Labor, Crafts and Commerce in Ancient Israel.

• Author: McNutt, Paula M.

The purpose of this study is "to correct widespread misconceptions concerning Jewish economic activities throughout history; to demonstrate Jewish participation in every facet of economic life open to them; and above all, to emphasize the moral significance attached to labor in biblical and rabbinic literature alike" (p. xi). Aberbach's intention in this book is to respond to antisemitic arguments that because Jews have tended to be associated with activities relating to commerce, banking, and the free professions (outside of Israel), they are parasites and unwilling to work (p. ix). His main argument is that, contrary to this stigmatization, Judaism encourages manual labor, both as a necessary means of earning a living and as a moral value in its own right.

Aberbach informs the reader at the outset that his intended audience is "intelligent laymen" as well as historians and theologians (p. xi). For this reason, he makes no attempt to describe the technical details of the production of raw materials and manufactured articles, arguing that this would be of little interest to non-specialist general readers (p. xii). There is, in fact, little attention given to technological or social analysis in this book, which, in content, consists primarily of a survey of biblical and rabbinic texts that relate in some way to labor, crafts, and commerce.

The book is divided into seven chapters. Chapter one consists of a survey of labor, crafts, and trade mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. The focus of the second chapter ("Industry and Trade in the Hellenistic Age") is Ecclesiastes' and Ben Sira's views on labor, commerce, and crafts. Also included is a very general discussion of the growth of cities and economic expansion during the Hasmonean period. Chapter three contains a survey of the occupational activities of rabbis as identified in the rabbinic literature and a very brief consideration of early Christian occupations (one paragraph). Aberbach argues in this chapter that the Jews were morally superior to the Greeks, particularly with regard to the exploitation of slaves (see p. 38; he makes a similar assertion with regard to the Romans in chapter five [p. 144]). Rabbinic attitudes toward physical labor is the subject of chapter four. Aberbach concludes here that the prevailing attitude toward physical labor in the rabbinic literature is positive, in spite of the relative emphasis on the value of studying the Torah. The topics covered in chapters five...