ABSTRACT
The introduction establishes the Italian context, discusses issues in the study of women’s history, and presents the problems involved in using rabbinic materials as sources for social history. As the Renaissance gave way to the Catholic Reformation Jewish life flourished in northern Italy although Jews were confined to ghettos by night and subjected to scrutiny by inquisitions. Enriched by contact with the culture of their Christian neighbors, Jewish elite creativity flourished, including education, publishing, music, dance, art, prayer, religious, philosophical, and mystical literature, and belles lettres. Like some Christian women, a few named Jewish women made contributions in these areas. The main evidence about women and family negotiations is in rabbinic discussions involving usually anonymous individuals. Rabbinic discourse created a sense of ambiguity to build conflicting narratives and to support competing outcomes. Rabbis did not always have the authority to make decisions, and the parties used tactics to circumvent them. Rabbinic authority did not determine Jewish behavior, present a unified approach to Jewish practice, nor establish a collective status for all women. This chapter introduces the process of rabbinic negotiation, which is based not what the law says, but rather how it speaks for individuals, including women.
