Chosen Few

Erscheinungsjahr 2012
ISBN: 978-0-691-14487-0
Verlag: Princeton University Press

Buch, Englisch, 346 Seiten, Format (B × H): 161 mm x 241 mm, Gewicht: 613 g

Reihe: Princeton Economic History of the Western World

In 70 CE, the Jews were an agrarian and illiterate people living mostly in the Land of Israel and Mesopotamia. By 1492 the Jewish people had become a small group of literate urbanites specializing in crafts, trade, moneylending, and medicine in hundreds of places across the Old World, from Seville to Mangalore. What caused this radical change? The Chosen Few presents a new answer to this question by applying the lens of economic analysis to the key facts of fifteen formative centuries of Jewish history. Maristella Botticini and Zvi Eckstein show that, contrary to previous explanations, this transformation was driven not by anti-Jewish persecution and legal restrictions, but rather by changes within Judaism itself after 70 CE--most importantly, the rise of a new norm that required every Jewish male to read and study the Torah and to send his sons to school. Over the next six centuries, those Jews who found the norms of Judaism too costly to obey converted to other religions, making world Jewry shrink. Later, when urbanization and commercial expansion in the newly established Muslim Caliphates increased the demand for occupations in which literacy was an advantage, the Jews found themselves literate in a world of almost universal illiteracy. From then forward, almost all Jews entered crafts and trade, and many of them began moving in search of business opportunities, creating a worldwide Diaspora in the process. The Chosen Few offers a powerful new explanation of one of the most significant transformations in Jewish history while also providing fresh insights to the growing debate about the social and economic impact of religion.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Botticini, Maristella

Eckstein, Zvi

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Jüdische Studien Jüdische Studien Jüdische Studien: Philosophie, Aufklärung, Wissenschaften
• Geisteswissenschaften Jüdische Studien Jüdische Studien Jüdische Identität & Biographien
• Wirtschaftswissenschaften Wirtschaftswissenschaften Wirtschaftsgeschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Jüdische Studien Jüdische Studien Jüdische Studien: Literatur & Kunst
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Kultur- und Ideengeschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Jüdische Studien Geschichte des Judentums Geschichte des Judentums außerhalb Israels/Palästinas
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Geschichte des Judentums (Diaspora)
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Wirtschaftsgeschichte

Inhaltsverzeichnis

List of Illustrations xi

List of Tables xiii

Preface xv

Introduction 1
Chapter 1

70 CE?1492: How Many Jews Were There, and Where and How Did They Live? 11

     From Jesus to Muhammad (1 CE?622): A World of Farmers 15

     From Muhammad to Hulagu Khan (622?1258): Farmers to Merchants 31

     From Hulagu Khan to Tom?s de Torquemada (1258?1492):

          The End of the Golden Age 44

     Jewish History, 70 CE?1492: Puzzles 51
Chapter 2

Were the Jews a Persecuted Minority? 52

     Restrictions on Jewish Economic Activities 52

     Taxation Discrimination 58

     Physical versus Portable Human Capital 59

     Self-Segregated

     Religious Minority 61

     The Economics of Small Minorities 62

     Summary 65
Chapter 3

The People of the Book, 200 BCE?200 CE 66

     The Two Pillars of Judaism from Ezra to Hillel (500?50 BCE): The Temple and

          the Torah 66

     The Lever of Judaism: Education as a Religious Norm 69

     The Destruction of the Second Temple: From Ritual Sacrifices to Torah Reading

          and Study 73

     The Legacy of Rabbinic Judaism: The Mishna and Universal Primary Education,

          10 CE?200 74

     Judaism and Education: The Unique Link in the World of the Mishna 78
Chapter 4

The Economics of Hebrew Literacy in a World of Farmers 80

     Heterogeneity and the Choices Facing Jewish Farmers circa 200 82

     The Economic Theory: Basic Setup 84

     The Economic Theory: Predictions 87

     Life in a Village in the Galilee circa 200 through the Lens of the Theory 88

     Annex 4.A: Formal Model of Education and Conversion of Farmers 89
Chapter 5

Jews in the Talmud Era, 200?650:

     The Chosen Few 95

     An Increasingly Literate Farming Society 96

     Conversions of Jewish Farmers 111

     Summary 122
Chapter 6

From Farmers to Merchants, 750?1150 124

     The Economics of Hebrew Literacy in a World of Merchants 125

     The Golden Age of Literate Jews in the Muslim Caliphates 130

     Summary 150

     Annex 6.A: Formal Model of Education and Conversion of Merchants 150
Chapter 7

Educated Wandering Jews, 800?1250 153

     Wandering Jews before Marco Polo 154

     Jewish Migration within the Muslim Caliphates 163

     Migration of Byzantine Jewry 172

     Jewish Migration to and within Christian Europe 173

     Migration of the Jewish Religious Center 195

     Summary 200
Chapter 8

Segregation or Choice? From Merchants to Moneylenders, 1000?1500
201

     The Economics of Money and Credit in Medieval Europe 202

     Jewish Prominence in Moneylending: Hypotheses 209

     The Dynamics of Jewish Moneylending in Medieval Europe 212

     Jewish Moneylending in Medieval Italy: A Detailed Analysis 219

     Attitudes toward Moneylending 232

     Facts and Competing Hypotheses 237

     From Merchants to Moneylenders: Comparative Advantage in Complex

          Intermediation 241

     Annex 8.A: The Charter to the Jews of Vienna 244
Chapter 9

The Mongol Shock: Can Judaism Survive When Trade and Urban Economies Collapse? 248

     The Mongol Conquest of the Muslim Middle East 249

     Socioeconomic Conditions in the Middle East under the Mongols 252

     Jewish Demography under Mongol and Mamluk Rule: An Experiment 254

     Why Judaism Cannot Survive When Trade and Urban Economies Collapse 258

     Summary 259
Chapter 10

1492 to Today: Open Questions 261

     Portrait of World Jewry circa 1492 261

     Jewish History, 70 CE?1492: Epilogue 264

     Trajectory of the Jewish People over the Past 500 Years 266

     Persistence of Jewish Occupational Structure 268
Appendix 274

Bibliography 287

Index 317

Über Autor(innen)

Botticini, Maristella
Maristella Botticini is professor of economics, as well as director and fellow of the Innocenzo Gasparini Institute for Economic Research (IGIER), at Bocconi University in Milan. Zvi Eckstein is the Mario Henrique Simonson Chair in Labor Economics at Tel Aviv University and professor and dean of the School of Economics at IDC Herzliya in Herzliya, Israel.

Maristella Botticini is professor of economics, as well as director and fellow of the Innocenzo Gasparini Institute for Economic Research (IGIER), at Bocconi University in Milan. Zvi Eckstein is the Mario Henrique Simonson Chair in Labor Economics at Tel Aviv University and professor and dean of the School of Economics at IDC Herzliya in Herzliya, Israel.