History vs.

Ritual in Time and End-time: The Case of Early Rabbinic Weddings in Light of Catherine BellSkip Navigation Oxford Journals Contact UsMy BasketMy AccountJnl of the American Academy of Religion About This Journal Contact This JournalSubscriptions View Current Issue (Volume 81 Issue 4 December 2013)ArchiveSearchOxford JournalsHumanities Jnl of the American Academy of ReligionAdvance Access10.1093/jaarel/lfr001 Expand+Journal of the American Academy of Religionjaar.oxfordjournals.orgJ Am Acad Relig (2011) doi: 10.1093/jaarel/lfr001 First published online: February 24, 2011 The most recent version of this article [lfr001] was published on 2011-08-26 History vs. Ritual in Time and End-time: The Case of Early Rabbinic Weddings in Light of Catherine Bell Susan Marks* *Susan Marks, Klingenstein chair of Judaic Studies at New College of Florida, Sarasota, FL 34243, USA. E-mail: smarks@ncf.edu. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 2004 annual meeting of the Association for Jewish Studies in Chicago. Abstract Tannaitic rabbis permit wedding processions but prohibit practices associated with these festivities, including the wearing of bridal crowns. Studies of rabbinic ritual based on social scientific models have overlooked the historical disjunction between Tannaitic and Amoraic evidence for weddings. This study explores this puzzling combination of prohibitions and permissions by making use of Catherine Bell's discussion of ritualization. Attention to practice as outlined by Bell leads to a renewed focus on the textual framing of Tannaitic discourse concerning wedding processions. This focus in turn leads to the recognition that the early rabbis create their own vision of wedding practice through negotiating their own historic moment end-times. The larger eschatological context explored at the end of Sotah with its talk of extreme ascetic responses to end-times provides a framework for understanding Sotah's limited prohibitions concerning wedding processions and reveals a compromise reached by the various agents that remains otherwise obscured. The Author 2011. Published by Oxford University Press, on behalf of the American Academy of Religion. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com This Article J Am Acad Relig (2011) doi: 10.1093/jaarel/lfr001 First published online: February 24, 2011 AbstractFree Full Text (HTML)Full Text (PDF)All Versions of this Article: lfr001v1 79/3/587 most recent - Classifications Article - ServicesAlert me when cited Alert me if corrected Find similar articles Add to my archive Download citation Request Permissions + Citing ArticlesNo citing articlesCiting articles via CrossRefNo Scopus citing articlesCiting articles via Google Scholar + Google ScholarArticles by Marks, S.Search for related content + Related ContentNo related web pages - ShareCiteULikeDeliciousFacebookGoogle+MendeleyTwitterWhat's this?Search this journal:

Advanced Current Issue December 2013 81 (4) Alert me to new issues The Journal About this journal Publishers' Books for Review Rights & Permissions Dispatch date of the next issue We are mobile find out more Published on behalf of The American Academy of Religion Editor Amir Hussain View full editorial board For Authors Instructions to authors Submit a manuscript now Alerting Services Email table of contents Email Advance Access CiteTrack XML RSS feed Corporate Services Advertising sales Reprints Supplements MostMost ReadMost CitedMost Read In this Issue Radical Reform: Islamic Ethics and Liberation. Tariq Ramadan Religion in Human Evolution, From the Paleolithic to the Axial Age. By Robert N. Bellah * The Axial Age and Its Consequences. Edited by Robert N. Bellah and Hans Joas It's Funny Because It's True? The Simpsons, Satire, and the Significance of Religious Humor in Popular Culture Catholic Theological Ethics Past, Present, and Future: The Trento Conference. James Keenan View all Most Read articles Most CitedWho's Afraid of Reductionism? The Study of Religion in the Age of Cognitive ScienceTallahassee, Osceola, and the Hermeneutics of American Place-Names"It's a Lie. There's No Truth in It! It's a Sin!": On the Limits of the Humanistic Study of Religion and the Costs of Saving Others from ThemselvesThe Self-Serving Humility of Disciplining Liberal Humanist Scholars: A Response to Russell McCutcheonPost-secular Society: Christianity and the Dialectics of the Secular View all Most Cited articles Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department. Online ISSN 1477-4585 - Print ISSN 0002-7189Copyright 2013 American Academy of Religion Oxford Journals Oxford University Press Site MapPrivacy PolicyCookie PolicyLegal NoticesFrequently Asked Questions Other Oxford University Press sites: Oxford University Press Oxford Journals China Oxford Journals Japan Academic

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