The concern for purity was the cornerstone of the religious culture of ancient Judaism. Purity and Identity in Ancient Judaism explores how this concern shaped the worldview of Jews during the Second Temple period as well as their daily practices and social relations. It examines how different groups offered competing visions and methods for ......
Rabbinic Perspectives on Loopholes and Legal Integrity
Circumventing the Law probes the rabbinic logic behind the use of loopholes, the legal phenomenon of finding and using gaps within law to achieve otherwise illegal outcomes. The logic of ha'aramah, a subset of rabbinic legal circumventions mostly defined as a tool for private life, underpins both well-known circumventions, such as selling leaven ......
Exodus and Exile is a masterpiece of biblical theology, newly available in English. The capstone work of legendary Dutch teacher Karel Deurloo, the book makes a brief and accessible argument: that the themes of exodus and exile constitute the dual center of all Scripture. These events disclose the person of God, the One who is powerful to liberate ......
Reveals how medieval Jews developed religious law through contact with their Muslim neighbors After Revelation offers a dynamic new perspective on medieval Jewish legal thought and its integration in the wider Islamic world. Here, Marc D. Herman demonstrates that Jews were fully conversant in their contemporaries' ideas about revelation, law, and ......
Scholars have long argued that early Hasidic teachings introduced a psychological dimension to kabbalistic traditions and revitalized modern Judaism. Focused on the inner soul, Hasidism encouraged worshippers to experience joy and delight through their enthusiastic practices. In this new work grounded in the historical study of emotions, Leore ......
In the majority of canonical lists, the Psalms and the book of Job sit next to one another, perhaps due to their size. They share a theme, lament, or complaint, though in the case of Job the intensity of Job's distress and the singularity of its causation--something we know but he does not--sets that book apart. Job's laments are relentless and ......
Explorations in the Biblical Portrayals of Esau and King Saul
Among the most enigmatic passages in the Bible are those featuring God's election of some and rejection of others. While many interpreters appeal to mystery or divine sovereignty as solutions to these difficult passages, intensive evaluation and sustained reflection on these passages and their implications can benefit both the church and the ......
Examines the meaning of Jewish politics in Israel In one of the first books to ask head-on what it means for Israel to be a Jewish state, Yaacov Yadgar delves into what the designation "Jewish" amounts to in the context of the sovereign nation-state, and what it means for the politics of the state to be identified as Jewish. The volume ......
