The articles in this volume: Bezalel Bar-Kochva An Extraordinary Jewish Ethnography Related by a Roman-Gallic Augustan Historian Menahem Kahana On Halakhic Tolerance as it Evolved: An Early and Forgotten Disagreement between Beit Shammai and Bet Hillel Shulamit Elizur Did Yannai's Kedusha-piyyutim Influence Those of Other Payyetanim ? Pinchas Roth Halakha and Criticism in Southern France: R. David ben Shaul on the Laws of Wine Made by Gentiles Simcha Emanuel 'From Where the Sun Rises to Where it Sets': The Responsa by Rashba to the Sages of Acre For contents and article abstracts in English press on Sample pages which is located on the right of the cover photo.

The articles in this volume: Yoav Rosenthal The History of the Final Chapter of Tractate Shevu ʿ ot Menahem Kister Exod 4:24-26: The Complexity of Jewish and Christian Interpretations Ronny Vollan Coptic Hebraists in the Middle Ages? On the Transmission of Rav Sa ʿ adiah Gaon’s Tafsīr Avi Shmidman The Liturgical Role of Ḥatanu Poems in שפוך חמתך ‘ Avraham Fraenkel Curse Poetry and the Verses of Ancient Jewish Italy Mordechai Akiva Friedman Maimonides Appoints R. Anatoly Muqaddam of Alexandria Oded Yisraeli From ‘ Torat Ha-Shem Temimah ’ to the Torah Commentary: Milestones in Nahmanides’ Creative life Avishai Bar-Asher Sefer ha-Neʿelam , New Parts of Sefer Or Zaru ʿ a and Clarifications Regarding the Early Writings of R. Moses de León: Studies and Critical Editions Books Received English Abstracts For contents and article abstracts in English press on Sample pages which is located on the right of the cover photo.

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 volume: Avi Shmidman, The Selihot of R. Joseph Ibn Abitur for the Tenth of Tevet Dan Greenberger, Alfasi's Responses to R. Isaac b. Barukh Ibn al-Baliya's Ccritiques Sarah Cohen, The Selihot of R. Sadoq al-'Amani Na'ama Ben-Shachar, The Baraita of Joseph ben Uzziel Dov Schwartz, Two Wedding Sermons by R. Michael ben Shabtai Balbo

Eshbal Ratzon - The Gates of the Sun and the Moon in the Astronomical Book of Enoch Aharon Semesh - Transmitting Regular and Irregular Semen Impurity at Qumran: A Study of 4QTohora (4Q274) Michael Rand - Was Mahzor Eretz Israel - A Geniza Codex Indeed Used in Eretz Israel? New Fragments of the Codex and their Contribution to an Understanding of the Nature of its Liturgical Rite Simcha Emanuel - The Rabbis of Germany in the Thirteenth Century: Continuity of Crisis? Ram Ben-Shalom - Kabbalistic Circles Active in the South of France (Provence) in the Thirteenth Century For contents and article abstracts press on Sample pages which is located on the right of the cover photo.

Rosh Hashana, the Day of Judgment, has been embellished with numerous fascinating liturgical poems (piyyutim). This book is devoted to the compositions that were written for Rosh Hashana by the illustrious poet R. El‘azar berabbi Qillir, who was active in the Land of Israel at the beginning of the seventh century. The piyyutim for Rosh Hashana are many and varied, and they adorn all of the special prayers for the festival. A number of these piyyutim are known and recited to this day in Ashkenazi congregations, while others are published here for the first time. Even those piyyutim that are known from the festival prayer books (mahzorim) are presented here in a new light. The present edition is primarily based not on European mahzorim, but on earlier fragments from the Cairo Genizah; on the basis of such early sources the editors have succeeded in adding new, original material to the known compositions—there is not one famous composition to which heretofore unpublished material has not been added, in some cases throwing new light on the entire work. Even in such cases, therefore, we are not merely offering old wine in new wineskins, but presenting a new blend that confers on the poetic compositions novel aspects, not previously brought to light. This edition has been prepared on the basis of close to 400 manuscripts, and all of the variant readings have been given in the margins. An extensive commentary aids the reader in understanding the difficult idiom of the payyetan, identifying the many scriptural and midrashic sources that are woven into the piyyutim, and following the development of their themes. A general introduction treats various questions connected to the poems, from their attribution to the author and the reconstruction of the component parts of each composition, to the literary shaping of the material. In his piyyutim, R. El‘azar berabbi Qillir treats Rosh Hashana in all of its aspects: the Day of Judgment, the blowing of the shofar; the malkhiyot, zikhronot, and shofarot verses; the merit of the Fathers; and more. A number of compositions are specially intended for when Rosh Hashana falls on the Sabbath. Qillir’s unique method in the shaping of each of these themes is also clarified in the introduction. The complex web of interrelations between the piyyutim and their literary sources is elucidated as well; thus it has become clear, for example, that one of the piyyutim edited here for the first time throws new light on the famous poem, U-netane toqef qedushat ha-yom. “O King, Remember [the ram] caught [by its] horn!” These few words from one of the piyyutim published in the book reveal the genius of the great payyetan. Here, R. El‘azar berabbi Qillir has succeeded in encapsulating in four words the three great themes that lie at the heart of the benedictions that are unique to Rosh Hashana—kingship, remembrance and the ram’s horn (shofar)—all in the form of a prayer that beseeches God to remember for our sakes, on the Day of Judgment, the Binding of Isaac, symbolized by the ram whose horns are caught in the thicket. And if in four words the payyetan has managed to encapsulate such far-flung meanings, one can only imagine the riches contained in this enormous collection of R. El‘azarʼs writings for the Day of Judgment, which we now have before us.

For contents and article abstracts press on Sample pages which is located on the right of the cover photo. The articles in this volume: Aharon Shemesh and Moshe Halbertal - The Meʾun (Refusal): The Complex History of Halakhic Anomaly Shulamit Elizur - The Early Scope of Parashat Sheqalim Gideon Bohak - The Hidden Hekhalot: Towards Reconstructing an Unknown Hekhalot Composition from the Cairo Genizah Avraham Grossman - The Impact of Rabbi Samuel of Spain and Reuel of Byzantium on Rashi’s School Idit Einat-Nov - Uncertainty as a Poetic Principle: A Reading of Nəʾum Ašer Ben Yəhudah by Shlomo Ibn Ṣaqbel English and Hebrew Abstracts

For contents and article abstracts press on Sample pages which is located on the right of the cover photo. The articles in this volume: Alexander Rofé - Redressing the Calamity in the Transmission of the Bible Yonatan Feintuch - The Textual Development of the Aggadah of Rav Ada b. Abba (b BB 22a) in Light of the Evidence of an Early Genizah Fragment Avi Shmidman - Quina Poems for the 10th of Tevet and the 17th of Tamuz Avraham Fraenkel - Kingdoms and their Harsh Decrees in Medieval Italian Jewish Poetry Tzahi Weiss - ‘Most of the Errant Err in Malkhut’: The Worship of the Shekhinah in Early Kabbalah Tsippi Kauffman - Rabbi Simcha Bunim of Przysucha English and Hebrew Abstracts

For contents and article abstracts press on Sample pages which is located on the right of the cover photo. :Participants in this volume Dr. Matti Huss Prof. Uri Ehrlich Dr. Maoz Kahana Prof. Alexander Lubotzky Prof. Yair Lorberboim Prof. Yosef Ofer Prof. Menahem Kister Dr. Avraham (Rami) Reiner Dr. Avi Shmidman

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

In Sivan 2013 a distinguished audience gathered at the National Library in Jerusalem to mark the 150th anniversary of the founding of Mekize Nirdamim. The articles published in this fascicle are based on the lectures delivered on that occasion. Some of them are printed as they were delivered that evening, while others have been somewhat expanded by the speakers and provided with bibliographical references and notes. The fascicle concentrates on a general appreciation of the 150 years of the work of the society, sometimes dividing them into various periods and investigating the cultural or scientific phenomena that are reflected in its activities and publications, and sometimes providing a general and all-encompassing overview. The fascicle contains a list of the books printed by Mekize Nirdamim, and the names of the heads of the society over the generations.

Table of Contents: Elchanan Reiner - Joshua is Rashbi, Hatzor is Meron: On the Typology of a Galilean Foundation Myth James Nathan Ford and Alon Ten-Ami - An Incantation Bowl for Rav Mešaršia son of Qaqay Shulamit Elizur - Esa Meshali (I Shall Present my Lesson) Matti Huss - The Beginning of Joseph Ibn Shimeon’s Ne ' um Toviyahu ben Zidqiyahu Yosef Ofer - Why Did Nahmanides Misread the Inscription on the Sheqel Coin? Hannan Hever - The Trauma of the Lady of the Palace Bezalel Bar-Kochva - The Essaioi: A Fiction or Historical Reality? Rachel Elior - Essenes or ‘ha-Kohanim bnei Zaddok and Their Allies’ . A Response to Bezalel Bar Kokhva, ‘The Essaioi: A Fiction or Historical Reality?’

The book Statutory Jewish Prayers is a collection of essays by Ezra Fleisher on the subject of prayer and synagogue rituals. The two volumes of this book include Fleishers fundamental essays about the essence and emergence of statutory prayer in Israel. This text is accompanied by ancient versions of Israelite prayer found in the Cairo Geniza Collection in Geneva. The book also includes descriptions of other rituals and customs exercised in Israelite synagogues such as Rosh Hodesh (new moon) customs and special ways to blow the shofar on the Sabath. Torah and Haftorah (additional reading from the prophets) reading are also referenced. The book ends with a detailed inspection of a few important Mahzorim.