"Jacob of Kfar Neburaya went to Tyre...": The Limits of Social Authority at the Edge of the Sea.

• In Event: Identities and Borders in Ancient Judaism

Abstract

The liminal figure of Jacob of Kfar Neburaya, often seen as a reflection of Galilean Christianity, makes his interpretative stand about mixed-group births and the halakhic status of fish at the edge of the Mediterranean when he comes to Tyre. In the texts (y.Yeb 2:6 (4a), y.Qid 3:12 (64d), GenRab 7:2b, and QohRab 7:23.3-4), his heterodoxy elicits the violent response of Rabbi Haggai, who first debates and then flogs the would-be interpreter. The focus of this study is the context of the two halakhic pronouncements within the milieu of coastal Tyre, both as a site of fishing and fish consumption and as a city of commingled Jewish and Christian populations. The added aspect of Jacob’s implied journey from his village of Neburarya to the major city will also be explored. The goal of this paper is to examine how social boundaries are constructed and enforced in the context of ambiguity.

Author

• Andrew Higginbotham, Ivy Tech Community College