Jewish communities in cosmopolitan maritime trading centres, 1550-1950 /
First Statement of Responsibility
editor, David Cesarani.
.PUBLICATION, DISTRIBUTION, ETC
Place of Publication, Distribution, etc.
Portland, OR :
Name of Publisher, Distributor, etc.
Frank Cass,
Date of Publication, Distribution, etc.
2002.
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION
Specific Material Designation and Extent of Item
208 pages ;
Dimensions
23 cm.
SERIES
Series Title
Parkes-Wiener series on Jewish studies
INTERNAL BIBLIOGRAPHIES/INDEXES NOTE
Text of Note
Includes bibliographical references and index.
SUMMARY OR ABSTRACT
Text of Note
"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.