Perception, compassion, and surprise: literary coherence in the third chapter of Bavli Ta'anit
The third chapter of Bavli Ta'anit includes a plethora of aggadot , among them such famous stories as those about Honi the Circle-Drawer. Rabbinic stories are most commonly studied in isolation from each other, although recent scholarship has increasingly called attention to the literary contex...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Print Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
College
2014
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| In: |
Hebrew Union College annual / Jewish Institute of Religion
Year: 2011, Volume: 82/83, Pages: 61-117 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Talmûd bavlî
/ Mishnah. Ta'anit
/ Rabbinic literature
/ Motif
/ Literature
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| RelBib Classification: | BH Judaism |
| Parallel Edition: | Electronic
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| Summary: | The third chapter of Bavli Ta'anit includes a plethora of aggadot , among them such famous stories as those about Honi the Circle-Drawer. Rabbinic stories are most commonly studied in isolation from each other, although recent scholarship has increasingly called attention to the literary contexts of aggadot . The present article attempts to take this enterprise one step further and to explore the interrelationships among the aggadot in this chapter of Bavli . I argue that there is a set of motifs and themes that weave throughout many of the aggadot in this chapter, which suggests that we might see the chapter as a literary unit, and I begin by surveying these themes and motifs. I go on to look at biblical narratives that are echoed in some of these motifs, and I consider how the echoes of these narratives in our chapter contribute to our chapter's discussion of issues such as prayer in times of crisis and divine compassion. Finally, I explore the meaning of the elements that I have highlighted in relation to the chapter's focus on rain, and I offer some thoughts about the chapter's stance on core issues relating to prayer and to proper and improper domains of human activity and attempted control. |
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| ISSN: | 0360-9049 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Hebrew Union College annual / Jewish Institute of Religion
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