Jeffrey Rubenstein - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Jeffrey Rubenstein

The Jewish Quarterly Review, 1999

Journal of Biblical Literature, 2004

Dead Sea Discoveries, 1999

How Should Rabbinic Literature Be Read in the Modern World?, Dec 31, 2006

Context and Genre: Elements of a Literary Approach to the Rabbinic Narrative That the study of ra... more Context and Genre: Elements of a Literary Approach to the Rabbinic Narrative That the study of rabbinic literature entails a "literary approach" is almost a tautology. Even the most legally oriented rabbinic traditions have been transmitted to us as literary texts that require readers to interpret their literary forms. The same obviously holds true for aggadic midrashim and narratives, which are more routinely apprehended as "literature." To a certain extent therefore the interpretation of rabbinic texts will involve the same general problems and difficulties as the interpretation of all other literature. But because rabbinic literature exhibits some distinctive features, its interpretation will involve particular challenges and issues, and even those general problems will be governed by specific considerations. Here I would like to discuss context and genre as two components of a literary approach to the interpretation of sagenarratives, with a constant eye towards the issue of the redaction of the text. I will focus on the Bavli, though much of my discussion applies to the other rabbinic documents once the different processes of their redaction are factored in. Context and genre are considerations that apply to all literature; redaction is less universal a concern, and the specific process of redaction of the Bavli unique to it. Context All texts exist in multiple contexts: historical, social, political, literary, cultural, institutional, situational, biographical, and so forth. 1 Few scholars, I assume, would

Proceedings of the American Academy for Jewish Research, 1993

Les Piyyutim font partie integrante du culte de la synagogue et de la tradition juive. A ce titre... more Les Piyyutim font partie integrante du culte de la synagogue et de la tradition juive. A ce titre, c'est un regard sur les espoirs, les prieres et les conceptions des juifs qu'ils nous donnent. Cet essai analyse les themes relatifs au temple et au culte qui apparaissent dans les series de Piyyutim composees pour le Sukkot. La premiere partie aborde le sukkah comme symbole du temple; les allusions aux rituels festifs du culte font l'objet de la seconde partie

The Jewish Quarterly Review, 1994

Page 1. THE JEWISH QUARTERLY REVIEW, LXXXIV, No. 4 (April, 1994) 417-444 THE SADDUCEES AND THE WA... more Page 1. THE JEWISH QUARTERLY REVIEW, LXXXIV, No. 4 (April, 1994) 417-444 THE SADDUCEES AND THE WATER LIBATION JEFFREY RUBENSTEIN, New York University ABSTRACT The consensus of scholarship believes ...

The Journal of Jewish Thought and Philosophy, 1997

The Journal of Jewish Thought and Philosophy, 1998

The figure of Elisha ben Abuya or "Ab.er," the Other, has long fascinated the Jewish imagination.... more The figure of Elisha ben Abuya or "Ab.er," the Other, has long fascinated the Jewish imagination. Elisha is variously considered an arch-heretic, atheist, gnostic or apostate, but always a sage whose abandonment of Torah so affected his rabbinic colleagues that they could no longer bear to mention his name. This unfavorable picture of Elisha is a composite produced from interpretations of the tradition of the "Four who entered the pardes" (found in the Tosefta), the curious epithet "Ab.er," later traditions of Elisha from the two Talmuds and midrashic collections, and the tendency of the folk imagination (and scholarly imagination as well) to create stereotypical villains. 2 If the sources are considered independently,

AJS Review, 1992

“Fever is no sickness and Purim is no holiday.” So runs a surprisingly self-reflective proverb co... more “Fever is no sickness and Purim is no holiday.” So runs a surprisingly self-reflective proverb concerning the festival of Purim, the strangest Jewish holiday. Ostensibly the celebration of the triumph of the Jews over the wicked Haman described in the Book of Esther, at a popular level something much larger and far more complex is going on. Folk customs throughout history have always transcended the celebration of the triumph of Mordecai and Esther. Elaborate pageants, grotesque masks, drunken revelry, noisemaking, buffoonery, burning of effigies, costume parades, feasts with special delicacies, and every manner of carousing and merrymaking have characterized Purim since rabbinic times. A diverse body of Purim literature has accumulated, including drinking songs, short stories, parodies, and intricate plays.

AJS Review, 2003

This work is an updated revision of Kalimi's Zur Geschichtsschreibung des Chronisten, published i... more This work is an updated revision of Kalimi's Zur Geschichtsschreibung des Chronisten, published in 1995 in the BZAW series, which in turn is based on his Hebrew University dissertation. Kalimi begins by outlining his (mainstream) positions on central questions concerning Chronicles, such as its date, unity, and genre: issues that are crucial before developing his thesis. The bulk of the book comprises nineteen chapters, each dealing with a particular literary or historical principle, such as harmonization, measure for measure, chiasm, inclusio, and use of literary patterning. A final chapter deals with inconsistencies of various sorts, and an "Afterward" discusses how the book has advanced scholarship on Chronicles. The material presented in the core nineteen chapters is often quite technical, but it is presented clearly and is easy to follow. It is not obvious why there should be nineteen rather than eighteen or twenty-one literary principles, but the categories used as chapter headings by Kalimi are quite functional. Most of the examples he offers are convincing, and after finishing this section, any reader would have a good sense of the range of techniques used by the Chronicler in revising earlier material. As might be expected, not all of the several hundred examples adduced are equally compelling. For example, I do not agree with Kalimi's claim (p. 96) that the Chronicler left out 2 Sam 7:14b, ¯˘ ‡ Ì" ‡ ÈÎ ÈÚ‚•Â ÌÈ˘ ‡ Ë•˘• ÂÈ˙ÁÎ‰Â Â˙ÂÚ‰•, because it reflected poorly on Solomon; Solomon is not punished either by staff or afflictions, and some other reason must be sought for why the Chronicler omits this half-verse from Samuel. Perhaps the Chronicler was more sympathetic to, or was influenced by, the type of Davidic promise narrated in Psalm 132, which likewise lacks this punishment. (For additional possibilities, see Sara Japhet, I & II Chronicles [OTL; Louisville, KY: Westminster/John Knox, 1993], p. 334.) Although the collection of examples is rich and valuable, I wish Kalimi had been broader in his perspective. This is true on several levels. He often notes cases where a device in Chronicles is found in later rabbinic literature or in Josephus (e.g., pp. 39, 77, 141). There is no systematic overview of this issue; it would have been valuable to note how Chronicles' rhetoric fits chronologically and typologically between the earlier historical writing and that found in the early post-biblical period and rabbinic writings. Such a discussion would have enriched the book greatly, and would have been an important contribution to the history of early Jewish historiography. Similarly, insufficient attention is paid to continuity between the Chronicler and earlier biblical works. For example, the first chapter, which touches on chronological rearrangement, would have benefited from David A. Glatt, Chronological Displacement in Biblical and Related Literatures (SBL Dissertation Series 139;

... for their unflagging sup-port: Arthur, Denise, Errol, Evelyn, Milton, Ronald, Miriam, Shulie,... more ... for their unflagging sup-port: Arthur, Denise, Errol, Evelyn, Milton, Ronald, Miriam, Shulie, Dan, Rena, JeV, Talia, Yaron, Sarah, Tracey ... AJSR AJS [Association of Jewish Studies] Review ANRW Aufstieg und Niedergang der Römischen Welt ARNA Avot derabbi natan, version A ...