Pursuing justice: support for the poor in early Rabbinic Judaism
Treatment of the poor is a central concern of rabbinic Judaism. This paper examines the earliest discussions of allocations to the poor made at the harvest ( pe'ah [פאה, “corner” of a field], gleanings, forgotten produce , etc.) in Tannaitic or early rabbinic literature (especially Mishnah Pe&#...
| Published in: | Hebrew Union College annual |
|---|---|
| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
HUC
2016
|
| In: |
Hebrew Union College annual
Year: 2015, Volume: 86, Pages: 37-62 |
| RelBib Classification: | BH Judaism HD Early Judaism |
| Further subjects: | B
Justice
B Poverty B Rabbinic Judaism B Rabbinic literature B Early Judaism B Late Antiquity B Talmud B Tosefta |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | Treatment of the poor is a central concern of rabbinic Judaism. This paper examines the earliest discussions of allocations to the poor made at the harvest ( pe'ah [פאה, “corner” of a field], gleanings, forgotten produce , etc.) in Tannaitic or early rabbinic literature (especially Mishnah Pe'ah and Tosefta Pe'ah 1:1-4:7). Challenging recent scholarly assessments, I find that these allocations do not constitute “charity” because the householder gives nothing of his own. The framework of social or distributive justice also misses the mark, as the minuscule amounts prescribed for the poor suggest that the Tannaim did not formulate these laws to reduce inequalities. Rather, this article demonstrates how early rabbinic laws aim to achieve procedural justice to ensure equality of opportunity among the poor by instructing the householder how to refrain from interfering with God's direct distribution of produce to the needy. In doing so, the Tannaitic authors and redactors accept the persistence of inequalities between the poor and the well-off. The emphasis on procedure complements other forms of Tannaitic support that focus on the outcome of allocations to the poor. |
|---|---|
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Hebrew Union College annual
|
| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.15650/hebruniocollannu.86.2015.0037 |