In this volume: Avi Shveka | The Prohibition to Capture a Mother Bird along with Her Young: A Reassessment Itamar Kislev | The Story of Nadav and Avihu: A Renewed Examination Yisca Zimran | Motion and Change in Micah 1:2–9 Noam Mizrahi | On the Importance of Text-critical Secondary Versions for Reconstructing the Literary Formation of Isaiah 61:1–7 Uri Gabbay | The Mesopotamian ‘Mouth Washing’ Ritual: A Hebrew Translation And more...

Usury: Moneylending, Money and Society in Rabbinic Literature is a study of the moneylending norms in the early stratum of rabbinic literature. It shows how these norms use the language of legal formalism to construct a community of status-equals, into which rabbinic adherents can buy their entry by making the correct investment choices. Placing these norms in a broad historical and intercultural context, it is a fresh look at Jewish moneylending norms, the first in over 30 years.

We are pleased to present readers with volume 23 of the journal Massorot: Studies in Language Traditions and Jewish Languages . The present volume contains nine articles focusing on diverse facets of Jewish Languages, and on the traditions and features of Hebrew reflected in the varied genres cultivated in that language. Five of the articles deal with translations. Two of them concern Bible translations into Judeo-Arabic. Moshe Bar-Asher, who has analyzed and published widely on the Western šarḥ – that is, the Jewish Maghrebi translation of the Bible – examines euphemism and language refinement "in the face of danger" with respect to the šarḥ of the Pentateuchal books of Numbers and Deuteronomy. Tamar Zewi examines alternative translations in the Judeo-Arabic Tafsīr of R. Saadia Gaon on Exodus, on the basis of the excellent manuscript of the commentary, Yevr. II C1, housed in the National Library of Russia in Saint Petersburg. Nahem Ilan discusses the Judeo-Arabic translation of the second part of the Hebrew work Pele Yo‘eṣ by Rabbi Eliezer Papo (Bulgaria, 1786–1827), composed in the middle of the 20th century by Rabbi Makhlouf Idan of Djerba. Yaffa Yisraeli analyzes the translation into the Jewish Neo-Aramaic dialect of Saqqiz (Iranian Kurdistan) of the noted piyyuṭ (liturgical poem) “Yashen al teradam,” by Rabbi Yehudah Halevy. Ora (Rodrigue) Schwarzwald offers readers a comparative analysis of six Ladino translations of the description of the lover in Song of Songs, Chapter 5, representing both the Eastern and Western Ladino traditions, from the 16th–20th centuries. Assaf Ben-Moshe draws our attention to the linguistic diversity of the Jews of Iraq by comparing the divergences between the Judeo-Arabic variety used by the Jews of ˁĀna and that used by the Baghdad Jewish community. Dalit Assouline examines the Hebrew used by Mizrahi rabbis who joined the Breslav Hasidic sect, originally of Ashkenazic origin. Efraim Hazan and Rachel Hitin-Mashiah zooms in on another genre, the epistles exchanged by rabbinic scholars concerning books. Kedem Golden deals with Hebrew poetic riddles.

Among the articles in this issue: Ohad Abudraham | The Prefix qa- in Classical Mandaic Ilan Eldar | 'Adat Devorim ('Swarm of Bees') Yoel Elitzur | The History of Aramaic 'Igar and its Reflection in the Mishna Chanan Ariel | בגדי השרד: Linguistic and Philological Observations on Babylonian Talmud Yoma 72b

The Two Mekhiltot on the Jethro Portion (Exodus 18) is, in a sense, a complement to Menahem Kahana's previous book, The Two Mekhiltot on the Amalek Portion . The book is based on new text editions of Mekhilta d'Rabbi Ishmael and Mekhilta d'Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai on the Jethro portion. It includes a systematic and detailed commentary on the exegeses of the Mekhiltot, shedding new light on many exegeses – their literal meaning, their real and historical context, and the worldviews reflected in them. The book reviews the previous editions of The Two Mekhiltot on the Jethro Portion and presents the important contribution of fragments from the Cairo Geniza that were discovered after the previous editions were published. It compares the traditions of the two Mekhiltot in their language, style, and content, and establishes the insight that in the Jethro portion, as in the Amalek portion, the tradition of Mekhilta d'Rabbi Ishmael generally takes precedence.

Kobez Al Yad , an annual of the Mekize Nirdamim Society, is a forum for the publication from manuscript sources of ancient texts in Jewish studies that are shorter than book-length. The articles in this issue: Shulamit Elizur | Rahitim and Siluk for Yom Kippur about the revelation of God to Elijah at Horeb Dan Greenberger and Y. Zvi Stampfer | ' On the Obligation of Prayer ' by Rav Saadia Gaon Eli Gurfinkel | The Reason for the Shew-Bread Table and the Candelbara ( Menora ) from Rabbi Samuel Ibn Tibon Yossef Elizur | Rabbi Joseph Hayyun's Commentary on the Book of Zephania Yohanan Kapah | Rabbi Joseph Hayyun's Commentary on the Book of Haggai Yaron Nisenholz | The Proclamations of the Great Rabbinical Court of Prague in the 18 th Century

The layers of biblical stories are rich and not as simple or innocent as they may appear. Effort and knowledge are required to grasp the many messages the biblical authors sought to convey. Biblical scholarship focuses on uncovering the literary devices and techniques used by the writers of biblical narratives to communicate messages to readers without stating them explicitly. This book collects and presents these devices and techniques.

The New Arabic-Hebrew Dictionary is a comprehensive reference of the Arabic language throughout history, with a focus on its use in spoken and written media. Given Arabic's rich literary tradition spanning over 1,400 years, the language naturally incorporates words and expressions rooted in ancient literary strata, including the Qur'an, classical poetry, proverbs, the Hadith, jurisprudential literature, Adab literature, and historical texts. Terms and expressions from the realm of Islamic theology and jurisprudence, which were considered archaic 50 or 60 years ago, have regained prominence with the rise of fundamentalist Islam in the 1970s. This dictionary offers translations and explanations for these terms as well. After publishing the full dictionary in a large, 700-page edition, we decided it would be useful to publish a more concise version—smaller, portable, and easier to handle. This edition differs from the full dictionary in that it omits examples and comments, as well as archaic entries from ancient poetry, the Hadith, and jurisprudential literature. To the full edition of The New Arabic-Hebrew Dictionary

This is a groundbreaking book in the field of inner biblical allusion. Using methodologies from the field of literary studies the book examines the Song Ha'azinu (Deut 32) and the Book of Isaiah and uncovers the fascinating connections between the two. The recognition of this relationship sheds new light on the subject of inner biblical allusion, the Song Ha'azinu and the Book of Isaiah.

Chronicles is a historiographical work narrating the history of Israel. The first part focuses on the period until the end of King David's reign. The anonymous author, presumably one of the Jerusalem Kohanim of the Second Temple period, who wrote the work during the late Persian period or early Hellenistic period. He structured his book by employing the earlier Bible books and re-writing them, in addition to materials that preceded him, and others he conceived; all according to his theological perspective.

Chronicles is a historiographical work narrating the history of Israel. The second part continues with Solomon through the Edict of Cyrus. The anonymous author, presumably one of the Jerusalem Kohanim of the Second Temple period, who wrote the work during the late Persian period or early Hellenistic period. He structured his book by employing the earlier Bible books and re-writing them, in addition to materials that preceded him, and others he conceived; all according to his theological perspective.

The emergence of the Yiddish and Hebrew press in the United States was one of the great cultural enterprises of the Jewish immigrants from the Russian and Austro-Hungarian empires in the last third of the nineteenth century, and its influence on the lives of individuals and communities was enormous. From the Cellar to the Top Floor traces the journey of the Hebrew Alphabet press across the Atlantic following the Jewish mass migration. Against the background of the American press, the book discusses the development of the Hebrew and Yiddish press from an economic, cultural and political point of view. It traces the ongoing negotiations between the Jewish immigrant society and the American majority society at the end of the nineteenth century. Based on personal correspondence, legal documents, archival evidence, and contemporary press materials ,the book offers the first comprehensive analysis in Hebrew of the formative decades in the emergence of one of the leading cultural institutions in modern Jewish society.