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This is a preview of one of our House of Study Thursday posts.
We have some incredible goodies coming down the pike for Mondays soon-- including a series I've been working on for literally years-- but I thought you might want to get a sense of what we're up to over here.
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On the other side of midterms, as we begin to think towards a new political chapter in the US, it might be helpful to look back so that we can expand our vision of what's possible now.
That is to say: It's so easy to forget, sometimes, how much the water in which we swim shapes (and so often limits!) our imaginations. In order to conceive of a more audacious, whole future, it's helpful to see some examples of what this shaping looks like – and comparative history can be rather illuminating on that front.
So today we're going to do a quick look at how two different medieval Jewish communities – those in what's now Iraq (then: Bavel) and those in Western Europe – organized their leadership, and why.
For some of you, it may be fascinating to see the origins of practices still extant today, and for everyone, I think, there are some larger points worth noting.
First, don't forget:
Give yourself permission– and the tools– to get your work out there.
Join me for our next practical writing workshop.
- November 18, 8ET: How to Write a Book Proposal
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OK. Now. Ready?
The Jewish Diaspora / exile began in earnest around 135 CE, after the Romans destroyed the Second Temple (70 CE) and then, a few decades later, crushed a last-ditch uprising with terrifying, ugly force.
Many Jews wound up by the Tigris and the Euphrates, in basically the same spot to which Jews had been exiled by the Babylonian Empire after they'd destroyed the First Temple (586 BCE).
Even though a totally different empire (Sasanian) was in charge this time, we've always been a salty people and never one to let a bitter sense of humor get in the way of a running gag. So even though nobody else in the region seems to have called it that, they had just always referred to this place as, well, Bavel– Babylon. As in "Oh, God, we're back here again." (Hence: The Babylonian Talmud,* not the Sasanian Talmud or The Euphrates Talmud, just Babylonia Because We Are Apparently Trapped In A Time Loop Or Something But We Don't Forget... Talmud.)
*This is not a scholarly theory re: why the Jews called it Bablyonia when (as far as I'm aware) nobody else at the time did; this is my own take, but, really, it's the only one that makes sense from my view. I absolutely picture a bunch of 3rd c. yeshiva students doing a Producers-style shtick about this.
In Bavel, Jewish leadership tended to be centralized, and in the hands of a political and intellectual elite. Let's talk about them: