The Aggada of the Bavli and Its Cultural World (Brown Judaic Studies)

**Essays that explore the rich engagement of the Talmud with its cultural world** The Babylonian Talmud (Bavli), the great compilation of Jewish law edited in the late Sasanian era (sixth–seventh century CE), also incorporates a great deal of aggada, that is, nonlegal material, including interpretations of the Bible, stories, folk sayings, and prayers. The Talmud s aggadic traditions often echo conversations with the surrounding cultures of the Persians, Eastern Christians, Manichaeans, Mandaeans, and the ancient Babylonians, and others. The essays in this volume analyze Bavli aggada to reveal this rich engagement of the Talmud with its cultural world. **Features:** * A detailed analysis of the different conceptions of martyrdom in the Talmud as opposed to the Eastern Christian martyr accounts * Illustration of the complex ways rabbinic Judaism absorbed Christian and Zoroastrian theological ideas * Demonstration of the presence of Persian-Zoroastrian royal and mythological motifs in talmudic sources Introduction / Geoffrey Herman and Jeffrey L. Rubenstein A Demonic Servant in Rav Papa's Household: Demons as Subjects in the Mesopotamian Talmud / Sara Ronis Narrative Bricolage and Cultural Hybrids in Rabbinic Babylonia: On the Narratives of Seduction and the Topos of Light / Reuven Kiperwasser "Meishan Is Dead": On the Historical Contexts of the Bavli's Representations of the Jews in Southern Babylonia / Yakir Paz "In Honor of the House of Caesar": Attitudes to the Kingdom in the Aggada of the Babylonian Talmud and Other Sasanian Sources / Geoffrey Herman Clusters of Iranian Loanwords in Talmudic Folkore: The Chapter of the Pious (b. Taʻanit 18b-26a) in its Sasanian Context / Jason Mokhtarian Gaze and Counter-Gaze: Textuality and Contextuality in the Anecdote of Rav Assi and the Roman (b. Baba Metsiʻa 28b) / Shai Secunda Martyrdom in the Persian Martyr Acts and in the Babylonian Talmud / Jeffrey L. Rubenstein A Persian Anti-Martyr Act: The Death of Rabba bar Naḥmani in Light of the Syriac Persian Martyr Acts / Simcha Gross "Fool, Look to the End of the Verse": b. Ḥullin 87a and Its Christian Background / Michal Bar-Asher Siegal Dualistic Elements in Babylonian Aggada / Yaakov Elman First Man, First Bovine: Talmudic Mythology in Context / Yishai Kiel Mourner's Kaddish, The Prequel: The Sassanian Period Backstory That Gave Birth to the Medieval Prayer for the Dead / David Brodsky Cover Contents Abbreviations Introduction The Mesopotamian Context A Demonic Servant in Rav Papa's Household Narrative Bricolage and Cultural Hybrids in Rabbinic Babylonia “Meishan Is Dead” The Sasanian Context “In Honor of the House of Caesar” Clusters of Iranian Loanwords in Talmudic Folklore Gaze and Counter-Gaze The Syriac and Christian Context Martyrdom in the Persian Martyr Acts and in the Babylonian Talmud A Persian Anti-Martyr Act “Fool, Look to the End of the Verse” The Zoroastrian Context Dualistic Elements in Babylonian Aggada First Man, First Bovine Μοurner’s Kaddish, The Prequel Notes on Contributors Ancient Source Index General Index "The Babylonian Talmud, the great compilation of Jewish law edited in the seventh century CE, also contains a great deal of aggada, that is, non-legal material, including interpretations of the Bible, stories, folk sayings and prayers. The Talmud's aggadic traditions contain echoes of the conversations with the surrounding cultures of the Persians, other Iranian peoples, Eastern Christians, Manichaeans, Mandaeans, and the ancient Babylonians. The essays in this volume analyze Bavli aggada to reveal this rich engagement of the Talmud and its cultural world" -- Provided by publisher