Abstract

"From the Temple to the Synagogue" is an analysis on the influence of external cultures, predominantly the Persian religion of Zoroastrianism on the early rabbis following their failed revolt against Rome and the destruction of the Second Temple in the first century CE. How did the Jewish people react to the upheaval of their center of worship? What can we attribute to the major changes in their religious literature and centers of worship following the demise of their rebellion? Is it possible that what has traditionally been seen as an isolated and uniform group of people did in fact borrow major theological ideas from neighboring religions? This analysis demonstrates the transmission of ideas into this new center of power in the Jewish community, that of the rabbis, through their changed notions of the afterlife, the incorporation of artistic design within the synagogue, and the apocalyptic literature of the Dead Sea Scrolls community of Qumran. While the conversation has become more open in recent years to the idea that Judaism did not simply grow in a bubble, the extent to which Persian ideas made their way into Jewish theology has been largely ignored. This work seeks to demonstrate how open early rabbinic Judaism was to the exchange of ideas and how much of their ideas can be attributed to their non-Jewish neighbors.

Notes

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Graduation Date

2019

Semester

Spring

Advisor

Dandrow, Edward

Degree

Master of Arts (M.A.)

College

College of Arts and Humanities

Department

History

Degree Program

History; Public History

Format

application/pdf

Identifier

CFE0007443

URL

http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/etd/CFE0007443

Language

English

Release Date

May 2019

Length of Campus-only Access

None

Access Status

Masters Thesis (Open Access)

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