Talmudic Commentaries Research Articles

Emmanuel Levinas’s Talmudic Turn: Philosophy and Jewish Thought by Ethan Kleinberg

Reviewed by: Emmanuel Levinas’s Talmudic Turn: Philosophy and Jewish Thought by Ethan Kleinberg Annabel Herzog Ethan Kleinberg. Emmanuel Levinas’s Talmudic Turn: Philosophy and Jewish Thought. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2021. 220 pp. Levinas’s essays on the Talmud and other texts of the Jewish tradition (his “talmudic readings”) have been studied from various perspectives. Some consider them a mere illustration of Levinas’s phenomenology. Some try to fathom their philosophical meaning. Some read them in a purely Jewish context, as examples of modern midrash. Some emphasize their historical impact on the Jewish renewal that took place in intellectual circles in Paris in the late 1950s and in the 1960s. In his excellent book, Emmanuel Levinas’s Talmudic Turn, Ethan Kleinberg proposes a truly original twist: his historical account focuses on Levinas’s teaching and transmission of Talmud. In emphasizing primarily neither the French Jewish scene of the time, nor the midrashic relevance of Levinas’s endeavor, but the passages between them, Kleinberg asks how Levinas came to teach the Talmud and what this move meant. The answer is presented in two parallel discussions: one classically historical and one that delves into the arguments of some specific talmudic readings. This double strategy, appearing visually on the page as two columns of text, is influenced by Derrida’s writing in Glas and in Margins of Philosophy—which [End Page 213] is in its turn influenced by the Talmud’s page layout—and aims at opening the text and challenging the process of reading. Kleinberg’s project starts with the realization that, contrary to what is too often believed, Levinas never had formal talmudic training. While he was born and grew up in Lithuania, he did not study in a traditional yeshiva. This point is important and Kleinberg comes back to it several times, to emphasize that the centrality of Talmud in Levinas’s thinking is not the result of religious upbringing but of choice. The discussion that Kleinberg elaborates from this point forward, however, goes beyond the simple exposition of a biographical fact. Indeed, it is now well known that for many Jewish secular scholars and intellectuals in France and in other countries, Levinas’s idiosyncratic interpretations of the Talmud opened a way back to the Jewish tradition. This, I must add, is not a unique phenomenon. Buber, Rosenzweig, and Heschel also gave Jewish intellectuals a new taste for Jewish texts and sometimes Jewish practice. Yet, the question that Kleinberg asks is about the meaning and composition of tradition: If we acknowledge that Levinas began his talmudic investigations at quite a late moment of his life, can his teaching be considered tradition? Can a tradition whose thread has been broken be reconstructed? Is a talmudic commentary that includes insights taken from other realms of thinking (such as Western philosophy or French humanism) still talmudic, still Jewish? What did Levinas exactly do in suggesting that his universalist understanding of the Jewish tradition is the Jewish tradition? Should his endeavor affect our presumptions about that tradition? These are fascinating questions. Some of them have already been raised in Levinas’s scholarship, but not as the basis for such a far-reaching discussion. In addition, Kleinberg shows that Levinas himself formulated versions of these questions in his talmudic readings, which deal with the meaning of tradition and transmission beyond their specific topics. The argument of the book, therefore, is that Levinas “inserted himself” into the Jewish tradition (99). And this implies two things. The first is that he opened that tradition to make room for himself. This was made possible by the fact that tradition had already been transformed, shaken, or even broken by a series of processes and events: the Jewish emancipation, secularism and assimilation, Nazi rule, and the decolonization wars that brought Sephardic Jews to Paris and created a new Jewish conversation. In other words, Levinas used the crises of his time to find his way into the talmudic chain of transmission. The second is that entering tradition from outside, he would almost necessarily start a new tradition or reformulate the tradition in a new language reflecting that outside realm, and dialoguing with it. This is what Levinas meant when...

Proust du côté juif par Antoine Compagnon

Reviewed by: Proust du côté juif par Antoine Compagnon James P. Gilroy Compagnon, Antoine. Proust du côté juif. Gallimard, 2022. ISBN 978-2-07-295907-3. Pp. 424. Compagnon studies the analyses of Jewish themes in Proust's novels made in the 1920s and 30s by mostly Jewish literary critics. Compagnon also provides a large amount of documentary information about the lives and careers of these critics, as well as of Proust's Jewish classmates, friends, and correspondents. He also provides facts and dates about Proust's Jewish forebears and relatives, including his great uncle Godchaux Weil, who was a prominent author in the nineteenth century. The reader also learns much about Jewish journalistic publications in France between the two World Wars. In his explorations of the articles and books written about Proust in the period following the publication of his novel, Compagnon shows how opinions as to the influence of the novelist's maternal Judaic background fell into two groups. Some critics found in Proust's work a glorification of his Jewish heritage, especially in his characterization of Swann. They pointed out the latter's courage and perseverance during the Dreyfus Affair and his final illness as outstandingly Jewish traits lauded by his creator. Several critics discerned a parallel in the thought and writing styles of Proust and Montaigne, both of whom had Jewish mothers. The run-on prose of both, with their long, complex sentence structures, parentheses, digressions, and qualifications were thought to reveal the influence of the Talmudic commentaries on Scripture. Some critics likened Proust and Montaigne to Bergson for their mobility of spirit. Yet others thought that the Kabbalistic tradition recorded in the Book of Zohar, with its doctrine of the transmigration of souls from male to female bodies and back, influenced Proust's concept of homosexuality. Such interpretations were found in journals that were organs of the Zionist movement. The more official publications of the French Jewish Consistory played down the Jewish influence on Proust and tended to dismiss him as an example of the assimilated Jews in France who had forgotten their ancestral heritage. Although Compagnon does not include more recent studies of Jewish themes in Proust within the purview of his book, he refers intermittently to Proustian scholars who consider his work anti-Semitic. These critics find Proust's portrayal of Bloch, Rachel, and Gilberte Swann to be critical and condemnatory. They are also offended by Proust's comparison of Jews and homosexuals as outcasts who are forced by society to disguise their true selves. Much discussion is devoted by Compagnon to a statement made by Proust in a letter of condolence to a Jewish friend. In it, Proust reminisces about accompanying his maternal grandfather to the cemetery of Père-Lachaise where the family tomb of the Weil's was located. The grandfather would make an annual pilgrimage to place a stone on the monument to his ancestors, but Proust suggests that his grandfather had long since forgotten the significance of this gesture. Compagnon did extensive literary detective work to trace the actual source of this much quoted passage, and he analyzes all the possible pro- or anti-Jewish implications of Proust's remark. [End Page 271] James P. Gilroy University of Denver (CO) Copyright © 2023 American Association of Teachers of French

In This Land: Jewish Life and Legal Culture in Late Medieval Provence by Pinchas Roth

Reviewed by: In This Land: Jewish Life and Legal Culture in Late Medieval Provence by Pinchas Roth Erika E. Hess Roth, Pinchas. In This Land: Jewish Life and Legal Culture in Late Medieval Provence. Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies, 2021. ISBN 978-0-88844-223-9. Pp. 168. Drawing primarily from medieval Provençal legal responsa––texts written by rabbinic scholars to answer questions about Jewish law or Halakhah––Roth reveals a colorful portrait of Jewish life in Provence from the twelfth through fourteenth centuries. In contrast to other rabbinic documents such as Talmudic commentaries or legal codes that turn back to older texts, responsa tend to be grounded in the moment––“specific legal questions, asked at a particular point in time by one person (or more) to another person (or group of people),” often practical in nature (4). Roth notes that the “temporal nature” of responsa provides rare glimpses into the culture, conflicts, and identities of Jewish life in medieval Provence (4). Some questions posed to rabbinic scholars centered on marital relations, such as a case in which a man sought guidance in regard to his adulterous wife, asking: “Is my wife forbidden to me or permitted?” (37). In another case, a questioner asked whether a man who suffered from “the black madness” or melancholy could divorce his wife (40). Other questions revolved around Jewish dietary rules, such as the scientific thinking behind kosher meat. Still others questioned components of Jewish liturgy, such as whether it was correct to recite the Kol Nidre on the eve of Yom Kippur. Although a number of responsa consider fabricated questions that were asked to resolve philosophical or legal matters rather than true questions that were cause for concern, Roth notes that they nonetheless underscore the “presence” of Jewish law in their lives (39). Roth additionally compares the rulings of specific rabbinic scholars, for example the rulings of Mordechai Kimhi from Narbonne (later, near Carpentras), and those of Abraham ben Isaac of Montpellier. As Roth notes, although they had a similar “cultural profile” as “recognized rabbinic scholars” and their “attitude toward philosophical rationalism was similarly moderate,” their rulings often differed significantly: “They held very different beliefs about the law and its place in society” (36). Especially after 1306, when Jews were expelled from the Kingdom of France and many migrated to Provence, we also find responsa relating to conflicts resulting from differences between the culture and traditions of Provençal Jewish communities and those of the newly arrived French Jews. As Roth points out, the personality of the rabbi often played an important role in their attitudes toward immigration and multiculturalism. Mordechai Kimhi’s son, Isaac, for example, “advocated a path of compromise and tolerance” both between Provençal and French Jews, and between Jews and Gentiles (119), whereas Isaac of Manosque and Abba Mari of Lunel “staked out confrontational positions” as they strove to hold a firm line within their “deeply divided community” (119). In addition to the vivid and sometimes surprising stories that Roth includes, his own enthusiasm for the subject contributes to the book’s easy readability. This book will be of great interest, not only to scholars of medieval Jewish history and culture, but to anyone interested in the European Middle Ages and in Judaism more broadly. [End Page 194] Erika E. Hess Northern Arizona University Copyright © 2022 American Association of Teachers of French

LEVINAS AND THE SYMBOL OF THE TEMPLE OF JERUSALEM FOR THE WHOLE OF HUMANITY

Abstract: Levinas does not speak quite often about the Temple, but in his Talmudic commentaries, he says quite impressive things about the Temple and its image. Commenting the Tractate Yoma 10a of Talmud, he says that «The Temple of Jerusalem in Jewish thought is a symbol, which signifies for the whole of humanity». This paper focuses on clarify this sentence and the universality of one Temple, which «is an exact replica of the heavenly Temple, the order of absolute holiness» according with his comment to Rabbi Hayyim Volozhiner. I research the symbolic value of the Temple in Jerusalem built as in ruins and try to connect this value with the rest of Levinas’ philosophy, especially with his theory of sacrifice as substitution.Palabras clave: Temple of Jerusalem; Politics-Messianism; History; Responsibility; Guilt; Holiness; Sacrifice.

Jewish and Christian Voices in English Reformation Biblical Drama: Enacting Family and Monarchy. Chanita Goodblatt. New York: Routledge, 2018. Pp. ix+256.

<i>Jewish and Christian Voices in English Reformation Biblical Drama: Enacting Family and Monarchy</i>. Chanita Goodblatt. New York: Routledge, 2018. Pp. ix+256.

LEVINAS AND THE SYMBOL OF THE TEMPLE OF JERUSALEM FOR THE WHOLE OF HUMANITY

Levinas does not speak quite often about the Temple, but in his Talmudic commentaries, he says quite impressive things about the Temple and its image. Commenting the Tractate Yoma 10a of Talmud, he says that «The Temple of Jerusalem in Jewish thought is a symbol, which signifies for the whole of humanity». This paper focuses on clarify this sentence and the universality of one Temple, which «is an exact replica of the heavenly Temple, the order of absolute holiness» according with his comment to Rabbi Hayyim Volozhiner. I research the symbolic value of the Temple in Jerusalem built as in ruins and try to connect this value with the rest of Levinas’ philosophy, especially with his theory of sacrifice as substitution.

Marriage and Sexuality in Pearl Abraham’s The Romance Reader and Hush by Judy Brown

This article examines two authors’ perspectives on marriage and sexuality in Hasidic Judaism through the leading female characters in their semi-autobiographical novels: The Romance Reader by Pearl Abraham and Hush by Judy Brown. Each novel features an adolescent woman on her path to marriage and their experience of matrimony and sexuality within their respective Hasidic communities. The aim of the article is to analyse and compare their views in order to gain a better understanding of the female experience of sexuality and marriage within contemporary Hasidic Judaism. Furthermore, this article discusses the treatment of sexual abuse within a particular Hasidic group. It employs a methodology of close reading combined with a discussion of Talmudic, theological, sociological and ethnographic commentaries on the subject.

The Use of Codified Law in the Rabbinic Courts of Frankfurt am Main on the Eve of the Enlightenment

During the Middle Ages and into the early modern period, rabbinic scholars of law in Franco-German communities had an at best ambivalent attitude toward the codification of Jewish law. Even Rabbi Joseph Caro’s Shulḥan ˋArukh, first printed in Venice in 1565, was not well received by all. While students of the law from the lower ranks seem to have embraced the code, many leading rabbis—particularly those in sixteenth- and early seventeenth-century Poland—rejected it. In the course of the mid-seventeenth century, attitudes shifted, and Shulḥan ˋArukh became the place for commentaries and learned discussions of the law. By the eighteenth century, rabbinic courts were using Shulḥan ˋArukh as the basis of their legal decision making. This is confirmed, at least for Frankfurt am Main, through an examination of the legal diary of Rabbi Nathan Maas (d. 1794). In his diary, Maas not only summarized cases that he heard but also sometimes offered rationales for the court’s decisions. These precis make constant reference to Shulḥan ˋArukh and its commentaries while never entering into an analysis of talmudic sources. This cannot have been because of a lack of ability, for Maas and his colleagues on the Frankfurt court were well-known scholars who published talmudic commentaries of substance. The use of a code, even by such authorities, may have been for utilitarian reasons, that is, to speed up the judicial process.

A Journey into the Talmudic Ocean with Emmanuel Levinas

ABSTRACT Along with his philosophical works, Emmanuel Levinas also produced collections of his own Talmudic commentaries. He credits his Talmudic learning to an enigmatic and mysterious teacher, Chouchani, who influenced Levinas in the postwar years. Levinas gives little credence to the rise of modern historical-critical methods of exegesis. Rather, the method he learned from Chouchani drew on ancient practices of rabbinic and Talmudic interpretation. The meanings taught by Talmudic texts are drawn from the deeply symbolic well of Scripture, filled with signs, stories, and teachings. According to Levinas, we cannot rely solely on an historical method to access the deeper well of meanings found in the Scriptures. The aim of this essay is to explore Levinas's critique of historical criticism and to distil some of the hermeneutical approaches he proposes in his Talmudic commentaries.

The &lt;i&gt;Qibla&lt;/i&gt;: An Allusion to the &lt;i&gt;Shema?&lt;/i&gt;

In this article it is argued that the Qiblah passages in the Qur’an, which are commonly understood as referring to the direction of the prayer, are directly engaging with and interpreting the Shema passages in Deuteronomy and their Talmudic commentaries. By defining and applying the method of intertextual polysemy, nine points of intertextuality are identified between the various Qur’anic, Biblical, and Talmudic passages. Against this background, the article implies that narrations from traditional Qur’anic commentaries are lacking in their interpretation of these passages, since they do not employ any extra-Quranic contexts to explain their meaning. Through the method of intertextual polysemy, the alternative thesis propounded here is that the historical reference for the Qiblah passages is the Shema.

The First Case of Drug-Dependent Memory: The Biblical Lot in Talmudic and Midrashic Exegesis

The literature on alcohol and alcoholism has long noted how the effects of alcohol are reported in early sources, including religious texts such as the Bible and Talmud. In that vein, we suggest that the Bible, as elucidated according to long-established rabbinic interpretation, contains the earliest recorded case of drug-dependent memory, in the account of Lot's alcohol-facilitated incestuous relationships with his daughters (Genesis 19:29–38). We posit that the Talmudic, Midrashic, and traditional rabbinic commentaries that support our reading of the Lot narrative convey keen understanding of the effects of alcohol on recall. These Jewish sources, written centuries ago, demonstrate insight into the nature of alcohol-influenced cognitive function, which was thought to have been unknown prior to contemporary times.

Ann W. Astell and J. A. Jackson, Levinas and Medieval Literature: The “Difficult Reading” of English and Rabbinic TextsLevinas and Medieval Literature: The “Difficult Reading” of English and Rabbinic Texts. Edited by Ann W. Astell and J. A. Jackson. Pittsburgh: Duquesne University Press. Pp. x+374.

<i>Ann W. Astell and J. A. Jackson</i>, Levinas and Medieval Literature: The “Difficult Reading” of English and Rabbinic Texts<i>Levinas and Medieval Literature: The “Difficult Reading” of English and Rabbinic Texts</i>. Edited by Ann W. Astell and J. A. Jackson. Pittsburgh: Duquesne University Press. Pp. x+374.

EMMANUEL LEVINAS' METHODOLOGICAL APPROACH TO THE JEWISH SACRED TEXTS

This paper explores Emmanuel Levinas' Jewish writings, and in particular, his Talmudic commentaries and essays on Judaism. The aim is to elicit some salient features of his methodological approach to the Jewish sacred texts. In general, Levinas' specific reflections on method (in terms of reading the Jewish Scriptures) are confined to sporadic, fragmentary comments interspersed throughout his writings. In extracting these reflections, a specifically Levinasian approach emerges. In particular, his approach shows how one may ethically encounter the Other(s) in these sacred texts.

"A Land that Devours Its Inhabitants": Midrashic Reading, Emmanuel Levinas, and Prophetic Exegesis

This essay initially cites the ways Levinas has been read to date—in philosophy, feminism, and Jewish Studies—noting the absence of midrashic reading, and especially one identified as akin to literary reading. It next defines midrash as the Rabbis and Jewish Studies scholars describe it (for example, in Genesis 22), and proceeds to examine a sample of midrashic reading—Levinas's "Promised Land or Permitted Land?"—perusing this text in four ways: (1) for the Biblical scripture (in Numbers, Deuteronomy, and Isaiah) the Talmudic rabbis read; (2) for the Talmudic commentary in Sotah that Levinas examines; (3) for Levinas's ethical commentary; and (4) for my own prophetic account of Levinas's commentary upon Talmud's scriptural reading. These four roughly correspond, the essay suggests, with the four traditional levels of interpretation— pshat, remez, d'rash , and sod —about which the Rabbis speak or the four levels about which Christian hermeneuts speak: plain sense, allegorical, moral, and anagogic.

Objectives of Sugyot – A Study of the Redaction of the Babylonian Talmud as Reflected in Three Sugyot of Tractate 'Eruvin

This article presents a novel methodology for the analysis of passages (Sugyot) foundin the Babylonian Talmud based upon identifying the objectives of the redaction that guided the editors of that passage. Three different Talmud passages are presented, and the various objectives of the redaction were indicated: First, a passage whose objective was to take the form of ten statements in the name of R. Yirmiyah ben Elazar, though there exist more of his statements. Second, a Sugya dealing with the stylistic use of the expression “and further” (ve c od), in order not to leave the first part of the Mishna withoutany Talmudic commentary. Third, a section whose objective was to reject the position taken by R. Yossi berabbi Yehuda from being accepted as standard Jewish Law. Were it not for the editorial intervention by the redactors, the law would have been determinedby R. Yossi’s position. The question is to understand why a Sugya is found as is in thetext in contrast to other sources, e.g., parallel passages in the Babylonian Talmud, manusscript readings, the Jerusalem Talmud, the Tosefta, Geonic literature, readings found inmedieval and later commentaries, etc. In other words, one must under take to examine themotives of the editors of a passage when they approached the task of redaction. Thus, itwill be possible to solve sundry issues or difficulties that crop up in different passages, as, for instance, in matters of form and style, difficult readings of Halakha and differences intexts. Furthermore, one may determine if and how the deciders of Jewish Law (Poskim) were influenced by the redaction of Sugya.

Contemporary Jewish Ethics and Morality: A Reader

Editors' Introduction I. JEWISH ETHICS A. Literature and Context of 1. Menachem Kellner, The Structure of Ethics: B. Theoretical Issues in 1. Louis Newman, as Law, Law as Religion. 2. David Novak, Natural Law, Halakah, and the Covenant. 3. Harold Schluweid, The Single Mirror of Images. 4. Elliot Dorff, Covenant: Transcendent Thrust in Law: C. Reconceptualizing Ethics in Modern Times: 1. S. Daniel Breslauer, Modernizing American Liberal Dilemma. 2. Eugene Borowitz, The Self. 3. Richard J. Israel, Jewish Tradition and Political Action: D. Methodological Problems: Case of Medical 1. David Elleson, How to Draw Guidance from a Heritage: Moral Choices. 2. Louis Newman, Woodchoppers and Respirators: Problem of Interpretation. 3. Elliot Dorff, Methodology for Medical Ethics. 4. Aaron Mackler, Cases and Principles in Bioethics: E. Alternative Visions of 1. Michael Morgan, Jewish Ethics After the Holocaust. 2. Laurie Zolof-Dorfman, An Ethics of Encounter: Public Choices and Private Acts. 3. Annette Aronowicz, Emmanuel Levinas' Talmudic Commentaries: II: Morality Introduction A. Traditional Virtues and Values: 1. Alfred Jospe, The Meaning of Existence. 2. Sol Roth, Towards a Definition of Humility: B. Perspectives on Sex and Family: 1. David Novak, Some Aspects of Sex, Society and God in Judaism. 2. Arthur Waskow, Down-to-Earth Judiasm: Sexuality. 3. Martha Ackelsberg, Jewish Family Ethics in Post-Halakhic Age. 4. Blu Greenberg, The Theoretical Basis of Women's Equality in Judaism: C. Perspectives on Social Problems: 1. Robert Gordis, Ecology and the Judaic Tradition. 2. Seymour Siegel, A View of Economic Justice. 3. Elie Spitz, Jewish Tradition and Capital Punishment: D. Perspectives on Medical 1. Fred Rosner, Euthanasia. 2. Byron Sherwin, Euthanasia: View. 3. David Feldman, This Matter of Abortion. 4. Sandra Lubarsky, Judaism and the Justification of Abortion for Non-Medical Reasons.: E. Perspectives on Politics and Power: State of Israel: 1. Irving Greenberg, The Ethics Of Power. 2. Judith Plaskow, Feminist Reflections on the State of Israel. 3. David Hartman, Living with Conflicting Values. 4. Einat Ramon, The Ethics of Ruling a State with a Large Non-Jewish Minority: Epilogue: Future of Ethics and Morals

Early Hebrew Printing from Lublin to Safed: The Journeys of Eliezer ben Isaac Ashkenazi

Eliezer ben Isaac Ashkenazi, an itinerant printer, plied his trade for several decades in the second half of the sixteenth century in eastern Europe and the Middle East. Active in Lublin, Constantinople, and Safed, Eliezer was the first to print books in Erez Israel. His ability to move between and function in these disparate locations is an example of the fluidity of contemporary Jewish society. Eliezer's motivation in relocating reflects both the political and economic reality of sixteenth-century Jewish life as well as Eliezer's personal circumstances. The wide spectrum of the books printed by Eliezer reflects the diverse interests and needs of these Jewish communities, encompassing Talmudic treatises, Kabbalistic commentaries, and poetry.

Cleft lip in the Talmud.

The authors address the problem of why the cleft lip anomalad is not mentioned even once in the Talmud, which contains detailed reports of numerous other forms of pathology and congenital anomalies. It also attempts to define the Sandal deformity, one of the most common congenital anomalies mentioned in the Talmud. It is assumed that cleft lip, the most common major facial defect, existed at the time of the Talmud. It is proposed that the Sandal deformity was actually made up of a number of entities grouped together because of a theorized common etiology, and that the cleft lip entity is included in the Sandal anomalad. This deformity, in its various forms, included, besides cleft lip, aborted tissue and products of gestation. They are all related to the common etiology of a twin gestation during which one fetus presses against the other causing the deformity. The Sandal was noted to look like the Sandal fish or sole, for which it is named. When photos of the Sandal fish and the cleft lip deformity are compared, a similarity is seen. In addition, this deformity apparently was thought to be fatal, and none of these babies survived. It is theorized that cleft lip babies were allowed to die because they were considered nonviable in the eyes of Jewish law. Supporting evidence for the ideas presented by the authors is derived from the talmudic texts and commentaries. If the Sandal does indeed include the cleft lip entity, the citation in the Mishnah (70-200 AD) makes it the earliest historical reference to the cleft lip deformity.

TOWARD A NEW UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORK OF EMMANUEL LEVINAS

Neither the life nor the work of Emmanuel Levinas, the remarkable French Jewish philosopher and talmudic commentator, fit easily into customary categories. Levinas, who died in Paris in late 1995 just a few weeks shy of his ninetieth birthday, was born in Lithuania and emigrated to France, becoming a French citizen in 1931.1 While still in his early thirties Levinas seemed poised to enter a promising career as a philosophy professor. Then the Second World War broke out. Drafted into the French army, Levinas was soon captured and, in view of his status as a French soldier, was sent off to spend the next five years in Nazi prison camps. When the war ended he returned to Paris and soon found out that his family in Lithuania had been slaughtered. Levinas rebuilt his life and, some fifteen years later, finally began that promising academic career. He had in the meantime taken on an important role in Paris’ growing postwar Jewish community as the head of a training institute for Jewish educators; he also spent many years learning Talmud with a noted teacher.2 Levinas continued to participate actively in Jewish communal life in Paris both during his academic career and long after he retired from the university in 1976. Levinas’ rich and complex life spanned many worlds. His work similarly resists disciplinary pigeonholes. He wrote with great acuity and mastery about philosophy, ethics, religion, literature, aesthetics, contemporary culture, and Jewish texts. His philosophical work is among the most important in the twentieth century. His several volumes of talmudic commentaries and his collection of essays on Jewish ideas and issues are also highly regarded.3 His influence not only in philosophy and in Jewish thought, but in the humanities and social sciences as well, has been and continues to be significant. While scholars have generally acknowledged the exceptional nature of Levinas’ life and the diversity of his work, they have been reluctant for the most part to admit what follows from this—that in order to understand Levinas’ unique project as a whole, it may well be necessary to move beyond academic models and the disciplinary divisions they reflect. This does not, however, mean discarding academic procedures and distinctions; Levinas’ work demands not something less than

Hannah's Prayer: Rabbinic Ambivalence

The talmudic sages esteemed Hannah's petition to God for a son as exemplary prayer, yet most also opposed women's participation in communal prayer and Torah learning. This paper explores how rabbinic exclusion of women from the core of public Judaic religious practice could coexist with rabbinic endorsement of Hannah's prayer—the only prayer by a woman recorded in the Hebrew Bible—as the model that all petitioners to God, female and male, should follow. I place Hannah's prayer in the context of other biblical narratives about barrenness, compare it with heartfelt prayers by Moses and Hezekiah, and summarize the talmudic and midrashic commentary on Hannah's prayer. The discussion of Hannah's prayer in the rabbinic literature follows a characteristic pattern when it comes to women. The rabbis promulgate regulations inimical to the full expression of women's potentialities but also acknowledge and even celebrate the very potentialities that they would suppress.