The Binding of Isaac and Messiah: Law, Martyrdom, and Deliverance in Early Rabbinic Religiosity (review)

Hebrew Studies 32 (1991) 69 Reviews THE BINDING OF ISAAC AND MESSIAH: LAW, MARTYRDOM , AND DELIVERANCE IN EARLY RABBINIC RELIGIOSITY. By Aharon Ronald E. Agus. Pp. xi + 327. Albany: State University of New York, 1988. Cloth, $49.50 I Paper, $18.95. In this thoughtful and thought-provoking study, Dr. Agus has presented us with an attempt to go beyond mere classification and description in the study of early rabbinic Judaism. The title of the work fully reflects the author's agenda. This is an empathetic reading of three themes in rabbinic texts, generally drawn from the Palestinian or Babylonian Talmudim. The author insists that we relate to these texts from the perspective of the religiosity of their creators. This is, in his view, the key to the proper understanding of their message. Finally, a claim is advanced as to the interrelatedness of these three themes. This is an intelligent and refreshing approach to a subject that is generally treated under the titles of "Judaism" or "rabbinic thought." It is the kind of treatment which van der Leeuw called for and summed up in "an impressive statement of Usener... : 'Only by surrendering oneself, and by submersion in these spiritual traces of vanished time ... can we train ourselves to recall their feeling ...'" (Religion in Essence and Manifestation [Princeton, 1986], pp. 674f.). The depth of Dr. Agus' sympathy for and identification with his subject is apparent in the highly charged rhetoric one encounters all too often in his presentation. An extreme example is at the end of the author's digression on the nature of the "religious psyches' perception of self and world" (p. 46): "The religious soul in whose womb the Law is first conceived is musical to a passion. She hears cacophony where others hear symphony.... She is frail so that she desires virginity; yet she is passionate and easily seduced to love" (p. 58). This is one of many examples where the clarity of the exposition of "Early Rabbinic Religiosity" is sacrificed to unnecessarily lavish rhetoric. A problematic aspect of this study results, in my opinion, from the author's single-minded pursuit of his own innovative approach without the restraint (van der Leeuw's "epoche") imposed by sufficient consideration of other scholars' views on the same subjects. Thus, a figure such as Hanina ben Dosa, who has been examined extensively in scholarly literature, is cast as a "martyrial" figure (pp. 89-114). No attempt is made to check this view against the trend to see Hanina and Honi HameCagel (pp. 69-87) as charismatic figures who are best understood against the backdrop of those same figures in early Christianity. Such a comparison would have challenged the Hebrew Studies 32 (1991) 70 Reviews author's view of the two religions (p. 55) and certainly at least should have been considered in the footnotes. The same holds true of the author's translations which are sometimes idiosyncratic, if not mistaken. n':J T:J is rendered "one initiated" (p. 70; compare Judah Goldin's felicitous "member of household" and n. 7 in his Studies in Midrash and Related Literature [Philadelphia, 1988] p. 331 = HTR 56 [1963]:233) and 'M'110 'r'nm' as "let his bowels be thus overlooked" (p. 94) which was discussed in the Theodor-Albeck edition of Bereshit Rabbah (pp. 757-758) and others. Though the author is sensitive to variant readings, generally those preserved in the Diqduqey So/erim, he too rarely avails himself of penetrating analyses of the likes of Epstein (p. 286, n. 3 should refer to Mavo Lenusah Hamishna, p. 976) or Liebennan (pp. 142143 should include the insights of Tosephta Ki1shutah, IV, p. 887) which, I believe, would have enriched his presentation. On the other hand, Agus has given ample expression to the trenchant problems of methodology which beset the field of rabbinic religion. For example, he has a long note on his preference for citing the Talmudim rather than other witnesses of Amoraic religion: Both Talmudim surpass the other sources for Amoraic material. both because of their comparative faithfulness in reporting and. more so because their level of seriousness is determined primarily by their growing out of study in the yeshivot...