In The Guide to the Perplexed III.37, Moses Maimonides attacks pagan ‘medical’ practices which give a sheen of efficacy but are ultimately dependent on magic and astrology. Nonetheless, he allows certain exceptions found in late antique rabbinic literature which have been proven through experience – even if they are not ‘prescribed by reason’. His preference for empiricism over principles or causes is noteworthy. In this, Maimonides follows others such as al-Ghazālī who prized Galen’s medical empiricism over medical theory. In this chapter I examine these exceptional cases in light of the literature of antiquity in order to discuss their efficacy. I also reveal how Maimonides’ begrudging acceptance of experience over theory also underpins his ‘proof’ of the creation of the world – which also ultimately turns to Galen. Thus, I reflect on the importance of Maimonides’ loyalty to Galen’s experimental method for both physics and metaphysics, showing methodological continuities across different domains.

This chapter examines how different cultural and religious groups constructed narratives of Roman justice between the late first and late third century, and assesses the interactions and connections between these narratives. It focuses on three case studies: (i) the Acta Alexandrinorum, accounts of embassies and trial scenes between Alexandrian Greeks and emperors; (ii) Christian texts, chiefly the apocryphal acts featuring encounters between apostles and emperors and the martyr acts recounting trials before Roman governors; and (iii) Jewish literature, including 1 and 2 Maccabees, and rabbinic texts which include discussions of Roman justice. The narratives of justice created by Alexandrian Greeks, Christians, and Jews in the High Empire are united by the fact that they all rewrite the public transcript of Roman legal authority. These stories show evidence of cross-cultural interactions in both form and content, but this chapter argues that the ultimate purpose and agenda of the different narratives were specific to the community that produced them.

In this chapter, we seek to understand the Mishnah and its meanings in its final form. We consider the shape of the Mishnah, the subjects it does and does not include, the qualities of its language and rhetoric, its relationship to canonical scripture and other parts of the pre-rabbinic tradition, and so forth. Crucially, we analyze a variety of key examples of the Mishnah to gain a genuine sense of its approaches. With an eye toward these considerations, we review the range of characterizations that have been offered for the Mishnah. We consider the theories of modern scholars who have made claims for the meaning of the Mishnah in its late antique Palestinian context and suggest some refinements of our own. In the end, we emerge with an appreciation of both the Mishnah’s rhetoric of tradition, on the one hand, and its bona fide radical qualities, on the other. Having characterized the Mishnah, to the best of our abilities, we then consider the question of when the Mishnah came to the precise shape we know, and ask about its realm of authority, whether among the rabbis or beyond.

How did the Mishnah become the canonical rabbinic work of such influence? To what degree was it, in fact, accepted as canonical, and to what degree did the supplementary and even contrary teachings of earlier rabbis gain traction in the burgeoning rabbinic communities of the Galilee and Babylonia? Before answering these questions, we focus on methodological problems that make confident answers difficult. We begin with the fact that rabbinic “Torah” was, at least to a significant extent, oral, and ask how this reality impacts the nature of the tradition we preserve. We then study the words of the rabbis of the Mishnah’s successor generations, known as Amoraim, and seek to determine how their attentions shaped the text and status of the Mishnah and other earlier rabbinic teachings. In what ways do Amoraim, in their commentaries on earlier teachings, pay respect to the authority of those teachings, and in what ways do they forge their own, new directions? From the laws and commentaries of the Amoraim emerged a new style of rabbinic study that would give birth to two Talmuds and thus shape Jewish culture for generations to come. In this chapter, we learn something about its beginnings.

The first major rabbinic composition – the Mishnah, which would ultimately form the foundation and shank of both of the Talmudim – emerged in an age of great upheaval for Jews. Losing two wars with the Romans, seeing their magnificent Temple in Jerusalem rendered rubble, Jews cannot long have held onto the hope that the world they had known would quickly be rebuilt. Had God abandoned them? – many must have wondered. If not, then how, in the absence of the Temple, could their relationship with God be maintained? Were its functions to be replaced? How were other Jewish institutions, practices, and holy days, many of which were deeply tied to the Temple, to be shaped for the new world? Against this background, and in response to the conditions just described, a new religious fellowship – the rabbi – began to forge new approaches and teachings, going a long way toward redefining Judaism for the post-Temple era. In this chapter, we will consider the early history of Jews under Roman rule in Palestine, which served as the stage for the development of the rabbis and their writings.

What is the importance of the Talmud, that it merits a comprehensive history? In this chapter, the author paints a picture, in broad strokes, of the importance of the Talmud, to both Jews and their neighbors, through history. The Talmud is the document that ultimately defined the contours and obligations of Jewish practice and belief; how did it gain that centrality and authority? How did the Talmud help shape Jewish society? Why did the Talmud provoke such powerful rejection in Christian circles, and later among Jewish reformers? Offering a word about the difficulties of writing such a history, then defining basic terms and directions, the author in this chapter establishes the foundation of the history to follow.