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August 11, 2020

Talmudic Astrology: Is Israel’s Fate Determined by the Stars?

Rabbi Dr. Jeffrey Rubenstein

Rabbi Dr. Jeffrey Rubenstein

Rabbi Jeffrey L. Rubenstein, Ph.D., Skirball Professor of Jewish Thought & Literature at New York University, and author of a number of books and articles.

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Drisha Kollel, Shiur Klali, July 10, 2020

Talmudic stories typically appear as “solitary” stories integrated within the Talmud’s legal or aggadic discussions and serve a variety of purposes. However, there are some cases of “story-cycles” of three or more stories in succession (sometimes over twenty stories), and these collections have their own function and purpose.  We will examine one such story-cycle from Bavli Shabbat 156b, three stories about astrology, to understand its structure, function, literary aspects and meaning.

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