This research explores the ethnic, social, and cultural boundaries in Judaea and the nearby non-Judaean settlements in Palestine from 40 BCE till 70 CE, showing that the boundaries there were no less complex than those in the Diaspora outside the region. A large number of scholarly works have investigated the boundaries and identities of the Diaspora Judaeans outside Palestine, paying attention to their assimilation into — and resistance against — the non-Judaean cultures and social environments. Focusing on the following groups, I argue that Diaspora Judaeans and proselytes still encountered different sorts of boundaries even if they were in or near the predominantly Judaean region: a. local Diaspora Judaeans residing in the Hellenistic cities on the coast and in the Decapolis b. Judaean pilgrims coming from the Diaspora to Judaea c. Judaean immigrants settling in Judaea from the Diaspora d. proselytes making pilgrimages to or settling in Judaea from the Diaspora Certain experiences and identities of the Diaspora Judaeans and proselytes coming from diverse geographical origins in the Mediterranean and Near East were very different from those of the Judaeans in Judaea. These Diaspora Judaeans might have been considered socially and culturally foreign to the local Judaeans when they visited or lived in Judaea. At the same time, some of them were accepted into the local Judaean circle in various levels because of their common identities, lineages, and traditions. The ethnic, social, and cultural boundaries in Palestine were complicated, as they were not only negotiated among different ethnic groups, but also among those belonging to the same ethnic group and sharing certain traditions. The presence of Diaspora Judaeans and proselytes led to certain boundaries that were unique to this region.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--UCLA, 2009. / Vita. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 394-413).

I have chosen to begin with an analysis of Megillat/Book of Esther because of its chronological placement as well as its status in Jewish tradition as the prototype of diasporic auto/biography. Briefly, it relates the story of a covertly Jewish queen who makes the decision to risk her life in order to save her people from genocide. (Professor Patricia K. Tull takes credit for the expression, the “Esther moment” to describe Esther’s choice to commit to her life-changing Jewish self-identification, with all its inherent risks.) Determination and recognition of the danger she faces are reflected in Esther’s comment, “If I perish, I perish.” Postcolonial theory is a prism through which to view the ancient story and ultimately relate its elements, particularly “the Esther moment,” to the diasporic auto/biographical narratives included in the dissertation. Robin Cohen’s explanation of the concept of victim diaspora will be contrasted with the Kabbalistic interpretation of diaspora as the divinely orchestrated means to mend the world. The teachings of the Ari, 16th century Kabbalist Rabbi Isaac Luria, as well as 20th and 21st century essays illuminate the discussion of the mystical myths and legends which offer a positive interpretation to several millennia of Jewish exile. A general overview of the genre of autobiography/life narrative includes 20th and 21st century theorists, i.e., Philippe Lejeune, Sidonie Smith, Julia Watson and others, who address specific issues related to modern technology’s role in creating life narratives. The journey extends from parchment scrolls through printing press book production to filmic representations. Though thousands of years separate Book of/Megillat Esther from the interviews, they are unified by significant commonalities. The dissertation will focus on some facsimile of an “Esther moment,” where a Jewish calling spoke to participants and altered the course of their lives. Accessible for viewing online, each narrative is informed by a review of the family’s earlier diasporic journey. Diasporic synergies for each narrative will demonstrate a confirmation of the hypothesis. Connecting to one’s Jewish roots can be viewed as reparation of a rupture, a cultural diasporic journey to reach, if not the physical point of origin, a spiritual homecoming. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2018. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Thesis (MA(Ancient languages and cultural study))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 98-109).

Sonia Kwok Wong. / Thesis (M.Div.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 120-129). / Abstract also in Chinese. / ABSTRACT --- p.i / ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS --- p.iii / INTRODUCTION --- p.1 / Purpose and Approach of the Present Study --- p.1 / Outline of the Present Study --- p.4 / Chapter CHAPTER 1: --- "A BRIEF EXPLORATION OF STUDIES ON MOSES, THE PENTATEUCH AND EXOD.3:l-4:18" --- p.8 / Interpretation of the Persona Moses --- p.8 / Redactional History of the Pentateuch --- p.9 / Dating of the Commission of Moses in Exod. 3:1-4:18 --- p.14 / Chapter CHAPTER 2: --- METHODOLOGY AND CHARACTERIZATION OF MOSES --- p.24 / A Short Exposition on Rhetorical Criticism --- p.24 / A Proposed Model of Rhetorical Criticism --- p.26 / Exod. 3:1-4:18 as a Rhetorical Unit --- p.38 / Literary Genre and Rhetorical Type --- p.41 / Defining the Rhetorical Situation of Exod. 3:1-4:18 --- p.43 / Historical Situation of the Babylonian Diaspora and Their Exigency --- p.45 / Characterization of Moses in Exod. 2:1-22 --- p.52 / Chapter CHAPTER 3: --- A RHETORICAL ANALYSIS ON EXOD. 3:1-4:18 --- p.60 / Literary Demarcation and Perspective Shifts --- p.60 / Prologue and Settings: The Fire out of the Bush (3:1-5) --- p.63 / God's Thesis: Moses' Call to a Vocation of Liberation (3:6-10) --- p.69 / Moses' First Objection: ''Who Am I? ´ح(3:11-12) --- p.75 / "Moses' Second Objection: “Who Are You? ,，(3:13-22)" --- p.79 / Moses' Third Objection: “The Israelites Will Not Believe. ´ح(4:1-9) --- p.86 / Moses' Fourth Objection: “I Am Not a Man of Words. ´ح (4:10-12) --- p.90 / "Moses' Fifth Objection: “Send Someone Else!"" (4:13-17)" --- p.95 / Epilogue: Moses' Return (4:18) --- p.98 / The Immediate Persuasive Effect --- p.100 / Chapter CHAPTER 4: --- RHETORICAL EFFECTS TO THE DIASPORIC AUDIENCE --- p.103 / Interpreting Exod. 3:1´ؤ4:18 as a Symbolic Conflict --- p.103 / Interpreting Ideologies in Exod. 3:1-4:18 --- p.105 / The Residual Persuasive Effects --- p.109 / CONCLUSION --- p.114 / APPENDIX: A REFLECTION OF THE STUDY ON HONG KONG CONTEXT --- p.117 / BIBLIOGRAPHY --- p.120

Why do some religious movements succeed and spread, while others, seemingly equally popular and successful at a certain time, ultimately fail? It is from this starting point that this thesis approaches religious success or failure in the Roman Empire: exploring a new analytical method for understanding religious change: network theory. The thesis forms two parts. Part I sets out the theoretical frameworks. The focus of network theory is on the processes by which innovation spreads: how interconnectedness facilitates change. Although some innovations might be ‘superior’, viewing success or failure as the result of interplay between inherent qualities of a religious movement and the structure of the social environment in which it is embedded means it is possible to reduce value judgements about superiority or inferiority. The discussion then turns to religious change. The key point is that sociologists of religion can explain something of the processes of religious conversion (or ‘recruitment’) and the success or failure of a religious movement through an analysis of social interactions. Finally, I explain how I shall use networks both as a heuristic approach and a practical modelling technique to apply to the epigraphic data, and detail some of the previous application of networks to archaeological test cases. Part II applies these methods to the epigraphic data of three religions. In Chapter Four, I examine the cult Jupiter Dolichenus, arguing that the previous explanations for the success of the cult are untenable, showing from the epigraphy that the cult spread through a strong-tie network of Roman military officials. In Chapter Five, I look at the development of Jewish identity in the Diaspora, showing that, during the second century AD, Diaspora Jews began to actively display their Jewish identity in their epitaphs. I argue that this re-Judaization represents the ‘activation’ of an ethno-cultural network, as a response to the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem and the crushing of the Bar Kokhba rebellion; the visible remains of the rabbinic reforms. In Chapter Six, I discuss the cult of the ‘Highest God’, Theos Hypsistos, taking Mitchell’s argument further to suggest that the huge increase in the dedications during the second-third centuries is not simply a reflection of the epigraphic habit, but rather, that the cult of Hypsistos was swelled by the Gentile god-fearers, as a result of the changes happening within Judaism itself at this time.

This thesis examines the progression from relatively peaceful relations between Alexandrians and Jews under the Ptolemies to the Diaspora Revolt under the Romans. A close analysis of the literature evidences that the transition from Ptolemaic to Roman Alexandria had critical effects on Jewish status in the Diaspora. One of the most far reaching consequences of the shift from the Ptolemies to Romans was forcing the Alexandrians to participate in the struggle for imperial patronage. Alexandrian involvement introduced a new element to the ongoing conflict among Egypt’s Jews and native Egyptians. The Alexandrian citizens consciously cut back privileges the Jews previously enjoyed under the Ptolemies and sought to block the Jews from advancing within the Roman system. Soon the Jews were confronted with rhetoric slandering their civility and culture. Faced with a choice, many Jews forsook Judaism and their traditions for more upwardly mobile life. After the outbreak of the First Jewish War Jewish life took a turn for the worse. Many Jews found themselves in a system that classified them according to their heritage and ancestry, limiting advancement even for apostates. With the resulting Jewish tax (fiscus Judaicus) Jews were becoming more economically and socially marginalized. The Alexandrian Jews were a literate society in their own right, and sought to reverse their diminishing prestige with a rhetoric of their own. This thesis analyzes Jewish writings and pagan writings about the Jews, which evidences their changing socio-political position in Greco-Roman society. Increasingly the Jews wrote with an urgent rhetoric in attempts to persuade their fellow Jews to remain loyal to Judaism and to seek their rights within the construct of the Roman system. Meanwhile, tensions between their community and the Alexandrian community grew. In less than 100 years, from 30 CE to 117 CE, the Alexandrians attacked the Jewish community on at least three occasions. Despite the advice of the most Hellenized elites, the Jews did not sit idly by, but instead sought to disrupt Alexandrian meetings, anti-Jewish theater productions, and appealed to Rome. In the year 115 CE, tensions reached a high. Facing three years of violent attacks against their community, Alexandrian Jews responded to Jewish uprisings in Cyrene and Egypt with an uprising of their own. Really a series of revolts, historians have termed these events simply “the Diaspora Revolt.”

This dissertation investigates how Jewish women social scientists relationally established their gendered-racialized subjectivities and theories about race-gender-sexuality-class through their portrayals of black women’s sexuality and family structures in the African Diaspora: the U.S., Brazil, South Africa, Swaziland, and the U.K. The central women in this study: Ellen Hellmann, Ruth Landes, Hilda Kuper, and Ruth Glass, were part of the same “political generation,” born in 1908-1912, coming of age when Jews of European descent experienced an ambivalent and conditional assimilation into whiteness, a form of internal colonization. I demonstrate how each woman’s familial origin point in Europe, parental class and political orientations, were important factors influencing her later personal/professional networks and social science theorizing about women of color. However, other important factors included the national racial context, the political affiliations of her partners, her marital status and her transracial fieldwork experiences. One of the main problems my work addresses is how the internal colonization process in differing nations within the Jewish diaspora differently affected and positioned Jewish social scientists from divergent class and political affiliations. Gendering Aamir Mufti’s primarily male-oriented argument, I demonstrate how Jewish internal divergences serve as an example that highlights the lack of uniformity within any “identity” group, and the ways that minority groups, like Jews, use measures of “abnormal” gender and sexuality, to create internal exiled minorities in order to try to assimilate into the majority colonizing culture. My dissertation addresses three problems within previous studies of Jewish social scientists by creating a gendered analysis of the history of Jews in social science, an analysis of Jewish subjectivity within histories of women (who were Jewish) in social science, and a critique of the either-or assumption that Jewishness necessarily equated with a “radical” anti-racist approach or a “colonizing” stance toward black communities. The data collection followed a mixed methods approach, incorporating archival research, ethnographic object analysis, site visits in Brazil and South Africa, consultations with library, archive and museum professionals, and interviews with scholars connected to the core women in the study.