Chapters in the Formative History of Judaism

The documentary reading of the Rabbinic canon continues to create engaging questions and interesting problems for study. This collection of essays and book reviews represents two years of work from 2003 to 2005 focused on the Rabbinic canon. The collection is divided into four main groups. The first set of essays represents examples of historical and history-of-religion questions precipitated by the documentary perspective. The second group of essays focuses on the treatment of 56 B.C.E., 70 C.E., and 132-135 C.E. in successive canonical compilations. This section compares and contrasts Rabbinic and Christian writings on the same topic, Halakhic and Aggadic documents on the same topic, the theological description of a Rabbinic document, and various historical problems. The third set of essays deals with the history of law, and the fourth section includes several freestanding essays and six book reviews.