Dialogues and the Literary Representation of Relationships and Interactions within Rabbinic Learning Settings

The present proposal is rooted in a broader research project on rabbinic instruction I am carrying out at the Collaborative Research Centre 1136 “Bildung und Religion” (University of Göttingen). Through a set of case studies the paper will highlight the relationships and interactions between the actors of rabbinic instruction as they are represented in dialogues from the Mishnah, the Tosefta, and the halakhic Midrashim. The leading questions will be: Which behavioral constellations and norms do the texts associate with rabbis interacting with their pupils and peers within the rabbinic teaching and learning settings (e.g., the bet ha-midrash)? Which ones, when it comes to external settings and interactions with outsiders? Which values do the texts articulate? Among the latter, special attention will be paid to the values attached to emotions mentioned or alluded to in the dialogues. For this purpose Barbara H. Rosenwein`s notion of “emotional communities” as “social groups whose members adhere to the same valuations of emotions and their expressions” (see B.H. Rosenwein, Problems and Methods in the History of Emotions, 2010) will be applied to rabbinic study circles. A further question will concern the formal features of the dialogues, especially in relation to their content.