And Speaking of R' Yishmael...
Continuing my musings on this Tanna - isn't it strange that despite the fact that midrashim portray Yishmael as an idolator and engaging in sexual improprieties, one of our greatest Tannaim is named after him. Especially since, unless I am mistaken, Rabbi Yishmael was one of the main contributors to midrashic collections. What gives?
posted by e-kvetcher at 2:11 PM
4 Comments:
You are not alone in your fascination with Rabbi Yishmael and Acher. Scholem identified the Heichalot literature attributed to Rabbi Y. and maasei merkava in c
Chagiga and was seconded by Rabbi Saul Lieberman. The literature has balooned since Scholem's book on merkavah mysticism. A survey article that will bring you up to date can be found in The Cambridge Companion to the Talmud and Rabbinic Literature
by Charlotte E. Fonrobert (Editor), Martin S. Jaffee (Editor). There are many other wonderful things to be found in the book, and it is reasonably priced.
What's curious is how many mentions there have been on Jewish blogs and websites of this personality of late, but with so little statement of what he's supposed to be guilty of. They mostly run "and the infamous" prefixed to the statement. That sort of thing, but not a clarification of the infamy. And the mentions seem almost eager to be positive and not negative like there's some joy in turning the infamy upside down and rehabilitating him.
Curious...
EJ, thanks, I'll definitely check it out. What do you know of this John McGinley from my previous post about R Yishmael and Acher?
suitepotato,
Well he is definitely a very intriguing personality. I thought that it was pretty clear what he was guilty of - at least at a high level according to the Talmud. He had become a denier of some of the major Rabbinal doctrines such as reward and punishment. It is not clear whether his studying of non-rabbinic schlarship had anything to do with his apostasy. You can see why many of the blogs would be fascinated by such a figure. Acher was a heretic who turned for intellectual reasons, not wanton desires. Also, he was a heretic who was formerly a rabbi of great standing...
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