In his own estimation, Maimonides was neither exclusively a dedicated philosopher nor exclusively a devoted rabbinist: he saw philosophy and the Written and Oral Torahs as a single, harmonious domain, and he believed that this view was similarly fundamental to the lives of the prophets and rabbis of old. In this book, Herbert Davidson examines Maimonides’ efforts to reconstitute this all-embracing, rationalist worldview that he felt had been lost during the millennium-long exile. Maimonides was not the first rabbinic scholar to take an interest in philosophy, but he was unique in being a towering figure in both areas. His law code, the Mishneh torah, stands with Rashi's commentary on the Babylonian Talmud as one of the two most intensely studied rabbinic works coming out of the Middle Ages, while his Guide for the Perplexed is the most influential and widely read Jewish philosophical work ever written. Admirers and critics have arrived at wildly divergent perceptions of the man. We have Maimonides the atheist or agnostic, Maimonides the sceptic, Maimonides the deist, Maimonides the Aristotelian, the Averroist, or proto-Kantian. We have a Maimonides seduced by the blandishments of 'accursed philosophy'; a Maimonides who sowed the seeds that led to Spanish Jews' loss of faith and mass apostasy and who was therefore responsible for the demise of Spanish Jewry; a Maimonides who incorporated philosophical elements into his rabbinic works and wrote the Guide for the Perplexed not to propagate doctrines to which he was personally committed but in order to rescue errant souls seduced by philosophy; a Maimonides who was the defender of the faith and defined the articles of Jewish belief for all time. In his own estimation, Maimonides was neither exclusively a dedicated philosopher nor exclusively a devoted rabbinist: he saw philosophy and the Written and Oral Torahs as a single, harmonious domain, and he believed that this view was similarly fundamental to the lives of the prophets and rabbis of old. In this book, Herbert Davidson examines Maimonides’ efforts to reconstitute this all-embracing, rationalist worldview that he felt had been lost during the millennium-long exile.

The articles in the volume: Yehuda Liebes- Clothed Nudity: The Esoteric Cult of Philo Eran Viezel- Moses’ Role in the Writing of the Torah in Rabbinic Literature and in the Transition to the Middle Ages Dov Schwartz- R. Shem Tov Falaquera’s Method in Abridging R. Solomon Ibn Gabirol’s Fons Vitae Eliezer Haddad- ‘You Shall Not Murder’ in the Writings of Maimonides: Ethics vs. Politics Avishai Bar-Asher- Perush shel Meor haQodesh : The Metamorphoses of Zoharic Homilies in R. Moses de León’s Hitherto Unknown Commentary on the Ten Commandments Iris Felix and Ruth Kara-Ivanov Kaniel- ‘Fire Bearing Fire’: An Unknown Zoharic Text and the Beginning of Zoharic Commentary in the Early Fourteenth Century – the Case of R. Menahem Recanati and R. Joseph Angilet Hagai Pely - Halakhah, Pietism, Kabbalah and Revelation in Sixteenth Century Safed: A Study in R. Yosef Karo’s Works Iris Brown ( Hoizman )- Between ‘Rectification of Evil’ and ‘Plain Nonsense’: The Strict Requirement of ‘A Clean Body’ as a Case Study of the Relationship between Hasidism and Halakhah Emmanuel Bloch- Rabbi Shimshon Raphael Hirsch and the Doctrine of ‘Torah im Derech Erets ’ in the Eyes of the Hareidim Uriel Barak- Anti-Semitism from a Theological Perspective: A Study in the Thought of Rabbi Avraham Itzhak HaCohen Kook and his Followers Eli Schonfeld- Jewish Philosophy as Existential Hermeneutics: A Revisiting of the Relation between Philosophy and Judaism in Emanuel Levinas List of Contributors English Abstracts

Mishnah and Tosefta Ketubbot: Text, Exegesis and Redaction includes new editions of tractate Ketubbot in the Mishnah and Tosefta and offers a new model for presenting these interdependent texts. After an introduction which deals at length with some central topics in Mishnah and Tosefta research, especially with regard to textual criticism, the two editions are presented in parallel; each edition is accompanied by selected variants and explanatory notes. Please note: The book was typeset so there is a parallel between Mishna and the matching Tosefta. For this reason pages 76, 82, 97, 100, 124, 177, 180, 220, 240, 256, 298, and 300 are blank. These pages were left blank intentionally.

The articles in this volume: Yoav Rosenthal The History of the Final Chapter of Tractate Shevu ʿ ot Menahem Kister Exod 4:24-26: The Complexity of Jewish and Christian Interpretations Ronny Vollan Coptic Hebraists in the Middle Ages? On the Transmission of Rav Sa ʿ adiah Gaon’s Tafsīr Avi Shmidman The Liturgical Role of Ḥatanu Poems in שפוך חמתך ‘ Avraham Fraenkel Curse Poetry and the Verses of Ancient Jewish Italy Mordechai Akiva Friedman Maimonides Appoints R. Anatoly Muqaddam of Alexandria Oded Yisraeli From ‘ Torat Ha-Shem Temimah ’ to the Torah Commentary: Milestones in Nahmanides’ Creative life Avishai Bar-Asher Sefer ha-Neʿelam , New Parts of Sefer Or Zaru ʿ a and Clarifications Regarding the Early Writings of R. Moses de León: Studies and Critical Editions Books Received English Abstracts For contents and article abstracts in English press on Sample pages which is located on the right of the cover photo.

The articles in this volume: Naama Alfasi-Weiss The Biblical Story of the Announcement of Isaac’s Birth : A Structural Analysis Avraham (Rami) Reiner On the Origins of the Expression Amen, amen, amen sel Rella Kushelevsky Between the Heritage of the Middle Ages and the Winds of the Renaissance: The Midrash of the Ten Commandments in the Parma Manuscript 2269 (De Rossi 473) Tal Goitein Elijah’s Cup: An Unknown Fifteenth-Century Depiction of the Custom in the Erna Michael Haggadah Noga Rubin ‘ The Legend of Three and Four’: An Account of Jewish Story-Telling Tradition in Prague of the Seventeenh Century Tsila Zan-Bar Tsur ‘ A woman is like a stew, warm and nourishing’: Kitchen and Femininity in the Folk Culture of Afghan Jews Yael Zilberman ‘ I would have died had God not sent me Elijah the Prophet’: Class, Body, and Sexuality in the Life Stories of Elderly Oriental (Mizrahiot) Women of Beer Sheva Noga Libi Cohen ‘ In the merit of a woman – the miracle happened’: Conformism and Subversion in the Story of Judith as Told by an Ultra-Orthodox Woman Towards a History of Folkloristics Rina Benari Blessing Scrolls and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem: The Case of the Blessing Scroll from Mława – 1925 Book Reviews Yael Guilat Material-Culture Research in Israel [On: Aviva Muller-Lancet, Garments with a Message: Ethnography of Jewish Wear in Islamic Lands, Jerusalem: Yad Izhak Ben-Zvi and The Hebrew University of Jerusalem 2010, 389 + 67 pp. (in Hebrew)] Haim Weiss Current Aspects of Folklore Research [On: Regina F. Bendix & Galit Hasan-Rokem (eds.), A Companion to Folklore (Blackwell Companions to Anthropology, 15), Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2012, 660 pp. (Paper edition, 2014)] Dani Schrire Encyclopedic Knowkege and Jewish Folklore [On: Raphael Patai & Haya Bar-Itzhak (eds.), Encyclopedia of Jewish Folklore and Traditions, Armonk, New York: M. E. Sharpe, 2013, 2 volumes, 680 pp.] English abstracts at the end of the book.

The book Human Choice: Biblical Narrative and the Drama of Choice suggests, in contrast to the dominant position in the field of theology, that humanity and not God stands at the heart of biblical narrative. Underpinning many biblical narratives is a theology that may be termed a “theology of choice”, a theology predicated on the belief that human’s central task is to choose between good and evil. Theology of choice leads to biblical narratives' focus on the internal conflicts of characters, their struggles and the choices that they must make. The principle that a person’s choices determine one’s destiny lies at the foundation of biblical narrative and is one of the basic tenets of Israelite belief. In contrast to the belief in a predetermined destiny characteristic of idolatrous culture as evident in many ancient mythologies as well as Greek tragedy, the outlook underlying many biblical narratives is that a person is a free being and is responsible for one’s actions and one’s ultimate destiny. The book also argues against the belief that the books of the Bible reflect polarized thinking and a dichotomous worldview. A sophisticated literary analysis treating the different levels of the narrative – the syntagmatic, paradigmatic and dramatic – with a focus on the use of tripartite contrast – a literary device yet to be noticed in biblical research – reveals that the biblical perspectives are not polar in nature, but rather include complexity and a gray zone lying between the dichotomy of black and white. The doubts and wavering of middle-ground characters such as Lot, Saul and Ahab create a drama about choice and infuse the narratives with complexity and interest. Middle-ground characters in biblical narratives represent human complexity, characterized by internal conflict and struggles, and the need to decide between conflicting desires, values and beliefs. This tension creates the biblical drama of choice which focuses on human choice.

David Gillis’s highly original study of Maimonides’ Mishneh torah demonstrates that its form reflects a belief that observance of the divine commandments of the Torah brings the individual and society into line with the cosmic order. He shows that the Mishneh torah is intended to be an object of contemplation as well as a prescription for action, with the study of it in itself bringing the reader closer to knowledge of God. In this highly original study, David Gillis demonstrates that the Mishneh torah, Maimonides’ code of Jewish law, has the structure of a microcosm. Through this symbolic form, Maimonides presents the law as designed to perfect the individual and society by shaping them in the image of the divinely created cosmic order. The commandments of the law thereby bring human beings closer to fulfilling their ultimate purpose, knowledge of God. This symbolism turns the Mishneh torah into an object of contemplation that itself communicates such knowledge. In short, it is a work of art. Gillis unpacks the metaphysical and cosmological underpinnings of Maimonides’ scheme of organization with consummate skill, allowing the reader to understand the Mishneh torah’s artistic dimension and to appreciate its power. Moreover, as he makes clear, uncovering this dimension casts new light on one of the great cruxes of Maimonides studies: the relationship of the Mishneh torah to his philosophical treatise The Guide of the Perplexed. A fundamental unity is revealed between Maimonides the codifier and Maimonides the philosopher that has not been fully appreciated hitherto. Maimonides’ artistry in composition is repeatedly shown to serve his aims in persuading us of the coherence and wisdom of the halakhic system. Gillis’s fine exegesis sets in high relief the humane and transcendental purposes and methods of halakhah as Maimonides conceived of it, in an argument that is sure-footed and convincing.

This issue discusses two main topics: "Serpents in Jewish Lore" - a trans­cultural topic treated as such in four essays and Holocaust Medical Studies. The latter will henceforth be considered a regular topic in KOROT, and will include a selected number of studies presented at the annual meetings of the Nahariya Conferences on Medicine in the Holocaust, convened by Prof. Shaul Shasha. Contents EDITORIAL The Serpent in Medicine, Medical Culture and the Jewish Tradition Ephraim Nissan The Cyclical Snake in Jewish Sources: An Examination of Occurrences of the Ouroboros Samuel Kottek The Serpent in the Talmud Kathleen Walker-Meikle Toxicology and Treatment: Medical Authorities and Snake-Bite in the Middle Ages Helena Paavilainen Viper Bite Therapies in Maimonides‘ On Poisons and the Protection against Lethal Drugs Holocaust Studies Miriam Offer The Study of Jewish Medicine during the Holocaust: Its Creation and Preliminary Steps Etienne Lepicard True Friendship or Relation against Nature? The Libman-Carrel Correspondence, 1923–1934 Peter Schwarzand and Wolfgang Neugebauer Medicine without Humanity: A Brief Outline of the History of Nazi Euthanasia in Vienna, Austria, 1938­1945 Kenneth Collins Practicing Humanity: Four Medical Practitioners and their Holocaust Legacy Varia Moshe Feinsod A Distant Reflection: The Physician in the Eye of the Jewish Medieval Satirist Kalonymus ben Kalonymus (1287­1337?) Zalman Greenbergand and Anton Alexander Professor Israel Jacob Kligler: List of Publications HISTORICALNOTES Kenneth Collins Samuel Levenston: An Historical Footnote Avi Ohry Jewish Physicians and Scientists' Historical Contributions to Society Korot of the Past Joshua O. Leibowitz The 25th Anniversary of Koroth L. Wislicki The Day of Nazification of a Hospital in Berlin BOOK REVIEWS Wolfgang Uwe Eckart: Medizin in der NS­Diktatur: Ideologic, Praxis, Folgen, 2012. Danielle Gourevitch: Limos kai Loimos: A Study of the Galenic Plague, 2013. Regis­Nessim Sachs: Medecins juifs du Xe au XVIIe siecle, 2014. Robert Weston: Medical Consulting by Letter in France 1665­1789, 2013.

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. The articles in this volume: Avi Shmidman, The Selihot of R. Joseph Ibn Abitur for the Tenth of Tevet Dan Greenberger, Alfasi's Responses to R. Isaac b. Barukh Ibn al-Baliya's Ccritiques Sarah Cohen, The Selihot of R. Sadoq al-'Amani Na'ama Ben-Shachar, The Baraita of Joseph ben Uzziel Dov Schwartz, Two Wedding Sermons by R. Michael ben Shabtai Balbo

Eshbal Ratzon - The Gates of the Sun and the Moon in the Astronomical Book of Enoch Aharon Semesh - Transmitting Regular and Irregular Semen Impurity at Qumran: A Study of 4QTohora (4Q274) Michael Rand - Was Mahzor Eretz Israel - A Geniza Codex Indeed Used in Eretz Israel? New Fragments of the Codex and their Contribution to an Understanding of the Nature of its Liturgical Rite Simcha Emanuel - The Rabbis of Germany in the Thirteenth Century: Continuity of Crisis? Ram Ben-Shalom - Kabbalistic Circles Active in the South of France (Provence) in the Thirteenth Century For contents and article abstracts press on Sample pages which is located on the right of the cover photo.

The articles in this volume: The Legislation of War: A Study of the Story of the Israelite War against Midian (Numbers 31) - Ariel Kopilovitz ‘You shall hamstring their horses and burn their chariots’ (Joshua 11:6): The Identification of Horses and Chariots as the Weapons of Israel’s Enemies in Biblical Literature - Yakov Dolgopolsky-Geva A Complete Root Glossary of Canaanite Words and Forms from the Amarna Tablets - Esther Haber ‘We must have a king over us, that we may be like all the other nations’ (I Sam 8:19): Israelite Kings in Art - Irit Ziffer The Story of the Sons of God and the Daughters of Men (Gen. 6:1–4) in Light of the Hesiodic Catalogue of Women Akkadian Itineraries: From the Kingdom of Akkad to the Assyrian Empire - Amitai Baruchi-Unna The Akkadian Wisdom Composition ‘Hear the Advice’: Traditional Wisdom versus Rebellious Skepticism - Yoram Cohen The Leqah Tov Commentary on Song of Songs: Its Place in the History of Biblical Exegesis and its Relationship with the Commentary of Rashi - Jonathan Jacobs Nachmanides’ Exegesis of Midrash in his Commentary on the Torah - Miriam Sklarz Additions and Changes in Nachmanides’ Commentaries relating to the Geography of Israel - David Shneor Book Reviews For contents and article abstracts please press "Sample pages "