Torah in rabbinic thought: The theology of learning

Marc Hirshman*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

18 Scopus citations

Abstract

INTRODUCTION Rabbinic literature is a complex anthology of more than half a millennium of Jewish thought, stretching from the sparse statements of the last two centuries BCE to the ample oeuvre of the first five centuries of the Common Era. All of the collections of rabbinic literature underwent a process of editing, some more refined, as that of the Mishnah and the Babylonian Talmud, some less so, as in the case of the Jerusalem Talmud. An attempt to pursue a developmental, historical view of rabbinic thought is still beyond our grasp, as the complexities of the predominantly oral transmission and later written preservation still baffle and stymie scholarship. We will select the most powerful expressions of various rabbinic positions on the meaning and significance of the Torah and Torah study, culled from the classical period of rabbinic literature (tannaitic, until 250 ce; amoraic, from 250 to 500 ce). These sources will be amplified by selections from contemporaneous Graeco-Roman and Christian literature on the one hand and by modern critical scholarship on the other. It is fair to say that among the rabbinic Sages, Torah study was accorded the highest status as a commandment, first among equals, both as a vehicle for religious knowledge and for religious self-fulfillment. The primacy of Torah in rabbinic thought is a widely recognized and well-documented phenomenon, which is epitomized in the famous exegesis of Jeremiah 16.11: “and they forsook Me and did not keep My law (torati).

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationThe Cambridge History of Judaism
Subtitle of host publicationVolume IV the Late Roman-Rabbinic Period
PublisherCambridge University Press
Pages899-924
Number of pages26
ISBN (Electronic)9781139055130
ISBN (Print)0521772486, 9780521772488
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Jan 2006

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© Cambridge University Press 2006 and Cambridge University Press, 2008.

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Torah in rabbinic thought: The theology of learning'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this