Holy Men and Hunger Artists: Fasting and Asceticism in Rabbinic Culture

by Eliezer Diamond

The existence of ascetic elements within rabbinic Judaism has generally been either overlooked or actually denied. This is in part because asceticism is commonly identified with celibacy, whereas the rabbis emphasized sexuality as a positive good. In addition, argues Eliezer Diamond, it serves the theological agendas of both Jewish and Christian scholars to characterize Judaism as non- or anti-ascetic.
In fact, however, Diamond shows that rabbinic...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0195137507
• ISBN13: 9780195137507
• Release Date: November 2003
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 7.0" x 9.0"