Jewish Associations

In an interesting article in the Journal of Greco-Roman Christianity and Judaism, David Instone-Brewer and Philip Harland tackel the issue of "Jewish Associations in Roman Palestine." It is well established that across the Greco-Roman world there existed associations, organized around such identity markers as occupation, geographical region (of residence or of origin), ethnicity, etc. The members of these associations would typically celebrate their membership with meals and, oftentimes, drinking parties that followed. Brewer and Harland point out that each of these associations would invariably perform their activities in honor of a particular god(s), so it is unhelpful to designate a religious grouping as a separate type of association. 

 To this point, however, little attention has been devoted to studying the extent to which Jews in Palestine (Roman-occupied, of course) themselves congregated together as associations. It is well known that they did elsewhere throughout the Mediterranean world. (In fact, "in many cases and in several respects, Jewish gatherings or synagogues would be viewed as associations . . . by their neighbours and by any local or imperial authorities, and may have often understood themselves as such.") But what of closer to home? Brewer and Harland argue on the basis of Mishnah passages which detail particular customs that must be observed in group dining arrangements that Jews in fact did form relations according to the common (Greco-Roman) custom of associations. 

About Greco-Roman Associations

--They tended to be small gatherings of b/w 15 to 30 members

--Would gather together for meals and drinking parties

--Was common to gather on the occasion of a festival for a god or goddess

The authors of this article argue against traditional scholarly positions that most associations experienced little or no interference from the Roman authorities. This goes for those Jewish associations in Palestine, as well. Rather than employing an empire-wide policy governing the establishment, proliferation, and day-to-day operation of associations, Roman officials tended to deal with individual assocations on an ad hoc basis. Some associations, for example, would try to curry favor with a particular official and in turn might win special recognition from Rome as well as attendant privliges

Brewer and Harland's discussion of the Mishnaic evidence is interesting. They argue that the the rabbis used the term chavurah to mean "association," and this encompassed meeting "for a Passover meal, . . . a peace offering on a high festival day . . . , orfor unspecified ceremonial meals . . . , including ones on a Sabbath." In short, the rabbis were applying the Greco-Roman concept of associations to the observance of their own particular holy days and festivals. Without going into detail about all the rules the rabbis laid down for proper associational gatherings, they did put a high premium(among other things) on separation, as when various associations were meeting in the same hall, and membership and registration, which Brewer and Harland hypothesize received its initial importance from desire by Roman authorities to know who was involved in various--potentially revolutionary--groups.

One last point of interest. Brewer and Harland note that the rabbis in the Mishnah specified that in the eating of the various festival or holy meals members must situate themselves in a reclining positions. The archaeological and literary evidence of the Greco-Roman world attests to the existence and use of triclinia (triclinium, sing.), or C-shaped "couches." The Jews, perhaps, also made use of these. The would allow for members to face inward toward the food placed on a table in the center and thus not be contaminated through interaction with other associational groups using the same hall. Anyhow, lying down while eating--as we see that Jesus and his disciples did during the Passover feast--was to be the proper position of reverance and respect. However, the Jews likely picked up this custom from their Greco-Roman environment rather than inheriting it from their ancestors (though the authors note that the rich among the Jews had likely emulated this for centuries). In fact, as Brewer and Harland note, earlier in their tradition, the prophet Amos had railed against reclining thus at dinners, probably because it suggested undue opulence and mimickry of unrighteous foreign neighbors.