[ ]Conclusionmaintaining the tribal connections featured in the Hebrew Bible. Ge-
nealogy, or, more precisely, an individual’s ability to identify his or her
ancestors, is required to demonstrate the individual’s marriageability.^19
The rabbis may have been acknowledging the importance of lineage in
their community and may have been influenced by the importance of
lineage in the surrounding cultures, but they also sought to exercise au-
thority in determining who could marry whom.^20
Although rabbis had a strong interest in supporting the family, in-
sofar as the family when properly regulated was a source of order and
sanctity, family and family responsibilities offered a potential challenge
to rabbis and rabbinic leadership. Rabbinic literature, particularly sto-
ries in the Bavli, acknowledges the tension between family life and the
study of Torah. While marriage was valuable as a legitimate outlet for a
man’s sexual desires, the responsibility of providing for a wife and chil-
dren compromised a man’s ability to devote himself to Torah.^21 Further-
more, rabbinic stories evince anxiety as to the ability of men to repro-
duce themselves as scholars through procreation.^22 If students were a
more secure legacy than sons, as some sources suggest, a family could
be a distraction without providing significant benefit.
The extended family could, in theory, serve as a valuable support sys-
tem for a scholar. Stories in the Bavli tell of Rabbi Akiba benefiting from
the wealth of his rich father-in-law, albeit after years of poverty.^23 One
might imagine a sage receiving financial support from his father and
brothers while he devoted himself to Torah. At the same time, rabbinic
tradition offers stories that suggest Torah study might alienate a man
from his family. According to one story, Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrkanus was
almost disinherited by his father at the urging of his brothers because
he “abandoned” the family to study Torah.^24 The language of the story
suggests a tension between family and Torah, with the teacher becom-
ing a replacement for the biological father. Stories like this one and oth-
ers that portray sages and their families making enormous sacrifices
to facilitate the study of Torah suggest that, for the rabbis, family was
valuable — particularly when the wife respected her husband’s devotion
to Torah — but also served as competition for the attention of husbands
and fathers who were sages.
Furthermore, stories that describe the teacher – student relationship
as comparable or preferable to the father – son relationship may help us