A quarter of a century after Isaac Bashevis Singer was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature it is time to take stock of his achievement. Penetrating studies of his fictional and autobiographical works by leading scholars in the field reveal that for all the acclaim he has received on the basis of the English versions of his works, no adequate evaluation of Bashevis's significance can be made without careful examination of the original Yiddish texts. Critical readings assess inter alia his themes and motifs, the impact of Kabbalah on his work, reflections of society in his original...

This volume engages diverse topics such as art, music, and radio broadcasting in the development of modern Jewish nationalism by leading scholars in their respective fields. It contains richly detailed studies that challenge existing historiography--from personal struggles with nationalism, to the lesser-known origins of the Balfour Declaration, from boisterous demonstrations on the streets of pre-World War I Galicia, to skirmishes between Jews in present-day Jerusalem. It examines how nationalism has worked in theory and practice for Jews and at times been fiercely resisted. Beginning with...

This book of essays deals with magical phenomena in Mesopotamian, Zoroastrian, Greek and Jewish cultures. The topics discussed include Mesopotamian magic, its impact on the Aramaic magic bowls, Jewish magical literature, magical gems, Zoroastrian omens, and methods of research.

Imagining Creation is a collection of views on creation by noted authors from different disciplines. Topics include creation accounts and iconography from Mesopotamia and Egypt, and cosmologies from India and Africa. Special attention is devoted to creation in the Scriptures (Bible and Koran) and related oral traditions on Genesis from Slavonic Europe, as well as Kabbalah. Some of the creations myths are earlier and some later than the Bible, while a number of the discussed texts offer alternative approaches to the beginnings of the universe. The contributions provide many new...

While a frequently used term, Jewish Theatre has become a contested concept that defies precise definition. Is it theatre by Jews? For Jews? About Jews? Though there are no easy answers for these questions, Jewish Theatre: A Global View, contributes greatly to the conversation by offering an impressive collection of original essays written by an international cadre of noted scholars from Europe, the United States, and Israel. The essays discuss historical and current texts and performance practices, covering a wide gamut of genres and traditions.

The goal of the present volume is to shed light on a number of traditions of Maimonideanism that have hitherto little been explored. Maimonides (1138 - 1204) was the most important medieval Jewish philosopher and also made lasting contributions to many other fields. The essays in the first part examine aspects of his work in medicine, Jewish law, and liturgy. The essays in the second part look at how Maimonides was read, misread, and creatively reinvented in a wide range of contexts in the East and in the West--from medieval Cairo to Crown Heights in Brooklyn. Written by a group of leading...

This book brings together an array of distinguished scholars to consider diaspora nationalism. Through theoretical, typological and case-specific essays that discuss the Jewish, Greek, Armenian, Irish, Turkish, Sikh, Ukrainian, Hindu, Pentecostal and Muslim diasporas, the book shows the varieties and qualities of attachment of diaspora communities to their ancestral homelands, and the role that hostlands as well as the immigrants play in the form and intensity of these attachments. Setting contemporary diaspora nationalisms in the context of globalisation, with its ever-developing methods of...

Jewish history has been extensively studied from social, political, religious, and intellectual perspectives, but the history of Jewish consumption and leisure has largely been ignored. The hitherto neglect of scholarship on Jewish consumer culture arises from the tendency within Jewish studies to chronicle the production of high culture and entrepreneurship. Yet consumerism played a central role in Jewish life. This volume is the first of its kind to deal with the topic of Jewish consumer culture. It gives new insights on Jewish belongings and longings and provides multiple readings of...

Imagining Creation is a collection of views on creation by noted authors from different disciplines. Topics include creation accounts and iconography from Mesopotamia and Egypt, and cosmologies from India and Africa. Special attention is devoted to creation in the Scriptures (Bible and Koran) and related oral traditions on Genesis from Slavonic Europe, as well as Kabbalah. Some of the creations myths are earlier and some later than the Bible, while a number of the discussed texts offer alternative approaches to the beginnings of the universe. The contributions provide many new...

The Babylonian Talmud remains the richest source of information regarding the material culture and lifestyle of the Babylonian Jewish community, with additional data now supplied by Babylonian incantation bowls. Although archaeology has yet to excavate any Jewish sites from Babylonia, information from Parthian and Sassanian Babylonia provides relevant background information, which differs substantially from archaeological finds from the Land of Israel. One of the key questions addresses the amount of traffic and general communications between Jewish Babylonia and Israel, considering the great...