The purpose of this essay is to open up a fundamental conversation about the concept of rabbinization, together with the adjective rabbinic, principally as a qualifier of Judaism. I shall follow these terms and concepts through the first millennium CE, from rabbis of the Roman period to early medieval Rabbanites. The title I have chosen refers to the Rabbanites, but the essay covers equally the earlier period, and it could equally have been entitled: What made the rabbis rabbinic? My purpose is not to answer these questions, but rather, to discuss and explain why they need to be asked.
Sacha Stern (Wed,) studied this question.