DOCSLIB.ORG

151 Households, Sects, and the Origins of Rabbinic Judaism

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
151 Households, Sects, and the Origins of Rabbinic Judaism Review of Books / Journal for the Study of Judaism 38 (2007) 92-159 151 Households, Sects, and the Origins of Rabbinic Judaism. By Alexei Sivertsev . (Supple- ments to the Journal for the Study of Judaism 102). Leiden and Boston, Brill 2005. Pp. viii, 301. Cloth with dustjacket. €95.00/$136.00. ISBN 90 04 14447 1. With this second book, Sivertsev continues the project begun with his previous monograph Private Household and Public Politics in the 3rd-5th Century Jewish Pal- estine (2002). Working his way chronologically backwards, he examines the role of the private household in Jewish society and culture during the Second Temple period and in early rabbinic Judaism. In a certain sense, this highly suggestive, and at the same time problematic book is more ambitious than Sivertsev’s previous book. Not only does Sivertsev attempt to present a historical-social, and therefore descriptive- analytic study of the basic structure of Jewish society during a much longer time- period than in his first book, but the patriarchal household as the “basic social unit of religious learning and piety within Judaism” is now also turned into the funda- mental explanatory model for the Jewish sectarianism of the later Second Temple period, as well as the origins of rabbinic Judaism. The household, therefore, is made to carry a significantly larger explanatory weight than in his first book. Basically, the argument of the book is the following. Judaism remained essentially a family-dominated religion till the advance of the rabbinic movement. Sivertsev rejects the explanatory model of scholars such as A. Baumgarten and others, who have argued for the influence of the Greco-Roman model of voluntary associations on Jewish society during the Hasmonean period as one important reason for the rise of Jewish sectarianism. While he does not discard that idea altogether, Sivertsev con- siders the impact of that aspect of Hellenistic influence to come to fruition only in the master-disciple circles of the rabbis. The Jewish sectarianism of the Second Tem- ple period should in fact be understood as the by-product of the familial setting of religious learning. Rather than posing a fundamental discontinuity from the Persian to the Hellenistic period, therefore, Sivertsev insists first of all that structurally speaking Jewish society survived the transition from the Achaemenid to the Helle- nistic period without any noticeable change. Based on his reading of the rise to power of Nehemiah’s clan and later of the Tobiads, Sivertsev points out that the basic political and administrative power structures in Jewish society continued along the lines of “aristocratic clans,” whether in priestly circles as exemplified by the Oniads or in lay circles, such as the Tobiads. Sivertsev’s insistence on social continuities from the Persian to the Hellenisitic period is in and by itself not entirely surprising, nor is it really innovative. But Sivertsev extrapolates from these social continuities to argue for significant cultural continuities as well, again in contrast to the model of increased cultural helleniza- tion during the Hasmonean period. Accordingly, the “religious movements” of both Persian and Hellenistic periods have more in common than not, since, so Sivertsev, it is those same “aristocratic clans” that dominate the religious scene as well (45). © Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2007 DOI: 10.1163/157006307X170940 JJSJSJ 338,1_f7_92-1598,1_f7_92-159 151151 11/2/07/2/07 11:20:36:20:36 PPMM 152 Review of Books / Journal for the Study of Judaism 38 (2007) 92-159 The Second Temple Period can therefore be characterized by the particular “dis- course of holiness” that perceived the “traditional patriarchal household and its reli- gious practices as the prime settings and true embodiments of sanctity” (21). The great cultural divide occurred only with “the transition from a household to a disci- ple study circle as the basic social unit of religious learning and piety,” and this is what marks the beginning of rabbinic Judaism as well as Christianity. Accordingly, the book is divided into two main parts. The first (“Households and the Origins of Jewish Sectarianism”) devoted to the literature of the Second Temple Period, and the second (“Rabbis and Households: Negotiating Holiness”) to the late first century C.E. and early tannaitic literature. Of course, no cultural divide is abso- lute and Sivertsev acknowledges that much. Thus, he traces the rise of the new set- ting for religious piety in “an association of like-minded male adult individuals” to the Qumran sectarians. In what appears to me a particularly careful and insightful reading of the texts from Qumran, Sivertsev makes a phenomenological distinction between different forms of religious identity for the Qumranites, with a more family or household-based matrix of religiosity on the one hand, exemplified by theDamas- cus Document and the Messianic Rule, and a Hellenized type of voluntary associa- tion of mostly male individuals on the other, this form of religious identity being exemplified by the Community Scroll. To Sivertsev, the Dead Sea Sect appears to be the first unambiguous example of a transition from the traditional framework of family alliances that envisioned the household and its everyday life as prima embodi- ment of sanctity, to the new association-type movement (96, 142). As an aside, though, it is somewhat curious that Sivertsev completely disregards the example of Philo’s idealized community of the Therapeutae in the entire book. Perhaps he does so, because it is still controversial whether this group really existed or whether Philo wrote it into existence. Nonetheless, it would seem that for his project this group is not entirely unimportant, and certainly further puts into question the overall domi- nance of the Jewish household religion he projects into the period prior to the rise of the rabbinic movement. On the other end of the chronological spectrum, he also demonstrates the persis- tence of the household as an embodiment of halakhah, and networks of households as sharing common social and ideological space during the early rabbinic movement. By taking the locution “tradition of the fathers” quite literally, he considers pre- Destruction halakhah to be a sum total of household traditions, in the priestly case with regard to temple related halakhah as much as in the case of the tannaitic repre- sentations of Sadducean and Pharisaic halakhah. Thus another point (or rather pro- cess) of transition is noted, namely of the “transition from family-based Jewish halakhic traditions centered around the ritualized ancestral (family) lore to the abstract and totalizing reasoning of rabbinic disciple circles” (199). The picture that emerges from Sivertsev’s careful analysis of the tannaitic case-stories (mahasim), especially centered around the family of Rabban Gamliel, is one in which the early rabbinic halakhah evolved within close-knit structure of families, before becoming JJSJSJ 338,1_f7_92-1598,1_f7_92-159 152152 11/2/07/2/07 11:20:37:20:37 PPMM.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Jews and Christians: Perspectives on Mission the Lambeth-Jewish Forum
    Jews and Christians: Perspectives on Mission The Lambeth-Jewish Forum Reuven Silverman, Patrick Morrow and Daniel Langton Jews and Christians: Perspectives on Mission The Lambeth-Jewish Forum Both Christianity and Judaism have a vocation to mission. In the Book of the Prophet Isaiah, God’s people are spoken of as a light to the nations. Yet mission is one of the most sensitive and divisive areas in Jewish-Christian relations. For Christians, mission lies at the heart of their faith because they understand themselves as participating in the mission of God to the world. As the recent Anglican Communion document, Generous Love, puts it: “The boundless life and perfect love which abide forever in the heart of the Trinity are sent out into the world in a mission of renewal and restoration in which we are called to share. As members of the Church of the Triune God, we are to abide among our neighbours of different faiths as signs of God’s presence with them, and we are sent to engage with our neighbours as agents of God’s mission to them.”1 As part of the lifeblood of Christian discipleship, mission has been understood and worked out in a wide range of ways, including teaching, healing, evangelism, political involvement and social renewal. Within this broad and rich understanding of mission, one key aspect is the relation between mission and evangelism. In particular, given the focus of the Lambeth-Jewish Forum, how does the Christian understanding of mission affects relations between Christianity and Judaism? Christian mission and Judaism has been controversial both between Christians and Jews, and among Christians themselves.
    [Show full text]
  • Oral Tradition in the Writings of Rabbinic Oral Torah: on Theorizing Rabbinic Orality
    Oral Tradition, 14/1 (1999): 3-32 Oral Tradition in the Writings of Rabbinic Oral Torah: On Theorizing Rabbinic Orality Martin S. Jaffee Introduction By the tenth and eleventh centuries of the Common Era, Jewish communities of Christian Europe and the Islamic lands possessed a voluminous literature of extra-Scriptural religious teachings.1 Preserved for the most part in codices, the literature was believed by its copyists and students to replicate, in writing, the orally transmitted sacred tradition of a family tree of inspired teachers. The prophet Moses was held to be the progenitor, himself receiving at Sinai, directly from the mouth of the Creator of the World, an oral supplement to the Written Torah of Scripture. Depositing the Written Torah for preservation in Israel’s cultic shrine, he had transmitted the plenitude of the Oral Torah to his disciples, and they to theirs, onward in an unbroken chain of transmission. That chain had traversed the entire Biblical period, survived intact during Israel’s subjection to the successive imperial regimes of Babylonia, Persia, Media, Greece, and Rome, and culminated in the teachings of the great Rabbinic sages of Byzantium and Sasanian Babylonia. The diverse written recensions of the teachings of Oral Torah themselves enjoyed a rich oral life in the medieval Rabbinic culture that 1 These broad chronological parameters merely represent the earliest point from which most surviving complete manuscripts of Rabbinic literature can be dated. At least one complete Rabbinic manuscript of Sifra, a midrashic commentary on the biblical book of Leviticus (MS Vatican 66), may come from as early as the eighth century.
    [Show full text]
  • Recent Trends in Jewish Food History Writing
    –8– “Bread from Heaven, Bread from the Earth”: Recent Trends in Jewish Food History Writing Jonathan Brumberg-Kraus Over the last thirty years, Jewish studies scholars have turned increasing attention to food and meals in Jewish culture. These studies fall more or less into two different camps: (1) text-centered studies that focus on the authors’ idealized, often prescrip- tive construction of the meaning of food and Jewish meals, such as biblical and postbiblical dietary rules, the Passover Seder, or food in Jewish mysticism—“bread from heaven”—and (2) studies of the “performance” of Jewish meals, particularly in the modern period, which often focus on regional variations, acculturation, and assimilation—“bread from the earth.”1 This breakdown represents a more general methodological split that often divides Jewish studies departments into two camps, the text scholars and the sociologists. However, there is a growing effort to bridge that gap, particularly in the most recent studies of Jewish food and meals.2 The major insight of all of these studies is the persistent connection between eating and Jewish identity in all its various manifestations. Jews are what they eat. While recent Jewish food scholarship frequently draws on anthropological, so- ciological, and cultural historical studies of food,3 Jewish food scholars’ conver- sations with general food studies have been somewhat one-sided. Several factors account for this. First, a disproportionate number of Jewish food scholars (compared to other food historians) have backgrounds in the modern academic study of religion or rabbinical training, which affects the focus and agenda of Jewish food history. At the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery, my background in religious studies makes me an anomaly.
    [Show full text]
  • Judaism: a Supplemental Resource for Grade 12 World of Religions: A
    Change and Evolution Stages in the Development of Judaism: A Historical Perspective As the timeline chart presented earlier demonstrates, the development of the Jewish faith and tradition which occurred over thousands of years was affected by a number of developments and events that took place over that period. As with other faiths, the scriptures or oral historical records of the development of the religion may not be supported by the contemporary archaeological, historical, or scientific theories and available data or artifacts. The historical development of the Jewish religion and beliefs is subject to debate between archeologists, historians, and biblical scholars. Scholars have developed ideas and theories about the development of Jewish history and religion. The reason for this diversity of opinion and perspectives is rooted in the lack of historical materials, and the illusive nature, ambiguity, and ambivalence of the relevant data. Generally, there is limited information about Jewish history before the time of King David (1010–970 BCE) and almost no reliable biblical evidence regarding what religious beliefs and behaviour were before those reflected in the Torah. As the Torah was only finalized in the early Persian period (late 6th–5th centuries BCE), the evidence of the Torah is most relevant to early Second Temple Judaism. As well, the Judaism reflected in the Torah would seem to be generally similar to that later practiced by the Sadducees and Samaritans. By drawing on archeological information and the analysis of Jewish Scriptures, scholars have developed theories about the origins and development of Judaism. Over time, there have been many different views regarding the key periods of the development of Judaism.
    [Show full text]
  • Kol Shofar Kashrut Policy and Guide Table of Contents
    Kol Shofar Kashrut Policy and Guide Table of Contents Policy Introduction 2 Food Preparation in the Kol Shofar Kitchen 2 Community Member Use of the Kitchen 3 Shared Foods / Potlucks 3 Home-Cooked Food / Community Potlucks 3 Field Trips, Off-site Events and Overnights 3 Personal / Individual Consumption 4 Local Kosher Establishments 5 Pre-Approved Caterers and Bakeries Kashrut Glossary 6 Essential Laws 7 Top Ten Kosher Symbols 8 Further Reading 9 1 A Caring Kol Shofar Community Kashrut Guidelines for Synagogue and Youth Education It is possible sometimes to come closer to God when you are involved in material activities like eating and drinking than when you are involved with “religious” activities like Torah study and prayer. - Rabbi Abraham of Slonim, Torat Avot Kol Shofar is a vibrant community comprised of a synagogue and a school. Informed by the standards of the Conservative Movement, we revere the mitzvot (ritual and ethical commandments) both as the stepping-stones along the path toward holiness and as points of interpersonal connection. In this light, mitzvot are manners of spiritual expression that allow each of us to individually relate to God and to one another. Indeed, it is through the mitzvot that we encounter a sacred partnership, linked by a sacred brit (covenant), in which we embrace the gift of life together and strive to make the world more holy and compassionate. Mitzvot, like Judaism itself, are evolving and dynamic and not every one of us will agree with what constitutes each and every mitzvah at each moment; indeed, we embrace and celebrate the diversity of the Jewish people.
    [Show full text]
  • Rabbinic Judaism “Moses Received Torah F
    Feminist Sexual Ethics Project Introduction – Rabbinic Judaism “Moses received Torah from Sinai and handed it down to Joshua; and Joshua to the Elders; and the Elders to the Prophets; and the Prophets handed it down to the Men of the Great Assembly…” Mishnah Avot 1:1 Judaism is often believed to be a religion based primarily in the Hebrew Bible, or even more specifically, the first five books of the Bible, known in Jewish tradition as the Torah. These five books, in the form of a Torah scroll, are found in nearly every Jewish house of worship. “Torah,” however, is a term whose meaning can encompass far more than particular books; for Jews, “Torah” often also means the full scope of Jewish learning, law, practice, and tradition. This conception of Torah derives from the rabbis of late antiquity, who developed the belief that the written Torah was accompanied from its earliest transmission by an equally Divine “Oral Torah,” a body of law and explanations of the written Torah that was passed down by religious leaders and scholars through the ages of Jewish history. Thus, Jewish law and religious practices are based in far more than the biblical text. The rabbis considered themselves an integral link in this chain of transmission, and its heirs. In particular, the works produced by the rabbis of late antiquity, from the beginning of the Common Era to the time of the Muslim Conquest, in Roman Palestine and Sassanian Babylonia (modern day Iran/Iraq), have influenced the shape of Judaism to this day. The Talmud (defined below), for example, is considered the essential starting point for any discussion of Jewish law, even more so than the bible.
    [Show full text]
  • “Viewing Mendelssohn, Viewing Elijah”
    APRIL 29-MAY 1, 2009 “Viewing Mendelssohn, Viewing Elijah” assimilation, interpretation and culture Ariella Amar a rreses eearcharch cconferenceonference atat ArizonaArizona StateState UniversityUniversity Hebrew University of Jerusalem Julius Reder Carlson University of California, Los Angeles David Conway University College London Sinéad Dempsey-Garratt University of Manchester, England Colin Eatock University of Toronto, Canada Todd Endelman University of Michigan Deborah Hertz University of California, San Diego Luke Howard Brigham Young University sponsored by Daniel Langton University of Manchester, England JEWISH STUDIES an academic unit of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Jonathan D. Lawrence Canisius College Angela Mace FACULTY OF RELIGIOUS STUDIES Duke University IN THE SCHOOL OF HISTORICAL, PHILOSOPHICAL AND RELIGIOUS STUDIES Sara Malena Wells College an academic unit of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Michael Ochs Ochs Editorial SCHOOL OF MUSIC an academic unit of the Herberger College of the Arts Marcus Rathey Yale University Jeffrey Sposato University of Houston http://jewishstudies.asu.edu/elijah Michael P. Steinberg Brown University R. Larry Todd Duke University Donald Wallace United States Naval Academy Barry Wiener Graduate Center, City University of New York Viewing Mendelssohn, Viewing Elijah: assimilation, interpretation and culture a research conference at Arizona State University / April 29 – May 1, 2009 Conference Synopsis From child prodigy to the most celebrated composer of his time: Felix Mendelssohn
    [Show full text]
  • An Elder Among the Rabbis
    BYU Studies Quarterly Volume 21 Issue 3 Article 6 7-1-1981 An Elder among the Rabbis Dennis Rasmussen Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/byusq Recommended Citation Rasmussen, Dennis (1981) "An Elder among the Rabbis," BYU Studies Quarterly: Vol. 21 : Iss. 3 , Article 6. Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/byusq/vol21/iss3/6 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in BYU Studies Quarterly by an authorized editor of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. Rasmussen: An Elder among the Rabbis an elder among the rabbis dennis rasmussen why should a mormon be interested in judaismjudaism1I1 I1 can speak only for myself in judaism I1 have found a part of my religious heritage handed down from the ancient prophets of israel through the rabbis of the greco roman era to thejewsthejews of today 2 this essay is an account of my experience among the teachings and teachers of judaism how my interest began what brought me to a jewish theological seminary who my teachers were and what I1 learned about rabbinic history and teaching together with some reflections and comments about these and about the talmud the great com- pendium of rabbinic law and lore which we studied so diligently my interest in judaisminjudaism began at the institute of religion in salt lake city I1 went there every wednesday evening to hear elder marion D hanks teach two courses
    [Show full text]
  • Reading Halakhah As a Secularist
    Volume 64 Issue 5 Article 7 1-30-2020 Reading Halakhah as a Secularist Sanford Levinson Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.law.villanova.edu/vlr Part of the Religion Law Commons Recommended Citation Sanford Levinson, Reading Halakhah as a Secularist, 64 Vill. L. Rev. 709 (2020). Available at: https://digitalcommons.law.villanova.edu/vlr/vol64/iss5/7 This Symposia is brought to you for free and open access by Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Villanova Law Review by an authorized editor of Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law Digital Repository. Levinson: Reading Halakhah as a Secularist 2019] READING HALAKHAH AS A SECULARIST SANFORD LEVINSON* “HE demand that I make of my Reader,” James Joyce once appar- “Tently told Max Eastman, “is that he should devote his whole life to reading my works.” Although Eastman wrote that Joyce “smiled as he said that—smiled, and then repeated it,”1 one might well believe that the au- thor of Ulysses and Finnegan’s Wake believed it. We might read this as evi- dencing a kind of megalomania, but those within the literary community who proudly identify themselves as “Joyceans,” or “Janeites,” or indeed “lovers of the immortal Bard” might endorse his basic claim. What it means to take a particular author, or a genre, or other form of art, truly seriously is to devote one’s life to analyzing it in the perhaps hopeless quest to solve all of the mysteries that texts inevitably generate. To this day, obviously, we can debate the implications of classic texts and engage in heated arguments over what they truly mean.
    [Show full text]
  • The Gender and Sexuality of Jewish Women
    Rollins College Rollins Scholarship Online Master of Liberal Studies Theses Spring 2020 The Gender and Sexuality of Jewish Women Risa Cole Rollins College, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.rollins.edu/mls Part of the Arts and Humanities Commons, and the Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons Recommended Citation Cole, Risa, "The Gender and Sexuality of Jewish Women" (2020). Master of Liberal Studies Theses. 92. https://scholarship.rollins.edu/mls/92 This Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by Rollins Scholarship Online. It has been accepted for inclusion in Master of Liberal Studies Theses by an authorized administrator of Rollins Scholarship Online. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The Gender and Sexuality of Jewish Women A Project Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of Master of Liberal Studies By Risa Cole May, 2020 Mentor: Dr. Sharon Carnahan Reader: Dr. Wendy Brandon Rollins College Hamilton Holt School Master of Liberal Studies Program Winter Park, FL The Gender and Sexuality of Jewish Women By Risa Cole May, 2020 Project Approved: Sharon Carnahan, Ph.D Mentor Wendy Brandon, Ph.D Reader ______________________________________ Director, Master of Liberal Studies Program ______________________________________ Dean, Hamilton Holt School 3 The Gender and Sexuality of Jewish Women Practices and Experiences of Traditional Judaism Personal Experience of Being A Non-Religious Jewish Female in the United States This paper explores the intersection of traditional, Orthodox Judaism and modern lives of Jewish women. Drawing from the author’s personal experiences and research on Judaism and modernity, our thesis is that all Jewish women are affected by both world views in ways that are complex and multifaceted.
    [Show full text]
  • The Jews and Their Future in Early LDS Doctrine
    BYU Studies Quarterly Volume 34 Issue 4 Article 7 10-1-1994 The Jews and Their Future in Early LDS Doctrine Grant Underwood Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/byusq Part of the Mormon Studies Commons, and the Religious Education Commons Recommended Citation Underwood, Grant (1994) "The Jews and Their Future in Early LDS Doctrine," BYU Studies Quarterly: Vol. 34 : Iss. 4 , Article 7. Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/byusq/vol34/iss4/7 This Book Review is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in BYU Studies Quarterly by an authorized editor of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. Underwood: The Jews and Their Future in Early LDS Doctrine wreviewpreviewevrew essay the jews and their future in early LDS doctrine grant underwood review of cormonsmormons and jews early mormon theologies of israel by steven epperson salt lake city signature books 1992 ix 228 appp 10 illustrations epilogue index 1895189518.95 cormonsmormons andrewsandjewsand jewsjems begins by painting a backdrop of christ- ian attitudes toward the jews and their place in prophetic history in the next several chapters latter day saint perceptions are sketched against this backdrop by and large the christian biases against the jews that are outlined in the first chapter also plagued the early latter day saints despite the reservations of early mor mons about the apostate christian world
    [Show full text]
  • Judaism and Orthodox Judaism Loren Marks
    Brigham Young University BYU ScholarsArchive All Faculty Publications 2014 Judaism and Orthodox Judaism Loren Marks Trevan Hatch Brigham Young University - Provo, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/facpub Part of the Other Religion Commons Original Publication Citation Hatch, T. & Marks, L. (2014). Judaism and Orthodox Judaism. In L. Ganong, M. Coleman, J. G. Golson (Eds.), The ocS ial History of the American Family (pp. 781–784). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE. (2,300 words; my contribution was about 90 percent). BYU ScholarsArchive Citation Marks, Loren and Hatch, Trevan, "Judaism and Orthodox Judaism" (2014). All Faculty Publications. 3039. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/facpub/3039 This Peer-Reviewed Article is brought to you for free and open access by BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in All Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. COPYRIGHT NOTICE: The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted materials. Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a photocopy or other reproduction. One of these specified conditions is that the photocopy or reproduction is not to be used for any purpose other than private study, scholarship, or research. If a user makes a request for, or later uses, a photocopy or reproduction for purposes in pvro=><;<; of fair use that user may be liable for copyright infringement. Judaism and Orthodox Judaism 781 Judaism and patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac, Israel (also called Jacob), and Joseph.
    [Show full text]