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Explaining Why They are ‘The Chosen Few’

April 23, 2013 by

The Jewish people went from being agrarian and illiterate in 70 CE to literate and money-savy urbanites in 1492. How did they do it? Maristella Botticini & Zvi Eckstein argue in their book The Chosen Few that it was due to educational reform. Read this new essay by the authors on PBS Newshour as they explain further Jewish success.

The Chosen Few: A New Explanation of Jewish Success

Imagine a dinner conversation in a New York or Milan or Tel Aviv restaurant in which three people–an Israeli, an American, and a European — ask to each other: “Why are so many Jews urban dwellers rather than farmers? Why are Jews primarily engaged in trade, commerce, entrepreneurial activities, finance, law, medicine, and scholarship? And why have the Jewish people experienced one of the longest and most scattered diasporas in history, along with a steep demographic decline?”

Most likely, the standard answers they would suggest would be along these lines: “The Jews are not farmers because their ancestors were prohibited from owning land in the Middle Ages.” “They became moneylenders, bankers, and financiers because during the medieval period Christians were banned from lending money at interest, so the Jews filled in that role.” “The Jewish population dispersed worldwide and declined in numbers as a result of endless massacres.”

Imagine now that two economists (us) seated at a nearby table, after listening to this conversation, tell the three people who are having this lively debate: “Are you sure that your explanations are correct? You should read this new book, ours, “The Chosen Few: How Education Shaped Jewish History,” and you would learn that when one looks over the 15 centuries spanning from 70 C.E. to 1492, these oft-given answers that you are suggesting seem at odds with the historical facts. This book provides you with a novel explanation of why the Jews are the people they are today — a comparatively small population of economically successful and intellectually prominent individuals.”

Suppose you are like one of the three people in the story above and you wonder why you should follow the advice of the two economists. There are many books that have studied the history of the Jewish people and have addressed those fascinating questions. What’s really special about this one?

Read the rest of this compelling article at The Newshour website:

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Economics, Jewish Studies, Twitter, World History

An academic quarrel over the Dead Sea Scrolls leads to jail time

February 20, 2013 by

Battles over scholarship are nothing new. The halls of academia are infamous grounds for feuds between professors and researchers with opposing ideas and theories. Rarely do these disagreements spill outside the campus walls or end up in court, but as the New York Times reports, a recent quarrel over the Dead Sea Scrolls has landed one person in jail.

Rafael Golb has, according to the New York Times article, been convicted of “waging an Internet campaign against his father’s academic rivals, including sending e-mails under a rival professor’s name.”

We recently published a biography of The Dead Sea Scrolls by John J. Collins. Listen in to a recent interview with Fresh Air, or read this quick excerpt from the book to throw some light on the recent news:

 

Rafael Golb

There would be yet another lawsuit relating to the Dead Sea Scrolls, arguably the most bizarre of all.

On November 19, 2010, the New York Times reported on page A24 that Rafael Golb, son of Norman Golb, was convicted in the State Supreme Court in Manhattan of establishing e-mail accounts pretending to be Lawrence Schiffman, and sending messages to university officials in which Schiffman supposedly confessed to plagiarism. Golb, a fifty-year-old real estate lawyer in New York, with a PhD from Harvard, said that the e-mails were merely parodies, but that he believed that Schiffman had plagiarized the work of his father Norman. (Schiffman and the elder Golb disagree on most issues relating to the Scrolls.) Golb had allegedly also sent e-mails in the name of other scholars, and sometimes anonymous e-mails, complaining that exhibitions of the Scrolls did not adequately represent the views of his father. (The father has been consistently and vocally critical of museum exhibits on the Scrolls, in blogs and letters to board members.) The younger Golb was present at the conference in the Blood Center in New York in 1992, when Schiffman had taken the lead in criticizing the work of Wise and Eisenman. His motivation has not been articulated, but it would seem to arise from a concern to defend his father’s views and to discomfit his perceived opponents. At the time of writing he has appealed his conviction.

 

Why the Fury?

Two famous sayings come to mind in rehearsing these disputes. One is Henry Kissinger’s dictum that academic disputes are so bitter because there is so little at stake. The other is Edmund Burke’s judgment on the French revolution: “vanity made the revolution; liberty was only the excuse.”

There can be little doubt that scholarly, and unscholarly, egos played an enormous role in the most heated disputes. Editors who were reluctant to make texts available to other scholars were guarding their position of privilege, even if they honestly believed that open access would lead to the proliferation of nonsense by incompetent headline seekers. Those who pressed most vocally for the release of the scrolls were not free of self-interest, either. There were reputations to be made and standing in the scholarly world to be achieved. Scholars set great store by claims to have been the first to publish something, even though the significance of the achievement may not be universally appreciated. Heated debates sometimes gave rise to personal animosities, and these contributed to some of the most bitter controversies. It should be said, however, that the acrimonious disputes involved only a small number of people at any time. Most scholars in the field have good collegial relations and only a limited appetite for controversy.

 

bookjacket
The Dead Sea Scrolls
A Biography
John J. Collins
Filed Under: Jewish Studies, Religion, Twitter Tagged With: , , ,

Three PUP Titles on Jewish Ideas Daily’s 40 Best Jewish Books of 2012

January 28, 2013 by

It may be the end of January already but 2012 was such a great year for PUP’s books that we’re just going to keep rolling out the good news from last year. Three PUP books made the list of the 40 Best Jewish Books of 2012 on Jewish Ideas Daily!

Inheriting Abraham coverInheriting Abraham: The Legacy of the Patriarch in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam by Jon D. Levenson

Not only did Inheriting Abraham make the list but it was also selected as the BEST nonfiction Jewish book of 2012.

“The best Jewish book in each category this past year?  Inheriting Abraham is the most impressive work of Jewish scholarship published during 2012.  For more than three decades, Jon Levenson has been quietly developing a biblical theology that would revolutionize Jewish understanding and worship, if only more Jews were to learn of it.  Inheriting Abraham is his most accessible book yet—a model of how exacting scholarship can be written for the well-educated layman.” ― D.G. Myers, Jewish Ideas Daily

The Book of Genesis: a Biography by Ronald Hendel

The Chosen Few: How Education Shaped Jewish History 70-1492 by Maristella Botticini & Zvi Eckstein

Another Jewish Studies book will be debuting in May 2013, No Joke: Making Jewish Humor. Unlike the previously published Jewish studies books that have made the above list, No Joke traces Jewish humor- a more light-heaNo Joke coverrted topic that nevertheless discusses important and fascinating questions about Jewish humor. It has already created quite a buzz:

“An essential examination of Jewish humor. Ruth Wisse ably traces the subject through high literature and low culture,  from Heine to Borat, offering new and glimmering insights in each case. She takes on the difficult questions, not least the one of utility: has humor helped the Jews, and does it help them still? No Joke is vastly erudite, deeply informative, and delightfully written–plus it’s got plenty of good jokes. What more could one ask for?”–Jeremy Dauber, Columbia University

2012 was certainly a great year for our Jewish books and with that in mind, here’s to wishing the best for our 2013 books!

Filed Under: Jewish Studies, Twitter

The Chosen Few – Winner of the 2012 National Jewish Book Award

January 16, 2013 by

Congratulations to Maristella Botticini & Zvi Eckstein, authors of The Chosen Few: How Education Shaped Jewish History, 70-1492, for winning the 2012 National Jewish Book Award in the category of Scholarship! As the longest-running North American awards program in the field of Jewish literature, the National Jewish Book Awards recognizes outstanding books of Jewish interest.

According to the Jewish Book Council, “The Chosen Few offers a powerful new explanation of one of the most significant transformations in Jewish history while also providing fresh insights to the growing debate about the social and economic impact of religion.” Check out the Introduction.

Also, a warm congratulations to Daniel B. Schwartz’s The First Modern Jew: Spinoza and the History of an Image, which was a finalist in 2012 National Jewish Book Award in the category of History. The jury’s statement notes, “Professor Schwartz develops his history over the centuries by highlighting key philosophers who became more supportive of Spinoza in each successive generation until we now come to think of Baruch Spinoza as one of the great modern philosophers.”

Read the official press announcement of all winners and finalists, here. And again, many congratulations to Maristella Botticini & Zvi Eckstein, and Daniel B. Schwartz!

Filed Under: Awards, Jewish Studies, Princeton University Press, Twitter

BOOK FACT FRIDAY

August 3, 2012 by

FACT: “When the Umayyad kingdom of Córdoba was established in 756, the city was the largest in Europe, with a population of about 100,000 people.”

The Chosen Few:
How Education Shaped Jewish History, 70-1492
by Maristella Botticini & Zvi Eckstein

In 70 CE, the Jews were an agrarian and illiterate people living mostly in the Land of Israel and Mesopotamia. By 1492 the Jewish people had become a small group of literate urbanites specializing in crafts, trade, moneylending, and medicine in hundreds of places across the Old World, from Seville to Mangalore. What caused this radical change? The Chosen Few presents a new answer to this question by applying the lens of economic analysis to the key facts of fifteen formative centuries of Jewish history.

Maristella Botticini and Zvi Eckstein show that, contrary to previous explanations, this transformation was driven not by anti-Jewish persecution and legal restrictions, but rather by changes within Judaism itself after 70 CE–most importantly, the rise of a new norm that required every Jewish male to read and study the Torah and to send his sons to school. Over the next six centuries, those Jews who found the norms of Judaism too costly to obey converted to other religions, making world Jewry shrink. Later, when urbanization and commercial expansion in the newly established Muslim Caliphates increased the demand for occupations in which literacy was an advantage, the Jews found themselves literate in a world of almost universal illiteracy. From then forward, almost all Jews entered crafts and trade, and many of them began moving in search of business opportunities, creating a worldwide Diaspora in the process.

The Chosen Few offers a powerful new explanation of one of the most significant transformations in Jewish history while also providing fresh insights to the growing debate about the social and economic impact of religion.

We invite you to read the Introduction here: http://press.princeton.edu/chapters/i9744.pdf

Filed Under: Book Fact Friday, Economics, History, Jewish Studies, World History

This Week’s Book Giveaway

March 12, 2012 by

On Wednesday, March 14 we’re celebrating Albert Einstein’s birthday and Pi Day—two very big events in Princeton! Einstein lived in Princeton for over 20 years, so to honor his big day we’re giving away a copy of a book of his quotations:

The Ultimate Quotable Einstein
Collected and edited by Alice Calaprice
With a foreword by Freeman Dyson

Here is the definitive new edition of the hugely popular collection of Einstein quotations that has sold tens of thousands of copies worldwide and been translated into twenty-five languages.

The Ultimate Quotable Einstein features 400 additional quotes, bringing the total to roughly 1,600 in all. This ultimate edition includes new sections—”On and to Children,” “On Race and Prejudice,” and “Einstein’s Verses: A Small Selection”—as well as a chronology of Einstein’s life and accomplishments, Freeman Dyson’s authoritative foreword, and new commentary by Alice Calaprice.

In The Ultimate Quotable Einstein, readers will also find quotes by others about Einstein along with quotes attributed to him. Every quotation in this informative and entertaining collection is fully documented, and Calaprice has carefully selected new photographs and cartoons to introduce each section.

-Features 400 additional quotations

-Contains roughly 1,600 quotations in all

-Includes new sections on children, race and prejudice, and Einstein’s poetry

-Provides new commentary

-Beautifully illustrated

-The most comprehensive collection of Einstein quotes ever published

Praise for previous editions: “All of us who lack Einstein’s intellectual and spiritual gifts owe a debt of gratitude to Princeton University Press for having humanized him in this innovative way.”—Timothy Ferris, New York Times Book Review

We invite you to read Chapter 1 here: http://press.princeton.edu/chapters/s9268.pdf

The random draw for this book with be Friday 3/16 at 3 pm EST. Be sure to like us on Facebook if you haven’t already to be entered to win!

Filed Under: Book Giveaway, History, history of science, Jewish Studies, Mathematics, Philosophy of Science, Physics, Pi Day, Princeton, Reference

What’s your favourite city?

February 27, 2012 by

Self-confessed city flâneur Avner de-Shalit was recently interviewed by fellow Princeton University Press author Diane Coyle. Professor de-Shalit is the author of The Spirit of Cities, along with co-author Daniel A. Bell:

Which are your favourite books about cities by other authors, and why?

If it’s a sociology of cities I like coming back to Georg Simmel’s classic book, but it’s because I think the opposite — he thought it was impossible to
create a sense of community in the city and I think it’s the only place where a genuine community can rise. But my best cities book is Yehuda Amichai’s poems book on Jerusalem. I wish I could do the same: squeeze the entire city into two to three sentences.

Of all the cities you’ve visited which are the most interesting to walk around?

Well, I am biased. I am just in love with Jerusalem, and it’s such a lunatic city. Half of its inhabitants believe they have a direct line to God. But outside my city, I think Berlin is the most exciting city today. One can see that the city simply changes every day, and that people are excited about it. The combination of ultra modern architecture with the remains of the Communist architecture, and the abundance of sites of collective memory — this is just amazing. Not very easy for somebody Jewish like me, but still, terribly interesting.

Your book advocates walking to imbibe the spirit of cities. Which group is winning the battle for control of urban space – people or vehicles? Are many cities becoming unwalkable?

Well, now that Time Square NYC is walkable, there is hope. In the US there is a list of the 50 most walkable cities and the 50 which are most friendly to cyclists. While cars still dominate today’s cities, at least planners and mayors are well aware of the need to think differently.

If you had to choose another city to live in, which would it be?

Oxford, Oxford, Oxford. When I studied there one of my professors heard me saying I liked it a lot, and he said: But you know it’s not a real place. Now I know he was wrong. Oxford is a city which is full of life and energy and creativity. Only one has to get away from the colleges, to walk in the neighbourhoods. You can see artists, novelists, poets, and people who want to be artists, novelists and poets.

This interview was originally published on Diane Coyle’s blog, The Enlightened Economist

Filed Under: Blogging Authors, Jewish Studies, Middle Eastern Studies, Sociology, Travel, United Kingdom, World History

Avner de-Shalit to discuss ‘The Spirit of Cities’ at three events in the UK

February 17, 2012 by

 

Princeton University Press author Avner de-Shalit will be speaking at three events in the UK next week. On Monday 20th February he will be discussing what makes cities tick at Jewish Book Week with Barbara Mann, chaired by Ziona Strelitz. On Tuesday 21st, Professor de-Shalit will be giving a lunchtime talk at The RSA (Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce) and discussing why cultivating the distinctive ‘spirit of cities’ is the best antidote to global homogenisation. Finally, on the evening of 21st February, he will be in Bristol, discussing cities with Sunder Katwala at a Bristol Festival of Ideas event. These talks all tie into Avner de-Shalit’s book, The Spirit of Cities, which is co-authored by Daniel A. Bell and was recently published by Princeton University Press.

The talks at Jewish Book Week and the RSA will be recorded and made available online. Please follow the links for more information.

 

Filed Under: Debates, Events, Jewish Studies, PUP Europe, Sociology, Uncategorized, United Kingdom, World History

“Father and the Führer’s War” from Endeavors at UNC–Chapel Hill

September 29, 2011 by

From Endeavors, a UNC-Chapel Hill magazine:

When his mother died in 1965, Konrad Jarausch gave away all her possessions except a few paintings, some photographs, and a brown briefcase full of letters. “I held onto them because they were the only link to my childhood, a way of keeping my mother’s memory alive,” he says. “And I suspected that if I wanted to meet my father later, I might be able to do so through these letters.”

Jarausch eventually read these letters in 2005 and discovered not only a wealth of family history, but also a unique soldier’s perspective on life at the Western front during WWII:

For Jarausch, the letters shatter the myth that ordinary army units were innocent. Regular soldiers, not just the SS, caused the deaths of millions of POWs, rural Russians, and Jewish civilians.

This discovery moved Jarausch to assemble the letters into a book — Reluctant Accomplice. Read more about Konrad Jarausch and the stash of letters that represent his only connection to his father here: http://endeavors.unc.edu/father_and_the_fhrers_war. They also have some terrific artwork — sketches and personal photos — from Jarausch’s own archives.

Filed Under: Jewish Studies, Twitter, World History

Konrad Jarausch at The Wilson Center, April 7, 4:00 PM

April 6, 2011 by

Don’t miss your chance to see Konrad H. Jarausch at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars tomorrow at 4:00.

Professor Jarausch’s lecture will be based on his latest work Reluctant Accomplice: A Wehrmacht Soldier’ s Letter from the Eastern Front. The book was recently reviewed in American Jewish World News, where reviewer Neal Gendler noted, “It’s difficult or impossible to summon sympathy for a soldier in Hitler’s army — even one with no hatred for Jews — but the letters home of Konrad Jarausch do peel away stereotypes.”

Konrad H. Jarausch is the Lurcy Professor of European Civilization at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is also Senior Fellow at the Center for Contemporary History in Potsdam and DAAD-Professor at the Freie Universitaet Berlin.

If you haven’t already, RSVP to this Facebook Event and tell your friends! Hope to see you there!

Date: April 7, 2011

Time: 4:00 – 5:30

Location: Ronald Reagan Building, 1 Woodrow Wilson Plaze, 1300 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Washington D.C.

More Info: Here

Filed Under: Events, Jewish Studies, Twitter

This Week’s Book Giveaway

March 14, 2011 by

In a tribute to Albert Einstein’s birthday, this week’s Facebook book giveaway is The Ultimate Quotable Einstein (collected and edited by Alice Calaprice). The Ultimate Quotable Einstein

In The Ultimate Quotable Einstein, readers will also find quotes by others about Einstein along with quotes attributed to him. Every quotation in this informative and entertaining collection is fully documented, and Calaprice has carefully selected new photographs and cartoons to introduce each section.

  • Features 400 additional quotations
  • Contains roughly 1,600 quotations in all
  • Includes new sections on children, race and prejudice, and Einstein’s poetry
  • Provides new commentary
  • Beautifully illustrated
  • The most comprehensive collection of Einstein quotes ever published

Can’t wait for the book, and need your Einstein quote of the day? Then, here it is:

“I believe that a simple and unassuming life is best for the body and mind.”–1930, p. 13.

Need more? Then check out this facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Ultimate-Quotable-Einstein/131377483560655

While you’re celebrating Albert Einstein’s birthday today, remember it’s Pi Day as well. Why celebrate Pi Day on March 14th, you ask? Because 3, 1 and 4 are the three most significant figures of pi, of course. Today is also Canberra Day in Australia and Commonwealth Day in the United Kingdom.

Here’s an Einstein quote to A. Chapple, Australia, February 23, 1954:  “I consider the Society of Friends the religious community that has the highest moral standards. As far as I know, they have never made evil compromises and are always guided by their conscience. In international life, especially, their influence seems to me very beneficial and effective.–Quoted in Nathan and Norden, Einstein on Peace, 511. Einstein Archives, 59-405.

And here’s a quote for the Brits celebrating Commonwealth Day today, “The wonderful experiences in England are still fresh in my mind and like a dream. The impression that this land and its wonderful intellectual and political traditions has made on me was even deeper, longer lasting, and greater than I had anticipated.”– To Lord Richard B. S. Haldane, June 21, 1921. CPAE, Vol. 12, Doc. 155

Each week’s book giveaway winner is chosen from the list of people who have LIKED us on Facebook.  Haven’t LIKED us yet? Then go to the top of our Facebook page and click on the LIKE button. Be part of the drawing, it takes place this Friday.

The Ultimate Quotable Einstein, collected and edited by Alice Calaprice.

Filed Under: Book Giveaway, history of science, Jewish Studies, Mathematics, Physics, Reference, United Kingdom

Early Modern Jewry and The Rebbe Win 2010 National Jewish Book Awards!

January 19, 2011 by

We are excited to announce that two Princeton books have just won National Jewish Book Awards administered by the Jewish Book Council! The purpose of the award, given annually since 1948, is designed to recognize outstanding books on Jewish topics each year. Awards are given in sixteen different categories, including debut fiction, scholarship, biography and Holocaust.

Congratulations to David B. Ruderman, whose book, Early Modern Jewry: A New Cultural History, has been declared winner of the 2010 National Jewish Book Award in the category of History. Ruderman’s book has been called “[b]rave, stimulating, highly erudite, and informative” by Moshe Rosman of the Jewish Review of Books, and owning the ability to “reopen and complicate the question of when modern Jewish history began, and suggests that far-reaching but under appreciated trends analogous to those traced in this book have already inaugurated a postmodern era of Jewish history” according to Lawrence Grossman of Forward (among many other favorable reviews by scholars and critics).

Samuel Heilman and Menachem Friedman’s The Rebbe: The Life and Afterlife of Menachem Mendel Schneerson, has been declared winner of the 2010 National Jewish Book Award in the category of American Jewish Studies. Heilman and Menachem’s piece, which has been called (among many other exciting reviews), “[l]ively and provocative. . . . [An] eye-opening account of the Rebbe’s ‘life and afterlife’ … [T]he best analytical study of the two major themes that it addresses” by Allan Nadler of Forward, was deemed the winner! Great work!

The National Jewish Book Awards will be presented in a gala ceremony open to the public on Wednesday, March 9th, 2011, 8:00 p.m. at the Center for Jewish History (15 West 16th Street, New York City).

To see other recent award-winning books from PUP, please click here.

Filed Under: Awards, Jewish Studies, Princeton University Press, Twitter
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