3.16 Quest for the Rabbis I: Origins

History in the Bible

Garry Stevens

History, Christianity, Judaism, Bible, Religion & Spirituality

4.6 • 693 Ratings

🗓️ 8 May 2022

⏱️ 28 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The origins of the rabbis, dated to the second century CE, are shrouded in fog, for reasons we do not understand. Why did the Jews cease writing histories after the year 100? Why do we have no histories from the Babylonian Jews. Where did the Mishnah, the foundational document of Rabbinic thought, dome from? I also discuss the evidence that historians of antiquity use, and how they assess that evidence. Especial thanks to Dr. Bret C. Devereaux, from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for his amusing insights.

Theme music "Inspiring Teaser" by Rafael Krux, https://filmmusic.io/song/5672-inspiring-teaser, license https://filmmusic.io/standard-license.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Giday, I'm Gary Stevens.
0:09.9	And welcome to the third season of the History in the Bible podcast.
0:15.2	In this final season, I explore how the Jews and the Christians constructed new religions when they
0:23.6	were sent spinning into the void after the destruction of the temple.
0:28.6	All of the history, about all of the books beyond the Bible. Episode 3.16.
0:41.1	Quest for the rabbis part one, origins.
0:45.9	In episode 3.15, to Maltus Udayorum,
0:50.4	I recounted the tragedies that were the Kittoshaal and the Bar-Cosvar Revolt.
0:56.1	Let's move on to Happy at times.
0:59.8	In this episode, I explore, without much success I have to say, the history of the Jews
1:06.2	and Judaism in the Roman Empire in the 70 years after the Bar-Cosibar revolt.
1:13.1	I lean on the broad shoulders of Donald Aikinson of Queen's University in Ontario and Dr.
1:19.6	Brett C. Devereaux from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
1:25.1	Catch up with them in my living bibliography at www.com.
1:33.5	I finish with the year 200 when solemn tradition holds that the mighty Mishnah was codified.
1:42.1	The Mishner is the redaction of Jewish law, passed down orally from generation
1:47.6	to generation, supposedly from the time of Moses. At some point, and we do not know when,
1:56.1	the rabbis decided that this oral tradition must be committed to parchment.
2:02.5	The oldest complete manuscript of the Mishnah we have dates to 1000 CE, and eye-watering
2:10.1	800 years after its supposed oral compilation.
2:15.2	The Mishner is a weighty work.
2:18.0	My English translation runs to 800 dense pages.
	...

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