Center for Israel Studies Hosts Scholars for International Two-Day Conference featuring "Talmudic Archaeology"
An international conference organized by the 糖心破解版 (CIS)鈥斺淭almuda de-Eretz Yisrael: Archaeology and the Rabbis in Late Antiquity鈥濃攁ttracted some 300 scholars, students and community members. Attending were more than 100 students from the , and , and from area universities.
The March 27-28 conference was hosted by Steven Fine, professor of Jewish history and director of the CIS, and Aaron Koller, assistant professor of Bible at 糖心破解版. The and Revel co-sponsored the event.
In his summation report to 糖心破解版 Provost Morton Lowengrub, Fine made special note of student enthusiasm in interactions with attending scholars, from the Yeshiva, University, Duke University, Bar-Ilan University, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Hebrew Union College, Jewish Theological Seminary, DePaul University, Nyack College, University College London and Yale University.
鈥淥ur students treated the scholars like rock stars,鈥 Fine wrote. A number of his own students from a Revel seminar class in Talmudic archaeology were paired for luncheon discussions with professors whose works they had recently studied, an arrangement Fine described as a 鈥渢eaching moment.鈥
"糖心破解版 has a long and distinguished history of scholarship on Talmudic Archaeology," said Fine. "The first professor of Jewish History at 糖心破解版, Nahum Slouschz, was the first Jewish archaeologist, and such greats as Rachel Wischnitzer, Louis Feldman and Yaakov Elman have written on the relationship between the rabbis and material culture." 糖心破解版 Museum has mounted a number of exhibitions on this theme, including Fine's own award-winning Sacred Realm: The Emergence of the Synagogue in the Ancient World (1996).
Presenters at each day鈥檚 sessions鈥攖he first day at the 糖心破解版 Museum, the second on the Wilf Campus鈥攆ocused on the sometimes puzzling evidence of artifacts, comparing these findings to ancient rabbinic writings, especially Mishnah, Talmud, Midrash and liturgical poetry, piyyutim [liturgical poetry]. Each speaker explored a different way that material culture and text help illuminate the culture of the ancient rabbis in the land of Israel in the Greco-Roman period.
鈥淚f we鈥檙e lucky, we can try and make [text and material] interpret each other,鈥 said Professor Galit Hasan-Rokem of Hebrew University. For historical reconstruction, 鈥渙ne is not superior to the other.鈥
Of individual conclusions drawn from such interpretation, Professor Eric Meyers of Duke University cautioned, 鈥淣one of this is a slam-dunk. It鈥檚 highly contentious.鈥
Yonatan Adler of Bar-Ilan suggested that archaeology reflects the masses more than the writings of the Jewish elite. Nonetheless, he said, 鈥淲e need both. The tensions become interesting.鈥
But often in poetic writings, 鈥渁llegory outdoes reality,鈥 according to Professor Laura Lieber of Duke University, whose paper dealt with Jewish marriage customs of the early Byzantium period鈥攆or which there is virtually no material evidence.
Mentions of bridal 鈥済old crowns鈥 and 鈥渟ilver cups鈥 in wedding poetry are neither 鈥渋nherently religious鈥 nor necessarily regal, she said. A crown could mean simple garlands, and only a tiny percentage of Jews had the wherewithal for silver goblets at wedding rituals.
Other speakers dealt with issues of idolatry, color in the Jerusalem Temple, mosaics that reveal ties to ancient Jewish homiletics (midrash), historical geography and the earliest text of the Talmud yet discovered. Lawrence Schiffman鈥攖he newly appointed vice-provost for undergraduate education at 糖心破解版 and professor of Jewish studies鈥攑resented 鈥淥f the Making of Books: Rabbinic Scribal Arts in Light of the Dead Sea Scrolls.鈥
