Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Introduction
- 1 Political, social, and economic life in the Land of Israel, 66–c. 235
- 2 The Diaspora from 66 to c. 235 ce
- 3 The uprisings in the Jewish Diaspora, 116–117
- 4 The Bar Kochba Revolt, 132–135
- 5 The legal status of the Jews in the Roman Empire
- 6 Jewish art and architecture in the Land of Israel, 70–C. 235
- 7 The destruction of the Jerusalem Temple: its meaning and its consequences
- 8 The origins and development of the rabbinic movement in the Land of Israel
- 9 The canonical process
- 10 The beginnings of Christian anti-Judaism, 70–C. 235
- 11 The rabbinic response to Christianity
- 12 The Mishnah
- 13 The Tosefta
- 14 Midrash Halachah
- 15 Mishnaic Hebrew: an introductory survey
- 16 The political and social history of the Jewish community in the Land of Israel, C. 235–638
- 17 The material realities of Jewish life in the Land of Israel, C. 235–638
- 18 Aramaic in late antiquity
- 19 The Diaspora, C. 235–638
- 20 Jewish archaeology in late antiquity: art, architecture, and inscriptions
- 21 Jewish festivals in late antiquity
- 22 Rabbinic prayer in late antiquity
- 23 Rabbinic views on marriage, sexuality, and the family
- 24 Women in Jewish life and law
- 25 Gentiles in rabbinic thought
- 26 The formation and character of the Jerusalem Talmud
- 27 The late midrashic, paytanic, and targumic literature
- 28 Jewish magic in late antiquity
- 29 Jewish folk literature in late antiquity
- 30 Early forms of Jewish mysticism
- 31 The Political, Social, and Economic History of Babylonian Jewry, 224–638 CE
- 32 The history of the Babylonian academies
- 33 The formation and character of the Babylonian Talmud
- 34 Talmudic law: a jurisprudential perspective
- 35 Torah in rabbinic thought: the theology of learning
- 36 Man, sin, and redemption in Rabbinic Judaism
- 37 The rabbinic theology of the physical: blessings, body and soul, resurrection, and covenant and election
- 38 Christian anti-Judaism: polemics and policies
- 39 Jews in Byzantium
- 40 Messianism and apocalypticism in rabbinic texts
- Appendix Justinian and the revision of Jewish legal status
- Index
- Map A The Roman world in the time of Marcus Aurelius
- References
29 - Jewish folk literature in late antiquity
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 March 2008
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Edited by
Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Introduction
- 1 Political, social, and economic life in the Land of Israel, 66–c. 235
- 2 The Diaspora from 66 to c. 235 ce
- 3 The uprisings in the Jewish Diaspora, 116–117
- 4 The Bar Kochba Revolt, 132–135
- 5 The legal status of the Jews in the Roman Empire
- 6 Jewish art and architecture in the Land of Israel, 70–C. 235
- 7 The destruction of the Jerusalem Temple: its meaning and its consequences
- 8 The origins and development of the rabbinic movement in the Land of Israel
- 9 The canonical process
- 10 The beginnings of Christian anti-Judaism, 70–C. 235
- 11 The rabbinic response to Christianity
- 12 The Mishnah
- 13 The Tosefta
- 14 Midrash Halachah
- 15 Mishnaic Hebrew: an introductory survey
- 16 The political and social history of the Jewish community in the Land of Israel, C. 235–638
- 17 The material realities of Jewish life in the Land of Israel, C. 235–638
- 18 Aramaic in late antiquity
- 19 The Diaspora, C. 235–638
- 20 Jewish archaeology in late antiquity: art, architecture, and inscriptions
- 21 Jewish festivals in late antiquity
- 22 Rabbinic prayer in late antiquity
- 23 Rabbinic views on marriage, sexuality, and the family
- 24 Women in Jewish life and law
- 25 Gentiles in rabbinic thought
- 26 The formation and character of the Jerusalem Talmud
- 27 The late midrashic, paytanic, and targumic literature
- 28 Jewish magic in late antiquity
- 29 Jewish folk literature in late antiquity
- 30 Early forms of Jewish mysticism
- 31 The Political, Social, and Economic History of Babylonian Jewry, 224–638 CE
- 32 The history of the Babylonian academies
- 33 The formation and character of the Babylonian Talmud
- 34 Talmudic law: a jurisprudential perspective
- 35 Torah in rabbinic thought: the theology of learning
- 36 Man, sin, and redemption in Rabbinic Judaism
- 37 The rabbinic theology of the physical: blessings, body and soul, resurrection, and covenant and election
- 38 Christian anti-Judaism: polemics and policies
- 39 Jews in Byzantium
- 40 Messianism and apocalypticism in rabbinic texts
- Appendix Justinian and the revision of Jewish legal status
- Index
- Map A The Roman world in the time of Marcus Aurelius
- References
Summary
FOLKLORE IN RABBINIC REALITY AND LITERATURE
The main cultural activity during the rabbinic period took place in the academy (bet ha-midrash) and in the synagogue. Learned activity took place in the former, a kind of academy and legislature in one, wherein the principal compositions of the period were produced – the Talmud and the Midrash. The synagogue served as a spiritual center for the various strata of society, including women and children, and was by its very nature more “popular.” The Babylonian Talmud has preserved evidence of this: “R. Ishmael b. Eleazar said: On account of two sins amme ha-arez [“the simple, unlearned”] die: because they call the holy ark a chest, and because they call a synagogue bet am” (BT Shabb. 32a). That is, the synagogue was regarded, by the people if not by the Sages, as more than a house of ritual; it filled a clear social function as well, as the “house of the folk” (bet am); in addition to prayer and Torah reading, sermons were delivered there by community rabbis or itinerant preachers, and also in the framework of oral homily, translators rendered the Torah portion into Aramaic, the linguafranca of the time, almost verbatim, interspersed with exegesis, aggadic elaborations and homiletic interpretation.
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- The Cambridge History of Judaism , pp. 721 - 748Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2006
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