A Different Way of Reading the Bavli

I haven´t been in a long time so fascinated by a book dealing with religion from a historical, geographical and anthropological perspective. For me, it returns to the Bavli, and to any other religious analysis, it´s deep intellectual meaning.

The Iranian Talmud. Reading the Bavli in Its Sasanian Context by Shai Secunda is skillfully charting the intellectual context of the debates and approaches present in the Babylonian Talmud. Bavli is the primary source of Jewish law and theology therefore, its permanent relevance in the current Jewish legal context nowadays. 

Does a contextual understanding of the Bavli change its significance or may alter/undermine its relevance? Probably not. For the legal-theological mindset, the decisions stay valid and are probably independent of the historical context and the social interactions between the Jews and the other ethnic and cultural groups active within the Sasanian empire.

However, for the historian of religions and the historian in general, the approach followed by Secunda in its very small and applied details reveal an unique and realistic landscape of mutual interaction and, more often than not, coexistence. What is very important to keep in mind is that Bavli, as other religious texts during the Babylonian exile, did not appear in a vacuum and as expected, Jews lived and interacted with the other groups from their immediate neighbourhood and this interaction was at a certain extent translated in the discussions and decisions featured in the Bavli, for instance. 

The research uses the methods of intertextuality and comparative studies, in the ways paved by the 19th century Wissenschaft des Judentums and the recent researches developed by Jacob Neusner. It proceeds with the diligence and application of the archaeologist, with deep knowledge in the field of language, anthropology and history as well as Iranian studies. However, this kind of research should not be considered automatically as belonging to the Reform Judaism way of thinking, as it helps also the Orthodox Judaism to understand the complex web of meanings featured of the rabbinical decisions and discussions.

Personally, I was always fascinated and intrigued by the long details about magi and magical references in general. It seems that this is the result of the interaction with the Zoroastrian practices which I am not familiar at all, but whose understanding makes sense in the bigger overview of the topic. 

The entire book is a marvelous example of literary and historical archeology of human contacts and diversity which makes so much sense. How can we think that the Babylonian Jews were separated from their compatriots living in the Sasanian Empire? Obviously, the interactions and exchanges were on both directions and practices were eventually influenced and changed following the daily contacts with the Jews. Persians, Jews, other minorities, intersected - randomly or for specific reasons - within a vibrant milieu. Outlining the diversity of opinions on the same topic, or identifying the original sources is a work that brings to light extraordinary facts and conversations. Enlightened people with different background need to continue such researches and keep the conversation alive, sometimes against the temporary adversities of the milieu.