How did purity evolve into the one most significant religious category during the Second Temple period? What was the role of purity discourse in the reformation of Jewish society and religion in Late Antiquity? The concern for purity shaped Second Temple Judaism, and its significance expanded far beyond the limited realm of the Temple. The fear of impurity shaped daily conduct, stood at the heart of ideological discourse and set the contours of Jewish society. The question how to ensure ritual and moral purity was of cosmic dimensions, and therefore determined the dividing lines between the main parties of Jewish society in Palestine. The Qumran sect developed the notion of the defiling sin, and Jesus was viewed by his followers as the ultimate purifier. Against these alternatives, this book offers a comprehensive analysis of the purity policy in the teachings of the dominant Pharisees. Early rabbinic traditions alongside anti-pharisaic sources uncover a controversial policy focused on the body and not on the purity of the Temple. They provided purification to wider social circles, while preserving its role in maintaining their own status. The book further demonstrates the fundamental change of religious life and social practices from the Second Temple period through the rise of the rabbinic movement, which offered a new version of ritual purity and community. A close analysis of the halakhic traditions in rabbinic literature reveals the gradual disintegration of the ancient religious culture and the emergence of the rabbinic culture within new social contexts.

A great intellectual revolution took place in the Lithuanian Yeshivoth towards the end of the 19th century. The multitude of students who filled up the study halls, invested their time and energy to study the Talmud and its interpretations in a new study method, which focused on the legal sphere of the Talmud and advocated the development of analytical-conceptual way of thinking that facilitated more exact definitions of legal-halakhic norms and concepts in Talmudic literature. The main effort in the new method was no longer devoted to the interpretation of the textual level of the Talmudic debate, but to the understanding of the form of legal thinking which could be deduced from the Talmud, to the clarification of legal-halakhic concepts and to revealing the fundamental elements of the law. The successful combination of intensive study of Talmudic law and analytical scrutiny of legal concept turned the Lithuanian yeshivoth into "academies for Talmudic legal studies" and led to the development of "legal thinking". Rabbi Simeon Shkop (1859-1939) who was one of the most original and influential leaders of the Lithuanian yeshivoth, and a proponent of the new method. Rabbi Shkop upgraded the analytical examination of legal concepts, and in spite of the very individual nature of his method, his work is a faithful representation of the Lithuanian Yeshivoth as a whole. The first part of the book (chapters 1-2) includes a biography of Rabbi Shkop, and a historical review of the intellectual revolution that took place at the Lithuanian Yeshivoth . It also describes the exceptional characteristics of the new study method, and substantiates the claim that "legal thinking" was indeed developed in the Lithuanian Yeshivoth . The second part of the book (chapters 3-5) deals with a number of topics from the comprehensive works of Rabbi S. Shkop, and analyze them with jurisprudential instruments. The research method was based on a combination of historical and jurisprudential aspects, and the book is readily comprehensible for the educated reader without legal training or a Yeshiva background.

This book analyzes the roots of the ideological discourse among distinguished Arab intellectuals and liberals regarding political reforms and democratization processes in the Arab states during the three decades that preceded the 'Arab Spring.' It fills a void in the literature that examines the impact of the New Arab Liberals on the political status quo. The New Arab Liberals have drawn public criticism in demanding a change to the political status quo and the cultural and social molds. They have succeeded in presenting to the Arab public a rational alternative outlook, centered upon a civil, secular, and democratic state, as against an Arab nationalistic or Islamist state vision. Their demands for radical reform have led to aggressive and violent expression since December 2010 in the shake-up known as the 'Arab Spring' that shattered a large part of the Middle East. In order to understand the background, the range, and strength of the demands of the Arab public, it is necessary to investigate the ideological contribution of the Arab Liberals to the public discourse.

China and Israel: From Discord to Concord provides the Hebrew reader, for the first time, with eyewitness testimony and historical and economic analysis of the step-by-step evolution of Sino-Israeli ties, from the frozen relationship of the early 1950s to the extensive economic, diplomatic and cultural ties of the twenty-first century. Included in the anthology are the recollections of diplomats who were central to the creation of Sino-Israeli ties ( Isai Magid, Zev Suffott, Moshe Yegar, and Reuven Merhav) and the perspectives of prominent American, Chinese, Indian, and Israeli scholars. The footnotes attached to these chapters cite up-to-date bibliographical sources, in Hebrew and other languages, for further research on Sino-Israeli relations .

The book Mah Nishtannah: The Passover Night in the Sages' Discourse seeks to provide novel answers, based upon up-to-date methods of scholarly Talmud analysis, to ancient questions raised by the Seder Night, a night at the focus of Jewish culture from time immemorial. The book analyzes the focal points of this night – the Passover meal and its commandments on one hand, and the foundation of the Haggadah and the development of its design and history of its structure on the other.

Nili Wazana Preface Baruch J. Schwartz Professor Menahen Haran ז"ל Biblical Studies Yair Zakovitch The Concretization of Metaphors and Metaphoric Language in the Bible Leah Jacobsen The Meaning of Elisha’s Words: ‘I would like to kiss my father and mother and I will follow you’ (I Kings, XIX 20a) Chaim Cohen The Hapax Legomenon דיו (Ink) in the Context of ’ ואני כתב על הספר בדיו ‘ (Jeremiah 36:18): A ‘False Friend’ in Modern Hebrew Due to the Masoretes’ Misunderstanding of the Preposition בדי Meaning ‘To’ or ‘For’ Hava Shalom-Guy The Confessional Prayer in Nehemiah 9:6-37: A Literary-Historical Consideration The Bible in Relation to the Ancient Near East Uri Gabbay The Sumerian Cultic Laments: History, Remembrance and Theology Nili Samet Reading Literary Texts Historically: The Sumerian City Laments as a Test Case Edward L. Greenstein A Woman’s Voice in Lamentations 3 Jakob Klein Bat-Ṣiyyon in the Book of Lamentations and the ‘Lamenting Goddess’ in Mesopotamian Literature Shlomo Bachar Three Appearances of a Figure in Song of Song: Who is she that is ‘Coming up’, ‘Looking through’ and ‘Leaning on’? History of Exegesis Nahem Ilan Lamah/Lammah Meaning No/Don’t in Saadya Gaon’s Translations and Commentary David Shneor A Summary of the Study of Rashi’s Bible Maps and the Reasons for their Disappearance from the Printed Editions of Rashi’s Commenatry Eran Viezel God’s Revelation to the Biblical Authors in the Writings of R. David Kimhi Miriam Sklarz Anonymous Quotations from Ibn Ezra in Nachmanides’ Commentary on the Pentateuch Book Reviews English Abstracts For contents and article abstracts please press "Sample pages "

The book starts with the description of the historical background of the settlement of Mesopotamia and the emergence of the Sumerian culture in the fourth millennium BC. It continues into the Old Assyrian trade in the beginning of the second millennium BC. There are many books on the history and archeology of the region but emphasis of the book is on the economic institutions and the economic life of the people. The book is based on first class sources for the third millennium period and original sources from the period of the Old Assyrian trade. The central motive of the book is the description of the economy as one with characteristics of market economy with economic institutions such as property rights, market, money, credit and means of enforcement.

Pra yer customs and the treasures of liturgical poetry brought to Israel from the Diaspora have been the subject of diverse studies in the past few years, encompassing every community and its customs, every community and its poetry. This classic study, a translation of Leopold Zunz’s Ritus des synagogalen Gottesdienstes , reviews the history of prayer customs of diverse communities from ancient times to the nineteenth century. The author examines the uniqueness of each community, both through the wording of the permanent prayers and through the treasures of liturgical poetry recited in the Middle Ages and the Modern Era. Relations and influential factors between ethnic groups are discussed in detail. The introductory chapters present the history of Jewish prayer since the Geonic period, including the formation of the first prayer books; the creation of communal manuscripts; the impact of print; and the creation of fixed forms of public prayer. The study takes account of: books of J ewish law dealing with pra y er ; books of customs; exegeses on prayer and liturgical poetry; translations of Hebrew prayer into other languages; additions to and deletions from liturgical texts; the status and role of the prayer leader; the influence of mysticism and kabbalah; the influences of censorship and the Enlightenment. Other chapters are dedicated to the prayers of Yom Kippur , the status of Slichot pra yers, debates on integrating liturgical poetry into public prayers, and a description of the Karaite prayer book. For many years, Zunz’s study, originally published in 1859, served as a fundamental textbook for research on the history of prayer. This contemporary Hebrew translation includes research updates, many clarifications, and detailed indexes; among them an index of prayers, an index of prayer customs, an index of liturgical poetry, and an index of early manuscripts and printings of the prayer books mentioned in the study. In addition, the Hebrew edition includes notes and additions found on the author's personal copy, never to have been published before.

The heroes of this book are the rabbis of small and medium-sized communities in Eastern Europe. Who were these rabbis? What were their training processes? Did they get their jobs on account of their scholastic or rhetorical skills, their family ties, or because they had the capital to buy these positions? Were their positions permanent or was the threat of dismissal constantly hovering over their heads? How were their terms of employment and wages determined, and what was their economic situation? Were they perceived as spiritual leaders? What were their relationships with the community's power centers? How did they navigate between their duties as halakhic authorities and their desire to engage in learning and teaching? The book attempts to answer these questions based on an examination of a world of over one thousand rabbis.

Cinema is the most democratic form of art, dependent on the taste of millions of viewers. Within the cinematic historical genre in Arab cinema one finds a rich intellectual discourse, in a constant dialogue with state, censorship and audience. The book Back to the Past: Filmed History in Arab Cinema invites the readers to know the Arab cinema industry, mainly the Egyptian one, through the historical genre, and "medieval" films as its core. In films taking place in Middle Ages , the viewers meet warriors and poets, besides the leaders and founders of Islam. These films present also the images of Mongol and Crusaders invaders, slaves and concubines, Mamluks, Christians and Jews. The book surveys also the transition from a situation of Egyptian cinema exported to the Arab world, into the creation of Pan-Arab historical discourse within the satellite channels.