מאמרים בכתבי עת
1. ש' פוגל וא' ארליך, '"פורס סוכת שלום": מבט נוסף על חתימת ברכת השכיבנו', פעמים 148 (קיץ, תשע"ו), עמ' 117-144.
2. ו' רזיאל קרצ'מר וא' ארליך, 'דפים חדשים מ"סידור השם המפורש", קובץ על יד, כה (תשע"ז), עמ' 1-21.
מאמרים בכתבי עת
1. "Iber, Ibur haDin and Parashat haIbur," Leshonenu 78 (2016), 43-59 [=Hebrew]
2. Co-authored with Elitzur Bar-Asher Siegal, “ 'Rejoice, O barren one who bore no child': Beruria and the Jewish-Christian conversation in the Babylonian Talmud," in: The Faces of Torah: Studies in the Texts and Contexts of Ancient Judaism in Honor of Steven Fraade, edited by Christine Hayes, Tzvi Novick, and Michal Bar-Asher Siegal, Supplements to the Journal of Ancient Judaism, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht 2017, pp. 199-220.
3. "The Collection of Traditions in Monastic and Rabbinic Anthologies as a Reflection of Lived Religion," Religion in the Roman Empire 2 (2016), pp. 72-90
4. "Uncovering midrash: The Hebrew Slave in the Mekhilta deRabbi Ishmael," Journal of Jewish Studies 68 (2017), pp. 34-57
5. "Saying of the desert fathers, Sayings of the rabbinic fathers: Avot deRabbi Nattan and the Apophthegmata Patrum," Zeitschrift für Antikes Christentum (ZAC) 20:2 (2016), pp. 211-227
6. "Matthew 5:22: The insult "fool" and the interpretation of the law in Christian and rabbinic sources," Revue de l'Histoire des Religions 234:1, pp. 5-23 (2017)
פרקים בספרים
1. “Prayer in rabbinic and monastic literature," in: Jewish Prayer: New Perspectives, Ben Gurion University Press 2016, pp. 63-77 [Hebrew]
2. ""The best of them is like a brier": On b. 'Eruvin 101a and the Jewish-Christian dialogue in the Babylonian Talmud," in: Perceiving the Other in Ancient Judaism and Early Christianity, Matthew Thiessen, Wolfgang gruenstaeudl and Michal Bar-Asher Siegal (eds.), Mohr Siebeck's Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament Series, 2017, pp. 131-146
3. "Moses in the Apophthegmata Patrum and rabbinic literature," in: Mosebilder Gedanken zur Rezeption einer literarischen Figur im Frühjudentum, frühen Christentum und der römischhellenistischen Literatur, Michael Sommer, Erik Eynikel, Veronika Niederhofer and Elisabeth Hernitscheck (eds.), Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament (=WUNT I) 390, Mohr Siebeck 2017
https://www.mohr.de/buch/mosebilder-9783161558092
מאמרים בכתבי עת
1. Gries, Zeev., "Joy in Hasidism", Kabbalah 38(2017) pp. 171-184.
2. ז' גריס, " השמחה בחסידות: קורות ומקורות, קבלה לח(תשע"ז) עמ' 184-171.
ככל שהדבר מפליא, מעט מאד מחקרים עסקו במעמד השמחה בישראל לאורך הדורות. באשר לתנועה החסידית מיסודו של ר' ישראל בעש"ט, היה ונותר מאמר אחד שהוקדש כולו לנושא הזה, מאמרו של עזריאל שוחט :"על השמחה בחסידות" שפורסם בשנת תשי"א. במאמר הנוכחי הובא דיון קצר במסורת המחקר על השמחה בכלל והרחבת הדיון מעבר לדיונו של עזריאל שוחט על השמחה בחסידות בפרט. כאן נידון לראשונה מקומה של השמחה בספר המוסר האשכנזי "ארחות צדיקים", בו יש שער מיוחד המוקדש לנושא הזה. ביקורת הספרות הדרשנית של ראשוני מנהיגי החסידות, שלא עשה שוחט, הביאה למסקנה כי בספרות הדרוש של ראשוני התנועה החסידית, בולטת המגמה היראית השלטת בספר "ארחות צדיקים"- מגמה המאפיינת את מסורת חסידי אשכנז, כפי שהשתקעה בספרות. זאת שעה שלעומת זאת ספרות השבחים החסידית וספרות מתנגדי החסידות מעידות על מגמה הפוכה ועל המושב הממשי של השמחה בחיים (הזיץ אין לעבען) שלה- הלכה למעשה בחיי החסידים. זאת מאחר שהן מקדישות מקום רב לדיון ותיאור מפורטים במעוררי השמחה: ניגון, זמר וריקוד ודרכי ביטויים בחיי החסידים. אלה הפכום לדבק מלכד ובונה את תחושת החברותא והיחד החסידית. כל זאת עם מתן אפשרות בתוך כך ל"דיבוק חברים", שהוא אחד האפשרויות להגיע, ממנו ובו לדבקות, שהיא האיחוד המיסטי המבוקש עם האלהים.
מאמרים בכתבי עת
- Y. Harari, "Three Charms for Killing Adolf Hitler: Practical Kabbalah in WW2," Aries 17 (2017), 171-214.
This article deals with mystical-magical activities carried out in Jerusalem by kabbalists and rabbis during the years of the Third Reich as part of their struggle against the Nazi threat. It focuses on a page written for Eliyahu Mizrahi Dehuki, a relatively unknown Jerusalem expert in practical Kabbalah, containing three magic recipes for killing Adolf Hitler. The article opens with a discussion of the tradition of practical Kabbalah and the role of aggressive magic within it. It then proceeds to describe the two-pronged (defensive and aggressive) struggle that Jerusalem kabbalists and rabbis conducted against the Nazi foe during ww2. The discussion then turns to Eliyahu Mizrahi and to the page that was sent to him. The concluding section meticulously examines these magic recipes and the ritual acts they offer in the context of other insider sources, attesting to the nature and the symbolic language of Jewish aggressive magic.
ספרים
- Y. Harari, Jewish Magic Before the Rise of Kabbalah, Detroit: Wayne State University Press 2017.
This book is a broad investigation into early Jewish magic. It is divided into two parts. In the first part I deal with the major trends in the scholarly study of magic, in general, and of early Jewish magic, in particular, from the mid nineteenth century to our days. The second part is a comprehensive survey of the "insider" as well as "outsider" evidence of Jewish magic culture as well as Jewish magic discourse.
מאמרים בכתבי עת
1. Daniel J. Lasker, “Controversy and Collegiality: A Look at Provence," Medieval Encounters, 22 (2016): 13–24.
A discussion of how Jewish intellectual and personal contacts with Christians, especially concerning philosophy, led to the writing of Jewish anti-Christian polemics.
2. Daniel J. Lasker, “The Karaite Reception of David Gans' Work," Judaica Bohemiae, 51:1 (2016): 149-159.
Karaite authors, from the seventeenth to the nineteenth centuries, often cited the historiographical and scientific works of David Gans (1541-1613) to support their own sectarian agendas.
3. Daniel J. Lasker, “The Interplay of Poetry and Exegesis in Judah Hadassi's Eshkōl ha-kōfer," in Joachim Yeshaya and Elisabeth Hollender, eds., Exegesis and Poetry in Medieval Karaite and Rabbanite Texts, Leiden/Boston, 2016, pp. 187-206.
Hadassi, the important 12th-century Karaite author, wrote his magnum opus in rhyming alphabetical acrostics. The article examines how his use of poetry intersected with his biblical exegesis.
4. Daniel J. Lasker, “The Connection between Love of God and Sanctification of the Name in Medieval Jewish Philosophy," in Yosef Y. Tobi, et al., eds., Yuvalei Ahavah. Qovetz Zikaron le-Yuval Heiman HY"D, Jerusalem, 2017, pp. 109-114 (Hebrew).
An examination of how medieval Jewish philosophers understood the place of love of God in religious martyrdom (Sanctification of the Name).
5. Daniel J. Lasker, “Polemics, Religion and Scepticism in Judah Halevi's Book of Kuzari," Yearbook of the Maimonides Centre for Advanced Studies, 1 (2017): 206-214.
An examination of how Judah Halevi intertwined aspects of interreligious polemics, defense of Judaism, and scepticism into his Book of Kuzari.
מאמרים בכתבי עת
1. Shalom Sadik, 'The political difference of the ideological conversos from Judaism', JUDAICA 72 (2016) Pp. 185-202.
2. Shalom Sadik, 'Eckhart, Lost in Translation: La traduction de Sh-h-r par Yehuda Alharizi et ses implications philosophiques', VIVARIUM 54 (2016), Pp. 125-145.
Maimonides's Guide for the Perplexed had a significant influence on both Jewish and Christian philosophy, although the vast majority of Jewish and Christian readers in the Middle Ages could not read the original Judeo-Arabic (Arabic written in Hebrew characters) text. Instead, they had access to the text through Hebrew and Latin translations. The article focuses on words derived from the root sh-h-r in the original text of Maimonides, first (section 1) on the understanding of Maimonides himself, where they take on two meanings; the first sense of these words is an adjective that refers to things well-known to the larger public; the second sense is that in which the opinions held by the public are opposed to the intelligibles. Second (section 2), while one of Maimonides' Hebrew translators, Ibn Tibbon, did understand the original meaning of the words in the Guide, the other, Alharizi did not; he missed the distinction between rational understanding and generally admitted opinions. This misunderstanding changed the meaning of three important passages of the Guide. Finally (section 3) the mistranslation of Alharizi influenced the medieval philosophers that either read his translation, such as Rabbi Aaron ben Elijah of Nicomedia, or a Latin translation based upon it, such as Meister Eckhart.
3. Shalom Sadik, 'Utilization of Maimonides Writing by Jewish Apostates', in Jewish Studies 51 (2016), Pp. 31-68. (Hebrew)
Between the twelfth and fifteenth centuries in Spain, a substantial number of rabbis and other prestigious people who were part of the intellectual elite of the Jewish community rejected their faith and became Christian. Following their conversions, they all tried to propagate their new belief amongst their past coreligionists. This propaganda was carried out in a number of ways, including public debates and the writing of books in Hebrew, Latin, and old Spanish. This trend of intellectual apostasy played an important role in the mass conversion to Christianity that occurred from the end of the fourteenth through the fifteenth centuries. By this time, the majority of the Spanish Jewish community (then the most important Jewish community of Europe) had converted to Christianity.
This article is the first to analyze the role that the writings of Maimonides played in the missionary writings of three major Jewish apostates: Abner of Burgos (approximately 1260–1347; apostate around 1321); Pablo de Santa Maria (1352–1435; apostate in 1390) and Pedro de la Caballeria (approximately 1380–1464; apostate around 1413 at the Tortosa disputation). Maimonides is the main post-Talmudic source in the writings of these three authors. Their different uses of Maimonides lie between the opinion that Maimonides was a Christian at heart (this is the secret of the Guide of the Perplexed according to X and Y) and Z's view that Maimonides represents erroneous Jewish opinion.
4. Shalom Sadik, 'Between the Law of Israel and the Law of the Gentiles In the Philosophy of Moses Narboni', (Hebrew). In Hispania Judaica 12 (2016), Pp. יט-לג.
5. Shalom Sadik, 'Natural Law and Relation to other Religions in the Thought of Rabbi Nathanel Al-Fayumi', Tema XIV (2016), Pp. 29-39. (Hebrew)
In this article we try to understand the relation between the Law of Moses and natural Law according to R. Nathanel Al-Fayoumi (Yemen 12th century). The first part of the article shows how human society has a natural need for prophecy and revelation. The continuation of the article analyzes passages that show that R. Nathanel has a positive view of the other religions. He views all religions as equal; each religion is the best one for each specific nation. However other texts contradict this position and allege that some of the commandments of the Law of Moses are superior to the law of other religions. In the conclusion possible answers are brought to resolve this contradiction.
6. Shalom Sadik, 'The Philosophical Background of Separation of Power in the Sermons of Rabbi Nissim Gerondi', in Dinei Israel 31 (2017), Pp. 65-84. (Hebrew)
7. Shalom Sadik, ' Natural Law and the Law of Moses in the Thought of R. Josef Ibn Kaspi', in DAAT 83 (2017), Pp. 161-174.
Rabbi Josef Ibn Kaspi (1280-1345) was one of the most prominent commentators of the radical philosophers on Medieval Provence. In this article we will see his position on natural law through his different works. We will see that according to R. Kaspi, there exists in principle some perfect natural law, what is the best law for all places and all times. However, due to the different practical circumstances faced by all people across the generations, this law cannot be the constitution of any particular historical state. All societies have some practical considerations that affect the conduct of the population and thus interfere with implementing the perfect law in that society's legislation. For R. Kaspi, even the Law of Moses diverges from the perfect natural law, initially because of the influence of the then surrounding cultures on the Jews when they first came up out of Egypt, and later, due to the changing situation over the course of Jewish history. The dialectic between the ideal and the reality is the reason that the Law of Moses had to evolve. Nevertheless, these adjustments have to be hidden from the common people, in Kaspi's opinion, for if the masses were to understand that the Law of Moses constantly adjusts to circumstances, they would choose to change the law according to their corporeal temptations. This is the reason that Moses wrote in the Deteuronome (chapter 4: 2) "Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish from it"
מאמרים בכתבי עת
- A. Kadari, "A Sage Story as Dramatized Biblical Exegesis", ZUTOT 14 (2017), pp. 6-18.
In the study of rabbinic legend there is a widely accepted generic distinction between those legends that expand on Biblical stories (exegetical narratives) and those that feature the sages of the Mishnah and the Talmud (sage stories). This article questions the absolute nature of this generic distinction by examining the circumstances that shaped the development of a sage story that appears in the midrashic collection Leviticus Rabbah and its parallels. I seek to demonstrate that occasionally stories about the sages emerge from the exegesis of Biblical verses. My article demonstrates how a verse from Psalms takes on the shape of a story, which serves to solve a linguistic problem in the verse. This example sheds new light on the relationship between exegetical narratives and sage stories, and suggests that we view them as part of the same broader creative intellectual context.
מאמרים בכתבי עת
- Rainer Rami, 2017, Bible and politics: a correspondence between Rabbenu Tam and the authorities of Champagne, in Baumgarten E., Mazo Karras R. and Mesler K., Entangled Histories: Knowledge, Authority and Jewish Culture in the Thirteenth Century, Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press
In This article I offered an interpretation of the singular correspondence between the count of Champagne, most probably Henry I, and Rabbenu Tam on the understanding of biblical passages. Although Henry was appreciative of scholarship, he was certainly not a scholar himself. Rabbenu Tam, was the premier French halakhic authority and talmudic commentator of the time, but hardly engaged in biblical commentary, and was by no means known in Jewish circles as a Bible commentator. I have proposed that the context for the correspondence was the relationship, with its social and cultural aspects, between the count of Champagne and Rabbenu Tam, whose standing, I suggest, was similar to that of a vassal. If this is the case, then we possess testimony to a relationship unparalleled in northern Europe. The events portrayed in various sources can now be understood in a new light. Thus, we should reinterpret the fact that Rabbenu Tam, like his father, lived in the village of Ramerupt, close to Troyes, but not in the city itself. Most of the Jewish communities of the time were situated in the trade cities next to the rivers through which goods passed, as was the case with Troyes. The fact that both Rabbenu Tam's father and Rabbenu Tam himself took up residence in the rural area surrounding Troyes – quite atypical of the Jews of the period -- supports the central argument of this article.
