Jewish Identities in Antiquity: Studies in Memory of Menaham Stern: Studies in Memory of Menahem Stern

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The authors of this book pay homage to Menahem Stern, one of the greatest scholars of ancient Jewish history in the twentieth century. Their theme stems from the recognition that Jewish life and society in antiquity underwent countless changes, both sudden and gradual. As a result, numerous facets of Jewish life in antiquity were drastically altered as well as many aspects of Jewish identity. The articles in this volume encompass political, social, cultural and religious issues in both literary and archaeological sources. With contributions by:Albert I. Baumgarten, Steven D. Fraade, Isaiah M. Gafni, Joseph Geiger, David Goodblatt, Erich S. Gruen, Moshe David Herr, Sylvie Honigman, Oded Irshai, Uzi Leibner, David Levine, Lee I. Levine, Jodi Magness, Doron Mendels, Hillel I. Newman, Tessa Rajak, Uriel Rappaport, Chana Safrai, Ze'ev Safrai, Adiel Schremer, Daniel R. Schwartz, Oren Tal, Zeev Weiss Cover Preface Table of Contents Abbreviations Introduction 1 DANIEL R. SCHWARTZ: Menahem Stern (1924–1989): His Place in Historical Scholarship 2 LEE I. LEVINE: Jewish Identities in Antiquity: An Introductory Essay Changing Jewish Identities in Antiquity The Beginnings of a Unique Israelite-Jewish Identity The Emergence of a Common Judaism in the Late Second Temple Period The Assertion of Jewish Identity in Late Antiquity: Evidence from the Diaspora and Palestine Boundaries: Between Separation and Integration Concluding Remarks 3 DORON MENDELS: Memory and Memories: The Attitude of 1–2 Maccabees toward Hellenization and Hellenism Memory and Memories in the Books of the Maccabees Hellenism and Hellenization in 1–2 Maccabees Conclusion 4 OREN TAL: Hellenism in Transition from Empire to Kingdom: Changes in the Material Culture of Hellenistic Palestine The Hasmonean Period: The Archaeological Perspective From Province to Independent Kingdom Monumental Royal Construction in the Hasmonean Period Hasmonean Monumental Memorials From Eastern Consciousness to a Western Conception? 5 DAVID GOODBLATT: “The Israelites who reside in Judah” (Judith 4:1): On the Conflicted Identities of the Hasmonean State Addendum 6 URIEL RAPPAPORT: The Connection between Hasmonean Judaea and the Diaspora Hasmonean Activity in Strengthening Ties with the Diaspora 1. The letters at the beginning of 2 Maccabees (1:1–10; 1:10–2:18) 2. Documents from the reign of Hyrcanus II in Ant. 14.213–64 3. Translation of the Book of Esther into Greek in Jerusalem Relations between Hasmonean Judaea and the Diaspora 7 ERICH S. GRUEN: Kinship Relations and Jewish Identity 8 SYLVIE HONIGMAN: Jewish Communities of Hellenistic Egypt: Different Responses to Different Environments Upper Egypt: Edfu and Thebes Herakleopolis The Village of Trikomia in the Fayum Alexandria Conclusion 9 JOSEPH GEIGER: The Jew and the Other: Doubtful and Multiple Identities in the Roman Empire 10 ALBERT I. BAUMGARTEN: How Experiments End Roman Policy The Herodians Control of the Temple The Search for a Legal Authority: Pharisees, Rabbis, the Patriarchate, and Priests The pax Romana and Jewish Identity: A Swarm of Possibilities Symposium In the Wake of the Destruction: Was Rabbinic Judaism Normative? 11 ISAIAH M. GAFNI: Introduction 12 HILLEL I. NEWMAN: The Normativity of Rabbinic Judaism: Obstacles on the Path to a New Consensus 13 ZE’EV SAFRAI AND CHANA SAFRAI Z”L: To What Extent Did the Rabbis Determine Public Norms? The Internal Evidence Mapping the Centers of Power Were the Halakhot of the Rabbis a Social Norm? The Priests in the Rabbinic Narrative and Life in the Bet Midrash 14 DAVID LEVINE: Between Leadership and Marginality: Models for Evaluating the Role of the Rabbis in the Early Centuries CE Was Jewish Religious Expression Necessarily Rabbinic? Were the Rabbis Communal Leaders and Religious Authorities? 15 MOSHE DAVID HERR: The Identity of the Jewish People Before and After the Destruction of the Second Temple: Continuity or Change? I II III IV Appendix A The Coalition Government of 66 CE (see n. 35) Appendix B 1. Parameters of Continuity or Change Before and After the Destruction of the Second Temple 2. Parameters that Changed after 135 CE 16 STEVEN D. FRAADE: The Temple as a Marker of Jewish Identity Before and After 70 CE: The Role of the Holy Vessels in Rabbinic Memory and Imagination The Temple and Its Holy Vessels in Late Second Temple Times A Late Second Temple Narrative Based on Later Rabbinic Sources An Early Christian Piece of the Puzzle Contexts and Conclusions Forum Was There a Crisis in Jewish Settlement in the Eastern Galilee of Late Antiquity? 17 LEE I. LEVINE: Introduction 18 UZI LEIBNER: Settlement Patterns in the Eastern Galilee: Implications Regarding the Transformation of Rabbinic Culture in Late Antiquity Survey of the Eastern Galilee Survey Results Was There a Wider Crisis in the Galilee? The Events of the Fourth Century The “Completion” of the Yerushalmi in the Fourth Century The Transformation of the Rabbinic Agenda after the Fourth Century Conclusion 19 JODI MAGNESS: Did Galilee Experience a Settlement Crisis in the Mid-Fourth Century? Meiron Jalame Sepphoris Conclusion 20 UZI LEIBNER: The Settlement Crisis in the Eastern Galilee during the Late Roman and Early Byzantine Periods: Response to Jodi Magness 21 TESSA RAJAK: The Greek Bible Translations among Jews in the Second Century CE 22 ISAIAH M. GAFNI: How Babylonia Became “Zion”: Shifting Identities in Late Antiquity 23 ADIEL SCHREMER: The Christianization of the Roman Empire and Rabbinic Literature I II III Conclusion 24 ZEEV WEISS: Between Rome and Byzantium: Pagan Motifs in Synagogue Art and Their Place in the Judaeo-Christian Controversy The Zodiac: A Symbol with a Dual Meaning The Binding of Isaac (‘Aqedah) Mosaic Layouts and Their Significance Conclusions 25 ODED IRSHAI: Jewish Violence in the Fourth Century CE – Fantasy and Reality: Behind the Scenes under the Emperors Gallus and Julian Jewish Violence in Palestine under the Caesar Gallus (351/352 CE) Was There Jewish Violence under the Pagan Emperor Julian? Contributors to the Volume Illustration Credits Source Index Hebrew Bible Bible Translations Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha Qumran Scrolls Philo Josephus Papyri New Testament Rabbinic Literature Greek and Latin Literature Early Christian Writers Medieval Works Index of Scholars’ Names