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This chapter identifies the heightened value assigned to martyrdom in the medieval period as an example of appropriation of Christian concepts involving the holy dead. The ghost tales of Sefer ḥasidim reflect the martyrs' exalted position as the holy dead of Ashkenaz. The use of the medium of the ghost tale in Sefer ḥasidim in order to illustrate the impropriety of burying the wicked beside the righteous attests to the influence that outside forces had in shaping the Pietist conception of the martyrs as the holy dead. Instead of miraculous interventions that prevented situations of improper burial in the talmudic narratives, in the Pietist stories the dead themselves seek out the living in order to correct existing situations of improper burial. Shared motifs between the relevant ghost tales of Sefer ḥasidim and those found in the Icelandic sagas and exempla literature reveal the affinity between pre-Christian, Christian, and Pietist notions regarding the burial of the wicked amidst the righteous. These shared motifs testify to the appropriation by the Ashkenazi community of the Christian notion of the martyr-saints as the holy dead, and its adaptation to the Rhineland martyrs.

This chapter analyses the fear of the dead in Ashkenazi society as depicted in Sefer ḥasidim and other, non-Pietist, sources. In the Talmud, the holy dead appear bodily to the living. In Sefer ḥasidim, by contrast, the holy dead make no appearance at all. The tremendous disparity between the Talmud and Pietist accounts in terms of the emotional response elicited by the returning dead can be understood only in the light of the latter's reflection of a firmly rooted and strongly held belief in pre-Christian notions of the dangerous dead. Sefer ḥasidim and other Pietist sources reveal evidence of German Jewish belief in the violence, vengeance, and summoning power of the dead. These sources prescribe methods of protection against harm from ghosts, exhumation of bodies in order to stop the spread of disease, and various apotropaic funeral practices which parallel other, similar methods and practices extant in the Germano-Christian environment.

This chapter focuses on R. Judah the Pious's position regarding prayer and alms for the dead and evaluates it against the geonic stance he inherited, contemporary Jewish sentiment and practice, and various streams of Christian positions. In keeping with medieval thinking, R. Judah tightens the bonds between the living and the dead. The living, he believes, owe a great debt to the dead, who continuously pray on their behalf. In rabbinic thought, although the ordinary dead can be petitioned to pray for the living, it is commonly the holy dead — specifically the patriarchs and matriarchs — who pray on behalf of the nation of Israel, and the living are not obligated, nor do they choose, to reciprocate in prayer on behalf of the dead. In Sefer ḥasidim, however, the average dead assemble annually to pray on behalf of the living, and the living, in turn, are obligated to pray on their behalf.

This chapter discusses Marguerite-Marie Alacoque, a saint who was known for her visions that eventually made her the prophet of France's destiny. It opens with a description of the final preparations for the public display and veneration of a saintly body—that of Alacoque—and the extravagant attention given to the body of the holy dead. The chapter then moves on to describe France during the time of Alacoque, when it was one of the leading Catholic powers of Europe. It mentions the career of the heart as a religious icon in modern times, which was mostly due to the efforts of François de Sales and Jeanne de Chantal. de Sales and de Chantal were the founders of the Visitationist order, the religious order that Alacoque eventually joined.