ABSTRACT
Jews created a strong self-image as a Christ-like community, made up of “holy families” of married Jewish mothers, fathers, and their children, ready to suffer and even die as witnesses to the truth of Judaism in a Christian society by parodying or taking over Christian images for their own purposes. Jews in medieval Europe confronted Christians there in two senses. On the one hand, hostile conflicts sometimes pitted members of one community against the other. On the other hand, members of each culture lived literally face to face with members of the other on a daily basis. In the newly melded society, Jews brought with them ancient Palestinian and Babylonian lore, law, and especially customary patterns of local Jewish living. Many of the Jews who arrived in Mainz from northern Italy or northern France were merchants engaged in trade with Christian clients. An institution emerged that allowed one Jew to establish an exclusive business relationship with a particular Christian client.
