Language Studies 11-12 is dedicated to Prof. Avi Hurvitz, who has taught for over four decades in the Depts. of Bible and Hebrew Language at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Many of his scholarly contributions have become classics of research. Twenty-four friends, colleagues, and former students have contributed articles on linguistic aspects of topics relevant to Hurvitz’s academic career: Hebrew of the First Temple Period, Hebrew and Aramaic of the Second Temple Period, language borrowings, dating of biblical texts, wisdom literature, Akkadian, and Ugaritic.

Judah Halevi is the most prominent Hebrew poet of the Middle Ages. This book tells his life story, from the early publications of his poems in Toledo and until his tragic death, which occurred during his heroic journey to the Land of Israel. For the first time, the presentation of Halevi’s story is based on his entire oeuvre - his poem collections and dewans - written during different landmarks in the poet’s life in the east and west. In addition, this study compares and confronts his autographic letters with letters written by his contemporaries, unraveled upon the historic discovery of the Cairo Geniza.

R. Aharon al-Amani, a rabbinic judge in the community of Alexandria in the 12th Century, has become especially well-known on account of having merited the opportunity to host in his home R. Yehuda ha-Levi, when the latter arrived in Alexandria en route to Palestine . The poetic Diwan of Yehuda ha-Levi contains evidence of an exchange of poems between himself and Aharon al-Amani. However, whereas a number of the poems written by ha-Levi to R. Aharon have come down to us, only small fragments of the secular poems of R. Aharon have survived. On the other hand, the Cairo Genizah has preserved a significant number of his liturgical poems, selihot for the most part, and these are published in the present volume. The poems are accompanied by an apparatus of variant readings and a commentary. In an extensive introduction, the editor discusses the uniqueness of the poems of al-Amani, discovering that despite the prestige enjoyed by Spanish Hebrew poetry and the near-complete acceptance of the Spanish poetic forms, R. Aharon did not internalize the new characteristics that pervade the Spanish selihot, especially the personal characteristics bearing a philosophical stamp; his selihot bear a national character, according to the eastern tradition.

This now classic study is concerned with the richly imagined world of kabbalistic myth concerning the sabbath as it developed from the late twelfth century to the early sixteenth century and with its activation in religious life via ritual. The book opens with a historical overview of classical kabbalah, an outline of its symbolic universe. Special attention is given to the key mythic motifs that underlie sabbath observance: the sabbath as source of cosmic blessing; the sabbath as perfected time; the drama of divine restoration and sacred marriage; and the drama of human transformation by the sabbath as reflected in the motif of the sabbath-soul. This is followed by a theoretical discussion of the function and meaning of kabbalistic ritual and the problems of its interpretation. Theory gives way to practice with the close study of dramatic rituals located on the margins of the sabbath: the ritual of preparation-how one enters the sabbath-and the ritual of separation-how one leaves the sabbath and yet takes it into the week. Brief appendices deal with the special issues of Torah study and sexuality related to sabbath observance. The book also demonstrates how many of the influential practices associated with Safed kabbalah were actually anticipated by earlier mystics. The Sabbath in the Classical Kabbalah combines the close textual readings of traditional scholarly enquiry with more innovative approaches drawing on symbolic anthropology and the like. The presentation is coherent, cohesive, and accessible. It makes a contribution to the history of Jewish spirituality and, more broadly, to the understanding of myth and ritual.

The collection of articles in 'The Hebrew Language in the Era of Globalization' is designed for researchers and teachers of Hebrew in Educational frameworks, and allows for a comprehensive study of varied aspects of the Hebrew language. The volume brings to center stage research issues regarding Hebrew in its cultural, social, and linguistic contexts; discusses the state of Hebrew in Israel and in the world; and looks into current curricula for the teaching of Hebrew as a Second Language. The volume is unique in that it combines theory and practice; deals with Hebrew as a first, second, and heritage language; and relates to learners of different ages and from a number of different populations – native speakers of Hebrew, the Arab sector in Israel, and Jewish communities in the Diaspora. The volume is comprised of three sections. The first section covers the following topics: The state of Hebrew in the context of Israel-Diaspora relations; Hebrew in European and American universities; the dilemma of the language of prayer; challenges confronting the modern reader of a classical text; linguistic and socio-linguistic trends in modern Hebrew; achievements of new immigrant students in academic Hebrew; the theoretical basis for the development of curricula for the teaching of Hebrew as a first and second language; and a model for a language policy in a multilingual and multi-cultural society such as Israel. The second section presents the new curriculum for learners of Hebrew in the Arab sector as well as curricula for the teaching of Hebrew in the Diaspora for kindergarten children, elementary school students and junior-high and high school students. The third section expresses concern about the future of Hebrew both in Israel and in the Diaspora in the era of globalization.

Hebrew from Scratch is also known as 'Ivrit min hathahala'. It's a comprehensive textbook, grammar and exercise book for the beginner adult student. Widely used by high school and university students. The instructions for the exercises as well as the translations of the vocabulary lists are in English. Otherwise, the course is based on Hebrew-only instruction. One of the best, friendliest, Hebrew teaching books, this book immerses the student in Hebrew, but without overwhelming the English speaker who is trying to learn a language that is so very different than English. A guide for this book can be purchase separately. An audio CD with listening exercises organized to match the lessons in the book is available here

This book delineates the history and development of Hebrew liturgical poetry from the very early types of piyyut in Eretz Israel to the late European piyyut with its two major schools: the Spanish and Italian-Ashkenazi.

Traditional Jews encounter the prayer-book—the Siddur—more often in their daily lives than any other text, yet it is mysteriously absent from their otherwise nearly comprehensive curriculum of study. In addition, they tend to recite it mantrically, more for its sound than its meaning. The neglect of meaning is so complete that no edition of the prayer-book has yet appeared with a comprehensive range of commentaries. The present work, the first to examine this paradox, explains it as a reluctance to engage with the intellectual and emotional questions that lie just beneath the surface of the text. An analysis of the opening sequences of the daily ritual reveals that the prayer-book, far from representing one side of a deferential dialogue with an attentive deity, actually challenges God to allow access to the revelation on which human safety depends and to keep his side of the covenant. Confronting the chaotic unpredictability of the human condition, this undercurrent of protest allows Jews to question why God’s urgently needed intervention seems absent. Anger at this apparent absence is qualified only by gratitude at being alive. The core of this book consists of a novel examination of the opening sections of the traditional daily morning liturgy according to the Ashkenazi rite. The analysis is based on mostly untranslated medieval and later commentaries identifying the biblical and rabbinic echoes from which the liturgy is woven, and employs analytical methods of the kind traditionally applied to talmudic and midrashic texts. It shows how each citation and echo imports aspects of its original context into the new composition, forming a countertext to the words on the page. It examines each textual layer, as well as the surface meaning that is usually the only one to be noted, and relates these to the speaker’s actual location—home and later the synagogue—as well as to the time of day when the prayers are recited, as the worshipper faces the dangers of the day ahead. The resulting chorus of ideas—linking everyday life to the sacred narrative from creation to exile—demonstrates the philosophical sophistication of rabbinic spirituality in offering poetic insight into an ultimately tragic vision of reality.

The years 950-1200 are often called the Golden Age of the Jews in Spain. During this period, the Jews reached a peak of achievement in all aspects of their life-political, spiritual, and cultural. They produced great works of literature and philosophy; their poetry represents a peak of literary achievement unparalleled in Hebrew until the twentieth century. The poets of the Golden Age forged the language of the Hebrew Bible into a magnificent instrument for the expression of every facet of their experience--love and friendship, war and exile, philosophy and prayer. Their poems reflect their overarching consciousness of Israel's relationship with God and their deep concern with the fate of the Jewish people in exile. Not until modern times did Hebrew poetic genius flourish again with such freedom and with such intensity. This volume conveys in modern English something of the greatness of that literature while as far as possible preserving the poetic values and beauty of the Hebrew original. Brief notes on the work of each of the thirteen poets represented put the poems in their proper perspective and do much to elucidate their meaning. The poets included are Dunash Halevi ben Labrat, Joseph ibn Abithur, Isaac ibn Kalpon, Samuel Hanagid, Solomon ibn Gabirol, Isaac ibn Gi'at, Moses ibn Ezra, Judah Halevi, Abraham ibn Ezra, Joseph ibn Zabara, Judah Alharizi, Shem Tob ben Palquera, and Todros ben Judah Abulafia. 'Remains the only anthology in English devoted entirely to the Golden Age with selections from all the major and some minor poets presented in verse translations. The book is a gift to the academic world and to all readers interested in the literary achievements of the Jews.' From the Foreword by Raymond Scheindlin