Tradition and the Formation of the Talmud

Moulie Vidas is an assistant professor in the Department of Religion and the Program in Judaic Studies at Princeton University.

• A Note on Style Conventions vii Introduction 1 PART I 21 Chapter One The Alterity of Tradition 23 Chapter Two The Division into Layers 45 Chapter Three Composition as Critique 81 PART II 113 Chapter Four Scholars, Transmitters, and the Making of talmud 115 Chapter Five The Debate about Recitation 150 Chapter Six Tradition and Vision 167 Conclusion 203 Acknowledgments 215 Bibliography 217 Source Index 233 Subject Index 237

Honorable Mention for the 2016 Jordan Schnitzer Book Award in Biblical Studies, Rabbinics, and Jewish History & Culture in Antiquity, Association for Jewish Studies "Vidas's book exemplifies the best possibilities of contemporary Talmud scholarship--a foretaste, in just those moments when it upsets received wisdom about the Talmud, of the next step in the ancient dance of new and old."--Raphael Magarik, MAKE Literary Productions "Vidas's book is eloquent testimony to the high level of conceptual sophistication that has been achieved in the academic field of Talmud study in recent years. It bodes well for the future of the field in American academia."--Pinchas Roth, AJL Newsletter