Between Ideal and the Other: Jewish Identity and Election in Midrash and Post-Biblical Literature

In rabbinic writings, the doctrine of election is essential to the distinction between Jews and their Other, and thus at the heart of Jewish identity. According to contemporary academic conceptions of Biblical theology and halakhic ordinance, rabbinic literature idealistically “constructed” an image of Jewish theological and ethnic exclusivity to counter and/or shape the ambiguities found in reality. Thus, according to this view, historically, “Jewishness was not a function of objective or empirical criteria,”^[1] but an ideal offered by the sages to draw boundaries between Jews and their neighbors. Nevertheless, when seen through the lens of election the idealistic divisions of the rabbis between Jews and their Others are not simply binary nor asymmetrical as such a constructivist view would imply. For example, the competition for election in heaven and on earth between the nation and Edom and the ministering angels are, in rabbinical literature, as characterized by mimesis as they are by alterity; Jews and their other are simultaneously “conflictive and contradictory, but pregnant with an almost intimate immediacy,”^[2] and often portrayed in such a way that one may both contest and replace the other as their duplicate. This issue of Religions will explore how rabbinic literature symbol, myth and Scriptural interpretation navigate the relationship of election to identity, and address the boundaries and limitations of ideal identities in rabbinic Judaism.

Dear Colleagues,

The articles of this volume should address the questions delineated in the above summary by focusing on the symbolic, mythological and exegetical development of election in rabbinic and related post-Biblical literatures, with an eye towards the utility of election in the formation of the Jewish self. To this purpose, contributors will submit targeted studies of particular traditions, texts, images or artifacts responding to the larger issues at play in this volume, and representing a variety of voices. Contributions are invited that feature close readings of midrash and related post-Biblical literatures responding to such questions as: What is the relationship between identity and election in rabbinic mythmaking? Does election represent a new identity for the Jewish people, or does it not? What is the role and purpose of the Jewish people’s rivals in heaven and on earth for Jewish identity and election? Why does rabbinic literature recurrently introduce primordial or angelic versions of Israel in accounts of the patriarchs, creation and the angelic realm, and how do these relate to earthly Israel? What is the relationship between the elect “Israel” and the “Jew”?

Prof. Dr. Steven Daniel Sacks
Guest Editor

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• Rabbinic Literature
• Second Temple Literature
• Islamic Literature
• Israel
• Jaco
• Edom
• Angelology