Positive deviants and identity formation in classical rabbinic literature: dancing rabbis and divine approbation

Abstract

A number of studies have set the self-identity of the rabbis as it is developed in classical rabbinic literature in relief through comparison with the rabbinic portrayal of internal and external others. This study explores rabbinic identity formation from the reverse angle through the sociological concept of positive deviance, the study of transgressions of societal norms that are judged to be good and even admirable. I argue that this concept discloses a sort of self-negotiation that arises in the tension between religious ideals and the socially sanctioned means to achieve them. Rabbinic literature presents a number of stories of sages who are praised despite their eccentric, norm-breaking behaviour. I analyse three such narratives and their possible social function: the colourful story of R. Samuel b. Rav Isaac, an anecdote about R. Meir’s self-abasement, and the famous tale of Honi the Circle-Drawer.