Talmuda de-Eretz Israel: Archaeology and the Rabbis in Late Antique Palestine PDF
Preview Talmuda de-Eretz Israel: Archaeology and the Rabbis in Late Antique Palestine
Talmuda de-Eretz Israel: Archaeology and the Rabbis in Late Antique Palestine Studia Judaica Forschungen zur Wissenschaft des Judentums Begründet von Ernst Ludwig Ehrlich Herausgegeben von Günter Stemberger, Charlotte Fonrobert und Alexander Samely Band 73 Talmuda de-Eretz Israel: Archaeology and the Rabbis in Late Antique Palestine Edited by Steven Fine and Aaron Koller DE GRUYTER ISBN978-1-61451-485-5 e-ISBN978-1-61451-287-5 ISSN0585-5306 LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData ACIPcatalogrecordforthisbookhasbeenappliedforattheLibraryofCongress. BibliographicinformationpublishedbytheDeutscheNationalbibliothek TheDeutscheNationalbibliothekliststhispublicationintheDeutscheNationalbibliografie; detailedbibliographicdataareavailableintheInternetathttp://dnb.dnb.de. ©2014WalterdeGruyter,Inc.,Boston/Berlin Typesetting:METASystemsPublishing&PrintservicesGmbH,Wustermark Printingandbinding:CPIbooksGmbH,Leck ♾Printedonacid-freepaper PrintedinGermany www.degruyter.com Preface Since the close of antiquity, interpreters have struggled to understand the material world that is taken for granted in the writings of the ancient Rabbis. Often they drew upon their own experiences and their own material cultures forthesedenotations–culturesthatwereastonishinglyconsistentfromantiq- uity until the industrial revolution. It is still possible to find old Jews from Yemen or Kurdistan or even from the Russian Pale of Settlement who instinc- tivelyunderstandtechnologiesandmodesofsocialorganizationdescribedby theTalmudicrabbis.Theyareoftenabletoexplainhowtextsworkedinantiq- uity, based upon their own childhood experiences. For those of us reared on automobiles and computers, this knowledge is indeed distant – and growing more foreign with each new technological gadget.1 Whilethiscontinuityfromantiquitytotheworldjustpassedbyisevident with hindsight, medieval rabbis were all too aware that life had changed sig- nificantly from late antiquity to the Middle Ages, and that modes of being were quite different in Northern Europe than in North Africa, in Byzantium or in Iraq. Commentators on rabbinic literature struggled to understand the denotation of terms and ideas, often developing complex arguments and vir- tual lexicons of Talmudic nouns – sometimes even resorting to drawings in their commentaries where words failed.2 Burial practices, color denotations, the shape of roofs, knives and myriad other aspects of material culture were addressed by medieval commentators as they struggled with the unfamiliar within Talmudic texts. Occasionally rabbis were lucky, discovering artifacts from antiquity that they believed could help to explain an object of biblical or rabbinic history. The most famous of these is Nahmanides’ discovery of an ancient silver coin, shown to him by the Jews of Acre in 1264 – which from his description was a tetradrachma of the First Jewish Revolt. This discovery was so important that itwasappendedtohisfamouscommentaryonthePentateuch,andsoisvery widely known. Believing that he had discovered a biblical coin, Nahmanides used it to ascertain the value of a biblical sheqel – engaging the opinions of earlier rabbinic authorities.3 While premiere examples revolve around the 1 RichardSennettmakesthispointinmoregeneralterms.SeehisTheCraftsman(NewHaven, 2009). 2 Afullstudyofillustrationswithinhalakhictextsisadesideratum. 3 Perushha-Torah,ed.H.D.Chavel(Jerusalem,1960),2:557–558.Fordiscussionandmany examples,seeMosesGaster,StudiesandTextsinFolklore,Magic,MediaevalRomance,Hebrew Apocrypha,andSamaritanArchaeology(NewYork,1971),600–613;ShmuelZevReich,Mesoras Hashekel:TracingtheTraditionoftheTorahMoney/WeightSystemfromtheAncientEraasit AffectsContemporaryHalachicIssues(Toronto,SpringValleyandJerusalem,1989);JeffreyH. vi Preface EuropeandiscoveryofancientJewishcoinsandtheintegrationofthatknowl- edgeintoourunderstandingofcoinageinrabbinicsources,infactthetravels of Europeans to the Land of Israel and even to Babylonia deepened their knowledge of the material world of rabbinic literature still further. A well-known story reported for the first time in Sefer ha-Mitzvot Gadol, theGreatBookofCommandments(ג"מס)ofRabbiMosessonofJacobofCoucy (France,1240)andreproducedacrossrabbinicliterature,exemplifiesthethrill of discovery.4 This text reports on a letter from Eretz Israel that reached the Tosafists in France. The letter was thought to provide an early solution to a dispute between Rashi (Solomon ben Isaac, d.1104) and his grandson, Rab- benuTam(JacobbenMeir,d.1171)regardingtheorderofbiblicaltextswithin tefillin,phylacteries.Strikingly,thisexactsubjectisaddressedinafragmentary letter preserved in the Cairo Genizah and mentions the same rabbis (Rashi, MaimonidesandRabbenuTam).ItwaswrittenbyRabbiJosephsonofBarukh (d. 1221) from his home in Palestine to Egypt, intending that its final destina- tion would be in France.5 Our tradition in Sefer ha-Mitsvot ha-Gadol adds a significant element of realia: דואמםינשיןיליפתםשואצמולאקזחירבקלעשהמיבהלפנשלארשיץראמבתכוחלשםגו .ל"ז י"שרו השמ וניבר רדסכ Also, they sent a letter from Eretz Israel, [reporting] that a platform (bema) above the grave of Ezekiel had fallen down,6 and they found there very old tefillin, [the biblical passages within the phylactery arranged] according the Tigay,“‘Archaeology’oftheBibleandJudaisminLateAntiquityandtheMiddleAges”,inThe ArchaeologyofJordanandBeyond;EssaysinHonorofJamesA.Sauer(ed.LawrenceE.Stager, JosephA.Greene,andMichaelD.Coogan;WinonaLake,IN,2000),495–6;StevenFine,“Jew- ishArtandBiblicalExegesisintheGreco-RomanWorld,”inPicturingtheBible:theEarliest ChristianArt,ed.J.Spier(NewHaven,2007),24–6.Forapossiblemisreadingoftheancient coins bythe Samaritan eldersconsulted by Nahmanides,see Yosef Ofer,“Why Did Nahma- nidesMisreadtheInscriptionontheSheqel-Coin?,”Tarbiz80(2012),261–264(Hebrew). 4 Seferha-Mitsvotha-Gadol,PositiveCommandment22(ed.A.P.Parver,Ashdod,1991),p.33. JosephKaro,BeitYosef,OraḥḤayyim34,andsourcescitedthere. 5 Jewish Theological Seminary of America, Adler collection, 2936.1. This manuscript is dis- cussedbyEphraimKanarfogelandMosheSokolow,“RashiandMaimonidesMeetinaCairo GenizaFragment:AReferencetoMishnehTorahinaLetterfromaTosafist,”Tarbiz67(1998), 411–16, esp. 415 (Hebrew). Many thanks to Prof. Kanarfogel for bringing this article to our attention. 6 ApparentlyAlKifl,approximately100km.southofBagdhadinIraq.See:DavidM.Gitlitz andLindaKayDavidson,PilgrimageandtheJews(Westport,CT2006)96–97;Tigay,“‘Archae- ology’oftheBibleandJudaisminLateAntiquityandtheMiddleAges”,495. Preface vii order[ordainedby]ourRabbiMoses[Maimonides]andRashiofblessedmem- ory. Afurtherembellishmenttothistext,aboutacenturyafterMosessonofJacob of Coucy, makes explicit that these were Ezekiel’s personal phylacteries, add- ing that they were discovered hidden away under his skull (תחת ןיזונג ויתושארמ)!7ThediscoveryoftefillinatQumranandamongtheremainsofthe Bar Kokhba Revolt at Wadi Murabba‘at was thus not surprising to readers steeped in halakhic literature. These tefillin are amazingly similar to those describedinrabbinicliterature.Infact,someoftheQumrantefillincorrespond tothepositionvoicedbyRashi,otherstoRabbeinuTam,andsometoneither!8 Beginninginthenineteenthcentury,andquicklybecomingamainstayof Zionist Wissenschaft, modern scholars of rabbinic literature have looked to archaeology as they have applied modern philological methods common to classicalstudiestothestudyofrabbinictexts.Thisapproachwascalled“Jew- ish archaeology” by the Budapest-based Wissenschaft scholar, David Kauf- mannand“TalmudicArchaeology”byhisfarmorephilologically-focusedstu- dent, Samuel Krauss. This approach, sometimes called “Talmudic realia” by contemporaryIsraeli scholarsof rabbinicliteraturehas spawneda verybroad literatureinHebrew.9Overthelasthalfcentury,archaeologicalresourceshave been integrated as never before into the modern study of rabbinic literature, to the point that in some circles insights gained through archaeology and even photographs of artifacts have been integrated into commentaries on the MishnahandtheTalmudthatappealtomassaudiences.10Thearchaeologyof the Talmud has broad appeal among some sectors, as exemplified in Park 7 Shem Tov ibn Gaon (d. 1330), Migdal Oz to Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Laws of Tefillin 3:5,notedbyTigay,“‘Archaeology’oftheBibleandJudaisminLateAntiquityandtheMiddle Ages,”494,n.9.Jeḥielha-LeviEpstein(d.1908)assumesthesetobeEzekiel’stefillinaswell. SeehisArukhha-Shulkhan(NewYork,1961)toOraḥḤayyim34. 8 LawrenceH.Schiffman,“PhylacteriesandMezuzot,”EncyclopediaoftheDeadSeaScrolls, eds. Lawrence H.Schiffman, James VanderKam (Oxford, 2000), 675–77.Yehudah Cohen has shown, though, that there is no historical continuity here; see “Rabbenu Tam’s tefillin: An Ancient Tradition or the Product of Medieval Exegesis?” Jewish Studies Quarterly 14 (2007) 319–327.SeealsoYonatanAdler,“TheContentandOrderoftheScripturalPassagesinTefillin: A Reexamination of the Early Rabbinic Sources in Light of the Evidence from the Judean Desert,”HalakhahinLightofEpigraphy,eds.AlbertI.Baumgarten,HananEshel,RonenKat- zoffandShaniTzoref(Göttingen,2011),205–229. 9 SeeDanielSperber’scontributiontothisvolume,andS.Fine,ArtandJudaismintheGreco- RomanWorld:TowardaNewJewishArchaeology(Cambridge,rev.ed.2010),17–18,22–3. 10 E.g.,TalmudBavli,tr.toHebrewanded.A.Steinsaltz(Jerusalem,1967–present);Mishnat EretzIsrael,eds.S.Safrai,Z.Safrai,H.Safrai(JerusalemandTel-Aviv,2008–present). viii Preface Qazrin,thereconstructed“TalmudicVillage”intheGolanHeights.11Research on the material culture reflected in rabbinic literature has reached “fervently orthodox”circles,whereanascentmuseum,theLivingTorahMuseum,hasno lessthanthreelocations(theBrooklynbranchdedicatedprimarilytotheBibli- cal contexts, the Catskills resort branch to the world of the Mishnah, and the branch in Lakewood, New Jersey dedicated to the Talmud). The Living Torah Museum is even publishing its own archaeologically-focused Torah commen- tary.12Withinacademiccircles–particularlyinIsrael–interestintheinterface ofarchaeologyandrabbinicliteraturehas,ofcourse,developedfarbeyondthe page of the Talmud, as scholars from diverse disciplines – from archaeology tofolklore,literature,arthistory,history,Talmud,botany,medicineandgeog- raphy – have sought out and interpreted literary and archaeological evidence within their own disciplinary categories. Talmudade-EretzIsrael:ArchaeologyandtheRabbisinLateAntiquePales- tinebringstogetheraninternationalcommunityofhistorians,literatureschol- ars and archaeologists to explore ways that the integrated study of rabbinic texts and archaeology increases our understanding of both types of evidence, andofthecomplexculturewhichtheytogetherreflect.Itassemblescasestud- iesthatdemonstratethevalueofarchaeologyforthecontextualizationofrab- binicliterature(definedbroadly)–andviceversa.Whateachofthesestudies has in common is a deep respect both for the intricacies of textual analysis and of the complexities of interpreting artifacts; a real desire to bridge that chasmbetweenobjectsthatdonotspeak,andtextsthatareofteninexplicable. Each essay begins with a specific rabbinic source that serves as a focal point for the article. Together, these texts serve to unify the volume as a whole. In thissense,thisvolumefollowsuponthetraditionalistscholarsofold,holding the text to be central to our discussion, yet seeking – using contemporary tools–bereachbeyondthetexttotheworldthattheyrepresent.Inchoosing this rubric for this project, our goal is to consciously set aside the master narrative that dominated Anglophone scholarship during the last part of the last century, with its deep focus upon rabbinic authority and power. While these were indeed significant questions, they have tended to dominate the scholarly agenda, and sideline other approaches. The articles are organized 11 AnnKillebrewandStevenFine,“Qatzrin-ReconstructingVillageLifeinTalmudicTimes.” Biblical Archaeology Review, 27, 3 (1991), 44–56; Ann E. Killebrew, Billy J. Grantham, and StevenFine,“TheQasrin‘Talmudic’House:OntheUseofDomesticSpaceDuringtheByzan- tine Period,” Near Eastern Archaeology, 66, 1–2 (2003), 59–72; S. Fine, Art, History and the HistoriographyofJudaisminRomanAntiquity(Leiden,2013),8–9,123–37. 12 http://www.torahmuseum.com/ Shaul Shimon Deutsch, The Living Torah Museum Para- shahSeries:SeferBereshis(Brooklyn,2012). Preface ix according to the chronological order in which each rabbinic document was completed,beginningwiththeMishnahandcontinuingthoroughsourcesthat were redacted at the cusp of the Islamic conquest in the seventh or eighth century. Talmuda de-Eretz Israel has its roots in a conference organized by the YeshivaUniversityCenterforIsraelStudiesin2011,atwhichmostoftheessays were presented orally. Happily, colleagues who could not join with us in New York have joined the conversation in this print format. We are grateful to all of the authors for the care, diligence, and good naturedness that they have brought to this project. We thank Professor Günther Stemberger, an editor of thisseries,forhiscarefulreadingofthemanuscript,andsuggestionstomake itbetter.WealsothankthepeopleofDeGruyter,andparticularlytheintrepid Michiel Klein Swormink as well as Emily Hough, John Whitley and Angelika Hermannformakingtheproductionphaseofthisvolumesuchpleasantexpe- rience. Assistance in preparing the index was provided by Elisha Fine of the BernardRevelGraduateSchoolofJewishStudies,whoalsoperformedthefinal editing of the manuscript. As always, we are grateful to the Academic Vice PresidentofYeshivaUniversity,ProfessorMortonLowengrub,forfundingthis project, and our president, Mr. Richard Joel, for allowing our Center to grow as a place where Israel, its land and peoples, can be studied in all of their profound complexity – across time and space. We are pleased to dedicate this volume to two giants; archaeologist Eric M.MeyersofDukeUniversityandtalmudistDanielSperberofBarIlanUniver- sity. We do this in recognition of their vast contributions to the field, not the least being the myriad ways that each has nurtured the next generation of studentsandscholars.ThemethodologicalessaysthatProfessorsSperberand Meyershavecontributedtothisvolumeexemplifytheirapproachestothedis- cipline,whichformanyofushavebeen(paraphrasingPsalm119:105)“alamp to our feet and a light to our path”. Steven Fine, Aaron Koller The Center for Israel Studies, Yeshiva University, New York, September, 2013
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