This paper inquires into the mental disorder called qordiyaqos which is found in one discursive thread that runs through earlier and later layers (Mishnah to Talmud). Traditional commentaries and modern scholars sought to identify the meaning of this term either by using philological and linguistic approaches (Greek etymology) or trans-cultural comparison, mainly with Greek medical literature. However, the outcome remains vague with possible identifications ranging from (chronic) alcoholism or abusive drinking, delirium (tremens) or ecstatic dancing to epileptic seizures and demonic enchantment. In addition, most discussions focused on only one sources, a particular (linguistic or medical) detail or they tend to mix up the different Talmudic texts as well as external points of comparison. This talk will parse the different discursive moves of the Talmudic texts in their different context in order to understand how the communities that created these texts “observed the world and how their members moved in it” and created “culture-specific disease” (Pollock). Shedding some light on the cultural and symbolic work that is performed - with some comparative perspective on Graeco-Roman, Syriac, Mesopotamian and other traditions, this study aims to show how qordiyaqos served the broader rabbinic project to distinguish and differentiate between different manifestations of ‘madness’ ( mental illness or disability) with a keen eye on the religious and socio-economic (but also emotional) costs and consequences of such categories.
