Rabbis Reading Eden: Genesis 1-3 in Classical Judaism
The topics set forth below represent the major cornerstones of my research into the way Genesis 1-3 captured the imagination of classical rabbinic thought and literature.
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Arguments in Heaven: Was the Creation of Humanity a Good Idea?
“Let Us Create a Human Being in Our image.” In announcing the creation of humanity, God uses plural pronouns. The question “to whom is God speaking” has vexed commentators ever since. One of the answers to this question that took hold in rabbinic texts is that God was arguing with angels. We’ll explore rabbinic traditions that tell the story of “Heavenly Arguments” about humanity that in turn raise a host of difficult questions, including the extent of divine power and the nature of humanity.
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Adam the Sage: What was Adam Doing in the Garden?
In Genesis chapter 2, Adam spends a period of solitude in the garden prior to Eve’s formation. How did he spend his time? Rabbinic tradition’s answer to this question is surprising and raises fundamental questions about the nature of the Jewish religious experience.
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Adam and Eve — or Adam, then Eve: The Creation of Gender in Rabbinic Literature
A close, comparative reading of Genesis 1 and 2 reveal fundamentally different accounts of humanity’s creation. Was Adam and Eve created at the same time, or subsequent to one another? The answer to this question has had profound effects on Western cultural views of gender and authority. We will explore key rabbinic texts on this classic biblical conflict.
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Serpent or Demon: The Emergence of Satan in Rabbinic Judaism
Is the serpent in the garden a strange, talking creature, or something more sinister? We will look at a brief history of the development of the serpent’s character in early Jewish, Christian, and Islamic texts to understand the evolution of a cultural icon.
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Who’s to Blame, Adam or Eve? Changing Perspectives in Rabbinic Judaism
In Genesis’ temptation scene, Eve eats the forbidden fruit at the conclusion of her dialogue with the serpent. That dialogue prompts many questions about who is ultimately to blame for violating the first God-given prohibition. We will look at some key texts in the history of early Jewish interpretations on this scene, including a surprise twist in a key early medieval rabbinic collection.
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Gender and Punishment: Adam and Eve’s Afflictions in Rabbinic Judaism
We can learn a great deal about how the Bible and early Judaism defined gender roles by carefully looking at the punishments inflicted on Adam and Eve in Genesis 1-3 and how those punishments were interpreted in rabbinic Judaism. We explore the history of the development of these traditions to see how ideas of gender develop and change over time and tradition.
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