[Avodah] תשובה: medieval jewish history

[Shlomo Pick]

Don't quite understand you. The first part of midrash rabba to bamidbar has
been shown to be provencal, medieval and late. Tanchuma is not medieval but
according to mainstream jewish periodization to be from the classical
period, or Talmudic - post Talmudic period. 
You're correct, the scholarly ruminations of the last 40 years were
irrelevant to those writing 60 years earlier, but are relevant to us, and
one should wean himself from using an outdated encyclopedia.  Just because
it's on the web doesn't make it an authority any longer.
Kol tuv
shlomo

-----הודעה מקורית-----
מאת: arie.folger at gmail.com [mailto:arie.folger at gmail.com] בשם Arie Folger
נשלח: Monday, August 03, 2009 8:45 PM
אל: Shlomo Pick; avodah at aishdas.org
נושא: Re: medieval jewish history


I wasn't commenting on what should be called jewishly the Middle Ages,
but rather how most people use the word, likely including the Jewish
Encyclopedia of 1905, which was given as the source of the Wikipedia
article. The scholarly ruminations of the last 40 years were
irrelevant to those writing 60 years earlier.

Kol tut, --arie folger

On 8/3/09, Shlomo Pick <picksh at mail.biu.ac.il> wrote:
> Arie wrote:
>
>> 1) Mediaeval generally means between the fall of Rome in 476 (or even
>
> earlier, from the split between the Eatern and Western Roman empire)
>
> and the discovery of the New World in 1492. Jewishly, this is a very
>
> long period. When we use the adjective Mediaeval, we often think
>
> Rishonim, but this period includes not only the Geonim and Rishonim,
>
> but also the Savoraim and even some of the Amoraim. Hence, it doesn't
>
> mean the Midrash is particularly late.
>
>
>
> Just to note:
>
>        1.
>
> The issue of periodization of Jewish medieval history has been an issue
for
> the last 30-40 years.  See the article by haim Hillel ben sasson, in rezef
> vetemurah, tel-aviv, pp. 359-378. his opinion is that jewish medieval
> history starts with the rise of islam and arab conquests.
>
> See also Jacob kate, mechkarim bemadaei hayahadut, ed. m. bar-asher,
> Jerusalem 1986, pp. 209-225.
>
> There is more by profs. C.z. dimitrovsky and moseh david heer.
>
> I heard a lecture by the late prof. m breuer of the jewish history
> department in bar ilan suggest other dates.
>
> Almost no one views the Talmud period or even the post Talmud period as
> medieval, especially in terms of rabbinic writings.
>
> Then again, some ultra nationalists would suggest between 70 CE or 135 CE
> and 1948..
>
> The end of the period ranges from 1492 to 1648 to 1789.  Harvard
university
> holds that jewish medieval history ends with the French revolution. So
does
> Touro in Israel which is run by a  Harvard grad.
>
> Shlomo
>
>

-- 
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Arie Folger,
Latest blog posts on http://ariefolger.wordpress.com/
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