Diane Wolfthal Response

             The opinion that Wolfthal is making is that images between Sefer Minhagim and contemporary Christian artwork illustrate different views of Jewish rituals. During the century change you see roles of rabbis change and scriptures of worship differ. Also you see similarities in lifestyles between the Jews and Christians. Lastly, the transformation and representation of gender change dramatically.
             In Europe, contemporary Christian artworks stereotypically labeled Jewish men by making them look a like. Pfefferkorn did so in his painting, Libellus de Judaica Confessione, by showing within this painting that the men were clean-shaven and wore identical garments. In addition, physical features depicted Jews. Jews having dark skin, flaming red hair, and large hooked noses are just some of the physical features. This was also due to Christian artwork and was extremely unfair to the Jewish society. Women, along with men, where altered. Libellus de Judaica illustrates two women talking during services, which sometimes occurred but was looked at negatively. The women's bodies are turned so they are facing each other, and a hand is up as in a speaking gesture. Furthermore, contemporary Christian prints give you an idea about Jews not knowing the beliefs of Christianity by blindfolding them.
             In contrast, Sefer Minhagim contained a different side of Jews from the perspective of one individual. Sefer Minhagim is a book of religious customs written to teach the proper way to perform Jewish rituals. This Jewish artist draws the Jewish attire with great accuracy and shows a wide range of different looking Jews. Also, it shows women paying close attention to service. As told in a caption that says, " these women listening to the megillah."(Wolfthal, pg. 26) The Yiddish manuscript completely eliminates Christians from their works of art. Making the Christians totally irrelevant in scenes of worship.
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