Judaism as "Mystery": The Hidden Agenda?
It has long been considered an established fact that Hellenistic Judaism not only conducted missionary propaganda, but also, in the process, adopted some of the concepts and terminology of the competing mystery cults. This article raises the question whether similar phenomena can also be detected in...
| Published in: | Hebrew Union College annual |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
HUC
1982
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| In: |
Hebrew Union College annual
Year: 1981, Volume: 52, Pages: 141-152 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Parallel Edition: | Non-electronic
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| Summary: | It has long been considered an established fact that Hellenistic Judaism not only conducted missionary propaganda, but also, in the process, adopted some of the concepts and terminology of the competing mystery cults. This article raises the question whether similar phenomena can also be detected in Palestinian Judaism. A number of rabbinic passages are examined here, in which the Community of Israel is presented as "the Lord's vineyard," inaccessible to outsiders, and in which the Greek word, mysterion, is variously applied to the God of Israel, circumcision, the Paschal sacrifice, and the Oral Torah. Specifically, an attempt is made to understand Seder Eliyahu Rabbah, ch. 8, ed. Friedmann, p. 43, Leviticus Rabbah 32:4 (end), ed. Margulies, p. 745, and Canticles Rabbah II, vii, 1. While Palestinian Judaism in Late Antiquity was definitely not a mystery cult, it did, when competing on the market place of ideas, adopt some of the trappings of its competitors — particularly within contexts which would affect the would-be proselyte. |
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| Contains: | Enthalten in: Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Hebrew Union College annual
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