The Second Temple Period

חכמים #1

by Binyamin Lau

The Sages is the first book to appear in English by the charismatic Jerusalem rabbi, Binyamin Lau. It offers fresh perspectives on the individual characters of the Jewish sages (Chazal), the historical contexts in which they lived, and the creativity they brought to the pursuit of Jewish wisdom. This first volume in a three-volume set examines the teachings of the Men of the Great Assembly, Yosi Ben Yoezer, Hillel, Shamai and others of the Second Temple Period.

Genres: Judaism, Jewish, History, Ancient History

383 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2006

Reviews

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

The content in this book is utterly fascinating, although I would have preferred a bit more fidelity to the chronology. And trying to read this all in one sitting can feel a bit repetitive. It's a book that benefits from reading a chapter at a time and digesting it.
Looking forward to the sequel, it does end on quite a cliffhanger.

[Natan Oliff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lau's book has two main focuses. On the micro level, he looks at different sages. He looks at each sage's enactments and appearances in Talmudic stories, especially in relation to the historical context around them, in an attempt to capture the personality and philosophies of each sage. On the macro level, he chronologically moves through Jewish history in Israel during the second temple period, mainly focusing on the enactments of the Anshei Knesset HaGedola, the Hasmonean Dynasty, and the Roman rule until the destruction of the temple. The two focuses are often intertwined and help give context to the other.

Going into this book, I thought that Lau would strictly focus on the different sages and explain their philosophies and biographies. As someone who studies Talmud, I believe that giving identity to the different Rabbis and the motivation behind their opinions provides a deeper and more meaningful understanding of the Talmudic debates. However, I did not realize the amount of text that would be allocated towards Jewish history.

Generally, I think that Lau does a good job of combining academic and Tannaitic sources to a holistic view of each sage and historical context. I felt that sometimes his historical analysis could get a bit repetitive. I enjoyed that parts more where he offered his opinion of a certain sage or showed a certain philosophy that emerges from analyzing that sage's appearance in academic and Tannaitic literature. However, especially towards the end, the historical context came into the forefront and the sages of the time were just used to help understand the historical context, instead of vice-versa. However, this shift may be because there is little Tannaitic literature on sages of the pre-temple destruction era and few prominent personalities, and thus Lau had little to work with.

[Joe Q. · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book that connects the religious world of the early Rabbis (quoted in Pirkei Avot and other texts) with their scholarly-historical context. If you've ever wondered about how the socio-political milieu of ancient Israel / Judaea shows up in Jewish tradition, this is the book to read.

[Yehuda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book combining history, Academia, and Torah to really flesh out the rabbis of old.

[Mark Kennicott · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first book I have read on the subject of the sages of the Second Temple Period, and it has been a very good primer on the subject. When I started this book there were several questions I hoped to find answers for: 1) What were the origins of the Pharisees and the Sadducees? 2)What was religious life like at the dawn of the Second Temple? 3) What were the origins of the Oral Law in rabbinic tradition? 4) What kind of influence did the sages have on the religious development of Judaism during this time? and 5) What kind of influence and/or interplay did Christianity have on/with Jewish thought leading up to the Destruction of the Temple?

All but the last question were answered quite well. I was disappointed however with the way that Christianity was ignored (and Yeshua in particular) except for some random references to a "Jesus" in the Talmud over one hundred years before he was actually born. Regardless of one's beliefs about Yeshua (messianic or not) one cannot ignore the pivotal influence he had on the religious landscape of his time and the historical significance of his life in relation to the rabbinic Judaism of the first century. Still, I was impressed with the overall treatment of the subject, and found several gems for my own further study and discovery. Perhaps Shmuel Safrai's work will be more illuminating, though this has been more accessible. A good start!

[Yael Shahar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rav Benny Lau has done a brilliant job of fleshing out the sources and bringing to life the personalities of First Temple times. This is a period for which there is very little historical or literary background. But Rav Lau manages to combine the few sources extant from the Talmud and Tosefta with external historical sources to build a compelling narrative of the evolution of Jewish thought.

Note: I read this book in the original Hebrew, but I also have the book in English translation. The translation is very professional and clear. I highly recommend all of the books in this series.

[Adenam · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this in Hebrew.

Great book that really brings Chazal to life.

[Jean Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating book about the Sages - very readable