Dr. Dell Sanchez began his journey into the lineage of his Latino family when it surfaced from his research of Jewish survivors of the Spanish and Portuguese Inquisitions of the 15th - 17th Centuries. The more Sanchez dug into historical record, the more he began to suspect his own Sephardic Jewish roots. The DNA of his mother and father served to prove his suspicions.

Presented as a personal yet factual narrative, "Out from Hiding" includes six crucial topics that prove the existence of Sephardic Jewish roots among Latinos:

Historical and genealogical records
DNA evidence corroborating Sephardic Jewish roots among Latinos
Onomastics dealing with the Sephardic origin of surnames
Material evidence found within the Sephardic Latino community
Oral histories disclosing family secrets of thirteen Sephardic Latinos
Sanchez's professional observations and prognostications of the Sephardic Latinos' future

Based on continued research, it has been estimated that there are tens of thousands of Hispanic/Latinos with Sephardic Jewish ancestry in America. The majority of these are not aware of their hidden Jewish roots, aren't aware of their hidden backgrounds. "Out from Hiding" is his journey through history, family genealogy, and personal faith. Perhaps it may be your journey, as well.

This important study is the first to offer a sustained look at a variety of early modern Yiddish masterworks--and their writers and readers--paying particular attention to their treatment of supernatural themes and beings.

This seminal and comprehensive study of Targum Jonathan to Zephaniah focuses on two major facets of exegesis: The twenty-one manuscripts from five different provenances, reflecting a variety of textual traditions and scribal erudition, thus revealing distinct stemmas; and the history of transmission of Targum Jonathan. Divergences from the literality of the MT unveil the emotions - fear, dismay, and hope - and the prayers of the meturgeman, as he reacts to historical events in the near past and in his own time.

Ezekiel's Visionary Temple in Babylonian Context examines evidence from Babylonian sources to better understand Ezekiel's vision of the future temple as it appears in chapters 40-48. Tova Ganzel argues that Neo-Babylonian temples provide a meaningful backdrop against which many unique features of Ezekiel's vision can and should be interpreted. In pointing to the similarities between Neo-Babylonian temples and the description in the book of Ezekiel, Ganzel demonstrates how these temples served as a context for the prophet's visions and describes the extent to which these similarities provide a further basis for broader research of the connections between Babylonia and the Bible. Ultimately, she argues the extent to which the book of Ezekiel models its temple on those of the Babylonians. Thus, this book suggests a comprehensive picture of the book of Ezekiel's worldview and to contextualize its visionary temple by comparing its vision to the actual temples surrounding the Judeans in exile.

For five horrifying years in Vilna, the Vilna ghetto, and concentration camps in Estonia, Herman Kruk recorded his own experiences as well as the life and death of the Jewish community of the city symbolically called "The Jerusalem of Lithuania." This unique chronicle includes many recovered pages of Kruk's diaries and provides a powerful eyewitness account of the annihilation of the Jewish communities of Eastern Europe. This volume includes the Yiddish edition of Kruk's diaries, published in 1961 and translated here for the first time, as well as many widely scattered pages of the chronicles, collected here for the first time and meticulously deciphered, translated, and annotated. Kruk describes vividly the collapse of Poland in September, 1939, life as a refugee in Vilna, the manhunt that destroyed most of Vilna Jewry in the summer of 1941, the creation of a ghetto and the persecution and self-rule of the remnants of the "Jerusalem of Lithuania," the internment of the last survivors in concentration camps in Estonia, and their brutal deaths. Kruk scribbled his final diary entry on September 17, 1944, managing to bury the small, loose pages of his manuscript just hours before he and other camp inmates were shot to death and their bodies burnt on a pyre. Kruk's writings illuminate the tragedy of the Vilna Jews and their courageous efforts to maintain an ideological, social, and cultural life even as their world was being destroyed. To read Kruk's day-by-day account of the unfolding of the Holocaust is to discern the possibilities for human courage and perseverance even in the face of profound fear. Co-published with the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research

This book offers a fresh reflection on The Book of Questions by the French-Egyptian Jewish writer Edmond Jabes and its readings, and proposes to re-contextualize Jabes' enigmatic prose through the lens of the author's manuscripts. Addressed are the main prisms through which Jabes' oeuvre has been read since its publication in 1963: Jewishness, the Shoah, intertextuality with Midrash and Kabbalah, hermeticism and interpretation. It analyzes their shapes and their becoming in the work-in-progress, reveals the dynamics and the contexts of their evolution from the pre-texts to the text and beyond, and reflects on the relationship between creation, interpretation, and writing as a process. It seeks to rethink our reading of The Book of Questions and the poetics and hermeneutics of enigmatic writing.

Walter Benjamin derided Werner Scholem as a 'rogue' in 1924. Josef Stalin referred him as a 'splendid man', but soon backtracked and labeled him an 'imbecile', while Ernst Thalmann, chairman of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD), warned his followers against the dangers of 'Scholemism'. For the philosopher and historian Gershom Scholem, however, Werner was first and foremost his older brother. The life of German-Jewish Communist Werner Scholem (1895-1940) had many facets. Werner and Gerhard, later Gershom, rebelled together against their authoritarian father and the atmosphere of national chauvinism engulfing Germany during World War I. After inspiring his younger brother to take up the Zionist cause, Werner himself underwent a long personal journey before deciding to join the Communist struggle. Scholem climbed the party ladder and orchestrated the KPD's 'Bolshevisation' campaign, only to be expelled as one of Stalin's opponents in 1926. He was arrested in 1933, and ultimately murdered in the Buchenwald concentration camp seven years later. This first biography of Werner Scholem tells his life story by drawing on a wide range of original sources and archive material long hidden beyond the Iron Curtain of the Cold War era. First published in German by UVK Verlagsgesellschaft as Werner Scholem - eine politische Biographie (1895-1940), Konstanz, 2014.

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"Lively tales of girls who long for the lives of male scholars, and rebels who visit strip clubs, smoke pot, and dream of high-powered careers."--"Books to Watch out For"

"Stephanie Levine's book is full of surprises."--"Midstream"

"A fascinating read for anyone interested in youth culture."
--"Youth Today"

"In an era seemingly plagued with sex, anorexia and depression among our nation's girls, a page from "Mystics, Mavericks, and Merrymakers" is a refreshing peek into the possibilities for growth, strength and self."--"The Jewish New Weekly of Northern California"

"At all times, Levine's genuine respect for the community shines through. The book is eminently readable and undoubtedly fascinating."--"Jewish Chronicle"

"A vivid portrayal of the Lubavitcher community."
--" Library Journal"

"[Levine's] empathy is palpable in each one of the profiles. Levine has a natural, artful style and writes with a lively and keen vision."
--"Moment magazine"

"Her findings are fascinating."
--"Jewish Telegraph"

"Levine treats all her subjects with respect. At the core, this is a popularly written academic study."
-- "KLIATT"

"Levine vividly portrays these girls, their hopes and their struggles, as well as her own feelings towards Orthodoxy and the Lubavitch way of life."
--"JOFA Book Corner"

"Levine's portraits provide a cross-section of the very human faces of these ultra-religious girls."
--"New Jersey Times"

"Stephanie Wellen Levine's suggestions are obviously heartfelt and perhaps sensible....at turns charming and scandalous."
--"The Jerusalem Report"

"Levine takes readersinto an unfamiliar world of girls who were raised in the Lubavitcher sect of Hasidim in Crown Heights, Brooklyn...One intriguing paradox she explores is how these girls created distinct personalities while living in a very closed society."
--"Choice"

"Levine does a splendid job of presenting how the girls cope, and paints vivid pictures of Shabbat around their family tables."
--" The Jerusalem Post Literary Quarterly"

"Stephanie Wellen Levine has written an intriguing and joyous account of the lives of young adult Hasidic women."
--" Jewish Book World"

"Eminently readable."
--" Jewish Journal Book Review"

"Levine steps back and lets the girls speak for themselves; their voices, layered with determination, yearning, confusion and wonder, emerge clearly."
--" Na'amat Woman Book Reviews"

"This absorbing ethnography acts as one subculture's corrective to "Reviving Ophelia," in that it offers a refreshing portrait of adolescent girls who are far from insecure."--"Publishers Weekly" (starred review)

From the ardently religious young woman who longs for the life of a male scholar to the young rebel who visits a strip club, smokes pot, and agonizes over her loss of faith to the proud Lubavitcher with a desire for a high-powered career, Stephanie Wellen Levine provides a rare glimpse into the inner worlds and daily lives of these Hasidic girls.

Lubavitcher Hasidim are famous for their efforts to inspire secular Jews to become more observant and for their messianic fervor. Strict followers of Orthodox Judaism, they maintain sharp gender-role distinctions.

Levine spent a year living in the Lubavitch community of Crown Heights, Brooklyn, participating in the rhythms of Hasidic girlhood. Drawing on many intimate hours among Hasidim and over 30 in-depth interviews, Mystics, Mavericks, and Merrymakers offers rich portraits of individual Hasidic young women and how they deal with the conflicts between the regimented society in which they live and the pull of mainstream American life.

This superbly crafted book offers intimate stories from Hasidic teenagers' lives, providing an intriguing twist to a universal theme: the struggle to grow up and define who we are within the context of culture, family, and life-driving beliefs.

The contributors and editors dedicate this volume of research to Professor Stefan C. Reif on the occasion of his 75th birthday. Together these twenty papers reflect our appreciation for his exemplary scholarship and lifelong commitment to acquaint our world with the theological and cultural riches of Jewish Studies. This collection reflects the breadth of Prof. Reif's interests insofar as it is a combination of Second Temple studies and Jewish studies on the roots of Jewish prayer and liturgy which is his main field of expertise. Contributions on biblical and second temple studies cover Amos, Ben Sira, Esther, 2 Maccabees, Judith, Wisdom, Qumran Psalms, and James. Contributions on Jewish studies cover nuptial and benedictions after meals, Adon Olam, Passover Seder, Amidah, the Medieval Palestinian Tefillat ha-Shir, and other aspects of rabbinic liturgy. Moreover, the regional diversity of scholars from Israel, continental Europe, the United Kingdom, Ireland and North America mirrors Stefan's travels as a lecturer and the reach of his publications. The volume includes a foreword of appreciation and a bibliographic list of Professor Reif's works.

Tobiah's travel with the angel in Tobit chapter six constitutes a singular moment in the book. It marks a before and after for Tobiah as a character. Considered attentively, Tobit six reveals a remarkable richness in content and form, and functions as a crucial turning point in the plot's development. This book is the first thorough study of Tobit six, examining the poetics and narrative function of this key chapter and revisiting arguments about its meaning. A better understanding of this central chapter deepens our comprehension of the book as a whole.

Klezmer: Music, History, and Memory is the first comprehensive study of the musical structure and social history of klezmer music, the music of the Jewish musicians' guild of Eastern Europe. Emerging in 16th century Prague, the klezmer became a central cultural feature of the largest transnational Jewish community of modern times - the Ashkenazim of Eastern Europe. Much of the musical and choreographic history of the Ashkenazim is embedded in the klezmer repertoire, which functioned as a kind of non-verbal communal memory. The complex of speech, dance, and musical gesture is deeply rooted in Jewish expressive culture, and reached its highest development in Eastern Europe. Klezmer: Music, History, and Memory reveals the artistic transformations of the liturgy of the Ashkenazic synagogue in klezmer wedding melodies, and presents the most extended study available in any language of the relationship of Jewish dance to the rich and varied klezmer music of Eastern Europe. Author Walter Zev Feldman expertly examines the major sources principally in Russian, Yiddish, Hebrew, and Romanian from the 16th to the 20th centuries, including interviews with authoritative European-born klezmorim conducted over a period of more than thirty years in America, Eastern Europe, and Israel. In its musical analysis, this book draws upon the foundational collections of the late Tsarist and early Soviet periods, plus rare cantorial and klezmer manuscripts from the late 18th to the early 20th centuries.

Moroccan Jews can trace their heritage in Morocco back 2000 years. In French Protectorate Morocco (1912-56) there was a community of over 200,000 Jews, but today only a small minority remains. This book writes Morocco's rich Jewish heritage back into the protectorate period. The book explains why, in the years leading to independence, the country came to construct a national identity that centered on the Arab-Islamic notions of its past and present at the expense of its Jewish history and community. The book provides analysis of the competing nationalist narratives that played such a large part in the making of Morocco's identity at this time: French cultural-linguistic assimilation, Political Zionism, and Moroccan nationalism. It then explains why the small Jewish community now living in Morocco has become a source of national pride. At the heart of the book are the interviews with Moroccan Jews who lived during the French Protectorate, remain in Morocco, and who can reflect personally on everyday Jewish life during this era. Combing the analysis of the interviews, archived periodicals, colonial documents and the existing literature on Jews in Morocco, Kristin Hissong's book illuminates the reality of this multi-ethnic nation-state and the vital role memory plays in its identity.

Minority populations are often regarded as being 'hard to reach' and evading state expectations of health protection. This ethnographic and archival study analyses how devout Jews in Britain negotiate healthcare services to preserve the reproduction of culture and continuity. This book demonstrates how the transformative and transgressive possibilities of technology reveal multiple pursuits of protection between this religious minority and the state. Making Bodies Kosher advances theoretical perspectives of immunity, and sits at the intersection of medical anthropology, social history and the study of religions.

The aim of this book is to offer the reader a critical edition of the petitions in their original Italian language that (Catholic) Jews residing in Italy submitted to the Fascist General Administration for Demography and Race (Demorazza) in order either to be "discriminated," i.e., not subjected to various provisions of Mussolini's racial laws of 1938, or "Aryanized," i.e., be considered not of "the Jewish race," as defined by the convoluted and inconsistent Fascist anti-Semitic legislation. Anyone born of parents who both were of "the Jewish race," even though professing a religion other than Judaism, was deemed to be Jewish. Consequently, the racial laws affected not only those Italians who considered themselves Jewish, whether secular or religious, but also a significant number of Catholics whose ancestors had been Jewish, as the majority of the cases contained in this volume show.

Aryeh Motzkin was an extraordinary thinker and writer. Much of his work appeared in small academic journals despite the fact that it is often quite accessible, even to non-experts. This volume assembles his most important published papers along with several unpublished papers. They all have a single theme: the encounter between the Jewish tradition and philosophy as discovered by Plato and Aristotle. The book s first group of essays deal with the way medieval Jewish thinkers understood the philosophies of Plato and Aristotle. The second group deals with how these same medieval thinkers were themselves interpreted by modern thinkers, beginning with Spinoza. A recurring issue in all the essays is the difficulty inherent in any encounter between philosophia perennis and the changing history of Judaism.

Covering Western and Eastern Europe, this book looks at the Holocaust on the local level. It compares and contrasts the behaviour and attitude of neighbours in the face of the Holocaust. Topics covered include deportation programmes, relations between Jews and Gentiles, violence against Jews, perceptions of Jewish persecution, and reports of the Holocaust in the Jewish and non-Jewish press.

"Chaplain Slomovitz has opened the door to a previously undocumented, untold chapter of the history of the Jews in America. The Fighting Rabbis should be read with great pride by the Jewish American community, and with admiration by all others."
--"Vice Admiral Bernard M. Kauderer(Ret.)"

"The Fighting Rabbis surges with true and exciting storeis of faith and fortitude little known to the American public. How I wish it were required reading for all military chaplains, and for all clergy and military leaders who care about God's ministry among our men and women in the armed services. Rabbi Slomovitz has granted us a record of great significance."
--"Rear Admiral Donald K. Muchow"

"More than simply the story of Jewish military chaplains in America, The Fighting Rabbis offers broad contextual material on the entire scope of Jewish American history. It also shatters two significant myths about Jews and the American military: that they did not serve, and that the U.S. Armed Services have always been a bastion of anti-semitism. A seminal contribution to American history."
--"John Sherwood, author of Officers in Flight Suits: The Story of American Air Force Pilots in the Korean War"

"Rabbi Slomovitz, himself a 'Fighting Rabbi, ' honors a dedicated group of religious military leaders whose accomplishments have remained untold for too long. The American Jewish community at large does not fully recognize the sacrifices and services of Jewish Americans who have gallantly served our country and our faith. This book should be in every military and synagogue library."
--"Colonel Jack B. Zimmermann, USMCR (Ret.)"

"Illuminates the significant role that rabbi-chaplains inuniform have played in promoting the spiritual welfare of members of the Armed Forces--both Jewish and non-Jewish--ever since the Civil War."
--"Rabbi David Lapp, Director of Jewish Chaplains Council"

Rabbi Elkan Voorsanger received the Purple Heart for his actions during the Battle of Argonne. Chaplain Edgar Siskin, serving with the Marines on Pelilu Island, conducted Yom Kippur services in the midst of a barrage of artillery fire. Rabbi Alexander Goode and three fellow chaplains gave their own lifejackets to panicked soldiers aboard a sinking transport torpedoed by a German submarine, and then went down with the ship.

American Jews are not usually associated with warfare. Nor, for that matter, are their rabbis. And yet, Jewish chaplains have played a significant and sometimes heroic role in our nation's defense.

The Fighting Rabbis presents the compelling history of Jewish military chaplains from their first service during the Civil War to the first female Jewish chaplain and the rabbinic role in Korea, Vietnam, and Desert Storm. Rabbi Slomovitz, himself a Navy chaplain, opens a window onto the fieldwork, religious services, counseling, and dramatic battlefield experiences of Jewish military chaplains throughout our nation's history.

From George Washington's early support for a religiously tolerant military to a Seder held in the desert sands of Kuwait, these rabbis have had a profound impact on Jewish life in America. Also striking are original documents which chronicle the ongoing care and concern by the Jewish community over the last 140 years for their follow Jews, including many new immigrants who entered the armed forces. Slomovitz refutes the common belief thatthe U.S. military itself has been a hostile place for Jews, in the process providing a unique perspective on American religious history.

Sicker asserts that the Mosaic canon, the Pentateuch, is first and foremost a library of essentially political teachings and documents, and that the first eleven chapters of the book of "Genesis" set forth in essence a general Mosaic political philosophy. These writings take a unique mythopoeic approach to the construction of a normative political theory intended to undergird the idea of a mutual covenant between God and the people of Israel that is to be realized in history in the creation of the ideal society. It is with the elaboration of the political ideas reflected in these early chapters of "Genesis" that this book is concerned.

For the modern reader, the biblical texts should be understood as postulating some basic ideas of Mosaic moral and political philosophy that, in Sicker's view, continue to be applicable in contemporary times. First, man is endowed with free will, however constrained by circumstances it may be, and with the intellect to govern and direct it in appropriate paths. Accordingly, he is individually responsible for his actions and must be held accountable for them. Second, man has a necessary relation to God whether he wishes it or not. Prudence alone will therefore dictate that compliance with divine precept is in man's best interest. Third, the notion that man can create a moral society without reference to God is a deceptive illusion. Man's ability to rationalize even his most outrageous behavior clearly indicates the need for an unimpeachable source and standard of moral authority. Fourth, until all men accept the preceding principles, the idea of a universal state is both dangerous and counterproductive. In the 20th century, we have witnessed two different attempts to create such a world state, both of which produced totalitarian monstrosities. Fifth, individualism as a social philosophy tends to be destructive of traditional values and must be tempered by the idea of communal responsibility. A survey of particular interest to scholars, researchers, and students interested in Jewish history, political thought, and the Old Testament.

In his academic career, that by now spans six decades, Daniel J. Lasker distinguished himself by the wide range of his scholarly interests. In the field of Jewish theology and philosophy he contributed significantly to the study of Rabbinic as well as Karaite authors. In the field of Jewish polemics his studies explore Judeo-Arabic and Hebrew texts, analyzing them in the context of their Christian and Muslim backgrounds. His contributions refer to a wide variety of authors who lived from the 9th century to the 18th century and beyond, in the Muslim East, in Muslin and Christian parts of the Mediterranean Sea, and in west and east Europe. This Festschrift for Daniel J. Lasker consists of four parts. The first highlights his academic career and scholarly achievements. In the three other parts, colleagues and students of Daniel J. Lasker offer their own findings and insights in topics strongly connected to his studies, namely, intersections of Jewish theology and Biblical exegesis with the Islamic and Christian cultures, as well as Jewish-Muslim and Jewish-Christian relations. Thus, this wide-scoped and rich volume offers significant contributions to a variety of topics in Jewish Studies.