CITIES OF THE SEA: IN SEARCH OF כרכי הים

In this essay, I attempt to inscribe the mysterious location known as "the cities of the sea" (כרכי הים) onto the map of rabbinic scholarship. Classical rabbinic authors look toward this mythic locale for three reasons: (1) to discuss tales of sin (and sometimes salvation); (2) to offer de...

Full description

Saved in:

Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Hebrew studies Vol. 51; no. 1; pp. 211 - 221
Main Author:	Rosenblum, Jordan D.
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	National Association of Professors of Hebrew in Institutions of Higher Learning 01-01-2010 National Association of Professors of Hebrew
Subjects:	Literary tropes Pedagogy Rabbis Rosh hashanah Seas Sex workers Talmud Torah Verbs
Online Access:	Get full text
Tags:	Add Tag No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!

Description
Summary:	In this essay, I attempt to inscribe the mysterious location known as "the cities of the sea" (כרכי הים) onto the map of rabbinic scholarship. Classical rabbinic authors look toward this mythic locale for three reasons: (1) to discuss tales of sin (and sometimes salvation); (2) to offer definitions and clarifications of obscure words; and (3) to explain halakhic exceptions. Through an examination of כרכי הים in the classical rabbinic corpus, I argue that "the cities of the sea" should be understood as a locus of rabbinic pedagogy and not necessarily viewed as an actual, mappable location.
ISSN:	0146-4094 2158-1681 2158-1681
DOI:	10.1353/hbr.2010.a400585