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Lawâs Dominion
Jewish Community, Religion, and Family in Early Modern Metz
Series: - Studies in Jewish History and Culture, Volume: 60
Author:
In Lawâs Dominion, Jay Berkovitz offers a novel approach to the history of early modern Jewry. Set in the city of Metz, on the Moselle river, this study of a vibrant prerevolutionary community draws on a wide spectrum of legal sources that tell a story about community, religion, and family that has not been told before.
Focusing on the communityâs leadership, public institutions, and judiciary, this study challenges the assumption that Jewish life was in a steady state of decline before the French Revolution. To the contrary, the evidence reveals a robust community that integrated religious values and civic consciousness, interacted with French society, and showed remarkable signs of collaboration between Jewish law and the French judicial system.
In Lawâs Dominion, Jay Berkovitz has gathered and meticulously mined a dazzling array of rich and complex rabbinic texts and records from Western Europe during the early modern period, including the pinkas of the rabbinic court of Metz that he previously rescued from oblivion. What emerges is a remarkably fresh depiction and incisive comparative treatment of central aspects of Jewish law, religion and family, which will have far-reaching ramifications for all future studies in these disciplines.
-Ephraim Kanarfogel, E. Billi Ivry University Professor of Jewish History, Literature, and Law at Yeshiva University
Focusing on the communityâs leadership, public institutions, and judiciary, this study challenges the assumption that Jewish life was in a steady state of decline before the French Revolution. To the contrary, the evidence reveals a robust community that integrated religious values and civic consciousness, interacted with French society, and showed remarkable signs of collaboration between Jewish law and the French judicial system.
In Lawâs Dominion, Jay Berkovitz has gathered and meticulously mined a dazzling array of rich and complex rabbinic texts and records from Western Europe during the early modern period, including the pinkas of the rabbinic court of Metz that he previously rescued from oblivion. What emerges is a remarkably fresh depiction and incisive comparative treatment of central aspects of Jewish law, religion and family, which will have far-reaching ramifications for all future studies in these disciplines.
-Ephraim Kanarfogel, E. Billi Ivry University Professor of Jewish History, Literature, and Law at Yeshiva University
Jay R. Berkovitz, Ph.D. (1983), Brandeis University, is Distinguished Professor of Judaic and Near Eastern Studies (Emeritus) at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He has published extensively in the fields of early modern history and law, including Protocols of Justice (Brill, 2014).
Contents
Preface
Acknowledgments
Abbreviations
Maps
Introduction
1 Writing Jewish History through a Legal Lens
âRabbinic Responsa Literature
âCommunal Registers (Pinkasim)
âLay and Rabbinic Court Records
âLaw as a Cultural System
âThe Production of the Metz Pinkas Beit Din
2 The Foundations of the Metz Kehillah
âReturn of the Jews to France and the Establishment of the Metz Community
âRitual and Identity
âMaterial Culture
âEconomic Integration
3 Communal Autonomy and Governance
âElectoral and Administrative Procedures
âConsumption and Social Status
âPoverty and Social Welfare
âJuridical Autonomy and Recourse to Non-Jewish Courts
âPolicing Religious and Cultural Boundaries
4 Lay and Rabbinic Judicial Authority
âLay and Rabbinic Tribunals
âSources of Law
âJudicial Procedure
âFunctions of the Beit Din
5 Navigating the Challenges of Multiple Jurisdictions
âLanguage
âProduction of Bi-lingual Documents
âPatterns of Litigation in the Beit Din
âJudicial Behavior of the Metz Beit Din
âThe Acquaintance of the Beit Din with French Law and Judicial Procedure
âNavigating the Two Systems
âThe Impact of French Law on Rabbinic Jurisprudence
6 Guardianship and Inheritance
âGuardianship
âInheritance
âTestamentary Charity
7 Women, Marriage, and Property
âBetrothal and Marriage
âMarital Property
âWomen in Credit and Commerce
8 Conclusion and Epilogue
Glossary
Bibliography
Index
Preface
Acknowledgments
Abbreviations
Maps
Introduction
Part 1: Foundations
1 Writing Jewish History through a Legal Lens
âRabbinic Responsa Literature
âCommunal Registers (Pinkasim)
âLay and Rabbinic Court Records
âLaw as a Cultural System
âThe Production of the Metz Pinkas Beit Din
2 The Foundations of the Metz Kehillah
âReturn of the Jews to France and the Establishment of the Metz Community
âRitual and Identity
âMaterial Culture
âEconomic Integration
Part 2: Community, Governance, Authority
3 Communal Autonomy and Governance
âElectoral and Administrative Procedures
âConsumption and Social Status
âPoverty and Social Welfare
âJuridical Autonomy and Recourse to Non-Jewish Courts
âPolicing Religious and Cultural Boundaries
4 Lay and Rabbinic Judicial Authority
âLay and Rabbinic Tribunals
âSources of Law
âJudicial Procedure
âFunctions of the Beit Din
5 Navigating the Challenges of Multiple Jurisdictions
âLanguage
âProduction of Bi-lingual Documents
âPatterns of Litigation in the Beit Din
âJudicial Behavior of the Metz Beit Din
âThe Acquaintance of the Beit Din with French Law and Judicial Procedure
âNavigating the Two Systems
âThe Impact of French Law on Rabbinic Jurisprudence
Part 3: Family Affairs
6 Guardianship and Inheritance
âGuardianship
âInheritance
âTestamentary Charity
7 Women, Marriage, and Property
âBetrothal and Marriage
âMarital Property
âWomen in Credit and Commerce
8 Conclusion and Epilogue
Glossary
Bibliography
Index
All interested in Jewish history, Jewish law and religion, and anyone with interest in law, jurisprudence, and early modern France.