This volume brings together over forty of Schiffman’s Studies on Ancient Judaism that have helped to shape this emerging field. Throughout, these studies display a wide-ranging perspective, bringing together all kinds of sources, written or archaeological, to illuminate ancient Judaism and its complex history. Topics explored include the history of the Jews and Judaism in Late Antiquity, the Bible in Jewish tradition, ancient Jewish thought, law, and liturgy, magic and mysticism, relation of the Dead Sea Scrolls to Rabbinic Literature, Judean Desert texts, and Judaism and Christianity. The volume concludes with studies of the work of several modern rabbis and academic scholars.
Lawrence H. Schiffman is Global Distinguished Professor of Hebrew and Judaic Studies at New York University. He is author of numerous books and articles on ancient Judaism including, most recently,
The Temple Scroll (with A.D. Gross, Brill, 2021).
Preface Acknowledgments
Part1 Ancient Jewish History
1
The Conversion of the Royal House of Adiabene in Josephus and Rabbinic Sources
2
Politics and Religion: Do They Mix? The Patriarch and His Court in Roman Palestine
3
Historical Perspectives on Dissent and Disobedience: Jews against Jews in Late Antiquity
4
Models of Community in the Ancient Jewish World
Part2 The Bible in Jewish Tradition
5
What Is a Jewish Biblical Text?
6
The Term and Concept of Torah
7
The Rabbinic View of Prophecy and Prophets
8
“A Fence around the Torah”: Rabbinic Strategies for Policing the Canon
9
Translation as Commentary: Targum, Midrash, and Talmud
10
The Reception of the Bible in Ancient Judaism
Part3 Jewish Thought
11
The Rabbinic Understanding of Covenant
12
Second Temple Period Rationales for the Torah’s Commandments
13
Commandment or Emotion? Love of God, Family, and Humanity in Classical Judaism
14
War in Jewish Apocalyptic Thought
15
Messianism and Apocalypticism in Rabbinic Texts
16
Exegesis and Polemic: Rabbinic Responses to Antisemitism
17
Monarchy and Polity: Systems of Government in Jewish Tradition
Part4 Jewish Law
18
Was There a Galilean Halakhah?
19
The Samaritans in Tannaitic Halakhah
20
The Samaritans in Amoraic Halakhah
21
Conversion to Judaism in Tannaitic Halakhah
22
Talmudic Monetary Theory: Currency in Rabbinic Halakhah
Part5 The Dead Sea Scrolls and Rabbinic Halakhah
23
Jewish Law in the Hasmonean Period
24
The Temple Scroll and the Systems of Jewish Law of the Second Temple Period
25
The Dead Sea Scrolls and Rabbinic Halakhah
26
Disputes in Tannaitic Literature in Light of the Judean Desert Scrolls
27
“Of the Making of Books”: Rabbinic Scribal Arts in Light of the Dead Sea Scrolls
Part6 Judean Desert Texts
28
On the Edge of the Diaspora: Jews in the Dead Sea Region in the First Two Centuries CE
29
Witnesses and Signatures in the Hebrew and Aramaic Documents from the Bar Kokhba Caves
30
Reflections on the Deeds of Sale from the Judean Desert in Light of Rabbinic Literature
Part7 Judaism and Early Christianity
31
Biblical Exegesis in the Passion Narratives and the Dead Sea Scrolls
32
Jewish Law in the Gospels in Light of the Dead Sea Scrolls
33
The New Testament as a Source for the History of Jewish Law
34
The Bleeding Woman in Mark, Matthew, and Luke: Perspectives from Qumran and Rabbinic Literature
35
The Halakhic Response of the Rabbis to the Rise of Christianity
Part8 Faith, Worship, and Liturgy
36
Jewish Spirituality in the Bible and Second Temple Literature
37
The Importance of the Temple for Ancient Jews
38
The Early History of Public Torah Reading
39
The Hafṭarah: A Historical Introduction
40
Additions to Birkat Yoṣer for Sabbath
41
Minḥah: A Halakhic and Historical Analysis
42
From Observation to Calculation: The Development of the Rabbinic Lunar Calendar
43
History and Liturgy: The Evolution of Multiple Prayer Rites
Part9 Apocalypticism, Magic, and Mysticism
44
2 Enoch and Halakhah
45
3 Enoch and the Enoch Tradition
46
A Forty-two-letter Divine Name in the Aramaic Magic Bowls
47
The Recall of Rabbi Neḥuniah ben Ha-Qanah from Ecstasy in the Hekhalot Rabbati
Part10 Rabbis and Scholars
48
The Vilna Gaon’s Methods for the Textual Criticism of Rabbinic Literature
49
The Rebbe as a Torah Scholar: Synthesis and Unity
50
Viktor Aptowitzer: Tradition, Haskalah, and Wissenschaft
51
The Pharisees Revisited: Louis Finkelstein on the Second Temple Period
Bibliography Index
This is an essential volume for libraries serving programs in Judaic Studies and early Christianity. Faculty and students will find this an excellent resource for their research and teaching.