From Rebuke to Consolation: Exegesis and Theology in the Liturgical Anthology of the Ninth of Av Season (Brown Judaic Studies)

230 Pages·2005·0.87 MB·English

by  Elsie R. Stern

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FROM REBUKE TO CONSOLATION
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Program in Judaic Studies
Brown University
Box 1826
Providence, RI 02912
BROWN JUDAIC STUDIES
Edited by
David C. Jacobson
Ross S. Kraemer
Saul M. Olyan
Michael L. Satlow
Number 338
FROM REBUKE TO CONSOLATION
Exegesis and Theology in the Liturgical Anthology of the
Ninth of Av Season
by
Elsie R. Stern
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From Rebuke
to Consolation
Exegesis and Theology in the
Liturgical Anthology of the
Ninth of Av Season
Elsie R. Stern
Brown Judaic Studies
Providence, Rhode Island
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© 2004 by Brown University. All rights reserved.
No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any
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Program in Judaic Studies, Brown University, Box 1826, Providence, RI 02912,
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Copyediting, Design, and Typesetting: Abe Hendin / AH Prepress
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Indexes: Nancy Zibman
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Stern, Elsie R.
From rebuke to consolation : exegesis and theology in the liturgical
anthology of the Ninth of Av season / Elsie R. Stern
p. cm. — (Brown Judaic Studies ; no. 338)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 1-930675-21-6 (cloth binding : alk. paper)
1. Ninth of Av—Liturgy. 2. Rabbinical literature—History and
criticism. 3. Consolation (Judaism) I. Title. II. Series.
BM675.K5Z87 2004
296.4'539—dc22
2004024032
CIP
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
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To my parents, Jack Stern and Priscilla Rudin Stern (z”l),
with great love
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Contents
Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix
Abbreviations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi
1 • Introduction 1
Interaction of Non-Rabbinic and Rabbinic Culture in the Late
Antique Palestinian Synagogue. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Synagogue andBeit Midrash:The Intended Audiences of
Rabbinic Literature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
The Theology of the Tisha b’Av Season in the Context of Late
Antique Palestine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Exegesis and Theology in the Literature of the
Tisha b’Av Season . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
2 (cid:127) The Tisha b’Av Lectionary Cycle 17
The Synagogue Bible and Popular Jewish Theology . . . . . . 17
History of the Tisha b’Av Lectionary Cycle . . . . . . . . . . 20
Lectionary Poetics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Identification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Correspondence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Arrangement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Analysis of the Lectionary Cycle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Lamentations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Haftarot of Rebuke and Consolation . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Haftarot of Rebuke . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
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Sin-Punishment-Restoration. . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Measure-for-Measure Punishment . . . . . . . . . . 44
Reliability of the Prophetic Word. . . . . . . . . . . 48
Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Haftarot of Consolation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Lamentations and the Haftarot of Consolation . . . . . 51
The Dialogic Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
The Dialogic Paradigm and the Theology of Intimacy. . 60
Redemptive Nature of Divine Love. . . . . . . . . . 69
Enactment of Divine Reconciliation. . . . . . . . . . 72
From Grief to Consolation . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Exhortation and Efficacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
The Theology of Consolation in the Context of the
Synagogue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Conclusion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
3 (cid:127) Pesikta de-Rav Kahana 13 and 22 79
Sitz im Leben . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Poetics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Individual Units. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Chapters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Chapter 13 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Unit 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Units 9–11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Unit 10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Unit 15 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Chapter 22 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Unit 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Unit 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Unit 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Unit 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Unit 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Theology of Consolation and the Culture of the Synagogue . . 108
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
4 (cid:127) Eleazar Kallir’sKedushtotfor the Sabbaths of Consolation 113
Sitz im Leben. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Piyyut as Prayer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
viii
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Piyyut as Poetry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Kedushtotfor the Sabbaths of Consolation by Eleazar Kallir . . 118
Rhyme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Allusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
Case Study 1:MagenforKedushtato ShabbatNa§amu . . . . . 123
Rhyme Patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
Allusion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
Litany of Biblical Verses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Relationship to theKedushtaas a Whole . . . . . . . . . 136
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Case Study 2:MagenandMe§ayehto ShabbatVatomar Tzion . . 137
Rhyme Patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
Allusion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
Litany of Biblical Verses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
Relationship to theKedushtaas a Whole . . . . . . . . . 152
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
Poetry, Prayer, and the Synagogue Context . . . . . . . . . 153
5 (cid:127) Targum Jonathan’s Translation of the Haftarot
of Consolation 155
Targumic Function and Exegesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
Analysis of Targum Jonathan to Isaiah 40:1–23 . . . . . . . . 159
The Romantic Trope: Isaiah 49:14–23; 50:1–3; 54:1–8; 62:1–5 . . 163
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
6 (cid:127) Conclusion: The Literature of the Tisha b’Av Season 169
Text, Ritual, and Communal Experience. . . . . . . . . . . 171
The Propagation of Rabbinic Judaism in Late Antiquity . . . . 174
Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
Index of Texts Cited . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
General Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
ix
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