The Culture of the Babylonian Talmud, by Jeffrey L. Rubenstein. Baltimore/London: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2003. Pp. 248. $42.00 (cloth). ISBN 080187388-6. In his latest book, Jeffrey Rubenstein describes an academic institution in which colleagues engage in turbulent verbal battles. The goal of these battles is not always a pure search for truth and illumination, but a pursuit of the participating scholars for personal advancement in the institutional hierarchy. Each colleagues' greatest fear is the shame which might be brought on by his inability to respond correctly; hence such violent discourse is both typical and yet institutionally discouraged. Although academic ability is essential toward promotion, genealogical descent from other scholars is not a negligible consideration. The male scholars of such institutions find it burdensome to conduct family lives while being totally dedicated to their academic pursuits. Their superior intellectual abilities lead them to disdain the simple, uneducated folk.
