Judaism and the Economy is an edited collection of sixty-nine Jewish texts relating to economic issues such as wealth, poverty, inequality, charity, and the charging of interest. The passages cover the period from antiquity to the present, and represent many different genres. Primarily fresh translations, from their original languages, many appear here in English for the first time. Each is prefaced by an introduction and the volume as a whole is introduced by a synthetic essay.
These texts, read together and in different combinations, provide a new lens for thinking about the economy and make the case that religion and religious values have a place in our own economic thinking. Judaism and the Economy is a useful new resource for educators, students, and clergy alike.
List of Contributors
Introduction, Michael Satlow
Section A: Ancient Sources
Introduction to the Ancient Sources
- Responsibilities of the Bailee (Exodus 22:6-7)
- Lending to the Poor (Exodus 22:24-26)
- Sabbatical and Jubilee Years (Leviticus 25)
- Tithes (Deuteronomy 14:22-29)
- Sabbatical Year (Deuteronomy 15:1-11)
- Righteousness and Redemption (Proverbs 10:2, 19:7)
- Debt and Egalitarianism (Nehemiah 5)
- Advice on Dealing with Money (Ben Sira 29)
- Do Not Steal (Philo, On the Decalogue, 135-137)
- A Treasury in Heaven (Matthew 6:19-33)
- The Problem with Wealth (Matthew 19:23-26)
- Taxes and Religion (Matthew 22:15-22)
- God and the Poor (Matthew 25:31-46)
- Collecting for the Poor (2 Corinthians 9)
- Laws of Forgotten Sheaths (Mishnah Peah 6:5-7)
- Who is Poor? (Mishah Peah 8:8-9)
- Economic Speculation and the Sacred (Mishnah Sukkah 3:4; Babylonian Talmud Sukkah 34b)
- Regulating the Market (Mishnah Baba Metzia 4:12)
- Avoiding the Cancellation of Loans (Mishnah Shevi’it, 10:3-4)
- Usury (Mishah Baba Metzia 5:1)
- Risk and Liability (Mishnah Baba Metzia 7:8)
- Market Intervention and the Common Good (Mishnah Keritot 1:7)
- Laws of Inheritance (Mishnah Baba Batra 8:5-7)
- The Economic Relationship between Spouses (Mishnah Ketubot 5:9)
- Receiving Charity (Tosefta Peah 4:10)
- Usury (Tosefta Baba Metzia 6:17)
- Usury and Poverty (Mekhilta de-Rabbi Shimon bar Yohai, on Exodus 22:24)
- Causes of Poverty (Sifre Zuta Deuteronomy 15:11)
- Wealth and Worthiness (Jerusalem Talmud Berakhot 9:1, 13b)
- Torah Study and Poverty (Jerusalem Talmud Peah 8:8, 21a-b)
- Wealth and the Divine (Jerusalem Talmud Peah 4:3, 18b)
- Market Intervention and the Common Good (Babylonian Talmud Pesachim 30a)
- The Requirement to Give Charity (Babylonian Talmud Baba Batra 9a-b)
- Poverty and Punishment (Babylonian Talmud Baba Batra 10a)
- Wealth and Divine Favor (Babylonian Talmud Nedarim 38a)
- Usury and the Poor (Exodus Rabbah 26); The text here is translated from MS Jerusalem, The National Library of Israel, 2º 4 5977, with emendations and corrections from other MSS.
Translation New Revised Standard Version
Translation New Revised Standard Version
Translation New Revised Standard Versin
Translation New Revised Standard Version
Translation New Revised Standard Version
Translation New Revised Standard Version
Translation New Revised Standard Version
Translation New Revised Standard Version
Translation by Charles Duke Yonge, The Works of Philo Judaeus. London: H.G. Bohn, 1854-1890
Translation New Revised Standard Version
Translation New Revised Standard Version
Translation New Revised Standard Version
Translation New Revised Standard Version
Translation New Revised Standard Version
Translated from MS. Kaufmann (A50)
Translated from MS. Kaufmann (A50)
Translated from MS. Kaufmann (A50) and MS. Munich 95
Translated from MS. Kaufmann (A50)
Translated from MS. Kaufmann (A50)
Translated from MS. Kaufmann (A50)
Translated from MS. Kaufmann (A50), with corrections.
Translated from MS. Kaufmann (A50)
Translated from MS. Kaufmann (A50)
Translated from MS. Kaufmann (A50)
Translated from Saul Lieberman, The Tosefta, 1:58
Translated from MS Vienna, Austrian National Library, Cod Hebr. 20
Translated from Jacob N. Epstein and Ezra Z. Melammed (eds.), Mekhilta d'rabbi Shimon b. Yochai (Jerusalem: Mekize Nirdamim, 1953), 212
Translated from Menahem I. Kahana, Sifre Zuta on Deuteronomy: Citations from a New Tannaitic Midrash (Jerusalem: Magnes Press, 2002), 215.
Translated from Talmud Yerushalmi: According to Ms. Or. 4720 (Scal. 3) of the Leiden University Library: With Restoration and Corrections (Jerusalem: Academy of the Hebrew Language, 2005), 68
Talmud Yerushalmi: According to Ms. Or. 4720 (Scal. 3) of the Leiden University Library: With Restoration and Corrections (Jerusalem: Academy of the Hebrew Language, 2005), 112
Talmud Yerushalmi: According to Ms. Or. 4720 (Scal. 3) of the Leiden University Library: With Restoration and Corrections (Jerusalem: Academy of the Hebrew Language, 2005), 95
Translated from MS. Munich 95
Translated from MS. Hamburg 165
Translated from MS Hamburg 165, with corrections from Genizah fragments
Translated from the Vilna edition of the Babylonian Talmud
Section B: Medieval
Introduction to the Medieval Sources
- Limitations on Property Ownership (Rashi on Leviticus 25)
- Lending to Non-Jews with Interest (Sefer Or Zarua Part III Bava Metzia § 208)
- Risk and Reward, Profit and Liability (Maimonides Mishneh Torah, Laws of Agents and Partners 2:2, 4; 5:1, 2)
- Wealth and Prophecy (Maimonides, Guide to the Perplexed II:32)
- Charity and the Cosmos (Moses de León, Unnamed Composition)
- Almsgiving and the Kabbalah (Moses de León, selection from Sefer ha-Rimmon)
- In Praise of Poverty (Zohar III:223a Parashat Pinḥas, Ra’aya Meheimna)
- Obligations to the Poor and the Shekhina (Zohar III:273, Parashat Eqev, Ra’aya Meheimna)
- The Problem of Wealth (The Hebrew Writings of the Author of Tiqqunei Zohar and Ra’aya Mehemna)
- Poverty and Prayer (The Hebrew Writings of the Author of Tiqqunei Zohar and Ra’aya Mehemna)
- Principles of Almsgiving (Sefer ha-Hinnukh §. 449)
- Private Property in the Synagogue (R. Isaac bar Sheshet Perfet, Responsum 253)
- Almsgiving and the Public Order (R. Joseph Karo); Translated from his comment on Jacob ben Asher, Arba’a Turim, Choshen Mishpat 1.
Translated from MS Leipzig 01. The transcribed text along with beautiful images of this manuscript that survives from the early thirteenth century Ashkenaz may be found at http://alhatorah.org/Commentators:Rashi_Leipzig_1.
Translated from Yaakov Farbstein, ed., Sefer Or Zarua (Jerusalem: Mekhon Yerushalayim, 2010), 276.
Translated from Maimonides, Mishneh Torah (Shabse Frankel Edition; New York: Congregation Bnei Yosef, 1990)
Translated from Moses Maimonides, Le guide des égarés: traité de théologie et de philosophie, ed. Salomon Munk (Paris: A Franck, 1856-66), vol. 2, 73b
Translated from Ms. Bayerische Staatsbibliothek München, Cod. Hebr. 47, 337b-338a
Translated from Elliot Wolfson, The Book of the Pomegranate: Moses de León’s Sefer Ha-Rimmon (Scholars Press: Atlanta, 1988), pp. 111-117.
Translated from Zohar III:223a, found in Reuven Margoliot, ed., Sefer ha-Zohar (4th edition; Jerusalem: Mossad HaRav Kook, 1978.
Translated from Zohar III:273, found in Reuven Margoliot, ed., Sefer ha-Zohar (4th edition; Jerusalem: Mossad HaRav Kook, 1978.
Translated from Efraim Gottlieb, ed. and annot., The Hebrew Writings of the Author of Tiqqunei Zohar and Ra’aya Mehemna (Jerusalem: Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, 2003), 180.
Translated from Efraim Gottlieb, ed. and annot., The Hebrew Writings of the Author of Tiqqunei Zohar and Ra’aya Mehemna (Jerusalem: Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, 2003), 15-17.
Translated from Charles Hayyim Dov Chavel, ed., Sefer ha-Hinnukh (Jerusalem: Mosad HaRav Kook, 1990), 575-576.
Translated from David Metzger, ed., She’elot U’teshuvot Yitzhak bar Sheshet (Jerusalem: Makhon Ohr Hamizrach; Makhon Yerushalayim, 1993), 324-325.
Section C: Modern Period
Introduction to the Modern Sources
- The Inevitability of Poverty (Keli Yakar on Exodus 22:24-26)
- "Workfare" (Keli Yakar on Exodus 23:5)
- A Plea for Jewish Toleration (Simone Luzzatto, Discourse on the Jews of Venice)
- A Plea for Jews’ Economic Integration into Britain (John Toland, Reasons for Naturalizing the Jews)
- A Limit on Charity Contributions? (Joseph Emden, Responsa I 3)
- An Obsession with Wealth (Rabbi Nachman from Breslov, "The Tale of the Master of Prayer")
- Richness and Torah (Rabbi Nachman of Breslov, Likutey Moharan 60)
- Charity and Salvation (Hayim David Hazan, Sermon in Izmir)
- Anti-Mammonism in Ante-Bellum America (Isaac Mayer Wise, "The Age and its Corruption")
- Scholars and the Communal Tax (Eliyahu Bechor Hazan, Responsum)
- Slavery (Harriet Beecher Stowe, and Isaac Meir Dik. Di Shklaveray)
- Priority for the Distribution of Charity (Yechiel Michael Epstein, Aruk Ha-Shulchan)
- Poverty and Laziness (Mendele Mokher Sefarim (S. J. Abramowitz), Sefer HaKabzanim)
- Poverty and the Religious Life (Rav Zadok ha-Kohen of Lublin, Machashavot Charutz)
- The Poor Person and the Self (Hermann Cohen, selection from Begriffe der Religion)
- Democracy and Dues (President’s Message, Congregation Adath Israel)
- The Working Class (Michael Gold, "The East Side I Knew")
- Middle Class in America (Rabbi Edgar Siskin, "Do You Live According to Your Means?")
- Is Wealth Compatible with Spirituality? (Lucy Dawidowicz, "Middle Class Judaism")
- A Bill to Allow Banking (Heter Isqa); Translated from http://online.pagi.co.il.
Translated from K’li Yakar (Jerusalem: Orot Hayyim, 2001; 2 volumes), 1:364-7.
Translated from K’li Yakar (Jerusalem: Orot Hayyim, 2001; 2 volumes), 1:367.
Translated from Simone Luzzatto. Discorso circa il stato de gl'Hebrei in particolar dimoranti nell'inclita Citta di Venetia, di Simone Luzzatto, Rabbino Hebreo (Vernice, 1638), 8B, 9A, 15B, 19B.
Translated from John Toland. Reasons for Naturalizing the Jew of Great Britain and Ireland on the Same Foot with all other Nations. Containing also, A Defence of the Jews against all vulgar Prejudices in all Countries (London: J. Roberts, 1714), 6, 15-17.
Jacob Emden, Teshuvot HaYavvetz (Lemberg 1884), I 3, 10b-11a.
Translated from Zvi Mark, The Complete Stories of Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav, Miscal (Tel Aviv and Jerusalem: Yediot Ahronoth and Chemed, 2014), 332-334.
Translated from Rabbi Nachman of Breslov, Likutey Moharan (rpt. Jerusalem: Imrey Shefer), 142.
Translated from Hayim David Hazan, Yitav Lev: Drosh Le’Shabbat Halbasha (Izmir, 1853), 4.
Isaac Mayer Wise, "The Age and Its Corruption," The Israelite, January 9, 1857; "The Age of Corruptions II: Mammonism and Science," The Israelite, January 30, 1857.
Translated from Eliyahu Bechor Hazan, Nediv Lev: Choshen Ha-mishpat (1866), siman 66.
Translated from Harriet Beecher Stowe, and Isaac Meir Dik, Di Shklaveray, Oder, Di Laybegenshaft (podanstvo) (Vilna: Tipograf Romm, 1868).
Translated from Yechiel Michael Epstein, Arukh ha-Shulkhan, Yoreh Deah (1884-1908), 251:3-45.
Translated from Mendele Mokher Sefarim (S. J. Abramowitz), Sefer HaKabzanim, in Kol Kitve Mendele Mocher Sefarim (Dvir: Tel Aviv, 1947), 116.
Zadok ha-Kohen of Lublin, Machashavot Charutz (Pyotrekov, 1712), 72
Translated from Hermann Cohen, Der Begriff der Religion im System der Philosophie [The Concept of Religion in the System of Philosophy] (1915), reprinted as vol. 10 of Werke, edited by Helmut Holzhey (Hildesheim: Georg Olms, 1996), 72-81.
"President’s Message," November 18, 1919, Board Minutes of Congregation Adath Israel, Louisville KY (American Jewish Archives).
Michael Gold, "The East Side I Knew," Jewish Life November 1954, vol. IX #1 (97), 25-27. Reprinted Courtesy of Jewish Currents.
American Jewish Archives, Papers of Rabbi Edgar Siskin, manuscript collection #64, folder 2, box 2. Sermon: 1/20/56 "Do You Live According to Your Means?" Reprinted courtesy of the American Jewish Archives.
Lucy Dawidowicz, "Middle Class Judaism: A Case Study," Commentary Magazine, June 1960, 492-503. Reprinted Courtesy of Commentary Magazine.
Bibliography
Index
Biography
Michael L. Satlow received his PhD in Ancient Judaism at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America and is Professor of Religious Studies and Judaic Studies at Brown University, USA. His research focuses on the social and religious history of Jews in antiquity. His most recent book is How the Bible Became Holy (2014). He has held fellowships from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation and the American Council of Learned Societies among others.
"Recent financial crises, rising income inequality, and the acceleration of economic globalization have posed some new moral questions, but they have also prompted renewed interest in longstanding concerns of economic ethics. When is property private? What is usury? What are the motivations and implications of charity? Michael L. Satlow, along with an international team of experts, has produced an indispensable resource for understanding different ways in which Jewish authors have attempted to answer such questions since antiquity. Through clear translations and helpful introductions, this volume enables readers to explore intersections of Judaism and economic thought across nearly three millennia."
- G. Anthony Keddie, University of British Columbia, Canada