Heresy and the Formation of the Rabbinic Community

Description

Between the first and sixth centuries C.E., a group of sages that scholars refer to as the rabbinic community systematized their ideas about Judaism in works such as the Mishnah and the Talmud. David M. Grossberg offers a new approach to thinking about this community's formation. Rather than seeking an occasion of origin, he examines the gradual development of the idea of an authorized rabbinic collective. The classical rabbinic texts imagine a diverse setting of Sadducees, Pharisees, sinners, and sectarians interacting in complex and changing ways with pious sages, teachers, and judges. Yet this representation aligns only vaguely with the social reality in which these ancient sages actually lived and operated. The author contends that these texts' primary aim was not to describe real rabbinic opponents but to create and enforce boundaries between rabbis and others and within the emerging rabbinic movement. Dedication Contents Acknowledgements Introduction: The Formation of the Rabbinic Community 1. The Meaning and End of Heresy in Rabbinic Literature 2. Varieties of Minim in the Second Temple and Rabbinic Period 3. Co-opting the Sinners of Israel 4. Meshummadim Who Provoke the Rabbis 5. Apiqorsim Who Disrespect the Rabbis 6. Two Powers and the Ascent of Rabbi Elisha 7. The Failed Rabbi and Those Who Cause the Public to Sin Conclusion: Boundary Rhetoric, Community Formation, and Rabbinic Judaism Appendix: Synoptic Presentation of b. Hagigah 15a and 3 Enoch for Chapter Six Bibliography Index of Primary Sources Index of Modern Authors Index of Subjects