Year: 2008
Type: book-chapter
Abstract: This chapter examines rabbinic narratives about fetuses recorded in compilations dating from the third through the tenth centuries CE. Instead of placing these traditions within the context of contemporary questions about abortion, this chapter illustrates the ways that rabbinic narratives about fetuses and traditions about the creation of the embryo provide insights into rabbinic constructions of Israel. Particular attention is paid to rabbinic traditions about prenatal Jacob and Esau, which demonstrate that the rabbis often construct Jewishness in oppositional relation to non-Jewishness.
Source: Oxford University Press eBooks
Author: Gwynn Kessler
Language: English
Subfield: Religious studies
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1126955766