Transforming Identity : The Ritual Transition from Gentile to Jew - Structure and Meaning.

Cover -- Table of Contents -- Introduction -- Part I: The proselyte's motivation as a factor in giyyur -- Introduction -- 1 The proselyte's motivation in Talmudic sources -- 2 The proselyte's motivation in post-Talmudic sources up to the sixteenth century -- 3 The motivation for giyyur in modern halakhic sources: adaptivist positions -- 4 The motivation for giyyur in modem halakhic sources: rejectionist and transformationist positions -- Part II: The giyyur ritual -- Introduction -- 5 Giyyur as a voluntaristic normative commitment in Talmudic literature -- 6 Giyyur as a bodily ritual in Talmudic literature -- 7 The canonical formulation of the ritual of giyyur -- 8 The Yevamot paradigm in mediaeval halakhah -- 9 The ritual of giyyur: aspects of the Demai Paradigm in mediaeval halakhah -- 10 The two paradigms of giyyur - from the Arba'ah Turim to the Shulhan Arukh -- 11 The hermeneutical controversy regarding Rabbi Caro's position - and its significance -- Part III: The polyphonic meaning of acceptance of the commandments in halakhic literature -- Introduction -- 12 Acceptance of the commandments as an objective act -- 13 Acceptance of the commandments as subjective intent -- 14 Ex post facto annulment of giyyur -- Part IV: The meaning of giyyur -- Introduction -- 15 Giyyur and Jewish identity -- Bibliography -- Index -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- F -- G -- H -- I -- J -- K -- L -- M -- N -- O -- P -- R -- S -- T -- U -- W -- Y -- Z.

Of all Judaic rituals, that of giyyur is arguably the most radical: it turns a Gentile into a Jew - once and for all and irrevocably. The very possibility of such a transformation is anomalous, according to Jewish tradition, which regards Jewishness as an ascriptive status entered through birth to a Jewish mother. What is the internal logic of the ritual of giyyur, that seems to enable a Gentile to acquire an 'ascribed' identity? It is to this question, and others deriving from it, that the authors address themselves. Interpretation of a ritual such as giyyur is linked to broad issues of anthropology, religion and culture: the relation of 'nature' and 'culture' in the construction of group boundaries; the tension between ethnicity and religion; the interrelation of individual identity and membership in a collective. Fully aware of these issues, this groundbreaking study focuses upon a close reading of primary halakhic texts from Talmudic times down to the present as key to the explication of meaning within the Judaic tradition. In our times, the meaning of Jewish identity is a core issue, directly affecting the public debate regarding the relative weight of religion, nationality and kinship in determining basic aspects of Jewish life throughout the world. This book constitutes a seminal contribution to this ongoing discussion: it enables access to a wealth of halakhic sources previously accessible only to rabbinic scholars, fleshes out their meanings and implications within the cultural history of halakha, and in doing so situates halakha at the nexus of contemporary cultural discourse.

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Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, 2024. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries.