Article ID: CBB000930646

Clouds, Rain, and the Upper Waters: From Bereshit Rabbah to the Piyyuṭim of Eleazar be-rabbi Qillir (2009)

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The state of knowledge of the natural world among Jews in early seventh-century Palestine (i.e., on the eve of the Muslim conquest), as reflected in a number of compositions by the liturgical poet Eleazar berabbi Qillir, is investigated. The focus is on Qillir's description of the process by which rain is produced and reaches the earth, as found in part of his oeuvre for the festival of Shemini Atzeret. This description draws heavily on materials from the rabbinic literature (especially Bereshit Rabbah), which are in turn rooted in biblical ideas about hydrology and rainmaking. The conception of the origin of rain, as conceived in these two corpora, is reviewed and analyzed to provide the proper background for an evaluation of Qillir's presentation. Special attention is paid to the way in which the midrashic material is arranged in the piyyu? as a poetic narrative, exposing a number of logical inconsistencies inherent in it.

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Description “The focus is on Qillir's description of the process by which rain is produced and reaches the earth, as found in part of his oeuvre for the festival of Shemini Atzeret.” (from the abstract)


Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB000930646/

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Authors & Contributors
Guichard, Luis Arturo
Terry, John T. R.
Trubowitz, Rachel
Laetitia Rimpau
Nethercut, Jason S.
Chico, Tita
Concepts
Poetry and poetics
Science and literature
Natural philosophy
Natural history
Medicine
Astronomy
Time Periods
Ancient
17th century
Medieval
Renaissance
18th century
4th century
Places
Italy
Mediterranean region
Europe
Hellenistic world
Egypt
Alexandria (Egypt)
Institutions
Jesuits (Society of Jesus)
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