Carey A. Moore, author of the Anchor Bible Commentary on Judith (one of the books of the Apocrypha/Deutero-Canon) shared the following private correspondence she had with David Noel Freedman on the Council of Jamnia:
Freedman’s words in private correspondence with me are very apropos: “What do we really know about the Council of Jamnia? Everybody quotes everybody else about this famous or infamous Council, but what are the ancient sources, and what are reasonable inferences about its activity? Personally, I think it was a non-event, and not much happened, unlike the Council of Nicaea, for example. It would be refreshing if someone cited actually ancient sources for this Council and its work.” (Carey A. Moore, “Why Wasn’t the Book Judith Included in the Hebrew Bible?” in John C. VanderKam, ed. “No One Spoke Ill of Her”: Essays on Judith [Early Judaism and its Literature 2; Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1992], 61-71, here, p. 68 n. 14
