Inhalt: | Jewish History through a Legal Lens -- The Foundations of the Metz Kehillah -- Communal Autonomy and Governance -- Lay and Rabbinic Judicial Authority -- Navigating the Challenges of Multiple Jurisdictions -- Guardianship and Inheritance -- Women, Marriage, and Property. "In Law's Dominion, Jay Berkovitz offers a novel approach to the history of early modern Jewry. Set in the city of Metz, on the Moselle river, this study of a vibrant prerevolutionary community draws on a wide spectrum of legal sources that tell a story about community, religion, and family that has not been told before.Focusing on the community's leadership, public institutions, and judiciary, this study challenges the assumption that Jewish life was in a steady state of decline before the French Revolution. To the contrary, the evidence reveals a robust community that integrated religious values and civic consciousness, interacted with French society, and showed remarkable signs of collaboration between Jewish law and the French judicial system"-- |
