Jewish identity in early rabbinic writings / / by Sacha Stern.

• Superior document: Arbeiten zur Geschichte des antiken Judentums und des Urchristentums, [Bd.] 23
• Author: Stern, Sacha.
• Place / Publishing House: Leiden ;, New York : : Brill,, 1994.
• Year of Publication: 1994
• Language: English
• Series: Arbeiten zur Geschichte des antiken Judentums und des Urchristentums 23.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (xxxix, 269 pages).
• Notes: Rev. version of the author's thesis (D. Phil.)--Jews' College.
• Other title: Preliminary Material /; ISRAEL AND THE NATIONS ASSUMPTIONS, IMAGES AND REPRESENTATIONS /; IDENTITY, THE COMMANDMENTS, AND BODILY EXPERIENCE /; ISRAEL IN SYMBOLIC IMAGERY /; THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL CENTRE AND PERIPHERY /; THE PROTECTION OF JEWISH IDENTITY DISSOCIATION AND DISSIMILATION /; BEING ISRAEL: SOLIPSISM, INTROVERSION AND TRANSCENDENCE /; BIBLIOGRAPHY /; INDEX /; ARBEITEN ZUR GESCHICHTE DES ANTIKEN JUDENTUMS UNO DES URCHRISTENTUMS /
• Bibliography: Includes bibliographical references (p. 260-266) and index.
• ISBN: 9004332766
• ISSN: 0169-734X
• Hierarchical level: Monograph
• Statement of Responsibility: by Sacha Stern.

Jewish Identity in Early Rabbinic Writings is more than a question of legal status: it is the experience of being Jewish or of 'Jewishness' in all its social and cultural dimensions. This work describes this experience as it emerges in Talmudic and Midrashic sources. Besides the question of “who is a Jew?”, topics include the contrast between Israel and the non-Jews, the physical embodiment of Jewish identity, the 'boundaries' of Israel and resistance to assimilation. Jewish identity, it is argued, hinges essentially on the Divine commandments ( mitzvot ) and on Israel's perceived proximity with the Divine. Drawing on a variety of disciplines, including the theories of William James and Merleau-Ponty, this study raises important issues in anthropology, as well as accounting for central aspects of early rabbinic Judaism.