Mesopotamian and biblical societies in antiquity were characterized by their patriarchal structure. The father was head of the family unit, and his rule extended over many areas of life. He had broad legal authority over the members of his household, including his offspring. It is therefore expected that in the ancient sources a dominant father figure would be mentioned alone or almost alone. And yet, in Mesopotamian and biblical texts, particularly legal writings, the exclusivity of the father is not always explicit. In many of the Mesopotamian and biblical writings, especially legal texts, the mother is mentioned in various contexts and in a range of realms, mainly those pertaining to her offspring. This intriguing phenomenon raised the question whether the mother in the ancient Near East and ancient Israel had legal authority in the household. The book The Legal Status of the Mother in the Ancient Near East and the Bible sheds light on the world of the ancient mothers and their status within the households and the societies in which they lived. This study demonstrates that the mother acted by virtue of the legal status she possessed in matters related to her sons and daughters’ marriages and their behavior towards her. This book is for those walking in the fields of Mesopotamian and biblical research, and for readers interested in the universal subject in question - the relations between the mother and her offspring.

Entremses are short, comic theatrical performances which usually appeared between acts in a longer comedy in 16th and 17th century Spain. Miguel de Cervantes was a gifted and creative Entremses playwright, who placed social moral conflicts in the centre of his works.

In recent years, more and more students have been taking Health Economics courses in the framework of different academic programs. These students are mostly health professionals who had not been exposed to the world of economics before. This textbook aims to introduce the material intuitively, in an informal and non-technical way, and above all – in Hebrew. The book is the fruit of extensive experience, its author having taught the course at the Hebrew University, Ben Gurion University, Tel Aviv University and Yale University.

This publication, the first of its kind, analyzes the new evolving middle class among professional Bedouin women in the Negev. It examines the paradox that arises from this class category mainly as it encounters the ethno-colonial and collective-male hegemonies within both Arab and Jewish labor markets. Simultaneously, it reveals the power and contribution of this class category to the domestic spheres of marital, family and community circles. Dr. Sarab Abu-Rabia-Queder's study is based on interviews with dozens of Palestinian-Bedouin women who have obtained economic and human capital recognized by their communities but not by the hegemonic labor market. The Emergence of a Class Identity unveils colonial and patriarchal practicalities which do not acknowledge the women’s professional identity, implementing cultural, religious and collective signifiers that create a paradox of class marginality.

Zmaski's book "Processes and Mechanisms in Plants", is based on decades of teaching in the Hebrew University. It is designed for students studying biology and plant sciences and will be a great help for teaching staff in higher education. The book describes in a simple way, using spectacular images and drawings, the complicated processes of alternation of generations in plants and the relationship between the structure and function of plant tissues.

According to common opinion, in the research of Jewish law and in the Halakhic literature, transactions in incorporeal estates are non-valid. However, economic life and the business world are based on these transactions. As a result, a gap was created between Halacha and reality. The book "Out of Nothing" proposes resolving this problem through Talmudic research methods, various issues which are discussed in the Talmudic law, including Davar She'lo Ba La'olam , Tovat Hanaha , and bills sale. In the course of the discussion it turns out that the Tannaitic ruling recognized these transactions, but Talmudic Halakha refused to recognize them. However, the Amoraim suggest various ways of mediation in order to enable transferring of future estate, debt bonds and so on. The book proposes to take the bridges that the Amoraim proposed based on the Tannaitic law and to use them as tools for Halakhic validation of current market life.

Contents: Nili Wazana – Preface In Memoriam Gershon Galil Prof. Zecharia Kallai 24.6.1923-17.1.2016 ) Amihai Mazar Prof Trude Dothan 12.10.1922-28.1.2016 ) Biblical Studies David Frankel - The Final Form of the Story of the Rape of Dinah in Light of Textual and Redaction Criticism Noam Mizrahi - From Wisdom to Hymn: The Literary, Textual and Linguistic Development of Jer 10:12-13 Miriam Sklarz - The Poet Before God, Against his Enemies and Facing his Congregation Naphtali S. Meshel - Dramatic Irony and double entendre in the Book of Job Amitai Baruchi - Unna Plural Forms Referring to ‘Elohim’ and the Israelite Cultic Proclamation Recurring in the Cult of the Calf The Bible in Relation to the Ancient Near East Shira J. Golani - ‘That (No) Plague May Come Upon Them for Being Registered’ (Exod 30:12): Census and Plague in the Bible in Light of the Ancient Near East Mordechai Cogan - Restoring the Empire: Sargon II’s Campaign to the West in 720/19 BCE History of Exegesis David Kopeliovich - Hated by his Brothers: The Typological Function of Jeremiah the Prophet in Josephus’ Jewish War Jonathan Jacobs - Use of the ʻNarrative Parableʼ by Northern-France Disciples (11th-12th Centuries) Isaac Gottlieb and Stewart Vanning - Rupert of Deutz (c.1075-1129) and Jewish Commentaries on the Joseph Story Itamar Kislev - The Contribution of Minhat Yehuda for Improving the Text of Rashbam’s Torah Commentary Yohanan Kapah - Joseph Hayyun’s Maggid Mishne

The public discourse in Israel relates to girls mainly in connection to their body and associates their body with appearance, sexuality, vulnerability and victimization. The book Girls and their Bodies calls attention to the social construction of girls' bodies in Israel which tend to disavow, disregard, objectify and expose them simultaneously. This is the first time a book about the developing field of Girlhood Studies is published in Hebrew. The book chapters, written by a group of researchers and professionals who work with girls and are interested in advancing the understanding and support of girls, create a fascinating interdisciplinary mosaic regarding girls' bodies in Israel. They investigate from a critical gendered perspective, how the body is present, active, confined and silenced within cultural, educational, social, health and legal arenas. This collection illustrates a possible roadmap for future research in this field that will enrich the academic discourse and professional knowledge about girlhood, and in this way facilitate social action with and for girls.

All cultures, religions, and ethical or legal systems struggle with the role intention plays in evaluating actions. The Talmud compellingly elaborates on the notion of intention through the radical concept that “A sin committed for the sake of God [ averah li-shmah ] is greater than a commandment fulfilled not for the sake of God [ mi-mizvah she-lo li-shmah ].” The Babylonian Talmud attributes this concept, which challenges one of rabbinic Judaism’s most fundamental dogmas, the obligation to fulfill the commandments and avoid sin—to R. Nahman b. Isaac (RNBI), a renowned 4th century Amora. Considering the normative character of the rabbinic culture in which Halakhah (Jewish religious law) plays such a central role, this concept, seems almost like a foreign body in the Talmudic corpus. The book reveals the origins of this radical idea, its accurate meaning and use in the time this concept was formulated and the movement of this radical idea from the margins culture to mainstream - into the Babylonian Talmud, the canonic book of Rabbinic Judaism. The findings of this research provide substantial insight into our understanding of the interpretive process and of conceptual adaptation in rabbinic culture.

One of the most visible aspects of Orthodox Judaism in present-day Israel is the ubiquity of the "Gdoilim" – "the great ones" - the luminary spiritual leaders whose presence dominates orthodox politics, media and the public space. However, these individuals, whose lives are constantly canonized in hagiographies, have largely remained unknown outside the Orthodox Jewish communities, and have generally been overlooked by the academic research. The 'Gdoilim': Individuals who shaped Haredi Judaism in Israel is a pioneering attempt to fill this gap by offering a comprehensive collection of articles by Israeli and American leading scholars of Orthodox Judaism striving to elucidate the lives and theologies of these extraordinary individuals and explain the secret of their lasting power.

Articles in this volume: Emanuel Tov - The Development of the Text of the Torah in Two Major Text Blocks Michael Segal, Emanuel Tov, William Brentת Seales, Clifford Seth Parker, Pnina Shor, Yosef Porath, with an Appendix by Ada Yardeni - An Early Leviticus Scroll from En-Gedi: Preliminary Publication Kristin De Troyer - Reconstructing the Older Hebrew Text of the Book of Joshua: An Analysis of Joshua 10 Armin Lange - 4QXIIg (4Q82) as an Editorial Text Gary A. Rendsburg - How Could a Torah Scroll Have Included the Word זעטוטי Nancy Benovitz - Psalm 91:1 and the Rabbinic Shemaʿ in Greek on a Byzantine Amuletic Armband Yosef Ofer - A Fragment of the Aleppo Codex (Exodus 8) that Reached Israel Rachel Hitin-Mashiah - Main Division in the Verse in the 21 Prose Books: Syntactic Study Jordan S. Penkower - An Esther Scroll from the 15th Century: Determining its Type among Five Traditions (Oriental, Sefardi, Ashkenazi, Italian, Yemenite)

The book Rav Pe'alim focuses on the Modern Hebrew verb system and is intended for advanced level students of Hebrew as a second language (level Dalet according to the Division of Hebrew Language Instruction at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Israel). The book includes not only structured, gradual exercises of verb conjugations, but also includes verb exercises that aim to enrich the students' vocabulary and reinforce the mastery of the lexical meaning of the Hebrew roots (shorashim) and the semantic usage of the Hebrew stems (binyanim). In addition, the book provides the student with grammatical explanations and strategies to solve verb problems.