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Rabbinic tales of drought, disaster, and charismatic holy men illuminate critical questions about power, ethics, and ecology in Jewish late antiquity. Through a sustained reading of the Babylonian Talmud's tractate on fasts in response to drought, this book shows how Bavli Taanit challenges Deuteronomy's claim that virtue can assure abundance and that misfortune is an unambiguous sign of divine rebuke. Employing a new method for analyzing lengthy talmudic narratives, Julia Watts Belser traces complex strands of aggadic dialectic to show how Bavli Taanit's redactors articulate a strikingly self-critical theological and ethical discourse. Bavli Taanit castigates rabbis for misuse of power, exposing the limits of their perception and critiquing prevailing obsessions with social status. But it also celebrates the possibilities of performative perception - the power of an adroit interpreter to transform events in the world and interpret crisis in a way that draws forth blessing.
List of contents
Introduction; Encountering the Bavli: an introduction for readers new to the Babylonian Talmud; 1. Covenantal ecology and the discourse of natural signs; 2. Reading the natural world: interpretation and meaning in Bavli Täanit; 3. Merit in the midst of danger: falling walls, faltering houses, and the power of performative perception; 4. Charisma and ritual fasting for the sake of rain: parrhesia, penitence, and the construction of intimacy before God; 5. Confusing the fathers: charisma and the limits of human power; 6. Hiddenness and holiness: gender, class, concealment, and the critique of rabbinic status-seeking; Conclusion.
About the author
Julia Watts Belser is Assistant Professor of Jewish Studies in the Department of Theology at Georgetown University, Washington DC. Her articles have appeared in numerous journals, including the AJS Review, the Journal of the American Academy of Religion, the Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion, Worldviews: Global Religions, Culture, and Ecology, and the Journal of the Society of Christian Ethics.
Summary
This book analyzes rabbinic responses to drought and disaster, revealing how talmudic tales of charismatic holy men grapple with problems of power, ethics, and ecology in Jewish late antiquity. Aimed at scholars and students of rabbinic literature, it will also appeal to scholars of early Christianity and religion and the environment.
