Received: from mh2.sprynet.com (mh2.sprynet.com [165.121.2.53]) by m1.sprynet.com (8.8.5/8.8.5) with ESMTP id OAA03753 for ; Mon, 21 Dec 1998 14:36:08 -0800 (PST) Received: from tortoise.oise.utoronto.ca (tortoise.oise.utoronto.ca [142.150.96.236]) by mh2.sprynet.com (8.8.5/8.8.5) with ESMTP id OAA01980; Mon, 21 Dec 1998 14:33:44 -0800 (PST) Received: (from majordom@localhost) by tortoise.oise.utoronto.ca (8.8.8/8.8.8) id KAA20278 for js-network-outgoing; Mon, 21 Dec 1998 10:01:05 -0500 (EST) Date: Mon, 21 Dec 1998 10:02:00 -0500 (EST) From: Lorenzo DiTommaso To: js-network@OISE.UTORONTO.CA Subject: Jewish Studies Newsletter: New Scholarship in Judaic Studies I Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Sender: owner-js-network@OISE.UTORONTO.CA Precedence: bulk Reply-To: Jewish Studies Newsletter Status: X-PMFLAGS: 35127424 0 1 P26810.CNM THE * JEWISH * STUDIES * NEWSLETTER New Scholarship in Judaic Studies Published by H-Judaic: The Jewish Studies Network ____________________________________________________________ Issue 1.001 * December 1998 * Readership = 6200+ for additional information: http://h-net.msu.edu/~judaic ____________________________________________________________ Table of Contents: * M. Bar-Ilan _Some Jewish Women in Antiquity_ * E. Ben-Ari, _Mastering Soldiers_ * M. Ben-Porat, _To Baghdad and Back: The Miraculous 2,000-Year Homecoming of the Iraqi Jews_ * H. Brodsky (ed.), _Land and Community: Geography in Jewish Studies_ * Z. Garber and R. Libowitz (eds.), _Peace, In Deed_ * N. Graetz, _Silence is Deadly: Judaism Confronts Wifebeating_ * K. Groberg and A. Greenbaum (eds.), _ A Missionary for History: Essays in Honor of Simon Dubnov_ * M.D. Halpern and Ch. Safrai, _Jewish Legal Writings by Women_ * J.M. Hess, "Forum: Jewish Questions," _Eighteenth-Century Studies_ vol. 32, no. 1 (1998), pp. 83-110 * T. Katriel, _Performing the Past: A Study of Israeli Settlement Museums_ * R. Langer, _To Worship God Properly: Tensions Between Liturgical Custom and Halakhah in Judaism_ * B. Lazerwitz, J.A. Winter, A. Dashefsky and E. Tabory, _ Jewish Choices: American Jewish Denominationalism_ * V.H. Matthews, B.M. Levinson, and T. Frymer-Kensky (eds.), _Gender and Law in the Hebrew Bible and the Ancient Near East_ * P.S. Nadell, _Women Who Would Be Rabbis; A History of Women's Ordination, 1889-1985_ * A.J. Peck and M. Berenbaum (eds.), _The Holocaust and History. The Known, The Unknown, The Disputed and The Reexamined_ * J.M. Peck, _At the Fire's Center. A Story of Love and Holocaust Survival_ * M.A. Raider, _The Emergence of American Zionism_ * A. Reinhartz, _"Why Ask My Name?" Anonymity and Identity in Biblical Narrative_ * D.R. Slavitt (trans.), _A Crown for the King_, by Solomon Ibn Gabirol * H.D. Slingerland, _Claudian Policymaking and the Early Imperial Repression of Judaism at Rome_ * _Di dray Bern, Mirele-Goldherele antshuldikt zikh_ * _Mehqere Hag (Holiday Studies): A Journal of Jewish Culture_ * "Hidden History: Songs of the Kovno Ghetto." ____________________________________________________________ * M. Bar-Ilan _Some Jewish Women in Antiquity_ Atlanta: Scholars Press (Brown Judaic Studies 317), 1998. Just born - my book: _Some Jewish Women in Antiquity_ An abstract is on my Web-Site. URL: http://faculty.biu.ac.il/~barilm/home.html Meir Bar-Ilan ------------------------------------------------------------ * E. Ben-Ari, _Mastering Soldiers_ _Mastering Soldiers_ is the first book length ethnography of the internal dynamics of a unit of the Israeli army, linking the latest scholarly thinking on cognitive processes to the study of the military. As an officer of the unit he studied, and a professional anthropologist, Eyal Ben-Ari was ideally positioned for his role as participant observer. During the eight years he spent with his unit he focused primarily on such notions as "conflict", "the enemy", and "soldiering" because they are, he argues, the key points of reference for "what we are" and "what we are trying to do" and form the basis for interpreting the environment within which armies operate. Relying on the latest anthropological approaches to cognitive models and the social constructions of emotion and masculinity, the author offers an in-depth analysis of the dynamics that drive the men's attitudes and behaviour, and a rare and fascinating insight into the reality of military life. Book chapters include: The Military, Anthropology and Organisational Culture; A Model of Combat: Soldiering and Emotional Control; Civilian Lives: Emotions, Control and Manhood; The Dividing Line between Officers and Men For Further Information or Ordering Details, contact Berghahn Books Berghahnuk@aol.com http://www.berghahnbooks.com Berghahn Books ------------------------------------------------------------------- * M. Ben-Porat, _To Baghdad and Back: The Miraculous 2,000-Year Homecoming of the Iraqi Jews_ Hardcover, 367 pages We would like to bring to your atttention that the English translation to Mordechai Ben-Porat's book: 'To Baghdad and Back' is now available. The book tells the story of the mass emigration of over 130,000 jews from Iraq to Israel between the years 1949 and 1952. This was accomplished largely due to the efforts of emissaries from Israel. The book is superbly narrated by Mordechai Ben-Porat, who had escaped from Baghdad to Israel in 1945 and went back in 1949, on behalf of Israel, to organize and manage what came to be known as Operation Ezra and Nehemia. Throughout his life Ben-Porat served Israel, either as an emissary in Iraq or Iran, or as a member of Knesset and Minister in the Israeli government. The book can be ordered from the Babylonian Jewry Heritage Center. More details on our web site: http://www.babylonjewry.org.il/baghdad.htm babylon@babylonjewry.org.il ------------------------------------------------------------------- * H. Brodsky (ed.), _Land and Community: Geography in Jewish Studies_ University of Maryland Press, 1997. I'd like to call your attention to the publication of "Land and Community, Geography in Jewish Studies", edited by Harold Brodsky, University of Maryland Press, 1997. This book is a compilation of articles by various international, American and Israeli scholars. "Hune (The RainMaker) Margulies" ------------------------------------------------------------ * Z. Garber and R. Libowitz (eds.), _Peace, In Deed_ Scholars Press, 1998, ISBN 0-7885-0497-5, $26.77 (cloth, discount), xii + 253 pp. Twenty outstanding scholars and writers -- Christians and Jews -- honor the great American Shoah scholar Harry James Cargas. The essays provide imaginative narrative and poetry, textual thought, and constructive criticism and make an inportant contribution to both Judaic and Shoah studies. Zev W Garber ------------------------------------------------------------------- * N. Graetz, _Silence is Deadly: Judaism Confronts Wifebeating_ Northvale, NJ: Jason Aronson, 1998. We are pleased and excited to announce the publication of *Silence Is Deadly: Judaism Confronts Wifebeating* by Naomi Graetz. Her book was chosen as a Main Selection of the Jewish Book News (September 3, 1998). If your local Jewish bookstore or distributor does not have the book you can order the book for yourself, a friend, your university or synagogue library by calling (toll-free) 1-800-782-0015. To give you a sense of the book, here is the abbreviated Table of Contents: Introduction by Elliot Dorff 1. Wifebeating and Jewish Society 2. Metaphoric Battering: The Groundwork for Domestic Violence in Patriarchal Society 3. A Prophetic Metaphor: God is to Israel as Husband is to Wife 4. The Connection between Metaphor and Halakha 5. Formative Laws and Principles in Support of Wifebeaters 6. Formative Laws and Principles Opposed to Wifebeating 7. Rabbinic Acceptance of "Lawful" Wifebeating 8. Rejection: There is No Excuse for Wifebeating 9. Modern Attitudes: Denial and Apologetics 10. Evasion of Responsibility: The Problem with Jewish Divorce Laws 11. Feminist Halakhic Solutions Appendix A: Reviving Takkanah in the Halakhic Process by Michael Graetz Appendix B: Chronology of Responsa Discussed in this Book naomi graetz ------------------------------------------------------------ * K. Groberg and A. Greenbaum (eds.), _ A Missionary for History: Essays in Honor of Simon Dubnov_ The University of Minnesota's Minnesota Mediterranean and East European Monograph series will publish this new collection of articles on Simon Dubnov at the new year: (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1998). Individual articles by: Avraham Greenbaum, Kristi Groberg, Renee Poznanski, Israel Bartal, Dan Haruv, Mordechai Zalkin, Joseph Goldstein, A. M. Kayzer, John Klier, Michael Hamm, Shlomo Lambroza, Mikhail Beizer, Marek Web, and Viktor Kelner. Includes an extensive multilingual bibliography of works by and about Dubnov, and newly researched material from Russian and Ukrainian archives. Information on how to order the book can be obtained by contacting Soterios Stavrou at: Arieh Lebowitz ------------------------------------------------------------------- * M.D. Halpern and Ch. Safrai _Jewish Legal Writings by Women_ Urim Publications, 1998, 382 pages, 6.5"x 9.5", cloth, ISBN 965-7108-00-4 Jewish Legal Writings by Women is a revolutionary publication marking the first time in history where women are writing Jewish legal texts. This collection contains seventeen original articles (14 in English and 3 in Hebrew) on a variety of topics in Jewish Law (Halakha) by contemporary religious women around the world. Authors include: Erica Brown, Aviva Cayam, Susan Handelman, Chanah Henkin, Norma Joseph, Tirzah Meacham, Rochelle Millen, Gilla Rosen, and Gili Zivan.... If you would like to receive a copy of the article titles in this book please reply with TOC in the subject line. Price: $34.95 US (In Israel: 139 shekel) Lambda Publishers tel: 718-972-5449, 1-888-564-3633 fax: 718-972-6307 ejudaica@msn.com Urim Publications UrimPub@netvision.net.il Urim Publications ------------------------------------------------------------------- * J.M. Hess, "Forum: Jewish Questions," _Eighteenth-Century Studies_ vol. 32, no. 1 (1998), pp. 83-110 Jonathan M. Hess, "Introduction," pp. 83-84. Ronald Schechter, "The Jewish Question in Eighteenth-Century France," pp. 84-91. Jonathan M. Hess, "Sugar Island Jews? Jewish Colonialism and the Rhetoric of 'Civic Improvement' in Eighteenth-Century Germany," pp. 92-100. Susan Kassouf, "The Shared Pain of the Golden Vein: The Discursive Proximity of Jewish and Scholarly Diseases in the Late Eighteenth Century," pp. 101-110. Jonathan Hess ------------------------------------------------------------------- * T. Katriel, _Performing the Past: A Study of Israeli Settlement Museums_ ISBN 0-8058-1657-7 [cloth] 0-8058-1658-5 [paper] A nostalgic interest in the past is a well-recognized feature of contemporary societies. It finds its expression in a variety of history-making practices of which the establishment of local heritage museums is a major manifestation in many parts of the world today. The present study proposes a communication-centered perspective on the study of heritage museums and - by extension - other tourist sites, highligting the role of discourse in these institutionalized, yet vernacular contexts of cultural production, social legitimation and identity formation. Interpretive and critical in orientation, this book combines a close analysis of tour guide discourse in two Israeli kibbutz museums with an exploration of such larger issues as: - the socio-cultural role of museums as arenas for the production of collective memory - the ideological and performative constraints that shape museum presentations - the interfacing of verbal and visual codes of communication in the context of material displays - the interpenetration of the personal and the communal in vernacular processes of narrative production. Paperback $ 17.50, hardcover $45 Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett ------------------------------------------------------------ * R. Langer, _To Worship God Properly: Tensions Between Liturgical Custom and Halakhah in Judaism_ ISBN 0-87820-421-0, 287 pages, $49.95 Hebrew Union College Press announces the publication of: To Worship God Properly: Tensions Between Liturgical Custom and Halakhah in Judaism, by Ruth Langer In this seminal study, Ruth Langer uses the tools of both historical scholarship and the anthropological study of ritual to analyze some of the dynamics that have shaped Jewish liturgical law and determined the broader outlines of the prayer life of the Jews. A major influence on the development of rabbinic prayer after the destruction of the Temple was the need to establish that this innovative worship of the heart was as acceptable to God as biblically prescribed sacrificial worship. Later Jewish communities and their leaders continually refined the details of the system they inherited to reflect their changing understandings of acceptable, meaningful, and constructive worship--understandings that have in turn been shaped not only by liturgical halakhah and active custom, but by new intellectual and social currents and by the vicissitudes of Jewish history. After a consideration of the talmudic issues upon which the acceptability of prayer depends, Langer offers a basic list of legal principles later generation derived from talmudic literature to ensure that prayer be efficacious. Central to these principles was the concept that acceptable prayer takes the form of blessings composed according to a specific pattern and invoking God in a very precise way. She then investigates the development and implementation of the corollary that invoking this blessing formula in ways that deviate from the specific directions of the Talmud constitutes precisely inefficacious and even dangerous prayer. However, questions about appropriate prayer language go beyond the blessing formula to the contents of the prayers themselves. Langer analyzes the battles fought over the legitimacy of inserting liturgical poetry into the fixed texts of the statutory liturgy and over the requirement of community for the proper recitation of certain prayers--specifically, for those that include the angelic liturgy. Ruth Langer ------------------------------------------------------------------- * B. Lazerwitz, J.A. Winter, A. Dashefsky and E. Tabory, _ Jewish Choices: American Jewish Denominationalism_ SUNY Press 1998 ISBN 0-7914-3582-2 (ppr) $19.95; 0-7914-3581-4 (cloth) $59.95. Available from: SUNY Press/ c/o CUP Services/ P.O. Box 6525/ Ithaca NY 14851. Analysis of data from the 1971 and 1990 National Jewish Population Studies show that preference for one Jewish denomination, Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, or none now reflects how one wishes to live Jerwishly rather than one's socio-economic status. The sources of Jewish denominationalism and the consequence of its existence for Jewish religious pracitices, communal organization involvement, ethnic attachments, intermarriage and the future of American Jewry are discussed. Jerry Winter ------------------------------------------------------------------- * V.H. Matthews, B.M. Levinson, and T. Frymer-Kensky (eds.), _Gender and Law in the Hebrew Bible and the Ancient Near East_ JSOTSup 262; Sheffield:Sheffield Academic Press, 1998. The theme of these studies of Babylonian, Hittite, Assyrian, and Israelite law is: What is the significance of gender in the formulation of ancient law and custom? Both feminist scholarship as well as conventional legal history are enriched by the examination and analysis of these classic texts. Victor Matthews ------------------------------------------------------------------- * P.S. Nadell, _Women Who Would Be Rabbis; A History of Women's Ordination, 1889-1985_ Beacon Press, 1998. ISBN 0-8070-3648-X. $30.00 >From Mary M. Cohen, who first published an article on the ordination question in 1889, to Sally Priesand, the first woman rabbi, to the continuing controversy over ordination in Orthodox Judaism, _Women Who Would Be Rabbis_ presents the first in-depth history of the long debate surrounding women's battle to prove themselves and their right to become rabbis. "Pamela S. Nadell" ------------------------------------------------------------------- * A.J. Peck and M. Berenbaum (eds.), _The Holocaust and History. The Known, The Unknown, The Disputed and The Reexamined_ * J.M. Peck, _At the Fire's Center. A Story of Love and Holocaust Survival_ 1. Abraham J. Peck and Michael Berenbaum (eds.), _The Holocaust and History. The Known, The Unknown, The Disputed And The Reexamined_ Indiana University Press, July, 1998. 836pp. ISBN 0-253-33374-1(cloth) $65.00. The book contains essay by over fifty of the leading scholars of the Holocaust. It is an effort to examine the evolution of Holocaust research since 1945 through the work of three generations of scholars. The volume has been called in reviews "the single best book available on Holocaust research." 2. Jean M. Peck, _At the Fire's Center. A Story of Love and Holocaust Survival_ University of Illinois Press, November 1998. 256pp. ISBN: 0-252-02420-6 (cloth) $24.95. The volume is the story of 3 Hungarian Jewish teenagers and one Polish Jew and narrates their lives before during and after the Holocaust. What is unusual about these survivors is their efforts to create a survivor ideology highlighted by a vow to help heal the world through medicine. All four studied medicine at Heidelberg University as Jewish DPs, married and went on to distinguished careers as physicians and professors of medicine. Abraham J. Peck ------------------------------------------------------------------- * M.A. Raider, _The Emergence of American Zionism_ New York and London: New York University Press, 1998. 296 pp. $20/pbk. $60/cloth. ISBN 0-8147-7499-7. How did Zionism take shape in the United States? How did Labor Zionism and the Yishuv influence American Jews? This book argues that Zionism and Labor Zionism had a much greater impact on the American Jewish scene than has been recognized. It traces Labor Zionism's dramatic transformation in the US from a marginal immigrant party into a signifi- cant political force. It shows how and why Labor Zionism in the US - the voice of Labor Palestine on American soil - played a role disproportionate to its size in formulating the program and outlook of American Zionism. It also examines more generally the impact of Zionism on American Jews, making the case that Zionism's cultural vitality, intellectual diversity and unparalleled ability to rally public opinion in times of crisis were central to the American Jewish experience. For further information, please contact me directly via e-mail or contact NYU Press at (800) 998-2575. Mark A. Raider ------------------------------------------------------------ * A. Reinhartz, _"Why Ask My Name?" Anonymity and Identity in Biblical Narrative_ New York: Oxford University Press, 1998. Unnamed characters -- such as Lot's wife, Jephthah's daughter, Pharaoh's baker, and the "medium" of Endor -- are ubiquitous in the Hebrew Bible. In this book, Adele Reinhartz explores the interplay of such anonymity (the absence of a proper name) with actual identity (the palpability of individuality or personality) in biblical narrative. One important thread running through the study is gender. Reinhartz challenges the conventional notion that anonymity is associated only or even primarily with women characters. Nevertheless, clear gendered patterns may be detected (e.g., almost all unnamed servants and messengers are male; unnamed family members are more often female than male). Adele Reinhartz ------------------------------------------------------------------- * D.R. Slavitt (trans.), _A Crown for the King_, by Solomon Ibn Gabirol May I intrude to announce that Oxford University Press has just published my translation of Solomon Ibn Gabirol's A CROWN FOR THE KING (with the Hebrew en face)? I am hopeful that others may find it graceful and appealing. "David R. Slavitt" ------------------------------------------------------------------- * H.D. Slingerland, _Claudian Policymaking and the Early Imperial Repression of Judaism at Rome_ South Florida Studies in the History of Judaism 140, Scholars Press, 1998 (ISBN 0-7885-0435-8). This work is a highly interdisciplinary examination of Republican and early imperial policymaking in relation to Roman Jews and their cult. While there has been a modern presumption of early imperial favor towards first century Roman Jews, this book argues that, under the emperor Claudius, Roman Jewish life became almost impossible. Moreover, this came about not because of the supposed turbulence-prone character of Roman Jews but because of the combination of absolute imperial power with profoundly tendentious upper-class and imperial attitudes towards the Jewish cult in Rome. H. Dixon Slingerland ------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------- * _Di dray Bern, Mirele-Goldherele antshuldikt zikh_ The Jewish Educational Workshop is happy to announce that the 1st edition of _The Three Bears, Goldylocks Apologizes_ has been sold out. Our revised (fargresert un farbesert) publication _Di dray Bern, Mirele-Goldherele antshuldikt zikh_ is now available. The price for each book is $13 plus postage and packaging. An optional 18 minute audio cassette tape of the story (Yiddish on one side, English on the other) with original musical accompaniment is also available for $7 plus p&p. The book and audio cassette together sell for $18 plus p&p. Postage and packaging in the U.S. is $2 for one book (or book and tape), $.50 for each additional copy). Also available is the Yiddish version of Eric Carle's _The Very Hungry Caterpillar_ for $12.50 per copy plus p&p. Postage and packaging in the U.S.is $1.50 for one book, $.25 for each additional copy. An optional pamphlet with English transliteration and translation is available for an additional $1.50. Send in your order and check (payable in US dollars) to the: Jewish Educational Workshop, 2209 Greenery Lane, Silver Spring, MD 20906. "Bobe Mashinke" and "Zeyde Meyshe" perform live one half hour to two hour workshops with the stories. They can be contacted about workshops, performances or volume discounts at . Marcia Gruss Levinsohn ------------------------------------------------------------ * _Mehqere Hag (Holiday Studies): A Journal of Jewish Culture_ The Center for Jewish Holiday Studies at Beit Berl College is pleased to announce the publication of Volume 10 (1998) of its annual, Mehqere Hag (Holiday Studies): A Journal of Jewish Culture. This is the first volume to include articles in English as well as Hebrew, with English-language summaries of the Hebrew articles. Subscriptions and back issues may be obtained by writing: Dr. Yosef Roth-Rotem intmoed@beitberl.ac.il Subscriptions - NIS 50.00 or $12.00 per annum. Postage in Israel is included. Foreign subscriptions should include $2.00 per volume for airmail postage and handling. Volumes 1-9 are available at the same price for individual volumes. Orders of 5 or more back issues will receive a 20% discount if paid for in Israeli currency. "Jonathan D. Safren" ------------------------------------------------------------ * "Hidden History: Songs of the Kovno Ghetto." In connection with its current special exhibition about the Lithuanian ghetto of Kovno, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington D.C. has issued a compact disk recording titled "Hidden History: Songs of the Kovno Ghetto." The album features 17 songs (16 in Yiddish, 1 in Lithuanian) created and performed in the ghetto during the years 1941-44. Performers include vocalists Adrienne Cooper, David Stepanovskiy, and Diane Cypkin, pianist/arranger Zalmen Mlotek, and a choral ensemble conducted by Robert DeCormier. The recording may be ordered from the Holocaust Memorial Museum Shop, 100 Raoul Wallenberg Place, Washington DC 20024; tel: 202/488-6144. Price is $17.98. Bret Werb, Musicologist U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum Washington DC Bret C. Werb ____________________________________________________________ CHIEF EDITOR and DIGEST MODERATOR: Aviva Ben-Ur ASSOCIATE MODERATOR: Marsha B. Cohen MANAGING EDITOR: Avi Jacob Hyman CHAIR: Jonathan Sarna JEWISH STUDIES NEWSLETTER EDITOR and BOOK REVIEW EDITOR: Lorenzo DiTommaso WEBSITE: Avrum Goodblaat JEWISH STUDIES ON-LINE EDITORIAL BOARD: Henry Abramson, Josh Backon, Lewis Barth, Judith Baskin, Herb Basser, Marsha B. Cohen, Bernard Cooperman, Alan Crown, Nathan Ehrlich, Yossi Galron, Penny Schine Gold, Avrum Goodblatt, Joseph Haberer, Guy Haskell, Howard Joseph, Yitzchak Kerem, Richard Menkis, Jim Mott, Leslie Train, Tzvee Zahavy, Belarie Zatzman, Reena Zeidman ------------------------------------------------------------ Jewish Studies Network Homepage: http://h-net.msu.edu/~judaic ------------------------------------------------------------ this newsletter is published & distributed for members of H-Judaic@h-net.msu.edu - The Jewish Studies Network an affiliate of H-Net: Humanities On-Line and Shamash.Org