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Subject Area: Jewish Studies
Azaroff, Paul2009 0-7734-4800-4 168 pages
This is the first English translation and bilingual edition of the Yiddish novella, The Women Shopkeepers or Golde-Mine, the Abandoned Wife of Brod by Ayzik-Meyer Dik, presented with a facing page English translation. Many Yiddish scholars hold the view that Dik, as an innovative, skillful and prolific storyteller, is of pivotal importance in the development of modern Yiddish literature.
Krummrich, Philip
2010 0-7734-1375-8 336 pages
This translation of Anfitrião, ou Júpiter e Alcmena by Antônio José da Silva makes this remarkable play on the exploits of Jupiter and the conception of Hercules available in English for the first time. The play is of considerable interest in literary history as part of a long tradition of stage works on the Amphitryon theme.
Schneider, Mareleyn
1991 0-7734-9950-4 350 pages
This work has two subjects: a monograph dealing with one of the most ancient Jewish acts, acquiring a cemetery plot; and one of the oldest elements in the American Jewish communal structure, the burial society. It is a critique of secularization theory. Provides information on the history, role in the contemporary world, and function in a highly secular society of the Jewish burial society.
Frost, J. William
2004 0-7734-6561-8 520 pages
This massive, two-volume work is an extensive survey of the interactions between organized religions and war from the Exodus to Gulf War II. The major emphases are on Judaism, Christianity and Islam, with additional chapters on Hinduism, Buddhism, and sections on Shinto, Quakerism, and others. It will attract scholars in a variety of disciplines: peace studies, religion, history, and political science.
Nouryeh, Christopher
2015 1-4955-0385-2 236 pages
This is a new and different psychoanalytic interpretation of the Old Testament Joseph Story which examines different cultural perspectives including the Christian, Hebraic and Qur’anic versions of this familiar religious story.
Green, Joseph
1992 0-7734-9770-6 540 pages
The first detailed and comprehensive study of the classic period of London's Jewish East End. Describes the circumstances of its formation, its geographical and social boundaries, and such organizations as the remarkable Jewish trade unions, the myriad of friendly societies, burial societies, charities, schools, and various religious and political groups. It analyses the economic basis of the community, its doctrinal and liturgical aspects, festivals, entertainments, housing and food, shops and businesses. Discusses in some depth the external factors: anti-Semitism, Socialism and Zionism. Finally, it places in perspective its effects on the major political and cultural aspects of the history of world Jewry and Britain.
Horovitz, Chaim T.
2011 0-7734-3810-6 516 pages
This work presents the wide range of influence of the ‘Song of Songs’ on world culture. It demonstrates the long history of confrontation of the immense number of allegorical interpretations with secular (literal) commentaries. This book contains twenty-four black and white photographs and twelve color photographs.
Brenner, Rachel Feldhay
1991 0-88946-259-3 164 pages
Winner of the 1992 Jewish Book Committee Award in recognition of excellence in literary scholarship.
Studies the Russian-born Canadian-Jewish poet and author of Hitleriad, A. M. Klein. Examines Klein's representations of the post-war humanist crisis. Examines the extent to which Klein's Canadian Jewish identity informs the poet's quest for the ethical restitution of the world at large, and contests the accepted critical view of Klein as a Jewish poet unable to escape the parochialism of the Canadian literary scene. Outlines the poetics of Klein's quest for language and form which would sustain the meaningfulness of art in the face of devastating historical reality.
Maoz, Daniel
2012 0-7734-2548-9 288 pages
This may be usable as a textbook for university level courses on rabbinic literature. Dr. Maoz’s book provides extracts from a wide variety of Midrash texts in the original Hebrew and Aramaic accompanied by an English translation. It serves as a reader for students and professors interested in developing their translation skills while learning about writings in Midrash. Most of the translations are from the Torah, but there are other sources as well. Aggadah is said to contain hidden, symbolic references, and where a literal interpretation is irrational, the translations are viewed as allegories.
Laskin, Martin
2002 0-7734-7200-2 340 pages
Birnbaum, Ruth
2001 0-7734-7336-X 176 pages
Written by the 15th-century Spanish-Jewish thinker, Joseph ibn Shem Tov, Kevod Elohim examines the teachings of Aristotle and his commentators and compares for the first time Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics with the Bible. Ruth Birnbaum’s study makes the contents of this work available to scholars who are not familiar or fluent with medieval Hebrew script. It will interest scholars of Jewish medievalia, Aristotelian philosophy, and biblical and rabbinic studies. It makes a significant contribution to the comprehensive study of Jewish history and philosophical thought.
Varner, William
2005 0-7734-6188-4 320 pages
This work provides the text and translations of three ancient Jewish – Christian dialogues: The Dialogue of Athanasius and Zacchaeus (Greek, 4th c.); The Dialogue of Simon and Theophilus (Latin, 5th c.); and The Dialogue of Timothy and Aquila (Greek, 6th c.. This is the first published translation of each of these texts. An introduction discusses the context of the dialogues in the “Contra Judaeos” literature of the early Church and also explores the question of whether or not they represent any actual discussion between Jews and Christians, and also what purposes these dialogues served. Careful attention has been paid to the dialogues’ use of the Bible, especially the Old Testament, in furthering the discussion about the Messiah. To this end, a Comprehensive Spiritual Index encourages greater comparative study of these dialogues. It is the translator’s purpose to expose these works, which have been the concern of a small circle of focused scholars, to a wider scholarly audience and to encourage greater study of them and their role in the history of Jewish-Christian relations.
Rausch, David A.
1983 0-88946-652-1 297 pages
A narrative biography that examines Gaebelein's important formative years, when, as an evangelist to the Jews, he developed deep concern for the Jewish people and was an early Zionist. Includes several portraits from the Gaebelein family album and three lengthy accounts of conversations with son Frank Gaebelein.
Aarons, Victoria
1989 0-88946-553-3 150 pages
A study of Sholom Aleichem's use of literary techniques and the ways in which his changing attitudes toward Eastern European shtetl life influenced them. Also examines how the reader's response to fiction is controlled by the writer's design for the work.
MacKenzie, Robert K.
1997 0-7734-2423-7 210 pages
The view that John the Seer, if he was not the Apostle, was a Christian whose ethnic background was Jewish and probably Palestinian, has to date gone virtually unchallenged. R. H. Charles's old but still popular commentary has provided strong support for this position. This text is critical of Charles's assumptions, which pre-date modern concerns for the effect of social context on linguistic performance. This study examines John's work in the light of current research, and also considers the two chief supporting arguments in favour of John's Jewish background.
Golany, Gideon S.
1999 0-7734-7898-1 252 pages
This book focuses on two interrelated subjects. One is the evolution of the Jewish community in central and southern Iraq and its impact upon the neighborhood structure and the design of the “Baghdad house.” The other is the innovative, non-energy-consuming cooling system which evolved in response to the arid climate. This study will appeal to historians, sociologists, students of Judaica, and anthropologists because it pictures a community that has now vanished. It will also be a valuable resource for architects and urban designers who are actively seeking solutions to the twin problems of conserving energy and providing comfortable dwellings in hot, dry climates.
Scarf, Mimi
1987 0-88946-119-8 264 pages
A study by the founder and director of Shiloh, a hotline and shelter for battered Jewish wives.
Cohen, Sascha Benjamin
1995 0-7734-2389-3 188 pages
Little serious research has been undertaken to examine the story of the binding as it appears in Jewish and Islamic traditions, to see whether the parallel components could be found in the binding of Isaac vis a vis the binding of Ishmael. This volume presents a comprehensive examination of the two traditions and analyzes the process of how the colorful tapestry of oral tradition transformed into more rigid religious doctrine, showing the interactions and transformations of the tale as it grows within the constraints, and across the bounds, of these differing traditions. This research will be useful to all students of the Bible, encouraging them to view the Aqedah through the fascinating and fluid aesthetic of the oral tradition in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
Rozenberg, Jacques J.
2003 0-7734-6608-8 344 pages
Interdisciplinary essays on the ethical issues which encompassed the trials and Code of Nuremberg have been collated from researchers from various countries in fields as diverse as medicine, bioethics, psychoanalysis, history, philosophy, Jewish thought, law, and ethics. The book focuses on five main areas: the juridical originality of the Nuremberg trials; the scientific, epistemological, and psychoanalytic backgrounds of racism and anti-Semitism; the biomedical and bioethical issues of the Nuremberg Code; a post-Nuremberg historical, ethical, and philosophical study of the notion of a ‘crime against humanity’; and the Jewish perspective on purity, impurity, race, and the universal ethical expectations of mankind. The goal of the interdisciplinary study is to outline the necessary components of a bridge between science ethics, and ethics and law.
Ashmon, Scott A
2012 0-7734-2631-0 452 pages
Ashmon puts forth a structural analysis of birth annunciations in the Hebrew Bible, and Ancient Near Eastern texts. By studying the topic in this way, the author shows a shared culture between Egyptian Hittite, Sumerian, Ugarit cultures and Biblical narratives. It explores an aspect of the Bible that has yet to be the subject of an extensive study. There have been numerous accounts of the birth annunciations of Jesus in the New Testament, but this is the first book to do a scholarly examination of the way prophecies about the birth of special children occur prior to Christ.
Lewin, Eyal
2017 1-4955-0614-2 112 pages
This essay concentrates on the strange occurrence of Jews whose legacy is the comparison of Israelis with Nazis. This tendency is becoming prominent among Jewish Western intellectuals, involving artists, scholars, journalists and politicians. Nonetheless, the Israeli-Nazi comparison is prevailing also within the higher echelons of Israeli society. The stated goal of this paper is to portray this strange phenomenon – later to be defined as Jewish Holocaust Inversion – and to comprehend the dangers that it poses to Israeli society and to the Jewish people.
Penn, Sheldon
2003 0-7734-6711-4 300 pages
This study offers a new reading of Fuentes’s major novel by focusing on the function of Jewish mysticism in the text. Organized around the linguistic and textual philosophy/theosophy of the Kabbalah, it argues that the fundamental project of Terra nostra is a literary re-construction of the cultural development of Hispanic America. The monograph breaks new ground through the thorough analysis of the novel’s strategy of textual re-creation. In the Kabbalah, due to the supposed intimate connection between divine language and the physical reality of every aspect of the universe, the re-reading and re-writing of biblical texts is carried out in order to reshape and ultimately redeem the world. Fuentes adopts this notion of creative textuality as the driving force behind his own novelistic re-creation of Hispanic America. The monograph systematically considers the role of the Kabbalah in relation to language, visual art, time and textuality. The study also considers the connections between Fuentes’s novel and the work of immediate precursors such as Jorge Luis Borges, Alejo Carpentier, and Franz Kafka. It also advances the understanding of the novel’s engagement with the great works of early Spanish literature such as Rojas’s La Celestina and Cervantes’s Don Quijote.
Breslauer, S. Daniel Daniel
2011 0-7734-2531-4 220 pages
This is a reflection on the teachings of Abraham Joshua Heschel, a teacher to an entire generation of rabbis. Breslauer looks at Heschel as an “ethical scholar,” a teacher of both Jewish and non-Jewish traditions, and a Jewish Kabbalah mystic. The book addresses Heschel’s concern that a spiritual crisis existed for all religions. In particular, Breslauer’s examination of Heschel’s development of the “depth-theology” concept to address the spiritual crisis is the central focus of this book. Breslauer draws attention to Hesechel’s use of Jewish tradition and his understanding of God, not as a physical being, but rather as a form of human emotions, to inspire a type of charismatic spirituality which all people can share as an answer to the divine pathos. By looking at the teachings of Heschel, Breslauer offers to the reader a sense of social and personal responsibility to guide them while they have their brief moment on earth.
Citations and Allusions to Jewish Scripture in Early Christian and Jewish Writings Through 180 C. E.
McLean, Bradley H.1992 0-7734-9430-8 144 pages
This comprehensive research tool provides a time-saving, complete access to multiple examples of exegesis of Old Testament texts which were of greatest interest to New Testament authors. Jewish pseudepigrapha, Jewish hellenistic writings, the Dead Sea Scrolls, Philo, Josephus, Apostolic Fathers, Justin Martyr, and many other early Christian writers are included. This index collects side by side those instances in which Old Testament citations and allusions occurring in the New Testament are also quoted or alluded to in other Jewish and Christian literature up to 180 C.E.. An invaluable aid to scholars interested in the origins of Christianity, comparative religion, the history of exegesis, and the history of textual transmission.
Glazer, Aubrey L.
2009 0-7734-4851-9 404 pages
This interdisciplinary scholarship correlates Hebrew Poetry and Jewish Mysticism to forge new pathways in Jewish Thinking. Contemporary Israeli poetry serves as the site for debating the relation between public trauma and private experience. These Anmerkungen or afterwords explore how Hebrew poetry has carried forward from collective catastrophe to rewrite and rebirth the individual experience after the Shoah.
Nolan, Caroline J.
2003 0-7734-6682-7 316 pages
This interdisciplinary study uses Voegelin’s ‘Theory of Symbolic Forms’ as a framework from which to study the development of the monarchy in Israel in its move from compactness to differentiation. The study offers an explanation of the contradictions that the ambivalence of the monarchy presents. Old Testament scholars to date have ignored or not given due attention to Voegelin’s Theory of Symbolic Forms. That is unfortunate, because by going beyond the philological preoccupations of Scripture scholars, Voegelin goes right to the heart of the ‘meaning’ of the texts. Voegelin connects the Old Testament symbolism to human experience and shows that it is still relevant to the contemporary world. This study is in keeping with the recent contemporary shift from historical criticism to narrative criticism in Biblical studies and its application to the biblical domain provides a new method and approach that should be of benefit not only to philosophers and biblical exegetes, but also to theologians, historians, political scientists and scholars of ancient civilizations.
Griffiths, David B.
1989 0-88946-254-2 350 pages
Modern Jewish studies is a vast discipline with many inter-related discursive fields. Griffith's magisterial Critical Bibliography of Writings on Judaism creates a framework of relevance that can help students and scholars recognize major problems and disputations and gain appreciation for current advances in methodology and knowledge. It functions as a conceptual map that identifies areas thoroughly and highlights controversial issues that invite further research. The majority of the entries are in English, but works in Modern Hebrew, Yiddish, French, and German are included as necessary, and also as guides for advanced study. Until the advent of this work there was no comprehensive critical Judaica bibliography of use to both generalized and specialized interests. "This work answers that need." - Shofar
Griffiths, David B.
1989 0-88946-257-7 455 pages
Modern Jewish studies is a vast discipline with many inter-related discursive fields. Griffith's magisterial Critical Bibliography of Writings on Judaism creates a framework of relevance that can help students and scholars recognize major problems and disputations and gain appreciation for current advances in methodology and knowledge. It functions as a conceptual map that identifies areas thoroughly and highlights controversial issues that invite further research. The majority of the entries are in English, but works in Modern Hebrew, Yiddish, French, and German are included as necessary, and also as guides for advanced study. Until the advent of this work there was no comprehensive critical Judaica bibliography of use to both generalized and specialized interests. "This work answers that need." - Shofar
Sky, Hyman I.
1992 0-7734-9823-0 208 pages
The specific purpose of this study is to clarify the relationship between the hazzan and the shaliah tzibbut, the two major functionaries. It also examines the etymology of the term hazzan, the function of both the Temple hazzan and the synagogue hazzan during the Tannaitic and Amoraic periods, and the underpinnings of the needs that led to the eventuation of a shaliah tzibbur and the nature of his ministrations. The Talmudic sources point out their separateness. In the post-Talmudic period, the functions have already merged. The analysis treats the reasons for, and the period of time of, the merging and the communal status of either or both.
Cohn-Sherbok, Daniel
1996 0-7734-9093-0 220 pages
This volume, the third in the series Studies in Jewish Theology, begins with an overview of the topic of divine intervention and miracles by Leo Trepp and Eliezer Schweid, and continues with a discussion of the liturgical dimensions of miraculous events, the philosophical concept of miracles, the interrelation between time and creation, divine intervention and religious sensibility, and miracles understood within an Hasidic framework.
Shapiro, Michael
1992 0-7734-9442-1 128 pages
Four essays that deal with the theme of the apparent rise in tension, in the last decade, within the American Jewish community. Includes: Alan Zuckerman's "The Structural Sources of Cohesion and Division in the American Jewish Community"; Mark Washofsky's "The Proposal for a National Beit Din: Is it Good for the Jews?"; Blu Greenberg's "The Feminist Revolution in Orthodox Judaism in America"; and Mark Shechner's "Literature in Search of a Center."
Fahey, David M.
2014 1-4955-0267-8 572 pages
An informative editing of Edward Lawrence Levy’s (1851-1932) historical autobiography providing fascinating insight into this remarkable man. Levy is best known as a “strongman” who won amateur weightlifting championships in both British and international competitions. He was a judge at the 1896 Olympics in Athens and helped organize the gymnastics section of the 1908 Olympics in London. Levy also was a headmaster of a predominantly Jewish school in Birmingham, edited a weekly newspaper for a brewers’ society, organized entertainments at the Midland Conservative Club, and wrote prolifically for newspapers on sport, theater, and music.
Winslow, Karen Strand
2005 0-7734-6032-2 512 pages
This book “frames” the appearances of Moses’ wives in Israel’s story and in the interpretive literature of Jews and Christians. Their responses to the account of Zipporah and the Cushite in the Scriptures reveal their views on circumcision, exogamy, monogamy, and even chastity, for an exegetical motif emerged that Moses “withdrew” from his wife after he became a prophet for God.
Zipporah enters the script of Exodus as Moses’ wife, a foreign woman who performed the ritual that marked male Jews as God’s covenant partners and members of God’s people. Zipporah is one of three named circumcisers in the Jewish Scriptures, joining Abraham and Joshua. By circumcising her son, she made a way for the deliverance of Israel from the bondage of Egypt. Like Abraham, she took a knife to her son, not to slay him, but to save his – or his or his father’s – life. The Torah also mentions Moses’ marriage to a Cushite woman – another outsider, which the priestly and prophetic leadership of Israel – Miriam and Aaron – disparaged, but which the LORD affirmed. Like other outsiders in the Bible, Moses’ foreign wives are featured and celebrated to combat trends toward separatism and exclusivism that emerged among post-exilic Jews.
However, the early interpreters of the Scriptures were not concerned with the social dynamics of Persian period Yehud or the tensions between Second Temple scribes and redactors. Early Jews and Christian sages had their own agendas for Zipporah and the Cushite and used their stories to influence their constituencies regarding marriage, procreation and sexual renunciation, as well as circumcision and baptism. Thus, this project traces the exegetical trajectories of Jews and Christians along these lines.
Caspi, Mishael
2004 0-7734-6490-5 396 pages
This book revives the tradition of Eve in three traditions and literatures. The discussion of Islamic material is particularly valuable, since it examines the exchanges of ideas between early Islam and Judaism. It displays an amazing ability to uncover irony and sarcasm in ancient writings that have a profound implication for understanding ancient religion, and also examines contemporary references to Eve.
Kaufman, William E.
1997 0-7734-8648-8 206 pages
This book is the first systematic examination of process themes in contemporary Jewish theology. After an overview of process theology, it traces process motifs in the writings of contemporary Jewish thinkers. Process theology as a kind of post-modernism is then explored. In conclusion it discusses the parallel concerns and inevitable tensions between Whiteheadian-Hartshornian process theology and contemporary Jewish theologies, and how the foundations for Jewish process theology require supplementation by process thinkers in the broader tradition, such as Alexander and Bergson.
Taub, Michael
2005 0-7734-6121-3 140 pages
This collection of essays focuses on films dealing with important issues in the Jewish world. Films selected are only those who make a significant contribution to our understanding of a particular theme under discussion. The themes are: immigration, antisemitism, Israel and Zionism, life in the East-European shtetls (small villages), intermarriage and assimilation, religion, and the Holocaust. The majority of the works analyzed are American-made.
Among the findings of this study is that antisemitism has been touched upon rarely; the 1947 classic, Gentleman’s Agreement, is still the yardstick by which such works as School Ties (1992), and Quiz Show (1994) are being judged. And the truth is that, while the older classic manages to penetrate deeply into this sensitive question, the later works only skim the surface. Also, it is clear that Hollywood steered away from Israel; while in the 1960's and 1970's Israel presented the world a picture of courage and moral justice, the prolonged occupation and treatment of the Palestinians, have created controversies that film producers were averse to engage in. On the other hand, Hollywood has been rather receptive, and generally positive, in its treatment of orthodoxy and Hasidism, as evidenced in The Chosen(1982), Yentl (1983), and A Stranger Among Us (1992). One area where Hollywood has disappointed is the Holocaust. While it is true that it has produced Judgement at Nurenberg (1961), The Diary of Anne Frank (1959),and Schindler’s List, (1993), all very influential films, the rest of the field is a collection of works dealing with marginal issues, and , regretfully, in some cases, turning the subject matter into pure sensationalism.
As this study concluded, many new works dealing with the Jewish experience-antisemitism, Holocaust, and post-holocaust issues, assimilation, exile and life in Israel, were coming out. This is a clear indication that this is a subject of great interest to film makers, and it seems, to viewers all over the world.
Fishbane, Simcha
2021 1-4955-0867-6 85 pages
Dr. Fishbane explores the nature and importance of fire in Jewish rituals, and its roots in Jewish religious text.
Cohn-Sherbok, Daniel
1999 0-7734-7923-6 204 pages
Hanson, Richard Simon
1993 0-7734-1932-2 104 pages
Derfler, Steven L.
1990 0-88946-258-5 128 pages
Presents a synthesis of theories from numerous disciplines _ history, economics, sociology, and religion _ regarding the Hasmonean Revolt, the liberation movement that allowed for the rebirth of a Jewish state in Judea after four centuries of foreign domination. Postulates that the seeds of revolution appear to have been planted as a result of factors that began to develop as early as the first half of the third and second centuries B.C. Appendices include the Zenon Papyri, maps, and dynastic lists.
Breslauer, S. Daniel Daniel
1991 0-7734-9627-0 136 pages
A study of the writings of Hayyim Nahman Bialik, whose poetic creativity, linguistic sensitivity, and skills as a compiler of tradition and translator into Hebrew fashioned the pillars of the Hebrew revival. His writings provide the key to modern Jewish thinking. This work focuses on Bialik as a thinker who adumbrates the images and responses typical of many modern Jews.
Weisblum, Moshe Pinchas
2007 0-7734-5288-5 280 pages
This study examines the linguistic codes in Rashi’s commentaries on the Pentateuch and Talmud, and Nachmanide’s commentary on the Torah to elucidate their goals and concepts. Through analysis of the writing characteristics and methodological foundations of both commentators, it is possible to discern their distinct approaches and attitudes toward a multiplicity of categories.
Russell, Peter J.
2008 0-7734-4938-8 488 pages
This work overturns previously accepted theories about the rise of the first- century Church by arguing that it maintained a religious culture of diversity because of its roots in Judaism.
Kravitz, Leonard S.
1988 0-88946-253-4 285 pages
Reveals the "hidden doctrine" of Maimonides' Guide for the Perplexed by viewing it as a parable and exploring the means by which Maimonides both concealed and revealed his meaning.
Randall, Albert B.
2007 0-7734-5217-6 280 pages
This study explores in literalism and inerrancy as the interpretive basis of some Jewish, Christian and Muslim justifications of acts of violence. In the end, an argument is made, on historical, scriptural, moral and theological grounds, rejecting Holy War as a perversion of God’s creation.
Ruelland, Jacques G.
2007 0-7734-5548-5 132 pages
Though the wise know that history will inevitably repeat itself, mankind keeps on making the same mistakes. It is never an easy task to write about war and religion, and Dr. Jacques G. Ruelland has managed to do so clearly and without prejudice. Through his exposé of the holy wars, this philosopher-historian traces a not-so-holy picture of civilization by analyzing the semantics of “sacredness” inherent to monotheistic religions. With the compassionate eye of the humanist, he helps us understand the origins of the justifications of wars waged in the name of the Almighty. Will we ever learn to eradicate this ancient practice? Not really, the historian believes, unless humanity can succeed in redefining the very notion of peace by assigning a new mission to science which would, ultimately, be dedicated to its real and ever-lasting pursuit.
Dureau, Yona
2014 0-7734-4321-1 312 pages
This collection of essays explains the Hebrew influence upon European culture especially the impact of Kabbalah.
Caspi, Mishael
2011 0-7734-3931-6 380 pages
This collection of essays is the first to examine the role of Jonah within the broader context of Nevi’im as interpreted by scholars of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The book provides multiple interpretations from a variety angles on the parable of Jonah. Such analyses include examining the tale from the perspectives of sin, drama, animal rights, education, and visual representations. At the same time, the book engages other biblical and prophetic texts. Despite the sheer depth and breadth of the subject, the book remains accessible to academics and non-academics alike.
Evans, Roger S.
2014 0-7734-4263-4 388 pages
A revealing examination of the development of religious animosity through the manufacturing of an anti-Semitic and anti-Judaism atmosphere that remains widespread in Christian society today. This study uncovers how the early Christian Church Fathers’ torturous manipulation of the Hebrew Bible, caused the marginalization of the Jews socially, economically, legally, theologically, and spiritually.
DiPaolo, Lawrence Jr.
2008 0-7734-4923-X 204 pages
This study investigates the three main images of Christ in the material normally designated as hymnic in the New Testament (Phil 2:6-11, 1 Cor 8:6, Col 1:15-20, John 1:1-18, Heb 1:3-4, 1 Tim 3:16), specifically the images of Christ the pre-existent divinity, Christ the Creator and Christ the Incarnate god. It is the position of the author that the closest literary antecedents for the first two images can be found in the literary world of Hellenistic Jewish wisdom speculation, specifically that subset of Hellenistic Jewish wisdom speculation influenced by Middle Platonic thought and exemplified by the works of Philo of Alexandria. The final image, that of Christ the Incarnate god, finds its’ most compelling literary antecedents in works of Greco-Roman religious thought and philosophy, specifically those myths which deal with gods taking human form and serving as slaves. The image of the god as flesh, a subset of those images which deal with Christ as an incarnate god, however, fails to be easily classified as deriving from either Hellenistic Jewish or Greco-Roman literary images.
Buchanan, George Wesley
1995 0-7734-2387-7 104 pages
This book contains a few examples of the way midrash is discovered and recognized in the Hebrew Scripture and in the New Testament. The examples given illustrate the significance of insights gained from this kind of study and the philosophy that prompted ancient prophets, Psalmists, wisdom writers, and authors of New Testament gospels, letters, essays, and sermons to compose literature in the way they did.
Lin, Rong-Hua Jefferson
2009 0-7734-4743-1 228 pages
Examines the first-century dynamics associated with the proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and in doing so addresses some important implications for modern missions. Paul’s missiology was intricately tied to his Christology, soteriology, and ecclesiology. He believed that the fullness of Judaism was to incorporate the Gentiles into the people of God through faith in Christ instead of through works of the Law. However, in advocating such a theology and practice Paul posed a great threat to maintaining Jewish identity and the survival of Jewish communities in the Diaspora.
Brettschneider, Marla
2023 1-4955-1067-0 344 pages
"The Jewish phenomenon in sub-Saharan Africa continues to be rich and diverse. While the world has long known about the prestigious and often ancient Jewish world in North Africa, dynamic Jewish engagements below the Sahara are news to many. ...This work brings to the world stage indigenous Africans involved in Jewish communities in the region speaking for themselves. The bulk of the book consists of adaptions from recorded and transcribed conversations and interviews conducted throughout the region over nearly a decade." -Dr. Marla Brettschneider, Introduction I "All of the testimonies in this book are unique in their own ways. At the same time, however, we can detect several recurring themes running through most or all of them. To my surprise, many of the issues that they discuss are the same ones that more established Jewish communities face all over the world: the struggles to build community, to have a place to pray, to learn how pray and read from the Torah, to educate themselves and their communities, to access information, and to address economic and financial needs. Some confronted antisemitic attitudes and family rejection; others discussed the problems of community continuity, whom to marry, and how to attract new members." Dr. Bonita Nathan Sussman, Introduction II
Brettschneider, Marla
2023 1-4955-1278-9 344 pages
(SOFTCOVER EDITION) "The Jewish phenomenon in sub-Saharan Africa continues to be rich and diverse. While the world has long known about the prestigious and often ancient Jewish world in North Africa, dynamic Jewish engagements below the Sahara are news to many. ...This work brings to the world stage indigenous Africans involved in Jewish communities in the region speaking for themselves. The bulk of the book consists of adaptions from recorded and transcribed conversations and interviews conducted throughout the region over nearly a decade." -Dr. Marla Brettschneider, Introduction I "All of the testimonies in this book are unique in their own ways. At the same time, however, we can detect several recurring themes running through most or all of them. To my surprise, many of the issues that they discuss are the same ones that more established Jewish communities face all over the world: the struggles to build community, to have a place to pray, to learn how pray and read from the Torah, to educate themselves and their communities, to access information, and to address economic and financial needs. Some confronted antisemitic attitudes and family rejection; others discussed the problems of community continuity, whom to marry, and how to attract new members." Dr. Bonita Nathan Sussman, Introduction II
Desind, Philip
1991 0-7734-9762-5 732 pages
This scholarly yet highly readable work offers two unique autobiographical perspectives on the early days of the Russian revolution, heretofore unavailable to the English-speaking world. The first perspective, an individual Jewish revolutionary from Byelorussia politically exiled to Siberia, is Desind's contemporary translation from the Yiddish of a prize-winning autobiography by Israel Pressman written in the 1940's, recalling the first decade of this century. The second perspective is that of the Izmailovich sisters, daughters of a high ranking military family. Their story represents not only a divergent approach to the revolution, but also the significant role played by women in fighting Russian autocracy. The material is based on Russian documents and supplemented by several English sources. The two individual accounts are explicated and impressively enriched by pertinent notes and essays which provide the historical and sociological framework for the lives portrayed in the two dramas. Includes rare photographs.
Weiss, Roslyn
1991 0-7734-9681-5 292 pages
A survey of the manuscripts and printed editions of Sefer Ha-Yashar, one of the most complex spiritual and religious phenomena in 13th-century Judaism. It is one of the most important treatises in the history of Jewish spirituality, in which ethics merges with mysticism. Deals with the concept of God, Creation and problems of Evil, the illustration of Man and his Soul, and the theme of Love and Fear of God and Devekut in Sefer Ha-Yashar.
Szapor, Judith
2012 0-7734-2933-6 460 pages
The essays collected in this volume show the complex lives and identities of Central European Jewish women, born between 1860 and the early 20th century. They enrich our knowledge and understanding of European Jewish women. Despite their important contributions to many intellectual and artistic fields, most of the women in this book were previously unknown to English-speaking audiences. These women exhibited a fluid range of identities, affiliations, and loyalties. Their Jewishness was more often identified with culture or community rather than ritual or religion. Most traveled around Europe and fled Europe during the time of the Nazi persecution. Their odysseys highlight the experiences of the marginal and those in exile. The collection offers a valuable contribution to 19th and 20th century women’s history, European intellectual history, Jewish studies, and Diaspora studies.
Jewish Mourning Customs During the Spring Season (Sefirat Haomer): A Ritual Act of Collective Memory
Fishbane, Simcha2017 1-4955-0617-7 52 pages
Dr. Fishbane’s monograph seeks to employ social scientific theory to understand the significance and evolution of Jewish mourning customs practiced between Passover (Pesach) and the Feast of Weeks (Shavuot) holidays.
Fishbane, Simcha
2022 1-4955-0876-5 96 pages
Dr. Simcha Fishbane describes the history and background of Jewish mourning rituals. It includes insights from history, culture, and important Rabbis.
Fasching, Darrell J.
1984 0-88946-702-1 124 pages
Essays prepared for a symposium entitled "New Horizons of Old Dilemmas?: Judaism in Christian Theology and Preaching."
Cohn-Sherbok, Daniel
1989 0-88946-781-1 150 pages
A study of what may be, from the theological point of view, the most interesting and perplexing type of prayer.
Kaufman, William E.
2014 0-7734-0064-8 152 pages
A profound, valuable, scholarly study of theology from a cogent well- written Jewish perspective, exposing the arrogant disregard the “New Atheists” bring to the God-controversy by their collective neglect of the great variety of God- concepts embodied in the works of Jewish theologians.
Khiterer, Victoria
2015 1-4955-0375-5 176 pages
Power changed hands in Kiev fourteen times during the revolution and civil war (1917–1920) yet anti-Jewish violence remained a constant despite the different ideologies of the troops holding power. This book raises important questions of the responsibility of the civil and military authorities for Jewish pogroms in Kiev and Ukraine during the civil war.
Dowdey, David
2006 0-7734-5912-X 156 pages
For centuries, the Jewish population of Europe has been subjected to dehumanization. Studies of European history, culture, and religion often assume that anti-Semitism is a specifically Christian phenomenon. This study sketches the historical background of anti-Semitism and extensively examines publications of the Institutum Judaicum in Halle as well as other pertinent archival materials, endeavoring to delineate some of the key people – particularly Johann Heinrich Callenberg – and how they contributed to rehumanizing the Jews.
Willingham, Robert Allen
2011 0-7734-1514-9 260 pages
A thorough examination of the enormous differences between the attitudes toward Jews of the First Republic, the Third Reich and the German Democratic Republic, or East Germany, the last regime of which has not been studied with the depth, due not least to the relatively recent opening of sources.
Cohn-Sherbok, Daniel
1999 0-7734-7920-1 352 pages
This volume provides a survey of writers in the Jewish and Christian traditions, from biblical times to the present, who have sought to understand the relationship between their own faith and that of others. Throughout, readers are encouraged to engage in this debate by reflecting on the diverse views of nearly a hundred ancient, medieval and modern thinkers.
Gluck, Andrew L.
2012 0-7734-3054-7 752 pages
This book shows how Judah Abrabanel’s writings are philosophical, and not merely religious. It examines the Renaissance belief that Love should know more than Wisdom, which is something Abrabanel taught. The ultimate mystical union with God for Abrabanel is beneficence towards one’s fellow human beings. His view is that love is the affirmation of both God and human individual experience. Knowledge of man and God are both dependent upon the experience of love.
Schmidt, Gilya G.
2001 0-7734-7154-5 96 pages
Translation of six letters by an anonymous author, identified as the Lutheran theologian Friedrich Schleiermacher, in response to the equally anonymous Sendschreiben by David Friedlaender in support of or contradiction to the question of Jewish emancipation. Includes historical introduction to Jewish life in Berlin.
Umansky, Ellen M.
1983 0-88946-537-1 283 pages
The first critical study of the founder of the movement of Liberal Judaism in Great Britain and of the World Union for Progressive Judaism.
Umansky, Ellen M.
1985 0-88946-534-7 415 pages
Provides hitherto-unpublished source material stemming from Lily Montagu's work: as lay minister of the West Central Jewish Congregation in London; on the founding of the Jewish Religious Union and the World Union for Progressive Judaism; and with the West Central Jewish Girls' Club.
Friedman, Jonathan
2004 0-7734-6325-9 146 pages
This project examines the literary, cultural, and historical significance of the 1937 stage play, The Eternal Road, the biblical epic of the Jewish émigré titans—writer Franz Werfel, composer Kurt Weill, and director Max Reinhardt. In academic circles, the play is relatively well known, although it has not received the kind of attention that scholars have paid to works such as The Threepenny Opera, Forty Days of Musa Dagh, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Reinhardt’s most often performed theatrical production. Apart from articles and chapters in dissertations and books, no comprehensive analysis of Road exists in monograph form.
The play, which premiered at the Manhattan Opera House in January 1937, sold out its 153 performances, but it closed less than six months later, a victim of extravagant casting and design. In fact, no Broadway show in its time ran up as large a deficit. Meyer Weisgal, its producer, dubbed it one of the theater’s most brilliant money-losers ever. The significance of Road lies elsewhere—in its singular moment of expression of Jewish pride by several colorful, albeit complicated, dramatis personae.
There are numerous areas of scholarship to which a study of this sort contributes. Students of the history of American theater will welcome a recitation of the play’s production history and a careful reading of its text. Historians, meanwhile, might find the subject helpful in illuminating some of the everyday responses to Nazi persecution by central European Jewish émigrés. One of the more intriguing issues for me is where to situate Road within the broader context of the life work of its principal creators. To what degree was the play a departure from or a continuity within the aesthetic approaches of Reinhardt, the parvenu, Weill, the left-leaning social critic, and Werfel, the would-be Catholic. To what extent did the three figures project their conflicts with, and corresponding concepts of, “Jewishness” onto the text and performance of the play? What was the role of external and intrinsic factors that helped to bring Road into existence? If Hitler had never come to power, would there have been an Eternal Road?
The show was the only occasion in which Reinhardt, Werfel, and Weill joined together to issue a condemnation, in the only language and forum they knew, of the Nazi assault on Jewish culture, religion, and history. And yet their play was more than mere anti-Nazi tableau, and certainly more than either a technical wonder or a box office bomb. It was a remarkable tribute by Jews to Jews in all their various, conflicting incarnations.
Szabados, Béla
2010 0-7734-3817-3 300 pages
This book challenges conventional portraits of Ludwig Wittgenstein that narrowly depict him as a philosopher’s philosopher. Rather, this study demonstrates Wittgenstein’s engagement with social, ethical and cultural questions, including aspects of otherness.
Breslauer, S. Daniel Daniel
1986 0-88946-252-6 168 pages
Presents the development and increasing political influence of the ideas of Meir Kahane, the most right-wing force in Jewish and Israeli society today. Deals with Kahane's ideas on: the expulsion of Arabs from Israel; liberal forms of Judaism; conversion; intermarriage; Jewish education; and the employment of violence as a legitimate act. Beginning with Kahane's founding of the Jewish Defense League, the volume concludes with his election to the Israeli Parliament and his activities therein.
Keats, Victor
1997 0-7734-8777-8 208 pages
Victor Keats, M. Phil. is a bibliophile of Hebrew and other antiquarian chess books, and curator of one of the world's foremost chess collections. He is an itinerant university lecturer on the subject of Hebrew literature and the history of chess. He is Research Fellow at the Department of Hebrew and Jewish Studies at University College, London, and also a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. He has authored several scholarly works on chess: a three volume set - Chess, Jews and History (vol. I), Chess: Its Origin (vol. II), Chess Among the Jews (vol. III) ; Chess in Jewish History and Hebrew Literature; Chessmen for Collectors; and The Illustrated Guide to World Chess Sets. This is his story, an autobiography devoted to his chess-collecting years: how he caught 'the bug', descriptions of his collections, travels, writings, auctions, scholarship. It is illustrated with chess cartoons by artist John Mellor.
Fishbane, Simcha
2018 1-4955-0686-X 60 pages
Dr. Simcha Fishbane examines the topic of menstruation and menstrual blood in the Torah. The study focuses on the views of Rabbis and other members of rabbinical culture in the second century C.E. Dr. Fishbane examines the relevant passages from the Torah on menstruation and menstrual blood and interprets them.
Rausch, David A.
1983 0-88946-802-8 283 pages
Lewis, Hal M.
2004 0-7734-6448-4 400 pages
This work offers a critical and incisive look into Jewish communal leadership from the biblical period to the present. It provides the reader – both scholar and practitioner – with a probing analysis of a previously unexplored area of study. Lewis provides a thoughtful assessment of Jewish leadership paradigms as they have emerged across a variety of historically and geographically diverse settings. He identifies and analyzes the dominant themes and trends associated with models of Jewish communal leadership, highlighting continuities and discontinuities in their development and evolution.
The work provides a unique context in which to understand and evaluate the current realities of leadership in today’s Jewish communities. Lewis offers a penetrating perspective on the impact which modernity’s radical changes have had upon communal leaders, from rabbis to philanthropists. Further, he proposes a model for twenty-first century communal leaders which seeks to provide a prescription for communal vitality by recapturing the authenticity of the past.
A seasoned communal leader himself, Lewis combines impeccable scholarship with an insider’s understanding. The result is an unusually insightful look into the intricacies of leadership in the Jewish community.
This impressive work has been identified and recognized as a resource material pertinent to the field of Jewish communal service by Shared Learning, a quarterly publication of the School of Jewish Communal Service, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Los Angeles campus. In fact, Dr. Lewis' book is the very first one to be selected by Shared Learning for their recommended list of resource materials on Jewish leadership.
Horn, Pierre
1997 0-7734-8693-3 184 pages
Included in this study are those Jewish writers who are conscious of being Jewish and whose novels deal solely or mostly with themes and protagonists inspired by the characteristics of Jewish societies, selected for their special literary or critical importance or interest in modern French letters. Chapter headings include: A Historical and Literary Overview to 1940; Writers of the Holocaust; Romain Gary - Lone Rider; Humor as Survival - Claude Berri, Jacques Joffo, and Jacques Lanzmann; From Wandering to Assimilation - Marek Halter and Roger Ikor; Albert Cohen - Between Laughter and Despair; Eastern Europe Meets the West - Ashkenazic Writers; Out of North Africa - Sephardic Writers; conclusion and bibliography.
Rogal, Samuel J.
2017 1-4955-0535-9 304 pages
Presents the history of the Montefiore family, a wealthy Jewish family whose influence has not been recorded. The Montefiores were leaders in Business and Philanthropy throughout Europe and the United States.
Libowitz, Richard
1983 0-88946-651-3 266 pages
Deals with the unpublished papers and the ignored early period of Kaplan's life, before he published Judaism as a Civilization (1934) at the age of 53.
Breslauer, S. Daniel Daniel
1983 0-88946-700-5 136 pages
In response to what he views as the most pressing problem for the modern Jew, the conflict between modernity and tradition, Breslauer proposes a model for ethical reflection which espouses neither uncritical acceptance nor individualistic retreat into personal preference.
Friedman, O. Michael
1993 0-7734-2306-0 184 pages
An exhaustive and comprehensive work uses in-depth research in the fields of philology, British history, hermeneutics, scientific principles, and geological and archeological studies to refute the claims of British Israelism that they are the Lost Tribes. The writer shows the many groups that fall into the British Israelism camp. The book also contains maps of the Holy Land and the land grants of the various tribes, as well as letters from leading institutions of higher education refuting the claims of British Israelism.
Caspi, Mishael
2012 0-7734-2598-5 384 pages
A book that concerns itself with the historical development of the fable or parable as a way of communicating knowledge and truth, in both Judaism and Christianity.
Mushkat, Marian
1992 0-7734-9176-7 456 pages
This study examines the roots and the mechanism of the political role of anti-Zionism and philo-Semitism in past and present Polish life, analyzes the history of JewishPolish coexistence, and discusses the Jewish contribution to Polish letters, arts and economy. It examines the Polish struggle for independence and advances original conclusions on the metamorphosis of the Judeophobia of our times in the West, East, and Third World. Uses syntheses based on new material, as well as a thoughtful reworking of older documents, examining the interdependence of past and new literary and scientific sources.
Kahn-Paycha, Danièle
2001 0-7734-7666-0 164 pages
Cohn-Sherbok, Daniel
1992 0-7734-9645-9 292 pages
This is a pioneering exploration of the nature of Jewish theology in the modern world. Containing contributions by some of the most distinguished Jewish theologians today, this volume examines a wide range of issues confronting Jewish theology, and charts a path for future investigation.
Fishbane, Simcha
2018 1-4955-0685-1 52 pages
Dr. Fishbane examines the treatment of prostitutes in the Babylonian Talmud, focusing on their status in the community. The book will consider cases cited in the Talmud looking at various mentions of prostitutes and prostitution, with a consideration of the different treatment given to Israelite women versus gentile women.
Lockshin, Martin I.
1989 0-88946-256-9 440 pages
A well-respected but little-studied 12th-century commentary of interest to scholars of medieval Judaica and modern Bible scholars, now available in English for the first time.
Cohn-Sherbok, Daniel
1991 0-88946-689-0 136 pages
Disposes of the incorrect view expressed by many Jewish apologists that there is no explicit Jewish doctrine of the afterlife; that Judaism is concerned with earthly existence only; and "warns us against useless speculation about the details of the afterlife." Explicates an elaborate doctrine of eternal punishment which is explicitly formulated and recorded in the Talmud and various Midrashim.
Sandberg, Ruth N.
1999 0-7734-7971-6 268 pages
Eylon, Dina Ripsman
2003 0-7734-6736-X 168 pages
This study demonstrates that the rabbinic belief-system regarding the afterlife and the human soul was the paramount influence on the development of the doctrine of reincarnation that was crystallized in the Sefer ha-Bahir (The Book of Clarity/Illumination) a 12th-century work written in Hebrew and Aramaic. Prior research has noted the great impact Gnosticism had on early Jewish mysticism in general and the Sefer ha-Bahir in particular. The analysis of the talmudic and midrashic sources presents a broad spectrum of ideas concerning the eternity and immortality of the soul, the nature and characteristics of the soul and the notions of the resurrection of the dead and reincarnation. These ideas, brought together in the study as a systematic theology, reveal a fairly developed tradition that was probably known to the author or editor of the Sefer ha-Bahir.
Dein, Simon
2004 0-7734-6371-2 304 pages
This book focuses on two main areas – first, the response of British Lubavitchers to misfortune generally and sickness, in particular and the role of their religious leader the Rebbe in this process; and second, their response to the illness and ultimate death of the Rebbe. It addresses a number of issues in contemporary social and medical anthropology: the social construction of the body, the power of words in ritual, the relation between myth and praxis, religious texts as a charter for healing and the relation between the use of biomedicine and symbolic healing. This book will be of interest to students of social anthropology, medical anthropology, medical sociology, millennialism, religious studies and students of contemporary Judaism.
Shokek, Shimon
1995 0-7734-9407-3 272 pages
This volume is a scholarly treatment which examines the ideological, mystical, and philosophical components of Repentance in Judaism. Each of the eleven chapters focuses on a different major approach to the central problem of repentance, representing the most significant and representative encounters to be found in Jewish thought during the past millennium. Topics include 10th century writer Rav Saadia Gaon; Bachya Ibn Paquda; Maimonides' Hilkhot Teshuvah; Sefer Hasidim and Sefer Ha-Roke'ah; Rabbi Jonah of Gerona; Sefer Ha-Yashar; the 13th century magnum opus of Kabbalah, The Zohar; the Lurianic movement; Maharal of Prague; 18th and 19th century Hasidim; and Rab Avraham Yitzhak Ha-Cohen Kook. This study is in Hebrew throughout.
Lubetski, Meir
2002 0-7734-7243-6 132 pages
Long acknowledged as one of the preeminent scholars of his generation, this book gives a sense of the multi-faceted nature of Lieberman’s greatness: his method of establishing the correct reading of given rabbinic text; his mastery of Greek and Latin in their historical and cultural contexts; the incredible literary sophistication that Lieberman utilized in approaching ancient texts; his salient contribution to medieval history and literature; his guidance in biblical exegesis. The work contains a moving Introduction by Elie Wiesel. The bibliography is particularly noteworthy.
Levine, Amy-Jill
1989 0-88946-614-9 319 pages
Seeks to redress the methodologically questionable and often implicitly anti-Jewish technique of negatively valuing the exclusivity logion and then assigning it to narrow "Jewish-Christian" sources incompatible with Matthew's own outlook.
Fiensy, David
1991 0-88946-272-0 216 pages
A study of land ownership in first-century Palestine with emphasis on the Little Tradition vis-à-vis the Great Tradition. Under the former, land was viewed in a somewhat traditional and egalitarian sense as a gift of God; in the latter, land was seen in an entrepreneurial, capitalistic light. The concepts of the Great Tradition led the Ptolemies, Seleucids, Herods, and Romans to form large estates. This movement cost many peasants their patrimonial farm plots, reducing them to day laborers and tenants and causing deterioration of the extended family. Shows that Palestine in the Herodian period was a typically agrarian ancient society with a very small group of wealthy and powerful aristocrats and rural masses that barely achieved subsistence.
Thimmes, Pamela
1992 0-7734-9939-3 237 pages
Examines the use of the ancient compositional device known as the type-scene, in particular the sea-storm type-scene as used by the Hebrew and Christian biblical writers. Explores the theme of the sea in ancient and classical Mediterranean literature including epic, romance, drama, travelogue, and poetry as the literary tradition from which the biblical use of the sea-storm type-scene emerged.
Williams, David Salter
1992 0-7734-9518-5 236 pages
The major contribution of this study to scholarship is its demonstration of the unlikelihood that Josephus wrote 4 Maccabees or De Universo, and it also reveals the basic stylistic uniformity of Josephus' works. While various historical and literary concerns are evaluated, the central scholarly tool employed in this study is stylometry, a statistical method for quantifying stylistic features of a literary composition. An important finding is that if Josephus did use certain sources for portions of his works, he has changed them so much stylistically that it is impossible to discern them. Finally, the book establishes a simple, yet powerful, stylometric method which may be used for many other studies of disputed authorship.
Rothman, Irving N.
2008 0-7734-5072-6 716 pages
This anthology presents fifty-five works that characterize Jewish barbers, describe Jews who encounter barbers, and identify Jewish authors who write about barbers and barbershops.
Hallo, William W.
1990 0-88946-219-4 504 pages
Interdisciplinary studies dealing with various aspects of the Hebrew Bible in relation to their literary, cultural, and historical contexts, especially the context of ancient Mesopotamia.
Lapomarda, Vincent A.
2012 0-7734-2932-8 332 pages
The book describes the role way some Catholic Bishops attempted to resist the Nazi extermination of the Jews and other populations during the Holocaust. It shows that many Catholic Bishops throughout Europe risked life and limb sheltering Jews and other victims. While other scholars forward different opinions on the matter, Lapomarda’s analysis of Pope Pius XII uses factual evidence to show the Pope acted against the Nazis' treatment of the Jews, and facilitated massive movements against the final solution.
Gesin, Michael
2006 0-7734-5907-3 284 pages
This book concentrates on the Holocaust in Southern and Southeastern Ukraine, as carried out by Nazi Germany and Antonescu’s Romania with the help of the local Ukrainians and ethnic German colonists. Topics such as the Jewish participation in resistance and opposition, collaboration among local inhabitants, and the interrelations of Jewish and non-Jewish population during the Holocaust will be emphasized.
The topic of the Jewish partisan activities comes under careful scrutiny. The difference will be drawn between the actual and alleged Jewish participation in the Soviet partisan movement, since under the pretext of anti-partisan counterattack, Wehrmacht, SS units and Einsatzgruppen were deployed in Ukraine to perform killing sprees on the Jews. Hundreds of thousands of Jews were murdered in the Ukraine under the cover of anti-partisan activities.
Two topics of particular concentration are the Crimean and Transnistrian Holocaust, both of which are unresearched subjects. The situation there was different from the other cities and towns in the Ukraine and thus requires further investigation and research. In Crimea, the Tatar anti-Semitism as well as the existence of two or more different Jewish separate groups, Karaites, Krimchaks and Rabbinical Jews, created a unique environment, which is analyzed in detailed discussion.
The Holocaust in Odessa, on the other hand, was carried out by the Romanians and not by Germans. The Romanian example is the only example of its kind in World War II. Romania was the only independent country directly involved in genocidal killing operations. The examination of the issues surrounding the willingness of Romanians to initiate and execute the killings is included. While the policies of the Romanian state were inspired by the widespread anti-Semitism, the petty bureaucrats were guided by greed and opportunity. The result of the latter led to the sufferings of many, but also opened a door of salvation for many others.
Feldman, Lawrence H.
2022 1-4955-1023-9 260 pages
This book offers an informative history of specific issues complicating attempts to escape Nazi Germany. "[I]t was understood that the Nazis were specifically targeting Jews. State terror had turned Jews into a convenient political scapegoat, and confiscating Jewish property had become a lucrative business. But in the United States, as elsewhere, anti-Semitism was on the ascent. ...Roosevelt took the position that to increase American "immigration quotas or appropriations of loans from public funds...[would] occasion public dispute." -Lawrence H. Feldman
Raab, David
2018 1-4955-0650-9 144 pages
This book sets out to prove a new perspective on the evolution of halakhah: a "people-centric" narrative. To wit, that it is the community of observant Jews--the People--who, directly or based on their social reality since the Second Temple period through today, drive the refinement, redefinition, change in, and finally, acceptance of halahkhah.
Caspi, Mishael
2014 0-7734-4278-2 424 pages
This remarkable literary journey of the enigmatic ‘Samson’ titillates the reader’s curiosity. Blessed with a handsome and spectacular physique, and a naughty thirst for la dolce vita, Samson has served as a paradigm for many a well-meaning person who failed to teach himself self-restraint. Caspi and Greene chronicle the fascinating literary-historical development of the Samson figure and his significance through Jewish, Christian, and Islamic traditions, and during ancient, medieval, and modern times.
Miller, Dale
1990 0-88946-621-1 408 pages
A contribution to the leading edge of Gospel studies, based on the methodology of comparative midrash, with commentary on Mark pericope by pericope.
Brettschneider, Marla
2022 1-4955-0953-2 208 pages
From the editor's Introduction:
This book presents scholarly material introducing the world to the little-known, extraordinary, and persistent Jewish communities remaining in Ethiopia as the First Temple Beta Israel Jewish Communities of Kechene and Semien Shewa. Some segments of the historic Jewish communities in Ethiopia were introduced on the world stage in the 1980s with dramatic airlifts to Israel. However, there remains a network of still largely hidden Jewish communities in Ethiopia practicing their traditions, surviving amidst intense local forms of anti-Jewishness, and struggling for recognition as legitimate Jewish communities. This publication offers their story to the world.
Brettschneider, Marla
2023 1-4955-1279-7 208 pages
(SOFTCOVER EDITION) From the editor's Introduction: This book presents scholarly material introducing the world to the little-known, extraordinary, and persistent Jewish communities remaining in Ethiopia as the First Temple Beta Israel Jewish Communities of Kechene and Semien Shewa. Some segments of the historic Jewish communities in Ethiopia were introduced on the world stage in the 1980s with dramatic airlifts to Israel. However, there remains a network of still largely hidden Jewish communities in Ethiopia practicing their traditions, surviving amidst intense local forms of anti-Jewishness, and struggling for recognition as legitimate Jewish communities. This publication offers their story to the world.
Novak, David
1984 0-88946-759-5 481 pages
The first full-length monograph which deals with this subject, this book serves two primary purposes: to trace the development of the concept of gentile normativeness in the history of Jewish law and theology, and to show how this concept had tremendous internal influence on the development of that law and that theology themselves.
Rabkin, Yakov
1995 0-7734-9063-9 265 pages
The articles in this volume deal with the impact of science on the Jews from the 18th through the 20th centuries in terms of two broad topics: the impact of science on traditional Jewish cultures; and the role of Jews in the scientific professions in the 19th and 20th centuries, in particular the issue of the professionalization of science in this period and the roles Jews played in this process.
Brettschneider, Marla
2015 1-4955-0348-8 280 pages
This work is an exploration of Jewishness, Judaism, Jewish texts, and the history of the Jewish people as it relates to the millions of people in sub-Saharan Africa. It analyzes the phenomenon of Jewish connectedness using a wide-range of conflicting and religious discourses to bring a fresh perspective to this complex paradigm.
Brettschneider, Marla
2023 1-4955-1280-0 280 pages
(SOFTCOVER EDITION) This work is an exploration of Jewishness, Judaism, Jewish texts, and the history of the Jewish people as it relates to the millions of people in sub-Saharan Africa. It analyzes the phenomenon of Jewish connectedness using a wide-range of conflicting and religious discourses to bring a fresh perspective to this complex paradigm.
THE LEGEND OF ELIJAH IN JUDAISM, CHRISTIANITY, ISLAM, AND LITERATURE A Study in Comparative Religion
Caspi, Mishael2009 0-7734-4726-1 324 pages
This work examines interpretations of Elijah in as an immortal being teaching the Law to the chosen ones.
Fishbane, Simcha
2017 1-4955-0616-9 128 pages
Dr. Fishbane’s monograph seeks to decode the implicit message encoded within some of the practices and customs of the holiday of Purim.
Fishbane, Simcha
2017 1-4955-0620-7 76 pages
Professor Fishbane explains the Jewish festival of Shavuot, a holiday heavily associated with harvests and the Temple. once the Temple was destroyed the traditions of Shavuot continued to be celebrated thanks to Rabbinical interest that kept the traditions of the festival alive.
Taub, Michael
2023 1-4955-1046-5 196 pages
This book is an expansion of the author's
Fishbane, Simcha
2017 1-4955-0540-5 100 pages
Author examines girl's puberty rites or rather the lack of such rites in rightwing Orthodox circles. The historical beginnings and cultural impact of the Bat Mitzvah and its development in Israel and the United States are explained.
Cohn-Sherbok, Daniel
1990 0-88946-719-6 164 pages
Feldman, Lawrence H.
2022 1-4955-0968-1 152 pages
This is a study of the role of Spain and Franco in the Holocaust with an aim to trace the relationship between Franco and Hitler during the Second World War. ...Hitler supported Franco during the Spanish Civil War, so it is surprising that Franco did not join Hitler in the war against the Allies. Hitler met Franco on the French border in 1940, but while a treaty was signed it was never implemented. Why? The evidence is in the diplomatic correspondence between the AXIS powers, Allies and Franco. -from the Author's "Prologue One"
Lelchook, Judith
2022 1-4955-0968-1 152 pages
This is a study of the role of Spain and Franco in the Holocaust with an aim to trace the relationship between Franco and Hitler during the Second World War. ...Hitler supported Franco during the Spanish Civil War, so it is surprising that Franco did not join Hitler in the war against the Allies. Hitler met Franco on the French border in 1940, but while a treaty was signed it was never implemented. Why? The evidence is in the diplomatic correspondence between the AXIS powers, Allies and Franco. -from the Author's "Prologue One"
Fishbane, Simcha
2017 1-4955-0619-3 56 pages
Dr. Fishbane’s monograph explores the development and history of the Jewish tradition and custom of kapparot, where a rooster is sacrificed before Yom Kippur. The sacrificed fowl is given to the poor or the money that is the fowl’s worth.
Slater, Thomas Bowie
2017 1-4955-0621-5 48 pages
The main argument of this monograph is that the Hebrew Bible (HB) and the extant Jewish pseudepigraphal writings consistently distinguished between generic expressions (e.g., “son of man”/“sons of men” [Ezek 2:1] and, descriptions of heavenly beings in human-likeness (e.g., “one like a son of man” [Dan 7:13]; “someone who looked like a human” [Dan 8:15]). Any investigation of the New Testament (NT) “son of man” traditions must take these distinctions into account.
Lewin, Eyal
2018 1-4955-0643-6 480 pages
Dr. Lewin examines what he believes to be a spiritual disorder at the core of Israel and the many ways that the disorder is expressed. He focuses on a diverse collection of incidents and events that have manifested in modern Israel due to this disorder. The book looks to examine the concerns and offer solutions that would combat the malaise he is diagnosing.
Podet, Allen Howard
1987 0-88946-255-0 384 pages
Provides an almost minute-by-minute examination and assessment of the Anglo-American Committee and its recommendations on the postwar status of European Jews.
Schmidt, Maurice
2009 0-7734-3782-7 376 pages
This book is the first work that establishes the ancient Israelite Tabernacle as a seminal work of art. It brings together the seemingly divergent worlds of biblical symbolism and art history. While all acknowledge that Western art was often inspired by biblical story and poetry, the modern study of art presupposes that Western religious art originates only from Greco-Roman civilizations. This book contains four color photographs.
Epstein, Lawrence J.
1992 0-7734-9493-6 176 pages
This is a new theological interpretation of Judaism focusing on the Jewish covenantal obligation to offer Judaism and welcome converts. The term "Jewish universalism" is applied to the theory because the central idea of the interpretation is that Judaism is a universal religion. This is supported by an analysis of the basic theological concepts of Judaism (God, the natural world, humanity, chosenness, revelation, covenant, mission, the nation of Israel, and redemption). These concepts are understood to emphasize the Jewish mandate to offer Judaism without requiring it. It includes other arguments for welcoming converts besides Jewish universalism and how these arguments are related. This book is an original synthesis of current scholarship, and the first that provides a detailed, systematic theological interpretation of covenantal obligation.
Cohn-Sherbok, Daniel
1997 0-7734-8690-9 104 pages
The problem of the suffering of righteous has engaged biblical writers, the rabbis, medieval philosophers and kabbalists, and modern Jewish thinkers. This collection of essays explores the nature of this fundamental issue from biblical times to the present day. Throughout, the contributors seek to untangle the various threads of this perplexity and relate their findings to the solution of this seemingly intractable theological dilemma.
Randall, Albert B.
1998 0-7734-8254-7 500 pages
Robinson, Ira
1991 0-88946-286-0 424 pages
Essays presented at the proceedings of the Montreal Conference on Moses Maimonides held in October 1985. The collection of essays, in both English and French, seeks to define Maimonides as a seminal figure in Medieval Judaism. Most of the essays address the topic of the Idea of Human Perfection in Maimonides.
Taub, Michael
2018 1-4955-0703-3 288 pages
This book is an edited collection of three plays by Israeli Playwright Edna Mayza. The plays are: Games in the Backyard, The New Criminals and The Back Room.
Herman, Menahem
1992 0-7734-9959-8 208 pages
Studies the biblical tithe from anthropological and theological perspectives. Explores biblical tithe as gift rather than tax, the common interpretation of the tithe to date.
Cohn-Sherbok, Daniel
1992 0-7734-9165-1 256 pages
In this book, distinguished Jewish scholars from throughout the world explore the concept of Torah and Revelation. This seminal work draws on biblical and rabbinic sources and charts a path for future exploration. Essays include: What is Jewish Theology? (Arthur Green); Revelation and Torah - A Phenomenological Approach (William E. Kaufman); Can there be a Written Torah? (Alan Unterman); Postcritical Scriptural Interpretation in Judaism (Peter Ochs); Revelation as Interpretation - Taming the Muse (Aharon M. Singer); Re-Presenting the Torah - Sifra's Rehabilitation of Taxonomic Logic and the Judaic Concept of How Through the Torah We Enter the Mind of God (Jacob Neusner); Revelation and Messianism - A Maimonidean Study (Menachem Kellner); Protology and Eschatology in the Jewish-Christian Dialogue (Peter S. Zaas); Le Dieu des personnes et la forme du corps humain (Henri Atlan); Torah and Law (Emanuel Rackman); Sinai, Law and Responsible Autonomy - Progressive Judaism and the Halakhic Tradition (Tony Bayfield).
Kaellis, Eugene
1987 0-88946-712-9 216 pages
Proposes that Judaism is the most appropriate religion for contemporary Americans and promotes their mass conversion to it.
Sherwin, Byron L.
1992 0-7734-9635-1 200 pages
After establishing a vision of and a methodology for "doing" Jewish theology, that vision and methodology are applied to a number of issues of major theological concern. These include: love and law, awe of God, the problem of evil, Holocaust theology, theologies of the human body, theological ethics, and eschatology. Utilizing a remarkable range of classical sources from Hebrew Scriptures to Hasidim, Talmud to Jewish philosophy, medieval Jewish mysticism to contemporary political theology, this volume demonstrates how theology is an artform informed by erudite scholarship and honed by analytic skill. Provides new light on old texts, and applies those texts to the most current theological problems.
Podet, Allen Howard
2000 0-7734-7821-3 372 pages
The focus of this work is Leon Modena’s polemic masterpiece, the Magen Wa-Hereb, “Shield and Sword”. It makes this important document in Jewish polemical thought accessible to students of comparative religion and persons interested in inter-religious relations. Modena’s work is a delicately nuanced text, written in a sparkling style with wit and charm. This translation avoids a wooden rendering, being honest to the original, trying to bring the reader as close as possible to the honest feeling of the original as well as to its sense.
Grossmark, Tziona
2010 0-7734-3793-2 268 pages
As a literary genre travelers' stories have grown out of oral traditions. These traditions flourished along the trade routes of the ancient world. Indeed the roads around the Mediterranean basin were busy with traffic during the Roman and Byzantine periods.
This anthology of twenty-one travelers' tales examines the Talmudic tales as an inter-cultural phenomenon.
Rappaport, Aron M.
1992 0-7734-9562-2 208 pages
This book deals with the subject of Hatred as examined in the Constantin Brunner's philosophical opus The Doctrine of the Spiritual Elite and the Multitude. The book avoids the idealistic reproaches of breach of morality, goodness and similar toothless phraseology. In the larger, practical part of the book, the author meets head on the open and veiled prejudices perpetrated by the Germans against the Jews. However, the main theme is human hatred, though it is studied here on the historical example of pandemic anti-Semitism. The author's scientific radicalism is controversial, and should interest scholars of human rights, progressive religious groups, Jewish institutions, university libraries, and the general reader as well as psychologists and sociologists.
Freund, Richard A.
1993 0-7734-1972-1 360 pages
This companion volume continues the work and thesis of Volume I. It contains a full investigation of the revolutionary theories and methodologies of Volume I and identifies major themes and thinkers not covered in the first book. Major themes such as Theodicy, Human Justice and Rights, Altruism, Mysticism and Jewish Ethics, Jewish Ethics and Zionism, and the whole question of Jewish modernism and ethics are examined. In addition, it considers some major thinkers who dramatically affected our understanding of Jewish ethics, from classical philosophers such as Plato, Aristotle, Maimonides, and Gersonides to moderns like Baruch Spinoza, Immanuel Kant, Søren Kierkegaard, Moses Mendolssohn, Hermann Cohen, Ahad Ha'am, Jacob Klatzkin, Abraham Isaac Kook, Isaiah Leibowitz, Martin Buber, Franz Rosenzweig, Gershom Scholem, Max Kadushin, Eugene Borowitz, Seymour Siegel, Alasdair Macintyre, Louis Henkin, Hannah Arendt, and Leo Strauss among many others.
Freund, Richard A.
1991 0-7734-9894-X 344 pages
Investigates ethical perspectives and themes in Judaism from the biblical through the modern period. Compares and contrasts the Jewish ethical tradition in Greco-Roman, Christian and Moslem ethics. Topics include: suicide, self-sacrifice, euthanasia, lying and deception, political ethics, the ethics of war and peace, women and ethics, sexual ethics, death and dying, AIDS, and bio-medical ethics.
Martin, Russell
2006 0-7734-5828-X 400 pages
This book describes, analyzes and interprets the extent of local Jewish autonomy in Judaea during the period 6 to 66 CE. It is the book’s purpose to illustrate and clarify whether the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem in this period had the authority to pass sentence in capital cases and to execute such sentences. The background and context of this investigation is the trial of Jesus, but the issue at stake is of general historical interest as well.
Gluck, Andrew L.
2016 1-4955-0422-0 476 pages
“While reminding religious and non-religious people alike of the great contribution of the Jews to modern Western culture, the present volume searches out a hermeneutical middle ground between the materialism of race-based identity theories and the ideological excesses of narrowly conceived religious systems.”
- Craig Nichols, Ph.D.,
University of Rhode Island
Muller, Ghislain
2011 0-7734-3939-0 376 pages
This biography of Shakespeare presents a new perspective on the debate surrounding the real identity of William Shakespeare. Muller suggests that Shakespeare took care to hide his Jewish origins and that Elizabethan authorities, who were aware of this fact, attempted to eliminate any trace of his Jewish origins by making him an Anglo-Saxon hero. Using official documents that have not been employed by other scholars, Muller brings forth evidence that Shakespeare’s father was a Jew living in an England where Jews had been banned since the time of Edward I and the Act of Expulsion in 1290. Muller demonstrates that Shakespeare was brought up in the Jewish faith and that many of his closest connections were from Jewish circles. In addition, Shakespeare’s coat of arms, his retirement to Stratford, and his last will and testament, are further used as evidence that Shakespeare was a Jew. Anyone interested in the works of William Shakespeare, his life, and his true identity, will enjoy this well-researched and written book.
Oppenheim, Michael
1985 0-88946-708-0 159 pages
Through an examination of the thought of Franz Rosenzweig, Martin Buber, and Emil Fackenheim, the author shows that issues of modern Jewish belief are relevant to the vitality of the Jewish community and that the insights of modern Jewish thinkers are relevant to philosophers of religion and to religious people outside the Jewish community.
Fishbane, Simcha
2022 1-4955-1020-4 56 pages
The author states, "Max Weber, the well known early sociological theorist, presents us with the three classical types of leadership-traditional, charismatic, and legal-rational. I would like to suggest a fourth, namely the written word. ...I will focus on three leading Eastern European rabbinical authorities of the 19th and early 20th century whose writings both established their leadership during their lifetime, and posthumously continued to place them in the forefront of Jewish life and halakhic behavior. ...Leadership comprehended in rabbinic leadership is that of influence especially for educators. ...The rabbis discussed in this essay were all educators and thus leaders who influenced their followers both through their frontal (oral) lectures and their written works."
Kempner, Robert M.W.
2023 1-4955-1132-4 136 pages
The text of this book contains interviews with Robert Kempner that were translated by Jane Lester. The translation was presented to the "Old Nurembergers" who gathered in Washington, D.C. for a final reunion in 1996.
Fishbane, Simcha
2017 1-4955-0618-5 64 pages
Dr. Fishbane's monograph explores the cultural and theological reasons behind the Jewish ritual of not allowing women work on the festival of Rosh Hodesh. Rabbinic Judaism is patriarchal in nature and the ritual appears to be an exemption to cultural norms.
Fishbane, Simcha
2018 1-4955-0684-0 52 pages
Dr. Fishbane suggests that in the patriarchal world of the Torah and Talmud, society perceives women as being liminal in its social order or on the fringe of the male centered society and this excluded from most central rituals. Women are regarded as threats to the patriarchal social structure if they do not act in accordance to traditional gender roles. Such women are regarded as witches or sorceresses.
Fishbane, Simcha
2019 1-4955-0790-4 80 pages
Dr. Fishbane and Dr. Stern describe the Haye Adam, a legal text about the nature of Jewish law and women within the Jewish community. It was composed by Rabbi Abraham Danzig (1748-1820) in Prague.
Reiter, C. Leslie
2012 0-7734-4062-3 204 pages
In this monograph the author investigates the syntactic construction found in the Semitic languages known as verbal coordination as it relates to the translation and therefore the interpretation of the scriptures. In the course of his analysis, the author also discusses grammaticalization that has occurred to translate the function of the word from Hebrew to Greek. According to the author, translations of this construction account for certain awkward expressions in the Greek Gospel texts, particularly Mark and John, because the writers were thinking in Semitic and writing in Greek. There are significant implications for Bible scholars, translators and linguists.
Simkins, Ronald A.
1991 0-7734-9683-1 336 pages
Focuses on the methodological question: What is the relationship between history and nature in Israelite religion? Challenges the fundamental dichotomy of religion-of-history/religion-of-nature which is ubiquitous in biblical scholarship. Both human history and the history of nature constitute two aspects of the single cosmological reality. This thesis is illustrated and supported through a detailed study of the book of Joel.
Horton, Fred L. Jr.
1995 0-7734-2426-1 194 pages
Ben-Sira, Zeev
1993 0-7734-9291-7 132 pages
This study presents a theoretically justified paradigm comprising the conceptions of Zionism and the factors conditioning these conceptions, in order to answer the following questions of Zionism today: to what extent does Zionism reflect a widely assented ideology; can it serve as a mechanism for unifying the Israeli society; has Zionism, after the establishment of the State, lost its commonly assented goals, and if so, to what extent do the different ideological and political streams themselves incite and deepen the cleavage in Israeli society? The hypothesized paradigm was empirically tested by an interview study carried out among a cross-sectional sample of Jewish Israeli adults. The conclusions highlight the cleavage between two extremes: Universalistic and Particularistic Zionism.
Rausch, David A.
1979 0-88946-875-3 378 pages
Notes that many modern authors contend that fundamentalists have been and are antisemitic, then provides evidence that this is inaccurate. Establishes that evangelical fundamentalists were among the early supporters of Zionism.