Prof. Hayim Lapin

2101Q FSK

x 54296

hlapin@umd.edu

Office Hours: T 10–12

or by appointment

HIST 231/JWST 230

Introduction to Rabbinic Culture

This course introduces the historical background, principal texts, and selected cultural and social aspects of the rabbinic movement in Palestine and Babylonia. For this year, we will have two special areas of focus: (1) How rabbis understood gender, and by implication how they understood the place of women and men in the world. (2) Understanding the differences between Babylonian and Palestinian rabbinic cultures.

Readings:

The following books have been ordered at the bookstore:

Baskin, J. Midrashic Women. Hanover: Brandeis University Press, 2002.

Kalmin, R. The Sage in Jewish Society of Late Antiquity. London: Routledge, 1999.

Rubenstein, J., The Culture of the Babylonian Talmud. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2003.

Additional readings listed in the syllabus are available electronically in one of two formats: Some works are available through the UM Library's reserves. Others, because they are readily available on the web or because I am able to distribute them are available directly through links on the online version of this syllabus. These are:

¢ = Electronic Reserves

l = Available through Web

All other readings will be distributed in class.

Requirements and grading:

i. Quizzes, 5 points each. Total 10 pts.
Warning: I have not scheduled weekly quizzes. However, if I find that the class as a group is not prepared I will institute weekly or surprise quizzes. There is an alternative: Do the reading!

ii. Midterm, 20 pts. The midterm will be March 17 (before Spring Break). Please schedule your travel plans accordingly.

iii. Two written assignments (6 to 8 pages each), 20 pts. each (40 total). These assignments are described in greater detail after the course outline.

iv. Final Exam, 25 points. The date for the final exam is scheduled by the University.

v. Participation and Attendance: 5 pts. Failure to attend class more than three times may result in failure for the class

For Hebrew Readers:
I have arranged for a one-credit reading course running parallel to this course that will examine a selection of the course materials in Hebrew (JWST 219 0106). To enroll in that course you must have a reading knowledge of Hebrew. Please stay after the first class and we will arrange a mutually agreeable time. Please note: I need a minimum of five interested students to hold the reading class.

Outline of Classes and Assignments

*I. Historical Background*
Th 1/27 Tu 2/1	1. Origins and Development of the Rabbinic Movement Baskin, Midrashic Women, Introduction, 1–12 ¢ L. Schiffman, From Text to Tradition, 201–219 l Lapin, "Origins and Development of the Rabbinic Movement," in Cambridge History of Judaism, forthcoming. *Readings due Feb. 1.*
Th 2/3 Tu 2/8	2. Palestine and Babylonia: Two Rabbinic Cultures R. Kalmin, The Sage in Jewish Society, entire.
*II. Introduction to the Principal Texts*
Th 2/10 Tu 2/15 Th 2/17	1. Mishnah Secondary Reading: ¢ J. Neusner, The Mishnah: A New Translation (New Haven: Yale, 1989), xiii–xlii. Primary Reading: Mishnah Eduyot Ch. 1 Mishnah Shebuot, 1:1 Mishnah Shabbat 1:1 Mishnah Megillah 1:4–11 l Exodus 22:6–14 l Mishnah, Baba' Metsi'a' Chapter 3; 6:7–8; 7:8–10 Click here for handout *Feb. 15: In-class quiz, 20 minutes*
Tu 2/22 Th 2/24	2. Tosefta and Tannaitic/Halakhic Midrash Secondary Reading: l J. Hauptman, "The Tosefta as Commentary on an Early Mishnah," Jewish Studies Internet Journal 3 (2004), 1–24 ¢ R. Hammer, The Classic Midrash (New York: Paulist, 1995), 13–50. Primary Reading: l Tosefta, Baba' Metsi'a' Chapter 3 l Mekilta, Mishpatim, 15, 16 (selections) Link to handout at unit begining 2/15
Tu 3/1 Th 3/3	3. Palestinian Talmud ('Yerushalmi") and Babylonian Talmud ('Bavli") Secondary Reading: ¢ G. Stemberger, H. L. Strack, Introduction to Talmud and Midrash, tr. M. Bockmuehl (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1996), 165–189. Rubenstein, The Culture of the Babylonian Talmud (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins, 2003), 1–15. Primary Reading: l Yerushalmi Baba' Mesi'a' 3:1 (9a) l Babli, Baba' Mesi'a' 33b–34a Link to handout at unit begining 2/15
Tu 3/8 Th 3/10	4. Midrash Aggadah Secondary Reading: M. D. Herr, "Midrash," Encyclopedia Judaica 11: 1507–14 Primary Reading: Genesis Rabbah 56 (Selections) Tanhuma Wa-Yera' 22; Shelah 14 *March 8: 1st Writing Assignment Due*
Tu 3/15	Unfinished Business and Review
Th 3/17	Midterm Exam, in Class
Tu 3/22 Th 3/24	Spring Break, Classes cancelled
*III. The Rabbinic Movement in Society*
Tu 3/29 Th 3/31	1. Discipleship: Making Rabbis ¢ Jonathan Schofer, "Spiritual Exercises in Rabbinic Culture," Association for Jewish Studies Review 27 (2003), 203-225. Rubenstein, Culture of the Babylonian Talmud, 16–38. Recommended ¢ D. Boyarin, Carnal Israel: Reading Sex in Rabbinic Culture (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1993), 135–166.
Tu 4/5 Th 4/7	2. Rabbis and non-Rabbis — Jews and Gentiles ¢ S. Schwartz, Imperialism and Jewish Society 200 BCE to 640 CE (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2001), 162–175 l Levine, "The Sages and the Synagogue,"in Galilee in Late Antiquity (New York: Jewish Theological Seminary, 1992), 201–22. Rubenstein, Culture of the Babylonian Talmud, 123–142
Tu 4/12 Th 4/14	3. Rabbinic Authority ¢ M. Goodman, State and Society in Roman Galilee (London: Valentine Mitchell, 1983), 93–118; notes on pp. 232–44. ¢ J. Neusner, The Wonder-Working Lawyers of Talmudic Babylonia (Lanham: University Press of America, 1986) (selections) April 14: In-class quiz, 20 minutes
*IV. Rabbis and Gender*
Tu 4/19 Th 4/21	4. Marriage and Household Mishnah, Ketubot 7:6 Baskin, Midrashic Women, 65–118 l C. Baker, "When Jews were Women," manuscript Recommended: l Lapin,"The Construction of Households in the Mishnah," forthcoming.
Tu 4/26 Th 4/28	5. "Making" men and women Numbers 5:11–31 Mishnah Sotah 1–6 Baskin, Midrashic Women, 13–64 ¢ M. Satlow,"Try to be a Man," HTR 89 (1996), 19–40 Rubenstein, Culture of the Babylonian Talmud, 102–122 *April 28: 2nd Writing Assignment Due*
Tu 5/3 Th 5/5	8. Blaming the Victim?Women and the Uncertainties of Childbirth Mishnah Shabbat 2:6 Yerushalmi Shabbat 2:6 (5b) Babli Shabbat 31b–32a Baskin, Midrashic Women, 119–160 ¢ Lapin, "Hegemony and Its Discontents," in In R. Kalmin and S. Schwartz, eds., Jewish Culture and Society under the Christian Roman Empire (Bremen: Peeters, 2003), 319–348
*V. Concluding Discussions*
Tu 5/10 Th 5/12	7. Discusion of Rubenstein, Baskin, and Review
Fri 5/20	Final Examination

Written Assignments

Assignment 1 (due 3/8):
Compare the passages of the Mishnah regarding people who watch the property of others (Hebrew "shomerim;" in English usually bailees or depositaries) with one of the following: the selections from the Mekhilta, the Tosefta (in which case focus on the passages from Baba' Mesi'a' chapter 3 in the Mishnah), or the Babylonian Talmud. Whichever you choose, give as detailed an account as you can of the relationship between the two texts. In your analysis you should consider the following:

i. What kind of relationship are you describing: For instance, is it commentary (e.g.: text B quotes and explains text A?), a non-relationship (texts A and B talk about similar topics but are totally unrelated ...), or something else?

ii. Does Scripture play a role? (For instance, the Mekilta is a commentary on Exodus. What is the role of that Biblical passage in Exodus for the Mishnah? Is the interpretation in the Mekilta the"logical" one based on your reading of Exodus, or does it start with certain assumptions about the rules; and if so, what relationship do those assumed rules have with the Mishnah?)

iii. On the basis of your analysis (and recognizing that you are working with a small, and possibly unrepresentative, sample) which text came first the Mishnah or the other text with which you are comparing it?

Your discussion should be six to eight pages. Your only required texts for this paper are the primary sources. Please remember to refer to them carefully and to provide citation of the passages you quote. You may find it helpful to go over the relevant chapters in Strack, Stemberger, Introduction or other readings, in which case you should cite them as well.

[Note: If you find that you have exhausted the sources quickly you may work on more than two texts. However, this probably means you're not looking hard enough. A hint for the lazy: The Tosefta and the Babylonian Talmud offer the most straightforward comparisons to the Mishnah. Given the selections I've provided, the Tosefta gives you the most material to compare.]

Assignment 2 (due 4/28):

Judith Baskin's Midrashic Women argues for a common rabbinic view of women. Boyarin, at least in the chapter that we read about rabbis and marriage (with implications for how rabbis understood women and sex), argues for important differences between Palestinian and Babylonian rabbis. Kalmin and Rubenstein sees broad cultural distinctions between Babylonians and Palestinians but differ on when to date these distinctions. This exercise asks you to examine this issue further.

i. Using the index in Baskin's book look up the passages that Baskin quotes and discusses from Babylonian Talmud tractates Berakhot and Niddah; and from Genesis Rabbah (a Palestinian midrash) Chapters 1–18. In going over this material identify as many cases as you can of"parallels" (i.e., places where the two collections present versions of the same tradition or traditions). Do the Babylonian and Palestinian versions of the parallel traditions reflect similar or different interests and concerns? What about the non-parallel material? Does this suggest similar or different concerns between the Babylonian Talmud and Genesis Rabbah?

ii. Does your closer look at the passages cited by Baskin lead you to see greater difference or greater commonality between Babylonian and Palestinian rabbis? It may be helpful for you compare your conclusions with Baskin, Boyarin, Rubenstein and Kalmin.

iii. Choose one chapter in Baskin, Midrashic Women, and explain how your conclusion in ii. supports or weakens her argument in that chapter.

Write up your discussion of each of the preceding in an essay of 6 to 8 pages (2-3 pp. per section). Please be sure to give clear and explicit examples from the texts that you examined, and, wherever relevant, from the works of Baskin, Boyarin, and Kalmin. (Remember, when in doubt, provide a reference!)