The story of the migration of German Jews between the two world wars is a multifaceted story that spans different routes and destinations: to the United States, the Land of Israel, Britain, and other places in the world. The book explores this story from a comparative perspective and from the perspective of the immigrants themselves. In this way, the envelope that defines the migration of Jews from Germany as a movement of purely persecuted refugees, as passive objects swept along in the course of history, is unraveled. The book seeks to examine the decisions of migration, its timing, and its destinations, and to illuminate the similarities and differences in the identities of the immigrants at different times and destinations. To this end, it traces the course of immigration from the moment the decision to emigrate was made, the choice of timing and destination, the obstacles and opportunities, to the patterns of adaptation in the destination countries and the role played by immigrant groups in the host countries. This historical perspective places the question of whether the immigration of German Jews created a distinct German Jewish diaspora or whether it marked the end of the German chapter in Jewish history at the center.

In this issue we sought to give expression to the historical dimensions of the philosophical debate on the concept of "identity" as well as to discuss philosophical questions about identity related to this time: What is the place of "selfhood" in an era of rapid change? What is the relationship between personal identity and the consciousness of identity? What is the relationship between psychoanalytic conceptions of identity and the decomposition of the concept of identity in postmodern thought? What role should personal, national, and religious identity play in a multicultural and global world? How should the place of individuation processes – private, social, technological, and environmental – in the establishment of identity be understood? And can philosophical identities be characterized in the struggle for peace, justice, and human rights?

The Politics is a foundational work of Greek philosophy and a cornerstone of Western political thought. It is an investigation into the nature of the polis (the city-state), which Aristotle defines as a partnership of a certain kind among similar people for the sake of the best attainable life. In this inquiry, Aristotle seeks to determine how a virtuous and flourishing city is constructed and sustained. In Books VII–VIII - presented here for the first time in Hebrew - Aristotle depicts a vivid portrait of the ideal Greek city, and formulates a guide for the establishment of a flourishing city.

Jews and Crime in Medieval Europe is a topic laced by prejudice on one hand and apologetics on the other. Beginning in the Middle Ages, Jews were often portrayed as criminals driven by greed. While these accusations were, for the most part, unfounded, in other cases criminal accusations against Jews were not altogether baseless. Drawing on a variety of legal, liturgical, literary, and archival sources, Ephraim Shoham-Steiner examines the reasons for the involvement in crime, the social profile of Jews who performed crimes, and the ways and mechanisms employed by the legal and communal body to deal with Jewish criminals and with crimes committed by Jews. A society's attitude toward individuals identified as criminals - by others or themselves - can serve as a window into that society's mores and provide insight into how transgressors understood themselves and society's attitudes toward them.

Within the Babylonian Talmud are dozens of stories depicting sharp confrontations between the Amoraim, the Talmudic sages. These narratives portray the charged relationships among the sages, the emergence of conflict, and the profound emotional harm that results from it. Why do conflicts among the creators of Talmudic literature occupy such a central literary place? This book examines these stories as a distinct literary corpus. The analysis shows that the conflicts consistently center on one domain: injury to personal honor. They are also marked by a characteristic plot structure, in which conflict develops unintentionally and escalates uncontrollably, leading to a rupture between the characters. Using tools from narrative theory and comparative poetics, the book explores how these stories operate. They draw the reader into a web of misunderstandings and communicative failures, making simple moral judgment difficult. Instead, they direct attention to the inner and interpersonal worlds of the characters, and to the literary construction of the Talmudic study house as a space of mutual dependence and identity formation.

For thousands of years, people pictured the sky as a giant dome surrounding the Earth. The stars were thought to be fixed to this dome, which slowly turned above us, much like the motion of the Sun, the Moon and the planets. This book tells the story of the scientific revolution that changed that picture forever—the moment humanity realized that the motions we see in the sky are only apparent motions, created by the Earth spinning on its axis and traveling around the Sun. The “celestial dome,” it turned out, was an illusion. It is the Earth—and the heavens—that move. This revolution began with Nicolaus Copernicus’s book On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres , published in 1543, just as the author was nearing the end of his life. The bold ideas in that book sent shockwaves through the scientific world and helped lay the foundations of modern physics. They also transformed the way people thought about nature—and about humanity’s place in the universe. This book follows the dramatic story of the Copernican Revolution and the long struggle to convince the world of its truth, from Galileo’s telescopic discoveries—made with a telescope he built himself—to the fierce scientific and religious debates that followed. The Copernican Revolution opened the door to an even bigger idea: The universe is vast, stretching far beyond our solar system. The “fixed stars,” we learned, are actually distant suns, so far away that they appear as tiny points of light. From there, it was only natural to wonder whether some of those stars might have planets of their own. At the end of the twentieth century—more than 400 years after Copernicus—astronomers finally discovered that planets are everywhere, orbiting stars across the galaxy. And who knows—perhaps some of those distant worlds may even host life.

MA‘ARAG: The Israel Annual of Psychoanalysis is a democratic, refereed annual publication, evaluated and edited by academicians, intellectuals in related fields, and clinicians. The journal, dedicated to research in psychoanalytic theory, practice and criticism, is the fruit of the initiative and cooperation of the Sigmund Freud Center for the Study and Research in Psychoanalysis of the Hebrew University, the Israeli Association for Self Psychology and the Study of Subjectivity, Israel Society for Analytical Psychology, Israel Psychoanalytic Society, Clinical Division of the Israel Psychological Association, Israel Institute for Group Analysis, Israel Institute of Jungian Psychology, The Sigmund Freud Chair of Psychoanalysis of the Department of Psychology, The Hebrew University, Tel-Aviv Institute for Contemporary Psychoanalysis, The Winnicott Center in Israel and the New Israeli Jungian Association. From this issue: Anat Tzur Mahalel | "THE STILL-TENDER MEMORY OF CHILDHOOD": SIGMUND FREUD AND WALTER BENJAMIN ON IMAGES OF CHILDHOOD Orit Yushinksy | THE ETHICS OF MEMORY AND FORGETTING Merav Roth | LIVING AFTER DEATH: FROM MELANCHOLIC DEADLOCK TO SYMBOLIC CONTINUITY Yael Khenin | CONTAINMENT CREATED THROUGH SPIRAL MOTION: THE COMPLEX INTERACTION BETWEEN EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL REALITY IN TIMES OF WAR, LOSS AND TURMOIL Nilly Szor | INSCRIBING PAIN: THE PHENOMENON OF OCTOBER 7 TATTOOS AS AN EXPRESSION OF PERSONAL AND COLLECTIVE TRAUMA Michal Bat Or | PSYCHOANALYTIC THOUGHTS ON WRAPPING AS A PSYCHIC MOVEMENT IN ART AND ART THERAPY IN THE CONTEXT OF COLLECTIVE TRAUMA Basmat Klein | "MEMORY FREEZE-FRAMES": ON PHOTOGRAPHY AND PSYCHIC PROCESSING Tammuz Aflalo | THE HOME NESTING METAPHOR: PHANTASY, THE UNCANNY, AND THE PSYCHIC POSITION Shai Levinger and Nurit Perl | REFLECTIONS ON TRANSFORMATIVE PROCESSES OF THE SELF IN PSYCHOANALYTICALLY-ORIENTED MUSIC THERAPY Alon Roe | THE ROLE OF MOVEMENT IN ESTABLISHING THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL IN FREUD

At the heart of this book’s ten chapters stands the rich, multifaceted figure of the mother. Are the Jewish mother and the Israeli mother one and the same, or does each have her own distinct identity? What are the enduring and evolving hallmarks of this maternal figure, and how are they reflected in songs in Hebrew and Yiddish? This is a guided journey through the fascinating, dizzying transformations of beloved and half-forgotten songs and melodies. The book's close readings bring these songs to life, offering a window into the worlds of their creators and shedding light on the events and processes that have shaped the Jewish people and Israeli society across the generations. Brimming with information, insights, and delightful curiosities, and accompanied by dozens of illustrations, this book is the fruit of meticulous research, written in clear, fluid, and utterly engaging prose. It is a book every mother will want to read, and that every son and daughter will want to give her as a gift of love.

Islamic Enlightenment in a Radical Age opens a window to trends of innovation and openness in modern Islam in the mid-twentieth century, a period marked by decolonization, the rise of centralized regimes, and the emergence of Jihad organizations. Important agents in the development of the reformist discourse were Mustafa al-Saba'i and the "Muslim Brotherhood" in Syria from 1946 to 1964. Under al-Saba'i's leadership, the Muslim Brotherhood strove to establish an Islamic Enlightenment that sought to elevate the stature of believers and integrate them into the wider world, while preserving their indigenous identity. Al-Saba'i's rich intellectual and public work has been neglected in the scholarly literature, and this book brings him to the forefront and does him historical and historiographical justice. Al-Saba'i called for the revival of the heritage of Islam and its connection to universal values ​​of freedom and justice, humanism and brotherhood, democracy and nationalism. He served as a voice for the voiceless in society through a commitment to public education, social legislation, and support for women's rights, subject to moral reservations. By promoting a dynamic version of Islam—attentive and responsive to key issues on the public agenda—Al-Saba'i and his movement contributed to preserving the diversity of Islamic thought in an era of puritanism, radicalization, and violence.

A refugee crisis of huge proportions erupted as a result of the mid-seventeenth-century wars in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Tens of thousands of Jews fled their homes, or were captured and trafficked across Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. Rescue the Surviving Souls is the first book to examine this horrific moment of displacement and flight, and to assess its social, economic, religious, cultural, and psychological consequences. Drawing on a wealth of primary sources in twelve languages, Adam Teller traces the entire course of the crisis, shedding fresh light on the refugee experience and the various relief strategies developed by the major Jewish centers of the day. Teller pays particular attention to those thousands of Jews sent for sale on the slave markets of Istanbul and the extensive transregional Jewish economic network that coalesced to ransom them. He also explores how Jewish communities rallied to support the refugees in central and western Europe, as well as in Poland-Lithuania, doing everything possible to help them overcome their traumatic experiences and rebuild their lives. Rescue the Surviving Souls offers an intimate study of an international refugee crisis, from outbreak to resolution, that is profoundly relevant today.

Simon Bernfeld (1860–1940) was one of the most popular Jewish European writers of the early twentieth century. A prolific bestselling author in a broad range of fields of history and Jewish studies, and a pivotal figure in the renaissance of Jewish national culture. His oeuvre encompassed dozens of books, hundreds of essays, and thousands of daily columns published in Hebrew and German. Yet despite his vast influence, Bernfeld remained outside the mainstream. His prominent presence until the late 1920s stands in stark contrast to his subsequent obscurity. This gap prompts for an examination of whether his “forgetting” was deliberate and connected to the historical narrative he sought to promote. His political views, expressed in his sermons as a modern rabbi in Belgrade, in his polemic essays criticizing both the rabbinate and the Zionist Congress, were similarly marginalized. On The Margins: A Biography of Simon Bernfeld unfolds a biography woven into the history of the Jewish intelligentsia circles in Galicia, his birthplace, and Berlin, where he lived for many years until his death. His correspondence with a wide array of figures reviles the emergence of Hebrew mass media and a national canon. Through spatial and cultural analysis, exploring themes of Jewish imperial relations and intra-European migration, the book maps the Jewish intellectual networks of Galicia and the Pale of Settlement, examining their impact on the formation of Jewish cultural and intellectual power centers at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Few texts have left a mark on history as profound as The Communist Manifesto . First ‎published in 1848, this brief yet explosive work by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels became ‎one of the most influential texts in the formation of modern society and the modern self. It ‎ignited revolutions, inspired political movements, and provoked fear, resistance, and ‎enduring controversy, while offering a powerful framework for understanding the economic ‎and social forces that continue to shape our world.‎ But The Communist Manifesto is more than a political program. It is a striking work of ‎philosophical and moral reflection, grappling with the human condition in a world defined ‎by perpetual change—a world of capitalism, restless desire, and the drive toward ceaseless ‎innovation. Read anew, the Manifesto emerges as a mirror of our present moment, ‎challenging us to rethink freedom, justice, and the transformative power of ideas.‎ This book offers a fresh introduction to The Communist Manifesto and its place in the ‎history of ideas. Through close reading and conceptual analysis, it seeks to restore the ‎text’s vitality—not as a document of the past, but as a living invitation to reflect on the ‎present and imagine our collective future.‎

A Guide to Jewish Warsaw 1938 is an extraordinary book, describing a place that no longer exists: Jewish Warsaw was, as is well known, utterly destroyed in World War II. And yet, the book seeks to pretend as if everything is still intact, and it is possible to go on a tour following it or embark on an imaginary journey. Every detail is based on information pertaining to Jewish Warsaw in 1938 from countless sources: newspapers, literature, travel guides, written and oral memoirs, archives, interviews, films, and exhibitions. A Guide to Jewish Warsaw 1938 seeks to reveal the beauty hidden from the eye in the largest Jewish city in Europe before the war. The acquaintance with Jewish Warsaw is made through general and useful introductions, describing its history, its beliefs and opinions, its unique language, and its tastes and smells. At the center of the book are seven walking tours, revealing the city's delights: the antique bookstores on Świętokrzyska Street; the buffet at the Writers and Journalists Association at Tłomacka 13; the "Maccabi" swimming pool and the Bund's sports field; cantorial music at the Great Synagogue and Hasidic melodies in the Modrzyc courtyard in the resort town of Otwock; the summer terrace at the Rubinchik cafe, opening onto Krasiński Garden, "the Jewish Garden"; modern marble sculptures in the cemetery; the "Tel Aviv" cafe on Nowolipie Street; the treasures in the Jewish Museum; courtyards that are a world of their own on Nalewki Street and its surroundings, and much more.

How does the past remain present in the urban landscape—in houses, streets, and public squares—even after the culture that once sustained it has been destroyed? What happens when history is not merely an abstract memory but a material reality that continues to shape and unsettle the present? In Bloody Wednesday , Yechiel Weizman traces the ghostly presence of the Jews of Olkusz, a town in south-central Poland whose large Jewish community flourished for centuries, until the Holocaust. Despite their total physical absence, from the end of the war until today the memory of the Jews is palpable and persistent—and at the same time silenced and repressed—in every street corner: in empty houses, in abandoned cemeteries and synagogues, in plaques and monuments, and through the ongoing public debates about property, heritage, and commemoration. Using the case study of a single Polish town, the book shows how the urban topography of Eastern Europe was continuously reshaped and redefined in relation to the legacy of the Second World War, the question of Jewish property, and the politics of Holocaust memory during the Communist period and after the fall of the Iron Curtain. Adopting a microhistorical lens and examining the smallest details of everyday life and urban history, the book reveals how the persistent debate over the presence of the dead Jews in the concrete and imagined spaces of one small town became a dramatic arena for a painful, intimate, and nostalgic confrontation with the violent fingerprints of the twentieth century and with pressing questions of responsibility, ethics, and guilt.

How can a teacher-education institution transform itself so that the preparation of future teachers will foster meaningful and high-quality professional growth? This question lies at the heart of contemporary debates among teacher educators in Israel and worldwide. This book offers a rigorous and data-rich examination of a long-term structural and pedagogical reform that had taken place at the Hebrew University, with the goal of meeting the evolving challenges of teacher education in the twenty-first century. Through detailed analysis of the reform’s achievements and its complexities, the book illuminates the conditions, processes, and dilemmas involved in reshaping teacher education. The study provides an unprecedented, comprehensive, and systematic account of change processes in Israeli teacher education and contributes valuable insights to international scholarship on pedagogical reform, teacher education and institutional innovation.

The book sheds light on the aims and achievements of the twelve first female members, who served in the first Israeli Knesset, and in particular on the perception of the status of women in the early years of the state. This study examines the heated debates that arose with the legislation of the following laws: the Marriage Age Law; the Income Tax Ordinance, which serves as a mirror of the status of the married woman; the Security Service Law, which can contribute to the understanding of Israeli society; and the Women’s Equal Rights Law of 1951, whose enactment concluded the work of the first Knesset. The influence of this legislation is felt to this day.

Immediately upon the establishment of the State of Israel, Israel welcomed approximately 720,000 as part of the Great Aliyah. More than one third of these newcomers, immigrants and refugees, were housed in immigrant camps and later in transit camps known as maabarot . Some were later removed from them or left on their own accord; others remained in the maabarot for many years, and the maabarot remained within them. In their early years, the maabarot played an important social role and gave rise to new interethnic relations and new identities. Within a short period of time, and in a space intended to serve as a temporary way station, a shared form of existence emerged in the maabarot. It established principles of organization, fostered cooperation that crossed boundaries of ethnic and communal origin, and created communal cohesion that developed despite the limitations imposed by the absorbing establishment. This book reexamines life in the maabarot through a division into three distinct subperiods that reflect profound changes in social composition, in patterns of power, and in the immigrants’ consciousness of identity. The elimination of the heterogeneity that had characterized the social fabric not only changed the status of the residents in the eyes of the state and society, but also narrowed the social and future possibilities that had opened before them. Through an examination of diverse sources, a detailed depiction of everyday life, and a thematic analysis of language, religion, and education, a formative chapter in the social history of Israel is revealed through the world of the immigrants as they themselves shaped it. From a charged encounter among diasporas, social groups, and a harsh, brutal, and impossible daily routine, a society emerges that has until now remained at the margins of historical research.

The Italian commedia dell’arte troupes roamed across Europe for two hundred years, captivating wide and diverse audiences. The performances of the commedia dell’arte were improvised, as the actors executed on stage a concise outline of a play, called "scenario". This book presents, for the first time in Hebrew translation, complete scenarios written by one of the greatest men of the Italian Renaissance theater, Flaminio Scala. The scenarios are accompanied by annotations and a comprehensive essay that reviews Scala’s life and work, and presents his scenario as a perfect recipe for comic improvisation. The book will therefore be of interest to theatre enthusiasts and scholars alike, and will provide directors, actors, and acting students with new and refreshing tools for staging comedies.

Muslim beliefs have inspired charitable giving for over fourteen centuries, yet Islamic history has rarely been examined from this perspective. In Charity in Islamic Societies , Amy Singer explains the basic concepts and institutions of Muslim charity: the obligatory annual payment of zakat together with voluntary donations of all sizes, undertaken at every level of society, and across the span of individual lifetimes. Charitable endowments – established by rulers, wealthy individuals, and even those of more modest means – shaped Muslim societies, cultures, and landscapes in ever era. This book demonstrates how historical circumstances, social status, gender, age, and other factors interacted with religious ideals to produce a vast array of charitable practices, from the early days of Islam to the present. Relying on evidence from written texts, buildings, images, and objects to anchor the discussions in each chapter, the author explores the motivations for charity, its impact on the rich and the poor, and the politicization of giving, arguing that the study of philanthropy affords a unique prism through which to examine the past.

In the philosophical and psychological tradition, the concept of imagination is associated, first and foremost, with the human mind’s ability to intend and depict to itself objects that are not directly present before it. In contrast to sensory perception, imagination is often linked to a spectrum of mental states—such as fantasy, hallucination, and dream—that are freed from the burden of factuality and the logic of what is possible within its bounds. Such states are typically of interest because of the creative—sometimes anomalous—potential they hold, even though they are generally understood as secondary additions to the project of human knowledge. Imagination—in all its material expressions—not only presents us with spaces of unrealized possibilities but even with ones that cannot be realized at all in reality, and in this sense, they are beyond reality, "outside," or "above" the real. Thus, in its literal sense, imagination is surrealism. Once we recognize the imagination’s potential to challenge the existing order, it is no longer possible to think of reality and imagination as two entirely separate domains, and the question of the interaction between them becomes more pressing and clear.

The Last Trial deals with the trial of Ivan Demjanjuk, who was tried in the State of Israel in 1986 on charges of being "Ivan the Terrible," the operator of the gas chambers at the Treblinka extermination camp, and was acquitted after a seven-year legal process. The book is based on in-depth archival research and reveals for the first time a rich collection of historical documents from the legal authorities in Israel, the United States, and Germany. The book is also based on in-depth interviews with senior members of the legal system who were involved in the trial – judges, attorneys, and witnesses. The Demjanjuk case was considered both a case with a high chance of conviction and a potential for severe punishment, and a case that was expected to bring the memory of the Holocaust back onto the public agenda, some half a century after the Eichmann trial. It was chosen from among the cases of other suspects to be the first test case for the possibility of extraditing Nazi criminals from the United States to Israel. The results of the trial therefore had a decisive impact on the continued activity of the State of Israel in bringing Nazi criminals to justice. When Demjanjuk was acquitted, it became clear that not only had the prosecution failed to achieve the desired result of convicting the defendant, but also that the legal process in his case had failed to fulfill the educational, documentary, and historical goals that were attached to it. In the final analysis, this resounding failure brought the prosecution of the Nazis and their accomplices in the State of Israel to an end. The tension between the legal field and the historical field, and between legal judgment and factual truth, runs throughout the book. The greatest danger of blurring the lines between "law" and "history" lies in the fact that the legal outcome of a criminal proceeding – "guilty" or "not guilty" – may mistakenly be linked to the historical determination of "did happen" or "did not happen." A misunderstanding of legal acquittal as historical acquittal is one of the biggest obstacles to the influence of criminal law, which ends in acquittal, on collective memory. As the book shows, the case of Demjanjuk's extradition and trial in Israel illustrates the difficulties inherent in dealing with the Holocaust within the courtroom, and also sharpens the problematic nature of using criminal law tools to establish historical truths.

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.

Yehuda Jud Ne'eman's latest book, Auschwitz Capital of the 20th Century , presents the work of one of the most important scholars of Israeli cinema, who was also a groundbreaking director and creator. In this book, Ne'eman shares with his readers his involvement as a creator and intellectual in the establishment of Israeli cinema as a space for central artistic, cultural, and political discourse, whose significant contribution to Israeli culture and society is beyond doubt. The book includes two parts that complement each other. The first part contains an innovative and original discussion that maps the history of Israeli cinema by comparing it to cinema that began during the yishuv period. During this period, cinema was committed to the Zionist narrative, and the work is characterized as a continuous conflict between avant-garde and ideology, similar to Soviet avant-garde cinema. Within the framework of this comparison, Ne'eman emphasizes the preoccupation with modernist cinema of the "New Sensibility," a term coined years ago, and refers to films created by Israeli directors following the French "New Wave," including his own films. In doing so, he claims that between Israeli folk film and the modernism of the "New Sensibility" films, there was in fact cooperation in opposition to the establishment and Zionist ideology. The second part of the book discusses films made in the State of Israel and during the yishuv period that deal with the representation of the Holocaust as a central test case. Among other things, Ne'eman shows that the attempt to heal the horrors of the Holocaust in a simplistic national way expresses feelings of guilt and offers a limited solution to the problems of the survivors.

This volume is a jubilee book, celebrating with appreciation the work of Prof. Jonathan Cohen – a teacher, thinker, researcher, friend and loyal colleague – who is one of the central figures in the philosophy of Jewish education in our generation. The book is divided into five chapters. The first is dedicated to Cohen's character and his thought, and the other four chapters encompass topics at the core of his world: philosophical-literary discourse, the concept of translation between inside and outside, the transition from theory to educational practice, and dealing with the educational thought of others in light of his path. Some of the best contemporary Jewish education scholars have gathered here to offer a fascinating intellectual journey, which dwells, among other things, on the dialogue between tradition and innovation, textual study and pedagogy, universality and particularity. This collection of articles is unique in its combination of philosophical study and educational research rooted in the educational field. The original discussions it contains on key issues demonstrate from various angles the contribution of Prof. Cohen and his intellectual world to the philosophy of Jewish education. This collection is another important testament to the possibility of a practical philosophy that responds to the calls of the time, with all its challenges, and out of a deep sense of loyalty to education that looks at the human face and to Jewish tradition.

This book examines Israeli-German relations after the fall of the Berlin Wall and during the reigns of three chancellors: Helmut Kohl, Gerhard Schröder, and Angela Merkel. The book is the product of research based on various sources, and primarily on dozens of interviews the author conducted with key figures involved in the relations between the countries. The generational change in Germany and the internal and international normalization process that the Federal Republic underwent following the German unification did not harm the special relations with Israel. On the contrary: At their peak, in 2008, against the backdrop of the worsening nuclear threat from Iran, Chancellor Merkel declared that Israel's security was part of Germany's national interest. The book describes the contribution of the relations between the countries to the development of the State of Israel and its strengthening in vital areas, and even to its close ties with the European Union. These relations have been put to the test in recent decades, after controversy surrounding foreign policy issues between the two countries increased and the negative trend towards Israeli policy in German public opinion polls strengthened. All of this has raised question marks about the future of the special relationship between the two countries.

Martin Buber aroused passionate, often contradictory opinions, both regarding his personality and his thought. Gershom Schocken, editor of Haaretz , said that one day he was walking with S. Y. Agnon: "We were walking around Talpiot and I asked him what his attitude was towards Buber. Agnon stopped in his walk and said: 'I want to tell you something. There are people about whom you have to decide once: do you love them or do you hate them. I decided to love Buber.'" Buber's philosophical and theological writings, including the famous I and Thou , have contributed greatly to religious and Jewish thought, as well as to biblical studies, political theory, and Zionist thought. In this new biography, Paul Mendes-Flor situates Buber's legacy at the crossroads between the intellectual and cultural life of German Jewry and European life in the first half of the twentieth century. This is the first full biography of the groundbreaking modern Jewish philosopher. The book is organized around several key events in his life, such as his mother suddenly abandoning him when he was three years old—a formative trauma that left Buber with a lasting sense of sensitivity to the fragility of human relationships and the need to nurture them with what he would later call "dialogical attention."

The Sages of Yavneh traces the rebirth of Jewish law and thought in the aftermath of the Great Revolt and the destruction of the Temple. In Yavneh the early Sages laid the foundations for post-Temple Jewish life and created the conceptual framework that continues to shape halachic discourse to this day. Through close analysis of early Tannaitic traditions, the book uncovers the sages’ intellectual world, their diverse approaches, and the deep ideas underlying their disputes. At a decisive historical crossroad, the sages of Yavneh bridged second Temple traditions with the emerging Tannaitic corpus, offering a farsighted response to the crisis of their age and charting a path for the future of Jewish law, Halacha.

AMILAT – Asociación Israelí de Investigadores de Judaísmo Latinoamericano se complace en presentar el décimo volumen de la serie Judaica Latinoamericana, inaugurada en 1988. El objetivo de la serie es publicar trabajos expuestos en la Sección de América Latina que forma parte, desde 1985, del Congreso Mundial de Estudios Judaicos realizado cada cuatro años en Jerusalén. Judaica Latinoamericana X incluye los correspondientes al décimo-octavo de dichos congresos, que tuvo lugar en la Universidad Hebrea en agosto de 2022. El volumen reitera el enfoque multi- e interdisciplinario de la serie: sus artículos presentan investigaciones sobre distintos aspectos de la experiencia judía en América Latina, en sus dinámicas intra- y extracomunitarias, nacionales y transnacionales. Todos los trabajos constituyen un aporte original e inédito al respectivo campo de estudio. Este volumen se inicia con las exposiciones presentadas en una sesión especial en homenaje al Prof. Haim Avni y su fructífera labor en su larga carrera académica como pionero del desarrollo de la investigación y la enseñanza académicas del Judaísmo Latinoamericano.

In this landmark volume, noted Jewish scholar Alon Goshen-Gottstein offers a full-orbed treatment of the Jewish faith for today. Goshen-Gottstein's presentation explores the history and practice of Judaism and offers a framework in which this complex religious tradition makes sense to both the insider and the outsider. Painting a composite picture of Judaism from its beginnings until today, Goshen-Gottstein draws on history, literature, theology, spirituality, and practiced religious life to craft an overview in which these different parts are appreciated as pieces of a larger whole. Beyond the canonical foundations of the Bible and the Talmud, Goshen-Gottstein incorporates mystical sources in presenting an image of spiritually engaged Jewish practice and belief. He thus argues that Judaism is best understood as a religious tradition that seeks to uphold not only a life lived in allegiance to God's law but, more importantly, a life lived in God's presence. Written by a senior scholar well known in Jewish, Christian, and interreligious circles, In God's Presence will appeal to Jewish and Christian academic readers, those interested in the intersection of Jewish and Christian thought, and students in introduction to Judaism courses.

The book deals with basic principles and concepts, the scope of the phenomenon of iatrogenic damage, and the development of risk management practices in medicine and organizational safety culture, emphasizing human and organizational factors, legal and safety aspects, risk management processes in medical organizations, partnership with patients for assuring patient safety, evaluation and measurement, and current trends. In addition, a large chapter is devoted to risk management during the coronavirus pandemic, during which the inexhaustible capabilities of the Israeli health care system were manifested. The target audiences for this book are doctors, nurses, pharmacists, psychologists, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, managers, and all those working in health care institutions who are directly or indirectly involved in patient care.

Purchase of the subscription online includes domestic shipping to a pickup location. Other delivery options are available in the online form . International subscriptions are shipped via Fedex. The current subscription includes two volumes (75-76). Iyyun was established in 1945 as a Hebrew philosophical periodical by Martin Buber, S. H. Bergman and Julius Guttmann and is published by the S. H. Bergman Center for Philosophical Studies of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Iyyun has been rebranded, and as part of this renewal a number of thematic issues are published, aiming to advance contemporary philosophical discourse, primarily in Hebrew, to indicate new paths of thought and lines of original research, and to build bridges between academia and the broader public.‍ Iyyun seeks to give expression to a wide spectrum of writers, and is committed to cultural and ideological pluralism, scholarly excellence, high quality writing, and vitality of thought. This in the belief that philosophical thought has a formative role in local culture, and could be influential in shaping the sociopolitical sphere.

Anti-Semitism emerged in the late nineteenth century as a political movement that swept the masses. It presented a worldview in which a cohesive tribe called "the Jews" conspired to rule the earth by controlling international capital markets, trade, and money lending, while at the same time working to destroy—through revolutionary plots—the very capitalist system it supposedly controlled. It is easy to draw a straight line from this paranoid thinking at the turn of the century to the murderous delusions of fascism in the twentieth century. But, argues Laura Engelstein, the line was not straight. Anti-Semitism as a political weapon had its opponents, even in Eastern Europe, where its consequences were particularly terrible. Jewish leaders who joined forces in various countries and in cooperation with non-Jewish public figures worked for the rights of Jews and in firm opposition to persecution and acts of violence against Jews. In Tsarist and Soviet Russia, as well as in Poland and Ukraine – regions notorious in the West as centers of hatred for Jews – there were also those who saw anti-Semitism as a harmful burden on society and their movement. In the introduction to the book, Engelstein describes the different ways in which Jews were treated through the ways in which one Jew, Maurice Greenfeld, the author's grandfather, dealt with the upheavals of World War I, the Russian Revolution, and the civil war that followed, including the expressions of hostility and sympathy he encountered throughout his life. In the following chapters, she reveals the – sometimes surprising – positions of Russian liberals such as Prince Sergei Urusov, Ukrainian leader Symon Petliura, and Polish émigré in Paris Andrzej Bobkowski. The chapters on the inevitable rise of anti-Semitism thus examine the complex reasons why leaders and intellectuals renounced pogroms and incitement against the Jewish population. Engelstein added a short introduction to the Hebrew edition of the book.

The Military Government was established during the war and operated within the army, but it promoted political and ideological objectives. In July 1948, David Ben Gurion established it as body intended to govern the Palestinians who remained in Israel. Its main objectives were threefold: to facilitate the transfer of Palestinian land into Jewish hands; to exclude Palestinians from the labor market and prevent them from organizing on a national basis. The Military Government promoted these objectives through a bureaucratic mechanism that prevented the Palestinians citizens of Israel from leaving their place of residence without the governor's approval. The supporters of the Military Government were well aware of the fact that its existence makes Israel a non-democratic state. They supported its existence because they believed it was necessary to maintain Israel's Jewish character. The Military Government was controversial in the political system in Israel, but the intensity of the opposition to its existence was sometimes contingent on the partisan and ideological interests of the opponents, both from the left and the right. The book describes the factors that shaped the political system's relationship with the Military Government and traces the changing strength of the debate surrounding it. The book seeks, among other things, to answer the question of whether Prime Minister Levi Eshkol's decision to abolish the Military Government in December 1966 was due to the struggle of the opponents or rather from the recognition that the Military Government had fulfilled its objectives.

This study examines the evolving nature of Hasidic leadership, with a focus on the institution of the Admorut (leadership of Rebbes) in Israel from 1966 to the early 21st century. Hasidic leadership is rooted in the doctrine of the Tzadik, a theological-ideological concept developed since the mid-18th century. The Tzadik is believed to possess a unique connection with God, enabling him to channel divine blessing, guide individuals spiritually, and lead entire communities. Central to Hasidic life is the demand for both faith in the Tzadik and attachment to the Tzadik, encompassing emotional, spiritual, and practical devotion. The study traces the historical development of these ideas and their transformation in the context of contemporary Israeli society, where Hasidim constitute a significant segment of the Haredi population and wield notable political and economic influence. It analyzes the ways in which Rebbes exercise authority in both spiritual and material realms, operating within dynastic frameworks that have endured since the 18th century. By examining the theological foundations, social functions, and mechanisms of power associated with the Admorut, the study aims to offer a comprehensive account of a leadership model that continues to shape the religious and public life of ultra-Orthodox Jewry in Israel.

Setting Tables: Eating, Social Boundaries, and Intercultural Transfers is a first-of-its-kind collection of Hebrew articles exploring commensality and various practices associated with shared eating, whether with acquaintances or strangers. This volume examines how meals—though routine—function as significant normative anchors in different societies and historical periods, delineating hierarchies within and between social groups and cultural categories. Shared eating can occur in everyday settings or in political and ceremonial contexts. Participants may adhere to contemporary etiquette, engage in discussions, remain silent, focus solely on the meal, or manage social impressions. Regardless of time or place, shared eating consistently signifies both divisions and connections, shaping and reflecting intricate social identities. The volume offers a range of case studies, from Assyrian royal banquets through the Roman world, to Jewish and Arabic sources from the Islamic world and addresses current issues like municipal conflicts over falafel vendors in Mandatory Tel Aviv, sustainable consumption at weddings and the rise of personalized microbial diets. It investigates the characteristics of this complex social interaction and reveals the connections between the material aspects of meals and their cultural meanings.

The Hebrew University campuses are not just buildings and lawns. They are a huge museum, where walls are paintings, sculptures are stories, and every work of art invites the viewer to a conversation. Art at the Hebrew University is present not only physically, but also in spirit. Art at HUJI presents eighty-three artworks selected from the thousands of pieces on display at the Hebrew University – on the lawns and in enclosed spaces – ranging from well-known works by Henry Moore and Yigal Tumarkin to hidden gems by Marina Abramović and Sigalit Landau. The book is an invitation to embark on a journey through time and discover the stories behind each piece, the artists who created them, and the way in which art has influenced the university. Art at HUJI weaves a dialogue between the works of art displayed at the university and its academic faculty, students, and employees. Inspired by Plato's dialogues, these individuals were invited to choose one work that spoke to them and write about it. Each work featured in this book is accompanied by these reflections, alongside commentary written by the editor of the book and curator of the university, Dr. Michal Mor.

Since its creation, the Babylonian Talmud has stood at the center of the Jewish intellectual canon and the heart of Torah study. Despite its wide circulation and enduring significance, it remains an elusive work to define. It is a religious text, yet contains little theology; it is deeply legal, yet it is hardly concerned with practical rulings; it is framed as a commentary on the Mishnah, yet frequently departs into independent expansive discussions. What, then, is this composition? How was it constructed? How did it come to occupy such a central place in Jewish tradition? And how has it been interpreted over the centuries? The first part of The Talmud: A History of Learning is devoted to analyzing the Talmud itself—dissecting its constituent parts and exploring their formation, purpose, and historical context. The second part turns to the reception of the Talmud: the ways in which it has been read, studied, and reinterpreted from its redaction through the present day. The title of the book reflects this dual focus: it addresses both the internal processes of learning that gave rise to the Talmudic text, and the external history of its study and the discourses it has generated from late antiquity to the present.

How does the past remain present in the urban landscape—in houses, streets, and public squares—even after the culture that once sustained it has been destroyed? What happens when history is not merely an abstract memory but a material reality that continues to shape and unsettle the present? In Bloody Wednesday , Yechiel Weizman traces the ghostly presence of the Jews of Olkusz, a town in south-central Poland whose large Jewish community flourished for centuries, until the Holocaust. Despite their total physical absence, from the end of the war until today the memory of the Jews is palpable and persistent—and at the same time silenced and repressed—in every street corner: in empty houses, in abandoned cemeteries and synagogues, in plaques and monuments, and through the ongoing public debates about property, heritage, and commemoration. Using the case study of a single Polish town, the book shows how the urban topography of Eastern Europe was continuously reshaped and redefined in relation to the legacy of the Second World War, the question of Jewish property, and the politics of Holocaust memory during the Communist period and after the fall of the Iron Curtain. Adopting a microhistorical lens and examining the smallest details of everyday life and urban history, the book reveals how the persistent debate over the presence of the dead Jews in the concrete and imagined spaces of one small town became a dramatic arena for a painful, intimate, and nostalgic confrontation with the violent fingerprints of the twentieth century and with pressing questions of responsibility, ethics, and guilt.

Martin Buber aroused passionate, often contradictory opinions, both regarding his personality and his thought. Gershom Schocken, editor of Haaretz , said that one day he was walking with S. Y. Agnon: "We were walking around Talpiot and I asked him what his attitude was towards Buber. Agnon stopped in his walk and said: 'I want to tell you something. There are people about whom you have to decide once: do you love them or do you hate them. I decided to love Buber.'" Buber's philosophical and theological writings, including the famous I and Thou , have contributed greatly to religious and Jewish thought, as well as to biblical studies, political theory, and Zionist thought. In this new biography, Paul Mendes-Flor situates Buber's legacy at the crossroads between the intellectual and cultural life of German Jewry and European life in the first half of the twentieth century. This is the first full biography of the groundbreaking modern Jewish philosopher. The book is organized around several key events in his life, such as his mother suddenly abandoning him when he was three years old—a formative trauma that left Buber with a lasting sense of sensitivity to the fragility of human relationships and the need to nurture them with what he would later call "dialogical attention."

What is a secret? On the one hand, it is a mystery in its most fundamental form. It is what should never be disclosed. On the other hand, in order for it to be defined as a secret, it has to be formulated in words, be told to someone, a very special one, secretly. The teller of the secret creates a treaty of loyalty with her addressee, a loyalty which exceeds the self, yet somehow remains within it. They are either two people trying to function as one, or one person who is divided into two. This analysis raises various dilemmas regarding both the personal and public arenas. When does the secret force itself upon us and what is the meaning of its appearance? My close friend tells me secretly that he is disloyal to his wife, who is also a close friend. Should I tell her? I am gossiping with A on B’s behavior. Is this immoral? What should be the guidelines of right and wrong when it comes to the secrets of decision makers in the political sphere? Whom do they represent in their confidential conversations? Who should decide on state secrets? And what should be the role of the press in this context? Whom are doctors to be loyal to – their patients? The public? Their profession? If a patient suffers from the HIV virus and refuses to tell that to his partner, is the doctor allowed (or obliged) to tell her? Some of these questions are given definite answers in this book; others remain undecided. And while discussing them, The Secret Is Out also analyses concepts such as the nature of promises, political ethics, the relations between the individual and the public, and the essence of love. The book examines philosophical works, sociological studies, passages from the Bible and the Talmud, laws of parliament, fiction and poetry.

The Journals of the Haskalah from 1820 to 1845 includes monographs and annotated indices to eight Hebrew periodicals in Holland, Galicia, Germany and Lithuania, published in the first half of the nineteenth century. The monographs analyze the phenomena of the Hebrew Haskalah press, addressing major developments in the history of the Haskalah, such as the emergence of ‘Hochmat Israel’ (The scholarly study of Judaism) in Hebrew, and the emerging centers of Haskalah in Holland, Galicia, and Lithuania. The monographs study the journals and their editors, contributing authors, and the subject matters included in them, and examine their scholarly and literary output. Some of the luminary scholars of the Haskalah contributed to these journals: Shmuel David Luzzatto, Shlomo Yehuda Rapoport, Nachman Krochmal, and Marcus Jost, as well as authors and poets, such as Yitzhak Erter, Shmuel Mulder, Meir Halevi Letteris and Adam Hacohen Lebenson. ‘Hevrat To’elet’ (To’elet Society), established in 1815, published three of the journals: Bikurei To’elet (First Fruits of To’elet, 1820), Pri To’elet (Fruit of To’elet, 1825), both edited by Shmuel Mulder, and Bikurei Hashanah (First Fruits of the Year, 1844), edited by Gabriel Pollak. in 1823/4, the author and editor Meir Halevi Letteris issued the journal Hatzfirah (Dawn). In the early 1840s, two scholars of the German school of the Study of Judaism, Marcus Jost and Michael Creizenach, launched a Hebrew monthly publication in Frankfurt titled Zion (1841–1842). In 1842 and 1844, two Vilna Maskilim, Shmuel Yoseph Fünn and Eliezer Lipman Horowitz, published the journal Pirhei Tzafon (The Northern Flowers). In 1844, Mendel Stern published one issue of Sefer Bikurei Ha’itim (The Book of The First Fruits of the Times), and a year later, in 1845/6, Yitzhak Shmuel Reggio and Israel Busch issued a one-time periodical titled Bikurei Ha’itim Hahadashim (The New First Fruits of the Times). This book is the fourth volume in the series of monographs and annotated indices of Hebrew Haskalah periodicals. It follows the publication of the monographs and annotated indices on Kerem Hemed, titled Kerem Hemed: ‘Hochmat Israel’ [The Scholarly Study of Judaism] As the ‘New Yavneh,’ the Hebrew Journal of the Haskalah in Galicia and Italy (1833–1856), in 2009, and previously on Bikurei Ha’itim, titled Bikurei Ha’itim – Bikurei Hahaskalah [The First Fruits of Haskalah], the Hebrew Journal of the Haskalah in Galicia (in 2005), and the publication of Hame’asef Index and monograph – Sha’ar Lahaskalah [The Gate to Haskalah]: An Annotated Index to Hame’asef, the First Hebrew Periodical (1783–1811), in 2000, by Magnes Press. The annotated indices should serve as a reliable reference tool for viewing and reviewing the major topics and issues that occupied the minds of the editors and the writers of these journals. Readers may now examine the scope and the character of the material published in these eight journals. Likewise, it is now convenient to assess the contribution of participating scholars, authors, and poets, to the Haskalah literature, and to explore their ideological stand on various scholarly or Haskalah-related matters. Association of Jewish Libraries’ Judaica Bibliography Award 2014

What was the balance of power in the battles of Judas Maccabaeus and in Israel's War of Independence? Were they, as is commonly assumed, wars of the few against the many? These questions were discussed in a conference organized by the School of History of the Hebrew University in December 1999. The participants were in general agreement that the discussion of the balance of power must not be confined to the number of troops and that other variables must be taken into account. Nevertheless the numbers of troops is important. Conflicting views were presented on the battles of Judas Maccabaues whereas on the number of troops in Israel's War of Independence there was general agreement. Published in this collection, for the first time, are a General Staff document from 1952 and a research paper by Yehosuha Ben Arie for the IDF History Branch from 1955. Both conclude that in the matter of the number of troops the War of Independence on the whole was not an instance of the few against the many. Other articles, based on lectures delivered at the conference include Bezalel Bar Kochva and Israel Shatzman on the battles of Judas Maccabaeus; Beni Morris and Amitzur Ilan on the balance of forces in the War of Independence, Eyal Nave and Mordechai Bar-On on the evolution of Israeli collective memory of the balance of power and on possible ways of representing the facts of the case in school books; Shmaryahu Ben-Pazi, Moshe Erenwald and Nimrod Hagiladi on three case studies: Safad, The Jewish Quarter in the Old City of Jerusalem, and Rechovot; and Joseph Heller's essay on the centrality of the 'few against many' theme in David Ben Gurion's thought which widens the scope of the discussion in the conference.

The book offers a new reading of Israeli prose written primarily in the 1980s and 1990s. During these decades, Hebrew literature freed itself from the aspiration to address a general (male) audience and began cultivating a new, more diverse readership. This audience was constructed through the direct address of literary texts to their readers. For women, who are often culturally directed to identify with the position of the (seemingly) passive listener of the story rather than the protagonist, this strategy offers a vital mode of engagement. Through close readings of contemporary Hebrew literature—including works by Orly Castel-Bloom, Yoel Hoffmann, Lea Aini, Yuval Shimoni, and Eda Zoritte—the book reclaims this position and demonstrates how it can be both productive and active.

In 1980, the Italian publisher Einaudi wanted to publish a series of personal anthologies of its authors. Primo Levi quickly arose to the challenge and submitted La ricerca delle radici ( The Search for Roots ): thirty excerpts from thirty masterpieces of world literature, accompanied by thirty short introductions he wrote. Every such introduction is a brilliant commentary on the work, and a reflection of Primo Levi himself - as a kind of self-portrait, in which the painter produces his collage from materials created by others. These excepts - published for the first time in Hebrew - reveal some of the important ethical and aesthetic influences on Primo Levi and his work. Levi quotes from Job, Lucretius, Rabelais‏, Babel, Shalom Aleichem, de Saint-Exupéry and more, but also from Darwin's On Origin of Species and even from Practical Organic Chemistry. Thus, it is possible to trace his extensive and diverse, humanistic and scientific education, the roots from which his unique literary work grew.

This book discusses the models of the relationships between the G'dly power and the human power in Jewish mystical literature.

Aristotle's Poetics is the earliest surviving work of dramatic theory and the first extant philosophical treatise to focus on literary theory.

The Latin Iliad is a concise adaptation of the Homeric Iliad. The identity of its author remains uncertain but the work is attributed to Baebius Italicus, a Roman dignitary of the second half of the first century CE. The Hebrew translation of this short epic retains the unique poetic language of the original as well as its meter.

The present comprehensive and orderly collection of texts from the Babylonian Talmud allows a deep insight into the knowledge of the rabbis about the importance and decryption of dream experiences and dream messages. It covers, inter alia, the emergence of dreams and their healing power, mysterious Atonement and possibilities of influencing the content of a dream, nightmares, dream and prophecy, sexual dreams, rules and techniques of dream interpretation. The Talmudic texts are added through detailed explanations and contemporary Jewish and non-Jewish parallels. This book was first published in Vienna in 1923. It is Kristianpollers' thesis, written in his 20s. The thesis was finished as a book in 1914 but publication was delayed due to the first world war. The Hebrew translation was initiated by the authors' son, Professor Nahum Kristianpoller, in memory of his parents who perished in the Holocaust.

Rabbi Moses ben Nahman (c. 1194-1267), rabbi, commentator, Kabbalist, and public leader, was one of the most prominent and influential Jewish figures in the Middle Ages. His diverse works reflect the history of Jewish communities in Western Europe in the thirteenth century and particularly the story of his own life. This book seeks to illuminate Nahmanides' works and beliefs, on the background of the challenges during his life. How was his thought formed, and what were its sources? In what stage of his life was he acquainted with the Kabbalah? To what extent was his immigration to Eretz Israel the consequence of Barcelona disputation? This book offers a new – historical-biographical – perspective for understanding Nahmanides' religious and intellectual world.

Armenian Manuscripts of the David and Jemima Jeselsohn Collection is devoted to the five Armenian codices in the Jeselsohn collection in Zurich. Of great importance for Armenian studies and the history of art more generally, they represent various literary types, including biblical, hagiographic, homiletic, and liturgical texts. They also reflect an array of visual and artisanal traditions, connected to artistic centres in the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, Constantinople, and New Julfa, and span a period of over 300 years. A newly identified Sargis Picak manuscript is of exceptional importance for the study of medieval Armenian art, for its images, for Sargis’ colophons, and for a a hitherto unstudied ivory plaque of the Transfiguration. A Ritual of 1586 holds particular importance for scholars of the Armenian liturgy and its development in sixteenth-century Jerusalem. Also presented is a beautiful parchment leaf of the opening of the Gospel of John, studied and published previously by Michael and Nira Stone, and likely originating from a Bible produced in seventeenth-century New Julfa. Two Gospel Books complete this study: one from New Julfa, dated to 1695, and another likely produced in late seventeenth or early eighteenth-century Constantinople. This book was initiated and supported by David Jeselsohn, avid and longtime collector of archaeological artifacts, manuscripts, and Judaica. It was written jointly by Michael Stone and Christina Maranci. Maranci is an art historian and Stone is a specialist in Armenian philology, palaeography and codicology. Maranci bears primary responsibility for research on the miniatures – their art-historical analysis and iconography as well as their attribution, date, and context. Stone contributed the textual, codicological and palaeographical research, including translation of the colophons from the Classical Armenian (Grabar) into English, and catalogued the contents of all five manuscripts.

The chapters of this book present the reader with a broad and complex picture of the challenges that Israel’s higher education system is facing today. Despite the impressive contribution of the academic system in Israel to the national culture, economy and society and its value as a prolific creative center for intellectual growth, scientific and technological innovation, it has experienced major upheavals in the past two decades. This book reviews these crises. The chapters of this book examine the growth of Israel’s academic system since the beginning of the millennium, the upheavals it has undergone, and the policy directions that may help stabilize it and improve its ability to cope with the challenges it faces today. Chapter 1 examines historical conflicts that took place during the 1950s about the scope of freedom and institutional autonomy as defined by the Council of Higher Education Law, 1958. The Law followed a decade of dispute in the Knesset, which ended with the establishment of regulatory bodies, the Council of Higher Education and the Planning and Budgeting Committee and the opening of the gates to academic studies to almost half of year book since the 1990s . Chapter 2 examines with the "lost decade" when budget cuts of approximately 25% affected academic standards across academia, but took a heavier toll on the Humanities and Social Sciences. Chapters 3 and 4 examine policies that encouraged the integration of ultra-Orthodox Jews and of Arabs into higher education by removing barriers. Analyzing th e policy tools and steps needed to integrate these two communities into the academic system aimed inter alia, to reduce poverty among them. Chapters 5 and 6 examine disparities in the quality of research and teaching , disciplines based on sixty-one reports by international committees appointed by the CHE to assess the quality of the disciplines in Israeli universities and colleges since 2006. The findings of these committees shed light on the achievements and weaknesses of various areas of research and teaching. A preliminary analysis of the commissions’ reports found that the experts recommended that the CHE and PBC adopt a policy of corrective measures and preferences to support neglected disciplines, which in many cases didn't happened. Chapters 7 and 8 examine the politicization of higher education and its impact on regulatory bodies . For approximately half a century, the CHE and the PBC enjoyed freedom in navigating their roles. Accrediting a new university in Judea and Samaria in Ariel caused upheaval in academia and an ongoing crisis of trust between its senior officials and the government. Once political interference created this rift, and membership of the regulatory bodies was changed so as to ensure that the government could pass resolutions as it wished, it continued to widen and erode the authority of the entity entrusted with planning higher education. Chapter 9 examines the failure of a committee appointed by government . The committee was charged with reviewing and updating the regulatory bodies of the higher-education system, and recalibrating the balance between academia and the state in policy decision-making. The goal was to intensify the state’s participation in planning higher education, while preserving the freedom of the institutions. The government eventually vetoed the committee’s bill, fearing that the governance mechanisms proposed would limit the scope of its influence on the higher education system. Chapter 10 is dedicated to recent efforts to discard traditional teaching models. It reviews preliminary steps toward a new pedagogic model that changes students’ study patterns and lecturers’ teaching styles, by examining policy measures taken by six universities and three colleges. Chapter 11 summarizes the research findings. The Epilogue examines the possible consequences of the attempted regime overhaul by Israel’s 37th government on for the country’s higher education system.

Jubilees is a pseudepigraphical composition from the second century BCE, which was preserved among the Dead Sea Scrolls. The book rewrites the Pentateuch until the Sinaitic revelation, by means of additions, omissions and other changes. Scholars tend to the view it as a unified work, composed by one author. In light of numerous contradictions, both in narrative details and in issues of biblical interpretation, Michael Segal suggests a new approach towards understanding the literary development of the work: a redactor relied upon extant sources, generally rewritten biblical narratives, and incorporated them into a new literary framework. The redactor's unique contribution can be identified in the chronological framework and the legal passages. The internal contradictions between the different literary genres are the result of the literary development of the book. This source-critical analysis reveals a unified, complete worldview in the redactional layer of the book, which can be summarized by one fundamental principle: God established the entire world order at the time of creation. This is exemplified through the analysis of the question of the origin of evil in the world, perhaps the most pressing theological issue for any monotheistic religion. Throughout the book, one finds different approaches to this critical question, but when the redactional layer is examined by itself, a clear view emerges – God created both good and evil at the dawn of time as part of a cosmic, dualistic system. This book is intended for all those interested in Bible, Jewish literature of the Second Temple period, including the Dead Sea Scrolls, Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha, and Early Biblical Exegesis.

This unique volume, which is sure to engage the attention of both scholars and the general public, is an unparalleled cross-generational and international dialogue among eminent historians about three central aspects of the unfathomable enigma of the Holocaust. In the first section, beyond a seminal overview of sixty years of research, the writers reflect on historiography and historical thought ranging from contemporaries of the Third Reich to the ongoing discussion about the controversial role post-war West German historians played in Holocaust research. This is followed by a section focusing on social antisemitism until the 1950s and the German public’s awareness of the Holocaust, including the posture of the German Resistance Movement. The third major theme is the Jewish society, from its initial attempts to develop new forms of societal life under the Nazi regime until the brink of annihilation during the mass deportation from the Warsaw Ghetto to Treblinka. The concluding chapter sheds light on the unresolved tension between reflective personal memory and impersonal historical research of this dark period in human history.

Question of Place: Architecture between the Poetic and the Ethical calls for a re-understanding of the foundations of the architectural act while exposing it to phenomenological thought. Through a return to the first - and failed - encounter in the late 1970s, between phenomenology depicting phenomena in the light of human experience and architectural discourse, Edna Langenthal offers a new reading of discourse, embracing the thought of philosopher Martin Heidegger and discussing the influence of the architectural theoretician Christian Norberg-Schulz, who in her opinion missed Heidegger's contribution to her understanding. To emphasize the potential inherent in Heidegger's thought in understanding the question of place and the possibilities of dwelling in it, the author discusses the meaning of the poetic as a constitutive axis in understanding key concepts in contemporary architectural discourse. But the poetic dimension, for her, cannot exist without the ethical dimension. Through a study of the thought of Heidegger's student and critic, the philosopher Emanuel Levinas, the structure that connects an affinity between the ethical and the home and the possibilities of settling in it.

A large compilation of Latin proverbs and idioms (mostly from Antiquity but also from the Middle Ages and New Era), arranged in alphabetical order, accompanied by a Hebrew translation, sources, and rich explanations, which reveal their literary-historical background and meaning, and specify their modern usage.

The Indian language of Sanskrit is one the of oldest Indo-European languages. The Vedas, Upanishads, Mahabharata and Ramayana epics, religion and philosophy works, poetry, plays, mythology and legends were all written in this language. Sanskrit is the basis for any research on traditional Indian culture and Indo-European linguistics. This book presents the foundations of Sanskrit and all grammatical topics, accompanied by examples and poetry verses. The story of the עם Krishna is told along the book. The book is aimed at linguistics and students, who will be able to deal with literary, religious and philosophical texts upon completing the book. Illustrations by Dganit Greier. Before purchasing this e-book, please consider the following: • The e-book is for online use only. It cannot be downloaded as a PDF or as any other file. It can only be downloaded to the Magnes App, available for free download on App Store or Play Store. • E-books are nonrefundable. • Copying Sanskrit texts is not possible in the e-book edition of this book. We ask you to consider these factors carefully before purchasing the e-book. If you do not believe our e-book could suit your needs, kindly give thought to purchasing the printed edition of this book instead. We welcome you to write to us with any questions before purchase.

A collection of articles by one of the leading researchers of the Hebrew language spanning across various fields of knowledge, presented in four sections: Words and their combinations, vocabulary and semantics; language and rhetoric of the media; teaching the language; language, literature, and culture. Raphael Nir was one of the pioneering scholars to study the secondary text: dialect, phrasing, proverbs, as well as headlines, slogans, and even stickers. He researched linguistic transparency in Modern Hebrew, examined the political correctness of the language, and insisted on the use of passive forms in order to conceal the perpetrator when the act described was not morally appropriate. Some of the articles touch on irony, as well as the formation of language norms.

The twenty-one studies on the Jews of Old Poland here collected explore many hitherto uncharted aspects of Jewish life and experience in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Crucial questions such as relations between the Catholic Church and the Jews, Jewish politics, antisemitism and Jewish settlement are examined using the integrative and comparative approaches championed by Jacob Goldberg, to whom the volume is dedicated.

Vardi and Weitz bring together wide-ranging scholarship to help us understand the roots, effects, and implications of misbehavior in organizations. The book covers key topics that have emerged in scholarly literature in the past decade, such as insidious workplace behavior, bullying and harassment in the workplace, information hiding, cyberbullying, and organizational spirituality. A thorough and up-to-date resource on this crucial and evolving topic in organizational studies, this book provides insights on misbehavior at the individual, position, group, and organizational levels.

This book contains a selection of the historical and methodological articles of Isaac Julius Guttman (1880-1950), a Jewish philosophy scholar and one of the first of the Hebrew University. Guttman was one of those thinkers who did much thinking and little writing. Each article emphasizes his spiritual character and his knowledge of Judaism as well as ancient Greek, Christianity, Islam and European cultures.

This book explores a cultural project pursued by Lea Goldberg in the first decade after her immigration to Eretz-Israel. It argues that during this formative period in her literary biography, Goldberg’s writings addressed issues of cultural memory and cultural translation. The reason for this epistemic and aesthetic focus in her early work, as the book demonstrates, is to be found in Goldberg’s experience of immigration as well as in her deep sense of responsibility for the preservation of European culture endangered by the outbreak of World War II. The significance of this constitutive chapter in Goldberg’s œvre had been almost entirely overlooked by researchers to date . The book presents a first systematic account of all of the channels of Goldberg’s literary activity in the first decade, novelistic writing, poetry, publicist and essayist writings, as well as of her translations, thus offering a new understanding of Lea Goldberg not only as a poet but also as a public intellectual. Furthermore, by interpreting her writings through the comparative lens and concentrating on Goldberg’s multi-layered dialogue with Russian and German literatures, the book suggests viewing her literary work within the frame of European modernism, which she sought to translate into the space of Hebrew literature. Drawing on Mikhail Bakhtin’s view of genres as “organs of memory”, each of the chapters focuses on a different genre in Goldberg’s writing and presents it as a conscious effort to realize in her Hebrew literary works the potential of European cultural memory .

This book offers a new theoretical approach to the practice of organization consulting. Following Pierre Bourdieu's Theory of Practice, the new approach, "habitus-oriented organizational consulting", sees thinking and behavior a result of social dispositions (habitus) which develop in the interaction between practice and social structures such as culture, organizing metaphors, power relations and practical knowledge. The habitus-oriented organizational consulting incorporates the social with the individual through habitus .

The present study begins as an attempt to analyze an apparently paradoxical situation created by two events, which occurred simultaneously in 1948: the establishment of Israel as an independent state and the emergence of the ‘Ofakim Hadashim’ (New Horizons) group of artists, acknowledged as the most renowned local artists at the time. The creation of the State of Israel may be considered the high point of Jewish nationalism, when the nation celebrated its distinctiveness. On the other hand, Ofakim Hadashim was a group of intellectuals who aspired to disengage their artistic work from the dominant political processes of the time. The basic claim of its members was l’art pour l’art, which ostensibly contradicted the significance of the general political process. This situation is highly interesting since it challenges the general sociological assumptions about the role of intellectuals in nation-building processes, and also contradicts the usual explanation regarding the Israeli state-building process. It concludes that an explanation of the social complexity existing in 1948 can be found in an understanding of modernity as a multifaceted phenomenon embracing a diversity of inherently contradictory practices.

A collection of papers originally presented at a conference held in May 2002 on the 50th anniversary of the death of Umberto (Moshe David) Cassuto (Florence 1882-Jerusalem 1952), to critically explore the relevance of the work of this memorable scholar to contemporary and future research in Judaic studies. The volume contains 8 papers in Hebrew and 2 in Italian.

In the volume Kabbalah, Mysticism and Poetry: A Journey to the End of Vision , top researchers from a variety of disciplines generate a thrilling encounter between Jewish, Christian and Islamic texts, drawing on poetic, religious and mystical interpretation tools in an interdisciplinary feast of aesthetics, literature and poetics on the one hand, and mysticism and theology on the other. In this fascinating, complex, and entangled journey to the end of vision we meet some of the leading authors who made a crucial contribution to human world culture, and who were deeply interested in Kabbalah and mysticism, such as the Zohar Kabbalists, Israel Najara, Shmuel Yosef Agnon, Paul Celan, Jorge Luis Borges, Julia Kristeva, Al-Hallaj, Ibn Arabi, Dante, Cervantes, John Donne, and Marcel Proust.

A look at The book of Joshua – The challenges of teaching the book of Joshua in contemporary Israeli society, for example how to grapple with questions of military power in 21st Century Israeli society whose primary concern is peace, and a book which proves the claim of the Jewish people on the land of Israel can appear dated at a time when giving land for peace is a main issue.

The editors have not considered it their task to adopt any definite view of their own – or even a common outlook among themselves – with any questions treated in this volume, nor to ensure that any such view be presented to the reader. It was the design of this collection to bring forward fundamental questions in different branches of law, and at the same moment, to present the various opinions of the contributors.

This book is an attempt to explain the traditions in the Kabala which relate to the female body of G-d.

Conventional wisdom as well as academic research has connected the concept of "Hasidism" with faith in "special providence" ( hashgacha pratit). The book "Not in the Hands of Heaven: The Limits of Human Action in the Teachings of Early Hassidic Masters" examines this relationship in the sermons of second and third generation Hassidic masters: The Magid of Mezherech, Rabbi Jacob Joseph of Polonoye and Rabbi Menahem Nahum of Chernobyl. A careful reading of the sermons – oral texts - uncovers the various audiences they were addressed to as well as the differing content presented to dissimilar audiences. It becomes apparent that at times the orator does not intend to describe his faith completely as much as to influence the faith and consciousness of his listeners. The sermons reveal a complex approach that continues that of the study halls of the Cabalists. According to this approach Providence is exercised on each individual according to his personal perfection and his dedication to the mission of unification of the upper and lower worlds and that of drawing down the divine plenty into this world. The Higher individual, the Tzadik, he who cleaves to God and acts selflessly is accredited in the sermons with the power to direct the revealed world, as well as the supernal worlds, mainly by the power of thought and speech. Out of their belief in the power of Faith and Speech to act on reality, to shape and change it, the Preachers educated the general public not to expect conscious Cabalistic activities, but to believe that everything is an act of providence thus turning reality over to the hands of Heaven while redemption of the Shechina, "The Fear of Heaven", remains in the hands of man. Thus, "All is in the Hands of Heaven, except the Fear of Heaven".

According to its Declaration of Independence, the State of Israel "will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex". However, the equality between men and women in Israel was not de facto. What did Israeli women have to say about that? The book presents views and opinions of Israeli women in the 1950s and the early 1960s about their roles and duties in the public and the domestic spheres, based on contemporary women's sections in the press and women's magazines. It shows what women said about women in the Israeli parliament (Knesset) and about Golda Meir; women's service in the Israeli Defense Force and the exclusion of women from the public sphere; motherhood and parenthood, woman's right to choose to have an abortion and women's struggle for peace; women's duties as housewives and the discrimination of women as employees. The book also uncovers a forgotten feminist journal, sheds light on a famous adoption story of a Yemenite baby and discusses a protest of female cadets in the Israeli Air Force flight course that was ignored and silenced for many years. The book unveils Israeli women's voices from the past, which show that in an era of many fateful decisions, Israeli women also made choices that affected their status in society. Readers might find these decisions relevant vis-à-vis women's status in Israeli society nowadays.

Charles Perrault’s “Puss in Boots” was published in Paris at the end of the seventeenth century in his collection Stories or Tales from Times Past or, Tales of Mother Goose . Yigal Schwartz reveals how Perrault dresses the story in a new and colorful literary garment woven from the fairy tale and the contemporary story of the court of Louis XIV. Perrault’s story and the fairy tale both conceal and reveal things about each other and cruelly illuminate the nature of crowds and the royal court. Among the folds of this literary garment, a social, cultural, and political crossroads can be found. And what do the cat’s boots conceal? This question has excited Yigal Schwartz since childhood and is what sent him on a unique, sometimes perplexing, and multifaceted quest for “Puss in Boots.” In this in-depth literary study, Schwartz analyzes the well-known tale and determinedly examines each of its details, comparing style and content. Why does the cat wear boots? Why a miller’s son? Why the Marquis of de Carabas? And why the ogre’s castle? Schwartz draws his answers from a wide range of perspectives—those of psychoanalysis, phenomenology, sociology, and literary studies—all of which meet at the roots of the anxiety he identifies at the foundation of the tale: the anxiety involved in concealment, which is at the same time anxiety about the mask but also about what may not be concealed behind it at all.

Prayer in Israel is not only a personal and occasional expression of man's relationship with his God, but a complete way of life, organized around a set of daily prayers, on weekdays, on Shabbat and on holidays. But many questions hover around the genesis of this system: When was it designed? At what stages? What is the relationship between its different parts and between its different ways - blessing, reading and prayer? What is the difference between public prayer and individual prayer? Extensive literature has already been written on the history of the prayer, but since the main design of the prayer emerged from the Talmudic literature - Tanna'im and Amora'im - it is essential to place the study of the prayer on the basis of a detailed analysis of the Talmudic material, according to the ways of updated Talmudic science. From this a reliable picture of the prayer in Israel may be drawn from within the literature of the Sages. This essay seeks to present basic chapters from this task.

This course book features a systematic method of presenting the foundations of modern algebra, focusing on three main theories: groups, rings, and fields. It contains numerous exercises.

In The Barbed-Wire College Ron Robin tells the extraordinary story of the 380,000 German prisoners who were brought to the USA during WWII and kept in camps throughout the country. Using personal narratives, camp newspapers, and military records, Robin re-creates in arresting detail the attempts of prison officials to mold the minds of their prisoners. From 1943 onward, despite the Geneva Convention, prisoners were subjected to an ambitious re-education program designed to turn them into American-style democrats. Under the direction of the Pentagon, liberal arts professors pushed through a program of arts and humanities that stressed only the positive aspects of American society. The American educators censored popular books and films in order to promote democratic humanism and downplay class and race issues, materialism, and wartime heroics. However, by the war's end, the curriculum was more concerned with combating the appeals of communism than with eradicating the evils of National Socialism. The re-education program, overall, failed to make these POWs shed their Nazi beliefs and become supporters of a liberal- democratic ethos. It succeeded less than the policies of other nations in indoctrinating prisoners of war or internees. In The Barbed-Wire College Ron Robin shows how this intriguing chapter of military history was also tied to two crucial episodes of twentieth- century American history: the battle over the future of American education and the McCarthy-era hysterics that awaited postwar America.

AMILAT se honra en presentar el séptimo volumen de su serie Judaica Latinoamericana , que incluye una amplia selección de los trabajos presentados en la Sección América Latina del XV Congreso Mundial de Estudios Judaicos (Jerusalén 2009), por investigadores establecidos en las Américas e Israel, especializados en diversas disciplinas de las humanidades y las ciencias sociales. El volumen enfoca una variedad de temas pertenecientes a las experiencias históricas, sociales y culturales del judaísmo en América Latina, tanto respecto de lo que poseen en común como en cuanto a sus diferencias debidas a los diversos contextos nacionales. A ello se suman renovadoras propuestas metodológicas, necesarias en vista de fenómenos socio-culturales recientes originados en la globalización y el transnacionalismo, que se proyectan hacia el futuro de las investigaciones en el área. Comunidades: historia y demografía Silvio Gryc - Conflicts in Narcisse Leven - A View from Within Yehuda Levin - La cuestión religiosa en los poblados agrícolas judíos de la Argentina (1891-1916) Yaacov Rubel Perfil - socio-demográfico y distribución geográfica de judíos en las provincias argentinas, según el Censo Nacional de 1895 Moshé Nes El La inmigración y el periodismo judío en Chile, 1919-1935 Comunidades: dinámicas ideológicas Leonardo Senkman - Identidad transnacional de judeocomunistas argentinos en los albores del ICUF Edith Marsiglia - Expresiones culturales transnacionales fruto de la diáspora judeo-italiana en Argentinay Uruguay durante el fascismo (1938-1976) Graciela Ben-Dror El rol del Movimiento Sionista-Socialista Mordejái Anilevich en el Uruguay, 1964-1976 Comunidades: dinámicas religiosas Daniel Bargman - Topografías judaicas y redes transnacionales: una aproximación antropológica a las identidades y religiosidades judías en Buenos Aires Leonel Levy - Una mirada trasnacional al fenómeno religioso a comienzos del siglo XXI. Estudio sobre una nueva comunidad en México, DF Batia Siebzehner - Autoridad y religiosidad: Transformaciones en la comunidad judía de Panamá América Latina y la Shoá Saul Kirschbaum - O ponto cego em Brasil, País do Futuro, de Stefan Zweig Efraim Zadoff - Salvamento de judíos en Rumania por el cónsul de Chile Samuel del Campo Diásporas transnacionales Luis Roniger - New and old transnationalism: Inter-state alliances and transnational networks in Latin America

Dr. Amitai Mendelsohn investigates the various appearances of the figure of Jesus in Israeli art as a significant, multifaceted and ever-present phenomenon. Through works by prominent artists from different generations, it discusses in depth the evolving attitudes of Jewish, Zionist pre-state, and Israeli art towards Jesus, from the second half of the nineteenth century until today: from artists laboring "In the shadow of the Cross" to artists who saw Jesus as a symbol of the rebirth of the Jewish people in the land of Israel, and artists whose engagement with Jesus is detached from the complex and fraught relations between Christianity and Judaism, and who see him as symbolizing the suffering artist. The book examines the different directions taken by Israeli artists in portraying the figure of Jesus, and proves the extent of this phenomena and its ever present importance.

The Iliad of Homer is a powerful poem of force and heroism. It is the earliest of epics in Western Civilization and, since its appearance in the 8th century BCE, has inspired subsequent literary works. It tells of the final year of the Trojan War, one of the central stories in Greek mythology, and of the wrath of Achilles and its horrendous consequences. This is the first Hebrew prose translation of this great work. It has been done with meticulous care both to accuracy and style, aiming to preserve as far as possible the literary richness and charm of the original. As the Iliad belongs originally to the oral tradition, it is meant rather to be listened to than read; hence the translation aims at a greater musicality of Hebrew and simplicity of expression – both important characteristics of the Greek original. The translator has added a concise introduction and comprehensive notes to enhance readers’ understanding of this timeless poem. An index was added in the second edition.

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: Yeruḥam Aviad Goldman | The Secret of The levirate Marriage and Ḥalitzah : A Kabbalistic Text Attributed to Rabbi Yosef Gikatilla Naʿama Ben-Shaḥar and Tzaḥi Weiss | Ten Holy Sefirot, and their Inverse : A Commentary on the Ten Sefirot alongside the Left Emanation Eliezer Baumgarten and Uri Safrai | Some Traces from R. Isaac of Acre’s early draft of Otzar Ḥaim Eli Gurfinkel | Commentary on Lamentations (1:1–6) by Rabbi David ben Yehuda Messer Leon Yohanan Kapaḥ | Rabbi Joseph Ḥayyun’s Commentary on the Book of Malachi

In his autobiography, Abraham Halevi Fraenkel describes growing up as an Orthodox Jew in Germany and his development as a mathematician at the beginning of the twentieth century. In his memoir, originally published in German in 1967, Fraenkel painted a unique picture of the complexity of Jewish life in Germany with special emphasis on the developments in the Orthodox community. He described the world of mathematics in Germany in the first half of the twentieth century, in the context of the great mathematicians he met, many of whom were Jews or had Jewish roots. In his personal life, Fraenkel merged the worlds of orthodox Judaism, liberal Zionism and mathematics, in a period of global and national upheavals, which included the two World Wars and the establishment of the State of Israel. The last chapter of the book, which describes his extensive public activity in Israel from the 1930s until his death in 1965, was written by Prof. Jiska Cohen-Mansfield. Introductions were added by Prof. Yehoshua Bar-Hillel and Prof. Menachem Magidor, the former president of the Hebrew University.

In 1895, Lewis Carroll, the author of the iconic novel Alice in Wonderland and a renowned logician, composed a collection of mathematical problems while he was suffering from sleeplessness. However, Carroll seemed to have overlooked a crucial paradoxical error in his presentation of one of these problems, which is analysed in this book, along with questions such as: Do men have more sisters than women? Why do people find their own coincidences more surprising than those encountered by others? How are life and death expectancies treated probabilistically? Statistics, probability, coincidences, randomness and infinity are explored in this book – a collection of essays written over years of research – through a variety of everyday anecdotes and situations, aimed at students, teachers and readers interested in enriching their knowledge of these subjects.

Magnetism and Optics is a second book in the series of three. This book is built on the foundations of the 6th Edition of Halliday, Resnick, and Walker’s Fundamentals of Physics. One of primary goals of this book is to help students make sense of the physics they are learning. We cannot achieve this goal if students see physics as a set of disconnected mathematical equations that each apply only to a small number of specific situations. We stress conceptual and qualitative understanding and continually make connections between mathematical equations and conceptual ideas. We also try to build on ideas that students can be expected to already understand, based on the resources they bring from everyday experiences. This text is designed to work with learning strategies such as microcomputer-based labs and interactive lectures that are increasingly being used in physics instruction.

The kibbutz and the moshav are two collective democratic forms of settlement inspired by the socialist ideology prevalent within the Jewish national movement in Palestine at the end of the 19th beginning of the 20th century. As was the case in a number of other voluntary forms of association such as communes, social movements, political parties and some trades union which, from the beginning of the modern age, were influenced by the socialist utopia, the promise of gender equality in the kibbutz and the moshav became one of the fundamental principles of these communities. This promise was part of an attempt to establish a new egalitarian society, in which inequality in the distribution of rights and obligations between men and women will be abolished through transforming the boundaries between the private and the public spheres. As this division forms a central institutional mechanism which, for centuries, has produced and re-produced an unequal gender order, it was by attacking this mechanism that equality was meant to be achieved. This book presents the historical development of gender boundaries in the kibbutz and the moshav. It underscores their dynamic nature and sheds light on the changing private and public spheres that evolved during decades. This is accomplished through giving space to the multi-faceted and multi-cultural voices of the women members of the kibbutz and the moshav, secular and religious women, old-timers and new comers, situated at the center or at the periphery of their communities. It brings into sharper focus many issues related to gender boundaries and to the private and public spheres that have rarely or even never been raised. By doing so, this book contributes to our understanding of the social mechanisms that (re)produce gender inequality in modernity, be it in its socialist, capitalist or post-industrial version. It also provides additional evidence to the limits of any attempt to achieve gender equality by focusing only on the transformation of women without challenging hegemonic masculinities.

This is the first book-length study of the life and career of the Israeli chemist Ernst David Bergmann. It traces his birth and education in Germany; his decision, after the rise of Hitler, to immigrate to Palestine rather than to accept a position at Oxford; and his intimate 18-year association with Chaim Weizmann – not only as his closest scientific associate but also as Scientific Director of both the Sieff Institute and of the Weizmann Institute. Also described is his tragic falling out with Weizmann over the issue of the role of science in defense research, leading to his subsequent 18-year association with David Ben-Gurion as his personal science advisor and as Head of Scientific Research for the Israeli Defense Ministry, and to his pivotal role in the development of the Israeli atomic bomb. For the last 23 years of his life Bergmann also served as Professor of Organic Chemistry at the Hebrew University, where he trained a generation of Israeli chemists, as well as playing a key role in the organization of virtually every aspect of the present-day Israeli scientific community.

Imagine 100 high school-aged teens – boys and girls, city and suburb dwellers, “heavy smartphone users” and regular users – disconnecting from their smartphones for one whole week. It may sound fictional, but this exactly is what occurred as part of a fascinating experiment that we recently conducted, which serves as the basis of this book. For a long and challenging week, these teenagers documented their experiences in personal diaries, and described them in personal and group interviews. They described their physical and psychological feelings about life without their devices, the effect that disconnecting from their devices had on their social life, their family life, and their management of time and routine tasks. The participants described how their lives looked without a smartphone in school and during their free time, how they missed their device and felt its absence upon waking in the morning and in the moments before falling asleep, and how they even felt it in their dreams, which were filled with longing for the digital friend that had been taken from them. This book provides deep insights into the role of the smartphone in the daily lives of teenagers, and the culture of “cellphones natives,” members of Gen Z. The book offers a new point of view on questions occupying researchers, parents, educators, and professionals: how and why did the smartphone become the dominant medium of communication in the lives and culture of teenagers? How does it shape and influence their daily lives? Can the relationship with the smartphone really be characterized as dependence and perhaps even as an addiction, as many claim, or is it relationship of a completely different nature? In a world full of technology, the aspiration to better understand teenagers and even ourselves requires acknowledging the ways in which these technologies are woven into every moment of our daily lives, for good and for bad.

This book is a clear and basic Introduction to Phonetics and the learning of Pronunciation. The reader can learn the required skills for recognizing, describing, registering and pronouncing of most sounds, without prior knowledge. A special emphasis is given to the sounds of the spoken Hebrew through the generations and its accents. Combined in the book's twenty chapters are current Phonetic innovations of the author and his colleagues. Pictures and illustrations accompany the text and make its understanding easier, and examples from living languages and exercised leading to the proficiency required of every linguist, are also combined. The book is accompanied by a CD with exercises and their solution. The audio that accompanies this product does not come with the electronic format of the book, only with the printed version, in CD format.

This book deals with the philosophical problems of the textual commentaries written by Jewish philosophers from Moses Mendelssohn in the 19th Century to Jacques Derrida and Emmanuel Levinas in the Second half of the 20th Century, examining among others the place of tradition and mythology in modern Jewish philosophy and the contribution of Jacques' Derridas' deconstruction and Emmanuel Levinas' philosophy.

We have before us a study of the spiritual aspect of Hasidism in the second generation, from the end of the eighteenth century to the first half of the nineteenth century, from a historical point of view of the teachings and their development and from the point of view of Hasidic sources. It allows the reader to recognize an important aspect of Hassidic thought.

Empathy is often conceptualized as the experience of walking in someone else’s shoes. This experience comprises of a cognitive aspect – the ability to identify, understand and adopt the perspective of another, and an affective aspect – sharing the emotions of others, while remaining distinct. Empathy has been widely recognized as central to cognitive and social development, and a key to nurturing interpersonal relationships and encouraging pro-social action. But empathy has drawbacks as well: Its boundaries, limitations and even potential damage have also been recognized and investigated. The articles in this book take multiple perspectives to studying empathy. They discuss how empathy is developed and how it is bounded, and focus on both its positive and negative implications. The articles in the first part of the book take a social sciences perspective to empathy. They define empathy, describe its development from very early age and throughout the life-span, and examine how it affects intra-personal, interpersonal and social processes. The second part of the book discusses the role of empathy in the humanities. The articles in this part address empathy in history, literature and the arts. Together, the articles in this book point to the vast scope of empathy as a phenomenon in both the social sciences and the humanities.

Pygmalion was claimed by Shaw to be a didactic drama about phonetics, and its antiheroic hero, Henry Higgins, is a phonetician, but the play is a humane comedy about love and the English class system. The play is about the training Higgins gives to a Cockney flower girl to enable her to pass as a lady and is also about the repercussions of the experiment’s success.

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. Contents The Piyyutim of R. Jeshua ben R. Joseph ha-Kohen ha-Shofet published by Shulamit Elizur and Tova Beeri " Eten Tzedek le-Foali " - A Kerovah on the Amidah for Fast Days by R. Jehiel bar Abraham of Rome published by Avraham Levin and Avraham Fraenkel Fragments of a Commentary to Tractate Sukkah from the Study Hall of Rashi published by Aaron Ahrend A Fragment from the Commentary by R. Eliezer of Worms ( Rokeah ) to Psalms published by Simcha Emanuel A New Commentary from a Manuscript to the Piyyut " Elohei ha-Ruhot le-Khol Basar " by R. Joseph Bonfils (Tov Elem) published by Yoel Binder The Chapters on the Psyche and Prophecy in the Book Sha`ar Shamayim by R. Isaac ben Abraham ibn Latif published by Adiel Zimran A Commentary to the Guide of the Perplexed (1:1-5) attributed to R. David ben Judah Messer Leon published by Eli Gurfinkel

This book presents a descriptive and historical poetics of the re-written bible, or the exegetical narrative in rabbinic literature of Late Antiquity. The exegetical narrative is composed of a story which simultaneously represents and interprets its biblical counterpart. As a hermeneutical reading of the biblical story presented in narrative form, its defining characteristic lies precisely in this synergy of narrative and exegesis. This genre is but one historical manifestation of the general cultural phenomenon of re-writing canonical texts which begins already in the Bible itself and could be said to reach the modern era in works by Thomas Mann, Joseph Heller, and even “Moses the Prince of Egypt.” Paradoxically, it is precisely the canonical status of the text – that which acts as the foundation for its cultural legitimacy – that invites its constant transformation, violation, and appropriation by succeeding generations of readers. Within this general perspective, this book concentrates on one specific historical moment – rabbinic culture in Late Antiquity. Why, in what circumstances, and through which means does rabbinic culture transfigure itself by re-imagining its past? How does this genre exert its hegemony over the sacred text, its power and meanings? What are the cultural paradigms of coherence that both enable and restrain its reception? These are some of the questions the book addresses in an attempt to provide a new perspective on the cultural imagination of the rabbinic period.

This book deals with the cultural and emotional world of Jewish schoolchildren in the “Tarbut” school network in Poland between the two World Wars. It is based on a unique corpus of about 80 letters, written between 1934-1935 by 10-11-year-old fifth graders in the Tarbut school in the town of Nowi Dwόr in Poland to their beloved teacher who had immigrated to Eretz Israel – the place and destination they too dreamed about. In these letters – all composed in Hebrew – the children write about their class, their school, but also about themselves and their families. The pupils’ letters are analyzed in light of the educational practice of pen-pal culture which was developed in and encouraged by “Tarbut” schools, especially between pupils in the Diaspora and their cohorts in Palestine. The letters are also examined as ego-documents that reveal personal stories about the intimate and private world of children, their experiences, fears and hopes, their relationship with their teacher, their families and their friends. Studied as a corpus, they reflect the complexities of the educational experience in a Hebrew Zionist school in Poland. The uniqueness of this book is that it is attentive to children – not teenagers or adults – in their own voice and in real time, telling about their lives, and not from a place of retrospection or later memory. Sources that allow us to hear the authentic voice of a child in real time are very rare indeed. The letters, which were critically edited and published in full next to a clear photograph of the letter, are discussed from various perspectives including Jewish, Hebrew and Zionist education, the history and culture of the child, and the relationship between the Diaspora and Eretz Israel. The book also offers a short history of the influential, now almost forgotten, school network – Tarbut. Finally, the book presents a detailed history of one class in one town in Poland a few years before this world vanished.

CLEFT TONGUE is an attempt to think through the psychic language and its diverse forms and modes of expression, both within psychic structure as well as in the inter-personal realm. Wilfred Bion (1977), in his paper on the caesura, argues that in order to hear what happens inside it, one has to listen beyond the sound of spoken words. The type of attention he proposes is very reminiscent of the kind of listening to musical `overtones`. This listening identifies something that is not only beyond tones but beyond tonality as such: it is located outside the music scale though it emerges from it and is related to it. This kind of attention picks up what is hidden inside tonality but lacking any formal representation. At stake here are the floating elements, those that use another frequency and hence also require a different mode of reception. It is the overtones of the various musical instruments that are responsible for their vocal and tonal singularity. In analytic listening, as in listening to music, the ear must attend closely to the distinctive, singular core. It is this type of listening that the present chapters, dealing with the diverse psychic idioms, address. The author`s intention is not only to outline the dialectic far-end textures, that is, to describe the paradigmatic instances of each psychic category, but also to identify these typical syntactic zones in their simple, everyday manifestations in ordinary language and in the non-pathological personality

The World of Machiavelli explores his teaching by placing it squarely in its political and intellectual context. Based on a wide range of personal letters, diplomatic dispatches and administrative memoranda as well as on his treatises, plays and poems, it traces the development of his skills, mental habits and unique views from his youth, through his turbulent public career, to his last days. Alongside the formative historical and personal circumstances, the book explores the universal dimensions of Machiavelli’s thought, which forms an integral part of an ongoing conversation about our ability to organize our shared lives and shape our destiny. Thus, The World of Machiavelli differs from most biographies and studies of his thought: focusing on a cluster of themes that are central both in his works and in our modern public life, the book invites the readers to reflect on major issues of our time by engaging with Machiavelli.

Imagine 100 high school-aged teens – boys and girls, city and suburb dwellers, “heavy smartphone users” and regular users – disconnecting from their smartphones for one whole week. It may sound fictional, but this exactly is what occurred as part of a fascinating experiment that we recently conducted, which serves as the basis of this book. For a long and challenging week, these teenagers documented their experiences in personal diaries, and described them in personal and group interviews. They described their physical and psychological feelings about life without their devices, the effect that disconnecting from their devices had on their social life, their family life, and their management of time and routine tasks. The participants described how their lives looked without a smartphone in school and during their free time, how they missed their device and felt its absence upon waking in the morning and in the moments before falling asleep, and how they even felt it in their dreams, which were filled with longing for the digital friend that had been taken from them. This book provides deep insights into the role of the smartphone in the daily lives of teenagers, and the culture of “cellphones natives,” members of Gen Z. The book offers a new point of view on questions occupying researchers, parents, educators, and professionals: how and why did the smartphone become the dominant medium of communication in the lives and culture of teenagers? How does it shape and influence their daily lives? Can the relationship with the smartphone really be characterized as dependence and perhaps even as an addiction, as many claim, or is it relationship of a completely different nature? In a world full of technology, the aspiration to better understand teenagers and even ourselves requires acknowledging the ways in which these technologies are woven into every moment of our daily lives, for good and for bad.

Halakhah: Overt and Implicit Conceptual and Ideological Contexts , is a collection of articles by leading scholars in the field of halakhah and the philosophy of halakhah. The articles uncover the overt and implicit worldviews of a number of halakhic decisors and examine how they coped with extra-halakhic cultures and ideas. Some of them internalized “outside” concepts, while others dealt with the outside world by making new use of the internal notions of the world of halakhah. The articles also consider the link between ideology and the issuance of halakhic rulings. Readers will encounter examples of the influence of ideology on halakhah, alongside arguments that categorically deny that ideology plays any part in halakhic thinking. The volume proposes answers to questions such as whether halakhah derives its power from its anti-ideological character and what underlies the assertion that halakhah is an ideological text.

The fourth volume of Meḥqerei Talmud published on behalf of the Department of Talmud at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem is dedicated to Professor David Rosenthal on the occasion of his eightieth jubilee. Professor David Rosenthal is one of the leading researchers of the Mishnah and the Talmud , and his research also encompasses diverse bordering fields. In his bright studies and his captivating teaching, he produced countless brilliant and pulsating innovations. Some of them, which constitute the core of Talmud research, changed research concepts and set the research agenda with basic questions. Prof. Rosenthal, together with his colleagues, edited the series Meḥqerei Talmud from its inception in 1959. The articles in the collection are the fruit of the research of his colleagues and students, in his main fields of activity and in bordering fields.

This work constitutes the Proceedings of the Bar-Ilan International Symposium on the topic "Sense and Nonsense in Philosophy and Psychopathology." The symposium was held at Bar-Ilan University (Israel) on 7 and 8 June 1993, with lectures given in three languages (English, Hebrew and French). Through this symposium an outline of a philosophy of psychopathology related to biology and ethics was presented. It is now clear, especially from clinical experience, that the notions of sense and nonsense cannot be grasped directly, but must be constructed through a reflective process connected with concepts. Furthermore, since psychopathology is for the most part concerned with the disturbance of intersubjective experience, it is directly related to ethics. For this reason, as clearly illustrated by this symposium, psychopathology could provide an excellent basis for philosophical interrogation. It is our hope that this English version of the lectures will serve as a good advertisement for this idea.

This is the first comprehensive introduction to India’s history and civilization in Hebrew. It reflects decades of teaching by both authors, often together, at the Hebrew University, as well as long periods of residence in India. The book is structured chronologically, from prehistoric times to the twenty-first century, and includes, within a historical framework, numerous anecdotes, stories, and poems never before translated into Hebrew. Taken together, these are meant to give the lay readers--backpackers, couch travelers, India lovers, and other curious minds--a savory taste of India’s rich cultural menu.

Breast-feeding has, throughout the generations, been perceived as a natural and instinctive activity essential for the survival of the human race. And yet, the chosen method, its frequency, and the importance attributed to it depend on varying cultural trends, as demonstrated by the visual representations of breast-feeding that testify to its intricate connection to social, religious, and economic ideologies. A “mania” on the subject of breast-feeding and its significance has become apparent in the Western world over the last few decades. In the book Crying over Spilt Milk , the author investigates the ideological concepts behind the endorsement of maternal breast-feeding in modern Western society. Using diverse visual and textual sources and surveying hundreds of artworks produced from the time of the French Revolution to the First World War,Gal Ventura reveals the historical, political, religious, and economic factorsthat shaped the representations of breast-feeding and its substitutes in French art. She thus sheds lights on the changing attitudes toward maternal breast-feeding in nineteenth-century France, which have had a considerable impact on the glorification of breast-feeding in the Western world to this very day.

The Devil's Renaissance describes the early modern period in Europe as a time of terrible bloodshed and persecution of minorities such as the Moriscos, the Gypsies, heretics, the Cagots and the imaginary sect of satanic witches. It was the age of fear of conspiracies and of the devil undermining the Christian commonwealth.

The Iliad of Homer is a powerful poem of force and heroism. It is the earliest of epics in Western Civilization and, since its appearance in the 8th century BCE, has inspired subsequent literary works. It tells of the final year of the Trojan War, one of the central stories in Greek mythology, and of the wrath of Achilles and its horrendous consequences. This is the first Hebrew prose translation of this great work. It has been done with meticulous care both to accuracy and style, aiming to preserve as far as possible the literary richness and charm of the original. As the Iliad belongs originally to the oral tradition, it is meant rather to be listened to than read; hence the translation aims at a greater musicality of Hebrew and simplicity of expression – both important characteristics of the Greek original. The translator has added a concise introduction and comprehensive notes to enhance readers’ understanding of this timeless poem. An index was added in the second edition.

The selection of articles in this volume provides a discussion on five fields from Martin Buber's thought: the Arab question, which Buber defined as a Jewish problem; the kibbutz within Israeli society; education, which Buber defined as a dialogue; psychotherapy; and the universal values of Judaism.

The author uses the case study of the bombing of Osiraq to test the limits of the right of self-defense in international law. The argument that the UN Charter preserves the right of self-defense in anticipation of an attack is based on a detailed study of the legislative history of the relevant provisions of the Charter as well as on examples from subsequent state practice. The author identifies the limits of a legitimate act of anticipatory self-defense and applies the legal principles to the factual situation. The conclusion is that Israel's action was a legitimate exercise of force in international law given the particular circumstances of the case.

Totality and Infinity: An Essay on Exteriority “Peace”, “justice”, “eschatology” and even “god” were terms considered irrelevant by many of Emmanuel Levinas’s contemporaries. However, Levians chooses to make them central to his book Totality and Infinity, drawing upon Jewish thought and accomplished scholars often brushed aside by Western philosophy. Published in1961, this book has become one of the milestones of philosophical thought in the 20th century. Levinas outlines a trail leading from egoism, or “atheism”, of the individual subject to its breaking point, which occurs upon encountering the Other, whose face produces infinity. He describes the tension between ethics and politics, conducting a critical dialogue with some of the forefathers of Western philosophy like Plato, Hegel, Buber and Heidegger. Témoignage de Thérèse Goldstein, assistante d’Emmanuel Levinas à l’ENIO (Ecole Normale Israélite Orientale, Paris ), qui a dactylographié Totalité et Infini, ainsi que l’essentiel de son œuvre entre 1953 et 1980 : «Si on avait parfois du mal à le comprendre, c’est que sa pensée était plus rapide que son élocution. Son écriture était aussi nerveuse, souvent difficile à déchiffrer. Si vous aviez vu sur quels brouillons ont été écrits Totalité et Infini ou Difficile Liberté ! Il s’agissait aussi bien de dos d’enveloppes, de bas de bons de commandes ou du moindre morceau de papier vierge. Je devais souvent tourner la feuille dans tous les sens pour retrouver la fin des phrases. Il utilisait son stylo plume rechargeable – surtout pas à cartouches, elles s’épuisaient trop vite ! – Il écrivait beaucoup, corrigeait énormément, biffait, découpait, faisait des collages. Il n’arrêtait que lorsque le texte traduisait sa pensée avec exactitude… » « Il me donnait ses manuscrits, je les tapais, il me corrigeait, il n’était jamais satisfait de ce qu’il faisait. Un jour, il a osé me demander si je trouvais çà bien ! »

This book, a first attempt to analyze German Zionism in a global Zionist context, sheds new light on the role of German Zionism in the German-Jewish community. It traces the emergence of a small component of the Zionist movement which regardless of size played a distinctive part in both German-Jewish and Zionist history on the eve of World War II. Positioned strategically between East and West, German Zionism was open to influences from both sides. Although post-assimilationist, it was affected by the encounter with East European Jewry. The product was a unique form of Zionism that combined Western ideas with radical "Palestinocentrism."

This book offers a cultural biography of Maimonides as a product of his multi-cultural and multi-religious background. It studies “the great eagle” in his multi-faceted historical and cultural context, and highlights the deep impact on him of Islamic culture as a whole: not only his philosophy, but also his legal and scientific writings as well as his correspondences. The aim of the book is twofold. On the one hand, it highlights universal patterns in Maimonides’ thought. On the other hand, it shows Maimonides’ relevance to the study of Medieval Islam. The presentation of Maimonides as a Mediterranean thinker elucidates his consistent interpretation of his own Jewish tradition in contemporary terms, as they were shaped by his Mediterranean legacy.

This book attempts to measure the effectiveness of research tools from different disciplines in analyzing and understanding works of theatre and literature. One of the most significant conclusions of this attempt is that art functions as a way to conceive reality through imagination. As a creative tool for expressing, shaping and reflecting the psycho-cultural spirits of artists, times and spaces, art produces mirrors in front of cultural variedness, different eras, human temperaments, truths, values and meanings. Part one introduces basic concepts of theories from various fields: the philosophy of esthetics, literary sociology, cultural anthropology and psychology written by Nietzsche, Bakhtin, Wolfflin, Croce, Storr, Shoham and others. The common base of these theories is a binary contemplation that highlights the existence of polar duality in the spirit of man. This duality has many forms and names: Apollo versus Dionysus (reason versus instinct), dialogism versus monologism, renaissance versus baroque, romanticism versus classicism, Sisyphus versus Tantalus, Schizoid versus manic-depressive. Part two focuses on interpretations of works of literature and theatre in the light of these theories. The works chosen belong to different writers, cultures and periods: Tonio Kruger of Thomas mann, Hamlet of Shakespeare, The Marriage of Mr. Mississippi and Angel Came Down to Earth by Durrenmatt, The Lover by A.B. Yehushua, The Adventure of Jaber's Head by Wannus, Bath Queen and The Patriot by Levin, The Rain Maker by Lahham and Jericho Governor by Mondi.

Penalty and Temptation: Hebrew Tales in Ashkenaz by Rella Kushelevsky , discusses thirteen tales copied in MS. Parma 2295 (thirteenth century, North France). The tales, which originated in Rabbinic Literature and in medieval story compilations from the East, were re-worked and re-formulated in Ashkenaz. A careful reading of these narrative versions, mostly published here for the first time, and an attentiveness to their unique characteristics compared to classic and modern versions, portrays a broad and panoramic view of Ashkenazi culture: concrete depictions of Paradise and Hell, martyrdom as a central value, repentance practices and other central topics in Ashkenazi piety, as well as images of women and religious symbols from the non-Jewish surroundings. The book offers a double perspective: literary, since these narratives are artistic works in every respect, and hermeneutic, since they trigger a multi-participant dialogue. The readings offered in Penalty and Temptation are the result of the interaction between narratives copied in North France – themselves readings of earlier narrative traditions – and the reader, who becomes acquainted with different modes of being while also similar to his or her own. Ashkenaz in this book is not a historical reality but a fictive entity that bestows this reality with significance, and in which the reader takes part in its establishment.

Religious traditions are intrinsically tied to educational systems and their pedagogical methods. The linkage between them is among the most important cultural and historical subjects that bear on human societies in general and Jewish society in particular, and questions pertinent to that linkage arise in both the religious and the educational spheres. On the religious side, such questions might involve the way in which religiousvalues can be transmitted from one generation to the next. What institutional, cognitive, and emotional mechanisms are employed by a given society in bequeathing its religious concepts and values to the younger generation? On the educational side, one might ask about the dynamics of change with respect to values, modes of thought, and forms of conduct. What role does the educational system play in implementing changes or reforms of this nature? Is there truly a clash, as is often assumed, between religious norms and critical thought, between emphasizing discipline and educating for autonomy, or between reliance on a tradition and openness to innovation? Who are the religious authorities that devise and formulate the educational process, and in what ways do disputes over the educational process reflect a struggle between competing authorities? What is the relationship between religious and “secular” authorities (such as magistrates, officials, or governmental bodies) in a given society, and to what extent do these relations affect the nature of education within that society? And, finally, atwhom is the system of religious education aimed gender perspectives.

Rabbi Avraham Yesha'ayahu Karelitz, the "Hazon Ish" (1878-1953), is recognized as the leader who charted the course of Haredi (Ultra-Orthodox) Judaism in the critical period following the Holocaust and the establishment of the State of Israel. He arrived in Israel at a relatively advanced age in 1933, with no source of income, contacts, or rabbinic reputation, and settled in the small town of Bnei Brak, which was then less than ten years old and housed only one yeshivah. Yet, within a few years, the Hazon Ish became the most prominent spiritual leader of Haredi Judaism, and Bnei Brak rapidly became "the city of the Torah", to a large extent thanks to him. In those years, he developed his pragmatic ideological line that he believed should be adopted by Haredi Judaism – not an approach of political isolationism, but rather one of cultural fortification, focusing on the support of religious and educational institutions. In the 1940's, he already achieved prominence in the halakhic polemics relating to measurements, commemoration of the Holocaust, and the use of electricity on the Sabbath. As the establishment of the State of Israel approached, he refrained from giving guidance to the political leaders of the Agudat Yisrael party as to how they should conduct themselves, but he revealed clear reservations about the impending political entity. After the establishment of the state, he waged a stormy battle against the induction of women to National Service, a struggle that in the opinion of some of his biographers led ultimately to his death. At the height of the controversy, in 1952, he met with Prime Minister David Ben Gurion and presented his allegory that has mistakenly been called "the parable of the full wagon and the empty wagon", in which he apparently expressed the supremacy of the Haredim over the secularists. This book is the first monograph on this influential personality. It presents and nalyzes his image and his activities in all of the areas in which he left his imprint. he book discusses the story of his life in both Lithuania and the Land of Israel, the oundations of his worldview and his faith, his polemic against the Musar Movement, is stances on public issues, and selected rulings from his diverse halakhic works. All of these components help to portray his personality and allow for a general assessment of his influence on Haredi society and on halakhic literature until our times.

The book offers a fresh view on the life of Jews under National Socialism. Focusing on the spatial and temporal aspects of the changes brought about by the new regime, it highlights the “tactics” utilized by German Jews to cope with the new reality, make sense of it, and rethink their position vis-à-vis German nationality. Based on a rich theoretical framework from various fields in social and cultural studies (human geography, environmental psychology, sociology of time and so on) the book examines German Jews’ reflections on their new experiences through the paradigms of "lived space" and "lived time." In discussing two main types of sources—private (diaries, correspondences and memoirs) and public (Jewish press)—the book sheds new light on the topics of maintaining Jewish agency under Nazism; the possibility and forms of Jewish defiance; and scope (and limits) of Jewish awareness of the processes that reshaped Germany’s approach to its Jewish population. The book’s analysis of Jews’ reflections on the spatial and temporal aspects of life under Nazism portrays an intricate endeavor to understand the new reality, adjust to it, and answer its increasing challenges.

In this volume the author attempts to describe the whole prophetical narrative in the Hebrew Bible, delimiting the extent of the single stories and establishing the date of their composition, their ideas, and message.The discussion centers on the problem of the literary genres, whether the stories are history, legend, parable or any other genre.The artistic value of some of these biblical masterpieces is highlighted. The conclusions bear upon the value of the prophetical stories as sources for the political and religious history of ancient Israel This third edition has been extensively revised and augmented. The second edition, published in 1986, was translated into English, Italian and Russian.

The poetry of Y.Ogen has been cast aside from modern Hebrew Poetry inner circle of the 1930's due to its affiliation to the some what forgotten poetic group of the poet Yitzhak Lamdan who was the literary editor of 'Gilionot' literary monthly. The mystic and melodic literary course permeated at the beginning of the 1930s' to the Hebrew Poetry by that circle's special style, first and foremost due to Ogen's writing, has by many aspects, foreseen the late 1930's modernism, such as Alterman's Poetry. Ogen's book 'Ba-hizdakchut' (Gilionot, 1935) has generated a tacit Altermanic revolution, that has not been fully acknowledged, because of the expulsion of Gilionot Circle from the critical discourse of the poetic modernity of the time. The monography of Y.Ogen describes in details this poetic course of action in a manner separated from the 'Literary Republic' conventional discourse, that has ultimately linked between modernistic strategies and violent culture quarrels and poetic strategies of annihilation of old traditions in favor of a new style. The critical discourse hereby discussed – literary ecology – deals with the poetic habitat and writer's cultural environment and rehabilitates outcasted poets by reinsuring their formative influence upon the esthetical climate, especially by pointing out the writer's poetical skills as a form of an artistic niche in an environment which characteristics are both cultural and materialistic.

What is Social Leadership? What makes a true leader? The book Social leaders in Israel focuses on life stories of a wide range of social leaders. The stories are based on interviews with social Israeli leaders and their personal stories. The book was written by students pursuing doctorate studies and research while also devoting their time to social agendas.The students are all fellows of the Hoffman Leadership and Responsibility program at the Hebrew University.

According to the conventional understanding, the ultimate goal of Zionism as a national political movement was the establishment of a nation-state. In his new book on the history of the Zionist political imagination from the beginning of the idea of modern Zionism to the establishment of the State of Israel, Dimitri Shomsky challenges a deterministic view by examining unknown writings by the founding fathers of Zionism and by re-examining the known sources, which were interpreted in a tendentious and ahistorical way in the classical literature on Zionism. The author reveals that the leaders of Zionism envisioned the realization of Jewish self-determination in the Land of Israel within a multinational framework. First, they envisioned an autonomous province in the multinational Ottoman Empire, and then - during the British Mandate - a multinational democracy. The book shows that the models of a Jewish state, which were established and developed by the founding fathers of the State of Israel, included recognition of a collective national existence of the Arabs of the Land of Israel. Such political patterns were not the property of marginal figures among Zionists (such as the "Brit Shalom" people), but on the contrary, were presented by the most mainstream Zionists: Yehuda Leib Pinsker, Benjamin Ze'ev Herzl, Ahad Ha'am, Ze'ev Jabotinsky and David Ben-Gurion. The book focuses on these five figures and presents them and their views in an innovative way, which is known to have an impact on contemporary Israeli discourse.

According to its Declaration of Independence, the State of Israel "will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex". However, the equality between men and women in Israel was not de facto. What did Israeli women have to say about that? The book presents views and opinions of Israeli women in the 1950s and the early 1960s about their roles and duties in the public and the domestic spheres, based on contemporary women's sections in the press and women's magazines. It shows what women said about women in the Israeli parliament (Knesset) and about Golda Meir; women's service in the Israeli Defense Force and the exclusion of women from the public sphere; motherhood and parenthood, woman's right to choose to have an abortion and women's struggle for peace; women's duties as housewives and the discrimination of women as employees. The book also uncovers a forgotten feminist journal, sheds light on a famous adoption story of a Yemenite baby and discusses a protest of female cadets in the Israeli Air Force flight course that was ignored and silenced for many years. The book unveils Israeli women's voices from the past, which show that in an era of many fateful decisions, Israeli women also made choices that affected their status in society. Readers might find these decisions relevant vis-à-vis women's status in Israeli society nowadays.

A Ramble in the Hive is an eco-philosophical text that deals with the relationship between humans and honeybees from the dawn of humanity to the present day, interlinking mythology, folklore, literature, art and science from different historical periods. A Ramble in the Hive works as both popular science and philosophy, combining a study of the history of beekeeping and its multitude of inventions, with a philosophical and poetic view of the human encounter with honeybees as reflected in the imagination of our culture. It suggests approaching the hive as an archetype of living mythology that works on our collective imagination. A Ramble in the Hive presents the planetary honeybee crisis as a fascinating window through which to observe wide-ranging ecological issues. How did the honeybee get such a lofty and critical role – holding responsibility for both the future of humanity and the earth? What do the bees tell us in their current state? This book is an attempt to answer these questions.

In 1980, the Italian publisher Einaudi wanted to publish a series of personal anthologies of its authors. Primo Levi quickly arose to the challenge and submitted La ricerca delle radici ( The Search for Roots ): thirty excerpts from thirty masterpieces of world literature, accompanied by thirty short introductions he wrote. Every such introduction is a brilliant commentary on the work, and a reflection of Primo Levi himself - as a kind of self-portrait, in which the painter produces his collage from materials created by others. These excepts - published for the first time in Hebrew - reveal some of the important ethical and aesthetic influences on Primo Levi and his work. Levi quotes from Job, Lucretius, Rabelais‏, Babel, Shalom Aleichem, de Saint-Exupéry and more, but also from Darwin's On Origin of Species and even from Practical Organic Chemistry. Thus, it is possible to trace his extensive and diverse, humanistic and scientific education, the roots from which his unique literary work grew.

When Franz Kafka died in 1924, his loyal friend Max Brod could not bring himself to fulfill Kafka’s last instruction: to burn his remaining manuscripts. Instead, Brod devoted his life to championing Kafka’s work, rescuing his legacy from both obscurity and physical destruction. Nearly a century later, an international legal battle erupted to determine which country could claim ownership: the Jewish state, where Kafka dreamed of living, or Germany, where Kafka’s three sisters perished in the Holocaust? Benjamin Balint offers a gripping account of the controversial trial in Israeli courts—brimming with dilemmas legal, ethical, and political—that determined the fate of Kafka’s manuscripts.

This beautiful volume is the fruit of almost 40 years of collecting by Vivienne Silver-Brody, one of Israel's few photography collectors. She has written and edited a book, which narrates the shared history of photography in a land that in the last century has seen development alongside war and destruction, and that remains divided and conflicted by the two peoples that call it home. The text is accompanied by some 200 exquisite photographs from Silver-Brody’s collection, and includes a special section inspired by the 1983 volume published by the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, Personal Choice: A Celebration of Twentieth-Century Photographs . In this section, Silver-Brody invited some 60 writers – photographers, scholars, artists, curators, collectors, lovers of photography and others with a special connection to the land – from different religions, national and political tendencies, to choose a single photograph from her collection and to write a short essay relating to it. The result is a fascinating selection of texts that contributes to the overall narrative in the book. This book could speak to a diversified readership; those interested in photography and its history or in the Middle East and Israel / Palestine, especially in light of the ongoing conflict and public debate surrounding it around the world, and in light of the unique voice that attempts to reach beyond politics and religion, and to present a photographic history of the Land of Israel as a shared place rather than as disputed territory. Translated by Daphna Levy View English edition

The New Arabic-Hebrew Dictionary is a dictionary of the Arabic language across the ages, with focus on the language of the spoken and written media. The dictionary also reflects the rich literary history of the Arabic language, of more than 1,400 years, including the Qur'an, ancient poetry, proverbs, the Hadith and jurisprudential literature, Adab literature and historical literature. Terms and expressions from the sphere of Islamic theology and jurisprudence, which were considered archaic 50 or 60 years ago, have come back into use following the rise of fundamentalist Islam in the 1970s, and this new dictionary provides translations and explanations for these terms as well. With over 44,000 entries, this dictionary is today the most comprehensive, up-to-date and reliable dictionary of contemporary Arabic. User-friendly: full vocalization of all Arabic and Hebrew entries. About 6,000 examples from Arabic literature of all eras and from the press clarify the use of words. Over 4,000 grammatical and historical notes. The New Arabic-Hebrew Dictionary is intended for university students and scholars, school pupils and teachers and anyone interested in the Arabic language. To the concise edition of The New Arabic-Hebrew Dictionary