ABSTRACT
Judaism and the Economy is an edited collection of sixty-nine Jewish texts relating to economic issues such as wealth, poverty, inequality, charity, and the charging of interest. The passages cover the period from antiquity to the present, and represent many different genres. Primarily fresh translations, from their original languages, many appear here in English for the first time. Each is prefaced by an introduction and the volume as a whole is introduced by a synthetic essay.
These texts, read together and in different combinations, provide a new lens for thinking about the economy and make the case that religion and religious values have a place in our own economic thinking. Judaism and the Economy is a useful new resource for educators, students, and clergy alike.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
part A|67 pages
Ancient sources
chapter A17|2 pages
Economic speculation and the sacred
chapter A27|1 pages
Usury and poverty
chapter A31|1 pages
Wealth and the divine
chapter A32|2 pages
Market intervention and the common good
part B|46 pages
Medieval sources
chapter B1|8 pages
Limitations on property ownership
chapter B2|3 pages
Lending to non-Jews with interest
chapter B3|2 pages
Risk and reward, profit and liability
chapter B6|7 pages
Almsgiving and the Kabbalah
chapter B7|2 pages
In praise of poverty
chapter B8|2 pages
Obligations to the poor and the Shekhinah
chapter B9|1 pages
The problem of wealth
chapter B10|1 pages
Poverty and prayer
chapter B12|6 pages
Private property in the synagogue
part C|75 pages
Modern sources