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This book features a collection of eight annotated translations of responsa, along with the original Hebrew texts, concentrating on the Spanish-Portuguese communities that arose after the expulsion during the sixteenth to seventeenth centuries. This collection seeks to familiarize the reader with Jews who, after their expulsion, settled in the Ottoman Empire, in Palestine under Mamluk governance, in Amsterdam, and in Brazil. The expulsion of Jews from the Iberian Peninsula was a devastating period in Jewish history; nevertheless, the revitalization of the post-expulsion Spanish-Portuguese Jewish communities in new settings is a reflection of the human spirit and tenacity.

Before 1917, the Russian Tsar wielded total power over a sprawling empire, where more than 5 million Jews lived in seclusion and segregation. During the reign of Tsar Nicholas I (1825–1855), the treatment of Jews became especially brutal. Nicholas sought to obliterate Jewish identity by compelling Jews to convert to Christianity and promoting assimilation through intermarriage. One of the most heartless acts under Nicholas I was the implementation of the Cantonist system, which forcibly enlisted Jewish boys under the age of 13 into military service. These young boys were cruelly torn from their families and communities, suffering severe mistreatment, and were incessantly pressured to abandon their faith. Over a span of thirty years, approximately 75,000 Jewish boys were conscripted. In spite of the immense hardships, the majority remained resolute, with only 25% succumbing to conversion. This heartrending account underscores a grim chapter in modern history, illustrating the resilience of a people facing extreme oppression under a tyrannical regime.

In this monograph, David Edwards explores how Josephus, in his work *Jewish Antiquities*, reinterprets the biblical stories of Joseph and Esther in unexpected ways, employing them as frameworks for narratives concerning more modern Jewish figures.  

He refers to this method as "subversive adaptation," situating it within the framework of Greco-Roman literary traditions.  

Moreover, he applies the concept of "discourses of exemplarity" to demonstrate how Josephus utilized the tales of historical figures to encourage moral reflection and practical decision-making among Roman elites.  

This book provides an examination of frequently overlooked narratives alongside Josephus' broader literary techniques, illustrating how ancient Jews adapted imperial historiographical practices and modes of discourse while contesting Greco-Roman claims of cultural superiority.

The loss of a child is one of the most painful, sorrowful, and seemingly unnatural experiences that anyone can endure. Nevertheless, it is still unclear if this sentiment was also felt by the people of ancient Israel.

Many studies have explored death in ancient societies by examining burial customs, rituals, biblical views on death and the afterlife, care for the deceased, and even death cults; however, no extensive research has specifically targeted children and death in ancient Israel.

The study of child mortality is closely tied to the challenges within a relatively new area of research concerning ancient Israel: personhood. A comprehensive exploration of the concept of personhood is crucial when reflecting on childhood death.

In her monograph, *The Dying Child*, Kristine Henriksen Garroway calls for a greater acknowledgment of children in modern archaeological debates. Numerous archaeologists hesitate to link various household artifacts to children, even though their presence is evident in ancient domestic environments.

This neglect effectively overlooks an entire segment of the population in the study of death. By acknowledging the personhood of children in burial customs and other death-related practices, Garroway highlights the emotional and personal aspects of ancient Israeli culture, thus filling a significant void in our understanding of this society.

For those engaged in the sectarian Dead Sea Scrolls movement, membership in the group would have granted them exceptional privileges, including direct and unmediated access to otherworldly realities. This understanding of the present as a type of liminal space is profoundly rooted in the group’s interpretations of time and space. By applying theories of liminality in conjunction with anthropological research on religious consciousness, this study seeks to demonstrate how sectarian identity, along with ritual and liturgical practices, may have cultivated an experience of present communion with divine entities that was both aspirational and designed to promote the human worshiper’s lasting integration into the heavenly realm.

This book explores how the intellectual and literary movements of Russia in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries affected Jewish thought and Hebrew literature.

By engaging in a comparative analysis of a diverse range of writings from key Russian and Jewish intellectuals, the book uncovers how ideas about the necessity for a national revival spread from Russian to Jewish intellectual circles.

Jewish thinkers who adopted these concepts modified them to correspond with the realities and experiences of Jewish life in Central and Eastern Europe.

Similarly, the portrayals of an individual's search for the true and just God in Russian literature resonated in ideological Hebrew literature, where the protagonist endeavors to find a genuine path to achieve spiritual, social, and national prosperity for the Jewish community.

The incorporation of ideological influences is a widespread phenomenon that plays a significant role in advancement and cultural evolution, and it is acknowledged within Jewish culture as well.

Josephus' Antiquities depicts Moses as the Jewish lawgiver, altering the biblical story for a distinct audience. Nevertheless, who made up that audience, and how did they interpret the term lawgiver? This work utilizes Plutarch's Lives as a proxy for a conceptual audience, providing a historically grounded yet flexible framework of a lawgiver, which emphasizes certain influences that may have been overlooked in understanding Josephus' choices. This methodology reveals patterns of persuasion and resistance in Josephus' engaging and vibrant representation of Moses' legislative activities.

This monograph investigates Josephus’ representations of foreign invasions of Jerusalem as detailed in his Jewish Antiquities. The invasions covered include those by Shishak, Sennacherib, Nebuchadnezzar, Alexander the Great, Antiochus IV Epiphanes, and Pompey the Great. In analyzing these stories, the book views the Jewish Antiquities as an extended "prequel" or backstory to his earlier work, Jewish War, examining how these narratives foreshadow and create connections with his previous account of the war against Rome. Furthermore, the book looks at these narratives within the literary framework of the Jewish Antiquities as a whole and how Josephus’ perceived audience expectations might have influenced his portrayals of these events.

The dual legal codes established by R. Joseph Karo during the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries mark a crucial milestone in the development of Jewish Halakhah. No further legal advancements were introduced in the following generations. R. Karo maintained long-standing traditions of Jewish scholarship while simultaneously responding to the global transformations in the history of law and legality, especially in Europe and primarily within the Ottoman Empire. This signifies a thorough interpretation of Jewish Halakhah and the overall modernization of Jewish culture. In this study, Roni Weinstein situates R. Karo's legacy in the context of the concurrent history of the Ottoman Empire.

*Wild Visionary* reexamines the life and work of Maurice Sendak through the lens of his identity as a Jewish gay man. Maurice (Moishe) Bernard Sendak (1928–2012) was a passionate, romantic, and surprisingly humorous seeker of truth who made significant contributions to modern literature and culture. By elevating the standards of children's literature, Sendak depicted childhood with a blend of dark realism and vibrant imagination, influenced by his own sensitive 'inner child' and the queer and Yiddish sensibilities that defined his unique voice. Golan Y. Moskowitz intricately weaves together literary biography and cultural history, tracing Sendak's journey from his parents' Brooklyn home to various creative havens—from local movie theaters to Hell's Kitchen, Greenwich Village, Fire Island, and the Connecticut country house he shared with his partner of over fifty years, Eugene Glynn. Additionally, he delves into Sendak's deep connection to the concept of the endangered child, exploring its symbolic ties to significant historical events that shaped the artist's worldview, including the Great Depression, the Holocaust, and the AIDS crisis. Through a thorough examination of Sendak's picture books, interviews, and previously unexamined personal letters, *Wild Visionary* presents a nuanced portrait of one of the most cherished and captivating picture-book artists of our era.

In the early 1900s, as the aspiration for Jewish cultural nationalism in the Diaspora was gaining momentum among advocates for Yiddish, the prominent intellectuals of the time included the "Yiddish historians" who played a crucial role in uncovering the history of East-European Jews. Prior to the Holocaust, their goal was to research and present the foundational history of a vibrant community for an audience of educated lay leaders, utilizing Jewish sources of information whenever possible, to aid in the establishment and strengthening of a Yiddish-speaking nation. Following the Holocaust, their focus shifted to providing solace to the surviving remnants by sharing insights about their struggle to endure under German occupation. This book presents Yiddish writings from these historians in English for the first time, featuring translations by historian Mark L. Smith. Additionally, the book contains an enlightening Conversation with Series Editor Michael Berenbaum and a thought-provoking foreword by Samuel Kassow.

This compilation serves as a foundational historical overview and a selective cultural examination of the evolution, unification, and eventual decline of a diasporic civilization—the Jewish community during the early modern era (approximately 1391–1789) across Europe, the Ottoman Empire, and significant locations within the Iberian Empires in the Americas. Each chapter delves into the critical elements that influenced both unique early modern Jewish societies and a notably cohesive and expansive community-of-communities. The authors address and respond to the following inquiries: What do historians interpret as 'early modernity,' and how effectively does this concept shed light on the history and culture(s) of Jews from the conclusion of the Middle Ages to the Enlightenment? What were the overarching demographic patterns of the Jewish diaspora during this timeframe, and how did they evolve? In what ways did culture, politics, technology, economics, and gender influence diasporic Jewish communities throughout eastern and western Europe and the New World over a span of approximately 400 years? Ultimately, this work presents a depiction of coherence and diversity, continuity and discontinuity, in early modern Jewish existence within and across temporal and geographical boundaries. 

This book investigates the liturgical poetry of Christian, Jewish, and Samaritan traditions from late antiquity, approximately during the third to fourth century CE. It examines this poetry in the context of biblical interpretation and prayer conventions, as well as through the lenses of performance, entertainment, and spectacle.

Since liturgical poets were profoundly invested in captivating their audiences, similar to orators and actors, this study regards hymnody as a performative genre akin to oratory and theater, which represent the two primary forms of public performance.

The ‘theatricality’ of liturgical poetry underscores various themes, from the adaptation of biblical narratives for the liturgical stage—reflecting the popularization of Greco-Roman works during this time—to the integration of physical techniques and material elements that enhance performers’ abilities to engage their audiences.

The specific techniques of oratory and acting from antiquity provide clear avenues to clarify the relationships between liturgical presentations and other performance forms. These include direct address and apostrophe; character creation through speech (ethopoeia); and sensory appeals to the audience, such as vivid descriptions (ekphrasis), which was a preferred technique.

A serious exploration of performance demands a challenging transition towards envisioning the world beyond the written text. Although late antique hymnody has mainly survived in written form, the written word is quite far removed from the actual experiences that these scripts represent.

In *Sirach and Its Contexts*, a varied group of scholars who focus on the book of Sirach place this second-century BCE Jewish wisdom text within its numerous contexts: literary, historical, philosophical, textual, cultural, and political. Compiled originally by a Jewish sage around 185 BCE, this work has undergone a rich and dynamic history of reception from the Middle Ages to the present day, resulting in a diverse textual tradition as it has been written, rewritten, transmitted, and analyzed. Sirach was not conceived as a book in the modern sense but rather as a continuous stream of tradition.

Previously studied primarily in confessional contexts as part of the Deuterocanonical literature, this collection of essays takes a broadly humanistic approach, seeking to reveal what an ancient wisdom text can disclose about the pursuit of wisdom and the promotion of human flourishing.

This book investigates the perspectives of Chilean President Salvador Allende and General Augusto Pinochet regarding Jews and the State of Israel.

Throughout his political journey, Allende demonstrated solidarity with European Jews during the 1930s, advocated for the creation of a Jewish state in the 1940s, and resisted leftist critiques of Israel in the 1950s and 1960s. As president, he intervened on behalf of Jewish dissidents in the Soviet Union, denounced Arab terrorism, and upheld robust diplomatic relations with Israel. Pinochet, who overthrew him and assumed dictatorial power in 1973, extended even more gestures of goodwill despite his regime's notorious human rights violations, viewing Jewish Chileans as affluent White individuals whose economic expertise and strong connections to the United States were vital for his regime's success. Furthermore, Jerusalem emerged as a crucial strategic ally for Santiago, providing arms that Washington had withheld, and Pinochet, in return, fervently supported Israel at the United Nations. Utilizing a wide array of sources, including recently declassified documents, Guzmán delves into the broader narrative of these two figures and the repercussions of the coup on both Chilean Jews and Israel.

This work serves as a significant resource for scholars and students engaged in Jewish history, Latin American history, Cold War studies, and the study of antisemitism.

In this monograph, Juan Carlos Ossandón Widow explores the challenging question of when, how, and why the set of twenty-four books known today as the Hebrew Bible was compiled. He thoroughly investigates the two earliest sources on this topic—Josephus’ Against Apion and 4 Ezra—and argues that, alongside the tendency to glorify the past, which results in the perception that divine revelation to Israel has ceased, a crucial reason for establishing a collection of Scriptures at the close of the first century CE was the need to protect the accepted tradition from those who embraced more texts.

The biblical narrative surrounding Sinai and Moses is pivotal to Jewish and Western culture; however, it has often been regarded only from a religious perspective. In this study, Dr. Rinat Harash offers an insightful interpretation, utilizing Nietzsche’s concepts of the Apollonian, the Dionysian, and the Übermensch in the context of the revelation at Mount Sinai, the Golden Calf incident, the building of the Tabernacle, and the esteemed figure of Moses. Her research sheds light on both the core Jewish myth and Nietzsche’s philosophical ideas, creating a unique blend that connects religion and art, merging the two opposing forces that are key to Western civilization—Jerusalem and Athens.

To learn more about Dr. Harash's educational initiative to help young adults learn from Friedrich Nietzsche's teachings, *Strong from Within*, please see the following webpage: 

Link: https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/StrongFromWithinShop?ref=profile_header

The book may be purchased at the following website: 

Link: https://www.academicstudiespress.com/9798897831036/

This study investigates Tertullian, known as the first individual to articulate Christian theology in Latin. It emphasizes the critical issues that are essential for understanding his biography and works, particularly focusing on his depiction of the Jews within the broader context of early Christian literature. This subject provides an opportunity to evaluate how socio-historical factors have influenced scholars' interpretations over the centuries regarding the portrayal of Jews in patristic writings, thus underscoring the importance of objectivity in academic inquiry. Finally, instances of the diverse representations of Jews in Tertullian's writings are presented to scrutinize the range of his viewpoints, understand his position in relation to other Christian authors, and investigate how his work mirrors the evolution of Christian identity during his era.

This text fuses womanist biblical interpretation with trauma theory, while comprehensively examining survival and the language that accompanies it in the Hebrew Bible. Although survival is a central theme in discussions about the Book of Esther, the focus is generally on Jewish survival. This monograph reinterprets the Book of Esther to bring attention to the lesser-known non-Jewish characters. Their experiences are interpreted in relation to the autobiographies of Maya Angelou and Lezley McFadden. This approach constructs a survival narrative that encourages readers to rethink these frequently overlooked girls and women.

In this remarkable book, Françoise Mirguet intricately outlines the appropriation and reinterpretation of pity by Greek-speaking Jewish communities during Late Antiquity. In this scholarly discourse, pity and compassion are portrayed as a rich amalgamation of Hebrew, Greek, and Roman elements; depending on the texts, they can be perceived as an instinctive emotion, a practiced action, a moral virtue, or a tenet of the Mosaic law. The obligation to empathize with those who endure suffering was pivotal in sustaining the identity of the Jewish minority, forging a link to its historical traditions while also mirroring the dominant narratives of the era. Mirguet's book is poised to engage scholars of early Judaism and Christianity, particularly for its insightful examination of the interplay between feelings and imagination in shaping identity. This significant addition to the history of emotions investigates the role of emotional imagination within the framework of Roman imperialism. It also sheds light on how compassion has become a highly esteemed value in Western societies.

Developed by a celebrated and interdisciplinary collective of scholars from around the globe, *The Oxford Handbook of Jewish Daily Life in Roman Palestine* stands as a vital reference source on the everyday lives of Jews in the region of Israel during the Roman period. It encompasses a broad spectrum of subjects, ranging from clothing and home decor to food, employment, trade, and leisure activities, addressing all major themes in a thorough yet accessible manner. The individual chapters navigate the reader through the contemporary research landscape regarding various aspects of ancient Jewish daily life—research that has been significantly enhanced by critical methodological frameworks applied to rabbinic texts and the growing focus of archaeologists on the lives of everyday individuals. Extensive bibliographies encourage further exploration by facilitating readers' pursuit of their own research interests. This work is set to be an indispensable reference and resource for all scholars and students of ancient Judaism, rabbinic literature, Roman provincial history and culture, and ancient Christianity.

Since the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered in 1947, their material evidence and compelling content have fascinated both scholars and the general public. Regarded as one of the most significant archaeological finds of the 20th century, the unearthed materials have shed light on and rejuvenated extensive areas of biblical scholarship. However, research into the material findings concerning religious sacrifice has been somewhat overlooked. In this analysis, Jamal-Dominique Hopkins delves into the life and archaeology of Qumran, as well as the valued perspectives on sacrifice found in the non-biblical sectarian Dead Sea Scrolls. Hopkins investigates the historical and ideological evolution of the Jewish priestly movement associated with the scrolls, primarily from the viewpoint of its later offshoot, the Qumran community. This comprehensive study of sacrifice within the Dead Sea Scrolls provides a historical reconstruction of this key community and its captivating narrative. Hopkins uncovers the evolution of a community from its pre-Qumranic to Qumranic phases, which opted to spiritualize the Jerusalem temple and its sacrificial rites. As a result of their displacement to the Qumran desert, due to the absence of the physical temple in Jerusalem, this wandering priestly group perceived itself as a 'temple.' Instead of performing actual animal sacrifices, they offered the fruits of their lips through prayer and praise as an alternative form of sacrifice. By separating from the larger community, this Qumran group transformed into an eschatological community engaged in the practice of cultic spiritualization.

In this monograph, Matthew Goldstone investigates the perceptions of religious texts in early Jewish and Christian communities regarding the responsibility to rebuke others, based on the biblical verse: "Rebuke your fellow but do not incur sin" (Leviticus 19:17).

Through a thorough analysis of texts from the Bible, the Talmud, late Midrashim, and early Christian monastic writings, he highlights a progression from questioning how to rebuke during the Second Temple and early Christian periods, to exploring whether rebuke is permissible in early rabbinic texts, and ultimately to discussing whether rebuke should be practiced in later rabbinic and monastic sources. 

By mapping these insights onto changing sociological contexts, this work presents a novel perspective on the nature of interpersonal responsibility in antiquity.

Jason Silverman offers a timely and essential examination that enhances our comprehension of Achaemenid ideology and Persian Period Judaism.

Although the Achaemenid Persian Empire (c. 550–330 BCE) surpassed all prior empires of the Ancient Near East in both scale and duration, the royal system that created and sustained this civilization is still only partially understood, as is the imperial and religious heritage left for future generations. To address this gap, Silverman presents a critically advanced and interdisciplinary framework for comparative studies.

As the Achaemenids reconstructed the Jerusalem temple, the Judaean literature from this era reveals conflicts regarding its Persian restoration, showcasing clashing religious viewpoints. While both First Zechariah (1–8) and Second Isaiah (40–55) are subjects of debate, the broader imperial context is seldom examined in detail; both texts directly address the temple's legitimacy, linking them closely to the kings' interactions with cults. Silverman investigates how the Achaemenid kings depicted their authority to subjugated minorities, the methods by which minority elites adapted this ideology, and the duration of this influence, as evidenced by the Judaean responses to the temple's restoration in Jerusalem.

Shifting away from the traditional view of wisdom as merely a literary genre, this book explores the lived, embodied, and formative aspects of wisdom as outlined in Jewish texts from the Persian, Hellenistic, and early Roman periods. By examining a variety of writings that extend beyond later canonical limits, the book illustrates that wisdom is not merely an abstract concept, but rather something to be enacted and practiced at both individual and community levels. The analysis particularly focuses on the characteristics of a 'wise' individual, including the emergence of the sage as a model figure. It also examines how ancestral figures and modern educators are envisioned to embody and apply wisdom, while reflecting on communal representations of a wise and virtuous existence. In this way, Elisa Uusimäki reveals that the earlier emphasis on wisdom as a literary category has obscured important inquiries concerning wisdom, behavior, and social dynamics. Furthermore, Jewish wisdom is situated within its broader ancient Mediterranean context, enhancing the book's significance for biblical scholars, classicists, religious studies experts, ancient Near Eastern scholars, and theologians.

In the early modern era, Malta served as a transitional hub for individuals traveling between western Christendom, Islamic North Africa, and the Near East. However, it primarily functioned as a Catholic frontier society, a status that the crusading Knights of Malta were keen to uphold. The establishment of a Roman Inquisition tribunal guaranteed that Catholic inhabitants of Malta and Gozo adhered to the doctrines of the Catholic Church; a standard that was enforced upon every baptized person.

The Inquisition particularly focused on the Jewish community, as Judaism was viewed as a distorted version of the true Christian faith. Consequently, Jews were often regarded with suspicion, not solely for their beliefs, but for their rejection of Christ and their denial of Catholic teachings. These aspects were seen as the defining traits of Judaism.

During the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries, the number of Jews who passed through Malta was quite limited. Most were forcibly brought to Malta and subjected to slavery. A few were able to secure their release through ransom. Among those who remained enslaved, some opted to convert to Christianity in hopes of achieving a more bearable existence. Nevertheless, it proved to be extremely challenging for converts to hide their genuine beliefs, which frequently resulted in their exposure before the Inquisition tribunal.

In this study, Stephen Wunrow examines the important question of what the author of Hebrews meant when he described heaven. He believes that the author wanted people to see his references to heavenly space as real descriptions of an actual place. Wunrow argues that the language used about heaven is not just a metaphor or a description of a place outside of creation. He looks at other early Jewish and Christian texts that tell stories of people going up to heaven. Based on how heavenly space is described in these texts, Wunrow conjectures that it is likely that the authors meant for their descriptions of heaven to be taken as real.

Wunrow examines texts like 1 and 2 Enoch, 4 Ezra, 2 and 3 Baruch, the Apocalypse of Abraham, the Testament of Levi, the Testament of Abraham, the Ascension of Isaiah, and Revelation. He investigates how other authors from around the same time described heavenly space and considers that the goals of most of these authors would not work unless their readers understood their descriptions of heaven as realistic. Then, when looking at Hebrews, Wunrow suggests that even though the letter has some unique features and goals, it also fits well with other early Jewish and Christian texts that talk about people going to heaven in a realistic way. He ends with thoughts on how this conclusion helps to explain other topics in Hebrews, like atonement and eschatology.

From Egypt to Mesopotamia, ancient Near Eastern scribes, including the Israelite scribes of the Hebrew Bible, created both infelicitous and symmetric elements in their textual works. These elements, through their form, convey messages that go beyond the textual and semantic levels, serving rhetorical and literary purposes. The idea of 'meta-textual semantics' was a common scribal tool in the ancient world, appreciated by ancient audiences and exegetes—like rabbinic scholars, medieval Jewish and Christian interpreters, and the Masoretes. However, it is often overlooked in modern interpretations of the Hebrew Bible. In this monograph, Josiah D. Peeler delves into elements in the Hebrew text of Jeremiah that are usually seen as secondary due to their odd or well-formed characteristics, demonstrating that they exemplify a contextual theme.

This monograph presents an innovative perspective on gender and embodiment as depicted in the Hebrew Bible. It argues that prophecy disrupts traditional notions of masculinity and alters the way the mainly male Hebrew prophets perceive their physical selves. Furthermore, the prophet's body is framed as a queer entity. The book explores prophetic masculinity through critical analyses of various prophetic figures, including Isaiah, Moses, Hosea, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. Alongside thorough examinations of the biblical texts, this narrative interacts with contemporary intertexts from philosophy, psychoanalysis, and horror cinema: Isaiah is juxtaposed with the poetry of Anne Carson; Hosea is analyzed through the lens of possession films and feminist film theory; Jeremiah is linked to psychoanalytic concepts of hysteria; and Ezekiel is associated with Daniel Paul Schreber's *Memoirs of My Nervous Illness*. Additionally, the book offers a detailed examination of Moses's body. This interpretative approach uncovers surprising aspects of the biblical texts and elucidates the unique intersections of masculinity, prophecy, and the body both within and beyond the Hebrew Bible. Engaging with prophecy and prophetic masculinity is essential for queer interpretations. Biblical prophecy cultivates new expressions of masculinity and embodiment; this research provides an important framework for navigating this largely unexplored territory.

In the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament, a good death was defined by burial within the family tomb, allowing one to join their ancestors in the afterlife. This afterlife, as described in biblical literature, was not about individual judgment or the concepts of heaven and hell; it was a shared experience. The Hebrew scriptures grounded the notion of postmortem existence in burial practices, conceptualizing the dead as embodied beings. Yet, this vision of the afterlife was not one of hopelessness or fatalism, relegated to the somberness of the tomb. The deceased were valued and remembered, their remains were treated with respect, and their names persisted as ancestors. This book investigates the idea of the afterlife in the Hebrew Bible by analyzing the treatment of the dead, as shown in both biblical texts and the archaeological findings from the southern Levant. The research begins with the Iron Age mortuary culture of Judah, contrasting the practice of collective burial in Judahite rock-cut bench tombs with biblical traditions of family tombs and the reunion with ancestors in death. This archaeological study, which also considers funerary inscriptions, will provide crucial insights into biblical literature on matters such as the formation of the soul in death, the nature of corpse impurity, and the concept of Sheol. Death was a transition orchestrated through ritual actions. The connections established through these actions, such as honoring ancestors, were socially significant for the living and ensured a degree of immortality for the deceased.

This research delves into the intricate family dynamics and identity politics present in Israel, as illustrated through the compelling narratives found in Judges. It utilizes an interdisciplinary approach that combines socio-anthropological insights with the historical and cultural context of ancient Israel. This monograph examines the social experiences and interactions that may have shaped the perceptions of individuals in Israel regarding their place in the world.

It analyzes various institutions such as hospitality, marriage, and community leadership, while also exploring the ethnicity, culture, social environment, family life, and literature of ancient Israel. The aim is to evaluate how the comprehension of identity influences the interpretation of the tales within the Book of Judges.

The book of Chronicles, which is the final book of the Hebrew Bible and a key historical text in the Christian Old Testament, has transformed in recent decades from being referred to as "the Cinderella of biblical studies" to becoming one of the most extensively researched books of the Bible. The author, who remains anonymous and is often referred to as "the Chronicler" by contemporary scholars, reflects on the ancient Israelite monarchy prior to the Babylonian exile, viewing it from his perspective during the early Second Temple Period after the exile. He seeks to "update" the earlier historical accounts found in Samuel and Kings to clarify their significance for the people of his era.

In The Chronicles of David and Solomon, Yigal Levin provides a similar service for today's audience. He presents a fresh translation and commentary on 1 Chronicles 10 – 2 Chronicles 9, thoroughly exploring the reigns of David and Solomon as depicted in the text.

Within the text of Jubilees, a significant early Jewish writing outside the Bible, the patriarch Jacob is presented as the main figure. This study elucidates the early reception history of the Abrahamic Promise and its strong links to Deuteronomy. It offers context for scholars of early Judaism and Christianity who are analyzing the reception of the Law and the Promise, as well as the divergence between Judaism and Christianity, where various interpretations of the patriarchal narratives played a pivotal role (for example, in Sifre Deuteronomy). This analysis delves into two key relationships established by the author of Jubilees: the connection between Jacob and the Torah, and the link between Jacob and the Abrahamic Promise (Genesis 12:1–3 and its parallels). Both of these connections are crucial to the narrative of Jubilees. Jacob is depicted as the ideal Israelite, who adheres closely to the Deuteronomic commandments (which are directed to Israel in the second person singular). He embodies the "holy seed" or "rest" of Israel, destined to inherit the Abrahamic Promise upon fulfilling the Torah, just as Jacob did. Conversely, Esau represents the archetype of the wayward Israelite, who will be excluded from the Promise.

Rich in historical significance and contemporary relevance, this monograph provides readers with a deep understanding of Ethiopia’s enduring role in the Judeo-Christian narrative—spanning from the past, through the present, and into the future. 

This research represents a groundbreaking academic endeavor that emphasizes the unique Judeo-Christian heritage of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church (EOTC). Through eight insightful chapters written by both established and emerging scholars, this volume explores how the EOTC—deeply rooted in Ethiopia’s historical background—blends the Old and New Testaments within its rituals, customs, and identity. 

Situated at the crossroads of history, trade, and cultural exchange, Ethiopia has traditionally served as a refuge for the three Abrahamic faiths. Its geographical characteristics and culture of acceptance have nurtured a spirit of tolerance that, despite occasional challenges, has fostered connections over the ages. This context makes the EOTC’s fusion of traditions remarkably distinctive. 

Furthermore, the book sheds light on the history and current circumstances of the Beta Israel community. Their recent return to Israel has brought about new dynamics, as they, like many groups in various societies, face identity challenges while contributing to the formation of a pluralistic and inclusive nation.

This work offers a detailed overview of the history, essence, and impact of biblical law. It delves into the discussions surrounding the nature of biblical law, analyzing its historical backdrop, the importance of its regulations, and its effect on early Judaism and Christianity. The volume also poses essential questions: Were these regulations intended to act as the statutory law of ancient Israel? Is there any evidence indicating they had a different role? How does this legal material relate to other sections of the Hebrew Bible? Most crucially, the book conducts a comprehensive analysis of the Torah's laws, featuring individual essays on substantive, procedural, and ritual law. With contributions from a diverse group of experts, specifically crafted for this volume, this book provides a contemporary viewpoint on the scholarship of biblical law and highlights themes and topics for future exploration.

Scholars agree that comfort and memory are key, interrelated themes in Isaiah 40–55; however, the notion of collective memory has not been specifically investigated to shed light on the link between memory and comfort. Sociological studies concerning memory and trauma theory address this methodological gap by outlining how the concept of memory is developed within Second Isaiah. This monograph employs such theoretical insights to comprehend how Second Isaiah articulates its message of comfort.

In this scholarly work, Eva Tyrell undertakes a comparative analysis of narrative devices in two prominent ancient texts that reflect on the past. By fusing a narratological approach with perspectives from contemporary historical theory and biblical scholarship, she scrutinizes the patterns of narrative persuasion as a trans-cultural phenomenon and their association with ancient ideas of reality and truth. The work contrasts the fundamental narrative structures of both texts, including aspects such as mediacy and the differentiation between discursive and diegetic text portions. It also examines the role of material artifacts referenced in the narratives to evoke or even fabricate the reality of a historical past.

Why is the Bible considered a creation of ancient Israel instead of another ancient culture? The notion that a small, isolated community could generate a literary work of such global significance appears improbable. Jacob Wright suggests that the Bible is not just a symbol of resilience but also a remarkable landmark in human history. Emerging from the ruins of Jerusalem's devastation by Babylon, it does not celebrate victory but rather acknowledges complete defeat as the foundation for a renewed sense of identity. As they grieved the loss of their homeland, the scribes who authored the Bible imagined a past brimming with potential while reflecting deeply on their significant shortcomings. More than just a religious document, the Bible was conceived as an innovative framework for a new kind of political community. Its response to calamity delivers a powerful message of hope and renewal that is particularly striking within the contexts of the Ancient Near East and Greco-Roman world. Therefore, Wright's perspective on the Bible serves as a social, political, and even economic compass - one that enabled a small and marginalized community on the outskirts of prevailing civilizations and empires to not only rise from despair but also to shape the trajectory of history. In the end, the Bible conveys the essence of a unified yet varied community, and its teachings provide practical strategies for survival for groups confronting societal collapse.

The history of the Jewish community is a tale of a non-Christian minority that has, for much of Canadian history, faced marginalization by the Anglo-Protestant and French-Catholic majorities. Despite its distinctive nature, this history is an essential part of the larger narrative of Canadian society and merits recognition as one of the many elements that have shaped the unique identity of Canada.

This collection provides an extensive overview of Canadian Jewish history up to 1923, sourced for the first time from its most notable and significant historical documents. It offers a wealth of documentation from a variety of archives and includes translations from French, Yiddish, and Hebrew. The collection prioritizes the diverse voices of Jewish individuals, encompassing the rich and the poor, men and women, farmers and factory workers, and more. Furthermore, it includes the laws and public statements made by the government and its officials that significantly impacted the lives of Canadian Jews. Organized in chronological order, from the arrival of the first Jewish immigrants to New France to the Jewish-Canadian experiences during and shortly after the First World War, this first volume of two features sources that have never been published before and highlights the activities, concerns, and experiences of those who have been overlooked or minimized.

The Book of Leviticus in the Pentateuch is often seen as one of the most challenging books of the Bible, mainly due to its focus on blood sacrifice, infectious diseases, and intricate dietary laws.

Moreover, academic analyses have primarily concentrated on the divisions within the text, often neglecting its overarching theological message. In this work, Mark W. Scarlata explores the theology of Leviticus, highlighting the connection between God's divine presence and the life of Israel. By delving into the symbols and rituals of ancient Israel, he illustrates how Leviticus creates a theology of holiness that intertwines both space and time, linking the dwellings of the Israelites with God's presence.

From this theological perspective, the text of Leviticus reveals how to exist fully in God's holy presence and in harmony with each other and the land. Its theological insights also provide direction on how we can live today in a re-sacralized world that values human dignity and nurtures creation.

In this book, Aubrey Buster reveals how techniques taken from cultural and social memory studies, along with the new formalism, can illuminate the communal importance of biblical and extra-biblical historical summaries during the Second Temple period. By refining models inspired by memory studies, Buster applies them to ancient texts, showcasing the development of Judah's narrative about their history throughout the Second Temple era. Buster's thorough research uncovers how and where the historical summary plays a role in the book of Psalms, Nehemiah, 1 and 2 Chronicles, as well as in the Qumran Psalms Scrolls, Words of the Luminaries, Paraphrase of Genesis and Exodus, and Pseudo-Daniel. Buster demonstrates that the historical summary functions as a generative, replicable, and ultimately fruitful form of memory. By transcending genre boundaries and time frames, liturgical performances, and literary works, these historical summaries created a highly selective yet broadly applicable means of commemorating significant events from Israel's history.

Throughout their history, Jews have been under the sway of various imperial powers, from Assyria and Babylonia to Persia and the Hellenistic kingdoms. This monograph illustrates how the Roman Empire posed a unique challenge to Jewish intellectuals like Philo, Josephus, and the Palestinian rabbis, who both resisted and assimilated Roman ideals and imperial ideology.

Katell Berthelot investigates how, well before the empire adopted Christianity, Jews began to view Israel and Rome as adversaries vying for dominance. Each side regarded its laws as the most flawless ever composed, and both believed themselves to be a devout people tasked with a divine mission to establish order and peace in the world. Berthelot argues that the rabbinic association of Rome with Esau, the twin brother of Israel, mirrored this competitive spirit. She examines how this challenge reshaped ancient Jewish perspectives on military strength and the application of force, legal authority, and inclusion within the community of Israel. Berthelot posits that Jewish thinkers sometimes emulated Roman practices while at other times proposing alternative frameworks.

Offering fresh insights into Jewish thought during antiquity, this monograph uncovers how Jewish interactions with pagan Rome led to significant developments in the understanding of the Torah and the process of conversion to Judaism.

This study contests the perspective that the Persian and Hellenistic periods signify a decline, often referred to as "late Judaism," situated between a once-vibrant Judaism and the rise of Christianity. 

Conversely, Hindy Najman contends that the Second Temple period was distinguished by unrestrained creativity and poetic imagination, characterized by philosophical translation, poetic composition, and a convergence of ancient Mediterranean cultures that encouraged hermeneutic innovation. By building on Friedrich Nietzsche's critique of classical philology and exploring new interpretative methods for the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Najman initiates a radical rethinking of biblical studies. 

Rather than attempting to reconstruct the original text or identify its original author or context, Najman celebrates the diversity and transformation of texts, tracing how meanings and texts proliferated within interpretive communities through innovative performances and new articulations of the past. 

Engaging with thinkers such as Friedrich Schlegel and Peter Szondi, who are rarely acknowledged by biblical scholars, biblical philology is reimagined as a forward-moving study of the poetic processes through which Jewish communities re-created their past and revitalized their present. 

The Second Temple period emerges as an extraordinary age of creativity, whose influences may still be observed in contemporary Judaism and Christianity.

We interpret the world surrounding us through the constructed spaces we inhabit. These spaces are formed by human activities and, in turn, shape the way people live. This book delves into an analysis of archaeological and textual evidence from the inception of Hasmonean influence in Galilee to the outbreak of the First Jewish War against Rome, exploring how Judaism was socially articulated: in bodily, communal, and regional dimensions. Within each articulation, certain elements of Jewish identity are present, including ideas of purity, communal gatherings, and Galilee's ties with the Hasmoneans, Jerusalem, and the Temple during its last days.

This monograph explores the concept of scribal culture as a lens for analyzing the characteristics of textual referencing in the Book of Ben Sira (c.198-175 BCE), offering fresh perspectives on how Ben Sira crafted his wisdom literature. While the term "scribe" is frequently attributed to Ben Sira, this label brings with it certain interpretive difficulties. By employing comparative analysis, this study situates the sage’s writing style within various historical, literary, and socio-cultural contexts. It illuminates aspects of Ben Sira’s text and the early Jewish practice of textual reuse. Utilizing both physical and material evidence related to reading and writing, this book uncovers the skill and intricacy involved in Ben Sira’s ongoing textual reuse. Consequently, Ben Sira’s work exemplifies outstanding writing that resonates with an appreciative audience.

For over two and a half centuries, the study of biblical Hebrew poetry has largely been influenced by metrical theories and the concept of parallelism. Although there is a growing agreement that biblical poetry does not adhere to metrical norms, a cohesive understanding of parallelism itself, or the features that classify biblical poetry as 'verse' or 'poetry' in the absence of meter, graphical lineation, and line-ending markers, has not yet been achieved.

This monograph argues for the necessity of a new paradigm for biblical poetry, one that separates itself from both parallelism and meter. By employing the Cognitive Poetics framework developed by Reuven Tsur, Emmylou Grosser shifts the conversation regarding the structure of biblical poetry towards the auditory and perceptual experiences of the listener or reader. She contends that the line-units of biblical poetry emerge within the cognitive experience of the audience and offers a comprehensive analysis of the free-rhythm versification system that is intrinsic to biblical poetry.

Grosser's cognitive perspective on biblical poetry tackles the extensive variety of lines and poems found in the Bible, shedding light on both the structural elements of biblical poetry and the artistic effects that can be achieved. This book presents a promising new paradigm for those who engage with the Bible, while also opening avenues for new investigations into nonmetrical poetries and the notion of 'parallelism' observed globally.

Violence emerges as a pivotal theme within the Dead Sea Scrolls. It captivated the Sectarians who penned these scrolls, viewing themselves as victims of oppression. Their apocalyptic vision was filled with aspirations of retribution against their foes. In this scholarly work, Alex P. Jassen examines the intricate relationship between violence and power as depicted in the Dead Sea Scrolls and the ancient sectarian movement that both created and preserved these texts. By adopting a multidisciplinary approach, he offers profound insights into the origins and significance of violence for those connected to the Dead Sea Scrolls. He demonstrates how they navigated a landscape overshadowed by more powerful Jewish factions and the overwhelming influence of foreign entities. Jassen investigates the complex interplay between violence, power, and social groups, drawing on cross-cultural instances of sectarianism, millennial movements, and marginalized communities, with particular emphasis on New Religious movements such as the Branch Davidians.

Performance, transmission, and corporeality were crucial to ancient understandings of textuality. Written text was far more than a mere memory aid; it served as a formidable tool for encapsulating and conveying the essence of embodied vocal presence. In this audacious and perceptive book, Jacqueline Vayntrub elucidates how the core concepts of embodied speechmaking shaped a tradition of aesthetics and interpretation in the Hebrew Bible. For both authors and readers, biblical texts functioned as vessels that preserved voices for future generations, capturing transient moments of performance and transporting audiences to an idealized or stylized past. Through in-depth analyses of various passages and examinations of the social and material dimensions of speech in the ancient Near East, Vayntrub presents a compelling reimagining of the biblical authors’ perspective on literary creation.

What new insights from readers were vital for the creation of both the Book of Isaiah and external texts such as the Gospel of Luke? In this meticulously curated volume, a team of esteemed international scholars who specialize in Isaiah explores, for the first time, the intricate roles that readers have in shaping and interpreting the Book of Isaiah. Traditionally, since the rise of exegesis as a critical field, considerable attention has been directed towards the author's impact on the development of biblical texts. However, with the recent progress in literary studies regarding the role of the reader, it becomes crucial to also examine the exegetical question of how readers influence the text. As a text progresses, it inherently reflects a shift in its audience. Therefore, the evolution and reception of the Isaian text can be understood as a result of this continuous transformation.

This study investigates the understanding of God as presented by the medieval Jewish philosopher and legal scholar, Hasdai Crescas (1340-1410/11). It illustrates that Crescas perceives God as infinitely creative and benevolent, while also examining the implicit comparison he makes between God as both creator and legislator. This comparison is based on his belief in the Deity's ongoing engagement in generative processes, characterized by the continuous flow of goodness and love, which is expressed through multiple, simultaneous, and successive worlds, as well as an ever-expanding Torah. Additionally, the work considers the Maimonidean context for Crescas' views and posits that Crescas is responding to Maimonides' assertion that creation occurs only at a single moment, along with Maimonides' idea of the Torah as perfect and unchanging.