
Published online:
01 January 2009
Published in print:
12 December 2008
Online ISBN:
9780199869077
Print ISBN:
9780195380040
Contents
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“And the sons struggled together inside her”: Articulating Self and Other in the Womb “And the sons struggled together inside her”: Articulating Self and Other in the Womb
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“Before I formed you in the womb”: Rabbinic Articulations of Jewishness in the Womb “Before I formed you in the womb”: Rabbinic Articulations of Jewishness in the Womb
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Singing Fetuses Singing Fetuses
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Studying Fetuses Studying Fetuses
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Conclusion: Conceiving Israel Conclusion: Conceiving Israel
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Works Cited Works Cited
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Chapter
“Famous” Fetuses in Rabbinic Narratives
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Pages
185–202
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Published:December 2008
Cite
Kessler, Gwynn, '“Famous” Fetuses in Rabbinic Narratives', Imagining the Fetus: The Unborn in Myth, Religion, and Culture, American Academy of Religion Cultural Criticism series (New York , 2008; online edn, Oxford Academic, 1 Jan. 2009), https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195380040.003.0011, accessed 28 Apr. 2025.
Abstract
This chapter examines rabbinic narratives about fetuses recorded in compilations dating from the third through the tenth centuries CE. Instead of placing these traditions within the context of contemporary questions about abortion, this chapter illustrates the ways that rabbinic narratives about fetuses and traditions about the creation of the embryo provide insights into rabbinic constructions of Israel. Particular attention is paid to rabbinic traditions about prenatal Jacob and Esau, which demonstrate that the rabbis often construct Jewishness in oppositional relation to non-Jewishness.
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