A View from 14th Century Toledo: Rabbi Asher, a German Émigré, Transforms the Legal Culture in Castile-Reference-Cited by-同舟云学术

A View from 14th Century Toledo: Rabbi Asher, a German Émigré, Transforms the Legal Culture in Castile

Published:2023-10-25 Issue:11 Volume:14 Page:1351
ISSN:2077-1444
Container-title:Religions
language:en
Short-container-title:Religions

Author:

Galinsky Judah D.¹^ORCID

Affiliation:

1. Talmud Department, Faculty of Jewish Studies, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan 5290002, Israel

Abstract

In this study, I explore the way in which a German émigré rose to the status of a cultural hero in Castile, Spain, and how his work of law became one of the three “pillars” of Jewish law. A survey of the Jewish legal landscape in medieval Spain during the fourteenth century reveals a shift in the status of one of the centers of Talmudic and legal (halakha) studies there as compared with the previous century. The fortune of the center in Toledo changed dramatically, and this change is traceable to the impact of one German émigré, Rabbi Asher ben Jehiel. Many scholars have examined Asher’s life and work. However, none have seriously analyzed the change he brought to the legal culture in Castile or examined the mechanism of how this occurred. This study describes Asher’s impact and attempts to expose the processes that brought about this transformation.

Funder

Israel Science Foundation

Publisher

MDPI AG

Subject

Religious studies

Link

https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/14/11/1351/pdf

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