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Many scholars and obervant Jews assume that rabbinic Judaism includes a dogmatic commitment to the notion that the Bible text, particularly the Torah text, is letter perfect. This study offers a very different picture of the textual reality.
This volume celebrates the depth and breadth of Jewish philosopher Moses Maimonides' (1138–1204) achievements. The essays gathered here explore the rich diversity of a heritage that extends over eight hundred years, beginning with Maimonides' historical context; ranging through his distinct contributions to philosophy, theology, medicine, and Jewish law; to the impact his ideas have had on later generations. His humane perspective and commitment to intellectual rigor are reflected in the wide range of his works and his active role as a spiritual guide and intellectual leader. Maimonides' intellectual openness makes his work an enduring model of creative synthesis and critical appropriation, as well as a continuing source of intellectual stimulation not only for the many specialist scholars who scrutinize his texts but also for a wide and lively audience of nonspecialists.
Beginning with an introduction of the "Palestinian Targums," or "Targum Yerushalmi," the author relates the history of the term, research in the field, and other background information on the Palestinian Pentateuch Targums before providing a verse-by-verse translation of Neofiti 1.
The principal thrust of this book is to discover whether, and to what extent, the methods of modern scholarship can become part and parcel of the study of Torah.
Michael V. Fox, long-time professor in the Dept. of Hebrew and Semitic Studies at the University of Wisconsin--Madison, is known both for his scholarship and his teaching. As the editors of this volume in his honor note, the care and sensitivity of his reading of the Hebrew text are well known, and he lavishes equal attention on his own writing, to the benefit of all who read his work, which now includes the first of two volumes in the Anchor Bible commentary on Proverbs (the next volume is in preparation), as well as monographs on wisdom literature in ancient Israel and elsewhere, and many articles. The rigor that he brought to his own work he also inflicted on his students, and they and a ...
Literature begins at Sumer, we may say. Given that this ancient crossroads of tin and copper produced not only bronze and the entire Bronze Age, but also by neccesity, the first system of record-keeping and the technique of writing. Scribal schools served to propogate the new technique and their curriculum grew to create, preserve and transmit all manner of creative poetry. In a lifetime of research, the author has studied multiple aspects of this most ancient literary oeuvre, including such questions as chronology and bilingualism, as well as contributing fundamental insights into specific genres such as proverbs, letter-prayers and lamentations. In addition, he has drawn conclusions for the comparative or contextual approach to biblical literature. His studies, widely scattered in diverse publications for nearly fifty years, are here assembled in convenient one-volume format, made more user-friendly by extensive cross-references and indices.
The Jewish Social Contract begins by asking how a traditional Jew can participate politically and socially and in good faith in a modern democratic society, and ends by proposing a broad, inclusive notion of secularity. David Novak takes issue with the view--held by the late philosopher John Rawls and his followers--that citizens of a liberal state must, in effect, check their religion at the door when discussing politics in a public forum. Novak argues that in a "liberal democratic state, members of faith-based communities--such as tradition-minded Jews and Christians--ought to be able to adhere to the broad political framework wholly in terms of their own religious tradition and conviction...
The Hebrew text of the Torah has never been finalized down to the last letter. This is important not least because Jewish law requires that Torah scrolls read publicly in the synagogue be error-free. Jewish scribes, scholars, and legal authorities have sought to overcome or narrow these differences, but to this day have not completely succeeded in doing so. This book offers an in-depth study of how rabbinic leaders of the past two millennia have dealt with questions about the text's accuracy, presenting numerous authoritative rabbinic sources, many translated here for the first time.
First multi-year cumulation covers six years: 1965-70.