Maristella Botticini and Zvi Eckstein. The Chosen Few: How Education Shaped Jewish History, 70–1492.
Robert Chazan
The exhaustive research of S. D. Goitein, which eventuated in his remarkable five-volume A Mediterranean Society (1967–1993), has proven conclusively that during the first half Middle Ages Jews sphere Islam, who constituted overwhelming majority worldwide Jewry, were thoroughly diversified their economic pursuits, with sole exception involvement agriculture. As vitalization northern Europe began late tenth and eleventh centuries, made way into this rapidly developing region. There they encountered considerable resistance, resulted constriction outlets. a result, European became heavily concentrated business banking, early concentration continued to significant extent Jewish life down modernity, thus creating misleading imagery as exclusively people over ages. For medieval modern Christian West, raised an intriguing question. Was it result—at least part—of emphasis on literacy religious tradition? Since centerpiece liturgy involves regular public reading Bible, listeners expected follow closely, since oral law is supposed be studied well, was important value life. Researchers have recently suggested valorization may played role success centuries addition fitting for achievement higher education.
The American Historical Review