Tal Ilan
Freie Universität Berlin, Institut für Judaistik, Faculty Member
The women of the New Testament were Jewish women, and for historians of the period their mention and status in the New Testament constitutes the missing link between the way women are portrayed in the Hebrew Bible and their changed status... more
The women of the New Testament were Jewish women, and for historians of the period their mention and status in the New Testament constitutes the missing link between the way women are portrayed in the Hebrew Bible and their changed status in rabbinic literature (Mishnah and Talmud). In this chapter, I examine how they fit into the Jewish concepts of womanhood. I examine various recognized categories that are relevant for gender research such as patriarchy, public and private space, law, politics, and religion. In each case I show how these affected Jewish women, and how the picture that emerges from the New Testament fits these categories.
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In this source a parallel between Josephus and a rabbinic tradition is discussed.
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This article presents the first two texts (on papyri) in Aramaic written by Jewish women. The papyri are from Egypt and date to Late Antiquity.
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An expedition of the Egypt Exploration Society in 1913–14 discovered four fragments of the Hebrew Bible (from the books of Kings and Job). This article presents the first critical edition of the fragments. With a few minor exceptions, the... more
An expedition of the Egypt Exploration Society in 1913–14 discovered four fragments of the Hebrew Bible (from the books of Kings and Job). This article presents the first critical edition of the fragments. With a few minor exceptions, the fragments conform to the Masoretic Text. The possible datings of these fragments range from the third to the early eighth centuries ce. Very little is known about the transmission of the text of the Hebrew Bible in the so-called ‘silent’ or ‘dark’ period between the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Cairo Genizah. The fragments also testify to the presence of a Jewish community in Egypt – which was virtually eradicated after the revolt of 115–17 ce. The article gives a brief overview of the extant documentary and epigraphic evidence to reconstruct the forgotten story of Jews at Antinoopolis in Late Antiquity.
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This chapter is about Jewish women, who are, always in some way, under the tutelage of a patriarch. It inquires in what way women are different from other persons under male tutelage and argues that in Jewish terms this difference derives... more
This chapter is about Jewish women, who are, always in some way, under the tutelage of a patriarch. It inquires in what way women are different from other persons under male tutelage and argues that in Jewish terms this difference derives from women's radical otherness. The rabbis, identified many groups as 'others', namely as belonging to categories that deviate from the normal. Rabbinic literature has preserved the memory of a man who once had belonged to their 'normal' world, and had somehow left their world, searching for an alternative existence. This chapter shows that the most common group of 'others' found in the vicinity of the rabbis was women. It also shows how women are compared to a wide variety of 'others': slaves, minors, gentiles, Samaritans, cripples and criminals.Keywords: gentile; Jewish women; rabbinic literature
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... IDENTIFICATION* TAL ILAN, Hebrew University, Jerusalem ABSTRACT ... 197, 201. 13 See now the final publication by Y. Yadin and J. Naveh, The Aramaic and Hebrew Ostraca and Jar Inscriptions (Jerusalem, 1989), p. 28. Naveh ...
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Women's studies, as a discipline within Jewish studies, is relatively new. It appeared in the 1970s, in the wake of a similar development within other fields of academia particularly in the United States — a move that was later to be... more
Women's studies, as a discipline within Jewish studies, is relatively new. It appeared in the 1970s, in the wake of a similar development within other fields of academia particularly in the United States — a move that was later to be designated ‘second-wave feminism’. The question of women's status within Judaism, as within any human society is not new. In Jewish sources, it is as old as the story of creation in the first chapters of Genesis, with the description of woman's secondary creation and her implication in the original sin and fall from grace. The human condition has always been one in which women are subordinated to men, and most written cultures have produced documents justifying this condition. Only over the last 200 years has this truism come under criticism, particularly in the cultures of the West, with the advent of ideas about humanism, equality, and democracy.
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This book contains a full review of Jewish marriage in antiquity, beginning with biblical injunctions, but focusing primarily on postbiblical material and specifically on rabbinic literature. It is divided into three parts: 1. Thinking... more
This book contains a full review of Jewish marriage in antiquity, beginning with biblical injunctions, but focusing primarily on postbiblical material and specifically on rabbinic literature. It is divided into three parts: 1. Thinking about Marriage, in which Satlow describes how and why Jewish marriages were planned, 2. Marrying, in which he describes the process of marriage itself, and 3. Staying Married, in which married life and its consequences are at issue. In each of these parts Satlow correctly attempts to draw a line between the ideals of marriage as portrayed in the sources and what actually went on, as far as these allow us a glimpse of reality.
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2016 “Rav Joseph the Demon in the Rabbinic Academy in Babylonia: Another Connection between the Babylonian Talmud and the Magic Bowls,” in “Let the Wise Listen and Add to Their Learning” (Prov 1:5): Festschrift for Günter Stemberger on... more
2016 “Rav Joseph the Demon in the Rabbinic Academy in Babylonia: Another Connection between the Babylonian Talmud and the Magic Bowls,” in “Let the Wise Listen and Add to Their Learning” (Prov 1:5): Festschrift for Günter Stemberger on the Occasion of his 75th Birthday, ed. Constanza Cordoni and Gerhard Langer (Studia Judaica. Forschungen zur Wissenschaft des Judentums; Berlin: Walter de Gruyter) 381-394
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"Through fresh arguments and methodological precision, the authors make a powerful case for the centrality of gender research within Jewish studies. They analyze its current marginalization and question received wisdom on various points,... more
"Through fresh arguments and methodological precision, the authors make a powerful case for the centrality of gender research within Jewish studies. They analyze its current marginalization and question received wisdom on various points, focusing on the subtleties of masculinity and femininity within Jewish and Roman culture, examine literary representations of patriarchy and of motherhood, and assess women's authority. Students and scholars alike will find this innovative volume indispensable."-Bernadette J. Brooten, Robert and Myra Kraft Professor, emerita, Brandeis University, and Director of the Feminist Sexual Ethics Project "Gender and Second-Temple Judaism is a rich collection of studies on gender from Jubilees to Josephus, Jesus to John and Paul. It challenges assumptions, and subverts the marginalization of gender studies and its relegation to being a niche area. It is a major contribution to contemporary study of gender, an important aspect of what it meant to be human, which is at the heart of religion in Second-Temple Judaism."-William Loader, emeritus professor, Murdoch University "The publication of Gender and Second-Temple Judaism marks a significant milestone in the discipline; gender as a constructed category now takes its rightful place as an operative analytical lens for the study of ancient Judaism. This important book will surely be a must-have for all bibliographies of works on early Judaism."-Meredith J. C. Warren, University of Sheffield Ancient literature was written by and for elite men, which creates specific challenges to modern interpreters of gender in the ancient world, in light of contemporary under-standings of gender as constructed and performed. In Gender and Second-Temple Juda-ism, world-renowned scholars take on these challenges with regard to ancient Judaism (including early Christianity), examining the ancient evidence and addressing difficult methodological questions. These chapters contribute to the discussions of the construction of identity by inflecting them with questions of gender construction.
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A Literary-Historical Investigation of the Parallel Traditions in Josephus and in Rabbinic Literature