Responsa in a Historical Context: A View of Post-Expulsion Spanish-Portuguese Jewish Communities through Sixteenth- and Seventeenth-Century Responsa

Awards:   Winner of AJS Jordan Schnitzer First Book Publication Award 2024
Author:   Debby Koren
Publisher:   Academic Studies Press
ISBN:  

9798887193595


Pages:   200
Publication Date:   08 February 2024
Format:   Paperback
Availability:   In Print   Availability explained
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Responsa in a Historical Context: A View of Post-Expulsion Spanish-Portuguese Jewish Communities through Sixteenth- and Seventeenth-Century Responsa


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Awards

  • Winner of AJS Jordan Schnitzer First Book Publication Award 2024

Overview

A Winner of the 2024 Association for Jewish Studies' Jordan Schnitzer First Book Publication Award This book contains a collection of eight annotated translations of responsa, alongside the original Hebrew texts, focusing on the post-expulsion Spanish-Portuguese communities of the sixteenth to seventeenth centuries. This collection will acquaint the reader with Jews who, following their expulsion, settled in the Ottoman Empire, in Palestine under the Mamluks, in Amsterdam and in Brazil. The period of the expulsion of the Jews from the Iberian Peninsula was a tragic time in Jewish history, but the revitalization of the post-expulsion Spanish-Portuguese Jewish communities in new locales is testimony to the human spirit and determination.  The volume includes eight chapters, each built around one responsum from one of the great halakhic authorities of the time. Topics include excommunication in Amsterdam, ʻagunotobligatory contracts and breach of agreement, heresy and humanist scholarship, informing on someone to the Venetian Inquisition, and more. Read a sample: bit.ly/koren-sampler

Full Product Details

Author:   Debby Koren
Publisher:   Academic Studies Press
Imprint:   Academic Studies Press
Weight:   0.381kg
ISBN:  

9798887193595


Pages:   200
Publication Date:   08 February 2024
Audience:   General/trade ,  Professional and scholarly ,  General ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print   Availability explained
This item will be ordered in for you from one of our suppliers. Upon receipt, we will promptly dispatch it out to you. For in store availability, please contact us.

Table of Contents

Introduction      Overview      The Halakhic Discourse in Responsa      Translation and Presentation      The Eight Responsa      Notes on Translation, Transliteration, and Citations      Glossary      Abbreviations      Further Reading Acknowledgments On Excommunication Responsa 1. Divorce out of Love: A Sixteenth-Century Woman’s Story—Rabbi David ben Solomon ibn Abi Zimra Responsum 1,398 2. The Tax Cut Lobby—Rabbi Joseph ibn Lev Responsum 4:14 3. Are You Calling Me a Heretic?!—Zᵉqan Aharon 25 4. Families Torn Apart—Rabbi Moses ben Joseph di Trani Responsum 1,142 5. What’s in a Name?—Rabbi Samuel de Medina Yo-re Deʻa 199 6. Is Your Blood Any Redder? The Case of an Informer in the Venetian Inquisition—Rabbi Solomon ben Abraham Ha-Kohen Responsum 4,31 7. Excommunication in Amsterdam—Baḥ (Ha-Yᵉshanot) 5 8. South of the Equator, in the New World—Torat Ḥayyim 3,3 Index

Reviews

"""In Responsa in a Historical Context, Deborah Koren makes these fascinating yet extraordinarily difficult documents come alive. She succeeds admirably in overcoming the challenge that faces all who would write about responsa for an audience of non-specialists, namely to offer sufficient explanation of the historical and halakhic (Jewish legal) context behind each submitted question without allowing that explanation to overwhelm the text and to drown out the unique voice of the rabbinical author. The book is an indispensable source of information, both on the history of the period it covers and on the ways that rabbis think, how they utilize textual analysis, logic, and rhetoric to craft answers to the question that Jews ask.”  — Mark E. Washofsky, Professor Emeritus of Jewish Law and Practice, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Cincinnati"


"""In Responsa in a Historical Context, Debby Koren makes these fascinating yet extraordinarily difficult documents come alive. She succeeds admirably in overcoming the challenge that faces all who would write about responsa for an audience of non-specialists, namely to offer a sufficient explanation of the historical and halakhic (Jewish legal) context behind each submitted question without allowing that explanation to overwhelm the text and to drown out the unique voice of the rabbinical author. The book is an indispensable source of information, both on the history of the period it covers and on the ways that rabbis think, how they utilize textual analysis, logic, and rhetoric to craft answers to the questions that Jews asked.”  — Mark E. Washofsky, Professor Emeritus of Jewish Law and Practice, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Cincinnati"


"“Through the analysis of responsa written by contemporary halakhic authorities, Debby Koren provides a deep understanding of the rejuvenation of Spanish-Portuguese Jewish communal life during an otherwise tragic period of Jewish history.” — Tradition ""In Responsa in a Historical Context, Debby Koren makes these fascinating yet extraordinarily difficult documents come alive. She succeeds admirably in overcoming the challenge that faces all who would write about responsa for an audience of non-specialists, namely to offer a sufficient explanation of the historical and halakhic (Jewish legal) context behind each submitted question without allowing that explanation to overwhelm the text and to drown out the unique voice of the rabbinical author. The book is an indispensable source of information, both on the history of the period it covers and on the ways that rabbis thought, how they utilized textual analysis, logic, and rhetoric to craft answers to the questions that Jews asked.”  — Mark E. Washofsky, Professor Emeritus of Jewish Law and Practice, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Cincinnati"


Author Information

Debby Koren is an independent researcher in the fields of halakha and responsa literature. She has lectured and taught Talmud and halakha in informal and formal adult settings. She has a Ph.D. in mathematics from The City University of New York and an M.A. in Talmud and Halakha from the Schechter Institute in Jerusalem.

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