Changing Attitudes towards Christianity in Jewish Liturgical Poetry: from Late Antique Palestine to Medieval Europe

This article compares liturgical poems from late antique Palestine and medieval Europe that relate to Christianity. I argue that in poems from late antique Palestine anti-Christian sentiments are scarce when compared to poems from medieval Europe, especially after the first crusade. It is no secret that liturgical texts are often underplayed in historical discussion of Judaism and Christianity in Late Antiquity. This article exemplifies how liturgy can offer us a gateway to one of the central places where the communal identities of many, especially the lay or unlettered, were shaped in practice.