Thinking about Belonging in Early Rabbinic Literature:
General Material Designation
[Article]
Other Title Information
Proselytes, Apostates, and "Children of Israel," or: Does It Make Sense to Speak of Early Rabbinic Orthodoxy?
First Statement of Responsibility
Adiel Schremer
.PUBLICATION, DISTRIBUTION, ETC
Place of Publication, Distribution, etc.
Leiden
Name of Publisher, Distributor, etc.
Brill
SUMMARY OR ABSTRACT
Text of Note
This paper offers a modest contribution to the discussion of the rabbinic construction of Jewish identity in Tannaitic times, by showing that in the few occasions in which early rabbinic texts relate to the question of belonging in the Jewish community they do not consider belief as a relevant category for the discussion. This, I suggest, indicates that for Palestinian rabbis of the first, second, and early third century, Jewish identity was not a matter of belief and doctrine. Rather, it was either a matter of birth and descent, or a matter of loyalty to the covenant. This paper offers a modest contribution to the discussion of the rabbinic construction of Jewish identity in Tannaitic times, by showing that in the few occasions in which early rabbinic texts relate to the question of belonging in the Jewish community they do not consider belief as a relevant category for the discussion. This, I suggest, indicates that for Palestinian rabbis of the first, second, and early third century, Jewish identity was not a matter of belief and doctrine. Rather, it was either a matter of birth and descent, or a matter of loyalty to the covenant.