Allocating the Cost of Town Walls in Medieval Castile: A Rabbinic Analysis

ABSTRACT This study analyzes the normative criteria proposed by Rabbi Meir Halevi Abulafia (Ramah) for allocating the cost of building urban fortifications among Jewish aljamas in medieval Castile. Using textual and historical-interpretive analyses of rabbinic sources, this paper maintains that Ramah’s extensive cost allocation analysis of town walls was driven by historical events surrounding the Reconquista. The paper finds that Ramah’s geometric cost allocation scheme is consistent with both Talmudic and economic efficiency reasoning. Because the Talmudic letter of the law conflicted with equity considerations, the Ramah was forced to do an “about face” and rationalize a more equitable approach, if only by reference to less-than-ideal Talmudic sources. This study contributes to the historical accounting literature by showing that cost allocation in medieval Spain was justified both on efficiency and equity grounds—albeit moderated by historical exigencies—in consonance with some of the modern cost allocation literature.