Surviving sacrilege
Subtitle: cultural persistance in Jewish antiquity
By: Steven Weitzman
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Published: 2005
Place of publication: Cambridge, Mass
Language: eng
Number of pages: 193
Subjects: Jews -- History -- 586 B.C.-70 A.D; Judaism -- History -- Post-exilic period, 586 B.C.-210 A.D; Jews -- Identity; Jews -- Civilization -- To 1500; Cultural property -- Protection -- Palestine -- History -- To 1500
Description: "In a world of relentless and often violent change, what does it take for a culture to survive? Steven Weitzman addresses this question by exploring the "arts of cultural persistence"--The tactics that cultures employ to sustain themselves in the face of intractable realities. Surviving Sacrilege focuses on a famously resilient culture caught between two disruptive acts of sacrilege: ancient Judaism between the destruction of the First Temple (by the Babylonians) in 586 B.C. and the destruction of the Second Temple (by the Romans) in 70 C.E."

"Detecting something tenaciously self-preserving at the core of the imagination, Weitzman argues that its expression in storytelling, fantasy, imitation, metaphor, and magic allows a culture's survival instinct to maneuver within, beyond, and even against the limits of reality."--Jacket.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [167]-188) and index