Talya Fishman is Associate Professor of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at the University of Pennsylvania. She is the author of Shaking the Pillars of Exile: "Voice of a Fool," an Early Modern Jewish Critique of Rabbinic Culture.

"A vital addition to any Jewish studies library in America."-Jewish Book World "Talya Fishman's ambitious new study ... indicates the sweep of the issues that are a significant part of Jewish cultural history from late antiquity through the High Middle Ages."-American Historical Review "An indispensable study, whose exemplary exposition of Jewish attitudes toward oral, written, and legal matters may well spark comparisons with other cultures, for Fishman has brilliantly shown that words can produce meaning through their epistemological categorization as oral or written, a categorization that itself remains undetermined by their actual mediatic support."-Law and History Review "Becoming the People of the Talmud offers a unique and highly original contribution to our understanding of Jewish culture in the Middle Ages. The book indubitably places Talya Fishman in the vanguard of scholarly research."-Israel J. Yuval, Hebrew University of Jerusalem

• IntroductionChapter 1. The Place of Oral Matters in Geonic CultureChapter 2. Oral Matters among Jews of Qayrawan and al-Andalus: Framing SefaradChapter 3. Framing Ashkenaz: Cultural Landmarks of Medieval Northern European SocietiesChapter 4. Textualization of North European Rabbinic Culture: The Changing Role of TalmudChapter 5. Medieval Responses to the Textualization of Rabbinic CultureChapter 6. Rhineland Pietism and the Textualization of Rabbinic Culture in Medieval Northern EuropeEpilogueGlossaryAbbreviationsNotesBibliographyIndexAcknowledgments

Talya Fishman is Associate Professor of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at the University of Pennsylvania. She is the author of Shaking the Pillars of Exile: "Voice of a Fool," an Early Modern Jewish Critique of Rabbinic Culture.

"A vital addition to any Jewish studies library in America."-Jewish Book World "Talya Fishman's ambitious new study ... indicates the sweep of the issues that are a significant part of Jewish cultural history from late antiquity through the High Middle Ages."-American Historical Review "An indispensable study, whose exemplary exposition of Jewish attitudes toward oral, written, and legal matters may well spark comparisons with other cultures, for Fishman has brilliantly shown that words can produce meaning through their epistemological categorization as oral or written, a categorization that itself remains undetermined by their actual mediatic support."-Law and History Review "Becoming the People of the Talmud offers a unique and highly original contribution to our understanding of Jewish culture in the Middle Ages. The book indubitably places Talya Fishman in the vanguard of scholarly research."-Israel J. Yuval, Hebrew University of Jerusalem

• IntroductionChapter 1. The Place of Oral Matters in Geonic CultureChapter 2. Oral Matters among Jews of Qayrawan and al-Andalus: Framing SefaradChapter 3. Framing Ashkenaz: Cultural Landmarks of Medieval Northern European SocietiesChapter 4. Textualization of North European Rabbinic Culture: The Changing Role of TalmudChapter 5. Medieval Responses to the Textualization of Rabbinic CultureChapter 6. Rhineland Pietism and the Textualization of Rabbinic Culture in Medieval Northern EuropeEpilogueGlossaryAbbreviationsNotesBibliographyIndexAcknowledgments