The Beginnings of Jewishness: Boundaries, Varieties, Uncertainties
In modern times, various Jewish groups have argued whether Jewishness is a function of ethnicity, of nationality, of religion, or of all three. These fundamental conceptions were already in place in antiquity. The peculiar combination of ethnicity, nationality, and religion that would characterize Jewishness through the centuries first took shape in the second century B.C.E. This brilliantly argued, accessible book unravels one of the most complex issues of late antiquity by showing how...
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\ \ \ Acknowledgments\ \ \ \ \ A Note on God and Parentheses\ \ \ \ \ Prologue: Jews and Others\ 1\ \ \ Pt. I\ Who was a Jew?\ 11\ \ \ 1\ Was Herod Jewish?\ 13\ \ \ 2\ "Those Who Say They Are Jews and Are Not": How Do You Know a Jew in Antiquity When You See One?\ 25\ \ \ 3\ Ioudaios, Iudaeus, Judaean, Jew\ 69\ \ \ Pt. II\ The Boundary Crossed: Becoming a Jew\ 107\ \ \ 4\ From Ethnos to Ethno-religion\ 109\ \ \ 5\ Crossing the Boundary and Becoming a Jew\ 140\ \ \ 6\ Ioudaizein, "to Judaize"\ 175\ \ \ 7\ The Rabbinic Conversion Ceremony\ 198\ \ \ Pt. III\ The Boundary Violated: The Union of Diverse Kinds\ 239\ \ \ 8\ The Prohibition of Intermarriage\ 241\ \ \ 9\ The Matrilineal Principle\ 263\ \ \ 10\ Israelite Mothers, Israelite Fathers: Matrilineal Descent and the Inequality of the Convert\ 308\ \ \ \ Epilogue: Jews, Judaism, and Jewishness: Us and them\ 341\ \ \ App. A\ Was Martial's Slave Jewish?\ 351\ \ \ App. B\ Was Menophilus Jewish?\ 358\ \ \ App. C\ Was Trophimus Jewish?\ 360\ \ \ App. D\ Was Timothy Jewish?\ 363\ \ \ \ Glossary of Some Hebrew Terms\ 379\ \ \ \ Bibliography and Abbreviations\ 381\ \ \ \ General Index\ 393\ \ \ \ Index of Premodern Sources\ 411\ \ \ \ Index of Modern Scholars\ 419\ \
\ Steven FineThis is the most important books on ancient Judaism to appear in recent years. More than that: Shaye Cohen's monograph on the origins of Jewish identity is a pleasure to read, prudent in handling the evidence and yet crisply written, even when the going gets tough. \ — Archaeology Odyssey\ \
