Judaism I. Группа авторов

often word by word. Their main interest is halakhah, which they derive from Scripture instead of independently, as do the Mishnah and Tosefta. They do not bypass the narrative parts of biblical sections and therefore are also haggadic.

      Baraita de-melekhet ha-mishkan, a work in Mishnaic Hebrew quoting Tannaitic masters, describes in the construction of the tabernacle, the dimensions and history of the ark, the placement of the tablets and Torah scrolls, the showbread table, and other items of the sanctuary. The last work to be considered is Seder ʿOlam, a midrash whose main interest is chronographic.

      16 Amoraic Literature (ca 250–650 CE): Talmud and Midrash

      Dr. Carol Bakhos of UCLA surveys the period of the Amoraim (»expositors of tannaitic tradition,« »those who say«). These rabbis lived in Palestine (The Land of Israel) and Babylonia (Iraq), and their teachings serve as the basis of both the Palestinian Talmud (also known as the Talmud Yerushalmi or the Jerusalem Talmud), and the Babylonian Talmud (or Bavli). The explanation, qualification, and amplification of the Mishnah is at the heart of the Talmuds. The Palestinian Talmud is a shorter work redacted about two to three centuries before the Bavli. It came together within a Byzantine Roman milieu that included pagans and Christians. The Bavli developed within a Sasanid context, primarily among Zoroastrians. Scholars today pay a great deal of attention to the ambient religions and cultures, as well as social and political forces, to explain halakhic discrepancies between the two Talmuds.

      There are five generations of Palestinian Amoraim and six generations of Babylonian Amoraim. Travel between the two centers of learning took place. In both Palestine and Babylonia, rabbinic schools were small and loosely structured groups of students who studied with individual sages. Disciples were free to move from one teacher to another. By the sixth century, these master-disciple circles gave way to more organized rabbinic academies. The Talmuds recount didactic stories about the lives of amoraim and convey snippets of biographical detail. The Babylonian Talmud paints a picture of their insular world and what was required of them to pursue the study of Torah.

      The rabbis produced works of biblical exegesis: Midrash, (Hebrew root drš, »to investigate, seek out«) which is a process of scriptural interpretation. The Amoraim also produced several compilations of aggadic scriptural interpretation: Genesis Rabbah, Leviticus Rabbah, Pesikta de Rav Kahana (organized around the synagogue Torah-reading cycle), and Lamentations Rabbah. These rabbis are also mentioned in later collections of midrash, such as Song of Songs Rabbah. The aggadic midrashim of the amoraic period deal primarily with the narrative portions of the Hebrew Bible.

      17 Rabbinic-Gaonic and Karaite Literatures (ca. 650–1050 CE)

      Rare is the scholar who can write with expertise about the literature of both the rabbis and the Karaites. Dr. Ilana Sasson was such a scholar, but she left us at a tragically young age. Dr. Burton Visotzky, of New York’s Jewish Theological Seminary and Dr. Marzena Zawanowska of the Institute of History, University of Warsaw, and Jewish Historical Institute, join together to offer this two-part chapter, dedicated to Ilana’s blessed memory.

      Visotzky writes about the period ca. 650–1050 CE, which encompasses shifts in the genres of rabbinic literature. As the Babylonian Talmud coalesced into its current form, rabbis in Jewish Babylonia and elsewhere (called Geonim) wrote introductions to and commentaries on the Talmud. The Geonim wrote responsa to halachic questions. The era was fruitful for new genres of midrash (biblical interpretation).

      The rabbis who attended to the minutiae of the biblical text are called Masoretes (masters of tradition). The Geonic era was a rich time for rabbinic philosophy as well as a flowering of Jewish mysticism. Some of the earliest post-biblical poetry was composed then. Sherira Gaon’s »History of Rabbinic Literature,« covered from the time of the Mishnah unto his day, attempting to trace an unbroken chain of rabbinic tradition as a response to Karaites.

      Zawanowska explains that Karaism, aimed at bringing the Jews back to the Written Torah, appeared as a separate branch in Judaism in the second half of the ninth or at the early tenth century C.E., in Persia and Iraq. The messianic-Zionistic branch, known as the Mourners of Zion, moved to Palestine and established a leading Karaite community. The emergence of a thriving community in Jerusalem resulted in an efflorescence of Karaite literature (the so-called »Golden Age«) during the tenth and eleventh centuries. Its sudden end was caused by the first Crusade in 1099.

      Zawanowska surveys Karaite legal texts and especially Scriptural exegesis. The first exegetical compositions were composed in the ninth century. There was a gradual shift in the focus of exegesis from the non-literal, de-contextualizing tendencies of rabbinic midrash towards the present, but still largely marginalized, literal-contextual approach to Scripture. The most important representative of this formative period was the Karaite Daniel al-Qūmisī. He may have been the first Jewish exegete to leave midrash behind and write continuous Bible commentaries. Zawanowska also considers Karaite works on biblical masorah (tradition), grammar, philosophy, polemic, homilies, Karaite liturgy, and poetry.

      18 Legal Commentary, Responsa, and Codes Literature

      Dr. Jonathan Milgram, of the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York, covers rabbinic legal literature from Sheiltot to Shulchan `Arukh, (mid-8th—16^th century CE). Milgram traces commentaries on the Babylonian Talmud, responses of the Geonim (leaders of the rabbinic academies of Jewish Babylonia/Iraq from the 6^th to the 11^th century) to legal inquiries sent from across the Jewish world, and the concretization of these two genres into codes of Jewish law. The chapter also focusses on the writings of the group of rabbis called the Rishonim (earlier authorities), who flourished from the 11^th century until printing began in the 16^th century. These rabbis lived in Ashkenaz (Franco-German Europe), Christian and Muslim Spain, and North Africa.

      Among the rabbinic authorities that Milgram discusses is Maimonides (1138–1204), who lived in Muslim Spain, Egypt, and the Land of Israel. He wrote commentary, authored responsa, and produced a code of Jewish law, the Mishneh Torah, that is used in legal consideration even today. Milgram considers the contributions of Rashi (1040–1105), and his sons-in-law and their children, the »Tosafists« in Northern Europe. They all wrote commentaries and responsa. Milgram also discusses Rabbenu Gershom (d. 1028), who was a prolific decisor of Jewish law in Mainz. Further in Germany, the works of Rabbi Asher ben Yechiel (d. 1327) are described, as is the monumental work of his son Jacob, who authored the legal code called the `Arba`ah Turim (Four Pillars).

      That work served as the basis for two epic works of Jewish law, the influence of which persists to this day. Rabbi Joseph Caro (1488–1575), who spent his adult life in Turkey and Safed, Israel, wrote a Sefardic commentary on the `Arba`ah Turim called the Bet Yosef. He then excerpted it as a succinct code called the Shulchan `Aruch (Set Table). In turn, his Ashkenazic contemporary in Poland, Rabbi Moses Isserles (1530–72), wrote his commentary on the `Arba`ah Turim, which he revised to be a gloss on the Shulchan `Aruch, making the combined works the most important source of Jewish law unto this very day.

      19 Medieval Biblical Commentary and Aggadic Literature

      Dr. Rachel Mikva, of the Chicago Theological Seminary, explores the emergence of biblical commentary and the multiplication of aggadic (narrative) forms during the Middle Ages. Qur’anic study inspired interest in biblical exegesis. Muslim concerns about describing God in anthropomorphic terms revived questions about such uses in midrash. Rationalism brought philosophy to bear on biblical study. Arabic grammar and lexicography helped cultivate a scientific approach to Hebrew. Muslim collections of hadith, and tafsir provided models for rabbinic anthologies.

      Biblical commentary (parshanut) arose among the Geonim of Babylonia in the ninth century, employing methods of critical and linguistic analysis that differed from earlier rabbinic hermeneutics. It dominated exegesis with Rashi and his »school« in northern France during the eleventh and twelfth centuries. The work of his grandson, Rashbam, is the pinnacle of peshat (contextual)