Her research focuses on the social history of the Jews of medieval Ashkenaz. Her book Mothers and Children: Jewish Family Life in Medieval Europe (Princeton, 2004) won the Koret Prize for the Best Book in Jewish History (2005) and the AJS Schnitzer award for the Best Book in Gender Studies (2008).She is the author of many articles and the editor of four collections of essays. Her second book Practicing Piety in Medieval Ashkenaz: Men, Women and Everyday Religious Observance was published by University of Pennsylvania Press and appeared in fall 2014.