Rabbis and Classical Rhetoric: Sophistic Education and Oratory in the Talmud and Midrash

350 Pages·2017·5.689 MB·English

by  Richard Hidary

Rabbis and Classical Rhetoric
Sophistic Education and Oratory
in the Talmud and Midrash
Traininginrhetoric–theartofpersuasion–formedthebasisofeduca-
tionintheRomanEmpire.Theclassicalintellectualworldcenteredon
thedebatebetweenphilosophers,whoboastedknowledgeofobjective
reality,andsophists,whocoulddebatebothsidesofanyissueandwho
attracted large audiences and paying students. The roles of the Tal-
mudic rabbis as public orators, teachers, and jurists parallel those of
Romanrhetors.Rabbinicliteratureadoptedandadaptedvariousaspects
oftheclassicalrhetoricaltradition,asisdemonstratedintheTalmudic
penchant for arguing both sides of hypothetical cases, the midrashic
hermeneutical methods, and the structure of synagogue sermons. At
the same time, the rabbis also resisted the extreme epistemological
relativismofthesophists,asisevidentintheirrestraintontheoretical
argumentation,theirdepictionofrabbinicanddivinecourtprocedure,
andtheircommitmenttothebiblicalprophetictradition.RichardHid-
arydemonstrateshowtherabbissucceededinnavigatinganovelpath
betweenPlatonictruthandrhetoricalrelativism.
Richard Hidary received a PhD from New York University and is
Associate Professor of Judaic Studies at Yeshiva University where he
teachescoursesinSecondTempleJewishhistory,DeadSeaScrolls,and
rabbinicliterature inits culturalcontext. He istheauthor ofDispute
fortheSakeofHeaven:LegalPluralismintheTalmud()andhis
articles appear in AJS Review, Conversations, Dead Sea Discoveries,
DinéIsrael,EncyclopaediaJudaica,EncyclopediaoftheBibleandIts
Reception, The Jewish Review of Books, Jewish Studies, an Internet
Journal, and Okimta. He has been a fellow at Cardozo Law School’s
Center for Jewish Law and Contemporary Civilization, an affiliate
scholarattheTikvahCenterandaStarrfellowatHarvardUniversity’s
CenterforJewishStudies.

Rabbis and Classical Rhetoric
Sophistic Education and Oratory
in the Talmud and Midrash
Richard Hidary
YeshivaUniversity
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Contents
PrefaceandAcknowledgments pageix
TranslationsandAbbreviations xi
Introduction 
TheSecondSophistic 
SchoolsofRhetoric:FromGazatotheGalileeandfrom
AntiochtoElusa 
RabbinicAttitudestoGreekLanguageandWisdom 
PreviousScholarshipandMethodology 
PhilosophyandRhetoric,TruthandLanguage 
OnRhetoricalArrangement 
OutlineoftheBook 
 RabbisasOrators:TheSettingandStructure
ofRabbinicHomilies 
TheSettingofRabbinicDeclamation:TheSabbath
Sermon 
TheStructureofRabbinicDeclamation:The
ProemForm 
TheYelamdenuForm 
ThePassoverHaggadah 
Conclusion 
 RabbisasInstructors:Rhetorical
ArrangementandReasoninginthe
Yerushalmi 
TheSettingofRabbinicInstruction 
RabbanGamaliel’sNonconformity 
Source-CriticalAnalysis 
RhetoricalAnalysis 
Conclusion 
 TheAgonisticBavli:Greco-RomanRhetoric
inSasanianPersia 
Greco-RomanRhetoricinSasanianPersia 
vii
viii Contents
MustaFatherFeedHisDaughter? 
ReadingFourPortionsinSecondAdar 
LeavenOwnedonPassover 
FurtherExamples 
 ProgymnasmataandControversiaein
RabbinicLiterature 
Progymnasmata 
ControversiaeandHypotheticals 
ControversiaeandtheTaShemaForm 
RabbinicPaideia 
 TalmudicTopoi:Rhetoricandthe
HermeneuticalMethodsofMidrash 
MidrashicHermeneuticsasRhetoricalTopoi 
MidrashicHermeneuticsasAnti-SectarianPolemics 
TheSkepticalPushback 
Qalva-homer 
_
GezerahShavah 
Conclusion 
 TheRoleofLawyersinRomanandRabbinic
Courts 
AdversarialandInquisitorialCourts 
TheRomanCourtSystem 
TheRabbinicCourtSystem 
Conclusion 
 WhyAreThereLawyersinHeaven? 
HeavenlyAdvocatesintheBibleandSecondTemple
Literature 
HeavenlyAdvocatesinRabbinicLiterature 
Plato’sHeavenlyCourt 
Conclusion:RabbinicversusChristian
ApproachestoRhetoric 
TheRabbisandClassicalRhetoric 
ChristianityandClassicalRhetoric 
Forty-NineWays:OnTruthandInterpretation 
Bibliography 
IndexofSources 
IndexofNamesandSubjects 