Videos by Moshe Simon-Shoshan
Keynote address:
2021 Australian Association of Jewish Studies Conference
‘Jews as Active Citiz... more Keynote address:
2021 Australian Association of Jewish Studies Conference
‘Jews as Active Citizens, Past and Present’ Canberra, Australia
Feb. 28, 2021
as available at https://youtu.be/P7KLEUz-6dI 126 views
Books by Moshe Simon-Shoshan
Papers by Moshe Simon-Shoshan
Beloved David—Advisor, Man of Understanding, and Writer: A Festschrift in Honor of David Stern, 2024
second half of Lev 1:1. Nevertheless, this mashal develops motifs and themes similar to those in ... more second half of Lev 1:1. Nevertheless, this mashal develops motifs and themes similar to those in the other meshalim. As such, I think we are justified in considering all four as a single unit. Reading these meshalim in light of each other will help illuminate how they function within their literary, interpretive and sociocultural contexts. 4 Mashal as Interpretive and Rhetorical Form Around the same time that David Stern was formulating and publishing his understanding of the mashal, two other leading literary scholars of midrash, Jonah Fraenkel and Daniel Boyarin, presented their own approaches to this genre. 5 Stern described the mashal primarily as a "rhetorical narrative," emphasizing the mashal's role as a subtle transmitter of rabbinic ideology and values. 6 In contrast, Fraenkel and Boyarin focused on the mashal as a hermeneutic tool that facilitates exegesis of the biblical text. I believe that it is critical to explore both aspects of the mashal. This is not simply because, as all these scholars were fully aware, the mashal functions both rhetorically and exegetically. Rather, the interpretive and rhetorical aspects of the mashal build on and reinforce each other. Furthermore, even as a hermeneutic device, the mashal is a rhetorical form. It does not simply present an interpretation of a given biblical verse or passage. It utilizes the rhetorical elements inherent in all narrative discourse to guide the reader to come to a particular reading of the text. 7 Conversely, many of the broader messages communicated by the meshalim that we shall examine are rooted in the rabbis' understanding of the Bible as a whole and the values and theology it embodies. The theoretical framework presented here draws on and synthesizes the work of Stern, Fraenkel, and Boyarin, in an effort to present a more integrated approach to the rabbinic mashal. 4. In a recent study, Tamar Kadari has similarly sought to examine meshalim in their redactional context, examining a series of three meshalim in Bereshit Rabbah ("The Redactional Role of Parables in Genesis Rabbah," in
מקור ראשון, מוסף שבת, 2024
https://www.makorrishon.co.il/news/728121/
התפיסה הפרוגרסיבית האמריקאית השולטת בכיפה האקדמית בארה... more https://www.makorrishon.co.il/news/728121/
התפיסה הפרוגרסיבית האמריקאית השולטת בכיפה האקדמית בארה"ב היא צורה של
נאו-מרקסיזם המשולבת בין הביקורתהמרקסיסטית המסורתית ואסכולת 'לימודים פוסט-קולוניאליים,' שבו המאבק העיקרי שעומד מאחורי הפוליטיקה והתרבותאינו בין בעלי השליטה בהון ובאמצעי הייצור מצד אחד, וה'פועלים' מצד שני, כמובמרקסיזם הקלאסי, אלא בין כוחות פוליטיים, כלכליים, ותרבותיים של האימפריאליזםהמערב-אירופאי והאמריקאי מול 'הדרום הגלובאלי' המדוכא. במערכת פוליטית-מוסרית מניכאית מעין זו, אין ליהודיםאו לישראלים כל סיכוי להימנות על הצד של "הגוד גאייז".
![Research paper thumbnail of "This parable should not be considered a small thing in your eyes": Towards a Rhetorical Poetics of the Mashal [English Version]](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/110324890/thumbnails/1.jpg)
Oqimta, 2024
This article seeks to model an integrated approach to the study of midrash which synthesizes the ... more This article seeks to model an integrated approach to the study of midrash which synthesizes the hermeneutically oriented approaches of the 1980’s and early 1990’s with narratological and cultural studies methods that have been more recently applied to rabbinic literature as a whole. It presents a new theoretical model for understanding to the rabbinic mashal. Building on the work of Daniel Boyarin, Jonah Fraenkel and David Stern and drawing on James Phelan's theories of "the rhetorical poetics of narrative," I argue that mashal-units coordinate multiple narrative resources and rhetorical channels of communication to transmit a rich array of interpretive, theological, social, and political messages. I present a reading of a set of meshalim from the first parasha of Vayikra Rabba. I demonstrate each unit puts forward an original understanding of Lev 1:1 and its place in the biblical narrative and presents a distinctive perspective of God, Moses, the Torah and their relationships with each other and with the Jewish people. I further argue that these meshalim’s collective positive portrayal of the Roman emperor, would have promoted the acceptance and legitimacy of Roman Imperial hegemony among their original audience.
אוקימתא , 2023
https://www.oqimta.org.il/oqimta/2024/shoshan10.pdf
מאמר זה בוחן גישה משולבת למחקר המדרש. גישה זו... more https://www.oqimta.org.il/oqimta/2024/shoshan10.pdf
מאמר זה בוחן גישה משולבת למחקר המדרש. גישה זו יוצרת סינתזה בין הגישות
ההרמנויטיות שרווחו מאמצע שנות השמונים ועד תחילת שנות התשעים של המאה
הקודמת, לבין גישות מחקריות בתחום הנרטולוגיה וחקר התרבות, שיושמו לאחרונה גם
במחקר ספרות חז"ל בכללה. המאמר מציג מודל תיאורטי חדש להבנת המשל בספרות
חז"ל. על בסיס מחקריו של ג'יימס פלאן, אטען שביחידות המשל משולבים משאבים
נרטיביים וכלים רטוריים שמטרתם להעביר מגוון עשיר של מסרים פרשניים, תיאולוגיים,
חברתיים, ופוליטיים. במחקר זה אציג סדרה של משלים מתוך הפרשה הראשונה של
ויקרא רבה. אדגים כיצד כל יחידה מציעה פרשנות מקורית לויקרא א 1, ולמיקום הפסוק
בנרטיב המקראי, תוך הצגת נקודת מבט שונה על הקב"ה, משה, התורה, עם ישראל, ועל
הקשרים ביניהם. אטען שהיחס החיובי לקיסר שעולה מן המשלים קידם את הקבלה
והלגיטימציה של ההגמוניה הרומאית האימפריאלית בקרב קהל היעד המקורי.
In this essay I seek to explain Joseph's strange and erratic behavior towards his brothers when t... more In this essay I seek to explain Joseph's strange and erratic behavior towards his brothers when they come down to Egypt. I believe the key to unlocking Joseph' motivations is the fact that his identity was a secret not just from the brothers, but from all Egypt, and Joseph sought to protect that secret while still saving his family from starvation.
I wrote this piece in the summer of 1990, while a student at Yeshivat Har Etzion just prior to starting college that fall. If would write this very differently today if I would write it at all. But I think the ideas still deserve consideration.
What Is the Mishnah? The State of the Question edited by Shaye J. D. Cohen Harvard University Press, 2022
Focus on the narrative aspects and elements of the Mishnah reflects a particular
moment in the hi... more Focus on the narrative aspects and elements of the Mishnah reflects a particular
moment in the history of rabbinics scholarship. A survey of the
scholarship on the Mishnah as it developed over the nineteenth and twentieth
centuries and of the study of narrative in rabbinics as it emerged as a
field in the final three decades of the twentieth century reveals only sporadic
attention to questions relating to narrative and the Mishnah. But with
the beginning of the twenty-first
century came a sudden flurry of interest
in the topic. The first decade of this century saw the emergence of a body of
scholarship focusing on individual mishnaic narratives or the role of narrative
in the Mishnah more broadly. In the intervening years since these studies
were undertaken, the question of the narrative and the Mishnah has not
received anywhere near the same degree of attention. This scholarly moment might best be understood as representing the high point of a “narrative turn” in Mishnah studies which came in the wake of a similar turn in the academy starting in the 1960s.
Sidra, 2022
"From In-Laws to Intimate Enemies: The Debate Regarding tzarat habat in Palestinian Sources and t... more "From In-Laws to Intimate Enemies: The Debate Regarding tzarat habat in Palestinian Sources and the Evolution of Attitudes towards Beit Shammai in Palestinian Sources"
This article traces rabbinic discourse surrounding the debate between the Houses of Hillel and Shammai regarding the tzarat habat, “the daughter’s co-wife,” in classical rabbinic sources of the Land of Israel. The first section analyzes the discussion in t.Yevamot 1:8-12 and m.Yevamot 1:4. The Tosefta consists of two units which present contrasting traditions regarding the implications of this dispute. The first unit portrays this disagreement as having posed a threat to the social integrity of the rabbinic community which persisted for generations after the Houses themselves ceased to be functional. The second unit in contrast describes how the Houses lived together harmoniously in a single, pluralistic community, overcoming threats to unity posed by their disagreements. The Mishnah presents a reworked version of this second Toseftan source, which downplays the radical pluralistic implications of the original text.
The second section presents a literary and historical analysis of the Yerushalmi’s version of the story of Dosa ben Harkinas and his ruling on tzarat habat. This story is perhaps the most extreme critique Bet Shammai in all rabbinic literature. Through its portrayal of Jonathan ben Harkinas, the last Shammaite, it launches a broad attack on the Shammaites and their methodology. They are presented as a deviant sect, who casuistry leads them to false conclusions and to moral and social failure.
The Literature of the Sages: A Re-Visioning, 2022
This chapter is dedicated to a detailed demonstration of halakha and aggada as differentiated yet... more This chapter is dedicated to a detailed demonstration of halakha and aggada as differentiated yet integrated discourses in the Mishna and Tosefta. Specifically, this section examines the distinct and liminal status of aggada in the Mishna and Tosefta as a key factor determining its multiple functions in relationship to the halakha found in these works
Jewish Studies Quarterly , 2022
This article presents a unified reading of m. Yadayim 3:5-4:4, arguing that this passage reflects... more This article presents a unified reading of m. Yadayim 3:5-4:4, arguing that this passage reflects the only extended foundational narrative for Rabbinic Judaism in the Mishnah proper. It presents a distinctive account of the birth of rabbinic Judaism, which is portrayed as having occurred on one auspicious day sometime in the Yavne period.
Jewish Quarterly Review, 2022
In this article, I present a close reading of this neglected story, focusing on its sophisticated... more In this article, I present a close reading of this neglected story, focusing on its sophisticated use of point of view and irony, and then go on to consider its literary and cultural contexts. I seek to establish its status as a high point of talmudic narrative art, an important and highly distinctive element of the Yavne Cycle, and a powerful counter-voice in the Bavli as a whole. I further argue that this story is part of a larger body of texts in the Babylonian Talmud that challenge its own dominant discourse and values. These sources may in turn reflect the work of a group of dissident scholars who were active in the Babylonian academies.
Journal for the Study of Judaism, 2020
The Palestinian version of the seventy-year sleep of Honi Hamʿagel in y. Taʿanit 3:9 (66d), is an... more The Palestinian version of the seventy-year sleep of Honi Hamʿagel in y. Taʿanit 3:9 (66d), is an example of a rabbinic narrative deeply rooted in the culture of prerabbinic Judaism. Its authors were familiar with three distinct literary-historical traditions found in earlier texts: the depiction of Simon the high priest in Ben Sira; the account of Nehemiah hiding and restoring the fire of the temple altar in 2 Maccabees; and the story of Abimelech's decades-long nap preserved in 4 Baruch and The History of the Babylonian Captivity. These three traditions were already connected to each other as part of a wider network of texts, traditions, and collective memory about the Babylonian exile and the return to Zion. The creators of the Honi story built on and extended this body of cultural materials, creating an original work about the continuity of Jewish life and tradition from the biblical era to their own.
Journal of Jewish Studies, 2021
abstr act This article presents an original reading of the Bavli account of Honi’s 70-year sleep.... more abstr act This article presents an original reading of the Bavli account of Honi’s 70-year sleep. It argues that printed editions present a corrupt reading of Honi’s initial statement, which originally read ‘Seventy years like a dream!’, expressing Honi’s existential dread of his own mortality. The story must further be understood as a conscious inversion of the
Yerushalmi’s version of the tale, rejecting the Yerushalmi’s optimistic vision of the role of individual holy men in Jewish history in favour of a tragic account of individual loneliness.
AJS Review, 2021
This is the first article-length treatment of the famous rabbinic dictum "These and those are the... more This is the first article-length treatment of the famous rabbinic dictum "These and those are the words of the living God, but the Law always follows Beit Hillel." The statement's significance lies in the innovative manner in which it negotiates the monistic and pluralistic tendencies within the rabbinic tradition. "These and those …" first emerged in the late tannaitic or early amoraic period as a reworking of an earlier Tosefta text. The Yerushalmi, consistent with its overall monistic tendencies, cited this text only for its ruling in favor of Beit Hillel, marginalizing its affirmation that the teachings of Beit Shammai represent "the words of the living God." The Bavli embraced both the pluralistic and monistic stances of "These and those …" and further placed the declaration in a wider narrative context, imbuing it with social and ethical significance.
This is a scan of my unpublished 1993 undergraduate thesis, written at the Department of Comparat... more This is a scan of my unpublished 1993 undergraduate thesis, written at the Department of Comparative literature, Princeton University. I proposed an original frmaework for understanding characterization in narrative and applies it to the biblical "Succession Narrative" II Samuel 13-19.
JEWISH QUARTERLY REVIEW, 2020
Article available here
https://www.dropbox.com/s/6d5qfcp0r50rgop/Beruria%20JQR.pdf?dl=0
This ... more Article available here
https://www.dropbox.com/s/6d5qfcp0r50rgop/Beruria%20JQR.pdf?dl=0
This article challenges previous scholarship regarding the provenance and meaning of the story of Beruriah's downfall and death first attested in Rashi's Talmud commentary. I argue that contrary to the recent scholarly consensus, there is good reason to believe that Rashi drew on a much earlier tradition and that his account represents the only attested explanation for the Bavli’s reference to maaseh de-beruriah. I further present a new reading the story, viewing it not as a polemic, but as a complex narrative which exposes the rabbis’ own anxieties regarding women and their place within halakhic discourse and practice.
Jerusalem Studies in Hebrew Literature , 2020
This is an English version of
משה שוֹשן, הדרך ללוד – סיפורו של ניצול: בריחתו של רבן יוחנן בן זכא... more This is an English version of
משה שוֹשן, הדרך ללוד – סיפורו של ניצול: בריחתו של רבן יוחנן בן זכאי מירושלים על פי מדרש איכה רבה א, ה
The article presents an analysis of the story of the escape of R. Yohanan ben Zakkai from Jerusalem as it appears in Eicha Rabba. This version of the story differs markedly from the accounts found elsewhere in rabbinic literature, most notably in its lack of reference R. Yohanan's request to save "Yavne and her sages." The Eicha Rabba account focuses on the very fact of the Jews' survival rather than on the establishment of a center of Jewish study and practice to succeed Jerusalem. Torah is presented as a source of practical wisdom which gives the rabbis the ability to save a remnant of their people. The article also explores the implications of the identification of the figure of Abgar with the figure of the same name known to us from Christian legend. In light of this, the story should also be read as an anti-Christian counter narrative.
מחקרי ירושלים בספרות עברית, 2020
This article presents an analysis of the story of the escape of R. Yohanan
ben Zakkai from Jerusa... more This article presents an analysis of the story of the escape of R. Yohanan
ben Zakkai from Jerusalem as it appears in Eicha Rabba. This version of
the story differs markedly from the accounts found elsewhere in rabbinic
literature, most notably in that it does not refer to R. Yohanan’s request
to save ‘Yavne and her sages’. The Eicha Rabba account focuses on the
survival of the Jews rather than on the establishment of a center of Jewish
study and practice to succeed Jerusalem. Torah is presented as a source of practical wisdom, which gives the rabbis the ability to save a remnant oftheir people. The article also explores the implications of the identification of the figure of Abgar with the figure of the same name known to us from Christian legend. In light of this, the story should also be read as an anti- Christian narrative.
Uploads
Videos by Moshe Simon-Shoshan
2021 Australian Association of Jewish Studies Conference
‘Jews as Active Citizens, Past and Present’ Canberra, Australia
Feb. 28, 2021
as available at https://youtu.be/P7KLEUz-6dI
Books by Moshe Simon-Shoshan
https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=36825
https://blog.webyeshiva.org/podcast/stories-of-the-law"
https://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8445
Papers by Moshe Simon-Shoshan
התפיסה הפרוגרסיבית האמריקאית השולטת בכיפה האקדמית בארה"ב היא צורה של
נאו-מרקסיזם המשולבת בין הביקורתהמרקסיסטית המסורתית ואסכולת 'לימודים פוסט-קולוניאליים,' שבו המאבק העיקרי שעומד מאחורי הפוליטיקה והתרבותאינו בין בעלי השליטה בהון ובאמצעי הייצור מצד אחד, וה'פועלים' מצד שני, כמובמרקסיזם הקלאסי, אלא בין כוחות פוליטיים, כלכליים, ותרבותיים של האימפריאליזםהמערב-אירופאי והאמריקאי מול 'הדרום הגלובאלי' המדוכא. במערכת פוליטית-מוסרית מניכאית מעין זו, אין ליהודיםאו לישראלים כל סיכוי להימנות על הצד של "הגוד גאייז".
מאמר זה בוחן גישה משולבת למחקר המדרש. גישה זו יוצרת סינתזה בין הגישות
ההרמנויטיות שרווחו מאמצע שנות השמונים ועד תחילת שנות התשעים של המאה
הקודמת, לבין גישות מחקריות בתחום הנרטולוגיה וחקר התרבות, שיושמו לאחרונה גם
במחקר ספרות חז"ל בכללה. המאמר מציג מודל תיאורטי חדש להבנת המשל בספרות
חז"ל. על בסיס מחקריו של ג'יימס פלאן, אטען שביחידות המשל משולבים משאבים
נרטיביים וכלים רטוריים שמטרתם להעביר מגוון עשיר של מסרים פרשניים, תיאולוגיים,
חברתיים, ופוליטיים. במחקר זה אציג סדרה של משלים מתוך הפרשה הראשונה של
ויקרא רבה. אדגים כיצד כל יחידה מציעה פרשנות מקורית לויקרא א 1, ולמיקום הפסוק
בנרטיב המקראי, תוך הצגת נקודת מבט שונה על הקב"ה, משה, התורה, עם ישראל, ועל
הקשרים ביניהם. אטען שהיחס החיובי לקיסר שעולה מן המשלים קידם את הקבלה
והלגיטימציה של ההגמוניה הרומאית האימפריאלית בקרב קהל היעד המקורי.
I wrote this piece in the summer of 1990, while a student at Yeshivat Har Etzion just prior to starting college that fall. If would write this very differently today if I would write it at all. But I think the ideas still deserve consideration.
moment in the history of rabbinics scholarship. A survey of the
scholarship on the Mishnah as it developed over the nineteenth and twentieth
centuries and of the study of narrative in rabbinics as it emerged as a
field in the final three decades of the twentieth century reveals only sporadic
attention to questions relating to narrative and the Mishnah. But with
the beginning of the twenty-first
century came a sudden flurry of interest
in the topic. The first decade of this century saw the emergence of a body of
scholarship focusing on individual mishnaic narratives or the role of narrative
in the Mishnah more broadly. In the intervening years since these studies
were undertaken, the question of the narrative and the Mishnah has not
received anywhere near the same degree of attention. This scholarly moment might best be understood as representing the high point of a “narrative turn” in Mishnah studies which came in the wake of a similar turn in the academy starting in the 1960s.
This article traces rabbinic discourse surrounding the debate between the Houses of Hillel and Shammai regarding the tzarat habat, “the daughter’s co-wife,” in classical rabbinic sources of the Land of Israel. The first section analyzes the discussion in t.Yevamot 1:8-12 and m.Yevamot 1:4. The Tosefta consists of two units which present contrasting traditions regarding the implications of this dispute. The first unit portrays this disagreement as having posed a threat to the social integrity of the rabbinic community which persisted for generations after the Houses themselves ceased to be functional. The second unit in contrast describes how the Houses lived together harmoniously in a single, pluralistic community, overcoming threats to unity posed by their disagreements. The Mishnah presents a reworked version of this second Toseftan source, which downplays the radical pluralistic implications of the original text.
The second section presents a literary and historical analysis of the Yerushalmi’s version of the story of Dosa ben Harkinas and his ruling on tzarat habat. This story is perhaps the most extreme critique Bet Shammai in all rabbinic literature. Through its portrayal of Jonathan ben Harkinas, the last Shammaite, it launches a broad attack on the Shammaites and their methodology. They are presented as a deviant sect, who casuistry leads them to false conclusions and to moral and social failure.
Yerushalmi’s version of the tale, rejecting the Yerushalmi’s optimistic vision of the role of individual holy men in Jewish history in favour of a tragic account of individual loneliness.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/6d5qfcp0r50rgop/Beruria%20JQR.pdf?dl=0
This article challenges previous scholarship regarding the provenance and meaning of the story of Beruriah's downfall and death first attested in Rashi's Talmud commentary. I argue that contrary to the recent scholarly consensus, there is good reason to believe that Rashi drew on a much earlier tradition and that his account represents the only attested explanation for the Bavli’s reference to maaseh de-beruriah. I further present a new reading the story, viewing it not as a polemic, but as a complex narrative which exposes the rabbis’ own anxieties regarding women and their place within halakhic discourse and practice.
משה שוֹשן, הדרך ללוד – סיפורו של ניצול: בריחתו של רבן יוחנן בן זכאי מירושלים על פי מדרש איכה רבה א, ה
The article presents an analysis of the story of the escape of R. Yohanan ben Zakkai from Jerusalem as it appears in Eicha Rabba. This version of the story differs markedly from the accounts found elsewhere in rabbinic literature, most notably in its lack of reference R. Yohanan's request to save "Yavne and her sages." The Eicha Rabba account focuses on the very fact of the Jews' survival rather than on the establishment of a center of Jewish study and practice to succeed Jerusalem. Torah is presented as a source of practical wisdom which gives the rabbis the ability to save a remnant of their people. The article also explores the implications of the identification of the figure of Abgar with the figure of the same name known to us from Christian legend. In light of this, the story should also be read as an anti-Christian counter narrative.
ben Zakkai from Jerusalem as it appears in Eicha Rabba. This version of
the story differs markedly from the accounts found elsewhere in rabbinic
literature, most notably in that it does not refer to R. Yohanan’s request
to save ‘Yavne and her sages’. The Eicha Rabba account focuses on the
survival of the Jews rather than on the establishment of a center of Jewish
study and practice to succeed Jerusalem. Torah is presented as a source of practical wisdom, which gives the rabbis the ability to save a remnant oftheir people. The article also explores the implications of the identification of the figure of Abgar with the figure of the same name known to us from Christian legend. In light of this, the story should also be read as an anti- Christian narrative.
2021 Australian Association of Jewish Studies Conference
‘Jews as Active Citizens, Past and Present’ Canberra, Australia
Feb. 28, 2021
as available at https://youtu.be/P7KLEUz-6dI
https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=36825
https://blog.webyeshiva.org/podcast/stories-of-the-law"
https://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8445
התפיסה הפרוגרסיבית האמריקאית השולטת בכיפה האקדמית בארה"ב היא צורה של
נאו-מרקסיזם המשולבת בין הביקורתהמרקסיסטית המסורתית ואסכולת 'לימודים פוסט-קולוניאליים,' שבו המאבק העיקרי שעומד מאחורי הפוליטיקה והתרבותאינו בין בעלי השליטה בהון ובאמצעי הייצור מצד אחד, וה'פועלים' מצד שני, כמובמרקסיזם הקלאסי, אלא בין כוחות פוליטיים, כלכליים, ותרבותיים של האימפריאליזםהמערב-אירופאי והאמריקאי מול 'הדרום הגלובאלי' המדוכא. במערכת פוליטית-מוסרית מניכאית מעין זו, אין ליהודיםאו לישראלים כל סיכוי להימנות על הצד של "הגוד גאייז".
מאמר זה בוחן גישה משולבת למחקר המדרש. גישה זו יוצרת סינתזה בין הגישות
ההרמנויטיות שרווחו מאמצע שנות השמונים ועד תחילת שנות התשעים של המאה
הקודמת, לבין גישות מחקריות בתחום הנרטולוגיה וחקר התרבות, שיושמו לאחרונה גם
במחקר ספרות חז"ל בכללה. המאמר מציג מודל תיאורטי חדש להבנת המשל בספרות
חז"ל. על בסיס מחקריו של ג'יימס פלאן, אטען שביחידות המשל משולבים משאבים
נרטיביים וכלים רטוריים שמטרתם להעביר מגוון עשיר של מסרים פרשניים, תיאולוגיים,
חברתיים, ופוליטיים. במחקר זה אציג סדרה של משלים מתוך הפרשה הראשונה של
ויקרא רבה. אדגים כיצד כל יחידה מציעה פרשנות מקורית לויקרא א 1, ולמיקום הפסוק
בנרטיב המקראי, תוך הצגת נקודת מבט שונה על הקב"ה, משה, התורה, עם ישראל, ועל
הקשרים ביניהם. אטען שהיחס החיובי לקיסר שעולה מן המשלים קידם את הקבלה
והלגיטימציה של ההגמוניה הרומאית האימפריאלית בקרב קהל היעד המקורי.
I wrote this piece in the summer of 1990, while a student at Yeshivat Har Etzion just prior to starting college that fall. If would write this very differently today if I would write it at all. But I think the ideas still deserve consideration.
moment in the history of rabbinics scholarship. A survey of the
scholarship on the Mishnah as it developed over the nineteenth and twentieth
centuries and of the study of narrative in rabbinics as it emerged as a
field in the final three decades of the twentieth century reveals only sporadic
attention to questions relating to narrative and the Mishnah. But with
the beginning of the twenty-first
century came a sudden flurry of interest
in the topic. The first decade of this century saw the emergence of a body of
scholarship focusing on individual mishnaic narratives or the role of narrative
in the Mishnah more broadly. In the intervening years since these studies
were undertaken, the question of the narrative and the Mishnah has not
received anywhere near the same degree of attention. This scholarly moment might best be understood as representing the high point of a “narrative turn” in Mishnah studies which came in the wake of a similar turn in the academy starting in the 1960s.
This article traces rabbinic discourse surrounding the debate between the Houses of Hillel and Shammai regarding the tzarat habat, “the daughter’s co-wife,” in classical rabbinic sources of the Land of Israel. The first section analyzes the discussion in t.Yevamot 1:8-12 and m.Yevamot 1:4. The Tosefta consists of two units which present contrasting traditions regarding the implications of this dispute. The first unit portrays this disagreement as having posed a threat to the social integrity of the rabbinic community which persisted for generations after the Houses themselves ceased to be functional. The second unit in contrast describes how the Houses lived together harmoniously in a single, pluralistic community, overcoming threats to unity posed by their disagreements. The Mishnah presents a reworked version of this second Toseftan source, which downplays the radical pluralistic implications of the original text.
The second section presents a literary and historical analysis of the Yerushalmi’s version of the story of Dosa ben Harkinas and his ruling on tzarat habat. This story is perhaps the most extreme critique Bet Shammai in all rabbinic literature. Through its portrayal of Jonathan ben Harkinas, the last Shammaite, it launches a broad attack on the Shammaites and their methodology. They are presented as a deviant sect, who casuistry leads them to false conclusions and to moral and social failure.
Yerushalmi’s version of the tale, rejecting the Yerushalmi’s optimistic vision of the role of individual holy men in Jewish history in favour of a tragic account of individual loneliness.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/6d5qfcp0r50rgop/Beruria%20JQR.pdf?dl=0
This article challenges previous scholarship regarding the provenance and meaning of the story of Beruriah's downfall and death first attested in Rashi's Talmud commentary. I argue that contrary to the recent scholarly consensus, there is good reason to believe that Rashi drew on a much earlier tradition and that his account represents the only attested explanation for the Bavli’s reference to maaseh de-beruriah. I further present a new reading the story, viewing it not as a polemic, but as a complex narrative which exposes the rabbis’ own anxieties regarding women and their place within halakhic discourse and practice.
משה שוֹשן, הדרך ללוד – סיפורו של ניצול: בריחתו של רבן יוחנן בן זכאי מירושלים על פי מדרש איכה רבה א, ה
The article presents an analysis of the story of the escape of R. Yohanan ben Zakkai from Jerusalem as it appears in Eicha Rabba. This version of the story differs markedly from the accounts found elsewhere in rabbinic literature, most notably in its lack of reference R. Yohanan's request to save "Yavne and her sages." The Eicha Rabba account focuses on the very fact of the Jews' survival rather than on the establishment of a center of Jewish study and practice to succeed Jerusalem. Torah is presented as a source of practical wisdom which gives the rabbis the ability to save a remnant of their people. The article also explores the implications of the identification of the figure of Abgar with the figure of the same name known to us from Christian legend. In light of this, the story should also be read as an anti-Christian counter narrative.
ben Zakkai from Jerusalem as it appears in Eicha Rabba. This version of
the story differs markedly from the accounts found elsewhere in rabbinic
literature, most notably in that it does not refer to R. Yohanan’s request
to save ‘Yavne and her sages’. The Eicha Rabba account focuses on the
survival of the Jews rather than on the establishment of a center of Jewish
study and practice to succeed Jerusalem. Torah is presented as a source of practical wisdom, which gives the rabbis the ability to save a remnant oftheir people. The article also explores the implications of the identification of the figure of Abgar with the figure of the same name known to us from Christian legend. In light of this, the story should also be read as an anti- Christian narrative.
food to beggars who come to their doors. This motif represents a distinct
female social and ethical perspective that contrasts with and critiques
the dominant male rabbinic ethos. However, The talmudic editors
frequently position, interpret and modify such stories in ways that draw
attention away from, and even undermine, the female characters and
the values they represent. Nevertheless, these strong female voices and
characters are not totally silenced. They become part of a wider dialogic
framework, remaining an integral part of the Talmud’s discourse.
European Narratology Network international conference September 13, 2017 Prague, 2017 (also available on this site).
Fundamental to the functioning of narrative worlds is their dual nature. On the one hand, they are autonomous, imaginative creations fabricated by the author and reconstituted by the reader. One the other hand narrative worlds are constructed through the synthesis of elements “cannibalized” from other “possible worlds” to which the author and reader have access. These worlds include “the primary world” which the author/reader experiences in their day to day life, “contiguous worlds,” through which the author/reader construct their understandings of the historical past and contemporary locales beyond their immediate experience, “ideological worlds,” which represent individuals’ and groups’ conceptions of what the world should and should not look like, and “literary worlds,” constructed in other literary works and extant genres.
This model frames the question of “narrative worlds,” in terms of a series of key issues: The dynamic and inherently ambiguous relationship between the narrative world and the possible worlds on which it draws, the gaps between the narrative world as imagined by the author and as it is variously reconstructed by readers, the processes whereby the reader “journeys” back and forth between the narrative world of a given work and his or her own primary world, and the way in which this processes inevitably shapes and reshapes both of these worlds.
This lecture examines the famous story of Moshe's ascent to Heaven and his visions of Rabbi Akiba there. I argue that key to understanding this story is considering of its relationship to apocalyptic narratives both within and beyond Biblical and classical rabbinic literature. The story represents a radical new understandings of the halakha le-moshe mi-sinai and of the problem of theodicy.
My talk begins at 10:35.
https://harvard.zoom.us/rec/play/saCsYw5Ror9jL9x9hxLGFU9JGHFQ8_oaJ4DotNCRPEgcJVN5m5X_VaXJjtRX4XDpsfBeCoFoY-PRUcvC.TD6QqaCRFZfa1Z8l?startTime=1610381987000&_x_zm_rtaid=OD_uQO_7RqOmmvQVmsnp-A.1617213630693.42c3460e6f9c7ea78fc76a831a7a28f5&_x_zm_rhtaid=584
https://huji.cloud.panopto.eu/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=8e853aed-7c24-4e35-afe2-ac7d008bb21c