DOCSLIB.ORG

Moses Phoenix 2016 Handout

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Moses Phoenix 2016 Handout The Moses of Midrash: God’s Partner or Adversary Christine Hayes, Yale University The Biblical Story Ex 32:7-14 (God’s First Speech) 7. The Lord spoke to Moses, "Hurry down, for your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt, have acted basely. 8. They have been quick to turn aside from the way that I enjoined upon them. They have made themselves a molten calf and bowed low to it and sacrificed to it, saying: "These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt." (God’s Second Speech) 9. The Lord further said to Moses, “I see that this is a stiff-necked people. 10. Now let me be and my anger will blaze forth against them and I will destroy them and make of you a great nation. (Moses’s reaction) 11. But Moses implored the Lord his God, saying, “Let not Your anger, O Lord, blaze forth against Your people, whom You delivered from the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand. 12. Let not the Egyptians say, ‘It was with evil intent that He delivered them, only to kill them off in the mountains and annihilate them from the face of the earth.’ Turn from your blazing anger, and renounce the plan to punish Your people. 13. Remember Your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, how You swore to them by Your Self and said to them: I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of heaven, and I will give to your offspring this whole land of which I spoke, to possess forever.” 14. And the Lord renounced [lit. “repented”] the punishment [lit. “the evil”] He had planned to bring upon his people. Inner-Biblical Interpretation Deuteronomy 9: 16-20 16 Then I saw that you had indeed sinned against the LORD your God, by casting for yourselves an image of a calf; you had been quick to turn from the way that the LORD had commanded you. 17 So I took hold of the two tablets and flung them from my two hands, smashing them before your eyes. 18 Then I lay prostrate before the LORD as before, forty days and forty nights; I neither ate bread nor drank water, because of all the sin you had committed, provoking the LORD by doing what was evil in his sight. !1 19 For I was afraid that the anger that the LORD bore against you was so fierce that he would destroy you. But the LORD listened to me that time also. 20 The LORD was so angry with Aaron that he was ready to destroy him, but I interceded also on behalf of Aaron at that same time. Psalm 106:19-23 19. They made a calf at Horeb and bowed down to a molten image. 20. They exchanged their glory for the image of a bull that feeds on grass. 21. They forgot God who saved them, who performed great deeds in Egypt 22. wondrous deeds in the land of Ham, awesome deeds at the Sea of Reeds. 23. He would have destroyed them had not Moses His chosen one confronted [lit. “stood before”] Him in the breach to avert His destructive wrath. Rabbinic Midrash 1. Leviticus Rabbah 16:4 “Ben Azzai was sitting and interpreting (making midrash) and fire was all around him. They went and told Rabbi Akiva. “Rabbi, Ben Azzai is sitting and interpreting, and fire is burning all around him,” he went to him and said to him, “I heard that you were interpreting, and the fire burning all around you.” He said, “Indeed…I was sitting and stringing the words of Torah [to each other] and the Torah to the Prophets and the Prophets to the Writings, and the words were as radiant as when they were given from Sinai and they were as sweet as at their original giving.” Reading our story in light of Proverbs 25:14-15 paints Moses as intercessor “Like clouds and wind without rain is one who boasts of a gift never given. With patience a ruler may be persuaded, and a soft tongue can break bones.” 2. Exodus Rabbah 42:1 “The Lord spoke to Moses, ‘Hurry down’” (Exodus 32:7). R. Tanhuma b. Abba began: “Like clouds and wind without rain is one who boasts of a gift never given; With patience a ruler may be persuaded, and a soft tongue can break bones” (Proverb 25:14-15). He who promises to give a present to his friend and does not do so, is to be compared to clouds and wind and lightning which come but bring no rain with them. This could be said of the generation that was in the wilderness, that consisted of six hundred thousand old men, and the same number of young men, of youths and of women. When they came to Sinai and accepted the Kingdom of the Holy One, blessed be He, and exclaimed as with one voice, “All that the Lord hath spoken will we do, and obey” (Ex. 24:7), that indeed was a voice that could really be called ' a voice’, but when they came to the wilderness, they transgressed everything and corrupted their deeds. When God saw this, He said to Moses: !2 "Hurry down, for your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt, have acted basely (corruptly, shiḥet; Exodus 32:7). Not only did they make an idol, but they also committed immorality and shed blood, for the merry-making (tseḥoq) referred to here (Exodus 32:6) means idol- worship, immorality, and the shedding of blood. Whence do we know that tseḥoq means shedding of blood? Because it says, “Let the young men, I pray thee, arise and play (vayesaḥequ) before us” (2 Samuel 2:14). Whence do we know that it [tseḥoq] also refers to immorality? Because it says, “The Hebrew servant, whom you have brought to us, came in to me to mock me” (letsaḥeq; Genesis 39:17). [Here follows a lengthy account of Moses’ arguments before God on behalf of the Israelites, all of which are refuted by God, and yet in the end, Moses succeeds in turning back God’s anger!] This is an illustration of “clouds and wind without rain.” Yet Moses was successful in averting the punishment, a proof that “With patience a ruler may be persuaded, and a soft tongue can break bones” (Proverbs 25:15). Reading our story in light of Psalm 106 paints Moses as defiant adversary 3. Exodus Rabbah 43:1 “But Moses implored the Lord his God” (Exodus 32:11). R. Tanhuma b. Abba began thus: “He would have destroyed them, had not Moses his chosen one confronted Him in the breach to avert [lit. turn back] His destructive wrath” (Psalm 106:23). What is “stood in the breach before him?” R. Hama b. Hanina said: The good advocate knows how to set himself against the tribunal. Moses was one of two good advocates who arose to defend Israel and set themselves, as it were, against the Holy One, blessed be He. These were Moses and Daniel …These were the two men who set their faces against the attribute of strict Justice in order to argue for mercy on Israel’s behalf. PUNS: “Moses implored” = veheḥal The root ḥ.l has the following range of meanings: 1. sweet (as in "allah bread) 2. profane (as in "ol), including to profane or annul (he"al) a vow 3. to wear a weapon or gird oneself for war (see modern "ayyal = soldier) 4. Exodus Rabbah 42:9 “Now let me be!” Was Moses holding fast to God that He should say “Now let me be!”? [Of course not, therefore another meaning must be intended.] To what can the thing be compared? To a king who was angry with his son, and had him brought into a chamber and was about to beat him, but then the king cried from the chamber “Let me be, that I may beat him.” Now, the instructor [of the son] was !3 standing without and he thought to himself: “If the king and the son are alone within the chamber, then to whom is he saying: ‘let me be’? it must be because the king wants me to go in and entreat him on his son’s behalf and for this reason he says: ‘let me be!” [He is hinting that I have the power or even the permission to prevent him, if I so choose.] Similarly, God said to Moses, “Now let me be!” and Moses inferred, “It is because God wants me to intercede on Israel’s behalf”… Thereupon Moses began to plead for mercy on their behalf as its says, “but Moses implored the Lord his God.” 5. Deuteronomy Rabbah 3:15 God said to him: ‘Let not the two of us be angry, but when you see me pour hot [water] you pour cold, and when you see me pour cold, you pour hot.’ Moses asked: ‘Ruler of the Universe, how shall this happen?’ God replied: “Pray for mercy on their behalf.” What did he do? Immediately ”But Moses implored the Lord.” 6. Exodus Rabbah 44:4 Moses pleaded: “Lord of the Universe! Why are you angry with Israel?” He replied, “Because they have broken the Decalogue.” He said, “Well, they possess a source from which they can make repayment.” He asked, “What is that?” Moses replied: “Remember that you tried Abraham with ten trials, and so let those ten [trials serve as compensation] for these ten [broken commandments].” This is why he said, “Remember Abraham, Isaac and Israel” (Exodus 32:13).
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Humor in Torah and Talmud, Part 5
    Sat 18 Aug 2018 – 7 Elul 5778 B”H Dr Maurice M. Mizrahi Congregation Adat Reyim Lunch and Learn Humor in Torah and Talmud, Part 5 Torah (Theme: God is angry at us) 1-God loses it [The Israelites repeatedly ask Moses for meat in the desert. God tells Moses:] And say to the people... you shall eat meat. You shall not eat it for one day, or two days, or five days, or ten days, or twenty days; but for a whole month, until it comes out of your nostrils and you become disgusted by it. [Numbers 11:18-20] 2-This, too, shall happen to you! The most dreaded Torah portion is Ki Tavo, where God lists all the curses that will befall those who do not follow His commandments: But it shall come to pass, if you will not listen to the voice of the Lord your God, to take care to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command you this day, that all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you. [Deut. 28:15] Follows a long string of dreaded curses, beginning with: Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the field… [Deut. 28:16] And ending with: Also, every illness and every plague, that is not written in this Book of the Torah, the Lord will bring it upon you, until you are destroyed. [Deut 28:61] It’s not even exclusive: Whatever you dread most, whatever it is, shall happen to you! 3-Moses’ masterful plea The Israelites revert to idolatry by building and worshiping the Golden Calf.
    [Show full text]
  • Introduction
    INTRODUCTION Hanne Trautner-Kromann n this introduction I want to give the necessary background information for understanding the nine articles in this volume. II start with some comments on the Hebrew or Jewish Bible and the literature of the rabbis, based on the Bible, and then present the articles and the background information for these articles. In Jewish tradition the Bible consists of three main parts: 1. Torah – Teaching: The Five Books of Moses: Genesis (Bereshit in Hebrew), Exodus (Shemot), Leviticus (Vajikra), Numbers (Bemidbar), Deuteronomy (Devarim); 2. Nevi’im – Prophets: (The Former Prophets:) Joshua, Judges, Samuel I–II, Kings I–II; (The Latter Prophets:) Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezek- iel; (The Twelve Small Prophets:) Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephania, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi; 3. Khetuvim – Writings: Psalms, Proverbs, Job, The Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Esther, Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, Chronicles I–II1. The Hebrew Bible is often called Tanakh after these three main parts: Torah, Nevi’im and Khetuvim. The Hebrew Bible has been interpreted and reinterpreted by rab- bis and scholars up through the ages – and still is2. Already in the Bible itself there are examples of interpretation (midrash). The books of Chronicles, for example, can be seen as a kind of midrash on the 10 | From Bible to Midrash books of Samuel and Kings, repeating but also changing many tradi- tions found in these books. In talmudic times,3 dating from the 1st to the 6th century C.E.(Common Era), the rabbis developed and refined the systems of interpretation which can be found in their literature, often referred to as The Writings of the Sages.
    [Show full text]
  • Is There an Authentic Triennial Cycle of Torah Readings? RABBI LIONEL E
    Is there an Authentic Triennial Cycle of Torah Readings? RABBI LIONEL E. MOSES This paper is an appendix to the paper "Annual and Triennial Systems For Reading The Torah" by Rabbi Elliot Dorff, and was approved together with it on April 29, 1987 by a vote of seven in favor, four opposed, and two abstaining. Members voting in favor: Rabbis Isidoro Aizenberg, Ben Zion Bergman, Elliot N. Dorff, Richard L. Eisenberg, Mayer E. Rabinowitz, Seymour Siegel and Gordon Tucker. Members voting in opposition: Rabbis David H. Lincoln, Lionel E. Moses, Joel Roth and Steven Saltzman. Members abstaining: Rabbis David M. Feldman and George Pollak. Abstract In light of questions addressed to the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards from as early as 1961 and the preliminary answers given to these queries by the committee (Section I), this paper endeavors to review the sources (Section II), both talmudic and post-talmudic (Section Ila) and manuscript lists of sedarim (Section lib) to set the triennial cycle in its historical perspective. Section III of the paper establishes a list of seven halakhic parameters, based on Mishnah and Tosefta,for the reading of the Torah. The parameters are limited to these two authentically Palestinian sources because all data for a triennial cycle is Palestinian in origin and predates even the earliest post-Geonic law codices. It would thus be unfair, to say nothing of impossible, to try to fit a Palestinian triennial reading cycle to halakhic parameters which were both later in origin and developed outside its geographical sphere of influence. Finally in Section IV, six questions are asked regarding the institution of a triennial cycle in our day and in a short postscript, several desiderata are listed in order to put such a cycle into practice today.
    [Show full text]
  • The Mixed Multitude
    Sat 22 June 2019 / 19 Sivan 5779 B”H Dr Maurice M. Mizrahi Congregation Adat Reyim D’var Torah on Behaalotecha The Mixed Multitude In this week’s Torah portion, Behaalotecha, we read: וַיְהִִ֤י הָעָם֙ אכְמִתְ ֹ֣ נְנִִ֔ ים ע רַַ֖ בְאָ זְנֹ֣י יְהוָָ֑ה ַו ִי ְש ַ ִ֤מע ְיה ָו ֙ה ַוִ ֹ֣י ַחר ַא ִ֔פֹו ַו ִת ְב ַער־ ָב ֙ם ֹ֣אש ְיה ִָ֔וה ַו ַ֖ת א ַכל ִב ְק ֵ֥צה ַַֽה ַמ ֲח ַֽנה׃ The people were looking for excuses to complain bitterly in the ears of the Lord. The Lord heard and was incensed. A fire of the Lord broke out against them, ravaging the biktzeh of the camp. [Num. 11:1] What is the biktzeh of the camp? The common translation is: The “extremes” or outskirts of the camp. But Rashi says it means the most wicked people -- extreme not in distance but in baseness. The Midrash quotes Rabbi Shim'on ben Manassia as saying that it means the most distinguished and prominent people, presumably for not having managed the people well. But it adds that some say it was the proselytes, the “mixed multitude” or erev rav). [Sifrei Bamidbar 85] This “mixed multitude” is mentioned a few verses later: But the multitude among them began to have strong cravings. Then, even the children of Israel once again began to cry, and they said, “Who will feed us meat?” [Num. 11:4] The Midrash comments: The multitude [in question] was the mixed multitude, which had attached themselves to Israel when they left Egypt [Sifrei Behaalotecha 1:42:4] What is this “mixed multitude”? They are the many non-Jews who joined the Jews in the Exodus, as the Torah told us earlier: וְ גַם־ע בֵ֥רֶ ר ַ֖ ב עָלָֹ֣ה אִתָָ֑ם צוְ ֹ֣ אן רּובָקִָ֔ מִ קְנ ַ֖ה כָבֵ֥ד אמְ ַֽ ד׃ And a mixed multitude went up also with them… [Exod.
    [Show full text]
  • Narratology, Hermeneutics, and Midrash
    Poetik, Exegese und Narrative Studien zur jüdischen Literatur und Kunst Poetics, Exegesis and Narrative Studies in Jewish Literature and Art Band 2 / Volume 2 Herausgegeben von / edited by Gerhard Langer, Carol Bakhos, Klaus Davidowicz, Constanza Cordoni Constanza Cordoni / Gerhard Langer (eds.) Narratology, Hermeneutics, and Midrash Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Narratives from the Late Antique Period through to Modern Times With one figure V&R unipress Vienna University Press Bibliografische Information der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek verzeichnet diese Publikation in der Deutschen Nationalbibliografie; detaillierte bibliografische Daten sind im Internet über http://dnb.d-nb.de abrufbar. ISBN 978-3-8471-0308-0 ISBN 978-3-8470-0308-3 (E-Book) Veröffentlichungen der Vienna University Press erscheineN im Verlag V&R unipress GmbH. Gedruckt mit freundlicher Unterstützung des Rektorats der Universität Wien. © 2014, V&R unipress in Göttingen / www.vr-unipress.de Alle Rechte vorbehalten. Das Werk und seine Teile sind urheberrechtlich geschützt. Jede Verwertung in anderen als den gesetzlich zugelassenen Fällen bedarf der vorherigen schriftlichen Einwilligung des Verlages. Printed in Germany. Titelbild: „splatch yellow“ © Hazel Karr, Tochter der Malerin Lola Fuchs-Carr und des Journalisten und Schriftstellers Maurice Carr (Pseudonym von Maurice Kreitman); Enkelin der bekannten jiddischen Schriftstellerin Hinde-Esther Singer-Kreitman (Schwester von Israel Joshua Singer und Nobelpreisträger Isaac Bashevis Singer) und Abraham Mosche Fuchs. Druck und Bindung: CPI Buch Bücher.de GmbH, Birkach Gedruckt auf alterungsbeständigem Papier. Contents Constanza Cordoni / Gerhard Langer Introduction .................................. 7 Irmtraud Fischer Reception of Biblical texts within the Bible: A starting point of midrash? . 15 Ilse Muellner Celebration and Narration. Metaleptic features in Ex 12:1 – 13,16 .
    [Show full text]
  • The Nuances of TRGM(” to Translate ”) in the Rabbinic Writings
    JISMOR 6 Etsuko Katsumata The Nuances of TRGM (“to translate”) in the Rabbinic Writings1) Etsuko Katsumata Abstract This paper analyzes examples of the terms rooted in the word “TRGM” in rabbinic writing from the periods of Tannaim and Amoraim and clarifies the changing nuances of TRGM. The analysis of about 350 examples shows changes in the usage of the terms from Tannaitic materials to Amoraic materials, and more changes from Palestinian materials to Babylonian materials among the Amoraic materials. Most of the examples from the Tannaitic period are related to the public reading of the Hebrew Bible at synagogues. As for the Amoraic period, there are a significant number of examples of formulas quoted from Aramaic translations of the Bible, and derivatives of TRGM are found to be used for more common interpretation activities. In the Babylonian materials, the word “TRGM” was used to describe a rabbi’s interpretation activity. On the contrary, the Palestinian materials imply a certain kind of scorn for TRGM, which was considered separate from a rabbi’s orthodox interpretation activity, expressed by other verbs such as PTḤ (“to open, start”) and PTR (“to interpret”). This analysis of TRGM usages provides evidence of a skeptical attitude by the rabbis in Palestine toward TRGM. Keywords: Aramaic language, targum (the Aramaic translation of the Bible), rabbinic writings, interpretation of the Bible, formality 1. Introduction 1) Position of the targumim in Jewish studies The word “targum” refers to “translation” in a broad sense and an Aramaic translation of the Hebrew Bible in a more limited sense. It is said that public readings of the Torah were given on Sabbaths in Aramaic, which was current and understandable to those with difficulty in understanding Hebrew after their return from captivity.2) A targum (hereinafter meaning “an Aramaic translation of the Bible) goes beyond literal translation and is regarded as literature that contains various original commentaries and amplifications; however, its identity has not yet received much attention.
    [Show full text]
  • Miriam's Image As a Female Prophet in Rabbinic Interpretation
    “She Dared to Reprove Her Father:” Miriam’s Image as a Female Prophet in Rabbinic Interpretation Agnethe Siquans (University of Vienna) This article discusses rabbinic references to Miriam’s prophetic speaking and the question of her value as a female prophet. The focus is on specific passages in the Babylonian Talmud Sotah and Exodus Rabbah and their portrait of Miriam as a female prophet. Other rabbinic texts add some further aspects to this picture. In contrast to the biblical accounts in Exod 2 and 15, the rabbinic texts transfer Miriam’s prophecy to her childhood and focus on Moses alone. Further- more, Miriam’s prophecy is restricted to family affairs and the birth of children, in particular Moses’s birth. She is elaborately depicted as a motherly and caring midwife. Rabbinic interpreta- tions of Num 12 criticize her speech as improper for a woman. Thus, Miriam’s image as a female prophet in rabbinic texts remains ambivalent, estimating her role as a prophet and, at the same time, criticizing her as a woman and restricting her to the “female” sphere of family and care. 1. Introduction Prophetic speaking, in particular if exercised in public, presumes authority and, reciprocally, ascribes authority to the prophet, an authority grounded in the divine authority that is assumed to underlie his or her speech.1 Bibli- cal prophets are supposed to speak with divine authority, and for this reason their speech is highly valued.2 When biblical prophets are female, however, their authority and legitimacy are often called into question and diminished, for the reason that they are women.
    [Show full text]
  • Women and Torah Ancient and Modern Midrashim Janelle Glick
    Consensus Volume 40 Article 5 Issue 1 Student Paper Showcase 5-25-2019 Women and Torah Ancient and Modern Midrashim Janelle Glick Follow this and additional works at: https://scholars.wlu.ca/consensus Part of the Biblical Studies Commons Recommended Citation Glick, Janelle (2019) "Women and Torah Ancient and Modern Midrashim," Consensus: Vol. 40 : Iss. 1 , Article 5. Available at: https://scholars.wlu.ca/consensus/vol40/iss1/5 This Articles is brought to you for free and open access by Scholars Commons @ Laurier. It has been accepted for inclusion in Consensus by an authorized editor of Scholars Commons @ Laurier. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Glick: Women and Torah Women and Torah Ancient and Modern Midrashim Janelle Glick1 he study of Torah, though written by men in an ancient patriarchal society, is now a dialogue involving both males and females, and as such provides a table at which T women add their voices to the record from which their ancient Israelite sisters were kept in silence. The door of feminist biblical scholarship opens wider all the time, making room for even the author of this paper, a conservative Mennonite wife, mother, and scholar to enter and consider new ways of reading scriptures. Naomi Mara Hyman writes of the following task of feminist interpretation of scripture tradition: When we learn to see the world through the eyes of tradition and when tradition takes into itself women’s views of the world, both will grow…This will not be an easy task. There are many obstacles for women, not least of which is learning the language of our tradition so that we can create our place in it… One can only acquire this knowledge through direct study of the traditional texts themselves, and accessing those sources can be challenging.2 Though challenging indeed, digging out early midrash sources pertaining to the biblical stories of Israelite women is a delight-filled process deepening both the reader’s love of and interest in original biblical texts.
    [Show full text]
  • Jews and Judaism in the Rabbinic Era
    Texts and Studies in Ancient Judaism Edited by Maren Niehoff (Jerusalem) Annette Y. Reed (Philadelphia, PA) Seth Schwartz (New York, NY) Moulie Vidas (Princeton, NJ) 173 Isaiah M. Gafni Jews and Judaism in the Rabbinic Era Image and Reality – History and Historiography Mohr Siebeck Isaiah M. Gafni, born 1944; BA, MA, and PhD from the Hebrew University; 1967–2012 taught Jewish History of the Second Temple and Talmudic Periods (500 BCE – 500 CE) at the Hebrew University; currently Professor Emeritus in Jewish History at the Hebrew University, and President of Shalem College, Jerusalem. ISBN 978-3-16-152731-9 / eISBN 978-3-16-156701-8 DOI 10.1628/978-3-16-156701-8 ISSN 0721-8753 / eISSN 2568-9525 (Texts and Studies in Ancient Judaism) The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliographie; detailed bibliographic data are available at http://dnb.dnb.de. © 2019 Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, Germany. www.mohrsiebeck.com This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, in any form (beyond that permitted by copyright law) without the publisher’s written permission. This applies particularly to reproduc- tions, translations and storage and processing in electronic systems. The book was printed on non-aging paper by Gulde Druck in Tübingen, and bound by Groß- buchbinderei Spinner in Ottersweier. Printed in Germany. For Naomi Table of Contents Abbreviations.............................................................................................. IX I Introduction .........................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • God Vs. the Sea: Lessons of Psalms and the Midrash
    GOD VS. THE SEA: LESSONS OF PSALMS AND THE MIDRASH SOLOMON WIENER The strange recounting of the Splitting of the Sea of Reeds found in Psalms is often discounted on the assumption that the Psalmist was merely using poetic license, justifying slight differences in events and details from those of the Exodus narrative as creative poetry. However, a closer investigation of the verses in Psalms reveals a significant and unusual addition to the standard Exodus narrative, a deliberate personification of the sea: Our forefathers in Egypt did not perceive Your wonders; they did not remember Your abundant love, but rebelled at the sea, at the Sea of Reeds. Yet He saved them, as befits His name, to make known His might. He rebuked the Sea of Reeds, it became dry; He led them through the deep as through a wilderness (Ps. 106:7-9). When Israel went forth from Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of strange speech, Judah became his holy one, Israel his dominion. The sea saw them and fled, the Jordan ran backward (Ps. 114:1-3). The sea is personified twice in the verses cited above. Firstly, when the Israelites are described as rebelling at the Sea of Reeds, God rebukes the sea as if it has done something wrong (Ps. 106:9), although the reason why is not clear. Secondly, when it is described as being able to see and run away (Ps. 114:3). In this article, we will consider what this additional element was un- derstood to add to the Exodus narrative.
    [Show full text]
  • Marketing Fragment 6 X 10.5.T65
    Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-84390-4 - The Cambridge Companion to the Talmud and Rabbinic Literature Edited by Charlotte Elisheva Fonrobert and Martin S. Jaffee Index More information Index Abaye, 30, 67–9, 72, 186, 189, 331, as recension, 25 335 refusal of responsibility for, 21, Abbahu, 64, 228, 357 25 Acts, 77 versus anthology, 32–34 1:12, 142 versus transmission, 22, 24, 25 22:3, 119 Avesta, 167, 178 26:5, 119 ‘Avot de-Rabbi Natan, 317 Adurb¯ ad¯ ı¯ Mahraspandan¯ , 172 Aggadah, xvii, 47 Bar Kokhba, 77, 80, 141 Aher. See Elisha ben Abuya Baraita (ot), xvii Akavya ben Mehalalel, Rabbi, Bava’ Kama’ 58b, 186, 193 323–26, 334 ben Azai, Shimon, 73, 201, 202, 276 Akiba, Rabbi, 23, 25, 60, 201, 203, ben Zoma, Shimon, 201, 202 208, 210, 216, 219, 224, 276, Bet Midrash, xvii, 59, 62 348 assembly house (bet va’ad, be Akiva, Rabbi, 42–44 va’ada), 63 Alon, G., 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, of Eliezer HaQappar, 63 93, 94, 95, 248, 263 hall (sdar, sdara rabba), 63 Am ha’arez. , xvii, 260–62 Biblical interpretation, 99–119 Amora(‘im), xvii, 7 in Book of Jubilees, 110–13 Amoraic literature, 6–9 in Dead Sea Scrolls, 99, 113 Amoraic Period in Babylonia, 66– in Philo, 104 70 rewritten Bible, 106–07, 113, 117 Amoraic Period in the Land of Israel, in Sifrei to Deuteronomy, 117 62–65 Biography, rabbinic and Aramaic, 7 lack of, 2 Amulets, 88 Body. See purity Antiquities, 295 aylonit, 280 Aptowitzer, V., 307 and ethics, 314 Archaeology, 87, 89, 132 eunuch (saris), 280 Artavan V, 175 evil inclination (yez.er ha-ra’), Ashi, Rav, 25, 66, 72, 181, 361 328–29 Asia Minor, 224, 229, 359, 360 female, 274–78 Authorship, rabbinic, 2, 4, 17–35 hermaphrodite collective, 35 rabbinic (androginos), 280–84, and editorial shaping, 23 285–88 393 © Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-84390-4 - The Cambridge Companion to the Talmud and Rabbinic Literature Edited by Charlotte Elisheva Fonrobert and Martin S.
    [Show full text]
  • Menstruation in Jewish Life and Law Wasserfall: Women and Water Page Iii
    Wasserfall: Women and Water page i Women and Water Wasserfall: Women and Water page ii BRANDEIS SERIES ON JEWISH WOMEN Shulamit Reinharz, General Editor Joyce Antler, Associate Editor Sylvia Barack Fishman, Associate Editor Susan Kahn, Associate Editor The Hadassah Research Institute on Jewish Women, established at Brandeis Uni- versity in 1997 by Hadassah, the Women’s Zionist Organization of America, Inc., supports interdisciplinary basic and applied research as well as cultural projects re- lated to Jewish women around the world. Under the auspices of the Institute, the Brandeis series on Jewish Women publishes a wide range of books by and about Jewish women in diverse contexts and time periods. Marjorie Agosín, Uncertain Travelers: Conversations with Jewish Women Immigrants to America Rahel R. Wasserfall, ed., Women and Water: Menstruation in Jewish Life and Law Wasserfall: Women and Water page iii Women and WateR Menstruation in Jewish Life and Law Edited by Rahel R. Wasserfall Brandeis University Press Published by University Press of New England Hanover and London Wasserfall: Women and Water page iv Brandeis University Press Published by University Press of New England, Hanover, NH 03755 © 1999 by Brandeis University Press All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America 54321 cip data appear at the end of the book Illustrations are from Rabbi David Miller, The Secret of the Jew: His Life— His Family, © 1930 by Rabbi David Miller and published by the author. This book was published with the help of the Lucius N. Littauer Foundation, Inc. Wasserfall: Women and Water page v Contents Acknowledgments vii rahel wasserfall Introduction: Menstrual Blood into Jewish Blood 1 I.
    [Show full text]