Through the theme of metempsychosis as discussed by scholars in Renaissance Italy, this book addresses the problematic question of the roles of Jews who lived in Italy in the development of Renaissance culture in its Jewish and its Christian dimensions.

The inventory presents a survey of extant Yiddish sources in Dutch archives outside of Amsterdam. Most material was hitherto unknown. The inventory aims to stimulate new research on West-Yiddish and the history of Ashkenazi Jewry in The Netherlands.

Sefer Hakhmoni by the 10th-century Jewish polymath Shabbatai Donnolo is one of the first texts written in Hebrew in medieval Europe and one of the most important documents of the "Hebrew Renaissance" of Byzantine Jewry in southern Italy between the 9th and the 11th centuries. Written as a commentary on Sefer Yeiirah (Book of Formation, an anonymous text probably written in Palestine between the 3rd and the 6th centuries), Sefer Hakhmoni is in fact a much more complex work, consisting of biblical exegesis, astrology, medicine, a detailed analysis of the neo-Platonic idea...

This book provides the first publication of the tract Tiferet Bahurim (The Glory of Youth) which was written in the mid-seventeenth century by R. Pinhas Barukh ben Pelatiyah Monselic in Ferrara, Italy. The tract was written as a guide for young men about to marry regarding their family life and their sexual deportment. By analyzing the Tiferet Bahurim Roni Weinstein addresses the following questions: What was the source of the growing interest in sexuality, and controlling juvenile sexuality? How is this tract related to centuries-old Jewish ethical literature, as well as...

For over a hundred years the so called "Wallich-manuscript" has fascinated scholars of various disciplines, be it Yiddish/Jewish studies, music, comparative literature and the like. It is one of the most important sources for the study of Yiddish and German folksongs as well as Purim-plays in the Early Modern period. The unknown collector of the texts has gathered more than sixty songs, plays, parodies and so on, some of them Yiddish transcriptions of German works, others original writings. For the first time, this fascinating collection has now been edited completely and a commentary has...

Bovo d'Antona by Elye Bokher (Elyiahu ben Asher haLevi Ashkenazi, 1469-1549) is a chivalry poem written in Yiddish in Padoa, in the year 1507, and printed under the author's supervision in Isny (Germany) in the year 1541. The present book intends to present a critical edition of this poem, together with a commentary. An introduction will focus on various related questions, such as the place of the Bovo d'Antona in European literature and in Italian literature, Bovo d'Antona and the chivalric genre in Old Yiddish literature, the analysis of the manuscript versions in...

Judah ben Joseph Moscato (c.1533-1590) was one of the most distinguished rabbis, authors, and preachers of the Italian-Jewish Renaissance. His collection of sermons, Sefer Nefuṣot Yehudah, belongs to the very centre of his important homiletic and philosophical oeuvre. Composed in Mantua and published in Venice in 1589, the collection of 52 sermons addresses the subject of the Jewish festivals, focusing on philosophy, mysticism, sciences, and rites. This volume concludes the translation of the sermons and includes monographic studies about Moscato's library, philosophical significance...

"Genizat Germania" is a project at the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz focused on the search for and analysis of Hebrew and Aramaic binding fragments found in the books and files of archives and libraries. In recent years this systematic search has revealed several hundred new fragments, including some rare Talmudic, Midrashic and liturgical fragments. The new discoveries both in Germany and elsewhere in Europe have broadened the knowledge of Jewish literature in the Middle Ages and Early Modern periods. This volume collects the papers of international scholars which cover recent...

Judah ben Joseph Moscato (c.1533-1590) was one of the most distinguished rabbis, authors, and preachers of the Italian-Jewish Renaissance. The book Sefer Nefuṣot Yehudah belongs to the very centre of his important homiletic and philosophical oeuvre. Composed in Mantua and published in Venice in 1589, the collection of 52 sermons addresses the subject of the Jewish festivals, focussing on philosophy, mysticism, sciences and rites. This and subsequent volumes will provide a critical edition of the original Hebrew text, accompanied by an English translation.

The present volume of studies on the life and work of Moritz (Moshe) Steinschneider (1816-1907) seeks to modify the traditional view of Steinschneider as a "mere bibliographer" by revealing other dimensions of his scientific personality. Together, the articles show that Steinschneider's manifold scholarly activities were rooted in a well-defined scientific agenda, which modern readers do not easily recognize but which deserves to be recovered. This volume represents a first attempt to sketch Steinschneider's intellectual biography and highlights the continued significance of his work for...