The sinner and the amnesiac : the rabbinic invention of Elisha ben Abuya and Eleazar ben Arach
This is a detailed study of two intriguing figures in early rabbinic literature, shown to be products of the literary creativity of rabbinic storytellers who convey a particular ideology through the image of the rabbinic heroes they portray: Elisha ben Abuya, considered as apostate and sinner, and Eleazar ben Arach, known as the one who forgot his Torah.
Print Book, English, 2000
Stanford University Press, Stanford, CA, 2000
Biographies
xii, 416 Seiten ; 24 cm.
9780804733878, 0804733872
247418133
Introduction: the quest for Rabbinic biography: history, hermeneutics, and ideology; Part I. Elisha Ben Abuya: A Critical Biography: 1. The study of Elisha Ben Abuya: methodological considerations; 2. Elisha Ben Abuya in tannaitic literature; 3. Elisha Ben Abuya in post-tannaitic sources; 4. Bavli hagiga I: coming into sin; 5. Elisha and Rabbi Meir; 6. The story of Yerushalmi II; 7. Bavli and Yerushalmi: ideology, literary formation, and historical influence; Part II. Rabbi Eleazar Ben Arach: A Critical Biography: 8. Rabbi Eleazar Ben Arach: symbol and reality; Conclusion: collective torah culture and individual rabbinic biography; Appendix; Notes; Bibliography; Index.