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The Yearbook of European Integration 2024 deals with the role of churches and religious communities in Europe. It discusses the political influences of external events such as the war in Ukraine and the conflict in the Middle East. Special attention is given to the awarding of the Aachen Charlemagne Prize to Chief Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt, who stands for interreligious dialogue and European values. The elections to the European Parliament reflect tensions between migration and religion-related issues, as well as the positions of the Christian churches. [Extracted from the article]

After the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple and the end of the sacrificial service in 70 CE rabbis made Torah study and observance the basis of Jewish identity. Since no organised Jewish school system existed in Roman Palestine, only a very small proportion of the mostly male Jewish population would have been able to read, and few people had access to Torah scrolls. Rabbinic Torah experts set themselves up as intermediaries and advisers who helped ordinary people solve their daily life problems. In late antiquity, when urban rabbis served as role models and synagogues required Torah readers, Torah-reading skills may have slightly increased. At that time, rabbis’ Scripture-based public sermons and the depiction of biblical scenes on synagogue mosaic floors familiarised ordinary Jews, including women, with biblical rules and narratives. Rabbinic study and discussion would have largely depended on memorization of the biblical text rather than access to written scrolls. This phenomenon led to a creative use of the Bible, which enabled innovation, change, and adaptation to new circumstances.

The article "Talmudic-Christian Intertextuality: Main Considerations" deals with the intertextual relationships between the Babylonian Talmud and contemporary Christian literary traditions. The Babylonian Talmud, produced by Babylonian rabbis in Sassanian East, is used as the main corpus for the investigation. Three categories of Talmudic-Christian intertextuality are identified: open connections, covert connections, and veiled traditions. These intertextual relationships show that the Talmudic authors had access to Christian sources and incorporated them into their texts without openly engaging in anti-Christian polemics. However, the exact nature of how these Christian sources were known to the Talmudic authors and why certain approaches were chosen are still subjects of further research. [Extracted from the article]

This paper discusses Heine's controversial relationship to Judaism, considering Jewish culture and tradition as a complementary side of Modernity; I focus in particular on the fragmentary and unaccomplished historic novel Der Rabbi von Bacherach. The genesis of this text goes from the beginning of the 20's to 1840 when, under the choc of the so called 'Damascus affair', Heine returned to the work, but was not able -- or refused -- to bring it to an end. This is not the only case of unfinished prose; on the contrary, in Heine's prosaic works fragments seem to prevail on finished texts. This study tries to establish a correlation between Judaism, Modernity, and loss of Totality; on the other hand, the Rabbi is also important for the way Heine considers History. Although one of his major models was Walter Scott's historic novel, one could hardly find a more drastic opposition to a kind of historical approach, which considers the past as definitely accomplished. Even in his dynamic way of considering past events more in the light of Future and Messianic Awaiting of Redemption, we could see a consistent link to materialistic idea of History and of the past which reaches its own actuality only entering into a constellation with the Jetztzeit of its reception. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The essay examines the Responsa collection Ele Divre ha-Brit from a literary perspective. The collection contains responses from various rabbis and courts and was published by the Hamburg Bet Din. The focus is on the examination of the rhetorical patterns that emphasize the authority and correctness of the respondents. Metaphors, personifications, comparisons, rhetorical questions, apostrophes, exclamations, interjections, and semantic argumentative figures are used to emphasize the rejection of reforms and the preservation of traditional teachings. The authors also use various argumentative figures such as concessio, anticipation, and rectification to present their positions as correct and refute possible counterarguments. [Extracted from the article]

Matbaanın Yahudi cemaatleri arasında kabul görmesinin neticesinde Osmanlı’da ve birçok Avrupa Yahudi cemaatleri arasında farklı alanlarda yoğun bir kitap basımı gözlenmiştir. Süreç içerisinde hahamlar matbaada basılan eserlerin dini inanç açısından uygunluğunu denetleme gereğini hissetmişlerdir. Farklı şehirlerde alınan kararlarla matbaada basılacak eserlere onay alınmasını zorunlu kılan hahamlar böylelikle otoritelerini de pekiştirmek istemişlerdir. Bu durum sahte onay mektupları gibi birçok sorunu da beraberinde getirmiştir. Buna ilaveten hahamların basılan eserlere sansür uygulamaları ve basım sürecinde metne müdaheleler de Yahudi cemaatler arasında karşılaşılan durumlardandır.

The article presents a list of report published in the periodical "Journal of Jewish Studies" on topics including Rabbis and philosophers in medieval Provence, Rabbinic reappropriation of a Christian motif, and rules of grammar versus the requirements of exegesis and polemic.

A comparative biography of Catholic priest Stanisław Stojałowski and Jewish rabbi Joseph Samuel Bloch is presented, highlighting both clerics' political activities in Habsburg Galicia (Poland and Ukraine) in the 19th- and early 20th-century Austro-Hungarian Empire. Topics discussed include the connection between religion and politics in the empire, nationalism and ethnic relations, and the social networks established by both men in religious, political, and intellectual circles in the empire's center as well as its periphery.

The article examines the dispute between Jewish rabbis and representatives of the Protestant church in 19th century Bavaria, Germany, over the robes and other vestments worn by the rabbis. It recounts how the rabbinical robes resembled those worn by Protest clergy of the officially sanctioned state church, which led to a court case taking place in Bayreuth, Germany in 1886. The persons, locations, and institutions involved are examined from Bavarian state and church archives.

The article presents a profile of the life of rabbi Eliezer Ben Naphtali Herz Treves, a pioneer of Jewish book publishing in Northern Europe in the 16th century. It traces his family heritage, his apprenticeship in printing, and his rabbinical studies and teaching activities. Also discussed is his first book, an edition of the Psalms in the Yiddish language, which was the beginning of his project to print the complete Talmud in the Hebrew language. Also discussed are other works ascribed to him.

The article discusses the rabbinical robe as the most expressive symbol for the process of acculturation which was taking place between 1810 and 1870 in Jewish reform efforts in Germany. The author attempts to show that the wearing of the robe was an example of the fact that the exterior political side of the Jewish Enlightenment movement and the inner cultural reform could not be separated from one another.

The article reports on an October 2009 conference of young scholars held in Tutzing, Germany, titled "The German Rabbinate Abroad. Transferring German-Jewish Modernity Into the World?" The focus of the meeting was the background to the migration and re-migration of German-speaking rabbis, particularly their "colonizing" missionary work during the 19th century. Presentations were given on the "Americanization of Judaism" and the activities of German emigrant rabbinical figures to the U.S. such as Samuel Hirsch and Isaac Leeser

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