Art, argument, and ambiguity in the Talmud. Conflicting conceptions of the evil impulse in b.Sukkah 51b-52a
This article explores the literary significance of a logically awkward moment at the center of a sugya of dense argumentation (b.Sukkah 51b—52a). Literary analysis and comparison with earlier parallel sources (primarily from the Palestinian Talmud) reveal that the Babylonian Talmud constructs the lo...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Print Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
College
2002
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| In: |
Hebrew Union College annual / Jewish Institute of Religion
Year: 2002, Volume: 73, Pages: 97-132 |
| IxTheo Classification: | BH Judaism |
| Further subjects: | B
Evil
B Rabbinic Judaism B Talmud |
| Parallel Edition: | Electronic
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| Summary: | This article explores the literary significance of a logically awkward moment at the center of a sugya of dense argumentation (b.Sukkah 51b—52a). Literary analysis and comparison with earlier parallel sources (primarily from the Palestinian Talmud) reveal that the Babylonian Talmud constructs the logically awkward moment intentionally by amplifying an ambiguity implicit within its sources. The ambiguity at the heart of the sugya concerns the Evil Impulse. Is he figured as a goad to sin or as a goad to righteousness? While the Bavli's sources for this sugya depict the Evil Impulse primarily as a goad to sin, they contain subtle hints of the other possibility. When incorporating these sources into the fabric of its own argumentation, the Bavli preserves the formulation that depicts the Evil Impulse as a goad to sin, but additionally reconfigures the source to allow for the opposite perspective as well. Ambiguity about the nature of the Evil Impulse permeates the latter part of the sugya. Drawing on contemporary literary theories that link ambiguity with literary value, this article suggests that negotiating ambiguity as found in this sugya constitutes one of the great aesthetic pleasures of reading dense argumentation in the Bavli. |
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| ISSN: | 0360-9049 |
| Contains: | In: Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Hebrew Union College annual / Jewish Institute of Religion
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