A History of the Jews in Babylonia

by Neusner, Jacob

• ISBN13: 9781606080788
• ISBN10: 1606080784
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-12-11
• Publisher: Wipf & Stock Pub

Summary

Neusner is editor of the Encyclopaedia of Judaism (Brill, 1999. I-III) and its Supplements; chairman of the Editorial Board of The Review of Rabbinic Judaism, and Editor in Chief of The Brill Reference Library of Judaism, both of them published by E. J. Brill, Leiden, The Netherlands. He is editor of Studies in Judaism, University Press of America.

Author Biography

Jacob Neusner is Research Professor of Religion and Theology at Bard College and Senior Fellow of the Institute of Advanced Theology at Bard. He has published more than 900 books and unnumbered articles, both scholarly and academic and popular and journalistic, and is the most published humanities scholar in the world. He has been awarded nine honorary degrees, including seven United States and European honorary doctorates. He received his A.B. from Harvard College in 1953, his Ph.D. from Columbia University and Union Theological Seminary in 1961, and Rabbinical Ordination and the degree of Master of Hebrew Letters from the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, in 1960.

Table of Contents

List of Maps	p. XI
Tables	p. XIII
Sasanian Emperors	p. XIII
Byzantine Emperors	p. XIII
Roman-Iranian Relations	p. XIV
Seleucian Patriarchs	p. XIV
Preface	p. XV
Abbreviations	p. XXIII
Maps I-III	p. XXV
To the End of the Fourth Century	p. 1
Ardashir II, Shapur III, and Bahram IV	p. 1
Yazdagird I	p. 3
Mazdaism	p. 6
Christianity	p. 6
Yazdagird I and the Jews	p. 8
Babylonian Jewry at the End of the Fourth Century	p. 14
Judaism and Other Religions	p. 19
Jews and Gentiles	p. 24
Summary and Conclusions	p. 29
The Fifth Century	p. 35
The Hephthalite Problem	p. 35
Bahram V and Yazdagird II	p. 37
Hormizd III and Peroz	p. 40
Balash	p. 41
Mazdaism	p. 42
Christianity	p. 43
The Exilarch	p. 45
Yazdagird II, Peroz, and the Jews	p. 60
Summary and Conclusions	p. 69
The Sixth Century	p. 73
Kavad I and Mazdak	p. 73
Khusro I	p. 79
Hormizd IV and Bahram VI	p. 85
Mazdaism	p. 88
Christianity	p. 92
The Jewish State of Mar Zutra II	p. 95
Jewry from Kavad I to Bahram VI	p. 105
Summary and Conclusions	p. 108
The Seventh Century	p. 113
Khusro II ("The Triumphant")	p. 113
Kavad II, Boran, Ardashir III, Hormizd V, Khusro III, and Yazdagird III	p. 117
Mazdaism	p. 119
Christianity	p. 119
Palestinian Jewry and the Iranian Capture of Jerusalem	p. 122
The Exilarch in the Sixth and Seventh Centuries	p. 124
Babylonian Jewry at the End of Sasanian Times	p. 127
Summary and Conclusions	p. 130
The Schools	p. 133
Introduction	p. 133
Geonic and Medieval Traditions on the Later Masters	p. 135
The Ritual of "Being a Rabbi"	p. 146
The Glory of the Sage on Earth	p. 168
The Power of the Sage in Heaven: Introduction	p. 174
Miracles. Rainmaking	p. 178
Magic	p. 180
Curses, the Evil Eye, and Demons	p. 183
Visions, Dreams, and Other Heavenly Revelations	p. 186
The Science of Astrology	p. 190
Medical Traditions	p. 193
The Mind of the Schools (i): Theology	p. 196
The Mind of the Schools (ii): Liturgy	p. 200
The Mind of the Schools (iii): Exegesis	p. 203
Summary and Conclusions	p. 207
Other Jews, Other Magicians	p. 217
Introduction	p. 217
Magical Bowls: Selected Texts	p. 218
R. Joshua b. Perahia in Babylonia	p. 235
Summary and Conclusions	p. 241
The Courts	p. 244
Introduction	p. 244
Rabbis and the Exilarch	p. 248
Rabbis and the Community	p. 259
Rabbis and the Synagogue	p. 262
The Courts and the Public Welfare	p. 265
Court Procedures	p. 267
Court Powers	p. 272
The Sacred Calendar	p. 274
Food Laws	p. 279
Sexual Tabboos. Circumcision	p. 284
Holy Objects	p. 285
Mourning Rites	p. 287
Family Life	p. 289
Marriage	p. 294
Dissolution of Marriage	p. 297
Farm and Marketplace	p. 300
Workers and Slaves	p. 304
Sale and Transfer of Movables	p. 305
Real Estate and Immovables	p. 306
Testaments, Gifts, and Orphans' Property	p. 311
Legal Documents	p. 314
Loans and Usury	p. 315
Thefts, Torts, and Other Damages	p. 318
Summary and Conclusions	p. 320
Appendix: The Language of the Magical Bowls Baruch A. Levine, New York University	p. 343
Supplementary Bibliography	p. 376
Index of Biblical and Talmudic Passages	p. 388
Cumulative Index, Volumes I through V	p. 394
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