Time and Life Cycle in Talmud and Midrash: Socio-Anthropological Perspectives (Judaism and Jewish Life)

236 Pages·2008·23.82 MB·English

by  Nissan Rubin

,yo r
Tllill IUOI LIn:
.. TIlUlIlllIUOI MmlUlSll
SOCIO·ANTHilOPOLOGICAL .
PBIlSPBCTIVBS
RuIIIII
and Life
Tim~ Cyd~
in Talmud and Midrash
JUDAISM AND
JEWISH LIFE
E<iitorial oo.rd
G.aff"y ,o,W"man (Unive"ity of Buclingham, G".t Britoin)
Ba""
H,bITt (Quw u Uni,..rSity. Ganad.)
LJ<,no!dla bter Vi C,mr< (Uni,.."it. "Lo Sapi,nza," It.ly)
N.,,·
Robe,!o Ro'''''h<rg Fa,h<r (Ye,],i," UniY<'f.ity. York),
Seri"" Editor A»oci.te
Sim,"" i-'i,hban, O'ouro Colleg<, N~w Yori). Seri"" Editor
.II<i, /kir lion (B.r Ibn Uni,..,,,ity, lor..,l)
And",". N""lra"", (Touro CoII'g', Berlin)
1m Robinson (Concordia Uni",,,,it),, Montre.l)
NilSan Rubin (Bar H.n Uni,·,,,i!),. Isr..,!)
Su,an S1arr S<mi (Suffolk UniYmity. iloslOn)
R"", ~P<c!or Simon (Y,,],iva Unil·'J>ity. New York)
TIME RND LIFE I:YCLE
IN TRLMUD
RND MIDRRSH
SOCIO-ANTHROPOLOGICAL
PERSPECTIVES
HIS511N RUBIN
Ac.dem" Studi. . P .....
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CONTENTS
Prd. ...n d A(koo~'ledg<men" .... , .... , .... , .... , .... , .... , .... , .. .. vii
,
PIlAT IIIIE. INTRODUCTIOS
Ch.p'" 1. The Sociology .nd Anthropology of Talmudic Tox"
PIlAT Two. TIME
Chopt" 1, 'Th< Clothing of to< Primordial Ad.m ••• S),mbol of
Apocalyp<ic Tim. in to< Mid,. .h ic Sour<'" (With Adm ..1 M,m.n) 19
PIlAT THAEL BIRTH AI->D MARRIAGE
Chapt<r 3. 8m MjI"k A stud)' of Dunge in Cu.tom ~l
Ha''''"
Chap'<r 4. Coping with tho Value of to< I'la)'O'l !>.)'m<nt in
Robbinic Li .." ,tur<, An E=mp1< of. Social Chang. Pr",. .... , 6~
Chap'''~. Birth and Marriage Ritual" Women', St.tu, in
a Cri,ic:ol R..Jlng of the Texts ...... ... ........... 90
PIlAT FOUA. DEATH
Ch.pt<r 6. Th< Sat",' Conception of ,he BodpnJ SooI
Ch.p'« 7. From Corp« '0 Corpu" The BOOy .. a T.x, in
Talmudic Lite"'tUr< . , , .... , .... , ....
Chap'« 8. BJru.r "-",);,,,-'Th< BI",,;ng of Mourn.,,,
on
Ritual A,pee" of Social Ch.ng< . ,
Bibliography, '"
G<n<rallnd« '"
Autoo..lnJex '"
Sourc« Ind« '"

PREFACE AND
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The coUection of~ "'Y' in thi' book p",. .n b my ",. ..r ch efforb in i nterpreli OS
..r ly rabbinic liter.ture by meam ofs ocio-.nthrupologic.l melhod., By tho ..
method, I try to d". .l op.n interdi>ciplinuy field conn<"Cting lud.ic Stud ....
• nd Social Studies. m.inly sociology .nd .nthrorology,
lh. "ticl. . coo..n for the "",,,,nt volume d ..1 with two h:t.ic soc;.l
i"un; Fint. tim. in rabbinic.1 percoption, .od ....o ndly. v.riow i"ues in rit ..
of p"",,!;e .«omp.nying indi"idual', life qck The id .. in mo,t of the ....) ~
i. th.t long-term ch.ny, in social ,tructu", h". . an imp.ct on the .tr",ture
.nd me.ning of the life cycle ritu,l •.
Ch.pter one i. m.inly methodological. lhe m.in qU<'ition th;, article
.ddT<~ h •• to do with the ,y.tem.tic utraction of ,d<'fltifk in.igh" from
the tutual ",urce>, repbcing the traditional historic.l-philoiogical inducti"e
'Wroach "'ith • deducti,.., 0"", In other ",ord~ to d"..,lop .....a rch question.
from a th..,retical ,tmctu", that m.y he valid.t.d d;,mi'sed, I try to .xpo. .
Of
the hidden .t mctu",. of text> wing we ",-cultural droucti,. . method" in order
to under>tand the halill.h and the prui, inherent in the .. text"
Ch.pter t,,'o (with Adm ... 1 Ko.man) on the clothing of the primordial
Ad.m. de.), with percoption of time of Talmudic ..g . .. Their percoption
of time i ...g arJeJ by some >ehol .......- hi.toric.1 .nd non-denlop"",nt.!.
"'S'"
N"Yerthel"", the g"'" m",h weight to remembra",e, TIwy formro
.Ie,,'i.h coll""ti,-e memory which;' mythological rather th.n hi.torical,
Wh.t i ...m embered i. not ..a ctly ",h.t h.ppened in the real world.
Chapter thr"" on I>rilh mi ..h i. on the drawing dmm of the pr<'poC<'r.J
the inci.ion of the fo",ilin {p<riah). Sourc<. from the H• • mon"n Revolt to Bar
Kokhh:th Iteyoit report .bout Ie,,'ish mal .. who disguised their circumci.ion
by drawing do",n their pr<'poCe in ord<r not to be identified •• Iews. 'The paper
pr"""nt< ",iderKe of a different circumci,ion proce .. that ",as pmcticro until
,"
';lSSAS RUR'N
&r Kokhbail r.,..oIt in whim the drawing d"",'n of tl>< prepoc~ "'. . po<>ib\e,
'[he rabb" devi,..,.j • radical .urgical in1lOYation thai th,..."...! th" c""";ng of
tl>< community border. The rabbi.camouflagd tl>< change by . t1riootingpuiah
to tl>< Torah commandemrnt.
Chapt" four on value of pidyon "',.h<n (the redemplion of the first oorn
oon) I")'ment disc""", the ch.n!:'" in the true v.l"" of fiv~ mckalim gi,. .n to
• koir,n. It w. ..t fjr>t. relatively large .um for. day I.oorer. Th. development
of tl>< holakirah .how. that .ltern.te method. ",ere found which en.bl...! e\"e'Y
f.ther to reJ..,m hi. >on in • way thot did not rep,. ..n t .n <"<onomic burden.
In this paper I demon.trat. how the rabbi. inlerpreted the Bible .nd the
Iwlaklw in an.ra of change. To deal "'ith changing «.Iity. tl><y reinterpreted
tl>< text ",hKn in priociple i. unchangeabte,
r,ve
Chapter "Rite> of birth ond m.rri~: A critic.! «.ding in rabbinic
""'rc ...• disc.,..... tl>< Jeprived ,t.l"" of women .. refkct...J in th""" rit. ., In
• p.tri.rch.1 .nd pat,ilineal society . woman. onc~ marri<J. chongoo her
f.thd. lineage identity to her huob,u,J',. Her children belong " du.i,,"ly to
h" hu.hand·. lin ..I ,"<, A di,'orced ,,'om.n or a widow return. to her f.the"
identity. If ,he remarr;'. sh, again ch.ng. . h" identity. Thi ••o ci.1 irut.bility
""fleeted in the nidMl, rituol. 00 th.t their .t.tu' oseill .." " bet ... een fertility
.nd infertility du,ing memtrual period. White me ...t ru.ting .h. i, impure
.nd temporarily remm. .d from home and community. ooth ,ymbolic.lIy and
practically. Aft" purification in. ritu.! hath ,he may return to her home .nd
,ta,"""
community. fem.Ie·, depri'°ed .1", «fiected in the ab",nce of rite>
of birth< for girl •. P.radoxic.!ly• .he i, very .I",.ted during her wedding .nd
m.rri.ge proce";on. m.hup i. applied, ,h. i, Jre>5ed 'pecially• .dorned with
j.,,'elry and carried in. p.lanquin along the bridal proce ..i "". All the", .r<
not for her own ..h •• ince lhey ,ymbolize her f.ther·, lin ..g e .t.nding that
usn the b,ide ...n icon. (The re.der will finJ in thi' chart" repetition. of
",me ide •• he ",.d .!",ady in chapt,,~, It i> due to the f.cl th.t they",.",
origin.lly published .. ""parOled artid ..) .
Chapter .i,"'On the >age, conception of body .nd >oul,· Jemon.trat. .
tl>< conneclion bet",. .n social struclure .nd co.mology. In the generatio""
of the early T.nn.itic sehol .... "'. find thot the rabbi. m.int. inecl a moni.tic
view of tl>< body·soul relation,hip. After the turmoil and ><Kia! ch.ng. . in the
",.ke of Bar Kokhhah', R,,'''' there was a turn in rabbi>' co.mology tow.rd;,
• du.Ji.lic "jew of body and >ouI rel.tion,hip. They ",er< con.idered .. two
differen,
entitie~
Chapter "'Yen add .." , the ~u ..t ion of how the ooundari .. bet",«n life
.nd d ..t h.r< reflected in the tre.tmenl of 'he dead body. According to the
rabbi' o,i.nt.tion d.ath i. determinecl at tl>< moment of rhy>iologicol Jeath
.nd d)'ing i. nol . limin.1 .t. t •. 11>< category go"'" (d)'ing) .. me.ningful
in ,phy>iologic.1 .nd nol .ociologi<al sense. Two principle> ><rw to blur
the liminal .tage .nd tl>< .harp""" of tl>< tran.ition from life to death, tl><
prin<ipl •• of gndation .nd continuity, c.rrying roiy><mic .ymbol> of opposed
m ..n ings of continuity and separation,
Ch.pter eight on birkat a,'dim (The "81."ing of the ~!ourner» Ji>cu ....
one of the .ncient T.lmudic proctic .. of condolen« , ",hich gmdually di.
.ppeareJ from jewish lif• . The Sag. . introd=d bl."ing' fOf the mourn."
.nd the d,inking of ten cup> of wine in the hou", of mourning during the
mourn",,' me.l Th. P'P'" explain, th.t tl>< 1= of the custom> h.ppeneJ
b.au~ el.borate mourning rit. . "'ith 'p<Ci.! meal> on .och of the d.y. of
mourning. '''lui ... . n .ppropriate ><>cial ",tting, Su<h cu.tom. .... po»ible
",h.n tl>< community .. compo«<! of ex'endeJ famili ... Ilut.., society b.com. .
Ie. . integrateJ due to politic.1 .nd economic.! changes and f.mill<> tend more
tow",1 • nud. .r typ", it i. I. .. likel)' that the d.ily mealscould be c.,ri<J out,
I :un ind.bteJ to m.ny col1 ..g u<> .nd fri.nd> with whom I di><u.sed the
topic. and i»ues in this collection of artide" but I c.nnol hop< to th.n\; all
of tho.. who WHe ....d y to li,ten and . m·i«. Therefore I will mention by
name only two f'<Opl. who>< help maJe this book po ..i ble. U,. Sam Coorer.
of S., llan Univer>ity. u.,partment of Sociology and Anthropology, ",ho i. on
origin.l thinke, in the fl<ld of Anthropology of H"iokhan, ",ith ",hom I .rend
m.ny hour> of Ji5CuMion., Hi. ",or. and mine.re parallel in many "" )~ with
>orne differen« . of opinion regarding some i. ....~
I ockno"'ledge tl>< inter. .t .nd encouragement of D,. Simch. fi"'b.ne
of Touro Colleg< .nd th.nk him for hi ••u ppo,t in producing this book,
U,. fi.hb.ne wa. the m.jor organizing force behind tl>< C.n.d.-I""l
Conf. .., n«. on the Soci.1 Sci.ntin, Study of judai.m, The .. conf.renc. .
led to the production of. number of ",riou. p're" on the .ubjed, including
>om. of the materi.1 p",. .n ted he""
I gmtefully " 'now!eJge the following publication. in which th .. ....y .
,pre·reJ:
Ch.pter one, "The Sociology .nd Anthropology of T.lmudic lexts," in:
Avi Ra>'itzki and Avino.1m ROLnek (.ds.). Halach ••n d M,lanaladra, An
inlmj;><:;p/inmy Apprexuh. jerusalem: M.gn .. Pre .., (forth<oming).
"n..
Ch.pter two. Clolhin~ of the Primordi.1 Ad.om ••• S)'mbol of
Apoc. iyptic Time in the Midr."'ic Source,," Han,",..! l'h.ok>g;cail1,.i, .... 90:
I ~'-174, 19<17 ("'ith Admiel Ko.man),