In the Middle Ages, as today, writing a book was difficult, and it was even harder to retract or amend things that had already been written and made public. Could an author ensure that the revisions made to their work would reach everyone who held a copy? In the book Postscript: Three Medieval Authors Correcting Their Own Books , the author examines the revisions made to their works by three medieval scholars—Rabbi Isaac Alfasi (the Rif), Rabbi Zedekiah of Rome, and Rabbi Hillel ben Eliakim—and the extent of their success in updating the text of their books across the entire Jewish diaspora. Based on all known manuscripts of the three works, the book investigates which copies preserve the revised version and which ones transcribe the initial text, which the author himself had already rejected and sought to replace.

Rabbi Joseph Rosen (1858–1936), known as "the Rogatchover," author of the Zaphnath Paaneah books of Lomdus, was a revered Talmudic genius, a rabbi of a Hasidic community, an original Halakhic authority, and one of the most colorful rabbinic figures in modern Europe. The Zaphnath Paaneah: Lomdus Meets Philosophy is the first academic study dedicated to his thought, and it deals with the fascinating interaction in his writings between Talmudic scholarship and Halakhic analysis (Lomdus) on the one hand, and ideas from philosophical and academic sources on the other. This interaction developed in his work largely through his engagement with Maimonides' Guide to the Perplexed and its commentators. In its scope, richness, systematic nature, and originality, this interaction is unprecedented in the history of rabbinic literature. Alongside the prominent influence of Aristotelian and Maimonidean philosophy, the Rogatchover's learned Halakhic thought engaged in direct dialogue with additional schools of thought and a broad spectrum of thinkers: the Mutakallimun, Averroes, Moses Narboni, Spinoza, and figures from the Haskalah movement – Isaac Satanow, Salomon Maimon, and Samuel David Luzzatto (Shadal). The Zaphnath Paaneah: Lomdus Meets Philosophy examines the diverse modes of affinity and discourse at the intersection of these two realms, revealing extraordinary ideas that emerge from this encounter.

The Decisive Decade (1939–1949) examines the encounter between the needs of the Yishuv (the Jewish community in the Land of Israel) and those of North African Jewry. It explores the implications of this encounter for the eventual end of the Jewish presence in North Africa and the period's influence on the patterns that characterized that conclusion. The book analyzes this era through the lenses of decolonization processes, French policy in North Africa, the functioning of Jewish leadership, and—above all—the ways in which North African Jews shaped their own world and future during this time. Topics discussed include: Muslim and French colonial societies and their attitudes toward immigration to the Land of Israel; stages of clandestine immigration ( Ha'apala ); early points of contact between North African Jews, Holocaust survivors, and the Yishuv society; the period's impact on decolonization; the protection of the Jewish population; the roots of the ethnic divide in the Land of Israel; and the shaping of the historical memory of this era.

Carnival and Canon examines the emergence and development of the Purim parody, a distinctive genre of Jewish literature that flourished from the Middle Ages onward. Created for the annual celebration of Purim, these humorous works transformed the language and forms of canonical Jewish texts, including the Talmud, the Hebrew Bible, liturgy, and prayer, into playful parodies centered on the festive customs of eating, drinking, and revelry. Situated at the intersection of the sacred and the secular, elite literary culture and popular humor, the genre offers a unique perspective on the cultural life of medieval and early modern European Jewry. The book focuses on the three most influential Purim parodies: Masekhet Purim by Kalonymus ben Kalonymus (1324–1328), and Megillat Setarim together with Sefer Ḥabakbuk by Rabbi Levi ben Gershom (Gersonides, 1332). First printed together in 1513, these works circulated widely in manuscript and print and inspired generations of later Purim parodies. Combining literary analysis with cultural history, the book explores the Jewish and non-Jewish intellectual contexts in which these texts were written, their role in Purim celebrations, and their reception over several centuries. It presents the first comprehensive historical study of a genre that illuminates the dynamic relationship between ritual, humor, and literary tradition.

They were ordinary people – citizens of Mandatory Israel – Jewish women, children and men who had traveled to visit Poland and with the German occupation were unable to return home. Most of them remained in Poland and became hostages, captured by Nazi Germany, who used them to exchange them for German Templars living in Israel. The Drowning Person Grabs at Straws follows their journeys, the actions taken to rescue them, the many efforts invested by various political elements, and the pressure exerted by the families in the country to return them. Ultimately, in December 1941 and November 1942, about 120 civilians – “uninvolved” – were returned to their homes in Israel, and upon their arrival, they gave testimonies about the fate of the Jews in Poland that shocked the Yishuv. Another hero of the book is the foreign passport. Immediately after the German occupation, Polish Jews believed that a foreign passport could save them. Demand increased in 1943 after the mass murder of the Jews. Those who survived lived under false identities or in hiding. For some, these were shaky solutions, and they hung their lives on foreign papers, mainly from Latin American countries, which were bought for a lot of money. The Germans lured and hunted them down, and concentrated them in a special camp in Bergen-Belsen. Thus, the Jews with foreign passports once again became hostages, until they were murdered. However, not all of them were murdered. Out of 2,500 people, a group of 275 Jews who held British-Eretz Israel passports, and dozens more citizens of the United States and South America, arrived on Liberation Day and were saved. The book won the "Am Ve'olam" prize in the name of the late Bella and Shlomo Bartal for an outstanding book in history.

The Living Symbol explores one of the Zohar’s most distinctive literary and theological features: the symbolic connection between its stories and its teachings about the divine realm. A young woman holding a lamp in a remote inn, travelers crossing dark mountain ranges, a doe crying out in distress, an old man emerging from the desert, all become symbols of processes unfolding within the hidden life of God. The lamp signifies divine love, the doe the suffering Shekhinah, the mountains divine judgment, and the desert the realm of metaphysical evil. Focusing on a wide range of Zoharic narratives, this book examines how everyday realities are transformed into symbols of the divine and how earthly stories intertwine with mystical interpretation. Through close readings of the Zohar’s tales, it reveals the intricate ways in which narrative and theosophy are woven together, linking the human world and the divine, the visible and the hidden. At the heart of the study stands the kabbalistic symbol. The book argues that the symbolic relationship between story and exposition reflects fundamental Zoharic conceptions of reality and offers a fresh perspective on one of the Zohar’s most important literary and religious innovations.

Korot publishes original articles related to medical history covering medicine in Jewish and Hebrew sources, the history of Jewish physicians, medicine in Palestine and Israel and medicine during the Nazi era. There are shorter historical notes on these topics, book reviews and comments on important developments in medical history. Articles are mainly in English but with a significant Hebrew section.

De Nobilitate et Praecellentia Foeminei Sexus is a revolutionary proto-feminist treatise written by Cornelius Agrippa in 1509. The book boldly argues that women are morally, spiritually, and physically superior to men. Reinterpreting biblical stories, Agrippa notes that Eve was created in Paradise from refined substance, unlike Adam who was made from crude dust. He systematically attacks historical misogyny rooted in Roman law and theology, blaming women's subjection on patriarchal tyranny and restricted education. By emphasizing that God granted both sexes identical souls, this radical Renaissance declamation delivered a profound critique of male authority and gender inequality.

Asher Shkedi's book Words of Meaning , first published in 2003, immediately took a prominent place on the bookshelves of researchers and students in the social and behavioral sciences. To this day, it is a "textbook" in many courses at academic institutions, and it was even adopted as a guide for a research course at the Open University. Over the years, the book has been reprinted many times and has even been published in English. More Words of meaning adds many issues not discussed in previous editions, most notably guidance on using qualitative methodology to build theory grounded in data. Readers will also find extensive reference to issues of research quality, with an emphasis on the boundary between research and non-research. This is the most comprehensive book in Hebrew on qualitative research. The book includes theoretical and practical guidance for conducting qualitative research using various approaches and research types. It is accompanied by diagrams that clarify the research processes, and it includes examples from many studies. In recent years, studies that combine quantitative and qualitative methodologies have become very popular and are often conducted by researchers who define themselves as quantitative researchers. Conducting these studies requires great methodological rigor. The book is therefore also aimed at the general public who are interested, who have not yet been exposed to qualitative research and identify research with statistics and a large number of subjects, and are unaware of the inherent quality of qualitative studies, even though the population of subjects in them is smaller.

Over the past few decades, South Korea has astonished the world with its remarkable transformation. From one of the world's poorest countries, it has emerged as a global economic power, a vibrant democracy, and a leading force in technology, innovation, and popular culture. Korea: Between Tradition and Innovation takes readers on a fascinating journey through the history, society, and culture of the Korean Peninsula. From the legendary founding of Korea in 2333 BCE and the rise of its royal dynasties to the Japanese colonial period, the division of the peninsula, and the contrasting paths of North and South Korea, the book provides a comprehensive perspective. Focusing primarily on South Korea, it explores the country's transition from military rule to democracy and from postwar poverty to global prominence. The book also examines the enduring influence of Korean religions and philosophies, social changes, education, and economic development, alongside the challenges of modernization and globalization. The book also focuses on the global phenomenon of the Korean Wave (Hallyu), highlighting the worldwide impact of K-pop, cinema, television dramas, cuisine, and cosmetics. This book is an essential guide for students, scholars, business professionals, diplomats, travelers, and anyone seeking a deeper understanding of Korea's unique journey from tradition to innovation.

Purchase of the subscription online includes domestic shipping to a pickup location. Other delivery options are available in the online form . International subscriptions are shipped via Fedex. The current subscription includes a double volume (77-78). Iyyun was established in 1945 as a Hebrew philosophical periodical by Martin Buber, S. H. Bergman and Julius Guttmann and is published by the S. H. Bergman Center for Philosophical Studies of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Iyyun has been rebranded, and as part of this renewal a number of thematic issues are published, aiming to advance contemporary philosophical discourse, primarily in Hebrew, to indicate new paths of thought and lines of original research, and to build bridges between academia and the broader public.‍ Iyyun seeks to give expression to a wide spectrum of writers, and is committed to cultural and ideological pluralism, scholarly excellence, high quality writing, and vitality of thought. This in the belief that philosophical thought has a formative role in local culture, and could be influential in shaping the sociopolitical sphere.

The Roman philosopher Seneca wrote the treatise on anger for his brother Novatus, who was not a philosopher but a statesman. The brother, governor of the province of Asia during the time of Emperor Nero, asked his philosopher brother to help him with practical advice on how to govern better and improve his relationship with his subjects, and in particular how to moderate and restrain anger, a disturbing emotion and sometimes even frightening in its outbursts. Seneca, as is evident from the treatise he wrote, thought that the best way was to prevent the outbreak of anger and the impulse that always accompanies it – to take revenge. The work sheds new light on the universal human emotion that dominates people of all times and generations, describes anger and its consequences, offers suggestions for controlling this harmful emotion with reason, and gives advice for preventing circumstances that may arouse anger and the urge for revenge that stems from it. To illustrate his points, Seneca brings a selection of historical events about the behavior of rulers who can take revenge on their subjects as they please, and about the subjects' methods of survival.

Trusting the Process offers a fresh approach for anyone working or dealing with older individuals by employing new and exciting custom methodologies in psychodrama, particularly for clients with Alzheimer's disease or other forms of dementia. This book offers a general explanation of the use of psychodrama by giving an overview of the therapeutic use of drama in all its forms, clearly explaining the concepts and methods and describing the rationale of every intervention while also following a group over six years with precious documentation of the group process. It addresses the main concerns of those who suffer from dementia - adjusting to a new and changing level of functioning, fostering a sense of belonging, preserving their innate dignity and redefining relationships and roles. This practical guide will help therapists, social-workers, family and other care-givers, teachers and medical professionals working with older clients seeking comfort from the loneliness of old-age and dementia.

In this comprehensive and unique study, Ofer Israeli focuses on six case studies from the Middle East and analyzes the unexpected and unintended consequences of interventions in this region by the United States, Britain, and other Western powers during the Cold War. From his research, he develops a complex causal mechanism, or applied tool, that states can employ when designing and implementing foreign policy - with the aim of reducing the number of conflicts and wars in the world, and especially in the Middle East. In doing so, the book examines the complex effects of international relations concerning a variety of indirect results - intended and unintended - of deliberate human action. These effects may be desirable or undesirable, overt or covert, expected or surprising, predictable but not actually observed, or observed but at the same time neglected or downplayed.

The story of the migration of German Jews between the two world wars is a multifaceted story that spans different routes and destinations: to the United States, the Land of Israel, Britain, and other places in the world. The book explores this story from a comparative perspective and from the perspective of the immigrants themselves. In this way, the envelope that defines the migration of Jews from Germany as a movement of purely persecuted refugees, as passive objects swept along in the course of history, is unraveled. The book seeks to examine the decisions of migration, its timing, and its destinations, and to illuminate the similarities and differences in the identities of the immigrants at different times and destinations. To this end, it traces the course of immigration from the moment the decision to emigrate was made, the choice of timing and destination, the obstacles and opportunities, to the patterns of adaptation in the destination countries and the role played by immigrant groups in the host countries. This historical perspective places the question of whether the immigration of German Jews created a distinct German Jewish diaspora or whether it marked the end of the German chapter in Jewish history at the center.

In this issue we sought to give expression to the historical dimensions of the philosophical debate on the concept of "identity" as well as to discuss philosophical questions about identity related to this time: What is the place of "selfhood" in an era of rapid change? What is the relationship between personal identity and the consciousness of identity? What is the relationship between psychoanalytic conceptions of identity and the decomposition of the concept of identity in postmodern thought? What role should personal, national, and religious identity play in a multicultural and global world? How should the place of individuation processes – private, social, technological, and environmental – in the establishment of identity be understood? And can philosophical identities be characterized in the struggle for peace, justice, and human rights?

The Politics is a foundational work of Greek philosophy and a cornerstone of Western political thought. It is an investigation into the nature of the polis (the city-state), which Aristotle defines as a partnership of a certain kind among similar people for the sake of the best attainable life. In this inquiry, Aristotle seeks to determine how a virtuous and flourishing city is constructed and sustained. In Books VII–VIII - presented here for the first time in Hebrew - Aristotle depicts a vivid portrait of the ideal Greek city, and formulates a guide for the establishment of a flourishing city.

Jews and Crime in Medieval Europe is a topic laced by prejudice on one hand and apologetics on the other. Beginning in the Middle Ages, Jews were often portrayed as criminals driven by greed. While these accusations were, for the most part, unfounded, in other cases criminal accusations against Jews were not altogether baseless. Drawing on a variety of legal, liturgical, literary, and archival sources, Ephraim Shoham-Steiner examines the reasons for the involvement in crime, the social profile of Jews who performed crimes, and the ways and mechanisms employed by the legal and communal body to deal with Jewish criminals and with crimes committed by Jews. A society's attitude toward individuals identified as criminals - by others or themselves - can serve as a window into that society's mores and provide insight into how transgressors understood themselves and society's attitudes toward them.

Within the Babylonian Talmud are dozens of stories depicting sharp confrontations between the Amoraim, the Talmudic sages. These narratives portray the charged relationships among the sages, the emergence of conflict, and the profound emotional harm that results from it. Why do conflicts among the creators of Talmudic literature occupy such a central literary place? This book examines these stories as a distinct literary corpus. The analysis shows that the conflicts consistently center on one domain: injury to personal honor. They are also marked by a characteristic plot structure, in which conflict develops unintentionally and escalates uncontrollably, leading to a rupture between the characters. Using tools from narrative theory and comparative poetics, the book explores how these stories operate. They draw the reader into a web of misunderstandings and communicative failures, making simple moral judgment difficult. Instead, they direct attention to the inner and interpersonal worlds of the characters, and to the literary construction of the Talmudic study house as a space of mutual dependence and identity formation.

For thousands of years, people pictured the sky as a giant dome surrounding the Earth. The stars were thought to be fixed to this dome, which slowly turned above us, much like the motion of the Sun, the Moon and the planets. This book tells the story of the scientific revolution that changed that picture forever—the moment humanity realized that the motions we see in the sky are only apparent motions, created by the Earth spinning on its axis and traveling around the Sun. The “celestial dome,” it turned out, was an illusion. It is the Earth—and the heavens—that move. This revolution began with Nicolaus Copernicus’s book On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres , published in 1543, just as the author was nearing the end of his life. The bold ideas in that book sent shockwaves through the scientific world and helped lay the foundations of modern physics. They also transformed the way people thought about nature—and about humanity’s place in the universe. This book follows the dramatic story of the Copernican Revolution and the long struggle to convince the world of its truth, from Galileo’s telescopic discoveries—made with a telescope he built himself—to the fierce scientific and religious debates that followed. The Copernican Revolution opened the door to an even bigger idea: The universe is vast, stretching far beyond our solar system. The “fixed stars,” we learned, are actually distant suns, so far away that they appear as tiny points of light. From there, it was only natural to wonder whether some of those stars might have planets of their own. At the end of the twentieth century—more than 400 years after Copernicus—astronomers finally discovered that planets are everywhere, orbiting stars across the galaxy. And who knows—perhaps some of those distant worlds may even host life.

MA‘ARAG: The Israel Annual of Psychoanalysis is a democratic, refereed annual publication, evaluated and edited by academicians, intellectuals in related fields, and clinicians. The journal, dedicated to research in psychoanalytic theory, practice and criticism, is the fruit of the initiative and cooperation of the Sigmund Freud Center for the Study and Research in Psychoanalysis of the Hebrew University, the Israeli Association for Self Psychology and the Study of Subjectivity, Israel Society for Analytical Psychology, Israel Psychoanalytic Society, Clinical Division of the Israel Psychological Association, Israel Institute for Group Analysis, Israel Institute of Jungian Psychology, The Sigmund Freud Chair of Psychoanalysis of the Department of Psychology, The Hebrew University, Tel-Aviv Institute for Contemporary Psychoanalysis, The Winnicott Center in Israel and the New Israeli Jungian Association. From this issue: Anat Tzur Mahalel | "THE STILL-TENDER MEMORY OF CHILDHOOD": SIGMUND FREUD AND WALTER BENJAMIN ON IMAGES OF CHILDHOOD Orit Yushinksy | THE ETHICS OF MEMORY AND FORGETTING Merav Roth | LIVING AFTER DEATH: FROM MELANCHOLIC DEADLOCK TO SYMBOLIC CONTINUITY Yael Khenin | CONTAINMENT CREATED THROUGH SPIRAL MOTION: THE COMPLEX INTERACTION BETWEEN EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL REALITY IN TIMES OF WAR, LOSS AND TURMOIL Nilly Szor | INSCRIBING PAIN: THE PHENOMENON OF OCTOBER 7 TATTOOS AS AN EXPRESSION OF PERSONAL AND COLLECTIVE TRAUMA Michal Bat Or | PSYCHOANALYTIC THOUGHTS ON WRAPPING AS A PSYCHIC MOVEMENT IN ART AND ART THERAPY IN THE CONTEXT OF COLLECTIVE TRAUMA Basmat Klein | "MEMORY FREEZE-FRAMES": ON PHOTOGRAPHY AND PSYCHIC PROCESSING Tammuz Aflalo | THE HOME NESTING METAPHOR: PHANTASY, THE UNCANNY, AND THE PSYCHIC POSITION Shai Levinger and Nurit Perl | REFLECTIONS ON TRANSFORMATIVE PROCESSES OF THE SELF IN PSYCHOANALYTICALLY-ORIENTED MUSIC THERAPY Alon Roe | THE ROLE OF MOVEMENT IN ESTABLISHING THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL IN FREUD

At the heart of this book’s ten chapters stands the rich, multifaceted figure of the mother. Are the Jewish mother and the Israeli mother one and the same, or does each have her own distinct identity? What are the enduring and evolving hallmarks of this maternal figure, and how are they reflected in songs in Hebrew and Yiddish? This is a guided journey through the fascinating, dizzying transformations of beloved and half-forgotten songs and melodies. The book's close readings bring these songs to life, offering a window into the worlds of their creators and shedding light on the events and processes that have shaped the Jewish people and Israeli society across the generations. Brimming with information, insights, and delightful curiosities, and accompanied by dozens of illustrations, this book is the fruit of meticulous research, written in clear, fluid, and utterly engaging prose. It is a book every mother will want to read, and that every son and daughter will want to give her as a gift of love.

Islamic Enlightenment in a Radical Age opens a window to trends of innovation and openness in modern Islam in the mid-twentieth century, a period marked by decolonization, the rise of centralized regimes, and the emergence of Jihad organizations. Important agents in the development of the reformist discourse were Mustafa al-Saba'i and the "Muslim Brotherhood" in Syria from 1946 to 1964. Under al-Saba'i's leadership, the Muslim Brotherhood strove to establish an Islamic Enlightenment that sought to elevate the stature of believers and integrate them into the wider world, while preserving their indigenous identity. Al-Saba'i's rich intellectual and public work has been neglected in the scholarly literature, and this book brings him to the forefront and does him historical and historiographical justice. Al-Saba'i called for the revival of the heritage of Islam and its connection to universal values ​​of freedom and justice, humanism and brotherhood, democracy and nationalism. He served as a voice for the voiceless in society through a commitment to public education, social legislation, and support for women's rights, subject to moral reservations. By promoting a dynamic version of Islam—attentive and responsive to key issues on the public agenda—Al-Saba'i and his movement contributed to preserving the diversity of Islamic thought in an era of puritanism, radicalization, and violence.

A refugee crisis of huge proportions erupted as a result of the mid-seventeenth-century wars in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Tens of thousands of Jews fled their homes, or were captured and trafficked across Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. Rescue the Surviving Souls is the first book to examine this horrific moment of displacement and flight, and to assess its social, economic, religious, cultural, and psychological consequences. Drawing on a wealth of primary sources in twelve languages, Adam Teller traces the entire course of the crisis, shedding fresh light on the refugee experience and the various relief strategies developed by the major Jewish centers of the day. Teller pays particular attention to those thousands of Jews sent for sale on the slave markets of Istanbul and the extensive transregional Jewish economic network that coalesced to ransom them. He also explores how Jewish communities rallied to support the refugees in central and western Europe, as well as in Poland-Lithuania, doing everything possible to help them overcome their traumatic experiences and rebuild their lives. Rescue the Surviving Souls offers an intimate study of an international refugee crisis, from outbreak to resolution, that is profoundly relevant today.

Simon Bernfeld (1860–1940) was one of the most popular Jewish European writers of the early twentieth century. A prolific bestselling author in a broad range of fields of history and Jewish studies, and a pivotal figure in the renaissance of Jewish national culture. His oeuvre encompassed dozens of books, hundreds of essays, and thousands of daily columns published in Hebrew and German. Yet despite his vast influence, Bernfeld remained outside the mainstream. His prominent presence until the late 1920s stands in stark contrast to his subsequent obscurity. This gap prompts for an examination of whether his “forgetting” was deliberate and connected to the historical narrative he sought to promote. His political views, expressed in his sermons as a modern rabbi in Belgrade, in his polemic essays criticizing both the rabbinate and the Zionist Congress, were similarly marginalized. On The Margins: A Biography of Simon Bernfeld unfolds a biography woven into the history of the Jewish intelligentsia circles in Galicia, his birthplace, and Berlin, where he lived for many years until his death. His correspondence with a wide array of figures reviles the emergence of Hebrew mass media and a national canon. Through spatial and cultural analysis, exploring themes of Jewish imperial relations and intra-European migration, the book maps the Jewish intellectual networks of Galicia and the Pale of Settlement, examining their impact on the formation of Jewish cultural and intellectual power centers at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Few texts have left a mark on history as profound as The Communist Manifesto . First ‎published in 1848, this brief yet explosive work by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels became ‎one of the most influential texts in the formation of modern society and the modern self. It ‎ignited revolutions, inspired political movements, and provoked fear, resistance, and ‎enduring controversy, while offering a powerful framework for understanding the economic ‎and social forces that continue to shape our world.‎ But The Communist Manifesto is more than a political program. It is a striking work of ‎philosophical and moral reflection, grappling with the human condition in a world defined ‎by perpetual change—a world of capitalism, restless desire, and the drive toward ceaseless ‎innovation. Read anew, the Manifesto emerges as a mirror of our present moment, ‎challenging us to rethink freedom, justice, and the transformative power of ideas.‎ This book offers a fresh introduction to The Communist Manifesto and its place in the ‎history of ideas. Through close reading and conceptual analysis, it seeks to restore the ‎text’s vitality—not as a document of the past, but as a living invitation to reflect on the ‎present and imagine our collective future.‎

A Guide to Jewish Warsaw 1938 is an extraordinary book, describing a place that no longer exists: Jewish Warsaw was, as is well known, utterly destroyed in World War II. And yet, the book seeks to pretend as if everything is still intact, and it is possible to go on a tour following it or embark on an imaginary journey. Every detail is based on information pertaining to Jewish Warsaw in 1938 from countless sources: newspapers, literature, travel guides, written and oral memoirs, archives, interviews, films, and exhibitions. A Guide to Jewish Warsaw 1938 seeks to reveal the beauty hidden from the eye in the largest Jewish city in Europe before the war. The acquaintance with Jewish Warsaw is made through general and useful introductions, describing its history, its beliefs and opinions, its unique language, and its tastes and smells. At the center of the book are seven walking tours, revealing the city's delights: the antique bookstores on Świętokrzyska Street; the buffet at the Writers and Journalists Association at Tłomacka 13; the "Maccabi" swimming pool and the Bund's sports field; cantorial music at the Great Synagogue and Hasidic melodies in the Modrzyc courtyard in the resort town of Otwock; the summer terrace at the Rubinchik cafe, opening onto Krasiński Garden, "the Jewish Garden"; modern marble sculptures in the cemetery; the "Tel Aviv" cafe on Nowolipie Street; the treasures in the Jewish Museum; courtyards that are a world of their own on Nalewki Street and its surroundings, and much more.

How does the past remain present in the urban landscape—in houses, streets, and public squares—even after the culture that once sustained it has been destroyed? What happens when history is not merely an abstract memory but a material reality that continues to shape and unsettle the present? In Bloody Wednesday , Yechiel Weizman traces the ghostly presence of the Jews of Olkusz, a town in south-central Poland whose large Jewish community flourished for centuries, until the Holocaust. Despite their total physical absence, from the end of the war until today the memory of the Jews is palpable and persistent—and at the same time silenced and repressed—in every street corner: in empty houses, in abandoned cemeteries and synagogues, in plaques and monuments, and through the ongoing public debates about property, heritage, and commemoration. Using the case study of a single Polish town, the book shows how the urban topography of Eastern Europe was continuously reshaped and redefined in relation to the legacy of the Second World War, the question of Jewish property, and the politics of Holocaust memory during the Communist period and after the fall of the Iron Curtain. Adopting a microhistorical lens and examining the smallest details of everyday life and urban history, the book reveals how the persistent debate over the presence of the dead Jews in the concrete and imagined spaces of one small town became a dramatic arena for a painful, intimate, and nostalgic confrontation with the violent fingerprints of the twentieth century and with pressing questions of responsibility, ethics, and guilt.

How can a teacher-education institution transform itself so that the preparation of future teachers will foster meaningful and high-quality professional growth? This question lies at the heart of contemporary debates among teacher educators in Israel and worldwide. This book offers a rigorous and data-rich examination of a long-term structural and pedagogical reform that had taken place at the Hebrew University, with the goal of meeting the evolving challenges of teacher education in the twenty-first century. Through detailed analysis of the reform’s achievements and its complexities, the book illuminates the conditions, processes, and dilemmas involved in reshaping teacher education. The study provides an unprecedented, comprehensive, and systematic account of change processes in Israeli teacher education and contributes valuable insights to international scholarship on pedagogical reform, teacher education and institutional innovation.

The book sheds light on the aims and achievements of the twelve first female members, who served in the first Israeli Knesset, and in particular on the perception of the status of women in the early years of the state. This study examines the heated debates that arose with the legislation of the following laws: the Marriage Age Law; the Income Tax Ordinance, which serves as a mirror of the status of the married woman; the Security Service Law, which can contribute to the understanding of Israeli society; and the Women’s Equal Rights Law of 1951, whose enactment concluded the work of the first Knesset. The influence of this legislation is felt to this day.

Immediately upon the establishment of the State of Israel, Israel welcomed approximately 720,000 as part of the Great Aliyah. More than one third of these newcomers, immigrants and refugees, were housed in immigrant camps and later in transit camps known as maabarot . Some were later removed from them or left on their own accord; others remained in the maabarot for many years, and the maabarot remained within them. In their early years, the maabarot played an important social role and gave rise to new interethnic relations and new identities. Within a short period of time, and in a space intended to serve as a temporary way station, a shared form of existence emerged in the maabarot. It established principles of organization, fostered cooperation that crossed boundaries of ethnic and communal origin, and created communal cohesion that developed despite the limitations imposed by the absorbing establishment. This book reexamines life in the maabarot through a division into three distinct subperiods that reflect profound changes in social composition, in patterns of power, and in the immigrants’ consciousness of identity. The elimination of the heterogeneity that had characterized the social fabric not only changed the status of the residents in the eyes of the state and society, but also narrowed the social and future possibilities that had opened before them. Through an examination of diverse sources, a detailed depiction of everyday life, and a thematic analysis of language, religion, and education, a formative chapter in the social history of Israel is revealed through the world of the immigrants as they themselves shaped it. From a charged encounter among diasporas, social groups, and a harsh, brutal, and impossible daily routine, a society emerges that has until now remained at the margins of historical research.

The Italian commedia dell’arte troupes roamed across Europe for two hundred years, captivating wide and diverse audiences. The performances of the commedia dell’arte were improvised, as the actors executed on stage a concise outline of a play, called "scenario". This book presents, for the first time in Hebrew translation, complete scenarios written by one of the greatest men of the Italian Renaissance theater, Flaminio Scala. The scenarios are accompanied by annotations and a comprehensive essay that reviews Scala’s life and work, and presents his scenario as a perfect recipe for comic improvisation. The book will therefore be of interest to theatre enthusiasts and scholars alike, and will provide directors, actors, and acting students with new and refreshing tools for staging comedies.

Muslim beliefs have inspired charitable giving for over fourteen centuries, yet Islamic history has rarely been examined from this perspective. In Charity in Islamic Societies , Amy Singer explains the basic concepts and institutions of Muslim charity: the obligatory annual payment of zakat together with voluntary donations of all sizes, undertaken at every level of society, and across the span of individual lifetimes. Charitable endowments – established by rulers, wealthy individuals, and even those of more modest means – shaped Muslim societies, cultures, and landscapes in ever era. This book demonstrates how historical circumstances, social status, gender, age, and other factors interacted with religious ideals to produce a vast array of charitable practices, from the early days of Islam to the present. Relying on evidence from written texts, buildings, images, and objects to anchor the discussions in each chapter, the author explores the motivations for charity, its impact on the rich and the poor, and the politicization of giving, arguing that the study of philanthropy affords a unique prism through which to examine the past.

In 1980, the Italian publisher Einaudi wanted to publish a series of personal anthologies of its authors. Primo Levi quickly arose to the challenge and submitted La ricerca delle radici ( The Search for Roots ): thirty excerpts from thirty masterpieces of world literature, accompanied by thirty short introductions he wrote. Every such introduction is a brilliant commentary on the work, and a reflection of Primo Levi himself - as a kind of self-portrait, in which the painter produces his collage from materials created by others. These excepts - published for the first time in Hebrew - reveal some of the important ethical and aesthetic influences on Primo Levi and his work. Levi quotes from Job, Lucretius, Rabelais‏, Babel, Shalom Aleichem, de Saint-Exupéry and more, but also from Darwin's On Origin of Species and even from Practical Organic Chemistry. Thus, it is possible to trace his extensive and diverse, humanistic and scientific education, the roots from which his unique literary work grew.

Elementary School Mathematics is written for elementary school teachers as well as parents who wish to be involved in their childrens first steps in mathematical education. The reading of this book will benefit educators - whether at home or at school - by consolidating their content knowledge, while exposing them to both complexity and beauty of elementary mathematics.

The widespread view of the world is atomistic: each person has an individual consciousness and each person exist to himself. Each person has his own experiences, sensations and emotions; Others do not — and cannot — take part in them. A difficult moral dilemma arises: it is clear why I should take care for myself and satisfy my wants, but why worry about others? Why should I care what happens to other people, if I don't feel their suffering? Zemach proves in this book that the atomistic world view is wrong.

Jacques Lacan’s teaching lasted about three decades. Like Freud before him, Lacan was profoundly interested in the arts, particularly in painting. Lacan not only turned to specific artworks to clarify psychoanalytic concepts but also addressed theoretical aspects of painting. Like scholars from other fields, such as philosophy or cultural studies, who have turned to Lacan’s thinking throughout his career, art scholars often make use of Lacan’s teaching while analyzing various notions in art. These arguments deal mostly with Lacan’s early teaching or his seminars from the sixties. Yet, his late teaching and its relation to the visual arts remains relatively unknown, even though Lacan’s most radical views are presented for the first time during his late teaching of the seventies, and these conceptualizations carry immense value for theoretical discourse on contemporary art. Lacan’s late teaching and its relation to art fashions the cornerstone of this book, it is the wrap thread that runs through it. The other thread, the woof, which this book weaves into the psychoanalytic discourse, is of a different kind and nature: the discourse of art which analyzes specific instances of the works of art of contemporary Israeli artists: Michal Na’aman, David Ginton, Joshua Borkovsky and Shahar Yahalom.

After four volumes primarily focused on the British Mandate period, the fifth volume of the History of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem series delves into the first two decades of the State of Israel: 1948–1967. This comprehensive and diverse volume explores the intricate relationship between the university and the nation-state. The 1948 war and the “sovereign turn” sharply altered the university's status from an institution of higher education under British rule to an institution pertaining to an independent state. The university of the Jewish people, located on Mount Scopus, became an Israeli university with campuses scattered across a divided Jerusalem. Bringing together articles by senior and early-career researchers, this volume analyzes the university's history between rupture and continuity, as an autonomous institution strongly tied to the establishment of the state. It examines the university within its external geo-political context on one hand and considers its internal structure as a research and teaching institution on the other. Editorial assistance: Amit Levy

The author of this book argues that Israeli traumas exist in the language, poetics, and politics of Israeli literature. Presenting a comprehensive and methodical study of this phenomenon, this book raises piercing questions concerning the politics behind literature and its moral authority, focusing specifically on the responsibility of the author. Hever tracks the literary processing methods of Israeli traumas in light of the extermination of European Jews, the 1948 war, the Palestinian Nakba, and the 1973 war in the works of S. Yizhar, Leah Goldberg, Avoth Yeshurun, Nathan Alterman, Aharon Appelfeld, Dan Pagis, Erez Biton, Yitzhak Laor, Shimon Ballas, Haim Be’er, and Rivka Ben-Hayim. The book offers a rigorous discussion of the unique manners in which literature deals with representations of traumas. This research presents the traces of Israeli post-trauma represented in the literary text, and tackles the question of responsibility among fictional characters.

"This is how I was lead to the idea of time. Here is where a surprise was waiting for me". With these terms Henri Bergson (1859-1941) describes the discovery all his cogitation grew out of: the "durée", the simple fact – that many deny – that "time lasts". In the intellectual landscape of the end of the 19th century, which was characterized by a huge leap in the development of the exact sciences and in the spreading of Kant's philosophy, Bergson's iteration sounded like defiance.

This study deals with various aspects of the philosophy of Abu’l-Barakât al-Baghdâdî, an Islamic philosopher of Jewish descent active in the early 11 century, during the Islamic Golden Age. Some of the physical and psychological doctrines of Avicenna, another Islamic thinker of roughly the same era are also discussed in the book.

"Criticism of Modern Secular Culture" discusses the ethical, social, national-political humanistic and religious foundations of modern and post-modern secular culture, especially amongst the Jewish People and in the State of Israel. The topics discussed are from a philosophical-historical perspective that relates directly to the present. The book defines the basic values of Western Humanism from a Jewish point of view, and analyses the problems of their implementation. It evaluates the achievements and the tragic failures of secular modernism which became factually anti-humanistic.

The World of Machiavelli explores his teaching by placing it squarely in its political and intellectual context. Based on a wide range of personal letters, diplomatic dispatches and administrative memoranda as well as on his treatises, plays and poems, it traces the development of his skills, mental habits and unique views from his youth, through his turbulent public career, to his last days. Alongside the formative historical and personal circumstances, the book explores the universal dimensions of Machiavelli’s thought, which forms an integral part of an ongoing conversation about our ability to organize our shared lives and shape our destiny. Thus, The World of Machiavelli differs from most biographies and studies of his thought: focusing on a cluster of themes that are central both in his works and in our modern public life, the book invites the readers to reflect on major issues of our time by engaging with Machiavelli.

Asher Shkedi's book Words of Meaning , first published in 2003, immediately took a prominent place on the bookshelves of researchers and students in the social and behavioral sciences. To this day, it is a "textbook" in many courses at academic institutions, and it was even adopted as a guide for a research course at the Open University. Over the years, the book has been reprinted many times and has even been published in English. More Words of meaning adds many issues not discussed in previous editions, most notably guidance on using qualitative methodology to build theory grounded in data. Readers will also find extensive reference to issues of research quality, with an emphasis on the boundary between research and non-research. This is the most comprehensive book in Hebrew on qualitative research. The book includes theoretical and practical guidance for conducting qualitative research using various approaches and research types. It is accompanied by diagrams that clarify the research processes, and it includes examples from many studies. In recent years, studies that combine quantitative and qualitative methodologies have become very popular and are often conducted by researchers who define themselves as quantitative researchers. Conducting these studies requires great methodological rigor. The book is therefore also aimed at the general public who are interested, who have not yet been exposed to qualitative research and identify research with statistics and a large number of subjects, and are unaware of the inherent quality of qualitative studies, even though the population of subjects in them is smaller.

Meno (/ˈmiːnoʊ/; Greek: Μένων) is a Socratic dialogue written by Plato. It attempts to determine the definition of virtue, or arete, meaning virtue in general, rather than particular virtues, such as justice or temperance. The first part of the work is written in the Socratic dialectical style and Meno is reduced to confusion or aporia. In response to Meno's paradox (or the learner's paradox), however, Socrates introduces positive ideas: the immortality of the soul, the theory of knowledge as recollection (anamnesis), which Socrates demonstrates by posing a mathematical puzzle to one of Meno's slaves, the method of hypothesis, and, in the final lines, the distinction between knowledge and true belief. (Wikipedia) This is a new edition published in 2014. Footnotes are in Hebrew instead of Rashi and the translation was edited somewhat.

This book examines the overt and covert engagement with the immigrant experience in American cinema in the decade preceding World War II. It presents the story of a gallery of creators, mostly Jewish, who had emigrated to the United States, some by force and others by choice. An examination of the films they created reveals their attitudes towards their countries of origin, the nation that gave them a new home, and the Jewish identity they were forced to rediscover. This Jewish identity was at times a burden, sometimes a painful reminder of their past, and at other times a source of great inspiration and hope.

This anthology is a collection of stories, written by women at the turn of the twentieth century and published in the Yiddish press at that time. The have been translated to Hebrew for the first time. From its beginning the Yiddish press enabled all levels of society to sound their voices. Women too were quick to meet this challenge, and until the First World War more than ninety of their works were published: novellas, plays, fiction and a wide variety of short stories. This collection of nineteen stories represents this abundance and its unique qualities. It sounds anew the voices of forgotten women authors, who disappeared even from the eyes of critics and researchers: Maria Lerner, Isabella, Rokhl Brokhes, Yente Serdetsky, Salome Perl, Rokhl Feigenberg and others. Their stories open a window to the world of women at a time of dramatic changes in the lives of Jews in the Russian Empire. They portray conflicts between the generations, especially between the authors and their mothers, the dilemmas of love, and the anguished movement between the small town and the big city, between maintaining traditions and breaking free of frameworks. These stories highly enrich our knowledge of Jewish society at that time and are a fundamental expression of the part women played in that society.

In this comprehensive and unique study, Ofer Israeli focuses on six case studies from the Middle East and analyzes the unexpected and unintended consequences of interventions in this region by the United States, Britain, and other Western powers during the Cold War. From his research, he develops a complex causal mechanism, or applied tool, that states can employ when designing and implementing foreign policy - with the aim of reducing the number of conflicts and wars in the world, and especially in the Middle East. In doing so, the book examines the complex effects of international relations concerning a variety of indirect results - intended and unintended - of deliberate human action. These effects may be desirable or undesirable, overt or covert, expected or surprising, predictable but not actually observed, or observed but at the same time neglected or downplayed.

Rabbi Joseph Rosen (1858–1936), known as "the Rogatchover," author of the Zaphnath Paaneah books of Lomdus, was a revered Talmudic genius, a rabbi of a Hasidic community, an original Halakhic authority, and one of the most colorful rabbinic figures in modern Europe. The Zaphnath Paaneah: Lomdus Meets Philosophy is the first academic study dedicated to his thought, and it deals with the fascinating interaction in his writings between Talmudic scholarship and Halakhic analysis (Lomdus) on the one hand, and ideas from philosophical and academic sources on the other. This interaction developed in his work largely through his engagement with Maimonides' Guide to the Perplexed and its commentators. In its scope, richness, systematic nature, and originality, this interaction is unprecedented in the history of rabbinic literature. Alongside the prominent influence of Aristotelian and Maimonidean philosophy, the Rogatchover's learned Halakhic thought engaged in direct dialogue with additional schools of thought and a broad spectrum of thinkers: the Mutakallimun, Averroes, Moses Narboni, Spinoza, and figures from the Haskalah movement – Isaac Satanow, Salomon Maimon, and Samuel David Luzzatto (Shadal). The Zaphnath Paaneah: Lomdus Meets Philosophy examines the diverse modes of affinity and discourse at the intersection of these two realms, revealing extraordinary ideas that emerge from this encounter.

This book highlights a specific feature characterizing some of the short stories of IL Peretz: His transparent and extensive reliance on popular and Hasidic sources. This is the rational for a comparative study of source and its adaptation , adding a critical dimension to the understanding of these stories. This book concentrates on three short stories of IL Peretz belonging to the genre of Hasidic tales: 'If Not Higher', 'Between Two Mountains', and 'The Birds and the Parchments'

In 1925, teacher David Idelson shared a pivotal insight with his colleague Yehuda Polani, reflecting on their educational endeavors in Tel Aviv: 'We were the novelty!' Both had migrated to Jerusalem from Germany in 1905 and were united by a vision for innovative Jewish education, inspired by cutting-edge Central European pedagogical methods. This journey from theory to practice reached its peak in 1922 with the founding of a distinctive school in Tel Aviv, promoting autonomy for teachers and child-led learning. The Children Community School stands as one of four key studies in this book, examining significant themes in the educational discourse in pre-state Israel and the formation of Hebrew education. The work delves into important milestones in the history of Hebrew education spanning more than half a century: the revival of the Hebrew language; building Hebrew teacher training; pedagogical innovation and its relationship with political ideologies; and the role of Eros in education. This historical perspective offers valuable insights, pertinent to ongoing educational debates.

In the few years after his retirement from public life and before he was sentenced to suicide, the Roman philosopher Seneca wrote the majority of his texts, which included over one hundred letters of wisdom ( espistulae morales) sent to his friend Lucilius. These letters are considered the first appearance of literary letters in Roman prose. The letters are philosophical essays written by a very wise and witty old man concluding his life, an autobiography of our spiritual world. The issues that interested Seneca are eternally relevant.

In his article entitled "Facing Up to the Problem of Consciousness", David Chalmers divides the study of consciousness into two parts: the easy problems and the hard problems. The easy problems are those related to neurological/functional/cognitive processes. In contrast, the hard problem is the study of consciousness which is related to the subjective experience. In recent decades brain researchers have joined the race to understand consciousness. Most of them adopt an approach according to which any advance made in the study of neurological activity is also an advance in the study of consciousness. I contend that the gap between brain activities and the subjective experience cannot be bridged, among other things because consciousness is not confined within the brain. This book hence proposes that consciousness extends from the brain to the body and from only from there does it burst forth into the world. One of the book’s main arguments is that the world itself serves as our best model, without any need for representation or a central control system within our brains. Therefore, to better understand the subjective experience we must examine how human beings are present and act within the world.

On the morning of June 7th 415 BC the people of Athens woke to find that the statues of the Idol Hermes, which stood in front of private houses and temples where vandalised. Every citizen could see his divine guardian standing at his doorstep damaged and desecrated, and gradually they found that they not alone, the whole city have lost its divine guardian. Trepidation was great. The Athenians wanted to discover the identity of the vandalisers and announced that they will give rewards and immunity to the informers who would provide some information about the blasphemy. The information received included more than information about the damaging of statues, it included information about desecration of Oration ceremonies held in private houses. The scandal was immense, the biggest one in Athenian history. Arrests were made, prosecutions, executions and flights to exile. Andocides, who was one of the accused, lists, in the defence speech he gave, the speech about the Orations, the chain of events and tries, of-course, to prove his innocence. The speech gives important information on the scandal and is an key source for learning about state events at the end of the 5th century BC.

This book focuses on a cycle of some thirty “praise” stories ( Shvachim ) whose heroes are Rabbi Shmuel the Pious and his son, the famous Rabbi Judah the Pious (died 1217; author of Sefer Hasidim ) – the two main figures of the medieval mystical circle known as Hasidut Ashkenaz. The narrative cycle in praise of these luminaries portrays them as extremely virtuous, as mystics with supernatural knowledge, and as masters of magical practices ( ba’alay shem ). Originating orally in Yiddish, these stories were first written down in Hebrew, the sacred language, and then translated “back” into Yiddish – the more widely understood language of the Ashkenazic community. The book presents all versions of these “praise” narratives, extant in manuscripts and print, both in Hebrew and Yiddish, side by side. A thorough introduction traces the growth of this narrative treasure from its embryonic oral beginnings to its fully developed bilingual written manifestations. A detailed analysis of individual stories sheds light on the cultural mentality of medieval Jewry in general and of Ashkenazic Jewry in particular.

The Pensées is simply the compelling "Thoughts" of mathematician, physicist, and religious thinker Blaise Pascal. Originally intending to publish a book defending Christianity, Pascal died before he could complete it. The thoughts and ideas for his book were collected and compiled, posthumously, and then published as the Pensées. Pascal's thoughts are as powerful as they are comprehensive. He discusses with great wonder and beauty the human condition, the incarnation, God, the meaning of life, revelation, and the paradoxes of Christianity. He passionately argues for the Christian faith, using both argumentation and his famous "Wager." His ideas and arguments are sometimes developed and intricate, at other times, abrupt and mysterious.

Moshe Caspi is the founder of the first Experimental School in Jerusalem and of the Chofen Institute for Open Experimental Education at the David Yellin Academic College of Education, Jerusalem. He was among the first to draw up the guiding principles for experimental education in Israel. Caspi teaches a different way of learning. He envisions a process where the student - the Self-Remaker - opens up to personal change, and moves along this path with curiosity, love of learning, creativity and humor. In order to do so, Caspi explains how to combine the refreshing and innovative vision of the child with adult qualities such as discipline and control. In this way, the Self-Remaker can achieve a greater degree of independence, and a whole new level in applying and implementing his ideas in all areas of human activity. The work of Self-Remaking can be carried out within a group framework or on an individual basis. This book offers practical suggestions which can be applied within learning frameworks, for individuals or groups, in order to enrich the learning encounter, and to change the way the student (and the facilitator) perceives the world. The reader is invited to investigate professional and personal wishes and preferences, and to develop a unique "User's Manual," a handbook which will accompany him throughout his life's journey. The material is explained with Professor Caspi's characteristic blend of insight and humor. The book presents elements of Caspi's teaching which have been published in the past in his many books in Hebrew, together with newer ideas developed by the author more recently. Self-Remaking reflects Caspi's entire life's work in this field. The wisdom of children is demonstrated through examples presented in the final section of the book, translated from Moshe Caspi's work: Children’s Wisdom - Cosmic Starlight: - from the gray world of adults to the magical journey of the child, published in Hebrew by Mofet in 2013.

This book contains thirty texts from the best philosophical literature of all the ages; Thoughts of modes of existence and its' problems as written by the greatest philosophers: Plato, Aristotle, Anselm of Canterbury, Descartes, Kant, Hegel, Heidegger, Gottlob Frege, Whitehead, Russell, Willard Quine and many more. Most of these texts have been translated from five different languages especially for this volume. Edited, with an introduction and bibliographical notes by Abraham Zvie Bar-On.

In his latest book, Christopher Bollas uses detailed studies of real clinical practice to illuminate a theory of psychoanalysis which privileges the human impulse to question. From earliest childhood to the end of our lives, we are driven by this impulse in its varying forms, and The Infinite Question illustrates how Freud's free associative method provides both patient and analyst with answers and, in turn, with an ongoing interplay of further questions. At the book's core are transcripts of real analytical sessions, accompanied by parallel commentaries which highlight key aspects of the free associative method in practice. These transcripts are contextualised by further discussion of the cases themselves, as well as a wider theoretical framework which places its emphasis on Freud's theory of the logic of sequence: by learning to listen to this free associative logic, Bollas argues, we can discover a richer and more complex unconscious voice than if we rely solely on Freud's theory of repressed ideas. Bollas demonstrates, in an eloquent and persuasive manner, how the Freudian position of evenly suspended attentiveness enables the analyst's unconscious to catch the drift of the patient's own unconscious. He also shows that to stimulate further questioning is often of more benefit to the analytical process than to jump to an interpretation. Yet whatever fascinating course a session may take, neither the patient nor the analyst can halt the progress of the self-propelling interrogative drive.

A selection of annotated Hebrew translations of Dogen Zenji's essays, mostly from the Shobogenzo, followed by a thorough analysis of his life and thought.

The book is intended for teachers and students who specialize in the field of non-formal education in universities, academic colleges and teacher training colleges in Israel. It will interest educators and all who cherish the subject of education.

Jewish thought and rhetoric may have dominated the Jewish people's way of life for years, but what happens when a Jewish state is established, whose laws and authorities are not necessarily based on that same Jewish tradition? Jewish-Israeli Political Thought is a collection of studies exploring the tension between Israeli and Jewish political philosophy, the relationship between the Jewish people's collective and personal past and present, individual identity and its place in the traditional Jewish collectiveness, and the intermediary role of the ancient Hebrew language in the dialogue between the past and the present. The chapters in this book were written by young scholars of different religious, and sometimes cultural and lingual backgrounds; however, they all live in modern-day Israel, and they all question the relation between traditional-Jewish and modern-Israeli political thought. The diversity of the writers enables a broad and unique perspective on the status of Jewish tradition in contemporary political thought in Israel. The book provides a window into various spatial and temporal horizons in the course of a Jewish tradition that is constantly being re-examined and re-discovered.

What is a secret? On the one hand, it is a mystery in its most fundamental form. It is what should never be disclosed. On the other hand, in order for it to be defined as a secret, it has to be formulated in words, be told to someone, a very special one, secretly. The teller of the secret creates a treaty of loyalty with her addressee, a loyalty which exceeds the self, yet somehow remains within it. They are either two people trying to function as one, or one person who is divided into two. This analysis raises various dilemmas regarding both the personal and public arenas. When does the secret force itself upon us and what is the meaning of its appearance? My close friend tells me secretly that he is disloyal to his wife, who is also a close friend. Should I tell her? I am gossiping with A on B’s behavior. Is this immoral? What should be the guidelines of right and wrong when it comes to the secrets of decision makers in the political sphere? Whom do they represent in their confidential conversations? Who should decide on state secrets? And what should be the role of the press in this context? Whom are doctors to be loyal to – their patients? The public? Their profession? If a patient suffers from the HIV virus and refuses to tell that to his partner, is the doctor allowed (or obliged) to tell her? Some of these questions are given definite answers in this book; others remain undecided. And while discussing them, The Secret Is Out also analyses concepts such as the nature of promises, political ethics, the relations between the individual and the public, and the essence of love. The book examines philosophical works, sociological studies, passages from the Bible and the Talmud, laws of parliament, fiction and poetry.

The idea behind the book After the Bell: The World of Leisure for Children and Teenagers was born following a national case study, which was funded by the Chief Scientist of the Ministry of Education. Reviewing the literature for that study revealed a necessity for a comprehensive picture of children and adolescents' leisure world. This book was written to address this need. The uniqueness of the book lies in the fact that it combines theory, data and research findings from international and local settings related to children and adolescents. This book presents the essence of the literature regarding the nature of leisure, relevant theories, motives and factors that affect leisure choices, and perceptions of incentives and rewards obtained from participating in leisure activities. It concludes with a chapter on leisure education summarizing the knowledge on this topic as well as suggesting methods and means for effective leisure education. This book is intended for educational researchers, educators, student teachers, and school teachers. It is also suitable for decision-makers and educators in general as well as for anyone related to children and teenagers' well-being (e.g., educational counselors, social workers, psychologists, youth mentors, youth movement and community leaders).

One measure of the economic and cultural strength of a country is the level of its citizens' literacy since literacy is important for integration in the occupational and social world. In Israel, about one-third of the students exhibit literacy difficulties. Furthermore, literacy level gaps between the upper and the lower percentile are among the largest of 43 OECD countries. Israeli children, therefore, need support in literacy acquisition. Several public committees have discussed ways supporting education on these issues, basing their conclusion on current research. However, only two Hebrew books were published on the subject since the 1990's. This book attempts to address this scarcity. The book focuses on learners' literacy development and includes suggestions for intervention programs for supporting the literacy of children. It presents recent studies and programs of the best Israeli researchers on mono and bilingual learners, on children with normal development and those with special needs. This book is suitable for policy makers, psychologists, school teachers, kindergarten teachers, educational counselors, language and learning diagnosticians and therapists, teachers for reading rehabilitation, university, and college researchers, teachers and students. This book was written in honor of Prof. Iris Levin's (Tel Aviv University, Israel) retirement. Prof. Levin is a renowned and influential researcher, has studied early literacy for over 35 years, and has published in leading journals. She is among the leaders of the early literacy policy in Israel. The editors of the book, Dr. Dorit Aram and Dr. Ofra Korat, were Prof. Levin's students and are now her colleagues.

La Divina Commedia (Devine Comedy) is an epic poem written by Dante Alighieri between c. 1308 and his death in 1321. It is widely considered the preeminent work of Italian literature, and is seen as one of the greatest works of world literature. The poem's imaginative and allegorical vision of the afterlife is representative of the medieval world-view as it had developed in the Western Church by the 14th century. It helped establish the Tuscan dialect, in which it is written, as the standardized Italian language. It is divided into three parts: Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso . On the surface, the poem describes Dante's travels through Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven; but at a deeper level, it represents, allegorically, the soul's journey towards God. At this deeper level, Dante draws on medieval Christian theology and philosophy, especially Thomistic philosophy and the Summa Theologica of Thomas Aquinas. Consequently, the Divine Comedy has been called "the Summa in verse ". (Wikipedia) This new Hebrew translation presents the three parts of the Devine Comedy where opposite to every Hebrew line its original Italian equivalent. Each page contains annotations relevant to the verses printed in that page. Translated and annotated by Reuven Cohen.

Immanuel Kant (1724–1804) is the central figure in modern philosophy. He synthesized early modern rationalism and empiricism, set the terms for much of nineteenth and twentieth century philosophy, and continues to exercise a significant influence today in metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, political philosophy, aesthetics, and other fields. The fundamental idea of Kant's “critical philosophy” — especially in his three Critiques: the Critique of Pure Reason (1781, 1787), the Critique of Practical Reason (1788), and the Critique of the Power of Judgment (1790) — is human autonomy. He argues that the human understanding is the source of the general laws of nature that structure all our experience; and that human reason gives itself the moral law, which is our basis for belief in God, freedom, and immortality. Therefore, scientific knowledge, morality, and religious belief are mutually consistent and secure because they all rest on the same foundation of human autonomy, which is also the final end of nature according to the teleological worldview of reflecting judgment that Kant introduces to unify the theoretical and practical parts of his philosophical system. The book was originally published in English by Princeton University Press.

The first comprehensive academic study of the architectural planning of the kibbutzim and the moshavim, the utopian agricultural settlements that were created in Eretz-Israel during the 20th century. The book discusses the connection between the ideology and the architecture of these settlements in the broad historical context of the orientations intent on creating utopian societies and planning ideal settlements to house them. It presents the ideas on the architectural planning of ideal settlements that appear in the writings of social visionaries such as the prophet Ezekiel, Plato, Fourier, Owen, Marx and Engels, and of architects such as Vitruvius, Ledoux and Le Corbusier, and examines the extent of their creative imagination and their influence on the ways of thinking of the fathers of Zionist settlement such as Tabenkin and Eliezer Yaffe and architects of the kibbutzim and the moshavim, such as Kauffmann, Sharon and Bickels. The book presents an analysis of the spatial layouts of settlement models as related to the various social ideological movements that existed in Eretz-Israel. It surveys the development of these settlement models in light of the extreme political, economic and technological changes that took place in the world and in Israel in the course of the century, and examines the influences of the changes in the ideology on the changes in the spatial layouts of the settlements. The authors, Bracha and Michael Chyutin, are leading Israeli architects who have won numerous architectural competitions. They have been responsible for the construction of a number of iconic public buildings, among them the Court of Law Building in Haifa, the Givatayim Theater, and university buildings such as the Senate Building at Beer Sheva University and the Students Center at Haifa University. They have been awarded prestigious prizes, among them the Rechter Prize (twice) and the Israel Design Award (twice), for buildings they have planned.

How can a teacher-education institution transform itself so that the preparation of future teachers will foster meaningful and high-quality professional growth? This question lies at the heart of contemporary debates among teacher educators in Israel and worldwide. This book offers a rigorous and data-rich examination of a long-term structural and pedagogical reform that had taken place at the Hebrew University, with the goal of meeting the evolving challenges of teacher education in the twenty-first century. Through detailed analysis of the reform’s achievements and its complexities, the book illuminates the conditions, processes, and dilemmas involved in reshaping teacher education. The study provides an unprecedented, comprehensive, and systematic account of change processes in Israeli teacher education and contributes valuable insights to international scholarship on pedagogical reform, teacher education and institutional innovation.

This book offers a new theoretical approach to the practice of organization consulting. Following Pierre Bourdieu's Theory of Practice, the new approach, "habitus-oriented organizational consulting", sees thinking and behavior a result of social dispositions (habitus) which develop in the interaction between practice and social structures such as culture, organizing metaphors, power relations and practical knowledge. The habitus-oriented organizational consulting incorporates the social with the individual through habitus .

Vardi and Weitz bring together wide-ranging scholarship to help us understand the roots, effects, and implications of misbehavior in organizations. The book covers key topics that have emerged in scholarly literature in the past decade, such as insidious workplace behavior, bullying and harassment in the workplace, information hiding, cyberbullying, and organizational spirituality. A thorough and up-to-date resource on this crucial and evolving topic in organizational studies, this book provides insights on misbehavior at the individual, position, group, and organizational levels.

The Politics is a foundational work of Greek philosophy and a cornerstone of Western political thought. It is an investigation into the nature of the polis (the city-state), which Aristotle defines as a partnership of a certain kind among similar people for the sake of the best attainable life. In this inquiry, Aristotle seeks to determine how a virtuous and flourishing city is constructed and sustained. In Books VII–VIII - presented here for the first time in Hebrew - Aristotle depicts a vivid portrait of the ideal Greek city, and formulates a guide for the establishment of a flourishing city.

In the few years after his retirement from public life and before he was sentenced to suicide, the Roman philosopher Seneca wrote the majority of his texts, which included over one hundred letters of wisdom (espistulae morales) sent to his friend Lucilius. These letters are considered the first appearance of literary letters in Roman prose. The letters are philosophical essays written by a very wise and witty old man concluding his life, an autobiography of our spiritual world. The issues that interested Seneca are eternally relevant.

Uri Zvi Greenberg’s early poetry, composed between 1912 and 1923, offers both a key to understanding his later work, and a means for re-conceptualizing modern lyrical discourse in general and modern Jewish lyrical discourse in particular. Often callow, this early work testifies to the poet’s quest for a way of writing poetry that would give voice to the Jewish experience in Europe just before and after World War I. Like many other Jewish poets of the period, Greenberg was aware of the pressing need to express Jewishness in a way that would allow for the continued existence of Jewish national identity, among nations jostling for independence in a Europe rife with tensions. Similar to many of these poets, Greenberg also knew that this expression would have to be, of necessity, grounded in modern subjectivity. Paying attention to the various literary, historical, and political contexts of Greenberg's writing, Green Mountain and Love traces the poet’s valiant attempt to come to terms with modern subjectivity, and in so doing, reinvestigate the mechanisms of modern lyrical discourse. It yields fresh insights into the nature of poetry; its aims and functions in the cultural, political, and historical arenas; and the reader’s relationship with the poetic word.

Itzik Manger (1901-1969) stands out as the last great bearer of Yiddish song and humor, equal if not exceeding others in his power of feeling, invention, imagination and popular expression. His style of writing remained essentially the Yiddish of ordinary people, as spoken in shops and markets. To him, poetry was the supreme form of literature – a direct and sublime means of communication between the poet and reader. Manger was divinely endowed with “antennas” able to pick up delicate meaning often deliberately ambiguous, or intentionally obscure, dreamlike visions – and transmit them to the reader. Manger’s approach to the heroes of the Bible, whom he “brought down” from the heavens and transformed into ordinary Jews of Poland and other Yiddish speaking communities, remains in the minds of Yiddish speaking populations of Europe and the Americas. The lyrics and other texts in this volume, the seventh in the series of the Anthology of Yiddish Folksongs, are translated into Hebrew and English to ensure their survival for future generations. Most of the translations are “singable” - a rare and ingenious feat, requiring not only perfect knowledge of both languages, but also a deep feeling for music, rhythm, cadence, accents and so on. The main purpose of this book is not to deal with Manger’s singular poetic style or unique sense of humor, all of which are no less the product of Manger’s genius, but to publish some 50 of his poems, set to music, in the hope that other composers will be attracted to their exotic beauty and will enrich the world of spiritual culture.

Mandragola – known in English as The Mandrake – is Niccolo Machiavelli’s most renowned comedy. It is widely considered the greatest stage play of the Italian Renaissance, and one of the most brilliant comedies ever written. Mandragola is admired for its blunt and sober portrayal of human nature and the prominent role of deceit in the shaping of reality. This new Hebrew translation is accompanied by a comprehensive introduction and interpretative notes. The introduction documents the rebirth of western theatre in the Italian Renaissance, and examines the relation between Machiavelli’s comedy and his ‘serious’ writings.

How did Mass Communication become an important area of research and such a popular subject at universities and colleges within such a short time scale? Here is an exhaustive and comprehensive analysis of the development of Mass Communication departments.

A groundbreaking work, this book brings together philosophy of science and language, conceptual dynamics and the Babylonian Talmud. The work asks: what philosophy of natural language lies at the basis of the Halakhic dynamic in the Amoraic discourse of the Talmud? Calling upon two post-Wittgenstein philosophies, the book undertakes a search for a philosophical account of the discursive culture that appears in the Talmud. It unearths the normative infrastructure that lies at its core. Thus, this study articulates what can be termed the Talmudic philosophy of language. On the other hand, it reveals the limits and weaknesses of central philosophical frameworks in coping with a profound traditional discourse like the Talmud, in which the past has a deep and integral role in the present, while at the same time, the present has its own natural and creative dynamic.

Hebrew Translation for the Important book of Irvin D. Yalom in the field of Psychotherapy. Existential therapy has been practiced and continues to be practiced in many forms and situations throughout the world. But until now, it has lacked a coherent structure, and analysis of its tenets, and an evaluation of its usefulness. Irvin Yalom, whose Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy has rendered such a service to that discipline since 1970, provides existential psychotherapy with a background, a synthesis, and a framework.Organized around what Yalom identifies as the four “ultimate concerns of life”—death, freedom, existential isolation, and meaninglessness—the book takes up the meaning of each existential concern and the type of conflict that springs from our confrontation with each. He shows how these concerns are manifested in personality and psychopathology, and how treatment can be helped by our knowledge of them.Drawing from clinical experience, empirical research, philosophy, and great literature, Yalom has written a broad and comprehensive book. It will provide an intellectual home base for those psychotherapists who have sensed the incompatability of orthodox theories with their own clinical experience, and it opens new doors for empirical research. The fundamental concerns of therapy and the central issues of human existence are woven together here as never before, with intellectual and clinical results that will surprise and enlighten all readers.

The struggle between philosophy and theology in the middle ages has been a central topic for historians of ideas. The Clash of Paradigms claims that this struggle can be fully explained by scientific paradigms. Aristotelian and Neoplatonic paradigms in the Jewish world confronted the kalam paradigm at their early stage, and magic and experimental science in the following stage.

These two collections of Yiddish letters date from the second half of the 17th century and are being published here in full for the first time. The opening five-letter collection was archived together with extensive information about three Jews from Hamburg-Altona, who had been arrested and investigated in Copenhagen in August 1666. The second collection consists of eighteen letters exchanged between Hamburg-Altona and Copenhagen in January 1678. They concern the family and business affairs of a range of people, among them some of Glikl Hamel’s relatives, business associates and acquaintances. Together, the two collections provide a wealth of illuminating new details about the economic, cultural, social, and family life of early modern Ashkenazi Jews in Northern Europe, and also shed light on the practice of Yiddish letter-writing at the time. The English section consists of an introduction followed by a synopsis of each letter, while the Hebrew section comprises a transcription of the original texts as well as their facsimile images.

Few texts have left a mark on history as profound as The Communist Manifesto . First ‎published in 1848, this brief yet explosive work by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels became ‎one of the most influential texts in the formation of modern society and the modern self. It ‎ignited revolutions, inspired political movements, and provoked fear, resistance, and ‎enduring controversy, while offering a powerful framework for understanding the economic ‎and social forces that continue to shape our world.‎ But The Communist Manifesto is more than a political program. It is a striking work of ‎philosophical and moral reflection, grappling with the human condition in a world defined ‎by perpetual change—a world of capitalism, restless desire, and the drive toward ceaseless ‎innovation. Read anew, the Manifesto emerges as a mirror of our present moment, ‎challenging us to rethink freedom, justice, and the transformative power of ideas.‎ This book offers a fresh introduction to The Communist Manifesto and its place in the ‎history of ideas. Through close reading and conceptual analysis, it seeks to restore the ‎text’s vitality—not as a document of the past, but as a living invitation to reflect on the ‎present and imagine our collective future.‎

Remarks added by Chaim Wirszubski

Empathy is often conceptualized as the experience of walking in someone else’s shoes. This experience comprises of a cognitive aspect – the ability to identify, understand and adopt the perspective of another, and an affective aspect – sharing the emotions of others, while remaining distinct. Empathy has been widely recognized as central to cognitive and social development, and a key to nurturing interpersonal relationships and encouraging pro-social action. But empathy has drawbacks as well: Its boundaries, limitations and even potential damage have also been recognized and investigated. The articles in this book take multiple perspectives to studying empathy. They discuss how empathy is developed and how it is bounded, and focus on both its positive and negative implications. The articles in the first part of the book take a social sciences perspective to empathy. They define empathy, describe its development from very early age and throughout the life-span, and examine how it affects intra-personal, interpersonal and social processes. The second part of the book discusses the role of empathy in the humanities. The articles in this part address empathy in history, literature and the arts. Together, the articles in this book point to the vast scope of empathy as a phenomenon in both the social sciences and the humanities.

A Guide to Jewish Warsaw 1938 is an extraordinary book, describing a place that no longer exists: Jewish Warsaw was, as is well known, utterly destroyed in World War II. And yet, the book seeks to pretend as if everything is still intact, and it is possible to go on a tour following it or embark on an imaginary journey. Every detail is based on information pertaining to Jewish Warsaw in 1938 from countless sources: newspapers, literature, travel guides, written and oral memoirs, archives, interviews, films, and exhibitions. A Guide to Jewish Warsaw 1938 seeks to reveal the beauty hidden from the eye in the largest Jewish city in Europe before the war. The acquaintance with Jewish Warsaw is made through general and useful introductions, describing its history, its beliefs and opinions, its unique language, and its tastes and smells. At the center of the book are seven walking tours, revealing the city's delights: the antique bookstores on Świętokrzyska Street; the buffet at the Writers and Journalists Association at Tłomacka 13; the "Maccabi" swimming pool and the Bund's sports field; cantorial music at the Great Synagogue and Hasidic melodies in the Modrzyc courtyard in the resort town of Otwock; the summer terrace at the Rubinchik cafe, opening onto Krasiński Garden, "the Jewish Garden"; modern marble sculptures in the cemetery; the "Tel Aviv" cafe on Nowolipie Street; the treasures in the Jewish Museum; courtyards that are a world of their own on Nalewki Street and its surroundings, and much more.

This book is a comprehensive and thorough presentation of contemporary knowledge in the domain of developmental psychology. The book deals with the psychological development of the child from before birth, and throughout all periods of the child's growth including his development during adolescence. The book is written clearly and is ideal for students and academics as well as professionals who work with children.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau is described by many as a paradoxical philosopher. He often seems to be asserting both sides of a contradiction. His teaching has been a source of inspiration for various opposing and even antagonistic political movements and doctrines: He is considered to be one of the first thinkers of modern democracy, and an apostle of totalitarianism. He is the father of "Natural Education", but his thoughts might sound as a program for "Social Engineering" of human beings. He is a romantic, longing to simple life within nature, but again, he is a loyal son of the bourgeois civilization of his era. Rousseau's Paradoxical character is also reveled in his account of "Progress". It seems that he is saying to contradictionary things about this notion. On the one hand, it appears that, according to Rousseau, mankind can realize freedom only through a process of historical progress. On the other: that progress has enslaved men and brought disaster upon them. These paradoxes have deceived many of Rousseau's readers and interpreters, who chose to emphasize one side of Rousseau at the expanse of the opposite. The book "Rousseau: Progress as a trap" strive to avoid this mistake. It shows that the greatness of Rousseau's philosophy lies precisely in its dialectical character. Rousseau is indeed a Severe critic of progress, but his critique is not merely an "external" and purely-negative one: He is a philosopher of the enlightenment, and accepts the principles of enlightenment (in fact, he is one of the formulators of such principles). On behalf of these principles he criticizes enlightenment itself. Rousseau's decree, that progress has enslaved mankind, gets its critical substance only if one presumes, as did Rousseau, that progress should emancipate mankind. The philosophers of the enlightenment celebrated progress. In his optimistic epoch, and without denying the credo of enlightenment, Rousseau pointed out a dark and dangerous character of human progress. This book shows the Rousseau's dialectical, or ambivalent approach to progress anticipates important currents in 20th century philosophy and critical theory. Due to this approach, Rousseau's philosophy is perhaps more relevant today than it was during his lifetime.

The book is made up of six meditations, in which Descartes first discards all belief in things that are not absolutely certain, and then tries to establish what can be known for sure. He wrote the meditations as if he had meditated for six days: each meditation refers to the last one as "yesterday". The Meditations consist of the presentation of Descartes' metaphysical system in its most detailed level and in the expanding of Descartes' philosophical system, which he first introduced in the fourth part of his Discourse on Method (1637).

A look at three communal educational cycles. Kibbutz Education, education in working class schools and general secular education in the settlement and the state education in the State of Israel.

In the 1940s, Erwin Schrödinger attempted to tackle the eternal question "What is Life?" from the perspective of the "naïve physicist." The result is this short book, which has influenced generations of scientists, sparked much controversy and become a classic. What Is Life? appears in Hebrew for the first time, accompanied by an epilogue by Prof. Avshalom Elitzur, who demonstrates to what extent Schrödinger's insights are relevant eighty years after the first publication of the essay.

In the ongoing flood of studies of memory in its manifold forms and meanings, the no less powerful subject of forgetting tends to be forgotten. We often think of forgetting as a passive process, something that simply “happens” to us and to other living beings; but many of the studies in this inter-disciplinary volume reveal the active and even creative nature of forgetting, its positive features, and its varied roles in a wide series of cultural and intercultural templates. Neuroscientists joined with historians, philologists, a linguist, philosophers, sociologists and anthropologists, an archaeologist and an artist in the two joint workshops that generated this volume, under the auspices of the Zukunftskolleg at the University of Konstanz and the Martin Buber Society of Fellows at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The lively exchanges in the workshops are reflected in the comments and discussion that follow many of these experimental, meditative essays.

The book "Sabras don’t age" explores the inner world and identities of 23 senior officers from the founding Israeli 1948's generation, at their seventies. As human representations of the "Sabra" – the mythological "new Jew" – these officers embody the extreme opposition between youthfulness and old age; between hegemony and marginality. Those persons who once constituted the ultimate symbols of the Hebrew youngster, the agile commander, the powerful masculine body, and the Western ideal of eternal youth – are presently facing the deterioration of their bodies, their approaching death, and most painfully – the current cultural meanings of being old. Their personal aging process is accompanied by major changes that took place in the Israeli society, primarily the move from collectivistic toward individualistic ideologies, with the consequent undermining of their status. How do these Israeli heroes settle the wide contradiction between the values which they have symbolized throughout their lives and their present situation? Are they able to preserve their status as national pantheon heroes, while coping at the same time with the various demands posed by their advanced age? Already at their eight life decade, the Israeli officers identify themselves – in their "narrative identity cards" – as Sabras, men and heroic commanders who have dedicated their lives to their homeland, and above all –as non-old. Yet, as opposed to the ceased time in the narratives, time incessantly flows in their private lives. Indeed, the officers do not deny their aging. Rather, they are completely aware of the changes that took place in their lives and bodies and directly cope with the new needs. Through the mechanism of compartmentalization, they are able to preserve a public heroic young self, while coping - in private - with old age. In this way, they succeed to maintain a valued identity in a world that worships youth. These officers' identity management sheds light not only on the first Israelis at their advanced years, but also on the founding ethos of the Israeli collective identity. However, as the youth ideal is by no means bounded to the Israeli case, but encompasses the Western world as a whole, the identity strategies employed by the Sabra Generals possess major implications for all elders, and especially for older men, in the post-modern era. Thus, this book is aimed not only at readers interested in the Israeli society and culture, and not only at those concerned with the aging of army officers, but to anyone that wonders how is it possible to age keeping a respected and continuous self in a world that relates to old people as the ultimate "other".

The eBook version of this book can be bought here . This book situates Levinas in the pantheon of modern Jewish thinkers, discussing a number of themes that frequently occur in Jewish thought. The author presents Levinas’s oeuvre, which comprises two parts - his Jewish, “confessional” writings and his philosophical, “professional” writings - as a unity. The question of the exact relationship between these two types of writings is a lively discussion in present day scholarship. How does Levinas perceive the relationship between revelation and philosophy, the biblical address and the logos, the Saying and the said, faith and reason? There is a long oppositional tradition which contrasts Athens with Jerusalem, yet Levinas does not take part in such an antithetical tradition. Without reconciling or harmonizing, he belongs to the philosophical tradition as well as to the Jewish tradition. This double allegiance explains the presence of philosophical terms and themes in his Jewish thought and the presence of Jewish words and ideas in his metaphysics. Levinas is presented by the author as a frequent traveler between Athens and Jerusalem and as a great translator from “Hebrew” to “Greek.” However, the relationship between “Hebrew” and “Greek” in Levinas’s writings is not one of prototext and phenotext or of subtext and text, but rather one of a primordial inspirational word and the conceptual discourse. In an inclusive reading, Meir shows that the acquaintance with Levinas’s Jewish writings is helpful in understanding his subtle philosophical analyses and a necessary condition for the understanding of the whole Levinas.

Kierkegaard: Between Authentic Faith and Self-Deception approaches Kierkegaard through a refreshing combination of Jewish and non-Jewish philosophies. It deals with Kierkegaard/Hegel's debate and offers valuable insights into questions of self-deception, grace, and Kierkegaard's relation to Judaism and to Jews.

Within the Babylonian Talmud are dozens of stories depicting sharp confrontations between the Amoraim, the Talmudic sages. These narratives portray the charged relationships among the sages, the emergence of conflict, and the profound emotional harm that results from it. Why do conflicts among the creators of Talmudic literature occupy such a central literary place? This book examines these stories as a distinct literary corpus. The analysis shows that the conflicts consistently center on one domain: injury to personal honor. They are also marked by a characteristic plot structure, in which conflict develops unintentionally and escalates uncontrollably, leading to a rupture between the characters. Using tools from narrative theory and comparative poetics, the book explores how these stories operate. They draw the reader into a web of misunderstandings and communicative failures, making simple moral judgment difficult. Instead, they direct attention to the inner and interpersonal worlds of the characters, and to the literary construction of the Talmudic study house as a space of mutual dependence and identity formation.

This series "Yiddish Literature" is published by the Yiddish Department at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Its purpose it to provide students of Yiddish literature and readers in general with selected texts for reading and study

The Stage as a Temporary Home : On Dzigan and Shumacher's Theater (1927-1980) has been designated as the winner of the prestigious Shapiro Award for 2019 for the best book in Israel Studies The Stage as a Temporary Home takes us through the fascinating stages in the life and career of the duo Shimen Dzigan and Isroel Shumacher , over the course of half a century - from the beginning of their work at the Ararat avant-garde Yiddish theater in Łodz, Poland, and to their Warsaw theater, where they produced bold, groundbreaking political satire. The book further discusses their wanderings through the Soviet Union during the Second World War and their attempt to revive Jewish culture in Poland after the Holocaust, and finally describes their arrival in Israel, first as guest performers and later as permanent residents. Despite the restrictions on Yiddish actors in Israel, the duo insisted on performing in their own language and succeeded in translating the new Israeli reality into unique and timely satire. In the 1950s, they voiced a political and cultural critique of a kind that was not heard on any of the Hebrew stages. After they parted ways, and following the death of Shumacher in 1961, Dzigan continued to perform on his own and with other Israeli artists until his death in 1980 . The book is based on rare recordings, transcriptions, programs, personal diaries, letters, photographs, oral testimonies, and critical articles, all of which come together to create the first critical portrait of this extraordinary duo. The book also examines their art, the connection between theater and politics, and the complex relationship between majority culture and minority language . The study includes several valuable indexes: of titles of programs and plays, of the artists who participated in them, of writers and the drafts they wrote, of actors and the programs in which they participated, and a general name index. The book also includes a facsimile of the manuscript Der Nayer Dybbuk [The New Dybbuk]. Click here for the English edition, published by De Gruyter in collaboration with Magnes Press

Martin Buber aroused passionate, often contradictory opinions, both regarding his personality and his thought. Gershom Schocken, editor of Haaretz , said that one day he was walking with S. Y. Agnon: "We were walking around Talpiot and I asked him what his attitude was towards Buber. Agnon stopped in his walk and said: 'I want to tell you something. There are people about whom you have to decide once: do you love them or do you hate them. I decided to love Buber.'" Buber's philosophical and theological writings, including the famous I and Thou , have contributed greatly to religious and Jewish thought, as well as to biblical studies, political theory, and Zionist thought. In this new biography, Paul Mendes-Flor situates Buber's legacy at the crossroads between the intellectual and cultural life of German Jewry and European life in the first half of the twentieth century. This is the first full biography of the groundbreaking modern Jewish philosopher. The book is organized around several key events in his life, such as his mother suddenly abandoning him when he was three years old—a formative trauma that left Buber with a lasting sense of sensitivity to the fragility of human relationships and the need to nurture them with what he would later call "dialogical attention."

Mark Warshavsky was born in Odessa in 1848 and was a poet-composer of many famous Yiddish folksongs. It was Sholom Aleichem who first "discovered" Warshavsky with whom he often appeared in cultural evenings in Kiev. Like some of the early songs of Gebirtig - Warshavsky's songs too became folksongs, the lyrics and melodies spread like wildfire among the Jewish masses. The appearance of Warshavsky's Der Alef Beys, or as it quicky became known from its first words Oyfn Pripetchek, caused a real revolution in the minds of orthodox as well as progressive Jews in Eastern Europe."

Dr. Amitai Mendelsohn investigates the various appearances of the figure of Jesus in Israeli art as a significant, multifaceted and ever-present phenomenon. Through works by prominent artists from different generations, it discusses in depth the evolving attitudes of Jewish, Zionist pre-state, and Israeli art towards Jesus, from the second half of the nineteenth century until today: from artists laboring "In the shadow of the Cross" to artists who saw Jesus as a symbol of the rebirth of the Jewish people in the land of Israel, and artists whose engagement with Jesus is detached from the complex and fraught relations between Christianity and Judaism, and who see him as symbolizing the suffering artist. The book examines the different directions taken by Israeli artists in portraying the figure of Jesus, and proves the extent of this phenomena and its ever present importance.

One of the world's most celebrated scholars, Stephen Greenblatt has crafted both an innovative work of history and a thrilling story of discovery, in which one manuscript, plucked from a thousand years of neglect, changed the course of human thought and made possible the world as we know it. Nearly six hundred years ago, a short, genial, cannily alert man in his late thirties took a very old manuscript off a library shelf, saw with excitement what he had discovered, and ordered that it be copied. That book was the last surviving manuscript of an ancient Roman philosophical epic, On the Nature of Things , by Lucretius—a beautiful poem of the most dangerous ideas: that the universe functioned without the aid of gods, that religious fear was damaging to human life, and that matter was made up of very small particles in eternal motion, colliding and swerving in new directions. The copying and translation of this ancient book-the greatest discovery of the greatest book-hunter of his age-fueled the Renaissance, inspiring artists such as Botticelli and thinkers such as Giordano Bruno; shaped the thought of Galileo and Freud, Darwin and Einstein; and had a revolutionary influence on writers such as Montaigne and Shakespeare and even Thomas Jefferson.

When Franz Kafka died in 1924, his loyal friend Max Brod could not bring himself to fulfill Kafka’s last instruction: to burn his remaining manuscripts. Instead, Brod devoted his life to championing Kafka’s work, rescuing his legacy from both obscurity and physical destruction. Nearly a century later, an international legal battle erupted to determine which country could claim ownership: the Jewish state, where Kafka dreamed of living, or Germany, where Kafka’s three sisters perished in the Holocaust? Benjamin Balint offers a gripping account of the controversial trial in Israeli courts—brimming with dilemmas legal, ethical, and political—that determined the fate of Kafka’s manuscripts.

This beautiful volume is the fruit of almost 40 years of collecting by Vivienne Silver-Brody, one of Israel's few photography collectors. She has written and edited a book, which narrates the shared history of photography in a land that in the last century has seen development alongside war and destruction, and that remains divided and conflicted by the two peoples that call it home. The text is accompanied by some 200 exquisite photographs from Silver-Brody’s collection, and includes a special section inspired by the 1983 volume published by the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, Personal Choice: A Celebration of Twentieth-Century Photographs . In this section, Silver-Brody invited some 60 writers – photographers, scholars, artists, curators, collectors, lovers of photography and others with a special connection to the land – from different religions, national and political tendencies, to choose a single photograph from her collection and to write a short essay relating to it. The result is a fascinating selection of texts that contributes to the overall narrative in the book. This book could speak to a diversified readership; those interested in photography and its history or in the Middle East and Israel / Palestine, especially in light of the ongoing conflict and public debate surrounding it around the world, and in light of the unique voice that attempts to reach beyond politics and religion, and to present a photographic history of the Land of Israel as a shared place rather than as disputed territory. Translated by Daphna Levy View English edition

The New Arabic-Hebrew Dictionary is a dictionary of the Arabic language across the ages, with focus on the language of the spoken and written media. The dictionary also reflects the rich literary history of the Arabic language, of more than 1,400 years, including the Qur'an, ancient poetry, proverbs, the Hadith and jurisprudential literature, Adab literature and historical literature. Terms and expressions from the sphere of Islamic theology and jurisprudence, which were considered archaic 50 or 60 years ago, have come back into use following the rise of fundamentalist Islam in the 1970s, and this new dictionary provides translations and explanations for these terms as well. With over 44,000 entries, this dictionary is today the most comprehensive, up-to-date and reliable dictionary of contemporary Arabic. User-friendly: full vocalization of all Arabic and Hebrew entries. About 6,000 examples from Arabic literature of all eras and from the press clarify the use of words. Over 4,000 grammatical and historical notes. The New Arabic-Hebrew Dictionary is intended for university students and scholars, school pupils and teachers and anyone interested in the Arabic language. To the concise edition of The New Arabic-Hebrew Dictionary