Jewish Questions (ebook)

Argumento de Jewish Questions (ebook)

In Jewish Questions, Matt Goldish introduces English readers to the history and culture of the Sephardic dispersion through an exploration of forty-three responsa--questions about Jewish law that Jews asked leading rabbis, and the rabbis' responses. The questions along with their rabbinical decisions examine all aspects of Jewish life, including business, family, religious issues, and relations between Jews and non-Jews. Taken together, the responsa constitute an extremely rich source of information about the everyday lives of Sephardic Jews.

The book looks at questions asked between 1492--when the Jews were expelled from Spain--and 1750. Originating from all over the Sephardic world, the responsa discuss such diverse topics as the rules of conduct for Ottoman Jewish sea traders, the trials of an ex-husband accused of a robbery, and the rights of a sexually abused wife. Goldish provides a sizeable introduction to the history of the Sephardic diaspora and the nature of responsa literature, as well as a bibliography, historical background for each question, and short biographies of the rabbis involved. Including cases from well-known communities such as Venice, Istanbul, and Saloniki, and lesser-known Jewish enclaves such as Kastoria, Ragusa, and Nablus, Jewish Questions provides a sense of how Sephardic communities were organized, how Jews related to their neighbors, what problems threatened them and their families, and how they understood their relationship to God and the Jewish people.

"This is a wonderful book. The introduction is excellent and well-written, and the texts are absolutely fascinating--in some cases even delightful and funny to read. Goldish has really hit the mark with this book."--Mark Cohen, Princeton University

"Jewish Questions contains a wealth of interesting material not available in English anywhere, and not previously anthologized elsewhere."--Elisheva Carlebach, Queens College, City University of New York0Preface xi
Introduction xvii
Short Biographies of the Hakhamim lviii

PART I: Life among Muslims and Christians
Chapter 1: Caught in the Middle of Ottoman-Italian Wars
(Greece, 1716) 5
Chapter 2: The Financial Fallout of a Blood Libel (Ragusa, 1622) 8
Chapter 3: A Blood Libel among the Sephardim (Ottoman Empire, mid-seventeenth century) 13
Chapter 4: Preparations for Siege (Algiers, 1732) 15
Chapter 5: The Jew Who Stood Up to the Governor--But Maybe Not Enough (Algiers, mid-eighteenth century) 16

PART II: Trade and Other Professions in the Sephardi Diaspora
Chapter 6: An International Loan Gone Awry (Mediterranean, late-sixteenth century) 23
Chapter 7: The Woman with a Steel Welding Monopoly (Aleppo, ca. 1559) 26
Chapter 8: Death of a Salesman in Persia (Bursa and Persia, late sixteenth century) 29
Chapter 9: A Case of Mistaken Identity (Constantinople, late seventeenth century) 32
Chapter 10: The Death of Tall Aslan (Aleppo and Turkey, 1681) 35
Chapter 11: Egyptian Jews with Civet Cats (Egypt, mid-sixteenth century) 38
Chapter 12: Jewish Trade in a War Zone (Zante and Venice, ca. 1620) 39
Chapter 13: The Tale of the Clothier and the Vizier (Constantinople, 1641) 42

PART III: Life within the Sephardic Community
Chapter 14: Divorce and an Indian Impostor (Greece, mid-sixteenth century) 53
Chapter 15: The Great Fire of Saloniki (Saloniki and Lepanto, 1620) 58
Chapter 16: An Apostate Soldier of Fortune (Zante, ca. 1620) 61
Chapter 17: The Fallout from a Tall Building (Ottoman Empire, early seventeenth century) 64
Chapter 18: Polish Fugitives in Egypt (Egypt, late seventeenth century) 66
Chapter 19: The Quarantine Colony in Spalato (Spalato, seventeenth century) 68
Chapter 20: Unscrupulous Partners and the Fear of Forced Conversion (Rhodes, early seventeenth century) 71
Chapter 21: A Change of Fortune, an Unwilling Wife, and a City in Panic (Morocco, Algeria, and Egypt, 1737) 73
Chapter 22: The Causes and Consequences of a Denunciation
(Meknes, Morocco, 1721-1728) 77
Chapter 23: The Persecution of a Witness to Immorality (Tangier and Fez, 1744) 83

PART IV: Ritual Observance and Jewish Faith in Sephardic Communities
Chapter 24: The Jew Accused of Heresy (Ottoman Empire, early sixteenth century) 93
Chapter 25: Jews Becoming Karaites and Karaites Becoming Jews (Egypt, late seventeenth century) 96
Chapter 26: Bequests of Conversos and Their Status as Jews (Istanbul, early sixteenth century) 99
Chapter 27: The Converso and the Charitable Fraternity (Amsterdam, late seventeenth century) 102
Chapter 28: Monstrous Births and Marvelous Creatures (Venice, mid-seventeenth century) 106
Chapter 29: Protestants Who Send Money to Poor Jews in the Land of Israel (Palestine, mid-seventeenth century) 109
Chapter 30: What May a Jew Do with a Nativity Medallion? (Greece, early sixteenth century) 112
Chapter 31: On Loaning Money to Priests (Jerusalem, ca. 1624) 115
Chapter 32: The Penitence of the Kastoria Community (Greece, late seventeenth century) 120

PART V: Marriage, Family, and Private Life
Chapter 33: A Converso and His Flemish Concubine (Turkey, early sixteenth century) 127
Chapter 34: A Convert Repudiates Her Marriage (Ottoman Empire, early sixteenth century) 129
Chapter 35: The Melancholic Monogamist (Egypt, late seventeenth century) 131
Chapter 36: The Afflicted Bigamist (Morocco, early eighteenth
century) 134
Chapter 37: A Suspicious Pregnancy (Shekhem [Nablus], Palestine, 1721) 136
Chapter 38: The Unrepentant Adulterer (Western Europe, 1730) 139
Chapter 39: A Slave among the Wars in Belgrade (Belgrade, late seventeenth century) 143
Chapter 40: A Sexually Abused Wife (Ottoman Empire, late seventeenth century) 147
Chapter 41: On the Manipulation of Women's Right to Divorce (Egypt, mid-seventeenth century) 150
Chapter 42: A Mother's Quest for Justice (Belgrade, 1698) 153
Chapter 43: The Runaway Groom (Bayonne, 1742) 155

Bibliography 159
Index 171