RAB 401 Early Rabbinic Literature
An introduction to the literature and thought-world of early rabbinic (tannaitic) Judaism in its cultural, religious, and historical contexts. Through the reading of selected primary texts in Hebrew and more extensive primary texts in English as well as significant secondary literature, we will explore some of the major issues of early rabbinic culture, such as its relation to biblical and post-biblical antecedents and the biblical text, and its often quite independent development and expansion of biblical legal themes and norms, within the larger context of the Greco-Roman near east. We also will examine the range of exegetical and discursive practices in early rabbinic literature. Students will become familiar with the characteristic conceptual and rhetorical traits, as well as the themes and issues, of the Mishnah and Tosefta. Some attention will be devoted as well to the tannaitic midrashim and their relationship to the Mishnah and Tosefta. The course thus additionally prepares students for work in the core Midrash and Talmud courses. One course session each week will be devoted to lecture/presentation of materials and concepts by the instructor. The second session will be devoted to reading and discussing of primary texts in smaller groups, divided according to level of Hebrew fluency and supervised by the instructor. Required of all second-year rabbinic students and graduate students working in the areas of History of Biblical Interpretation, Jewish Studies in the Greco-Roman Period, and Rabbinics.