Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Introduction
- 1 Political, social, and economic life in the Land of Israel, 66–c. 235
- 2 The Diaspora from 66 to c. 235 ce
- 3 The uprisings in the Jewish Diaspora, 116–117
- 4 The Bar Kochba Revolt, 132–135
- 5 The legal status of the Jews in the Roman Empire
- 6 Jewish art and architecture in the Land of Israel, 70–C. 235
- 7 The destruction of the Jerusalem Temple: its meaning and its consequences
- 8 The origins and development of the rabbinic movement in the Land of Israel
- 9 The canonical process
- 10 The beginnings of Christian anti-Judaism, 70–C. 235
- 11 The rabbinic response to Christianity
- 12 The Mishnah
- 13 The Tosefta
- 14 Midrash Halachah
- 15 Mishnaic Hebrew: an introductory survey
- 16 The political and social history of the Jewish community in the Land of Israel, C. 235–638
- 17 The material realities of Jewish life in the Land of Israel, C. 235–638
- 18 Aramaic in late antiquity
- 19 The Diaspora, C. 235–638
- 20 Jewish archaeology in late antiquity: art, architecture, and inscriptions
- 21 Jewish festivals in late antiquity
- 22 Rabbinic prayer in late antiquity
- 23 Rabbinic views on marriage, sexuality, and the family
- 24 Women in Jewish life and law
- 25 Gentiles in rabbinic thought
- 26 The formation and character of the Jerusalem Talmud
- 27 The late midrashic, paytanic, and targumic literature
- 28 Jewish magic in late antiquity
- 29 Jewish folk literature in late antiquity
- 30 Early forms of Jewish mysticism
- 31 The Political, Social, and Economic History of Babylonian Jewry, 224–638 CE
- 32 The history of the Babylonian academies
- 33 The formation and character of the Babylonian Talmud
- 34 Talmudic law: a jurisprudential perspective
- 35 Torah in rabbinic thought: the theology of learning
- 36 Man, sin, and redemption in Rabbinic Judaism
- 37 The rabbinic theology of the physical: blessings, body and soul, resurrection, and covenant and election
- 38 Christian anti-Judaism: polemics and policies
- 39 Jews in Byzantium
- 40 Messianism and apocalypticism in rabbinic texts
- Appendix Justinian and the revision of Jewish legal status
- Index
- Map A The Roman world in the time of Marcus Aurelius
- References
24 - Women in Jewish life and law
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 March 2008
- Frontmatter
- Introduction
- 1 Political, social, and economic life in the Land of Israel, 66–c. 235
- 2 The Diaspora from 66 to c. 235 ce
- 3 The uprisings in the Jewish Diaspora, 116–117
- 4 The Bar Kochba Revolt, 132–135
- 5 The legal status of the Jews in the Roman Empire
- 6 Jewish art and architecture in the Land of Israel, 70–C. 235
- 7 The destruction of the Jerusalem Temple: its meaning and its consequences
- 8 The origins and development of the rabbinic movement in the Land of Israel
- 9 The canonical process
- 10 The beginnings of Christian anti-Judaism, 70–C. 235
- 11 The rabbinic response to Christianity
- 12 The Mishnah
- 13 The Tosefta
- 14 Midrash Halachah
- 15 Mishnaic Hebrew: an introductory survey
- 16 The political and social history of the Jewish community in the Land of Israel, C. 235–638
- 17 The material realities of Jewish life in the Land of Israel, C. 235–638
- 18 Aramaic in late antiquity
- 19 The Diaspora, C. 235–638
- 20 Jewish archaeology in late antiquity: art, architecture, and inscriptions
- 21 Jewish festivals in late antiquity
- 22 Rabbinic prayer in late antiquity
- 23 Rabbinic views on marriage, sexuality, and the family
- 24 Women in Jewish life and law
- 25 Gentiles in rabbinic thought
- 26 The formation and character of the Jerusalem Talmud
- 27 The late midrashic, paytanic, and targumic literature
- 28 Jewish magic in late antiquity
- 29 Jewish folk literature in late antiquity
- 30 Early forms of Jewish mysticism
- 31 The Political, Social, and Economic History of Babylonian Jewry, 224–638 CE
- 32 The history of the Babylonian academies
- 33 The formation and character of the Babylonian Talmud
- 34 Talmudic law: a jurisprudential perspective
- 35 Torah in rabbinic thought: the theology of learning
- 36 Man, sin, and redemption in Rabbinic Judaism
- 37 The rabbinic theology of the physical: blessings, body and soul, resurrection, and covenant and election
- 38 Christian anti-Judaism: polemics and policies
- 39 Jews in Byzantium
- 40 Messianism and apocalypticism in rabbinic texts
- Appendix Justinian and the revision of Jewish legal status
- Index
- Map A The Roman world in the time of Marcus Aurelius
- References
Summary
SOURCES AND METHODOLOGY
The first three volumes of The Cambridge History of Judaism cover the period between 537 bce to 70 ce and, aside from a chapter devoted to the limited topic of their roles in the ancient synagogue, women as a separate topic have not been discussed. Is one, therefore, to assume that only after 70 ce did Jewish women develop a separate historical existence from other Jews? Not necessarily. More likely, the awareness of women and gender as a separate, important, and neglected aspect of Jewish history is the result of the Zeitgeist that pervaded the last three decades of the twentieth century. Scholars studying this period have become acutely aware that what has passed for the history of the Jewish people is a history of its male members. In order to present the history of the entire people, a new approach is required, a different reading is necessary, and new questions must be raised. This premise informs the agenda of this chapter.
The sources for pursuing new questions about Jewish women’s lives between 70 and 235 ce are the same sources employed in the discussion of all Jews – rabbinic literature, as well as papyrological and epigraphic material. The general difficulties inherent in employing these sources when used as historical sources to write history also pertain to the writing of women’s history. Inscriptions and papyri are short, sketchy, fragmentary, and plagued with meaningless formulas, and were never intended as tools for describing the past.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Cambridge History of Judaism , pp. 627 - 646Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2006
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