Divided Souls: Converts from Judaism in Germany 1500-1750. (Reviews).

Elisheva Carlebach, Divided Souls: Converts from Judaism in Germany 1500-1750

New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2001. $40. ISBN: 0-300-08410-2.

There is a genre of literature that for the last few hundred years has been gathering dust in the world's great libraries. There is no interest in reprinting these volumes, and there are probably no more than a dozen people alive today who have actually attempted to study them. Yet at a certain time in history these volumes were of great significance and can illuminate an important aspect of Jewish history.

I refer to the vast literature written by converts from Judaism to Christianity. With the beginnings of the Reformation, and even before, there was a new phenomenon; that of former Jews writing about the religion they left behind. Some of these writings were cruel, indeed anti-Semitic, while others portrayed the old religion more sympathetically. A group of books were devoted to "exposing" Judaism and initiating non-Jews into the ways of Jewish life and its secrets.

Although there have been studies of the famous Pfefferkorn-Reuchlin debate, which was significant in that it spoke to larger questions of religious freedom in Europe, until now no one has attempted a comprehensive analysis of the phenomenon of converts from Judaism in early modern Europe. With Elisheva Carlebach's new book, we enter what is largely virgin territory.

This is an important subject because, as Carlebach points out, "converts played a central role in shaping the images of Jews and Judaism held by Christians, the self-perception of Jews, and the internalization of the Christian critique by German Jews" (10). We are fortunate that for a first study of this topic, the reader is rewarded with careful scholarship and felicitous writing.

By using the vast literature produced by the converts, which also contain much in the way of memoirs, Carlebach is able to tell us a great deal about the motivations and lives of these men, both before their fateful decision as well as what became of them after joining Christian society. That these were complicated men is of course to be expected, but to actually get a glimpse of their inner souls is an achievement of no small measure. How Christian society viewed these men is also reflected in the converts' writings, and illustrates very clearly the gap that remained between the converts to Christianity and those who were born into the religion.

Social acceptance, while held out as a fig leaf to the potential converts, was much harder to come by. After the elaborate church ceremony and the monetary gifts to the new Christian, he often found himself in a much lonelier position than before his conversion. Yet despite this, the converts Carlebach writes about were not opportunists but true believers. Despite the lack of true acceptance in the Christian world, almost without exception they lived out their lives in the new religion. For many of them, life after conversion must have been much harder than before, and one can't help but be impressed with their newfound religious commitment. One might have thought that the converts would have welcomed the rise of Christian Hebraism, but seeing distortion, in particular in the writings of Eisenmenger, some of them felt they had no choice but to do scholarly battle with a man they no doubt hoped would have been their ally. All this is expertly described by our author.

Much like Carlebach's first book on a leading anti-Sabbatian figure, her latest book is a pioneering work which hopefully will lead to more scholarship on the early modern Jewish converts and their writings. I would just add that although, as Carlebach shows, there was a good deal of incorrect information concerning Jewish ritual in the converts' "exposes," illustrating that some of the authors were quite ignorant, there still is a lot that be learnt from them with regard to Jewish practices. This is especially so when we find corroborating evidence in other accounts or in Jewish writings. This is an area not dealt with by Carlebach, although I have focused on it in my article about Jewish practices on Christmas Eve as reflected in the writings of these converts. This is an example where the converts didn't need to be Judaic scholars to provide their descriptions, as simply living in the Jewish community would have been sufficient. It illustrates how Jewish folk history can be illuminated by the writings of t he converts, since they provide information (in this case of an anti-Christian nature) that for obvious reason was not recorded in Jewish writings. There are other examples of Jewish attitudes, folklore and popular customs which could also be illuminated by careful study of these books, study which one hopes will be stimulated by Carlebach's masterly focus on what until now has been 2 neglected aspect of Jewish social and religious history.