Debra Kaplan
Biographic Data
| ID | 3787202 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Debra Kaplan |
| GIVEN NAMES | Debra |
| FAMILY NAME | Kaplan |
| SIGNATURE | KAPLAN D |
| AFFILIATIONS | Bar-Ilan University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-5571-0398 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 23 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 9 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 23 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1980 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
A Woman Is Responsible for Everything: Jewish Women in Early Modern Europe
A groundbreaking look at the integral role of women in early modern Jewish communal life In small villages, bustling cities, and crowded ghettos across early modern Europe, Jewish women were increasingly active participants in the daily life of their communities, managing homes and professions, leading institutions and sororities, and crafting objects and texts of exquisite beauty. A Woman Is Responsible for Everything marshals a dazzling array o…
Mapping the Environment: Flooding and Boundaries in Seventeenth-Century Worms
Severe flooding in the city of Worms in 1651 was documented by the communal shamash (sexton), Juspe Schammes. This article maps his account of the flood as a tool for exploring Jewish familiarity, use, and perceptions of the early modern city in which he lived. By comparing Juspe’s descriptions to what he would have seen, utilizing early modern maps, the article further explores the gaps between reality and representation. This case study models …
Sacred Societies: Women’s Hevrot
Urban History on the Seam: Frankfurt’s Judengasse and the Early Modern City
This article examines the nexus between the Jewish ghetto in Frankfurt am Main (built in 1462) and a neighboring street, Wollgraben. Utilizing Jewish communal sources in Hebrew and Yiddish, German municipal records, and contemporary maps, it traces the development of the ghetto against the backdrop of urban expansion and population growth. Although the Jews were technically confined to the ghetto, these sources demonstrate that as the Jewish popu…
Regulating Emotion: Burial and Mourning of Children in Early Modern Ashkenaz
This article addresses a lacuna in scholarship: the burial and mourning rites for premodern Jewish children's deaths. I explore three genres of sources from western and central Europe: bylaws, custom books, and epitaphs. I argue that communal leaders regulated the process of grieving one's children, marking those deaths in ways that are different from how an adult is memorialized. Nevertheless, by creating additional rites or by permitting parent…
Sacred Sororities: Devotion and Death in Early Modern Jewish Communities
T amar H erzig . A Convert’s Tale: Art, Crime, and Jewish Apostasy in Renaissance Italy
Tamar Herzig’s A Convert’s Tale meticulously traces the family history of Salomone da Sesso, a Jewish-born goldsmith who converted to Christianity in 1491 in the wake of having been accused of sodomy. Baptized as Ercole de’ Fedeli, the goldsmith’s creations graced the bodies and collections of the duchesses, marchionesses, and cardinals of Quattrocento Italy. Using letters, wills, artwork, and other archival materials, Herzig’s microhistory illum…
Living Spaces, Communal Places: Early Modern Jewish Homes and Religious Devotions
Crossing Borders: Safe Conducts and Jews in Early Modern Germany
During the early modern period, travelers who crossed borders were required to carry safe conducts. This article examines the use of safe conducts by Jews in the Electoral Palatinate. It examines the use of these documents by individual travelers, and discusses the extensive communal organization that developed in order to regulate the payment, sale, and distribution of these documents. This system comprised both local intracommunal as well as re…
Entangled Negotiations: Josel of Rosheim and the Peasants' Rebellion of 1525
At the height of the 1525 Peasants' Rebellion, Josel of Rosheim negotiated directly with the peasants. Although he described this interaction in his writings, he omitted the content of their conversation. Previous scholars have examined the contemporaneous negotiation between the Christian authorities in Strasbourg and the peasants as a parallel to Josel's negotiation. Their interpretations of what transpired between Josel and the peasants, heavi…
“Because Our Wives Trade and Do Business with Our Goods”: Gender, Work, and Jewish-Christian Relations
Beyond Expulsion: Jews, Christians, and Reformation Strasbourg
Kaplan, Debra. Beyond Expulsion: Jews, Christians, and Reformation Strasbourg. An article from journal Renaissance and Reformation / Renaissance et Réforme (Gendering Time and Space in Early Modern England), on Érudit.
Jews in Early Modern Europe: The Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries
In recent decades, research has pointed to an early modern period, in which great transformation took place. By focusing on local studies, scholars have recognized that Jews and Christians residing in Europe interacted with one another, sharing daily experiences as well as important cultural developments. The Jews living in Europe during the 16th and 17th centuries experienced many changes, first and foremost among them demographic migrations. De…
To Immerse their Wives”: Communal Identity and the “Kahalishe” Mikveh of Altona
On Sunday, the twelfth of Adar, March 2, 1681, the parnasim , the lay leaders of Altona, recorded an enactment in their communal logbook, the pinkas kehillah , regulating women's use of the local mikva'ot . Designating two privately-owned ritual baths as the only approved immersion locations for most of the women in the community, they decreed that defiance of this decree was to be punished with some of the most severe weapons in the arsenal of t…
Diversity and Dissent: Negotiating Religious Difference in Central Europe, 1500-1800
Beyond Expulsion: Jews, Christians, and Reformation Strasbourg
This book is a history of Jewish–Christian interactions in early modern Strasbourg, a city from which the Jews had been expelled and banned from residence in the late fourteenth century. It shows that the Jews who remained in the Alsatian countryside continued to maintain relationships with the city and its residents in the ensuing period. During most of the sixteenth century, Jews entered Strasbourg on a daily basis, where they participated in t…
The Negotiated Reformation: Imperial Cities and the Politics of Urban Reform, 1525–1550
Christopher W. Close. The Negotiated Reformation: Imperial Cities and the Politics of Urban Reform, 1525–1550. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009. x + 284 pp. index. map. bibl. $90. ISBN: 978–0–521–76020–1. - Volume 63 Issue 2
Women and Worth: Female Access to Property in Early Modern Urban Jewish Communities
In January 1690, Gliklchen, daughter of Leib Stern, appeared before the lay leaders, or parnassim, of Altona and Hamburg. Gliklchen had agreed to act as a guarantor for Yissakhar ha-Kohen, in order to help him attain hezkat kahal, official right of settlement within the Jewish community. Gliklchen took an oath in the presence of witnesses, in which she affirmed that she would take responsibility for “all that is incumbent upon him [Yissakhar], ac…
Out of the (Historiographie) Ghetto: European Jews and Reformation Narratives
Extant historiography has created a historiographie ghetto, seldom considering Jewish sources as relevant to the larger narrative of European history. This has created two parallel, often disconnected areas of study, "European history" and "Jewish history." Archival materials show that Jews and Christians resided side by side and interacted daily in early modern Europe. Reformation Strasbourg and post-Reformation Poland, geographically and demogr…
New Perspectives on the Challenges of Modernity in France
New Perspectives on the Challenges of Modernity in France Debra Kaplan Keywords Debra Kaplan, Jay R. Berkovitz, Rites and Passages: The Beginnings of Modern Jewish Culture in France, Alyssa Goldstein Sepinwall, The Abbé Gregoire and the French Revolution: The Making of Modern Universalism, Modernity, Minorities in France, French Jews, Franco-Jewish Communities Jay R. Berkovitz. Rites and Passages: The Beginnings of Modern Jewish Culture in France…
The Self in Social Context: Asher ha-Levi of Reichshofen's Sefer Zikhronot
During the early seventeenth century, Asher ha-Levi of Reichshofen penned his memoirs, entitled Sefer Zikhronot. In this text, Asher recounts that which transpired to him and to his family, often including details which seem extraneous to the modern reader, and to the genre of modern autobiography. By examining this text in light of how early modern writers thought and wrote about themselves, the reasons for including this material emerge. Sefer …
Literacy and Voting Behavior: A Bivariate Probit Model with Sample Selection
Eating Style of Obese and Nonobese Males
Variables traditionally thought to differentiate an obese eating style were examined in six nonobese and six obese males consuming a sandwich lunch. Determinations of meal size, meal duration, bites, bites per sandwich quarter, and various measures of rate of ingestion revealed no significant differences between groups. A trend suggested that the nonobese consumed a greater proportion of their meal during the first half of the meal as compared to…
Women and Worth: Female Access to Property in Early Modern Urban Jewish Communities
In January 1690, Gliklchen, daughter of Leib Stern, appeared before the lay leaders, or parnassim, of Altona and Hamburg. Gliklchen had agreed to act as a guarantor for Yissakhar ha-Kohen, in order to help him attain hezkat kahal, official right of settlement within the Jewish community. Gliklchen took an oath in the presence of witnesses, in which she affirmed that she would take responsibility for “all that is incumbent upon him [Yissakhar], ac…
The Self in Social Context: Asher ha-Levi of Reichshofen's Sefer Zikhronot
During the early seventeenth century, Asher ha-Levi of Reichshofen penned his memoirs, entitled Sefer Zikhronot. In this text, Asher recounts that which transpired to him and to his family, often including details which seem extraneous to the modern reader, and to the genre of modern autobiography. By examining this text in light of how early modern writers thought and wrote about themselves, the reasons for including this material emerge. Sefer …
Literacy and Voting Behavior: A Bivariate Probit Model with Sample Selection
Jews in Early Modern Europe: The Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries
In recent decades, research has pointed to an early modern period, in which great transformation took place. By focusing on local studies, scholars have recognized that Jews and Christians residing in Europe interacted with one another, sharing daily experiences as well as important cultural developments. The Jews living in Europe during the 16th and 17th centuries experienced many changes, first and foremost among them demographic migrations. De…
To Immerse their Wives”: Communal Identity and the “Kahalishe” Mikveh of Altona
On Sunday, the twelfth of Adar, March 2, 1681, the parnasim , the lay leaders of Altona, recorded an enactment in their communal logbook, the pinkas kehillah , regulating women's use of the local mikva'ot . Designating two privately-owned ritual baths as the only approved immersion locations for most of the women in the community, they decreed that defiance of this decree was to be punished with some of the most severe weapons in the arsenal of t…
Eating Style of Obese and Nonobese Males
Variables traditionally thought to differentiate an obese eating style were examined in six nonobese and six obese males consuming a sandwich lunch. Determinations of meal size, meal duration, bites, bites per sandwich quarter, and various measures of rate of ingestion revealed no significant differences between groups. A trend suggested that the nonobese consumed a greater proportion of their meal during the first half of the meal as compared to…
Literacy and Voting Behavior: A Bivariate Probit Model with Sample Selection
The Self in Social Context: Asher ha-Levi of Reichshofen's Sefer Zikhronot
During the early seventeenth century, Asher ha-Levi of Reichshofen penned his memoirs, entitled Sefer Zikhronot. In this text, Asher recounts that which transpired to him and to his family, often including details which seem extraneous to the modern reader, and to the genre of modern autobiography. By examining this text in light of how early modern writers thought and wrote about themselves, the reasons for including this material emerge. Sefer …
New Perspectives on the Challenges of Modernity in France
New Perspectives on the Challenges of Modernity in France Debra Kaplan Keywords Debra Kaplan, Jay R. Berkovitz, Rites and Passages: The Beginnings of Modern Jewish Culture in France, Alyssa Goldstein Sepinwall, The Abbé Gregoire and the French Revolution: The Making of Modern Universalism, Modernity, Minorities in France, French Jews, Franco-Jewish Communities Jay R. Berkovitz. Rites and Passages: The Beginnings of Modern Jewish Culture in France…
Out of the (Historiographie) Ghetto: European Jews and Reformation Narratives
Extant historiography has created a historiographie ghetto, seldom considering Jewish sources as relevant to the larger narrative of European history. This has created two parallel, often disconnected areas of study, "European history" and "Jewish history." Archival materials show that Jews and Christians resided side by side and interacted daily in early modern Europe. Reformation Strasbourg and post-Reformation Poland, geographically and demogr…
The Negotiated Reformation: Imperial Cities and the Politics of Urban Reform, 1525–1550
Christopher W. Close. The Negotiated Reformation: Imperial Cities and the Politics of Urban Reform, 1525–1550. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009. x + 284 pp. index. map. bibl. $90. ISBN: 978–0–521–76020–1. - Volume 63 Issue 2
Women and Worth: Female Access to Property in Early Modern Urban Jewish Communities
In January 1690, Gliklchen, daughter of Leib Stern, appeared before the lay leaders, or parnassim, of Altona and Hamburg. Gliklchen had agreed to act as a guarantor for Yissakhar ha-Kohen, in order to help him attain hezkat kahal, official right of settlement within the Jewish community. Gliklchen took an oath in the presence of witnesses, in which she affirmed that she would take responsibility for “all that is incumbent upon him [Yissakhar], ac…
Diversity and Dissent: Negotiating Religious Difference in Central Europe, 1500-1800
Beyond Expulsion: Jews, Christians, and Reformation Strasbourg
This book is a history of Jewish–Christian interactions in early modern Strasbourg, a city from which the Jews had been expelled and banned from residence in the late fourteenth century. It shows that the Jews who remained in the Alsatian countryside continued to maintain relationships with the city and its residents in the ensuing period. During most of the sixteenth century, Jews entered Strasbourg on a daily basis, where they participated in t…
“Because Our Wives Trade and Do Business with Our Goods”: Gender, Work, and Jewish-Christian Relations
Beyond Expulsion: Jews, Christians, and Reformation Strasbourg
Kaplan, Debra. Beyond Expulsion: Jews, Christians, and Reformation Strasbourg. An article from journal Renaissance and Reformation / Renaissance et Réforme (Gendering Time and Space in Early Modern England), on Érudit.
Jews in Early Modern Europe: The Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries
In recent decades, research has pointed to an early modern period, in which great transformation took place. By focusing on local studies, scholars have recognized that Jews and Christians residing in Europe interacted with one another, sharing daily experiences as well as important cultural developments. The Jews living in Europe during the 16th and 17th centuries experienced many changes, first and foremost among them demographic migrations. De…
To Immerse their Wives”: Communal Identity and the “Kahalishe” Mikveh of Altona
On Sunday, the twelfth of Adar, March 2, 1681, the parnasim , the lay leaders of Altona, recorded an enactment in their communal logbook, the pinkas kehillah , regulating women's use of the local mikva'ot . Designating two privately-owned ritual baths as the only approved immersion locations for most of the women in the community, they decreed that defiance of this decree was to be punished with some of the most severe weapons in the arsenal of t…
Entangled Negotiations: Josel of Rosheim and the Peasants' Rebellion of 1525
At the height of the 1525 Peasants' Rebellion, Josel of Rosheim negotiated directly with the peasants. Although he described this interaction in his writings, he omitted the content of their conversation. Previous scholars have examined the contemporaneous negotiation between the Christian authorities in Strasbourg and the peasants as a parallel to Josel's negotiation. Their interpretations of what transpired between Josel and the peasants, heavi…
Living Spaces, Communal Places: Early Modern Jewish Homes and Religious Devotions
Crossing Borders: Safe Conducts and Jews in Early Modern Germany
During the early modern period, travelers who crossed borders were required to carry safe conducts. This article examines the use of safe conducts by Jews in the Electoral Palatinate. It examines the use of these documents by individual travelers, and discusses the extensive communal organization that developed in order to regulate the payment, sale, and distribution of these documents. This system comprised both local intracommunal as well as re…
T amar H erzig . A Convert’s Tale: Art, Crime, and Jewish Apostasy in Renaissance Italy
Tamar Herzig’s A Convert’s Tale meticulously traces the family history of Salomone da Sesso, a Jewish-born goldsmith who converted to Christianity in 1491 in the wake of having been accused of sodomy. Baptized as Ercole de’ Fedeli, the goldsmith’s creations graced the bodies and collections of the duchesses, marchionesses, and cardinals of Quattrocento Italy. Using letters, wills, artwork, and other archival materials, Herzig’s microhistory illum…
Sacred Sororities: Devotion and Death in Early Modern Jewish Communities
Regulating Emotion: Burial and Mourning of Children in Early Modern Ashkenaz
This article addresses a lacuna in scholarship: the burial and mourning rites for premodern Jewish children's deaths. I explore three genres of sources from western and central Europe: bylaws, custom books, and epitaphs. I argue that communal leaders regulated the process of grieving one's children, marking those deaths in ways that are different from how an adult is memorialized. Nevertheless, by creating additional rites or by permitting parent…
A Woman Is Responsible for Everything: Jewish Women in Early Modern Europe
A groundbreaking look at the integral role of women in early modern Jewish communal life In small villages, bustling cities, and crowded ghettos across early modern Europe, Jewish women were increasingly active participants in the daily life of their communities, managing homes and professions, leading institutions and sororities, and crafting objects and texts of exquisite beauty. A Woman Is Responsible for Everything marshals a dazzling array o…
Mapping the Environment: Flooding and Boundaries in Seventeenth-Century Worms
Severe flooding in the city of Worms in 1651 was documented by the communal shamash (sexton), Juspe Schammes. This article maps his account of the flood as a tool for exploring Jewish familiarity, use, and perceptions of the early modern city in which he lived. By comparing Juspe’s descriptions to what he would have seen, utilizing early modern maps, the article further explores the gaps between reality and representation. This case study models …
Sacred Societies: Women’s Hevrot
Urban History on the Seam: Frankfurt’s Judengasse and the Early Modern City
This article examines the nexus between the Jewish ghetto in Frankfurt am Main (built in 1462) and a neighboring street, Wollgraben. Utilizing Jewish communal sources in Hebrew and Yiddish, German municipal records, and contemporary maps, it traces the development of the ghetto against the backdrop of urban expansion and population growth. Although the Jews were technically confined to the ghetto, these sources demonstrate that as the Jewish popu…
History (13 works) · Judaism (10 works) · Sociology (10 works) · Archaeology (9 works) · Political science (9 works) · Reformation and Early Modern Christianity (8 works) · Art (7 works) · History (7 works) · Law (7 works) · Jewish and Middle Eastern Studies (6 works)