ABSTRACT
Medieval and early modern Jews, Christians, and Muslims in both Europe and the Middle East shared many of the same symbolic markers and expectations of the holy dead and the holy living. The rituals of visiting the graves of the dead, either to intercede for them or to request their intercession on behalf of the living before God, were widespread and accepted among various communities of Jews, Christians, and Muslims in multiple regions, although such customs and the assumptions that lay behind them were also hotly contested by some Muslims and Jews. Symbols and expectations, which were meaningful to multiple communities, facilitated the shared veneration of holy individuals and the translation and comprehensibility of these rituals across geographical distances. Yet broad similarities must be understood in their regional and chronological contexts as well. The specific meanings, practices, and functions relating to the holy dead or living, as well as reactions to these customs, could differ and change substantially across time and space, as indicated, for example, by early modern innovations relating to women’s involvement among Jews of Northern Europe and the eastern Mediterranean. This chapter analyzes these phenomena with a special focus on the holy dead and the holy living in Judaism.
