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The paper deals with the different bilateral relations between humor and cognition: humor depends on cognition, and cognition benefits from humor. The objective is to clarify that humor has important properties, advantages and applications in regard to cognition, beyond those that have been identified and are well-known in the domains of emotions, mental health and social behavior. The examined themes are the involvement of cognition in the understanding of every act of humor, applying specific cognitive strategies that enable comprehending humor, the relations between humor and brain activity, the impact of humor on specific cognitive acts such as creativity, the support of a specific cognitive structures in the humor action (the meaning profile), the ole of cognitive processes such as shifting, identifying he subject-matter in the grasping o humor and the contribution of humor for the development of cognitive processes and thing. The multiplicity of connections between humor and cognition supports the conclusion that humor can be considered as a characteristic component in the cognitive system and in certain individuals even as a sub-system in the cognitive system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The novel The Tank by Assaf Anbari tells of a historical event in the War of Liberation that takes place at the entrance of Kibbutz Degania A, a battle between Israeli fighters and Syrian tanks manned by Syrian soldiers. One of the Israeli fighters succeeds in subduing the Syrian tank and its crew, thus bringing about a military decision in the battle. This event that takes place in the space that represents in Israeli culture the beginnings of pioneering and kibbutz ideology, Degania A, becomes a symbol of fighting and heroism. However, from a historical point of view there seems to be no consensus on the identity of the soldier who stopped the Syrian tank. The narrator examines this issue by focusing on five characters who each of them claims is the one who stopped the Syrian tank and brought the battle to a conclusion, as the battle was fixed in her mind. Throughout the length of the text, the narrator relies on humor of its various types as a means of allowing the examination of the different versions that exist about the course of the battle and the different versions that exist about the identity of the soldier who stopped the Syrian tank. The paper seeks to examine the design of the place where the battle took place as well as the design of the presentation of one of the members of the economy known as one of those who stopped the Syrian tank in the battle. It seems that the narrator glorifies Kibbutz Degania and one of the tank guards who is a member of the Kibbutz. However, it presents details and thoughts of the characters and landmarks from the course of their lives since the battle, but it can be said that it does not come to a ruling and a clear decision regarding the choice of the real version and the decision on the identity of the heroic fighter who stopped the tank. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Astérix, A French comic book series, tells the story of the last standing Gaulish village during Julius Caesar occupation during the Gallic Wars in the 1st century BC. Contrary to the information given in Caesar’s historic work, Commentarii de Bello Gallico (BG), where the Romans are presented as cultured and the Gauls presented as barbarians, Astérix does not adopt this approach, au contraire. In the comic book series, there is narratological reversal and the usage of parody is the main device aiding this reversal. This paper reviews the characteristics of both groups, Gauls and Romans, in BG and in the comics. The comics apply the barbarian behavior to the Romans, who become the “other” in the Gaulish story, and debarbarize the Gauls. Focus will be given to book no. 17, “Astérix: The Mansion of the Gods” (1971), and its 2014 film adaption of the same name. Mansion of the Gods best demonstrates the differences between the groups and both the ancient and modern approaches to these groups and their characteristics. Firstly, this paper looks into the comics adaption of the historic essay and how parody is used in this regard. Secondly, it looks into the comic-to-cinema adaption, two medias who share many parallels, and the parodic changes caused by this adaption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with Ashtori Ha-Parhi, the 14th-century sage, who authored Kaftor va-Ferah, and was one of the first Jewish scholars who studied the of Land of Israel from a geographical-toponymical perspective. The paper traces the meaning of his unusual first name 'Ashtori' and suggests that it is an Hebraization of the Provencal name Astruc. The article offers a solution to an additional problem that has eluded solution for many years. Where is 'Floranza' located? This is the town of Ashtori's ancestral seat and the city from which his surname was derived. The article shows that this Floranza is in Provence near the town of Beziers, and not in Spain as has been suggested. Following a comprehensive review of Ashtori's ancestors and family, with an emphasis on his relative Jacob Ben Makhir Ibn Tibon, we conclude that Ashtori should be appreciated within the context of Provencal Jewish culture and all that this implies: the translation project, the use of general science and scholarship and more. It is of great significance to associate Ashtori with Provencal Jewish culture, since hitherto his geographical origin has been unclear. It is now possible to reassess his cultural context and gain new insight to his intellectual world and literary work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The encounter between the illustrated elites and the popular classes is a central topic in Argentine literature, as already clear in the subtitle of the first Argentinean novel – Facundo: Civilization or Barbarity. The present paper discusses the translation to the comics format of three short stories central in the history of Argentinean literatura, that deal with that encounter. The first two – Esteban Echeverria’s “The slaughterhouse” and Julio Cortazar’s “Heaven’s Doors” - express the fear of the illustrated classes when faced with the popular classes. The third story – German Rozenmacher’s “Black Head” - criticizes the elites, uncovering their classism. The three stories were translated to the comics form by three of the best Argentinan illustrators: Enrique Breccia, Carlos Nine and Francisco Solano Lopez. The paper relates between the short stories and their translation to comics, in the political context of the conflict between the elites and the popular classes that marked the history of Argentina. In fact the translation from “high culture” (literature) to “low culture” (comics), is already a reflection of this conflict, by challenging the normative implications of this división. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Jacques Ferrandez's graphic novel adaptation of Albert Camus's The Stranger came out in 2013 – the centenary year of Camus’s birth – in the same publishing house where Camus first released The Stranger in 1942. This paper investigates how, generating meaning through both visual and verbal signs, the multimodal adaptation deals with three central episodes whose common denominator is death: the death of Meursault’s mother, at the beginning of the story; the killing of the Arab, as a turning point in the storyline; the death of Meursault, at the end of the second part of the novel. This paper aims at discussing not only the extent to which the comics adaptation is faithful to the original –monomodal– text, but also at revealing the strategies undertaken by the graphic version in an attempt to construct a multimodal narratology based on the original text. My comparison is based on the original French versions of both the novel and the graphic novel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines remnants of a group of unique Tanhuma-Yelammedenu (TY) editions preserved in Cairo Genizah fragments. These editions introduce a consistent stylistic marker that is very rare in rabbinic literature - the use of the divine name םיהולאה. From the linguistic aspect, their Hebrew contains many features which are usually considered authentic distinctive Palestinian rabbinic characteristics. A comparison between the language of these editions and the language of the known TY editions (especially the "standard" printed edition and Solomon Buber's edition) reveals a clear distinction between the two corpora and demonstrates that the Palestinian linguistic features were considerably blurred in the known editions. It is therefore reasonable to assume that the unknown editions preserve the language and style which were in use during the initial emergence of TY literature in the Land of Israel, while the Hebrew of the standard TY editions reflects their later editing in other places. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper discusses the concept of virginity formulated by talmudic Halakhah and its inherent inner tensions. In the new jurisprudence created by the rabbis, virginity is a discursive category that elucidates the complex ties between the body, sexuality, and the social and religious order. It is shown that virginity has three senses in the Talmud—sexual inexperience, bodily perfection, and a legal presumption—which take different perspectives and overlap only partly. Each of them reflects different cultural motives and social ideas of the body, sexuality, and gender. Their coexistence creates a plastic concept of virginity that constantly oscillates between the real and the symbolic, the physical and the spiritual, and the social and the religious. The broad range for interpretation allowed by the multiple definitions reveals the ideological and political nature of every halakhic ruling concerning virginity. The paper demonstrates how the concept of virginity functions in the Halakhic discourse about the marriage of a virgin bride in the Babylonian Talmud. The close link between the special customs for the wedding of a virgin bride, meant to highlight her physical virginity, and the economic and class privileges derived from the formal presumption of virginity, exemplifies virginity as an analytical category that can tie together levels of meaning often presented as separate. Finally, the lines that the talmudic discourse draws between a woman’s definition as a virgin, on the one hand, and her personal status, legal rights, and social and religious standing, on the other, make virginity a useful tool for mapping the mechanisms that shaped gender in Jewish culture and for reaching a deeper understanding of how they function. By means of a theoretical and methodological framework that transcends the talmudic context, the paper proposes virginity as a vital category for the study of the history of sex and the gender economy in Jewish culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is a chapter in Part II of my book on noun morphology in the Mishnah which describes the noun patterns with affixes. This paper describes the pattern לָ עְ פַ מ according to the findings in four textual witnesses – (1) the tradition of the scribe of the Kaufmann manuscript (K), no. 50 in the library of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in Budapest. (2) The tradition of the vocalizer of K (the traditions of the scribe and the vocalizer are for the most part identical). (3) The K-2 tradition of the scribe who is the vocalizer that completed the missing 9 folios of K. (4) The final witness brought here is the tradition of manuscript Parma De Rossi 497 to Seder Tohorot (Pb). After a brief introduction there are five sections in the paper. A. The first section opens with short introductory remarks regarding the distinctive features of this pattern. Eight comments are offered; one presents the nouns which take different forms in the K tradition and in the Pb tradition. For example, the noun לַחְ כַ מ is attested in this pattern only in K, but in Pb is attested in the לֵעְ פַ מ .(מַ כְ חֵל) form B. This section presents a list of all the findings in all of the textual witnesses – 28 nouns in K (27 nouns in the main traditions of the scribe and the vocalizer, and only one noun in K-2) and 17 nouns in Pb. C. The third section is the main section which takes up most of the paper. Here are presented the appearances of all the nouns in all of the textual witnesses with discussions of the orthography and the vocalization of each noun. These findings were compared to additional textual witnesses, more ancient or less ancient. For example, §2.10 deals with the noun לָעְנַמ) the text which deals with this noun contains more than 900 words, no detail of the orthography or the vocalization has not been compared to additional textual witnesses. There is also a short discussion of the noun's history). D. Even though this paper presents a synchronic description of the evidence, I added this fourth section – Biblical Hebrew and Mishnaic Hebrew. I checked which of these nouns went through the process of literary borrowing from the Bible, which ones occur in both Biblical and Mishnaic Hebrew, and which nouns are first attested in Mishnaic Hebrew. Of course, attention has been paid to which nouns are attested in the Dead Sea Scrolls and in Ben Sira (which precede the Mishnah). E. The fifth section examines the relationship between form and meaning. The nouns in the pattern לָעְ פַ מ can be sorted into four sub-categories according to meaning. Indeed, regarding most noun patterns it is not possible to speak of one main meaning expressed by the pattern. Most patterns include a number of groups expressing different meanings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Paul Auster’s graphic novel is an adaptation of his pseudo-detective novella, City of Glass. Emily St. John Mandel’s post-apocalyptic novel is intertwined with a (fictional) graphic novel titled Station Eleven. We may say that Auster, in collaboration with artists Paul Karasik and David Mazzucchelli, converts words into pictures, whereas Mandel converts pictures into words. In what way do these two processes differ? What happens in the transition from verbal to visual language, and what are the properties of each of these modes of artistic communication? An exploration of the two novels elicits these intriguing issues which their authors also address, whether explicitly or implicitly. Auster’s novella, which constitutes the first part of The New York Trilogy, is the story of a detective quest. The protagonist, Daniel Quinn, receives a mysterious call in the dead of night, in which he is asked to follow an old man called Peter Stillman, who has just been released from jail. Stillman was imprisoned for having performed a cruel experiment on his son, and the son – the mysterious caller on the other end of the line – now fears that his father is coming back to kill him. Quinn is not a detective but a detective-story writer; the telephone call was a mistake, the result of dialing a wrong number. But he accepts the appointment and starts following Stillman. He learns that the old man is a deranged linguist, who locked his son in a dark room, in order to discover the language the baby would speak when deprived of all human contact. Stillman sought the ideal language of the Garden of Eden, in which the word and the thing perfectly coincide. Indeed we may wonder whether Stillman’s aspiration does not reflect every writer’s impossible dream, to transform the fictional world of his imagination into a palpable reality…. We thus see that the detective novel City of Glass is a metafictional work dealing with the inherent nature, constraints and possibilities of verbal language. Paul Karasik and David Mazzucchelli created a graphic adaptation which addresses similar linguistic concerns from the perspective of visual language. This interplay between verbal and visual language equally informs Emily St. John Mandel’s Station Eleven. The novel’s narrative takes place twenty years after the outbreak of a lethal flu, which has wiped out most of the human population and all vestiges of past civilization. Yet unlike most dystopian fiction, Station Eleven does not dwell on the grim aftermath of the catastrophe but rather on the resilience of the survivors’ spirit and of the human quest for meaning. The novel starts with a production of King Lear, in which the leading actor dies on stage, probably struck by the disease. Before his death he gives to Kirsten, an eight-year-old child playing one of his daughters, a precious gift – a comic book designed by one of his ex-wives. The book’s title is Station Eleven. Twenty years later Kirsten is part of a troupe of actors and musicians known as the Travelling Symphony, who travel from settlement to settlement in Canada’s region of the Great Lakes, and perform Shakespeare’s plays before audiences of the surviving humanity. Kirsten cherishes the gift she received above all her meagre possessions, and this comics becomes the novel’s main metaphor and kernel of meaning. Both City of Glass and Station Eleven demonstrate the features of the linguistic medium in which they were created. Auster’s graphic novel is a verbal story clad in visual language. Mandel’s post-apocalyptic novel is a (fictional) work of visual language converted into words. The interplay between verbal and visual language is the concern of the present paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agnon’s works are considered classics of Hebrew literature. However, as his literary language echoes that of the Midrash and the Bible, it is difficult for Israeli children to comprehend. Moreover, his literary themes, such as Agunot, “chained wives”, or bitter and envious competition inside a Yeshiva, are not appropriate for children. Nevertheless, Schocken Publishing House has chosen to adapt several of Agnon’s short stories in order to introduce children to his work. These adaptations aim to fascinate children with the stories in the hope that they will later read the original text as adults in a similar vein to Charles and Mary Lamb’s Shakespearean adaptations for English speaking children. Agnon’s tale, ‘From a Foe to a Friend’, is the most commonly adapted story for Israeli children. It is considered as ‘Agnon for children’ since its plot is derived from that of “The Three Little Pigs” children’s tale, and there is a happy ending, which is not typical of Agnon’s works. This is probably the reason it is a part of the Israeli Middle School curriculum. Shay Charka, a well-known Israeli comic artist, initiated the adaptation of Agnon’s ‘From a Foe to a Friend’ into a comic book. He has already adapted Jewish classics into comics. For example, he adapted several Biblical and Talmudic stories from the weekly Torah portion and about enchanted animals in his popular Babba comic books. In this paper, I intend to demonstrate the manner in which the visual-humoristic adaptation of Agnon’s tale fascinates children and encourages them to enjoy it. First, I will survey the main transformations the original-text (written) underwent when turning into the target-text, namely a comic book (a hybrid text composed of both visual images and written text). In the analysis of both texts (original and target), I will use terms from translation and adaptation theory (Shenberg, 2016, Weissbrod, 2007, Toury, 1995, Denec. 1979). Moreover, the Bakhtinian term of Chronotope will be discussed to enable a better understanding of the adaptation’s interpretations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines appendices to the Tosefta, which include a number of halakhot, and the position of which shifts among various manuscripts. This phenomenon of 'position shifting', where a literary unit appears in completely different locations within different manuscripts, is rare in rabbinic literature and may prove instructive regarding the final stages of the redaction of the Tosefta and the early stages of its transmission. In this paper, I examine four examples of appendices which are located in various places in the different manuscripts. In some versions the text in question is added at the conclusion of the topic, thereby stressing its nature as an appendix, while other manuscripts integrate the passage into the main body of the Tosefta's discussion, positioned where it is most appropriate in terms of its content. These examples reflect a later stage of the editing of the Tosefta, one that enabled additional material to be added as appendices - without determining a fixed position for them within the main Tosefta tradition. This in turn suggests a degree of flexibility during the initial stages of transmission, which allowed for different editorial adaptations of these floating texts. The diversity of the texts also indicates the richness of source materials available during the editing of these appendices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The two temples described in detail in the Hebrew Bible, the Temple of Solomon and the wilderness Tabernacle, contained in their innermost chamber, the focal point of Israelite worship, the Ark of the Covenant and two sculpted representations of fantastic winged creatures, the cherubim. Understanding the symbolic function of these cherubim may be central to understanding the ancient Israelite cult. The prevailing view regarding this question is that the cherubim formed, or supported, the throne of YHWH, while the Ark beneath them served as His footstool. The Temple cherubim and Ark are thus considered together as an instance of the sphinx-throne, a known motif in Phoenician and Canaanite visual art from the biblical period. This paper challenges the prevailing view on several grounds. First, biblical sources explicitly define the cherubim as having the role of guardians, not throne-bearers. These sources cannot be down-dated and dismissed, since they are backed up by multiple sources that consistently show that the cherubim were not the primary objects in the Temple and Tabernacle, as would be expected if they served as the throne of YHWH; second, no actual throne is mentioned in the Bible in relation to the cherubim; third, the cherubim as described in the Bible stood upright, while all throne-bearing creatures in Ancient Near Eastern visual art are quadrupeds; fourth, the large dimensions attributed to the cherubim of the Temple would have left insufficient space for a proportional throne. It is shown that the cherubim as described in the Bible correspond to a different motif in Egyptian-Canaanite iconography, that of the winged protectors. In this motif, two or more winged creatures flank a deity, a person, or an object, spreading their wings toward it in a gesture of protection. A common form of this motif, in which the wings meet in a diamond pattern, appears in several Iron Age items from the Land of Israel, and corresponds specifically to the cherubim of the Tabernacle as depicted in the Bible. A less common form, in which the protecting beings appear en face with their wings spread to the sides, appears on the 14th-century BCE sarcophagus of the Pharaoh Tutankhamun, and corresponds to the cherubim of the Temple. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the number and formulation of the blessings said prior to the laying of tefillin (phylacteries) as practiced in Babylonia and in Eretz Israel, according to Talmudic literature. Initially, it would appear that the facts on this issue are clear. An explicit ruling in both the Talmud Bavli and the Talmud Yerushalmi states clearly that two blessings should be recited while laying the tefillin: lehaniach tefillin, and 'al mitzvat tefillin. However, further examination indicates that this is not the case, as is reflected in the accepted halakhic practice of reciting only one blessing - lehaniach tefillin (Shulkhan Aruch). This paper shows that the formulation lehaniach tefillin reflects the practice in Babylonia, whereas in Eretz Israel the blessing for tefillin was a! mitzvat tefillin. Analysis of the Talmudic discussions in both the Talmud Bavli and the Talmud Yerushalmi demonstrates that a transition occurred from the early, original practice prescribing one blessing for tefillin, into a later development prescribing two blessings. In the Talmud Yerushalmi, one of the two major sections dealing with the blessings for tefillin (Berakhot ch. 9) mentions only one blessing ('al mitzvat tefillin); the other source (Berakhot ch. 2) attaches the Babylonian blessing - lehaniach tefillin - to the original Eretz Israel blessing - following the well known Talmudic dictum, 'therefore, let us say both'. The Babylonian Talmud also addresses the matter of the blessings for tefillin in two major discussions (in tractates Berakhot and Menachot). In tractate Berakhot the Talmud prescribes two blessings: lehaniach for the tefillin worn on the arm, and 'al mitzvat for the tefillin worn on the head. However, examination of the text found in manuscripts of tractate Berakhot, as well as in excerpts cited in medieval commentaries, reveals that originally the Talmudic text in Berakhot did not mention at all the blessings for the laying of tefillin; they were inserted at a later stage. The discussion in tractate Menachot indicates, upon analysis, that the instruction to recite two blessings over the wearing of tefillin arrived in Babylonia quite late - not before the fifth generation of Amoraim - and that the original practice had been to recite only one blessing. It is this earlier practice that is reflected in the accepted halakhic practice of today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The phrase 'Even though there is no proof to the matter, there is an indication of the matter' is used in Tannaitic homilies to introduce a scriptural citation. While other introductory formulas (e.g., 'as it is said') have no specific meaning, this one supposedly indicates a weak connection between the homily and the verse cited as its source. In this article the author rejects this widespread understanding, showing that the phrase has nothing to do with the persuasive force of the evidence. Rather, it marks the problematic authority of non-legal scriptures (even from the Pentateuch) in Halachic rulings. The phrase thus indicates that the matter is indeed mentioned in the scripture, but the verse cannot be taken as an absolute evidence, due to its non-Halachic context. The paper further attempts to show that the phrase belongs to the school of R. lshmael, and is part of this school's midrashic methods. After mapping the occurrences of the phrase, the paper concentrates on the series of homilies in Mishnah, Shabbat 8:7-9:4, arguing that in this well formed unit the editor points to the problematic authority of non-Halachic scripture. The last part of the article deals with the polemic character of the phrase, as is attested especially from comparison to the opposite phrase: 'there is a proof for the matter'. The paper ends with a reflection on the significance of the phrase for the understanding of midrashic methods as well as for the role of scriptural authority in the Tannaitic homilies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The greatness of Gershom Scholem as a scholar of the literature of Jewish mysticism and as the founder of new avenues of research is beyond question. Scholem, however, devoted relatively more scholarly attention to certain corpora and historical periods, and less to others. Hasidism, it has been thought, was not one of his main interests, even though he had published a number of seminal studies. With the collection of all his papers on the period and a perusal of his archival notes, we can now assess the encompassing scope of his scholarly contribution. His collected papers indicate plans for ambitious projects that were not completed in areas that he appears to have neglected. His papers on Hasidism have been collected and published as The Latest Phase, eds. D. Assaf, E. Liebes, Jerusalem 2008, with additions from his handwritten notes and notes from the editors, including bibliographical supplements at the end of each article. With the publication of this volume, certain bibliographical issues connected to the Scholem archives still require scholarly attention which is the focus of this review. Amongst the many bibliographic and historical comments offered in the review, the most important gap in the presentation of Scholem's writings on Hasidism is the existence of an unpublished book on the Besht and the beginnings of Hasidism, a work which until now has been known to only a handful of scholars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the visions of two of R. Nahman of Braslav's closest disciples, R. Shmuel Isaac of Doshiv and R. Yitshaq Isaac of Tirovitz. These two students became R. Nahman of Braslav's disciples early in his career - even before his closest student and scribe, R. Natan of Nemirov. They remained close to him after the latter's arrival as well. This paper is one of a series which details the mystical events which form the background behind many of the discourses in Likurei Moharan. This piece is devoted to exploring the relation between the mystical revelations of two of R. Nahman of Braslav's students and various texts from Likutei Moharan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lately, a rare and important discovery has come to light thanks to the work of the Project for Hebrew Manuscripts and Fragments in Austrian Libraries. In the Library of the Benedictine Monastery of St. Paul in the Lavant valley, a leaf of the Scroll of Fasting (Megillat Ta'anit) with its scholion, was unearthed. Vered Noam has demonstrated that MSS. of the scholion to this scroll present two different, yet original, works. The newly found leaf represents a scholion which has otherwise been preserved in only one faulty MS. and one small fragment containing merely a few words. The new leaf contains a substantial part of the text, about 40% of the entire work, thereby enabling proper research of its text. The first part of this paper presents the text of the new leaf, together with a discussion of its place in the textual tradition of this scholion. The contribution of this new leaf to the research of Megillat Ta'anit and its scholia is consequently presented, and some new insights are gained concerning the special characteristics of this scholion. The second part of the paper deals with a number of dates that appear in the Megilla where the contribution of the newly discovered leaf is especially prominent, both by presenting previously unknown texts and through its alternative textual readings, which enable better understanding of the scholion and its history. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay brings to light for the first time a manuscript of unknown authorship copied by someone from a manuscript in the possession of R. Yehudah Aryeh Leib Alter (the Sefat Emet) during his lifetime. The manuscript is a commentary on the kabbalistic work, Sefer Karnayim. The commentary prophesies that the messiah, a son of David, will arrive at a specific time in the near future, and it also tells of the rise and fall of his eschatological opponent, Armilus. The commentary makes reference to well-known historical figures and provides other specific dates. Because it is woven of allusions and numerology it is difficult to understand, and so the present essay provides a framework of explanatory notes. The second part of the paper speculates that the author of this eschatological commentary might be R. Yitzchak Meir Alter, the first rebbe of Gur Hasidism. The paper discusses R. Yitzchak Meir of Gur's messianic self-awareness, and in that context describes a sequence of confrontations of a personal nature that occurred between him and representatives of the Russian government in Poland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing interest in Jewish carnality and sexuality in recent years has influenced many areas of research, one of which is the rabbinic concept of the 'evil yeṣer' (inclination). Studies increasingly discuss this rabbinic concept in sexual terms, and 'yeṣer' has become almost synonymous with 'sexuality'. In this paper I wish to show that this view lacks textual justification. Most rabbinic sources present the yeṣer as the enemy of humanity, constantly inducing people to sin and accounting for their difficulty in becoming and remaining servants of God. The yeṣer drives one to sexual sins just as it drags to any other sinful acts, as it is an antinomian entity, the enemy of Torah and its commandments. Nonetheless, the sexualization of the yeṣer is not simply a scholarly bias. Rather, it is a result of rabbinic, solely Babylonian and mostly post Amoraic, developments. After mapping this development, the paper further attempts to locate it in a broader Babylonian context: a process of hyper-sexualization which takes place in the Babylonian Talmud alone. The paper ends with an attempt to account for this phenomenon, which is exceptional (at least in the context of ancient Jewish literature). The paper thus wishes to show both the breadth of yeṣer discourse in rabbinic literature - including all kinds of human sinfulness - and the depth of the sexualization processes in the Babylonian Talmud - influencing the way not only the yeṣer, but reality at large, is pictured. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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