Comedy or Tragedy? The Comic Vision of The Destruction of the Temple in Bavli Gittin 55b-56b

• In Event: Reading the Bavli

Abstract

Perhaps the last place one might expect to find a comedy is in the narratives of the destruction of the Second Temple as told by the Babylonian Talmud. And yet, the story in Bavli Gittin is rife with elements of classical comedy, including popular stock characters from the Roman stage, misunderstandings and mixed identities, an emphasis on the body, and intentional use of dramatic irony and satire. Most importantly, the extended narrative exemplifies what humor scholar John Morreall calls “the comic vision.” The heroes of comedy demonstrate flexibility of wit, anti-militarism, critique of authority, and a high tolerance for ambiguity – in the service of living with incongruity.
Using Morreall’s framework, this paper seeks to explicate the ways in which b. Gittin 55b-56b is constructed with the building blocks of comedy. Following Jeffrey Rubenstein’s literary analysis, as well as Erez DeGolan’s preliminary work on dramatic irony in this story, this paper will expand upon previous research to investigate the tools of humor at the rabbinic disposal. Moreover, by comparing the Bavli’s version with Palestinian antecedents and parallels, this study will lend insight into the motivation behind the redaction and (re)construction of narrative elements.
As Rubenstein suggests, the motif of rabbinic authority (and critiques thereof) spans the narrative. Investigating the drama through the lens of comedy supports Rubenstein’s insight. Furthermore, this study suggests that the rabbinic redactors had a decisively “comic” view of living with incongruity – that is, preferring to continue living rather than solving the disorder of their existential predicament. Thus, the objects of laughter in Bavli Gittin are characters who exhibit Henri Bergson’s “mechanical inelasticity” – inability to adapt – while the heroes are those that can find another way out of a difficult predicament.
This study ultimately analyzes why such a tragic narrative employs comic tools, highlighting the fine line between the two genres. In so doing, this paper adds to the growing research on comedy and satire in rabbinic literature and Late Antiquity, following Christine Hayes, Daniel Boyarin, and Mary Beard, among others. It suggests areas of research moving forward, particularly regarding interaction with the Greco-Roman stage.

Author

• Miriam Zami, Yeshiva University