Focusing on the concepts of time and the life cycle, this collection of articles examines Jewish life in the Talmudic period through the lens of Jewish law and custom of the time. The essays are the work of Nissan Rubin (one of them written in collaboration with Admiel Kosman) and come together to present the cultural perspective of the sages and scholars who produced the stepping-stones of Jewish life and custom. By using a structural approach, Rubin is able to identify processes of long-term change in a society that remains largely traditional and stable. Symbolic analysis supplies an additional dimension to these studies, enabling the reader to experience the cultural subtexts.

Rituals provide public solutions to some types of life crises. There are crises which beset individuals in modern and post-modern society which are not easily addressed by traditional rituals. However, rites have not disappeared in contemporary society, but have merely changed their guise. Focusing on the secular society of contemporary Israel, this collection examines rituals which were invented by communities and individuals in order to celebrate important turning points. In contemporary Israel a process of innovation of new rituals was introduced, either by the adoption of ritual elements from outside sources or by the transformation of existing Jewish symbols through the infusion of new contents originating in secular ideology. The term "personal definitional rites" coined here was introduced as a tool to interpret rites carried out by individuals undergoing a change in identity.

Focusing on the concept of time and life cycle, this collection examines Jewish life in the Talmudic period through the lens of Jewish laws and customs. The papers come together to present the cultural perspective of the Sages and scholars who produced the first stepping stones of Jewish life and customs. By using a structural approach, Rubin is able to identify processes of long term change in a society which remains largely traditional and stable: Jewish society is based on the written text, considered sacred and unchanging. The context, the social reality, however, is subject to change as a result of political and economic shifts. The text, which accompanies the society and serves as a source for its values and norms, must undergo an interpretive process in order to constitute a source of authority under new conditions as well. Symbolic analysis supplies an additional dimension to these studies, enabling the reader to experience the cultural subtexts.