Land, Center & Diaspora: Jewish Constructs in Late Antiquity (JSP Supplements)

136 Pages·1997·6.57 MB·English

by  Isaiah M. Gafni

JOURNAL FOR THE STUDY OF THE PSEUDEPIGRAPHA
SUPPLEMENT SERIES
21
Editors
James H. Charlesworth
Lester L. Grabbe
Editorial Board
Randall D. Chesnutt, Philip R. Davies, Jan Willem van Henten,
Judith M. Lieu, Steven Mason, James R. Mueller,
Loren T. Stuckenbruck, James C. VanderKam
Sheffield Academic Press

Land, Center and Diaspora
Jewish Constructs in Late Antiquity
Isaiah M. Gafni
Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha
Supplement Series 21
Copyright © 1997 Sheffield Academic Press
Published by
Sheffield Academic Press Ltd
Mansion House
19KingfieldRoad
Sheffield SI 1 9AS
England
Typeset by Sheffield Academic Press
and
Printed on acid-free paper in Great Britain
by Bookcraft Ltd
Midsomer Norton, Bath
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available
from the British Library
ISBN 1-85075-644-9
CONTENTS
Preface 7
Acknowledgments 9
Abbreviations 10
Introduction 11
Chapter 1
JEWISH DISPERSION IN THE SECOND TEMPLE AND TALMUDIC
PERIODS: PUNISHMENT, BLESSING OR UNIVERSAL MISSION? 19
Chapter 2
AT HOME WHILE ABROAD: EXPRESSIONS OF LOCAL
PATRIOTISM IN THE JEWISH DIASPORA OF LATE ANTIQUITY 41
Chapter 3
BETWEEN ACTIVISM AND PASSIVITY: RABBINIC
ATTITUDES TOWARDS 'THE LAND' 58
Chapter 4
BURIAL AND REINTERMENT IN THE LAND OF ISRAEL:
THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS 79
Chapter 5
BABYLONIA AND THE LAND OF ISRAEL:
THE LOYAL OPPOSITION 96
CONCLUSIONS 118
Bibliography 121
Index of References 130
Index of Authors 135

PREFACE
During the second and third weeks of January 1994,1 had the honour of
delivering the third series of Jacobs Lectures in Rabbinic Thought,
sponsored by the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies. The
topic I chose for the lecture series was: 'Rabbinic Reflections on Land,
Center and Diaspora'. Upon completion of the series, I was encouraged
by Philip Alexander and Martin Goodman to submit the text of my talks
for publication, and this book is the result of their kind suggestion. The
nature of the different presentations will help to explain the format of
their present publication. Two of the lectures were delivered as formal
presentations, and they are represented here as Chapters 1 and 3.
Another two talks, included here as Chapters 4 and 5, were conducted
as seminars, with the relevant texts before the participants. This would
explain the somewhat more extensive use of texts and their analysis in
these two chapters. The fifth presentation (Chapter 1) was originally
intended as a somewhat informal discussion at Yamton Manor, at which
time I attempted to sketch the broad range of issues relating to center-
diaspora affairs as they reflect on Jewish life in Late Antiquity. The point
of all this is to explain that 1 have tried, to the best of my ability and
following the advice of Dr Alexander and Dr Goodman, to retain the
structure of the original lectures, with the full realization that my treat­
ment is selective at best, with each chapter focusing on specific and
limited issues. A comprehensive study of center and diaspora in Late
Jewish Antiquity remains a desideratum, and such a study would surely
also include the detailed and comprehensive footnotes that are missing,
by choice, in this modest volume.
In preparing for these lectures, I realized that as far back as 1977,
when I first published an article on 'Bringing the Dead for Burial in the
Land of Israel', I had become fascinated by the diaspora phenomenon in
Jewish history, and the light it sheds, when examined carefully, on so
many facets of Jewish self-identity. I continued with subsequent research
on related aspects of center-diaspora relations, and a number of these
8 Land, Center and Diaspora
studies served as earlier versions, upon which I built in preparing
portions of the lectures included in this volume. I have referred to all my
previous discussions of these issues in the notes to the relevant chapters.
The reader should note that I have chosen to revise the second chapter
of this book. As noted above, the original context of that presentation
was an informal discussion, but here it constitutes an introductory survey
of one major aspect of the diaspora phenomenon: the nature and expres­
sions of local patriotism embraced by Jews in the various diaspora com­
munities in Late Antiquity. This issue goes to the very heart of Jewish
identity, and I would be disingenuous if 1 did not admit that some of the
very same questions I will raise in connection with Alexandrian or
Babylonian Jewry in this chapter will possibly tug at the hearts of certain
people—or Jewish communities—today. In even greater candor I would
have to admit that my own personal history, growing up as a child in a
diaspora environment, speaking Hebrew with ray father on the streets of
New York, and emigrating by myself as a fourteen-year-old youth to the
Land of Israel—might also have contributed in no small manner to my
long-standing preoccupation with the center-diaspora phenomenon in
Jewish history. Like all self-proclaimed objective historians, I sincerely
hope that I have not allowed my personal history to intrude into my
critical observations of the past; in my heart 1 know how unlikely it is
that I have truly succeeded.
Isaiah M. Gafni
The Hebrew University
Jerusalem
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Words of gratitude and recognition are due a number of friends and
institutions for their kind assistance at various stages of this book's
preparation. My colleagues, Daniel Schwartz and Martin Goodman, read
major portions of the early draft and their comments not only improved
the text but also saved me from some embarrassing slips and oversights.
I am also indebted to Erich Gruen for his excellent comments on the
first two chapters. My student at the Hebrew University, Geoffrey
Herman, helped in the correction of the final proofs.
I began work on these lectures while a fellow at the Institute for
Advanced Studies of the Hebrew University, and completed the final
draft while Senior Fellow at the Center for the Study of World Religions
at Harvard University, serving also as the Weinstock Visiting Professor
at that university's Center for Jewish Studies. The heads and staff mem­
bers of these institutions have, over the years, shown me nothing but the
utmost kindness, and I take this opportunity to express my sincere thanks
for all their help and goodwill.
Last and certainly not least, no expressions of gratitude will do justice
to all I owe my wife Naomi, who has for almost thirty years followed
me time and again in my travels 'from Center to Diaspora':
ABBREVIATIONS
AGJU Arbeiten zur Geschichte des antiken Judentums und des
Urchristentums
ANRW Aufstieg und Niedergang der romischen Welt
BJS Brown Judaic Studies
CII Corpus inscriptionum iudaicarum
CRINT Compendia rerum iudaicarum ad Novum Testamentum
GTA Gottinger theologische Arbeiten
HTR Harvard Theological Review
lEJ Israel Exploration Journal
JAOS Journal of the American Oriental Society
JJS Journal of Jewish Studies
JQR Jewish Quarterly Review
JSJ Journal for the Study of Judaism in the Persian, Hellenistic
and Roman Period
JSP Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha
NovTSup Novum Testamentum, Supplements
PAAJR Proceedings of the American Academy of Jewish Research
REJ Revue des etudes juives
SJLA Studies in Judaism in Late Antiquity
SPB Studia postbiblica
TSAJ Texte und Studien zum antiken Judentum
WUNT Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament
ZAW ZeitschriftfUr die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft