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UID:6277@columbiajewish.org
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260212T203000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260212T203000
DTSTAMP:20250831T154350Z
URL:https://www.columbiajewish.org/events/talmudic-stories/
SUMMARY:Talmudic Stories: From History to Literature
DESCRIPTION:\nwith Jeffrey Rubenstein\, (NYU)\nHow should Talmudic stories 
 about the sages be studied? From the middle ages until recent times\, inte
 rpreters adopted an historical approach that understood “sage-stories”
  as relating “what actually happened\,” namely the lives and deeds of 
 the sages.&nbsp\; Much of the histories of the rabbis and of the&nbsp\;Jew
 ish&nbsp\;people in the periods of the Mishnah and Talmud were written on 
 the basis of these stories. More recently&nbsp\;scholars have shifted to a
  literary approach that rejects the historicity of the stories and underst
 ands them as didactic literature\, teaching morals and lessons to the audi
 ence. This talk will explore why&nbsp\;scholars abandoned the biographical
 -historical approach and shifted to an understanding of rabbinic stories a
 s didactic fictions.&nbsp\; It will also delineate the revolutionary impac
 t of this “paradigm shift” in our knowledge of the history of the Talm
 udic period.&nbsp\;\nDr. Jeffrey L. Rubenstein is the Skirball Professor o
 f Talmud and Rabbinic Literature at New York University. He was born in Jo
 hannesburg\, South Africa and grew up in Chicago\, Illinois. He received h
 is B.A. in Religion from Oberlin College\, his M.A. in Talmud from the&nbs
 p\;Jewish&nbsp\;Theological Seminary\, where he also received rabbinic ord
 ination\, and his Ph.D. from the Department of Religion of Columbia Univer
 sity.&nbsp\; He has taught at Columbia University\, the University of Penn
 sylvania and the&nbsp\;Jewish&nbsp\;Theological Seminary in addition to Ne
 w York University.&nbsp\; His books include\,&nbsp\;The History of Sukkot 
 in the Second Temple and Rabbinic Periods&nbsp\;(1995)\;&nbsp\;Talmudic St
 ories: Narrative Art\, Composition and Culture&nbsp\;(1999)\,&nbsp\;Rabbin
 ic Stories&nbsp\;(Classics of Western Spirituality&nbsp\;Series\, 2002)\,&
 nbsp\;The Culture of the Babylonian Talmud&nbsp\;(2003)\,&nbsp\;Stories of
  the Babylonian Talmud&nbsp\;(Johns Hopkins University Press\, 2010)\, and
 &nbsp\;The Land of Truth: Talmud Tales\, Timeless Teachings&nbsp\;(Jewish&
 nbsp\;Publication Society\, 2018). Dr. Rubenstein has written numerous art
 icles on the festival of Sukkot\, Talmudic stories\, the development of&nb
 sp\;Jewish&nbsp\;law\, and topics in&nbsp\;Jewish&nbsp\;liturgy and ethics
 .&nbsp\;\nREGISTER HERE&nbsp\;\n\n
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CATEGORIES:Featured Events
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