Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Believing and Belonging: Religious Conversion, Identity, and Community in Medieval Ashkenaz
This dissertation examines religious conversion in medieval Ashkenaz as a complex social, cultural, and legal process shaped by the interaction of individual choices, family ties, and communal boundaries. Drawing on Hebrew, Latin, and vernacular sources, including rabbinic responsa, legal records, chronicles, and narrative literature, it explores how Jews and Christians understood conversion, belonging, and religious identity from the twelfth to the fifteenth centuries. Rather than treating conversion as a singular moment of religious change, the study analyzes it as an ongoing negotiation of belief, social affiliation, and communal membership. Through a series of microhistorical case studies, it investigates the experiences of converts, their families, and the communities that sought to define, regulate, and respond to religious transition. The dissertation argues that conversion functioned not only as a theological act but also as a challenge to established social structures, illuminating broader questions of authority, kinship, and interreligious relations in medieval Europe.
My roots lie both in the field of history and in the world of teacher training in the Humanities. My passion resides in meaningful collaboration between people, hard work, innovation, and individual and team excellence. My research and teaching path has taken me to pursue two different yet intertwined fields: My first research avenue is the social and intellectual history of Jews in pre-modern Europe (1100-1600), with special interests in family life, identity formation, marginality, disability studies, and inter-religious encounters. Second, I am invested in the field of education; developing pedagogical skills in teaching history and humanities, with a special interest in the formative process of transforming from student to teacher, and teaching a multinarrative history.
2019-2018 Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, History, visiting research fellow.
present Doctoral student, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jewish History Department, under the supervision of Professor Israel Yuval and. Dr. Ephraim (Effie) Shoham-Steiner.
2014 M.A., Hebrew University of Jerusalem Jewish History Department.
2007 B.A, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Department of History of the Jewish People.
Language skills: Native fluency in English and Hebrew (verbal and written), German B2, Latin advanced, Aramaic advanced.