Barry Wimpfheimer, Ed., Wisdom of Bat Sheva: the Dr

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Barry Wimpfheimer, Ed., Wisdom of Bat Sheva: the Dr BARRY SCOTT WIMPFHEIMER curriculum vitae Department of Religious Studies Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences Northwestern University 1860 Campus Drive, 4-140 Evanston, Illinois 60208-2164 [email protected] 847-491-2618 POSITIONS Associate Professor, Northwestern University, Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Religious Studies (Fall 2013-Present) Critical Theory, Jewish Studies and Legal Studies Committees Director of Undergraduate Studies, (Fall 2019-Present) Associate Professor, Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law (Fall 2013-Present) Director, Crown Family Center for Jewish and Israel Studies & Jewish Studies Program, Northwestern University (Fall 2012-Summer 2016) Fellow, Alice Kaplan Institute for the Humanities, Northwestern University (Fall 2011-Spring 2012) Assistant Professor, Northwestern University, Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Religious Studies, (Summer 2007-Spring 2013) Director of Undergraduate Studies, (Fall 2008-Spring 2009) Assistant Professor, Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law (Summer 2007-Spring 2013) College Fellow, Northwestern University, Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Religion (Summer 2006-Spring 2007) Assistant Professor. The Pennsylvania State University, Department of History and Religious Studies; Malvin and Lea Bank Early Career Professor of Jewish Studies (Fall 2005- Spring 2006). Harry Starr Fellow. Harvard University Center for Jewish Studies (Spring 2006). Instructor. University of Pennsylvania, Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies (Spring 2005). EDUCATION Columbia University, New York, New York. Wimpfheimer cv March 20 p. 1 Ph.D., with Distinction, October 2005. Religion. Committee: Professors David Weiss Halivni, Elizabeth Castelli, Jeffrey Rubenstein, Alan Segal, Michael Stanislawski. M.Phil., October 2004. Religion. M.A., October 2003. Religion. Yeshiva University, New York, New York. 1996-2000. Rabbinic Ordination, June 2000. M.A., June 2000. Talmudic Studies. Columbia College, Columbia University, New York, New York. B.A., October 1995. Mathematics and History. ADDITIONAL PROFESSIONAL TRAINING Alice Kaplan Digital Humanities Summer Faculty Workshop, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, Summer 2017. School of Criticism and Theory, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, Summer 2003. Latin and Greek Institute, City University of New York, New York, New York, Summer 2002. Manfred R. Lehmann Memorial Master Workshop in the History of the Jewish Book, University of Pennsylvania, May 2002 (Early Hebrew Printing) and May 2000 (Codicology). The Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel, 2001-2002. Visiting Student Hebrew Language Exemption (Ptor) Yale University, New Haven, CT, 2000-2001. Exchange Scholar, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. Sha’alvim Educational Center, Sha’alvim, Israel, 1995-1996, 1990-1992. BOOKS 1. The Talmud: A Biography (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2018) 2. Narrating the Law: A Poetics of Talmudic Legal Stories (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2011). 3. Editor, Wisdom of Bat Sheva: The Dr. Beth Samuels Memorial Volume (Jersey City, New Jersey: Ktav, 2009). Wimpfheimer cv March 20 p. 2 ARTICLES 4. “The Postmodern Mishnah: The Role of the Reader and the Instability of Meaning.” Under Consideration at Jewish Quarterly Review. 5. “Conflict Over the Essential Nature of Law: Bava ben Buta’s Activism in Tosefta Hagigah.” In Jeffrey Rubenstein, ed., NYU Studies in Rabbinic Narratives I, Brown Judaic Studies (Providence, RI) forthcoming, 2020. 6. “Codes” in Julen Etxabe, ed., A Cultural History of Law: Volume I Antiquity 2500 BCE- 500 CE (London: Bloomsbury, 2019), 59-74. 7. Review of Aaron Hughes, Jacob Neusner: An American Iconoclast. Religious Studies Review 44:1 (March 2018), 71-77. 8. “Footnotes to Carnal Israel: Infertility and the Legal Subject.” in Moulie Vidas, Ishay Rosen-Zvi Charlotte Fonrobert, eds., Talmudic Transgressions: Engaging the Work of Daniel Boyarin (Leiden: Brill, 2017): 161-200. 9. “Suborning Perjury: A Case Study of Narrative Precedent in Talmudic Law,” in Martha Nussbaum, Allison Lacroix, Richard Macadams, eds. Fatal Fictions: Crime and Investigation in Law and Literature (Oxford: Oxford University Press 2017): 41-64. 10. “Rabbinic Literature: Mishnah and Talmuds” and “Babylonian Talmud.” in Judith Baskin, ed., The Cambridge Dictionary of Jewish History, Religion and Culture (Cambridge University Press, 2011). 11. “The Dialogical Talmud: A Response to Daniel Boyarin’s Socrates and the Fat Rabbis.” Jewish Quarterly Review 101 (2011): 245-254. 12. Review of Richard Kalmin, Between Persia and Roman Palestine. Journal of the American Academy of Religion, 78:1 (March 2010): 312-315. 13. “The Shiva.” in Paul Socken, ed., Why Study Talmud in the Twenty-First Century (Lanham, Md: Lexington Books, 2010): 195-205. 14. “Interrupting Birth Control: Re-reading a Famous Beraita.” in Barry Wimpfheimer, ed., Wisdom of Bat Sheva: The Dr. Beth Samuels Memorial Volume (2009): 247-274. 15. “Preface.” in Barry Wimpfheimer, ed., Wisdom of Bat Sheva: The Dr. Beth Samuels Memorial Volume (2009): 1-4. 16. “Talmudic Legal Narrative: Broadening the Discourse of Jewish Law.” Dine Israel 24 (2007): 157-196. 17. “‘But It Is Not So’: Toward a Poetics of Legal Narrative in the Babylonian Talmud.” Prooftexts 24 (Winter 2004): 51-86. 18. “Qeren Kieyn Sheganav: An Analysis of BT Bava Qama 65a-66a (Hebrew).” Beit Yitzhaq 31 (2000): 214-232. Wimpfheimer cv March 20 p. 3 19. “The Jewish Library: The Hebrew Bible (TaNaKh) and Rabbinic Literature.” in Gary Porton, ed., Bloomsbury Religion in North America (electronic database). Forthcoming. ACADEMIC PRESENTATIONS “The Talmud: A Biography” Columbia University, New York, NY March 26, 2019. “The Talmud as Icon,” Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA, January 24, 2019. Panel participant, Roundtable: Theory and Practice of Talmud Commentary. Association for Jewish Studies (AJS), Boston, MA, December 18, 2018. “The Beautiful Body as Capital,” Association for Jewish Studies (AJS), Boston, MA, December 16, 2018. “Rabbinic Narratives Reconsidered,” Conference on Rabbinic Narratives, NYU, New York: NY, June 4-5, 2018 “Infertility and the Legal Subject,” Association for Jewish Studies, Washington, DC, December 19, 2017. “Is Halakhah Jewish Law? The Implications of a Rubric,” Society of Biblical Literature, Boston, MA, November 19, 2017 “Three Talmuds: How the Talmud Matters,” Schechter Institute for Jewish Studies, Jerusalem, Israel, May 15, 2017 “The Talmud as Symbol: Reputation as Reception,” Association for Jewish Studies Conference, San Diego, CA, December 19,2016 “The Talmud: A Methodological Introduction,” Northwestern TeachX Conference, May 16, 2016 “The Talmud as Icon,” University of Colorado Boulder Jewish Studies, Boulder, Colorado, February 22, 2016 “The Paris and Barcelona Disputations,” NU/Pisa Conference: “Trials That Shook the World,” May 20, 2015 “Jewish Studies and the Community: The Challenges of Connecting,” panelist, Association for Jewish Studies Conference, Baltimore, MD, December 15, 2014 “Were All of Israel Established as Liars?: Perjury and Ancient Jewish Narratives.” Crime in Law and Literature Conference, Chicago, IL, February 7, 2014. Respondent, “Talmudic Readings on Two Contemporary Ethical Challenges.” Society of Jewish Ethics, Chicago, Il, January 4, 2013 “The Amoraim and Stam as Readers.” Association for Jewish Studies (AJS), Chicago, Il, December 17, 2012 Wimpfheimer cv March 20 p. 4 “The Real in the Nominal: Money in Medieval Talmudic Exegesis” Halakhah and Reality Conference, New York University, New York, NY, May 1, 2012 “What We Talk About When We Talk About Mishnah.” University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, April 17, 2012 “Narrating the Law: How Stories Create Complex Law in the Talmud.” 2011 Robbins Lecture in Jewish Law. Program on Jewish Law, University of California at Berkeley Law School, Berkeley, CA, April 16, 2012 “Sanhedrin as Signifier: Real and Imagined Rabbinic Politics.” Frankel Institute for Jewish Studies, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, March 29, 2012 “Talmudic Charity: Rights, Obligations and Ambivalence.” University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI March 19, 2012 “Panopticism, Performativity, Passing and Peering: Maris Ayin as a Complex Site of Religious Meaning.” American Academy of Religion (AAR), San Francisco, CA, November 19-22, 2011. “Paradigms of Coherence in Jewish Law.” Ancient Judaism Workshop, Yale University, New Haven, CT, October 26, 2011. “Hypocrisy in Rabbinic Hyperbole and Law” Workshop on Hypocrisy and Dissimulation. University of Chicago. May 5-6, 2011. Panel Organizer, “Classical Rabbinics as a Prism for Jewish Historiography” “The Talmud as it Was” Association for Jewish Studies (AJS), Boston, MA, December 19, 2010. Panel Participant, “The Impact of Contemporary Legal Theory on the Study of Halakhah” Association for Jewish Studies (AJS), Boston, MA, December 19, 2010. “Where is Jewish Law Located?” Questioning the Law: Northwestern-Pisa Conference, Evanston, IL, April 14, 2010. “Talmudic Dynamics.” Annual Joint Doctoral Program Symposium. Richard S. Dinner Center for Jewish Studies, Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, CA, January 26, 2010. “ ‘Go teach verse to your son’ : Rabbis and Schoolteachers in Rabbinic Babylonia.” Association for Jewish Studies (AJS), Los Angeles, CA, December 21, 2009. “The Bavli as Classical Literature: The Argument from Rhetorical Forms.” Association for Jewish Studies (AJS), Washington, DC, December 22, 2008.
Recommended publications
  • Barry Wimpfheimer, Ed., Wisdom of Bat Sheva: the Dr
    BARRY SCOTT WIMPFHEIMER curriculum vitae Department of Religious Studies Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences Northwestern University 1860 Campus Drive, 4-140 Evanston, Illinois 60208-2164 [email protected] 847-491-2618 POSITIONS Associate Professor, Northwestern University, Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Religious Studies (Fall 2013-Present) Critical Theory, Jewish Studies and Legal Studies Committees Associate Professor, Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law (Fall 2013-Present) Director, Crown Family Center for Jewish and Israel Studies & Jewish Studies Program, Northwestern University (Fall 2012-Summer 2016) Fellow, Alice Kaplan Institute for the Humanities, Northwestern University (Fall 2011-Spring 2012) Assistant Professor, Northwestern University, Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Religious Studies, (Summer 2007-Spring 2013) Director of Undergraduate Studies, (Fall 2008-Spring 2009) Assistant Professor, Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law (Summer 2007-Spring 2013) College Fellow, Northwestern University, Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Religion (Summer 2006-Spring 2007) Assistant Professor. The Pennsylvania State University, Department of History and Religious Studies; Malvin and Lea Bank Early Career Professor of Jewish Studies (Fall 2005- Spring 2006). Harry Starr Fellow. Harvard University Center for Jewish Studies (Spring 2006). Instructor. University of Pennsylvania, Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies (Spring 2005). EDUCATION Columbia University, New York, New York. Wimpfheimer cv September 19 p. 1 Ph.D., with Distinction, October 2005. Religion. Committee: Professors David Weiss Halivni, Elizabeth Castelli, Jeffrey Rubenstein, Alan Segal, Michael Stanislawski. M.Phil., October 2004. Religion. M.A., October 2003. Religion. Yeshiva University, New York, New York. 1996-2000. Rabbinic Ordination, June 2000.
    [Show full text]
  • Biography of Lee I. Levine
    Biography of Lee I. Levine Lee Israel Levine was born on Feb. 1, 1939, in Bangor, Maine, to Rabbi Dr. Harry O. H. Levine and Irene R. Levine (née Ginsburgh). He attended the Akiba Academy in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and a public high school in Steubenville, Ohio, where his father served as a congregational rabbi. Summers were spent at Camp Ramah. Lee attended Columbia College in New York, majoring in philosophy. At the same time, he studied in the undergraduate program at the Jewish Theological Semi- nary, majoring in Talmud. He graduated from both institutions in 1961, earning a B.A. from Columbia and a B.H.L. in Talmud from JTS. In June 1961, he married Mira Karp of Buffalo, New York. Lee and Mira spent the 1959–60 academic year at Machon Greenberg (Hayyim Greenberg Institute for Teachers from the Diaspora) and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. From 1961 to 1965, Lee studied in the rabbinical program at the Jewish Theological Seminary with the distinguished rabbis and scholars Saul Lieberman, David Weiss Halivni, Moshe Zucker, and Gerson Cohen. He received his M.H.L. in Talmud in 1963 and rabbinic ordination from JTS in 1965. In 1963, Lee pursued his graduate studies in Jewish and Ancient History at Co- lumbia University with Professors Gerson Cohen and Morton Smith. After receiving his M.A. in 1966, he continued his doctoral studies under the mentorship of Cohen and Smith and was awarded his Ph.D. in 1970. While researching his dissertation on Caesarea under Roman Rule, he spent the 1968–69 academic year at the Institute of Archaeology of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
    [Show full text]
  • The Irreconcilability of Judaism and Modern Biblical Scholarship
    Studies in the Bible and Antiquity Volume 8 Article 3 2016 The Irreconcilability of Judaism and Modern Biblical Scholarship James L. Kugel Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/sba Part of the Biblical Studies Commons BYU ScholarsArchive Citation Kugel, James L. (2016) "The Irreconcilability of Judaism and Modern Biblical Scholarship," Studies in the Bible and Antiquity: Vol. 8 , Article 3. Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/sba/vol8/iss1/3 This Forum is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Studies in the Bible and Antiquity by an authorized editor of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. The Irreconcilability of Judaism and Modern Biblical Scholarship James L. Kugel Thanks to the work of scholars of the Hebrew Bible over the last two centuries or so, we now know a great deal about how and when various biblical texts were composed and assembled; in fact, this has been the focus of much of modern biblical scholarship. One thing has become clear as a result. Our biblical texts are actually the product of multiple acts of rewriting. All our canonical books have been found to be, in some degree, the result of editorial expansion, rearrangement, and redaction introduced by various anonymous ancient scholars. This raises an important question about those ancient scholars. To put it bluntly: How dare they? If you, an ancient Israelite, believe that Scripture
    [Show full text]
  • Ari Ackerman
    ARI ACKERMAN Machon Shechter Office: (02) 679-0755 4 Avraham Granot St. ackerman at schechter.ac.il Jerusalem, 91160 Professional Positions: Academic Advisor for Mishle Program 2014- Academic Advisor for Jewish Education and Contemporay Judaism Tracks 2012-2014 Academic Advisor for Student Affairs 2010-2012, 2014- Academic Advisor for TALI Educational Leadership Program 2005-2012 Senior Lecturor in Jewish Education and Philosophy: Machon Schechter, Jerusalem, Israel Lecturor in Jewish Education and Philosophy: Machon Shechter, Jerusaelm, Israel 2001-2012 Jerusalem Fellow: The Mandel School for the Development 1999-2001 of Professional Leadership, Jerusalem, Israel Research Fellow: The Institute for Advanced Studies, School of 1996- 1999 Social Science, Princeton, New Jersey Adjunct Instructor in Jewish Philosophy: Stern College 1997- 1999 for Women, Yeshiva University Instructor in Jewish Philosophy: Drisha Institute 1997- 1999 for Jewish Education, New York Education: Ph.D.: Jewish Philosophy 1994- 2001 Hebrew University Dissertation topic: “The Philosophic Sermons of Zerahia ben Isaac Halevi Saladin: Jewish Philosophic and Sermonic Activity in Late 14th and Early 15th Century Aragon.” Master’s Degree: Jewish Philosophy 1991-1993 Hebrew University Thesis: “Zerahia Halevi’s Sermon on Genesis 22:14” Bachelor Of Arts Degree 1984-1988 Columbia University Publications: Books The Philosophic Sermons of Zerhia Halevi Saladin, Beer Sheva University Press, 2012. Edited Books Co-editor, The Jewish Political Tradition, volume two, New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003. Co-editor, "Jewish Education for What?" and Other Essays of Walter Ackerman, Jerusalem: Schechter Press, 2008. Articles “The Composition of the Section on Divine Providence in Or Hashem,” Da’at 32-33 (1994) pp. 37-45.
    [Show full text]
  • Download File
    Halevy, Halivni and The Oral Formation of the Babylonian Talmud Ari Bergmann Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 2014 © 2014 Ari Bergmann All rights reserved ABSTRACT Halevy, Halivni and The Oral Formation of the Babylonian Talmud Ari Bergmann This dissertation is dedicated to a detailed analysis and comparison of the theories on the process of the formation of the Babylonian Talmud by Yitzhak Isaac Halevy and David Weiss Halivni. These two scholars exhibited a similar mastery of the talmudic corpus and were able to combine the roles of historian and literary critic to provide a full construct of the formation of the Bavli with supporting internal evidence to support their claims. However, their historical construct and findings are diametrically opposed. Yitzhak Isaac Halevy presented a comprehensive theory of the process of the formation of the Talmud in his magnum opus Dorot Harishonim. The scope of his work was unprecedented and his construct on the formation of the Talmud encompassed the entire process of the formation of the Bavli, from the Amoraim in the 4th century to the end of the saboraic era (which he argued closed in the end of the 6th century). Halevy was the ultimate guardian of tradition and argued that the process of the formation of the Bavli took place entirely within the amoraic academy by a highly structured and coordinated process and was sealed by an international rabbinical assembly. While Halevy was primarily a historian, David Weiss Halivni is primarily a talmudist and commentator on the Talmud itself.
    [Show full text]
  • Reflections on Maimonides' Eighth Principle of Faith: Its Implications for Orthodox Bible Students
    REFLECTIONS ON MAIMONIDES' EIGHTH PRINCIPLE OF FAITH: ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR ORTHODOX BIBLE STUDENTS AHARON E. WEXLER Many regard Maimonides' Thirteen Principles of Faith as the bedrock of Jewish theology, and in many ways it is. "Maimonides' formulation assumed such significance that all post-Maimonidean dogmatists were forced to con- front it."1 The standard set by Maimonides demands that all students of Juda- ism use his principles as a starting point for any inquiry into the nature of Judaism. It would seem that "as a method of shorthand the Principles are in- deed a very good way of expressing the fundamentals of Judaism as under- stood by most Jews until the rise of the Reform movement. However, as with most shorthand formulations, while correct in many essentials, they are not correct in their entirety "2 (emphasis mine AW). Perhaps the most difficult article of faith for any modern student of the Bible is the eighth principle claiming that the Torah that is found in our hands is the Torah that was given to Moses and that it is all Divine. The basic claim is that the Masoretic text is exactly the same today as it was 3,300 years ago, dictated by God and written down by Moses. And yet, "strictly speaking, there is no such thing as the Masoretic text (MT). One can only speak of the texts established by various Masoretic scholars, which dif- fered in minor details. Technically speaking, all of these disparate texts must be termed 'Masoretic'."3 Since at least the time of the Prophets there were always variant texts.
    [Show full text]
  • Rabbi Dr. David Weiss Halivni from Sighet Chasid to Critical Talmud Scholar Professor David Weiss Halivni the Iluy of Sighet
    Rabbi Dr. David Weiss Halivni From Sighet Chasid to Critical Talmud Scholar Professor David Weiss Halivni The Iluy of Sighet • His father – the assistant of the “miracle worker” • Reb Shaya Weiss – Belzer Chasid • Inherited from him his predilection for peshat and sense of humor • R. Menachem Mendel Hager Visheva and Tzipora • March 19th, 1944 – German occupation of Hungary • May 15th, 1944 – Auschwitz • Gross-Rosen • Sundays with Halivni – Bameh Madlikin • The bletl – Orakh Haim 434 Arrival in the US • The Jewish orphanage • The Pri Megadim and the initial meeting with R Shaul Lieberman • Yeshivat Chaim Berlin and Maharal • From Weiss to Weiss Halivni • Brooklyn College and R Aharon Kotler • JTS 1954 – Finkelstein and daiges parnasa • Lieberman “made a Litvak out of him” • From Yerushalmi to the Bavli Source Criticism and Forced Interpretations • Scholarship ki’peshuto • Authorial Intent versus Applied Meaning • Gr”a and Netsiv • Rav Hayya Gaon - Know that it was never our way to cover up a thing (a text) and explain it in a manner differently from the intent of the one who said it…there are many Mishnayiot which are not upheld in halakha, and we [nonetheless] explain them according to the view of the author. b. Gittin 77a • Mishnah: In a case of one who throws a bill of divorce to his wife, and she is in her house or in her courtyard at the time, then she is divorced as though he placed the bill of divorce in her hand. הַ זּוֹרֵ ק גֵּט לְאִשְׁ תּוֹ, וְהִ יא בְּ תוֹ�בֵּ יתָ הּ אוֹ בְּ תוֹ� חֲצֵרָ הּ – הֲרֵ י זוֹ מְ גוֹרֶשֶׁ ת • b.
    [Show full text]
  • The Next Generation of Modern Orthodoxy
    The Next Generation of Modern Orthodoxy Next Generation.indb 1 4/3/12 3:43 PM Chancellor of Yeshiva University, meets each year to consider major issues of concern to the Jewish community. Forum participants from throughout the world, including academicians in both Jewish and ah, Jewish educators, and Jewish communal professionals, gather in conference as a think tank to and disseminate a new and vibrant Torah literature addressing the critical issues facing Jewry today. gratefully acknowledges the support of the Joseph J. and Bertha K. Green Memorial Fund established by Morris L. Green, of blessed memory. OF 19 r10 draft 08 balanced.indd ii 9/23/2008 8:19:37 AM Next Generation.indb 2 4/3/12 3:43 PM The Next Generation of Modern Orthodoxy EditEd by Shmuel Hain Robert S. Hirt, Series Editor the michael scharf publication trust of the yeshiva university press new york Next Generation.indb 3 4/3/12 3:43 PM Copyright © 2012 Yeshiva University Press Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data The next generation of modern orthodoxy / edited by Shmuel Hain. p. cm. -- (Orthodox Forum series) Includes index. ISBN 978-1-60280-206-3 1. Orthodox Judaism--Congresses. 2. Judaism--21st century--Congresses. I. Hain, Shmuel. BM30.N49 2012 296.8’32--dc23 2012013967 Distributed by KTAV Publishing House, Inc. 888 Newark Avenue Jersey City, NJ 07306 [email protected] www.ktav.com (201) 963-9524 Fax (201) 963-0102 v Next Generation front-chp 11 rev 2.indd 4 4/10/12 10:16 AM Contents Contributors xi Series Editor’s Preface xvii Robert S.
    [Show full text]
  • Daf Ditty Eruvin 105: HADRAN
    Daf Ditty Eruvin 105: HADRAN 1 2 The Sages taught in a baraita: It is permitted for everyone to enter the Sanctuary to build, to repair, or to remove impurity from inside. However, wherever possible, the mitzva is for these tasks to be performed by priests. If no priests are available, Levites enter; if no Levites are available, Israelites enter. In both cases, if they are ritually pure, yes, they may enter, but if they are impure, no, they may not enter the holy place. 3 Therefore, the verse teaches “only” as an expression of exclusion, which means that there is a distinction here: Although the mitzva should be performed with unblemished priests ab initio, if no unblemished priests are available, blemished ones may enter. Likewise, it is the duty of ritually pure priests; if no pure priests are available, impure ones may enter. In both cases, if they are priests, yes, they may enter, but if they are Israelites, no, they may not enter the holy place. According to Rav Kahana, ritually impure priests take precedence over ritually pure Israelites. A dilemma was raised before the Sages: If one priest is ritually impure and another has a blemish, which of them should enter to perform repairs? Rav Ḥiyya bar Ashi said that Rav said: The impure one should enter, as he is permitted to participate in communal service. If the entire community is ritually impure, even impure priests may perform the service, whereas blemished priests may not serve under any circumstances. Rabbi Elazar says: The one with the blemish should enter, as he is permitted to eat consecrated foods, which indicates that he retains the sanctity of the priesthood despite his blemish.
    [Show full text]
  • The Poetic Superstructure of the Babylonian Talmud and the Reader It Fashions
    The Poetic Superstructure of the Babylonian Talmud and the Reader It Fashions by Zvi Septimus A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Joint Doctor of Philosophy with Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley in Jewish Studies in the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley Committee in charge: Professor Daniel Boyarin, Chair Professor David Henkin Professor Naomi Seidman Spring 2011 The Poetic Superstructure of the Babylonian Talmud and the Reader It Fashions Copyright 2011 All rights reserved by Zvi Septimus Abstract The Poetic Superstructure of the Babylonian Talmud and the Reader It Fashions by Zvi Septimus Doctor of Philosophy in Jewish Studies University of California, Berkeley Professor Daniel Boyarin, Chair This dissertation proposes a poetics and semiotics of the Bavli (Babylonian Talmud)—how the Bavli, through a complex network of linguistic signs, acts on its implied reader's attempt to find meaning in the text. In doing so, I advance a new understanding of how the Bavli was composed, namely as a book written by its own readers in the act of transmission. In the latter half of the twentieth century, Bavli scholarship focused on the role of the Stam (the collective term for those people responsible for the anonymous voice of the Bavli) in the construction of individual Bavli passages (sugyot). Stam theory details how sugyot were crafted out of pre-existing sources and how the Stam works to control those sources in the service of a particular worldview. This dissertation locates a different force at work in the construction of the Bavli as a single unified book, an authorship that is above and against the work of the Stam—a Superstam.
    [Show full text]
  • Just Peacemaking and Ethical Formation in Classical Rabbinic Literature
    Just Peacemaking and Ethical Formation in Classical Rabbinic Literature1 Daniel H. Weiss Upon examining the texts of classical rabbinic Judaism, we find that two key elements frequently stand out with regard to questions of violence. On the one hand, in interpreting Scripture, these texts do accord a conceptual place for the notions of justified violence and killing. On the other hand, they make the practical enactment of such violence very difficult, if not functionally impossible. However, these two elements can easily seem contradictory: if such actions are to be made functionally impossible to implement, why should they be reasoned about conceptually? That is, why not reject such actions in principle as well as in practice? Conversely, if such actions are to be reasoned about conceptually, why should they be made impossible in practice? In fact, as this paper will demonstrate, it is precisely and importantly the “contradictory” nature of the rabbinic approach that enables a directing of intention and evaluation into a just peacemaking ethic. In this study, I explore the rabbinic approach through close readings of two textual passages, the first from tractate Sanhedrin in the Babylonian Talmud, and the second from tractate Makkot in the Mishnah. By tracing out the details of the reasoning displayed in these passages, with close attention to literary and rhetorical structure, I seek to demonstrate that such rabbinic texts present an alternative to the “just war vs. pacifism” dichotomy. In addition to highlighting ways in which the engaged study of rabbinic texts can potentially function as a formational practice of just peacemaking, I will also indicate aspects of the texts that can provide a basis for constructing a logic of just peacemaking.
    [Show full text]
  • Download WHOLE Journal in Adobe Acrobat Format
    The Edah Journal A Forum of Modern Orthodox Discourse The Mission of Edah is to express and deepen the values of Modern Orthodoxy, educating and empowering Jews to address Modern Orthodox concerns. Fully committed to Torah, halakhah, and the quest for qedushah, Edah values open intellectual inquiry and expression in both secular and religious arenas; engagement with the social, political, and technological realities of the modern world; the religious significance of the State of Israel; and the unity of Kelal Yisrael. The Edah Journal 5:1 Edah, Inc. © 2005 Tammuz 5765 The Edah Journal A Forum of Modern Orthodox Discourse Statement of Purpose The Edah Journal is a forum for discussion of Orthodox Judaism’s engagement with modernity. It is Edah’s conviction that such discourse is vital to nurturing the spiritual and religious experiences of Modern Orthodox Jews. Committed to the norms of halakhah and Torah, The Edah Journal is dedicated to free inquiry and will Statement of Purpose of Purpose Statement be ever mindful that, “Truth is the seal of the Holy One, Blessed be He.” Editorial Board Eugene Korn - Editor Naftali Harcsztark – Associate Editor Joel Linsider – Text Editor Moshe Halbertal (Israel) Richard Joel Norma Baumel Joseph Simcha Krauss Barry Levy Dov Linzer Tamar Ross (Israel) Directions for Submissions The Edah Journal invites submissions of original scholarly and popular essays, as well as new English translations of Hebrew works. Popular essays should be between 800-2000 words. The journal particularly welcomes halakhic, philosophic, and literary studies relating to qedushah in modern experience, the religious significance of The Edah Journal the State of Israel, Jewish ethics, emerging Torah conceptions of and opportunities for women, Talmud Torah as an intellectual and spiritual discipline, pluralism, and Judaism’s relation to gentiles and contemporary culture.
    [Show full text]