Focusing on the concepts of time and the life cycle, this collection of
articles examines Jewish life in the Talmudic period through the lens of
Jewish law and custom of the time. The essays are the work of Nissan
Rubin (one of them written in collaboration with Admiel Kosman) and come
together to present the cultural perspective of the sages and scholars
who produced the stepping-stones of Jewish life and custom. By using a
structural approach, Rubin is able to identify processes of long-term
change in a society that remains largely traditional and stable.
Symbolic analysis supplies an additional dimension to these studies,
enabling the reader to experience the cultural subtexts.