Description
Book SynopsisNaftali S. Cohn provides an innovative understanding of the rabbinic authors of the Mishnah and their intense focus on the Temple. He contends that the memory of the Temple served a political function for the rabbis, arguing for their own importance within the complex social landscape of Jewish society in Roman Palestine.
Trade Review"A learned, nuanced, and well-written study of an important theme in a foundational text of rabbinic Judaism. Cohn shows that we must look outside rabbinic literature if we are to place the Mishnah in a meaningful context. Well done." * Shaye J. D. Cohen, Harvard University *
Table of ContentsNotes on Usage
Introduction: The Narration of Temple Ritual as Rabbinic Memory in the Late Second or Early Third Century
Chapter 1. Rabbis as Jurists of Judaean Ritual Law and Competing Claims for Authority
Chapter 2. The Temple, the Great Court, and the Rabbinic Invention of the Past
Chapter 3. Narrative Form and Rabbinic Authority
Chapter 4. Constructing Sacred Space
Chapter 5. The Mishnah in the Context of a Wider Judaean, Christian, and Roman Temple Discourse
Conclusion: The Memory of the Temple and the Making of the Rabbis
Appendix A: The Mishnah's Temple Ritual Narratives and Court-Centered Ritual Narratives
Appendix B: Mishnaic Narratives in Which a Rabbi or Rabbis Issue an Opinion with Respect to a Case
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Acknowledgments
