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Joyous Jews: Sukkot’s Rejoicing in Roman Palestine

Sun, December 16, 12:30 to 2:00pm, Seaport Hotel & World Trade Center, Waterfront 3 Ballroom

Abstract

My paper explores the representation of public joy in the tannaitic accounts of “the rejoicing of the place of water drawing” (henceforth, the Rejoicing), a carnivalesque celebration that reportedly took place during Sukkot in pre-70 Jerusalem (m. Sukkah 5; t. Sukkah 4). I demonstrate, first, that in contrast to what scholars have suggested, the joy of the Rejoicing, according to the Tannaʾim, is not a manifestation of the biblical commandment to rejoice during Sukkot. I suggest, furthermore, that the Rejoicing texts mimic features of Roman festivals and spectacles, which were quite prevalent in High Imperial Palestine. The early rabbis, then, thematize joy by describing behaviors which they mark, in other contexts, as perilous to their identity. To examine this paradox, I draw upon recent works on ‘history of emotion.’ I conclude by offering new thinking on the role of norms of joy in the formation of rabbinic identity.

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