Books by Rebecca Scharbach Wollenberg
Princeton University Press, 2023
Early Judaism is often described as the religion of the book par excellence—a movement built arou... more Early Judaism is often described as the religion of the book par excellence—a movement built around the study of the Bible and steeped in a culture of sacred bookishness that evolved from an unrelenting focus on a canonical text. But in The Closed Book, Rebecca Scharbach Wollenberg argues that Jews didn’t truly embrace the biblical text until nearly a thousand years after the Bible was first canonized. She tells the story of the intervening centuries during which even rabbis seldom opened a Bible and many rabbinic authorities remained deeply ambivalent about the biblical text as a source of sacred knowledge.
Wollenberg shows that, in place of the biblical text, early Jewish thinkers embraced a form of biblical revelation that has now largely disappeared from practice. Somewhere between the fixed transcripts of the biblical Written Torah and the fluid traditions of the rabbinic Oral Torah, a third category of revelation was imagined by these rabbinic thinkers. In this “third Torah,” memorized spoken formulas of the biblical tradition came to be envisioned as a distinct version of the biblical revelation. And it was believed that this living tradition of recitation passed down by human mouths, unbound by the limitations of written text, provided a fuller and more authentic witness to the scriptural revelation at Sinai. In this way, early rabbinic authorities were able to leverage the idea of biblical revelation while quarantining the biblical text itself from communal life.
The result is a revealing reinterpretation of “the people of the book” before they became people of the book.
Selected Articles and Chapters by Rebecca Scharbach Wollenberg
Hebrew Union College Annual, 2019
In modern scholarship, Deuteronomy 34:10 is often imagined as the source of a rabbinic theory of ... more In modern scholarship, Deuteronomy 34:10 is often imagined as the source of a rabbinic theory of biblical authorship in which each successive stage in Israelite history was marked by a decline in the level of prophetic guidance available to the people so that each new cohort of religious leaders was compelled to meticulously preserve and minutely study the written records of a prophetic experience to which they no longer had access. The early rabbinic materials analyzed in this essay, however, reveal that Deuteronomy 34:10 was closely tied in some early rabbinic traditions to a very different theory of biblical compilation. For these early rabbinic thinkers, Deuteronomy 34:10 was not a statement of prophetic decline but of prophetic change. If Moses was destined to bequeath the raw sacred materials of revelation to the world, other inspired figures would arise who would shape (and reshape) these materials into the biblical tradition as we know it. For as t. Sanhedrin 4:7, Song of Songs Rabbah 1.1.8 and b. Eruvin 21b each explain in different ways, the Mosaic revelation was all but incomprehensible to the people in its original form. Only with the additions and refinements of later wise men and scribes did the Mosaic revelation acquire a shape in which “everyone began to discern its meaning” (Song of Songs Rabbah 1.1.8).
Journal of Biblical Literature Vol. 138, No. 1 , pp. 143-160, 2019
The historiography of biblical criticism typically frames modern critical insights about the comp... more The historiography of biblical criticism typically frames modern critical insights about the composite nature of the biblical text as a break with traditional Jewish and Christian modes of engaging with the Bible. This article seeks to demonstrate, however, that one can find critical themes in even the earliest Jewish and Christian traditions concerning the nature and history of the biblical text. As an illustration of this phenomenon, I analyze the critical strains threaded through late antique Jewish and Christian narratives about a second edition of the Bible produced by Ezra the Scribe.
Prooftexts
This article begins with the observation that one of the most famous bad wife tales
in rabbinic l... more This article begins with the observation that one of the most famous bad wife tales
in rabbinic literature (Genesis Rabbah 17:3) is not really a tale about women
at all. While Genesis Rabbah 17:3 is formally structured as a tale of two wives,
the bad wife of Rabbi Yose and the good wife of Rabbi Ḥananiah ben Ḥakhinai,
the narrative is not primarily directed at shaping a feminine ideal but works to
negotiate competing visions of male honor. Specifically, the narrative works to
overturn a model of male Jewish honor based on a paterfamilias model of individual
leadership in favor of a system in which male Jewish honor derives from visible
adherence to the norms of the rabbinic academy. This article thus explores a common
dissonance in early rabbinic narratives about women, asking why women’s
literary bodies are so effective as a material through which male social ideals can be
negotiated. The article concludes that the fictional women in such stories function in
a mode very similar to what Mikhail Bahktin described as a “fairytale chronotope,”
in which landscapes, objects, and animals are animated to make the defining
structures of a particular social moment visible by distilling them into a perceptible
representative but without the blurring complications of a full human subjectivity.
Journal of the American Academy of Religion, 2017
For nearly a century now, scholars have sought to discover the rationale behind the Nittel Nacht ... more For nearly a century now, scholars have sought to discover the rationale behind the Nittel Nacht tradition -a cluster of Jewish observances carried out on Christmas Eve. 2 From the early modern period onwards, many European Jews marked the arrival of the Christmas holiday by putting aside their holy books, refraining from sexual relations, consuming garlic, staying up late, and holding rowdy communal gatherings (often centered on card playing). Considered in the context of the Jewish tradition alone, these practices are inexplicable -even "bizarre," as one researcher remarks with frustration several times in his short article on the subject. 3 Nor do the explanations offered by practitioners shed much light on the underlying historical logic of the practice, as long as they are evaluated exclusively in light of existing Jewish practice and belief. Practitioners report that they observe these customs in order to protect Jewish Studies Quarterly 20, 340-373 1 I would like to thank several people for their assistance with this work. Bruce McClelland was incredibly generous with his time and energy -sorting through boxes of old notes to find a copy of a source that he had mentioned and then translating the article from Bulgarian so that I could quote it in this piece. Bruce Lincoln offered an extensive and insightful critique of an earlier draft of this essay. The argument was much strengthened by his criticism. Finally, I would like to thank David Wollenberg, Hillel Gray, Wendy Doniger and the members of the Problems Seminar for their help refining the text of this essay.
Talks and Short Pieces by Rebecca Scharbach Wollenberg
AJS Perspectives, 2018
AJS Perspectives: 50th Anniversary Edition, Blurring the Boundaries
Other Projects by Rebecca Scharbach Wollenberg
Abrahamic Sensorium, second event
Results of the photographic tour were turned into a third ev... more Abrahamic Sensorium, second event
Results of the photographic tour were turned into a third event through a gallery showing at the University of Michigan.
Abrahamic Sensorium, eighth event
Abrahamic Sensorium, seventh event
Abrahamic Sensorium, sixth event
Abrahamic Sensorium, fifth event
Throughout the nineteenth century, the birth of what one may call philologia orientalis and the d... more Throughout the nineteenth century, the birth of what one may call philologia orientalis and the discovery of the linguistic similarities between Sanskrit and European languages radically transformed the perception of the East, much weakening the idea of a family relationship between Judaism, Christianity and Islam. The case of Ernest Renan (1823-1892) is here emblematic. The lecture will survey Renan's conception of Judaism and Islam, through his invention of the category of "Semitic religions." We shall reflect on its consequences on the study of monotheism among historians of religions, as well as on the development of anti-Semitism and Islamophobia in the last decades of the century. Advance Registration Required: https://umich.zoom.us/webinar/register/3216105505888/WN_oYvSLryURveHxXW0tu-28Q
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Books by Rebecca Scharbach Wollenberg
https://www.cambridge.org/core/elements/abrahamic-vernacular/C4583CAE9028B51BD7125A45D724CB5F#metrics
Wollenberg shows that, in place of the biblical text, early Jewish thinkers embraced a form of biblical revelation that has now largely disappeared from practice. Somewhere between the fixed transcripts of the biblical Written Torah and the fluid traditions of the rabbinic Oral Torah, a third category of revelation was imagined by these rabbinic thinkers. In this “third Torah,” memorized spoken formulas of the biblical tradition came to be envisioned as a distinct version of the biblical revelation. And it was believed that this living tradition of recitation passed down by human mouths, unbound by the limitations of written text, provided a fuller and more authentic witness to the scriptural revelation at Sinai. In this way, early rabbinic authorities were able to leverage the idea of biblical revelation while quarantining the biblical text itself from communal life.
The result is a revealing reinterpretation of “the people of the book” before they became people of the book.
Selected Articles and Chapters by Rebecca Scharbach Wollenberg
in rabbinic literature (Genesis Rabbah 17:3) is not really a tale about women
at all. While Genesis Rabbah 17:3 is formally structured as a tale of two wives,
the bad wife of Rabbi Yose and the good wife of Rabbi Ḥananiah ben Ḥakhinai,
the narrative is not primarily directed at shaping a feminine ideal but works to
negotiate competing visions of male honor. Specifically, the narrative works to
overturn a model of male Jewish honor based on a paterfamilias model of individual
leadership in favor of a system in which male Jewish honor derives from visible
adherence to the norms of the rabbinic academy. This article thus explores a common
dissonance in early rabbinic narratives about women, asking why women’s
literary bodies are so effective as a material through which male social ideals can be
negotiated. The article concludes that the fictional women in such stories function in
a mode very similar to what Mikhail Bahktin described as a “fairytale chronotope,”
in which landscapes, objects, and animals are animated to make the defining
structures of a particular social moment visible by distilling them into a perceptible
representative but without the blurring complications of a full human subjectivity.
https://doi.org/10.1093/jaarel/lfw073
https://academic.oup.com/jaar/article/doi/10.1093/jaarel/lfw073/2965619/The-Dangers-of-Reading-As-We-Know-It-Sight-Reading#.WJNncaddSk0.email
Talks and Short Pieces by Rebecca Scharbach Wollenberg
Other Projects by Rebecca Scharbach Wollenberg
Results of the photographic tour were turned into a third event through a gallery showing at the University of Michigan.
https://www.cambridge.org/core/elements/abrahamic-vernacular/C4583CAE9028B51BD7125A45D724CB5F#metrics
Wollenberg shows that, in place of the biblical text, early Jewish thinkers embraced a form of biblical revelation that has now largely disappeared from practice. Somewhere between the fixed transcripts of the biblical Written Torah and the fluid traditions of the rabbinic Oral Torah, a third category of revelation was imagined by these rabbinic thinkers. In this “third Torah,” memorized spoken formulas of the biblical tradition came to be envisioned as a distinct version of the biblical revelation. And it was believed that this living tradition of recitation passed down by human mouths, unbound by the limitations of written text, provided a fuller and more authentic witness to the scriptural revelation at Sinai. In this way, early rabbinic authorities were able to leverage the idea of biblical revelation while quarantining the biblical text itself from communal life.
The result is a revealing reinterpretation of “the people of the book” before they became people of the book.
in rabbinic literature (Genesis Rabbah 17:3) is not really a tale about women
at all. While Genesis Rabbah 17:3 is formally structured as a tale of two wives,
the bad wife of Rabbi Yose and the good wife of Rabbi Ḥananiah ben Ḥakhinai,
the narrative is not primarily directed at shaping a feminine ideal but works to
negotiate competing visions of male honor. Specifically, the narrative works to
overturn a model of male Jewish honor based on a paterfamilias model of individual
leadership in favor of a system in which male Jewish honor derives from visible
adherence to the norms of the rabbinic academy. This article thus explores a common
dissonance in early rabbinic narratives about women, asking why women’s
literary bodies are so effective as a material through which male social ideals can be
negotiated. The article concludes that the fictional women in such stories function in
a mode very similar to what Mikhail Bahktin described as a “fairytale chronotope,”
in which landscapes, objects, and animals are animated to make the defining
structures of a particular social moment visible by distilling them into a perceptible
representative but without the blurring complications of a full human subjectivity.
https://doi.org/10.1093/jaarel/lfw073
https://academic.oup.com/jaar/article/doi/10.1093/jaarel/lfw073/2965619/The-Dangers-of-Reading-As-We-Know-It-Sight-Reading#.WJNncaddSk0.email
Results of the photographic tour were turned into a third event through a gallery showing at the University of Michigan.
In more recent years, many scholars working on these traditions have independently begun to articulate an (as yet relatively inchoate) instinct that this sort of thinking represents history of religion’s own version of the “territorial trap” (Agnew, 1994, Szpiech 2016). For many of the communities we study appear to have developed scripturally infused forms of intertraditional “vernacular religion” in which motifs and practices coevolved in this shared cultural sphere (Primiano 1995, Wollenberg 2013). Some scholars and institutions have sought to name this phenomenon using the terminology of “Abrahamic religions.” Others have been resistant to the ways in which this genealogical language elides the specific histories of the Abraham motif in different religious communities (Hughes, 2012). In the speaker series proposed here, we hope to invite scholars working on these questions to present both case studies that illuminate these intersections and new theories that reconceptualize the problematic under consideration. (https://mcubed.umich.edu/projects/remapping-peoples-book-theorizing-abrahamic-vernaculars-team-1)
In more recent years, many scholars working on these traditions have independently begun to articulate an (as yet relatively inchoate) instinct that this sort of thinking represents history of religion’s own version of the “territorial trap” (Agnew, 1994, Szpiech 2016). For many of the communities we study appear to have developed scripturally infused forms of intertraditional “vernacular religion” in which motifs and practices coevolved in this shared cultural sphere (Primiano 1995, Wollenberg 2013). Some scholars and institutions have sought to name this phenomenon using the terminology of “Abrahamic religions.” Others have been resistant to the ways in which this genealogical language elides the specific histories of the Abraham motif in different religious communities (Hughes, 2012). In the speaker series proposed here, we hope to invite scholars working on these questions to present both case studies that illuminate these intersections and new theories that reconceptualize the problematic under consideration. (https://mcubed.umich.edu/projects/remapping-peoples-book-theorizing-abrahamic-vernaculars-team-1)
ix A Note from the Editors of the Hebrew Union College Annual
1 Ezekiel 20: A New Redaction-Critical Analysis David Frankel, Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies
27 Authorship, Attribution, and Authority: Jeremiah, Baruch, and the Rabbinic Interpretation of Lamentations Jason Kalman, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion; University of the Free State, South Africa
89 Haredi Jewish Boys Choirs and the Performance of a Secure Future Gordon Dale, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion
113 Introduction to “The Making of Moses” Mark Leuchter and Zev Farber
121 Moses the Transjordanian Prophet Zev Farber, Project TABS – TheTorah.com; The Shalom Hartman Institute, Jerusalem
141 Moses like David: Prototypes in the Deuteronomistic History Alison L. Joseph, The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization
163 Moses Between the Pentateuch and the Book of the Twelve Mark Leuchter, Temple University
185 The Apocalyptic Moses of Second Temple Judaism Alexandria Frisch, Ursinus College
209 “A King and a Scribe like Moses”: The Reception of Deuteronomy 34:10 and a Rabbinic Theory of Collective Biblical Authorship Rebecca Scharbach Wollenberg, University of Michigan
227 “A Prophet Like Moses”? What Can We Know About the Early Jewish Responses to Muḥammad’s Claims of Mosesness? Shari L. Lowin, Stonehill College
257 The End of Moses Rachel Havrelock, University of Illinois at Chicago