Abstract
This paper elucidates one criterion for ascribing narrative material to a thematic series — the dominant motifeme (narrative function) — in reference to three narrative groups dealing with the blossoming rod ("Aaron's rod"): 1. The biblical story of Aaron's rod (Num. 17:16—24), wherein its blossoming signifies God's choice of Aaron as a priest. 2. The story of the rod in Jethro's garden (Jerusalem Talmud on Ex. 2:16—29; mediaeval narratives); its uprooting by Moses indicates the latter's suitability as a bridegroom for Jethro's daughter and as Israel's savior. 3. The blossoming rod — the Rabbi's cane — as a sign of the forgiveness granted a great sinner for saving the town's Jews from death (the Maʿase Buch, seventeenth century; Hasidic versions and contemporary Israel Archive of Folklore versions). The above groups form part of one and the same series, because in all of them the blossoming of the rod functions as the dominant motifeme, namely, the driving force of the narrative. This paper discusses the dominant position of the motifeme in the different versions in terms of plot, characterization, visual perspectives, language texture and telos (the ideological message). Regarding the series as a whole, the paper distinguishes between these groups on the basis of their constanta (narrative structure), and indicates three major transformations in the motifeme in relation to the hero's status: (1) transference: national domain → personal, romance-oriented domain; (2) expansion: passive approach → active approach; and (3) reduction: greatness → indulgence in sin. These processes correspond to narrative modifications within the entire series, that is, to the fusion of the original biblical formula with (1) real-life situations of the Jewish community and (2) literary conventions of different periods, such as romance motifs in the marriage plot; the test of uprooting the sword, which occurs in the Arthurian romances; the Tannhäuser legend; Christian elements and folklore motifs associated with the story of the great sinner; distinct Ḥasidic motifs. The telos shifts within the series are bound up with these narrative developments, displaying a transition from the typically-biblical exemplary orientation to an exemplary-eschatological one associated with mediaeval formulae, followed by the socio-moralistic orientation that had its inception in the sixteenth century.
Translated title of the contribution | "Aaron's Rod" — An Exploration of One Criterion for Establishing a Thematic Series |
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Original language | Hebrew |
Pages (from-to) | 205-228 |
Journal | Jerusalem Studies in Jewish Folklore |
State | Published - 1991 |