{"title":"Biblical History in the Thought of R. Ḥaim David Halevy","authors":"Idan Breier","doi":"10.1163/15700704-12341376","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15700704-12341376","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000R. Ḥaim David Halevy was an exceptional voice in the Religious-Zionist camp in Israel. While espousing faithfulness to the halakhah, he recognized the importance of changing circumstances with respect both to halakhic rulings and philosophical issues arising in Hebrew law. He viewed the study of history as a practical imperative, necessary to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past. Frequently adducing biblical texts, he argued that Israel must learn from the patriarchs and maintain a strong military force. In particular, the events leading to the destruction of the Temple and exile prompted him to posit that the State should remain neutral and not take an active part in international affairs. On the basis of the historiographical and prophetic literature, he maintained that fidelity to the divine covenant – i.e., ethical conduct – would safeguard Israel’s existence.","PeriodicalId":40689,"journal":{"name":"Review of Rabbinic Judaism","volume":"24 1","pages":"73-94"},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2021-06-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44274063","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Alone in the Desert: A Note on the Guide","authors":"Rabbi Abe Halevy Faur","doi":"10.1163/15700704-12341379","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15700704-12341379","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":40689,"journal":{"name":"Review of Rabbinic Judaism","volume":"24 1","pages":"135-146"},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2021-06-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47502890","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Sforno’s Threefold Approach to the Torah’s Structure","authors":"Miriam Sklarz","doi":"10.1163/15700704-12341372","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15700704-12341372","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Classical exegetes’ exploration of structure and order in the Pentateuch is generally perceived as part of an internal-Jewish debate. However, in an exceptional testimonial, the introduction to R. Ovadiah Sforno’s Torah commentary describes a polemic against the Torah grounded in a claim about the Torah’s disorderliness. Responding to this critique, Sforno set out to uncover the Torah’s logical order. His efforts to elucidate the Torah’s order and structure include three aspects: he points to a circular structure that is repeated seven times in Genesis-Numbers, he systematically links the independent legal sections in Deuteronomy, and he discusses the Torah’s division into five separate books. While methodically addressing the question of order, Sforno also offers a response to fundamental theological issues at the center of the interfaith polemic.","PeriodicalId":40689,"journal":{"name":"Review of Rabbinic Judaism","volume":"23 1","pages":"260-278"},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2020-09-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45867958","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Scent of the Righteous vs. the Scent of the Wicked: Body Odor as a Social Indicator of Morality in Rabbinic Literature","authors":"A. O. Shemesh","doi":"10.1163/15700704-12341368","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15700704-12341368","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Perceiving the odor emitted by one’s body or clothes as a manifestation of moral identity is a cross-cultural sociological and literary phenomenon. Odors were perceived as a mark that set social boundaries and they made it possible to distinguish between groups of people by their status or identity. In the Christian, Muslim, and Bahai traditions holy people, such as prophets, martyrs, and shahids, were perceived or described as smelling good. In Jewish cultural discourse, smell is a sociological-religious indicator that distinguishes, whether symbolically or realistically, between the good and the corrupt. The term “foul smell” is mentioned in association with negative people, mainly with regard to sexual promiscuity. In contrast, a good fragrance is emblematic of the Patriarchs (Abraham), people with stringent sexual morals (Joseph), and Torah scholars.","PeriodicalId":40689,"journal":{"name":"Review of Rabbinic Judaism","volume":"23 1","pages":"165-182"},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2020-09-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47099553","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Exiles and Remnants as a Social Phenomenon","authors":"R. Furman","doi":"10.1163/15700704-12341367","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15700704-12341367","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000This study identifies similar sociological patterns connected with identity issues in the biblical prophetic literature concerning the Babylonian exile in and two “modern-time diasporas,” the Armenian and the Palestinian. Certain criteria were found common to the inspected cases, suggesting common identity shaping patterns that may transcend time and culture.","PeriodicalId":40689,"journal":{"name":"Review of Rabbinic Judaism","volume":"23 1","pages":"131-164"},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2020-09-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47723642","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Nahmanides’ Disputes with Rashi as a Gateway to His Worldview","authors":"Shalem Yahalom","doi":"10.1163/15700704-12341370","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15700704-12341370","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Although he highly praises Rashi’s Torah commentary, Nahmanides emphasizes that Rashi’s work is not beyond criticism. This article points out one aspect of Nahmandes’ disagreement with Rashi. Rashi, for his part, is willing to cite traditional Midrashic commentaries without significant additions, assuming that tradition is an effective tool for transmitting reliable information. Nahmanides argued with Rashi over this claim. Rather than sufficing to repeat exegetical traditions, in his Torah commentary, Nahmanides expands them and raises alternatives. In this way, he asserts the importance of analyzing all information critically. This article demonstrates how reservations regarding tradition stand behind several exegetical and halakhic disputes between Rashi and Nahmanides. Through analyzing this principle, the study demonstrates how Nahmanides, under the guise of a guardian of tradition, constructed an original, creative spiritual world in the areas of exegesis, halakha, and kabbalah.","PeriodicalId":40689,"journal":{"name":"Review of Rabbinic Judaism","volume":"5 1","pages":"207-228"},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2020-09-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"64909988","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Is the Term “Savar” in the Babylonian Talmud Ever Used to Indicate an Opinion that Is Not Ultimately Rejected?","authors":"M. Sabato","doi":"10.1163/15700704-12341369","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15700704-12341369","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000The term “savar” in the Babylonian Talmud indicates an opinion that is ultimately rejected. According to some Rishonim, however, in certain places this term introduces an opinion that is not rejected. This article examines these instances and concludes that indeed in these places the term “savar” is references an opinion that is not ultimately rejected. In most of these places, the reading in most of the textual witnesses was emended, and the word “savar” was erased, apparently in accordance with the other approach. In those places where the text was not emended, some of the commentators interpreted the passage not in accordance with its plain meaning, and, according to their interpretation, the opinion that was introduced by the “savar” was indeed rejected.","PeriodicalId":40689,"journal":{"name":"Review of Rabbinic Judaism","volume":"23 1","pages":"183-206"},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2020-09-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42419119","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Centrality and Interpretation of Psalms in Judaism prior to and during Medieval Times: Approaches, Authorship, Genre, and Polemics","authors":"I. Kalimi","doi":"10.1163/15700704-12341371","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15700704-12341371","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000This study discusses the centrality of the book of Psalms among the Jews and in Judaism. It outlines the seven most important and influential rabbinic exegetical works on Psalms, in the period before and during the medieval age: Targum Psalms and Midrash Psalms Shocher Tov, from some time in the Talmudic period; and five prominent medieval commentaries: Saadia Gaon, Moses haCohen ibn Gikatilla, Rashi, Abraham ibn Ezra, and David Kimchi. I briefly introduce each interpretative work and focus on selected aspects: The commentators’ distinct exegetical methods, their approaches to the questions of the authorship and genre of Psalms, and polemics with inside (e.g., Karaites) and outside (e.g., Christians) opponents. The result is to analysis and synthesis their approaches and to show the various trends that rabbinic Psalms interpretation took in these periods.","PeriodicalId":40689,"journal":{"name":"Review of Rabbinic Judaism","volume":"23 1","pages":"229-259"},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2020-09-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46562769","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Price of Holiness: Torah Scrolls in the Tannaitic Marketplace","authors":"Allen Lipson","doi":"10.1163/15700704-12341363","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15700704-12341363","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000This paper situates Tannaitic attitudes toward the market for Torah scrolls within the larger historical context of Roman Palestine over the first two centuries CE. After developing a historical picture of how that market may have functioned, it explores the rabbis’ literary treatment of Torah scrolls within the Mishnah and Tosefta. Tannaitic text and context reveal a tension between two modes of thought, the “idealist” and the “pragmatist” viewpoints. On one hand, the Torah scroll stands sui generis, wholly separate from mundane considerations of economic profit. On the other, the rabbis reluctantly conceded to the reality of the market, however much they may have wished to ignore it.","PeriodicalId":40689,"journal":{"name":"Review of Rabbinic Judaism","volume":"23 1","pages":"51-74"},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2020-04-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1163/15700704-12341363","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41478030","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Ehyeh asher Ehyeh and the Tetragrammaton: Between Eternity and Necessary Existence in Saadya, Maimonides, and Abraham Maimonides","authors":"D. Lobel","doi":"10.1163/15700704-12341365","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15700704-12341365","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Saadya Gaon translates Ehyeh asher Ehyeh into Arabic as “the eternal (beginningless) that will not cease to be.” Abraham Maimonides makes a conceptual identification between Saadya’s interpretation of Ehyeh asher Ehyeh as eternity and the assertion of his father that Ehyeh asher Ehyeh signifies Necessary Existence. Moses Maimonides draws an allusive relationship between Ehyeh asher Ehyeh and the Tetragrammaton, perhaps hinting at a connection between the Tetragrammaton and the root hayah he is hesitant to openly spell out. As his son suggests, Maimonides hints that Ehyeh asher Ehyeh offers an explication of the Tetragrammaton.","PeriodicalId":40689,"journal":{"name":"Review of Rabbinic Judaism","volume":"23 1","pages":"89-126"},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2020-04-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1163/15700704-12341365","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48892856","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}