Includes bibliographical references (pages 193-[209]) and indexes
The sociology and anthropology of Talmudic texts -- The clothing of the primordial Adam as a symbol of apocalyptic time in the Midrashic sources -- Brit milah: a study of change in custom -- Coping with the value of the Pidyon haʼben payment in rabbinic literature: an example of a social change process -- Birth and marriage rituals: women's status in a critical reading of the texts -- The sages' conception of the body and soul -- From corpse to corpus: the body as a text in Talmudic literature -- Birkat avelim--the blessing of mourners: ritual aspects of social change