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EXCERPTS OF NEW BOOKS BY HUC-JIR FACULTY | EXCERPTS OF NEW BOOKS BY HUC-JIR FACULTY
birth, and adoption, and made smaller by di-
vorce and death. A society’s definition of
family can also change, reflecting patterns of
settlement, understanding of marriage, and
other factors.
This book explores how the sages who
wrote the foundation documents of rabbinic
Judaism understood kinship and family. I will
argue that while rabbinic literature constructs
kinship broadly, asserting that family ties may
be created through both blood and marriage,
through both father and mother, the primary
family unit discussed in rabbinic literature is
the nuclear family, comprising a husband and
wife and their children. This family is defined
by the obligations the individuals in it have
to each other, in particular the obligations
between husband and wife, and between
father and children. This focus on the nuclear
family prioritizes an adult man and woman’s
obligations to their “new” family, the family
created by their marriage, over those to their
families of origin. Those earlier bonds are not
dissolved – a woman remains part of her fam-
ily of origin (she may inherit from her parents
and other relatives, she is required to mourn
for her parents and siblings, she is still obli-
gated to honor her parents), as does a man.
In fact, the bonds are extended; each spouse
becomes “kin” to his or her in-laws, assuming
obligations with regard to mourning, incest
prohibitions, and testimony. However, the
focus of family law is the nuclear family, and
it is the obligations of the husband and wife
to each other that take center stage in shaping
their relationship with other family members.
Furthermore, this focus on the nuclear
family over the extended family or clan is ac-
companied by an emphasis on the self over
the extended group. The decisions an indi-
vidual makes about taking on family
obligations, specifically obligations to spouse
and children, are seen in rabbinic literature as
personal decisions rather than decisions made
by or for the sake of the extended family. The
early rabbis regard marriage and procreation
as religious obligations, and these obligations
fall on every individual (or, more precisely,
on every male Jew). While rabbinic law does
assign individuals specific rights and respon-
sibilities in connection to relatives beyond the
nuclear family, the individual remains the
focus of religious law. When individuals are
considered members of a group, that group is
more likely to reflect marital status, physical
disabilities, or priestly status (to name a few)
than kinship ties. Individuals are labeled di-
vorcees, priests, or deaf-mutes rather than
members of a kindred. An individual man or
woman may be part of many groups from the
perspective of the law, but he or she will not
necessarily have obligations to other members
of that group.
This work uses as its primary lens
rabbinic discussions of levirate, an institu-
tion that involves the union of a man and
the widow of his childless brother. Under nor-
mal circumstances, a marriage marks the
beginning of a new family unit and/or the ex-
pansion or blending of existing families.
Levirate, on the other hand, comes into play
when a family experiences the loss of a mem-
ber. As such, it offers an opportunity to study
the family at a moment of breakdown and re-
structuring. And, I will argue, it allows us to
consider one response to the collapse of a
family, namely, an attempt to mend that
which has been broken, reconstituting one
part of a family by rearranging its members
and realigning their relationship to each other.
However, as we shall see, the rabbis’ unique
construct of levirate results in that institution’s
creating an entirely new family rather than re-
forming the one broken by the husband’s
death. This rabbinic understanding of levirate
supports my claim that the central family unit
in rabbinic Judaism is the nuclear family and
that an individual man or woman’s primary
obligations are to an existing spouse rather
than to the extended family, as represented
here by a deceased spouse or sibling.
Who are the
Real
Chosen People?
The Meaning of Chosenness in
Judaism, Christianity and Islam
Reuven Firestone,
Skylight Paths Publish-
ing, 2009
R
eligious people who define themselves as
monotheists have often advanced the idea
that their relationship with God is unique and
superior to all others. Theirs supersedes those
who came before, and is superior to those who
have followed. This phenomenon tends to be ex-
pressed in terms not only of supersessionism,
but also “chosenness,” or “election.”Who is most
beloved by God? What expression of the divine
will is the most perfect? Which relationship re-
flects God’s ultimate demands or desire? In this
fascinating examination of the religious phe-
is Director of the School of Rab-
binical Studies at HUC-JIR in Los
Angeles, where she also serves as Associate Professor of Rabbinic Literature and Di-
rector of the Lainer Beit Midrash. Her scholarly interests include gender issues in
rabbinic texts, Rabbis' daughters in the Talmud, women and ritual observance, and
Levirate marriage in ancient Judaism, the subject of her new book,
Levirate Mar-
riage and the Family in Ancient Judaism.
Dr. Dvora E. Weisberg
