פירסומים

ספר זה מביא את סיפורן של אסירות ועצירות ארגוני המחתרות שלחמו בשלטון הבריטי למען הקמת מדינת ישראל ושנכלאו בבית־הסוהר לנשים בבית־לחם ובמחנה המעצר הסמוך אליו. הספר מתחקה באמצעות המכתבים האישיים שכתבו האסירות והעצירות אחר חוויותיהן, שגרת יומן, תודעת המאסר והפסיכולוגיה האישית והקולקטיבית שליוותה את תקופת ישיבתן בבית־לחם. הספר מעמת בין הזהויות השונות שהרכיבו את דמותן, זהויות שלעיתים התנגשו זו בזו והוא יוצר פסיפס אנושי נדיר ממנו עולה ובוקעת דמותה של הלוחמת העברייה שהקריבה שנים ארוכות מחייה למען השגת העצמאות ושנשכחה מהזיכרון ההיסטורי והלאומי.  

A pregnant mother, a teacher who had fallen ill, a thirty-year-old homeless thief, refugees from war-torn communities, orphans, widows, the mentally disabled and domestic servants. What this diverse group of individuals—mentioned in a wide range of manuscript and print sources in German, Hebrew, and Yiddish—had in common was their appeal to early modern Jewish communities for aid. Poor relief administrators, confronted with multiple requests and a finite communal budget, were forced to decide who would receive support and how much, and who would not. Then as now, observes Debra Kaplan, public charity tells us about both donors and recipients, revealing the values, perceptions, roles in society, and the dynamics of power that existed between those who gave and those who received.

In The Patrons and Their Poor, Kaplan offers the first extensive analysis of Jewish poor relief in early modern German cities and towns, focusing on three major urban Ashkenazic Jewish communities from the Western part of the Holy Roman Empire: Altona-Hamburg-Wandsbek, Frankfurt am Main, and Worms. She demonstrates how Jewish charitable institutions became increasingly formalized as Jewish authorities faced a growing number of people seeking aid amid limited resources. Kaplan explores the intersections between various sectors of the population, from wealthy patrons to the homeless and stateless poor, providing an intimate portrait of the early modern Ashkenazic community.

All twenty-two original articles in the current volume are based on lectures given at the conference “The Jews in Italy: Their Contribution to the Development and Diffusion of Jewish Heritage”, which was convened in September 2011, at the University of Bologna, Department of Cultural Heritage. Geographically, the articles range from Italy to the Ottoman Empire (the Balkans and Aleppo), from France and Germany to the Middle East, including Israel, North and East Africa (Morocco, Tunisia, Libya, and Ethiopia). Chronologically, articles begin with the Roman period, through the Middle Ages and Renaissance until modern times. In this collection, the reader will find a wide range of subjects reflecting various scholarly perspectives such as history; Christian-Jewish relations; Kabbalah; commentary on the Bible and Talmud; language, grammar, and translation; literature; philosophy; gastronomy; art; culture; folklore; and education.

כיצד נפסקת ההלכה למעשה? מה הם שיקולי הדעת שפוסקי הלכה מפעילים בבואם לפסוק? דעה רווחת רואה בפסיקת הלכה תוצר של לימוד ועיון במקורות ההלכה הסמכותיים, שאת דרישותיהם הפוסקים מחילים בחיי הציבור. על פי דעה זו שיקול הדעת המרכזי המנחה פוסקים הוא התאמתה של פסיקתם לספרות ההלכתית המחייבת.
ספר זה מבקש להציע התבוננות אחרת בחשיבה ההלכתית ולראותה כשדה מערכה שבו מתקיימים מאבקים על עיצוב החיים היהודיים. הכוחות המניעים את החשיבה ההלכתית המעשית קשורים באופן הדוק לשאלות של זהות קולקטיבית, והם כרוכים בשיקולי דעת מגוונים, החורגים מן הדרישות העולות מן הספרות ההלכתית המחייבת. עיקר השיקולים נוגעים לתוצאותיה של הפסיקה ולהשלכותיה האפשריות על זהותו הדתית של הציבור. משום כך, החשיבה ההלכתית המעשית היא אחד מן האתרים המרכזיים שבהם מתעצבים המסורת והחיים היהודיים לאורך הדורות.

This is a book of unexpected drama: all eleven chief rabbis appointed in this period of unprecedented change in the Jewish communities of the Fertile Crescent became the subject of controversy and were subsequently dismissed. This took place against a background of events rarely discussed in the context of Jewish society: crime, hooliganism, slander, power struggles, sexual promiscuity, and even assaults and assassination attempts on rabbis. Using a wide range of testimonies gleaned from Ottoman Jewish, Arabic, and European sources, Yaron Harel paints a colourful picture of these upheavals set firmly in the social and political context of the time and far removed from the commonly accepted image of Jewish communities in the Ottoman empire.

Jews were also affected by modernization and political conflict in the wider society of the time, and these too gave rise to power struggles. The chief rabbis were at the forefront of these confrontations, especially those that resulted from the new inclination towards Western culture. Most of them recognized that the challenges of modernization had to be met, although in a way that did not endanger religious principles. Their openness to change stemmed from a concern for the future of the communities for which they were responsible, but they were often vociferously opposed by those who were free from such responsibility. The communal politics that ensued were sometimes heated to the point of violence.

In the latter years of the empire, many Jews came to support the Young Turks, with their promise of liberty and equality for all. The atmosphere of the time was such that rabbis had to develop political awareness and engage in Ottoman politics. This was another source of tension within the community since the new regime punished anyone suspected of opposition severely.

This lively and fascinating study based on little-known sources offers a lens through which to view the Jewish society of the Ottoman empire at a time when all the traditional norms were being challenged.

The beginning of the twentieth century was a period that saw far-reaching change in the political and geographical landscapes of the Middle East. From the impact of the revolution of the Young Turks in 1908 to the devastation of World War I and the subsequent British and French mandates in the region, Syria was particularly affected. Yaron Harel adds to the understanding of this period by examining an understudied aspect: the rise of Zionist intellectual thought and activity in the Syrian capital of Damascus. Through meticulous research, Harel highlights the fact that, during these difficult years, those parts of the Jewish community affected by the economic collapse of October 1875 were able to take solace in the rising trend of Zionist thought. He therefore demonstrates Zionism in Damascus was not a religiously motivated movement, but rather was class related. In particular, Harel examines what avenues of identity were available for the Jewish community in Damascus at a time when identification with Arab nationalism was on the rise in Syria. Were they to be Jewish - Arab? Or Jewish - Zionist?It is by examining issues such as Zionist education, health provision, women's political engagement and philanthropic activity that Harel offers an in-depth analysis of Zionism in the context of Jewish society.
He also offers an account of the eventual dismantling of the movement, in the wake of the establishment of the French mandate. With external forces beyond Syria's borders beginning to have an effect (such as the King - Crane Commission and efforts to establish a Jewish Homeland taking shape), as well as internal struggles within Zionist circles in Syria itself, the leaders of the Zionist movement in Damascus began to leave the city. Zionism in Damascus tracks those involved in this ideological wave (Zionist intellectuals, journalists, secular thinkers and rabbis) from its early days to the eventual abandonment of Damascus following the Balfour Declaration and the establishment of the French Mandate.

The emergence of formative Judaism has traditionally been examined in light of a theological preoccupation with the two competing religious movements, 'Christianity' and 'Judaism' in the first centuries of the Common Era. In this book Ariel Schremer attempts to shift the scholarly consensus away from this paradigm, instead privileging the rabbinic attitude toward Rome, the destroyer of the temple in 70 C.E., over their concern with the nascent Christian movement. The palpable rabbinic political enmity toward Rome, says Schremer, was determinative in the emerging construction of Jewish self-identity. He asserts that the category of heresy took on a new urgency in the wake of the trauma of the Temple's destruction, which demanded the construction of a new self-identity. Relying on the late 20th-century scholarly depiction of the slow and measured growth of Christianity in the empire up until and even after Constantine's conversion, Schremer minimizes the extent to which the rabbis paid attention to the Christian presence. He goes on, however, to pinpoint the parting of the ways between the rabbis and the Christians in the first third of the second century, when Christians were finally assigned to the category of heretics.

For convenience, the studies are divided into three categories: archaeological, epigraphic and historical, though many of them are actually more interdisciplinary. Most of them deal with either the province of Judah, Idumea or the interaction between the two, although a couple of them examine other parts of the country as well. A major focus of several of the papers is different aspects of the newly published "Makkedah ostraca" and their meaning.  

מציאות קשה הניחה את התשתית להגירה הגדולה לאמריקה, במהלכה חצו כשניים וחצי מיליון יהודים את האוקיינוס האטלנטי. ספר זה מציב פרק בהיסטוריה הדתית של המהגרים היהודיים והנהגתם הרוחנית, בעזרת מעקב אחר תולדות חייהם, דרשותיהם ודרושיהם של רבנים ודרשנים אורותודוקסים מהגרים. הספר דן בשורה של נושאים הנוגעים למציאות החיים במזרח אירופה ובאמריקה ולדימוייה של מציאות זו, ובהם:

שורשיהם המזרח אירופיים של הרבנים והדרשנים; מניעי הגירתם לאמריקה וחבלי קליטתם והתאקלמותם בה; מעמדם; מקומה, תפקידיה וחשיבותה של הדרשה במירקם חייהם של המהגרים היהודים; תפיסתם של הרבנים והדרשנים את התמורות והטלטלות העוברות על העם היהודי במזרח אירופה ובאמריקה, והאתגרים שבפניהם הוא ניצב; פעילותם הציונית ותחזיתם הפסימית ביחס לעתיד היהדות באמריקה.