Pious and Rebellious: Jewish Women in Medieval Europe / Edition 1

by Avraham Grossman

Overview

Avraham Grossman offers a comprehensive study of Jewish women in Europe during the High Middle Ages (1000-1300). Examining multiple aspects of women's lives in medieval Jewish society, Grossman shows that this period saw a distinct improvement in the status of Jewish women in Europe relative to their status during the Talmudic period and in Muslim countries. Two main factors fostered this change: the transformation of Jewish society from agrarian to "bourgeois," with women performing an increasingly important function in the family economy; and the openness toward women in Christian Europe, where they were not subjected to strict limitations based upon conceptions of modesty, as was the case in Muslim countries. The heart of Grossman's book concerns the improvement of Jewish women's lot, and the subsequent efforts of secular and religious authorities to impede their new-found status.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781584653912
Publisher:	Brandeis University Press
Publication date:	06/01/2004
Series:	Tauber Institute Series for the Study of European Jewry & HBI Series on Jewish Women Series
Pages:	351
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.25(h) x 1.07(d)

About the Author

AVRAHAM GROSSMAN is Professor of Jewish History at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, a member of the Israeli National Academy of Sciences, and recipient of the prestigious Israel Prize and Bialik Prize for Jewish Studies.

Table of Contents

	Preface	xi
	Introduction	1
1.	The Historical Background	1
2.	Sources	3
3.	The Chronological and Geographical Framework	6
1	The Image of the Woman: Partner or the "Other"?	8
1.	The Creation and the Superiority of Man	10
2.	The Temptation in the Garden of Eden and the Superiority of Man	13
3.	Characteristics of Woman and the Superiority of Man	15
4.	Women and Sorcery	20
5.	The "Medical Inferiority" of Women and the Superiority of Men	23
6.	The Obligation to Perform Mitzvot and the Superiority of Man	25
7.	Expressions in Praise of Women and their Perception as "Partner"	27
8.	Between Image and Reality	31
2	Age at Marriage	33
1.	The Talmudic Heritage	34
2.	The Situation in Babylonia in the Eighth and Ninth Centuries	36
3.	The Situation in Non-Jewish Society	36
4.	The Situation in Jewish Society during the Tenth through Thirteenth Centuries	37
5.	Factors Causing the Large Number of Childhood Marriages	44
6.	Results of Early Marriage	46
3	Engagement, Betrothal, and the Choice of a Marriage Partner	49
1.	The Ceremonies and their Development	49
2.	The Ban in Ashkenaz against Cancelling Engagements	51
3.	Choice of Marriage Partner	55
4.	Consensual Marriage in Christian Europe	60
5.	The Institution of Matchmaking and Its Place in Jewish Society	64
4	Monogamy and Polygamy	68
1.	The Biblical and Talmudic Heritage	68
2.	The Situation in Ashkenaz	70
3.	Polygamy in Spain	78
4.	The Atmosphere in the Polygamous Family	88
5.	Levirate Marriage and Bigamy	90
5	Feminine Modesty and Women's Role in Supporting the Family	102
1.	The Talmudic Tradition	102
2.	Modesty in Muslim Society	103
3.	Modesty in Jewish Society in Muslim Countries	105
4.	The "Miqveh Rebellion" in Egypt	109
5.	The Situation in Jewish Society in Spain	111
6.	Feminine Modesty and Women's Work in Christian Europe	114
7.	The Situation in Ashkenazic Jewish Society	117
8.	Changes in the Legal Status of Women	121
6	Woman as Wife and Mother and Her Economic Status	123
1.	The Woman within Her Home	123
2.	Prostitution and Concubinage	133
3.	The Woman's Economic Status	147
7	Women's Culture and Education	154
1.	The Talmudic Heritage	154
2.	The Situation in Muslim Society	157
3.	The Situation in Christian Society	158
4.	The Stance of the Jewish Sages in the Middle Ages	160
5.	Learned Women	162
6.	Education of Women in Jewish Society	165
7.	Girls' Education and Erudition in Ashkenaz	167
8.	The Situation in Spain	170
9.	Education of Jewish Women in Italy and Sicily	172
8	The Role of Women in Religious Life and in Family Ceremonies	174
1.	The Biblical and Talmudic Heritage	174
2.	The Role of Women in Religious Life in Christian Europe	175
3.	The Performance of Time-Linked Positive Commandments	178
4.	Women in the Synagogue	180
5.	Women in the Celebration of Passover	188
6.	Women Circumcisers	190
7.	Women as Ritual Slaughterers	190
8.	Fast Days and Acts of Charity by Women	192
9.	Refraining from Eating Meat During the Season of Mourning	193
10.	Women as Bearers of Halakhic Traditions	194
11.	The Role of Women in Family Ceremonies	195
9	Women's Role in Jewish Martyrdom in Europe in the Eleventh to Thirteenth Centuries	198
1.	The Descriptions of Women in Chronicles about the Pogroms	198
2.	The Historical Reliability of the Descriptions in the Chronicles	199
3.	The Role of Women in Jewish Martyrdom According to Christian Sources	202
4.	The "Beauty" and "Purity" of the Women	203
5.	Kiddush Hashem and the Cultural and Social Status of the Women	204
6.	The Description in the Chronicles and the Public Image	205
7.	Between the Chronicles of 1096 and Sefer Zekhirah	209
10	Violence Toward Women	212
1.	The Talmudic Tradition	212
2.	The Situation in Christian and Muslim Society	213
3.	The Position of the Babylonian Geonim	215
4.	The Position of the Spanish Sages	218
5.	Maimonides' Position	219
6.	The Situation in France and Italy	223
7.	The Situation in Germany	225
8.	Wife Beating for "Education"	228
9.	Summary: Between Theory and Reality	230
11	The Divorcee and the "Rebellious Wife"	231
	The Divorcee	231
1.	The Biblical and Talmudic Heritage	231
2.	The Attitude of Medieval Jewish Sages to Divorce	232
3.	Grounds for Divorce	235
	The "Rebellious Wife"	240
1.	The Change at the Beginning of the Geonic Period	241
2.	The Retreat from the Taqqanah of Moredet during the Twelfth Century	242
3.	The Proliferation of Divorce in Ashkenaz in the Thirteenth Century and Thereafter	244
4.	"Rebellion" of Women in Christian Society	248
5.	Divorce in Spain	249
6.	The Attitude to the Divorcee	251
12	The Widow and the "Murderous Wife"	253
1.	The Large Number of Widows	253
2.	The Biblical and Talmudic Heritage	254
3.	The Situation in Non-Jewish Society	255
4.	Life Expectancy in Europe	256
5.	The Situation in Jewish Society: The Attitude to the Widow's Remarriage	257
6.	The Commonness of Widowhood and its Social Significance	259
7.	The Widow's Economic Rights	259
8.	The "Murderous Wife" (Qatlanit)	262
13	Summary: Woman's Status in Historical Perspective	273
1.	The Positive Changes	273
2.	Negative Changes	277
3.	The Silencing of Creativity	278
4.	Between "Pious" and "Rebellious" Women	280
	Notes	283
	Glossary	307
	Bibliography	309
	Index	317

What People are Saying About This

David Berger

“This pioneering synthesis addresses an issue standing at the cutting edge of contemporary historiography with sensitivity, respect for evidence, and sovereign mastery of a diverse and daunting corpus of texts.”

David Weiss Halivni

“Prof. Avraham Grossman, the noted Israeli historian of Jewish learning in the Middle Ages, has lately written a book unmatched in its erudition, reliability and composition. A topic many talk about but few have the facts—Jewish women in the Middle Ages— has found its mentor. The master touched it and it sparkles.”

Editorial Reviews

Avraham Grossman is an erudite and intellectually honest scholar who is helping to draw a true picture of Jewish women's lives.”—Jewish Book World

“It was long accepted that Jewish women in medieval times held little power and no leadership roles; there are few manuscripts or print sources describing their lives and no known works written by women, except for a handful of poems. That's why Avraham Grossman's Pious and Rebellious… is so welcome.” —Hadassah Magazine

“..[S]uch facets of the subject as the Jewish philosophy of women, marriage and family, economic status, culture and education, and role in religious life receive extended development. ... Highly Recommended.”—Choice

“These studies are thoroughly absorbing in every detail, and give an important voice to women whose voices have become almost completely muted over time, even though in their own age they were heard louder and clearer than ever before.”—The Forward

From the Publisher