The United Jewish Appeal (UJA) was the primary Jewish philanthropic umbrella organization until it was combined with another philanthropic organization in 1999. Using original archival research, this volume traces the history of the UJA from its origins to 1982.
This volume examines the role of intention in the Mishnah. What role does intention play in fulfillment of God's commandments according to the rabbis of Late Antiquity?
In The Idea of Atonement in the Philosophy of Hermann Cohen (2000), Michael Zank argues that the idea of atonement serves as a key for understanding the larger philosophy of the German-Jewish philosopher Hermann Cohen (1842-1918). Zank situates his sensitive and wide-ranging philosophical evaluation of Cohen within the intellectual and social milieu within which Cohen wrote. The book contains a…
This volume consists of papers (or the offspring of papers) that were delivered by the Hellenistic Judaism section of the 1990 and 1991 annual meetings of the Society for Biblical Literature. In recognition of the fact that so little work had been down on the subject, presenters were not asked to focus on a single set of questions, a single body of evidence, or utilize a single methodology. Rat…
Robert Schine’s intellectual biography of Max Wiener profiles a liberal German-Jewish thinker who turned toward Zionism as the only natural future for Judaism. Schine puts Wiener’s thought into conversation with those of his German contemporaries (both Jewish and Christian) while also resuscitating Wiener’s thought as a resource for contemporary theologians.
This collection of essays deals with two interwoven themes. The first is a critical reflection on the often theoretical underpinnings biblical studies. The second engage theoretical reflections on translating the Bible. Together they show the need to bring theory and practice of biblical scholarship into closer relationship with each other.
This book contributes to the ongoing research into the emergence of rabbinic Judaism in the synagogue setting through a study of one constellation of rabbinic and synagogue literature, the sequence of prophetic lectionary texts designated for the Sabbaths surrounding Tisha b' Av, and the midrashirn, piyyutim and targumic texts that interpret them. An analysis of this literary constellation allo…
Few scholars loom as large in the history of scholarship on ancient Judaism than does Erwin Ramsdell Goodenough (1893-1965). A professor at Yale University for forty years, Goodenough fundamentally changed our understanding of Jews in the Hellenistic world, even when his suggestions turned out to be incorrect. Best known for his monumental, Jewish Symbols in the Greco-Roman Period, Goodenough a…
This volume examines the way thatMishnah-Tosefta attempted to construct an Israelite ethnic identity in order to differentiate the Israelites from the gentiles who also populated the Land of Israel. This became an especially pertinent project with the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple, the failure of the Bar Kokhba Revolt, the increased influx of gentiles into the Land of Israel. and the soci…
In Halakhah in a Theological Dimension, David Novak argues that Jewish law (halakhah) is grounded on a set of theological assumptions relating to the covenant between God and Israel. Novak’s study is fundamental for understanding both his later work on the Covenant and the continuing philosophical discussion of the relationship between religious law and theology.