Purity, Holiness, and Identity in Judaism and Christianity: Essays in Memory of Susan Haber

Description

Susan Haber (1957-2006) was a graduate of York University (B.A.) and McMaster University (M.A.). At the time of her death, she was working on a doctorate from McMaster University, having already published articles on the Hebrew Bible, early Judaism, and early Christianity. The present volume consists of contributions in fields central to her own interests by her teachers, friends, and colleagues in memory of a brilliant scholar. The essays deal with issues of central concern to the theologies of Judaism and Christianity: purity, holiness, and identity. In the first part of this volume the former two topics within the context of the Hebrew Bible are introduced. The second part deals with all three within late Second Temple and early Rabbinic Judaism, as well as in the Christianity of the first three centuries C.E. The last part examines the subject matter of the volume within the context of medieval and modern Judaism, as well as in contemporary Christianity. Although it is not necessarily explicitly stated, the juxtaposition of these essays dealing with areas of mutual theological concern to Judaism and Christianity implicitly lays the groundwork for interreligious dialog and understanding. Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . V David C. Seed A Brief Biography and Appreciation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Part I Ancient Israel Baruch J. Schwartz Miqra’ Qodesh and the Structure of Leviticus 23 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Eric Grossman Everyman’s Judgment Cometh from the LORD: Popular Perception of the Primary Purpose of the Cult . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Ehud Ben Zvi Purity Matters in the Book of Chronicles: A Kind of Prolegomenon 37 Part II Classical Antiquity Cecilia Wassen Do You Have to Be Pure in a Metaphorical Temple? Sanctuary Metaphors and Construction of Sacred Space in the Dead Sea Scrolls and Paul’s Letters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Stephen Westerholm Is Nothing Sacred? Holiness in the Writings of Paul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 Adele Reinhartz The Temple Cleansing and the Death of Jesus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 Thomas Kazen Jesus and the Zavah: Implications for Interpreting Mark . . . . . . . . . . . 112 Anders Runesson Purity, Holiness, and the Kingdom of Heaven in Matthew’s Narrative World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144 Steve Mason Pollution and Purification in Josephus’s Judean War . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181 Philip A. Harland “The days seemed like years”: Thessalos Prepares to Encounter the God Asklepios . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208 Lily Vuong The Impact of Social and Economic Status on the Experience of Martyrdom: A Case Study of Perpetua and Felicitas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224 Part III The Mediaeval and Modern Periods Martin I. Lockshin Is Holiness Contagious? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253 Yedida Eisenstat Sanctification and Shame: Bialik’s In the City of Slaughter in Light of Leviticus and Ezekiel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263 Eileen Schuller Biblical Texts about Purity in Contemporary Christian Lectionaries 283 List of Contributors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301 Indices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303 1. Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303 2. Authors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307 3. Subjects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309 4. Foreign Words and Phrases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312