JOURNAL FOR THE STUDY OF THE PSEUDEPIGRAPHA SUPPLEMENT SERIES 21 Editors James H. Charlesworth Lester L. Grabbe Editorial Board Randall D. Chesnutt, Philip R. Davies, Jan Willem van Henten, Judith M. Lieu, Steven Mason, James R. Mueller, Loren T. Stuckenbruck, James C. VanderKam Sheffield Academic Press Land, Center and Diaspora Jewish Constructs in Late Antiquity Isaiah M. Gafni Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha Supplement Series 21 Copyright © 1997 Sheffield Academic Press Published by Sheffield Academic Press Ltd Mansion House 19KingfieldRoad Sheffield SI 1 9AS England Typeset by Sheffield Academic Press and Printed on acid-free paper in Great Britain by Bookcraft Ltd Midsomer Norton, Bath British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 1-85075-644-9 CONTENTS Preface 7 Acknowledgments 9 Abbreviations 10 Introduction 11 Chapter 1 JEWISH DISPERSION IN THE SECOND TEMPLE AND TALMUDIC PERIODS: PUNISHMENT, BLESSING OR UNIVERSAL MISSION? 19 Chapter 2 AT HOME WHILE ABROAD: EXPRESSIONS OF LOCAL PATRIOTISM IN THE JEWISH DIASPORA OF LATE ANTIQUITY 41 Chapter 3 BETWEEN ACTIVISM AND PASSIVITY: RABBINIC ATTITUDES TOWARDS 'THE LAND' 58 Chapter 4 BURIAL AND REINTERMENT IN THE LAND OF ISRAEL: THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS 79 Chapter 5 BABYLONIA AND THE LAND OF ISRAEL: THE LOYAL OPPOSITION 96 CONCLUSIONS 118 Bibliography 121 Index of References 130 Index of Authors 135 PREFACE During the second and third weeks of January 1994,1 had the honour of delivering the third series of Jacobs Lectures in Rabbinic Thought, sponsored by the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies. The topic I chose for the lecture series was: 'Rabbinic Reflections on Land, Center and Diaspora'. Upon completion of the series, I was encouraged by Philip Alexander and Martin Goodman to submit the text of my talks for publication, and this book is the result of their kind suggestion. The nature of the different presentations will help to explain the format of their present publication. Two of the lectures were delivered as formal presentations, and they are represented here as Chapters 1 and 3. Another two talks, included here as Chapters 4 and 5, were conducted as seminars, with the relevant texts before the participants. This would explain the somewhat more extensive use of texts and their analysis in these two chapters. The fifth presentation (Chapter 1) was originally intended as a somewhat informal discussion at Yamton Manor, at which time I attempted to sketch the broad range of issues relating to center- diaspora affairs as they reflect on Jewish life in Late Antiquity. The point of all this is to explain that 1 have tried, to the best of my ability and following the advice of Dr Alexander and Dr Goodman, to retain the structure of the original lectures, with the full realization that my treat­ ment is selective at best, with each chapter focusing on specific and limited issues. A comprehensive study of center and diaspora in Late Jewish Antiquity remains a desideratum, and such a study would surely also include the detailed and comprehensive footnotes that are missing, by choice, in this modest volume. In preparing for these lectures, I realized that as far back as 1977, when I first published an article on 'Bringing the Dead for Burial in the Land of Israel', I had become fascinated by the diaspora phenomenon in Jewish history, and the light it sheds, when examined carefully, on so many facets of Jewish self-identity. I continued with subsequent research on related aspects of center-diaspora relations, and a number of these 8 Land, Center and Diaspora studies served as earlier versions, upon which I built in preparing portions of the lectures included in this volume. I have referred to all my previous discussions of these issues in the notes to the relevant chapters. The reader should note that I have chosen to revise the second chapter of this book. As noted above, the original context of that presentation was an informal discussion, but here it constitutes an introductory survey of one major aspect of the diaspora phenomenon: the nature and expres­ sions of local patriotism embraced by Jews in the various diaspora com­ munities in Late Antiquity. This issue goes to the very heart of Jewish identity, and I would be disingenuous if 1 did not admit that some of the very same questions I will raise in connection with Alexandrian or Babylonian Jewry in this chapter will possibly tug at the hearts of certain people—or Jewish communities—today. In even greater candor I would have to admit that my own personal history, growing up as a child in a diaspora environment, speaking Hebrew with ray father on the streets of New York, and emigrating by myself as a fourteen-year-old youth to the Land of Israel—might also have contributed in no small manner to my long-standing preoccupation with the center-diaspora phenomenon in Jewish history. Like all self-proclaimed objective historians, I sincerely hope that I have not allowed my personal history to intrude into my critical observations of the past; in my heart 1 know how unlikely it is that I have truly succeeded. Isaiah M. Gafni The Hebrew University Jerusalem ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Words of gratitude and recognition are due a number of friends and institutions for their kind assistance at various stages of this book's preparation. My colleagues, Daniel Schwartz and Martin Goodman, read major portions of the early draft and their comments not only improved the text but also saved me from some embarrassing slips and oversights. I am also indebted to Erich Gruen for his excellent comments on the first two chapters. My student at the Hebrew University, Geoffrey Herman, helped in the correction of the final proofs. I began work on these lectures while a fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies of the Hebrew University, and completed the final draft while Senior Fellow at the Center for the Study of World Religions at Harvard University, serving also as the Weinstock Visiting Professor at that university's Center for Jewish Studies. The heads and staff mem­ bers of these institutions have, over the years, shown me nothing but the utmost kindness, and I take this opportunity to express my sincere thanks for all their help and goodwill. Last and certainly not least, no expressions of gratitude will do justice to all I owe my wife Naomi, who has for almost thirty years followed me time and again in my travels 'from Center to Diaspora': ABBREVIATIONS AGJU Arbeiten zur Geschichte des antiken Judentums und des Urchristentums ANRW Aufstieg und Niedergang der romischen Welt BJS Brown Judaic Studies CII Corpus inscriptionum iudaicarum CRINT Compendia rerum iudaicarum ad Novum Testamentum GTA Gottinger theologische Arbeiten HTR Harvard Theological Review lEJ Israel Exploration Journal JAOS Journal of the American Oriental Society JJS Journal of Jewish Studies JQR Jewish Quarterly Review JSJ Journal for the Study of Judaism in the Persian, Hellenistic and Roman Period JSP Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha NovTSup Novum Testamentum, Supplements PAAJR Proceedings of the American Academy of Jewish Research REJ Revue des etudes juives SJLA Studies in Judaism in Late Antiquity SPB Studia postbiblica TSAJ Texte und Studien zum antiken Judentum WUNT Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament ZAW ZeitschriftfUr die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft