Robert Eisen
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- May 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199751471
- eISBN:
- 9780199894833
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199751471.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
The first reading of rabbinic Judaism argues that rabbinic texts promote peace. In the wake of failed rebellions against Rome, the rabbis rejected violence. They claimed that these events came about ...
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The first reading of rabbinic Judaism argues that rabbinic texts promote peace. In the wake of failed rebellions against Rome, the rabbis rejected violence. They claimed that these events came about because of the sins of the Jewish people. The rabbis thus instructed their followers to focus on leading pious lives. Only in the messianic era would Israel’s enemies be defeated, and at that time only God would wage war. The second reading of rabbinic Judaism argues that rabbinic Judaism promotes violence. The desire to do violence to non-Jews is alive and well in rabbinic texts; it is just that the rabbis recognized that they could not act on that desire. They therefore spoke about war as something that either belonged in the distant past or had to be postponed to the distant future. Thus, they celebrated past wars against the Canaanites and the Amalekites and looked forward to the defeat of God’s enemies in the future messianic era.Less
The first reading of rabbinic Judaism argues that rabbinic texts promote peace. In the wake of failed rebellions against Rome, the rabbis rejected violence. They claimed that these events came about because of the sins of the Jewish people. The rabbis thus instructed their followers to focus on leading pious lives. Only in the messianic era would Israel’s enemies be defeated, and at that time only God would wage war. The second reading of rabbinic Judaism argues that rabbinic Judaism promotes violence. The desire to do violence to non-Jews is alive and well in rabbinic texts; it is just that the rabbis recognized that they could not act on that desire. They therefore spoke about war as something that either belonged in the distant past or had to be postponed to the distant future. Thus, they celebrated past wars against the Canaanites and the Amalekites and looked forward to the defeat of God’s enemies in the future messianic era.
Martin S. Jaffee
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195140675
- eISBN:
- 9780199834334
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195140672.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This book is a study of the relationship of oral tradition to written sources among different Jewish groups that thrived in Palestine from the later Second Temple period into Late Antiquity. Its main ...
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This book is a study of the relationship of oral tradition to written sources among different Jewish groups that thrived in Palestine from the later Second Temple period into Late Antiquity. Its main concern is to track the emerging awareness, within diverse Palestinian scribal groups, of the distinction between written books and the oral traditions upon which they were based or in light of which they were interpreted. The thesis holds that during the Second Temple period in particular, diverse Jewish scribal communities –such as the composers of Jewish pseudepigrapha, the Dead Sea community, and the Pharisees – certainly employed oral traditions in their literary and interpretive work. But they did not appeal to oral tradition as an authoritative source of knowledge. This was reserved for written books regarded as prophetic transmissions from antiquity. The emergence of a coherent ideology of oral tradition as a kind of revelation comparable to that of Scripture is associated with the consolidation of third century rabbinic Judaism. The book argues that the rabbinic ideology of Oral Torah – “Torah in the Mouth” – is, in great measure, a legitimation of the institution of rabbinic discipleship, which depended upon the primacy of face‐to‐face relationships, unmediated by the written word.Less
This book is a study of the relationship of oral tradition to written sources among different Jewish groups that thrived in Palestine from the later Second Temple period into Late Antiquity. Its main concern is to track the emerging awareness, within diverse Palestinian scribal groups, of the distinction between written books and the oral traditions upon which they were based or in light of which they were interpreted. The thesis holds that during the Second Temple period in particular, diverse Jewish scribal communities –such as the composers of Jewish pseudepigrapha, the Dead Sea community, and the Pharisees – certainly employed oral traditions in their literary and interpretive work. But they did not appeal to oral tradition as an authoritative source of knowledge. This was reserved for written books regarded as prophetic transmissions from antiquity. The emergence of a coherent ideology of oral tradition as a kind of revelation comparable to that of Scripture is associated with the consolidation of third century rabbinic Judaism. The book argues that the rabbinic ideology of Oral Torah – “Torah in the Mouth” – is, in great measure, a legitimation of the institution of rabbinic discipleship, which depended upon the primacy of face‐to‐face relationships, unmediated by the written word.
Peter Schäfer
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691153902
- eISBN:
- 9781400842285
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691153902.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
This introductory chapter argues that not only the emerging Christianity drew on contemporary Judaism but that rabbinic Judaism, too, tapped into ideas and concepts of Christianity to shape its own ...
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This introductory chapter argues that not only the emerging Christianity drew on contemporary Judaism but that rabbinic Judaism, too, tapped into ideas and concepts of Christianity to shape its own identity. Common wisdom has it that belief in the unity and uniqueness of God has been one of the firmly established principles of Jewish faith since time immemorial. The emerging Christian sect set out to elaborate the notion of the one and only God in terms of first a binitarian and then a trinitarian theology—that is, they took the decisive step to include God's Son in the godhead, this followed by the inclusion of a third divine figure, the Holy Spirit. The rabbis were certainly aware of such developments and responded to them. The rabbinic literature has preserved a wealth of sources that portray the rabbis as engaged in a dialogue with people who present views that run counter to the accepted or imagined rabbinic norm system.Less
This introductory chapter argues that not only the emerging Christianity drew on contemporary Judaism but that rabbinic Judaism, too, tapped into ideas and concepts of Christianity to shape its own identity. Common wisdom has it that belief in the unity and uniqueness of God has been one of the firmly established principles of Jewish faith since time immemorial. The emerging Christian sect set out to elaborate the notion of the one and only God in terms of first a binitarian and then a trinitarian theology—that is, they took the decisive step to include God's Son in the godhead, this followed by the inclusion of a third divine figure, the Holy Spirit. The rabbis were certainly aware of such developments and responded to them. The rabbinic literature has preserved a wealth of sources that portray the rabbis as engaged in a dialogue with people who present views that run counter to the accepted or imagined rabbinic norm system.
Eliezer Diamond
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195137507
- eISBN:
- 9780199849772
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195137507.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This book is part of a lifelong effort to make sense of two of the strangest and most difficult, and yet most formative and inspirational aspects of life: fasting and asceticism in rabbinic culture. ...
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This book is part of a lifelong effort to make sense of two of the strangest and most difficult, and yet most formative and inspirational aspects of life: fasting and asceticism in rabbinic culture. Chapter 1 outlines that rabbinic Judaism does in fact contain ascetic elements, but that the asceticism of rabbinic Judaism is significantly different from that of Christianity in that it is largely incidental and instrumental rather than essential and that the two could co-exist. Chapter 2 examines the beliefs in theological principle and their implications for the rabbinic pursuit or avoidance of pleasure. Chapter 3 surveys the use of terms in the rabbinic corpus and evaluates what this usage implies about rabbinic asceticism. It is suggested in chapter 4 that fasting is the post-destruction substitute for its biblical predecessor, the Nazirite. Lastly, Chapter 5 explores the differences in attitude toward fasting, and perhaps toward active ascetic behavior in general, between the rabbis of the Land of Israel and those of Babylonia.Less
This book is part of a lifelong effort to make sense of two of the strangest and most difficult, and yet most formative and inspirational aspects of life: fasting and asceticism in rabbinic culture. Chapter 1 outlines that rabbinic Judaism does in fact contain ascetic elements, but that the asceticism of rabbinic Judaism is significantly different from that of Christianity in that it is largely incidental and instrumental rather than essential and that the two could co-exist. Chapter 2 examines the beliefs in theological principle and their implications for the rabbinic pursuit or avoidance of pleasure. Chapter 3 surveys the use of terms in the rabbinic corpus and evaluates what this usage implies about rabbinic asceticism. It is suggested in chapter 4 that fasting is the post-destruction substitute for its biblical predecessor, the Nazirite. Lastly, Chapter 5 explores the differences in attitude toward fasting, and perhaps toward active ascetic behavior in general, between the rabbis of the Land of Israel and those of Babylonia.
Adiel Schremer
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195383775
- eISBN:
- 9780199777280
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195383775.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion in the Ancient World
This book seeks to reconstruct the earliest rabbinic discourse of minut (frequently understood as the Hebrew equivalent of the Christian term “heresy”), and to reassess the place that early ...
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This book seeks to reconstruct the earliest rabbinic discourse of minut (frequently understood as the Hebrew equivalent of the Christian term “heresy”), and to reassess the place that early Christianity occupied in that discourse. It suggests that the emergence of the rabbinic discourse of religious identity was a response to an identity crisis of a post-traumatic society, shattered by the powerful Roman empire. In order to re-affirm its values and distinct Jewish identity Palestinian rabbinic society developed a discourse of “heresy,” in which its religious boundaries were re-established by the labeling of some Jews as minim, and their placement beyond the pale. That discourse emphasized notions of social and communal solidarity and belonging, much more than a strictly defined concept of “correct belief,” and minim, accordingly, were Jews who's fault was seen in their separation from the rest of the Jewish community. The place that Christianity occupied in that discourse was relatively small, and the early Christians, who only gradually were introduced into the category of minim and became to be considered as such, were not its main target. Throughout Late Antiquity, the “significant other” for Palestinian Rabbis remained the Roman Empire, and the religious challenge with which they were mostly occupied was the Empire's power and the challenge it posed to the belief in God's power and His divinity.Less
This book seeks to reconstruct the earliest rabbinic discourse of minut (frequently understood as the Hebrew equivalent of the Christian term “heresy”), and to reassess the place that early Christianity occupied in that discourse. It suggests that the emergence of the rabbinic discourse of religious identity was a response to an identity crisis of a post-traumatic society, shattered by the powerful Roman empire. In order to re-affirm its values and distinct Jewish identity Palestinian rabbinic society developed a discourse of “heresy,” in which its religious boundaries were re-established by the labeling of some Jews as minim, and their placement beyond the pale. That discourse emphasized notions of social and communal solidarity and belonging, much more than a strictly defined concept of “correct belief,” and minim, accordingly, were Jews who's fault was seen in their separation from the rest of the Jewish community. The place that Christianity occupied in that discourse was relatively small, and the early Christians, who only gradually were introduced into the category of minim and became to be considered as such, were not its main target. Throughout Late Antiquity, the “significant other” for Palestinian Rabbis remained the Roman Empire, and the religious challenge with which they were mostly occupied was the Empire's power and the challenge it posed to the belief in God's power and His divinity.
Christine E. Hayes
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195151206
- eISBN:
- 9780199834273
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195151208.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
For more than a century, scholars of ancient Judaism and early Christianity have assumed that ancient Jews viewed Gentiles as ritually impure, and that this alleged principle of Gentile ritual ...
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For more than a century, scholars of ancient Judaism and early Christianity have assumed that ancient Jews viewed Gentiles as ritually impure, and that this alleged principle of Gentile ritual impurity was the basis for a strict and burdensome policy of separation between Jews and non‐Jews. The present volume corrects decades of erroneous scholarship on the question of Gentile ritual impurity and the history of Jewish perceptions of Gentiles in antiquity. Although purity and impurity were intimately connected with questions of identity and otherness in ancient Jewish culture, the terms “pure” and “impure” were employed in various ways by different groups of Jews to describe and inscribe sociocultural boundaries between Jews and Gentiles. Close analysis of biblical, Second Temple, New Testament, patristic, and rabbinic sources, shows that at least four distinct modes of impurity were associated with Gentiles by different groups – ritual impurity, moral impurity, genealogical impurity, and carnal impurity. This unexpected diversity of ancient Jewish views of Gentile impurity is tied to widely differing definitions of Jewish group identity and the access of Gentiles to that identity. Consequently, ancient Jews exhibited widely varying attitudes towards intermarriage and conversion – the two processes by which group boundaries might be penetrated. These diverse views of the permeability of the Jewish–Gentile boundary through intermarriage or conversion, deriving in turn from diverse conceptions of Gentile impurity and Jewish identity, contributed to the rise of sectarianism in Second Temple Judaism, and to the separation of the early church from what would later become rabbinic Judaism.Less
For more than a century, scholars of ancient Judaism and early Christianity have assumed that ancient Jews viewed Gentiles as ritually impure, and that this alleged principle of Gentile ritual impurity was the basis for a strict and burdensome policy of separation between Jews and non‐Jews. The present volume corrects decades of erroneous scholarship on the question of Gentile ritual impurity and the history of Jewish perceptions of Gentiles in antiquity. Although purity and impurity were intimately connected with questions of identity and otherness in ancient Jewish culture, the terms “pure” and “impure” were employed in various ways by different groups of Jews to describe and inscribe sociocultural boundaries between Jews and Gentiles. Close analysis of biblical, Second Temple, New Testament, patristic, and rabbinic sources, shows that at least four distinct modes of impurity were associated with Gentiles by different groups – ritual impurity, moral impurity, genealogical impurity, and carnal impurity. This unexpected diversity of ancient Jewish views of Gentile impurity is tied to widely differing definitions of Jewish group identity and the access of Gentiles to that identity. Consequently, ancient Jews exhibited widely varying attitudes towards intermarriage and conversion – the two processes by which group boundaries might be penetrated. These diverse views of the permeability of the Jewish–Gentile boundary through intermarriage or conversion, deriving in turn from diverse conceptions of Gentile impurity and Jewish identity, contributed to the rise of sectarianism in Second Temple Judaism, and to the separation of the early church from what would later become rabbinic Judaism.
Eliezer Diamond
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195306316
- eISBN:
- 9780199867721
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195306316.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
Judaism has been opposed to celibacy because marriage was a normal condition and a divine ordinance. The Jewish tradition provides evidence of exceptions to the rule against celibacy among marginal ...
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Judaism has been opposed to celibacy because marriage was a normal condition and a divine ordinance. The Jewish tradition provides evidence of exceptions to the rule against celibacy among marginal sects, such as the Therapeutrides, Essences, and Qumran community. There were even exceptions made by Rabbinic Judaism associated with Torah study.Less
Judaism has been opposed to celibacy because marriage was a normal condition and a divine ordinance. The Jewish tradition provides evidence of exceptions to the rule against celibacy among marginal sects, such as the Therapeutrides, Essences, and Qumran community. There were even exceptions made by Rabbinic Judaism associated with Torah study.
Amram Tropper
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199267125
- eISBN:
- 9780191699184
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199267125.003.0008
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism, Religion in the Ancient World
This chapter compares Avot's chain of transmission to the succession lists of the early Christian church. It continues the exploration of the wide historical context for Avot by focusing on ...
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This chapter compares Avot's chain of transmission to the succession lists of the early Christian church. It continues the exploration of the wide historical context for Avot by focusing on Christianity. Christianity emerged as a sister religion to rabbinic Judaism during the early Common era, and the relationship between rabbinic Judaism and early Christianity suggests that the early Christian experience may harbor instructive counterparts to Avot. The comparison of Avot's chain of transmission to Christian succession lists suggests that both rabbis and proto-orthodox Christians employed the same literary genre, within the context of two distinct evolutionary histories and in pursuit of some similar political strategies. While God is ever present in the Christian scene, he has essentially been replaced by Torah in the rabbinic setting.Less
This chapter compares Avot's chain of transmission to the succession lists of the early Christian church. It continues the exploration of the wide historical context for Avot by focusing on Christianity. Christianity emerged as a sister religion to rabbinic Judaism during the early Common era, and the relationship between rabbinic Judaism and early Christianity suggests that the early Christian experience may harbor instructive counterparts to Avot. The comparison of Avot's chain of transmission to Christian succession lists suggests that both rabbis and proto-orthodox Christians employed the same literary genre, within the context of two distinct evolutionary histories and in pursuit of some similar political strategies. While God is ever present in the Christian scene, he has essentially been replaced by Torah in the rabbinic setting.
Robert Eisen
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- May 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199751471
- eISBN:
- 9780199894833
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199751471.003.0008
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
The Epilogue shares personal reflection on the practical ramifications of this study. Most important, if violent and peaceful readings of Judaism are both possible, can Judaism provide Jews with ...
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The Epilogue shares personal reflection on the practical ramifications of this study. Most important, if violent and peaceful readings of Judaism are both possible, can Judaism provide Jews with guidance on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict? The argument is made that guidance can indeed be found in the pragmatism of rabbinic Judaism that allowed Jews to survive and thrive for centuries. Pragmatism should encourage Jews to adopt a two-state solution that is in line with the peaceful reading of Judaism. Also shared here are personal, empirical reflections on relationships with non-Jews, Muslims, and Arabs that strengthen the argument for a peaceful understanding of Judaism.Less
The Epilogue shares personal reflection on the practical ramifications of this study. Most important, if violent and peaceful readings of Judaism are both possible, can Judaism provide Jews with guidance on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict? The argument is made that guidance can indeed be found in the pragmatism of rabbinic Judaism that allowed Jews to survive and thrive for centuries. Pragmatism should encourage Jews to adopt a two-state solution that is in line with the peaceful reading of Judaism. Also shared here are personal, empirical reflections on relationships with non-Jews, Muslims, and Arabs that strengthen the argument for a peaceful understanding of Judaism.
Martin S. Jaffee
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195140675
- eISBN:
- 9780199834334
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195140672.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
Introduces key technical terms referring to the composition and transmission of oral tradition, and proposes a general theoretical model for studying the various elements of Jewish oral tradition in ...
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Introduces key technical terms referring to the composition and transmission of oral tradition, and proposes a general theoretical model for studying the various elements of Jewish oral tradition in particular. The most important technical terms are: “oral‐literary tradition” (defined as “verbal products of a culture that have pretensions beyond everyday speech”); “oral‐performative tradition” (defined as “the sum of performative strategies” for transmitting the content of oral‐literary tradition); and “text‐interpretive tradition” (defined as “the body of interpretive understandings that arise from multiple performances of a text”). The theoretical model of oral tradition employed here enables studies of the interrelationships among three dimensions of Jewish oral tradition: the textual substance of the tradition, the social settings for its transmission, and, most importantly, the ideological system by which the texts of oral tradition are represented. For rabbinic Judaism, the concept of Torah in the Mouth and the description of the earliest rabbinic text (the Mishnah) as repeated tradition are the crucial ideological elements under study.Less
Introduces key technical terms referring to the composition and transmission of oral tradition, and proposes a general theoretical model for studying the various elements of Jewish oral tradition in particular. The most important technical terms are: “oral‐literary tradition” (defined as “verbal products of a culture that have pretensions beyond everyday speech”); “oral‐performative tradition” (defined as “the sum of performative strategies” for transmitting the content of oral‐literary tradition); and “text‐interpretive tradition” (defined as “the body of interpretive understandings that arise from multiple performances of a text”). The theoretical model of oral tradition employed here enables studies of the interrelationships among three dimensions of Jewish oral tradition: the textual substance of the tradition, the social settings for its transmission, and, most importantly, the ideological system by which the texts of oral tradition are represented. For rabbinic Judaism, the concept of Torah in the Mouth and the description of the earliest rabbinic text (the Mishnah) as repeated tradition are the crucial ideological elements under study.
Boustan Ra‘anan S.
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199738960
- eISBN:
- 9780199918676
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199738960.003.0014
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion in the Ancient World
As Ra‘anan Boustan observes, sacrificial cult remained the dominant paradigm for religious piety among Jews and Christians, despite the absence of sacrificial practices in both contexts. ...
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As Ra‘anan Boustan observes, sacrificial cult remained the dominant paradigm for religious piety among Jews and Christians, despite the absence of sacrificial practices in both contexts. Reinvigorated in discourses of martyrdom, blood remained a charged site of discursive contact, ritual contestation and exegetical competition. Comparing two contemporaneous narratives from late antiquity, rabbinic accounts of the death of Zechariah the prophet and the Story of the Ten Martyrs, Boustan observes that sublimated violence, while relevant to both texts, cannot explain the attitudes adopted to sacrificial practice. In retellings of the story of Zechariah, human and animal victims fail to provide the redemption Israel needs. By contrast, in the Story of the Ten Martyrs, heroic rabbis are represented as sacrificial victims who willingly lay down their lives to atone for Israel’s sin. Quite different in their approach, these texts nevertheless participate in a common project of wresting control over the meaning and function of righteous human blood in the context of an increasingly hegemonic Roman-Christian culture.Less
As Ra‘anan Boustan observes, sacrificial cult remained the dominant paradigm for religious piety among Jews and Christians, despite the absence of sacrificial practices in both contexts. Reinvigorated in discourses of martyrdom, blood remained a charged site of discursive contact, ritual contestation and exegetical competition. Comparing two contemporaneous narratives from late antiquity, rabbinic accounts of the death of Zechariah the prophet and the Story of the Ten Martyrs, Boustan observes that sublimated violence, while relevant to both texts, cannot explain the attitudes adopted to sacrificial practice. In retellings of the story of Zechariah, human and animal victims fail to provide the redemption Israel needs. By contrast, in the Story of the Ten Martyrs, heroic rabbis are represented as sacrificial victims who willingly lay down their lives to atone for Israel’s sin. Quite different in their approach, these texts nevertheless participate in a common project of wresting control over the meaning and function of righteous human blood in the context of an increasingly hegemonic Roman-Christian culture.
Eliezer Diamond
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195137507
- eISBN:
- 9780199849772
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195137507.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
The existence of ascetic elements within rabbinic Judaism has generally been either overlooked or actually denied. This is in part because asceticism is not commonly identified with celibacy, whereas ...
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The existence of ascetic elements within rabbinic Judaism has generally been either overlooked or actually denied. This is in part because asceticism is not commonly identified with celibacy, whereas the rabbis emphasized sexuality as a positive good. In addition, argues this book, it serves the theological agendas of both Jewish and Christian scholars to characterize Judaism as non- or anti-ascetic. In fact, however, the book shows that rabbinic asceticism does indeed exist. This asceticism is secondary, rather than primary, in that the rabbis place no value on self-denial in and of itself, but rather require themselves the virtual abandonment of familial, social, and economic life in favour of an absolute commitment to the study of the Torah. It is an asceticism of neglect, rather than negation. One form of asceticism in particular—fasting—became increasingly popular in the wake of the destruction of the second temple. The book traces this to the need to mourn the temple's devastation but also to the cessation of temple-related rituals. The book shows that fasting was seen as a substitute for these rituals when the Temple was destroyed.Less
The existence of ascetic elements within rabbinic Judaism has generally been either overlooked or actually denied. This is in part because asceticism is not commonly identified with celibacy, whereas the rabbis emphasized sexuality as a positive good. In addition, argues this book, it serves the theological agendas of both Jewish and Christian scholars to characterize Judaism as non- or anti-ascetic. In fact, however, the book shows that rabbinic asceticism does indeed exist. This asceticism is secondary, rather than primary, in that the rabbis place no value on self-denial in and of itself, but rather require themselves the virtual abandonment of familial, social, and economic life in favour of an absolute commitment to the study of the Torah. It is an asceticism of neglect, rather than negation. One form of asceticism in particular—fasting—became increasingly popular in the wake of the destruction of the second temple. The book traces this to the need to mourn the temple's devastation but also to the cessation of temple-related rituals. The book shows that fasting was seen as a substitute for these rituals when the Temple was destroyed.
Robert Eisen
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- May 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199751471
- eISBN:
- 9780199894833
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199751471.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This study provides a comprehensive analysis of Jewish views on peace and violence. It examines five major thought-worlds in Judaism—the Bible, rabbinic Judaism, medieval Jewish philosophy, Kabbalah, ...
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This study provides a comprehensive analysis of Jewish views on peace and violence. It examines five major thought-worlds in Judaism—the Bible, rabbinic Judaism, medieval Jewish philosophy, Kabbalah, and modern Zionism—and it demonstrates that each of these thought-worlds exhibits ambiguity regarding peace and violence. To make this case, an unusual format has been adopted. Two separate analyses are presented for each of the thought-worlds: one that argues for a peaceful reading of Judaism, and another that argues for a violent reading. The aim is to show that both readings are valid and authentic interpretations of Judaism. The study also explores why Judaism is so ambiguous on the issues of peace and violence by examining the interpretive methods that support each reading. These include such techniques as the selection of texts that support a viewpoint, selective emphasis on some texts at the expense of others, and the use of historical context to give meaning to a text. This study is relevant not just for Judaism. Other religions exhibit the same ambiguities that Judaism does when it comes to peace and violence. This study is therefore meant to provide a model for the analysis of other religious traditions as well.Less
This study provides a comprehensive analysis of Jewish views on peace and violence. It examines five major thought-worlds in Judaism—the Bible, rabbinic Judaism, medieval Jewish philosophy, Kabbalah, and modern Zionism—and it demonstrates that each of these thought-worlds exhibits ambiguity regarding peace and violence. To make this case, an unusual format has been adopted. Two separate analyses are presented for each of the thought-worlds: one that argues for a peaceful reading of Judaism, and another that argues for a violent reading. The aim is to show that both readings are valid and authentic interpretations of Judaism. The study also explores why Judaism is so ambiguous on the issues of peace and violence by examining the interpretive methods that support each reading. These include such techniques as the selection of texts that support a viewpoint, selective emphasis on some texts at the expense of others, and the use of historical context to give meaning to a text. This study is relevant not just for Judaism. Other religions exhibit the same ambiguities that Judaism does when it comes to peace and violence. This study is therefore meant to provide a model for the analysis of other religious traditions as well.
Garth Fowden
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691158532
- eISBN:
- 9781400848164
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691158532.003.0006
- Subject:
- History, Ancient History / Archaeology
This chapter examines several other major learned or religious traditions that flourished during the First Millennium, with particular emphasis on their maturation through exegesis of and commentary ...
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This chapter examines several other major learned or religious traditions that flourished during the First Millennium, with particular emphasis on their maturation through exegesis of and commentary on authoritative texts. It first considers Roman law, a tradition rooted in pre-First Millennium, non-monotheistic Antiquity, before discussing rabbinic Judaism, patristic Christianity, and Islam. The goal is to consolidate the argument that the First Millennium was the source not only of the three great texts that have most deeply molded Eurasian civilization (the Christian Bible, the Justinianic code, and the Qur'āan), but also of the exegetical traditions through which these often recalcitrant books were transformed into usable public doctrine.Less
This chapter examines several other major learned or religious traditions that flourished during the First Millennium, with particular emphasis on their maturation through exegesis of and commentary on authoritative texts. It first considers Roman law, a tradition rooted in pre-First Millennium, non-monotheistic Antiquity, before discussing rabbinic Judaism, patristic Christianity, and Islam. The goal is to consolidate the argument that the First Millennium was the source not only of the three great texts that have most deeply molded Eurasian civilization (the Christian Bible, the Justinianic code, and the Qur'āan), but also of the exegetical traditions through which these often recalcitrant books were transformed into usable public doctrine.
Peter Schäfer
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691153902
- eISBN:
- 9781400842285
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691153902.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
In late antiquity, as Christianity emerged from Judaism, it was not only the new religion that was being influenced by the old. The rise and revolutionary challenge of Christianity also had a ...
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In late antiquity, as Christianity emerged from Judaism, it was not only the new religion that was being influenced by the old. The rise and revolutionary challenge of Christianity also had a profound influence on rabbinic Judaism, which was itself just emerging and, like Christianity, trying to shape its own identity. This book reveals the crucial ways in which various Jewish heresies, including Christianity, affected the development of rabbinic Judaism. The book even shows that some of the ideas that the rabbis appropriated from Christianity were actually reappropriated Jewish ideas. The result is a demonstration of the deep mutual influence between the sister religions, one that calls into question hard and fast distinctions between orthodoxy and heresy, and even Judaism and Christianity, during the first centuries CE.Less
In late antiquity, as Christianity emerged from Judaism, it was not only the new religion that was being influenced by the old. The rise and revolutionary challenge of Christianity also had a profound influence on rabbinic Judaism, which was itself just emerging and, like Christianity, trying to shape its own identity. This book reveals the crucial ways in which various Jewish heresies, including Christianity, affected the development of rabbinic Judaism. The book even shows that some of the ideas that the rabbis appropriated from Christianity were actually reappropriated Jewish ideas. The result is a demonstration of the deep mutual influence between the sister religions, one that calls into question hard and fast distinctions between orthodoxy and heresy, and even Judaism and Christianity, during the first centuries CE.
Christine E. Hayes
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195151206
- eISBN:
- 9780199834273
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195151208.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
The ethnic identity of ancient Israelites was constructed in opposition to Gentile, or alien, “others” and was expressed in terms of purity and impurity. Different constructions of Jewish identity ...
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The ethnic identity of ancient Israelites was constructed in opposition to Gentile, or alien, “others” and was expressed in terms of purity and impurity. Different constructions of Jewish identity entailed different characterizations of aliens and different views on the degree to which Gentiles might acquire Israelite identity. Previous scholarship, which assumes that all ancient Jews viewed Gentiles as ritually impure and thus off‐limits, is reviewed and critiqued. There are, in fact, several distinct modes of impurity (ritual impurity, moral impurity, genealogical impurity) employed by various groups of ancient Jews, and the boundary between pure Israelite and impure alien was more or less permeable depending on the mode of impurity attributed to the alien. These different assessments of the permeability of the boundary between Jews and Gentiles are connected with widely different attitudes to the postexilic phenomena of conversion and intermarriage, and contributed to the sectarianism that characterized Second Temple Judaism as well as the eventual separation of Christianity from rabbinic Judaism.Less
The ethnic identity of ancient Israelites was constructed in opposition to Gentile, or alien, “others” and was expressed in terms of purity and impurity. Different constructions of Jewish identity entailed different characterizations of aliens and different views on the degree to which Gentiles might acquire Israelite identity. Previous scholarship, which assumes that all ancient Jews viewed Gentiles as ritually impure and thus off‐limits, is reviewed and critiqued. There are, in fact, several distinct modes of impurity (ritual impurity, moral impurity, genealogical impurity) employed by various groups of ancient Jews, and the boundary between pure Israelite and impure alien was more or less permeable depending on the mode of impurity attributed to the alien. These different assessments of the permeability of the boundary between Jews and Gentiles are connected with widely different attitudes to the postexilic phenomena of conversion and intermarriage, and contributed to the sectarianism that characterized Second Temple Judaism as well as the eventual separation of Christianity from rabbinic Judaism.
Reuven Firestone
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199860302
- eISBN:
- 9780199950621
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199860302.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
In the wake of the Destruction rose a new class of Jewish leadership in the rabbis. This chapter discusses the emergence and dominance of Rabbinic Judaism and its sacred literature after the ...
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In the wake of the Destruction rose a new class of Jewish leadership in the rabbis. This chapter discusses the emergence and dominance of Rabbinic Judaism and its sacred literature after the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 ce. The trauma of destruction encouraged the new leadership to develop a different approach toward dealing with conflicts between Jews and Gentiles.Less
In the wake of the Destruction rose a new class of Jewish leadership in the rabbis. This chapter discusses the emergence and dominance of Rabbinic Judaism and its sacred literature after the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 ce. The trauma of destruction encouraged the new leadership to develop a different approach toward dealing with conflicts between Jews and Gentiles.
AMRAM TROPPER
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197264744
- eISBN:
- 9780191734663
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264744.003.0007
- Subject:
- History, Middle East History
This chapter examines the current state of research into mishnah, the first major work of rabbinic Judaism. It explains that the mishnah is primarily an edited anthology of brief and often elliptical ...
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This chapter examines the current state of research into mishnah, the first major work of rabbinic Judaism. It explains that the mishnah is primarily an edited anthology of brief and often elliptical pronouncements on matters of Jewish law and practice, frequently providing conflicting views on the individual matters discussed. It discusses the six sedarim of the mishnah and mentions that the mishnah frequently digresses from its main topics at every level of the organisational hierarchy.Less
This chapter examines the current state of research into mishnah, the first major work of rabbinic Judaism. It explains that the mishnah is primarily an edited anthology of brief and often elliptical pronouncements on matters of Jewish law and practice, frequently providing conflicting views on the individual matters discussed. It discusses the six sedarim of the mishnah and mentions that the mishnah frequently digresses from its main topics at every level of the organisational hierarchy.
PETER SCHÄFER
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197264744
- eISBN:
- 9780191734663
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264744.003.0016
- Subject:
- History, Middle East History
This chapter examines the origins of Jewish mysticism and the Hekhalot liteature. The findings do not confirm the trend in modern scholarship which locates the origins of Jewish mysticism in the ...
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This chapter examines the origins of Jewish mysticism and the Hekhalot liteature. The findings do not confirm the trend in modern scholarship which locates the origins of Jewish mysticism in the Qumran literature and wishes to see an unbroken chain of distinctly mystical ideas leading from Qumran through rabbinic Judaism to the Hekhalot literature. The result also suggests that the category of mysticism has proved to be a dubious one mainly because of scholars' tendency to insert the notion of unio mystica into the ancient texts.Less
This chapter examines the origins of Jewish mysticism and the Hekhalot liteature. The findings do not confirm the trend in modern scholarship which locates the origins of Jewish mysticism in the Qumran literature and wishes to see an unbroken chain of distinctly mystical ideas leading from Qumran through rabbinic Judaism to the Hekhalot literature. The result also suggests that the category of mysticism has proved to be a dubious one mainly because of scholars' tendency to insert the notion of unio mystica into the ancient texts.
B. Barry Levy
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- April 2004
- ISBN:
- 9780195141139
- eISBN:
- 9780199834945
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019514113X.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
Many scholars and learned readers believe that rabbinic Judaism assumes a dogmatic commitment to the notion that the Bible text, particularly the Torah text, is letter perfect; orthodox Jews often ...
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Many scholars and learned readers believe that rabbinic Judaism assumes a dogmatic commitment to the notion that the Bible text, particularly the Torah text, is letter perfect; orthodox Jews often accept this notion as fact, others, as normative rabbinic doctrine. This position developed over the centuries as an internal theological and interpretative posture and as a response to external pressures. These factors include rabbinic indifference to alternative forms of the Bible text recovered from pre‐rabbinic times or non‐rabbinic sources, attacks from Christians and Muslims who accused the Jews of falsifying the text or failing to transmit it accurately, and mystical Jewish teachings that saw in the Torah a divinely revealed and perfectly transmitted document whose letters were, in their entirety, a divine name. The assumption of letter‐perfect accuracy sustains much of the midrashic literature and has become a cornerstone of the postmodern fad of decoding the text to reveal alleged references to phenomena that occurred long after its books were written. This study, based on careful examination of hundreds of authoritative rabbinic writings, offers a very different picture of the Bible's textual reality and the rabbinic beliefs about it. Beginning with late antiquity and progressing throughout the subsequent ages, this book explores Talmudic, midrashic, medieval, Renaissance, and modern rabbinic texts that address the question of the letter‐perfect accuracy of the Bible text; it is particularly attentive to the writings of Rabbis Solomon ben Adret, Jacob ben Ibn Adoniyah, and David Ibn Zimra, as well as others who lived between the thirteenth and sixteenth centuries. The documents analysed have been chosen from Bible commentaries, responsa, halakhic codes, guidebooks for scribes, studies of Bible manuscripts and the printed Bible, and many other rabbinic works. In presenting these sources, many translated here for the first time, the author explores the various rabbinic attempts to fix the Bible text—to correct it and to establish its authoritative spelling. He demonstrates conclusively that many of the same rabbinic figures whose teachings inform other contemporary Orthodox doctrines were quite open about the fact that their Bible texts, even their Torah scrolls, were not completely accurate. Moreover, though many of the variations are of little exegetical significance, these rabbis often acknowledged that, textually speaking, the situation was beyond repair.Less
Many scholars and learned readers believe that rabbinic Judaism assumes a dogmatic commitment to the notion that the Bible text, particularly the Torah text, is letter perfect; orthodox Jews often accept this notion as fact, others, as normative rabbinic doctrine. This position developed over the centuries as an internal theological and interpretative posture and as a response to external pressures. These factors include rabbinic indifference to alternative forms of the Bible text recovered from pre‐rabbinic times or non‐rabbinic sources, attacks from Christians and Muslims who accused the Jews of falsifying the text or failing to transmit it accurately, and mystical Jewish teachings that saw in the Torah a divinely revealed and perfectly transmitted document whose letters were, in their entirety, a divine name. The assumption of letter‐perfect accuracy sustains much of the midrashic literature and has become a cornerstone of the postmodern fad of decoding the text to reveal alleged references to phenomena that occurred long after its books were written. This study, based on careful examination of hundreds of authoritative rabbinic writings, offers a very different picture of the Bible's textual reality and the rabbinic beliefs about it. Beginning with late antiquity and progressing throughout the subsequent ages, this book explores Talmudic, midrashic, medieval, Renaissance, and modern rabbinic texts that address the question of the letter‐perfect accuracy of the Bible text; it is particularly attentive to the writings of Rabbis Solomon ben Adret, Jacob ben Ibn Adoniyah, and David Ibn Zimra, as well as others who lived between the thirteenth and sixteenth centuries. The documents analysed have been chosen from Bible commentaries, responsa, halakhic codes, guidebooks for scribes, studies of Bible manuscripts and the printed Bible, and many other rabbinic works. In presenting these sources, many translated here for the first time, the author explores the various rabbinic attempts to fix the Bible text—to correct it and to establish its authoritative spelling. He demonstrates conclusively that many of the same rabbinic figures whose teachings inform other contemporary Orthodox doctrines were quite open about the fact that their Bible texts, even their Torah scrolls, were not completely accurate. Moreover, though many of the variations are of little exegetical significance, these rabbis often acknowledged that, textually speaking, the situation was beyond repair.
