Veranstaltungsankündigung: 5th TU Dortmund University Lecture in Jewish Studies and Politics

The Medieval Hostage as a Mirror: Critical Reassessment of Meir of Rothenburg’s Imprisonment Through Modern Lenses

In his lecture, Alon Brand examines the myth of Meir of Rothenburg, the most famous Jewish hostage of the Middle Ages, celebrated for his refusal to be freed for a price he considered too high. Modern scholarship has approached this historical drama from a variety of angles, which, Alon Brand argues, show how scholars have viewed the story through their own ideologies and political approaches.

Alon Brand is a member of the Mandel-Scholion Research Center and a Nathan Rothenstreich PhD fellow at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, studying and teaching Talmud and Medieval Rabbinics since 2020. His research focuses on the encounters of Talmudic philology and medieval Rabbinic Literature in Europe.