Abaye: avoidance of pairs, 144; on beverage foam, 258–59; mother’s medical advice, 125, 250, 269; on rabbinic authority, 197; Rava’s arguments with, 197
Abbahu, Rabbi, 59, 60; bright face of, 63
Abraham (patriarch): smashing of idols, 60; weaning party of, 57–58
Adam, Eve’s seduction of, 47
adultery: association with wine, 43–47, 55, 106; bitter waters ritual for, 110, 111–16; fools’ insults concerning, 50; husbands’, 111; oaths on, 112; polluting of Temple, 113, 114; punishment for, 114–15; rabbinic definition of, 111; wives’, 105, 110–16. See also sotah (suspected adulteress)
agriculture, tractates on, 30
Aha bar Adda, Rav: on Gentile bread, 239, 240
Ahai, Rav: on non-Jewish beer, 75
alcohol: abstention from, 43–46, 260; effect on intentionality, 204; gendered assumptions concerning, 66; mixtures of, 260–62; Passover Seder and, 183–87; in rabbinic literature, 66–67; role in social boundaries, 66–93. See also beer; drinking; drunkenness; wine
Alexander, Elizabeth Shanks, 98, 126
Alexander the Great, 15
Ameimar: blessing with beer, 163, 164–65; conversation with sorceress, 144
Ami, Rabbi: on drinking, 52
‘Amidah (daily prayer): conditions for reciting, 206; for rain, 151
’amora (Rabbi’s aide), 175
Amoraim (Speakers), 21; baraitot of, 92; on beer drinking, 256
Amorites (Canaanites), 155
Amorites, ways of, 137; Bavli on, 156–57; charms in, 155; as forbidden category, 156; gender-balanced, 154; illicit religious practice in, 155; magic in, 155, 156; practices constituting, 154; symbolic inversion in, 153–58; toasts in, 156–59; use in prohibiting practices, 158
amulets, protection against delirium tremens, 248, 249
animal slaughter, non-Temple, 30
Aqiva, Rabbi: on fowl, 83–84; toast of, 157
Arabs, as practitioners of magic, 140–41
Aramaic language: gendered words of, 6–7; in Hebrew Bible, 10
‘arayot (forbidden sexual relations), 51, 52; qere and ketiv of, 55
Ashi, Rav, 174–75
’askerah, caused by night drinking, 246
Assi, Rabbi: on drinking, 52
Ava, Rav, 174–75
Avodah Zarah (tractate): cultural influences on, 30; on idolaters’ weddings, 73; social surveillance in, 69–70; wine in, 68–70. See also idolatry
’aylonit (gender category), 123; Levirate marriage and, 124
Ba‘al Pe‘or, 72; Israelites’ worship of, 71
Babylonia: beer drinking in, 72, 73, 74, 99, 180, 268; rabbinic learning center in, 20. See also Bavli (Babylonian Talmud)
baptism, Christian, 217
baraitot (tannaitic traditions), 92; on bad breath, 245, 246; on blessing, 195, 196; on bones, 267–68; on brewing beer, 180–81, 182; on cooked wine, 133; on creatures in water, 222–23, 225; on excrement, 256; on fatty meat, 258; on food health effects, 256–58; on mourning, 213; on pairs of actions, 142; on vegetables, 257; on water drinking, 245–46; on wine, 105–6; on women’s wine drinking, 264
Bar Kohkba revolt, rabbinic movement and, 19
Bavli (Babylonian Talmud): age of, 30; on betrothal, 211; commentaries on, 30–31; comparison with Yerushalmi, 30; cultural environment of, 31; on delirium tremens, 248; demons in, 141; English language editions of, 274; on idolaters’ weddings, 73–74; kosher milk in, 77; legal argumentation in, 31; micro/macro levels of, 31; on omission of prayer, 209; on Purim drinking, 188; on ritual error, 200; on straining beer, 220; structure of, 31; on subterfuge, 179; sugyot from, 31; water spirits in, 146; on ways of the Amorites, 156–57; wine drinking in, 61–62. See also Talmud
beauty, gendered concept of, 100
beer: in Babylonia, 72, 73, 74, 99, 180, 268; Babylonian Rabbis’ love of, 72, 220; blessing of, 72; brewed from barley, 181; brewed from dates, 181; brewing on Intermediate Festival Days, 180–81, 182; bugs in, 220–22, 225, 242; causing body hair, 255; cost of, 259; diluted, 125; drinking with non-Jews, 73–75; in embryonic development, 124, 125; flavor profiles of, 229; foam on top of, 258–59; gendered assumptions about, 98; impure creatures in, 220–22, 228–31, 242; incorrect blessing for, 201, 203; leading to intermarriage, 74, 75; libation prohibition and, 74–75; mice falling in, 228–31, 242; non-Jews’, 75, 93; qiddush using, 165–66; recitation of havdalah using, 163–65, 166; relief for the dying, 266; Sabbath liturgy and, 161–66; side effects of, 255; socioeconomic status of, 72–75, 257; spoilage of, 257; strained, 220–22
Belser, Julia Watts, 153; on Bavli, 31
Ben Azzai, on teaching Torah to daughters, 114
Ben Bag Bag, 37
Berekiah, Rabbi, 59
Berkowitz, Beth: on Amorites, 156
bestiality, non-Jews’, 77, 106
betrothal (qiddushin): conditional, 211; rabbinic examination of, 211–12
beverages, 3; aid to social digestion, 93; in daily life, 192; dangers of, 75–76, 254; in dietary regimes, 244–69; on Festival Days, 173, 175–76; incorrect blessings for, 201–3; as internal/external Other boundary, 93; licit/illicit practices concerning, 131, 158–59; meaning conveyed through, 219; as metaphor for women/sex, 126; midrash concerning, 37; rabbinic exegesis of, 37; on Sabbath, 162; uncovered, 75–76; use in put-downs, 93. See also beer; drinking; water; wine
Bibi, Rav, 76; drinking habits of, 254, 255; use of lime, 254–55
Bible. See Hebrew Bible; Torah
Bible, King James, 79
Bible code (numerology), 263
bitter waters (mayim ha-marim), 98; preparation of, 112–13; result of drinking, 112, 113, 114
bitter waters ritual, 110, 111–16; gender asymmetry in, 113; wives’ oaths in, 112
The Black Eyed Peas, “I Gotta Feeling,” 245
blessings: alterations to, 202; “Amen” response to, 91–93; of beer, 72; of bread, 194; of breasts, 56; desacralization of food, 194, 196; everyday, 192–93; familiarity with, 193; halakhah of, 196; incorrect, 201–3; of meat, 195; non-Jews’ response to, 91–93; over food, 193–95; over wine, 90–91, 194–95, 198, 218, 219; rabbinic authority through, 197; retroactive, 200; using beer, 163–66. See also havdalah; qiddush
blood, ritual purity concerning, 235. See also menstrual blood
bloodletting, 250–54; during childbirth, 251; deception following, 252–54; for fever, 250; meals following, 252–53; replacing nutrients following, 251–52; Talmud on, 251; wine following, 250–53
bodies, Israelite: absorption of Torah, 40
body, distribution of intelligence in, 262, 263–64
body, female: sexual transgressions of, 45, 117, 120–22; uncontrolled, 110, 237
bones: baraita’ on, 267–68; effect of wine on, 267–68
Bourdieu, Pierre: on misrecognition, 70
bowls, Aramaic: spells on, 141–42
boys, Jewish: associating with Gentile boys, 241
bread: black versus white, 256–57; blessing of, 194; eaten with water, 245–46; Gentile, 239–40; health effects of, 256–57; in Mediterranean Triad, 68, 195; Roman consumption of, 256–57; Samaritan, 90; sustenance through, 197, 198–99
breastfeeding: compulsory, 108–9; as contract labor, 108; as divine miracle, 56–60; duration of, 236; embodiment of motherhood, 58; following divorce, 107–9; husbands’ support for, 4; male, 58–60; modern conceptions of, 107; by non-Jewish women, 170; obligations concerning, 107–10; rabbinic texts on, 107–10; restrictions on, 77; Sabbath practice of, 170–71, 190; Sarah’s, 57–58
breast milk: expressed into shofar, 168–69, 170; gendered assumptions about, 98, 104, 107; lack of, 137; male, 58–60, 109–10; production of, 257; release of, 110; ritual purity concerns of, 77, 110, 235–37, 242; as social boundary, 76–78; transformation from menstrual blood, 109, 235, 236–37
breasts, blessings of, 56
brides, lying to, 253
bugs: in beer, 220–22, 225, 242; creeping upon the earth, 220, 221, 223; pure and impure, 220–25; in water, 222, 223
calendar, rabbinic: symbolic significance in, 161
carrion (nevelah), 147, 148; in Hebrew Bible, 84; prohibitions on, 84–85; rabbinic law on, 83
Chabon, Michael: The Yiddish Policemen’s Union, 168
charms, in ways of the Amorites, 155
cheese: abstention from, 80; consumption of, 80–81; eaten with fowl, 82–83, 86–87, 88
childbirth: halakhah on, 251; as illness, 251
childrearing, restrictions on Jewish women, 78
children, Festival treats for, 174
children, Gentile: impurity of, 239, 241
Chronicles, history of Israel in, 14
Cohen, Leonard: “Who by Fire,” 148
commandments, negative, 79, 80, 82; on fowl, 84
consolation, rituals of, 214
convivia, wine at, 67
cooking: mistakes, 226; pure and impure mixtures in, 226
corpses, ritual impurity of, 238
Cyrus, King, 14
daily life, halakhah on, 192, 197
The Daily Show (2011), Eruvin on, 168
dark arts, defense against, 139–41
date palms, in Sukkot liturgy, 181–82
Dead Sea Scrolls, Second Temple in, 15
decorum: gendered advice about, 98; performative, 98–99
dehydration, death from, 269
delirium tremens: in alcohol withdrawal, 248; remedies for, 248, 249
demons: in Bavli, 141; exploding, 146; knowledge from, 144; licit knowledge of, 145; rabbinic protection from, 142; Rabbis’ belief in, 146; techniques for combatting, 145–46. See also spirits
Deuteronomy: on adultery, 111; beverage prohibitions in, 79, 83; on carrion, 83, 84; on food, 99, 220; on idols, 135; on oaths, 112; on pork, 62; rain in, 40; on Sabbath observation, 162, 167; on tithes, 266; on widows, 123
diarrhea, women’s avoidance of, 101
dining: classical, 218; sexualized postures for, 117. See also eating; meals
disorientation, prayer during, 205–7
divorce, breastfeeding obligations following, 107–9
drinking: of bodily fluids, 235–37; categorization of, 80; in communal life, 273; cultural assumptions concerning, 66; danger of pairs in, 141–46; at Festival meals, 175; following study of tractate, 274; as imitatio dei, 265; incorrect blessing for, 201–3; during Intermediate Festival Days, 179, 180; licit/illicit practices concerning, 131; medical side effects of, 254–60; mixed, 260–62; moderation in, 189, 266; mourning and, 212–14; before Passover, 185–86, 197, 198, 274; pauses in, 144; Persians’ habits in, 273; from pipes, 137–38; prayer missed due to, 207–10; regulation of, 4; reinforcement of rabbinic belief, 193; ritual blessings for, 161–62; ritual celebration of, 4; seasonal, 66; self-restraint in, 260–67; in theological life, 273; thumb-holding technique for, 145; of unblessed beverages, 201; at wedding feasts, 208–10; with witches, 138; before Yom Kippur, 147–49. See also alcohol; beer; water; wine drinking
drinking vessels, interior versus exterior of, 222
drunkenness: actions committed during, 204; amount of wine for, 263–64; definition of, 204–5; folly of, 51–52; loss of self-control in, 140; memory loss in, 265, 266; midrashic puns concerning, 52; multiple interpretations of, 51–53; Persian, 273; prayer during, 203–5, 214; Proverbs on, 14; at Purim, 187–89; pushing people in rivers during, 231–35; rabbinic attitudes to, 2; reasons for, 66; on the Sabbath, 162–63, of wives, 106. See also alcohol
eating: categorization of, 80; following study of tractate, 274; gendered advice on, 101; prior to havdalah, 164, 165; rabbinic practices of, 218; ritual blessings for, 161–62; while reclining, 184, 185. See also food; meals
Ecclesiastes: canonical status of, 48; reading of, 14
Elazar ben Durdya, 164
Elazar bey Rabbi Zadoq, Rabbi, 154
Eliezer, Rabbi: on breastfeeding, 236; on diluted wine, 218, 219; on Sabbath wine, 178; on teaching daughters Torah, 114, 115; on wine for wives, 104–6
Elijah, coming of, 199
elimination, bodily: gendered advice on, 101–2
embryonic development, in rabbinic literature, 125
‘eruv (“mixture”), in Sabbath prohibitions, 168. See also mixtures
Eruvin (tractate), 168
Esther, book of: in Purim celebration, 187
Eve: gaze of, 46; mixing of Adam’s wine, 45–47; seduction of Adam, 47
Evil Eye, warding off, 145
excrement: baraita’ on, 256; in rabbinic literature, 249
Exodus: cultic offerings in, 12; laws of, 12; Moses narrative of, 12–13; need for water in, 39; promised land in, 12–13; Tannaitic Midrashim on, 28
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), 251
feet, washing of, 217
fennel, for fever, 251
Festival Days: beverages on, 173, 175–76; commandments on, 5; drinking at meals, 175; food on, 173; halakhah concerning, 179–83, 190; versus holidays, 161; Pilgrimage, 173; Rabbis’ drinking on, 175; rules for, 25, 161, 173; versus Sabbath, 173; strained wine on, 178–80; subterfuge on, 179–80, 182; wine on, 68, 174
Festival Days, Intermediate, 177–83; beer brewing on, 180–81, 182; drinking during, 179, 180; halakhah on, 179–83; rules for, 177; straining wine on, 182
fever: Abaye’s mother on, 250; bloodletting for, 250; treatments for, 250–51
Five Scrolls (megillot), 14, 29
flatulence, women’s avoidance of, 101
foam (on beverages): dissipation of, 259; health effects of, 258–60
food: blessings over, 193–95; desacralization of, 194, 196; on Festival Days, 173; health effects of, 256–58; licit practices for, 147–49; in rabbinic identity, 147; ratio of wine to, 268; ritual impurity of, 226–27, 242; wine drinking with, 186, 268. See also bread; eating; fowl; meals
food, impure: one-sixtieth principle of, 226, 231, 242; taste principle of, 226–27
fools, on Torah, 49
fools, non-Torah-talking, 49–51; spontaneous combustion of, 50–51
fowl: eaten with cheese, 82–83, 86–87, 88; eaten with dairy, 82–85; negative commandments on, 84; rabbinic disagreements about, 83, 85–86; social fractures and, 82–86; taxonomic classification of, 82–83
fowl’s head (resha’), cooked in milk, 85
Fox, Michael, 262
friends (ḥaverim), at meals, 89
fringes (tzitzit), on garments, 116
Gamaliel, Rabban (patriarch): genealogical line of, 17, 19; on missed prayer, 208, 209; sons’ drinking party, 2, 28, 208, 209
Garden of Eden, wine in, 45–47
gaze, rabbinic, 46
gemara’ (amoraic commentary), 29
gematriya’ (numerology), 263–64; concerning judges, 265
gender, 4; in Aramaic, 6–7; in assumptions about breast milk, 98, 104, 107; in assumptions about virtue, 260; binary, 122–23, 125; and breastfeeding obligations, 107–10; in covenantal community, 98; cultural constructions of, 96, 126; decorum in, 98; in organization of Jewish society, 122; presumptions concerning Other, 119; rabbinic attitudes on, 2, 6–7, 96–127; rabbinic categories of, 122–25; in ritual purity, 237, 242; social dichotomy in, 86; in Torah study, 97
gender asymmetry, 2, 100; in bitter waters ritual, 113; concerning breast milk, 107; in magic, 119–22, 141; in marriage, 103–4; in wine drinking, 116–19, 174
Genesis: canonical status of, 48; family dramas in, 11–12
Genesis Rabbah, 29
God: authorship of Leviticus, 224; authorship of Torah, 36, 37, 41–43, 46, 48, 63, 266; blessings bestowed by, 56; editorship of Torah, 41–47, 48, 63; justice of, 19; as source of life, 56; transmission of wisdom, 36. See also intentionality, divine
Grace after Meals, 142; following bread consumption, 199; following wine consumption, 199; during mourning, 213; at Passover Seder, 186
grammatical errors, divine intentionality of, 54–55
Great Assembly, transmission of wisdom to, 36
Greek language, in Hebrew Bible, 10
guests (’akhsena’in), at meals, 89
Haggadah, at Passover Seder, 183
halakhah (rabbinic law): aggadah and, 22–23; applicable principles in, 231; of blessings, 196; on bodily functions, 102; on childbirth, 251; concerning Festival Days, 179–83, 190; concerns Festival Day cooking, 175; on daily life, 192, 197, 214; on delirium tremens, 248–49; expansive nature of, 25; on fowl and cheese, 83; gender categories of, 122–25; implication for rabbinic stories, 208; on Intermediate Festival Days, 179–83; on male breast milk, 109–10; medical definitions in, 248; on menstruating women, 86–87; midrash and, 60; misrecognition of non-Jewish practice, 70; narratives of, 23; on prayer during disorientation, 205–7; on prohibited substances, 230; related to makhshirin, 233; on the Sabbath, 173, 251; Sabbath versus Festival, 173; specific and general, 2; on straining alcohol, 220–21; subterfuge in following, 179–80, 182–83, 253; tort law, 25; unique cases (ḥiddush) in, 229–30. See also rabbinic literature
Hama, Rav: on betrothal, 211–12
Haman (book of Esther), 187
handwashing: purity and, 217; wine and, 217–18, 219
Hanin, Rabbi, on benefits of wine, 265
Hanina, Rabbi, 7; on drawing water, 172; on licit food practice, 147; on wine drinking, 264
Hanin bar Pappa, Rabbi: on blessedness of wine, 265
Hanukkah, 15; halakhic discussion of, 24
Ha-Shem (title for God): non-Jews’ use of, 91–93; Samaritans’ invoking of, 92–93
Hasmonean dynasty, appeal to Rome, 15
havdalah (Sabbath blessing), 150, 152; eating prior to, 164, 165; rabbinic creation of, 153; using beer, 163–65, 166; using wine, 164. See also blessings
health: divine will in, 244–45; drinking to, 245–47; in rabbinic literature, 244–69. See also medicine
Hebrew Bible: Aramaic passages in, 10; carrion in, 84; on consumption of sea creatures, 220, 223; Creation stories of, 11; divine editorship of, 41–47, 48, 63; family dramas in, 11–12; Greek passages of, 10; historical problems of, 11; interpretations of, 11, 36–63; languages of, 10; Latin passages of, 10; memorization of, 59, 143, 223; misspelling in, 37; multiple interpretations of, 51–53; mythic history of, 11–12; negative commandments of, 79, 80, 82, 84; niddah-related prohibitions in, 87–88; nomenclature of, 10; noncanonical books of, 48; normative/authoritative edition of, 48; number patterns in, 263; opportunities for interpretation, 11; rabbinic authors’ perception of, 11; on Sabbath, 162, 167; sacrifice in, 9; as scholarly designation, 11; structural elements of, 9; thematic elements of, 9. See also Torah, Written
Hebrew language: gendered words of, 6–7; singular/plural interpretations of, 57
Hellenism, in Jewish communities, 15
hermaphrodites: in rabbinic literature, 122; sex with, 123
Herodotus, on Persian drinking, 273
Hidary, Richard, 85–86
Hillel, on witchcraft, 119
Hillel, House of, 239; on fowl and cheese, 82–83, 87; on handwashing, 217
Hisda, Rav: advice to daughters, 98–103; on bread and water, 245, 246; on creatures in liquids, 222, 224; on garlic eating, 200–201; on qiddush, 165; sons of, 163–64; on straining of water, 225
Hiyya, Rabbi, 50, 51; use of gematriya’, 263, 265; on wine drinking, 264–65
holidays: commandments on, 5; versus Festival Days, 161; midrashic sermons for, 29; rules for, 161
Homiletic Midrashim, 29
Honi the Circle-Maker (rainmaker), 150
Hosea, on unfaithful wives, 105
Hullin (tractate), 30
human combustion: as divine retribution, 51; following wine drinking, 47–51
Huna, Rav: on qiddush over beer, 166; on ritual errors, 200; on straining beer, 220–21, 224–25
husbands, Jewish: adultery by, 111; living apart from wives, 104–5; obligations towards wives, 103–6
hydration, importance of, 269
idolaters, restrictions on midwives for, 78. See also non-Jews; Others, external
idolatry (‘avodah zarah), 4; inversion of rabbinic ritual, 134; perceived, 135–38; as requiring action, 133; stoning for, 135, 137, 138; as symbolic inversion, 131–32; water from temples of, 135–38
idols: ambiguous actions involving, 134–38; bowing to, 135–36; kissing, 134, 135, 136
Ila, Rabbi: on cooked wine, 133
Ilai, Rabbi: on character judgment, 265
Ilfa (rainmaker), 150; prayers of, 151; and Rabbi Yohanan, 152; virtuous actions of, 152
Ilfai, Rabbi, 151
Immi, Rabbi, 76
infants: obligation to feed, 107–10; recognition of mothers, 108
intelligence: distribution in body, 262, 263–64; effect of wine drinking on, 260–67; for Torah study, 263
intentionality, divine: concerning misspellings, 54–55; effect of alcohol on, 204; of grammatical errors, 54–55; recovery through midrash, 43; of Torah, 36, 43, 47, 53–54, 57, 224, 266
intentionality, in ritual impurity, 233–35, 242
intoxication. See alcohol; drunkenness
inversion, symbolic, 130; idolatry as, 131–32; magic as, 139–40; non-Jewish action as, 134; of Others’ wine, 134; in ways of the Amorites, 153–58
Isaiah: on disorientation, 206; Greek/Hebrew differences in, 10
Israel: fall to Assyrians, 13; following destruction of Temple, 17; ritual failings of, 13; Roman rule over, 15; unfaithful wives metaphor for, 105
Israelites: liberation from slavery, 184; as opposite of non-Jews, 79; wandering in desert, 39–40; whoring with Moabites, 71; worship of Ba‘al Pe‘or, 71
Jaffee, Martin, 244
jealousy, law of, 113
Jerusalem, laments for, 13
jewelry, wives’ desire for, 104, 105
Jews: drinking with non-Jews, 69–71; eating with non-Jews, 134; in idolatrous society, 133–34; at non-Jewish weddings, 73–74; sexual intercourse with Gentiles, 240. See also husbands, Jewish; men, Jewish; wives, Jewish; women, Jewish
Jews, non-rabbinic: combatting of demons, 146; eating with rabbinic Jews, 82; as Internal Others, 79; meat-milk interactions of, 81–82
Jews, pre-rabbinic: understanding of meat-milk prohibition, 81
Job (patriarch), nurturing of orphans, 58, 59
Joseph (patriarch), nurturing of family, 58, 59
Joshua, transmission of wisdom to, 36
journeys, prayer following, 206–7
Judah, fall to Babylon, 13
Judah, Rabbi: on wine consumption, 174
Judaism, ancient: history of, 9–16
judges: gematriya’ concerning, 265; on Sanhedrin, 265; wine permitted for, 262, 264
justice, divine: for destruction of Temple, 19; in This World, 19
Kahana, Rav, 97
ketiv (that which is written), 54–56
ketubbot (marriage contracts), 103–4, 210
Ketuvim (Writings), 11; genres of, 13–14
kidneys, intelligence in, 263–64
knowledge: from demons, 144; limits of, 46; of magic, 145; manna symbolizing, 39; transformative, 196, 244
kohanim (Temple priests), wine permitted for, 264
kosher: certification of industrial food, 149; fraud concerning, 147–49
Kraemer, David, 81; on venomous other, 75–76
Lamentations, reading of, 14
Latin language, in Hebrew Bible, 10
Latin literature, gendered assumptions in, 106
law. See halakhah (rabbinic law)
“L’Chaim!” (toast), 245
leeches, swallowing of, 137, 138, 172, 190
legal pluralism, 51; multiple normative views of, 86
Leviticus: on adultery, 111; divine authorship of, 224; on drunkenness, 234; on food, 220, 221, 222, 223, 228; on impure creatures, 221, 223; on intoxication, 54; on locusts, 80; Midrash on, 28; on niddah, 88; on pork, 62; on Rosh Hashanah, 169; on sexual intercourse, 45; on Sukkot, 181; on usury, 62
libations: idolatrous, 72, 73; at Jerusalem Temple, 68; by non-Jews, 69; to pagan deities, 132; as symbolic inversions, 131–34. See also wine, libated
lime: as cosmetic, 254–55; death from, 255
Lincoln, Bruce: on symbolic inversion, 131
liquids: ritual purity of, 220, 242; in ritual washing, 216–17; sustaining, 40; tranmission of ritual impurity, 232, 238. See also drinking; water
locusts, cooked in milk, 80
Ma‘aser Sheni (tractate), on Second Tithes, 266
Maccabees, revolt of, 15
magic, 4; amulets, 248, 249; Arabs as practitioners of, 140–41; effectiveness of, 141; gender asymmetry in, 119–22, 141; gendered assumptions about, 98; as illicit religious practice, 138–41; of illusion, 139, 141; licit control of, 141; licit knowledge of, 145; Rabbis’ defense against, 139, 141; versus religion, 139; spells, 141–42; susceptibility of pairs to, 141–46; as symbolic inversion, 139–40; techniques for combatting, 145–46; in ways of the Amorites, 155, 156; women and, 154–55
makhshirin (susceptibility to impurity), 232; laws related to, 233
Makhshirin (tractate), 232–33, 234
mamzerim (bastards), marital restrictions on, 50
Mana, Rabbi, 212
manna, symbolizing of knowledge, 39
marriage, Levirate: gendered concept of, 125; ritual refusal of, 123–24
marriage, rabbinic: rituals of, 211
Masada, 15
matzah, at Passover Seder, 185, 198
McHugh, Susan: Dog, 3
meals: food/wine ratio in, 268; grace after, 91; guests and friends at, 89; learning following, 247; post-bloodletting, 252–53; wine required for, 253. See also eating; food
meat: blessing of, 195; categorization of, 81; cooking with milk, 79–85; fatty, 258
medicine: halakhah on, 248; rabbinic ethics of, 244; rabbinic wisdom on, 250. See also health
Mediterranean diet: staples of, 240; Triad (wine, bread, olive oil), 68, 195
Megillah, recitation of, 187–88
Megillah (tractate), 188
Me‘ilah (tractate), 196
Meir, Rabbi: on women/food association, 126
Mekhilta d’Rabbi Ishmael, 28
Mekhilta d’Rabbi Shimon bar Yoshai, 28
memorization: of Hebrew Bible, 59, 143, 223; of rabbinic literature, 204–5
men, Jewish: as consumers, 126–27; controllable bodies of, 110; effeminate, 120–21, 140; ritual purity status of, 87; social dichotomy from women, 86
menstrual blood, transformation into breast milk, 109, 235, 236–37
menstruation: cheese/milk prohibitions and, 86–90; marital separation during, 86–90; miqva’ot following, 88; taboos of, 87; two minds in, 87, 88–89. See also niddah
mice: falling into beer, 228–31, 242; falling into vinegar, 231; field versus city, 230; impurity of, 228, 230; taste of, 229–31
midrash (interpretive practice), 23–24; alternative interpretations in, 43–44; analysis of God’s commandments, 60; concerning beverages, 37; puns in, 52; recovery of divine intention, 43; on Sarah, 56–57
midwives, non-Jewish, 77–78
milk: abstention from, 80; categorization of, 81; cooking meat with, 79–85; cooking with, 79–82; fowl and, 83–86; kosher status of, 76–77; preparation of, 76; regulations concerning, 79–82. See also breast milk
milk, goats’: cooking kids in, 79, 82, 83, 84
milking, by non-Jews, 77
minḥah (afternoon sacrifice/prayer service), food consumption following, 184
miqva’ot (ritual baths), 217; following menstruation, 88
miscarriages, laws of purity concerning, 268
Mishnah: citation of biblical texts, 80; on fowl and cheese, 83; Levirate marriage in, 123; on missed prayers, 207–8; Orders of, 26–27; rabbinic authority in, 176–77; relationship to Tosefta, 27–28; Yehudah ha-Nasi’s redaction of, 20, 26
mishteh gadol (drinking party), 157; Abraham’s, 57–58
misspellings, divine intentionality concerning, 54–55
mixtures: of alcohol, 260–62; libated and non-libated, 227–28, 229; like with unlike, 227–28; prohibited, 86, 88, 90, 226–27; taste in, 226–30
moderation: in drinking, 189, 266; in Mediterranean culture, 260
modesty, rabbinic advice on, 100–101
Mo’ed Qatan (tractate), 177
monogamy, as metaphor for monotheism, 71
Mordecai, midrash on breastfeeding, 58–60
Moses: discourse of rain, 40–41; Exodus narrative of, 12–13; Israelites’ rebellion against, 39; as rabbinic figure, 23; revelation of Torah to, 21, 22, 25, 36, 41–42, 173
mourning: drinking and, 212–14; Grace after Meals during, 213; rituals governing, 212; wine as comfort for, 265, 266
Nahman, Rav: on Passover, 142, 143
Nahman bar Yitzhak, Rav, 197; on bloodletting, 252–53; on Gentile children, 239, 240
nazir, abstention from wine, 43–45, 260
Nelson, Willie, 66
Nevi’im (Prophets), 11; narratives of, 13
niddah (menstruating woman): knowledge of husband, 87; rabbinic law on, 86–87; ritual purity rules for, 87–88, 109; temporary status of, 88. See also menstruation
Noah (patriarch), nurturing of ark, 58, 59
non-Jews: around cooked wine, 70; beer drinking with, 73–75; beer of, 93; bestiality of, 77, 106; as compulsive libationers, 69, 118, 132, 238; drinking with Jews, 69–71; eating with Jews, 134; libations by, 69; milking by, 77; as opposites of Israelites, 79; response to blessings, 91–93; sexual intercourse with Jews, 240; snake metaphor for, 75–76; wine drinking with, 67, 132; wine regulations concerning, 68–72, 75. See also idolaters; Others, external
Numbers: on adultery, 110–13; on intimacy with Moabites, 71; wine/adultery connection in, 43–45
Numbers Rabbah, 32; on abstention from wine, 45–46
oaths, violation of, 112
olive oil: Gentile, 239, 240; in Mediterranean diet, 240
Orange Garden fountain (Aventine Hill, Rome), 136, 137 fig.
Orders (Sedarim, of Mishnah), 26–27; names of, 27; tractates (masekhtot) of, 27
Others: beverages as boundary for, 93; illicit wine practices of, 132; presumptions about gender in, 119; in regulation of wine, 68–72; Self and, 66; separation from, 4; venomous, 75–76
Others, external, 78–79; gender in, 86. See also idolaters; non-Jews
Others, internal, 67; Jew-ish, 90–93; Samaritans, 90–93; social boundaries with, 78–82
pairs, susceptibility to magic, 141–46
Palestine, Roman: bread consumption in, 256–57; social environment of, 67
Palestine, Syrian: rabbinic learning center in, 20
Pappa, Rav, 175; on beer drinking, 75, 98; on drinking in pairs, 144; on drinking with idolaters, 74
Passover, 173; barley on, 181; date beer during, 181; drinking after, 186; drinking before, 185–86, 197, 198, 274; food consumption during, 184; guarding of Israelites during, 143; non-Festival days of, 177; reversal of fortune in, 184
Passover Seder: alcohol and, 183–87; culinary history of, 183; food at, 185; Grace after Meals at, 186; Haggadah at, 183; liturgy of, 183; matzah at, 185, 198; performative ritual of, 264; post-meal liturgy, 185; reclining during, 184, 185
Passover wine, 61, 68, 142–43, 183–87; from communal soup kitchen, 184; cooked, 133; drinking between cups, 185–87; four cups of, 183, 184–85, 187, 213, 264; preparation of, 185
Patriarch, office of, 17
patriarchate, in Yavneh Legend, 19
Persians, drinking habits of, 273
Persius, on Sabbath wine, 163
Pesiqta d’Rav Kahana (midrashic sermon), 29
Pesiqta Rabbati (midrashic sermon), 29
Pharisees, rabbinic movement and, 18
Philo of Alexandria, on cooking with milk, 79, 81
Pilgrimage Festivals, 173
pipes, danger of drinking from, 137–38
pleurisy, cause of, 259
Plutarch, on Sabbath wine, 163
pomegranates, use as subterfuge, 179–80, 182
pork, forbidding of, 62
poverty, cause of, 258–59
prayer: commandments on, 5; concentration during, 206; daily, 206; during disorientation, 205–7; during drunkenness, 203–5, 214; following journeys, 206–7; missed due to drinking, 207–10; neutralizing evil spirits, 141; for rain, 151, 152, 153; in weakened state, 207; while disoriented, 205–7
Promised Land: conquest of, 13; return to, 14
Proverbs: canonical status of, 48–49; on intoxication, 14; on limits of knowledge, 46; mixed wine in, 261–62; qere and ketiv, 54–55
Psalms, wine drinking in, 67
puns, midrashic practice of, 52
Purim: intoxication at, 187–89; liturgical practice of, 187–88; as non-Festival holiday, 187; popularity of, 188; work on, 161
qere (that which is read), 54–56
Qeshisha, Mar, 163–64
qiddush (blessing), 150, 152; over wine, 162, 166; rabbinic creation of, 153; using beer, 165–66. See also blessings
Qiddushin (tractate), 211
qordiaqos (delirium tremens), 248–49
Qordiaqos (spirit), 249
Rabbah: drinking at Purim, 188–89; teaching of Rava, 189
“rabbi” (title), 18
rabbinic knowledge, as transformative, 196
rabbinic literature: background knowledge for, 3–4; biblical texts in, 80, 223; breastfeeding in, 107–10; categories and categorization of, 24–26; categorization of drinking, 80; contingency in, 25; contradictions in, 47–51; creative interpretations in, 60; descriptive, 177; embryonic development in, 125; English translations of, 274; excrement in, 249; feminist Jewish readers of, 97–98; gender categories of, 122–25; gendered assumptions concerning, 2, 96–127; gendered words in, 6–7; health and hygiene in, 244–69; hypothetical scenarios in, 24; intestinal ailments in, 246; intoxicants in, 66–67; magic in, 119–22; major documents of, 26–32; male heteronormative, 96–98; masculine grammatical gender in, 241; medicine/religion connection in, 244; memorization of, 204–5; partial quotations of, 59; proscriptive, 177; rabbinic prehistory in, 18–19; repetition in, 47; ritual errors in, 202; Self and Other in, 66; sexuality in, 96–127; source material in, 204–5, 223; STEM-related subjects in, 244; textual units of, 26–32; themes of, 4–5; translations of, 5–8; women’s witchcraft in, 119–22. See also halakhah (rabbinic law)
rabbinic movement, 16–21; Bar Kohkba revolt and, 19; centers of learning for, 20; concepts of, 21–24; disciple circles of, 18; dominant cultures affecting, 20; history of, 4; patronage of, 19; Pharisees and, 18; prehistory of, 18–19; in Yavneh Legend, 18–19
rabbinic sages, in Yavneh Legend, 16–17
rabbinic study academies, 3–4, 23, 24; Babylonian, 21; feminist participation in, 98. See also Torah study
Rabbis: on abnormal scenarios, 207; alternative interpretations of, 44; as arbiters of religious practice, 130; authority of, 23, 41, 48, 176–77, 197, 217; belief in magic, 139; as communal authorities, 177; on cooking mistakes, 226; defense against magic, 139, 141; dietary practices of, 81–82; drinking on Festival Days, 175; embrace of wine drinking, 67, 218; encounters with witches, 119–20; following fall of Second Temple, 16; fools’ insults to, 50; hermeneutical principles of, 41, 46; interpretive activity of, 60; intoxicated, 209–10; medical wisdom of, 250; on Moses’ discourse of rain, 40–41; post-Temple authority of, 23; scholarship on, 3; social advice from, 98–103; transmission of wisdom to, 36; water metaphors of, 39
Rabbis, Babylonian: beer and, 72, 220
rain: fasting for, 150–51; Moses’ discourse of, 40–41; prayers for, 151, 152, 153
rainmaking: licit practices concerning, 150–53; by non-Rabbis, 151, 159; through piety, 153
Rashi, Rabbi, 55; on beer side effects, 255; commentary on Bavli, 31; on drunkenness, 53; on overeating, 101
Rav (rabbinic figure), 153; on bloodletting, 251–52; on mice in beer, 228
Rava: arguments with Abaye, 197; on drinking in pairs, 144; on drinking with whores, 116; on Passover wine, 143, 185–86; pre-Passover drinking, 197; on Purim drinking, 189; on unblessed food, 196; on wine, 106; on wine as sustenance, 198, 199
Rav Huna, Rabbah bar: on prayer, 204; on subterfuge, 179
Ravina, on Passover wine, 142, 143
religious practice, illicit, 5; as inversion of proper practice, 130–31, 158; justifications for, 156; magic as, 138–41; rabbinic discourse on, 130; in ways of the Amorites, 153–58, 155. See also ritual impurity
religious practice, licit: concerning food and drink, 147; Rabbis as arbiters of, 130; for rainmaking, 150–53; for winemaking, 149. See also ritual purity
Revelation at Mount Sinai, 22, 25, 41–42, 173; in rabbinic theology, 12; tradition of, 36; unfolding in Torah, 21
ritual: affecting differentiation, 219; commandments on, 5; errors in, 200–205; of Sabbath wine, 152, 153, 162–63; Temple-based, 218
ritual impurity: of beer, 220; of corpses, 238; exclusion in, 216; of food, 226–27, 242; of Gentile children, 239, 241; of homoerotic intercourse, 241–42; intentionality in, 233–35, 242; libated wine and, 237–42; of mice, 228, 230; of non-Jewish wine, 239, 240; quantities needed for, 238; in semen, 230; social concerns of, 240; substances prepared for, 232–33, 242; susceptibility to, 232; taste in, 226–30, 242; theological concerns of, 240; through physical contact, 238; transmission of, 216, 232–33, 238; of zavim, 241. See also religious practice, illicit
ritual purity: of aquatic creatures, 220, 223–24; boundaries of, 241–42; concerning blood, 235; concerning breast milk, 235–37, 242; gendered conceptions of, 237, 242; of Jewish men, 87; of liquids, 220, 242; of meals, 218; miscarriage and, 268; rules for menstruating woman, 87–88, 109; of Temple, 216; in washing, 216–19; as weapon against temptation, 242. See also religious practice, licit
river water, pure and impure, 232, 233–34
Rome: fountain sculptures of, 136, 137 fig.; rule over Israel, 15
Rosh Hashanah (New Year), 173; shofar on, 169
Sabbath: as absence defining week, 166; breastfeeding during, 170; categorization of, 25; childbirth on, 251; commandments on, 5; endangerment on, 167–73; expressing breast milk on, 170–71; versus Festival Days, 173; halakhah on, 173, 251; Hebrew Bible on, 162; intoxication on, 162–63; light for, 167; observance of, 167–68; preservation of life on, 171–73; prohibited labor on, 178; rabbinic exegesis on, 167–68, 172–73; remembrance of, 167–68; sanctity of, 167; sluggishness after eating on, 247; transportation on, 254; water use on, 172, 176; work during, 161, 167–73; work prohibited on, 168. See also havdalah (Sabbath blessing)
Sabbath liturgy: beer and, 161–66; at conclusion of Sabbath, 163
Sabbath wine: classical authors on, 163; havdalah with, 164; rituals of, 152, 153, 162–63; strained, 178, 225
sacrifice, in Hebrew Bible, 9
Samaritans: bread baked by, 90; invoking of Ha-Shem, 92–93; as Jew-ish, 90–93; wine of, 90
Samson, as nazir, 43
Sanhedrin, judges of, 265
Sarah (matriarch): breastfeeding by, 57–58; midrash on, 56–57
saris (eunoch): congenital, 124, 125; infertility of, 123, 124; man-made, 124; refusal of Levirate marriage, 123–24
Satlow, Michael: on female virginity, 100; on Yavneh Legend, 17–18
sea creatures: consumption of, 220, 223–24; ritual purity of, 223–24
Seleucids, Maccabean revolt against, 15
self-control: in defense against magic, 140; in drinking, 260–67; loss in drunkenness, 140; masculine, 140; in Mediterranean culture, 260; men’s lack of, 121; in wine drinking, 264; women’s, 115
semen, ritual impurity in, 230
sexual intercourse: beverage-related terms for, 126; forbidden, 51, 52; with hermaphrodites, 123; heterosexual normative, 123; homoerotic, 241–42; listening idiom for, 72; rabbinic advice on, 102–3
sexuality, 4; cultural constructions of, 96; drunkenness and, 106; euphemisms of, 102; “proper” practices of, 96; rabbinic attitudes to, 96–127; unregulated, 115–16
Shabbat (tractate), Hanukkah in, 24
Shammai, House of: Eighteen Decrees of, 239; on fowl and cheese, 82–83, 86; on Gentile bread, 240; on handwashing, 217
Shaul, Abba: height of, 269; on wine and bones, 267–68
Shavrirei (demon), 146
Shavuot (“Weeks” festival), 173; Torah knowledge and, 61
Shema‘ (rabbinic prayer): conditions for reciting, 208, 209, 210; recitation following drinking, 2; scriptural passages in, 208, 209
Sheshet, Rav: on prohibited substances, 228–29, 230
Shimon, Rabbi: authority of, 10, 209
Shimon ben Gamaliel, Rabban: mourning for, 213; on separate minds, 87; on wine, 69
Shimon ben Kosiba (Bar Kokhba), 19
Shimon ben Shetah, on rainmaking, 150
shofar (ram’s horn), 168–70, 169 fig.; breast milk expressed into, 168–69, 170; liturgical use of, 169; moving on Sabbath, 170; ritual blowing of, 169
Sifre Deuteronomy, 28
Sifre Numbers, 28
Simon-Shoshan, Moshe, 176; on Rabbi Gamaliel, 209
sitting, negative heath effects of, 256
skeletal remains, effect of wine on, 267–68
Smith, Andrew, 38
Snoop Dogg, 66
social boundaries: beer as, 72–75; breast milk as, 76–78; concerning fowl, 82; with internal Others, 78–82; role of intoxicants in, 66–93; wine as, 67–72
Song of Songs, reading of, 14
sorceresses, defense against, 144
sotah (suspected adulteress), 43; ritual test for, 110, 111–16; separation from other women, 44. See also adultery
spells, on Aramaic bowls, 141–42
spirits: latrine, 141; licit knowledge of, 145; rabbinic protection from, 142; Rabbis’ belief in, 146; techniques for combatting, 145–46; water, 146. See also demons
spontaneous combustion, demon’s, 146
spontaneous combustion, human, 141, 148; divine retribution in, 50–51
springs, common ownership of, 38
subterfuge: Babylonian Talmud on, 179; in Festival Day law, 179–80, 182–83; following bloodletting, 252–53; in following halakhah, 179–80, 182–83, 253
sugyot (rabbinic passages), 7, 26; from Bavli, 31
Sukkot (Tabernacles), 173; date palms on, 181–82; non-Festival days of, 177
symposia, wine at, 67
Ta‘anit (tractate), on drought, 151
Talmud: on beer subterfuge, 182; on bloodletting, 251; creation of, 21; Levirate marriage in, 123; on Purim drinking, 188, 189; on wine as sustenance, 198. See also Bavli; Yerushalmi
Tanakh (acronym), 10
Tanhuma (Homiletic Midrash collection), 29
Tannaim (Repeaters): on beer drinking, 256; origin of, 20–21
Tannaitic Midrashim: aggada in, 28; halakhah in, 28; redaction of, 28
taste, in ritual impurity, 226–30
tefillin, magical origins of, 140
temperance, impact on Torah, 260–61. See also self-control
temperance movement, U.S., 249
Temple, First: destruction of, 9; rebuilding of, 14
Temple, Second: debates over, 14–15; destruction of, 14, 15–16, 169; purity of, 216; wine libation at, 68
Ten Commandments, “count” of, 10
terefah (“torn” meat), 147, 148; banning of, 149
theurgy (divine action), illicit compelling of, 139
This World (’olam ha-zeh): divine justice in, 19; water in, 38
Tiberias (Palestine), hot water for, 175–76
Tithes, Second, 265, 266; forbidden purchases with, 266
toasts, rabbinic: blessings in, 156–59
Torah, 10–11; all-encompassing nature of, 36–37; brightening of face, 60–63; contradictions in, 42; divine authorship of, 36, 37, 46, 48, 63, 266; divine editorship of, 41–47, 48, 63; divine intentionality of, 36, 43, 47, 53–54, 57, 224, 266; divine source of, 41; dual Revelation of, 21, 23; embodied knowledge of, 244; eternal good of, 25–26; euphemisms in, 55; forgetting through wine drinking, 261–63; giving women merit, 114; grammatical errors in, 53–56; impact of temperance on, 260–61; imperfect perfection of, 63; joy of learning, 60–63; misspellings in, 42, 53–56; normative rabbinic scrolls of, 42, 42 fig.; nourishing liquid metaphors, 40; qere and ketiv, 54–56; Rabbah for, 29; rain metaphors for, 40–41; revelation to Moses, 21, 22, 25, 36, 41–42, 173; spiritual survival through, 38–39, 40; teaching to daughters, 113–16; water symbolization for, 38–41. See also Hebrew Bible
Torah, Oral (torah sh-be‘al peh), 21, 36; cloud metaphor for, 22, 36–37; diverse forms of, 41; explication of written Torah, 37; legal system of, 22; updating process of, 22
Torah, Written (torah sh-bikhtav), 21–22, 36; hard copy metaphor for, 36; organization of, 37; updating of, 36. See also Hebrew Bible
Torah study: gendered, 97; intelligence for, 263; ritual liturgy following, 274; women’s, 98, 127. See also rabbinic study academies
Tosefta: Orders of, 28; redaction of, 27; relationship to Mishnah, 27–28
tradition, rabbinic: concerning cooked wine, 70, 76; from non-Jewish worlds, 218; of revelation at Mount Sinai, 36
Unetaneh Toqef (“We Give Power” ), 148
urination, gendered positions for, 124, 125
usury, condemnation of, 62
vegetables, baraita’ on, 257
Vespasian (emperor of Rome), in Yavneh legend, 16
Viagra, original purpose of, 254
violence, gendered, 117
virgin birth, linguistic evidence for, 10
virginity, female: testing for, 100
virtue, gendered assumptions about, 260
visitors, women’s greeting of, 102
washing: of feet, 217; hygiene and, 217; ritual, 216–19
wastefulness, rabbinic advice on, 98
water: access to, 38; acts of intentionality concerning, 233–35; bottled, 220; bugs in, 222, 223; contaminated, 246–47; in dietary regimen, 245–46; embodiment of knowledge, 39–40; in Exodus, 39; foam on, 260; heating of, 172, 176, 190; medical concerns about, 220; non-libated, 227; rabbinic authority as, 41; symbolization of Torah, 38–41; from temples of idolatry, 135–38; unstrained, 224–25; use on Sabbath, 172, 176; vital function of, 38. See also beverages; drinking
water drinking: intestinal ailments and, 245–47; proportion of bread for, 245, 246
wedding feasts (beyt ha-mishteh): drinking at, 208–10; non-Jewish, 73–74; wine at, 68
whores: drinking wine with, 116–19; violation of normative roles, 117
whores, idolatrous: dining while reclining, 117; submitting to Jewish men, 119; use of idols, 118
whores, Jewish: debasement by non-Jewish men, 119; drinking with non-Jewish men, 117
whoring: gendering of, 44; as metaphorical theological act, 71
wickedness, separation from, 44
widows, Jewish: Levirate marriage for, 123
wine: abstention from, 45–46; aging, 257; aid to digestion, 213; allowances for wives, 104–6; amount needed for drunkenness, 263–64; assocation with adultery, 43–47, 55, 106; in Avodah Zarah, 68–70; baraita’ on, 105–6; beneficial, 106; betrothal and, 210–12, 214; blessings over, 90–91, 152, 194–95, 198, 218, 219; as cause of miscarriage, 268; in classical dining, 218; comforting of mourners, 265, 266; cost of, 259, 266; effect on bones, 267–68; effect on inflamation, 258; at Festival Days, 68, 174; foam on top of, 258–59; four cups of, 183, 263–64; in Garden of Eden, 45–47; gendered assumptions about, 98, 104; gladdening the heart, 173–77, 198; handwashing and, 217–18, 219; havdalah using, 164; in household budgets, 108; incorrect blessing for, 201, 203; invalidation of judges’ service, 262, 264; leading to transgression, 43; licit assistance in making, 149; as litmus test, 267; mourning and, 212–14; nazir’s abstention from, 43–45, 260; new, 249; versus not-wine, 218–19; numerical value of, 263, 265; old, 258; prohibited mixtures of, 227–28; proper amount for women, 105–6; qiddush over, 162, 166; rabbinic blessing for, 68; ratio of food to, 268; regulation concerning non-Jews, 68–72, 75; as reward for the wicked, 265, 266; role in social intimacy, 70–72; for Sabbath ritual, 152, 153, 162–63; Samaritan, 90; as social boundary, 67–72; stealing of, 253–54, 269; straining of, 178–80, 182, 190, 225; as sustenance, 186–87, 197–99, 198, 199; undiluted, 219; unmixed (akratos), 67; in witchcraft, 138–41. See also Passover wine; Sabbath wine
wine, cooked, 132; baraita’ on, 133; fixed status of, 133; as invalid for pagan libation, 70, 132, 134; non-Jews around, 70; at Passover, 133; rabbinic traditions concerning, 70, 76
wine, diluted, 125, 218–19; in classical antiquty, 261; for delirium tremens, 249
wine, kosher: modern industry of, 70
wine, libated (yayn nesekh), 69, 132; drinking with whores, 116; of idolaters, 72, 117, 133; impurity of liquid in, 239; mixed with non-libated liquids, 227–28, 229; prior to being cooked, 133; prohibition of, 80, 227; ritual impurity and, 237–42
wine, non-Jewish: ritual impurity of, 239, 240
wine drinking: in Bavli, 61–62; binge, 264; bright face in, 60–63; effect on intelligence, 260–67; in even numbers, 139, 141, 142; following bloodletting, 250–53; with food, 186, 268; forgetting of Torah through, 261–63; gender asymmetry in, 117–19, 174; human combustion following, 47–51; with non-Jews, 67, 132; during Passover, 61; by pregnant women, 268; in Psalms, 67–68; rabbis’ embrace of, 67, 218; Self and Other in, 67; self-control in, 264; side effects of, 263; temperate, 266; with whores, 116–19
wisdom, divine: transmission to, 36; water metaphor for, 38–41
witchcraft, women’s, 119–22, 138; use of wine in, 138–41; whispering in, 120
witches, 121–22; drinking with, 138
wives, Jewish: adulterous, 105, 110–16; breastfeeding obligations, 107–10; conjugal rights of, 104; desire for jewelry, 104, 105; divorced, 107–9; drunken, 106; household budgets for, 10; husbands’ obligations towards, 103–6; living apart from husbands, 104–5; lying to, 252–53; wine allowances for, 104–6
women: and magic, 154–55; passivity of, 118–19; sexual danger from, 120–22, 138; wine-drinking, 264, 268
women, Jewish: advice on eating for, 101; breastfeeding restrictions on, 77; childrearing restrictions on, 78; as consumed, 126–27; corruption of men, 121; dining posture for, 117; Festival treats for, 174; greeting of visitors, 102; midwives, 78; proper amount of wine for, 105–6; in rabbinic literature, 97; self-control of, 115; social dicotomy from men, 86; social propriety for, 99; transgressive bodies of, 45, 117, 120–22; uncontrolled bodies of, 110, 237; undisciplined, 121. See also niddah (menstruating woman); whores, Jewish; wives, Jewish
women, Moabite: Israelites’ whoring with, 71
women, non-Jewish: breastfeeding by, 170; Jewish men’s drinking with, 71–72
women, pregnant: wine drinking by, 268
World to Come (‘olam ha-ba‘): divine justice in, 19; spiritual survival in, 38
wrestling, professional, ritual/dramatic structure of, 131
Yael, murder of Sisera, 13
Yavneh (Israel), rabbinic study center of, 17
Yavneh Legend, 16–19; patriarchate in, 19; rabbinic movement in, 18–19
Yehoshua, Rabbi: on breast milk, 236; on women’s lasciviousness, 114, 115–16
Yehoshua ben Levi, Rabbi: authority of, 209
Yehuda, Rav: on bloodletting, 251–52
Yehuda bar Rabbi, study of Makhshirin, 233
Yehudah ha-Nassi, Rabbi (patriarch), 19; editing of Mishnah, 86; fasting decree by, 151; redaction of Mishnah, 20, 26; Tannaim group of, 20
Yenuqa, Mar, 163–64
Yerushalmi (Jerusalem Talmud): citations of, 30; comparison with Bavli, 30; gemara’ of, 29–30; on halakhah, 29; redaction of, 30; scholarship on, 30; structure of, 29. See also Talmud
Yevamot (tractate), 123
Yirmiya, Rabbi: on prayer, 206
Yitzhak, Rabbi: on drinking with idolaters, 74
Yitzhak bar Yosef, Rav: on congenital saris, 124
Yitzhaq bar Rabbi Hava, Rabbi, 212
Yohanan, Rabbi: and Ilfa the rainmaker, 152
Yohanan ben Zakkai, Rabban, 16–17
Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement), 173; drinking before, 147–49; Sabbath laws on, 149; shofar on, 169
Yosef, Rav: on fowl and cheese, 86; on menstrual prohibition, 88
Yosef the Demon, teaching of Rabbis, 144–45
Yosi the Galilean, Rabbi: prohibition on fowl, 83–86
Yudah bey Rabbi Ilai, Rabbi: among Tannaim, 61; bright face of, 60–63
Yudan, Rabbi, 60, 212; on Mordecai, 58–59
zalin (dissolute men), 261
zavim (persons with genital discharges), ritual impurity of, 241
Zeira, Rabbi: drinking at Purim, 188–89
Zera’im (Seder), on agriculture, 27
Zeriqan, Rabbi: on prayer, 206
Zevid, Rav: on betrothal, 211–12