Judaism Books

Book SynopsisIn this second volume of The Sparks of Randomness, Henri Atlan pursues his investigation of human life, which he grounds in a distinctive intermingling of the biological and cognitive sciences and traditions of Jewish thought. The Atheism of Scripture offers up a paradox: its audacious thesis is that the Word or revealed scripture can be better understood without God. It must be decrypted or analyzed atheistically, that is, not as divine revelation, but in and of itself. The first part of the book addresses contemporary science. It puts the evolution of ideas about life and knowledge as conceived by today''s biological and cognitive sciences into perspective and shows how the genealogy of ethics must be approached in a new way. The second part takes up this challenge by putting classical philosophy in dialogue with the Talmud and the Kabbalah to advance a non-dualistic anthropology of the body and the mind.Trade Review"Henri Atlan has undoubtedly become a great scholar and important international figure in the academic community. His approach to texts is original and stimulating, his ideas both lucid and insightful. He has written many volumes on a variety of subjects, but this one has special meaning due to the convulsions society has been undergoing in recent years. The book is steeped in psychology and religion, biology and sociology, mysticism and ethos. Drawing from Talmudic sources but also from secular ones, it is sure to find appeal in many circles."—Elie Wiesel

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Book SynopsisIn this second volume of The Sparks of Randomness, Henri Atlan pursues his investigation of human life, which he grounds in a distinctive intermingling of the biological and cognitive sciences and traditions of Jewish thought. The Atheism of Scripture offers up a paradox: its audacious thesis is that the Word or revealed scripture can be better understood without God. It must be decrypted or analyzed atheistically, that is, not as divine revelation, but in and of itself. The first part of the book addresses contemporary science. It puts the evolution of ideas about life and knowledge as conceived by today''s biological and cognitive sciences into perspective and shows how the genealogy of ethics must be approached in a new way. The second part takes up this challenge by putting classical philosophy in dialogue with the Talmud and the Kabbalah to advance a non-dualistic anthropology of the body and the mind.Trade Review"Henri Atlan has undoubtedly become a great scholar and important international figure in the academic community. His approach to texts is original and stimulating, his ideas both lucid and insightful. He has written many volumes on a variety of subjects, but this one has special meaning due to the convulsions society has been undergoing in recent years. The book is steeped in psychology and religion, biology and sociology, mysticism and ethos. Drawing from Talmudic sources but also from secular ones, it is sure to find appeal in many circles."—Elie Wiesel

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Book SynopsisJudaism in Transition places American Judaism in its economic context and shows how the decisions of individual Jews, as they respond to economic incentives, have shaped a community that is characterized by innovative ways of observing ancient religious traditions.Trade Review"Carmel Chiswick does an excellent job in making accessible to a broad audience the concepts of household decision making on education, time allocation, occupational choice, and marriage to explain the observed patterns of economic behavior of Jewish families . . . [T]he book does an excellent job in using the lens of economic theory to shed light on the main educational, occupational, migration, and marital patterns among American Jews in the past and nowadays."—Zvi Eckstein, Journal of Economic Literature"Prof. Carmel Chiswick . . . uses the lens of economics to reveal the various constraints facing a religious minority in the United Sates and how this affects Jewish culture . . . [S]ome personal reflection on her own life growing up Jewish [gives] this academic topic a much more personal touch . . . [H]ighly readable book."—Research on Religion"Writing clearly, [Chiswick] divides her presentation into four parts: economic circumstances of American Jews; usefulness of economic concepts; economic decisions affecting American Jewish behavior; economic analysis and the American Jewish future . . . She offers other intriguing forecasts about American Judaism, concluding that we can be optimistic about its future. Her singular approach as an economist can be usefully applied to other American religious groups."—Publisher's Weekly"Drawing on personal experience and scientific data, Chiswick suggests that the contemporary brand of American Judaism—to achieve the standard of American success—is molded by economic decisions that are often personal and deeply seated . . . This is an innovative and reader-friendly book . . . Recommended."—Z. Garber, CHOICE"Nobody but Carmel Chiswick could write this book. It has the mark of maturity and was obviously written by someone who has spent a lifetime thinking about economics and religion, and who has witnessed firsthand the changes that have taken place in the Jewish community over the years."—Larry Iannaconne, Director, Center for the Economic Study of Religion, Chapman University"Judaism in Transition is a richly informed and cogently written narrative of the American Jewish experience, focusing on the compromises that are necessary for life in modern society. The analysis is deeply informed by the author's professional identity as an economist and personal identity as a Jew."—R. Stephen Warner, University of Illinois at Chicago"In appealing and accessible language, Carmel Chiswick explains the economic drivers that influence our religious observance. While she writes from a Jewish perspective, adherents of all faiths will find much in this book that elucidates the impact economics has, and will continue to have, on our American faith communities."—Emily Soloff, National Associate Director, Department of Interreligious and Intergroup Relations, American Jewish Committee"Carmel Chiswick's new book offers a refreshing and innovative reading of the contemporary Jewish experience at a time of great confusion about its changing nature. Her original and rigorous method as an economist combines with the broad horizons of a humanist concerned with resilience and destiny of the Jewish people."—Sergio DellaPergola, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem"Combining her perspective as economist with her lifelong involvement in the American Jewish community, Professor Chiswick offers a singular analysis of the impact of economic forces on American Jewish life. This book is an important read for Jewish professionals, those concerned with the future of American Jewry, and readers seeking an introduction to the American Jewish community at the beginning of the 21st Century."—Rabbi Allan Kensky, Beth Hillel Congregation Bnai Emunah and former Dean of the Jewish Theological Seminary"With an open mind that presents a fresh look at the familiar, Carmel Chiswick analyzes the impact of the American economic context on Judaism in the 20th and 21st centuries. Her application of the concepts and methodology of economics to the study of religion will be startling and enlightening to social scientists and other students of religion."—Rela Mintz Geffen, Professor of Sociology, Gratz College and President Emerita of the Baltimore Hebrew University"The book is clearly written for the scholar and the general reader."—David Tesler, Association of Jewish Libraries Newsletter"By exploring the role of economic choices in shaping patterns of Jewish ritual activity and expression, Judaism in Transition adds to the body of work that examines the changing nature of Judaism in the modern world. This is a well-written, insightful, and important book that is enriched by Chiswick's personal anecdotes."—Esther Isabelle Wilder, Studies in Contemporary JewryTable of Contents1. Introduction 2. The Economic Context 3. The Cost of Being Jewish in America 4. Jewish Education and Human Capital 5. Jewish Families in America 6. American Jewish Immigrants 7. Israel and American Judaism 8. Whither American Judaism?

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Book SynopsisContemplative Nation repudiates the tendentious claim that theology is alien to Judaism with an account of Jewish theology that affirms the diverse forms and functions of Jewish theological language and that highlights the interdependence of reflection and practice in Judaism.Trade Review"The strength of the book lies in its remarkable clarity of expression and tight argumentation. Patiently and methodologically, Fisher builds his model of Jewish theological practice and accounts for each step of this construction project, explaining what he takes from other thinkers, where he disagrees with his interlocutors, and how they complement each other . . . Contemplative Nation is highly recommended for scholars of Jewish studies, religious studies, philosophy, and theology. The book is an excellent example of how to apply hermeneutical theories to the study of Judaism, how to bridge the gap between continental philosophy and analytic philosophy, and how to expand the scope of Jewish studies by appreciating the nature of theological discourse." -- Hava Tirosh-Samuelson * Journal of Religion *"This work is a highly original and most significant defense of Jewish theology as integral to Jewish religious life. The author argues persuasively for the existence of a Jewish theological practice, imbedded in the exegesis and hermeneutics of both classical and modern sources, a practice not beholden to the more systematic forms of Christian theology. This work should change the way we think about Jewish theology and about theology in general." -- Jerome Gellman * Ben-Gurion University of the Negev *"Fisher'sContemplative Nation, a title that alludes to the influence of Philo on the author, uses the hermeneutics of Hans-George Gadamer and Paul Ricoeur in combination with Pierre Hadot's formulation of the character of ancient philosophy and William Alston's epistemic analysis of Christian religious experience to construct a model for "Jewish Theological Practice." Fisher exemplifies the usefulness of his model by applying it first to an example of ancient rabbinic philosophy and then to an example of modern Jewish philosophy. The ancient text is the Mekhilta, which Fisher reads primarily through the interpretations of Max Kadushin and Judah Goldin; the modern text is Franz Rosenzweig's Star of Redemption, which Fisher reads primarily with reference to the interpretations of Leora Batnitzky and Peter Gordon. The result is an exciting dialogue between diverse texts, scholarly disciplines, and lines of interpretation, out of which emerges a strong argument for the claim that Jewish thought is theological and deeply rooted in a rationalist commitment to communal practice and lived religious experience. This book is a must for all serious scholars of hermeneutics, the philosophy of religion, rabbinics, and modern Jewish philosophy." -- Norbert Samuelson * Arizona State University *"Cass Fisher has written an important work about Jewish Theological Language that signals a long needed and developing move to take Jewish theology seriously in its own right . . . The real accomplishment of Fisher's book is that it is one of the first attempts in decades to develop a theological method to understand Jewish theology in terms that are non-reductive of Jewish theology . . . All in all, this is an important book that readers of contemporary Jewish theology, Christian theology, and contemporary religious thought will want to read and have in their libraries." -- Steven Kepnes * Modern Theology *

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Book SynopsisWe can calculate financial fraud, but how do we measure bad faith? How can we evaluate the words of the pharmaceutical industry or of eco-scientific ideologies, or the subtle deception found in political scheming? Henri Atlan sheds light on these questions through the concept of ona''ah, which in Hebrew refers to both fraud in financial transactions and the verbal injury inflicted by speech. The world of ona''ah is a world of an in-between, where the impossible purity of absolute Platonic truth gives way to a more relative notionthe near-theft, the quasi-lie. Today it seems that no discourse is safe from fraudulent excesses, be they intentional or no. As both philosopher and biologist, Atlan works on several registers. He forges links between the Talmud, the Kabbalah, and the big questions of our time, multiplying the bridges between science, philosophy, and current ethical dilemmas. In a context of financial and moral crises that appear to be weakening our democraciesTrade Review"Atlan reveals himself to be a rara avis, a French intellectual developing his theory within the context of Jewish traditional concepts. His book takes readers through a fascinating journey across the history of philosophy and religion, from the Pre-Socratics and the Orphics, through Spinoza, to contemporary issues of science ethics and political ethics in the postmodern world."—Guy Stroumsa, University of Oxford and The Hebew University of Jerusalem

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Book SynopsisThis book explores the stakes of the uses and abuses of money, language, and technical objects.Trade Review"Atlan reveals himself to be a rara avis, a French intellectual developing his theory within the context of Jewish traditional concepts. His book takes readers through a fascinating journey across the history of philosophy and religion, from the Pre-Socratics and the Orphics, through Spinoza, to contemporary issues of science ethics and political ethics in the postmodern world."—Guy Stroumsa, University of Oxford and The Hebew University of Jerusalem

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Book SynopsisThis book inquires into the wondrous and complex world of mystical experience in the Zohar, the jewel in the crown of Jewish mystical literature.Trade Review"A River Flows From Eden is replete with insights and delights. It is without a doubt one of the most engaging books on Jewish mysticism in general, and the Zohar in particular. Melila Hellner-Eshed is an accomplished scholar of kabbalistic literature and an excellent guide into the intricacies of one of its most challenging works. A River Flows From Eden is truly rewarding for the novice and expert alike." -- Mark Verman * Shofar *"A fascinating and richly textured work that combines linguistic and literary acumen with a historian of religion's interest in the phenomenology of mysticism and a poet's sensitivity to language. Simply put, this is one of the most exciting works of scholarship I have encountered in recent years. . . . This is the rare book that should matter equally to specialists in the field and to serious lay readers and students." -- Elliot K. Ginsburg * University of Michigan *"Dr. Hellner-Eshed's book is a truly groundbreaking study of the mystical dimension of the Zohar, the masterpiece of Kabbalah. The scholarship reflected in this book is superb. . . . I rate it as one of the most significant academic studies of the Zohar in the past decade." -- Daniel Matt * editor and translator of The Zohar, Pritzker Edition *"[Hellner-Eshed] has written a book sure to become a basic contribution to the study of Kabbalah and the Zohar. Interested faculty should read it and assign it to their student ... Highly recommended." -- S. T. Katz * Choice *

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"[T]his is a very serious translation of the Zohar holy, an elaboration that took years of work and research on the part of Daniel C. Matt and his team of several scholars who have spared no effort to give the greatest number information of each passuk, each parashah, bringing reliable sources . . . This fantastic edition of The Zohar not only presents an accurate translation of the text, but also an interpretation with insights, more accessible . . . Brilliant expositions on complex subjects rendered easy by Daniel C. Matt, his wonderful ability to transmit profound ideas is amazing."—Gilson Sasson, Journal Mitzvah"Matt provides invaluable commentary to put the Zohar into context and explain the almost disconnected paragraphs."—Daniel D. Stuhlman, Association of Jewish Libraries"Matt's commentary may be the most significant and comprehensive line-by-line exegesis of the Zohar to ever appear, given its fusion of wisdom gained from the older religious commentaries and the fruits of modern critical scholarship."—Eitan P. Fishbane, Jewish Review of BooksTable of Contents@fmct:Contents @toc4:Foreword iii @tocca:Margot Pritzker @toc4:Translator's Introduction iii @tocca:Daniel C. Matt @toc4:Acknowledgments iii Diagram of the Ten Sefirot iii Introduction iii @tocca:Arthur Green @toc2: Haqdamat Sefer ha-Zohar 000 Parashat Be-Reshit 000 Parashat Noah 000 @toc4: List of Abbreviations 000 Transliteration of Hebrew and Aramaic 000 Glossary 000 Bibliography 000 Index 000 Library of Congress Subject Headings for this publication: Bible, O, T, Pentateuch Commentaries Early works to 1800, Cabala Early works to 1800, Zohar

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"Hasidism Incarnate offers a unique exploration of sensitive subjects, stressing the affinities between two religions widely perceived as staunch adversaries. Focusing on the Hasidic strand of Judaism, a strict orthodox sect, creates for Magid the space to make provocative arguments without giving the impression that he is a proponent of the problematic 'Judeo-Christian culture' school of thought." -- Adi Mahalel * H-Judaic *"For critical scholars of Hasidic thought, Magid's book has enormous potential to inspire fresh and more detailed studies of the genuinely radical ideas of both the Hasidic masters whose works he cites, as well as the treasury of literature produced by subsequent generations of Hasidic authors . . . Magid's book is overwhelmingly a work of scholarship, of original exegeses of arcane Hasidic texts." -- Allan Nadler * Marginalia *"But as Shaul Magid's fascinating new book Hasidism Incarnate shows, the deep religious structures of [Christianity and Judaism] may not always be as different as that first glance might suggest . . . Hasidism Incarnate offers a sophisticated approach to the thorny question of the differences between Jewish and Christian religious theology and practice . . . Hasidism Incarnate is a solid book about an important subject." -- Emily McAvan * Global Comment *"Hasidism Incarnate brings a fresh vision to one of the most fascinating modern religious movements and helps us to appreciates how revolutionary leaders such as R. Nahman of Bratslav truly were. Magid's subtle and sophisticated challenge to the habitual divide between Judaism and Christianity is pregnant with implications that transcend mere academic study and will help us to face some of the most interesting dilemmas of twenty-first century Western religion. His compelling book will be read and re-read by those drawn to Kabbalah and Hasidism and by anyone aspiring to comparative, imaginal, and embodied understandings of religion." -- Jonathan Garb * Hebrew University *

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Book SynopsisDespite its deceptively simple title, this book ponders the thorny issue of the place of the Bible in Jewish religion and culture. By thoroughly examining the complex link that the Jews have formed with the Bible, Jewish scholar Jean-Christophe Attias raises the uncomfortable question of whether it is still relevant for them. Jews and the Bible reveals how the Jews define themselves in various times and places with the Bible, without the Bible, and against the Bible. Is it divine revelation or national myth? Literature or legislative code? One book or a disparate library? Text or object? For the Jews, over the past two thousand years or more, the Bible has been all that and much more. In fact, Attias argues that the Bible is nothing in and of itself. Like the Koran, the Bible has never been anything other than what its readers make of it. But what they''ve made of it tells a fascinating story and raises provocative philosophical and ethical questioTrade Review"This beautifully written (and translated) monograph casts profound doubt on attempts to simplistically characterize the terms Jews and Bible or to view the relationship between them one dimensionally . . . Highly recommended."—L. J. Greenspoon, Choice"Professor Attias, a significant French intellectual and scholar of medieval Judaism, has written the first book that explores broadly the place of the Bible in Jewish culture throughout the ages. Engagingly written, this is an important initial foray into this broad and significant topic that raises important questions concerning the place of the Bible within contemporary Jewish culture."—Marc Brettler, Brandeis University"A study of the Jews' peculiar relationships with the Bible, Jean-Christophe Attias's The Jews and the Bible is an excellent companion to the recent crop of books on the Bible's construction....[They] tell us how the Bible came to be, Attias focuses on how it came to be regarded."—Jay Michaelson, The Forward

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Book SynopsisChallenges a number of key themes in Holocaust studies with new research. Taken together, these essays incorporate gender analysis, spatial thinking, and victim agency into Holocaust studies. In so doing, they move beyond existing notions of perpetrators, victims, and bystanders to portray the Holocaust as a complex and multilayered event.Trade Review“Tim Cole and Simone Gigliotti bring together a fascinating range of approaches from social history to cultural and migration and media studies, historical geography, literary studies, and linguistics. Their volume shows how methodological challenges of Holocaust scholarship can be addressed by taking on two scales of analysis—the microhistory of the individual and the mezzo-history of social groups.” —Natalia Aleksiun, author of Conscious History: Polish-Jewish Historians before the HolocaustTable of Contents Introduction: The Holocaust in the Twenty-First Century: Relevance and Challenges in the Digital Age, Tim Cole and Simone Gigliotti Part I. Tropes Reconsidered 1. Re-imagining the ‘gray zone’: Female Prisoner Functionaries in the Groß-Rosen Subcamps, 1944-45, Andrea Rudorff 2. The Muselmann Liberated: Impossible Holocaust Metaphors in Survivor Memoirs and Photography, Sharon B. Oster 3. Absent Presence, Pathological Afterimages, and the Aesthetics of Excrement, Holli Levitsky 4. When one door closes, another opens: The Demjanjuk Trials in Israel (1986-1993) and in Germany (2009-2011), Yehudit Dori-Deston Part II. Survival Strategies and Obstructions 5. The Geographies of Living Underground: Escape Routes and Hiding Spaces of Fugitive Jews in the Bavarian Countryside, 1939-1945, Susanna Schrafstetter 6. Bella Hazan Ya`ari: A Member of the Jewish Resistance in Pursuit of Self and a Future, Dalia Ofer 7. Migration Narratives of Holocaust Survivors in Chile, Colombia and Mexico, Lorena Avila, Nancy Nicholls, and Yael Siman Part III. Digital Methods, Digital Memory 8. A Different Approach to Microhistory: The Arrests of the Jews of the Vaucluse as Seen through Quantitative Prosopography, Adrien Dallaire 9. Mind the Gap: Reading Across the Holocaust Testimonial Archive, Anne Kelly Knowles, Paul B. Jaskot, Tim Cole, and Alberto Giordano 10. When the Index is Wrong: Exploring Black Holes in Victim Memory, Hannah Pollin-Galay 11. People, Places, Things: Considering the Role of Visitor Photography at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum”Meghan Lundrigan Author biographies

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"What triggers landmark events in history, Rubin explains, is often fictions that people believe, rather than incidents that actually took place. . . . With the flair of the ethnographer, Rubin taps into those perennial transpositions and transferences whereby groups of people are bonded together by invoking an alien other who arouses fear and dismay. . . . A powerful and moving book." * Lisa Jardine, New Statesman *

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Book SynopsisPresents a study of midrash - the biblical exegesis, parables, and anecdotes of the Rabbis. This work examines early, tannaitic legal midrash, focusing on the interpretive tradition associated with the figure of Rabbi Ishmael. It also locates the Rabbi Ishmael hermeneutic within the religious landscape of Second Temple and post-Temple literature.Trade Review"This is perhaps the most significant and innovative scholarly work on the halakhic midrashim in the past thirty years. The claims are extremely convincing, the scholarship is rigorous, and the writing is engaging. The conclusions repeatedly break new ground and dispel mistaken ideas that have been accepted among scholars. Most impressive, Yadin consistently displays a command of both textual expertise and theory." * Jeffrey L. Rubenstein, New York University *Table of ContentsPreface. Legal Midrash Introduction. On the Hermeneutical Dimension of Midrash Halakhah Chapter 1. Torah and Ha-Katuv Chapter 2. Inaction and Attention Chapter 3. Freedom and Restraint in Midrash Halakhah: Hermeneutical Markedness Chapter 4. The Role of Reader I Chapter 5. The Role of Reader II: Middot Chapter 6. Presponsive Torah Chapter 7. Rabbi Ishmael and the Rabbis Chapter 8. The Non-Rabbinic Landscape Notes Bibliography Index Acknowledgments

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Book SynopsisFollowing the Jewish Enlightenment, many eighteenth-century Jews chose not to observe the religious laws and customs that had earlier marked them as culturally different from their Christian peers. As the Jewish population became increasingly assimilated, an ultraorthodox movement also emerged, creating a discrete identity for a group within the Jewish community that opted not to move toward the mainstream but instead to embrace the traditional laws.By tracing the evolution of the approach of the Orthodox to their nonpracticing brethren, Adam S. Ferziger sheds new light on the emergence of Orthodoxy as a specific movement within modern Jewish society. In the course of this process, German Orthodoxy in particular articulated a new hierarchical vision of Jewish identity and the structure of modern Jewish society. Viewing Orthodox Judaism as no less a nineteenth-century phenomenon than Reform Judaism or Zionism, Ferziger looks at the ways it defined itself by its relationship to Trade Review"This book enhances our understanding of an essential feature in modern Orthodoxy that has heretofore been underemphasized. Ferziger's sociological approach to rabbinic responsa is rare in the English-language literature, and his theoretical framework is well thought out, clearly presented, and very useful." * Samuel Heilman *"This very nuanced and informed study charts Orthodox responses to concrete cases of nonobservance and deviant behavior in nineteenth-centruy central Europe and thereby traces the emergence of modern Orthodoxy." * American Historical Review *Table of ContentsPreface Introduction. The Emergence of Parallel Phenomena: Orthodox Judaism and the Modern Nonobservant Jew PART I. TRADITION, EXCLUSION, INCLUSION, AND HIERARCHY Introduction 1. A "Community of the Faithful": Hakham Zevi Hirsch Ashkenazi (1660-1718) and the Religious Pluralism of the Spanish-Portuguese Diaspora 2. The Forerunners of Orthodoxy 3. The Age of the Hatam Sofer: Early Nineteenth-Century Orthodoxy and the Emergence of Internal Boundaries 4. The Formulation of Hierarchical Judaism: Rabbi Jacob Ettlinger and the Nature of modern Jewish Identity PART II. VARIATIONS OF HIERARCHICAL JUDAISM: GERMAN ORTHODOXY IN THE LATE NINETEENTH CENTURY Introduction 5. The Hirschian Hierarchy: Communal Separation and the Nonobservant Jews 6. Bambergerian Unity and the Hierarchical Principle 7. The Conscious Hierarchy of Berlin Separatist Orthodoxy Conclusion: The Hierarchical Model and Orthodox Centers Outside of Germany Afterword Appendix: Pre-Modern Rabbinic Sources Regarding Non-Observance List of Abbreviations Notes Bibliography Index Acknowledgments

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Book SynopsisAccording to the account in the Book of Exodus, God addresses the children of Israel as they stand before Mt. Sinai with the words, You shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation (19:6). The sentence, Martha Himmelfarb observes, is paradoxical, for priests are by definition a minority, yet the meaning in context is clear: the entire people is holy. The words also point to some significant tensions in the biblical understanding of the people of Israel. If the entire people is holy, why does it need priests? If membership in both people and priesthood is a matter not of merit but of birth, how can either the people or its priests hope to be holy? How can one reconcile the distance between the honor due the priest and the actual behavior of some who filled the role? What can the people do to make itself truly a kingdom of priests?Himmelfarb argues that these questions become central in Second Temple Judaism. She considers a range of texts from this period, including thTable of ContentsIntroduction 1. Priest and Scribe: Ancestry and Professional Skill in the Book of the Watchers, the Wisdom of Ben Sira, and Aramaic Levi 2. Jubilees' Kingdom of Priests 3. Priesthood and Purity Laws: The Temple Scroll and the Damascus Document 4. Priesthood and Sectarianism: The Rule of the Community, the Damascus Document, and the Book of Revelation 5. Priesthood and Allegory: Philo and Alexandrian Judaism 6. "The Children of Abraham Your Friend": The End of Priesthood, the Rise of Christianity, and the Neutralization of Jewish Sectarianism Acknowledgments Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisWritten in Judeo-Arabic in eleventh-century Muslim Spain but quickly translated into Hebrew, Bahya Ibn Paquda''s Duties of the Heart is a profound guidebook of Jewish spirituality that has enjoyed tremendous popularity and influence to the present day. Readers who know the book primarily in its Hebrew version have likely lost sight of the work''s original Arabic context and its immersion in Islamic mystical literature. In A Sufi-Jewish Dialogue, Diana Lobel explores the full extent to which Duties of the Heart marks the flowering of the Jewish-Arab symbiosis, the interpenetration of Islamic and Jewish civilizations.Lobel reveals Bahya as a maverick who integrates abstract negative theology, devotion to the inner life, and an intimate relationship with a personal God. Bahya emerges from her analysis as a figure so steeped in Islamic traditions that an Arabic reader could easily think he was a Muslim, yet the traditional Jewish seeker has always looked to hiTrade Review"An ambitious attempt to fill a long-standing lacuna in the history of Jewish thought by presenting a synthesis and evaluation of Bahya in his intellectual context. It draws on over a century of scholarship, suggests some new sources for Bahya and new readings of old sources, and offers an interpretation of his thought." * Charles H. Manekin, University of Maryland *"This manuscript contains a subtle, probing, and rich exposition of the key issue of devotional self-examination within Jewish and Islamic mysticism. The author has a superb sense of Arabic, Sufi mystical psychology, and the extraordinary dialogue (sometimes openly acknowledged, often left unacknowledged) among Jewish, Islamic, Christian, and Greek traditions at the time of Ibn Paquda." * Michael Sells, University of Chicago *"Lobel illustrates the power of philology in the best sense. Her critical ear for the nuances and history of Arabo- Islamic terminology . . . enables her to probe the deep structural penetration of Sufi ideas in the work of Jewish thinkers and seekers. To put it another way, A Sufi-Jewish Dialogue traces the process by which Arabo-Islamic conceptual frames are imported into Judaism through shared use of the Arabic language. . . . Lobel is keenly attuned to the historical dimension of the work and its place in the cultural and intellectual history of the Jews of al-Andalus and all of Islam." * The Medieval Review *Table of ContentsPreface Introduction:Bahya's Work in Its Judeo-Arabic Context Chapter 1. Philosophical Mysticism in Eleventh-Century Spain: Bahya and Ibn Gabirol Chapter 2. On the Lookout: The Exegesis of a Sufi Tale Chapter 3. Creation Chapter 4. The One Chapter 5. Speaking about God: Divine Attributes, Biblical Language, and Biblical Exegesis Chapter 6. The Contemplation of Creation (I'tibār) Chapter 7. Wholehearted Devotion (Ikhlās): Purification of Unity (Ikhlās al-Tawhid), Purification of Intention in Action (Ikhlās al-'Amal) Chapter 8. Reason, Law, and the Way of the Spirit Chapter 9. The Spirituality of the Law Chapter 10. Awareness, Love, and Reverence (Murāqaba, Mahabba, Hayba/Yir'ah) List of Abbreviations Notes Bibliography Index Acknowledgments

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Book SynopsisThe Censor, the Editor, and the Text examines the impact of Catholic censorship on the publication and dissemination of Hebrew literature in the early modern period. Raz-Krakotzkin argues that the regulation of Hebrew print provided an avenue for the integration of Hebrew literature into the Christian corpus.Trade Review"An important book, one that makes us reflect on past conclusions. . . . Raz-Krakotzkin writes history by emphasizing the nuances and inconsistencies intrinsic to cultural change and acculturation, a method that is not to be superciliously dismissed. If readers follow the author's own careful lead, they will be well rewarded." * Association for Jewish Studies Review *"In this brilliantly argued book, Amnon Raz-Krakotzkin seeks to explain the role of Catholic censors within two contexts: their place within the church's institutional quest to set boundaries of "permitted knowledge" and to reshape the boundaries of Catholic orthodoxy on the one hand, and their role in reshaping Jewish texts on the other." * Humanities and Social Sciences Online *"The history of Jewish publishing and reading practices is often ignored by the scholars working on Western scribal and print cultures. This book can help them to understand the multiple connections that existed between Catholic authorities, Christian printers and publishers, convert editors and censors, and Jewish readers during the sixteenth century. Raz-Krakotzkin stresses the role of censorship not only as a repressive institution but also as an agent in the construction of a repertoire of canonical works and in the collective production of the texts themselves." * Roger Chartier *Table of ContentsIntroduction: Censorship and the Transition to Print Chapter 1. The Burning of the Talmud Chapter 2. The Institutionalization of the Censorship of Hebrew Literature Chapter 3. From Polemics to Censorship: The Development of the Expurgation of Written Culture Chapter 4. Censorship and its Role in the Printing of the Hebrew Book Chapter 5. From Polemic to Body of Knowledge—Sefer Hazikkuk and the Hebrew Text Conclusion: Hebraism, Censorship, and Modernization Notes Bibliography Index Acknowledgments

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Book SynopsisThe first few decades of the eighteenth century witnessed an important moment in Jewish-Christian relations, as influential Christian scholars increasingly looked to Jewish texts to reveal the truths of their own faith. To what extent could postbiblical writings help them better understand the New Testament? And who would best be able to explicate these connections?Connecting the Covenants focuses on two separate but entwined stories, the first centering around the colorful character of Moses Marcus. The English-born son of wealthy parents and the grandson of the famous autobiographical author Glikl of Hameln, Marcus was a prominent Jew educated in the Ashkenazic yeshivah at Hamburg. On New Year''s Day, 1723, Marcus was baptized as a Christian, later publishing a justification of his conversion and a vindication of his newly discovered faith in a small book in London. A trophy convert, he was promoted by figures at the highest levels of the Anglican Church as a culturalTrade Review"Connecting the Covenants uses previously untapped archival sources and little-studied printed books to explore an important episode in the early eighteenth century 'battle of the books.' It sheds light on the famous debate between Ancients and Moderns as well as the status of the Bible in early Enlightenment thought. At the same time, Ruderman uncovers a fascinating episode in the history of European Jewry and Jewish-Christian intellectual relations. Connecting the Covenants is compelling as both narrative and history." * Matt Goldish, The Ohio State University *Table of ContentsIntroduction Chapter 1. Covenants Connected and Unconnected: David Nieto and His Anglican Adversaries, Humphrey Prideaux and Moses Marcus Chapter 2. Moses Marcus's Conversion to Christianity Chapter 3. The Career of Moses Marcus in London: An Expert on Judaism and a Defender of Religious Orthodoxy Chapter 4. Restoring the "True Text" of the Old Testament: William Whiston and His Critics, Johann Carpzov and Moses Marcus Chapter 5. Anthony Collins's Attack on William Whiston: Could the Rabbis Ultimately Rescue Christianity from Its Own Exegetical Crisis? Chapter 6. On the Proper Education of an English Divine: William Wotton and His Learned Friends Conclusion Appendix 1. The Dutch Edition of Moses Marcus's Conversionary Treatise Appendix 2. Constructing a Genealogy of a Christian Scholarly Discipline: William Wotton's History of Christian Writers on the Legal Writings of the Jews Notes Index Acknowledgments

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Book SynopsisThis study examines the concept of yetzer hara, or evil inclination. Analyzing the some one hundred and fifty appearances of the yetzer in rabbinic literature, Rosen-Zvi contends that the term should not be read under the traditional rubric of sexual desire, but rather in the context of ancient Jewish demonology.Trade Review"In addition to comprehensive analysis of the classical rabbinic literature on the evil yetzer, and the changing perceptions of it, Rosen-Zvi traces related developments in early Christian literature, especially within the trajectories of asceticism and monasticism of the Alexandrian tradition" * Jewish Book World *"Rosen-Zvi's learned book opens up new vistas for the discussion of Jewish theological anthropology. His careful philological work traces the numerous connections between rabbinic and early Christian conceptions of human nature and sin. Ultimately, Rosen-Zvi emphatically endorses the view that the rabbinic conception of the human person is fundamentally optimistic." * Jewish Review of Books *"Demonic Desires analyzes a crucial element of late antique Jewish religious thought, the concept of the yetzer hara. Rosen-Zvi aims to correct misplaced assumptions about the yetzer, in terms of both anachronistic readings of the rabbinic tradition and misleading comparisons made between the yetzer and other aspects of late antique religious thought in the Hellenistic world. The book is a valuable contribution to an important area of study." * Columba Stewart, Saint John's School of Theology Seminary *Table of ContentsIntroduction. The Riddle, or: How Did the Evil Yetzer Become a Mighty King? Chapter 1. "The Torah Spoke Regarding the Yetzer": Tannaitic Literature Chapter 2. Yetzer and Other Demons: Patristic Parallels Chapter 3. Yetzer at Qumran: Proto-Rabbinic? Chapter 4. Coming of Age: Amoraic Yetzer Chapter 5. Refuting the Yetzer: The Limits of Rabbinic Discursive Worlds Chapter 6. Sexualizing the Yetzer Chapter 7. Weak Like a Female, Strong Like a Male: Yetzer and Gender Afterword: Toward a Genealogy of the Rabbinic Subject Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisFor much of the twentieth century, most religious and secular Jewish thinkers believed that they were witnessing a steady, ongoing movement toward secularization. Toward the end of the century, however, as scholars and pundits began to speak of the global resurgence of religion, the normalization of secularism could no longer be considered inevitable. Recent decades have seen the strengthening of Orthodox movements in the United States and in Israel; religious Zionism has grown and radically changed since the 1960s, and new and vibrant nondenominational Jewish movements have emerged.Secularism in Question examines the ways these contemporary revivals of religion prompt a reconsideration of many issues concerning Jews and Judaism from the early modern era to the present. Bringing together scholars of history, religion, philosophy, and literature, this volume illustrates how the categories of religious and secular have frequently proven far more permeable than fixed. The Trade Review"Ari Joskowicz and Ethan Katz have offered an embarrassment of riches in this fine volume . . . of collected essays of such uniformly high quality and originality . . . The overall virtue of this book is to challenge and revise a number of shopworn assumptions in the study of Jewish secularism. Rather than regarding the secularization of the Jews as solely the product of external forces, the authors here are attentive to the inner dynamics of this process. But they-and especially the editors in their introduction-are also aware of the need for a comparative approach to the subject." * Politics, Religion & Ideology *"This volume has an excellent subject and an important agenda . . . [It] aspires to e-imagine the field by challenging 'the very terms that animate many of the most contentious debates in contemporary Jewish life.' It is surprisingly successful in doing so." * Journal of Contemporary History *"This is an important book. It deals intelligently with the issues of secularism from many different perspectives and contexts and will be of great interest to students and scholars of modernization, Jewish studies, and religion." * Richard I. Cohen, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem *Table of ContentsIntroduction. Rethinking Jews and Secularism —Ari Joskowicz and Ethan Katz PART I. NARRATIONS Chapter 1. "Our Rabbi Baruch": Spinoza and Radical Jewish Enlightenment —Daniel B. Schwartz Chapter 2. Reading Mendelssohn in Late Ottoman Palestine: An Islamic Theory of Jewish Secularism —Jonathan Marc Gribetz Chapter 3. Tradition and the Hidden: Hannah Arendt's Secularization of Jewish Mysticism —Vivian Liska PART II. TRANSFORMATIONS Chapter 4. Messianism Without Messiah: Messianism, Religion, and Secularization in Modern Jewish Thought —Christoph Schulte Chapter 5. In the Name of the Devil: Reading Walter Benjamin's "Agesilaus Santander" —Galili Shahar Chapter 6. The Secular and Its Dissonances in Modern Jewish Literature —Michal Ben-Horin Chapter 7. Civil Society, Secularization, and Modernity Among Jews in Turn-of-the-Century Eastern Europe —Scott Ury Chapter 8. Secular French Nationhood and Its Discontents: Jews as Muslims and Religion as Race in Occupied France —Ethan Katz PART III. ADAPTATIONS Chapter 9. Galician Haskalah and the Discourse of Schwärmerei —Rachel Manekin Chapter 10. Secularism and Neo-Orthodoxy: Conflicting Strategies in Modern Orthodox Fiction —Eva Lezzi Chapter 11. Secularism and Nationalism: The Modern Halakhic Discourse on the Identity and Boundaries of the Jewish Community —Arye Edrei PART IV. NEW CONCEPTIONS: A FORUM Chapter 12. Between Supersessionism and Atavism: Toward a Neosecular View of Religion —David N. Myers Chapter 13. Secularism, the Christian Ambivalence Toward the Jews, and the Notion of Exile —Amnon Raz-Krakotzkin Chapter 14. "Eleven Calendars": Beyond Secular Time —Andrea Schatz Notes List of Contributors Index

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"[A] phenomenal and ground-breaking volume...This book should be on the bookshelf of any and every rabbi, minister, priest, Sunday School teacher, instructor in Judaism and/or Christianity in modern times, Christian divinity students, Jewish seminarians, and laypersons who care to cultivate the love and compassion taught by precept and example in the very best of Judaism and Christianity, from the time of Jesus to the present. Teachers and students who study Magid’s book will learn to appreciate that the until now relatively obscure Rabbi Elijah Zvi Soloveitchik was a vital link in that chain of love. Thanks are due Shaul Magid for making him known to the world at large." * The Review of Rabbinic Judaism *"The Bible, the Talmud, and the New Testament is a fascinating book on one of the most intriguing and forgotten rabbinic characters of the nineteenth century. Elijah Soloveitchik was, to be sure, an idiosyncratic figure, but the story of his life and work is extremely instructive for those interested in the Jewish Enlightenment as well as Jewish-Christian relations today." * Ishay Rosen-Zvi, Tel Aviv University *Table of ContentsForeword, by Peter Salovey Introduction: Elijah Zvi Soloveitchik, the Jewish Jesus, Christianity, and the Jews A Note on the Text A Translator's Foreword, by Jordan Gayle Levy The Commentaries Dedication A Word to the Reader Author's Preface The Gospel According to Matthew, with Commentary The Gospel According to Mark, with Commentary Bibliography Acknowledgments

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"Tartakoff's work is groundbreaking. She confirms the processes that shaped the idea of medieval conversion and its practices. She has uncovered its porosity, its cultural fluidity, its interactions, and its connectivity. As among early modern Jews and Christians, the past life of converts could not be eradicated and continued to remain potentially threatening. Without a doubt, this book furthers our understanding considerably not only of the Norwich circumcision case, but of medieval Jewish and Christian conversion in general. It provides an indispensable tool for anyone interested in the subject." * Antisemitism Studies *"Paola Tartakoff is an important voice in the flourishing new scholarship on Jewish-Christian conversions. In this ambitious book she continues her investigation into the social realties of interreligious conversions, turning the spotlight to another aspect this phenomenon that received little attention—the conversion of Christians to Judaism… This impressive book will no doubt become a starting point to any future research on Jewish apostasy among Christians in the Middle Ages. Not only does it assemble the largest collection of allusions to this phenomenon, it also makes a decisive historiographical statement as to its multi-dimensional nature." * Medieval Encounters *"Tartakoff offers a nuanced exploration of how Christians and Jews thought about these compelling yet dangerous movements between faiths. Tartakoff adopts the pioneering approach of intertwining the study of Christian conversion to Judaism with that of Jewish conversion to Christianity . . . By exploring conversion as a bidirectional phenomenon, she offers new insight into both the experiences of converts and the multifaceted attitudes of both communities toward conversion. Her careful delineation of the parallels and divergences between converts paints a portrait of religious transformation, change, and fluidity that is at once broadly synthetic and richly detailed." * Digital Philology *"In her original and impressively researched investigation of medieval Jewish and Christian understandings of religious identity, Paola Tartakoff shows how a single conversion could affect families and entire communities in unpredictable ways. Specialists will welcome the volume of evidence she brings from both archival and published sources, as well as her elegant and persuasive exposition of the critical role of conversion in worsening relationships between Christians and Jews across thirteenth- and fourteenth-century Europe. Non-specialists will find this study entirely accessible." * Robert Stacey, University of Washington *Table of ContentsNote on Usage Introduction Chapter 1. Christian Vulnerabilities Chapter 2. From Circumcision to Ritual Murder Chapter 3. Christian Conversion to Judaism Chapter 4. Return to Judaism Chapter 5. Contested Children Conclusion List of Abbreviations Notes Bibliography Index Acknowledgments

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewThe most important contribution of Jews and Journeys is its focus on those dynamics of Jewish travel literature that upend basic assumptions of much recent scholarship about travel. * Jewish Review of Books *How do Jewish travel narratives function as a vehicle of cultural self-perception? This question serves as a guiding principle for all the contributions in this volume, which presents a longue durée of Jewish travel writing from biblical times to the present. Jews and Journeys is a timely and relevant volume, speaking to a trend in Jewish historiography that looks increasingly beyond the local and towards transnational and cross-cultural connections. * Matthias Lehmann, University of California, Irvine *

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Book SynopsisAfter their expulsion from Spain in 1492, Sephardi Jews such as Isaac Abravanel, Abraham Saba, and Isaac Arama wrote biblical commentaries that stressed the significance of land. They interpreted Judaism as a tradition whose best expression and ultimate fulfillment took place away from cities and in rural settings. Iberian-Jewish authors rooted their moral teachings in an ethical treatment of the natural world, elucidating ancient agricultural laws and scrutinizing the physical context and built environments of Bible stories. The Land Is Mine asks what inspired this and suggests that the answer lies not in timeless exegetical or theological trends, but in the material realities of late medieval and early modern Iberia, during a period of drastic changes in land use.The book uses a highly traditional source base in a decidedly untraditional way. In Jewish Studies, Andrew D. Berns observes, biblical commentary is typically studied as an intramural activity. Though scholarTrade Review"The Land is Mine both challenges typical methodological approaches to medieval Jewish Bible commentaries and introduces a wider body of readers to its medieval Jewish protagonists –Abraham Saba, Isaac Arama and Isaac Abravanel – in elegant translation; a welcome addition across fields." * Journal of Jewish Studies *

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Book SynopsisExplores one of the major issues in Holocaust studies - the intersection of memory and ethics in artistic expression, particularly within literature. This work examines the shifting cultural contexts for Holocaust representation and reveals how writers articulate the shadowy borderline between fact and fiction, and between event and expression.Trade Review"Bringing together some of the best known thinkers in the field of Holocaust literary studies, this volume will quickly become required reading for advanced undergraduates, graduate students and scholars of the Shoah."— Irene Kacandes, co-editor of Teaching the Representation of the Holocaust "A provocative and engaging volume." — Holocaust and Genocide StudiesTable of ContentsPreface Introduction Part One. Is the Holocaust Still to Be Written? The Holocaust, History Writing, and the Role of Fiction Nostalgia and the Holocaust Death in Language Oskar Rosenfeld and Historiographic Realism (including Sex, Shit, and Status) Part Two. A Question for Aesthetics? Nazi Aesthetics in Historical Context Writing Ruins "If I forget thee, O Jerusalem" Part Three. Does Culture Influence Memory? The Holocaust and the Economy of Memory, from Bellow to Morrison (The Technique of Figurative Allegory) "And in the Distance You Hear Music, a Band Playing" Reading Heart of Darkness after the Holocaust Theorizing the Perpetrator in Bernhard Schlink's The Reader and Martin Amis's Time's Arrow

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Trade Review"Thompson’s book is an original and powerfully suggestive intervention in the scholarship on intermarriage. Her argument is fresh and sound. She is particularly persuasive presenting her compelling ethnographic material." -- Deborah Dash Moore * Frederick G. L. Huetwell Professor of History, University of Michigan *"Jewish on Their Own Terms challenges the prevailing intermarriage paradigm by examining the lived experience of intermarried couples and analyzing the meaning and impact of intermarriage discourse in the Jewish community." -- Bruce Phillips * Hebrew Union College *"Thompson explores the ways in which individuals and couples directly involved in and affected by intermarriage define themselves, their perspectives on their own Jewishness, and their attempts at juggling the larger questions of individualism and communal responsibilities. Recommended." * Choice *"To read Thompson's work is to see clearly the imperative facing American Jewish institutions." * H-Judaic *"Thompson’s book is an original and powerfully suggestive intervention in the scholarship on intermarriage. Her argument is fresh and sound. She is particularly persuasive presenting her compelling ethnographic material." -- Deborah Dash Moore * Frederick G. L. Huetwell Professor of History, University of Michigan *"Jewish on Their Own Terms challenges the prevailing intermarriage paradigm by examining the lived experience of intermarried couples and analyzing the meaning and impact of intermarriage discourse in the Jewish community." -- Bruce Phillips * Hebrew Union College *"Thompson explores the ways in which individuals and couples directly involved in and affected by intermarriage define themselves, their perspectives on their own Jewishness, and their attempts at juggling the larger questions of individualism and communal responsibilities. Recommended." * Choice *"To read Thompson's work is to see clearly the imperative facing American Jewish institutions." * H-Judaic *Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsIntroduction 1 Defining Judaism by Debating Intermarriage 2 American Contradictions: Conversations about Self and Community 3 “What You Are” and “What’s in Your Heart” 4 Translating Jewish Experience 5 Sovereign Selves in a Fractured Community 6 Moving Forward, Inconclusively: The Crisis of Jewish Identity AfterwordNotes References Index

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Book SynopsisThe set of Jewish mystical teachings known as Kabbalah are often imagined as timeless texts, teachings that have been passed down through the millennia. Yet, as this groundbreaking new study shows, Kabbalah flourished in a specific time and place, emerging in response to the social prejudices that Jews faced.Trade Review"This book is an exceptionally fresh and significant contribution. It is an important corrective to the tendency to sublimate social history to the history of ideas." -- Marc Michael Epstein * Vassar College *"Lachter's work is a compelling and important study of the manner in which Kabbalah responded to political and cultural pressures in Castile at a time of striking proliferation of kabbalistic literature." -- Jonathan Dauber * professor of Jewish mysticism, Yeshiva University *"A worthwhile and edifying contribution to contemporary scholarship on medieval Jewish mysticism." * H-Judaic *"Lachter succeeds admirably in moving scholarship forward." * AJS Review *Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsIntroduction: Kabbalistic Writing in Late Thirteenth-Century Castile1 Masters of Secrets: Claiming Power with Concealed Knowledge2 Secrets of the Cosmos: Creating a Kabbalistic Universe3 Secrets of the Self: Kabbalistic Anthropology and Divine Mystery4 Jewish Bodies and Divine Power: Theurgy and Jewish Law5 Prayer Above and Below: Kabbalistic Constructions of the Power of Jewish WorshipConclusionPostscript—Cultural Logics: Kabbalah, Then and NowNotesBilbiographyIndex

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Book SynopsisThis volume reconsiders the history of Zionism through the lens of emotion. By highlighting the series of emotional states that are key to any national or social movement, including the Zionist project, Penslar shows how Zionism is distinct for the breadth and depth of feeling of those engaged in it, of outside observers, and of its opponents.Trade Review"[W]ith great care and clarity...Derek Penslar’s Zionism: An Emotional State, zero[es] in on those emotions, like love and fear, which are so seldom acknowledged for what they are but play an outsize role in shaping politics." -- Robert Zaretsky * The Atlantic *“Derek Penslar has written a brave and thought-provoking book that seeks to understand the well-springs of hope and belief in Zionism. Yet he does not shy away from less attractive passions, especially hatred in the name of Zionism and hatred of Zionism itself. Anyone keen to understand the way such deep emotions animate and shape history must read this compelling book.” -- Ruth Harris * author of Dreyfus: Politics, Emotion, and the Scandal of the Century *“Derek Penslar’s masterfully written history of emotions adds a whole new dimension to our understanding of both Zionism and the State of Israel and is crucial reading for anyone interested in grasping the nature of modern nationalism.” -- Michael Brenner * author of In Search of Israel: The History of an Idea *“Derek Penslar introduces a ‘new key’ to the history of Zionism with his examination of the emotions involved, helping us understand the passionate dynamics of both Zionist and anti-Zionist sensibilities as they have emerged and developed over time. This is a must read.” -- Ute Frevert * author of Emotions in History—Lost and Found *"For a topic as contentious and complex as Zionism, Penslar’s expertise, sober voice, and informed critique shine through as he provides a much-needed addition to ongoing debates that touch at the heart of Jewish identity today." -- Shaul Magid * author of Meir Kahane: The Public Life and Political Thought of an American Jewish Radical *"Perhaps the finest book on Zionism written in recent memory. This slim, brilliant volume probes with rare equanimity every volatile corner of this topic with its focus squarely on why it generates such promiscuous, even universal heat. Derek Penslar is an outstanding historian who knows so well how to marshal knowledge of the past to illuminate the aching complexities of the present." -- Steven J. Zipperstein * author of Pogrom: Kishinev and the Tilt of History *“If you think you understand Zionism, read this book and think again. Carefully, elegantly and with tremendous erudition, Derek Penslar takes an ideology many think they understand and illuminates it in a fascinating new way.” -- Peter Beinart * author of The Crisis of Zionism *"Why does Zionism evoke such intense passions? Because as much as it is a political and ideological movement, it is also an emotional movement. Penslar has outdone himself with this intriguing history of the emotions of Zionism's champions and its adversaries." -- Susannah Heschel * author of The Aryan Jesus: Christian Theologians and the Bible in Nazi Germany *Table of ContentsContents Introduction Part I: Terms of Debate Chapter One: Staging Zionism Part II: State of the Question Chapter Two: Zionism as Colonialism Part III: In a New Key Chapter Three: Zionism to 1948: Passion and Solidarity Chapter Four: Zionism since 1948: A Great Romance Chapter Five: Zionism and the International Community: From Gratitude to Betrayal Chapter Six: Hating Zionism Conclusion Acknowledgments Notes For Further Reading Index

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Book SynopsisThe Hebrew Goddess demonstrates that the Jewish religion, far from being pure monotheism, contained from earliest times strong polytheistic elements, chief of which was the cult of the mother goddess. Lucidly written and richly illustrated, this third edition contains new chapters of the Shekhina.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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Book SynopsisFocusing on the experiences of religious women who participated in a midrasha at Bar-Ilan University, this book explores the spreading practice of intensive Judaic studies among women in the religious Zionist community.

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Book SynopsisA comprehensive study of Jewish magic in late antiquity and the early Islamic period—the phenomenon, the sources, and method for its research, and the history of scholarly investigation into its nature and origin.

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Book SynopsisHalf a century after Hasidism blossomed in Eastern Europe, its members were making deep inroads into the institutional structure of Polish Jewish communities, but some devotees believed that the movement had drifted away from its revolutionary ideals. Menashe Unger's A Fire Burns in Kotsk dramatizes this moment of division among Polish Hasidim in this historical account.

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Book SynopsisThrough the ages, theology in Judaism has played roles of varying importance. But the role of theology is minor compared with that of law and observance. This book is devoted to a study of the evolution of normative Judaism from the time of Ezra (ca. 400 B.C.) to Judah I, the Prince (ca. 200 A.D.). Its focus on law represents a realistic approach to the history of applied Judaism.

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Book SynopsisAddresses for the first time the complex relationships between American Jews and Germany over the fifty years following the end of World War II, and examines American Jewry's' ambiguous attitude toward Germany that continues despite sociological and generational changes within the community.

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Book SynopsisAgainst the gloomy forecast of ‘The Vanishing Diaspora’, the end of the second millennium saw the global emergence of a dazzling array of Jewish cultural initiatives, institutional modalities, and individual practices. This volume explores the global transformations of Jewishness, which give renewed meaning to identity, tradition, and politics.

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Book SynopsisAgainst the gloomy forecast of The Vanishing Diaspora, the end of the second millennium saw the global emergence of a dazzling array of Jewish cultural initiatives, institutional modalities, and individual practices. These Jewish Revival and Jewish Renewal projects are led by Jewish NGOs and philanthropic organizations, the Orthodox Teshuva (return to the fold) movement and its well-known emissary Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidism, and alternative cultural initiatives that promote what can be termed lifestyle Judaism. This range between institutionalized revival movements and ephemeral event-driven projects circumscribes a diverse space of creative agency, which calls for a bottom-up empirical analysis of cultural creativity and the re-invention of Jewish tradition worldwide. Indeed, the trope of a Jewish Renaissance has become both a descriptive category of an increasingly popular and scholarly discourse across the globe, and a prescriptive model for social action. This volume explores the gl

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Book SynopsisPresents essays mapping the history of relief parcels sent to Jewish prisoners during World War II. More than Parcels: Wartime Aid for Jews in Nazi-Era Camps and Ghettos explores the horrors of the Holocaust by focusing on the systematic starvation of Jewish civilians confined to Nazi ghettos and camps.Trade Review"More than Parcels is an impressive and readable anthology on a topic that has not played a major role in historical research for a long time..." - SEHEPUNKTE Online Journal [translated from German]

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Book SynopsisThe image of the West looms large in the American imagination. Yet the history of American Jewry and particularly of American Jewish women - has been heavily weighted toward the East. This book traces the history and contributions of Jewish women in the American West.Trade Review"[This book] is a landmark of scholarship in Western Womens history." * Oregon Historical Quarterly *"Jeanne E. Abrams enriches our understanding of Jewish women and the ways in which, through practical and spiritual commitments, they promoted Judadism, extended the reach of its rituals, spread knowledge of its tenets, and guaranteed their faith a permanent and vibrant presence in the American West." * American Jewish History *"Respected authority Abrams breaks new ground with this work broadly researched in newspapers, memoirs, correspondence, other archival materials, and a vast secondary literature." * Choice *"Abrams has written a sweeping, challenging, and provocative history of Jewish women in the American West. . . . Overall, Jewish Women is a pathbreaking work. . . . It is a fast and engrossing read. As a piece of scholarly writing it should be required reading in any course on the American West that seeks to broaden the definition of what it means to be a Westerner." * Colorado Book Review Center *"Abrams pathbreaking study is filled with remarkable stories, attesting to the fact that Jewish women played a prominent role in commerce, politics, education, the professions, and religious life." * Reform Judaism *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction: A View from the West 1 From the Old Country to the New Land: "Going West" 2 Building a Foundation 3 From Generation to Generation 4 Religious Lives of Jewish Women in the West 5 From "Women's Work" to Working Women 6 Scaling the Ivy Walls and into the Professions 7 Entering the Political World Conclusion: Opening New Doors Notes Bibliography Index About the Author

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Book SynopsisBrings together two often neglected topics in the study of American Jews the roles of women and of Jewish communities outside the Northeast. This book traces the history and contributions of Jewish women in the American West. It contains stories from the memoirs and records of Jewish pioneer women.Trade Review"[This book] is a landmark of scholarship in Western Womens history." * Oregon Historical Quarterly *"Jeanne E. Abrams enriches our understanding of Jewish women and the ways in which, through practical and spiritual commitments, they promoted Judadism, extended the reach of its rituals, spread knowledge of its tenets, and guaranteed their faith a permanent and vibrant presence in the American West." * American Jewish History *"Respected authority Abrams breaks new ground with this work broadly researched in newspapers, memoirs, correspondence, other archival materials, and a vast secondary literature." * Choice *"Abrams has written a sweeping, challenging, and provocative history of Jewish women in the American West. . . . Overall, Jewish Women is a pathbreaking work. . . . It is a fast and engrossing read. As a piece of scholarly writing it should be required reading in any course on the American West that seeks to broaden the definition of what it means to be a Westerner." * Colorado Book Review Center *"Abrams pathbreaking study is filled with remarkable stories, attesting to the fact that Jewish women played a prominent role in commerce, politics, education, the professions, and religious life." * Reform Judaism *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction: A View from the West 1 From the Old Country to the New Land: "Going West" 2 Building a Foundation 3 From Generation to Generation 4 Religious Lives of Jewish Women in the West 5 From "Women's Work" to Working Women 6 Scaling the Ivy Walls and into the Professions 7 Entering the Political World Conclusion: Opening New Doors Notes Bibliography Index About the Author

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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Book SynopsisProviding a discussion of the Jewish experience in Mediterranean and Western societies over the last 2000 years, these papers concentrate on the doctrinal substance of the Jewish-Christian dispute in the order that it developed.

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Book SynopsisProviding a discussion of the Jewish experience in Mediterranean and Western societies over the last 2000 years, these papers concentrate on the doctrinal substance of the Jewish-Christian dispute in the order that it developed.

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Book SynopsisProvides a portrait of East European and American Jewish life in the immigrant generation at the turn of the twentieth century.Trade ReviewA treasure trove of Yiddish autobiographical gems available for the first time in English. These heartfelt and moving narratives reveal the rich, complex and multi-textured experience of the East European Jewish immigrant milieu. The masterful translations rendered by Cohen and Soyer capture the lyric, sophisticated and often times profound dimensions of the writers' contributions. To this considerable achievement, Cohen and Soyer add a valuable introductory essay and detailed notes that make the book accessible to students, researchers and thoughtful readers alike. This volume plugs a significant gap in the field of modern Jewish studies and belongs in every library collection, where it will update and complement classics like A Bintel Brief and World of Our Fathers -- Mark A. Raider,author of American Jewish Women and the Zionist Enterprise and The Plough Woman: Records of the Pioneer Women of PalestineCohen and Soyer have done a masterful job of collecting and translating these gripping immigrant narratives. A must read for anyone interested in immigration, American history, or the Jewish experience in America. -- Beth S. Wenger,Katz Family Chair in American Jewish History, University of PennsylvaniaTable of ContentsAcknowledgments vii A Note on Annotations and Transliteration xi Introduction: Yiddish Social Science and Jewish Immigrant Autobiography Jocelyn Cohen and Daniel Soyer * 1 Success or Failure? Minnie Goldstein * 2 Why I Came to America Ben Reisman * 3 I Have Nothing to Complain About Shmuel Krone * 4 Why I Left My Old Home and What I Have Accomplished in America Aaron Domnitz * 5 What Drove Me to America and My Experiences in Europe and America Rose Schoenfeld * 6 My Future Is in America Rose Silverman * 7 The Movies Pale in Comparison Bertha Fox * 8 Why I Left the Old Country and What I Have Accomplished in America Chaim Kusnetz 9 I Haven't Lost Anything by Coming to America Minnie Kusnetz Glossary Index About the Editors

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