ABSTRACT
The chapter reviews the evidence of Jewish letters and letter writing in rabbinic tannaitic literature, where they are rarely mentioned, and amoraic literature, where they are more prevalent. Specific types of letters are those ascribed to the patriarch, letters exchanged between rabbinic colleagues, mostly in regard to halakhic topics, and those sent by “the people” of a certain locale to rabbis. The latter mostly concern halakhic questions and can be considered a forerunner of the Responsa literature from the Geonic period onward. Furthermore, the chapter discusses the documentary evidence of Jewish letters in Greek, Aramaic, and Hebrew from late antiquity. Finally, the widely debated question of potential Jewish literary letters transmitted in Latin (Letter of Mordecai to Alexander, Epistola Anne ad Senecam) is discussed.
