Ancient Rabbinic Stories

Central to rabbinic culture are the values of Torah and Torah study. These values are reflected in the many rabbinic narratives through which the rabbis considered abstract theological and philosophical problems and ideas. For example, in the relatively lengthy Oven of Akhnai narrative, the rabbis explore such questions as whether God plays a role in determining matters of Jewish law and how to objectively determine the correct opinion in a legal dispute.

The rabbis hesitate to articulate what could be considered heretical questions in their own voices. Instead, they use the figure of the matrona, a high-status woman whose religious communal affiliation is ambiguous and contested (see Women in Rabbinic Literature). The rabbis place questions that they cannot ask and for which they have clever answers in her mouth. These rabbinically composed literary dialogues appear to challenge the rabbinic perspective but ultimately validate and confirm it. As literary figures, rabbis are sometimes presented as ideal types and role models; at other times, the lesson of a narrative is conveyed through a rabbi’s humanity, revealing his flaws and imperfections.

These stories are factually true only in the sense that they convey a rabbinic truth or multiple perspectives on a question. Although scholars no longer read these stories in an effort to uncover historical data, largely because each of the narratives passed through many reworkings in the course of formation and transmission over generations, they nonetheless contribute to our understanding of rabbinic culture. There are many points of entry into rabbinic stories, and they benefit from being read and reread closely, especially because they are written in a typically terse rabbinic style.