by hadassah | Sep 13, 2016 | Babylonian and Greco Roman Diasporas
The Roman Judean period was a period of ultimate crisis for the Jews. There’s been no period like this first century after the Temple was destroyed. Prof. Steven Fine, Yeshiva University, Produced by Down Low Pictures for COJS
by hadassah | Sep 12, 2016 | Babylonian and Greco Roman Diasporas
We don’t know a lot about what the Jews were like in ancient Rome in the second century BCE, when Jews and Romans had a mutual enemy known as the Seleucid Greeks. Prof. Steven Fine, Yeshiva University, Produced by Down Low Pictures for COJS
by hadassah | Mar 23, 2016 | Babylonian and Greco Roman Diasporas
Rabbi Akiva met a tanna in Babylonia, Nehemiah of Bet Deli, who had been a student of Rabban Gamliel I in the Land of Israel. He was still able to transmit traditions from his teacher that were not known in the Land of Israel. “Rabbi Akiva said, “When I...
by hadassah | Mar 15, 2016 | Babylonian and Greco Roman Diasporas
A mask of the Sassanian king Shapur II ruled 241-272 CE, known in rabbinic sources as “Shapur Malka.”
by hadassah | Mar 6, 2016 | Babylonian and Greco Roman Diasporas
Later traditions recognized the importance of Rabbi Judah ben Bathyra I’s teachings in Babylonia as can be seen from his presence in this list with the great figures of tannaitic tradition and their centers of learning. “‘Righteousness,...
by hadassah | Mar 6, 2016 | Babylonian and Greco Roman Diasporas
Already in the tannaitic period, Rabbinic sages were to be found in Babylonia. Most prominent among them was Rabbi Judah ben Bathyra I (mid-first century C.E.) settled in Nisibis before the destruction of the Temple. Rabbi Yose said, “Once I visited Nisibis,...