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Rabbinic and Neoplatonic Critiques of Sacrifice: Insights from Contact-Linguistics

Tue, December 18, 12:45 to 2:15pm, Seaport Hotel & World Trade Center, Beacon Hill 1 Complex

Abstract

The first presents and then examines a series of rabbinic and neoplatonic critiques that seek to minimize the anthropomorphic dimension of sacrifice. How best to frame these similarities? For while they are rough contemporaries (suggesting synchronic analysis is most appropriate), there is Jewish precedent for a critique of sacrifice in works of the biblical prophets. As a result, it is possible to claim that the rabbinic critique can be explained in purely internal-Jewish terms, as the "vertical" heir to the prophets, thus obviating the need for comparative analysis altogether. To resolve this potential impasse, I draw on insights from the field of contact linguistics, to argue that the study of languages in contact, and particularly the concept of contact-induced continuity, provide the methodological tools to resolve the question.

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