The Chosen Few (book)
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| Author | Zvi Eckstein and Maristella Botticini |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Non-fiction |
| Publisher | Princeton University Press |
Publication date | 2012 |
| Publication place | United States |
The Chosen Few: How Education Shaped Jewish History, 70-1492 is a 2012 book by Zvi Eckstein and Maristella Botticini. It won the 2012 National Jewish Book Award.[1]
The book proposes theories about three economic aspects of Jewish history: the transition from agriculture to trade and other urban professions, the creation of the Jewish diaspora, and the decline of Jewish population particularly after the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE until the 7th century.
It has been translated to Italian and Hebrew, and was published by Tel Aviv University Press in 2013. As of 2014, the book is being translated to Spanish, Vietnamese, Polish, Chinese and French.[citation needed]
Cristiana Facchini of the Università di Bologna, describes the book as arguing that in the late Roman period Judaism was unique because it enforced "a communal regulation" to teach children Torah, with the result that Jews became a uniquely literate group. The Authors then apply modern choice analysis and economic behavior theory, and, in particular, the literature on religious affiliation as a matter of choice in an open market of ideas in which many options are available, portraying Jewish parents in the 1st through 7th centuries as being required to make an expensive choice to forgo the labor of children on the farm and, instead, pay tuition for an education that conferred no economic advantage in a community of peasant farmers. Many, according to Botticini and Eckstein, chose Christianity, resulting in the demographic decline of the Jewish community.[2]
Botticini and Eckstein next theorize that the rise of Islam offered new opportunities in trade and craft production, reinforcing literacy among Jews, 70% of whom lived under Muslim governments in the Middle Ages.[2] In Chapters 7 and 8, Botticini and Eckstein argue that the Jewish diaspora spread as Jews sought commercial opportunities in far off places, and were invited to settle by European rulers who sought their expertise in commerce, craft production and as physicians.[2] In Cristiana Facchini words, this is The Chosen Few's "Grand Narrative," "literacy and economic performances. An inadvertent revolution was launched by rabbis in the midst of a great trauma (the fall of the temple and of the Jewish kingdom) leading to "compulsory religious education of male children," and thence, ultimately, to specialization in commerce and banking.[2]
Botticini and Eckstein then ask why and how Jews came to specialize in money-lending, and answer, " “We show that the entry and then specialization of the Jews in lending money at interest can be explained by their comparative advantage in the four assets that were and still are the pillars of the financial intermediation: capital, networking, literacy and numeracy, and contract enforcement institutions.”[2]