The Hope of Enlightenment presents for the first time in Hebrew a comprehensive analysis of the thought of Jürgen Habermas. A philosopher, social critic, and public intellectual, Habermas is an ardent but hardly a dogmatic defender on the Enlightenment. He has thus has contributed a distinctive perspective in the ongoing discourse on modernity. To illuminate the far-reaching significance of this contribution – and its challenges to both Israeli and modern society in general -- Matan Oram examines Habermas's critical thought through the prism of political philosophy in the broad context of the crisis of modernity. By focusing on the dialectical relationship between 'rationalism' and 'liberalism' in Habermas’s thought, the book traces his theoretical project as it has evolved throughout his vast corpus of writings, and explores its philosophical and intellectual origins.

The Journal of Rural Cooperation (JRC) is an interdisciplinary journal focusing on cooperatives and related rural organizations in developed and less developed countries. Topics of particular interest are cooperatives facing trends of globalization and privatization, the web of cooperative-community relationships, and cooperatives as part of such broader systems as mainstream economics, economies in transition, the social economy or related alternative paradigms. Journal of Rural Cooperation Home Page

Kraków―one of the great centres of Jewish culture in east-central Europe―has always had a special place in the hearts of its Jewish inhabitants, much more so than was ever the case elsewhere in Poland. Considering Jewish life in the city from a wide range of social and cultural perspectives, primarily in the last two centuries, the contributors to this volume present a fascinating detailed panorama to explain why this should have been the case

Contents Robert S. Wistrich - Jewish "Otherness" in Historical Perspective Anthony Kauders - Liberalism, Multiculturalism, and Jewish Identity in the Federal Republic, 1945-1990 Nelly Las - Secularism, Feminism, and Antisemitism: The Islamic Veil in France Martina Libertad Weisz - Micro-physics of Otherness: Jews, Muslims, and Latin Americans in Today's Spain Suzanne Rutland and Sol Encel - Australian Multiculturalism: Immigration, Race, and Religion Micahel C. Kotzin - Pictures at an exhibition: Art Galleries, the Academy, and Anti-Israel Polemics Heidemarie Wawrsyn - Nazis in the Holy Land Jeffrey Herf - Nazi Broadcasts to the Middle East during the Holocaust Menahem Milson - A European Plot on the Arab Stage Robert S. Wistrich - Antisemitism: The European and Islamic Legacies Annexe: Interview with the Author

From the Critics: "...the boldness, coherence, and sweep of the book are impressive...Ofek has good and highly persuasive ideas about his main concern, which is the importance and centrality of economic analysis from an early point in human evolution...Second Nature is an exhilarating and interesting read that raises powerful questions about how humans got here and how we should be studied." Alan Grafen (Professor of Biological Sciences, Oxford University) Science “This is without a doubt one of the most important books to be published in the field of socio-economics in recent years. Ofek has done a superb job in linking what he calls Bioeconomics with Paleoeconomics to explain the transition from Homo Erectus to Homo Sapiens . . . . Briefly put, any reader would benefit from the wealth of new ideas that virtually jump out from almost each and every page.” Warren Young (Professor of Economics, Bar Ilan University) European Journal of Political Economy "Ofek synthesizes an enormous range of research on human origins to advance to the key role of exchange of goods and services in the evolution of distinctively human species.... This superb book seems poised to be a touchstone for work in prehistory and human origins for the foreseeable future; essential for all academic libraries; highly recommended for others." D. Bantz (University of Alaska) Choice "Ofek's book is, in fact, remarkable because it gives interesting, exhausting and insightful answers to old problems and, at the same time, it provides a new way to approach human evolution from the economic viewpoint." Joao Ricardo Faria (Professor of Economics, University of Texas) Economic History Network “Altogether this is a stimulating and well-done book. It’s even written better than most books involving either biology or anthropology. It seems to me that it should be the beginning of a major revamping of our views of the early history of our ancestors. Its interest to economists is of course particularly great, but I would hope that biologists and anthropologists will find it equally stimulating.” Gordon Tullock (economics and law professor at George Mason University) Journal of Bioeconomics

This book is dedicated to a wide range study of the different contexts of paradise in different religious and cultural traditions from antiquity to the present. The biblical story tells of 'Garden of Eden (Genesis H - C, X), is where the human story begins and where its basic concepts are defined. In the story of the Garden of Eden the dialogue between the eternal Creator and an ephemeral created man are mentioned for the first time. Also the archetypal division between man and woman, the distinction between innocence and knowledge, the eye opening as a result of eating from the tree of knowledge, the shameful hiding, guilt and fear are also present; A distinction between crime and punishment, the naked and dressed/covered, between prohibited and permitted, between controlling and controlled, and the eternal and the temporal. These concepts have all become world cultural infrastructure of the monotheistic religions in many contexts, from the beginning of life to its end. Table of Contents Foreword Introduction A. Garden of Eden in Antiquity Yair Zakovitch, "Is The Tree of Knowledge The Tree of Life?" Nathan Wasserman, "'And the Earth Was Revealed in all Its Beauty': Remarks on the Literary Traditions of Paradise and Creation of the World in Ancient Mesopotamia and in the Bible." Leah Mazor, “The Journey of the Magical River from the Temple to the Sea (Ezek 47, 1-12): The Removal of Chaos and a New Creation.” Rachel Elior, "'The ‘Garden of Eden was the Holy of Holies and theDwelling of the Lord'." B. Garden of Eden in Late Antiquity Serge Ruzer, “Earthly Paradise as Homeland, Jerusalem as Remotest Exile: Inverted Sacred Geography and Linguistics in the Syriac 'Cave of Treasures'.” Sergey Minov, "The question of Sexuality in Paradise as reflected in Late Antiquity Biblical Exegesis - Between the Sages and the Fathers of the Church." Hannah Wortzman, "Seduction and Sin in the Greek Life of Adam and Eve." Nurit Hirshfeld, “From Which Tree did Adam and Eve Eat in the Garden of Eden?” C. Garden of Eden in the Liturgy and in the World of the Sages Dalia Marx, "'And Mystery is Paradise': The Garden of Eden in Jewish Liturgy." AvigdorShinan, "'On Those who Entered theGarden of Eden Alive'." D. Paradise in the Medieval Period Amitai Harosh, "'And from thence it was parted, and became into four Heads' (Gen 2:10): Paradise in the Writings of Salomon Ibn Gabirol." Micha Goodman, "The Law of the Torah as a return to Paradise: Maimonides Perception of the Law." Oded Yisraeli, "The Tree of Life and its Roots – A History of a Kabalistic Symbol." Elisheva Revel-Neher, "Between Heaven and Earth: the Heavenly Ladder in Jewish and Christian Medieval Art." Ithamar Theodor, "The Star of the Cows - the Highest Heaven in the Krishnaite Tradition." E. Garden of Eden in the Modern Period David Fishelov, "'But We Must Cultivate Our Garden': Paradise Lost/Found in Robinson Crusoe and Candide." Yahil Zaban: "'A Place for Love': the Literature of the Enlightenment and the 'Pleasant Place.'" Yehuda Moraly, "A Revolution in Paradise: Representations of Paradise on the Twentieth Century Stage and Screen." Uri Hollander, "Miłosz Enterd the Pardes: On Czesław Miłosz ' s Utopic Perception." F. Paradise in Sociology, psychology and Anthropology Yoram Bilu, "'The Gateway to Paradise' in Beit She'an: Between Personal Symbol and Cultural Tradition in a Holy Site." Chaim Noy, "Touristic Paradises: A Critical Rendering of Modern Vacationscapes." Adam Klin-Oron, "End-of-Days Visions in Twentieth-Century Channeling: From the Age of Aquariusto the New Age." Published in Cooperation with Scholion Interdisciplinary Research Center in Jewish Studies

The essays by Shemaryahu Talmon presented in this fourth volume of his collected studies in English were written against the background of the momentous manuscript finds at various sites in the Judean Desert, including approximately 200 biblical or Bible-related manuscripts and manuscript fragments discovered at Qumran. These discoveries date from the crucial period of the turn of the era and afford scholars unprecedented information on the early transmission history of the biblical text. Talmon likens the transmission process (in agreement with Paul Kahle, and contrary to Paul de Lagarde) to a confluence of variant pristine traditions that Judaism, Christianity, and the Samaritan communities severally channeled into one fixed and closely circumscribed text form. It is his thesis that at least some of the "biblical" manuscripts and fragments from Qumran preserve original variants of the wording in the Masoretic Text, which eventually was recognized and transmitted in Judaism as the acclaimed and exclusively binding wording of the Hebrew Bible. These manuscripts and fragments evidence a "textual strategy" consisting of the interaction of the original authors and the transmitters of their work. Scribes and editors were minor partners of the authors. They did not refrain from occasionally changing wordings within a given range of "poetic license," often adapting literary techniques and patterns that had been used by the primary creators of the texts that they copied. The 18 essays reprinted in this volume relate to a variety of phenomena that affected the biblical literature in the stages of transition from oral tradition to hand-written transmission, initially in Paleo-Hebrew, then in the square alphabet, and ultimately in the promulgation of the Masoretic version in print. Talmon's articles published herein initially appeared over a period of about 50 years, thus giving expression to his developing thought regarding the transmission history of the biblical text up to the present time. The papers have undergone revision in the process of preparing the present volume. Scholars and students alike will benefit from owning and using this superb comprehensive collection of studies.

L’occasion de consacrer un numéro de Perspectives à Theodor Herzl nous a été naturellement offerte, cette année, par la célébration du cent cinquantième anniversaire de sa naissance. Bien des questions se posaient.Comment cet homme si étroitement lié à la société et à la culture viennoises a-t-il pu devenir le concepteur et le fondateur d’un Etat juif ? Comment cet homme d’imagination, longtemps préoccupé par la réalisation de ses ambitions littéraires en est-il venu à poursuivre obstinément une seule et unique ambition : donner un pays aux juifs ? Fallait-il penser que l’Affaire Dreyfus eut un rôle déterminant dans ce changement d’orientation ? Fallait-il supposer d’autres causes ? Nous avons pensé que le creuset viennois eut son rôle à jouer. De quelle manière ? C’est ce que dira l’ensemble des articles réunis ici. L'aube du sionisme JAQUES LE RIDER - Theodor Herzl, austro-hongrois jusqu'au des ongles: réflexions à partir de son journal présionisme STÉPHANE ENCEL - Herzl et sa lecture de la Bible: le passé pour l'avenir GEORGES YITSHAK WEISZ - Aux origines du sionisme de Herzl RITA THALMANN - Du sens de l'honneur viril ay malaise identitaire du judaïsme viennois PHILLIPE OLIVIER - De l'opérette a Un Survivant de Varsovie. Regards croisés sur Theodor Herzl et la musique viennois De la fiction à la réalité CYRIL ASLANOV - L'indifférence de Theodor Herzl vis-à-vis de la langue hébraïque: causes et conséquences MARTIN RODAN - Theodor Herzl: itinéraire d'un Juif viennois de Paris à Jérusalem DENIS CHARBIT - Herzl, le judaïsme et le rabbins: entre respect et méfiance YEHUDA MORALY - Rêves viennois: antisémitisme et anticipation Échos et regards BÉATRICE GONZALÉS-VANGELL - Theodor Herzl, un portrait brosse par ses contemporains viennois GÉRARD HUBER - Herzl et Freud: au-delà de l'exclusion réciproque SOPHIE NORDMANN - Les philosophes juifs allemands face au sionisme THIERRY ALCOLOUMBRE - Une histoire de famille à Vienne. Autour d'un portrait de Klimt Hommage à un ami STÉPHANE MOSÈS - Cyrano de Bergerac

The prevailing popular view as well as that of the academic world is that rebelling against a super-power like Rome was both thoughtless and lacked any prospect of success. David Rokéah refutes this view. He compares the rebellions of the Britons and the Gauls against Rome with that of the Jews, and considers the attitude of the modern British and French—and Israelis-- to the disaster caused by their ancestors’ rebellions.

How did Monet really paint his series? What influence did the writings of Kant, Goethe, and Rousseau, or the art criticism of Baudelaire and Zola, have on nineteenth-century artists? Did you know that Renoir also wrote art theory? How did women artists, such as Morisot and Cassatt, struggle against social barriers? How were the lives of the artists expressed in their works? This book answers these questions and much more about the art of the nineteenth century, the cradle of modern art, a century rich in innovations both in art theory, philosophy and in the ideas of writers with whom the artists held a fruitful dialogue. By means of these theories, the author analyzes the principles of the three main movements that developed simultaneously at the beginning of the century: the idealism that ruled the Neo-Classical school and is found in the paintings of David and Ingres; the subjectivism of Romanticism that is revealed in the landscapes of Friedrich and Turner, in the highly expressive works of Goya and Delacroix and in the sculpture of Rodin; and Naturalism's interest in present-day life that is displayed in the landscapes of Constable and Corot and in the figure paintings of Millet and Courbet. This last movement was developed by Manet, Degas, Monet, and Renoir into Impressionism in the second half of the century. The book concludes with an analysis of the many different styles that were current at the end of the century in the art of Seurat, Cézanne, Van Gogh, Gauguin, Redon, and Munch. The texts in the book illuminate the art works that were the gateway to modern art in a new light. These texts are translated into Hebrew – for the most part for the first time – while conserving the writing style of each author. Each chapter is accompanied by an introduction and explanatory footnotes. A book for artists, lovers of art, teachers, and students.

The basic assumption in the studies presented in this book is that you can reveal teachers thoughts about learning processes by watching them teach. Therefore, these studies are based on observing lessons and practice sessions.