This chapter considers the first Talmud, that of the Land of Israel (the Yerushalmi), and the setting in which it was produced. The first part of the chapter is devoted to reviewing the major events that defined Jewish life in Palestine from the third to the fifth centuries, including the spread of Christianity, a failed project to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem, the rise and abolition of the patriarchate, the alienation of common Jews from core Jewish beliefs, and the consolidation of the rabbinic movement. It then examines samples of the Yerushalmi, delineating the contours and major qualities of this Talmud. How did the shape and substance of this Talmud represent a response to the world its creators knew? Central to our examination will be a consideration of how this Talmud, though bearing that name, has very different qualities than its sister Talmud, the one then taking shape in Babylonia. In this chapter, it will immediately become clear that there was no single rabbinic tradition, nor even a single Talmudic tradition. Though the Yerushalmi was a first step in the journey, it was not the Talmud that would influence the future of all Judaisms.

This chapter reconstructs the liturgical context of two chronicle entries about Princess Olga of Kiev: the account of her baptism in Constantinople in 955 and the panegyric following her death in 969. The chapter demonstrates that the tale of the princess’ baptism derives, in part, from the tenth-century baptismal rubrics of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople. In the liturgical manuscripts, every word and action for the baptismal ritual is spelled out for the priest performing the service. In the chronicle, the prelate and princess act out these ritual behaviours between baptiser and baptised, precisely as they are prescribed in the church books. The chapter also uncovers the liturgical typologies in the text. In 955, Princess Olga is depicted as a ‘Slavic Mary’ using hymns from the major feasts of the Mother of God, and in 969 she is cast as the ‘Slavic Forerunner’ using hymns from a series of feasts surrounding the conception and birth of major sacred figures, such as Saint John the Baptist. The ‘blessed Olga’ is thus best understood not as a biblical or hagiographical creation but rather as a liturgical one. She is a textual figure fashioned from the songs, prayers, and readings of the Byzantine rite.