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Jewish Babylonia between Persia and Roman Palestine
The Babylonian Talmud was compiled in the third through sixth centuries CE, by rabbis living under Sasanian Persian rule in the area between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. What kind of society did these rabbis inhabit? What effect did that society have on important rabbinic texts?
In this book Richard Kalmin offers a thorough reexamination of rabbinic culture of late antique Babylonia. He shows how this culture was shaped in part by Persia on the one hand, and by Roman Palestine on the other. The mid fourth century CE in Jewish Babylonia was a period of particularly intense "Palestinianization," at the same time that the Mesopotamian and east Persian Christian communities were undergoing a period of intense "Syrianization." Kalmin argues that these closely related processes were accelerated by third-century Persian conquests deep into Roman territory, which resulted in the resettlement of thousands of Christian and Jewish inhabitants of the eastern Roman provinces in Persian Mesopotamia, eastern Syria, and western Persia, profoundly altering the cultural landscape for centuries to come.
Kalmin also offers new interpretations of several fascinating rabbinic texts of late antiquity. He shows how they have often been misunderstood by historians who lack attentiveness to the role of anonymous editors in glossing or emending earlier texts and who insist on attributing these texts to sixth century editors rather than to storytellers and editors of earlier centuries who introduced changes into the texts they learned and transmitted. He also demonstrates how Babylonian rabbis interacted with the non-rabbinic Jewish world, often in the form of the incorporation of centuries-old non-rabbinic Jewish texts into the developing Talmud, rather than via the encounter with actual non-rabbinic Jews in the streets and marketplaces of Babylonia. Most of these texts were "domesticated" prior to their inclusion in the Babylonian Talmud, which was generally accomplished by means of the rabbinization of the non-rabbinic texts. Rabbis transformed a story's protagonists into rabbis rather
than kings or priests, or portrayed them studying Torah rather than engaging in other activities, since Torah study was viewed by them as the most important, perhaps the only important, human activity.
Kalmin's arguments shed new light on rabbinic Judaism in late antique society. This book will be invaluable to any student or scholar of this period.
In this book Richard Kalmin offers a thorough reexamination of rabbinic culture of late antique Babylonia. He shows how this culture was shaped in part by Persia on the one hand, and by Roman Palestine on the other. The mid fourth century CE in Jewish Babylonia was a period of particularly intense "Palestinianization," at the same time that the Mesopotamian and east Persian Christian communities were undergoing a period of intense "Syrianization." Kalmin argues that these closely related processes were accelerated by third-century Persian conquests deep into Roman territory, which resulted in the resettlement of thousands of Christian and Jewish inhabitants of the eastern Roman provinces in Persian Mesopotamia, eastern Syria, and western Persia, profoundly altering the cultural landscape for centuries to come.
Kalmin also offers new interpretations of several fascinating rabbinic texts of late antiquity. He shows how they have often been misunderstood by historians who lack attentiveness to the role of anonymous editors in glossing or emending earlier texts and who insist on attributing these texts to sixth century editors rather than to storytellers and editors of earlier centuries who introduced changes into the texts they learned and transmitted. He also demonstrates how Babylonian rabbis interacted with the non-rabbinic Jewish world, often in the form of the incorporation of centuries-old non-rabbinic Jewish texts into the developing Talmud, rather than via the encounter with actual non-rabbinic Jews in the streets and marketplaces of Babylonia. Most of these texts were "domesticated" prior to their inclusion in the Babylonian Talmud, which was generally accomplished by means of the rabbinization of the non-rabbinic texts. Rabbis transformed a story's protagonists into rabbis rather
than kings or priests, or portrayed them studying Torah rather than engaging in other activities, since Torah study was viewed by them as the most important, perhaps the only important, human activity.
Kalmin's arguments shed new light on rabbinic Judaism in late antique society. This book will be invaluable to any student or scholar of this period.
285 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2006
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November 8, 2015
This book is an example of academic Talmud study - by which I mean, it focuses on the Talmud's historical context, rather than interpreting it in isolation. In particular, Kalmin is interested in how the Babylonian Talmud differs from the Jerusalem Talmud, and what those differences might tell us about Babylonian rabbinic culture. For example:
*Kalmin discusses one set of texts involving selection of high priests during the Second Temple monarchy; in the Jerusalem Talmud version the king decides when a high priest who was ritually unfit can return to work, while an otherwise similar story in the Babylonian Talmud has rabbis making that decision. Kalmin interprets that difference to mean that Babylonian rabbis might have found it "unacceptable that a king made a halachic decision."
*He discusses another story where the mocker of a rabbi is (supernaturally) punished; in the Jerusalem Talmud version, the mocker is a heretic, while in the Babylonian Talmud, the villian is a rabbi in training. More broadly, Kalmin notes that the Babylonian Talmud is more likely to make rabbis the dominant characters in the story even when rabbis behaved badly; he infers that Babylonian rabbis were more isolated from the rest of society than Israeli ones, and thus tended to see the world as revolving around rabbis, for good or for ill.
*Another chapter discusses differing attitudes towards Sadducees (a Second Temple sect). The Jerusalem Talmud tends to see the Sadducees as errant but mostly harmless, while the Babylonian Talmud (written centuries later) tends to treat them more unfavorably. Kalmin points out the similarity of the Babylonian version to the works of Josephus, and suggests that the Babylonian version was based on texts unavailable to the Jerusalem Talmud's rabbis- either Josephus or a similar source.
*Kalmin discusses one set of texts involving selection of high priests during the Second Temple monarchy; in the Jerusalem Talmud version the king decides when a high priest who was ritually unfit can return to work, while an otherwise similar story in the Babylonian Talmud has rabbis making that decision. Kalmin interprets that difference to mean that Babylonian rabbis might have found it "unacceptable that a king made a halachic decision."
*He discusses another story where the mocker of a rabbi is (supernaturally) punished; in the Jerusalem Talmud version, the mocker is a heretic, while in the Babylonian Talmud, the villian is a rabbi in training. More broadly, Kalmin notes that the Babylonian Talmud is more likely to make rabbis the dominant characters in the story even when rabbis behaved badly; he infers that Babylonian rabbis were more isolated from the rest of society than Israeli ones, and thus tended to see the world as revolving around rabbis, for good or for ill.
*Another chapter discusses differing attitudes towards Sadducees (a Second Temple sect). The Jerusalem Talmud tends to see the Sadducees as errant but mostly harmless, while the Babylonian Talmud (written centuries later) tends to treat them more unfavorably. Kalmin points out the similarity of the Babylonian version to the works of Josephus, and suggests that the Babylonian version was based on texts unavailable to the Jerusalem Talmud's rabbis- either Josephus or a similar source.
Displaying 1 of 1 review