Bavel

Sorry for the long hiatus. It can be hard to find time to write between study and sleeping and... that's pretty much it, actually. I'll probably get something up about Hanukah soonish. Any topics of particular interest for subsequent posts?

I recently read the Iggeret of Rav Sherira Gaon, one of our earliest sources for the line of transmission of the Torah Shebaal Peh (oral law), and it has left me with a lot of questions, mostly about the Babylonian community prior to the Amoraic period (when the gemara was written).

Here is what I know about it: while there may have been some presence earlier, the bulk of the community formed through a series of exiles in the early 6th century BCE, mostly of the educated populace and political class. In exile, they prospered, and although they were allowed to return after the Persians conquered Babylon in 538 BCE, most did not. As far as I can tell from Rav Sherira Gaon, it seems that the centre of Jewish scholarship may have stayed there, despite the departure of the anshei haknesset hagedola (men of the great assembly). He claims that most of the zugot (pairs, leading scholars of the proto-Mishnaic era) were Babylonians who made aliya to lead the court in Jerusalem. It is possible that there were not great schools in Eretz Yisrael until Hillel and Shammai, last of the zugot, founded their academies. For the next two hundred years or so, the Babylonian centre is clearly secondary, but not entirely quiescent. He describes activity somewhat parallel to the compilation of the mishna and tosefta going on in Bavel, with the baraita collection of Mar Shmuel being of comparable quality to the tosefta (if you need a glossary for that sentence, skip it for now, ask me later). Philo describes it as large and wealthy, but doesn't say much.

So, basically I am frustrated by the paucity of sources. I suppose I would mainly focus on three categories of ignorance. First, we have none of the output of that time, and we don't even know what is missing (except, I suppose, the baraitot of Mar Shmuel and the mishna of Rav Nissim). Presumably, a centre of scholarship of that scale and duration produced a lot of important Torah, and it would be nice to have access to some of it. Second, I would like to know something about the cultural exchange that occurred there with non-Jews. Comparisons of Judaism to Zoroastrianism, Hinduism, and Buddhism are pretty much in their infancy, as though the only significant point of contact with the rest of the world was the western one with Greece and Rome. Third, the political situation was quite interesting. Before Hanukah time, Mesopotamia was one of the most important provinces of the Seleucid Empire, the Syro-Greek antagonists in Judea, and right around then it passed into Arsacid hands, a local Persian dynasty that ultimately split the Seleucids with Rome. What degree of contact was there between the Jewish communities in this time of flux and revolution? Were the Jews of Bavel also oppressed by the Greeks? Did they have a role in the end of Seleucid power there?

Anyway, if anyone is interested in a career in archaeology and looking for a period to study, keep it in mind. Also interested in wild, groundless speculation, if there is any on offer.

Yeshiva life goes on. We had a shabbaton down south a couple weeks ago, which was very nice. Lovely hiking, Sephardic food. I found out that hail is surprisingly painful, and its aftermath is surreal on a warm, sunny afternoon in a desert town with piles of ice lying here and there. I also got to play a bunch of chess and go, which was enormous fun.
One of the rabbis' sons was married, so I got to see a Sephardic wedding. The dancing was very confusing. They seemed to be dancing in concentric circles more or less like Ashkenazim, albeit with different rhythm and footwork, but the circles ended up not being closed or concentric or stable in any way, and I kept finding myself on the edge of the dance floor and no longer holding hands with anyone no matter where I started or what I did. So I enjoyed the wine and called it a night.
Thursday, a few of us (mostly D&D crew) went to a medieval festival in the old city. Started off underwhelming, cheesy costumes and not much use of the fantastic medieval scenery, but there were a couple parts that really tugged at my heartstrings. There was a craft fair, and the potter there reminded me of my late teacher, Ursula Kaplowitz. In terms of midot (character traits), I can't think of anyone else outside my family who had a greater impact on me, modelling patience and kindness like a saint with every student, no matter how rambunctious or inattentive. Then there was a station with music and space for dancing, and I had a hard time with that, too, but in a good way. Basically, I have to get married. If they had played a waltz, I might have started crying.