A History of the Mishnaic Law of Purities, Part 22: The Mishnaic System of Uncleanness: Its Context and History (Studies in Judaism in Late Antiquity) [Reprint ed.] 9781556353437, 155635343X

Table of contents :
A HISTORY OF THE MISHNAIC LAW OF PURITIES
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TRANSLITERATIONS
INTRODUCTION
THE SYNCHRONIC CONTEXT: SYSTEMS OF PURITY IN ANTIQUITY
THE DIACHRONIC CONTEXT: THE ISRAELITE SYSTEM OF UNCLEANNESS
BEFORE THE FIRST CENTURY: THE MISHNAIC SYSTEM AND ITS RULES
FROM THE TURN OF THE FIRST CENTURY TO 70: DEVELOPING THE MISHNAIC SYSTEM, AUGMENTING ITS RULES
FROM 70 TO 140: THE MISHNAIC SYSTEM OF UNCLEANNESS IN THE TIME OF YAVNEH
THE S YSTE1I AT THE END: PROBLEMATIC AND STRUCTURE IN MISHNAH
INDEX TO BIBLICAL AND TALMUDIC REFERENCES

Citation preview

A HISTORY OF THE MISHNAIC LAW OF PURITIES PART TWENTY-TWO

STUDIES IN JUDAISM IN LATE ANTIQUITY EDITED BY

JACOB NEUSNER VOLUME SIX A HISTORY OF THE MISHNAIC LAW OF PURITIES PART TWENTY-TWO

A,HISTORY OF THE MISHNAIC LAW OF PURITIES BY

JACOB NEUSNER University Professor Professor of Religious Studies and The Ungerleider Distinguished Scholar of Judaic Studies Brown University

PART TWENTY-TWO

THE MISHNAIC SYSTEM OF UNCLEANNESS Its Context and History

Wipf&Stock PUBLISHERS Eugene,Oregon

Wipf and Stock Publishers 199 W 8th Ave, Suite 3 Eugene, OR 97401 A History of the Mishnaic Law of Purities, Part 22 The Mishnaic System of Uncleanness: Its Context and History By Neusner, Jacob Copyright©1977 by Neusner, Jacob ISBN 13: 978-1-55635-343-7 ISBN 10: 1-55635-343-X Publication date 3/19/2007 Previously published by E. J. Brill, 1977

For

ESP

TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface ........... . Abbreviations and Bibliography. Transliterations. Introduction . . 1. The Synchronic Context: Systems of Purity in Antiquity 1. Introduction. . . . ii. Systemic Description: Purity in Zoroastrianism. 1. The System as a Whole 2. Sources of Uncleanness 3. Loci of Uncleanness .. 4. Modes of Purification . 5. Conclusion.. . . . . . iii. The Synchronic Context. . . II. The Diachronic Context: The Israelite System of Uncleanness . . . i. Definitions 11. The Priestly System: General Observations iii. Uncleanness in the Essene Community at Qumran: A System without (Extant) Rules. iv. Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . III. Before the Pirst Century: The Mishnaic System and its Rules .................. • • • i. Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ii. The Testimony of the Fathers and the Houses 111. Sources of Uncleanness and their Origins 1. Menstrual Blood 2. The Zab .... 3. Corpse-Matter . iv. Modes of Transfer of Uncleanness l. The Distinction between Pressure and Touch. 2. Midras and Maddaf . ...... . 3. The Tent. The Squared Handbreadth v. Loci of Uncleanness . . . . . . . . .

XI XXI XXVI

1 10 10 13 14

15 17 18 19 21

24 24

26 37

49

50 50

53 58 58 59

60 60 60 63 72 75

VIII

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vi. Modes of Prophylaxis and Purification. vii. Tractates . 1. Niddah 2. Ohalot 3. Zabim. 4. Kelim. 5. Miqvaot. viii. The Foundations of the Mishnaic System of Uncleanness .... IV. From the Turn of the First Century to 70: Developing the Mishnaic System, Augmenting its Rules i. Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ii. The Houses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1. Sources of Uncleanness, Modes of Transfer A. Menstrual Blood. B. The Zab . . . . C. Corpse-Matter. . 2. Loci of Uncleanness. 3. Modes of Prophylaxis and Purification. iii. Data of Y avneh . . . . . . . . . . . . 1. Sources of Uncleanness, Modes of Transfer. A. Menstrual Blood. B. The Zab . . . . C. Corpse-Matter. . D. The Tebul Yom. 2. Loci of Uncleanness. 3. Modes of Prophylaxis and Purification. iv. Reprise: The System before 70. . . . . . 1. Sources of Uncleanness and Modes of Transfer 2. Loci of Uncleanness. 3. Purification v. Tractates . . . . . . . 6. Parah . . . . . . . vi. From the Turn of the First Century to 70. V. From 70 to 140: The Mishnaic System the Time of Yavneh. . . . . . . . . i. Introduction. . . . . . . . . . ii. Sources of Uncleanness, Modes of

of Uncleanness in . . . . . . . . Transfer

81 88 90 90 91 92 93 94

110 110 111 111 111 114 115 116 119 124 124 124 124 124 125 125 127 130 130 130 131 132 132 132

137 137 137

TABLE OF CON'l'EN'r'S

1. Menstrual Blood . The Zab. Corpse- Matter The Tebul Y om Liquids in the System of Uncleanness . The 'Am Ha>are.fin the System of Uncleanness. -, Hands. 8. 1Ve,ga'and $ara'at. Loci of Uncleanness 1. Removes of Uncleanness, Levels of Sanctification of Food and Drink . . . . . . . 2. Utensils . . . . . . . . . . . . Modes of Prophylaxis and Purification. 1. Breakage. . . . . . 2. The Immersion-Pool 3. Purification-Water. Tractates . . . 7. Negaim. . . . . 8. Mak:hshirin. . . . The Destruction of the Temple and the Mishnaic System of Uncleanness . . . . . . . . . . 1. Priest and Temple, Rabbi and Community. 2. Intention and Responsibility . . . . . . 3. Descent into Uncleanness, Ascent to Holiness 4. Conclusion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

2. 3. 4. 5. 6. {.

iii.

1v.

v.

vi.

VI. From 140 to 170: The Mishnaic System of Uncleanness in the Time of Usha . 1. Introduction. ii. Sources of Uncleanness, Modes of Transfer 1. Menstrual Blood. 2. The Zab. 3. Corpse-Matter . 4. The Tebul Yorn 5. Liquids in the System of Uncleanness 6. The '.Am Ha>are.fin the System of Uncleanness. 7. JianJs. 8. £Vega'and $ara1at. iii. Loci of Uncleanness 1. Food and Drink

[X

138 141 145 148 149 151 152 153 160 160 164 168 168 169 175 179 179

180 182 184

186 189 195

200 200 200 200 205 208 212 213 216 217

217 222 222

X

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iv.

v.

vi. vii.

2. Doubts in Connection with the Uncleanness of Food and Drink . 3. Utensils . Modes of Prophylaxis and Purification. 1. Breakage. 2. The Immersion-Pool 3. Purification-Water. 4. Rinsing Hands . Tractates 9. Tebul Yorn 10. Tohorot. 11. Uqsin. 12. Yadayim. The Bar Kokhba Calamity and th~ Mishnaic System of Uncleanness. The System in Action.

225 228 233 233 236 242 250 252 252 252 253 254 254 262

VII. The System at the E'nd: Problematic and Structure in Mishnah. . . . . 269 i. Introduction. 269 ii. The Parts . . 271 iii. The Whole . 290 iv. Structure and Meaning 293 Index of Biblical and Talmudic References General Index. . . . . . . . . . . . .

304 311

PREFACE The canon of Judaism is composed of books deemed to be Torah. The canon of that form of Judaism which has predominated for nearly two thousand years, called by the names "Talmudic," "Rabbinic," (more theologically) "Classical," or "Normative," consists of a two-part Torah, Written and Oral. The Written Torah is the Pentateuch, the Prophetic Books, and the Writings (Tanakh). The Oral Torah to begin with is Mishnah, which generates its own further canonical literature, its exegesis in the Talmuds, codes, commentaries, and responsa of the Mishnaic law. When we take up the history of Mishnaic law prior to the redaction of Mishnah in ca. A.D. 200, we therefore enter into the study of the formative history of the ideas and literature of the Judaic canon. The definitive context and purpose of this study became clear to me only many years after the exegetical work had gotten underway. While in general I had at the outset proposed to investigate the nascent age in the history of Judaism and therefore had chosen to ask about the way in which the earliest document of that history came into being in both conceptual substance and literary form, I perceived the relationship of that purpose, effected principally through exegesis and reconstruction of small-scale sequences of thought, to the larger context of the history of religions only at the end of the work. It was in a lecture 1 by Professor Jonathan Z. Smith, University of Chicago, that I found the larger purpose of the project here drawing to a close, which is the inquiry into the canon of Judaism: I have come to believe [Smith states] that the prime object of study for the historian of religion ought to be the theological tradition, in particular, those dimensions of the theological endeavor that are concerned with (in Western terms) the canon and its exegesis. That is to say, shorn of any presuppositions as to its character as revelation (and from this the historian of religions must abstain), the radical and arbitrary reduction represented by the notion of a canon and the ingenuity represented by the (usually rule-governed) exegetical enterprise to apply the canon to every dimension of human life is that most characteristic religious activity that is, at the same time, the most profoundly cultural and hence, most illuminating for what ought to 1 At University of Tennessee, Knoxville, November 16, 1976. Smith's lecture, along with mine and others given at that time, will be published in due course.

XII

PREFACE

be the essentially anthropological viewpoint of the historian of religions. The task of application as well as the judgment of the adequacy of particular applications may well remain the theologian's task. But the study of the process (particularly the study of comparative systematics and exegesis) ought to be the preoccupation of the historian of religions .... [This notion J implies that the historian of religion ,viii not lose his freedom to study the all-but-limit-less horizon of human religiosity and objects of religious concern; but that he will take as a prime comparative task the understanding of the surrender of that freedom by the communities he studies and their rcdiscoven of that freedom through the exercise of ingenuity ,vithin their self-imposed limits.

The concluding sentence in this important statement explains why, through the present study, I have not hesitated to make (oblique) judgments about the work and results of the philosophers of the Mishnaic system before us. For I believe I do show the sorts of choices they made and the way in which, accepting the limitations of choice, they also expanded the boundaries of their consciousness of being free to make important decisions and effect significant choices. \Ve shall not appreciate the freshness and daring of Mishnah unless we keep in mind the openness, in the epoch in which Mishnah is formed, of the Judaic canon. Everyone realizes, of course, that the Essene community at Qumran defined the Judaic canon differently from that which has come down in Rabbinic Judaism. But when we consider that Mishnah also is part of the J uaref charge of something. We agree that what he controls is unclean. But what is it that he controls? The key, or the whole house to which the key gives access? M. Toh. 8: 5 shows how the two principles harmonize. The wife of the 'am ba>aref will not deliberately contaminate the house, because we have not placed the house in her charge. Accordingly, on the one hand, she respects the concern of the baber to keep the house clean; on the other, if we give her charge over the house, she will surely touch everything in it. Meir at M. Toh. 7: 2

SOURCES OF UNCLEANNESS

217

certainly takes a different view. Unsupervised, the are.[ left in a house will contaminate everything. Sages vis a vis Meir take a similarly negative view; the only reason the 'am ha>are.[ will not touch everything in the house is that he fears discovery, not that he respects the baber'sobsessions.

Hands The principle that hands are unclean in the second remove is in no way augmented in rulings assigned to Ushans, which treat the quite separate matter of how hands are rinsed and so purified. 7.

Nega