Chronicle of French and Ottoman Kings was written by a sixteenth-century Jewish doctor of Spanish origin living in Italy. According to the writer, his intention was to document the hardships and injustices suffered by Jews in the Diaspora - especially the expulsion of Jews from Spain and France - and include them in the history of the conflict between the French kinds and Ottoman Empire over the rule in "the land of Judea and Jerusalem." In effect, this is a story, set in chronological order, of selected events in world history, similar in structure and content to hundreds of writings published at the time. It was written in fine biblical Hebrew, and as such was aimed at an audience who knew the language and could appreciate the conflict between the French kings and the Ottoman Empire as representing world history.

The Book of Psalms contains a selection of religious hymns, which reached us in various versions and through different historical sources. In his book, Michael Chyutin contemplates the processes through which this book consolidated, by tracing the early collections and discussing their editing principles.

Thinking about Jewish Holidays is a compilation of chapters originally published in Ha'aretz newspaper's "Culture and Literature" section. The articles deal mainly with how biblical material concerning Jewish holidays is manifest. It shows that the biblical sources are not conclusive, thus challenging the study of biblical approaches to the cultural memory of Jewish holidays.

Articles in this issue: Noam Mizrahi | The Eleventh Song of the Sabbath Sacrifice: Literary Form and Exegetical Content Tanja Werthmann | 'You Know the DIfference between a Lover (Oheb) and a Passionate Lover (Hosheq)': Degrees of Love in Maimonides and His Source in al-Ghazali Judith Weiss | Kababalah in Gerona in the Thirteenth Century: Azriel and Nahmanides. A Re-Evaluation Tsippi Kauffman | R. Boruch of Medzhybizh and the 'Medzhybizh Dynasty' English Abstracts

This issue contains the following essays: Amit Gvaryahu | The Tannaitic Laws of Battery: Scripture and Halakhah Uzi Leibner | The End of the Amoraic Period in the Land of Israel: Periodization, History and Archaeology Yoel Kretzmer-Raziel | The Talmudic Stam as an Evolutionary Phenomenon: The Opening Sugyot of Tractate Nedarim in the Talmud Yerushalmi and the Talmud Bavli Gal Sofer | Lover, Son and Prophet: Magic and Kabbalah in the Autobiography of Yohanan Alemanno English Abstracts

Contiruptance: Poetical Fluctuations in Naomi Frankel’s Work is the first book dedicated to Frankel's literary work, offering an in-depth reading of her entire fictional oeuvre. The concept of "Contiruptance," which indicates ruptures and continuity, provides insight into Frankel's poetics; suggesting that it may serve to deepen the analysis of the works of other authors.

The Book of Kings is the most important source of Jewish history in the First Temple Period. This commentary is intended for Hebrew readers – scholars, university students, high school students, their teachers, and Bible lovers. These readers, whose mother tongue is Hebrew, are inherently close to the source language, and can benefit from a deep understanding of the research.

This book sheds new light on the history of the sanctity of Jerusalem in Islam. It is noticed already in the Quran which describes Muhammad's vision of a nocturnal journey from the "sacred mosque" (al-masjid al-ḥarām) in Mecca to the "far-off mosque" (al-masjid al-aqṣā) namely, the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. In his night journey to the site of the demolished Temple, Muhammad signaled to his contemporary Jews the course of salvation in which already Moses had led the Children of Israel to their promised land. On the other hand, the Quran praises also the Abrahamic sanctity of Mecca, especially in sūras which reflect the polemical rift with the Jews who eventually refused to recognize Muhammad as their messianic savior. After the death of Muhammad, when the first Muslims came from Arabia to Palestine, their awareness of the Quranic sanctity of al-Masjid al-Aqṣā resurfaced. This book elucidates major aspects of the renewed and growing sanctity of Jerusalem and al-Sham at large, as reflected in the available Islamic traditions. These traditions show also how patterns of the sanctity of Jerusalem were eventually adapted to Mecca in reaction to the growing prestige of Jerusalem, especially during the Umayyad period.

The Hebrew Bible is the cornerstone of Judaism and Jewish culture; as such, it also provides the foundation for the other two monotheistic religions, Christianity and Islam. It is a book that embodied numerous revolutions, the most prominent of which was the Monotheistic Revolution, the replacement of polytheism with the belief in one all-powerful God who both created the world and governs it. Among the other revolutionary ideas that are put forward by the Bible we find the establishment of the Sabbath, the granting of one city — Jerusalem — a monopoly over holiness, the opposition to human kingship, and the moral dimensions of prophecy, to name just a few. Over the centuries and millennia, these revolutionary ideas have continued to attract and inspire readers, believers, interpreters and artists.

The Quran is the holy scripture of a religion that has changed the world. It contains the speech of God unto Muhammad the prophet, and through him unto his entire generation -- Idolatrous Arabs, Jews and Christians. This book delineates the major issues which are discovered as one reads through the Quran: How God was revealed to the prophet; in what manner he speaks to him; how he guides the prophet to enlarge the community of believers and face his opponents; how he defines the community of believers; what are the moral and ethical codes which he lays down for them; what is the image of God; what is the religion of Islam which God calls the people to follow; what are the practical ways for expressing the belief in the unity of God; the Abrahamic faith to which one must adhere so as to become a true Muslim. The present book also reviews God's polemics with Jews, Christians and idolaters; the status of the scriptures of the Jews and the Christians; the conditions of war and peace with the unbelievers at large; the descriptions of the resurrection and the day of judgment, as well the colorful descriptions of paradise and hell.