This volume of Hispania Judaica Bulletin presents the first collection of studies dedicated to the impact of the Iberian converso crisis on the interpretation of Paul’s life and teachings. We believe this to have been a significant historical phenomenon—one which we may call Converso Paulinisms. By way of introduction, we briefly present the main developments from which this concept derives its rationale and the productive end we hope it can serve. We begin with the lessons we learned from recent developments in Pauline studies and thereadings of Paul by Church authorities, theologians, and contemporary thinkers. Then, we move on to consider their implications in Late Medieval and Early Modern setting of the converso phenomenon.

Rabbi Eleazar be-Rabbi Qilar was the most prominent and prolific poet during the heyday of Hebrew liturgical poetry in Eretz Israel: between the sixth and eight centuries ACE. Some of the thousands of poems he wrote was preserved in the Ashkenaz, France and Italy machzorim, while a small part is recited in synagogues even today. This book compiles all his poems that survived for all prayers, with an attempt reproduce the full compositions.

Can literature be given a concrete home? The story of the establishment of the Gnazim Archive of Modern Hebrew Literature recounts the attempt to institutionalize this body of literature in the context of the founding of the State of Israel—while simultaneously challenging its demands. This book reveals the persistent tension between the “Republic of Letters” and the nation-state, as well as the painful cost of realizing the ideal and embodiment of the metaphor of “a home for literature” within the “national home.” The Stitches of Hebrewness traces the history of the Gnazim Archive both in its own right and as a mirror of the formation of the canon of modern Hebrew literature. Like any mirror, the archive reflects reality as it is—and in reverse: The canon is thus revealed in a new light, with its erasures, rewritings, and repressions. Perhaps more than anything, the book unfolds the story of a culture and society grappling with a moment of crisis between three overlapping yet conflicting temporal frameworks: Jewish time, Hebrew time, and Israeli time.

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 thirteenth-century Franciscan pilgrim Philip of Savona wrote that “the whole Trinity has declared that river [Jordan] to be fortunate and most worthy, above which the Father was heard, the Holy Spirit was seen in the form of a dove, and the Son was baptized in human nature.” Since the Middle Ages, Christian pilgrims from many countries have traveled to the Holy Land in order to immerse themselves in the Jordan River and to take some of its water back to their homelands. Hundreds described their experiences from the blessed river, and in the nineteenth century also began exploring and documenting its history. This volume contains a selection of the accounts of pilgrims and tourists, who describe their impressions, expectations, and sometimes also their disappointments when encountering the Jordan River. It includes descriptions of pilgrims from the Middle Ages to the twentieth century, amongst them well-known authors such as Mark Twain, François-René de Chateaubriand and Gustave Flaubert. The book also contains chapters on the geography of the Jordan River, historical events associated with it, and the literature that developed around it.

Since the early 2000s, Israeli television drama has become a highly sought-after product in the global TV market. Israel is indeed an intense and dynamic place that offers drama creators a wealth of diverse and compelling stories. In 1971, three years after the establishment of Israeli television, the first drama series in Hebrew Hedva and Shlomik aired—still in black and white—based on the literary novel by Aharon Megged (1953). The evolution of television drama in Israeli television from its inception has not been thoroughly documented until now. This book aims to fill that gap and provide readers with tools for watching, interpreting, and understanding television series in general, and Israeli ones in particular . The story of Israeli television drama in this book is set within broad socio-political and cultural contexts. Drama consistently engages with reality and responds to it in various ways, even if not always overtly. It also addresses the foundational myths of Israeli identity—sometimes reinforcing them, other times questioning or subverting them. Like other popular cultures, it often fulfills desires or offers imagined solutions to the contradictions underlying these myths . Through the prism of Israeli television drama, this book reveals a self-portrait of the people and society—both as they were and as they might've like to be seen .

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

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

In this issue: Ronit Nikolsky and Reuven Kiperwasser | Three Tales of Kings: Independent Traditions in Exempla of the Rabbis (Sefer Maasiot) Yair Lorberbaum | Rabbi Yom-Tov Asevilli’s Book of Rememberance : Philosophy, Kabbalah, Halakhah Eugene D. Matanky | Studying Kabbalah in Solomon Alqabeṣ’s and Moses Cordovero’s Circle: Sephardic Pilpul, Propositions, and Yeshivah Study

Winner of the National Jewish Book Award's Lifetime Achievement Award Winner of the Natan Fund’s 2024 Natan Prize The Triumph of Life is Rabbi Irving Greenberg’s magnum opus—a narrative of the relationship between God and humanity as expressed in the Jewish journey through modernity, the Holocaust, the creation of Israel, and the birth of Judaism’s next era. Greenberg describes Judaism’s utopian vision of a world created by a God who loves life, who invites humans to live on the side of life, and who enables the forces of life to triumph over death. The Bible proclaims our mission of tikkun olam , repairing the world, such that every human image of God is sustained in the fullness of our dignity. To achieve this ideal, Judaism offers the method of covenant—a realistic, personal, incremental partnership between God and humanity across generations in which human beings grow ever more responsible for world repair. Greenberg calls on us to redirect humanity’s unprecedented power in modernity to overcome poverty, oppression, inequality, sickness, and war. The work of covenant requires an ethic of power—one that advances life collaboratively and at a human pace—so that the Jewish people and all humanity can bring the world toward the triumph of life.

The treatise Scechina is a manifesto of Renaissance Christian-Kabbalistic messianism. The author, Cardinal Egidio da Viterbo (1469-1532), was a preeminent Christian Kabbalist, both in terms of his position within the ecclesiastical hierarchy and in what concerns the depth and breadth of his acquaintance with Hebrew sources. The treatise was composed in exquisite Renaissance Latin and is hereby rendered for the first time into a modern language. The text articulates the voice of the Jewish Shekinah herself, expounding in first person and with profound insight the doctrine of Kabbalah, fervently calling for the completion of the final stage of universal redemption. This redemption commences with the discovery of distant lands and foreign cultures, and its protagonist is Emperor Charles V, whose motto - plus ultra [further beyond] - refers to surpassing the Strait of Gibraltar and medieval knowledge (the Emperor and Pope Clement VII are among the book's addressees). While this redemption is Christian in nature, it emphasizes integration and synthesis with Greek and Roman wisdom, and particularly Judaism. Despite sharp condemnations of Jews for their non-acceptance of Jesus, Egidio's Shekinah lavishes love upon them, especially the Kabbalists, whom she refers to as "my Arameans" and considers as latent Christians. This even extends to support for Solomon Molkho, the Jewish messiah who apostatized from Christianity. Such an attitude towards Judaism did not survive in the Catholic Church in the generation following Egidio, the era of the Counter-Reformation. The translation is richly annotated by the translators, providing extensive commentary and explication. Furthermore, the volume is prefaced by comprehensive introductory chapters authored by Judith Weiss, elucidating the life, intellectual contributions, and literary corpus of Egidio da Viterbo.