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.
The Haggadah of the Kaifeng Jews of China /
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This comprehensive, textual treatment of the Kaifeng Passover Rite is a significant contribution to the ongoing discussion of the community's origins in particular and to comparative Jewish liturgy in general. The book includes a facsimile of one manuscript and a sample of the other, the full text of the Hebrew/Aramaic and Judeo-Persian Haggadah in Hebrew characters, as well as an English translation. Following a review of the community's history, sources for study, and related scholarly work conducted to date, the languages used in the Haggadah and their backgrounds are discussed in detail. Analysis of the order of the service allows for comparison of the Kaifeng Jewish community's recitation of the Passover liturgy, performance of ritual, and consumption of ceremonial food to other communities in the Jewish Diaspora. The various parts and chapters of the book, including its extensive and meticulous annotations and bibliographical references, provide much fresh and useful material for scholars and readers interested in pre-modern Jewish, Judeo-Persian and Chinese literary traditions and cultures. David Yeroushalmi, Tel Aviv University, 2015
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Includes full text of the Hebrew/Aramaic and Judeo-Persian Haggadah in Hebrew characters, with English translation and commentary. :
1 online resource (viii, 216 pages) : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004208100 :
1571-5000 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Jethro and the Jews : Jewish biblical interpretation and the question of identity /
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In Jethro and the Jews , Beatrice J. W. Lawrence examines rabbinic texts that address the biblical character of Jethro, a Midianite priest, Moses' advisor and father-in-law, and the creator of the system of Jewish jurisprudence. Lawrence explores biblical interpretations in Midrash, Targum and Talmud, revealing a spectrum of responses to the presence of a man who straddles the line between insider and outsider. Ranging from character assassination to valorization of Jethro as a convert, these interpretive strategies reveal him to be a locus of anxiety for the rabbis concerning conversion, community boundaries, intermarriage, and non-Jews.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004348929 :
1571-5000 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
New perspectives on Jewish-Christian relations : in honor of David Berger /
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The delicate balance between toleration and repulsion of the Jews, a tiny minority living within the Christian world, stands at the center of studies of religion and society. The development of this difficult relationship on many levels, theological, institutional, and individual, is a matter of continuing relevance in religious history from ancient to contemporary contexts. This volume, written by the leading scholars of Jewish-Christian engagement, seeks to revisit the question in light of new sources and re-readings of older sources. The old view of two implacable enemies battling for their version of truth, of Jews living as insular pariahs within a hostile world, the tale of persecution by the mighty of the weak, has given way to a much more nuanced understanding of areas of congruence, of cultural, economic, and social interchange. The volume examines changes in the Christian posture toward the Jews occurring in a time and place of tremendous cultural and religious creativity in Western European society. It seeks to understand how Jews integrated elements of Christian culture into their own. The volume spans some of the key turning points in the Jewish-Christian relationship and re-examines critical texts, religious disputations, and cultural interactions.
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1 online resource (ix, 547 pages) : illustrations (some color) :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004221185 :
1571-5000 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Art, history, and the historiography of Judaism in Roman antiquity /
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Art, History, and the Historiography of Judaism in Roman Antiquity explores the complex interplay between visual culture, texts, and their interpretations, arguing for an open-ended and self-aware approach to understanding Jewish culture from the first century CE through the rise of Islam. The essays assembled here range from the "thick description" of Josephus's portrayal of Bezalel son of Uri as a Roman architect through the inscriptions of the Dura Europos synagogue, Jewish reflections on Caligula in color, the polychromy of the Jerusalem temple, new-old approaches to the zodiac, and to the Christian destruction of ancient synagogues. Taken together, these essays suggest a humane approach to the history of the Jews in an age of deep and long-lasting transitions-both in antiquity, and in our own time. This book is also available in paperback. "Taken as a whole, Fine's book exhibits the value of bridging disciplines. The historiographical segments integrated throughout this volume offer essential insights that will inform any student of Roman and late antiquity." Yael Wilfand, Hebrew University , Review of Biblical Literature, 2014.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004238176 :
1571-5000 ;
Shoshannat Yaakov : Jewish and Iranian studies in honor of Yaakov Elman /
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Shoshannat Yaakov honors Yaakov Elman, Professor of Talmud at Yeshiva University, and celebrates Elman's contributions to a broad range of disciplines within Jewish and Iranian studies. The fruits of Elman's seminal project of bringing together of scholars of Iranian studies and Talmud in ways that have transformed both disciplines, are well represented in this volume, together with scholarship that ranges from Second Temple Judaism to Late Antique Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Samaritanism and Christianity.
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1 online resource (xxv, 485, 54 pages) : portrait, illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references. :
9789004235458 :
1571-5000 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
The experience of Jewish liturgy : studies dedicated to Menahem Schmelzer /
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Menahem Schmelzer, widely recognized for his expertise in Jewish manuscripts and piyyut, has also influenced Jewish liturgical research of the past half century. This collection of sixteen academic studies, by Israeli, European, and American scholars, honors Schmelzer's contribution. The contributors represent three generations, and their topics and methods testify to the vast subject area that Jewish liturgy has become. The articles explore a wide variety of texts and ritual occasions, the relationship between text and worship experience, and implications for related areas such as mysticism; most apply the methods of other subject areas such as liguistics to liturgical study and its implications for related fields. \'...this volume, as a whole, is as much a testimony to the enduring centrality of the librarian in scholarship as it is a collection of essays on \'the experience of Jewish liturgy.\' Wide ranging in scope, these essays are an accurate snapshot of the state of research, illustrating the wealth of material awaiting publication, the need for revisiting prior assumptions, and also the limits of our scholarship.\' Yoel Kahn, Congregation Beth El, Berkeley
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Includes index. :
1 online resource. :
9789004208032 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.