Jewish manuscript with evidence of erased text and uncharacteristic illustrations in order to comply with the censorship of the Christian Church.
Courtesy of UCL Special Collections
The Conflict
Conflicts between religions are littered throughout history and persist to be present in the 21st century. One does not have to delve far into any two religions to see quarrels arising. Here, we concentrate on the conflict between Christianity and Judaism, a split which occurred despite sharing a belief in the same deity.
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The disagreement between these two religions revolves around Jesus Christ – Christians believe he was the Messiah, the Son of God, whilst Jews believe he was a prophet and an important teacher, but not the Son of God. This has led to a divide in the two religions’ practices and a long tradition of the persecution of Judaism by the Christian Church can be seen. An example of this oppression dates back to when Jews were accused of spreading the black plague throughout Europe and were forced to live in ghettos as a result.
The Object
The photographs above show a Jewish manuscript, commonly known as a ‘mahzor’, from 16th century Italy. It is made from the highest quality material available, and would have taken around six to twelve months to complete.
The Relevance
This manuscript arises from the middle of the conflict between Jews and Christians, because at the time it was written, there was an anti-Semitic attitude within Italy. The manuscript's main feature is its evidence of censorship from the Christian Church. Words that were seen to be derogatory to Christians were removed by converts hired by the Pope. Their signatures can be seen on the final page, showing that the manuscript passed the test of what was acceptable and so would not be destroyed.
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The manuscript contains Jewish religious content, yet the illuminations, or the design are in a style that is similar to that typical of the Italian Renaissance – which was often found in Christian Liturgy. The design of the manuscript reflects the style used in Christian texts. And if we take a look at the image of the man on the front page, it actually conflicts the Jewish belief of not worshipping idols.
How did this clash of religions occur in a Jewish manuscript? Perhaps the idea was that it is better to slightly alter the style of the manuscript, than have it removed altogether. The censorship from the Christian church, just within this one manuscript represents a back and forth struggle that two religions faced in order to maintain their own identity. It is almost as if the manuscript was held between the hand of both a Jew and a Christian as they fought over what could be read and what couldn’t. But how could an equilibrium be reached? Is equilibrium even possible? How do we solve a conflict that is so driven by personal belief?