"Remember that glorious girl": Jephthah's Daughter in Medieval Jewish Culture

Abstract

This article discusses the figure of Jephthah's daughter in medieval Europe, and especially in medieval Ashkenaz during the years that followed the First Crusade. Its main focus is a practice that was explained by the story of Jephthah's daughter, the practice of not drinking water for a few hours on four days of the year, the period of the tekufah (the equinoxes and solstices). Following the medieval narrative by presenting the medieval sources in light of a number of parallel literary traditions, the article outlines the cultural milieu in which a new narrative concerning Jephthah's daughter was developed during the period after the first crusade in light of ancient traditions and in the context of different loci of medieval culture, Jewish and Christian, in Ashkenaz and in Spain. At the end of the article, returning to the practice of not drinking water, the article discusses the connection between practice and stories and to the importance of studying these interaction for the study of Jewish women in particular and everyday religious practice at large.

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