Jewish Synagogue Research Articles

The Black Manifesto for Reparations in Detroit: Challenge and Response, 1969

The Black Manifesto forReparations inDetroit: Challenge and Response, 1969 by Keith Dye From April 25 to April 27, 1969, the National Black Economic Development Conference (NBEDC) met in Detroit, Michigan, working to develop an agenda for African American economic self determination. The meeting was organized by the Interreligious Foundation for Community Organization (IFCO), a coalition of Christian and Jewish institutions that funded social-justice projects in impoverished communities. Urged by its executive director, the Reverend Lucius Walker, Jr., the IFCO-sponsored event also sought to construct community-based economic-development projects as alternatives to the "Black Capitalism" promoted by Richard Nixon, the newly elected president of the United States. The conference would never realize its potential, however; on the second day the proceedings were unexpectedly commandeered by James Forman, a leader of the Student National Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and a minority contingent of the six hundred to eight hundred mosdy African American attendees.1 The Forman-led group then issued a "Black Manifesto" demanding $500 million (later raised to $3 billion) in reparations it said white Christian churches and Jewish synagogues owed to African Americans. (Forman's group then adopted the conference's name as its own organization's tide [NBEDC, later The author wishes to thank Professors Peter Linebaugh, Ronald Lora (emeritus), and Charles Beatty at the University of Toledo; Abdul Alkalimat at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; and Timothy Messer-Kruse at Bowling Green State University. In addition, thanks go to Karen A. J.Miller, chairperson of the History Department at Oakland University, and Professors Daniel Clark, DeWitt Dykes, and Mary Karasch in that department. The author is grateful to Roy Finkenbine at University of Detroit Mercy for encouraging his research on this article, and extends thanks to the reviewers for their comments on earlier drafts and to the editors of the Review for their assistance. 1 Originally called the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, the SNCC officially changed its name to the Student National Coordinating Committee in 1969 to reflect the changes in and broadening of its strategies. Michigan Historical Review 35:2 (Fall 2009): 53-83 ?2009 by Central Michigan University. ISSN 0890-1686 All Rights Reserved. 54 MichiganHistoricalReview dropping the N].) The Black Manifesto came some three years after activists Willie Ricks and Stokely Carmichael issued their famous call for "Black Power" in 1966?a slogan that signaled new directions within theAfrican American freedom movement.2 Forman's daring alteration of the conference proceedings was consistent with his record of activism in the black freedom movement. His harsh exposure to racism as a boy growing up in Chicago (hewas born there in 1928), on family visits to the South, and especially during time spent in Fayette, Mississippi, had developed in him an acute sensitivity to the plight of African Americans, which also included an antipathy toward Christianity. By the fall of 1957, while he was a student at Boston University, Forman was pondering how to create liberation tactics in response to white violence against black students integrating Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. In his autobiography Forman wrote: "I became convinced thatwe needed a mass movement of blacks, a popular movement that would awaken our people, show them that 'niggers' can get together and create a desire to go to the next step."3 Forman's next step led him to an intensive study of Kwame Nkrumah, the first president of independent Ghana; Mahatma Gandhi; and psychiatrist and revolutionary writer Frantz Fanon among other political leaders and theorists. Later on, Forman became a key organizer for SNCC, often working in rural communities and small cities inMississippi, Alabama, and Georgia. Following a trip to Africa in September 1964, Forman successfully argued that SNCC should link the African American struggle with African freedom movements, convincing the organization to establish an International Affairs Commission, which Forman headed until 1969. As the civil rightsmovement was eclipsed by Black Power advocates, Forman abandoned nonviolence as a viable tactic for social change and argued that a revolutionary upsurge in America and the world was a precondition for African American liberation. After a brief cooling-off period that followed a contentious and short-lived alliance between SNCC and the Black...

The Temple of Jerusalem: past, present, and future

As war and terrorism continue to rage over the Holy Land, the Temple of Jerusalem, arguably the most famous sacred structure in world history, looms in the background as a symbol of past glory, a place of religious worship, and a site to be contended over and coveted. This book offers a general history of the meaning, importance, and significance of the Temple of Jerusalem, in both the religious and the political arena. It begins with the construction of the Temple, its destruction in 587 B.C.E., its reconstruction in 516 B.C.E., the vast enlargement during the time of the Idumean King Herod, around 20 B.C.E., its final destruction in 70 C.E., and its dynamic and abundant afterlife as the leading influence in the construction of Jewish synagogues, Christian cathedrals, and Islamic mosques. But the Temple has also been at the center of much political and religious controversy, and Lundquist explores the issues and conflicts that have erupted over this sacred place, considers the meaning and importance of the Temple to Christianity, Judaism and Islam, from ancient times to the present, and concludes with a careful consideration of the continuing religious and political tensions. On September 28, 2000, Ariel Sharon visited the Temple Mount (also called Al-Haram As-Sharif) in Jerusalem, igniting what has come to be known as the second intifada. But why would such a visit to a religious site set off such a string of violent responses that continue to this day? The answer lies in the history of the Temple of Jerusalem, which once, indeed twice, stood in the spot known today as the Temple Mount (to Jews) and the Dome of the Rock (to Muslims). A holy place to three of the world's main religions-Christianity, Judaism, and Islam-the Temple of Jerusalem is, arguably, the most famous sacred structure in world history and figures prominently in Apocalyptic writings. Yet, it is almost entirely absent, in all its phases, from the archaeological record, as the sacred nature of the site prohibits any excavation.

A Personal Struggle with Jewish Ethics

During my time working in Jewish education I have had numerous conversations with congregants who have had a variety of ideas about the aims and content of our education programmes. One exchange in particular has stayed with me since early in my career. 'I don't care if my son is a good Jew', this congregant said, dismissing all of the synagogue's work in the areas of ritual, liturgy and Hebrew, 'What I want is for him to be a good person'. On one level, I understood exactly what she meant. I have always seen making ethical people, or at least making people ethical, as an essential part of the task of Jewish education and synagogue life. I have often quoted Leo Baeck who, when he sought to define the essence of Judaism, wrote about ethics. He wrote:

Matthew, the church and anti-Semitism

The use of the noun ekklesia forms a distinctive feature in Matthew’s Gospel. This term must have had a distinctive meaning for Matthew and his readers at the time he used it in his Gospel, though not as full blown as in the Pauline literature and later church history. At that stage the Matthean community considered itself outside the Jewish synagogues. This consideration can be noticed in the Matthean text, when reading the Matthean Jesus story as an “inclusive” story, including the story of the Matthean community. This story reveals a considerable portion of tension between the Matthean and Synagogue communities. An inattentive reading of this text has often unfairly led towards generalized Christian prejudice against all Jews. I argue that the conflict exposed in the text, must be read in context of the experiences of the Matthean community as to safeguard Christian from unjustified Anti-Semitism in general. Faith in or rejection of Jesus acts as dividing factor between the church and the synagogue, not ethnicity.

Judaeo-Romance and Judaeo-Arabic Word-list from the Genizah

The Cairo Genizah was a depository of old scrolls, books and documents discovered in the nineteenth century mainly inside a Jewish synagogue in old Cairo, which was called Fustat in the Middle Ages. The Muslim ruling dynasty at the time was the Fatimids (969-1171) under whose control lived in relative peace Jews and Christians, mainly Copts. The archive comprising about 250,000 fragments is scattered around the world in a dozen centres and private collections. However, the bulk of the material, estimated at over 140,000 fragments, was moved from Egypt to Cambridge by Dr Solomon Schechter in 1897. The collection contains parts of known and unknown works written by personalities such as Maimonides, liturgy, responsa, poetry, philosophy, sciences, including medicine, pharmacology, astronomy and astrology, as well as thousands of private and official letters, messages, lists and commercial correspondence which throw light on daily life of the Mediterranean Society, as has fascinatingly been portrayed by scholars such as Mann, Assaf, Goitein, Ashtor, Gil and others.1 The Genizah and other sources clearly prove the existence of very active and co operative communities which maintained at the time extensive commercial and social ties stretching from Muslim Spain to India and beyond. Moreover, the co operation between all these communities was not restricted to Jews but indicates strong links between Muslims, Jews and Christians who only kept their distinctive features regarding religious matters and some internal community business. The common denominators, however, included a common language, i.e. Arabic, common beliefs and folklore and many customs and manners. Hence, peaceful co-existence was not a slogan but a reality. The multifarious modes of life and the organization of the communities are reflected in the various and extensive genres of writing and languages. Thus, Muslims used Arabic; Jews used mainly Judaeo-Arabic for daily communication as well as for various scholarly and non-scholarly works (which were mainly written in Arabic but also included some Hebrew and Aramaic phrases) and Hebrew for liturgy and poetry, and to much lesser extent, some Aramaic (e.g. ketubbot), while Christians used Christian-Arabic and occasionally Coptic. Arabs and Christians used the Arabic script (Copts used sometimes the Coptic alphabet and mainly Coptic numerals), while Jews usually used the Hebrew alphabet to write Arabic and other languages, and only seldom, especially in official letters to the authorities, such as requests, petitions and the like were they * University of Cambridge. 1 For an excellent account of the Genizah collection at Cambridge, see S.C. Reifs book mentioned in the Bibliography.

Fra huskult til basilika

It is still an astonishing fact that no material remains of early Christian churches have been found antedating the building in Dura-Europos at the Euphrat River in present day Iraq. It was a usual private dwelling house that in 241 was rebuilt and transformed into a Christian cult place. This building, however, in no way resembled the magnificent Christian basilicas that were built from the time of Constantine the Great (ruling 306/324-337), and only the baptistery in the rebuilt houses proves that it actually was a Christian building. In the present article I briefly scetch the history of the development of the Christian cult building from the private meeting places at the time of the New Testament to the Constantinian basilicas. The main purpose, however, is to discuss the character of the Christian cult house in relation to a number of related earlier and contemporary types of buildings such as the classical Hellenistic-Roman temples, the Jewish synagogue and a number of Graeco-Roman buildings that can be reagrded as historical forerunners of the Christian church building: the Greek counsel hall (bouleutêrion), the hall of initiation (e.g. Eleusis), the lecture hall (such as gymnasium and stoa), the Greek and Near Eastern cult theatres, the roman basilica and the Roman mithraeum. From the beginning, obviously, the Christian cult building was a meeting house like the Greek counsel hall, the roman basilica and the Jewish synagogue. But it was also a dining room, and, at least from 241, with thebatistery in Dura-Europos, it also became a hall of initiation. Thus, the Christian cult building developed by uniting a number of eatlier types of buildings, secular and sacred, and from the time of Constantine, the Christian basilica united the secular Greek meeting house, which was continued and further developed in the Jewish synagogue, the Greek hall of initiation, and the classical Graeco-Roman Temple.

Scope: Scripture oriented preventive education

Background Counseling to effect lasting change in health behaviors has proven only moderately effective. The Torah, or Five Books of Moses, conveys many of the key messages regularly promulgated by prevention professionals. The promise of synergy with the behavioral messages of preventive medicine among devout Scripture-based adherents led to the development of a SCripture Oriented Preventive Education (SCOPE) tool. Methods Forty-eight SCOPE articles were written to complement the weekly Torah portion read throughout the year in Orthodox Jewish synagogues. These were disseminated via newsletter within a modern Orthodox Jewish community in Israel. Two articles are included. An age-stratified, 25% random sample (120/471) of community readership was surveyed to ascertain receptivity to SCOPE and to gauge support for future implementation. Results Response rate was 76% (92/120). Lifestyle behavior-related articles were most popular (77% found them interesting) and injury prevention the least (41%). Knowledge gained was the most common benefit reported (55% of respondents), followed by attitude change (24%). Those aged 30 to 49 years were significantly more likely than others to report behavior change ( p =0.002) and health improvement ( p =0.005) secondary to SCOPE. Clinical prevention ( p =0.007) and environmental health ( p =0.03) articles were significantly more popular in people aged ≥30 and 30 to 49, respectively. Between 69% and 84% supported the implementation of SCOPE in secondary schools, by physicians, and/or rabbis. Conclusions SCOPE was designed to deliver prevention materials to faith communities via a Scripture-based vehicle. A postexposure readership survey in an Israeli Orthodox Jewish community demonstrated its effectiveness. SCOPE's ultimate utility as a counseling adjunct in Scripture-adherent communities awaits broader assessment.

The Virgin Mary against the Jews: Anti-Jewish Polemic in the Pilgrimage to the Schöne Maria of Regensburg, 1519-25

This paper examines the propaganda and polemic surrounding the pilgrimage to the Schone Maria of Regensburg, exploring the connections between the anti-Jewish violence that precipitated the pilgrimage and the intense devotionalism to the Virgin Mary that characterized it. Founded on the ruins of the city's Jewish synagogue in 1519, the pilgrimage to Schone Maria stands in a long line of Marian pilgrimage sites associated with anti-Jewish violence. Contemporary writings both celebrating and condemning the pilgrimage drew heavily on long-standing beliefs that demonized the Jews, suggesting a link in the popular imagination between anti-Jewish violence and Marian devotionalism. The association of the diabolic influence of the Jews over the site and the purifying revelation of the Virgin Mary's power there sheds light on popular Christian understandings of the role of the Virgin Mary in human salvation and the interaction of the divine and the profane in the creation of sacred space.

Religion and psychiatry.

When Dr. Harding first notified me that the committee on psychiatry and religion had honored me with this wonderful award I experienced an onslaught of feelings, primarily great pleasure and also pride at being in the company of former recipients, all of them thinkers I have much admired. I was particularly delighted to learn that the first recipient of the Oscar Pfister prize was one of my mentors, Jerome Frank, whom I am pleased to inform you is, at the age of 93, as thoughtful, curious, and coherent as ever. But there were also other feelings-more complicated, quirky, dark, difficult to express. Religion? Me? There must be some mistake. Hence, my first words of reply to Dr. Harding were: Are you sure. You know I regard myself as a practicing atheist? His immediate response to me was: We believe that you've dedicated yourself to religious questions. graciousness of his reply disarmed me and brought to mind many conversations with my former therapist and, later, my dear friend, Rollo May, who insisted on regarding my textbook, Existential Psychotherapy, as a religious book. I remember, too, that Lou Salome referred to Nietzsche as a religious thinker with an antireligion perspective. My talk today will focus on the issues raised by these dissonant feelings and especially on some of the existential therapeutic issues that, as Dr. Harding points out, are often considered to be religious in nature. I'll also sketch out some comparisons between existential psychotherapy and religious consolation. I believe these two approaches have a complex, strained relationship. In a sense, they are cousins with the same ancestors and concerns: they share the common mission of ministering to the intrinsic despair of the human condition. Sometimes they share common methods-the one-to-one relationship, the mode of confession, of inner scrutiny, of forgiveness of others and self. In fact, more and more as I've grown older, I consider psychotherapy as a calling, not as a profession. And yet, still, it is true that the core beliefs and basic practical approaches of psychotherapy and religious consolation are often antipodal. It is true that throughout history, or at least from the first to the mid-17th century, the thinkers who were most concerned about issues of existence were rooted in the religious wisdom traditions-not necessarily that their insights emanated from fundamental religious beliefs but that the religious institutions provided the sole arena which promoted and supported such intellectual activity. One can delineate both positive and negative aspects to this phenomenon: positive in that religious institutions encouraged and sponsored (indeed, for many centuries, were the sole sponsors of) philosophical inquiry, negative in that religious institutions often restricted what could be thought and which problems could be examined. Nietzsche said in Beyond Good and Evil: Gradually it has become clear to me what every great philosophy so far has been: namely, the personal confession of its author and a kind of involuntary and unconscious memoir; also that the moral (or immoral) intentions in every philosophy constituted the real germ of life from which the whole plant has grown. Though such perspectivism runs the risk (which Nietzsche was delighted to take) of denying the possibility of any fixed truth, still I take his words seriously and I'll sketch in the origins of my own religious point of view and intellectual positions. My early religious training was a pedagogical disaster-my family's orthodox Jewish synagogue was cloaked in rigid unyielding, authoritarianism which I found highly distasteful. In the long run, that was decisive for me because I lost any possibility of faith early in life. Schopenhauer reminds us that religious faith, if it is to thrive, has to be planted and take root in childhood. In his words, The capacity for faith is at its strongest in childhood; which is why religions apply themselves before all else to getting those tender years into their possession. …

The New Jersey churchscape: encountering eighteenth- and nineteenth-century churches

Although best known as the Garden State, New Jersey could also be called the Church State. The state boasts thousands of houses of worship, with more than one thousand still standing that were built in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Frank L. Greenagel has photographed more than six hundred. He has selected over two hundred of these historic landmarks for an examination of why they are sited where they are and why they look the way they do. Greenagel has sought out and included images of not only mainstream Christian churches, but also Jewish synagogues, as well as the places of worship of religious groups such as the Moravians, the Church of the Brethren, and the Seventh Day Baptists. The photographs are arranged chronologically within sections on three major early settlement regions of the state - the Hudson River, the Delaware River, and the Raritan Valley. For each building, Greenagel details the date of construction, the cultural, historic, and religious influences that shaped it, the architectural details that distinguish it, and what purpose it currently serves.

Comparing historical and contemporary opera singers with historical and contemporary Jewish cantors

This study is an attempt to ascertain if singers from different traditions and milieus follow similar aesthetic trends regardless of training and/or background. Cantors who sang the Jewish synagogue liturgy during the Golden Age of cantorial singing prior to World War II came from Eastern and Central Europe. For the most part, they were not trained in the classical Western opera tradition. They received training from choir leaders and other cantors and the training was primarily in the modes of synagogue chant. Cantors today receive the same kinds of training that opera singers receive, often from the same teachers. Four groups of singers, consisting of four singers in each group, were utilized in this study. The four groups are: historical opera singers, contemporary opera singers, historical cantors, and contemporary cantors. The historical opera singer recordings date from as early as 1909 to as late as 1939. It was not possible to determine the dates of the historical cantor recordings. However, the four cantors chosen for this group were active only to the 1940s. Contemporary samples were taken from CDs and/or live recordings and all the singers from the contemporary groups are either still active or were active in the 1960s through the 1980s and all of them are considered to be premier-level singers in their respective areas. The variables analyzed were: vibrato pulse rate, frequency variation of the vibrato pulse above and below the mean sustained sung frequency in percent, the mean amplitude variation of the amplitude vibrato pulse above and below the mean sustained amplitude in percent and the fast Fourier transform (FFT) power spectrum of the sustained samples. Results indicate that most of the significant differences were found between eras and not between groups within a time period.

Jewish Responses to AIDS

ABSTRACT Theoretically, Judaism treats AIDS, an illness, with compassion. Yet because of its link to homosexuality, AIDS and its stigma are often concealed. Neither homosexuality nor AIDS can be fully concealed, even by those who most denounce them, nor can they be completely open, even by those who most fully accept them. The implications of rejection and acceptance (a continuum) are discussed. In spite of the biblical rejection of homosexuality, The Gay Synagogue offers the most meaningful support to those who suffer from AIDS and to their loved ones. Paradoxically, the most successful programs are those adhering to the formal religious practices which provide the basic structure to every Jewish synagogue.

Paul Among Diaspora Jews: Anomaly or Apostate?

Since Paul spent most of his Christian life in the Diaspora, it makes sense to compare his mutation of the Jewish tradition with the socio-cultural stances of other Diaspora Jews. To this end, the concept of 'Hellenization' needs to be broken down, here into three categories: assimilation, acculturation and accommodation. After placing some other Diaspora Jews on each spectrum, Paul's theology and social practice are examined. He emerges as one quite highly assimilated, but comparatively low in acculturation and accommodation. Anomalously, he deracinates a culturally conserva tive form of Judaism for the sake of his largely Gentile churches. But is he also an apostate? The term is, in fact, not an objective category but a label which can be differentially applied by insiders. Thus, study of Paul's theology and self-descrip tions matter less in social terms than his treatment at the hands of his fellow Jews. Jewish hostility and synagogue beatings probably indicate that Paul was consistently repudiated as an 'apostate', despite his continuing loyalties to the Jewish people.

Eusebius, Christianity and Judaism (review)

162 SHOFAR Fall 1994 Vol. 13, No. 1 that Philo saw no contradiction between the fulfillment of the command- .ments of Torah and athletic training. What then are we to do with I Mace. 1:11-15: "and underwent operations to disguise their circumcision, rebelling against the sacred covenant." Was Alexandria different from Jerusalem? There is so much learning in this volume and so much to be learned that one cannot but be sad that it has been diverted to an unprofitable thesis that twists it out of shape. Lou H. Silberman Vanderbilt University/ University of Arizona Eusebius, Christianity and Judaism, edited by Harold W. Attridge and Gohei Hata. Studia Post-Biblica Volume 42. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1992. 802 pp. $94.50. This fine collection of essays goes far beyond the scope that its title suggests. One might expect to I1nd here a set of papers focusing on the works of Eusebius of Caesarea and his views on Christianity and Judaism during the early fourth century. Such contributions are indeed represented , occupying about half the volume. But the editors also have broadened the range to cover anew every topic that Eusebius took up in his Ecclesiastical History and some that he would never have imagined. The result is a sort of" new Euscbius"-a comprehensive scholarly review ofChristianity and Judaism during the I1rst three centuries of our era. The volume is divided into eight sections: (1) Christian Origins, (2) The Growth and Expansion of Christianity, (3) Orthodoxy and Heresy, (4) The Fate of the Jews, (5) Eusebius as Apologist, (6) Eusebius as Exegete, (7) Eusebius and the Empire, and (8) The Legacy of Eusebius. The thirty contributors range from relatively young scholars to well established major figures. The quality of the work represented is generally very high, and the contributions arc fresh, up to date, and informative. For readers of Shofar, the first four sections of the volume will have the most interest. The section on Christian origins includes complementary essays on "Jesus and Judaism," from Christian and Jewish perspectives, by Richard Horsley of the University of Massachusetts at Boston and David Flusser of the Hebrew University ofJerusalem. Richard Horsley interprets Jesus and the proto-Christian response to his ministry in relation to socioeconomic tensions within Jewish society of the period. Professor Flusser's Book Reviews 163 article sets jesus' thaumaturgic career, his criticism of the Pharisees, and his proclamation of the Kingdom of God within the context of contemporary judaism, seeing jesus as the representative and culmination of significant trends within jewish religious development. Both articles are free of religious predilection, and both are thought-provoking. In the second section is a fine article on early Christian and jewish art by joseph Gutmann of Wayne State University. Focusing on the synagogue at Dura-Europos, Gutmann introduces the reader to the scholarly controversies on the roots of Christian art and on the question of whether early judaism interpreted the Second Commandment as forbidding all representational art. While its subject is perhaps of less intrinsic interest to readers ofShofar, the contribution by Charles Bobertz of Loyola College in Maryland deserves notice. This article on the development of episcopal order in early Christianity is one of the best short introductions to that controverted problem available. Professor Bobertz argues that Christian assemblies gained the basic features both of their community organization and of their cultic practice from the jewish synagogue and that ironically it was precisely this jewish heritage that allowed the early Christian community to define itself as separate from Judaism. The section on orthodoxy and heresy includes a contribution by Alan Segal of Barnard College on jewish Christianity. Professor Segal briefly surveys so-called Jewish Christians from Paul and james to the pseudoClementine literature and the Ebionites, searching for an adequate definition of this ambiguous terminology. He concludes that jewish Christianity is not to be understood as an ethnic designation referring to some ancient equivalent of "jews for jesus," but as a theological position on the correct way to carry out the teachings of jesus. Segal sees the phenomenon as deriving from and complementing theological options within judaism of the same period. Under the perhaps too baleful title, "The Fate...

Power and Persuasion in Late Antiquity: Towards a Christian Empire.

Peter Brown, a known authority on Mediterranean civilisation in late antiquity, traces the growing power of early bishops as they wrested influence from the philosophers who had traditionally advised the rulers of Graeco-Roman society. In the new Christian empire, the ancient bonds of citizen to citizen and of each city to its benefactors were replaced by a common loyalty to a distant, autocrat. This transformation of the Roman Empire from an ancient to a medieval society, Brown argues, is among the most far-reaching consequences of the rise of Christianity. In the last centuries of the Roman Empire, the power of the emperors depended on collaboration with the local elites. The shared ideals of Graeco-Roman culture (paideia), which were inculcated among the elite by their education, acted as unwritten constitution. The as representives of this cultural tradition and as critics and advisors of the powerful, upheld the ideals of just rule and prevented the abuses of power. Between the conversion of Emperor Constantine to Christianity in 312 and the reign of Theodosius (379-395), however, both bishops and uneducated monks emerged as competitors to the traditional educated elites. Claiming as Christians to be the true philosophers, they asserted their own role in swaying the emperors to mercy and just rule. Brown shows how charity to the urban poor gave bishops such as Saint Ambrose a novel power base - the restless lower classes of the empire. The lines of power that led from local society to the imperial court increasingly fell into the hands of the church, as clerics exercised their power to ensure the peace in cities, secure amnesties, and convey to the emperor the wishes of his subjects. Brown also points out how churchmen expressed their new local power through violence against rivals: Jewish synagogues and Roman Temples were destroyed, and Hypatia, one of the few women with a public role as a philosopher, was lynched in Alexandria. Brown demonstrates how teaching provided a model for a more autocratic, hierarchial empire: the ancient ideals of democracy and citizenship gave way to the image of a glorious ruler showing mercy to his lowly and grateful subjects. Drawing upon a wealth of material - newly discovered letters and sermons of Saint Augustine, archaeological evidence, manuscripts in Coptic and Syriac - he provides a portrait of a turbulent and fascinating era.

Judíos y moros en Arando de Duero y sus contornos

No disponible.

A Study of Nonverbal Communication among Jews and Protestants

Summary This study explored the nonverbal communication of Protestant Americans (Episcopalians) of Anglo-Saxon descent and American Jews. Conducted in Jewish synagogues (n = 164 males and females) and Episcopalian churches (n = 160 males and females), the investigation examined the distance and axis at which communicators interacted and the types of gestures and tactile behavior conversants displayed. Few significant differences were found between Jews and Protestants; accordingly, nonsignificant statistical trends were reported in addition to the limited number of tactility and gestural scores that were significantly different. Genders did not differ significantly on distance, axis, and tactility. Significant differences were found between men and women on gesticulation.

Melito, The Jewish Community at Sardis, and the Sacrifice of Isaac

SINCE THE PUBLICATION of Melito of Sardis' Paschal Homily (PH) in 1940, an enormous literature has grown up around a man known previously only through a few fragments. Though the PH has merited the greater attention in recent years, and rightly so, the fragments are still important for an understanding of Melito. Three of the fragments which have come down to us in the catenae deal with the sacrifice of Isaac in Genesis 22, a text of some significance for Judaism during the period. These fragments are particularly interesting when viewed in the light of the Paschal Homily and the situation in Sardis at the time Melito was bishop; for equally if not more important than the discovery of the PH has been the excavation of an enormous Jewish synagogue in Sardis in the last decade. The excavation of this synagogue has given us a new perspective on the religious complexion of Sardis during the second and third centuries. In the following I should like to examine Melito's fragments on the sacrifice of Isaac (Akedah Isaac) in light of the Jewish interpretation of the Akedah in the early centuries of the common era.

On Translating Medieval Hebrew Writing

This essay is intended to appear in place of a review of two recent publications, one an English version of a famous work of medieval Hebrew poetry, published in this country, and the other a translation of a classic of the middle ages, a treatise in legal prose, issued in the United States. The first is Solomon Ibn Gabirol's (Avicebron's) great religious hymn Kether Malkhuth, The Kingly Crown; the second is Maimonides' Sepher Haphla'ah, The Book of Asseverations, the sixth of the fourteen sections of his halakhic code Mishneh Torah, or Yad hazaqah. The Kether was composed in the eleventh century in Arabic Spain and in the course of time became part of Jewish Synagogue liturgy; the Yad was compiled in the twelfth century in Egypt and soon came to be considered as the authoritative codification of Jewish religious law. Gabirol wrote his poem in the Hebrew idiom of the Bible, a style commonly employed by the poets of his era and area. Maimonides, dealing with talmudic law (and sources) used in his code the Hebrew diction of the post-biblical Mishnah, a literary innovation considering the fact that hitherto rabbinic works had been written in the Aramaic of the Talmud. His contemporary critics, therefore, occasionally also accused him of mistranslating (and halakhically misinterpreting) his Aramaic sources of the Talmud.

Negro Youth and Scouting, A Character Education Program

BoY SCOUTS A SCOUT! What fun he finds in hiking into the woods! tells North from South by the moss on the trees, or East from West by the shadows. can talk to a brother Scout across a river by signaling him. knows the principal trees and birds and animals that he meets, he knows which are poisonous weeds or reptiles, he can find his way by the stars as did the Indians and pioneers before him. If matches are forgotten, he laughs and proceeds to kindle fire by rubbing sticks together or by striking steel on flint. The fire once started, what good things he can cook out there in the open! keeps himself physically fit, he avoids poisons of alcohol or tobacco; he guards his tongue from loose speech or boasting or sacrilege. When he speaks of anyone, he tries to speak well of him. His Scout 'Good Turns' to someone each day make him many friends-for the way to have friends is to first BE one. His motto is 'Be Prepared,' especially prepared to help those in trouble, and he thinks through in advance what he would do in fire or storm. When someone is injured, he is 'ready' to help him with his First Aid knowledge. He always tries to be a useful citizen. helps in his community. is a program of interesting, useful things for boys to do in their leisure time, learning the mysteries of Woodcraft, of First Aid, Swimming and Life Saving, of Outdoor Cooking and Camping, of Signaling, Map Making, Hiking and Citizenship. The Scoutmasters are picked local men, who give their time without pay because of their interest in the boys of America. gives boys a chance to serve their community. Its activities not only give pleasure and knowledge, but they prepare to meet community emergencies. When tornado struck Omaha or Southern Illinois-when flood swept on Louisville-when earthquake and fire hit Californiathe Scouts proved at once their readiness to serve, they were prepared. is neither military nor anti-military. It carefully avoids political or commercial entanglements. Scouting knows no race or creed or class. Troops are found among Indians, Negroes, Japanese and every other racial or national group in America. The Program is sponsored alike by Catholic Parish, Jewish Synagogue and Protestant Church. It is available alike to farm and city. It is found in the schools. It serves the rich as it serves the poor. Its aim is to help each of these boys become the best citizen that he can make of himself. During 1939, 1,449,103 boys belonged to Boy Scout Troops and Cub Packs. About, 50,000 of these were Negro boys. Just what is Scouting? Somebody said, is a man's program cut