The influence of Rashi’s commentaries on the Bible and the Talmud on Jewish thinking remains unsurpassed, This biographical study presents a masterly survey of the social and cultural background of Rashi’s work, his personality, his reputation, and his influence, while also considering his sources, his interpretative method, his innovations, and his style and language. The central contribution, however, is the in-depth analysis of Rashi’s world-view, which leads to conclusions that are likely to stimulate much debate. To this day, the commentaries on the Bible and Talmud written by the eleventh-century scholar known as Rashi remain unsurpassed. His influence on Jewish thinking was, and still is, significant. His commentary on the Pentateuch was the first Hebrew book to be printed, giving rise to hundreds of supercommentaries. Christian scholars, too, have relied heavily on his explanations of biblical texts. In this volume Avraham Grossman presents a masterly survey of the social and cultural background to Rashi’swork and pulls together the strands of information available on his life, his personality, his reputation during his lifetime, and his influence as a teacher. He discusses each of his main commentaries in turn, including such aspects as his sources, his interpretative method, his innovations, and his style and language. Attention is also given to his halakhic monographs, responsa, and liturgical poems. Despite Rashi’s importance as a scholar and the vast literature published about him, two central questions remain essentially unanswered: what was Rashi’s world-view, and was he a conservative or a revolutionary? Professor Grossman considers these points at length, and his in-depth analysis of Rashi’s world-view—particularly his understanding of Jewish uniqueness, Jewish values, and Jewish society—leads to conclusions that are likely to stimulate much debate.

Articles: Eyal Regev - Hever Ha-Yehudim and the political ideology of the Hashmoneans Michael Schneider - Goats, Demons and Angels Tamar Kadari - Transferred Petirot in Midrash Song of Songs Rabbah Eran Viezel - The divine content and the words of Moses Tsippi Kauffman - Ritual immersion at the beginning of Hasidism Bracha Yaniv - The throne of glory Jonatan Meir - The 'Wondrous Charlatan'

Kobez al Yad , an annual of the Mekize Nirdamim Society, is a forum for the publication from manuscript sources of ancient texts in Jewish studies that are shorter than book-length Contents From the Responsa of Rabbenu Migash from the Cairo Genizah published by Amir Ashur A Series of Paronomasia Poems by R. Berechiah ha-Nakdan published by Aviyah Una Baruchi "Ha-She'eilah ve-ha-Teshuvah" by R. Judah ibn Rokesh published by Doron Forte Philosophical Writings of R. Shemariah Ikriti: Sefer Amazyahu, Sefer ha-Mora, and Ra'ayah al Hisharut ha-Nefesh (A Proof for the Immortality of the Soul) published by Dov Schwartz Peri ha-Gan by R. Shalom ben R. Joseph Anabi published by Ofer Elior R. Isaac Aboab's Commentary to the Hermeneutic Principle of Kal va-Homer published by Aviram Ravitsky Quntres Pereq be-Shir by Joshua Benveniste: Hebrew Poetics in the Transition from the Renaissance to the Baroque published by Joseph Yahalom and Naoya Katsumata

Jewish Studies – Journal of the World Union of Jewish Studies has appeared since 1996 when it replaced the WUJS Newsletter, which had been published since 1970. It presents original innovative essays in all fields of Jewish Studies, and includes lists of new publications in these fields. The articles in the volume: Language mix and multilingualism in ancient Palestine: Literary and inscriptional evidence (English) Leopold Low and the study of rabbinic literature - a bicentennial appraisal (English) Myth and ritual: a study in the rituals of "Passover sacrifice" (Exodus 12) and "The festival of YHWH" (Leviticus 23) Philosophical and political aspects of the migration of Abraham from Ur of the Chaldeans to Philo The presence of the Shekinah in the second temple Hermeneutic lexicon Rosh Hodesh Torches - cancellation and renewal

Story-telling has been an integral part of the hasidic movement from its very beginnings in the eighteenth century to the present day. Stories about the holy hasidic leaders—the tsadikim, or rebbes—and their mystical powers have been a key factor in attracting followers and maintaining their devotion. Such tales were told by the tsadikim and their followers alike. The tsadikim saw them as a way to promote the movement and justify their leadership; their followers saw them as a way to exalt their masters, cleanse them of any shred of imperfection, and defend them from every trace of criticism. No other social or religious movement in the entire course of Jewish history has engaged so intensively in the telling of stories, and nor have stories occupied such a central and important place in any other intellectual movement within Judaism. Originally published in Hebrew and expanded for this English edition by a new introduction, this book is a valuable resource for anyone interested in the history of hasidism or of Hebrew literature and the literary aspects of Jewish popular culture. It acts both as a compendium of stories by theme and as a reference work for the identification of the subject-matter, authors, editors, and editions of books that have been a popular Jewish literary genre since the second half of the eighteenth century. Hasidic tales have been reprinted many times, anthologized, and even quoted by contemporary scholars, without the identity of their authors or editors being known, and without any awareness of their background and origin. In this important work, based on analysis of all the published anthologies as well as tales scattered in a variety of obscure sources, the author traces the sources and development of the different stories. An introductory historical survey is followed by full discussions of the stories themselves, grouped by subject. Among the themes covered are matchmaking and marriages, childbirth and progeny, sickness, death and the world to come, dybbuks and the powers of evil, apostasy, and many more.

Jewish Studies – Journal of the World Union of Jewish Studies has appeared since 1996, when it replaced the WUJS Newsletter, which had been published since 1970. It presents original innovative essays in all fields of Jewish Studies, and includes lists of new publications in these fields. The Subjects in the book: Preface: Legends and Folklore: Some Aspects of Louis Ginzberg's The Legends of the Jews in a Historical and Critical Perspective (English) Aggadah in Higher Unity": The German Manuscript of The Legends of the Jews (English) The Legends of the Jews as Viewed by Louis Ginzberg and by Others The Legends of the Jews: On Theological Contacts Between the Babylonian Rabbis and the Church Fathers in Late Antiquity - A Model and a Case Study Ginzberg , the Church Fathers, and The Legends of the Jews The Silent Revolution: The Legends of the Jews by Louis Ginzberg and the Genre of Midrashic Anthology Ancient Jewish Folk Literature: The Legends of the Jews and Folklore Research at the Beginning of the Twentieth Century The Legend of The Legends: Methodological Observations Regarding The Legends of the Jews

This is the eighth book in the Sources and Traditions - Critical Commentary on the Talmud series.

Table of Contents: Elchanan Reiner - Joshua is Rashbi, Hatzor is Meron: On the Typology of a Galilean Foundation Myth James Nathan Ford and Alon Ten-Ami - An Incantation Bowl for Rav Mešaršia son of Qaqay Shulamit Elizur - Esa Meshali (I Shall Present my Lesson) Matti Huss - The Beginning of Joseph Ibn Shimeon’s Ne ' um Toviyahu ben Zidqiyahu Yosef Ofer - Why Did Nahmanides Misread the Inscription on the Sheqel Coin? Hannan Hever - The Trauma of the Lady of the Palace Bezalel Bar-Kochva - The Essaioi: A Fiction or Historical Reality? Rachel Elior - Essenes or ‘ha-Kohanim bnei Zaddok and Their Allies’ . A Response to Bezalel Bar Kokhva, ‘The Essaioi: A Fiction or Historical Reality?’

Distinguished philosopher Hilary Putnam, who is also a practicing Jew, questions the thought of three major Jewish philosophers of the twentieth century – Franz Rosenzweig, Martin Buber, and Emmanuel Levinas – to help him reconcile the philosophical and religious sides of his life. An additional presence in the book is Wittgenstein, who, although not a practicing Jew, thought about religion in ways that Putnam juxtaposes to the views of Rosenzweig, Buber and Levinas. Putnam explains the leading ideas of each of these great thinkers, bringing out what, in his opinion, constitutes the decisive intellectual and spiritual contributions of each of them. Although the religion discussed is Judaism, the depth and originality of these philosophers, as incisively interpreted by Putnam, make their thought nothing less than a guide to life. Origonally published by Indiana University Press.

Halakhah: Overt and Implicit Conceptual and Ideological Contexts , is a collection of articles by leading scholars in the field of halakhah and the philosophy of halakhah. The articles uncover the overt and implicit worldviews of a number of halakhic decisors and examine how they coped with extra-halakhic cultures and ideas. Some of them internalized “outside” concepts, while others dealt with the outside world by making new use of the internal notions of the world of halakhah. The articles also consider the link between ideology and the issuance of halakhic rulings. Readers will encounter examples of the influence of ideology on halakhah, alongside arguments that categorically deny that ideology plays any part in halakhic thinking. The volume proposes answers to questions such as whether halakhah derives its power from its anti-ideological character and what underlies the assertion that halakhah is an ideological text.

The book Statutory Jewish Prayers is a collection of essays by Ezra Fleisher on the subject of prayer and synagogue rituals. The two volumes of this book include Fleishers fundamental essays about the essence and emergence of statutory prayer in Israel. This text is accompanied by ancient versions of Israelite prayer found in the Cairo Geniza Collection in Geneva. The book also includes descriptions of other rituals and customs exercised in Israelite synagogues such as Rosh Hodesh (new moon) customs and special ways to blow the shofar on the Sabath. Torah and Haftorah (additional reading from the prophets) reading are also referenced. The book ends with a detailed inspection of a few important Mahzorim.