Jewish Tradition Research Articles

Guardians of Jewish tradition: from crisis to rehabilitation in the Shas party, 2019-21

ABSTRACT The big drama of Israel’s four closely spaced national elections in 2019–21 was accompanied by another, smaller, drama: the country’s plunge into political chaos gave the Shas party an opportunity for electoral, organisational, and political revitalisation. The four election campaigns transformed Shas from a Mizrahi-Haredi party in decline, barely able to pass the minimum vote threshold, into a stable party practicing a tightly focused politics – living proof that Haredi politicians were again occupying positions of power and influence. Not only did Shas do outstanding organisational and political work; it also demonstrated an impressive ability to align with the Israeli right’s core national-political agenda: the connection between security and tradition. The language of the Shas message evolved from one election campaign to another: what started as a Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) discourse of cultural partnership with a religious-lite or masorti (traditionalist) public turned into a Zionist discourse of national partnership with a ‘right-lite’ voting public (Likud).

Flavors of Ecstasy: States of Absorption in Islamic and Jewish Contemplative Traditions

While the trait of absorption has received a considerable amount of scientific study, states of absorption have been comparatively understudied and even less scholarly or scientific attention has been paid to those that are cultivated within the contemplative traditions of Islam and Judaism. This paper explores canonical descriptions of states of contemplative absorption in Islamic and Jewish traditions, specifically highlighting how they are often cultivated using sensory deprivation and sensory withdrawal, can be distressing and entail functional impairment considered normative in some contexts, and how some are set apart as the goal of specific meditative paths. The import of this survey goes beyond just historical significance, since these traditions assume, and recent research suggests it is plausible, that such states may be hyper-plastic and pivotal in both adaptive and maladaptive directions.

Das Danielbuch und die Danielfigur in jüdischer, christlicher und islamischer Tradition

A book and a character named „Daniel“ are known in Jewish, Christian and Islamic traditions. The book of Daniel is partly viewed as a prophetic book and Daniel accordingly as a prophet, partly it is explicitly denied that the book and the character „Daniel“ are prophetic. A comparison of the different traditions helps to identify lines of development.

Arendt and Deutscher on heresy and identity

This article addresses the constitutive role of heresy in Jewish modernity. Heresy – defined here in terms of assimilation – is commonly considered destructive to Jewish tradition. I, however, examine Hannah Arendt’s works on the model of the Jewish pariah and Isaac Deutscher’s notion of the non-Jewish Jew to identify a model in which heresy gives structure to a new, modern Jewish tradition. In Deutscher, the analysis shows, this tradition of heresy suggests a universal world-view that eventually empties Judaism of any particular content. Arendt, on the other hand, connects the possibility of Jewish particularity in the present with her ideal of the pariah-as-heretic. Heresy reflects neither assimilation nor rejection of Judaism but rather offers a new foundation for Jewish particularity. The argument shows how the heresy of the pariah is also foundational to early formulations of Arendt’s politics of plurality.

The Application of the “Pragmatic Maxim” in Jewish Tradition: The Case of Rabbi Ḥayyim Hirschensohn

The Application of the “Pragmatic Maxim” in Jewish Tradition: The Case of Rabbi Ḥayyim Hirschensohn

The Nun in the Synagogue: Judeocentric Catholicism in Israel - Emma O’Donnell Polyakov

Reviewed by: The Nun in the Synagogue: Judeocentric Catholicism in Israel by Emma O'Donnell Polyakov Elena Procario-Foley The Nun in the Synagogue: Judeocentric Catholicism in Israel. By Emma O'Donnell Polyakov. University Park, PA: Penn State University Press, 2020. 242 pages. $30.00 (paper). In a public lecture at Iona College, a Catholic religious brother named Jack said, "when I am in Jerusalem, I am Jack, just Jack. Not a brother, not a former college president, I'm just Jack and some of the best times are simply going to my favorite café and we are all there—Muslim, Jewish, Christian—and maybe we can find each other over a cup of coffee; maybe we can contribute to peace." He then proceeded to lead a Jewish-Catholic text study at an American Catholic college for members of the local community. He employed the Jewish method of havruta. He was so excited to bring Jews and Catholics together over texts from the Torah. The text study may not have occurred in the same ways one might have expected in a synagogue or yeshiva, but Jack intended for Jews and Christians to learn from each other that night, and he especially wanted Christians to understand the text in its original Jewish context. Both Jewish and Catholic participants found the time together enlightening and constructive. Jack had studied Judaism for years; perhaps his commitment to living in Israel and to understanding the rich spirituality and history of Judaism contributed to the trust [End Page 406] the Jewish participants offered him during that evening havruta session. I experienced the gift of knowing Jack, who died well before Emma O'Donnell Polyakov began her research for The Nun in the Synagogue: Judeocentric Catholicism in Israel. I think Polyakov would agree that he belongs among the people she has identified as Judeocentric Catholics. I could not help but think of him as I read Polyakov's fascinating and cutting-edge study, and I was grateful for the opportunity to reflect anew on his life and contributions to Jewish-Catholic dialogue by placing him in the context of this "new phenomenon" of Judeocentric Catholicism. This new category of Christian practice, identified by Polyakov, is "characterized by the study of Jewish texts and traditions, by the contemplation of the theological relationships between Christianity and Judaism, and by practices of praying for the ongoing thriving of the Jewish people" (5). Despite the title of the book, Polyakov interviewed 80 women and men in vowed religious life living in Israel (ix). Not just cloistered nuns, the participants were monks, priests, and religious brothers and sisters in a variety of apostolic orders. She notes that of these mostly Catholic Christians, 25 exhibited the characteristics listed above that would identify them as Judeocentric Catholics (208, note 1). Additionally, her subjects were all from Europe or North America and had made a long-term commitment to living in Israel; they "engage deeply and intentionally with Judaism," and some maintain a Christocentric theology while others are pluralist (6). Her book is an ethnographic study based on these 25 interviews, but it is also "a book about people and about relationships" (8). The reader discovers, in the intensely personal reflections of the men and women Polyakov interviews, a "meditation on faith and identity" drawn from the "experiences of many who continually walk, in some form or another, along the border between Judaism and Christianity" (16). The Nun in the Synagogue is a remarkable work asking hard questions based on the lives of people who have chosen to step outside the mainstream of their religious tradition and the tradition [End Page 407] of their families. Polyakov has identified Judeocentric Catholicism as "a new religious and cultural phenomenon that has arisen from post-Holocaust reflection on the part of Christians and is characterized by developments of 'praying for the Jews'" (4–5). Even while recognizing the many efforts Christian denominations have made after the Shoah to eschew anti-Jewish theology, Polyakov wants to explore whether the new efforts to pray for the Jews can ever be free of supersessionist theology and conversionary intent. Polyakov is a very talented writer, adeptly, consistently, and seamlessly weaving insights...

A Response to the Responses

A Response to the Responses John T. Pawlikowski (bio) At the outset, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to those who offered their incisive reflections on my article. They have written from the experience of many years of work on the issues raised by the long history of antisemitism in Christianity as well as in civil society. Each respondent brought vital questions and issues to the forefront in this complex discussion of the history and continued presence of antisemitism across the globe. They have added in different ways to an understanding of the wide contextual setting for this profound social disease, which has often reduced Jews to spiritual skeletons. All have constructively expanded our discussion of antisemitism. Let me make one important point at the beginning of this response. My original article was never intended to serve as a comprehensive introduction to the topic of antisemitism. Hence, my colleagues have expanded the parameters of my own article in important ways. My principal goal in writing my essay was to ask whether antisemitism has been successfully removed from Christian self-understanding in the almost 60 years that have passed since the issuance of Nostra Aetate at Vatican II. My personal answer is no, and I appreciate that all of the contributors to this forum, many of them with extensive experience in Christian-Jewish dialogue, [End Page 394] confirm my basic judgment and agree that considerable work still awaits the Christian community if antisemitism is finally to be removed from its basic proclamation. Readers will hopefully see that the cleansing process cannot be completed without a clear repudiation by Christian churches of the biblical texts and the widespread patristic teaching that laid the foundation for the theological gutting of the Jewish religious tradition and the social marginalization of Jews as a people throughout history. While today's patristic and biblical teachings about Jews and Judaism may not be overtly taught and preached as they were for centuries, the influence of this historic denigration on the consciousness of the Christian community will not be fully extricated without a clear repudiation of these texts. As I indicate in my article, the late Raymond Brown began such a process by unequivocally asserting that the passages in the Gospel of John in which Jews are described as under satanic influence can no longer be used in catechesis or liturgical celebration. Several contributors to this forum have rightly acknowledged certain Catholic documents, such as the statement on the Holocaust issued by the Holy See's Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews titled We Remember: A Reflection on the Shoah1 and the controversial text released by the then Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith headed by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (the future Pope Benedict XVI) titled Dominus Iesus,2 caused dismay both within segments of the Catholic community as well as its ecumenical and interreligious partners, including Jews. Both documents created ambiguity regarding the Vatican's supposed new commitment to ecumenical and interreligious dialogue after centuries of promoting the notion of Catholic superiority. With regard to Dominus Iesus, several prominent Catholic leaders, such as Cardinals Walter Kasper and William Keeler, argued that the document did not pertain to the Jews but rather to certain situations in Asia. The logic of the document seems to include all who do not identify with Catholicism as their basic belief system. We Remember clearly refers to the Catholic-Jewish relationship. This document falsely claims that antisemitism was a marginal [End Page 395] Catholic outlook perpetuated by fringe and rogue elements in the Church. It also maintained that during the Shoah antisemitism was largely the work of pagans who attacked all religious belief, whether Christian or Jewish. Such statements are patently false in light of the historical record. There has been a persistent effort by some in the Church to say that antisemitism only took hold in deviant sectors of Catholicism. I recall a visit some years ago to Strasbourg, France, and its famous cathedral. The edifice is known for its face, which contains a depiction of the Christian-Jewish relationship through two women, one being young and vibrant representing Christianity and the other old and bedraggled holding a...

Intertestamental, Apocrypha, NT Use: Other Writings/Traditions

Intertestamental, Apocrypha, NT UseOther Writings/Traditions Brian J. Meldrum, Christopher T. Begg, Thomas Hieke, Richard A. Taylor, and David A. Bosworth 2411. [The Book of Exodus in Philo] Sean A. Adams, "The Book of Exodus in Philo of Alexandria," The Reception of Exodus Motifs, 183-98 [see #2501]. A. explores Exodus motifs in the writings of Philo. Exodus is the second most referenced scriptural book (after Genesis) in the Philonic corpus, although this focus on Exodus is not evenly distributed across all of Philo's works, and he engages with the Exodus text in a variety of ways. A. offers a succinct overview of the material in question, and then selects two major aspects of this for more detailed investigation. First, he considers several Exodus passages which are employed by Philo in multiple treatises and so can be assumed to have had particular significance for him (e.g., Exod 3:14; 7:1). Second, he examines how specific Exodus passages are interpreted by Philo in his Allegorical Commentary. A. draws out from his study some important conclusions about Philo's general exegetical method, especially his utilization of the intertextuality between Exodus and Genesis and other scriptural writings. [Adapted from book's introduction—B.J.M.] 2412. [Stelae Traditions in Second Temple Judaism and Their Legacy in Byzantium] William Adler, "Translatio studii: Stelae Traditions in Second Temple Judaism and Their Legacy in Byzantium," Afterlives of Ancient Rock-cut Monuments, 380-401 [see #2488]. In his essay, A. takes as his point of departure two Jewish sources featuring the motif of the primordial stelae: Flavius Josephus's Antiquities and the Book of Jubilees. From this basis, he proceeds to trace the intricate pathway of the stelae motif in the writings of various Byzantine chronographers. Mirroring the earlier ambivalence of the Jewish traditions regarding the stelae, the chronographers vacillate between attributing positive or negative valences to the supposedly angelic knowledge carved on the stelae. Curiously, as A. further points out, these chronographers themselves lived in Anatolia, which raises an intriguing question: did these authors reflect upon the extant Anatolian rock-cut reliefs and inscriptions around them in their efforts to reconstruct the traditions of the primordial stelae? See also ##1782, 2472. [Adapted from editors' preface, p. x—C.T.B.] 2413. [The Fulfillment of Zech 12:10 in the Gospel of John] Eduardo Emilio Agüero, "'Mirarán al que traspasaron': El cumplimiento de Za 12:10 en el evangelio de Juan," RevistB 83 (3-4, 2021) 467-516. The Fourth Gospel exhibits a dynamism in which the identity of Jesus is gradually revealed in a dramatic way that is oriented toward the moment of "his hour." This hour arrives when Jesus is nailed to the cross, and just before the moment of the crucifixion, the evangelist quotes (a portion of) Zech 12:10, i.e., the phrase "they will look upon him whom they have pieced" as being fulfilled at this juncture. The themes and motifs of Zechariah's book are echoed and amplified in John's Gospel and contribute to the revelation of the divine and messianic identity of Jesus, king and priest of the new covenant, and his sanctifying impact on those who believe in him. [Adapted from published abstract—C.T.B.] [End Page 893] 2414. [Paul and the Exodus Tradition] David M. Allen, "Paul's Uses of Exodus: Appealing to the Wilderness Experience," The Reception of Exodus Motifs, 287-308 [see #2501]. A.'s chapter explores the major uses of Exodus material in Paul's letters, especially those directed to Rome and Corinth. A. analyzes the formal citations in Rom 9:15-17, the explicit comparison Paul develops between the wilderness generation, and the situation of his Corinthian audience (1 Corinthians 10), the reference to the imagery of the Paschal lamb in 1 Corinthians 5, and the theme of Moses's veiling his face in 2 Cor 3:7-18 (cf. Exodus 32–34). This investigation enables A. to draw out some important methodological reflections about how Paul re-appropriates the above traditions, and where his doing this situates him in relation to his contemporary exegetical context. [Adapted...

Social Responsibility Runs in My DNA

On my first birthday, the world celebrated the end of World War II. My father used to remind me that my private day is also a meaningful historical date; thus, I should always “mind the world,” be considerate, share what I have, and count my blessings.My paternal grandparents were the heroes of my childhood, my role models. Today, I recognize that I adored them not only for the unconditioned love they gave me. There was more that paints their memory with warm emotions: both were intensely devoted to taking care of the needy, weak, underprivileged people around them. Grandpa, once a book publisher and ardent activist of the Esperanto movement, was employed as an unskilled laborer, while his main attention was focused on collecting financial and other contributions, connecting donors to needy people, and maintaining the social network of home visits to the lonely and elderly (an operation that he founded, enthused by Jewish tradition of social responsibility). Granny, an established surgeon in her former life in Vienna, worked as an unlisted nurse in a hospital and made rounds of home visits among home-ridden, sick people, and injured soldiers, attending to the medical needs of “her patients.”Their small apartment in the center of Jerusalem was an unofficial community center, a meeting point for many, young, lonely refugees from war-stricken European countries. It was a vibrant home, with seemingly elastic walls that could host any number of guests and feed any hungry visitor with a piece of cake, a piece of advice, a comforting shoulder, a listening ear. There was an air of hope and humor around them, which is remarkable given their personal biographies: refugees for the third time, living as “illegals” in a barren country, in a restless city that was often under curfew, sometimes under siege, far away from their families. Their activities were self-initiated and voluntary; their resources rested mainly on their inborn conviction of solidarity. They attracted friends and neighbors to join, which extended the network and added energy, experience, and moral support. The establishment they founded continued to render essential assistance until the State was founded and took over. Naturally, my parents took after the State, always involved and supporting small- and big-scale social activities. There was little discussion about it. It was just a way of being.I was first “nominated” as a social worker by my kindergarten teacher when she asked me to look after one of the girls in my group whose mother had just died. Since then, I consciously became the protector of scapegoats, mediator between fighting groups, supporter of underdogs, and protestor against school injustice. During adolescence, school was just the background to my Girl-Scouts career, where I engaged in various social activities that I further pursued as a professional social worker and therapist.It was not until I accidently “discovered” Gestalt therapy that I found my professional “home.” The egalitarian encounter between patient and therapist, the mutual and reciprocal relationship between self and environment, the social/political aspects of raising awareness, the effort to empower groups and individuals enhancing self-support and responsibility—all these and many more are for me the unique features of Gestalt therapy, which I proudly live and practice.Joining the Human Rights and Social Responsibility Committee of European Association for Gestalt Therapy (EAGT) was for me the natural path. This small group of colleagues soon turned into a meaningful friendship glued together by our commitment and personal/professional belief system, determined to fulfill the theoretical legacy of Gestalt theory and put it into practice.My working years were divided between the welfare system, academia, and private practice, mostly in the service of the court system as an expert witness, always working partly pro bono. The longest, most meaningful voluntary engagement was serving as a clinical adviser to the National League of Child Protection for 22 years.Lately, I have been fortunate to convey my experience and values to my grandchildren: Gaya (12) was confronted with harsh reality after a classmate was arrested with her family (refugees from the Sudan), to be deported. I encouraged her and a group of friends to recruit more colleagues, their parents, and teachers, who became an action group. I coached them as they launched a fund-raising campaign, provoked the media, and engaged a lawyer who succeeded in turning the wheel. I believe that was a persuasive demonstration of the power of social responsibility and solidarity, which will be remembered.

The Ban on Idolatry and the Concept of Difference in Franz Rosenzweig’s Philosophy

The purpose of the research is to analyze the context, the essence, and the philosophical implications of Franz Rosenzweig's reconsideration of the ban on idolatry as an implication of pure monotheism. As often as not idolatry is defined generally as the adoration of some images that, representing deity, are considered to be autonomous and hereupon become the objects of worship. The study confines itself to the analysis of the significance of the ban on idolatry in Rosenzweig's interpretation of the concept of difference that underlies his theoretical model of the Other. The consideration proceeds on the general assumption that the encounter of tradition with modernity is the factor that determines the radical change in the philosophies of societies under modernization. In this context, the ancient ban on idolatry means the rejection and prohibition of whatever representation as intricate mediation that is, in turn, the hallmark of modernity. However, according to Rosenzweig, idolatry is not the usage of images as the representations of the reputedly unrepresentable God, but the fixation on one image which would mean the arbitrary limitation of God's infinite freedom to reveal himself visually. This implies that the reconsidered ban on idolatry does not require the absolute prohibition of representation, but the latter should be construed as temporal. Such an approach prevents the identification of the representation of entity with this entity itself, the sign with the thing, and therefore prohibits self-referentiality. Rosenzweig's stance determines also his understanding of familiarity, unfamiliarity, and difference in art and translation. Rosenzweig's emphasis on the shocking influence of the defamiliarizing difference as the feature of the work of art correlates with his interpretation of the translation that should make stable shared senses unfamiliar. Thus, the reconsidered ban on idolatry underlies Rosenzweig's conception of the reconciliation between Jewish tradition and modernity.

Od cmentarza żydowskiego po Wawel. Działalność Hochstimów – rodziny żydowskich kamieniarzy z Krakowa

From the Jewish Cemetery to Wawel: Activities of the Hochstims, a Family of Jewish Stonemasons from Kraków The article is devoted to the activities of the Hochstim family: Jewish stonemasons active in the second half of the nineteenth century, mainly in Kraków, but also in other Galician towns and in Warsaw (Kingdom of Poland). Four generations of this family were active in the field of stonemasonry. The highest position was achieved by Fabian Hochstim (1825–1906) who completed prestigious commissions such as the renovation of royal tombstones on Wawel Hill. His enterprise, which for many years was located in Kraków’s main square, specialized in the production of tombstones for both Jewish and Christian cemeteries. Fabian’s son, Adolf, pursued his father’s business and also sold building materials. The Hochstim family employed modern business strategies to establish the corporate identity of their enterprise, such as participation in public exhibitions and marketing campaigns in the press. With success and despite obstacles they achieved a strong market position in an environment that was dominated by traditional guilds. Until the end of the nineteenth century, the family remained faithful to the Jewish tradition.

Thou Shalt Tell Thy Daughter: Mothers Tell Daughters Their Holocaust Story—Three Case Studies of Contemporary Israeli Women Artists

The story of Israel and its raison d’être are suffused by memories of the Holocaust, which construct the self-definition and identity of the state. This article examines works by three contemporary Israeli women artists—Dvora Morag, Miri Nishri, and Bracha Ettinger—who subvert the traditional telling of history and enable rethinking of the past as the basis for the individual’s existence in the nation state. Through the works of these artists, official memory disintegrates into fragments of personal memories of the artists’ mothers, enabling a new moral, historical perspective. The reconstruction of history through stories that pass from mother to daughter contrasts sharply with Jewish tradition in which the historical story passes from father to son. The yearly Passover retelling of the Exodus admonishes “Thou shalt tell thy son on that day to say, ‘It is because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt’”. The two narratives, the Exodus from Egypt and the Holocaust, are told as stories of redemption of the Jewish people—from ruin to resurrection. The art examined here reassesses the past, while unraveling parallels between the stories from a female perspective that reflects a personal moral stance.

‘I just want you to get into the flow of reading’: Reframing Hebrew proficiency as an enactment of liberal Jewishness

Families enroll their children in Luxembourg's Liberal Talmud Torah because they are committed to continuing Jewish tradition and teaching their children how to be Jewish. These families are also deeply attached to liberal modernity and its ideals of free choice and autonomy – ideals that appear to clash with those of Jewishness. Hebrew and Hebrew literacy become key sites through which families resolve this tension. By reframing Hebrew proficiency as requiring decoding but not comprehension students contribute to Jewish continuity and simultaneously maintain a vision of themselves as modern progressives. This reframing is initially frustrating for students as Hebrew literacy practices conflict with schooled expectations for language and literacy; yet students eventually take up and find meaning in these new forms.

Yahrzeit … Haya Bar-Itzhak (1946–2020)

Yahrzeit … Haya Bar-Itzhak (1946–2020) Simon J. Bronner (bio) Haya Bar-Itzhak was a driving force behind this journal and a shaper of the global study of Jewish folklore and ethnology. In her teaching, writing, and editing, she brought into relief the long lineage of work in periodicals devoted to Jewish folklore beginning in the nineteenth century (Bar-Itzhak 2010, 16–26) and inspired the editors of Jewish Folklore and Ethnology (JFE) with a vision for a journal that would go beyond an audience of Jews to become indispensable for all folklorists and ethnologists. The JFE editors, indeed all who care about understanding tradition, lost a friend and mentor when she died at her home in Haifa, Israel, on October 25, 2020. An organizer par excellence, one of her last projects was bringing together fieldwork-oriented scholars from around the world in 2013 to forge connections in a conference around the Talmudic directive to "Go out and see what the people do" (BT Eruvin 14B) as a folkloristic rallying cry. The conference occurred the same year that her Encyclopedia of Jewish Folklore and Traditions in two volumes was published, which she took over from Raphael Patai. And now the editors of Jewish Folklore and Ethnology find themselves similarly continuing a trajectory from her to a new generation of scholars and readers. With health issues mounting for Haya, the book based on the "Going to the People" conference came out in [End Page 210] Click for larger view View full resolution Figure 1. Haya Bar-Itzhak, August 2007. Photograph by Simon J. Bronner. 2016 under the editorship of Jeffrey Veidlinger, but Haya's influence on the work is clearly evident, as it is on every page of this volume of the journal and many more in several languages across several continents. Haya was born in Berlin, Germany, on August 17, 1946 to Polish Holocaust survivors. After emigration to Israel, she received her bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Haifa and finished her PhD in 1987 at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem with a dissertation on "The 'Saints' Legend' as a Genre in Jewish Folk Literature" under the supervision of renowned folklore [End Page 211] professor Dov Noy. She returned to the University of Haifa as a professor and in 1992, became chair of the Department of Hebrew and Comparative Literature and in 1994, head of folklore studies and the Israel Folktale Archives. A peripatetic teacher and scholar who attracted admiring students and colleagues wherever she went, she held visiting professorships at Indiana University, University of Michigan, Penn State University, University of Pennsylvania, and the University of California–Berkeley. In addition, she was a fellow of the Simon Dubnow Institute in Leipzig, Germany. She received numerous grants and awards for her work from organizations such as the Koret Foundation, Lucius N. Littauer Foundation, Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture, S. O. Sidore Foundation, and the Council for Higher Education of Israel. She had broad interests in folklore that spanned Eastern Europe, northern Africa, Israel, and North America, and having taken on the Encyclopedia of Jewish Folklore and Traditions, in many ways her parting gift—and challenge—to the field, her scope of work extended to the far-flung corners of the world. She maintained specialties in folk narrative, particularly legend and women's culture from ancient times to the present. Her research and publications in English, Hebrew, German, Polish, and Yiddish earned her renown globally for a conceptualization of ethnopoetics informed by the Jewish experience. Her authored books in English include Jewish Poland—Legends of Origin (2001), Israeli Folk Narratives: Settlement, Immigration, Ethnicity (2005), and with Aliza Shenhar, Jewish Moroccan Folk Narratives from Israel (1993). Her edited books include Encyclopedia of Jewish Folklore and Traditions, 2 volumes (2013), Pioneers of Jewish Ethnography and Folkloristics in Eastern Europe (2010), and with Idit Pintel-Ginsberg, The Power of a Tale: Stories from the Israel Folktale Archives (2019). In Hebrew, she edited Folklore and Ideology: Studies Dedicated to Prof. Aliza Shenhar (2014), Legends of Poland: Ethnopoetics and Legendary Chronicles (1996), and with Aliza Shenhar, Folktales from Beth-She'an (1981) and Folktales from Shlomi (1983). She also was the editor of...

What Is the Juxtaposition between Silicon Valley and Mount Sinai? Covenantal Principles and the Conceptualization of Platform-User Relations

AbstractOver recent decades, several global tech giants have gained enormous power while at the same time generating various disputes with their end-users, local governments, and regulators. We propose that the Jewish concept of covenant can help the above parties, legal scholars, and wider society in addressing this complex legal reality. We present the challenge of disequilibrium between the above four parties against the main points of conflict: the requirement of customer consent; clear contractual provisions upon entry; options for reasonable customer exit; limitations on the platform’s ability to exercise unilateral termination; profile-based discrimination; and liability for mere intermediation. We introduce the biblical concept of covenant, and we review its unfolding in Jewish tradition. Further, we conceptualize three main covenantal principles: (1) responsibility—God and humans are both conceived as moral agents; (2) reciprocity—God as a caring law giver, open to human appeals; and (3) reasonability—divine instruction as initially intelligible. We demonstrate how the latter principle of explainability is exercised in the biblical law narratives and how the story of Balaam stresses the significance of moral agency that cannot hide behind “mere intermediary” claims. In light of this analysis, we revisit the relationship between tech giants and tech users to demonstrate how covenantality offers novel ways to conceptualize the noted conflicts between the parties.

New Light on Jewish Tradition in Early Christianity

New Light on Jewish Tradition in Early Christianity

Holocaust Graphic Narratives: Generation, Trauma, and Memory by Victoria Aarons

Reviewed by: Holocaust Graphic Narratives: Generation, Trauma, and Memory by Victoria Aarons Beth B. Cohen Victoria Aarons. Holocaust Graphic Narratives: Generation, Trauma, and Memory. Rutgers UP, 2019. vii + 241 pp. In her work on creativity and trauma, psychoanalyst and Auschwitz survivor Anna Ornstein grappled with the role of art and literature in preserving the memory of the Holocaust. How, she wondered, can artistic representations, especially by second-hand witnesses, authentically and responsibly interpret and transmit the Shoah to future generations? How can artistic representations by second-hand witnesses authentically and responsibly interpret and transmit the Shoah to future generations? Victoria Aarons addresses this question, and more, in Holocaust Graphic Narratives: Generation, Trauma, and Memory, in which she convincingly argues that graphic narratives are a compelling, even ideal genre for furthering Holocaust memory. Moreover, because of their unique structure, the author posits that these works can serve to combat "Holocaust fatigue" (6) in a world increasingly exposed to all "things Holocaust." The publication of Art Spiegelman's Maus in 1986, followed by Maus II in 1991, furthered the graphic novel genre in general and Holocaust graphic novels in particular. With Maus's widespread critical and popular acclaim, the genre has continued to evolve and take its rightful place as serious literature deserving scholarly attention. Indeed, Maus has spawned a large body of critical literary analysis. For this reason, Aarons begins her study in the post-Maus era. She recognizes Spiegelman's ground-breaking work, but it is not her focus. Rather, she throws a spotlight on what has happened since Maus; how other artists have interpreted and visualized their own relationship to the Holocaust. Choosing five graphic narratives that are a product of the twenty-first century, she analyzes how these books function as both personal and collective memorial pieces. [End Page 570] Aarons largely concentrates on works by individuals who have a familial connection to the events they write about, that is, individuals who are Holocaust survivors or children or grandchildren of survivors and identify as either the second or third generation. There are two exceptions; one is by Joe Kubert, whose Polish-Jewish parents immigrated to the US in 1926 but lost numerous family members during the war, and the other is a comic book created in the mid-1950s by EC Comics, one of the first US Holocaust-related comics drawn in the postwar era. Aarons proposes that, due to the complexity of the subject, Holocaust literature in its myriad forms, including the graphic narrative, belongs in its own category; the genre of rupture, which she locates in the nexus of two Jewish literary traditions; midrash and lamentations. Thus, she explores the graphic narrative as a sacred text, and the deeper analysis of them as midrashic, looking to fill in and interpret the fissures. Moreover, because of the hybrid, disruptive, and unconventional nature of graphic narratives, she contends, the genre parallels, in a sense, the struggle to plumb the depths of comprehending the unimaginable. Aarons argues persuasively that the graphic narrative is particularly conducive to personal retelling of Holocaust memory. Its very structure, designed around gaps, provides a natural ability to visually portray absence and loss. Some artists play with the gaps where empty or darkened pages confront the reader with the rupture and dislocation that was part of the Holocaust on both an individual and a meta level. Similarly, as Aarons observes, the authors' limited use of color is significant. While most of the artists' texts and drawings are composed in black and white or gray, some use color to contrast or even shock. For example, Katin's book in black and white includes a few pages in color that highlight a shift in time, signifying her life as a young mother in the safety of postwar America. Their pleasant sketches are a dramatic contrast to the darkly drawn past while serving as a stark reminder of the persistence of traumatic memory, even for child survivors like Katin who lived most of her life after the war. Aarons also calls the reader's attention to Kubert's startling and only use of color on the cover of Yossel: April 19, 1943. As Aarons points out, grappling with...

The Position of Jewish Art and Exegesis in an Illustrated Christian Biblical Commentary: Ezekiel’s Vision of the Tetramorph in Fourteenth-and Fifteenth-Century Manuscripts and Printed Copies of Nicholas of Lyra’s Postilla litteralis

In the Postilla litteralis (Literal Commentary) (1322-1333), Nicholas of Lyra, a Franciscan biblical scholar at the University of Paris, compared Jewish and Christian commentaries on the Old Testament and designed illustrations and diagrams to augment those comparisons. The Postilla litteralis was copied with such an astounding frequency that it can be considered a medieval best seller. These manuscript and printed copies often included copies of Nicholas’ illustrations. This article uses a singular case study of Nicholas of Lyra’s visual comparisons between Latin and Hebrew exegesis regarding the Old Testament prophet Ezekiel’s vision of four winged creatures to shed light on how copies of Nicholas of Lyra’s illustrations represent Jewish visual and textual exegetical traditions. The goal of this article is to provide a nuanced exploration of fourteenth and fifteenth-century copies of Postilla litteralis manuscripts that display Nicholas’ illustrations of Ezekiel’s first vision. These images reveal a reliance on rabbinic commentary regarding literal meanings of scripture yet ultimately reject Jewish visual traditions of representing the divine, a strategy that supports Nicholas’ messianic interpretation of Ezekiel 1. This article uses illuminations and woodcuts in manuscript and printed copies of the Postilla litteralis, illuminations in Hebrew bible and prayer manuscripts, and illuminations in other Christian biblical commentaries to consider Nicholas’ multifaceted and varied perceptions of Jewish commentary on Ezekiel 1. I end by claiming that the copies of the Postilla litteralis’ visual comparisons between Jewish and Christian commentary operate to clarify inconsistencies within Christian iconography regarding Ezekiel 1.

Yiddish Songs and Jewish Futures: A Besere Velt, Partisan Music, and Modern Performance

:A Besere Velt, the Boston Worker's Circle community chorus, performs for a modern audience the music of Yiddish-speaking Jewish partisans and ghetto resisters. Through active transmission and re-interpretation of partisan and ghetto songs, A Besere Velt invokes East-European Jewish tradition and creates a liminal space ripe with new possibility. In the process, the chorus gives these old songs life for contemporary Jews. The analysis situates the songs within the genre of Yiddish music and investigates through interviews ways that members build meaning through the performance of partisan music, the construction of Jewish space, and the promise of Jewish futures.

Laments, Remedies, Rights: Nietzsche’sGenealogy of Moralitythrough the Prism of Roman Law

AbstractThis article draws on the analysis of Roman law and on the Jewish tradition of lamentation to offer an original reinterpretation of Nietzsche’sOn the Genealogy of Morality. According to Nietzsche, an archetype of a successful revolt against injustice is to be attributed to the Jews—as the ones who were able to carry out “the most spiritual revenge” against the Roman “masters” by transvaluing their values. The analysis of ancient Roman law helps to illuminate Nietzsche’s enigmatic account of the “law of the masters” against which the transvaluation of values takes place. Certain structural elements of the language of lament are then envisioned as a resource for leaving the Roman legal order behind and, surprisingly, for bringing out the very meaning of the modern conception of “rights.”