Gray, Charity in Rabbinic Judaism

NEW BOOK FROM ROUTLEDGE:

Charity in Rabbinic Judaism
Atonement, Rewards, and Righteousness, 1st Edition
By Alyssa M. Gray

Routledge

214 pages

Studying the many ideas about how giving charity atones for sin and other rewards in late antique rabbinic literature, this volume contains many, varied, and even conflicting ideas, as the multiplicity must be recognized and allowed expression.

Topics include the significance of the rabbis’ use of the biblical word "tzedaqah" as charity, the coexistence of the idea that God is the ultimate recipient of tzedaqah along with rabbinic ambivalence about that idea, redemptive almsgiving, and the reward for charity of retention or increase in wealth. Rabbinic literature’s preference for "teshuvah" (repentance) over tzedeqah to atone for sin is also closely examined. Throughout, close attention is paid to chronological differences in these ideas, and to differences between the rabbinic compilations of the land of Israel and the Babylonian Talmud. The book extensively analyzes the various ways the Babylonian Talmud especially tends to put limits on the divine element in charity while privileging its human, this-worldly dimensions. This tendency also characterizes the Babylonian Talmud’s treatment of other topics. The book briefly surveys some post-Talmudic developments.

As the study fills a gap in existing scholarship on charity and the rabbis, it is an invaluable resource for scholars and clergy interested in charity within comparative religion, history, and religion.

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The Talmud on birds and math

THIS WEEK'S DAF YOMI COLUMN BY ADAM KIRSCH IN TABLET: The Birds. ‘Daf Yomi’: The Talmud’s shortest and most difficult tractate is nominally about the sacrifice of feathered animals. In fact, it sets up a number of mathematical problems that delight the rabbis in their pursuit of pure knowledge.

The birds in a nest can be either pigeons or doves, but both must be of the same species. The two birds are sacrificed in different ways: One is a burnt offering, which means that its blood is sprinkled on the lower half of the altar, and the other is a sin offering, whose blood is sprinkled on the upper half. The woman bringing the sacrifice can either designate which bird is for which purpose or she can leave them undesignated, so that it’s up to the priest to decide.

Earlier Daf Yomi columns are noted here and links.

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The church of the "glorious martyr" at Beit Shemesh

ARCHAEOLOGY: Opulent 1,500-year-old church to mystery ‘glorious martyr’ found at Beit Shemesh. Site yields rare intact crypt of anonymous martyr immortalized by Greek inscription; Jerusalem museum exhibit of findings showcases massive collection of delicate glass artifacts (AMANDA BORSCHEL-DAN, Times of Israel).

For past posts on the site of Beit Shemesh and the excavation there, see here and links and here and links.

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2019 CRINT Essay Prize awarded

CONGRATULATIONS TO DR. GORE-JONES:

The Compendia Rerum Iudaicarum ad Novum Testamentum (CRINT) Foundation is pleased to announce that the 2019 CRINT Essay Prize has been awarded to

Lydia Gore-Jones
St Andrew’s Greek Orthodox Theological College
Sydney, Australia

for her paper entitled Torah as Wisdom in Late Second Temple Judaism by Example of 4 Ezra and 2 Baruch.

Follow the link for further details, including more information on the CRINT Essay Prize. And thanks to Dr. Matthijs den Dulk for alerting PaleoJudaica.

Cross-file under Old Testament Pseudepigrapha Watch.

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Sukkot as a festival of future redemption

BELATEDLY FOR SUKKOT: Sukkot, the Festival of Future Redemption for Jews and Gentiles (Prof. Rabbi Joshua Garroway, TheTorah.com)

Zechariah 14 envisions a time when all the nations will come to the Temple in Jerusalem on Sukkot. The festival’s eschatological significance in the Second Temple period may be further hinted at in Pseudepigraphical works, in the book of Revelation, and on coins minted during the great rebellion and the Bar Kochba rebellion.

A related PaleoJudaica post from some years ago is here.

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Did Pontius Pilate build the "Herodian street" in Jerusalem?

TEMPLE MOUNT WATCH, MORE OR LESS: Monumental Jerusalem Street Was Built by Pontius Pilate, Israeli Archaeologists Say. The ancient 'Herodian street,' whose recent reopening by right-wing politicians and U.S. envoys stirred controversy, was commissioned by the Roman governor hated by Jews and Christians alike (Ariel David, Haaretz premium).

The research published Tuesday in the peer-reviewed publication Tel Aviv: Journal of the Institute of Archaeology of Tel Aviv University analyzed coins that were found beneath and above the ancient thoroughfare. The monumental street, paved with massive stone slabs, climbs to the southern side of the Temple Mount from the pool of Siloam, running through what today is known as the City of David, the most ancient part of Jerusalem.

Cross-file under Numismatics.

For some past PaleoJudaica posts on Pontius Pilate, see here and links.

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Professor Obbink denies the charges

THE ETC BLOG: Dirk Obbink Denies Wrongdoing (Peter Gurry). This post quotes the statement issued by Professor Obbink's attorney. It denies the charges unequivocally and suggests that the documents offered as evidence are forged.

Also, over at the Variant Readings Blog, Brent Nongbri covers this development and more:

A Statement from Dirk Obbink

More News on Stolen Papyri from the Egypt Exploration Society

A Couple More Manuscripts of Questionable Origins

Professor Obbink's statement was issued over the weekend. I am trying to keep up with this and other stories, but my time for blogging is limited. My life remains very unsettled. So I am relying a lot on pre-posting, with random bouts of catch-up. If you want faster updates on this particular situation, keep an eye on the two blogs above.

Background here and links.

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Blenkinsopp, Essays on the Book of Isaiah

NEW BOOK FROM MOHR SIEBECK: Joseph Blenkinsopp. Essays on the Book of Isaiah. [Aufsätze zum Buch Jesaja.] 2019. V, 248 pages. Forschungen zum Alten Testament 128. 119,00 € including VAT. cloth ISBN 978-3-16-156482-6.

Published in English.
This collection of twenty essays by Joseph Blenkinsopp on different aspects of the book of Isaiah is the product of three decades of close study of the most seminal and challenging texts of the Hebrew Bible. Five of the twenty are published here for the first time. Some deal with major themes in Isaiah, for example, universalism, the Hebrew God as creator in dialogue with Babylonian and Zoroastrian theologies of creation, theology and politics, and the Suffering Servant of the Lord God, which is of such great influence on the presentation of the life and death of Jesus in the New Testament. Others consist in close readings of specific texts in the book Aufsätze zum Buch Jesaja.

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Chilton on "The Logic of Jesus’ Resurrection"

THE BIBLE AND INTERPRETATION:

The Logic of Jesus’ Resurrection

The conventional presentation [empty tomb] has become so prevalent that it needs to be mentioned in order to be set aside because it flies in the face of the fact that “the empty tomb” is a latecomer to the traditions regarding how God raised Jesus from the dead. The resurrection was conceived of as bodily by Jesus’ disciples, but they did not all assert a single origin story, nor did they always conceive of his body in a physical way.

See Also: Resurrection Logic: How Jesus' First Followers Believed God Raised Him from the Dead (Baylor University Press, 2019).

By Bruce Chilton
Institute of Advanced Theology
Bard College
October 2019

Cross-file under New Book. Some past PaleoJudaica posts pertaining to the Empty Tomb traditions are here and links, here, and here.

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Review of Isaac, Empire and Ideology in the Graeco-Roman World

BRYN MAYR CLASSICAL REVIEW: Benjamin Henri Isaac, Empire and Ideology in the Graeco-Roman World: Selected Papers. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press, 2017. Pp. ix, 372. ISBN 9781107135895. £90.00​. Reviewed by Conor Whately, University of Winnipeg (c.whately@uwinnipeg.ca).

Over the past few decades, one of the most perceptive scholars of Rome and its empire has been Benjamin Isaac, who has waded into contentious debates like Roman racism and the multi-cultural character of the Roman world, and the degree to which the Romans engaged in strategic thinking. The seventeen chapters of this book, like Isaac’s previous publications, focus on Roman military affairs, ancient prejudice and racism, and the Roman Near East.1 The dominant, underlying theme of the essays is the problem of anachronism both in terms of evidence and scholarship, and most readers should find something of value in this rich collection.

[...]

Many of the essays involve ancient Judaism.

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Shemeni Atzeret and Simchat Torah 2019

SHEMINI ATZERET begins tonight at sundown. In Israel, this is also the holiday of Simchat Torah (Simhat Torah). Outside of Israel, the latter holiday begins tomorrow at sundown. Best wishes to all those celebrating!

Last year's Shemini Atzeret post is here, and the 2017 post has biblical etc. links.

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More on the Phoenicia's new voyage and Phoenicians in the Americas

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: Phoenicians Sailing to the New World. Did Phoenicians beat Christopher Columbus to the Americas by thousands of years? (Jonathan Laden). As I've said before, it's possible. But there is no credible evidence that they did.

This BHD essay notes the new expedition of the Good Ship Phoenicia in the direction of the Americas to try to establish that such a voyage was possible in an ancient Phoenician ship. I wish them a safe and successful journey.

I noted the expedition here, with links to past posts on why I am not convinced of the authenticity of supposedly ancient Phoenician and Hebrew inscriptions in the New World. The BHD essay adds additional evidence for skepticism. Cross-file under Phoenician Watch and New World Forgeries.

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