A story by Marie de France appears in a Jewish homiletical work used for synagogue sermons.

What is it about?

Marie de France in the Synagogue The story, King Solomon’s Daughter, is a thirteenth century Jewish tale that was probably an exemplum used as part of a sermon. It shares many of the tropes in Les Lais de Marie de France. This study translates the story from the Hebrew, points out the connections it has to Les Lais, provides a possible medieval reading of the story, and a contemporary analysis of it. It also asks how the story entered the Jewish community. Rabbi Berechiah b. Natronai ha-Naqdan, a thirteenth century fabulist, whose biography parallels Marie’s, seems to be the likely conduit. He translated Marie’s Ysopet into Hebrew, showing he knew her work. In general, the story indicates more cultural interplay between Norman English and French-English Jews than is usually assumed.

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Why is it important?

Often it is tthought that the Jewish and Christian communities of the Middle Ages were cut off from one another, the Jews by the Chruch and Christians by those Jewish observances designed to prevent assimilation, especially conversion and intermarriage. This study shows how this was not the case in the early European medieval period., and how Jews were very much aware of the culture of the Christian society they lived in. It also shows how Jews "Judaized" Christian popular literature to serve their own religious and spiritual purposes. Ulitmately, this material entered works Jews considered sacred books.

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