Pagan Europe and Its Impact on the Jews
Europe and the Jews: Part 1
In the Shadow of the Church

At the dawn of civilization, Europe was the Dark Continent. It may have been inhabited, but it was a pagan backwater compared to the Middle East. Yet even as far back as the times of the Holy Temple, Jews were aware of Europe. In the introduction to this series, Rabbi Wein lays the groundwork as to how a tribal and primitive culture rose to become both the cradle of civilization and the site of the bitterest of Jewish exiles.

• Torah fences and pagan practice
• textual proof that the Jews knew the world was round
• the transition of Jewish society from agrarian to mercantile