The Jewish Library in Late Antiquity: Forgotten Texts and Non-Rabbinic Jews

Introduction

In the study of ancient Judaism, a debate has been raging over the place of the rabbinic movement in late antique Jewish society. On the one hand, there is the extensive body of rabbinic literature, which has much to say about the rabbis’ own world, and relatively little to say about non-rabbinic Jews, thus creating the impression that the rabbis were the only significant social factor in late antique Jewish society.

On the other hand, there is an impressive, and constantly growing, body of archaeological evidence – and especially the synagogues of late antique Palestine and their elaborate mosaics – which seems to imply that the rabbis had relatively little impact on the religious and artistic sensitivities of many Jewish communities. This apparent gap between the literary and the archaeological evidence generated an enormous body of scholarly literature, with some scholars arguing that rabbinic Judaism was normative in late antique Jewish society and other scholars claiming that the rabbis were just a small minority, and that most Jews did not pay much attention to what the rabbis thought or said.

Alternative Perspective

Rather than joining this debate, JLib will offer a different perspective from which to examine ancient Jewish culture, by reconstructing many non-rabbinic texts from the ‘Jewish library’ of late antiquity.

Sources of Texts

Some of these texts were found in archaeological excavations, but most are found in the Cairo Genizah and in other collections of medieval Hebrew manuscripts. Their late antique origins are demonstrated by:

1. Their use of Aramaic – mostly Jewish Palestinian Aramaic
2. Their contents
3. External evidence of their use in late antique Jewish society

Project Goals

JLib will offer:

• An edition of these hitherto neglected texts
• An analysis of their relations with similar non-Jewish texts and with rabbinic literature
• A re-evaluation of the complex question of the place of rabbinic Judaism in late antique Jewish society