After World War II, Ernst Ludwig Ehrlich (1921-2007) published works in English and German by eminent Israeli scholars, in this way introducing them to a wider audience in Europe and North America. The series he founded for that purpose, Studia Judaica, continues to offer a platform for scholarly studies and editions that cover all eras in the history of the Jewish religion.
Nach dem Zweiten Weltkrieg hat Ernst Ludwig Ehrlich (1921-2007) herausragende israelische Gelehrte in englisch- und deutschsprachigen Veroffentlichungen in Europa und Nordamerika bekannt gemacht. Die zu diesem Zweck von ihm begrundete Reihe Studia Judaica bietet heute ein Forum fur wissenschaftliche Studien und Editionen aus allen Epochen der judischen Religionsgeschichte.
The medieval Ashkenazi manuscripts of the
Small Book of Commandments (
Sefer Mitzvot Katan, or '
SeMaK' for short), which was written by Isaac of Corbeil, attest a scribal culture in which rabbinical knowledge and piety were combined with creative freedom in manuscript design.
This study is concerned with the creation, composition and circulation of manuscripts of the SeMaK and concentrates on the book as an artefact. The focus of the author's attention is the manuscripts' material nature, their artistic embellishment and the personal touches that scribes added to them. With the act of writing a text and decorating a SeMaK manuscript, they 'appropriated' the text, so to speak, giving it a character of its very own. They drew on a visual language in the process - or rather, on visual languages, which occupy a special place between pure writing culture and pure painting culture. It was in this area 'in between' the two that spontaneous touches arose, ranging from changes in the physical arrangement of the text (mise-en-page) to drawings and doodles added in the margins.
An examination of paratextual elements broadens the reader's knowledge about Jewish scribal culture and grants insights into medieval book art, material culture and Judeo-Christian co-existence in the Middle Ages as well as throwing some light on Jewish values, ideals and eschatological hopes.
Das Kleine Buch der Gebote (Sefer Mitzvot Katan) des Isaak von Corbeil, war eines der popularsten judischen Gesetzeswerke im mittelalterlichen Ashkenaz. Die vielen heute noch erhaltenen Manuskripte bestechen durch ihre gestalterische Vielfalt. Randzeichnungen, spontan hingeworfene Kritzeleien, Seitenaufbau und Schriftgestaltung zeugen vom aktiven Gestaltungsprozess der Schreiber in einem Raum zwischen reiner Schreibkultur und reiner Malkultur.
