Purity and Identity in Ancient Judaism: From the Temple to the Mishnah (Olamot Series in Humanities and Social Sciences) Paperback – November 7, 2023

I'm a pastor who is always looking to learn more about the context of Jesus' ministry. Many pastors, like me, want to understand the world of the first century in Israel. And many studies have been done on this topic. There has been an ongoing debate between New Perspective on Paul scholars vs "Old Perspective" scholars about what 1st century Palestinian Judaism looked like. It's easy to get lost in this debate.However, this book is unique in how well it captures the theological and cultural issues of this era.Rather than rely on other commentators or his own theological agenda, Furstenberg has used primary sources almost exclusively to detail the commonalities and debates within Judaism. Especially useful is his handling of the Talmud, carefully discerning which features of Talmudic passages represent actual traditions or quotations from sources in the 1st century or earlier.In normal cases, every time I quote the Mishnah or Talmud in sermons, I have felt the need to give some kind of disclaimer, that these things may not completely represent the circumstances of the first century, since they were recorded hundreds of years later. While Furstenberg hasn't completely solved this issue, he has made very clear the early roots of many Mishnaic and Talmudic passages regarding purity.His handling of the DSS texts, Talmud, New Testament, Old Testament, Josephus, Philo, is exceptional. The writing is carefully nuanced. Unlike other analyses of second Temple Judaism, this book shows the reasoning of different 1st century parties in very specific areas, such as hand-washing, corpse impurity, table fellowship, and different levels of purity. It also lays out the application of purity laws throughout the second temple period in a way that tracks very well with the major cultural and spiritual obstacles of each period, from the return of the exiles, to the Roman occupation, to the post-Bar Kochbah revolt period.I found this book especially relevant for many passages in the gospels. As a Christian, I especially appreciated Furstenberg's chapters involving Jesus' teaching. Not only did they add useful historical and cultural perspective to Jesus' interactions with the Pharisees and Sadducees, the author seems to show no detectable bias toward or against any particular faction. You walk away just knowing how each the presuppositions of each faction led to their position in particular ways.It's not a quick read...but you feel automatically more informed because of the Furstenburg's careful handling and harmonization of these texts. Purity is clearly a major issue for OT and NT studies. Anyone who wants to understand the biblical context needs to be familiar with it.