| The flourishing of "Wissenschaft des Judentum" in the 19th century is often seen as part of the general ascent of critical disciplines in European universities and interpreted as a result of the growing exposure of Jews to the winds of rationalist thought that swept through those institutions. In reality, the picture was significantly more complex.;In the 19th century the future of Judaism stood at the center of Jewish public discourse, with many debating how the existing patterns of Jewish tradition should be altered, if at all. Paradoxically, however, this intensive concern over the future of Judaism led to an ever-greater interest in the past. Some participants in the debate sought models from the past to hold up as guides to the future, while others focused on the flaws and failures of the past in order to justify their demand for reform. Tracing trends of stability or change, development or deterioration, pluralism or homogeneity in Jewish history, was extremely important to them.;All this is especially true when evaluating Wissenschaft's treatment of Rabbinic Literature, the foundation of Jewish law. This thesis will focus on 19th century scholarship concerning the two central works of Rabbinic literature, the Mishnah and Talmud.;The thesis consists of two parts, the first of which deals with the Mishnah, and the second with the Talmud. In the first part I will address the new critical approaches to topics such as the commitment to writing of the Mishnah (Chapter 1), the documentation of disputes (Chapter 2), and the goals of the redactors of the Mishnah (Chapter 3). As will be demonstrated, each of these themes assumed major significance in the context of the debate that engulfed the modern Jewish social and religious scene.;The second part of the thesis will focus on modern Talmudic research, and specifically on the degree to which the Talmud succeeded in deciphering the original meaning of the Mishnah. The first three chapters in this part (Chapters 4-6) take up the scholarly debates on this complex matter, which drew on the emerging tension between the findings of critical research and adherence to Jewish tradition. The final chapter (Chapter 7) will provide examples of the new approaches applied by the emerging schools of critical Talmudic research in the nineteenth century. |
