the limits of variety 169
they thought that sages like themselves should become nazirites. One
passage in the Tosefta may suggest an increasing assumption among
rabbinic sages in the aftermath of the destruction of the Temple in the
late first century ce that scrupulous observance of purity and tithing
laws could be taken for granted of a rabbinic sage, even if in earlier
times he had been required to make a formal, public declaration of his
desire to join a fellowship:
He who comes to take upon himself [the obligations of being a haver ] –
even [if he is] a disciple of the sages – must take upon himself [that is, must
make a formal, public declaration]. But a sage who sits in session [on the
court] does not have to take upon himself [formally and publicly], for he
has already taken upon himself from the moment that he entered the ses-
sion [in the court]. Abba Saul says, ‘Even a disciple of the sages does not
have to take upon himself [formally and publicly] and furthermore others
take upon themselves before him.’^16
The focus of the tannaitic texts on the religious issues faced by adult
rabbinic males masks the significant opening for personal religiosity
that being a haver provided for both women and slaves:
The daughter of a haver who married an ordinary person, the wife of a
haver who [subsequently] married an ordinary person, the servant of a
haver who was sold to an ordinary person – behold, these remain in their
presumed status [as a haver ] until they are suspected. R. Simeon b. Eleazar
says, ‘They must take upon themselves [the obligations of being a haver ]
afresh.’ ... It happened that a certain woman was married to a haver and
she fastened tefillin straps for him. [Then] she married a customs- collector
and knotted customs seals for him.
Just as a woman could become a nazirite, so too could she take upon
herself the obligations of scrupulous observance of purity and tithing.
But in this case her willingness to do so will have dramatically affected
the religious life of the whole household. As the Tosefta noted, if a man
is trustworthy with regard to tithing but his wife is not trustworthy, ‘it is
as if he dwells in the same cage with a serpent.’ The text states negatively
the remarkable fact that these haverim – male and female – focused their
religious efforts on the production and consumption of meals in a domes-
tic setting in which women were assumed to play the major role. Hence
the alleged stipulation by Rabban Gamaliel, on behalf of his daughter in
the mid- first century ce: ‘Rabban Gamaliel married off his daughter to
Simeon b. Natanel the priest and made an agreement with him that this