Notions of Community and the Exclusion of the Female in Jewish History and Historiography

Abstract

For some years now, my particular area of research interest has been the period of formative Judaism, a period which lasted from about 600 BC to AD 200 and saw the emergence in essence of what may be termed modern, rabbinic Judaism — a religious system quite distinct from that of the early books of the Bible and one which continues to shape and inform Jews and Judaism today. These centuries of formative Judaism saw the development of new laws, new definitions, theologies, philosophies and social structures. They were times of intense fluidity and change, when monotheism first really emerged as a rigorous and normative system and when the Law — that huge body of commandments designed to embrace virtually every aspect of Jewish daily existence — gradually took shape and preeminence in Jewish life.¹ My concern has been to examine the changing position, image and status of women within Palestine during these developments.²