Elchasai

Abstract Since the publication of the Cologne Mani Codex, scholars have tended to think about the figure of Elchasai as the “Jewish Christian” past to Mani’s “Christian” future. This article contends that one can also frame Elchasai as the “Jewish Christian” past to a rabbinic future. To make this argument, it focuses on four main points: (1) the concept of piquach nefesh , or the legality of saving a life, (2) prayer toward Jerusalem, (3) the temporality of work in relation to Shabbat, and (4) Gentile ritual impurity. By contextualizing the commandments attributed to Elchasai in relation to early rabbinic law, especially as discussed in the Tosefta, this article suggests that Elchasaites were closer to the rabbis in matters of law than they were with the early followers of Mani.