Jeffrey Rubenstein | New York University (original) (raw)

Articles & Reviews by Jeffrey Rubenstein

Research paper thumbnail of "The Story-Cycle in Bavli Nedarim 91a-b," Oqimta 10 (2024), 277-97

This paper analyzes the "story-cycle" in Nedarim 91a-b, focusing on its literary qualities, struc... more This paper analyzes the "story-cycle" in Nedarim 91a-b, focusing on its literary qualities, structure and poetics. Eli Yassif called attention to the story-cycle in rabbinic literature in a pioneering article published in 1990. He argued that sequences of three or more stories appear throughout rabbinic literature and comprise a distinct literary phenomenon. 1 Yassif identified 44 story-cycles overall, with 24 appearing in the Bavli, which contained 228 stories. He sought to understand, "In what manner were the groupings organized and edited, and by what artistic and ideological motivations were they inspired?," and "How can we describe the literary or ideational rationale which led the compiler to collect in one place a given set of tales and none other, in that particular order." 2 In Yassif's view, the story cycle "constitutes a transitional stage" between "two modes of literary expression … from folktale to literary work." The stories, Yassif theorized, originated in disparate settings and were later collected into a literary unit by the compiler of the story-cycle. The rabbinic story-cycle was therefore a precursor of the independent collections of narratives compiled in the Middle Ages such as Ḥibbur Yafeh Mehayeshua [An Elegant Composition Concerning Relief after Adversity] and Sefer Hama'asim [The Book of Exempla]." 3

Research paper thumbnail of The Story-Cyle in Bavli Shabbat 127b, in Naftali S. Cohen and Karin Kogman-Appel, eds., Beloved David--Advsior, Man of Understanding, and Writer: A Festschrift in Honor of David Stern. Providence, RI Brown Judaic Studies: pp. 279-302.

Research paper thumbnail of Jeffrey L. Rubenstein, Yonatan Feintuch, and Jane L. Kanarek, “Halakha and Aggada in Post-Tannaic Literature,” in Christine Hayes, ed., The Literature of the Sages: A Re-visioning (Leiden: Brill, 2022), 544-620

The 'negative definition' of aggada reflected in the quotation from Fraenkel has been standard si... more The 'negative definition' of aggada reflected in the quotation from Fraenkel has been standard since the beginnings of critical study: 'lore' was adopted more for its alliterative coupling with 'law' than as a precise equivalent of the term. This definition goes back to the Middle Ages, as attested in the words of Shmuel ha-Nagid (993-1055): 'Haggadah is all commentary in the Talmud that deals with something other than mitzvah (commandment)' , that is, anything not of normative or legal force.3 Leopold Zunz observed that aggada is 'that which is not halakha' .4 Similarly W.Z. Bacher writes that aggada 'signifies in Rabbinic Literature all that does not belong to the sphere of Halacha' .5 Judah Goldin notes: 'By aggadah is meant that which strictly speaking is not classified as halakhah, as required, normative, practice' .6 These explanations, both of Shmuel ha-Nagid and modern scholars, presuppose that halakha can be identified as such and aggada distinguished from it, even if it can only be defined as halakha's opposite. These negative definitions of aggada (or haggada; see below) in terms of what it is not stand in some tension with the semantics and etymology of the term 'aggada' , which have long troubled scholars. As with most rabbinic terms, no explicit definition is found in rabbinic sources. The closest to a definition is the following self-reflective tradition from SifDeut 49: 'Expounders of haggadot (dorshei haggadot; MSS Berlin, London read aggadot) say: If you wish to know Him who spoke, and the world came into being, study haggada, for thereby you will come to know Him and to cling to his ways' .7 Yet this advice is not a definition but rather a description of the purpose of haggada/aggada and 3 Shmuel ha-Nagid, 'Mevo ha-Talmud' printed in the Babylonian Talmud, ed Vilna, after tractate Berakhot, quoted in Heinemann, 'Nature of Aggadah' , 42.

Research paper thumbnail of Jeffrey L. Rubenstein, “The Story-Cycles of the Bavli: Part 1,” in Jeffrey L. Rubenstein, ed., Studies in Rabbinic Narratives, vol. 1 (Providence, Rhode Island: Brown Judaic Studies, 2021), 227-280

Research paper thumbnail of Jeffrey L. Rubenstein, “Introduction,” in Jeffrey L. Rubenstein, ed., Studies in Rabbinic Narratives, vol. 1 (Providence, Rhode Island: Brown Judaic Studies, 2021), ix-xxvi

Research paper thumbnail of Jeffrey L. Rubenstein, “Introduction,” in Talmudic Stories: Narrative Art, Composition, and Culture, trans. Omri Shasha (Beer Sheva: Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Press, 2021), 23-62 (Hebrew)

Research paper thumbnail of Jeffrey L. Rubenstein, “The Death of Rabbi Eliezer: Bavli Sanhedrin 68a,” in Robert A. Harris and Jonathan S. Milgram, eds., Hakol Kol Yaakov: The Joel Roth Jubilee Volume (Leiden: Brill, 2021), 303-343

It is most fitting that a volume in honor of Rabbi Joel Roth includes the study of a story about ... more It is most fitting that a volume in honor of Rabbi Joel Roth includes the study of a story about masters and disciples. Rabbi Roth has been the consummate teacher and rabbinic master at the Jewish Theological Seminary for decades. He taught me Talmud during my first year of study at JTS, and it is from Rabbi Roth that I learned many of the skills necessary for scholarship of rabbinic literature. To be counted among his disciples is a great honor.

Research paper thumbnail of Jeffrey L. Rubenstein, “Syriac Christian Sources and the Babylonian Talmud,” in Aaron Michael Butts and Simcha Gross, eds., Jews and Syriac Christians: Intersections across the First Millennium (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2020), 255-279

The point of departure for this paper is a difficulty that confronts the critical study of the Ba... more The point of departure for this paper is a difficulty that confronts the critical study of the Babylonian Talmud and in particular the study of Talmudic narratives, primarily biographical anecdotes of the lives and deeds of the rabbinic sages whose legal traditions are scattered throughout the Talmud. This problem is that of studying the Babylonian Talmud in its wider cultural context, namely the Persian Sasanian Empire: How do we get outside the confines of the Babylonian Talmud? It goes without saying that a comprehensive understanding of any text requires a solid appreciation of the ambient historical setting, material conditions, and culture in which it was produced. This is particularly true of ancient texts which can be so alien to us moderns due to the vast temporal gap separating us from the cultures that produced them. Empirically the study of rabbinic texts from the Land of Israel of the Roman-Byzantine era -the Mishnah and Tosefta, the Jerusalem Talmud, and the Amoraic midrashim -has been enriched enormously by setting the sources in the context of the classical world. Words, idioms, and references to institutions, artifacts, and even literary genres that were impenetrable to medieval commentators have been explained by modern scholars through their knowledge of classical literature, philology, and archeology.

Research paper thumbnail of Jeffrey L. Rubenstein, “The Role of Disgust in Rabbinic Ethics,” in Michael L. Satlow, ed., Strength to Strength: Essays in Honor of Shaye J.D. Cohen (Providence, Rhode Island: Brown Judaic Studies, 2018), 421-436

Research paper thumbnail of Jeffrey L. Rubenstein, “Martyrdom in the Persian Martyr Acts and in the Babylonian Talmud,” in Geoffrey Herman and Jeffrey L. Rubenstein, eds., Aggadah of the Bavli and its Cultural World (Providence, Rhode Island: Brown Judaic Studies, 2018), 175-210

Research paper thumbnail of Geoffrey Herman and Jeffrey L. Rubenstein, “Introduction,” in Geoffrey Herman and Jeffrey L. Rubenstein, eds., Aggadah of the Bavli and its Cultural World (Providence, Rhode Island: Brown Judaic Studies, 2018), xi-xxxv

Research paper thumbnail of Jeffrey L. Rubenstein, “Hero, Saint, and Sage: The Life of R. Eleazar b. R. Shimon in Pesiqta deRav Kahana 11," in Michal Bar-Asher Segal, et al., eds., The Faces of Torah: Studies in the Texts and Contexts of Ancient Judaism in Honor of Steven Fraade (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck, 2017), 509-528

Research paper thumbnail of Jeffrey L. Rubenstein, “A Rabbinic Translation of Relics,” in Kimberly Stratton and Andrea Lieber, eds., Crossing Boundaries in Ancient Judaism and Early Christianity: Ambiguities, Complexities, and Half-Forgotten Adversaries: Essays in Honor of Alan F. Segal (Leiden: Brill, 2016), 314-334

Research paper thumbnail of Jeffrey L. Rubenstein, “Can a Goses Suvive for More Than Three Days? The History and Definition of the Goses,” Journal of Jewish Ethics, vol. 2, no. 2 (2016): 1-37

Research paper thumbnail of Jeffrey L. Rubenstein, “Nominalism and Realism Again,” Dine Israel, vol. 30 (2015): 79-120

Research paper thumbnail of Jeffrey L. Rubenstein, “King Herod in Ardashir’s Court: The Rabbinic Story of Herod (Bava Batra 3b-4a) in light of Persian Sources,” AJS Review, vol. 38, no. 2 (November 2014): 231-256

The Bavli's story of Herod's rise to power, murder of the Hasmonean family and of the rabbis, enc... more The Bavli's story of Herod's rise to power, murder of the Hasmonean family and of the rabbis, encounter with Bava b. Buta, and construction of the temple, found at Bava Batra 3b-4a, has long puzzled scholars.

Research paper thumbnail of Jeffrey L. Rubenstein, “Review of ‘Elijah and the Rabbis: Story and Theology’, by Kris Lindbeck,” Shofar, vol. 31, no. 2 (Winter 2013): 154-157

Research paper thumbnail of Jeffrey L. Rubenstein, “Introduction,” in David Weiss Halivni, The Formation of the Babylonian Talmud, Translated, Introduced and Annotated by Jeffrey L. Rubenstein (New York: Oxford University Press, 2013), xvii-xxxv

Research paper thumbnail of Jeffrey L. Rubenstein, “Astrology and the Head of the Academy,” in Shai Secunda and Steven Fine, eds., Shoshannat Yaakov: Jewish and Iranian Studies in Honor of Yaakov Elman (Leiden: Brill, 2012), 303-321

Research paper thumbnail of Jeffrey L. Rubenstein, “Talmudic Stories and Their Rewards,” in Paul Socken, ed., Why Study Talmud in the Twenty-First Century? (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2009), 177-194

Research paper thumbnail of "The Story-Cycle in Bavli Nedarim 91a-b," Oqimta 10 (2024), 277-97

This paper analyzes the "story-cycle" in Nedarim 91a-b, focusing on its literary qualities, struc... more This paper analyzes the "story-cycle" in Nedarim 91a-b, focusing on its literary qualities, structure and poetics. Eli Yassif called attention to the story-cycle in rabbinic literature in a pioneering article published in 1990. He argued that sequences of three or more stories appear throughout rabbinic literature and comprise a distinct literary phenomenon. 1 Yassif identified 44 story-cycles overall, with 24 appearing in the Bavli, which contained 228 stories. He sought to understand, "In what manner were the groupings organized and edited, and by what artistic and ideological motivations were they inspired?," and "How can we describe the literary or ideational rationale which led the compiler to collect in one place a given set of tales and none other, in that particular order." 2 In Yassif's view, the story cycle "constitutes a transitional stage" between "two modes of literary expression … from folktale to literary work." The stories, Yassif theorized, originated in disparate settings and were later collected into a literary unit by the compiler of the story-cycle. The rabbinic story-cycle was therefore a precursor of the independent collections of narratives compiled in the Middle Ages such as Ḥibbur Yafeh Mehayeshua [An Elegant Composition Concerning Relief after Adversity] and Sefer Hama'asim [The Book of Exempla]." 3

Research paper thumbnail of The Story-Cyle in Bavli Shabbat 127b, in Naftali S. Cohen and Karin Kogman-Appel, eds., Beloved David--Advsior, Man of Understanding, and Writer: A Festschrift in Honor of David Stern. Providence, RI Brown Judaic Studies: pp. 279-302.

Research paper thumbnail of Jeffrey L. Rubenstein, Yonatan Feintuch, and Jane L. Kanarek, “Halakha and Aggada in Post-Tannaic Literature,” in Christine Hayes, ed., The Literature of the Sages: A Re-visioning (Leiden: Brill, 2022), 544-620

The 'negative definition' of aggada reflected in the quotation from Fraenkel has been standard si... more The 'negative definition' of aggada reflected in the quotation from Fraenkel has been standard since the beginnings of critical study: 'lore' was adopted more for its alliterative coupling with 'law' than as a precise equivalent of the term. This definition goes back to the Middle Ages, as attested in the words of Shmuel ha-Nagid (993-1055): 'Haggadah is all commentary in the Talmud that deals with something other than mitzvah (commandment)' , that is, anything not of normative or legal force.3 Leopold Zunz observed that aggada is 'that which is not halakha' .4 Similarly W.Z. Bacher writes that aggada 'signifies in Rabbinic Literature all that does not belong to the sphere of Halacha' .5 Judah Goldin notes: 'By aggadah is meant that which strictly speaking is not classified as halakhah, as required, normative, practice' .6 These explanations, both of Shmuel ha-Nagid and modern scholars, presuppose that halakha can be identified as such and aggada distinguished from it, even if it can only be defined as halakha's opposite. These negative definitions of aggada (or haggada; see below) in terms of what it is not stand in some tension with the semantics and etymology of the term 'aggada' , which have long troubled scholars. As with most rabbinic terms, no explicit definition is found in rabbinic sources. The closest to a definition is the following self-reflective tradition from SifDeut 49: 'Expounders of haggadot (dorshei haggadot; MSS Berlin, London read aggadot) say: If you wish to know Him who spoke, and the world came into being, study haggada, for thereby you will come to know Him and to cling to his ways' .7 Yet this advice is not a definition but rather a description of the purpose of haggada/aggada and 3 Shmuel ha-Nagid, 'Mevo ha-Talmud' printed in the Babylonian Talmud, ed Vilna, after tractate Berakhot, quoted in Heinemann, 'Nature of Aggadah' , 42.

Research paper thumbnail of Jeffrey L. Rubenstein, “The Story-Cycles of the Bavli: Part 1,” in Jeffrey L. Rubenstein, ed., Studies in Rabbinic Narratives, vol. 1 (Providence, Rhode Island: Brown Judaic Studies, 2021), 227-280

Research paper thumbnail of Jeffrey L. Rubenstein, “Introduction,” in Jeffrey L. Rubenstein, ed., Studies in Rabbinic Narratives, vol. 1 (Providence, Rhode Island: Brown Judaic Studies, 2021), ix-xxvi

Research paper thumbnail of Jeffrey L. Rubenstein, “Introduction,” in Talmudic Stories: Narrative Art, Composition, and Culture, trans. Omri Shasha (Beer Sheva: Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Press, 2021), 23-62 (Hebrew)

Research paper thumbnail of Jeffrey L. Rubenstein, “The Death of Rabbi Eliezer: Bavli Sanhedrin 68a,” in Robert A. Harris and Jonathan S. Milgram, eds., Hakol Kol Yaakov: The Joel Roth Jubilee Volume (Leiden: Brill, 2021), 303-343

It is most fitting that a volume in honor of Rabbi Joel Roth includes the study of a story about ... more It is most fitting that a volume in honor of Rabbi Joel Roth includes the study of a story about masters and disciples. Rabbi Roth has been the consummate teacher and rabbinic master at the Jewish Theological Seminary for decades. He taught me Talmud during my first year of study at JTS, and it is from Rabbi Roth that I learned many of the skills necessary for scholarship of rabbinic literature. To be counted among his disciples is a great honor.

Research paper thumbnail of Jeffrey L. Rubenstein, “Syriac Christian Sources and the Babylonian Talmud,” in Aaron Michael Butts and Simcha Gross, eds., Jews and Syriac Christians: Intersections across the First Millennium (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2020), 255-279

The point of departure for this paper is a difficulty that confronts the critical study of the Ba... more The point of departure for this paper is a difficulty that confronts the critical study of the Babylonian Talmud and in particular the study of Talmudic narratives, primarily biographical anecdotes of the lives and deeds of the rabbinic sages whose legal traditions are scattered throughout the Talmud. This problem is that of studying the Babylonian Talmud in its wider cultural context, namely the Persian Sasanian Empire: How do we get outside the confines of the Babylonian Talmud? It goes without saying that a comprehensive understanding of any text requires a solid appreciation of the ambient historical setting, material conditions, and culture in which it was produced. This is particularly true of ancient texts which can be so alien to us moderns due to the vast temporal gap separating us from the cultures that produced them. Empirically the study of rabbinic texts from the Land of Israel of the Roman-Byzantine era -the Mishnah and Tosefta, the Jerusalem Talmud, and the Amoraic midrashim -has been enriched enormously by setting the sources in the context of the classical world. Words, idioms, and references to institutions, artifacts, and even literary genres that were impenetrable to medieval commentators have been explained by modern scholars through their knowledge of classical literature, philology, and archeology.

Research paper thumbnail of Jeffrey L. Rubenstein, “The Role of Disgust in Rabbinic Ethics,” in Michael L. Satlow, ed., Strength to Strength: Essays in Honor of Shaye J.D. Cohen (Providence, Rhode Island: Brown Judaic Studies, 2018), 421-436

Research paper thumbnail of Jeffrey L. Rubenstein, “Martyrdom in the Persian Martyr Acts and in the Babylonian Talmud,” in Geoffrey Herman and Jeffrey L. Rubenstein, eds., Aggadah of the Bavli and its Cultural World (Providence, Rhode Island: Brown Judaic Studies, 2018), 175-210

Research paper thumbnail of Geoffrey Herman and Jeffrey L. Rubenstein, “Introduction,” in Geoffrey Herman and Jeffrey L. Rubenstein, eds., Aggadah of the Bavli and its Cultural World (Providence, Rhode Island: Brown Judaic Studies, 2018), xi-xxxv

Research paper thumbnail of Jeffrey L. Rubenstein, “Hero, Saint, and Sage: The Life of R. Eleazar b. R. Shimon in Pesiqta deRav Kahana 11," in Michal Bar-Asher Segal, et al., eds., The Faces of Torah: Studies in the Texts and Contexts of Ancient Judaism in Honor of Steven Fraade (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck, 2017), 509-528

Research paper thumbnail of Jeffrey L. Rubenstein, “A Rabbinic Translation of Relics,” in Kimberly Stratton and Andrea Lieber, eds., Crossing Boundaries in Ancient Judaism and Early Christianity: Ambiguities, Complexities, and Half-Forgotten Adversaries: Essays in Honor of Alan F. Segal (Leiden: Brill, 2016), 314-334

Research paper thumbnail of Jeffrey L. Rubenstein, “Can a Goses Suvive for More Than Three Days? The History and Definition of the Goses,” Journal of Jewish Ethics, vol. 2, no. 2 (2016): 1-37

Research paper thumbnail of Jeffrey L. Rubenstein, “Nominalism and Realism Again,” Dine Israel, vol. 30 (2015): 79-120

Research paper thumbnail of Jeffrey L. Rubenstein, “King Herod in Ardashir’s Court: The Rabbinic Story of Herod (Bava Batra 3b-4a) in light of Persian Sources,” AJS Review, vol. 38, no. 2 (November 2014): 231-256

The Bavli's story of Herod's rise to power, murder of the Hasmonean family and of the rabbis, enc... more The Bavli's story of Herod's rise to power, murder of the Hasmonean family and of the rabbis, encounter with Bava b. Buta, and construction of the temple, found at Bava Batra 3b-4a, has long puzzled scholars.

Research paper thumbnail of Jeffrey L. Rubenstein, “Review of ‘Elijah and the Rabbis: Story and Theology’, by Kris Lindbeck,” Shofar, vol. 31, no. 2 (Winter 2013): 154-157

Research paper thumbnail of Jeffrey L. Rubenstein, “Introduction,” in David Weiss Halivni, The Formation of the Babylonian Talmud, Translated, Introduced and Annotated by Jeffrey L. Rubenstein (New York: Oxford University Press, 2013), xvii-xxxv

Research paper thumbnail of Jeffrey L. Rubenstein, “Astrology and the Head of the Academy,” in Shai Secunda and Steven Fine, eds., Shoshannat Yaakov: Jewish and Iranian Studies in Honor of Yaakov Elman (Leiden: Brill, 2012), 303-321

Research paper thumbnail of Jeffrey L. Rubenstein, “Talmudic Stories and Their Rewards,” in Paul Socken, ed., Why Study Talmud in the Twenty-First Century? (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2009), 177-194

Research paper thumbnail of The Sadducees and the Water Libation

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 ...

Research paper thumbnail of Book Review of Moshe Sokol, The Snake at the Mouth of the Cave: Exploring Talmudic Narratives

Research paper thumbnail of Book Review of Dov S. Zakheim, The Prince and the Emperors: The Life and Times of Rabbi Judah the Prince

A review of Dov S. Zakheim, The Prince and the Emperors: The Life and Times of Rabbi Judah the Pr... more A review of Dov S. Zakheim, The Prince and the Emperors: The Life and Times of Rabbi Judah the Prince (Jerusalem: Maggid Books, 2021).
"In sum, Zakheim has written a book that presents the life of R. Yehudah HaNasi as imagined by different, conflicting, and legendary rabbinic traditions over the course of at least eight centuries filtered through 21st century eyes. Readers should not mistake the book for history, biography or scholarship."