Judaism In Late Antiquity Analysis

Judaism in Late Antiquity by Jacob Neusner

‘Judaism in late antiquity’ by Jacob Neusner is a brief look back on the history of Judaism. Judaism is the official religion for the Jewish state of Israel. The sacred Hebrew scripture called the Torah serves as a model for an ethical lifestyle. Late antiquity applies to the beginning of the Common Era, specifically the start of the first six centuries. The history of Judaism in late antiquity first started with the Mishnah, the first important written scripture in Rabbinic Judaism that formed throughout the first and second centuries CE. As years went on, around four hundred years later, the Mishnah was changed completely into something new. This was called the “last Mishnah”, which is a revised
version of the first Mishnah. The Mishnah was reconstructed by the rabbis who were seen as masters or even as ‘gods’ after the great messianic wars against Rome in (66-73) and (132-135). The first Mishnah and the last Mishnah were formed together into a rabbinic synthesis, which is now known as messianic Judaism and is used for worship to this day. Rabbinic Judaism had two different sides to one religion. Rabbinic Judaism created a mixture of two massive antithetical phenomenas in the people of Israel’s religion. There is only one document for Rabbinic Judaism in Late Antiquity, and that is The Mishnah, which is the foundation of Rabbinic Judaism that stands on its own, the Mishnah ignored scriptures and texts with proof. In his article Jacob Neusner stated that the conflicts between the religions in Israel in Late Antiquity had to do with the rabbinic successors of both the scriptures and the Mishnah which associated both of these two back into relation. They combined the scriptures and the Mishnah into a messianic and legal synthesis which is the Torah, with their rabbi being Moses. The Mishnah was written in Mishnaic Hebrew, and is the first book of Judaism in the first and second centuries CE. The Mishnah was created by a Rabbi by the name of Yahuda Hanasi and he believed that the coming of the messiah, the end of the world, and the significance of Israels suffering was not going to happen considering they were barely written in the Mishnah. The Mishnah consisted of six orders: Zaraim which means Seeds, discusses agricultural laws, Moed which means Festival, discusses Jewish holidays and Sabbath, Nashim which means women, discusses marriage, Nezikin which means damages, discusses civil and criminal law, Kodashim which means holy things, discusses sacrificial rites, the Temple, dietary laws, and Tohorot which means purity, discusses the laws of purity and impurity. These six terms are essential because they are what hold the power of the Mishnah together, it is the first scripture written, and it was written with order by Yahuda Hasani purposely.
Hundreds of years later, another holy book was created called the Gemara. This book was a revised version of the Mishnah, and Rabbis felt as though they needed to add new laws to cater to the views of society at the time. According to what the Rabbis believed in, they felt like if they did not add new laws to the Mishnah, Israel would not be redeemed. These Rabbis had a lot of power, according to what Jacob Neusner said “The Rabbi overcame the evil impulse that dominated ordinary men and was consequently less liable to suffering, misfortune, and sickness” (Neusner, 2002). They had the power of witchcraft, and they had the power of creating and destroying people using magic because they were righteous and free of sin. The people of their time believed in everything they said because of these abilities, and therefore was the second creation of the Mishnah.This was the second mixture of the two massive antithetical phenomenas, the Gemara. Jews believed that as a result of their sins historically, they had to all become Rabbis by studying the Holy Torah, and doing good deeds. They would have to do this until they finally a Rabbi. By doing this, they then would no longer rely on their mistakes in history, and the messiah would finally come. Salvation depended on the rabbinization of Israel. There were two slightly different viewpoints of religion in Israel, and believing that the Messiah would come was partly one of them, as a whole, the Gemara was the second side.
Finally, the roots of Rabbinic Judaism started from the Mishnah, and later on was improved by Rabbis and completed into the Holy Torah one in which the Jewish people still practice today. The laws of the Mishnah were practiced by people in the first and second centuries, and the Gemara was practiced by people in the fifth and sixth century. The Gemara and the Mishnah both were combined to complete the Torah. This was the two antithetical phenomenas in the religion of Israel.
Overall, the author of this article on `Judaism in Late Antiquity` Jacob Neusner was born in 1932 and studied at Harvard University where he received an award at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, he also studied at the University of Oxford, and Yale University, which are all top 3 schools all over the world.
Some might say his article was biased because he is Jewish himself. But, he did a lot of research on Rabbinic Judaism. His main studies were Rabbinic Judaism. Jacob Neusner` reasoning and evidence is very clear. He proves his points by stating facts such as using the Torah to help him prove his point. Jacob Neusner uses history facts to back up his points. In addition, this text is a primary text because it is the original research, and the author does not make any assumptions because he states facts throughout this article. Now, there are some alternative perspectives that are remained unconsidered, such as the religion of Islam, and how their history is not incorporated with Israel, after all, Jewish people have been living side by side with Arabs all through history. There are no logical flaws in the way the arguments of Jacob Neusner are constructed, everything is constructed accordingly. Therefore, Jacob Neusner in my opinion is a very strong author, and I believe readers would not think he is biased due to the excessive amounts of research he has done on Rabbinic Judaism, which probably nobody else ever
has.
The two antithetical phenomenas have been created to form the Holy Torah. The Gemara is the modernized version of the Mishnah, which was created first. The Mishnah was supposedly the absolute version of the Holy Torah sent down from God, but the Rabbis revised everything because they thought they needed to. The original version was changed and nobody will ever know the pureness of it again. Therefore, the mixture of the Mishnah and the Gemara is what the outcome of the Holy Torah is, today. The teachings of the Rabbis were so powerful to the people of their time due to the fact that Rabbis were considered Gods. This was why Rabbis in Late Antiquity were so powerful, and could do anything they please. It was believed that they also had magic powers, and witchcraft. If these Rabbis hadn’t of existed, there would not be a need for a second creation of the Mishnah, and the Mishnah itself would still be the original document. For this reason, the combination of the Mishnah, and the Gemara are the antithetical phenomenas in the religion of Israel.
Work Cited:
Entry Title: “Rabbinic Judaism in Late Antiquity” (pp. 7583-7590)
Bibliographic Entry:
Neusner, Jacob. "Rabbinic Judaism in Late Antiquity." Encyclopedia of Religion. Ed. Lindsay
Jones. 2nd ed. Vol. 11. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2005. 7583-7590.