Abstract
This paper traces the development of the laws of pat
‘akum, the rabbinic prohibition on Gentile bread, in medieval
Ashkenaz from the beginning of the eleventh century through
the end of the Tosafist period. Compliance with this prohibition, originally instituted as an added barrier against
intermarriage, became increasingly more difficult in a period
when Jewish bread was generally unavailable. The story of
pat ‘akum is that of an ever expanding allowance in both
common practice and halakhic theory. In this paper, the
course of the heter is followed first in Germany and then
in France. Though German and French Jewry constituted essentially one community, they show marked differences with regard
to pat ‘akum. In Germany, the radical allowance was reached
only through a progressive development; in France, the prohbition seems never to have been widely observed.