Reassessing exilarchal authority between Sasanian and early Islamic rule
The exilarch is widely believed to have held a supra-leadership position over Babylonian Jewish society during the Amoraic period, a position which persisted into the medieval period. One of the exilarch’s chief responsibilities and privileges was overseeing the Jewish legal system, and more particu...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | |
| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
2022
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| In: |
Journal of Jewish studies
Year: 2022, Volume: 73, Issue: 2, Pages: 263-287 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | The exilarch is widely believed to have held a supra-leadership position over Babylonian Jewish society during the Amoraic period, a position which persisted into the medieval period. One of the exilarch’s chief responsibilities and privileges was overseeing the Jewish legal system, and more particularly appointing and authorizing judges. Despite the prevalence of this understanding of the exilarch, it is primarily predicated on a single extended discussion in b. Sanhedrin 5a. This article argues that b. Sanhedrin 5a is a late redacted and tendentious source that reflects not the power enjoyed by the exilarch during the Amoraic period, but a later attempt to retroject his increasing authority into the Amoraic past. Following an in-depth analysis of the Talmudic discussion, the article reconsiders the position of the exilarch in the Amoraic and post-Amoraic periods, calling for further work that reconsiders the main scholarly tenets of the nature of Babylonian Jewish society. |
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| ISSN: | 2056-6689 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal of Jewish studies
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.18647/3542/jjs-2022 |