Shmuel Shepkaru – författare

What is martyrdom-the concept of dying voluntarily for religious convictions-and how has it evolved within and between the Abrahamic faiths from antiquity to the present? Shmuel Shepkaru's study focuses on the phraseology, practice, and purposes of martyrdom as described by martyrs and in martyrologies. He demonstrates that, following their formative periods, these three aspects continued to develop, taking on new meanings, behaviors, and functions. Major catalysts for these changes across the three faiths include both local and 'global' events, ranging from the conflicts between Christendom and the rise of Islam in the Middle Ages, to the emergence of nationalism and colonialism in the modern era. Shepkaru illustrates how each faith relates the new to the old, and examines the complex positive and negative interactions-and counterreactions-that continue to shape their concepts of self-sacrifice. Balancing social and theological history, he considers spiritual, cultural, political, local, regional, and global factors, along with convergence and divergence in ideology, narration, and practice.

This book presents a linear history of Jewish martyrdom, from the Hellenistic period to the high Middle Ages. Following the chronology of sources, the study challenges the general consensus that martyrdom was an original Hellenistic Jewish idea. Instead, Jews like Philo and Josephus internalised the idealised Roman concept of voluntary death and presented it as an old Jewish practice. The centrality of self-sacrifice in Christianity further stimulated the development of rabbinic martyrology and the talmudic guidelines for passive martyrdom. However, when forced to choose between death and conversion in medieval Christendom, European Jews went beyond these guidelines, sacrificing themselves and loved ones. Through death not only did they attempt to prove their religiosity, but also to disprove the religious legitimacy of their Christian persecutors. While martyrs and martyrologies intended to show how Judaism differed from Christianity, they, in fact, reveal a common mindset.

What is martyrdom-the concept of dying voluntarily for religious convictions-and how has it evolved within and between the Abrahamic faiths from antiquity to the present? Shmuel Shepkaru's study focuses on the phraseology, practice, and purposes of martyrdom as described by martyrs and in martyrologies. He demonstrates that, following their formative periods, these three aspects continued to develop, taking on new meanings, behaviors, and functions. Major catalysts for these changes across the three faiths include both local and 'global' events, ranging from the conflicts between Christendom and the rise of Islam in the Middle Ages, to the emergence of nationalism and colonialism in the modern era. Shepkaru illustrates how each faith relates the new to the old, and examines the complex positive and negative interactions-and counterreactions-that continue to shape their concepts of self-sacrifice. Balancing social and theological history, he considers spiritual, cultural, political, local, regional, and global factors, along with convergence and divergence in ideology, narration, and practice.

This book presents a linear history of Jewish martyrdom, from the Hellenistic period to the high Middle Ages. Following the chronology of sources, the study challenges the general consensus that martyrdom was an original Hellenistic Jewish idea. Instead, Jews like Philo and Josephus internalised the idealised Roman concept of voluntary death and presented it as an old Jewish practice. The centrality of self-sacrifice in Christianity further stimulated the development of rabbinic martyrology and the talmudic guidelines for passive martyrdom. However, when forced to choose between death and conversion in medieval Christendom, European Jews went beyond these guidelines, sacrificing themselves and loved ones. Through death not only did they attempt to prove their religiosity, but also to disprove the religious legitimacy of their Christian persecutors. While martyrs and martyrologies intended to show how Judaism differed from Christianity, they, in fact, reveal a common mindset.