Adultery in Ashkenaz: Divergent Views on Sin, Penance, and Repentance among the German Pietists and Tosafists of Medieval Europe

The high medieval period in Western Europe witnesses both a dramatic reworking of the notions of sin and penance and a rise to prominence of the doctrine of Purgatory. Even though they are matters of religious doctrine, medieval Jews were not immune to these changing currents of thought. This paper explores the degree of impact that these conceptualizations have upon the German Pietists as compared with their contemporaries, the Tosafists, by analyzing Talmudic sources, Rabbinic statements, and Pietist manuals of penance. The case of adultery is used as a springboard for a larger discussion of the radically different orientations of the two Jewish groups with regard to sin and atonement.