by hadassah | Apr 8, 2008 | The Rabbis
The following passage in the Babylonian Talmud highlights the human element in the interpretation and application of the divinely written Torah. Even God, as it were, accepts the authority of the Rabbis to interpret the law. We learned elsewhere- 79 “If he cut it into...
by hadassah | Apr 8, 2008 | The Rabbis
The Mishnah includes one tractate, Avot, known also as Pirqe Avot, “Chapters of the Fathers,” which provides a chain of tradition for Rabbinic Judaism, tracing the authority of both the written and the oral laws from Moses at Mount Sinai to Rabbi Judah the Prince. In...
by hadassah | Apr 8, 2008 | Background, From Alexander to the Maccabees, The Rabbis
Josephus, War I, 110-12: The Pharisees in Power Excerpted from Lawrence H. Schiffman, Texts and Traditions, Ktav, Hoboken 1998, p.512. Josephus here gives his opinion about how the Pharisees came to be the dominant party in the time of the Hasmonean queen,...
by hadassah | Apr 8, 2008 | The Rabbis
Lawrence H. Schiffman, From Text to Tradition, Ktav Publishing House, Hoboken, NJ, 1991. In order to understand how this transition took place, and how the tannaitic corpus developed, some explanation of the history and function of the tannaitic academies...
by hadassah | Apr 8, 2008 | The Rabbis
Lawrence H. Schiffman, From Text to Tradition, Ktav Publishing House, Hoboken, NJ, 1991. Inherent in the later traditions, and indeed, in most modern scholarly treatments, is the assumption that the Pharisees bequeathed their traditions to the tannaim. The...
by hadassah | Apr 8, 2008 | The Rabbis
The Tannaim and their Institutions (circa 70-3rd Century CE) From Pharisees to Rabbis Inherent in the later traditions, and indeed, in most modern scholarly treatments, is the assumption that the Pharisees bequeathed their traditions to the tannaim. The...
