Research Fields

• Rabbinics, Jewish History
• Early Christianity
• Roman Imperialism
• Jewish Law

About

Dr. Yair Furstenberg is a scholar of early rabbinic literature. His research focuses on the emergence of the early rabbinic literature in the first centuries of the CE and the history of rabbinic law within its Greco-Roman context. In his publications, Furstenberg examines the development of Jewish legal discourse during the Second Temple and the early rabbinic period, as well as its relationship to  Jesus traditions. His current project aims to examine rabbinic legal activity into its Roman provincial context.

 

Selected Publications

Y. Furstenberg, ‘Jesus against the Laws of the Pharisees: The Legal Woe Sayings and Second Temple Inter-Sectarian Discourse,’ Journal of Biblical Literature 139 (2020): 767-786

Y. Furstenberg, “Provincial Rabbis: Shaping Rabbinic Divorce Procedure in a Roman Legal Environment”, Jewish Quarterly Review 109 (2019): 471-499

Y. Furstenberg, “From Tradition to Controversy: New Modes of Transmission in the Teachings of Early Rabbis”, Tarbiz 85 (2018): 587-641 [Hebrew]

Y. Furstenberg, ‘Imperialism and the Creation of Local Law: The Case of Rabbinic Law’, K. Berthelot, N. B. Dohrmann and C. Nemo-Pekelman (eds.), Legal Engagement: The Reception of Roman Law and Tribunals by Jews and Other Inhabitants of the Empire, Ecole française de Rome 2021, pp. 271-300.

Y. Furstenberg, Purity and Identity in Ancient Judaism, Indiana University Press (forthcoming). [Hebrew version:  Purity and Community in Antiquity: Traditions of the Law from Second Temple Judaism to the Mishnah, Magnes Press, 2016]

 

Selected Awards

The Mordechai Ish-Shalom Award for Best First Book in the History of the Land of Israel, for Purity and Community in Antiquity. Awarded by Yad Yizhak Ben-Zvi

 

Teaching

Bachelor's degree courses

Rabbinic Literature and the New Testament 

Introduction to the Mishnah 

The World of the Talmud: Study Culture 

The World of the Talmud: Cultural and Religious Contexts

The Temple in the Mishnah: Tractate Yoma

Introduction to Halakhic Midrashim

Mekhilta de Rabbi Ishmael: Halakhah and Aggadah

Introduction to the Tosefta

 

Master's degree courses

Tractate Neziqin: Between the Bible and the Greco-Roman World 

The Temple between Mishnah and Tosefta

Early Halakhic Literature: The Damascus Document.

 Marriage and Family in Early Rabbinic Law