Wealth and Poverty in Jewish Tradition edited by Leonard J. Greenspoon.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Greenspoon, Leonard, Editor.

Contributor:

Greenspoon, Leonard J. (Leonard Jay), editor.

Series:

Studies in jewish civilization

Studies in Jewish civilization ; 26

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Judaism and social problems.

Poverty--Religious aspects--Judaism--Congresses.

Poverty.

Wealth--Religious aspects--Judaism--Congresses.

Wealth.

Genre:

Electronic books.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (0 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

: Purdue University Press, 2015.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Economic inequity is an issue of worldwide concern in the twenty-first century. Although these issues have not troubled all people at all times, they are nonetheless not new. Thus, it is not surprising that Judaism has developed many perspectives, theoretical and practical, to explain and ameliorate the circumstances that produce serious economic disparity. This volume offers an accessible collection of articles that deal comprehensively with this phenomenon from a variety of approaches and perspectives. Within this framework, the fourteen authors who contributed to Wealth and Poverty in Jewish Tradition bring a formidable array of experience and insight to uncover interconnected threads of conversation and activities that characterize Jewish thought and action. Among the questions raised, for which there are frequently multiple responses: Is the giving of tzedakah (generally, although imprecisely, translated as “charity”) a command or an impulse? Does the Jewish tradition give priority to the donor or to the recipient? To what degree is charity a communal responsibility? Is there something inherently ennobling or, conversely, debasing about being poor? How have basic concepts about wealth and poverty evolved from biblical through rabbinic and medieval sources until the modern period? What are some specific historical events that demonstrate either marked success or bitter failure? And finally, are there some relevant concepts and practices that are distinctively, if not uniquely, Jewish? It is a singular strength of this collection that appropriate attention is given, in a style that is both accessible and authoritative, to the vast and multiform conversations that are recorded in the Talmud and other foundational documents of rabbinic Judaism. Moreover, perceptive analysis is not limited to the past, but also helps us to comprehend circumstances among today’s Jews. It is equally valuable that these authors are attuned to the differences between aspirations and the realities in which actual people have lived.

Contents:

Cover

Copyright

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Editor's Introduction

Contributors

Wealth in the World of the Sages: Why Were Korach and Moses Rich People?

Care for the Poor and the Origins of Charity in Early Rabbinic Literature

The Violence of Poverty

Wealth and Rabbinic Self-Fashioning in Late Antiquity

Justice and Righteousness: Jewish and Christian Approaches to Charity and Poor Law in the High Middle Ages

1Q/4QInstruction: Training for a Money Changer?

Peddlers, the Great Jewish Migration, and the Riddle of Economic Success

The Legacy of the Kelm School of Musar on Questions of Work, Wealth, and Poverty

Conspicuous Charity and Jewish Unity: The Jewish Loterie in Nineteenth Century Paris

Getting Drunk, Dancing, and Beating Each Other Up: The Images of the Gentile Poor and Narratives of Jewish Difference among the Yiddish Intelligentsia, 1881-1914

Empty Hearts and Full Wallets: Poverty and Wealth in American Jewish Films, 1921-1932

Crossing Over: Class, Race, and Ethnicity in the Baltimore Films of Barry Levinson

The Cost of Living Jewishly: A Matter of Money or Values?.

Notes:

"Twenty-Sixth Annual Klutznick-Harris Symposium, October 27 and October 28, 2013, in Omaha, Nebraska."

Description based on print version record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-61249-426-9

OCLC:

925585870