With Perseverance and Faith From Kraków to New York

This chapter traces the beginnings of Bais Yaakov on American soil. The Bais Yaakov seminary in New York began quietly, exactly as had happened in Kraków. But the words of instruction were like a revelation. Very quickly, the number of students grew and the seminary blossomed. Jewish New York was recognizing a new world, the new-old idea of giving their daughters a Jewish education. Today, it has become an enormous educational institution with more than 500 students, a staff of forty teachers, a five-semester full-time seminary of the most exemplary rigour, an evening seminary, and the high school, in which the students acquire not only a clear and rigorous Torah education along with a first-class programme of government-sanctioned secular studies, but also preparation for life, instruction for future mothers in how to run a Jewish household. Ultimately, the Bais Yaakov education is about living yiddishkeit, the whole package and entirety of Jewish life. This is something that leaves its mark on all who pass through it.

Stolen Daughters and Stolen Idols

Chapter 3 continues the discussion of the Genesis Jacob cycle’s intertextual relationship to The Merchant of Venice, focusing intently on Shylock’s daughter Jessica. This chapter examines how Jessica’s character is informed by two key biblical figures from that cycle of stories: Dinah and Rachel. The story of Dinah’s abduction by a non-Jewish prince contains several notable ambiguities on the question of her consent, which is sometimes figured as rape, other times as a love affair. By examining a series of different translations of Genesis 34, this chapter discusses how our understanding of Jessica’s motivations can be developed and explored through contemporary Renaissance renditions of Dinah’s story. Then, through a discussion of the biblical Rachel who, like Jessica, steals valuables belonging to her father, the chapter discusses how Renaissance writers used Rachel’s story to address women’s moral education in 16th and 17th century English conduct manuals. By examining ways in which Rachel was figured as an agent of liminality and transgression, this chapter offers new contexts for interpreting Jessica’s absconsion from her father’s Jewish household, her romance and marriage to Lorenzo, and her longed-for conversion to Christianity.

The Impact of Household Slaves on the Jewish Family in Roman Palestine

In late antiquity most of the slaves owned by Jewish slave owners in Roman Palestine seem to have been domestic slaves. These slaves formed an integral part of the Jewish household and played an important role within the family economy. In a number of respects the master-slave relationship resembled the wife-husband, child-father, and student-teacher relationships, and affectionate bonds between the slave and his master (or nursling) would have an impact on relationships between other members of the family. Master and slave were linked to each other through mutual ties of dependency which counteracted the basic powerlessness of slaves. On the other hand, slaves had to suffer sexual exploitation and were considered honorless. Rabbinic sources reveal both similarities and differences between Jewish and Graeco-Roman attitudes toward slaves. The Jewish view of the master-slave relationship also served as the basis for its metaphorical use.