A Roadmap to the Heavens

A Roadmap to the Heavens challenges readers to rethink prevailing ideas about the social map of Jewish society during the Tannaitic period (70 C.E. – 220 C.E.). New insights were made possible by applying anthropological theories and conceptual tools. In addition, social phenomena were better understood by comparing them to similar social phenomena in other cultures regardless of time and space. The book explores the rich and complex relationships between the Sages, Priests, and laymen who competed for hegemony in social, cultural, and political arenas. The struggle was not simply a case of attempting to displace the priestly elite by a new scholarly elite. Rather, in the process of constituting a counter-hegemony, the attitude of the Sages towards the Priests entailed ambivalent psychological mechanisms, such as attraction – rejection, imitation – denial, and cooperation – confrontation. The book further reveals that to achieve political and social power the Sages used the established hegemonic priestly discourse to undermine the existing social structure. The innovative discovery of this monograph is that while the Sages professed a new social order based on intellectual achievement, they retained elements of the old order, such as family attribution, group nepotism, endogamy, ritual purity and impurity, and secret knowledge. Thus, social mobility based on education was available only to privileged social classes. The conclusion of the book is that even though the Sages resisted the priestly hegemony and attempted to disengage from it, they could not free themselves from the shackles of the priestly discourse and praxis.

Sigalit Ben-Zion (Ph.D. Trondheim University in Norway in Comparative Religion with a specialization in Social Anthropology, 2006) is a research fellow at the University of Bergen IMER (International Migration and Ethnic Relations) and has been actively involved in the analysis of migration, inter-racial adoptees, the constitution collective identities and the problems of minorities in Europe and Israel. Her current research involves a comparative study of Norwegian, Swedish and Israeli hegemonies in relation to minority groups who represent the inner and outer "others" of the cultural hegemony.

Leif Manger, Professor of Social Anthropology at the University of Bergen:
This is an important work at the intersection of anthropology, history, and the theory of religion. . . By applying various anthropological theories, Sigalit Ben-Zion opens up a dynamic landscape of identity formation among various groups, such as Priests and Sages. Dr. Ben-Zion’s ground-breaking work in the field of Jewish studies should engage a wide readership.

Eyal Ben-Ari, Professor of Anthropology in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem:
A fascinating insight into the social structure and dynamics of the Tannaitic period . . . Dr. Ben-Zion creates an intriguing typology of the processes of identity formation, full of ambivalence, contradictions, and challenges. The book itself is well written, integrates theoretical and empirical material, and sheds light on a topic not hitherto examined from an anthropological point of view. In my opinion, it is an excellent example of the confluence of history and anthropology at the center of our discipline.