Ritual Objects in Ritual Contexts

In this volume of the Erfurter Schriften zurjüdischen Geschichte, the ensemble of medievalmaterial evidence in Erfurt, with its uniquerepresentation of Jewish culture in Central Europe,is placed in the local and contemporary historicalcontext of ritual objects and ritual events- for the first time accompanied by insights intothe hitherto rather undiscovered RudolstadtJudaica collection.This is an exciting and sensually fascinatingprocess that opens up something new. It gainsin multidimensionality through an explicitly interdisciplinaryperspective. It is the attempt to seeanew, beginning with the ritual object rather thanthe ritual itself. Taking up the concept of a »newmaterialism« in the social and historical sciences,the particular ritual object is perceived, notbeginning with the idea of it, but as reality. Theritual objects discussed here address the sensuallyconcrete existence of things in the context of theirpragmatic use: the Erfurt wedding ring, Hebrewgravestones, Torah scrolls, a tuning key, belts,candleholders, a prayer tablet, a mizrach. Theyall have a high symbolic value and at the sametime a unique aesthetic appeal.Nevertheless, the coexistence of objects is linkedto their embedding in writing, tradition, andcontextualization. By emphasizing in particular theJewish ritual object in its use, the present volumecelebrates the cultural richness and identity of theJewish communities past and present.