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Rabbinical perspectives on money in seventeenth-century Ottoman Egypt

2010; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 17; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/09672560903320076

1469-5936

Daniel Schiffman,

American Constitutional Law and Politics

Abstract Episodes of monetary instability in Ottoman Egypt stimulated a discussion of monetary doctrine among Egyptian rabbis. A central issue was the valuation of debts following changes in the value of silver coins. While the leading rabbi of the sixteenth century advocated linkage to gold coins, the rabbis of the seventeenth century adopted valuation by purchasing power and rejected valuation by weight and linkage to gold coins. The rabbis of the seventeenth century differed from their predecessors in two essential respects: they were more critical of traditional Jewish monetary doctrine, and they utilized a much more sophisticated form of economic analysis. Keywords: Jewish economic thoughtmonetary doctrinemonetary historyOttoman EmpireEgypt Acknowledgements The author thanks Hamid Hosseini, Spencer Pack, Adrian Tschoegl, and two anonymous referees for comments and suggestions, and Yaron ben Naeh and Warren Schultz for sharing their expertise. The author also thanks Ram Grinshpun for excellent research assistance. Earlier versions of this paper were presented at the History of Economics Society meetings (Toronto), the World Congress of Jewish Studies (Jerusalem) and the European Social Science History Conference (Amsterdam). Notes 1 The sole exception is Liebermann (Citation1989), which is a Hebrew-language work. 2 A related literature on economic analysis of Talmudic law exists. The most well-known work in this genre is Aumann and Maschler's (Citation1985) game-theoretic analysis of the Talmudic bankruptcy problem. 3 For most of the sixteenth century, the sultani traded at par with the ducat; in the seventeenth century, the ducat traded at a premium of up to 10%. 4 This contrasts with nineteenth-century bimetallism, in which the gold/silver ratio was officially fixed. 5 Shaw renders Irsalliyye-i-Hazine as 'remittance treasure'. 6 In the seventeenth century, the tribute was sent mainly in silver. 7 Some historians believe that the medin was debased, but the debasement was rapidly reversed due to pressure from soldiers. 8 Originally, the new gold pieces of Cairo and Istanbul traded at par in Istanbul. After the Cairo pieces drove the Istanbul pieces out of circulation (an example of Gresham's law), the authorities prohibited the minting of lower-quality coins and reduced minting costs in Istanbul. When these measures proved ineffective, the authorities announced lower rates of exchange for the Egyptian gold coins, which solved the problem. 9 There are over one million known responsa, dating from the seventh century to the present. 10 The reverence of the post-Talmudic rabbis towards the Talmudic rabbis is reminiscent of the medieval scholastics' reverence for Aristotle, as described by Odd Langholm: 'The men of the Middle Ages were convinced that antiquity was a purer and wiser time than theirs. The Fathers of the Church were the best interpreters of scripture; Aristotle possessed unsurpassed understanding of the natural world. Much of scholastic reasoning, therefore, was reasoning from these authorities. So also in the area of economics. Fortunately, in some ancient authors, notably in Aristotle, strange and obscure bits of text also proved to provide highly fruitful analytical schemata by which the scholastic interpreters could order their own thoughts. Reasoning from Aristotle, they would also reason with the aid of Aristotle, or believe that they did so. For while assimilating old learning, they also transformed it' (Langholm Citation1998: 443; original emphasis). 11 During the period of Ottoman rule, several Egyptian Jews are known to have held the position of master of the mint. Others served as chief tax collector and financial advisor to the governor (Winter Citation1992; David Citation1997). However, these Jewish officials did not leave any literature on economic policy. 12 See Ghazanfar (Citation2000) on Al Ghazali, Soofi (Citation1995) on Ibn Khaldun, Lapidus (Citation1997) on Buridan and Oresme, Reiss and Hinderliter (Citation1979) on Copernicus, and O'Brien (Citation2000) on Bodin. 13 In the Ottoman Empire, it was fairly common for Jews to go to Islamic courts, despite the strong opposition of the rabbis. The rabbis adapted to this reality by making certain concessions to Islamic law (see Shmuelevitz Citation1984: 42). 14 Ben Naeh (Citation2007: 2–3) estimates the Jewish population of seventeenth-century Cairo as 'possibly greater than 5,000.' Istanbul, Salonika, and Edirne were the three largest Jewish population centers; Cairo most probably ranked fourth. In Egypt, the sixteenth century was a period of rapid demographic growth, driven by an influx of Spanish Jews following the expulsion of 1492. 15 In Jewish law, the wife receives payment under the marriage contract if the couple divorces or if the husband predeceases the wife. 16 The Safed enactment was adopted in Istanbul and Salonika, ignored in Cairo and explicitly rejected in Damascus. 17 The Babylonian Talmud is referenced by tractate, folio, and side (Bava Metzia 44b is the second side of folio 44 in Tractate Bava Metzia). This system of referencing has been in place since the publication of the Venice edition (1520 to 1523). Most volumes of Talmud in use today are reproductions of the Vilnius edition (1880s), which maintained the pagination of the Venice edition. 18 The 'coin' versus 'produce' dichotomy is also found in Roman law; the Roman terminology is 'price' versus 'wares.' See Sargent and Velde (Citation2002: chap. 5). 19 The medieval commentators disagreed concerning the interpretation of this Talmud passage. I cite the formulation of Maimonides (1135 to 1204) because his Mishneh Torah (completed 1177) was regarded as canonical by later Egyptian rabbis. 20 The distinction between biblical mandates and rabbinical mandates is fundamental to Jewish law. With regard to the interest prohibition, the practical implications (as formulated by Maimonides) are as follows: Rabbinical courts have the power to enforce restitution of biblically prohibited interest, but not rabbinically prohibited interest (Mishneh Torah, Laws of Borrower and Lender 4:3, 4:6); and when there is a dispute between rabbis, one should rule stringently in cases involving biblically prohibited interest and leniently in cases involving rabbinically prohibited interest (based on Mishneh Torah, Laws of Rebels 1:5). 21 However, commodity loans are permitted if a monetary value is specified at the time of the loan based on a stable market price (BT Bava Metzia 62b–64b). 22 Following the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492, Cairo's Jewish community split into three distinct congregations: Arabic-speaking (Musta'arab), North African, and Spanish. 23 Since its publication in 1565, the Shulchan aruch (Set table) has been regarded as the authoritative code of Jewish law; numerous commentaries have been written on it. Shulchan aruch is a synopsis of Bet Yosef, Rabbi Karo's comprehensive commentary on the Arbaah turim (Four columns) code of Rabbi Jacob ben Asher (1270 to 1343, Germany and Spain). Rabbi Castro corresponded regularly with Rabbi Karo, and visited him in Safed in 1570. 24 Over a period of at least 11 years, Rabbi Castro made marginal notes in his personal copy of Shulchan aruch; these notes circulated in a manuscript among Egyptian and Palestinian rabbis and were published posthumously as Erech lechem in 1718 (Spiegel Citation1990). Thus, a passage may date from as early as 1565 or as late as 1612. 26 Rabbi Castro's interpretation seems to be inconsistent with the actual intent of Rabbi de Trani. The original passage can be found in Rabbi de Trani's 'Rulings of Riaz' (Bava Kamma, Chapter 'One Who Steals Wood' 3:22). Rabbi de Trani discusses a case in which the monarch demonetized an unnamed coin (possibly a copper coin) that had been valued at 300 per gold coin, and replaced it with a new coin valued at 24 per gold coin. He concludes that a loan of 300 old coins may be repaid with 24 new coins, since the main coin of the realm is gold. Rabbi De Trani refers the reader to his 'Notebook of Proofs' for further explanation; unfortunately, most of this work has not survived. 27 Aramaic charifuta, literally, sharpness or pungency. In this context, charifuta means the desirability of holding new coins simply because they are in mint condition. 25 Rabbi Karo adopted Rabbi Jacob ben Asher's organizational scheme, which divides Jewish law into four 'columns' or sections: Orach chaim (Way of life) – prayer, Sabbath, and holidays; Yoreh deah (He shall teach knowledge) – various ritual laws including laws of kosher food and laws of interest; Even haezer (Rock of support) – marriage and divorce; and Hoshen mishpat (Breastplate of justice) – judicial procedure and civil law. 28 It is not clear whether Rabbi Castro assumes a constant gold–silver ratio in the first sentence of the passage. The third sentence can only be understood under the assumption of a variable gold–silver ratio. 29 Rabbi Mordecai served for over 40 years as chief rabbinic judge in Cairo and Rosetta. He moved to Jerusalem in 1684 and died that same year. To avoid confusion, Rabbi Mordecai Halevi and Rabbi Abraham Halevi will be referred to by their first names. 30 Many rabbis organized their responsa according to Rabbi Jacob ben Asher's four sections. 31 I thank Yaron ben Naeh for identifying this term. In the Ottoman Empire, the Dutch lion thaler was variously known as asedi gurush, aslani, or arsalani. 32 Rabbi Mordecai explores the implications of designating thaler as 'coin' and medin as 'produce,' or alternatively, classifying medin as 'coin' and thaler as 'produce.' He rejects both alternatives on logical grounds. 33 The Arabic word qi'ta means 'piece,' and was used to refer to the para/medin (Pamuk, Citation2000a: 95). However, in this context, Rabbi Mordecai uses the word kitiya (= qi'ta) in the sense of a weight standard. 34 Rabbi Mordecai uses the terms Dar el Tzarb and Divan interchangeably. The mint (also known as Darbhane) and the treasury were both housed in the Citadel of Cairo (Shaw Citation1962). 35 Because the actual weight of the dirham varied according to time and place, Rabbi Mordecai's dirham cannot be identified with absolute certainty. It is most likely that Rabbi Mordecai's dirham is the dirham of Tebriz (= 3.072 grams), which the Ottoman silver coins were based on until the late seventeenth century (Pamu, 2000a: 32). Using 1 dirham = 3.072 grams, 10/36 dirhams = 0.85 grams, and 10/40 dirhams = 0.77 grams. 36 These are identical to the weights reported by Pamuk for 1622, 1630, 1641, 1650, 1670, 1680, and 1685 (see Table 4). 37 The market exchange rate reflected a debasement of one ninth (from 36 to 40 medin per 10 dirhams); the official exchange rate was based on the old weight standard and ignored the debasement. Given these data, a market exchange rate of 43 implies an official exchange rate of 43/1.111 = 38.7. 38 For the modern economist, it is obvious that α should be set equal to the share of domestic goods in total consumption expenditures. 39 His reluctance to directly dispute the Talmud is understandable; his reluctance to dispute Rabbi Castro is more puzzling. 40 Wheat prices rose from 36 paras per ardeb (a unit of volume for dry goods, which ranged from 75 to 184 liters) in 1694 to 108 in 1695 and 181 in 1696; rice prices rose from 313 paras per ardeb in 1695 to 672 in 1696 (Pamuk Citation2000b: 184). These prices are expressed in 1690 paras; thus, they are adjusted for changes in the para's silver content. 41 In Ginat veradim, Part 3 (Even haezer) IV:24, Rabbi Abraham repeats much of the argument found here, and once again he makes no mention of his father. 42 For further details on the Janissaries, see Faroqhi (Citation1994: chap. 20). 43 This appears to contradict Pamuk's assertion that 'the rates at which the coins were accepted by the government reflected the market rates more closely' (2000a: 144). 44 Rabbi Abraham mentions the tugrali in an unrelated responsum (Ginat veradim, Part 4 [Hoshen mishpat] III:40). 45 It is implicit in Rabbi Abraham's narrative that the real was also deliberately undervalued by the governor's decree. 46 Rabbi Abraham argues that this view is implicit in the Talmud and in the writings of Rabbi Isaac Alfasi (1013 to 1103, North Africa and Spain). 47 Merchants used the existence of substandard coins to justify higher prices and profits; the authorities attempted to thwart this behavior by publishing official price lists. 48 Rif compiled all of the legal material in the Talmud. His compilation consists of Talmudic passages, interspersed with his own legal conclusions. 49 The standards for Ottoman gold coins were based on the mithqal of Tebriz. This mithqal was equivalent to 1.5 Tebriz dirhams (Pamuk Citation2000a: 63). 50 See Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Laws of Sales 12:10, and the Tosafot commentary on BT Bava Metzia 51b. Tosafot is the collective work of a group of twelfth to thirteenth-century French rabbis. 51 Coins of this type were issued in the Mamluk era. During 1260 to 1399, the Mamluk sultans of Egypt minted silver dirhams without a weight standard, their weight ranging from less than one to five grams. There is little doubt that these dirhams were weighed in transactions (Schultz Citation1998: 334–5). 52 Warren Schultz, personal correspondence. 53 Based on BT Gittin 50a and Bava Kamma 8a. 54 See Goldberg and Knetter (Citation1997) for a survey of the literature on exchange rate pass-through. 55 Price indices had not yet been invented. The fixed-basket approach to price index measurement was invented in 1707 by the British clergyman William Fleetwood, and refined by Joseph Lowe in 1823 (Diewert Citation1993). 56 Rabbi Abraham expresses his satisfaction that 'finally, all [Jewish] courts have agreed' to the compromise solution advocated by Rabbi Eliyahu ben Haim (c. 1530 to 1610), chief rabbi of Istanbul from 1575. It is not clear how Egyptian rabbis came to accept the compromise solution in the seventeenth century after their sixteenth-century predecessors had ignored it. 57 Jewish charities presumably charged the same interest rates as Islamic cash waqfs (endowments which funded religious and social causes by means of interest income). Baer (Citation1997) reports that during the sixteenth to twentieth centuries, the normal waqf rate was 10–15%; this is consistent with the rates cited by Rabbi Abraham. 58 Rabbi Samuel Hayyun (birth and death dates unknown, although he died before the 1613 publication of his responsa was the maternal grandson of Rabbi Samuel de Medena (1506 to 1589), an outstanding rabbi who lived in Salonika and left over 1000 responsa. 59 Rabbi Hayyun cites Rabbi Eliezer indirectly, through Rabbi Eliezer's descendant, the Austrian scholar Rabbi Mordecai ben Hillel (d. 1298). Rabbi Mordecai ben Hillel's Talmud commentary is known simply as Mordecai, after his first name. The relevant passage is found in Mordecai, Bava Kamma 110–111, commenting on BT Bava Kamma 98a. 60 It might be suggested that both Rabbi Halevis were afraid to question the regime's credibility in writing. However, this explanation must be rejected. The responsa were accessible only to learned Jews, and thus the authors were free to criticize Islamic judges and Ottoman officials. Rabbi Castro, Rabbi Mordecai, and Rabbi Abraham wrote that the Islamic courts were corrupt (Oholei Yaakov 131; Darchei noam, Part 3 (Even haezer) 35, 58; Ginat veradim, Part 3 [Even haezer] I:1, III:35). Rabbi Abraham documented a case in which an Ottoman official ordered the murder of a Jew, then bribed the Islamic courts to cover up his crime (Ginat veradim, Part 3 [Even haezer] III:10); the official was clearly identified by his title.