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Apostasy, Fraud And The Beginnings Of Hebrew Printing In Cracow, Magda Teter, Edward Fram
Apostasy, Fraud And The Beginnings Of Hebrew Printing In Cracow, Magda Teter, Edward Fram
Magda Teter
The article investigates the mysterious history of three Jewish brothers who began a Jewish press in Cracow in 1534 and who converted to Catholicism in 1537 but continued to print Jewish books after their conversion. Their fate has fascinated scholars, since one of the brothers published a New Testament in Hebrew letter transcription, and proselytized among Jews, another continued to print both Jewish and non-Jewish books, while still another became a business man. One of the brothers returned to Judaism and printed Hebrew books in Constantinople. But scholars have been unable to match their pre- and post- conversion names, and …
The Legend Of Ger Zedek (Righteous Convert) Of Wilno As Polemic And Reassurance, Magda Teter
The Legend Of Ger Zedek (Righteous Convert) Of Wilno As Polemic And Reassurance, Magda Teter
Magda Teter
The article analyzes the popular legend of a righteous convert to Judaism in eighteenth-century Wilno (now Vilnius) according to which a prominent count, Walentyn Potocki, converted to Judaism and then died a martyr's death at the stake in Wilno. The article traces parts of the legend to Boccaccio's Decameron, discusses the attitudes to converts to Judaism in Jewish law, and explains the historical and cultural context in which the legend emerged.