Narrating the Law: A Poetics of Talmudic Legal Stories

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Narrating the Law DIVINATIONS: REREADING LATE ANCIENT RELIGION Series Editors: Daniel Boyarin, Virginia Burrus, Derek Krueger A complete list of books in the series is available from the publisher. Narrating the Law A Poetics of Talmudic Legal Stories Barry Scott Wimpfheimer university of pennsylvania press philadelphia Copyright © 2011 University of Pennsylvania Press All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations used for purposes of review or scholarly citation, none of this book may be reproduced in any form by any means without written permission from the publisher. Published by University of Pennsylvania Press Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104-4112 www.upenn.edu/pennpress Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Wimpfheimer, Barry S. Narrating the law : a poetics of talmudic legal stories / Barry Scott Wimpfheimer. p. cm. — (Divinations : rereading late ancient religion) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-8122-4299-7 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Talmud—Criticism, Narrative. 2. Narration in rabbinical literature. 3. Aggada—History and criticism. 4. Jewish law— History. 5. Judaism—History—Talmudic period, 10-425. 6. 6. Talmudic academies—Iraq—Babylonia—History. I. Title. BM509.N37W56 2011 296.1'2066—dc22 2010027771 For Shana This page intentionally left blank ...