This book presents Piyyutim (liturgical poetry) written by one of the most important poets in the land of Israel, Rabbi Pinhas Hacohen birabi Yaacov, who lived in the area of Tiberias in the 8th century. The Piyyutim are taken from manuscripts of the Cairo Genizah, and are published for the first time. R' Pinhas seals the classic period of early Paytanim (authors of liturgical poetry) in the land of Israel. His work preserves the variety of genres typical for classic Piyyutim, yet shows early signs of developments characteristic to late Eastern liturgical poetry. R' Pinhas' Piyyutim reveal a great poet with impressive compositional durability. In some of them he reaches unique climaxes, especially through dramatic developments in the Piyut. The Piyyutim presented in the book are accompanied by textual variants and detailed commentary. Comprehensive introductions to the poems discuss the poet and his works, their designations and references, patterns, their literary language, content, literary sources, as well as early customs that can be learned from them. The discussion brings up Hebrew words that have not been written before. Many long-forgotten Midrashim are exposed and authentic Halakhic customs from the Land of Israel are revealed, such as the calculation of the Hebrew calendar and early fasting traditions. First and foremost, this collection of Rabbi Pinhas' Piyyutim brings back one of the greatest poets of Israel to Hebrew literature and allows the readers to enjoy his rich poetry again. Edited and commented by Shulamit Elizur

The Lachmann Problem tells an unknown story about a well-known German musicologist, Robert Lachmann (1892-1939), best known among scholars whose interest centers on Arabic music. After being ousted by the Nazi regime, Lachmann arrived in Palestine in 1935 to join the staff of The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. However, many University officials misunderstood his interests, which was primarily based on a conception that the unfamiliar field of musicology was a “luxury” which the University could ill afford at the time. Presented in this volume are letters and documents, published for the first time, revealing not only a picture of life in Palestine during the 1930’s, but providing new information on the early stages of comparative musicology and offer new insights into the thinking of its founding fathers. Others of these documents betray the daily routines, working style and methodology as well as the unanticipated hardships which Robert Lachmann encountered. These are embedded in letters to parents, correspondence with former colleagues, progress reports, lectures and radio lectures, and petitions to academic and bureaucratic authorities and several brilliant attempts to introduce non-European music to Europeans, and Orientals, Arabs and Jews alike, who were urged to cherish their musical heritage. These documents were chosen primarily for their relevance to an unsung chapter in the history of musicology, which epitomizes Robert Lachmann’s trying times. Audio CD attached on back cover - Features musical examples recorded by Lachman and incorporated in his radio lectures - "Oriental music"

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 Treatise on Divorce by R. Samuel ben Hophni published by Yehezkel David Responsa by Geonim and Rishonim from the Firkovitch Collections published by Simcha Emanuel Fragments of an Ashkenaz Commentary on Tractate Rosh Hashana h published by Aaron Ahrend New Passages from the Proverbs of Sa`id ben Babshad published by Ezra Fleischer Piyyutim for the Ninth of Av by R. Joseph Ibn Abitur published by Sarah Cohen An Addition to Seder ha-Avodah of R. Nehemiah ben Solomon ben Heiman ha-Nasi published by Nachum Weisenstern A New Document on the Renewal of Ordination in Safed in 1538 published by Abraham David Regulations of the Nancy Community on the Eve of the French Revolution published by Simon Schwarzfuchs

In this volume: Union News Articles Gershon Greenberg – The Holocaust Apocalypse of Ya'akov Moshe Harlap Avriel Bar-Levav – We are where we are not: the Cemetery in Jewish Culture The Thirteenth World Congress of Jewish Studies The Bearing of Arms and Military Service of Jews from Ancient Rome to the Enlightenment Helmut Castiritius – Forward Israel J. Yuval – Rabbinical Perspectives on the Bearing of Weapons By the Jews Helmut Castiritius – Military Service and Militance among Jews in Late Classical Antiquity Christine Magin – Armed Jews in Legal Sources from the High and Late Middle Ages Friedrich Battenberg – Court Jewry and the Bearing of Weapons in Early Modern Times Book Review Harry Fox (le Beit Yoreh) – Biography, Stories, Tall Tales: Fishing for Gullibility Tzvi Howerd Adelman – In Zion and Jerusalem By Abraham David HEBREW SECTION Union News The Thirteenth World Congress of Jewish Studies Menachem Elon – Welcoming Adress Session in Memory of E. E. Urbach Ya'akov Sussmann – The Yerushalmi in the Literature of the Rishonim: 100 Years after "Ahavat Zion ViYerushalaim" Jonah Frankel – The Study of the Ashkenazi Siddur: 200 Years after the Heidenheim Siddur Israel Ta-Shma – Prof. E. E. Urbach "Baalei Ha-Tosafot" – 50 Years after Its Appearance Vered Noam – Beit Shammai and the Sectarian Halakha Gedaliahu Alon: 50 Years after His Deat Shmuel Safrai – Gedaliahu Alon the Teacher Yeshayahu Gafni – On Gegaliahu Alon and His Role in the Study of Rabbinic Historiography Doron Mendels – The Gracco-Roman Background in Gedaliahu Alon's Scholarship Bezalel Bar-Kochva – Everyone has His Gedaliahu Alon Articles Zeev gries – A Bibliographer and A Librarian as an Agent of Culture: The Contribution of Abraham Ya'ari to the Study of Jewish Print in Eastern Europe Tzvi Mark – On Laughter and Foolishness as the Worship of God: Reading "The Story of the Humble King" of R. Nahman of Bratslav Julia Schwarzmann – The Commentator as Editor: Gersonides' Commentary on Ecclesiastes Book Reviews Devorah Dimant – David Flusser: Judaism of the Second Temple Period – Qumran and Apocalypticism Binyamin Elizur – The Historical Dictionary's Edition of the Yerushalmi Haim Weiss – New Books and Periodical in Jewish Studies

This is the first scholarly volume devoted exclusively to analysis of the life and work of Leon Modena (1571-1648), the brilliant and colorful rabbi of Venice and one of the most important figures in early modern Jewish history. The eighteen essays in the collection, in English and Hebrew by world-renowned experts, address a broad range of intellectual and social activity, assessing Modena's relationship to art, music and literature, as well as the riddle of his orthodoxy. They illuminate obscure elements of Modena's biography, and offer the first analyses of some of his printed writings. Additionally, the volume provides a wide-angle snapshot of the social and cultural life of the Venetian Jews in the 17th century. Contributors to this volume include Benjamin Ravid, Avriel Bar-Levav, Marina Arbib, Joanna Weinberg, Talya Fishman, Don Haran, Shlomo Simonsohn, Dorit Raines, Jeffrey Woolf, Alessandro Guetta, Howard Adelman, Abraham Melamed, Ariel Rathaus, David Cassuto, Shalom Sabar and Guest Editor: David Malkiel. ITALIA: Periodical for research in the history, culture and literature of the Jews of Italy. Institute of Jewish Studies, Faculty of Humanities, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. and The Ben-Zvi Institute, Jerusalem.

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