The Literature of the Sages : A Re-Visioning /
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This volume presents the major works of classical rabbinic Judaism as inter-related aggregates analyzed through three central themes. Part 1, "Intertextuality," investigates the multi-directional relationships among and between rabbinic texts and nonrabbinic Jewish sources. Part 2, "East and West" explores the impact on rabbinic texts of the cultures of the Hellenistic, Roman, and Christian West and the Sasanian East. Part 3, "Halakha and Aggada," interrogates the relationship of law and narrative in rabbinic sources. This bold volume uncovers alliances and ruptures -- textual, cultural, and generic -- obscured by document-based approaches to rabbinic literature.
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This volume abandons the document-based approach of standard introductions and investigates aggregates of classical rabbinic texts through three broad perspectives - intertextuality, east and west, halakhah and aggadah - generating fresh insights that will reset the scholarly agenda. :
1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004515697
9789004515420
Jewish identity in early rabbinic writings /
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Jewish Identity in Early Rabbinic Writings is more than a question of legal status: it is the experience of being Jewish or of 'Jewishness' in all its social and cultural dimensions. This work describes this experience as it emerges in Talmudic and Midrashic sources. Besides the question of "who is a Jew?", topics include the contrast between Israel and the non-Jews, the physical embodiment of Jewish identity, the 'boundaries' of Israel and resistance to assimilation. Jewish identity, it is argued, hinges essentially on the Divine commandments ( mitzvot ) and on Israel's perceived proximity with the Divine. Drawing on a variety of disciplines, including the theories of William James and Merleau-Ponty, this study raises important issues in anthropology, as well as accounting for central aspects of early rabbinic Judaism.
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Rev. version of the author's thesis (D. Phil.)--Jews' College. :
1 online resource (xxxix, 269 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 260-266) and index. :
9789004332768 :
0169-734X ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Rabbinic body language : non-verbal communication in Palestinian rabbinic literature of late antiquity /
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This study constitutes the first comprehensive examination of rabbinic body language represented in Palestinian rabbinic sources of late antiquity. Catherine Hezser examines rabbis' appearance and demeanor, spatial movement, gestures, and facial expressions on the basis of literary and social-anthropological methods and theories. She discusses the various forms of rabbis' non-verbal communication in the context of Graeco-Roman and ancient Christian literary sources and in connection with the material culture of Roman and early Byzantine Palestine. Catherine Hezser convincingly shows that in rabbinic literature body language serves as an important means of rabbis' self-fashioning. Rabbinic texts create the image of a particularly Jewish type of intellectual who functioned and competed for adherents within the highly visual and body-conscious environment of late antiquity.
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1 online resource (300 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789004339064 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Rabbinic traditions between Palestine and Babylonia /
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In this book various authors explore how rabbinic traditions that were formulated in the Land of Israel migrated to Jewish study houses in Babylonia. The authors demonstrate how the new location and the unique literary character of the Babylonian Talmud combine to create new and surprising texts out of the old ones. Some authors concentrate on inner rabbinic social structures that influence the changes the traditions underwent. Others show the influence of the host culture on the metamorphosis of the traditions. The result is a complex study of cultural processes, as shaped by a unique historical moment.
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Includes index. :
1 online resource (pages) :
9789004277311 :
1871-6636 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Deviancy in early rabbinic literature : a collection of socio-anthropological essays /
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Deviancy in Early Rabbinic Literature deals with the status of those groups and individuals who, for various reasons, appear to have no place in mainstream Rabbinic Jewish society, or may be perceived by that society as posing a threat to its norms and to its very existence. The book examines the thoughts and attitudes of the Rabbis set forth in various sections of the Mishnah, Tosefta and Talmud. Deviant groups studied include witches, prostitutes, Gentiles, bastards, Nazirites, soldiers, Kutites, the disabled and the menstruous woman. Social anthropological methodologies are used to provide a unique perspective on the implicit message of the redactors of these Rabbinic texts, and to make these important texts equally accessible to both scholars and laymen interested in acquiring a deeper understanding of these important issues.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. [213]-220) and index. :
9789047420187 :
1571-5000 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Simeon the Righteous in rabbinic literature : a legend reinvented /
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In Simeon the Righteous in Rabbinic Literature: A Legend Reinvented , Amram Tropper investigates the rabbinic traditions about Simeon the Righteous, a renowned Jewish leader of Second Temple times. Tropper not only interprets these traditions from a literary perspective but also deploys a relatively new critical approach towards rabbinic literature with which he explores the formation history of the traditions. With the help of this approach, Tropper seeks to uncover the literary and cultural matrices, both rabbinic and Graeco-Roman, which supplied the raw materials and literary inspiration to the rabbinic authors and editors of the traditions. Tropper's analysis reveals that in reinventing the legend of Simeon the Righteous, the rabbis constructed the Second Temple past in the image of their own present.
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1 online resource (vii, 249 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004245020 :
1871-6636 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Women in the Bible, Qumran, and early Rabbinic literature : their status and roles /
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Women in the Bible, Qumran and Early Rabbinic Literature: Their Status and Roles portrays the tension between the unity of husband and wife and their different legal and social status from a wide range of perspectives, as deduced from the texts of the three corpora. The volume discusses the related topics of divorce, polygamy, woman's obligations to fulfill precepts, membership in the community, genealogy and attitudes toward sex, such as rejection of asceticism. Women in the Bible, Qumran and Early Rabbinic Literature begins with an objective interpretation of the biblical narratives of the Creation and the Fall, the intellectual basis of Jewish attitudes toward women, and then analyzes the divergent interpretations of Qumran and the Rabbis, the grounds of their distinct doctrines and halakhot .
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1 online resource (xiii, 420 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004277113 :
0169-9962 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Mine and yours are hers : retrieving women's history from rabbinic literature /
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This book discusses the interaction between history, rabbinic literature and feminist studies. Recent approaches to rabbinic literature have overturned the traditional view of these writings and new literary methods were suggested, mostly denying them all historical value. But rabbinic literature constitutes the main source for the lives of Jews in Palestine and Babylonia during the late Roman period, and thus should not be totally rejected. This study suggests a new post-literary approach, id est it discusses the residue of the texts after these have been analyzed and dissected by literary critics. But mainly this is a book about women's history, adopting many assumptions of feminist criticism about the androcentric nature of all ancient texts, and approaches them with due suspicion. The Rabbis treated women differently from the way they treated men. This resulted in the former's marginalization and manipulation by the texts. On the other hand, however, it created an ironic situation whereby principles useful for the recovery of historical information on women, are useless when applied to men. This study describes such principles and demonstrates them with the help of many examples.
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1 online resource (xiii, 346 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 319-331) and indexes. :
9789004332454 :
0169-734X ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Purity and Holiness : The Heritage of Leviticus /
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Purity has long been recognized as one of the essential drives which determines humankind's relationship with the holy. Codes of purity and impurity, dealing with such far-ranging topics as 'external stains' and 'inner remorse', represent the physical and 'bodily' side of religious experience and provide the key to the understanding of human orientation to nature, and the structure of society, including even relationships between the sexes. Starting with the Hebrew Bible, a number of articles study some rather neglected passages from both exegetical and cultural-anthropological standpoints. Next, it is shown that the concept of purity is far more central to the New Testament than previously thought. Luke is portrayed as a Jewish-oriented writer. The discussion of purity in Mark is compared with Rabbinical and Qumranic material. Patristic discussions of purity reflect both allegorical and literal interpretations, while rabbinical rulings display a fine sense for detail and realia. Biblical references to illness are interpreted both in Christian and Jewish traditions as a metaphor for immoral behavior. The present collection of studies proceeds far beyond other collections on purity, studying both the medieval and modern periods. Purity rules, in both Christian and Jewish society, do not disappear in the Middle Ages, but become increasingly stronger. Sometimes there appear unexpected and surprising similarities between both societies. Modern society sees a decline in the importance of purity, reflecting a growing ambiguous attitude to the relationship between the body and the holy. A feminist perspective is also provided, examining the intertwined relationship between religion, gender and power. Exegesis, archaeology, liturgy, anthropology and even architecture are all used to study the complex phenomena of purity in their religious and social dimensions from both Christian and Jewish perspectives.
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1 online resource :
9789004421394
9789004114180
The literature of the sages.
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This long-awaited companion volume to The Literature of the Sages , First Part (Fortress Press, 1987) brings to completion Section II of the renowned Compendia series. The Literature of the Sages, Second Part, explores the literary creation of thousands of ancient Jewish teachers, the often- anonymous Sages of late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Essays by premier scholars provide a careful and succinct analysis of the content and character of various documents, their textual and literary forms, with particular attention to the ongoing discovery and publication of new textual material. Incorporating groundbreaking developments in research, these essays give a comprehensive presentation published here for the first time. This volume will prove an important reference work for all students of ancient Judaism, the origins of Jewish tradition, and the Jewish background of Christianity. The literary creation of the ancient Jewish teachers or Sages - also called rabbinic literature - consists of the teachings of thousands of Sages, many of them anonymous. For a long period, their teachings existed orally, which implied a great deal of flexibility in arrangement and form. Only gradually, as parts of this amorphous oral tradition became fixed, was the literature written down, a process that began in the third century C.E. and continued into the Middle Ages. Thus the documents of rabbinic literature are the result of a remarkably long and complex process of creation and editing. This long-awaited companion volume to 'The Literature of the Sages, First Part' (1987) gives a careful and succinct analysis both of the content and specific nature of the various documents, and of their textual and literary forms, paying special attention to the continuing discovery and publication of new textual material. Incorporating ground-breaking developments in research, these essays give a comprehensive presentation published here for the first time. 'The Literature of the Sages, Second Part' is an important reference work for all students of ancient Judaism, as well as for those interested in the origins of Jewish tradition and the Jewish background of Christianity.
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1 online resource (xvii, 772 p) :
9789004275126 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
The Literature of the sages /
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The literary creation of the ancient Jewish teachers or Sages--also called rabbinic literature--consists of the teachings of thousands of Sages, many of them anonymous. For a long period, their teachings existed orally, which implied a great deal of flexibility in arrangement and form. Only gradually, as parts of the amorphous oral tradition became fixed, was the literature written down, a process that began in the third century CE and continued into the Middle Ages. Thus the documents of the rabbinic literature are the result of a remarkably long and complex process of creation and editing. This volume gives a careful and succinct analysis both of the content and specific nature of the various documents, and of their textual and literary forms, paying special attention to the continuing discovery and publication of new textual material. The contributors are all engaged in academic teaching and research in Israel. Incorporating ground-breaking developments in research, their essays give a comprehensive presentation published here for the first time.
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1 online resource (xxi, 464 pages) :
9789004275133 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Studien zur Geschichte und Theologie des rabbinischen Judentums /
: "Der Sammelband vereinigt neun Aufsätze ... ; fünf dieser Beiträge wurden bereits an anderer Stelle veröffentlicht, vier werden hier zum erstenmal im Druck vorgelegt." : 1 online resource (305 pages) : Includes bibliographical references and index. : 9789004332683 : Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Before Valentinus: The Gnostics of Irenaeus /
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This book offers the first detailed commentary on the Gnostic treatises reported by Irenaeus in Adversus Haereses 1.29-30. It is argued that these texts represent the earliest tangible layer of the Gnostic literary tradition and served as sources for the Apocryphon of John and other later works. They also formed the starting point for Valentinus and his followers, who sought to reconcile the ideas of the Gnostics with apostolic Christianity. The book also shows that Irenaeus and later heresiologists referred to "the Gnostics" as a specific group among the great mass of heretics.
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1 online resource (210 pages) : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004677890
J. David Bleich : where Halakhah and philosophy meet /
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Rabbi J. David Bleich is Professor of Talmud (Rosh Yeshiva) at the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary, an affiliate of Yeshiva University, as well as the Director of its Postgraduate Institute for the study of Talmudic Jurisprudence and Family Law. In addition, he holds the Herbert and Florence Tenzer Chair of Jewish Law and Ethics at Yeshiva University and is Professor of Law at the Cardozo School of Law. A foremost authority on Jewish law and ethics, he has written extensively on medical ethics, Jewish law and contemporary social issues, and the interface of Jewish law and the American legal system. As the spiritual leader of Congregation B'nai Jehuda in Manhattan, Rabbi Bleich teaches weekly Talmud classes and lectures on Jewish law and philosophy.
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1 online resource (xv, 152 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references. :
9789004301788 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
The Origins and Evolution of the Moses Nativity Story /
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This book traces the development of the Moses nativity story from pre-Biblical sources through its Biblical formulation, and continues to trace its evolution in post-Biblical literature, from the Apocrypha, Pseudepigrapha, and Jewish Hellenistic writings, through Rabbinic literature, and up to Medieval Jewish exegesis. Influence of the Moses nativity story is also detected in Christian writings: hence this book also traces the evolution of the story in the New Testament and early Christian works. This study uses a literary-typological approach, similar to that of the Gunkel-Gressmann school and the method used by Loewenstamm. However, unlike these scholars and their disciples, who focused primarily on the biblical stage, this book gives equal attention to all stages of the evolution of the birth story pattern; and, while providing a detailed analysis of each work, also focuses on continuity, tracing the path along which the literary pattern of the Moses nativity story developed.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. [191]-196) and indexes. :
9789004378810 :
0169-8834 ;
Talmudic transgressions : engaging the work of Daniel Boyarin /
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Talmudic Transgressions is a collection of essays on rabbinic literature and related fields in response to the boundary-pushing scholarship of Daniel Boyarin. This work is an attempt to transgress boundaries in various ways, since boundaries differentiate social identities, literary genres, legal practices, or diasporas and homelands. These essays locate the transgressive not outside the classical traditions but in these traditions themselves, having learned from Boyarin that it is often within the tradition and in its terms that we can find challenges to accepted notions of knowledge, text, and ethnic or gender identity. The sections of this volume attempt to mirror this diverse set of topics. Contributors include Julia Watts Belser, Jonathan Boyarin, Shamma Boyarin, Virginia Burrus, Sergey Dolgopolski, Charlotte E. Fonrobert, Simon Goldhill, Erich S. Gruen, Galit Hasan-Rokem, Christine Hayes, Adi Ophir, James Redfield, Elchanan Reiner, Ishay Rosen-Zvi, Lena Salaymeh, Zvi Septimus, Aharon Shemesh, Dina Stein, Eliyahu Stern, Moulie Vidas, Barry Scott Wimpfheimer, Elliot R. Wolfson, Azzan Yadin-Israel, Israel Yuval, and Froma Zeitlin.
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"Originated in a conference held at the University of California, Berkeley, in April 2014"--From the editors. :
1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004345331 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
A Comparative Handbook to the Gospels of Matthew and Luke : Comparisons with Pseudepigrapha, the Qumran Scrolls, and Rabbinic Literature /
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This Handbook provides any commentator - whose purposes might include writing a consecutive treatment of a Gospel, or engaging with episodic themes or passages, or preparing a particular section of the Gospel for study, teaching, or preaching - with resources from the Gospels' Judaic environment that appear useful for understanding the texts themselves. Translation, presentation, comparison with Judaica, and occasional comments are all designed with that end in view. Materials are included from the Pseudepigrapha (together with Philo and Josephus), discoveries related to Qumran, and Rabbinic Literature (inclusive of the Targumim). As in a previous volume that dealt with Mark's Gospel, this Comparative Handbook targets the issue of comparison more than analysis or commentary.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004459878
9789004459885
Contours of Coherence in Rabbinic Judaism : Volume 1 /
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This book shows that the disputes that characterize Rabbinic writings in the formative age underscore the coherence of Rabbinic Judaism. It is in three separate monographs. The first shows that disagreements concern secondary and tertiary issues. They therefore reinforce the primary norm by identifying as moot only trivial details. The second demonstrates, alternatively, that Halakhic disputes articulate unresolved conflict over generative principles. Sometimes, in the presentation of topics of the law, disputes not only indicate the range of consensus but bring to expression conflicting alternatives, theories that claim equal validity but contradict one another. Third, in some presentations of the law and in all presentations of theology where disputes occur, disputes simply gloss details in the application of accepted principles. They form a part of the exercise of legal or theological exegesis, filling in gaps with alternative facts. The print edition is available as a set of two volumes (9789004142312).
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1 online resource :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004144361
9789004531567