Jewish concern about Gentile contamination. At the same time, ironically, many Gentiles disdained Jews for their monotheism and consequent refusal to bow to the gods and the emperor. Yet it was also often the substantive religio-ethical distinctives of monotheism and morality that attracted certain Gentiles to Judaism, while the ritual boundary markers (such as circumcision) were more offensive to these same Gentiles. Those who found Jewish monotheism and morality captivating would affiliate with