Twenty-first-century Jewish Canons

Abstract

Claire E. Sufrin discusses the meaning and debates over the development and use of canons of Jewish texts. In presenting a snapshot of some of what a canon can mean today, she emphasizes that canons are dynamic and changing. Sufrin begins with the closing of the Bible, the first Jewish canon. She also addresses rabbinic writings, noting how collections of and commentaries on classical Jewish texts can help to make sense of those texts in light of different experiences and identities. In exploring canons, Sufrin, like other contributors, considers digital technology, language, and translation. Canons, as Sufrin engages them, include a diverse range of materials, such as the modern Jewish literary canon. Critics of canons have noted that canons can help to solidify power dynamics and, in Western society, have often been dominated along racial (white) and gender (male) lines. She writes that, “In including a limited number of authors and works, such lists were by definition exclusionary; by asserting the universal importance of such works, such lists also communicated to readers that only certain life experiences were important and thus they were doubly exclusionary.” New thinking about canons can lead to more inclusive thinking and behavior around gender and diversity within the Jewish communities.