Benches, Bargains, and Bickering: Shul Seating in the Middle Ages

We kick things off with seven fascinating stories from the teshuvos of medieval Spain, where we discover shul seats being treated like real estate: bought, sold, inherited, mortgaged—and sometimes the center of heated disputes. Then, we shift our focus to Ashkenaz, where this phenomenon is noticeably absent, suggesting a very different set of attitudes and conventions about shul seats. Finally, we dive into how the poskim tackled some of these disputes, applying Halachah to their contemporary realities. Benches, Bargains, and Bickering: Shul Seating in the Middle Ages