Brothers Estranged: Heresy, Christianity and Jewish Identity in Late Antiquity

295 Pages·2010·1.48 MB·English

by  Adiel Schremer

Brothers Estranged
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Brothers Estranged
Heresy, Christianity, and Jewish
Identity in Late Antiquity
adiel schremer
1
2010
1
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Schremer, Adiel.
Brothers estranged : heresy, Christianity, and Jewish identity in
late antiquity / Adiel Schremer.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-0-19-538377-5
1. Heresy in rabbinical literature. 2. Rabbinical literature—History and criticism.
3. Heretics, Jewish. 4. Providence and government of God—Judaism. 5. Judaism—
Relations—Christianity. 6. Christianity and other religions—Judaism. 7. Judaism—
History—Talmudic period B.C.–210 A.D. 8. Solidarity—Religious aspects—Judaism.
9. Faith (Judaism) I. Title.
BM496.9.H45S37 2009
296.09’015—dc22 2009013844
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
For Ilay, Yotam, and Yahalli
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Rabbi Joshua said: I received from Rabban Johannan ben
Zakkai, who received from his master, and his master from
his master, a law revealed to Moses at Sinai, that Elijah will
not come to declare unclean or to declare clean, to distance or
to draw near, but only to distance those who have been drawn
near by force, and to draw near those who have been distanced
by force . . . Rabbi Judah says: To draw near but not to distance.
Rabbi Shimon says: To reconcile rival parties. And the Sages
say: Neither to distance, nor to draw near, but to make peace
in the world. As it is said: “Behold I will send you Elijah
the prophet . . . and he will turn the hearts of fathers to their
c hildren, and the hearts of children to their fathers”
(Mal. 3:23–24).
—Mishnah, Eduyot 8:7
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Preface
This book is about the birth of Christianity. Its perspective, however,
is a Jewish one. It suggests that Christianity, as a discrete religious
entity, distinct from Judaism, was born, among many other things,
out of a complicated and dynamic social and discursive process
of both seclusion and exclusion, in which various Jewish groups,
among which were also the followers of Jesus, were introduced
under the rabbinic category of minim, and were thus produced by
rabbinic discourse as “others,” as “non-Jews.”
In early rabbinic parlance, minim is a broad term for different
Jewish groups who were considered by the rabbis as having secluded
themselves from the community, and social separatism (or any
indication of a tendency toward separatism) is termed minut. This
book’s argument is that the emergence of the rabbinic discourse of
minut was a response to an identity crisis of a posttraumatic society
shattered by the powerful Roman Empire. In order to reaffirm its
values and distinct Jewish identity, Palestinian rabbinic society
developed a discourse of “separatism,” in which its boundaries
were reestablished by the labeling of some Jews as minim and the
placement of these Jews beyond the pale. Initially, it is argued,
Christianity played only a very modest role in that process, and
the early Christians were introduced into the category of minim
and came to be considered as such only gradually. Throughout late
antiquity, the “significant other” for Palestinian rabbis remained the
Roman Empire, and one of the religious issues with which they