Shaye J.D. Cohen. “Judaism to the Mishnah: 135-220 C.E.” Part IV

Christianity and Rabbinic Judaism- a Parallel History of their Origins and Early Development. Ed. Hershal Shanks. Washington D.C.- Biblical Archaeology Society, 1993.

The Jews of the Diaspora

The Jewish communities of Alexandria in Egypt and in Cyprus and Cyrene were devastated in the revolt of 115–117 C.E. Other Jewish communities of the RomanDiaspora, however, remained vigorous throughout the second century. These included especially the community in Rome and numerous Jewish communities in Asia Minor (western Turkey). That Rome had a large and varied Jewish population is demonstrated by the Jewish catacombs,(36) the underground burial chambers used by the community. The inscriptions in the catacombs reveal a community with at least 11 synagogues (or congregations), each with its own officers and leaders, a vigorous population and a robust Jewish identity. Other cities on the Italian peninsula (notably Ostia and Venosa) also had a Jewish presence, as archaeological remains and inscriptions attest. But obviously these Jewish communities could not compete in importance with the one in Rome.

In Asia Minor Jewish communities also flourished. In the late second century, the Jewish community of Sardis, as archaeological excavations have shown, gained control of a large building that had been owned by the municipality and that fronted on the agora (the main city square). The Jews promptly converted this magnificent building into a synagogue. This synagogue was longer than a football field and opulent even by modern standards. It obviously reflects a Jewish community that was both wealthy and influential. (37) At nearby Aphrodisias a recently discovered inscription records the support that a Jewish charitable organization received from “the righteous Gentiles” (God-fearers) of the city. These Gentiles included nine members of the city council, a fact that shows that this Jewish community also was well-connected, secure and thriving. (38) The exact date of the inscription is uncertain (it may date to the third century rather than the second), but we may assume that other communities too, whether in Asia Minor or elsewhere and whether in the second century or the
third, enjoyed a peaceful and happy existence in their Diaspora setting.

The linguistic barrier between Diaspora Jews and the rabbis of Israel

Although our evidence is meager, nothing in it suggests that the Jews of the Roman Diaspora looked to the rabbis of Palestine for guidance and support. Nor is there any indication that they practiced a rabbinic form of Judaism.*

Inscriptional remains of Diaspora Jewry contain virtually no references to rabbis; nor do other archaeological remains indicate the presence of Rabbinic Judaism. (39) The Jews of the Roman Diaspora spoke Greek; their knowledge of Hebrew ranged from meager to nonexistent. In the first century C.E., Philo, the most literate and learned Jew produced by the Roman Diaspora, studied the Torah in Greek, thought about it in Greek and wrote about in Greek. As far as is known, the Diaspora Jews were no more fluent in Hebrew in the second and third centuries than they had been in the first. The rabbis, however, made no effort to translate their teachings into Greek and had no interest in Greco-Jewish literature. Josephus, Philo and all the other extant works of Greco-Jewish literature were preserved by the Church, not by Rabbinic Judaism. The languages of Rabbinic Judaism were Hebrew and Aramaic. Diaspora Jews knew little if anything of either of these two languages, so they could not have been part of the world of the rabbis. Perhaps a few rabbis of the second and third centuries knew enough Greek to speak to the local governor or other high-ranking officials, but there is no indication that such knowledge was widespread or was deemed useful for communication with the Jews of the Diaspora.

Furthermore, there is no evidence that the rabbis of the Land of Israel in either the second or the third century even made an effort to reach out to the Jews of the Diaspora. Rabbinic literature is filled with stories about the travels of the rabbis of the second century, especially of the pre-Bar Kosba period. These stories have not yet been systematically collected and evaluated, but whatever historicity they may have, they do not demonstrate that the rabbis of whatever period—whether the actors or the storytellers—were interested in spreading their message and hegemony to the Jews of the Diaspora. There is a persistent tradition in rabbinic literature that a convert to Judaism named Aquila revised the Greek translation of the Torah (the Septuagint, abbreviated LXX) under the supervision of Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Joshua, but the historicity of this claim is hard to establish. (40) In any case, there is no clear evidence before the sixth century that the Greek translation of Aquila was actually used by Diaspora Jewry. (41)

Thus, there was a serious linguistic barrier between the Jews of the Roman Diaspora and the rabbis in the Land of Israel, and there was little interest or ability on the part of these rabbis (at least in the second and third centuries) to become involved in the religious life of Diaspora Jewry. Diaspora Jews attended their synagogues; prayed and read the Torah; observed the Sabbath, holidays, food laws; believed in the one God who created heaven and earth and chose Israel to be his people; obeyed (or did not obey) their traditional authority figures—all, however, without the help of the lettered elite that was emerging in Palestine.

The Jewish Diaspora in Babylonia was Aramaic-speaking, and therefore could communicate far more easily with the rabbis of the Land of Israel than could the Greek-speaking Jews of the Roman Diaspora. Various rabbis of the second century were reported to be of Babylonian extraction, and various Palestinian rabbis were said to have traveled to Babylonia, but Babylonia was not yet in the rabbinic orbit in the second century C.E. Although the Babylonian Talmud reveals a great deal about the religious and social life of Babylonian Jewry in the
third to fifth centuries C.E, it tells us almost nothing about life in the second century. We may assume that the Jews of Babylonia, like their co-religionists in the Roman Diaspora, continued to observe their traditional practices without the help of the rabbis from the Land of Israel.