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Dual Dimensions of Discipline in Jewish Wisdom and Early Rabbinic Sources
- Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies
- Purdue University Press
- Volume 35, Number 3, Spring 2017
- pp. 115-133
- 10.1353/sho.2017.0014
- Article
- Additional Information
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Typical English usage of the term "discipline" differentiates between the punitive sense, often perceived as negative, and the educational sense of the word. However, looking to Jewish sources from antiquity, we find a more holistic mode of discipline that positively intertwines both dimensions. This article begins by examining the nominal and verbal uses of discipline (y.s.r) within Jewish wisdom traditions as exemplified by the Book of Proverbs, the Book of Ben Sira, and the Wisdom of Solomon. I demonstrate how these sources encourage corporal disciplinary measures (y.s.r) as a key element in the acquisition of proper knowledge and cultural content (musar). Against this backdrop I turn to early rabbinic texts to examine a conceptually rich juxtaposition between lashes within an educational context (master-disciple), and lashes within a parental (father-child) and judicial (judge-convict) setting. I suggest that the bundling of these three disciplinary contexts articulates a Janus-facing ideal for the master as disciplinarian. The final section of the article considers the act of Torah study, specifically as an oral practice, as a disciplinary means to acquiring cultural content.