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Time and Process in Ancient Judaism (The Littman Library of Jewish Civilization)

Sacha Stern

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Description:This illuminating study is about the absence of time as an entity in itself in ancient Judaism, and the predominance instead of process in the ancient Jewish worldview. Sacha Stern draws his evidence from the complete range of Jewish sources from this period: mainly early rabbinic literature, but also Jewish Hellenistic literature, Qumran sources, Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha, and inscriptions. Following a methodological introduction drawing on anthropological studies, the author starts by focusing on the word used for time in early rabbinic literature, zeman. He shows that it means only 'points in time' or finite periods of time, and further demonstrates that the concept of time as a continuum-of time as a whole- is totally absent from rabbinic texts. It is unknown even in such obvious contexts as discussions of age, accounts of the creation of the universe, and in other matters relating to timing and time reckoning, the calendar, and chronology. He shows convincingly that although timing was central to early rabbinic halakhah, it was not conceived of as a measuring of the time dimension, but rather as a way of co-ordinating different processes (e.g. co-ordinating the reading of the Shema with sunrise or dusk). The calendar, likewise, was not a measurement of time but an astronomical scheme, and therefore only process-related. Similar conclusions apply to early rabbinic notions of chronology, history, and even ethics: the notion of time as an entity or a resource, so familiar in modern society, is completely unknown in rabbinic ethics. Further confirmation emerges from the author's study of nonrabbinic ancient Jewish sources in Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic, including Apocryphal and Pseudepigraphic works and Dead Sea Scrolls, sources that are also concerned with the calendar and chronology but without any notion of time per se. Ancient Judaism stands in contrast, in this respect, with Graeco-Roman culture and its pervasive concept of chronos, but the absence of a concept of time is also attested in ancient Near Eastern cultures. The ancient Jewish view also stands in contrast with medieval Judaism, when the concept of time became well established in ethics, philosophy, biblical exegesis, and even halakhah, a development which Stern attributes partly to the influence of Greek philosophy on medieval Jewish thinkers. He concludes with reflections on the wider implications of these findings, especially regarding the Hellenization of ancient Judaism and its cultural isolation within the Graeco-Roman world. This perceptive work, clearly, cogently, and convincingly argued, offers a new perspective on the world-view of ancient Judaism and its links with other societies in the Near East of late antiquity.We have made it easy for you to find a PDF Ebooks without any digging. And by having access to our ebooks online or by storing it on your computer, you have convenient answers with Time and Process in Ancient Judaism (The Littman Library of Jewish Civilization). To get started finding Time and Process in Ancient Judaism (The Littman Library of Jewish Civilization), you are right to find our website which has a comprehensive collection of manuals listed.
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Description: This illuminating study is about the absence of time as an entity in itself in ancient Judaism, and the predominance instead of process in the ancient Jewish worldview. Sacha Stern draws his evidence from the complete range of Jewish sources from this period: mainly early rabbinic literature, but also Jewish Hellenistic literature, Qumran sources, Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha, and inscriptions. Following a methodological introduction drawing on anthropological studies, the author starts by focusing on the word used for time in early rabbinic literature, zeman. He shows that it means only 'points in time' or finite periods of time, and further demonstrates that the concept of time as a continuum-of time as a whole- is totally absent from rabbinic texts. It is unknown even in such obvious contexts as discussions of age, accounts of the creation of the universe, and in other matters relating to timing and time reckoning, the calendar, and chronology. He shows convincingly that although timing was central to early rabbinic halakhah, it was not conceived of as a measuring of the time dimension, but rather as a way of co-ordinating different processes (e.g. co-ordinating the reading of the Shema with sunrise or dusk). The calendar, likewise, was not a measurement of time but an astronomical scheme, and therefore only process-related. Similar conclusions apply to early rabbinic notions of chronology, history, and even ethics: the notion of time as an entity or a resource, so familiar in modern society, is completely unknown in rabbinic ethics. Further confirmation emerges from the author's study of nonrabbinic ancient Jewish sources in Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic, including Apocryphal and Pseudepigraphic works and Dead Sea Scrolls, sources that are also concerned with the calendar and chronology but without any notion of time per se. Ancient Judaism stands in contrast, in this respect, with Graeco-Roman culture and its pervasive concept of chronos, but the absence of a concept of time is also attested in ancient Near Eastern cultures. The ancient Jewish view also stands in contrast with medieval Judaism, when the concept of time became well established in ethics, philosophy, biblical exegesis, and even halakhah, a development which Stern attributes partly to the influence of Greek philosophy on medieval Jewish thinkers. He concludes with reflections on the wider implications of these findings, especially regarding the Hellenization of ancient Judaism and its cultural isolation within the Graeco-Roman world. This perceptive work, clearly, cogently, and convincingly argued, offers a new perspective on the world-view of ancient Judaism and its links with other societies in the Near East of late antiquity.We have made it easy for you to find a PDF Ebooks without any digging. And by having access to our ebooks online or by storing it on your computer, you have convenient answers with Time and Process in Ancient Judaism (The Littman Library of Jewish Civilization). To get started finding Time and Process in Ancient Judaism (The Littman Library of Jewish Civilization), you are right to find our website which has a comprehensive collection of manuals listed.
Our library is the biggest of these that have literally hundreds of thousands of different products represented.

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Time and Process in Ancient Judaism (The Littman Library of Jewish Civilization)

Time and Process in Ancient Judaism (The Littman Library of Jewish Civilization)

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