 2001 document “The Jewish People and their Sacred Scriptures in the Christian Bible.” In contrast, a significant number of the articles will not be ac- cessible to many readers because of their technical nature. For example, Judah Galinsky’s essay on “The Different Hebrew Versions of the ‘Talmud Trial’ of 1240 in Paris” is important, but presumes significant knowledge about this event. Yaakov Studies in Christian-Jewish Relations SCJR 8 (2013) 3 www.bc.edu/scjr Elman’s article “Meiri and the Non-Jew: A Comparative Inves- tigation” presumes familiarity with previous discussions, some of them in Hebrew, and while it presents lengthy texts in trans- lation, does not help the reader unfamiliar with medieval rabbinic terminology to make sense of them. Ephraim Kanar- fogel’s article on the Tosafists’ changing attitude to apostates is similarly technical. Robert Bonfil provides a fascinating analy- sis of a sixteenth-century sermon preached by a six-year-old convert to Christianity, but then publishes the sermon itself only in its original Italian. Debra Kaplan discusses the chang- ing applications of halakhic restrictions on Jewish women’s being in the presence of Christian men in light of changing economic conditions, but does not sufficiently contextualize her discussion of the (today “difficult”) presumptions about the nature of non-Jews on which this is based. Sid Z. Leiman primarily is correcting earlier readings of texts about Rabbi Jonathan Eibeschuetz and his supposed heretical leanings. Several other articles are slightly more accessible and worth delving into by those interested in pursuing their topics, as they address the thinking of very influential figures or texts. These include Avraham Grossman’s article on the intersection of Rashi’s understanding of prophecy among the nations and medieval polemics. Martin I. Lockshin continues this question of medieval exegetical method in his discussion of interpreta- tions of Genesis 36. Elliot Horowitz discusses interpretations of Isaiah’s Suffering Servant and the history of the Neubauer- Driver collection of commentaries. Mordechai Z. Cohen discusses Maimonides’ attitude to Christian biblical her- meneutics. For readers of SCJR, perhaps the most important article here is that of David Shatz, titled “Morality, Liberalism, and Inter- faith Dialogue.” Although admittedly somewhat inconclusive, Shatz opens a philosophical discussion between Jews partici- pating in dialogue with Christians and those refusing to because of Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik’s teachings. He offers analyses of both sides of this discussion, suggesting that the ob- jections to proselytization among those participating in Studies in Christian-Jewish Relations 4 SCJR 8 (2013) dialogue are not well-grounded philosophically. However, he notes, Soloveitchik’s objection to proselytization was grounded in an argument for the privacy of religious commitment. Shatz suggests that this argument itself provides a meeting point, al- lowing the Jewish world to think more deeply and productively about how and why it engages its Christian neighbors. Shatz’s essay requires development beyond what was possible for this context, but it deserves serious attention and discussion. Thus, this tome truly honors David Berger with a collection of twenty-two essays, most of the highest quality. All contribute to the field in significant ways, and in this, they pay deepest trib- ute to Berger’s own leadership. They vary primarily in what audiences, beyond Berger himself and his immediate circle, will readily be able to benefit from them.