Was 70 CE a watershed in Jewish history? : on Jews and Judaism before and after the destruction of the Second Temple /
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The destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem in 70 CE, which put an end to sacrificial worship in Israel, is usually assumed to constitute a major caesura in Jewish history. But how important was it? What really changed due to 70? What, in contrast, was already changing before 70 or remained basically - or "virtually" -- unchanged despite it? How do the Diaspora, which was long used to Temple-less Judaism, and early Christianity, which was born around the same time, fit in? This Scholion Library volume presents twenty papers given at an international conference in Jerusalem in which scholars assessed the significance of 70 for their respective fields of specialization, including Jewish liturgy, law, literature, magic, art, institutional history, and early Christianity.
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"This volume presents revised versions of lectures given in January 2009 at a Jerusalem symposium sponsored by Hebrew University's Scholion Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Jewish Studies"--Preface. :
1 online resource (xiii, 548 pages) : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789004217447 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Forced conversion in Christianity, Judaism and Islam : coercion and faith in premodern Iberia and beyond /
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Focusing on the Iberian Peninsula but examining related European and Mediterranean contexts as well, Forced Conversion in Christianity, Judaism and Islam traces how Christians, Jews, and Muslims grappled with the contradictory phenomenon of faith brought about by constraint and compulsion. Forced conversion brought into sharp relief the tensions among the accepted notion of faith as a voluntary act, the desire to maintain "pure" communities, and the universal truth claims of radical monotheism. Offering a comparative view of an important yet insufficiently studied phenomenon in the history of religions, this collection of essays explores the ways in which religion and violence reshaped these three religions and the ways we understand them today.
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Includes index. :
1 online resource. :
9789004416826
Interaction between Judaism and Christianity in history, religion, art and literature /
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This volume contains a variety of essays that deal with the complex relationships between Judaism and Christianity. From the Jewish side, particularly in Orthodox circles, there is a position maintaining the independence of Judaism from outside influences including Christianity. Traditional Christian theology, on the other hand, held a supercessionist view in which Judaism was seen merely as a historical preparation for the later revelation of Christianity. Was there no real interaction? When and how did Judaism and Christianity become two distinct religions? When did the 'parting of ways\' take place, if indeed there really was such a parting of ways? The present volume takes a bold step forward by assuming that no historical period can be excluded from the interactive process between Judaism and Christianity, conscious or unconscious, as a polemical rejection or as tacit appropriation.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789047424826 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
The Mishnah : religious perspectives /
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Condensing research concerning questions of religion which encompass the social history of ideas and the religious uses of language, this book deals with three questions: the relationship of the Mishnah to Scripture, the relationship of the religious ideas people hold to the world in which they live, and the religious meaning of the formalization of language that characterizes the Mishnah in particular. In discussing how the Mishnah relates to Scripture - in the (later) mythic language of Rabbinic Judaism: \'the oral Torah\' to \'the written Torah\' - a complete analysis is presented, based on a systematic application of a single taxonomic program. Then an examination is made of how the stages in the unfolding of the Halakhah of the Mishnah relate to the principal events of the times, which delineate those stages. Here focus is given to those pre-70 C.E. components of the Halakhah that later come to the surface in the Mishnah, but discussion extends to the periods from the destruction of the Temple in 70 C.E. to the Bar Kokhba War, concluded in circa 135 C.E., then from the reconstruction, 135 C.E., to the closure of the Mishnah, 200 C.E. Finally attention is given to methods of interpreting the rhetorical forms of the Mishnah in the context of the social culture laid bare by the socio-linguistics of the documents concerned. This publication has also been published in paperback, please click here for details.
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" ... this book completes the condensation and recapitulation of large-scale research of mine"--Preface. :
1 online resource (xii, 249 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004294110 :
0169-9423 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Other worlds and their relation to this world : early Jewish and ancient Christian traditions /
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Is there a future after death and what does this future look like? What kind of life can we expect, and in what kind of world? Is there another, hopefully better world than the one we live in? The articles collected in this volume, all written by leading experts in the field, deal with the question how ancient Jewish and Christian authors describe "otherworldly places and situations". They investigate why various forms of texts were created to address the questions above, how these texts functioned, and how they have to be understood. It is shown how ancient descriptions of the "otherworld" are taking over and reworking existing motifs, forms and genres, but also that they mirror concrete problems, ideas, experiences, and questions of their authors and the first readers.
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Proceedings of a conference held Mar. 21-23, 2007 at Radboud University. :
1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789004190733 :
1384-2161 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Studien zur Geschichte und Theologie des rabbinischen Judentums /
: "Der Sammelband vereinigt neun Aufsätze ... ; fünf dieser Beiträge wurden bereits an anderer Stelle veröffentlicht, vier werden hier zum erstenmal im Druck vorgelegt." : 1 online resource (305 pages) : Includes bibliographical references and index. : 9789004332683 : Available to subscribing member institutions only.
The legal methodology of late Nehardean sages in Sasanian Babyloni a
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This book consists of a systematic analysis of the halakhic/legal methodology of fourth and fifth century Nehardean amoraim in Babylonia (as well as their identity and dating). The book uncovers various distinct characteristics present in the halakhic decision making and source interpretation, and demonstrates how certain amoraim can be characterized as portraying consistent interpretive and legal approaches throughout talmudic literature. Understanding the methodological characteristics that distinguish some amoraim from other amoraim can aid the talmudic interpreter/scholar in clarifying the legal foundations of their rulings, the proofs that they bring within talmudic discourse, as well as their disputes and interpretations. This allows a better understanding of the development of Jewish Law and the legal system in talmudic Babylonia.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references. :
9789004193826 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Reading for history in the Damascus document : a methodological study /
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Scholars tend to view the Damascus Document as a historical source, but a reading of the text in light of contemporary (audience-oriented) literary criticism finds its emphasis in the ideological construction of history and communal identity, rather than in the preservation of a historical record. An introduction to contemporary literary criticism is followed by a series of thematic readings, focusing on historical narrative, priestly imagery, and gender in the covenant community. Each theme is examined in terms of its potential for multiple (sometimes contradictory) interpretations and for its place in the larger sectarian discourse. This study offers an alternative approach to the historiography of ancient Jewish sectarianism, acknowledging the presence of competing claims to shared traditions and the potential for changes in textual interpretation over time or among diverse communities.
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1 online resource (xii, 255 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 229-241) and indexes. :
9789004350434 :
0169-9962 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Violence, scripture, and textual practice in early Judaism and Christianity /
: Proceedings of a conference held Oct. 6-8, 2007 at the University of Minnesota. : 1 online resource. : Includes bibliographical references and indexes. : 9789047444787 : Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Reappraisals and new studies of the modern Jewish experience : essays in honor of Robert M. Seltzer /
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Reappraisals and New Studies of the Modern Jewish Experience brings together twenty scholars of Modern Jewish history and thought. The essays provide a fresh perspective on several central questions in Jewish intellectual, social, and religious history from the eighteenth century to the present in the contexts of Russia, Western and Central Europe, and the Americas.
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1 online resource (xvi, 449 pages) : photograph. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004284661 :
1571-5000 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
The ancient synagogue from its origins to 200 C.E. : a source book /
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Despite the recent explosion of research on ancient synagogues, investigators in the field have hitherto been forced to cull relevant evidence from a vast assortment of scholarly publications. This volume gathers for the first time all of the primary source material on the early synagogues up through the Second Century C. E. In the case of literary, epigraphic and papyrological evidence, catalog entries contain the texts in their original language and in English translation. For archaeological remains, entries provide technical descriptions along with plans and photographs. All listings are accompanied by bibliographic citations and interpretative comments. An Introduction frames the current state of synagogue research, while extensive indices and cross-references allow for easy location of specific allusions. An appendix to the catalog contains source materials on Jewish temples outside of Jerusalem.
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Includes one fold-out mappages. :
1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. [295]-311) and indexes. :
9789047430711 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Heavenly tablets : interpretation, identity and tradition in ancient Judaism /
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This volume brings together a wide range of international scholars of Ancient Judaism, in celebration of the career of Betsy Halpern-Amaru. The essays in the first section, Interpreting Ritual Texts, examine Jewish ritual praxis in late antiquity, highlighting the ways in which text and ritual intersect in the process of interpretation. Mapping Diaspora Identities asks how Diaspora communities came to understand the Bible's preoccupation with land, and how land was used to figure ancient authors' depictions of "center" and "margin" in drawing the boundaries of Jewish communities, and of Jewish identity. Finally, Rewriting Tradition explores rewriting of biblical stories in Hellenistic and later Jewish sources, and the ways that authors work through the tradition to reflect their current realities and their hopes for the future.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. [285]-305) and indexes. :
9789047420996 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Torah centers and rabbinic activity in Palestine, 70-400 CE : history and geographic distribution /
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This book analyses the data about Torah centers and rabbinic activity in Palestine during Mishnaic and Talmudic times, 70-400 CE-the Roman and early Byzantine periods. The research is an interdisciplinary inquiry. It encompasses rabbinic literature as well as archeology, geography, and sociology, thus enriching the discussion of the history and scope of rabbinic activity in the different regions of Palestine. Arranged in chronological order, the book highlights the changes generated by historical events, in particular the relocation of rabbinic centers following the upheaval of the Bar Kokhba Revolt. In spite of this upheaval, Torah centers continued to develop in Palestine for several hundred years, until the end of the period under discussion.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789047440734 :
1384-2161 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
The Psalms of the Tamid service : a liturgical text from the Second Temple /
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This volume studies the seven psalms that were performed at the fundamental daily ritual of the Jerusalem Temple in the late Second Temple period (Psalms 24, 48, 82, 94, 81, 93, 92). It is the first comprehensive and detailed study of this richly-relevant liturgical collection. The work centers around a literary poetic analysis of the collection as a whole, focussing on unifying features such as connections between psalms, overall structure, theme and plot. A review of the Tamid service and exegetical studies of each psalm are included. Three innovative sections illustrate the importance of the Tamid Psalms in Second Temple studies; topics include the formation of the Psalter, the structure of liturgical texts, and the performance of Temple worship.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. [279]-298) and indexes. :
9789047401995 :
0083-5889 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Judaism in late antiquity.
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What, in Judaism - a religion so concerned with social norms and public policy - can we possibly mean by "law"? That is the thoroughly fresh perspective with which this work commences. It proceeds with two chapters on Second Temple Judaism, and two on the special subject of the Dead Sea library. Learning withers when criticism is substituted by political consensus, and when other than broadly accepted viewpoints find a hearing only with difficulty, if at all. The editors, therefore, invited colleagues from the USA, Europe, and Israel to systematically outline their views in one account and set it alongside contrary ones. The several participants explain how, in broad and sweeping terms, they see the state of learning in their areas of special interest. The volume provides first an overview, followed by a systematic, critical account of the fading consensus. In a number of accounts, the different perspectives are presented in scholarly debate. Because of the willingness of contending parties to meet one another in a single frame of discourse, the work is able to portray with considerable breadth the presently contending viewpoints concerning the use of Rabbinical literature for historical purposes. Besides this sustained and vigorous debate, precipitated by historical-critical reading of the rabbinical literature, other issues have attracted attention, such as, for example, feminist interests.
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Pt. 3, volume 4 edited by Alan J. Avery-Peck and Jacob Neusner.
Pt. 5, volume 1-2 edited by Alan J. Avery-Peck, Jacob Neusner and Bruce D. Chilton. :
1 online resource (xii, 196 pages) : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789004294172 :
0169-9423 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Judaism in late antiquity.
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This collection of systematic Auseinandersetzungen articulates difference and spells out what is at issue. Learning atrophies when political consensus substitutes for criticism, and when other than broadly-accepted viewpoints, approaches, and readings find a hearing only with difficulty, if at all. The editors therefore have invited colleagues systematically to outline their views in an Auseinandersetzung with contrary ones. The several participants explain how, in broad and sweeping terms, they see the state of learning in their areas of special interest. The editors invited leading players in the USA, Europe, and the State of Israel, in the study of ancient Judaism, both in Second Temple Times and after 70 C.E. The work commences with a thoroughly fresh perspective of a theoretical question: what, in a religion so concerned with social norms and public policy, can we possibly mean by \'law\' when we speak of law in Judaism. It then proceeds with two chapters on Second Temple Judaism, and two on the special subject of the Dead Sea library. The two papers in the present part provide an overview of matters and a systematic, critical account of the fading consensus, respectively. The next set of papers ought to stand as the definitive account of the diverse viewpoints on a basic question of method. Because of the willingness of contending parties to meet one another in a single frame of discourse, the work is able to portray with considerable breadth the presently-contending viewpoints concerning the use of Rabbinic literature for historical purposes. Then proceed a number of other accounts of how matters look from the perspective of major participants in scholarly debate. At the same time as the requirements of historical-critical reading of the Rabbinic literature precipitated sustained and vigorous debate, other problems have attracted attention. Among these a critical issue emerges in the hermeneutics to govern the reading of the documents for the purposes of other-than-historical study, feminist interests, for example.
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Pt. 3, volume 4 edited by Alan J. Avery-Peck and Jacob Neusner.
Pt. 5, volume 1-2 edited by Alan J. Avery-Peck, Jacob Neusner and Bruce D. Chilton. :
1 online resource (xiv, 250 pages) : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789004294059 :
0169-9423 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Judaism in late antiquity.
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The authors have asked of the documents of the Dead Sea Library found at Qumran a simple question: how does each participate in a single Judaic religious system? They propose a reading of the Scrolls from the hypothesis that all of them, in one way or another, rest upon one, authoritative, Judaism. Their analysis of the Dead Sea Scrolls describes how diverse writings hold together to make a single coherent statement, to stand for a religious system possessed of integrity and wisdom. This account of the world view of Judaism covers principal questions addressed to any Judaic religious system: the doctrine of God, the Torah, and matters of history, wisdom, and mysticism. When it comes to the way of life, they include the evidence of the material culture of the community as well as practical matters of religious conduct. How the community's world view comes to realization is suggested by its treatment of the calendar, by its provision of laws that concern women, by questions of cultic and secular purity, by its piety and forms of worship and views of Temple, sacrifice, and the like. Finally, with the community's definition of 'Israel' and of itself in relationship to 'Israel', inclusive of Israelites excluded from this 'Israel', an account is gained of the theory of who and what is Israel that animates the particular Judaism represented in these writings.
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Pt. 3, volume 4 edited by Alan J. Avery-Peck and Jacob Neusner.
Pt. 5, volume 1-2 edited by Alan J. Avery-Peck, Jacob Neusner and Bruce D. Chilton. :
1 online resource (xii, 276 pages) : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789004294196 :
0169-9423 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Judaism in late antiquity.
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This volume introduces the sources of Judaism in late antiquity to scholars in adjacent fields, such as the study of the Old and New Testaments, Ancient History, the ancient Near East, and the history of religion. In two volumes, leading American, Israeli, and European specialists in the history, literature, theology, and archaeology of Judaism offer factual answers to the two questions that the study of any religion in ancient times must raise. The first is, what are the sources - written and in material culture - that inform us about that religion? The second is, how have we to understand those sources in reconstructing the history of various Judaic systems in antiquity. The chapters set forth in simple statements, intelligible to non-specialists, the facts which the sources provide. Because of the nature of the subject and acute interest in it, the specialists also raise some questions particular to the study of Judaism, dealing with its historical relationship with nascent Christianity in New Testament times. The work forms the starting point for the study of all the principal questions concerning Judaism in late antiquity and sets forth the most current, critical results of scholarship.
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Pt. 3, volume 4 edited by Alan J. Avery-Peck and Jacob Neusner.
Pt. 5, volume 1-2 edited by Alan J. Avery-Peck, Jacob Neusner and Bruce D. Chilton. :
1 online resource (xiv, 276 pages) : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789004293984 :
0169-9423 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.