The Second Temple period was crucial to the formation of both rabbinic Judaism and early Christianity; the roots of both religions can be traced to this earlier era. Many literary genres, forms of interpretation, and ideas found in Jewish and Christian writings in antiquity—including liturgical compositions, midrashic interpretations, halakhic rulings and theological ideas—can trace their origins back to this decisive period. Later Jews and Christians adopted and adapted the texts and traditions of the Second Temple period, preserving and renewing them for new cultural and religious settings. The process of transmitting and transforming these earlier texts and traditions developed differently within the two religions. While Christianity often transmitted the earlier texts themselves (e.g., much of our knowledge of Hellenistic Judaism is through Christian authors), in rabbinic Judaism their remnants are generally preserved in the form of traditions that were integrated into new literary frameworks. Rabbinic traditions thus often provide the key to understanding obscure passages in compositions of the Second Temple period. Exploring the dynamics by which texts and traditions were transmitted and transformed will yield a richer understanding of the interrelationships among these vast bodies of literature and their attendant cultural contexts.
The Thirteenth Orion Symposium addressed some connections between rabbinic Judaism, Christianity, and Second Temple writings from the vantage point of particular textual examples that demonstrate different trajectories of development from the earlier texts through later tradition. Along the way, presenters questioned some of the paradigms through which “transmission” is commonly understood, and sought new ways to articulate the process of later reception of ancient traditions.
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