The Rabbinic Legacy: Bavli Pesaḥim
The exegetical and debate techniques on display in, for example, b. Bava Kamma 83b–84a bear a striking resemblance to the techniques found in Greco-Roman rhetoric and attest to the deep influence of Hellenistic culture on rabbinic scholastic activity in both Palestine and Babylonia. A baraita in t. Sanhedrin 7:11 credits Hillel the Elder, a first-century CE sage and Pharisaic leader, with introducing seven hermeneutical methods that have been shown to be similar in terminology and substance to hermeneutical methods employed in the Greek rhetorical tradition. Both Talmuds elaborate the story of Hillel’s introduction of these techniques for interpreting and deriving law from scripture. But though they acknowledge his brilliance, both express reservations over his methods. In fact, in the version of the story recounted in b. Pesaḥim 66a, Hillel’s logical proofs for the law—impressive as they are—are refuted on their own terms, and Hillel’s legal teaching is ultimately accepted because it is shown to be a long-standing tradition. Thus, even as they embraced rhetorical and exegetical arguments, the rabbis expressed skepticism over the ability of these techniques to establish the correct interpretation of divine law.
Note also how the rabbis of the Babylonian Talmud generated elaborate discussions about laws—in this case sacrificial laws—that were no longer efficacious given that the Temple had long ago been destroyed, bringing an end to the sacrificial cult.
The Babylonian Talmud also contains traditions that identify a positive purpose for the diaspora, reported in the names of Palestinian sages who on occasion were anxious to explain the phenomenon of diaspora, which in their view was a divine punishment for Israel’s covenantal violations and reflected badly on all Jews. Thus, in b. Pesaḥim 87b, R. Eleazar teaches that Israel was exiled in order to gain proselytes, R. Oshaya understands the exile as preserving Israel’s very existence, R. Ḥiyya teaches that the exile spared the Jews the cruelty of the Romans, and R. Yoḥanan refers to the exile to Babylonia as a homecoming since Babylonia was the Israelites’ original home.