Synopses & Reviews
<div>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.<br/><br/>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.<br/><br/>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.<br/><br/>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.<br/></div>>
Synopsis
Of all Judaic rituals, that of giyyur is arguably the most radical: it turns aGentile 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
Synopsis
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.
Synopsis
<div>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.<br/><br/>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.<br/><br/>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.<br/><br/>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.<br/></div>>
Table of Contents
Introduction Part I: The Proselyte's Motivation as a factor in Giyyur PrologueChapter One: The Proselyte's Motivation in Talmudic SourcesChapter Two: The Proselyte's Motivation in Post-Talmudic Sources up to the Sixteenth CenturyChapter Three: The Motivation for Giyyur in Modern Halakhic Sources: Adaptivist PositionsChapter Four: The Motivation for Giyyur in Modern Halakhic Sources:Rejectionist and Transformationist Positions
Part II: The Giyyur RitualIntroductionChapter Five: Giyyur as a Voluntaristic Normative Commitment in Talmudic LiteratureChapter Six: Giyyur as a Bodily Ritual in Talmudic LiteratureChapter Seven: Chapter Seven: The Canonical Formulation of the Ritual of GiyyurChapter Eight: The Yevamot Paradigm in Medieval HalakhaChapter Nine: The Ritual of Giyyur: Aspects of the Demai Paradigm in Medieval HalakhaChapter Ten: The Two Paradigms of Giyyur -- from the Arba'ah Turim to the Shulhan ‘ArukhChapter Eleven: The Hermeneutical Controversy Regarding Rabbi Caro's Position - and its Significance
Part III: The Polyphonic Meaning of Acceptance of the Commandments in Halakhic Literature IntroductionChapter Twelve: Acceptance of the Commandments as a Formal DeclarationChapter Thirteen: Acceptance of the Commandments as Subjective IntentChapter Fourteen: Ex post facto Annulment of Giyyur
Part IV: The Meaning of GiyyurIntroductionChapter 15: Giyyur and Jewish Identity
Bibliography