The purpose of the map project is to bring up-to-date tools of quantitative and geographical analysis to Rabbinic literature. The tools we develop allow us to quantify rabbinic authority and influence easily and quickly. Analysis of the data shows the areas of influence in time and space.+

So far we have produced many surprising results regarding rabbinic correspondence networks and the development of rabbinical careers and their direction. We discovered phenomena that no one had noticed until now, and many new questions, big and small, opened up to us, a new generation of historians and researchers in the field.

The project began with an analysis of the “metadata” of the “Question and Answer” literature. Recently we even won a grant, together with Prof. Marcin Wodzinski from the University of Wroclaw, in order to create a comprehensive database of “Pranomerantan”, lists of people who “bought” a book even before it was printed, who helped finance the publishing.

From the end of the 18th century to the middle of the 20th century, about 2300 “Jewish” books in which such lists appear were printed. All of these shed light on a multitude of phenomena related to books, book culture, and various circles of interest groups in Jewish society.