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“Butting against the prevalent view that wealth in and of itself is morally tainted, Gregg Gardner’s readings of the early rabbis and tanniatic ethics are provocative, insightful, and justified.”—Elizabeth Shanks Alexander, Professor of Religious Studies, University of Virginia
“Did the rabbis of antiquity—whose writings such as the Talmud critically charted the development of Judaism as we know it—care about the poor? The answer, as Gardner shows in this superb, readable, and sophisticated study, is surprisingly complex. Gardner’s argument that the rabbis’ approach to poverty relief cannot be disentangled from their own economic standing and opinions about wealth is both compelling and relevant.”—Michael L. Satlow, Professor of Judaic and Religious Studies, Brown University
List of contents
Contents
Acknowledgments
Abbreviations and Conventions
Introduction
1. The Wealth of the Early Rabbis
2. Harvest Allocations for the Poor
3. Charity Laws
4. Giving Mammon (Wealth)
5. Pay for the Giver
6. Charity as an Investment
7. Poverty Relief and the Anxiety of Wealth
8. Some Further Perspectives: Early Christian and Later
Rabbinic Traditions
Notes
Bibliography
Index of Ancient Sources
General Index
About the author
Gregg E. Gardner is Associate Professor and Diamond Chair of Jewish Law and Ethics at the University of British Columbia. He is author of The Origins of Organized Charity in Rabbinic Judaism.
Summary
Charity is central to the Jewish tradition. In this formative study, Gregg E. Gardner takes on this concept to examine the beginnings of Jewish thought on care for the poor. Focusing on writings of the earliest rabbis from the third century c.e., Gardner shows how the ancient rabbis saw the problem of poverty primarily as questions related to wealth—how it is gained and lost, how it distinguishes rich from poor, and how to convince people to part with their wealth. Contributing to our understanding of the history of religions, Wealth, Poverty, and Charity in Jewish Antiquity demonstrates that a focus on wealth can provide us with a fuller understanding of charity in Jewish thought and the larger world from which Judaism and Christianity emerged.
