|
Showing 1 - 8 of
8 matches in All Departments
The Mishnah is the foundational document of rabbinic Judaism—all
of rabbinic law, from ancient to modern times, is based on the
Talmud, and the Talmud, in turn, is based on the Mishnah. But the
Mishnah is also an elusive document; its sources and setting are
obscure, as are its genre and purpose. In January 2021 the Harvard
Center for Jewish Studies and the Julis-Rabinowitz Program on
Jewish and Israeli Law of the Harvard Law School co-sponsored a
conference devoted to the simple yet complicated question: “What
is the Mishnah?” Leading scholars from the United States, Europe,
and Israel assessed the state of the art in Mishnah studies; and
the papers delivered at that conference form the basis of this
collection. Learned yet accessible, What Is the Mishnah? gives
readers a clear sense of current and future direction of Mishnah
studies.
Hellenistic Egypt was the setting for perhaps the first Jewish
Golden Age, a time "golden" in Jewish memory as an era of vibrant
cultural interaction between the Jews and their gentile hosts. This
is the story of the adventures and misadventures of the people of
Israel in the land of Egypt the years shrouded in the mists of
biblical history under the Pharaohs; the strange intermezzo of the
Jewish mercenary detachment on the island of Elephantine on the
upper Nile; the apogee of Jewish culture under Ptolemies; and
finally, the Jewish community's rapid decline and catastrophic
disappearance under Roman rule. Joseph Meleze Modrzejewski uses
scientific analysis to illuminate the reality underlying our image
of the past. The biblical accounts and Jewish and pagan literary
texts are juxtaposed with discoveries of a century of
archaeological and papyrological research that has unearthed the
edicts of emperors as well as the humble correspondence of common
people. In a tantalizing epilogue, Modrzejewski probes a turning
point in Western civilization: the brief but crucial episode when
budding Christianity and the Alexandrian Jews parted company."
In modern times, various Jewish groups have argued whether
Jewishness is a function of ethnicity, of nationality, of religion,
or of all three. These fundamental conceptions were already in
place in antiquity. The peculiar combination of ethnicity,
nationality, and religion that would characterize Jewishness
through the centuries first took shape in the second century B.C.E.
This brilliantly argued, accessible book unravels one of the most
complex issues of late antiquity by showing how these elements were
understood and applied in the construction of Jewish identity--by
Jews, by gentiles, and by the state.
Beginning with the intriguing case of Herod the Great's Jewishness,
Cohen moves on to discuss what made or did not make Jewish identity
during the period, the question of conversion, the prohibition of
intermarriage, matrilineal descent, and the place of the convert in
the Jewish and non-Jewish worlds. His superb study is unique in
that it draws on a wide range of sources: Jewish literature written
in Greek, classical sources, and rabbinic texts, both ancient and
medieval. It also features a detailed discussion of many of the
central rabbinic texts dealing with conversion to Judaism.
In this new edition of a best-selling classic, Shaye Cohen
offers a thorough analysis of Judaism's development from the early
years of the Roman Empire to the formative period of rabbinic
Judaism. Cohen's synthesis of religion, literature, and history
offers deep insight into the nature of Judaism at this key period,
including the relationship between Jews and Gentiles, the function
of Jewish religion in the larger community, and the development of
normative Judaism and other Jewish sects. In addition, Cohen
provides clear explanations concerning the formation of the
biblical canon and the roots of rabbinic Judaism. Now completely
updated and revised, this book remains the clearest introduction to
the era that shaped Judaism and provided the context for early
Christianity.
The Library of Early Christianity is a series of eight
outstanding books exploring the Jewish and Greco-Roman contexts in
which the New Testament developed.
"This book represents engaged scholarship at its very best. Cohen
presents the vast range of texts at his command with brevity and
wit. Elegantly written, this is a very stimulating book that is
sure to provoke admiration, discussion, and controversy."--David
Biale, author of "Cultures of the Jews"A distinguished and
wide-ranging work of scholarship. Cohen's definitive discussion of
the covenant of circumcision enhances our understanding of Jewish
identity formation, women's status in Judaism, Jewish-Christian
polemic, and the impact of diverse cultural environments on the
evolution of Jewish tradition."--Judith R. Baskin, author of
"Midrashic Women
The Talmud is the repository of thousands of years of Jewish
wisdom. It is a conglomerate of law, legend, and philosophy, a
blend of unique logic and shrewd pragmatism, of history and
science, of anecdotes and humor. Unfortunately, its sometimes
complex subject matter often seems irrelevant in today's world. In
this edited volume, sixteen eminent North American and Israeli
scholars from several schools of Jewish thought grapple with the
text and tradition of Talmud, talking personally about their own
reasons for studying it. Each of these scholars and teachers
believes that Talmud is indispensible to any serious study of
modern Judaism and so each essay challenges the reader to engage in
his or her own individual journey of discovery. The diverse
feminist, rabbinic, educational, and philosophical approaches in
this collection are as varied as the contributors' experiences.
Their essays are accessible, personal accounts of their individual
discovery of the Talmud, reflecting the vitality and profundity of
modern religious thought and experience.
|
You may like...
Morbius
Jared Leto, Matt Smith, …
DVD
R179
Discovery Miles 1 790
Loot
Nadine Gordimer
Paperback
(2)
R398
R330
Discovery Miles 3 300
Loot
Nadine Gordimer
Paperback
(2)
R398
R330
Discovery Miles 3 300
|