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A

trade which would necessitate business intercourse with women is looked upon as improper (Kid. iv. 14); for every one who deals with women has bad leaven in him, otherwise he would not have chosen such a trade (Kid. 82u compare Jastrow, "Dictionary," s.v. TiD). But, like all theories, this rule was not always carried out in practise even scholars disregarded it (compare Pes. 1134). See also Labor. Nevertheless there were several trades regarded unfavorably by popular opinion. This is well ex;

pressed by K. Mei'r (about the year 140): "

One should

teach his son an easy and cleanly occupation. One should pray to Him to whom riches and possessions belong lor in every trade there is wealth as well as poverty but neither wealth nor poverty is dependent on the occupation, but rather on the meritoriousness of man " (Kid. iv. 14).



And

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THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Artisans

R. Jehudah ha-Xasi (about the year 200):

" There is no occupation which will disappear from this world. Happy he who has seen at his parents' home a fine trade but wo unto him who has seen his parents engaged in an unpleasant trade. The world can not get along without a manufacturer of perfumes, neither without a tanner. Happy he whose trade wo unto him who is a tanner " is manufacturing of perfumes

ARTISANS— Medieval:

So far as they were

allowed by the restrictions of the trade gilds, many Jews of medieval times obtained their livelihood by working with' their hands. Benjamin of Tudela (1171) refers to many manufacturers of silk in the Byzantine empire, to dyers in Syria, and glassmakers at Tyre. A little later King Roger of Sicily brought Jewish silk-weavers to south Italy to found In that industry (Griitz, " Geschichte," vi. 263). deed, the trade of dyeing seems to have been almost a monopoly of Jews in southern Europe, and was certainly their favorite form of industry, the tax lev-

on them being called " Tignta Judceorum " (Gi'idemann, "Culturgeschichte," ii. 312). The Jewish silk manufacturers of Italy were also

ied

The Jews of Lyons, when distinguished (ibid. 240). expelled in 1446, established an important silversmith business at Trevoux. In Sicily the Jews appeared to have almost a monopoly of handicrafts, and the authorities in 1492 protested against the edict of expulsion, because, as they said, " nearly all Among the the artisans in the realm are Jews." Jews of Germany and north France in the thirteenth



(Kid. 82b).

Drivers of asses and camels, shepherds, sailors, wagon-drivers, storekeepers, and crockery-dealers are looked down upon, "for their Estimation trades are robbers' trades " (Kid. iv. 14 of Certain Yer. Kid. iv. 66c et aeq.). The following occupations are also looked upon Trades. with disfavor because they bring one into contact with women, and neither king nor high priest should be chosen from among those who follow them namely, the trades of goldsmith, carder, millstone-chiseler, pedler, weaver, barber, fuller, leech, bath-man, and tanner (Kid. I.e.). Classification by trade and the formation of gilds Thus, gilds of goldare mentioned in the Bible. smiths and perf umers are referred to in Neh. iii. M. Gilds of potters and weavGilds. ers seem to be indicated in I Chron. iv. 23. These gilds seem to have been hereditary, similar to the later families of Garmu and Abtinas, who tenaciously retained in their respective

—

families the special knowledge of baking the showbread and preparing the holy incense (Yoma iii. 11). The coppersmiths or embossers had a separate synagogue (Meg. 26«; Naz. 52«)- In Alexandria there

was a perfect organization of the various trades. In the synagogue the goldsmiths, silversmiths, smiths, embossers, weavers, etc., sat each in a separate group (Suk. 51J). Among some trades there existed See also Agrialso mutual insurance (B. K. 1166). culttjbe, Baking. Baths, Bottle, Cooking, CoprEK, Cotton, Dyeing, Embroidery, Engraving, Flax, Fuller, Glass, Iron, Labor, Leather, Spinning, Shipbuilding, Pottery, Metals,

Weaving, Wool. Bibliography: S. Meyer, Arheit und Handwerk im Talmud, Berlin, 187H Delitzsch, JUtlixehes Handwerkerlehen zur Zeit Jem, 3d ed., Erlangen, 1879 J. S. Bloch, Der Arheiterstand bel den PaUMinenaern, Griechen und Ri'»mern, Vienna, 1882 Rieger, Vermeil einer Techrwlngie und



,

Termirujlogie der Handwerke in der Mischnah, Breslau, 1894 G. Lowy, Die Technolngie und Terminologie der MIUler und Bti'eker in den Rabbinischen Quellen, Leipsic, 1898 Schwab, Repertoire, 11., s.v. Metiers.



J. 8R.

C. L.

and fourteenth centuries are found masons, tanners, card-painters,

armorers,

stone-engravers, glaziers,

and even makers of mouse-traps, while among the inhabitants of Spain before the fifteenth century were to be found shoemakers, silversmiths, weavers, mechanics, carpenters, locksmiths, basket-makers, and

About curriers (Jacobs, "Inquiry," pp. xv, xxiii). 1620 the majority of the Jews of Rome earned their Among the living as tailors (Rieger, "Rom," 198). Artisans mentioned in the inscriptions at the Prague cemetery of the seventeenth century are furriers, carpenters,

locksmiths,

glaziers,

potters,

wood-

wheelwrights, and wagon-makers (Hock, " Familien Prags "). When it is remembered that many of these occupations could only be filled by persons who had entry to the gilds, which were religious fraternities as well as trade-unions, and did not admit the Jews, there is a remarkable variety of handicrafts in which Jews can be traced during the Middle Ages; see the lists at the end of chapter xii. of Abrahams' "Jewish Life in the Middle Ages." There is, however, considerable variation in the amount of handwork shown by the Jews in the MidWhere the dle Ages according to place and time. central government was strong an attempt was made to use the Jews as indirect tax-gatherers, and here very little handwork is found where, on the contrary, the central government was not all-powerful, the Jews had freer access to the more natural means of earning a livelihood. Of course, throughout Jewish history a certain number of employments in which handwork is required had to exist among them for religious purposes. Thus they require a special class of butchers and even of bakers, while their barbers also have to be acquainted with Jewish custom. That the exclusion from the gilds was the main cause of the relatively small numbers of Artisans among the medie-val Jews is shown by the fact that, as soon as restrictions were removed, handicrafts were adopted by the Jews. Thus within fifteen years of the " Judenordnung " of Bohemia, 1797, which opened all occupations to Jews, there were over 400 Jewish Artisans in Prague (Jost, " Ge-

cutters,