Antecedents of Social Casework in Mediating Domestic Discord: Notes of the Pursuit of "Shalom Bayit" (peace in the home) in Classical Jewish Sources

Publication Date: January 1992

Publisher: Jewish Communal Service Association of North America

Author(s): David J. Schnall

Research Area: Social conditions

Keywords: History; Social Services; Family

Type: Report

Abstract:

There is substantial evidence from rabbinic sources of the medieval period that court appointed caseworkers were used to investigate and mediate in matters of domestic discord in a variety of Jewish communities throughout the Middle Ages. Although these early caseworkers were not formally trained and it is not clear whether they were paid for their efforts, their intervention can be considered an antecedent of contemporary casework.