Material Disruptions in the Rabbinic Landscape

This essay uses New Materialist approaches to religious practice to demonstrate that early rabbinic (c. second–third centuries CE) Jewish prescriptions for Jewish farmers are part of assemblages of human and material forces. The Jewish farmer must show that his fields, gardens, and vineyards do not...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Mandsager, John (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Taylor & Francis 2024
In: Material religion
Year: 2024, Volume: 20, Issue: 1, Pages: 28–50
Further subjects:B plant growth
B Rabbinic Judaism
B Assemblage (Art)
B Agriculture
B the Mishnah
B Anthropomorphism
B wind
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Description
Summary:This essay uses New Materialist approaches to religious practice to demonstrate that early rabbinic (c. second–third centuries CE) Jewish prescriptions for Jewish farmers are part of assemblages of human and material forces. The Jewish farmer must show that his fields, gardens, and vineyards do not contain prohibited “mixed-kinds” (Deuteronomy 22:9–11), but the ways in which early rabbinic literature demands adherence to the commandment take into account forces beyond the human, such as wind, rain, and the unpredictable growth of the crops. These assemblages show the limits of human intention and action, as the Jewish farmer must react to the material world. Moreover, the analyses in this essay show how a New Materialist approach deepens our understanding of the entangled world of Jewish life and practice in Late Antiquity, as well as uncovers a non-anthropocentric view of the human in a material world within the Mishnah itself.
ISSN:1751-8342
Contains:Enthalten in: Material religion
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1080/17432200.2024.2303901