Haym Soloveitchik
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- February 2021
- ISBN:
- 9781904113973
- eISBN:
- 9781800341104
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3828/liverpool/9781904113973.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This book reflects the author's lifelong interest in the history of halakhah. What stimulated change, and why? What happened when strong forces impinged on halakhic observance and communities had to ...
More
This book reflects the author's lifelong interest in the history of halakhah. What stimulated change, and why? What happened when strong forces impinged on halakhic observance and communities had to adapt to new circumstances? The book opens with a brief description of the dramatis personae who figure throughout the essays: Rashi and the Tosafists. Further chapters discuss halakhic commentaries and their authors; usury, moneylending, and pawnbroking; Gentile wine; and the self-image of the Ashkenazic community. Throughout, the book shows that the line between adaptation and deviance is a fine one, and that where a society draws that line is revelatory of its values and its self-perception. Many of the chapters presented here are already well known in the field; two are completely new. Most of those previously published have been updated, and the major chapter on pawnbroking has been significantly expanded.Less
This book reflects the author's lifelong interest in the history of halakhah. What stimulated change, and why? What happened when strong forces impinged on halakhic observance and communities had to adapt to new circumstances? The book opens with a brief description of the dramatis personae who figure throughout the essays: Rashi and the Tosafists. Further chapters discuss halakhic commentaries and their authors; usury, moneylending, and pawnbroking; Gentile wine; and the self-image of the Ashkenazic community. Throughout, the book shows that the line between adaptation and deviance is a fine one, and that where a society draws that line is revelatory of its values and its self-perception. Many of the chapters presented here are already well known in the field; two are completely new. Most of those previously published have been updated, and the major chapter on pawnbroking has been significantly expanded.
Haym Soloveitchik
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- February 2021
- ISBN:
- 9781904113973
- eISBN:
- 9781800341104
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3828/liverpool/9781904113973.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This chapter explores an analysis of pawnbroking, which requires parsing simultaneously three areas of Jewish law: debt, pawns, and usury. Any analysis must also incorporate the practices of ...
More
This chapter explores an analysis of pawnbroking, which requires parsing simultaneously three areas of Jewish law: debt, pawns, and usury. Any analysis must also incorporate the practices of moneylending in medieval France and Germany and equally the laws governing pawnbroking in these countries. Pawnbroking generated problems. An item might be pawned by a prince, an abbot, a wealthy burgher, a peasant, or even a passing stranger, for people of every rank are occasionally confronted with an urgent need for cash. However, one should emphasize that making loans that are secured by a pawned item and pawnbroking are two different businesses. The chapter then discusses pawnbroking in Ashkenazic halakhic thought, examining ribbit (interest or usury). It also highlights the revolutionary role of Rashi in both halakhic theory and practice. Rashi and his grandson, Rabbenu Tam, dominate the landscape of pawnbroking and usury.Less
This chapter explores an analysis of pawnbroking, which requires parsing simultaneously three areas of Jewish law: debt, pawns, and usury. Any analysis must also incorporate the practices of moneylending in medieval France and Germany and equally the laws governing pawnbroking in these countries. Pawnbroking generated problems. An item might be pawned by a prince, an abbot, a wealthy burgher, a peasant, or even a passing stranger, for people of every rank are occasionally confronted with an urgent need for cash. However, one should emphasize that making loans that are secured by a pawned item and pawnbroking are two different businesses. The chapter then discusses pawnbroking in Ashkenazic halakhic thought, examining ribbit (interest or usury). It also highlights the revolutionary role of Rashi in both halakhic theory and practice. Rashi and his grandson, Rabbenu Tam, dominate the landscape of pawnbroking and usury.
