Reflecting on the Rabbis: Sage Insight into First-Century Jewish Thought

by Brian Tice

We used to know a lot about First-Century Judaism... until we realized we didn't. The First Century CE was what is known as Judaism's "creative phase." There were Sadducees, Pharisees, Zealots, Essenes, Therapeutae... just to name a few of the Jewish sects and movements. And, most of these had sub-sects or sub-movements of their own as well. The Pharisaic sect was certainly no exception. In this volume, Jewish Studies professor Brian Tice presents the six most prominent and influential Sages of this period, drawing from the Bible, both Talmuds, the Midrashic literature, the Targums, and other scholarly sources to set the scene of a First-Century Judaism which is likely more diverse than you realized. What were the essential beliefs? Who were the main players? Where did their worldviews differ? What were the religious politics? What was considered out of bounds? The author takes readers on a pilgrimage through the rabbinical schools of some of the greatest Jewish minds of the time period to offer some "Sage insights into First-Century Jewish thought." Recipient of the 5777 Yiddishkeit 101 College-Level Literature Award! Order from amazon.com, and get free enrollment in the MJR course which corresponds to the book! Sign up at

388 pages, Paperback

Published May 30, 2017

Reviews

[Yiddishkeit101 · Rating 5 out of 5]

We read this book as a staff and learned so much from it! It is written in a scholarly yet accessible way, with lots of explanatory footnotes and appendixes. Prof. Tice interacts with rabbinic sources to paint a clear picture of how diverse First-Century hashqafah was and how broad the definition of "Pharisee" was to show that there was room under that umbrella for a wide variety of hashqafot and even halakhic models. His word-portraits of Hillel, Shammai, Gamli'el, ben Zakkai, and Aqiva brought them to life for me. We highly recommend this book to anyone interested in Judaism and Jewish faith!

[Familia Gonzalez Bielenberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just read a segment of the book. I was amazed by the author’s knowledge and understanding of the sources he uses in his book. Jewish authors like Jacob Neusner, David Flusser and Eissenman are properly represented and Dr. Young’s findings coming from the hebraist Christian camp are well researched and documented. I hope Mr. Tice keeps writing in this fashion books about Judaism in the first centuries of the common era including the relationship with the proto-rabbis, sages and Jewish-Christians.

[Mark Stouffer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great introduction to the Sages of the first century CE. He covers the careers of Hillel, Shammai, Gamli'el, Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai, Aquiva, and Yeshua.