Port Jews
Subtitle: Jewish Communities in Cosmopolitan Maritime Trading Centres, 1550-1950 (Parkes-Wiener Series on Jewish Studies)
Edition: 1 edition
Publisher: Routledge
Published: July 30, 2002
Language: eng
Format: Paperback
Number of pages: 200
ISBN-13: 9780714682860
Subjects: History of specific racial & ethnic groups; Jewish studies; 20th century; c 1500 to c 1600; c 1600 to c 1700; c 1700 to c 1800; c 1800 to c 1900; Jews; History; History - General History; Sociology; World - General; Middle East - General; History / Middle East; Civilization; Jewish - General; 16th century; 1789-1945
Description: "As these studies show, the utility of Jewish merchants in an era of European expansion overseas was vital to the relatively tolerant relations between Jews and non-Jews. It made possible higher levels of acculturation, integration and assimilation than ever before." "But port cities were not simply benign engines of progress. Jews active in the transatlantic slave trade in Amsterdam compromised fundamental Jewish values. Rivalry between mercantile communities in cities such as Odessa was regularly expressed through religious and ethnic hatred. The fall of empires and the rise of nation states could have catastrophic effects on 'port Jewries' like Salonika's. Jewish mass migration through ports such as London and Southampton degraded the image of the Jew."--Jacket.