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When Near Becomes Far: Old Age in Rabbinic Literature

by Mira Balberg (professor Of History And Endowed Chair In Ancient Jewish Civilization, Professor Of History And Endowed Chair In Ancient Jewish Civilization, University Of California, San Diego), Associa Haim Weiss (associate Professor Of Hebrew Literature

  • Hardback
  • Publisher: Oxford University Press
  • 16.3 x 23.9 x 2.6 cm

£87.65

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When Near Becomes Far explores the representations and depictions of old age in the rabbinic Jewish literature of late antiquity (150-600 CE). Through close literary readings and cultural analysis, the book reveals the gaps and tensions between idealized images of old age on the one hand, and the psychologically, physiologically, and socially complicated realities of aging on the other hand. The authors argue that while rabbinic literature presents a number of prescriptions related to qualities and activities that make for good old age, the respect and reverence that the elderly should be awarded, and harmonious intergenerational relationship, it also includes multiple anecdotes and narratives that portray aging in much more nuanced and poignant ways. These anecdotes and narratives relate, alongside fantasies about blissful or unnoticeable aging, a host of fears associated with old age: from the loss of physical capability and beauty to the loss of memory and mental acuity, and from marginalization in the community to being experienced as a burden by one's children. Each chapter of the book focuses on a different aspect of aging in the rabbinic world: bodily appearance and sexuality, family relations, intellectual and cognitive prowess, honor and shame, and social roles and identity. As the book shows, in their powerful and sensitive treatments of aging, rabbinic texts offer some of the richest and most audacious observations on aging in ancient world literature, many of which still resonate today.
When Near Becomes Far: Old Age in Rabbinic Literature and The Essential History of Christianity
The Essential History of ChristianityWhen Near Becomes Far: Old Age in Rabbinic Literature

  • Book Format

    Hardcover

  • Publisher

    Oxford University Press

  • Published

    March 2021

  • Weight

    500g

  • Dimensions

    16.3 x 23.9 x 2.6 cm

  • ISBN

    9780197501481

  • ISBN-10

    0197501486

  • Eden Code

    5297892

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