Although rabbinic compilations were composed hundreds of years after the destruction of the Second Temple, and despite differences in language, genre, and cultural setting, Dynamics of Midrashic Traditions seeks to demonstrate that both corpora preserve a common heritage, albeit replete with conflicting traditions and polemics. The integrative study carried out in this book sheds light on both corpora, paying special attention to the dynamics that shape and reshape the midrashic traditions throughout their transmission. The book deals with exegetical aspects incorporated in textual variants of the Bible, in Second Temple Literature (especially the "rewritten Bible", Sirach, Book of Jubilees, the Dead Sea scrolls, Hellenistic Jewish works, Philo of Alexandria), as well as passages of Paul and early Christian writers, scrutinizing them in tandem with parallels from rabbinic literature, Targum and ancient piyyutim . Among the themes discussed are the following: the knowledge of good and evil given to Adam; Abraham the monotheist; Moses’s death; Pesher and allegoristic interpretation; and halakhic issues in rabbinic literature and the Dead Sea scrolls. Table of Contents in English

Table of Contents: David Henshke - Directing Prayer toward the Holy Place : the Plain Meaning of the Mishnah and Its Echoes in Talmudic Literature Baruch J. Schwartz - R. Judah Heḥasid’s Commentary on Genesis 48:20 Shalem Yahalom - Tosafot Sens: Editions and Characteristics Yaron Ben-Naeh - An Unknown Sabbatean Document Gideon Freudenthal - Salomon Maimon's Development from Kabbalah to Philosophical Rationalism

Table of Contents: Ariel Kopilovitz Ezekiel's Theology of Holiness and Impurity as a Key to Understanding the Description of the Departure of the 'Glory of YHWH' from the Temple (Ezekiel 8-11) Nadav Na'aman The Story of the Exodus between Historical Memory and Historiographical Composition Gideon Bohak A New Genizah Fragment of the Aramaic Levi Document Binyamin Katzoff Blessings over Mitzvot in Eretz Israel and in Babylonia: Further to David Rosenthal, 'Tefillin Blessing in Eretz Israel and in Babylonia' Yacov Fuchs MS Mantova 30 Itamar Kislev 'Exegesis in Perpetual Motion': The Short Commentary of Ibn Ezra as a Source for Rashbam in his Commentary on the Pentateuch Aviram Ravitsky The Doctrine of the Mean and Asceticism: On the Uniformity of Maimonides' Ethics Moshe Idel Sefer Yetzirah: Twelve Commentaries on Sefer Yetzirah and the Extant Remnants of R. Isaac of Bedresh's Commentary Maoz Kahana How did the Hatam-Sofer Seek to Trump Spinoza? Text, Hermeneutics, and Romanticism in the Writings of R. Moses Sofer

In the book Revelation and Rectification , private aspects of Rabbi Nachman's personal spiritual world, previously unknown and never before discussed, are revealed. The first section of the book explores the spiritual revelations experienced by Rabbi Nachman of Bretslav as well as the spiritual experiments he conducted . Among the topics discussed is the powerful story of spiritual revelation entitled "The Story of the Bread" wherein Rabbi Nachman newly receives the Torah, as did Moses on Mount Sinai. This story was kept secret for two hundred years because of Rabbi Nachman's warning against showing it to any stranger. The second section of the book is dedicated to the rectifications - tikunim - which Rabbi Nachman established. The content and the process of the formulation of the tikun klali (general rectification) are discussed, as are the tikun following nocturnal emission and the tikun to be performed during the pilgrimage to his grave. In this context, the secret story "The Story of the Armor," which deals with the unique quality of the tikun established by Rabbi Nachman is included . In the book, the connection between the personal trials that Rabbi Nachman weathered successfully and the tikunim he established becomes clear. The secret Breslav traditions which tell of the temptations with which Rabbi Nachman struggled while still a young bridegroom comparing him to the Biblical Joseph are discussed.. Also addressed in the book are the motives behind Rabbi Nachman's choice of the city of Uman as his final resting place and the place where the tikun of pilgrimage to his grave was to be performed. The book's final chapter jumps 200 years forward and discusses the developments which took place following the death of Rabbi Nachman, focusing in particular of those developments which have taken place during the past decade (2000-2010 ), among them, new rituals surrounding the pilgrimage to Rabbi Nachman's grave such as the "universal general tikun" and the tossing away of piercing jewelry while reciting the traditional tashlich prayer. The book explores the novel context given by today's Breslav Hasidim to the phenomenon of the pilgrimage to Rabbi Nachman's grave in Uman on the Rosh Hashana holiday, in an era when Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav has become a contemporary Israeli cultural hero who plays an important role in the worlds of varied populations who are not traditionally Breslav Hasidim.

Table of Contents Vered NoamIs - It true that ‘A corpse does not defile’? On Ritual Contamination in Tannaitic Literature Uri Ehrlich - Maʿaseh Bereshit and Shir Shel Yom in the Early Siddur: New Finds from the Cairo Geniza Yair Lorberbaum - ‘Incline thy ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply thy heart unto my knowledge’: Criticism of Aggadah in The Guide of the Perplexed Zvi Mark - The Mystical Fellowship: On the Visions of R. Shmuel Isaac of Doshiv and R. Yitshaq Isaac of Tirovitz (Two of R. Nahman of Braslav’s First Disciples) Book Review Jonatan Meir - Scholem’s ‘Archives’

Tarbiz is the only Hebrew academic journal that is devoted to the entire range of Jewish studies. Appearing quarterly, this journal is the principal forum for the expression of the most important developments in Jewish studies in our generation, and its contributors include the leading scholars in the various fields of Jewish studies in Israel and the world, as well as young scholars who are beginning to make their mark. Tarbiz was first published in 1930 at the Institute of Jewish Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, under the editorial pen of Prof. Jacob Nachum Epstein z"l.