{"id":1661209,"date":"2026-02-19T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nybooks.com\/?post_type=article&#038;p=1661209"},"modified":"2026-02-18T16:05:05","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T21:05:05","slug":"an-entirely-new-domain-of-knowledge-how-rabbis-became-experts_2026-03-12","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/www.nybooks.com\/articles\/2026\/03\/12\/an-entirely-new-domain-of-knowledge-how-rabbis-became-experts\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018An Entirely New Domain of Knowledge\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"In ancient Judaea, there were no rabbis. Until the first century of the Common Era the experts in th<div class=\"leaky_paywall_message_wrap\"><div id=\"leaky_paywall_message\">\t<div class=\"paywall\" id=\"paywall-a\">\n\t\t<div class=\"fadeout\"><\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"paywall-content text-center pb-xs-14\">\n\t\t\t<img\n\t\t\t\tloading=\"lazy\"\n\t\t\t\tsrc=\"https:\/\/www.nybooks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Sub_PrintDigital_11062022-72ppi.jpg?w=200\"\n\t\t\t\tsrcset=\"https:\/\/www.nybooks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Sub_PrintDigital_11062022-72ppi.jpg?w=200 200w, https:\/\/www.nybooks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Sub_PrintDigital_11062022-72ppi.jpg?w=400 400w\"\n\t\t\t\tsizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 200px, 400px\"\n\t\t\t\talt=\"New York Review in various formats\"\n\t\t\t\tclass=\"paywall-img mb-xs-3\"\n\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t<p class=\"text-xs-20 text-lg-30 mb-xs-1 color-ny-red font-giza\">Continue reading <br\/>for just $1.00 per issue!<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p class=\"text-xs-16 mb-xs-2\">Choose a Digital subscription or our best deal \u2013 All Access \u2013 that includes print and digital issues, full archive access, and the NYR App!<\/p>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/subscribe.nybooks.com\/ecom\/nyb\/app\/live\/subscriptions?org=NYB&publ=NY&key_code=EPMXM01&type=S\" class=\"button font-giza bg-ny-red color-white hover-text-white hover-expand sign-in-subscribe text-xs-16 mb-xs-3 paywall-offer\"><span>View Offers<\/span><\/a>\n\t\t\t<hr class=\"mt-xs-0 mb-xs-3\"\/>\n\t\t\t<p class=\"text-xs-16 mb-xs-2\">Or\u00a0register\u00a0for a free account to read just this article. <a href=\"\/account\/register\/?level_id=0\" id=\"register\">Register<\/a>.<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p class=\"text-label color-gray mb-0\">Already a subscriber? <a href=\"\/account\/signin\/\" class=\"paywall-signin color-gray\">Sign in<\/a><\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\t<div class=\"paywall\" id=\"paywall-b\">\n\t\t<div class=\"fadeout\"><\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"paywall-content text-center pb-xs-14\">\n\t\t\t<img\n\t\t\t\tloading=\"lazy\"\n\t\t\t\tsrc=\"https:\/\/www.nybooks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/PrintandDigital-2x_FreeNotebk_02112021-B.jpg?w=200\"\n\t\t\t\tsrcset=\"https:\/\/www.nybooks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/PrintandDigital-2x_FreeNotebk_02112021-B.jpg?w=200 200w, https:\/\/www.nybooks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/PrintandDigital-2x_FreeNotebk_02112021-B.jpg?w=400 400w\"\n\t\t\t\tsizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 200px, 400px\"\n\t\t\t\talt=\"\"\n\t\t\t\tclass=\"paywall-img mb-xs-3\"\n\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t<p class=\"text-xs-20 text-lg-30 mb-xs-1 color-ny-red font-giza\">Continue reading for just $1 an issue and get a FREE notebook! 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Choose a Digital subscription or our best deal\u2014All Access\u2014that includes print and digital issues, full archive access, and the NYR App!<\/p>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/subscribe.nybooks.com\/ecom\/nyb\/app\/live\/subscriptions?org=NYB&publ=NY&key_code=EPKXM01&type=S\" class=\"button font-giza bg-ny-red color-white hover-text-white hover-expand sign-in-subscribe text-xs-16 mb-xs-3 paywall-offer\"><span>View Offers<\/span><\/a>\n\t\t\t<hr class=\"mt-xs-0 mb-xs-3\"\/>\n\t\t\t<p class=\"text-xs-16 mb-xs-2\">Or\u00a0register\u00a0for a free account to read just this article. <a href=\"\/account\/register\/?level_id=0\" id=\"register\">Register<\/a>.<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p class=\"text-label color-gray mb-0\">Already a subscriber? <a href=\"\/account\/signin\/\" class=\"paywall-signin color-gray\">Sign in<\/a><\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\n<script>\n\t\/\/ Set link current page variables\n\tvar $ = jQuery;\n\tvar paywall_type = 'register';\n\t$('.paywall-offer').each(function(index) 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mutationsList[index];\n\t\t\t\tif (mutation.type === 'attributes') {\n\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log('The ' + mutation.attributeName + ' attribute was modified.');\n\t\t\t\t\tif (document.querySelector('.paywall')) {\n\t\t\t\t\t\tdataLayer.push({'event': 'Paywall Visible', 'paywall_type': paywall_type });\n\t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.disconnect();\n\t\t\t\t\t\treturn true;\n\t\t\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t};\n\n\t\tvar observer = new MutationObserver(callback);\n\t\tobserver.observe(targetNode, config);\n\t})()\n<\/script>\n\n<div id=\"paywall-ad\" class=\"inline-banner-ad d-flex flex-column\">\n\t<p class=\"text-label-sm mb-xs-2 mt-xs-2 color-gray text-center\">Advertisement<\/p>\n\t<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1600792242058-0\" style=\"margin: 0 auto;\"><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Torah scholars who came to be called \u201crabbis\u201d emerged as figures of authority after the destruction of the Jewish Temple in 70 CE and the later exile of Jews from Judaea\u2014and created Judaism\u2019s founding literature.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":1661163,"template":"","categories":[18772,18771,18776],"tags":[],"coauthors":[19384],"class_list":["post-1661209","article","type-article","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history","category-ideas","category-philosophy-religion","article-type-book-review","article-form-review","_issue-2026-03-12","author-roles-by","author-cap-magda-teter"],"acf":[],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"http:\/\/nybooks.com\/articles\/2026\/03\/12\/an-entirely-new-domain-of-knowledge-how-rabbis-became-experts\/","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"\u2018An Entirely New Domain of 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