Plague in early modern Europe was a disease of the house (Snowden, 42). Its transmission by fleas meant that domestic living conditions were a crucial factor in the spread of illness. An array of sources from the period reflect this understanding, even if the microbiological underpinnings of disease transmission were not established until the late nineteenth century: state archives preserve documents ordering the cleaning of houses, the separation of individuals, and concern over objects within the home; religious texts debated the merits of flight versus home isolation; and medical textbooks offered wisdom about treatment and prevention through home remedies.

A touchstone of scholarly exploration of Jewish medical knowledge in the early modern period, the book Ma’aseh Tuviyah is an apt artefact for thinking about Jews, bodies, health, and houses. First published in 1707, the book’s metaphorical rendition of a human body as a house offers a visual representation of the theme of this seminar year ( Lepicard, 229-255 ). The second volume of the work, first published in Jessnitz in 1720, bore a sub-section entitled “Mishmeret ha-Bayit” [The Watch of the House]--meant to invoke both the body as house and the importance of the home itself—which deals largely with forms of illness.

This text offers a powerful, yet common, example of the importance of house and home in the history of disease in Jewish life. The author deals with types of illnesses—including plague “that most fearful of all illnesses”—and considers the medical commonality between Jews and non-Jews both in their experiences and by drawing together Jewish and non-Jewish sources. The work thus represents a valuable window into thinking about body and house as the locus for prevention, treatment, and cure, as well as our understandings of Jews as they related to their neighbors in early modern Europe.