In this book Yoram Yom-Tov summarizes sixty years of observations and research on animals around the world, and takes readers on a fascinating journey into the wonders of the animal world — a journey intertwined with the life story of a curious, nature-loving boy who became a renowned researcher. Through the eyes of the researcher, the beauty and complexity of nature are revealed, exposing three key insights: nature is dynamic and constantly changing; every living creature is in constant interaction with its biological and physical environment, which creates a complex web of interactions; and the adaptations that animals have developed to their environment during evolution are evidence of unparalleled refinement and sophistication. These insights emerge from research conducted by Prof. Yom-Tov around the world throughout his long academic career in collaboration with colleagues, students, and even family members. They illustrate how scientific research not only expands human knowledge, but also encourages inspiration, appreciation, and even admiration for the great wonder that is nature.

The Jewish communities of Speyer, Mainz, and Worms (known collectively as ShUM), the ancient center of Torah scholarship in Ashkenaz, produced many generations of scholars who wrote glorious chapters in the history of Jewish culture. Particularly prominent was the distinguished circle of sages active there at the turn of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, including Rabbi Yehudah ben Kalonymos of Speyer, Rabbi Yehudah ben Kalonymos of Mainz, Rabbi Shmuel the Pious and his son Rabbi Yehudah the Pious, Rabbi Simcha of Speyers and Rabbi Eleazar of Worms. Even though the names of the sages of ShUM appear countless times throughout rabbinic literature, only a very small portion of their work in the fields of Talmud and halakhah has come down to us. For centuries, the only works available in print were Sefer ha-Rokeach by R. Eleazar of Worms and Sefer Raban. Even the great surge in the critical publication of texts from the nineteenth century onwards has only slightly increased that number. The present volume seeks to fill this gap to some extent. It presents the full text of Rabbi Eleazar of Worms’s Sermon for Passover , and the introduction describes two additional halakhic works by him that have been discovered in manuscript. The Sermon provides the earliest evidence for several well-known Ashkenazic customs—among them the dripping of sixteen drops of wine during the Passover Seder, the prohibition of eating legumes (kitniyot) on Passover, and the eating of dairy foods on Shavuot. A first edition of the Sermon was published twenty years ago; it is now republished with additions and corrections.

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: Menahem Eisenberg | Qerovot for the 17th of Tammuz Attributed to Rabbi El’azar berabbi Qillir Sarah Cohen | Tokhehah poems according to the model of ‘Shikḥi yegonekh’ by Shelomo ibn Gabirol Simcha Emanuel | Additional Glosses of Rabbi Samuel ben Meir (Rashbam) to Alfasi Chen Maaravi and Adam Afterman | A Unique Version of the Kabbalistic Collections Ascribed to the Unpublished Fourth Part of ‘Sha‘arei Kedushah’

This book contains one hundred and ninety-two written and oral responses by Rabbi Yaakov ben Meir, better known as "Rabbenu Tam," which were not included in the responses section of Sefer Ha-Yashar , compiled by his students. The first introductory chapters will be devoted to a concise presentation of his character, family, the stages of his life, and his teachers, while the other chapters will discuss his responses, their recipients, the sources in which the responses were found, the edition, and its contribution. At the top of each reply is a short introduction that discusses the main contents of the reply and points out historical and other aspects that arise from it.

Laws of Sale by Rabbi Hayya b. Sherira Gaon deals with the laws of commerce and property according to Hebrew law. The book is translated for the first time from the Arabic original, which survived in the Cairo Genizah , and is published in a scholarly edition, with comparisons to medieval translations, and with the addition of place references and notes, by Dr. Zvi Stampfer and Rabbi Moshe Gross, published by Yad Rav Nissim, Mekitze Nirdemim and the Hebrew Law Institute. This book constitutes a foundation for understanding commercial and property laws in Judaism, and is an essential tool for Torah scholars, Jewish scholars, and Hebrew law practitioners.

Polin , established in 1986 by the Institute for Polish-Jewish Studies, has acquired a well-deserved reputation for publishing authoritative material on all aspects of Polish Jewry. Contributions are drawn from many disciplines—history, politics, religious studies, literature, linguistics, sociology, art, and architecture—and from a wide variety of viewpoints. Polin is published by the Littman Library of Jewish Civilization. It is sponsored by the Institute of Polish–Jewish Studies, which is an associated institute of the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies and of the Department of Hebrew and Jewish Studies, University College London, and by the American Association for Polish–Jewish Studies, which is linked with the Department of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies, Brandeis University.

Selected articles from current issue: Amir Banbaji | More Figurative than all Other Songs. A Study of the Pre-Maskilic History of the Hebrew Melitsah Nurit Barnea-Bernheim | ‘Total Love’: The Story of Miriam in ‘The Tale of the Scribe’ by S.Y. Agnon Neta Stahl | ‘How Come I Love the Ugav?’: The Ugav in Uri Zvi Grinberg’s Poetry Roy Greenwald | Kin of Dust: On Al Hakhmot Derakhim by Avot Yeshurun

Experiencing deep personal fulfillment, happiness, and sustenance comes from feeling connected to our authentic selves, which involves building an ongoing relationship with the Divine Presence within us, says author Yiscah Smith. Quite organically, then, we may begin sensing the Divine in our interactions with other people. This is because, for each of us, “our essence, as a creation by God, is God.” Planting Seeds of the Divine elucidates how Judaism’s sacred texts can provide the foundation for the “end destination” of experiencing intimate encounters with the Divine Presence within—the God-consciousness that so many of us find elusive. Imagining ourselves as spiritual gardeners, we can cultivate our unique gardens with seeds centered on middot (emotional dispositions, character traits, spiritual sensitivities). Each seed corresponds to an aspirational Torah commentary, consisting of a selected Torah verse linked to one of the middot , a summary of the biblical text preceding the verse, classical commentaries, teachings of Hasidic and Neo-Hasidic masters and the author, and step-by-step experiential practices to help us internalize the middot and encounter the Divine. Each seed contributes to the garden’s beauty—the beauty of the self in God-consciousness—which hopefully blossoms into a magnificent garden of the soul.