When Poverty Became Profane
Two recent books, by Debra Kaplan and Natan Meir, examine poverty and charity in European Jewish communities, looking at how a marginalized minority dealt with the problems of destitution and social welfare during periods of rapid change.
The Patrons and Their Poor: Jewish Community and Public Charity in Early Modern Germany
by Debra Kaplan
Stepchildren of the Shtetl: The Destitute, Disabled, and Mad of Jewish Eastern Europe, 1800–1939
by Natan M. Meir
April 29, 2021 issue
