From Charity to Social Justice
Subtitle: The Emergence of Communal Institutions for the Support of the Poor in Ancient Judaism
Publisher: Transaction Publishers
Published: May 3, 2001
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 222
ISBN-13: 9780765800527
Subjects: History of religion; Judaism; Poverty; Social history; Social welfare & social services; Public Policy - Social Services & Welfare; Judaism - History; History Of Judaism; Private Welfare Work; Services for; Sociology; Religion; Ancient World; REL040000; REL; SOC; SOC016000; Judaism and social problems; Philanthropy & Charity; History / General; Human Services; Judaism - General; To 1500; Charities; History; Jews; Poor
Description: "A few students know that the early Christian church made provisions for the poor, but few are aware of what occurred prior to the beginning of Christianity. This volume provides evidence that contemporary philanthropic and welfare institutions owe a greater debt to Judaism than to the Greco-Roman culture.".

"By use of source documents, the author explores Jewish influence on early Christian charities, seeing it as more important than previously believed. He traces the evolution of charitable institutions in ancient Judaism from the days of the monarchy until the conclusion of the Talmud, a period of about fifteen hundred years. He demonstrates how responsibility for support of the poor was initially placed on the individual, with every farmer obligated to provide for the poor from his field.

Dramatic increases in the number and proportion of poor people made major structural changes imperative. A theme throughout the book is how communal institutions evolved in place of individual responsibility. The change was gradual and not without opposition. How these changes came about and in what functional areas they occurred are discussed, as well as an analysis of Jewish support for the non-Jewish poor and non-Jewish support for the Jewish poor. In an appendix, the author discusses the philanthropies of the early Christians.

From Charity to Social Justice adds to current debates on the role of religious institutions in welfare programs. It will be of particular interest to those who are interested in the history of philanthropy and in the development of welfare institutions. For the first time relevant sections of the Talmud and other post-biblical Jewish writings are made available to those who cannot read these in the original."--BOOK JACKET.