[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Re: orion Chanukah, Tefillin and Minim



    [The following text is in the "ISO-8859-1" character set]
    [Your display is set for the "ISO-8859-8" character set]
    [Some characters may be displayed incorrectly]

Dear Jack,
Do you believe the yerushalmi (a fourth or fifth century text) at face
value?  I'm sorry, but improvements in methodology in the study of rabbinic
documents over the past two decades makes that approach no longer feasible. 

Historical method requires that the historian test the evidence for accuracy
and reliability BEFORE you begin to use it for historical reconstruction. 
Since there is no way to verify (or falsify) the reliability of the
Yerushalmi's information, it is unusuable for this type of historical
dating.

Paul
P.S. What is "Brach"? Do you mean Berachot? That's usually abbreviated
"Ber." 
 
Paul V.M. Flesher, Director
Religious Studies Program
University of Wyoming
Laramie, WY 82071-3353 USA

(307) 766-2616 Office (307) 766-3189 Fax
PFlesher@uwyo.edu


----------
>From: Jack Kilmon <jkilmon@historian.net>
>To: orion@mscc.huji.ac.il
>Subject: Re: orion Chanukah, Tefillin and Minim
>Date: Wed, Jan 13, 1999, 5:58 PM
>

>
>
>Paul Flesher wrote:
>
>> Let's be blunt.  There is no known usage prior to its appearance in a ca
C3
>> ce text we call the Mishnah. That text talks about the birkat ha-minim,
but
>> it does not provide sufficient evidence for dating the blessing to the
C1.
>
>Brach 28b: ?Said R. Gamaliel to the Sages: Can anyone among you frame a
>benediction relating to the minim?  (was censored to Sadducees but has now
>been restored from an older version). JBrach 4, 8a; Tbrach 3,25 ..Samuel
the
>Lesser arose and composed it.  The date of the Birkhat ha-Minim MUST be
>between 80 (when Gamaliel became Nasi) and 90, the date of Shmuel
ha-qatan?s
>death.
>
>Sufficiency of evidence must therefore lie in how much trust we place in
>the historicity of the mishnaic account.
>
>Jack
>jkilmon@historian.net
>
>For private reply, e-mail to Jack Kilmon <jkilmon@historian.net>
>----------------------------------------------------------------
>To unsubscribe from Orion, e-mail to majordomo@panda.mscc.huji.ac.il with
>the message: "unsubscribe Orion." For more information on the Orion Center
>or for Orion archives, visit our web site http://orion.mscc.huji.ac.il.


For private reply, e-mail to Paul Flesher <pflesher@uwyo.edu>
----------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe from Orion, e-mail to majordomo@panda.mscc.huji.ac.il with
the message: "unsubscribe Orion." For more information on the Orion Center
or for Orion archives, visit our web site http://orion.mscc.huji.ac.il.