Concepts of Scripture in Rabbinic Judaism
Concepts of Scripture in Rabbinic Judaism
Oral Torah and Written Torah
This chapter discusses how the rabbinic conception of a pedagogical curriculum of written Scripture and oral teaching is without antecedent or parallel in the ancient world. While the idea of a twofold Torah, differentiated as Written and Oral, was not without its opponents and detractors, it became a fundamental part of rabbinic theology and self-understanding. The dialogical pairing of a fixed scriptural text with a fluid oral complement enabled rabbinic society, and eventually broader Jewish society, to survive many vicissitudes of history by striking a delicate balance between cultural permanence and plasticity. The discursive world that these distinctive forms of torah constructed and inhabited, and from which point the surrounding world was increasingly viewed and understood, is a phenomenon yet to be adequately apprehended and appreciated.
Keywords: Rabbinic Judaism, Torah, Written Torah, Oral Torah, Jewish scripture, Jewish society, cultural permanence, plasticity
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