Table Of ContentCharity and Giving in Monotheistic Religions
≥
Studien zur Geschichte und Kultur
des islamischen Orients
Beihefte zur Zeitschrift „Der Islam“
Herausgegeben von
Lawrence I. Conrad
Neue Folge
Band 22
Walter de Gruyter · Berlin · New York
Charity and Giving
in Monotheistic Religions
Edited by
Miriam Frenkel and Yaacov Lev
Walter de Gruyter · Berlin · New York
(cid:2)(cid:2) Printedonacid-freepaperwhichfallswithintheguidelines
oftheANSItoensurepermanenceanddurability.
ISBN 978-3-11-020946-4
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Charityandgivinginmonotheisticreligion/[editedby]MiriamFrenkel
andYaacovLev.
p.cm.(cid:2)(StudienzurGeschichteundKulturdesislamischenOri-
ents,ISSN1862-1295;Bd.22)
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN978-3-11-020946-4(hardcover:alk.paper)
1.Genorosity. 2.Genorosity(cid:2)Religiousaspects. 3.Monotheism.
4.Charity. I.Frenkel,Miriam. II.Lev,Yaacov.
BJ1533.G4G46 2009
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2009004216
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In Memoriam Zeev Rubin
(1942–2009)
Preface
This book is an outgrowth of the activity of an international research
group on Charity and Piety in the Middle East in Late Antiquity and
the Middle Ages conducted at The Institute for Advanced Studies
(IAS), Jerusalem, during summer 2006-winter 2007. The theme of con-
tinuity and transformation was at the heart of the group’s work as well as
deliberationsbuiltaroundweeklyseminarsgivenbythegroup’smembers,
visiting scholars, and guests. A concluding conference, held on 11–12
February 2007, marked the high point of the group’s activities.
All of us who were associated with the group enjoyed the unflagging
hospitalityandservicesof theIASandweoweagreatdebtofgratitudeto
IAS’staff: Ofer Arbeli, the computer expert, Dalia Avieli, Smadar Berg-
man, Pnina Feldman, the administrative director, Shani Freiman, Han-
och Kalimian, Batia Matalov, Efrat Shvily, and chef Shoshana Yazdii,
whose cooking we enjoyed every day. The academic program of the
groupwasapprovedandguidedbyBenjaminZ.Kedar,theformerdirec-
tor of the IAS, and Eliezer Rabinovici, the current director.We are much
obliged to both of them for their valuable suggestions and advice.
TheeditorsaremuchindebtedtoSusanR.HolmanandMarinaRus-
tow, members of the editorial board, for their counsel, assistance, and
work. We would also like to express our deep gratitude to all the scholars
who were associated with the group. This book is their book too.
This volume is dedicated to the memory of our dear colleague Zeev
Rubin (1942–2009), who was an outstanding member of our research
group. Rubin was professor of History at Tel Aviv University. During
his long teaching career he taught a variety of courses, ranging from
Homer to Sigmund Freud: Greek and Roman history, Byzantine history
and historiography, early Medieval Europe, the Crusades, and even the
myth of Oedipus throughout the ages. His exceptionally wide and diver-
sified range of scholarly interests and his unusual gift for languages both
ancient and modern were in evidence in all his written works. His pub-
lications deal with many aspects of Late Antiquity, among them the po-
litical history of the Roman Empire, the conversion of the Roman world
and its neighbours to Christianity, the history of Jerusalem and Palestine
VIII Preface
under late Roman and Byzantine rule, as well as Sasanid historiography
and history, including charity and poverty. He excelled in the interpreta-
tionof theprimarysources,betheyPatristictextsinavarietyof languag-
es, royal Sasanid inscriptions, the Babylonian Talmud or medieval Arabic
historiography.Hewaslearned,friendly,butoutspoken,andwemisshim
greatly.
Contents
Introduction ........................................ 1
Part One The World of Late Antiquity and Early Middle Ages
Avshalom Laniado
The Early Byzantine State and the Christian Ideal of Voluntary
Poverty ............................................ 15
Daniel Caner
Charitable Ministrations (Diakoniai), Monasticism, and the
Social Aesthetic of Sixth-Century Byzantium ............... 45
Claudia Rapp
Charity and Piety as Episcopal and Imperial Virtues
inLateAntiquity ..................................... 75
Susan R. Holman
Healing the world with righteousness? The language ofsocial
justice in early Christian homilies ........................ 89
Eliana Magnani
Almsgiving, Donatio Pro Anima and Eucharistic Offering in the
Early Middle Ages of Western Europe (4th–9th century) ..... 111
Part Two Medieval Islam
Johannes Pahlitzsch
Christian Pious Foundations as an Element of Continuity
between Late Antiquity and Islam ....................... 125
X Contents
Stefan Heidemann
Charity and Piety for the Transformation of theCities. The New
Direction in Taxation and Waqf Policy in Mid-Twelfth-Century
Syria and Northern Mesopotamia ........................ 153
Yehoshua Frenkel
Piety and Charity in Late Medieval Egypt and Syria ......... 175
Ana Mar(cid:56)a Carballeira Debasa
Forms and Functions of Charity in Al-Andalus ............. 203
Amalia ZomeÇo
“When Death Will Fall Upon Him”:
CharitableLegaciesin15thCenturyGranada. ............... 217
Yaacov Lev
Charity and Gift Giving in Medieval Islam ................ 235
Daniella Talmon-Heller
Charity and Repentance in Medieval Islamic
ThoughtandPractice ................................. 265
Part Three The Jewish World
Mark R. Cohen
Geniza Documents for the Comparative History of Poverty and
Charity ............................................ 283
Miriam Frenkel
Charity in Jewish Society of the Medieval Mediterranean World 343
Marina Rustow
Benefaction (Nima), Gratitude (Shukr), andthePolitics of
˘
Giving and Receiving inLettersfromtheCairo Geniza ....... 365
Yvonne Friedman
An Indigent Scholar’s Plea for Charity: AGenizaLetter ...... 391
