Overview

In Law’s 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 community’s 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 Law’s 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

Full Product Details

Author:   Jay R. Berkovitz
Publisher:   Brill
Imprint:   Brill
Volume:   60
Weight:   0.652kg
ISBN:  

9789004417397

ISBN 10:   9004417397
Pages:   404
Publication Date:   21 November 2019
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Available To Order  
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Table of Contents

Contents Preface Acknowledgments Abbreviations Maps Introduction Part 1: Foundations 1 Writing Jewish History through a Legal Lens  Rabbinic Responsa Literature  Communal Registers (Pinkasim)  Lay and Rabbinic Court Records  Law as a Cultural System  The Production of the Metz Pinkas Beit Din 2 The Foundations of the Metz Kehillah  Return of the Jews to France and the Establishment of the Metz Community  Ritual and Identity  Material Culture  Economic Integration Part 2: Community, Governance, Authority 3 Communal Autonomy and Governance  Electoral and Administrative Procedures  Consumption and Social Status  Poverty and Social Welfare  Juridical Autonomy and Recourse to Non-Jewish Courts  Policing Religious and Cultural Boundaries 4 Lay and Rabbinic Judicial Authority  Lay and Rabbinic Tribunals  Sources of Law  Judicial Procedure  Functions of the Beit Din 5 Navigating the Challenges of Multiple Jurisdictions  Language  Production of Bi-lingual Documents  Patterns of Litigation in the Beit Din  Judicial Behavior of the Metz Beit Din  The Acquaintance of the Beit Din with French Law and Judicial Procedure  Navigating the Two Systems  The Impact of French Law on Rabbinic Jurisprudence Part 3: Family Affairs 6 Guardianship and Inheritance  Guardianship  Inheritance  Testamentary Charity 7 Women, Marriage, and Property  Betrothal and Marriage  Marital Property  Women in Credit and Commerce 8 Conclusion and Epilogue Glossary Bibliography Index

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Author Information

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).

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