University of Münster
Ashkenazi Illuminated Mahzorim as Generators of an Affective Experience
Meyrav Levy is a historian and art historian specializing in the experiential reception of rituals and objects by their users. She studied History and Art History at Tel Aviv University, and the History of Jewish Cultures in Heidelberg and Graz. From 2019 to 2024, she completed her doctorate on Jewish Ashkenazi manuscripts and liturgy at the Institute for Jewish Studies at the University of Münster. In her dissertation, she examines the cognitive reception of illuminated Hebrew prayer books in the Middle Ages, seeking to capture the sensory and emotional experiences of worshipers during prayer. Parallel to this, she worked as a freelancer on the permanent exhibition of the MiQua.LVR-Jewish Museum Cologne, as well as on the special exhibition of the Cluster of Excellence “Religion and Politics” at the University of Münster, “Body. Cult. Religion. Perspectives from Antiquity to the Present.” Since 2024, she has been working at the Bavarian State Office for Non-State Museums, consulting Bavarian museums and former synagogues on the exhibition and mediation of Jewish cultural heritage to make this rich history more visible and vivid for visitors.