Early Modern Jewry: A New Cultural History

by David B. Ruderman

Overview

A compelling history of the early modern Jewish experience

Early Modern Jewry boldly offers a new history of the early modern Jewish experience. From Krakow and Venice to Amsterdam and Smyrna, David Ruderman examines the historical and cultural factors unique to Jewish communities throughout Europe, and how these distinctions played out amidst the rest of society. Looking at how Jewish settlements in the early modern period were linked to one another in fascinating ways, he shows how Jews were communicating with each other and were more aware of their economic, social, and religious connections than ever before.

Ruderman explores five crucial and powerful characteristics uniting Jewish communities: a mobility leading to enhanced contacts between Jews of differing backgrounds, traditions, and languages, as well as between Jews and non-Jews; a heightened sense of communal cohesion throughout all Jewish settlements that revealed the rising power of lay oligarchies; a knowledge explosion brought about by the printing press, the growing interest in Jewish books by Christian readers, an expanded curriculum of Jewish learning, and the entrance of Jewish elites into universities; a crisis of rabbinic authority expressed through active messianism, mystical prophecy, radical enthusiasm, and heresy; and the blurring of religious identities, impacting such groups as conversos, Sabbateans, individual converts to Christianity, and Christian Hebraists.

In describing an early modern Jewish culture, Early Modern Jewry reconstructs a distinct epoch in history and provides essential background for understanding the modern Jewish experience.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780691152882
Publisher:	Princeton University Press
Publication date:	07/25/2011
Pages:	344
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.40(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

David B. Ruderman is the Joseph Meyerhoff Professor of Modern Jewish History and the Ella Darivoff Director of the Herbert D. Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. His many books include Jewish Enlightenment in an English Key and Connecting the Covenants.

Table of Contents

Maps x

Introduction 1





Chapter One?: Jews on the Move 23

The Mobility of Europeans and Other Peoples in the Early Modern Period 24

Jewish Migration to Italy and the Ottoman Empire 26

Jewish Migration to Eastern Europe 29

Converso Migration 34

The Social Consequences of Jewish Mobility 37

Did Jewish Mobility Engender Cultural Productivity? 41





Chapter Two: Comm unal Cohesion 57

Italian Communal Developments 59

Converso Communal Organizations: Leghorn and Amsterdam 65

Jewish Communal Organization in Germanic Lands 74

The Jewish Community under Ottoman Rule 81

Jewish Self-Government in Eastern Europe 86

Some Comparative Observations 93





Chapter Three?: Knowledge Explosion 99

The Printed Book and the Creation of a Connected Jewish Culture 99

Further Consequences of the Printing of Jewish Books 103

Christian Hebraists and Their Judaic Publications 111

The Expansion of Cultural Horizons 120

Jewish Medical Students at the University 125





Chapter Four: Crisis of Rabbinic Authority 133

Locating the Beginnings of a Jewish Crisis in the Seventeenth Century 136

The Sabbatean Turmoil of the Eighteenth Century 140

Sabbateanism and the Birth of "Orthodoxy" in the Eighteenth Century 146

Sabbateanism and the Other Crises of Early Modernity: Some Tentative Conclusions 155





Chapter Five?: Mingled Identities 159

The Ambiguity of Converso Lives 160

Sabbatean Syncretism 163

The Conflicting Loyalties of Christian Hebraists 173

The Mediating Roles of Jewish Converts to Christianity 180

Jewish Christians and Christian Jews 186





Chapter Six: Toward Modernity: Some Final Thoughts 191

When Does the Early Modern Period Begin and When Does It End? 193

Early Haskalah, Early Modernity, and Haskalah Reconsidered 198

Viewing the Modern Era in the Light of the Early Modern 202

Appendix: H istoriographical Re flec tions 207

Jonathan Israel's Interpretation of Early

Modern Jewish Culture 207

Jewish Historians on the Early Modern Period 214

Early Modernity in European and World Historiography 220





Acknowledgments 227

Notes 231

Bibliography of Secondary Works 287

Index 319

What People are Saying About This

David Sorkin

This is an entirely original book that for the first time offers a sustained and persuasive argument for a distinct early modern period in Jewish history. Ruderman provides a synthetic account of the period based on a masterful command of the primary and secondary scholarship.
— David Sorkin, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Gershon Hundert

Ruderman's scholarship is of the highest order and shows impeccable control over a huge and diverse secondary literature. He is able to convey the nature of the historical debates over the key issues in this period with clarity and integrity, and each chapter is a model of argumentation. This book will be indispensable to anyone who studies the Jewish experience.
— Gershon Hundert, McGill University

From the Publisher

"Ruderman's scholarship is of the highest order and shows impeccable control over a huge and diverse secondary literature. He is able to convey the nature of the historical debates over the key issues in this period with clarity and integrity, and each chapter is a model of argumentation. This book will be indispensable to anyone who studies the Jewish experience."—Gershon Hundert, McGill University

"This is an entirely original book that for the first time offers a sustained and persuasive argument for a distinct early modern period in Jewish history. Ruderman provides a synthetic account of the period based on a masterful command of the primary and secondary scholarship."—David Sorkin, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Editorial Reviews

Ruderman also discusses a number of crucial works on early modern Jewish history, making his study more accessible to novice readers. His extensive bibliography may serve as a useful starting point for the reader's own exploration of early modern Jewry

European Legacy - Pnina M. Rubesh

[T]he book greatly advances scholarship toward a more holistic, multidisciplinary approach to Jewish history during this very dynamic epoch. . . . His work is a great introductory monograph for students and emerging scholars in early modern Jewish studies, providing an excellent foundation of knowledge to build upon for future research.

Sixteenth Century Journal - Barry Stiefel

David Ruderman has produced an admirable synthesis of the latest research on early modem Jewish history, while offering a cogent assessment of the historiography of the term 'early modern' and of the role of Jews in European and world history between the medieval and modem eras. The clear structure and approachable writing of Early Modern Jewry make it an excellent resource.

Canadian Journal of History - Gayle K. Brunelle

David Ruderman . . . provides a masterful synthesis of the vast scholarship of the past 30 years. . . . This book is an important addition to any university library.

AJL Newsletter - Harvey Sukenic

Ruderman has given readers fascinated by Jewish history much material upon which to ponder.

Forward - Benjamin Ivry

Ruderman's learned and fluently written book presents a thought-provoking interpretation of the period beginning with the Spanish expulsion of 1492, which set into motion the extraordinary communities of Iberian Jewry—and much else besides—and stretching forward to the onset of modernity.

Jewish Ideas Daily - Yehudah Mirsky

David B. Ruderman plunges into one of the central debates in the writing of Jewish history. . . . When we think of the history of Europe, it is in terms derived from the experience of Christians and Christianity. . . . But does this familiar timeline apply to the history of the Jews? . . . Early Modern Jewry will certainly help to shape future debates over the ways we write and interpret Jewish history.

Tablet Magazine - Adam Kirsch

Ruderman's provocative thesis marks a scholarly watershed. It reopens and complicates the question of when modern Jewish history began, and suggests that far-reaching but underappreciated trends analogous to those traced in this book have already inaugurated a postmodern era of Jewish history.

Forward - Lawrence Grossman

Brave, stimulating, highly erudite, and informative.

Jewish Review of Books - Moshe Rosman

Ruderman also discusses a number of crucial works on early modern Jewish history, making his study more accessible to novice readers. His extensive bibliography may serve as a useful starting point for the reader's own exploration of early modern Jewry

European Legacy - .Pnina M. Rubesh

Its thought-provoking discussion of the early modern period in Jewish history, the notes and bibliography providing additional information, and the extensive appendix discussing various historiographical interpretations of early modernity make this book indispensable for both students and teachers of early modern and modern Jewish history alike, as well as for those more generally interested in Jewish history. Ruderman's study will decisively shape future discussions about early modern Jewish history and the beginnings of modernity.

" H-Net Reviews ekka Voss

Ruderman also discusses a number of crucial works on early modern Jewish history, making his study more accessible to novice readers. His extensive bibliography may serve as a useful starting point for the reader's own exploration of early modern Jewry
— .Pnina M. Rubesh

European Legacy

[T]he book greatly advances scholarship toward a more holistic, multidisciplinary approach to Jewish history during this very dynamic epoch. . . . His work is a great introductory monograph for students and emerging scholars in early modern Jewish studies, providing an excellent foundation of knowledge to build upon for future research.
— Barry Stiefel

Sixteenth-Century Journal

David Ruderman has produced an admirable synthesis of the latest research on early modem Jewish history, while offering a cogent assessment of the historiography of the term 'early modern' and of the role of Jews in European and world history between the medieval and modem eras. The clear structure and approachable writing of Early Modern Jewry make it an excellent resource.
— Gayle K. Brunelle

Canadian Journal of History

David Ruderman . . . provides a masterful synthesis of the vast scholarship of the past 30 years. . . . This book is an important addition to any university library.
— Harvey Sukenic

AJL Newsletter

Ruderman's learned and fluently written book presents a thought-provoking interpretation of the period beginning with the Spanish expulsion of 1492, which set into motion the extraordinary communities of Iberian Jewry—and much else besides—and stretching forward to the onset of modernity.
— Yehudah Mirsky

Jewish Ideas Daily

David B. Ruderman plunges into one of the central debates in the writing of Jewish history. . . . When we think of the history of Europe, it is in terms derived from the experience of Christians and Christianity. . . . But does this familiar timeline apply to the history of the Jews? . . . Early Modern Jewry will certainly help to shape future debates over the ways we write and interpret Jewish history.
— Adam Kirsch

Tablet Magazine

Ruderman has given readers fascinated by Jewish history much material upon which to ponder.
— Benjamin Ivry

Forward

Brave, stimulating, highly erudite, and informative.
— Moshe Rosman

Jewish Review of Books

[T]he book greatly advances scholarship toward a more holistic, multidisciplinary approach to Jewish history during this very dynamic epoch. . . . His work is a great introductory monograph for students and emerging scholars in early modern Jewish studies, providing an excellent foundation of knowledge to build upon for future research.
— Barry Stiefel

Sixteenth Century Journal

Brave, stimulating, highly erudite, and informative.—-Moshe Rosman, Jewish Review of Books

Ruderman's provocative thesis marks a scholarly watershed. It reopens and complicates the question of when modern Jewish history began, and suggests that far-reaching but underappreciated trends analogous to those traced in this book have already inaugurated a postmodern era of Jewish history.—-Lawrence Grossman, Forward

Winner of the 2010 National Jewish Book Award in History, Jewish Book Council

David B. Ruderman plunges into one of the central debates in the writing of Jewish history. . . . When we think of the history of Europe, it is in terms derived from the experience of Christians and Christianity. . . . But does this familiar timeline apply to the history of the Jews? . . . Early Modern Jewry will certainly help to shape future debates over the ways we write and interpret Jewish history.—-Adam Kirsch, Tablet Magazine

Ruderman's learned and fluently written book presents a thought-provoking interpretation of the period beginning with the Spanish expulsion of 1492, which set into motion the extraordinary communities of Iberian Jewry—and much else besides—and stretching forward to the onset of modernity.—-Yehudah Mirsky, Jewish Ideas Daily

"Brave, stimulating, highly erudite, and informative."—Moshe Rosman, Jewish Review of Books

Ruderman has given readers fascinated by Jewish history much material upon which to ponder.—-Benjamin Ivry, Forward

"Ruderman's provocative thesis marks a scholarly watershed. It reopens and complicates the question of when modern Jewish history began, and suggests that far-reaching but underappreciated trends analogous to those traced in this book have already inaugurated a postmodern era of Jewish history."—Lawrence Grossman, Forward

"David B. Ruderman plunges into one of the central debates in the writing of Jewish history. . . . When we think of the history of Europe, it is in terms derived from the experience of Christians and Christianity. . . . But does this familiar timeline apply to the history of the Jews? . . . Early Modern Jewry will certainly help to shape future debates over the ways we write and interpret Jewish history."—Adam Kirsch, Tablet Magazine

David Ruderman . . . provides a masterful synthesis of the vast scholarship of the past 30 years. . . . This book is an important addition to any university library.—-Harvey Sukenic, AJL Newsletter

"Ruderman's learned and fluently written book presents a thought-provoking interpretation of the period beginning with the Spanish expulsion of 1492, which set into motion the extraordinary communities of Iberian Jewry—and much else besides—and stretching forward to the onset of modernity."—Yehudah Mirsky, Jewish Ideas Daily

Its thought-provoking discussion of the early modern period in Jewish history, the notes and bibliography providing additional information, and the extensive appendix discussing various historiographical interpretations of early modernity make this book indispensable for both students and teachers of early modern and modern Jewish history alike, as well as for those more generally interested in Jewish history. Ruderman's study will decisively shape future discussions about early modern Jewish history and the beginnings of modernity.—-Rebekka Voss, H-Net Reviews

"Ruderman has given readers fascinated by Jewish history much material upon which to ponder."—Benjamin Ivry, Forward

David Ruderman has produced an admirable synthesis of the latest research on early modem Jewish history, while offering a cogent assessment of the historiography of the term 'early modern' and of the role of Jews in European and world history between the medieval and modem eras. The clear structure and approachable writing of Early Modern Jewry make it an excellent resource.—-Gayle K. Brunelle, Canadian Journal of History

[T]he book greatly advances scholarship toward a more holistic, multidisciplinary approach to Jewish history during this very dynamic epoch. . . . His work is a great introductory monograph for students and emerging scholars in early modern Jewish studies, providing an excellent foundation of knowledge to build upon for future research.—-Barry Stiefel, Sixteenth Century Journal

"David Ruderman . . . provides a masterful synthesis of the vast scholarship of the past 30 years. . . . This book is an important addition to any university library."—Harvey Sukenic, AJL Newsletter

"Its thought-provoking discussion of the early modern period in Jewish history, the notes and bibliography providing additional information, and the extensive appendix discussing various historiographical interpretations of early modernity make this book indispensable for both students and teachers of early modern and modern Jewish history alike, as well as for those more generally interested in Jewish history. Ruderman's study will decisively shape future discussions about early modern Jewish history and the beginnings of modernity."—Rebekka Voss, H-Net Reviews

Ruderman also discusses a number of crucial works on early modern Jewish history, making his study more accessible to novice readers. His extensive bibliography may serve as a useful starting point for the reader's own exploration of early modern Jewry—-.Pnina M. Rubesh, European Legacy

"David Ruderman has produced an admirable synthesis of the latest research on early modem Jewish history, while offering a cogent assessment of the historiography of the term 'early modern' and of the role of Jews in European and world history between the medieval and modem eras. The clear structure and approachable writing of Early Modern Jewry make it an excellent resource."—Gayle K. Brunelle, Canadian Journal of History

"[T]he book greatly advances scholarship toward a more holistic, multidisciplinary approach to Jewish history during this very dynamic epoch. . . . His work is a great introductory monograph for students and emerging scholars in early modern Jewish studies, providing an excellent foundation of knowledge to build upon for future research."—Barry Stiefel, Sixteenth Century Journal

"Ruderman also discusses a number of crucial works on early modern Jewish history, making his study more accessible to novice readers. His extensive bibliography may serve as a useful starting point for the reader's own exploration of early modern Jewry"—.Pnina M. Rubesh, European Legacy

From the Publisher