Yaron Ayalon, Ph.D. 2009

This book is a history of Ottoman Jews that challenges prevailing assumptions about Jews’ arrival in the empire, their relations with Muslims, and the role of religious and lay leaders. The book argues that rabbis played a less prominent role as communal and spiritual leaders than we have thought; and that the religious community was one of several frameworks within which Ottoman Jews operated. A focus on charitable and educational communal practices shows that with time Jews preferred to avoid the scrutiny of rabbis and the community, leading to private initiatives that undermined rabbinical and lay authority.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1: Ottoman Jewry, Origins and Growth

Chapter 2: Ottoman Jewry, Opportunities and Crises

Chapter 3: Communal Leadership, Rabbis, and Others

Chapter 4: Poor Relief and Communal Authority

Chapter 5: Education, Reading, and Rabbinical Authority

Conclusion

Bibliography

Index