#theatrejew
isn’t it a bit of a stretch to say that they’re mostly written in europe when that only applies to the medieval texts? and even then to have an *overwhelming* majority of texts written in europe would have to kind of be an active conscious decision right?
@theatrejew it’s a good question!
You’re right that it was only the medieval and post-medieval Jewish texts which were written in Europe! The preview is a little condensed — here’s the full quote, which is me imagining Rabbi Solomon Freehof describing his bookshelf, ca. 1969: “I have the classical codes of rabbinic literature, the Mishnah and Talmud; I have the medieval compilations of Jewish law, Maimonides, etc.; I have a few early modern 18th/19th century compilations of Jewish law, all written by men, mostly written in Europe; and that’s it.”
So yes, hopefully that’s clearer: the early modern compilations of Jewish law on Rabbi Freehof’s bookshelf are the ones which were “mostly written in Europe,” and that would certainly be true for almost all American rabbis in the mid-20th century. It’s thankfully not true of this anthology, which contains material from all over the Jewish world.
Hope you enjoy the podcast!
