Table Of ContentTexts and Studies in Ancient Judaism
Texte und Studien zum Antiken Judentum
1 lerausgegeben von / Hdited by
Peter Schafer (Princeton, NJ)
Annette Y. Reed (Philadelphia, PA)
Seth Schwartz (New York, NY)
Azzan Yadin (New Brunswick, NJ)
135
The Talmud
in Tts Iranian Context
Edited by
Carol Bakhos and M. Rahim Shayegan
Mohr Siebeck
To om׳ Teachers
Richard Kalmin and Pr ods Oktor Skjcen
and
to Yaakov Elman
Carol Bakhos is Associate Professor of Late Antique Judaism at UCLA.
M. Rahim Shayegan is Assistant Professor of Iranian Studies at UCLA.
ISBN 978-3-16-150187-6
ISSN 0721-8753 (Texts and Studies in Ancient Judaism)
Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbiblio-
graphie; detailed bibliographic data are available on the Internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de.
©2010 by Mohr Siebeck Tubingen.
This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, in any form (beyond that permitted
by copyright law) without the publisher’s written permission. This applies particularly to
reproductions, translations, microfilms and storage and processing in electronic systems.
The book was printed by Gulde-Druck in Tubingen on non-aging paper and bound by
GroBbuchbinderei Spinner in Ottersweier.
Printed in Germany.
Acknowledgments
Wc are gratefi.il to our colleagues who have contributed to this volume and
have patiently endured the painstaking process of publishing an edited vol-
ume. We also ovve a debt of thanks to other colleagues who partook in the
conference as moderators and respondents; these are: Aryeh Cohen, Touraj
Daryaee, Steven Fraade, Isaiah Gafni, Clarisse Herrenschmidt, Gail Labo-
vitz, Dvora Weisberg, and Hossein Ziai.
We are also grateful to the staff of the UCLA Center for Jewish Studies,
Vivian Holenbeck and David Wu, and to the Center’s brilliant Director,
David Myers, who graciously gave of their time and resources to making the
event a success.
We would like to acknowledge the unstinting generosity of the Sabi Fam-
ily and the Musa Sabi Chair of Iranian (2004-2009) that made this event
possible.
We are deeply indebted to Arieh Saposnik for his generous help, Carlene
Demiany, our assistant editor, who gave enormous time and energy to this
project, as well as Ilana Grinblat and Candice Levy who provided invaluable
support at the final stages of publication. Wc also would like to thank Hen-
ning Ziebritzki and Tanja Mix from Mohr Siebeck for their assistance
throughout the publication process.
Finally, we would like to dedicate this volume to our teachers, Richard
Kalmin and Prods Oktor Skjærvø, and to Yaakov Elman.
Carol Bakhos
M. Rahim Shayegan
Table of Contents
Acknowlcdgments.............................................................................................. VII
List of Abbreviations......................................................................................... XI
Introduction......................................................................................................... XIII
A Generation of Talmudic Studies
David Goodblatt............................................................................................................... 1
Toward an Intellectual History of Sasanian Law: An Intergenerational
Dispute in Hérbedestm1 9 and Its Rabbinic and Roman Parallels
Yaakov Elm a n ......................................................................: ......................................... 21
Persia in Light of the Babylonian Talmud: Echoes of Contemporary
Society and Politics: havgbed and bidaxs
Geoffrey Herman............................................................................................................... 58
Talmudic Attitudes Toward Dream Interpreters: Preliminary
Thoughts on Their Iranian Cultural Context
Richard Kalmin .................................................................................................................. 83
Allusions to Sasanian Law in the Babylonian Talmud
Maria Macuch ...................................................................................................................... 100
The Iranian Context of the Babylonian Talmud
Jason Sion Mokhtarian ............................................................................................... 112
The Sasanian ‘Stam Orality and the Composition of Babylonian
Rabbinic and Zoroastrian Legal Literature
ShaiSecunda ......................................................................................................................... 140
“No Talking During a Meal”: Zoroastrian Themes in the Babylonian
Talmud
ShaulShaked......................................................................................................................... I6l
