The Chosen Few: How Education Shaped Jewish History, 70-1492 (The Princeton Economic History of the Western World, 42) 1st Edition

by Maristella Botticini (Author), Zvi Eckstein (Author)

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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Winner of the 2012 National Jewish Book Award in Scholarship"

"One of Jewish Ideas Daily.com's 40 Best Jewish Books of 2012"

"[A]mbitious . . . systematically dismantle much of the conventional wisdom about medieval Jewish history."---Jonathan B. Krasner, Forward

"[W]here so many have simply taken as a given universal literacy among Jews, [Botticini and Eckstein] find that a majority of Jews actually weren't willing to invest in Jewish education, with the shocking result that more than two-thirds of the Jewish community disappeared toward the end of the first millennium. . . . The astonishing theory presented here has great implications for both the Jewish community and the broader world today."---Steven Weiss, Slate

"[E]ventually, The Chosen Few will have changed the course of history in the Middle East . . . as part of a broad reinterpretation of the history of the peopling of the world, underway for a century and a half, that has begun gathering force since the 1990s. . . . This may be the first you have heard about The Chosen Few, but I pretty much guarantee you that it will not be the last."---David Warsh, Economic Principals

"[P]rovocative." ― Choice

"Botticini and Eckstein's simple yet sophisticated human capital analysis provides new insights into Jewish history for the fourteen centuries covered in this book. . . . [Their] methodology yields a very convincing Cliometric analysis that we can expect to inform all future economic histories of the Jews between 70 and 1492."---Carmel U. Chiswick, EH.net

"I found The Chosen Few, a book on Jewish economic history by Maristella Botticini and Zvi Eckstein, enormously enlightening and relevant to the draft-the-Haredim debate."---Shlomo Maital, Jerusalem Report

"If you've ever wondered how the Chosen People survived the vagaries of history, reading The Chosen Few will give you answers you cannot find anywhere else." ― Huffington Post

"This is a trailblazing, original, illuminating and horizon-broadening book."---Manuel Trajtenberg, Haaretz

Review

"Maristella Botticini and Zvi Eckstein have written a remarkably interesting book with a new hypothesis about the occupational structure of the Jews. The authors adduce serious evidence for their hypothesis, which lays stress on the requirement introduced nearly 2,000 years ago for universal male literacy among the Jews. This is a fascinating and persuasive combination of history and economics, worth reading by all, even the unhappy few who like neither history nor economics."―Stanley Fischer, governor of the Bank of Israel

"The Chosen Few is a masterpiece: an ambitious, informed, and inspirational reinterpretation of Jewish social and economic history."―Avner Greif, Stanford University

"In this bracing work of economic history, Maristella Botticini and Zvi Eckstein demonstrate how literacy and contract law combined to give Jews a competitive advantage in urbanizing societies. Sure to generate controversy, The Chosen Few takes on one of the truly big questions in Jewish history and sheds intriguing new light on it."―David Biale, University of California, Davis

"Botticini and Eckstein are changing the way economic historians think about Jewish history, and this seminal book will also change the way historians, Jewish studies scholars, and general readers think about the subject. Indeed, the importance of this book can scarcely be exaggerated. An excellent example of economic history that is accessible to general readers, The Chosen Few makes a compelling case for an exciting new perspective that will inspire much further research and be the focus of attention for years to come."―Carmel Chiswick, George Washington University

"This is a mature, original, and significant new attempt to answer one of the most vexing problems in Jewish and economic history. For the general reader it provides an incisive view of the salient facts of Jewish economic history. For the economic historian it opens up a challenging new thesis. And for historians of Judaism and religion it provides a new interpretation of the social and economic impact of religion."―Michael Toch, Hebrew University of Jerusalem

From the Inside Flap

"Maristella Botticini and Zvi Eckstein have written a remarkably interesting book with a new hypothesis about the occupational structure of the Jews. The authors adduce serious evidence for their hypothesis, which lays stress on the requirement introduced nearly 2,000 years ago for universal male literacy among the Jews. This is a fascinating and persuasive combination of history and economics, worth reading by all, even the unhappy few who like neither history nor economics."--Stanley Fischer, governor of the Bank of Israel

"The Chosen Few is a masterpiece: an ambitious, informed, and inspirational reinterpretation of Jewish social and economic history."--Avner Greif, Stanford University

"In this bracing work of economic history, Maristella Botticini and Zvi Eckstein demonstrate how literacy and contract law combined to give Jews a competitive advantage in urbanizing societies. Sure to generate controversy,The Chosen Few takes on one of the truly big questions in Jewish history and sheds intriguing new light on it."--David Biale, University of California, Davis

"Botticini and Eckstein are changing the way economic historians think about Jewish history, and this seminal book will also change the way historians, Jewish studies scholars, and general readers think about the subject. Indeed, the importance of this book can scarcely be exaggerated. An excellent example of economic history that is accessible to general readers,The Chosen Few makes a compelling case for an exciting new perspective that will inspire much further research and be the focus of attention for years to come."--Carmel Chiswick, George Washington University

"This is a mature, original, and significant new attempt to answer one of the most vexing problems in Jewish and economic history. For the general reader it provides an incisive view of the salient facts of Jewish economic history. For the economic historian it opens up a challenging new thesis. And for historians of Judaism and religion it provides a new interpretation of the social and economic impact of religion."--Michael Toch, Hebrew University of Jerusalem

From the Back Cover

"Maristella Botticini and Zvi Eckstein have written a remarkably interesting book with a new hypothesis about the occupational structure of the Jews. The authors adduce serious evidence for their hypothesis, which lays stress on the requirement introduced nearly 2,000 years ago for universal male literacy among the Jews. This is a fascinating and persuasive combination of history and economics, worth reading by all, even the unhappy few who like neither history nor economics."--Stanley Fischer, governor of the Bank of Israel

"The Chosen Few is a masterpiece: an ambitious, informed, and inspirational reinterpretation of Jewish social and economic history."--Avner Greif, Stanford University

"In this bracing work of economic history, Maristella Botticini and Zvi Eckstein demonstrate how literacy and contract law combined to give Jews a competitive advantage in urbanizing societies. Sure to generate controversy, The Chosen Few takes on one of the truly big questions in Jewish history and sheds intriguing new light on it."--David Biale, University of California, Davis

"Botticini and Eckstein are changing the way economic historians think about Jewish history, and this seminal book will also change the way historians, Jewish studies scholars, and general readers think about the subject. Indeed, the importance of this book can scarcely be exaggerated. An excellent example of economic history that is accessible to general readers, The Chosen Few makes a compelling case for an exciting new perspective that will inspire much further research and be the focus of attention for years to come."--Carmel Chiswick, George Washington University

"This is a mature, original, and significant new attempt to answer one of the most vexing problems in Jewish and economic history. For the general reader it provides an incisive view of the salient facts of Jewish economic history. For the economic historian it opens up a challenging new thesis. And for historians of Judaism and religion it provides a new interpretation of the social and economic impact of religion."--Michael Toch, Hebrew University of Jerusalem

About the Author

Maristella Botticini is professor of economics, as well as director and fellow of the Innocenzo Gasparini Institute for Economic Research (IGIER), at Bocconi University in Milan. Zvi Eckstein is dean of the Arison School of Business and of the School of Economics at IDC Herzliya in Herzliya, Israel; Judith C. and William G. Bollinger visiting professor in the Finance Department at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania; and emeritus professor in the Eitan Berglas School of Economics at Tel Aviv University.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Princeton University Press; 1st edition (August 5, 2012)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 344 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0691144877
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0691144870
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.31 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.4 x 1 x 9.2 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,176,469 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #241 in Judaism (Books)
- #824 in Jewish Social Studies
- #1,618 in History of Judaism

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0 points Disingenuous

Reviewed in the United States on December 17, 2019

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The authors dismiss scholars and historians to push two bizarre theories. First, that the Diaspora, the catastrophic event of Jews losing their homeland under 1st century Rome, and subsequently, the segregation or ghettoization of Jewish communities throughout Europe, were self imposed. Secondly, the notion that Jews, were not excluded from professions outside of money lending, but that money lending was the profession of choice.
Even more absurd is the authors’ attempt to prove their assumptions by distorting tragic, historical events of ostracization, to fit their notion. It is common knowledge that Christians and Muslims were disallowed money lending.
Education as a prerequisite for Jews answers as to why Jews would have had such a variety of professions, but only Antisemitism answered as to why Jews were limited to money lending.
The authors not only hold a twisted view of Jewish history, but also lack the understanding of what Jewish communities suffered and endured.
The book: disingenuous at best, despicable at worst, is indeed authored by two professors with an agenda.

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OUTSTANDING ICONOCLASM BUT SOME UNSUPPORTED PROPOSITIONS

Reviewed in the United States on July 9, 2018

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This is an important book demonstrating that widely accepted interpretations of Jewish history are wrong: “Did Jews in medieval Europe become segregated into moneylending because they were excluded from other occupations? Did they specialize in moneylending because of usury bans on Muslims and Christians? Did the fear of attack during the Crusades or episodes of banishment make them prefer to invest in portable human capital instead of physical capital (e.g., land), and did this, in turn, foster their entry and then specialization in moneylending? …the historical evidence supports none of these hypotheses (p. 237).
Instead, the authors marshal convincing evidence that education combined with networking and Rabbinic judicial institutions provided Jews with a specific advantage enabling them to move from agriculture to higher income and social status professions.
After the destruction of the Second Temple emphasize shifted from sacrifices to the Torah. Judah Hanasi and “generations of scholars before him and during his time—the Tannaim in the academies—contributed to the development of Judaism into a ‘club’ that imposed a unique obligation on its members: the requirement to read and study the Torah and to send one’s children to the synagogue or school to do the same” (p. 77). And “In addition to basic literacy, Jews who learned the Talmud acquired skills in rational thinking and problem analysis” (p. 135).
As a result “Jews were engaged in a wide range of crafts, trade, moneylending, tax collection, state bureaucracy, and medicine” (p. 38). And “the entry and then specialization of the Jews in lending money at interest can be explained by their comparative advantage in the four assets that were (and still are) the pillars of financial intermediation: capital, networking, literacy and numeracy, and contract-enforcement institutions” (p. 241).
Thus, it was the pull of economic opportunities and the specific advantages of Jews which lead to their occupational structure, not the push of prohibitions and prosecutions.
These are crucial findings well supported by data presented in the book. But the economic model shaping the thinking of the authors also drove them to conclusions which are not supported by empiric evidence. When discussing rapid declines of Jewish populations in periods of economic breakdown their explanation is that economic interests drove many Jews to convert: “In subsistence rural economies, where literacy did not bring any economic return and where urban skilled jobs benefiting from literacy were almost absent, it became more expensive and less profitable for a significant proportion of the Jews to obey the norms of their religion, including the costly norm requiring fathers to educate their children” (p. 266). Therefore many converted and the number of Jews declined rapidly.
But, in contrast to other explanations offered in the book, this one is not supported by any evidence, being instead assumed on the basis of a very shallow view of religious beliefs as if they are mainly chosen as a result of cost-benefit calculus. Ignored are all the studies on the psychology of religions feelings and the facts on clinging to one’s religion despite hardship and easy conversion options.
Still, the main findings of the book are very important and well supported by empiric evidence in addition to economic theories. I look forward to the next book promised by the authors dealing with the Jewish people in the epoch of modernity.

Professor Yehezkel Dror
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

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Scholarly and Economic theory that explains the course of Jewish history over 1400 years.

Reviewed in the United States on August 17, 2015

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How and why did the Jewish people survive for so long without a home country of their own? How did they end up disbursed throughout the world and always seemed to be in the middle to upper middles classes? Why was there such a concentration of Jews amongst the world's moneylenders and bankers? These questions have been asked for many years, if not centuries and this book offers its own theory as to why and how this came to be. This book takes a somewhat different tack as it is written by two economists who apply current economic theories to try and understand Jewish history over the past two millennia.

Their theory boils down to an observation that the Jewish people decided to focus on literacy as the key element of their religious practices and developed primary education for all boys and many girls as well. This focus on literacy allowed them to capture opportunities that arose when the population shifted from purely agrarian pursuits to urban environments with a heavy reliance on trade. Farmers did not need to be literate to be able to properly farm their lands and would actually pay a higher price if their children did not help in farming chores since they were studying. Add to this the costs of the education and these economists point out that economic theory predicts that there must have been something of value to have the Jewish people focus on literacy. In turn, these skills helped them take advantage of opportunities that required those skills as a base and therefore the Jews were best positioned, as a people, to move into trade, crafts, medicine, scholarship, and money-lending (i.e. banking).

The book covers the time period from the destruction of the Second Temple in AD 70, to 1492 which was the height of the European expulsion of Jews from Spain, buy came at the end of several waves of expulsions throughout Europe. Tracing this timeline, the authors describe the history and population distribution of the Jews, as well as the rise and fall of various population measures. Comparing these to the equivalent movements among non-Jews the authors point out why their theory explains these various movements and therefore provides a more satisfactory explanation that any other posited up till now.

Before the destruction of the temple, the Jewish people were mostly illiterate farmers who relied on a small cadre of high priests for their religious guidance. This was identical in all respects to every other community of that time with the exception of the Jews believing in the existence of only one god. Of course, there were many sects amongst the Jews at that time - some of which are described as Christians. Once the temple was destroyed, that pillar of faith was gone and the remaining sects either demanded a closer adherence to the Torah through study, or relaxed their strictures on what it meant to be a Jew. This latter movement led to Paul's teaching which took Christianity in a completely different direction so that it became its own separate religion, rather than a Jewish Sect. The Jews focused on the requirement that each father must educate his sons to read the Torah and learn a craft. No other religion or sect required this. To allow this to happen, the leaders of the Jewish community created a system of primary and secondary schools where Jewish children could go to study in each Jewish community. The costs for this were born by the Jews themselves as well as the opportunity costs when the children could not perform other work as they were studying. These extra costs caused two things to happen: First, The Jewish people were well positioned to take advantage of commercial opportunities which started arising in the large Muslim empire of the early 7th century. And secondly, those Jews who could not afford these costs, or were not committed enough to bear them, moved away from Judaism and converted to Christianity or Islam - religions that were much less demanding.

The Jews also self-selected. Those who could not, or would not, learn to read and study were shunned by those Jews who could with restrictions of association and marriage made on them. This further alienated those Jew would did not learn to read and that pushed them away from the one religion on to another. That is the reason why - the authors claim - that in some cases Jewish populations shrank by 50 to 90 percent while the other peoples they resided amongst shrank by significantly smaller percentages. This is in contrast to the commonly accepted theory that Jews were slaughtered or forced to convert. The authors point out that while there were certainly events of such type over the years, they cannot explain the huge falls in Jewish numbers, while a willing conversion due to dire economic conditions does. This always seemed to happen when the society of the time was hit by a large extraneous shock that caused that society to go back to a more subsistence agrarian basis than before. The two main such waves are the times right after the various Jewish revolts in the first century AD, and right after the Mongol invasion of the Middle East which effectively destroyed the rich and vast Muslim empire.

Since this is an economic study, it is written carefully with some economic jargon mixed in. There are also annexes to chapters that present the mathematical underpinnings of some of the points made in those chapters. In other words, this is not a light reading book. As it happens, I did take it with me on a beach vacation, which was not a good move, as this book requires reflection and concentration to really understand the message. Nonetheless, I enjoyed it and am looking forward to the followup book which the authors promise. This next one is supposed to cover the time from 1492 to the present day and will deal with another major shock to Jewish life- the Holocaust.

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Gabriel Stein

Absolutely fascinating

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 5, 2019

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This book takes one of the key theses of Jewish history - that is were driven into finance and related professions by discrimination and the closure of other fields to them, and hence became a literate an numerate people - and turns it on its head.

Instead, the authors show that the restrictions on Jews engaging in other fields is (with the exception of the state bureaucracy) a myth. It is because the Jews were a literate and numerate people that they bakades away from agriculture and into the proffessions, notably finance and trading, where they possessed a number of advantages.

More to the point, at least in my opinion, they conclusively prove their case. A must-read!

DrKarma

New Approach

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 30, 2015

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Excellent new approach to very interesting and often controversial topic

Jean-Paul Azam

Un club onéreux

Reviewed in France on December 13, 2017

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Maristella Boticini et Zvi Eckstein nous offrent une narration magistrale de quinze siècles d'histoire des juifs basée sur les principes fondamentaux de l'analyse économique. La destruction du temple en 70 CE a changé radicalement la religion juive, privée dès lors de sa dimension sacrificielle, à laquelle les Chrétiens avaient renoncé volontairement quelques décennies plus tôt. Débarrassés ainsi de la domination des prêtres, les Pharisiens deviennent dominants et imposent un coût important à ceux qui veulent rester juifs: ils doivent s'assurer que leurs fils apprennent à lire la Thora dès l'âge de six ou sept ans, et continuent à s'instruire toute leur vie, ce qui n'apporte rien de tangible à ce peuple de paysans. Un tri se fait et les moins ambitieux préfèrent se convertir au christianisme. Alors que leur nombre diminue sans cesse, les Juifs qui restent deviennent une élite lettrée capable de s'adapter aux évolutions économiques liées à l'urbanisation, qui leur donne un débouché lucratif pour leur capital humain rare et utile dans les nouvelles professions qualifiées, surtout dans le monde musulman un peu plus tard. Finie l'agriculture les voilà artisans ou prêteurs d'argent dans les riches villes du monde méditerranéen. Mais surviennent les invasions mongoles, destructrices de cette société riche et urbanisée où les juifs tirent adroitement leur épingle du jeu. Le retour à une économie de subsistance entraîne des conversions nombreuses à l'Islam, qui n'inflige pas le coût d'éducation des fils imposé par le Talmud, éducation qui perd sa valeur économique dans un monde redevenant paysan. Mais, le développement économique de l'Europe pendant le beau Moyen Âge, avec son développement urbain, permet aux juifs de retrouver leur milieu de prédilection, dans un monde où le prêt d'argent est interdit (plus ou moins) aux autochtones. Ils se spécialisent dans cette activité qui requiert de savoir écrire des contrats et tenir des comptes précis, et ils s'enrichissent à nouveau. Hélas, les créanciers ne sont pas très populaires en période de récession, et le juifs subissent des expulsions massives de plusieurs pays européens, une façon efficace pour les puissants d'effacer leurs dettes. Ce résumé trop court ne rend pas justice à la richesse de cet ouvrage qui applique de façon magistrale l'analyse économique des religions, avec une richesse historique époustoufflante, aussi bien par l'accumulation d'anecdotes significatives que par l'utilisation systématique de données quantitatives.

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N. Froese

Religiös motivierte Alphabetisierung als wichtiger Schlüssel zum Verständnis der jüdischen Geschichte

Reviewed in Germany on January 8, 2017

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Nach der Zerstörung des Zweiten Tempels in Jerusalem (70 n.Chr.) rückt die Fähigkeit die Thora lesen zu können ins Zentrum des Judentums. Dass Gläubige Verse aus den fünf Büchern Moses in der Synagoge verlesen, wird erst jetzt zentrale Praxis des mosaischen Glaubens. Bald galt es nun als die religiöse Pflicht des jüdischen Vaters für die Alphabetisierung seiner Söhne zu sorgen. Diese Besonderheit der alt-israelitischen Kultur machen die Autoren zum Ausgangspunkt ihrer historischen Analyse.

Mit dem Entstehen der islamischen Großreiche ergeben sich für die alphabetisierten Juden neue Möglichkeiten des Gelderwerbs. Sie wenden sich größtenteils von bäuerlichen Lebensformen ab und ergreifen Berufe in den urbanen Zentren der Kalifenreiche. Die bisher eher belastende religiöse Pflicht zur Alphabetisierung erweist sich nun als riesige Chance. Juden sind besser als andere Bevölkerungsgruppen auf die Veränderungen einer voranschreitenden Urbanisierung vorbereitet. Sie werden Handwerker, Händler, Geldverleiher. Alles Berufe in denen sie von der Alphabetisierung profitieren können und die für nicht alphabetisierte Volksgruppen weitgehend verschlossen bleiben. Damit ist der Anfangspunkt der für das Judentum so auffälligen Konzentration auf bestimmte Berufsgruppen gemacht.

Vor diesem Hintergrund verfolgen die Autoren die jüdische Geschichte bis 1492 (Fall von Granada, Vertreibung der Juden aus Spanien). Die prägenden Faktoren für die jüdische Geschichte sehen sie dabei weniger in gesetzlichen Diskreminierungen und Verfolgungen, sondern in den besonderen Bildungstraditionen der Juden. Diskreminiert und verfolgt wurden auch andere Bevölkerungsgruppen. Diese weisen aber nicht die für das Judentum so typische Spezialisierung auf bestimmte Berufsgruppen auf.

Auch wenn das Buch vielleicht nicht in allen Details 100% recht hat und andere Faktoren - als jene die direkt mit der religiös motivierten Alphabetisierung zusammenhängen - manchmal etwas zu radikal als vollständig bedeutungslos abtut, hat es in meinen Augen doch das Verdienst, die zentrale Bedeutung von religiös motivierter Alphabetisierung angemessen zu betonen.

Mit der Erklärung der Besonderheiten der jüdischen Sozialstruktur mittels der frühen, religiös motivierten Alphabetisierung verhält es sich ähnlich mit der Erklärung von Ebbe und Flut mittels des Mondes. Dass der Mond für die Gezeiten verantwortlicht ist, ist die entscheidende Idee. Aber bis man vor diesem Hintergrund auch alle Details der Tiden-Tabellen und des unterschiedlichen Gezeitenhubs erklären kann, muss man noch viele andere Faktoren einbeziehen. Auf ähnliche Weise bleibt der Verweis auf die frühe, religiös motivierte Alphabetisierung für das Verständnis der jüdischen Geschichte entscheidend, auch wenn man zu einem umfassenden Verständnis noch viele andere Faktoren heranziehen muss.

Einige Kritiker werfen dem Buch vor, es vereinfache zu sehr, zeichne an verschiedenen Stellen ein falsches Bild der jüdischen Geschichte und postuliere gelegentlich Sachverhalte, für die es keine direkten historischen Belege gäbe. An einigen wenigen Punkten kann ich solche Einwände nachvollziehen. Aber insgesamt darf man nicht vergessen, dass solche Einwände häufig gerade von den Historikern kommen, die vor lauter Bäumen den Wald nicht gesehen haben und sich stattdessen mit dem Moos auf der Baumrinde beschäftigt haben.

So selbstverständlich wie ich auf den Mond deute, wenn mich jemand nach der Ursache der Gezeiten fragt, so selbstverständlich ist es nach der Lektüre von "The Chosen Few" für mich, auf die Besonderheiten der jüdischen Bildungsgeschichte zu verweisen, wenn es um die Frage geht, wieso im Mittelalter so auffällig viele Juden als Händler oder Geldverleiher tätig waren.

Selten hat ein einziges Buch mein Blick auf die Geschichte so verändert.

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Alfredo Pastor Bodmer

Una nueva visión

Reviewed in Spain on February 10, 2014

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El libro ofrece una visión original (para los legos en la materia) de la evolución del pueblo judío durante el largo período que media entre la segunda destrucción del Templo y la aparición de colonias judías en la europa medieval. La sustitución de los sacerdotes por los rabinos es particularmente interesante. La interacción de evidencia histórica y análisis estadísticos es tambien magistral. Muy recomendable.

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The Chosen Few: How Education Shaped Jewish History, 70-1492 (The Princeton Economic History of the Western World, 42) 1st Edition

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