Avraham Grossman (1936–2024)

This survey of the history of Jewish women in the High Middle Ages (roughly 1000-1300) packs a lot into just under 300 pages, and seems a good (if dense) introduction to the subject. I would imagine it heavy going for non-medievalists, however; I struggled enough as someone who doesn't know Hebrew. Grossman does quite a bit with comparative history, looking at these women in parallel with their Christian contemporaries (a reminder to me that I could stand to do a bit more of this in my own writing), though I quibble a bit with his interpretation of some of the historiography there.

This may in part be down to issues of translation from Hebrew. There were some word choices that didn't seem like quite the English word intended, and Grossman used words like 'permissive' and 'conservative' with regards to sexuality/sexual practices in ways that he never defined but which seemed problematic. But there were also some statements which Grossman made that I thought flat-out wrong, little as I know about Jewish history—chief among those the idea that instances of rape are lower when men have access to brothels. This is not true, and is also built on the nasty presumption that prostitutes can't be raped.… (altro)