Influence of Printing Press on Ashkenazic Jewish Culture

Like Europeans in general, Jews were profoundly affected by the spread of printing. (1) The increase in the Ashkenazic Jews' ability to publish and acquire publications allowed for the creation of a new canon. This new canon had the potential to alter the study of curriculum, the methods of study, the process by which Jewish law was determined, and the practice of Judaism itself. (2) Feeling threatened by the new canon some Jews pushed for the curriculum to only contains the Talmud, which was studied using the method of pilpul. They felt most threatened by the new general halakhic summaries.

The introduction of the printing press had a large impact on the Jewish community in Europe. Books became cheaper and available to more than just the educated elite. Ashkenazic readers now had access to books of philosophy, biblical and midrashic interpretations, medieval science, Kabbalah, homiletics and morality, Hebrew grammar, Talmud study, and halakhah. (3) Instead of just listening to the sermons and accepting the ideas of the teachers, they were able to listen and challenge the authority of the teachers with their knowledge learned directly from books. This group that gained the ability to own books also were able to write and publish their own books. With the introduction of previous unknown works of Sephardic scholars and the increased ability to publish the new works were created by drawing from an increasing number of sources than previous works had been able to. In effect, a new library of canonical texts was created, much larger in scope and variegated in terms of the traditions it drew upon than the medieval Ashkenazic works that had served as the basis of the traditional Ashkenazic intellectual endeavor. (4)