Grossman, Avraham (emeritus)

Personal:

Born 1936, Tiberias; Ph.D. 1974, Hebrew Univ.; Lect. 1976; Sen. Lect. 1978; Assoc. Prof. 1983; Prof. 1987.

Research Interests:

History of the Jewish people in the Middle Ages, especially in the Muslim Caliphate, Germany and France until the 12th century. Exilarchate in Eastern Caliphate: Jewish family, society, community organization. The Jewish-Christian polemic and the sages of Ashkenaz and France.

Research Projects:

1. The early sages of France (950-1096).

Funding: Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities

2. The Jewish community in Muslim Spain.

Funding: Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities

Abstract of Current Research:

The relationship between the social structure and spiritual activity of Jewish communities:

The Geonim refrained from producing compendious commentaries to the Talmud. The underlying causes for this were social considerations, in particular the wish to maintain the leading spiritual role of the Geonic yeshivot during the 7th-11th centuries. The Geonim saw their yeshivot as a Sanhedrin, whose role was to lead the nation and resolve halakhic problems. In this sense, they took precedence over all other yeshivot in the Jewish world. This attitude manifested itself in the Geonic style of writing as well. The Babylonian heritage is evident in the spiritual activity of Spanish communities of the 10th and 11th centuries. The communities of Germany and Northern France evince a different stance, as they did not consider themselves subservient to the heritage of the Babylonian Geonim in the sphere of social policy and ideology.

Recent Publications:

Grossman, A. (1992) Biblical exegesis in Spain during the 13th-15th centuries. In: The Sephardi Legacy, vol.1, ed. H. Beinart, Jerusalem, Magnes Press, pp.137-146; Legislation and Responsa literature. Ibid., pp.188-219.

Grossman, A. (1992) Relations between Spanish and Ashkenazi Jewry in the Middle Ages. In: The Sephardi Legacy, vol.1, ed. H. Beinart, Jerusalem, Magnes Press, pp.220-239.