NARRATING VIOLENCE, NARRATING SELF: EXODUS AND COLLECTIVE IDENTITY IN EARLY RABBINIC LITERATURE

This article examines the dynamics of the exodus story in shaping collective identity in early rabbinic literature, which was redacted in the centuries following the second Jewish revolt against Rome and contains literary responses to that violent episode and the ensuing exile. Depictions of national suffering and divine recompense, in particular, give meaning to the brutal subjugation of Judea by Rome and provide an opportunity to indulge in fantasies of divine retribution safely projected onto a hapless Pharaoh and the Egyptian army. Furthermore, the appropriation and repurposing of traditional stories about ancient hostilities serve to foster collective unity and solidarity in the present: exodus becomes meaningful for late antique Jews because of how it functions for the communities telling the story, not because of what it teaches about the biblical past. Rabbinic midrashim of Exodus operate as resistance literature; they undermine the authority and hegemony of Rome through a hidden discourse of its demise. These narratives of divinely mandated violence thus serve a dual purpose providing meaning in the wake of disaster and hope for vindication in the face of bitter oppression but also foster national cohesion and solidarity against dispersion and assimilation.