Rituals and ritual theory in ancient Israel / by Ithamar Gruenwald.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Gruenwald, Ithamar.

Series:

Brill reference library of Judaism 1566-1237 ; v. 10.

The Brill reference library of Judaism, 1566-1237 ; v. 10

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Judaism--Liturgy.

Philosophy.

Judaism--Liturgy--Philosophy.

Judaism.

Ritual.

Judaism--History--To 70 A.D.

History.

Bible--Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Bible.

Physical Description:

xiii, 278 pages ; 25 cm.

Other Title:

Taʻaśeh

תעשה

Place of Publication:

Leiden ; Boston : Brill, 2003.

Contents:

Chapter 1 Rituals and Ritual Theory

Introductory Remarks 1

The study of rituals in the context of an anthropological approach

A definition of rituals as behaviourally autonomous expressions of the human mind

Focussing attention on what is done, how it is done, and what it brings into effect

The need to separate the discussion of rituals from the context of theology and symbolic acts

The meaning of rituals is embedded in the process of doing

The inner logic that makes the individual segments of the ritual acts work

The ritual theory of every ritual is embedded in the logic of the ritual process

Jewish law and Halakhah as rituals

The ritual "cosmos", or attitudinal space

The labelling-approach to rituals as opposed to a detailed discussion of ritual processes

Chapter 2 Economic Ethos and Rituals in the Religion of Ancient Israel 40

The Book of Genesis and the ethos stage in the religion of ancient Israel

Ethos as a way of life (in our case, an economic system) that shapes culture at a stage that precedes the one in which a full-scale religion unfolds

In the case of ancient Israel two rival kinds of economic ethos compete for hegemony: Sheep herding, nomadism, tribal organisation versus agriculture, cattle breeding, urbanisation, and monarchic organisation

What brings economics and religious ethos together?

Ethos and rituals

The story of Cain and Abel

The cursed Adamah

Abraham, the shepherd

Jacob and his sons

The ethos-duality in the case of Isaac

John the Baptist

The two Enochs

The ritual notion of walking in the Book of Genesis

Chapter 3 The Relevance of Myth for the Understanding of Ritual in Ancient Judaism 94

Myth is the shaping story behind ritual

Mythology comprises of myths that lost their connectedness to rituals

Myth and rituals in the history of their scholarly perception

The mythic status of philosophical explanations given to rituals

The case of Maimonides

Suggestions for a psychoanalytic approach to myth

The creation of Man in the Tselem of Elohim

Ritual and mythopoesis

Eliade's discussion of myth

Myth, temple, and ritual purity

The mythic status of the Exodus story

The various processes of ritualising the Pessach-event

The mythic status of the concept of the written/oral Torah

Chapter 4 In Quest of New Perspectives in Religious Studies: Halakhah and the Study of Rituals 139

The doing-modes of Judaic Halakhah

Oral Torah, Halakhah, and ritual theory

Reconstructing the doing modes of rituals from written documents

The introduction of anthropological considerations and parameters into the study of religion and rituals

Philosophical reservations and scholarly inhibitions in the study of rituals

The importance of the study of Halakhah for the study of rituals

The aesthetics of rituals

Mind and rituals

The ritual "cosmos"

What do Halakhic rituals do?

Intention and intentionality in the doing of Halakhic rituals

Intentionality in the case of laws concerning the infliction of damages

Intentionality in the case of purity/impurity

Intentionality in the case of tithing

Intentioanlity in the case of sacrifices

Rituals as "language"

Chapter 5 Sacrifices in Biblical Literature and Ritual Theory 180

Examining the studies of Henri Hubert and Marcel Mauss

Jacob Milgrom's work on Leviticus

What do sacrifices do?

The factor of transformation in rituals

The study of sacrifices in religious studies

The de-theologisation of the study of rituals and sacrifices

The sacrificial "cosmos"

The ritual reality

Meaning in rituals

The non-ideational approach in the study of rituals

A verse for verse analysis of Leviticus 16

Chapter 6 The "Lord's Supper" and Ritual Theory 231

The study of the Pauline letters in light of the study of rituals

How can Paul inform ritual theory and how can the study of ritual improve our understanding of Paul

Arnold van Gennep and the study of rituals

Paul's views on Nomos in light of ritual theory

Stanely J. Tambiah's definition of ritual

Rituals and essential life processes

A detailed analysis of 1 Corinthians 10: 16-18; 11: 23-26.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [267]-274) and index.

ISBN:

9004126279

OCLC:

51505750