Jewish Studies
Tal Ilan
Massekhet Hullin
Volume V/3. Text, Translation, and Commentary
[Massekhet Hullin.]
2017. XIII, 671 pages.
159,00 €
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including VAT
cloth
ISBN 978-3-16-155200-7
available
Published in English.
The Babylonian Talmud's Tractate Hullin is the longest in the Order of Qodashim with twelve chapters and over 140 pages. The Order of Qodashim (»holy things«) deals with the Temple in general. The word hullin, however, means »profane things« and actually describes the kosher slaughter of beasts for human consumption outside the temple. Even though this topic is not overtly gendered, and neither does it pertain specifically to women, Tal Ilan discusses over 100 traditions that touch on women and gender in this book, She shows that »women« forever served as good »tools« with which to discuss various topics such as halakhic reliability, or the use of magic, but more specifically that while the tractate is intensely interested in beasts and beast anatomy, women most often serve as points of comparison with beasts for authors of the Talmud. In this way, the rabbinic world view of the intermediate position of women between human and beast is repeatedly demonstrated throughout the tractate.