Judaism Books

Book SynopsisThis volume is concerned with the origin and development of the Targum to the Prophets, focusing for this purpose upon the Twelve Prophets (from Nahum to Malachi). A wide-ranging introductory chapter sets current research in context by surveying almost two centuries of Targumic study. It is argued that the evidence in the extant text for a Second Commonwealth phase in the Targum's history is meagre and that, in particular, the Qumran Habakkuk pesher is not dependent upon the Targum to Habakkuk. Other issues discussed are the Hebrew Vorlage of the Targum, incipit formulae, 'Additional Targum' and the standard Targum, the haggadah in the Targum to Zechariah 3 in the light of a (so-called) Eastern Aramaic linguistic element, Targum and Peshiṭta, land and divine presence, and the final redaction of the Targum.Trade Review'...a valuable companion to his translation and commentary on the Targum of these prophets...' A. Gelston, SOTS, 1994. 'Every so often in the history of a scholarly discipline, there appears a work which brings order to that discipline, in such a way that the paths for future investigation stand out with absolute clarity. Robert Gordon's monograph is one such work.' C.T.R. Hayward, Journal of Theological Studies, 1995. 'This is exemplary work in many ways. ...Professor Gordon understands better than most the complex nature of Targum and abstains from drawing simplistic conclusions about it.' Alison Salvesen, Journal of Jewish Studies, 1995. 'This book provides a useful survey of many of the issues pertaining to the origin and development of Targum Twelve Prophets and contains much useful bibliographical information.' David M. Stec, Journal of Semitic Studies, 1995. 'Recommended for advanced students.' Zev Garber, Religious Studies Review, 1995.

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Book SynopsisScribes and Translators is a critical reflection on the textual pluralism as reflected in the book of Kings. The first part of the book examines the diverse texts transmitted by the manuscripts. Special attention is paid to the Antiochene text of the Septuagint that is being edited in Madrid. The second part is devoted to the analysis of Old Latin readings, transmitted by a Spanish family of Vulgate Bibles, with no support in any of the known manuscripts. Finally, the whole evidence is discussed in the frame of the plurality of texts confirmed by the Qumran documents for those books. Based on Old Latin material recently published it sheds light on the text transmission of Kings and on the translation techniques and the history of the Biblical texts in general.Trade Review'...we may say that it is a pleasure to have Fernández Marcos as a guide when studying the intricate problems of the diverse Greek biblical texts.' J. Lust, Ephemerides Theologicae Lovanienses. '...it is a pleasure to have Fernández Marcos as a guide when studying the intricate problems of the diverse Greek biblical texts. He proves to be a master in his surveys of the new trends in the scholarship on the subject, in his clear outlines of the field, and in his judicious treatments of particular problems and of particular biblical texts. On each page one senses his extensive knowledge of the subject.' J. Lust, Ephemerides Theologicae Lovanienses. 'This work is a solid contribution to a relatively neglected area of biblical textual criticism and a helpful supplement to the editions of texts that the author continues to produce.' James R. Davila, Journal of Biblical Literature, 1996.

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Book SynopsisThis text contains a translation of the non-biblical Dead Sea Scrolls and contains commentaries on these texts.

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Book SynopsisThe history of the Nabataean Kingdom of Hellenistic-Roman times, centred on Petra, is now well known, but until the publication of this book, no monograph has been devoted to Nabataean religion, known to us principally from inscriptions in Nabataean Aramaic, iconography, archaeology and Greek literary texts. After a critical survey of the sources, the author analyses systematically the information on the individual gods worshipped by the Nabataeans, including a detailed illustrated account of temples and iconography. A further major section discusses religious themes: aniconism, henotheism, death-cult and the divinisation of kings. In a final chapter, Nabataean religion is considered in relation to Judaism, Christianity and Islam. The book will be of particular interest to historians of religion in the Graeco-Roman Near East and to Semitic epigraphists.Trade Review'Healy, has composed a well-organized synopsis of what has been wirtten about Nabatean religion so far.’ Lucinda Dirven, Bibliotheca Orientalis, 2002. This welcome study finally fills a gap by supplying for the first time a monograph devoted to the Nabataean religion.’ L.L. Grabbe, Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, 2002. The book under review is compulsory (and rewarding) reading for everyone involved, or thinking of becoming involved, in the study of the Nabateans, or of the Pre-islamic Arabs in general, or even more generally, of 'dead' or 'semi-dead' religions. - E.A. Knauf, Orientalistische Literaturzeigung 103, 2008

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Book SynopsisThis wide-ranging handbook presents an overview of our current knowledge on the history of the Bible. Divided into three parts, it shows how the collections of canonical and apocryphal books were formed, explains the transmission and translation of the Biblical texts and describes biblical interpretation in Judaism and Christianity. Incorporating the immense amount of information that has become available since the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the author sets out to bridge the gaps between widely different areas and trends in the field of Biblical Studies: canonical and apocryphal literature, written and oral traditions, rabbinic and Christian exegesis and modern critical exegesis, and literal and allegorical interpretation, among others. Uniquely, Trebolle Barrera also looks at the Wirkungsgeschichte of the Bible in relation to the Greek and Roman world, the Renaissance and the Enlightenment. Scholars, students and interested lay persons alike will benefit from the wealth of general information found here as well as detailed discussion on many topics currently under debate, from the significance of Qumran to the influence of the Semitic and Greek world on Christianity.Trade Review'Decrying the tendency to compartmentalization and excessive specialization in biblical studies, Trebolle offers a broadly based and "interdisciplinary" history of the Bible, aimed primarily at students. Handy as a reference book, this intelligently constructed and elegantly written text can be read with pleasure. This reader found it hard to put down; it is full of unusual insights, and the wide scope means that it has something new to say to almost everybody. Nicholas R.M. de Lange, Vetus Testamentum, 1995.

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Book SynopsisThe second part of a 2-volume work, this study combines recent approaches that treat the formation and early interpretation of the final form of the book of Isaiah with the more conventional historical-critical methods that treat the use of traditions by Isaiah's authors and editors. Studies investigate Isaiah's use of early sacred tradition, the editing and contextualization of oracles within the Isaianic tradition itself, and the interpretation of the book of Isaiah in later traditions (as seen in the various versions of the text and various communities). Contributors of this volume include virtually all of the major scholars of Isaiah and the leading scholars of biblical interpretation in the intertestamental, New Testament, and early Jewish periods.

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Book SynopsisThe Quarrel over Swammerdam’s Posthumous Works reconstructs the vicissitudes of Johannes Swammerdam’s Biblia naturae, a pivotal collection of writings in the history of science. Bequeathed to the polymath Melchisédech Thévenot, the manuscripts and drawings of the treatises constituting this collection were instead kept by the editor Hermann Wingendorp after Swammerdam’s death (1680), triggering a quarrel over their publication. By analysing Swammerdam’s scientific legacy and by offering an edition of the correspondence testifying to the efforts towards such publication, this book sheds light on the editorial history and intellectual context of Swammerdam’s Biblia. This reveals not only an intricate plot of authorized and unauthorized attempts to publish it, but also an exchange of scientific texts and instruments in the late seventeenth century.Table of ContentsAcknowledgements List of Figures List of Tables Note on the Use of ‘Plate’, ‘Figure’, and Related Terminology Figures Part 1 Swammerdam’s Legacy 1 Overview 2 Swammerdam’s Life and the Biblia naturae  2.1 Swammerdam’s Life  2.2 Swammerdam’s Biblia naturae 3 Other Themes of the Correspondence  3.1 Scientific Cabinets and Instruments  3.2 The Learned Correspondence of Thévenot and De Volder 4 A Summary of the Affair Part 2 Commented Edition of the Letters (and Related Materials) Commented Edition of the Letters (and Related Materials)  1 Ortt to Thévenot, 29 March 1680 (Hist. Nat. 102, Fascicle 25, 40R–41V), and Bilingual Extract of Swammerdam’s Testament, 25 January 1680 (Fascicle 2, 1R–3V)  2 Wingendorp to Thévenot, Undated (before 23 January 1681), (Fascicle 1, 3R–V)  3 Guenellon to Thévenot, 23 January 1681 (Fascicle 25, 3R–4V)  4 De Hoest to Thévenot, 26 June 1681 (Fascicle 25, 5R–6V)  5 Le Moine to Thévenot, 12 August 1681 (Fascicle 25, 38R–39V)  6 De Hoest to Thévenot, 14 August 1681—and Copy of Notarial Acts of 6 and 9 August 1681 (Fascicle 25, 7R–11V)  7 Wingendorp to Ortt, 22 October 1681 (Fascicle 25, 70R–71V)  8 De Hoest to Thévenot, 23 October 1681, and Copy of the Eijsch of 22 October 1681 (Fascicle 25, 12R–13V and 14R–15V)  9 De Hoest to Thévenot, 19 November 1681 (Fascicle 25, 16R–V)  10 De Hoest to Thévenot, 21 December 1681, and a Copy of an Extract of the Trial Proceedings of 5 November–3 December 1681 (Fascicle 25, 17R–20V)  11 De Volder to Thévenot, 1 January 1682 (Fascicle 25, 46R–47V)  12 De Volder to Thévenot, Undated (after 19 January and before 23 April 1682), (Fascicle 25, 66R–67V)  13 De Hoest to Thévenot, 11 February 1682 (Fascicle 25, 21R–22V)  14 De Hoest to Thévenot, Undated (March 1682 or after 11 February and before 15 July 1682), (Fascicle 25, 35R–36V)  15 De Volder to Thévenot, 30 April 1682 (Fascicle 25, 49R–50V)  16 De Hoest to Thévenot, 3 May 1682 (Fascicle 25, 23R–24V)  17 Thévenot to De Hoest, Undated (after 3 and circa before 28 May 1682), (Fascicle 25, 72R–V)  18 De Volder to Thévenot, 28 May 1682 (Fascicle 25, 51R–52V)  19 De Volder to Thévenot, 15 July 1682 (Fascicle 25, 53R–54V)  20 De Volder to Thévenot, 17 August 1682 (Fascicle 25, 56–55 (Sic))  21 De Volder to Thévenot, 24 September 1682 (Fascicle 25, 57R–58V)  22 De Hoest to Thévenot, 4 October 1682 (Fascicle 25, 25R–26V)  23 Thévenot to De Volder, Undated (after 4 and circa before 29 October 1682), (Fascicle 25, 73R–74V)  24 De Volder to Thévenot, 15 October 1682 (Fascicle 25, 44R–45V)  25 De Volder to Thévenot, 29 October 1682 (Fascicle 25, 59R–60V)  26 Thévenot to De Volder, Undated (after 29 October and before 19 November 1682), (Fascicle 25, 75R–76V)  27 De Volder to Thévenot, 19 November 1682 (Fascicle 25, 61R–62V)  28 De Volder to Thévenot, Undated (after 19 November 1682 and before 28 January 1683), (Fascicle 25, 68R–69V)  29 De Volder to Thévenot, 28 January 1683 (Fascicle 25, 63R–V), and Wingendorp’s Memory (Fascicle 1, 5R–V)  30 De Volder to Thévenot, 15 April 1683 (Fascicle 25, 48R–V)  31 De Hoest to Thévenot, 17 June 1683 (Fascicle 25, 27R–28V and 31R–V)  32 De Hoest to Thévenot, 12 August 1683 (Fascicle 25, 29R–30V and 32R–V)  33 De Volder to Thévenot, 27 August 1683 (Fascicle 25, 64R–65V)  34 De Hoest to Thévenot, 20 June 1684 (Fascicle 25, 34R–V and 33R–V)  35 Ortt to Thévenot, 5 November 1684 (Fascicle 25, 42R–43V)  Appendix: Guenellon to Thévenot, 22 June 1679 (Fascicle 25, 1R–2V) Bibliography Index of Manuscripts Index of Names

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Book SynopsisIn this book the author re-examines the relevance of the seminal texts of western civilization for the present environmental debate. He is arguing that what we today know as 'Christian cosmology' is in fact a grafting of classical Greek philosophy onto ancient Israelite thought, with certain valuable traditions being all but lost in the process. The dietary laws of Leviticus and Deuteronomy, in particular, still prove surprisingly relevant today.Trade Review'Boersema writes with considerable competence as far as O.T. criticism is concerned [...] his treatment of biblical passages will be of benefit to biblical scholars as well as to wider audiences.' P.J. Williams, in Vetus Testamentum.

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Book SynopsisThis volume honors the lifetime of scholarly contribution and leadership of Professor Emanuel Tov, Judah L. Magnes professor of Bible at the Department of Bible, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Colleagues from all over the world have contributed significant studies in the three areas of Tov’s primary interest and expertise: the Hebrew Bible, its Greek translations, and the Dead Sea Scrolls. This Festschrift is a fitting tribute to one of the generation’s leading scholars, whose dedicated efforts as editor-in-chief have brought about the complete publication of the Dead Sea Scrolls.Trade Review'Four editors, fifty-six contributors, 849 pages of text, twelve indices spread out over eighty-nine pages and constituting a separate volume—this is huge, and not simply in girth. In an era when the genre of Festschriften has alas lost its luster, this collection shines through. At the risk of blaspheming, I can best appraise this work by paraphrasing (and loosely at that) the last verse of Gen 1: All those involved in Emanuel saw everything they had made, and indeed, it was very Tov.' Leonard Greenspoon, Review of Biblical Literature, 2007.

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Book SynopsisThis volume, in honour of Professor Elena Lourie, focuses on various areas of interaction between Jews, Muslims and Christians in the late medieval Crown of Aragon and its environs. The articles deal with topics such as war, military campaigns, government, politics, and economics, relations between scholars of the different faiths and their sources, sexual relations and the politics of conversion, mythology and music. Other articles touch on issues such as vassalage, mercenaries, fiscal politics, communal politics and the inquisition. This book presents a mosaic of studies written by three generations of scholars who, using a broad variety of sources and methodologies, examine areas of great interest to Elena Lourie.Table of ContentsAbbreviations .. ix Part One: Introduction Crusade, Colonisation and Dancing Rabbis: In and Around the Work of E. Lourie .. 3 Harvey J. Hames Part Two: Politics, War And Law The Royal Accounts of the Crown of Aragon .. 15 Jocelyn N. Hillgarth The Crusade against Murcia: Provisioning the Armies of James the Conqueror, 1264–1267 .. 35 Robert I. Burns A Society Organized for War? Córdoba in the Time of Ferdinand and Isabella .. 75 John Edwards “Nam iudei servi regis sunt, et semper fisco regio deputati”: The Jews in the Municipal Fuero of Teruel (1176–7) .. 97 David Abulafia Part Three: Minority And Majority Interaction Love Between Muslim and Jew in Medieval Spain: A Triangular Affair .. 127 David Nirenberg “My Master, the Jew”: Observations on Interfaith Scholarly Interaction in the Middle Ages .. 157 Thomas F. Glick “Vassal and Friend”. Strategies of Mudejar Submission and Resistance to Christian Power in Castile .. 183 Ana Echevarria The Islamic “Beautiful Names of God” and the Lullian Art .. 197 Charles Lohr A Song and Dance: Transcultural Practices of Daily Life in Medieval Spain .. 207 Eleazar Gutwirth The Myth of Troy and Hercules as Reflected in the Writings of some Jewish Exiles from Spain .. 229 Ram Ben Shalom Part Four: Case Studies Mahomet Abenadalill: A Muslim Mercenary in the Service of the Kings of Aragon (1290–1291) .. 257 Brian A. Catlos Revisiting the Wax-Press Affair in Morvedre (1326–1327): Jewish Fiscal Politics in the Kingdom of Valencia .. 303 Mark D. Meyerson Solomon Anagni, Perpuntero of the King of Aragon and Deputy Merino of Saragossa (XIV Century) .. 321 Asuncíon Blasco Martínez An Inquisitorial Process against the Judiasing Juan del Escuela (1491–1492) .. 349 Carlos Carrete Parrondo Index .. 355

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Book SynopsisThis book discusses the decoration types of Sephardic illuminated Bibles. Unlike illuminated Passover manuscripts from the same period with their rich figurative and narrative picture cycles, Bibles are almost exclusively aniconic. Whereas the former borrow heavily from Christian art, the Bibles are entirely indebted to Islamic culture. The volume elaborates in particular on the cultural history of the decorative motifs and types of ornamentation in an era of cultural transition in Iberia and culture struggle within Spanish Jewry. The first two chapters describe the cultural, social and artistic background in which the Bibles were produced, whereas the other chapters describe the works of the different schools and discuss them within different cultural, historical and social contexts. The text is accompanied by 10 color plates and 141 black-and-white figures.Table of ContentsPreface .. ix List of Illustrations .. xiii List of Maps and Diagrams .. xxv Introduction .. 1 Chapter One Acculturation, Assimilation, and Convivencia: The Iberian Peninsula in the Middle Ages .. 10 Islam and Christianity .. 10 The Population of Al-Andalus .. 15 Minorities in the Christian Lands .. 16 The Mudéjar Communities .. 17 The Jewish Communities .. 19 Cultural Exchange .. 20 Chapter Two The Artistic Environment of Illuminated Sephardic Bibles .. 34 Manuscripts of the Qur"an .. 34 Hebrew Manuscripts from the Middle East .. 38 Christian Art in Spain .. 50 The Art of the Mudéjares .. 54 Chapter Three The Castilian Workshops of the Thirteenth Century .. 57 The Earliest Illuminated Bible .. 57 From the Marseilles Bible to the Damascus Keter .. 61 The Parma Bible .. 68 Joseph ben Judah ibn Merwas .. 88 Echoes of Christian Art .. 92 Chapter Four Joshua ibn Gaon and Joseph Hatsarfati .. 98 Chapter Five The Catalan Workshops of the Fourteenth Century .. 131 The Perpignan Bible and its Relatives .. 131 Bibles from Barcelona and its Environs .. 141 The Foa and Farhi Bibles and the Renewal of Islamic Motifs .. 150 The King’s Bible .. 154 The Saragossa Bible .. 155 A Closer Look at the Temple Depictions .. 156 Decoration of the Masorah Magna .. 168 Chapter Six Cultural Transition and the Art of the Hebrew Book .. 171 Islamic Culture, Aniconism, and the Sephardic Bibles .. 173 Christian Art, Pictorial Narrative, and the Sephardic Haggadot .. 181 The Cultural Climate within Late Medieval Sephardic Jewry .. 185 Joshua ibn Gaon and Joseph Hatsarfati .. 199 Maimonides’ Texts Decorated .. 200 Chapter Seven Castilian Schools of the Fifteenth Century .. 203 Micrographic Decoration in New Castile .. 204 The First Kennicott Bible .. 212 French and Italian Influences .. 215 Conclusion .. 220 Bibliography .. 225 General Index .. 235 Index of Manuscripts .. 242

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Book SynopsisThe essays in this volume focus on the relationship between Josephus’ Judean and Jewish identity on the one hand, and his life and writings in the context of Flavian Rome on the other. From very different points of view the various contributions to this volume, which is the fruit of an international colloquium entitled ‘Josephus between Jerusalem and Rome’ held in the city of Rome in 2003, shed light on the complex cultural interplay in Josephus’ writings. After examining more general historiographical and literary questions, the volume proceeds to address specific issues of Josephus’ presentation of Judaism and of historical “data”, inter alia about the war of 66-70 CE. A final section deals with the translation and transmission of his works.

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Book SynopsisThe discovery of the Babatha archive provided scholars with unique opportunities for reconstructing the life of Jews in second-century Arabia. Although legal issues and especially the question of the relationship between Roman and local law have received attention in a number of publications, this study presents the first complete overview of the legal situation as presented in the Babatha as well as the Salome Komaise archive, using references to law in the documents' texts as the key element for understanding what law is applicable to these documents. By distinguishing between two levels in the papyri, of substantive and of formal law, a new understanding is reached of the part both Roman and local law played in legal reality.

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Book SynopsisJudaism in the Roman World deals with the religious lives of Jews in the Roman world from late Second Temple times to the Later Roman Empire. *** The studies collected here analyse a series of issues important in the development of Judaism in this period: the role of the Temple and pilgrimage in the first century CE; the attitude of Jews to the physical texts of the Torah and to the scribes who produced them; the extent of variety and change within Judaism before and after 70 CE and the nature of the evidence for particular types of Judaism; the role of synagogues and images in Jewish worship; and relations between Jews and Christians in the early centuries. *** This book should be particularly useful to students of ancient Judaism and those interested in Christian origins.Trade Review"Let it be said right away: if you want to avoid changing your lecture notes, do not read this book! Martin Goodman, Professor of Jewish Studies at Oxford University, is an acclaimed scholar in both Roman and Jewish studies, and with good reason.... Though I, like probably many others, only reluctantly change my lecture notes, I find myself greatly enriched by having read this volume....for anyone occupied with the late Second Temple period, Goodman’s volume is a must read." – Morten Hørning Jensen, in: Bulletin for Biblical Research 19/4 (2010) "Judaism in the Roman World brings together a series of relatively short papers, all with important conclusions..." – René Bloch, University of Bern, in: The Studia Philonica Annual 22 (2010)

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Book SynopsisThe studies in this volume examine the intersection of the Dead Sea Scrolls with early rabbinic literature. This is a particularly rich area for comparative study, which has not heretofore received sufficient scholarly attention. While some of the contributions in this volume focus on specific comparative case studies, others address far-reaching issues of historical and comparative methodology. Particular attention is paid to questions of the nature of sectarian and rabbinic law, and how each may elucidate the other. These studies model the directions that need to be pursued in future scholarship on the lines of continuity and discontinuity that connect and differentiate these two literary corpora and their respective religious cultures and social structures.Trade Review"This collection of these studies in a single volume can serve as a very useful introduction to the variety of ways in which comparative study of the Dead Sea Scrolls and early rabbinic literature is being practiced today, but it is much more than that. [...] The result is that virtually anyone concerned with possible connections between the Qumran scrolls and rabbinic literature will find one or more of these pieces valuable." -- Moshe J. Bernstein, Yeshiva University, New York, New York

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Book SynopsisIn honor of eminent archaeologist and historian of ancient Jewish art, Rachel Hachlili, friends and colleagues offer contributions in this festschrift which span the world of ancient Judaism both in Palestine and the Diaspora. Hachlili's distinctive research interests: synagogues, burial sites, and Jewish iconography receive particular attention in the volume. Archaeologists and historians present new material evidence from Galilee, Jerusalem, and Transjordan, contributing to the honoree’s fields of scholarly study. Fresh analyses of ancient Jewish art, essays on architecture, historical geography, and research history complete the volume and make it an enticing kaleidoscope of the vibrant field of scholarship that owes so much to Rachel.Table of ContentsTable of Contents Preface: Ann E. Killebrew, Gabriele Faßbeck and Steven Fine, Ancient Jewish Art and Archaeology: The Contribution of Rachel Hachlili 1. Mordechai Aviam, Two Groups of Non-Figurative Jewish Sarcophagi from Galilee 2. Gideon Avni and Boaz Zissu, The “Tomb of the Prophets” on the Mount of Olives: A Re-Examination 3. John W. Betlyon and Ann E. Killebrew, A Fourth-Century CE Coin Hoard from the Qaṣrin Village 4. Estēe Dvorjetski, Public Health in Ancient Palestine: Historical and Archaeological Aspects of Lavatories 5. Gabriele Faßbeck, “The Longer, the More Happiness I Derive from This Undertaking”: James Simon and Early German Research into Galilee’s Ancient Synagogues 6. Steven Fine, The Open Torah Ark: A Regional Iconographic Type in Late Antique Rome and Sardis 7. Zvi Gal, Tamra: A Late Byzantine–Early Islamic Village in the Eastern Lower Galilee 8. Rivka Gersht and Peter Gendelman, The Amphora and the Krater in Ancient Jewish Art in the Land of Israel 9. Malka Hershkovitz, Local Jewish Oil Lamps of the Second to First Centuries BCE 10. Amos Kloner and Sherry Whetstone, A Burial Complex and Ossuaries of the Second Temple Period on Mount Scopus, Jerusalem 11. Nikos Kokkinos, An Approach to Herodian Peraea 12. Eric C. Lapp, A Jewish Oil Lamp Unearthed at the Red Sea Port of Roman Aila (Aqaba, Jordan) 13. Lee I. Levine, Israelite Art in Context 14. Gabriel Mazor, Imperial Cult in the Decapolis: Nysa-Scythopolis as a Test Case 15. Carol L. Meyers and Eric M. Meyers, Images and Identity: Menorah Representations at Sepphoris 16. David Milson, Some Observations on the “Bema” Platforms in the Ancient Synagogues of Beth Alpha, Chorazin, and Susiya 17. Ronny Reich, Some Notes of the Miqva’ot and Cisterns at Qumran 18. Arthur Segal, Rome, Jerusalem, and the Colosseum

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Book SynopsisThis study deals with physiognomic and astrological texts from the Dead Sea Scrolls that represent one of the earliest examples of ancient Jewish science. For the first time the Hebrew physiognomic-astrological list 4Q186 (4QZodiacal Physiognomy) and the Aramaic physiognomic list 4Q561 (4QPhysiognomy ar) are comprehensively studied in relation to both physiognomic and astrological writings from Babylonian and Greco-Roman traditions. New reconstructions and interpretations of these learned lists are offered that result in a fresh view of their sense, function, and status within both the Qumran community and Second Temple Judaism at large, showing that Jewish culture in Palestine participated in the cultural exchange of learned knowledge between Babylonian and Greco-Roman cultures.

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Book SynopsisFocusing on the phenomenon of prophecy in the ancient Near East, this study offers a comparison between parts of First Isaiah and the Assyrian prophecies. In the first part, the material from First Isaiah and from seventh-century Assyria is investigated in its own right. The second part is a comparison of the Isaiah tradition in its earliest shape with the prophetic material from seventh-century Assyria. The topics dealt with in the comparison are the interrelation of prophetic oracles and historical events, the functions of the prophets, and the literary development of prophecy. The study shows that ancient Israelite prophecy, of which the historical Isaiah was an exponent, was much in conformity with ancient Near Eastern prophecy in general.Trade ReviewIn 2007 the author won one of the five Research Prizes yearly awarded by the Erasmus Prize Foundation in recognition of an exceptional PhD dissertation by a young academic researcher in the field of the humanities and social sciences.

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Book SynopsisThe tension between the "book" and the "body" has in recent years attracted the attention of scholars interested in the perception of the body in Judaism and the impact of religious law and performance on the body. The fifteen contributions in this volume deal with perceptions of the "Jewish body" in a broad range of legal, poetic, mystical, philosophical and polemical early modern Jewish sources. The first part of the book examines the construction of the body in specific historical and social contexts. Part two discusses normative texts and the notion of an "ideal Jewish body." Part three explores body, mind and soul in Jewish philosophy and mysticism. The last section of the book discusses body issues in Jewish-Christian discourse. The volume includes contributions by Howard Tzvi Adelman, Ruth Berger, Saverio Campanini, Maria Diemling, Eleazar Gutwirth, Don Harrán, Moshe Idel, Sergius Kodera, Arthur M. Lesley, Gianfranco Miletto, Giuseppe Veltri, Roni Weinstein, Elliot R. Wolfson, Jeffrey R. Woolf and Nimrod Zinger. "Maria Diemling and Giuseppe Veltri have assembled an accomplished group of scholars and collected an important store of articles concerning physicality in early modern Jewish culture. Its contents are broad enough to appeal to a wide readership of scholars and students in gender studies, cultural history, intellectual history, anthropology, religious studies, Kabbalah — even the history of music and art. In spite of this considerable topical and thematic diversity the book avoids losing focus; in one way or another each contribution responds to Diemling and Veltri’s organizing question: how did early modern Jews react to the period’s increased emphasis on and interest in corporeality?" - Andrew Berns, University of Pennsylvania, in: Renaissance Quarterly 63.1 (2010)Trade Review"Maria Diemling and Giuseppe Veltri have assembled an accomplished group of scholars and collected an important store of articles concerning physicality in early modern Jewish culture. Its contents are broad enough to appeal to a wide readership of scholars and students in gender studies, cultural history, intellectual history, anthropology, religious studies, Kabbalah — even the history of music and art. In spite of this considerable topical and thematic diversity the book avoids losing focus; in one way or another each contribution responds to Diemling and Veltri’s organizing question: how did early modern Jews react to the period’s increased emphasis on and interest in corporeality?" - Andrew Berns, University of Pennsylvania, in: Renaissance Quarterly 63.1 (2010)Table of ContentsCONTENTS Introduction PART 1 THE BODY IN HISTORICAL AND SOCIAL CONTEXT The Rise of the Body in Early Modern Jewish Society: The Italian Case Study Roni Weinstein Jewish Bodies and Renaissance Melancholy: Culture and the City in Italy and the Ottoman Empire Eleazar Gutwirth “Den ikh bin treyfe gevezn”: Body Perceptions in Seventeenth-Century Jewish Autobiographical Texts Maria Diemling “Who Knows What the Cause Is?”: “Natural” and “Unnatural” Causes for Illness in the Writings of Baʻalei Shem, Doctors and Patients among German Jews in the Eighteenth Century Nimrod Zinger PART II THE HALAKHIC BODY “Laʻavodat Bor’o”: The Body in the Shul.han Arukh of R. Joseph Caro Jeffrey R. Woolf Virginity: Women’s Body as a State of Mind: Destiny Becomes Biology Howard Tzvi Adelman Mental and Bodily Malfunctioning in Marriage: Evidence from Sixteenth- and Early Seventeenth-Century Responsa from the Ottoman Empire and Poland Ruth Berger PART III BODY, MIND AND SOUL On the Performing Body in Theosophical-Theurgical Kabbalah: Some Preliminary Remarks Moshe Idel Giving Birth to the Hebrew Author: Two Compositions by Johanan Alemanno Arthur M. Lesley The Idea of Beauty in Leone Ebreo (Judah Abravanel) Sergius Kodera Body of Conversion and the Immortality of the Soul: The “Beautiful Jewess” Sara Copio Sullam Giuseppe Veltri PART IV THE BODY IN JEWISH-CHRISTIAN DISCOURSE Shaping the Body of the Godhead: The Adaptation of the Androgynous Motif in Early Christian Kabbalah Saverio Campanini The Human Body as a Musical Instrument in the Sermons of Judah Moscato Gianfranco Miletto Angelic Embodiment and the Feminine Representation of Jesus: Reconstructing Carnality in the Christian Kabbalah of Johann Kemper Elliot R. Wolfson “Adonai con voi” (1569), a Simple Popular Song with a Complicated Semantic about (what seems to be) Circumcision Don Harrán

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Book SynopsisThis volume contains a variety of essays that deal with the complex relationships between Judaism and Christianity. From the Jewish side, particularly in Orthodox circles, there is a position maintaining the independence of Judaism from outside influences including Christianity. Traditional Christian theology, on the other hand, held a supercessionist view in which Judaism was seen merely as a historical preparation for the later revelation of Christianity. Was there no real interaction? When and how did Judaism and Christianity become two distinct religions? When did the 'parting of ways" take place, if indeed there really was such a parting of ways? The present volume takes a bold step forward by assuming that no historical period can be excluded from the interactive process between Judaism and Christianity, conscious or unconscious, as a polemical rejection or as tacit appropriation.Trade Review"Opening this book is like facing a banquet table of exotic foods. It is beautiful, overwhelming, and indigestible in one sitting. It covers not only the whole sweep of history, but also literature, art, architecture, and ritual. Fifty-six pages of stunning color plates complete the volume. Discerning the relations between Judaism and Christianity has yielded many metaphors, mother-daughter, siblings, ways that part or not, and parallel lines.n this volume is no different, presenting those whose methodological sobriety rejects any influence, to those who assert conscious borrowing." – Claudia Setzer, in: Journal for the Study of Judaism 41 (2010)

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Book SynopsisBased on several years of research on Jewish intellectual life in the Renaissance, this book tries to distinguish the coordinates of “modernity” as premises of Jewish philosophy, and vice versa. In the first part, it is concerned with the foundations of Jewish philosophy, its nature as philosophical science and as wisdom. The second part is devoted to certain elements and challenges of the humanist and Renaissance period as reflected in Judaism: historical consciousness and the sciences, utopian tradition, the legal status of the Jews in Christian political tradition and in Jewish political thought, aesthetic concepts of the body and conversion.Table of ContentsCONTENTS Introduction In Search of a Jewish Renaissance Chapter One Jewish Philosophy: Humanist Roots of a Contradiction in Terms Chapter Two The Prophetic-Poetic Dimension of Philosophy: The Ars Poetica and Immanuel of Rome Chapter Three Leone Ebreo’s Concept of Jewish Philosophy Chapter Four Conceptions of History: Azariah de’ Rossi Chapter Five Scientific Thought and the Exegetical Mind, with an Essay on the Life and Works of Rabbi Judah Loew Chapter Six Mathematical and Biblical Exegesis: Jewish Sources of Athanasius Kircher’s Musical Theory Chapter Seven Creating Geographical and Political Utopias: The Ten Lost Tribes and the East Chapter Eight Ceremonial Law: History of a Philosophical-Political Concept Chapter Nine The City and the Ghetto: Simone Luzzatto and the Development of Jewish Political Thought Chapter Ten Body of Conversion and Immortality of the Soul: Sara Copio Sullam, the “Beautiful Jewess”

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Book SynopsisThis study addresses the way in which a psychoanalytic model of mourning relates to a set of Jewish apocalypses concerned with the destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple. These texts respond to the traumatic symbolic loss of Zion and attempt to heal it through the apocalyptic narrative, the visionary experiences of the seers, and the emotional transformation that results from the interplay of the two. The seers react with rage, paralysis, and self-annihilating sentiments, and hence these texts resemble incomplete, stalled mourning, or melancholia. Through the course of their narratives and a 'working-through' of the Jewish past, true mourning and psychological recovery occur, prompting visions of the establishment of an ideal society in the future.Table of ContentsIntroduction: “If I Forget You, O Jerusalem”: Traumatic Memory and the Fall of Zion Chapter One: Apocalyptic Melancholia and the Trauma of History Chapter Two: Ezekiel: “Desolate Among Them” Chapter Three: 4 Ezra: “Because of My Grief I Have Spoken” Chapter Four: 2 and 3 Baruch: “Cease Irritating God” Conclusion: The Apocalyptic Cure: Recovering the Future by Working-through the Past Epilogue: Apocalyptic Melancholia and 9/11

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Book SynopsisWinner of the Jewish Music Special Interest Group Paper Prize of 2018 Mazal Tov, Amigos! Jews and Popular Music in the Americas seeks to explore the sphere of Jews and Jewishness in the popular music arena in the Americas. It offers a wide-ranging review of new and old trends from an interdisciplinary standpoint, including history, musicology, ethnomusicology, ethnic studies, cultural studies, and even Queer studies. The contribution of Jews to the development of the music industry in the United States, Argentina, or Brazil cannot be measured on a single scale. Hence, these essays seek to explore the sphere of Jews and popular music in the Americas and their multiple significances, celebrating the contribution of Jewish musicians and Jewishness to the development of new musical genres and ideas.Trade Review“By placing chapters on Jews and popular music in the USA alongside chapters on their South American analogues, the context of these studies becomes subtly altered. This isn’t just because the Argentinian and Brazilian artists discussed are often much less well known globally than American ones, but also because a ‘hemispheric’ focus enables – potentially at least – a destabilisation of the sometimes inward-looking perspective that dominates discussions of Jews, popular music and the USA. As Cohen argues: ‘By adding Jewishness to [the] multidimensional North–South topography, existing histories of political upheaval, activism, population movement, and zealous diplomacy gain new veins of inquiry’ (p. 241). Or, to put it another way, by considering North and South American Jewish popular music together, we might be able to re-position Jewish music in the Diaspora communities of the Americas into a more fluid notion of Diaspora.” Keith Kahn-Harris, Popular Music, Volume 36 - Issue 1 - January 2017Table of ContentsList of Figures Acknowledgements List of Contributors Introduction, Amalia Ran & Moshe Morad 1. Is "White Christmas" a Piece of Jewish Music?, Ellen Koskoff 2. The Musical Worlds of Jewish Buenos Aires, 1910-1940, Pablo Palomino 3. Tristes Alegrías: The Jewish Presence in Argentina’s Popular Music Arena, Amalia Ran 4. Jacob de Bandolim: A Jewish(-)Brazilian Composer, Thomas George Caracas García 5. Walls of Sound: Lieber and Stoller, Phil Spector, the Black-Jewish Alliance, and the “Enlarging” of America, Ari Katorza 6. Singing from Difference: Jewish Singers-Songwriters in the 1960s and 1970s, Jon Stratton 7. ¡Toca maravilloso! Larry Harlow and the Jewish Connection to Latin Music, Benjamin Lapidus 8. Roberto Juan Rodriguez’ “Timba Talmud”: Diasporic Cuban-Jewish Musical Convergences in New York, Nili Belkind 9. Yiddish Song in Twenty-First Century America: Paths to Creativity, Abigail Wood 10. Fight for Your Right to Partycipate: Jewish American Rappers, Uri Dorchin 11. Gypsy, Cumbia, Cuarteto, Surf, Blah Blah Blah: DJ Simja Dujov and Jewish Musical Eclecticism in Argentina, Lilian M. Wohl 12. Queer Jewish Divas: Jewishness and Queerness in the Life and Performance of Barbra Streisand, Bette Midler, and Olga Guillot, Moshe Morad 13. Third Diaspora Soundscapes: Music of the Jews of Islam in the Americas, Edwin Seroussi Closing Notes: The Soundstage of Jewish Life, North and South, Judah M. Cohen Index

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Book SynopsisImagining Creation is a collection of views on creation by noted authors from different disciplines. Topics include creation accounts and iconography from Mesopotamia and Egypt, and cosmologies from India and Africa. Special attention is devoted to creation in the Scriptures (Bible and Koran) and related oral traditions on Genesis from Slavonic Europe, as well as Kabbalah. Some of the creations myths are earlier and some later than the Bible, while a number of the discussed texts offer alternative approaches to the beginnings of the universe. The contributions provide many new perspectives on the origins of man and his world from diverse cultures. The volume is the proceedings of a symposium on creation stories held at University College London.Table of ContentsCONTENTS Foreword Markham Geller and Mineke Schipper Chapter One Introduction Mary Douglas Chapter Two Mesopotamian Creation Stories W. G. Lambert Chapter Three Creation Stories in Ancient Egypt Stephen Quirke Chapter Four You Can’t Get Here from There: The Logical Paradox of Ancient Indian Creation Myths Wendy Doniger Chapter Five Stories of the Beginning: Origin Myths in Africa South of the Sahara Mineke Schipper Chapter Six Modern Jewish Attitudes to the Concept of Myth Wout Jac. van Bekkum Chapter Seven Extract from Genesis 1–2 Translation and Commentary, Norton, NY 1996 Robert Alter Chapter Eight The Bible in the Making: Slavonic Creation Stories Florentina Badalanova Chapter Nine Arab Creation Stories beyond the Pale Abdullah al-Udhari Chapter Ten Lurianic Creation Myths Daphne Freedman Index

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Book SynopsisDespite the recent explosion of research on ancient synagogues, investigators in the field have hitherto been forced to cull relevant evidence from a vast assortment of scholarly publications. This volume gathers for the first time all of the primary source material on the early synagogues up through the Second Century C. E. In the case of literary, epigraphic and papyrological evidence, catalog entries contain the texts in their original language and in English translation. For archaeological remains, entries provide technical descriptions along with plans and photographs. All listings are accompanied by bibliographic citations and interpretative comments. An Introduction frames the current state of synagogue research, while extensive indices and cross-references allow for easy location of specific allusions. An appendix to the catalog contains source materials on Jewish temples outside of Jerusalem.Trade Review'Everyone interested in the ancient synagogue may benefit from all the literary, epigraphic and archaeological evidence.' - James H. Charlesworth, Princeton Theological Seminary, in: Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus 14 (2016) 'This volume will be extremely helpful for scholars and general readers interested primarily in synagogue buildings prior to the third century C.E [...].this sourcebook serves its purpose admirably. The book is user-friendly due to the numbering system, the detailed and well-organized table of contents, and the various indexes. To my knowledge, the sourcebook is complete, within its stated geographical and chronological parameters [...]. The book is a most welcome addition to the reference shelf of scholars working in the areas of Second Temple Judaism, early Christianity, archaeology, ritual, and many others, particularly now that it is available in paperback and therefore more affordable edition.' - Adele Reinhartz, University of Ottawa, in: RBL 02/2012 'This comprehensive compendium of literary, archaeological, epigraphical, and papyrological sources about the ancient synagogue, accompanied by insightful comments and up-to-date bibliography, is an essential tool for any student of Jewish and Christian life during the first centuries CE. Covering the Diaspora as well as Judaea, the volume is an invaluable reference book for gaining an in-depth picture of this multifaceted institution, which had a profound and lasting effect on the development of many aspects of both church and mosque as well.' - Lee Levine, Professor of Jewish History & Archaeology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem "All students of early Judaism and early Christianity will find this volume an essential companion in their efforts to understand the origins and development of both religions. It is unique in that it brings together all the available evidence, both literary and archaeological from the Diaspora and the homeland, dealing with the synagogue as an institution and a building. The authors, experts in the field, introduce a vast amount of information in a user-friendly manner. Each entry, arranged in alphabetical order, has a site description, the relevant literary and inscriptional sources, provided with brief but pointed commentary, introducing the wider discussion about the various sites. A brief introductory chapter helps the reader to enter this relatively new and rapidly developing field of enquriy, as well as outlining the reasons in deciding the parameters of the volume. I can recommend it with enthusiasm." - Sean Freyne, Professor of Theology emeritus, Trinity Colllege, Dublin / Visiting Professor of Early Christian History and Literature, Harvard Divinity School 'One of the frustrating aspects of studying ancient Judaism before the third century ce is the difficulty of assessing the scant evidence for synagogues. The evidence had been dispersed in archaeological reports, ancient literature, and inscriptions, despite the growing availability of evidence through the internet, namely on the website created by one of the authors of the current volume (Binder: http://www.pohick.org/sts/). With the advent of the source book under review, the evidence is now readily available in convenient book form. This is a monumental achievement and should change the face of synagogue studies at all levels of expertise.' - Stephen P. Ahearne-Kroll, in: Biblical Theology Bulletin, 2009 “A key methodological problem in constructing a picture of the development of ancient synagogues arises from the limited and perspectival nature of each of our data-sets: rabbinic rulings, other literary references, inscriptions, and archaeological remains. The Ancient Synagogue is a key resource in overcoming this problem: for the first time we have a comprehensive collection of literary, epigraphical, papyrological, and archaeological sources bearing on ancient synagogues. Each lemma comes with a brief but up-to-date bibliography and short commentary and the editors have supplied both primary texts and English translations, making this an indispensable resource for all who work on ancient synagogues. This is a splendid achievement of scholarship.” - J.S. Kloppenborg, Professor, Trinity College, Toronto “This source book comes at a propitious time in the study of ancient synagogues and their origins. It is an invaluable resource for everyone interested in—and not infrequently puzzled by—the organizational and architectural development of synagogues prior to 200 CE. The combination of textual and archaeological material, with judicious commentaries and some well chosen drawings, are essential features of the book’s usefulness. It will be much referred to in the coming years, and its judgements will help shape the contours of the ongoing debates.” - Peter Richardson, Professor Emeritus, University of Toronto “This volume contains ancient texts such as Josephus, the New Testament, and the Mishnah in their original languages and in (often new) translation, but also archaeological evidence and inscriptions—in their language and translated. Each entry features a bibliography and comment on matters that the text or archaeology raises. There is an extensive bibliography and an index. It has been put together by well-known scholars in the field, and their work is exhaustive and impeccable. We could not reasonably ask for more. It is simply an indispensable resource for the serious researcher and the student alike.” - James F. Strange, Distinguished University Professor, the University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida "This is an ideal resource. It is comprehensive, well written, concise, thoroughly referenced to both primary literature and the most important secondary literature, and easily used without burdening readers with less important secondary discussions. The book is an essential tool for anyone doing work that intersects with the ancient synagogue." - Daniel M. Gurtner, in: Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, Dec 2008 "This volume by three well-known experts is a welcome addition to the burgeoning literature on the topic of the ancient synagogue. ...For each synagogue site, text, or inscription, the authors include all relevant literary references, and a bibliography. All entries include a comment section that provides historical and literary background. The primary sources, whether Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, or Latin, are provided in the original languages followed by an English translation. The book is amply illustrated with maps, drawings, and photographs. …Scholars in the fields of New Testament, Classics, Archaeology, Jewish History, and biblical studies will find the present volume an important reference tool. This book is essential for research libraries, and well worth the investment for anyone interested in this fascinating topic." - Kenneth Atkinson, in: Journal for the Study of Judaism 40/1 (2009) 134-135 "The Ancient Synagogue represents a remarkable contribution to what might become a renewed quest for the historical synagogue. For the first time all sources related to the synagogue prior to 200 CE – both literary and archaeological – have been collected together in one place. …[T]he comments provided by the authors have created a work that is much more than simply a compilation of source material… The Ancient Synagogue is an extremely useful compendium. The authors have achieved their goal (p.15) of providing a user-friendly compilation of all known sources related to the synagogue between the 3rd century BCE and 200 CE, and it is clear that this volume will be a required reference for all future synagogue studies." - Justin Winger, University of Michigan [http://www.enochseminar.org/henochjournal/editors/2008/RunessonEtc%20(Winger).doc] "At a time when research on the ancient synagogue is as prolific as ever, Runesson, Binder, and Olsson provide us with a most useful source book on the earliest evidence of the ancient synagogue. …200 C.E. is a well chosen “terminus ante quem” because it allows the authors to include the Mishnah as an important source for the early synagogue (even if, as the authors rightly stress [p. 3 n.5], rabbinic influence on the synagogue became truly important only later). By not choosing the year 70 as a cut-off date, the editors wisely avoid “taking a stance” (p. 15) with respect to the importance of the fall of the temple in Jerusalem for the development of the ancient synagogue. What makes the book unusual and incredibly helpful is that it brings together literary and archaeological sources…The comments, both on archaeological sites and on literary sources, are always sound and well argued…. I recently used this source book for a seminar on the ancient synagogue and I can only recommend it highly." - René Bloch, University of Bern, in: Journal of Hebrew Scriptures Vol. 9 (2009)

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Book SynopsisAn hommage to Gad Freudenthal, this volume offers twenty-two chapters on the history of science and the role of science in Jewish cultures. Written by outstanding scholars from all over the world it is a token of appreciation for Freudenthal's accomplishments in this discipline. The chapters in this volume include editions and translations of source texts in different languages and focus on topics that reflect the problématiques Gad Freudenthal often tackled in his own research: aspects of knowledge transfer, translation processes and the appropriation of knowledge from one culture to another. They are contributions to a better understanding of the cross-cultural contacts in the field of science between Jews, Muslim and Christians in the Middle Ages and early modern times.Table of ContentsTexts: Editions, Translations, and Commentaries Roshdi Rashed, Le pseudo al-Ḥasan ibn al-Hayṯam: sur l’asymptote Charles Burnett, Al-Qabīsī’s Introduction to Astrology: from Courtly Entertainment to University Textbook Y. Tzvi Langermann, A Different Hue to Medieval Jewish Philosophy: Four Investigations into an Unstudied Philosophical Text Mauro Zonta, Aristotle’s De anima and De generatione et corruptione in the Medieval Hebrew Tradition: New Details Regarding Textual History Coming from a Neglected Manuscript Tony Lévy, La mesure du cercle d’Archimède au moyen age : le témoignage des textes hébreux Paul B. Fenton, Un traité judéo-arabe sur les vertus du tabac rédigé dans la main du Šayḫ Sufī ‘Abd al-Ġani an-Nabulusī Studies Herbert A. Davidson, Maimonides and Samuel Ben Ali Josep Puig Montada, Ibn Rušd and the Almohad Context Carlos Fraenkel, Legislating Truth: Maimonides, the Almohads and the Thirteenth-Century Jewish Enlightenment Judith Olszowy-Schlanger, The Money language: Latin and Hebrew in Jewish Legal Contracts from Medieval England Reimund Leicht, Naḥmanides on Necromancy Resianne Fontaine, The First Survey of the Metaphysics in Hebrew Hagar Kahana-Smilansky, Solomon ben Moses Melguiri and the Transmission of Knowledge from Latin into Hebrew Sara Klein-Braslavy, Dialectic in Gersonides’ Biblical Commentaries José Luis Mancha, Demonstrative Astronomy: Notes on Levi ben Geršom’s answer to Guide II.24 Warren Zev Harvey, Nicole Oresme and Ḥasdai Crescas on Many Worlds Ruth Glasner, The Peculiar History of Aristotelianism among Spanish Jews Early Modern Cultural History and Historiography Bernard R. Goldstein and Giora Hon, Duhem’s Continuity Thesis: The Intrusion of Ideology into History of Science Gideon Freudenthal, Enlightenment in Gold Shlomo Berger, A Bestseller in Context: Referring to the Tsene Rene in Early Modern Yiddish Books Charles Manekin, On Humanist Logic Judaized—Then and Now: Two Models for the Appropriation of Gentile Science Irene E. Zwiep, Hebrew “Sociolinguistics”

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Book SynopsisAbraham Abulafia (1240 – c. 1291) founded an enormously influential branch of Jewish mysticism, referred to as the prophetic or ecstatic kabbalah. This book, from several perspectives, explores the impact of Christianity upon Abulafia. His copious writings evince an intense fascination with Christian themes, yet Abulafia’s frequent diatribes against Jesus and Christianity reveal him to be deeply conflicted in his relationship to his southern European religious neighbors. This book undertakes a careful study of Abulafia’s writings, suggesting that the recognition of an inner dynamic of attraction and revulsion toward the forbidden other provides a crucial key to understanding Abulafia’s mystical hermeneutic and his meditative practice. It also demonstrates that Abulafia's uneasy relationship to Christianity shaped the very core of his mystical doctrine.Table of ContentsIntroduction: Abraham Abulafia; a Brief Biographical Sketch Chapter 1 Abulafia and Alterity; the Other in the Self Chapter 2 Refutation and Absorption; Abulafia’s Response to the Christian Context Chapter 3 Abulafia’s Demons; the Psychological Dimension of Abulafia’s Relationship to Christianity Chapter 4 Abulafia and Jesus; Metatron and Sandalfon Chapter 5 Warp and Woof; Circumcision, Crucifixion and Divine Embodiment

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Book Synopsis"The Crescent on the Temple" by Pamela Berger elucidates an obscured tradition—how the Dome of the Rock came to stand for the Temple of Solomon in Christian, Muslim, and Jewish art. The crusaders called the Dome of the Rock the “Temple of the Lord,” while Muslim imagery depicted Solomon enthroned within the domed structure. Jews knew that the ancient Temple had been destroyed. Nevertheless, in their imagery, they commonly labeled the Muslim shrine “The Temple.” That domed “Temple” was often represented with a crescent on top. This iconography, long hidden in plain sight, reflects one aspect of an historical affinity between Jews and Muslims.Trade ReviewBerger makes both a monumental historical contribution convincingly revealing a past that has been obscured as well as making us think about the times we live in. Hopefully, the “shock,” to quote Nohad Ali, produced by this book will have an influence on political and religious leaders alike—for the benefit of peace and returned inter-religiosity in Jerusalem. - Curtis Hutt, University of Nebraska at Omaha, in: International Dialogue, A Multidisciplinary Journal of World Affairs 3, 2013.

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Book SynopsisThis volume contains fifteen essays in honor of Professor Joseph Yahalom who served as a lecturer at the Hebrew University from 1974 until he became full professor in 1985. The completion of his Warburg price awarded thesis in 1973 marked the start of a long and successful academic career in both Hebrew and Jewish studies, with much emphasis on poetry and poetics. Yahalom’s continuing interest in and research on ancient Piyyut led to a number of editions of Hebrew and Aramaic texts as well as to studies on the early Palestinian vocalization system and the language of Piyyut based on the Genizah findings. In 1983, Yahalom was elected a member of the Academy of the Hebrew Language. In 2003, he received the Yizhak Ben-Zvi award for his lifetime study of Jewish history and Hebrew literature. Yahalom’s research on Hebrew medieval liturgical poetry focused on a period of roughly one thousand years, from the days of early Byzantium until the final days of Jewish presence on the Iberian Peninsula and the Sephardic diaspora. His bibliography testifies to his expertise of understanding Hebrew verse, laying much emphasis on the interaction between the Jewish and surrounding cultures, which concur with Yahalom’s overall convictions and views about Jewish literature in context.Table of ContentsTABLE OF CONTENTS Biography Bibliography Reimund Leicht Planets in Ancient Hebrew Literature Michael D. Swartz Translation and the Comprehensibility of Early Piyyut Ophir Münz-Manor Figurative Language in Early Piyyut Tzvi Novick The Poetics of Yannai’s Sixth: Between Scripture, God, and Congregation Wout van Bekkum and Naoya Katsumata Piyyut as Poetics, The Example of Yannai’s Qedushta for Deut. 6:4 Michael Rand A Third Dew Shiv‘Ata by Eleazar be-rabbi Qillir Avi Shmidman Congregational Participation within the Biblical Story in the Yotser Poems of Shlomo Suliman Jonathan P. Decter Concerning the Terminology of Al-Ḥarizi’s Virtues Debate Peter Sh. Lehnardt Shema Meni Refuot Ha-Gewiyya Ve-Nafshekha Bo Tehi Omda Ve-Ḥayya: A Didactical Poem of a Regimen Sanitatis according to Maimonides by Jehuda Al-Ḥarizi Paul B. Fenton K. Ad-Durr Al-Manzûm : A Sufi Collection of Moral Aphorisms in Judaeo-Arabic Adena Tanenbaum Polemics Real and Imagined in Zechariah Alḍāhirī’s Sefer Ha-Musar Elisabeth Hollender Late Ashkenazic Qinot in the Nuremberg Maḥzor Susan L. Einbinder Moses De Roquemaure: Poetry, Polemic and Conversion Javier Castaño A Fifteenth Century Letter Addressed to the Dayyanim of Zaragoza Geoffrey Khan A Poem in the Jewish Neo-Aramaic Dialect of Sanandaj

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Book SynopsisThis comprehensive, textual treatment of the Kaifeng Passover Rite is a significant contribution to the ongoing discussion of the community’s origins in particular and to comparative Jewish liturgy in general. The book includes a facsimile of one manuscript and a sample of the other, the full text of the Hebrew/Aramaic and Judeo-Persian Haggadah in Hebrew characters, as well as an English translation. Following a review of the community’s history, sources for study, and related scholarly work conducted to date, the languages used in the Haggadah and their backgrounds are discussed in detail. Analysis of the order of the service allows for comparison of the Kaifeng Jewish community’s recitation of the Passover liturgy, performance of ritual, and consumption of ceremonial food to other communities in the Jewish Diaspora. The various parts and chapters of the book, including its extensive and meticulous annotations and bibliographical references, provide much fresh and useful material for scholars and readers interested in pre-modern Jewish, Judeo-Persian and Chinese literary traditions and cultures. David Yeroushalmi, Tel Aviv University, 2015Trade Review"Much has been written about this community, but this is the first detailed analysis of the Passover Haggadah as it was preserved in Kaifeng [...] This volume should interest not only specialists in liturgy but also students interested in far-flung Jewish communities, researchers interested in the Persian Jewish community, experts on Hebrew, and others as well." - Shaul Stampfer, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, in: Religious Studies Review, 38:4 (2012) "...an important work of scholarship." - Daniel Scheide, Wimberly Library, Florida Atlantic University, in: Association of Jewish Libraries Reviews, 2:2Table of ContentsIntroduction Chapter One: Haggadah Manuscripts of the Kaifeng Jews Chapter Two: The Community's Knowledge of Hebrew as Reflected in their Haggadah Chapter Three: Hebrew in the Kaifeng Haggadah Chapter Four: The Judeo-Persian of KH Chapter Five: Order of the Service

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Book SynopsisAlthough Maimonides is now known as one of the greatest Jewish theologians and philosophers of the middle ages, his writings were denounced from the outset – first in the East then in the West. In fact, by the mid-1230’s the so-called Maimonidean Controversy that had begun within the Jewish community had spread to encompass much of the Christian scholarly world as well. Daniel Silver’s Maimonidean Criticism constitutes a landmark in the historiography of Maimonideanism in general and of the controversy of the 1230s in particular. Brill has thus brought this important book back into print for students wishing an introduction to this debate.

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