A comparison between Avot and Philostratus’ Lives of the Sophists underscores striking similarities and differences between the compositions and thereby functions as a natural springboard into the analysis of Avot in light of the Second[…]
Philologists can sometimes forget that texts are not themselves autonomous subjects that move here and there, or chameleons that change color to fit the scenery. What numerous intertalmudic parallels throughout the Bavli and Yerushalmi—including collections[…]
The turn to the Talmud as a book of Western wisdom in Japan, Korea, and China is reminiscent of a similar interest in and fetishizing of Eastern wisdom in the West. On a visit to[…]
…the ability of an individual halakhist to bring about a change depends, to a certain extent, on his ability to foresee the opposition of his peers to his innovation. From these conclusions, it is possible[…]
It should be remembered that recycling is not a modern Western concept, but is deeply rooted in human behaviour and economic practice and is the likely explanation for the relative scarcity of metal finds at[…]
As in earlier periods, the staple crops were wheat, barley and dates. A daily grain market is referred to at Nehardea (Avodah Zarah 38b) and the twin towns of Hini and Shili, somewhere near Sura,[…]
By far, the most important source for mapping Jewish settlement and, in a sense, urban reality as a whole in Sasanian Babylonia is the Babylonian Talmud. The dearth of any substantial late antique Jewish archaeology[…]
The archaeological remains in Babylonia reveal few clear markers of Jewish identity. In the Greek and Roman world, with their so-called epigraphic habit, plenty of inscriptions have been unearthed that attest to a Jewish presence.[…]
Rabbinic and Roman texts create the impression of a clear dichotomy between slaves and free people. Just as free male Roman citizens were eager to distinguish themselves from slaves (servi), rabbis emphasized their distinction from[…]
For the rabbis, breastfeeding offers a fascinating set of variables for academic investigation. First, breast milk is produced by women and for infants, both of which are non-normative rabbinic categories of people. Second, it is[…]