Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 12 of 12
Full-Text Articles in Arts and Humanities
A Challenge To Sexual And Marital Propriety And Communal Reaction, Kenneth Stow
A Challenge To Sexual And Marital Propriety And Communal Reaction, Kenneth Stow
Early Modern Workshop: Resources in Jewish History
The selection of sources from the early 1550's Rome deal with the question of honor of young women and their fathers.
The Jewish Community of Rome was unimpressed. It wanted it made clear that one did not make accusations that could harm the well-being, in fact, mostly financial, but also the honor, of young women. Indeed, the bride Ricca was herself awarded what amounted to a hefty fine; we know that among Christians, it was the father’s honor that was considered impugned, and any monetary sanctions would go to him. Not here.
Finally, we learn something about sacred and profane. …
Two Cases Of Apostasy In Dubno In 1716 Jews, Christians, And Family Life, Magda Teter
Two Cases Of Apostasy In Dubno In 1716 Jews, Christians, And Family Life, Magda Teter
Early Modern Workshop: Resources in Jewish History
This text relates a trial of two Christian women who accepted to Judaism that took place in the city of Dubno in eastern Poland in 1716. The text presented here comes from a collection of primary sources published in Kiev [now Kyiv] in 1869, as part of effort by scholars at the time to collect and publish primary source materials about Ukraine. The collection is called Arkhiv Iugo-zapadnoi Rossii, or The Archive of South-Western Russia, and contains documents from the South-Western part of Ukraine.
This presentation is for the following text(s):
The Role Of Marriage And Marital Sexuality In Lurianic Kabbalah, Lawrence Fine
The Role Of Marriage And Marital Sexuality In Lurianic Kabbalah, Lawrence Fine
Early Modern Workshop: Resources in Jewish History
The presentation situates the development of Lurianic Kabbalah in its context of sixteenth-century Safed. Focusing on two texts by Hayyim Vital, Lawrence Fine discusses sexuality and marital relations in Lurianic Kabbalah and among the Kabbalists themselves.
This presentation is for the following text(s):
- Ta'amei Mitsvot, Parshat Bereshit (Reasons for the Commandments concerning “Be Fruitful and Multiply”) by Hayim Vital (1570s)
- Sha'ar Kavvanot (The Gate of [Contemplative] Intentions, Concerning Sabbath Eve) by Hayim Vital (1570s)
“The First Duty Of Nature Is To Preserve Life” A Jewish Woman’S Plea For Divorce In Late 18th-Century Trieste, Lois Dubin
Early Modern Workshop: Resources in Jewish History
The presentation discusses a letter from Relle [Rachele] Morschene (1770-1844) of Trieste to Chief Rabbi Raffael Natan Tedesco, written in the throes of her three-year long effort to extricate herself from her marriage to husband Lucio Luzzatto (1755-1801). From 1793 to 1796, Morschene pursued separation and civil divorce through the Habsburg courts at the same time as a Jewish religious divorce. Indeed, she was one of the first European Jewish women to seek and obtain a civil divorce. Her legal situation was novel because Jews in the Habsburg Monarchy were among the first to be subjected to civil marriage regulation …
The Woodstruck Deed The Documentation Of Accidental Defloration Among The Jews Of Early Modern Italy, David Malkiel
The Woodstruck Deed The Documentation Of Accidental Defloration Among The Jews Of Early Modern Italy, David Malkiel
Early Modern Workshop: Resources in Jewish History
The “woodstruck” (mukat ets) deed, a Hebrew document that officially records the accidental defloration of a young girl, appears in sixteenth-century Italy, in a block of deeds recorded by Jewish notaries in Rome, in a rabbinic responsum and in the record book of the Padua community. Prior to that, there is no record of such an instrument anywhere in Jewish history and literature, despite the fact that the frequency of accidental defloration must have been a constant. Moreover, the registers of the Jewish notaries of sixteenth-century Rome contain over a hundred such deeds for the sixteenth century alone. The appearance …
Jewish Women And Economic Encounters With Christians, Debra Kaplan
Jewish Women And Economic Encounters With Christians, Debra Kaplan
Early Modern Workshop: Resources in Jewish History
R. Yair Hayyim ben Moses Samson Bacharach (1638-1702) is well-known for his knowledge of halakha and Kabbalah. Over the course of his lifetime, he served as the rabbi in several locations in the Holy Roman Empire. In these two responsa, Bacharach deals with one of the halakhic problems surrounding women’s trade with non-Jews. Such trade inevitably caused women to enter into seclusion (yihud) with non-Jews, especially since according to Jewish law, the presence of the non-Jew’s wife did not alleviate the prohibition of seclusion with a non-Jew.
This presentation is for the following text(s):
Unequal Opportunities The Economic Possibilities Open To Jewish Women In 18th Century Poland-Lithuania, Adam Teller
Unequal Opportunities The Economic Possibilities Open To Jewish Women In 18th Century Poland-Lithuania, Adam Teller
Early Modern Workshop: Resources in Jewish History
The following texts present an image of economic opportunities, and gender roles in Jewish society in eastern Europe. The first text is an 18th-century supplication by a Jew, Bunim Szlomowicz, against his wife; the second is a 1751 decree by the Council of Lithuania regulating women's roles in trade.
An Early 17th Century Ketubah From Sefer Tikun Sofrim By Rabbi Itzhak Zabakh, Ruth Lamdan
An Early 17th Century Ketubah From Sefer Tikun Sofrim By Rabbi Itzhak Zabakh, Ruth Lamdan
Early Modern Workshop: Resources in Jewish History
In Jewish Law, the halakha, there is an extensive importance to the accurate scribing of legal documents (shtarot). Any slight deviation from the standard formula of one word, or even of one character, might invalidate a formal bill or cancel a personal or commercial obligation. The importance bestowed on each word encouraged many famous rabbis to write and edit books of standard legal bills, and Hebrew scribes used to copy samples of bills for their personal use in the future. Qualified scribes made exemplary collections of documents for their students, and young trainees would copy such samples – as well …
Family Ties & Political Structure In Pisa And Livorno, Bernard D. Cooperman
Family Ties & Political Structure In Pisa And Livorno, Bernard D. Cooperman
Early Modern Workshop: Resources in Jewish History
In his presentation of two documents pertaining to Jews in Pisa and Livorno, Bernard Cooperman discusses the link between family connections and the construction of a new formal Jewish community and explores the connection between family and business networks. Cooperman argues here that new communities in early modern Italy were often structured as merchant companies, and it was a family that was a base of trade networks. Family also became a method of joining the community, while at the same time families and individuals used membership in a community to legitimize a family. The presentation further explores interracial marriages and …
Marriage And Networkbuilding, Claudia Ulbrich
Marriage And Networkbuilding, Claudia Ulbrich
Early Modern Workshop: Resources in Jewish History
In eastern France Jewish marriages are well documented in the eighteenth century. Following a decree by Louis XIV in 1701 that Jewish marriage contracts had to be deposited with notaries within 15 days of marriage, these documents were registered with increasing frequency in the entire French-German region. Registration became generally obligatory in that time, so that we have large amounts of documents both for Christian as for Jews. Historians have never fully analyzed these files. Jean Fleury, who was prompted by genealogical interests, surveyed the 8500 items in the Metz archive, and compiled 2021 marriage contracts from the seventeenth and …
How Family Wealth And Power Are Organized, Moshe Rosman
How Family Wealth And Power Are Organized, Moshe Rosman
Early Modern Workshop: Resources in Jewish History
The following is a translation of Todros Kozuchowski's will. Originally written in Polish, then translated into Hebrew, the will was translated into English by Moshe Rosman.
Pinkas Shamash Altona (1766-1767), Elisheva Carlebach
Pinkas Shamash Altona (1766-1767), Elisheva Carlebach
Early Modern Workshop: Resources in Jewish History
Elisheva Carlebach's presentation discusses excerpts from the Pinkas Shamash Altona, providing a glimpse on an aspect of Jewish life that usually remained obscured--illegitimate children born to Jewish domestic servants, and the servants themselves, held very marginal status in the community. One of the pertinent issue was death. If they died the responsibility for buying them was contested between many different parties.
This presentation is for the following text(s):
- Pinkas Shamash Altona (1766-1767)
Click here for a video presentation.