Talmud in Exile: The Influence of Yerushalmi Avodah Zarah on the Formation...

by Alyssa M. Gray

Scholars have long noticed the many parallel passages in the Babylonian and Jerusalem Talmuds and have offered various explanations for them. The current scholarly consensus is that these parallels are not due to the Babylonian Talmud’s knowledge of, and reliance on, the earlier. In this book, Alyssa Gray sets out an original methodology for studying parallels in a Babylonian Talmud tractate and its Jerusalem Talmud counterpart (tractate Avodah Zarah), demonstrating that BT Avodah Zarah drew upon its predecessor. She argues that this dependence can be demonstrated through what she terms “macro” and “micro” analysis, and that differences between the parallels can often be traced to BT’s reworking of prior materials in keeping with its own cultural concerns.

Hardcover

Published September 23, 2005