Understanding Second Temple and Rabbinic Judaism

by Schiffman, Lawrence H.; Bloomberg, Jon; Kapustin, Samuel

• ISBN13: 9780881258134
• ISBN10: 088125813X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-08-01
• Publisher: Ktav Pub & Distributors Inc

Summary

Describes the Second Temple period (the first few centuries before and after the common era) and its influence on the development of Rabbinic Judaism, which is the foundation for all of modern Judaism.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations	xi
List of Maps and Charts	xiii
Preface	xv
Acknowledgments	xvii
Introduction	3	(1)
Significance of the Period	3	(1)
Method	4	(1)
One Judaism or Many?	4	(1)
Sources	5	(7)
Dominant Trends and Issues	12	(2)
Summary	14	(1)
The Biblical Heritage	15	(24)
Historical Sketch	15	(5)
The History of Civilization According to the Bible	20	(1)
Revelation and Law	21	(3)
Sacrifice and Priesthood	24	(1)
Prophecy	25	(3)
Wisdom Literature	28	(1)
Summary	29	(10)
Judaism in the Persian Period	39	(35)
Historical and Archaeological Background	39	(1)
Political Affairs	40	(8)
The Second Temple	48	(1)
The Samaritan Schism	49	(1)
Midrash and the Foundations of Jewish Law	50	(2)
The Literature of the Period	52	(6)
The Canonization of the Hebrew Scriptures	58	(3)
Summary	61	(13)
The Hellenistic Age	74	(43)
Hellenism as a Cultural Phenomenon	74	(2)
Under Ptolemies and Seleucids	76	(3)
The Jerusalem Temple and Priesthood	79	(2)
The Gerousia	81	(2)
Hellenistic Trends in Palestinian Judaism	83	(2)
Hellenistic Reform and the Maccabean Revolt	85	(6)
Summary	91	(26)
Judaism in the Hellenistic Diaspora	117	(33)
The Early History of Babylonian Jewry	117	(2)
Jews in the Hellenistic World	119	(3)
Political, Social, and Economic Developments	122	(2)
Religious Life	124	(2)
Anti-Semitism in the Hellenistic World	126	(1)
The Literature of the Hellenistic Diaspora	127	(5)
Summary	132	(18)
Sectarianism in the Second Commonwealth	150	(47)
The Hasmonean Dynasty	151	(4)
Pharisees and Sadducees	155	(8)
Apocalyptics and Ascetics	163	(6)
Summary	169	(28)
Apocrypha, Pseudepigrapha, and the Dead Sea Scrolls	197	(27)
The Apocrypha	198	(5)
Pseudepigrapha	203	(3)
Dead Sea Scrolls	206	(7)
Summary	213	(11)
The Jewish-Christian Schism	224	(30)
Judea Under Roman Rule	224	(3)
Herodian Rule	227	(3)
Judea Under the Procurators	230	(3)
The Rise of the Early Church	233	(3)
Parting of the Ways	236	(2)
Jewish-Christian Relations in the Early Centuries	238	(1)
Summary	239	(15)
Revolt	254	(16)
Josephus: Historian of the Great Revolt	255	(1)
The Great Revolt	256	(4)
Summary	260	(10)
Restoration	270	(22)
Destruction and Its Aftermath	270	(3)
From Temple to Synagogue	273	(3)
Restoration of Autonomy: The Authority of the Rabbis	276	(2)
The Bar Kokhba Revolt	278	(3)
Rebuilding for the Future	281	(1)
Summary	282	(10)
Mishnah: The New Scripture	292	(35)
From Pharisees to Rabbis	292	(2)
Written and Oral Torah	294	(1)
The Tannaitic Academies	294	(3)
Midrash and Mishnah	297	(3)
Halakhah and Aggadah	300	(1)
The Redaction of the Mishnah	301	(6)
Other Tannaitic Texts	307	(1)
Summary	308	(19)
Formative Judaism Comes of Age	327	(29)
Decline of Hellenistic Judaism	327	(2)
Under Byzantine Christianity	329	(10)
By the Rivers of Babylon	339	(5)
Summary	344	(12)
The Sea of the Talmud	356	(22)
Amoraic Schools	356	(4)
From Amoraic Interpretation to Talmudic Texts	360	(2)
The Palestinian Talmud	362	(3)
The Babylonian Talmud	365	(4)
The Exegetical and Homilectical Midrashim	369	(1)
Liturgy	369	(2)
Summary	371	(7)
Epilogue: The Triumph of the Babylonian Talmud	378	(5)
Glossary	383	(9)
Suggestions for Further Reading and Bibliography	392	(8)
Index	400