The Chosen Few: How Education Shaped Jewish History, 70-1492

450 Pages·2014·4.06 MB·English

by  Maristella Botticini

The Chosen Few
THE PRINCETON ECONOMIC HISTORY OF THE WESTERN WORLD
Joel Mokyr, Series Editor
A list of titles in this series appears at the back of the book
The Chosen Few
HOW EDUCATION SHAPED JEWISH HISTORY,
70–1492
Maristella Botticini and Zvi Eckstein
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS
PRINCETON AND OXFORD
Copyright © 2012 by Princeton University Press Published by Princeton University Press, 41
William Street, Princeton, New Jersey 08540 In the United Kingdom: Princeton University Press,
6 Oxford Street, Woodstock, Oxfordshire OX20 1TW
press.princeton.edu
Jacket Art: Detail of Passover, Arthur Szyk (1894–1951). Tempera and ink on paper. New Canaan,
Connecticut, 1948. Collection of Yeshiva University Museum (1970.006). Gift of Charles Frost.
All Rights Reserved
Fifth printing, and first paperback printing, 2014
Paperback ISBN 978-0-691-16351-2
The Library of Congress has cataloged the cloth edition of this book as follows Botticini,
Maristella.
The chosen few : how education shaped Jewish history, 70-1492 / Maristella Botticini and Zvi
Eckstein.
p. cm. — (The Princeton economic history of the Western world) Includes bibliographical
references and index.
ISBN 978-0-691-14487-0 (alk. paper)
1. Jews—History—To 1500. 2. Judaism—History—To 1500. 3. Jews—Economic conditions—
To 1500. I. Eckstein, Zvi. II. Title.
DS117.B68 2012
909'.04924—dc23 2012001314
British Library Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available Publication of this book has been
aided by This book has been composed in Verdigris MVB Pro Text Printed on acid-free paper. ∞
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5
DEDICATED TO
My parents, Silvana and Giuseppe
My family, Dassie, Galia, Guy, and Gil
Contents
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 Tomás 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