Description
Book SynopsisFrom Catalonia to the Caribbean: The Sephardic Orbit from Medieval to Modern Times is a polyphonic collection of essays in honor of Jane S. Gerber’s contributions as a leading scholar and teacher. Each chapter presents new or underappreciated source materials or questions familiar historical models to expand our understanding of Sephardic cultural, intellectual, and social history. The subjects of this volume are men and women, rich and poor, connected to various Sephardic Diasporas—Spanish, Portuguese, North African, or Middle Eastern—from medieval to modern times. They each, in their own way, challenged the expectations of their societies and helped to define the religious, ethnic, and intellectual experience of Sephardim as well as surrounding cultures throughout the world.
Table of ContentsNotes on Contributors Jane S. Gerber: An Appreciation Brian M. Smollett> Introduction: From Catalonia to the Caribbean Federica Francesconi and Stanley Mirvis> Part 1: The Medieval Mediterranean 1 In the Beginning Was the Poem: Hebrew Prefatory Verse in Golden Age al-Andalus Maud Kozodoy> 2 Some Customs of Jews in Medieval Spain Norman Roth> 3 Textiles Travel: The Role of Sephardim in the Transmission of Textile Forms and Designs Vivian B. Mann> 4 The Jews of Medieval Spain: Community, Marginality and the Notion of a Mediterranean Society Jonathan Ray> Part 2: Women of the Genizah 5 Independent Jewish Women in Medieval Egypt: Enterprise and Ambiguity Judith R. Baskin> 6 A Look at Medieval Egyptian Jewry and Environs: Challenges and Coping Mechanisms as Reflected in the Cairo Genizah Documents Renée Levine Melammed> Part 3: Italy and Western Europe 7 The Sephardic Jewish Merchants of Venice, Port Jews, and the Road to Modernity Benjamin Ravid> 8 The Merchants at the Casino: Sephardic Elites and Leisure Time in Eighteenth-Century Livorno Francesca Bregoli> 9 LaJébéra et Les Confréries de la Nation Juive Portugaise de Bayonne au XVIIIe Siècle Gérard Nahon ל״ז> Part 4: Jews under Islam 10 Jews in the Central Islamic Lands in the Eleventh Century D.G. Tor> 11 Syrian-Jewish Emigration to Egypt Yaron Harel> 12 How Jews Became “Moroccan” Daniel J. Schroeter> Part 5: The Modern Experience 13 The Trial of Joshua Montefiore and the Limits of Atlantic Jewish Inclusion Stanley Mirvis> 14 The Absorption of Outsiders: Gibraltarian and North Africans in London’s Portuguese Jewish Community Aviva Ben-Ur> 15 From Childhood to Old Age in Twenty-Four Years: The Ecole Maïmonide in Algiers, 1940–1964 Jessica Hammerman> 16 Millàs Vallicrosa in Jerusalem (1937–1938) Thomas F. Glick> Part 6: Documents: Unknown Sephardic Voices 17 “And if I Could, I Would Leave Her More”: Women’s Voices, Emotions, and Objects from the Venetian Ghetto in the Seventeenth Century Federica Francesconi> 18 Jews and Muslims in Egypt at the Turn of the Seventeenth Century: Two Responsa of Ḥakham Ḥayim Capusi Matt Goldish> 19 A Report by Franz von Dombay in 1789 on the Moroccan Court Mentioning Jewish Courtiers Norman (Noam) A. Stillman> The Writings of Jane S. Gerber Index
