Religious studies and rabbinics: a conversation

"Religious Studies and Rabbinics have overlapping yet distinct interests, subject matter, and methods. Religious Studies is committed to the study of religion writ large. It develops theories and methods intended to apply across religious traditions. Rabbinics, by contrast, is dedicated to a de...

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Bibliographic Details
Contributors: Alexander, Elizabeth Shanks 1967- (Editor) ; Berkowitz, Beth A. (Editor)
Format: Print Book
Language:English
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Published: London New York Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group 2018
In:Year: 2018
Volumes / Articles:Show volumes/articles.
Series/Journal:Routledge Jewish studies series
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Theology of religions / Rabbinic Judaism
B Rabbinic Judaism / Theology of religions / Science of Religion
RelBib Classification:AA Study of religion
BH Judaism
Further subjects:B Collection of essays
B Judaism Study and teaching
B Jews Study and teaching
B Rabbinical literature Study and teaching
Description
Summary:"Religious Studies and Rabbinics have overlapping yet distinct interests, subject matter, and methods. Religious Studies is committed to the study of religion writ large. It develops theories and methods intended to apply across religious traditions. Rabbinics, by contrast, is dedicated to a defined set of texts produced by the rabbinic movement of late antiquity. Religious Studies and Rabbinics represents the first sustained effort to create a conversation between these two academic fields. In one trajectory of argument, the book shows what is gained when each field sees how the other engages the same questions: When did the concept of "religion" arise? How should a scholar's normative commitments interact with their scholarship? The book argues that if scholars from Religious Studies and Rabbinics do not realize they are addressing the same problems, they will not benefit from each other's solutions. A second line of argument brings research methods, theoretical claims, and data associated with one field into contact with those of the other. When Religious Studies categories such as "ritual" or "the sacred" are applied to data from Rabbinics and, conversely, when text-reading strategies distinctive to Rabbinics are employed for texts from other traditions, both Religious Studies and Rabbinics enlarge their scope. The chapters range across such themes as ritual failure; rabbinic conceptions of scripture, ethics, food, time, and everyday life; problems of definition and normativity in the study of religion; J.Z. Smith's writings; and the preaching of the African-American Christian evangelical social justice activist John Perkins"--
Item Description:Includes bibliographical references and index
ISBN:1315267675