Ageing in Medieval Jewish Culture / Elisha Russ-Fishbane.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Russ-Fishbane, Elisha, author.

Series:

Littman library of Jewish civilization (Series)

The Littman Library of Jewish Civilization Series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Aging--Religious aspects--Judaism.

Aging.

Judaism--History--Medieval and early modern period, 425-1789.

Judaism.

Genre:

History

Electronic books.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (417 pages)

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

London : The Littman Library of Jewish Civilization, [2022]

Summary:

This is a seminal study of cultural attitudes to old age among Jews of the medieval Mediterranean and Near Eastern regions. Rigorously researched and accessibly written, it will appeal to scholars across a range of disciplines as well as to the broader public. While the focus is on Jewish society and culture, critical context regarding the social history of ageing is provided by comparative perspectives from the Muslim world as well as from Spain and Provence and other areas of Christian Europe that were in the Arabic Andalusian cultural orbit.The study draws on many literary genres and scholarly disciplines: philosophy and theology, ethics and law, biblical commentary, Hebrew poetry, medical literature, and a host of marriage contracts, personal letters, and family and communal records from the Cairo Genizah. The result is a nuanced portrait of ageing as both a lived reality and a cultural paradigm in medieval Jewish society.

Contents:

Cover

Contents

Note on Transliteration

List of Abbreviations

Introduction

PART I: CONCEPTIONS AND PERCEPTIONS OF AGEING

1. How Old Is Old?

The Ages of Man

The Onset of Ageing

Early-Onset Ageing

Ageing and Gender

2. Longevity and Its Limits

The Question of Longevity in Judaism and Islam

Divine Providence or Human Agency?

Length of Years from the Primordial Past to the Messianic Future

3. Ageing Body, Ageing Mind

Coming to Terms with Old Age

Indignities of Old Age

Medieval Gerontology: From Elder Care to Preventative Care

An Enduring Optimism

Conclusion

PART II: AGEING IN FAMILY AND COMMUNITY

4. Grandparents and the Multigenerational Home

Elders and the Extended Family

The Multigenerational Household

Grandparents In Loco Parentis

5. Family Networks of Care

Retirement and Financial Dependence

Filial Duty and Familial Care

Alternative Family Units: Remarriage in Old Age

Dependence Revisited: Models of Care in Old Age

6. Community Support

Between Family and Community: Filial Piety in the Breach

Appeals for Aid

Communal Welfare

Help at Home

Personal Care and the Communal Safety Net

PART III: IDEAS AND IDEALS OF OLD AGE

7. The Dignity of Age

Learning to Act One's Age

Ethics of Ageing

The Undignified Elder: The Old Fool and Licentious Old Man

Honouring Elders

Between Dignity and Indignity

8. Facing Mortality: Towards a Hebrew Poetics of Ageing

A Call to Consciousness

If Not Now, When?

Youthful Bodies, Old Souls

The Reinvention of a Paradigm

9. The Sabbath of Life: Age and Wisdom in Medieval Jewish Thought

Ageing and Wisdom: A New Paradigm

Old Age and the Philosophical Ideal: Tracing the Tradition

Applications of the New Paradigm

Approaching the Sabbath of Life

Appendix: Life Expectancy and Medieval Mediterranean Jewry

Afterword: On an Integrative Approach to the Study of Old Age

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9781800853966

1800853963

9781802070736

1802070737

OCLC:

1507860232