aFor the general reader, and the ever-burgeoning number of students in Jewish studies programs, the "Essential Papers" series brings together a wealth of core secondary material, while the commentaries offered by the editors aim to place this material in critical comparative context.a
--"Jewish Journal of Sociology"

No work has informed Jewish life and history more than the Talmud. This unique and vast collection of teachings and traditions contains within it the intellectual output of hundreds of Jewish sages who considered all aspects of an entire peopleas life from the Hellenistic period in Palestine (c. 315 B.C.E.) until the end of the Sassanian era in Babylonia (615 C.E.). This volume adds the insights of modern talmudic scholarship and criticism to the growing number of more traditionally oriented works that seek to open the talmudic heritage and tradition to contemporary readers. These central essays provide a taste of the myriad ways in which talmudic study can intersect with such diverse disciplines as economics, history, ethics, law, literary criticism, and philosophy.

Contributors: Baruch Micah Bokser, Boaz Cohen, Ari Elon, Meyer S. Feldblum, Louis Ginzberg, Abraham Goldberg, Robert Goldenberg, Heinrich Graetz, Louis Jacobs, David Kraemer, Geoffrey B. Levey, Aaron Levine, Saul Lieberman, Jacob Neusner, Nahum Rakover, and David Weiss-Halivni.

The Talmud is filled with knowledge, inspiration, and insights that enrich all facets of Jewish life. Yet many are intimidated by the thought of studying its text, and their hesitancy prevents them from experiencing the wisdom of its words. In this new volume, Rabbi Judith Abrams takes readers with her on a journey through one volume of the Talmud, offering reassuring guidance and making it meaningful and accessible to all. The Talmud for BeginnersDVolume 1: Prayer is the first book in a series by Rabbi Abrams. For lay readers who are unfamiliar with Talmud, this work serves as an introduction to talmudic thought. For those who are familiar with talmudic methodology, this volume will serve as a convenient overview of one book of the Talmud, Berachot (literally, _blessings_).

Here is a kaleidoscope of tales, a key to many of the richest literary and artistic traditions of the western world: Adam's ascent into Heaven in a chariot, Abraham's trail by fire, Jonah's fabulous adventrure in the whale, the life of Moses, Hannah's desire for a son, Solomon as a beggar, the wooing of Rebekah, and Balshazzar's feast. This is storytelling with a grain of salt and a lot of wit; tales springing from the antiquity of oral tradition, told with sheer delight in the glory of a book transformed by a hundred generations whose daily thoughts and deeds were transformed by The Book.

The Muslim perception of Christianity and Christians is an issue of longstanding debate among scholars of both Islam and Christianity. In this book, Jane McAuliffe analyses a series of passages from the Qur'an that make ostensibly positive remarks about Christians. She conducts this analysis through a close examination of Muslim exegesis of the Qur'an, spanning ten centuries of commentary. In this effort to trace various interpretations of these passages, the author attempts to determine whether these positive passages can justifiably serve as proof-texts of Muslim tolerance of Christianity. She finds that commentators have consistently distinguished between the vast majority of Christians, who are denounced for having turned from the true word of God, and a small minority, who accepted the prophethood of Muhammed and are praised.

In his brilliant introduction on the Mishnah, Jacob Neusner asks: How do you read a book that does not identify its author, tell you where it comes from, or explain why it was written - a book without a preface? And how do you identify a book with neither a beginning nor end, lacking table of contents and title? The answer is you just begin and let the author of the book lead you by paying attention to the information that the author does give, to the signals that the writer sets out. As Neusner goes on to explain, the Mishnah portrays the world in a special way, in a kind of code that makes it a difficult work for the modern reader to understand. Without knowing how to decode the Mishnah, we may read its works without receiving its message. Neusner, one of the world's foremost Mishnaic scholars, demonstrated that the Mishnah's own internal logic and structure form a solid foundation on which to build an understanding of this vitally important Jewish work. Using examples of how the Mishnah's language, logic, and discourse associate and categorize behaviors, events, and objects, Neusner opens the Mishnah to readers who would not otherwise be able to grasp its most fundamental concepts. Since the Mishnah forms the basis of both the Babylonian and the Palestinian Talmuds (which are, in Neusner's elegant terms, "the core curriculum of Judaism as a living religion"), study of the Mishnah is essential to an understanding of Judaism. Drawing on his own new translation of the Mishnah and displaying the enthusiastic dedication that has sparked a whole new body of Mishnaic research, Neusner allows readers with no previous background to join Jews who have studied, analyzed, and delighted in the wisdom of Mishnah for centuries. In addition to giving us a thorough exploration of the Mishnah's language, contents, organization, and inner logic, Neusner also provides us with a broad understanding of how it communicated its own world view - its vision of both the concrete an spiritual worlds. The Mishnah: An Introduction gives us a tour of this sacred Jewish text, shedding light on its many facets - from its view of life to its conception of God and His relation to our world.

Rabbi Abrams writes: "When I teach Torah classes to my congregants, sometimes they become very uncomfortable with what they read in the Tanach. Jacob tricks his father. Moses kills a man. David commits adultery. They struggle to come to grips with the difficult passages in the text. They also work on finding meaning in worship services, even though they don't know Hebrew. They strive to define themselves proudly as Jews in a non-Jewish world. They worry about assimilation. And I'm pretty sure that they think their problems are modern ones. Blessedly, the rabbis of the Talmud struggled with these questions, too, and they came up with some terrific answers. "In this introduction to the tractate Megillah of the Babylonian Talmud, we will learn how the rabbis viewed the Torah, and how they teach us to relate to it. They don't shy away from the hard-to-deal with passages, but show us how to meet them head on without sacrificing respect for them. They show us how to make the text our own and how to honor it in our everyday lives. These are ancient answers to modern questions. "In this tractate, the rabbis develop a whole system of honor that is based on respect for the Torah in each person and object in our world. In other words, the true Jewish status system is based on learning and menschlichkeit, rather than money or fame. So while this tractate may be stimulating on an intellectual level, it's also stimulating on the mensch' level. "As the second volume in a series, this book challenges the learner to reach new heights of understanding the Talmud, and the way the rabbis thought. However, don't be afraid, it's still very much for beginners. A general introduction about the Talmud is provided, then selected passages from each of the tractate's four chapters are explained in simple language. A bibliography for further reading, glossary, halachic appendix and descriptions of the rabbis mentioned in the book, are also provided."

The study of classical Jewish texts is flourishing in day schools and adult education, synagogues and summer camps, universities and yeshivot. But serious inquiry into the practices and purposes of such study is far rarer. In this book, a diverse collection of empirical and conceptual studies illuminates particular aspects of the teaching of Bible and rabbinic literature to, and the learning of, children and adults. In addition to providing specific insights into the pedagogy of Jewish texts, these studies serve as models of what the disciplined study of pedagogy can look like. The book will be of interest to teachers of Jewish texts in all contexts, and will be particularly valuable for the professional development of Jewish educators.

The work of Rabbi Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin, the Neziv, ranks amongst the most often read rabbinic literature of the nineteenth century. His breadth of learning, unabashed creativity, and penchant for walking against the stream of the rabbinic commentarial establishment has made his commentaries a favorite amongst rabbinic scholars and scholars of rabbinics alike. Yet, to date, there has been no comprehensive and systematic attempt to place his intellectual oeuvre into its historical context - until now. In the Pillar of Volozhin, Gil Perl traces the influences which helped mould and shape the Neziv's thinking while also opening new doors into the world of early nineteenth century Lithuanian Torah scholarship, an area heretofore almost completely untouched by academic research.

Rabbi Levi ben Gershom (Ralbag, Gersonides; 1288-1344), one of medieval Judaism's most original thinkers, wrote about such diverse subjects as astronomy, mathematics, Bible commentary, philosophical theology, "technical" philosophy, logic, Halakhah, and even satire. In his view, however, all these subjects were united as part of the Torah. Influenced profoundly by Maimonides, Gersonides nevertheless exercised greater rigor than Maimonides in interpreting the Torah in light of contemporary science, was more conservative in his understanding of the nature of the Torah's commandments, and was more optimistic about the possibility of wide-spread philosophical enlightenment. Gersonides was a witness to several crucial historical events, such as the expulsion of French Jewry of 1306 and the "Babylonian Captivity" of the Papacy. Collaborating with prelates in his studies of astronomy and mathematics, he apparently had an entree into the Papal court at Avignon. Revered among Jews as the author of a classic commentary on the latter books of the Bible, Kellner portrays Gersonides as a true Renaissance man, whose view of Torah is vastly wider and more open than that held by many of those who treasure his memory.

In this thought-provoking study, Dan Lioy asserts that a Christocentric and Christotelic perspective is an unmistakable feature of Paul's discourse. The journey begins with an analysis of the old Adamic creation in Genesis 1-3 before digressing into representative passages from Paul's writings, touching on such themes as new creation theology, the apostle's apocalyptic interpretation of reality, and his theology of the cross. Then Lioy examines the influence of the Old Testament on Paul's Christological outlook, how the apostle viewed Satan operating as the counterfeit word, and the way in which the writings of Paul correlate with the letter from James, leading into a deliberation that Paul, rather than Christ, is to be seen as a new or second Moses. Contrast is then provided regarding the historical authenticity of the Adam character in Paul's discourse, along with the Genesis creation narratives. Facets of Pauline Discourse in Christocentric and Christotelic Perspective is the ideal volume for college and seminary classes dealing with the teaching and theology of Paul.

By employing the same basic methodologies used to establish the currently accepted chronology, it has been possible for a group of young archaeologists, including David Rohl, to create a New Chronology which resolves many of the problems permeating ancient world studies. In particular, one model has been developed which has major implications for Old Testament research. Through the revision of the master chronology of ancient Egypt they have unlocked the key to biblical history - the epic events of the Bible really did happen as recorded in the Books of Genesis, Exodus, Judges, Samuel, Kings and Chronicles - the problem was that we had previously been looking for them in completely the wrong place in time.

Many of the conundrums of the past are explained, and legendary figures such as Joseph, Moses, David and Solomon find their true political setting. Exodus and Conquest will be restored to history and the magic of legend will begin to make its great comeback.

This first full-scale account of Leviticus by a world-renowned anthropologist presents the biblical work as a literary masterpiece. Seen in an anthropological perspective Leviticus has a mystical structure which plots the book into three parts corresponding to the three parts of the desert tabernacle, both corresponding to the parts of Mount Sinai. This completely new reading transforms the interpretation of the purity laws. The pig and other forbidden animals are not abhorrent, they command the same respect due to all God's creatures. Boldly challenging several traditions of Bible criticism, Mary Douglas claims that Leviticus is not the narrow doctrine of a crabbed professional priesthood but a powerful intellectual statement about a religion which emphasizes God's justice and compassion.

The Hadith are believed to be the words of the Prophet, memorised by his followers and written down in the first or second centuries AH. This is a clear introduction to the arguments surrounding both the Hadith and the documents themselves. Comparing the views put forward in the Hadith with those of the Qur'an, it takes the student through all aspects of the Hadith in clear and accessible terms.

This book focuses on Muslim-Christian cultural relations across a number of centuries. As for the methodology, the book represents an intersection of religious studies, linguistics and translations studies. The bases of research are a Tatar tefsir and 19th- and 20th-century printed translations of the Qur'an into Polish. In the period of the Reformation, the Tatar adherents of Sunni Islam conducted the dialogue with Christianity. They translated the Qur'an into Polish already in the second half of the 16th century. They used the Arabic alphabet to record the translation and conferred the form of a tefsir to it. Who were the Tatar translators? Did they break the ban on the translation of the Holy Book of Islam? What sources did they use? How did they translate the Muslim religious terminology? Why is their translation of the Qur'an not familiar to researchers? These are only a few questions which are explored in this work.

The author presents a new approach to the study of manna, which does not concentrate only on one particular representation of the bread from heaven (especially Ex 16). Additionally, he investigates the interconnections between Ps 78:23-25, Wis 16:20-13; 19:21 and Jn 6:22-59 and he explores the new ideas of each of these texts. He also strongly asserts that Hellenistic Judaism, represented by the Book of Wisdom, is not "a second-class Judaism". This fact is proved with the example of manna as the food of immortality, an idea not introduced by Christians in the Fourth Gospel, but already present in Wis 19:21.

Understanding the sacred text has been a wonderful yet elusive challenge through the ages. This book is a reading of the Bible, accessible to readers of all backgrounds and levels of familiarity with the biblical text. In contrast to previous works on the subject, "Reading the Sacred Text" focuses on the true meaning of the biblical text rather than the metaphorical or mystical interpretations. It retells, in a captivating and easy-to-follow narrative, the story of the Five Books of Moses, the first books of the Bible.

This book breaks fresh ground in the interpretation of the Apocalypse with an interdisciplinary methodology called aural-performance criticism that assesses how the first-century audience would have heard the Apocalypse. First-century media culture is probed by assessing the dynamics of literacy, orality, aurality, and performance in the Gospels, parts of the Pauline corpus, and also Jewish apocalyptic literature. The audience constructs of informed, minimal, and competent assist the interpreter to apply the methodology. Sound maps and an aural-performance commentary of Revelation 1 and 11 are developed that analyze aural markers, sound style, identity markers, repetition, themes, and the appropriation of the message by the audience. The book concludes by examining the sociological, theological, and communal aspects of aurality and performance and its implications for interpreting the Apocalypse.

The study discusses the Old Testament's parable of Nathan and the subsequent condemnation of King David. The intriguing episode of the Prophet Nathan pronouncing judgment on the erring King David has always attracted the interest of the exegete and various researchers have used different methods to separate the condemnation of King David from the ancient author. This study presents a synchronic reading of the canonical text that reveals the episode as the mirror image of the oracle of eternal dynasty pronounced to David by the same prophet in the Second Book of Samuel 7. It is indeed the work of the deuteronomistic writer who has adapted an oracle against the dynasty of David and trimmed it to the advantage of his hero in the unfolding of history.

This commentary demonstrates that the Gospel of Mark is a result of a consistent, strictly sequential, hypertextual reworking of the contents of three of Paul's letters: Galatians, First Corinthians and Philippians. Consequently, it shows that the Marcan Jesus narratively embodies the features of God's Son who was revealed in the person, teaching, and course of life of Paul the Apostle. The analysis of the topographic and historical details of the Marcan Gospel reveals that they were mainly borrowed from the Septuagint and from the writings of Flavius Josephus. Other literary motifs were taken from various Jewish and Greek writings, including the works of Homer, Herodotus, and Plato. The Gospel of Mark should therefore be regarded as a strictly theological-ethopoeic work, rather than a biographic one.

The very essence of the existential relationship between the human and the divine is communicated by the English word, 'worship'. Although the word appears to carry a univocal meaning in English, no such word per se exists in the Greek New Testament. The English word at best explains but does not adequately and completely define the dynamics involved in the relationship between humanity and God. Worship and the Risen Jesus in the Pauline Letters approaches the subject of Christian worship in respect to its origins from the perspective of the earliest New Testament writer: Paul. This book seeks to address the relative absence in scholarship of a full treatment of worship in the Pauline Letters. Closely related to the theme of Christian worship in the Pauline Letters is the person of the risen Jesus and the place he occupies in the faith community. This work proposes a proper working definition of, including criteria for, 'worship'. Paul employed an array of Greek words as descriptors to communicate the various nuances and dimensions related to one's relationship with God. 'Worship' also functioned for Paul as a boundary marker between believers and unbelievers vis-a-vis baptism and the Eucharist. The eschatological and teleological aspects of worship are also examined through a study of the Carmen Christi (Phil 2: 6-11). This study maintains that worship in Paul is not defined by any one word but is rather a composite and comprehensive personal religious relationship between the worshipper and God.

Liberation from Empire investigates the phenomenon of demonic possession and exorcism in the Gospel of Mark. The Marcan narrator writes from an anti-imperialistic point of view with allusions to, yet never directly addressing, the Roman Empire. In his baptism, Jesus was authorized by God and empowered by the Holy Spirit to wage cosmic war with Satan. In Jesus' first engagement, his testing in the wilderness, Jesus bound the strong one, Satan. Jesus explains this encounter in the Beelzebul controversy. Jesus' ministry continues an on-going battle with Satan, binding the strong one's minions, demonic/unclean spirits, and spreading holiness to the possessed until he is crucified on a Roman cross. The battle is still not over at Jesus' death, for at Jesus' parousia God will make a final apocalyptic judgment. Jesus' exorcisms have cosmic, apocalyptic, and anti-imperial implications. For Mark, demonic possession was different from sickness or illness, and exorcism was different from healing. Demonic possession was totally under the control of a hostile non-human force; exorcism was full deliverance from a domineering existence that restored the demoniac to family, to community, and to God's created order. Jesus commissioned the twelve to be with him, to learn from him, and to proclaim the kingdom of God by participating with him in healing and exorcism. Jesus expands his invitation to participate in building the kingdom of God to all those who choose to become part of his new dyadic family even today.

This book demonstrates that the Gospels originated from a sequential hypertextual reworking of the contents of Paul's letters and, in the case of Matthew and John, of the Acts of the Apostles. Consequently, the new quest for the historical Jesus, which takes this discovery into serious consideration, results in a rather limited reconstruction of Jesus' life. However, since such a reconstruction includes, among others, Jesus' messiahship, behaving in a way which was later interpreted as pointing to him as the Son of God, instituting the Lord's Supper, being conscious of the religious significance of his imminent death, dying on the cross, and appearing as risen from the dead to Cephas and numerous other Jewish believers, it can be reconciled with the principles of the Christian faith.

The Muslim perception of Christianity and Christians is an issue of longstanding debate among scholars of both Islam and Christianity. In this book, Jane McAuliffe analyses a series of passages from the Qur'an that make ostensibly positive remarks about Christians. She conducts this analysis through a close examination of Muslim exegesis of the Qur'an, spanning ten centuries of commentary. In this effort to trace various interpretations of these passages, the author attempts to determine whether these positive passages can justifiably serve as proof-texts of Muslim tolerance of Christianity. She finds that commentators have consistently distinguished between the vast majority of Christians, who are denounced for having turned from the true word of God, and a small minority, who accepted the prophethood of Muhammed and are praised.