The Red Jews: Intertextuality in a Yiddish Myth

Rebekka Voß | Delivered in English.

Envisioned as a tribe of ruddy-faced, redheaded, and red-bearded Jewish warriors clad in red attire, the legendary Ten Lost Tribes of Israel are referred to as “Red Jews” (royte yidlekh) in Yiddish. This unique figure is a creation of late medieval vernacular culture in Germany and became a shared motif among both Jews and Christians, circulating in both Yiddish and German. These two linguistic communities interpreted the Red Jews in different ways, each contesting their significance and viewing them through varying shades of red.

This lecture by Rebekka Voß will trace the journey of the Red Jews through both Jewish and Christian imaginations, from their medieval origins to their presence in Old Yiddish and modern Yiddish literature. Focusing on select stories of the Red Jews, the lecture will explore their intertextuality, illustrating how this popular literary motif engaged with canonical texts, including the Bible, works of Hebrew and Yiddish literature (such as Toledot Yeshu, the polemical counter-story of the life of Jesus, and the romance Viduvilt), as well as medieval German literature.

Part of the 2025 Yiddish Civilization Lecture Series.

You may also like the following events from YIVO Institute for Jewish Research:

• This Sunday, 22nd June, 07:00 pm, YIVO in America in New York
• Next Tuesday, 24th June, 06:00 pm, A Turning Point in Remembrance: YIVO in the 1940s in New York, New York
• Next month, 1st July, 06:00 pm, In the Shadow of the Shtetl: Yiddish Memories of Small-Town Jewish Life in Ukraine in New York, New York

Also check out other Arts events in Hermann, Literary Art events in Hermann.