Читать книгу Judaism I - Группа авторов - Страница 18

Dr. Geoffrey Herman, of the École Pratique des Hautes Études, Paris, surveys Judaism in Babylonia from 226–650 CE. Our foremost source is the Babylonian Talmud. Indirect sources are classical authors, Persian epigraphic sources, or Syriac-Christian literature.

Jewish communities were found from the southern boundary of Mesene to Anbar in the North and were dotted along the Euphrates and Tigris, and beside the canals that crossed between the two rivers. The Jews were an agrarian society. Others worked in linen, flax, or silk, in live-stock, or vegetable gardening.

Jews maintained synagogues where they gathered on Sabbath mornings. Women had a subordinate role in public society. Most of the occupations of women were not different than in other ancient societies. Family structure was traditional. A young age for marriage was encouraged.

Jews encountered the Persian administration through the occasional billeting of soldiers or the presence of Persian nobles and overseers. Taxation also brought the Jews into direct contact with the administration. As inhabitants of a Persian empire, Jews in Babylonia came into regular contact with Persian language and culture, which left its mark on Jewish thought. The dominant religion in the Sasanian Empire was Zoroastrianism, and some of its more pronounced features were known to the Jews. Magical practice was known to all. The Talmud is brimming with material of a magical nature. The biblical legacy was of greatest importance for the identity of Babylonian Jews.

The Rabbis emerged as the major intellectual force, transforming not only the lives of Babylonian Jews, but Jewish religion and culture until today. The Rabbinic revolution was achieved through education. The Rabbis maintained the supreme value of the study of the Torah, and Rabbinic students were expected to subordinate themselves to a master and dedicate themselves to study.

There are signs of friction between Rabbis and other Jews. Leadership known as the resh galuta or Exilarch emerged, who professed to be the scion of the House of David. The Exilarchate could function as a source of immense prestige. As Babylonian Jewry grew in importance, a dynamic of regional rivalry developed between it and the Jews of Palestine. The Exilarch symbolically embodied Babylonia’s alleged ascendancy over the Jewish center in Palestine and the rest of the Jewish world.