The People, Not the Peoples: The Talmud Bavli’s “Charitable” Contribution to the Jewish-Christian Conversation in Mesopotamia

The People, Not the Peoples: The Talmud Bavli’s “Charitable” Contribution to the Jewish-Christian Conversation in MesopotamiaReview of Rabbinic JudaismSyriaca.org: The Syriac Reference PortalThe National Endowment for the HumanitiesThe International Balzan Prize FoundationDavid A. Michelsoncbsc_adminRecord added to Zotero bycbsc_adminSyriaca.org: The Syriac Reference Portalhttp://syriaca.org/cbss/W7RBZV56/tei

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2024-08-15-04:00

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CREATED: This bibl record was autogenerated from a Zotero record.Alyssa M.GrayThe People, Not the Peoples: The Talmud Bavli’s “Charitable” Contribution to the Jewish-Christian Conversation in Mesopotamiahttp://syriaca.org/cbss/W7RBZV56https://www.zotero.org/groups/a_comprehensive_bibliography_on_syriac_studies/items/W7RBZV56https://www.zotero.org/groups/4861694/items/W7RBZV56Review of Rabbinic Judaism20:22017137-167Bavli Baba Batra 10b–11a substantiates the existence of a “Jewish-Christian conversation” that took place in fourth-century Mesopotamia. This essay demonstrates that this sugya presents rabbinic responses to several Christian claims: (1) contra Aphrahat, God and Israel have a continuing and uniquely close relationship; (2) contra Aphrahat, Gentile charity is motivated by the desire for self-aggrandizement, the continuation of Gentile rule, and arrogance, and is thus sinful; (3) contra Aphrahat, Gentile charity is sinful because they only engage in it to revile Israel; moreover, Gentile charity does not atone for their sins; and (4) contra Aphrahat (who quotes Ezek. 15:4 and Isa. 58:11), it is not the Jews who will be dried out and burned up with fire; once Gentile charity ceases, it is the Gentile empires who will burn. Gray, Alyssa M. “The People, Not the Peoples: The Talmud Bavli’s ‘Charitable’ Contribution to the Jewish-Christian Conversation in Mesopotamia.” Review of Rabbinic Judaism 20:2 (2017): 137–67. Alyssa M. Gray, The People, Not the Peoples: The Talmud Bavli’s ‘Charitable’ Contribution to the Jewish-Christian Conversation in Mesopotamia, Review of Rabbinic Judaism 20:2 (2017): 137–67.AphrahatBabylonian TalmudIV CEIV-VII CEJewish-Christian relationsRabbinic Judaismcharitypolemic