Rethinking Babylonian Rabbinic Acculturation in the Sasanian Empire
The study of the Babylonian rabbis in their Persian context(s) has largely adopted a binary paradigm whereby certain rabbis, usually associated with specific regions, are characterized as adopting a strategy of either accommodation or resistance to Persian language and culture. A central piece in th...
| Published in: | Journal of ancient Judaism |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
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| Published: |
Brill
[2018]
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| In: |
Journal of ancient Judaism
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| Online Access: |
Volltext (Resolving-System) Volltext (doi) |
| Summary: | The study of the Babylonian rabbis in their Persian context(s) has largely adopted a binary paradigm whereby certain rabbis, usually associated with specific regions, are characterized as adopting a strategy of either accommodation or resistance to Persian language and culture. A central piece in the discussion of rabbinic attitudes to Persian culture has been the question of Babylonian rabbinic use - or lack thereof - of Persian language, often cited as a sign for the disconnect between, perhaps even the intentional distancing of, the Babylonian rabbis and Persian culture more generally. Taking the locus classicus of this scholarly discussion, a story in b. Qiddushin 70a-b, as its starting point, this article proposes that both the dichotomy between accommodating and resisting rabbis, and the larger claims about Babylonian rabbinic (lack of) knowledge of Persian language, do not aptly capture the dynamic between the Babylonian rabbis and their environment. Instead, the article reveals the strength of approaches that seek to situate competing rabbinic views as part of broader social dynamics and tensions among Babylonian Jews of different status generated by Sasanian values, norms, and hierarchies, which are paralleled among other similar situated groups living in the Sasanian Empire, such as Syriac Christians. In the process, the article illuminates the rich elite Sasanian cultural scripts lying behind the oft-studied story in b. Qiddushin 70a-b, and the value of certain Sasanian sources to better understand Babylonian rabbinic stories and dynamics. |
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| ISSN: | 2196-7954 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal of ancient Judaism
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.13109/jaju.2018.9.2.280 |