The Social Structure of the Rabbinic Movement in Roman Palestine


Book Description

"While rabbinic literature enables us to know more about the rabbis than any of the other members of the Jewish population of Roman Palestine, the social structure of the rabbinic movement remained largely unexplored. In the present study Catherine Hezser combines a critical analysis of the available literary, legal, and epigraphic evi-dence with a selective employment of sociological models. She examines the definition of the boundaries of the rabbinic movement, deals with the nature of the relationships amongst rabbis, and investigates the relationship between rabbis and their contemporaries, that is students, the community, and the patriarch."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved




Torah Centers and Rabbinic Activity in Palestine, 70-400 CE


Book Description

This book analyses the data about Torah centers and rabbinic activity in Palestine during Mishnaic and Talmudic times, 70–400 CE—the Roman and early Byzantine periods. The research is an interdisciplinary inquiry. It encompasses rabbinic literature as well as archeology, geography, and sociology, thus enriching the discussion of the history and scope of rabbinic activity in the different regions of Palestine. Arranged in chronological order, the book highlights the changes generated by historical events, in particular the relocation of rabbinic centers following the upheaval of the Bar Kokhba Revolt. In spite of this upheaval, Torah centers continued to develop in Palestine for several hundred years, until the end of the period under discussion.




Rabbis as Romans


Book Description

Conventionally, the history of the rabbinic movement has been told as an intra-Jewish development. Lapin reconfigures that history, drawing attention to the extent to which rabbis participated in and were the product of a Roman and late-antique political economy.




Social Stratification of the Jewish Population of Roman Palestine in the Period of the Mishnah, 70–250 CE


Book Description

This book defines, uncovers, dissects, and arranges the economic groups in Roman Palestine in the first centuries CE. It shows that, alongside the rich and poor, there were significant middling groups that constituted the backbone of Jewish society.




Religion and Society in Roman Palestine


Book Description

This collection of papers combines important archaeological and textual evidence to examine diverse aspects of religion and society in Roman Palestine. A range of international experts provide an unprecedented look at issues of acculturation, assimilation and the preservation of difference in the multicultural climate of Palestine in the Roman period. Key themes include: * the nature of ethnicity and ritual * the character of public and private space in Jewish society * the role of gender and space * the role of peasants * the impact of Roman rule * ritual and the regional framework of Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls. Religion and Society in Roman Palestine will be relevant to ancient historians, interpreters of the historical Jesus and subsequent Jesus movements, and those interested in the development of Judaism from Qu'ran to the rabbis.




State and Society in Roman Galilee, A.D. 132-212


Book Description

Drawing on the large corpus of extant rabbinic writings, Goodman (Jewish studies, Oxford U.) describes the formation of rabbinic Judaism in the second century that has shaped Judaism ever since. He argues that the development of the independent and unique Jewish culture of Late Roman Palestine was encouraged by the Roman methods of administration. Only a few copies of the 1983 first edition, developed from his dissertation, were printed; in a new preface, he summarizes developments in the scholarship since then. Distributed in the US by ISBS. Annotation copyrighted by Book News Inc., Portland, OR




Rabbinic Body Language


Book Description

In Rabbinic Body Language Catherine Hezser examines the literary representation of non-verbal communication within rabbinic circles and in encounters with others in Palestinian rabbinic documents of late antiquity.




Class and Power in Roman Palestine


Book Description

Examines how socioeconomic relations between Judaean elites and non-elites changed as Palestine became part of the Roman Empire.




First Century Palestinian Judaism


Book Description

Jesus was a Jew. That simple statement carries with it a millennia of cultural bias, persecution, and ignorance. David Ray Bourquin attempts to shed some light on what it meant to be a Jew during the Roman Period with this detailed, annotated bibliography of works in English. Following a brief introduction and guide on how to use the book, Bourquin divides his work into three major sections: A. Primary Sources; B. Books; and C. Periodical and Serial Articles. In each section, materials are arranged by subject, and in each sub-section in alphabetical order by main entry. Entries include complete bibliographical data, plus concise, descriptive, and analytical annotations. A glossary and four detailed indexes, all correlated to entry numbers, complete the volume. Every student of the period will want a copy of this carefully compiled bibliography.




Rabbinic Traditions between Palestine and Babylonia


Book Description

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.