Jewish Marriage In Antiquity

Marriage today might be a highly contested topic, but certainly no more than it was in antiquity. Ancient Jews, like their non-Jewish neighbors, grappled with what have become perennial issues of marriage, from its idealistic definitions to its many practical forms to questions of who should or should not wed. In this book, Michael Satlow offers the first in-depth synthetic study of Jewish marriage in antiquity, from ca. 500 B.C.E. to 614 C.E. Placing Jewish marriage in its cultural milieu, Satlow investigates whether there was anything essentially "Jewish" about the institution as it was discussed and practiced. Moreover, he considers the social and economic aspects of marriage as both a personal relationship and a religious bond, and explores how the Jews of antiquity negotiated the gap between marital realities and their ideals. Focusing on the various experiences of Jews throughout the Mediterranean basin and in Babylonia, Satlow argues that different communities, even rabbinic ones, constructed their own "Jewish" marriage: they read their received traditions and rituals through the lens of a basic understanding of marriage that they shared with their non-Jewish neighbors. He also maintains that Jews idealized marriage in a way that responded to the ideals of their respective societies, mediating between such values as honor and the far messier realities of marital life. Employing Jewish and non-Jewish literary texts, papyri, inscriptions, and material artifacts, Satlow paints a vibrant portrait of ancient Judaism while sharpening and clarifying present discussions on modern marriage for Jews and non-Jews alike.

This volume surveys the legal and literary references to gender, sexuality and marital relations found in biblical sources and Rabbinic texts until the end of the Tamudic era (c. 600 C.E.). Subject areas include Israel's familial historiography, kinship and law in biblical Israel, gender and status, judicial review of law, divine covenant and marriage covenant, conditions mandating divorce, monogamous and polygamous marriage, levirate surrogate marriage, endogamy and exogamy, marital choice, marriage and reproduction as religious imperatives, the home as a 'small temple', the marital writ for ontological security, emotional fidelity, the validation of eroticism, love's body: idealization and aesthetics, denial of sexual responsibility as Judaism's original sin, sexuality and dignity, conjugal rights and responsibilities, fertility and infertility, contraception and abortion, erotic and reproductive techniques, menstruation: The time to refrain from embracing, the suspected adulteress, children and eternity.

Originally published in 1884. A comprehensive exploration into all aspects of Marriage and Divorce in accordance to Biblical law. Contents include: The Marriage Relation, According to the Ethical Doctrines of the Bible and the Talmud - The Sources of the Jewish Marriage Law - Legal View of Marriage - Monogamy and Polygamy - Prohibited Marriages - Prohibition in Consideration of Chastity - Prohibition On Account of Religious and Other Considerations - Temporary Impediments - Qualifications to Contract Marriage - The Form of Concluding Marriage - The Effects of Marriage - Dissolution of Marriage. Author: Rev. Dr. M. Mielziner Language: English Keywords: Social Sciences / Judaism/ Law Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. Obscure Press are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

"The custom of illuminating the traditional Jewish marriage contract, the ketubbah, developed over the last four centuries into a rich and varied form of Jewish folk art. This book offers a broad selection from one of the outstanding collections of ketubbot, representing Jewish communities from the Near East to Northern Europe. It focuses particularly on the ketubbot of Italy, where the art of the illuminated ketubbah found its most beautiful expression during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, under the influence of Renaissance and Baroque art." "Co-produced with the Israel Museum, Jerusalem, home to one of the largest collections of ketubbot, this book also offers a fascinating account of Jewish marriage customs and a vivid picture of diverse Jewish communities." --Book Jacket.

Provocative exploration of levirate marriage in ancient Judaism that sheds new light on the Jewish family in antiquity and the rabbinic reworking of earlier Israelite law

This illuminating study is about the absence of time as an entity in itself in ancient Judaism, and the predominance instead of process in the ancient Jewish world-view. Evidence is drawn from a complete range of Jewish sources from this period.