Authors: Alan Dundes
ISBN-13: 9780742516717, ISBN-10: 0742516717
Format: Paperback
Publisher: The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group Inc
Date Published: December 2001
Edition: 216th Edition
This book focuses on the topic of _circumventing custom_ with special emphasis on the ingenious ways Orthodox (and other) Jews have devised to avoid breaking the extensive list of activities forbidden on the Sabbath. After examining the sources of Sabbath observance as set forth in the Old Testament, the New Testament, and rabbinical writings, some of the most salient forms of circumvention are described. Then drawing on Freud's insights as to the obsessive nature of religious ritual and his persuasive delineation of anal erotic character, an attempt is made to analyze such facets of Jewish character (in addition to circumvention) as an undue concern with purity, and a long-established tradition of indulging in nit-picking and argumentation.
Acknowledgments | ||
Prologue | ||
The Concept of Custom | 1 | |
The Sabbath in the Old Testament | 4 | |
The Sabbath in the New Testament | 19 | |
The Sabbath in Rabbinical Tradition | 26 | |
The Shabbat Elevator | 31 | |
The Light in the Refrigerator | 37 | |
The Eruv as Symbolic Space | 45 | |
Other Sabbath Customs | 51 | |
The Shabbes Goy | 62 | |
Circumvention and Jewish Mentality | 75 | |
Obsession and Religion According to Freud | 88 | |
Anal Erotic Character | 96 | |
Self-Imposed Repression | 138 | |
The Love of Argument | 146 | |
Conclusions | 165 | |
Bibliography | 175 | |
Index | 195 | |
About the Author | 201 |