Format:
1 online resource (207 pages)
ISBN:
9781400829002
Content:
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.
Content:
Cover -- Half title -- Title -- Copyright -- Dedication -- Contents -- Preface -- Introduction -- Short Biographies of the Hakhamim -- Part I: Life among Muslims and Christians -- 1. Caught in the Middle of Ottoman-Italian Wars (Greece, 1716) -- 2. The Financial Fallout of a Blood Libel (Ragusa, 1622) -- 3. A Blood Libel among the Sephardim (Ottoman Empire, mid-seventeenth century) -- 4. Preparations for Siege (Algiers, 1732) -- 5. The Jew Who Stood Up to the Governor-But Maybe Not Enough (Algiers, mid-eighteenth century) -- Part II: Trade and Other Professions in the Sephardi Diaspora -- 6. An International Loan Gone Awry (Mediterranean, late-sixteenth century) -- 7. The Woman with a Steel Welding Monopoly (Aleppo, ca. 1559) -- 8. Death of a Salesman in Persia (Bursa and Persia, late sixteenth century) -- 9. A Case of Mistaken Identity (Constantinople, late seventeenth century) -- 10. The Death of Tall Aslan (Aleppo and Turkey, 1681) -- 11. Egyptian Jews with Civet Cats (Egypt, mid-sixteenth century) -- 12. Jewish Trade in a War Zone (Zante and Venice, ca. 1620) -- 13. The Tale of the Clothier and the Vizier (Constantinople, 1641) -- Part III: Life within the Sephardic Community -- 14. Divorce and an Indian Impostor (Greece, mid-sixteenth century) -- 15. The Great Fire of Saloniki (Saloniki and Lepanto, 1620) -- 16. An Apostate Soldier of Fortune (Zante, ca. 1620) -- 17. The Fallout from a Tall Building (Ottoman Empire, early seventeenth century) -- 18. Polish Fugitives in Egypt (Egypt, late seventeenth century) -- 19. The Quarantine Colony in Spalato (Spalato, seventeenth century) -- 20. Unscrupulous Partners and the Fear of Forced Conversion (Rhodes, early seventeenth century) -- 21. A Change of Fortune, an Unwilling Wife, and a City in Panic (Morocco, Algeria, and Egypt, 1737).
Note:
Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources
Additional Edition:
ISBN 9780691122656
Additional Edition:
Erscheint auch als Druck-Ausgabe ISBN 9780691122656
Language:
English
URL:
https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/kxp/detail.action?docID=713607
