"The prayer book is our Jewish diary of the centuries, a collection of prayers composed by generations of those who came before us, as they endeavored to express the meaning of their lives and their relationship to God. The prayer book is the essence of the Jewish soul." This stunning work, an empowering entryway to the spiritual revival of our times, enables all of us to claim our connection to the heritage of the traditional Jewish prayer book. It helps rejuvenate Jewish worship in today's world, and makes its power accessible to all. Framed with beautifully designed Talmud-style pages, commentaries from 11 of today s most respected Jewish scholars from all movements of Judaism examine Seder K riat Hatorah from the perspectives of ancient Rabbis and modern theologians, as well as feminist, halakhic, Talmudic, linguistic, biblical, Chasidic, mystical, and historical perspectives. This fourth volume of the series unfolds the many layers of meaning in Seder K riat Hatorah, the ritual and prayers surrounding the communal reading of Torah. More than any other section of the prayer book, the Torah service reflects all of Jewish history. Vol. 4 helps us to understand how the reading of Torah is an affirmation, powerful and dramatic, of the continuing covenant between the community of Israel and God. Vol. 4 Seder K riat Hatorah (The Torah Service) features the authentic Hebrew text with a new translation designed to let people know exactly what the prayers say. Introductions tell the reader what to look for in the prayer service, as well as how to truly use the commentaries, to search for and find meaning in the prayer book. Even those not yet familiar with the prayer book can appreciate the spiritual richness of Seder K riat Hatorah. My People s Prayer Book enables all worshipers, of any denomination, to encounter their own connection to 3,000 years of Jewish experience with the world and with God."

Binding Fragments of Tractate Temurah and the Problem of Lishana 'Aharina offers a critical edition of an important Talmud manuscript of tractate Temurah discovered in the library of New York University. Addressing the unique Lishana 'Aharina ("alternative version") phenomenon present in this tractate, the present volume suggests a new approach for understanding the editing and transmission of tractate Temurah. This volume also includes a thorough discussion of the conservation and treatment of the manuscript fragments, a codicological and paleographical analysis of the fragments, and a synopsis of the entire first chapter of this tractate. The present work is relevant for study of the redaction and transmission of tractate Temurah and the Babylonian Talmud, as well as for the study of Hebrew binding fragments.

"The prayer book is our Jewish diary of the centuries, a collection of prayers composed by generations of those who came before us, as they endeavored to express the meaning of their lives and their relationship to God. The prayer book is the essence of the Jewish soul."

This stunning work, an empowering entryway to the spiritual revival of our times, enables all of us to claim our connection to the heritage of the traditional Jewish prayer book. It helps rejuvenate Jewish worship in today's world, and makes its power accessible to all.

This third volume of the series explores the rich content and meaning of the P sukei D zimrah, the morning psalms that serve as the introduction to the larger prayer service. The P sukei D zimrah sets the tone and prepares the way for the daily transition from secular routine to the sacred act of communal prayer; Vol. 3 helps us to appreciate this prayer before the prayer as a profoundly moving spiritual experience in its own right.

Vol. 3 P sukei D zimrah (Morning Psalms) features the authentic Hebrew text with a new translation designed to let people know exactly what the prayers say. Introductions tell the reader what to look for in the prayer service, as well as how to truly use the commentaries, to search for and find meaning in the prayer book. Commentaries from some of today s most eminent scholars and teachers from all movements of Judaism examine P sukei D zimrah from the perspectives of ancient Rabbis and modern theologians, as well as feminist, halakhic, Talmudic, linguistic, biblical, Chasidic, mystical, and historical perspectives.

Even those not yet familiar with the prayer book can appreciate the spiritual richness of P sukei D zimrah. My People s Prayer Book enables all worshipers, of any denomination, to encounter their own connection to 3,000 years of Jewish experience with the world and with God."

"The prayer book is our Jewish diary of the centuries, a collection of prayers composed by generations of those who came before us, as they endeavored to express the meaning of their lives and their relationship to God. The prayer book is the essence of the Jewish soul." My People's Prayer Book provides diverse and exciting commentaries to the traditional liturgy, written by some of today's most respected scholars and teachers from all perspectives of the Jewish world. They explore the text from the perspectives of ancient Rabbis and modern theologians, as well as feminist, halakhic, medieval, linguistic, biblical, Chasidic, mystical, and historical perspectives. This stunning work, an empowering entryway to the spiritual revival of our times, enables all of us to claim our connection to the heritage of the traditional Jewish prayer book. It helps rejuvenate Jewish worship in today's world, and makes its power accessible to all. The My People's Prayer Book series belongs on the library shelf of every home, every synagogue every sanctuary of prayer. Introductions tell the reader what to look for in the prayer service, as well as how to truly use the commentaries, to search for and find meaning in the prayer book."

The second part of a 2-volume work, this study combines recent approaches that treat the formation and early interpretation of the final form of the book of Isaiah with the more conventional historical-critical methods that treat the use of traditions by Isaiah's authors and editors. Studies investigate Isaiah's use of early sacred tradition, the editing and contextualization of oracles within the Isaianic tradition itself, and the interpretation of the book of Isaiah in later traditions (as seen in the various versions of the text and various communities).
Contributors of this volume include virtually all of the major scholars of Isaiah and the leading scholars of biblical interpretation in the intertestamental, New Testament, and early Jewish periods.

Providing commentary on three oft-recited chapters of the Holy Qur'an, this excerpt of the monumental discourse by 18th-century mystic and scholar Ahmad ibn 'Ajiba presents both an example of Islamic erudition based on traditional sources as well as insight into his own personal journey of discovery. Each verse is expounded upon with an exoteric explanation as well as related with an esoteric commentary to the mystic path of Islam, Sufism. As one of the few scholarly translations of traditional Qur'anic exegesis, this volume affords the previously unacquainted access not only to how educated Muslims have understood the dominant themes of these three chapters since the earliest days of Islam but also to how traditional Sufic sources have viewed the same themes in respect to the microcosm of the soul and the journey towards God.

The Prophetic traditions of Islam, which are commonly referred to as the hadiths (literally: reports ), preserve the sum and substance of the utterances, deeds, directives, and descriptive anecdotes connected with the life of the Prophet Muhammad and his Companions. Together with the Qur an, the hadiths provide the religion of Islam with its principal scriptural sources.

The collection features an accessible and informative introduction which presents an outline of the significance of the hadiths within the religious tradition while also reviewing classical scholarship devoted to the literature of the traditions; moreover, the introduction decisively sets into context the academic debates and arguments which are fleshed out in the articles selected. It also charts developments in the academic study of hadiths, summing up the current state of the field and features a detailed bibliography listing primary classical sources germane to the field of Prophetic traditions together with recent research monographs and articles devoted to the subject.

This Major Work provides an authoritative collection of the seminal research articles produced by western academic scholarship on the subject of the hadith over the past century, including recent papers on the subject. In bringing together the finest examples of scholarship devoted to the hadith and the classical literature that surrounds it, these volumes provide an indispensable reference resource for academics, research institutions, governmental organizations, and those with a general interest in Arabic and Islamic Studies, Religious Studies, Arabic Cultural Studies, and Middle East History.

This volume is a collection of essays written in honour of Martin G. Abegg from a range of contributors with expertise in Second Temple Jewish literature in reflection upon Prof. Abegg's work. These essays are arranged according to four topics that deal with various aspects of text, language and interpretation of the Qumran War Scroll, and concepts of war and peace in Second Temple Jewish literature. The contents of the volume are divided into the following four main sections: (1) The War Scroll, (2) War and Peace in the Hebrew Scriptures, (3) War and Peace in the Dead Sea Scrolls, and (4) War and Peace in early Jewish and Christian texts and interpretation.

The Adi Granth ('original book'), the primary scripture of the Sikhs, comprises approximately 3,000 hymns. Although the authorship of the hymns is well recorded, the history of the compilaiton of the Adi Granth - the creation of the Sikh 'canon' - is the subject of considerable speculation and debate. In this book, Gurinder Mann attempts to construct a comprehensive picture of the making of Sikh scripture, drawing on the recently discovered early manuscriots as well as the extensive secondary literature on the topic. His findings on some key issues differ from the traditional Sikh position and from the hypotheses of the other 20th-century scholars, as well as raising some entirely fresh questions. Mann's revised and expanded picture of the history of the text and institution of Sikh scripture will be of interest not only to scholars of Sikhism and Sikh religionists, but to scholars of comparative canon formation.

First Order: Zeraim / Tractates Terumot and Ma'serot is the forth volume in the edition of the Jerusalem Talmud, a basic work in Jewish Patristics. The volume presents the fundamental Jewish texts on obligatory gift to priests, and tithes to Levites, and the poor. In addition, it contains the main health regulations developed within Jewish ritual law, the rules of Jewish solidarity, and a discussion of the rules, taken for granted in the Babylonian Talmud, under which minute amounts of inadvertently added forbidden material may be disregarded.

This book consists of a previously unidentified corpus of literature that contains an edition of eighty-four testimonies of the sixteenth-century responsa. An overview of the responsa literature in the relevant context and aspects of Ottoman Jewish life are discussed. The author describes the merit of the Judeo-Spanish testimonies in terms of the insight they offer into the society, economy, religion and responsa literature of sixteenth-century Ottoman Jewry. The study of these texts from a linguistic perspective constitutes the main aim of the book yet the result is a valuable and intriguing source of texts that should generate further study in fields of linguistics, Sephardic Studies, Hispanic Studies, and Jewish Studies whether cultural, historical or legal. ..".this book is an important resource for linguists, social scientists, scholars of Jewish culture and law, women studies and obviously for Sephardic studies, with special reference to the Ottoman period." Rachel Simon, "Princeton University"

Translated by Allan W. MahnkeA pioneering history of Old Testament law from its scarcely discernable origins in the pre-monarchical period to the canonisation of the Pentateuch.Praise for THE TORAH'Crusemann and Houtman has enormously enriched the field; it will attract the serious attention of scholars for many years to come.' B. S. Jackson, University of Manchester, Journal of Semitic Studies>

Over three years of study and fellowship, sixteen Muslim, Jewish, and Christian scholars sought to answer one question: "Do our three scriptures unite or divide us?" They offer their answers in this book: sixteen essays on how certain ways of reading scripture may draw us apart and other ways may draw us, together, into the source that each tradition calls peace. Reading scriptural sources in the classical and medieval traditions, the authors examine how each tradition addresses the "other" within its tradition and without, how all three traditions attend to poverty as a societal and spiritual condition, and what it means to read scripture while facing the challenges of modernity. Ochs and Johnson have assembled a unique approach to inter-religious scholarship and a rare look at scriptural study as a pathway to peace.

The Hekhalot literature is a motley collection of textually fluid and often textually corrupt documents in Hebrew and Aramaic which deal with mystical themes pertaining especially to God's throne-chariot (the Merkavah). They were composed between late antiquity and the early Middle Ages, with roots in earlier traditions and a long and complex subsequent history of transmission. This volume presents English translations of eclectic critical texts, with a full apparatus of variants, of most of the major Hekhalot documents: Hekhalot Rabbati; Sar Torah; Hekhalot Zutarti; Ma'aseh Merkavah; Merkavah Rabba; briefer macroforms: The Chapter of R. Nehuniah ben HaQanah, The Great Seal-Fearsome Crown, Sar Panim, The Ascent of Elijah ben Avuyah, and The Youth; and the Hekhalot fragments from the Cairo Geniza.

A study of the growth of Joshua and Judges illustrates how the theme of divine anger has been used differently, according to different historical and social settings. In the deuteronomistic texts the main reason for God's anger is idolatry, which symbolizes a totally negative attitude to everything that God has done or given to the Israelites. This theology of anger is deeply bound to experiences of national catastrophes or threats of crises, and reflects the theological enigma of the exile. A century later, post-deuteronomistic theology gives a wholly different view: the anger of God becomes an instrument of the power struggles between the Israelite parties, or is used for protecting existing leadership.

The four volumes of this set bring together some of the most significant modern and pre-modern contributions to the study of the Islamic revelation, giving readers access to material that has hitherto been scattered and often difficult to locate. While the bulk of the material stems from the past fifty years, classic studies from earlier periods have been included, thus providing insight into the developmental dynamics of the field. Drawn from a wide range of journals, research monographs, occasional papers and edited volumes, the articles that make up this collection reflect the increasingly interdisciplinary nature of Koranic studies as it stands today. An extensive introduction at the beginning of the first volume draws together the four volumes and places each article in its broader context.

This volume contains the papers presented to a symposium organized by the Theological Faculty of the University of Groningen on the occasion of the seventieth birthday of Adam S. van der Woude, former Professor of Old Testament and Early Judaism and former head of the Qumran Institute at the same Faculty. The essays, eight in English and four in German, explore (through case studies) the developments over the last few years in the different areas of study of the Old Testament and of Early Judaism, observe the new perspectives opened in these areas and map the directions in which the research will be moving in the third millennium. The volume also includes a German version of the public lecture on the significance of the Dead Sea Scrolls for the Study of Old Testament and of Early Judaism delivered in Dutch by Van der Woude during the symposium.