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This study explores the Hasidic psychologization of Jewish mysticism by focusing on the problem of distracting thoughts that arise during prayer, and the attitudes and responses to them that can be found in Hasidic literature. Two different theories of the origins of such thoughts, both attributed to Israel Ba'al Shem Tov, along with various techniques for engaging with them, are described. It is argued that these theories reflect two distinct paradigms, both of which exhibit significant similarities to the dynamic unconscious of psychoanalysis. In addition to tracing the reception of Israel's ideas on distracting thoughts within the Hasidic movement and without, the study connects them to his activities as a folk healer with a particular concern with treating mental illness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay critically engages various contemporary readings of Hasidism. It examines what I call a "domesticating" orientation in Hasidic research, a quasi-apologetic move to read the academic study of Hasidism back into a normative Orthodox framework. I argue this is, in part, a resistance to what I call a "neo-Hasidic" orientation of a previous generation, scholars who sought to use Hasidism as the basis for their modern, existentialist, and renewal projects. This essay argues that while the domesticating critique has some merit, it overestimates its own objectivity and misses crucial aspects of the neo-Hasidic interpretation it seeks to undermine. I then use the work of Rav Shagar and what I am calling his "postmodern" reading of Hasidism as a critique of the domesticating trend that adopts, while also criticizing, the neo-Hasidic interpretation. In sum I argue that Rav Shagar presents a template that cuts through and moves beyond the modernizing and normative trajectories to open vistas for new understandings of Hasidism for our time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional Jewish interpretations of the story of the tower of Babel, as preserved in various midrashic collections, concentrated on sins committed by the builders on account of which they deserved divine punishment. The main purpose of such an approach was to draw from the scriptural account a moral lesson, regardless of the historicity of the narrated events, their dating, chronology, etc. In contrast, medieval Karaites living in the lands of medieval Islam shifted the main focus of their exegetical interest in this text to history, including the history of the text. Exploring historicizing tendencies in medieval Karaite commentaries on this biblical narrative, this essay ponders the seemingly simple question of what made the Karaite exegetes of the time discover history and read biblical stories as true histories. It demonstrates how the exegetes' novel approach to Scripture may have resulted from their engagement with the surrounding Muslim culture, which was concerned with establishing the historical context of the qur'anic revelation and investigating the reasons and circumstances of revelation (asbāb al-nuzūl). Tracing specific Islamic influences on the Karaites' reading of the story of the tower of Babel, the essay argues that they can be detected not in direct borrowings of specific interpretations, but on a meta level, owing to differences between Muslim and Jewish conceptualizations of revelation, which engendered diverging exegetical responses to Scripture in the two religions. Finally, the essay addresses the question of the Karaites' contribution to the history of Jewish exegesis of this chapter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article offers a new approach for reconstructing the original form and meaning of Jesus's legal woe sayings in Matt 23:16-26 (and the parallel in Luke 11:39-44) as part of a broader Jewish intersectarian discourse. A close analysis of this unit alongside an early rabbinic source embedded in Mishnah tractate Yadayim 4:5-8 reveals that Jesus's condemnation of the Pharisees was not unique. His arguments concerning oaths, tithes, and ritual purity belong to a pre-Matthean stratum, and they match a familiar rhetorical pattern condemning the Pharisees' lenient and compromising approach. According to this pre-Matthean tradition, Jesus drew his argument and depiction of the Pharisees from the current intersectarian debate concerning the essential principles of torah observance. Jesus is portrayed as exploiting current anti-Pharisaic accusations, familiar also from Qumran literature and directed originally against the Pharisees' distorted conceptions of purity and holiness, as he attempts to uncover their moral faults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study publishes a newly identified letter to Moses Maimonides reconstructed from three Geniza fragments. The letter describes an inheritance dispute over real estate in the Egyptian delta town of al-Maḥalla. Having a letter written by a litigant provides information on what took place outside of court, information that is often missing from legal records. This allows us to explore the dynamics of a dispute in which one side makes a legal move, and the other counters with a move outside of court, and vice versa. These manoeuvrings included action in Jewish and Muslim courts, appeal to a jurisconsult, social pressure and performative disregard to the boundaries of the religious communities. As a result, we can conceive of the legal arena not only as encompassing different legal institutions but also as a social space constituted by the ways litigants experienced and interacted with legal institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces and explores the earliest extant work by Solomon Schechter (1847-1915). The conventional reading of Schechter presents him as a scholar, a practitioner of the Science of Judaism. However, Schechter's parody of the Hasidic movement, its masters and its adherents, written in the mid-late 1870's, suggests that even as Schechter engaged in rigorous scholarship he also worked as a creative artist. He associated with Jewish thinkers, writers and activists such as Peretz Smolenskin, and like them he created art for the sake of wrestling with the vital issues in Jewish life. His writing experiments enhanced his self-discovery. The text enables us to glimpse Schechter at an early period of his journey from his Romanian Hasidic family and community to a modern self, one with multiple identities, the relations of which shifted over time. His parody drew from the tradition of literary mystifications and was in dialogue simultaneously with the Sipurei Ma'asiyot, hagiographic stories about Hasidic masters, and with Joseph Perl's anti-Hasidic satire Megaleh temirin (Revealer of Secrets). Schechter's parody of Hasidism ironically contained both appreciation of this major modern movement of religious enthusiasm and criticism of its foes, revealing Schechter's eclectic nature and discomfort with committing fully to any trends in his contemporary Judaism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper summarizes the current scholarship on how scholars in Jewish Istanbul from the mid-fifteenth century to early sixteenth-century—and specifically Karaite sages—viewed the legitimacy and aims of scientific studies. In addition, the paper discusses a hitherto unexplored testimony by Joseph Beghi, a Karaite scholar active in this milieu, about his own ideas regarding science. The paper demonstrates that Beghi was an enthusiastic advocate of the study of science. It further illustrates the profound influence his teachers as well as Karaite and Rabbanite works he read had on his attitudes towards science studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article studies a modern Essene movement based in the United States for its unusual merging of New Age practice with Christian fundamentalism with ancient history. By harkening back to the mystical religions of the ancient Mediterranean, these modern Essenes are able to engage in syncretistic practices while claiming to preserve the traditions of the ancient Essenes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Ba‘al Shem Tov, founder of Hasidism (known by the acronym, the “BeShT”), was a charismatic teacher with extraordinary impact. While hasidic traditions record his vehement opposition to documentation of his teachings, his disciples nevertheless wrote what they remembered, and hasidic literature is suffused with traditions about him and conveyed by him. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The time when Qumran was studied in splendid isolation is long gone, but much work remains to be done when it comes to situating the site in its wider context. In this paper, Qumran is contextualized, on the one hand, within the larger ecological history of the Mediterranean and, on the other, within the Mediterranean world of classical antiquity. Questions regarding the functions of the Qumran settlement are addressed from the perspective of "marginal zones" in the Mediterranean, which provides an ideal backdrop through which to illumine aspects of daily life at Qumran. Furthermore, it is shown how comparative case studies from the Graeco-Roman Mediterranean help us to nuance the discussion concerning "Hellenization" or "Romanization" with regard to Qumran. Finally, a new understanding of L4, which is here interpreted primarily as a dining room, is proposed on the basis of archaeological parallels from the GraecoRoman world. A pan-Mediterranean perspective, therefore, allows us to generate new insights on old questions and novel interpretations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article compares Philo's portrayal of the lecture event among the Therapeutae with other reading and philosophical communities throughout the high Roman Empire. It shows how learning to listen properly plays an important role in constructing and defending one's masculinity in certain elite communities of that time. Philo constructs a portrayal of the Therapeutae that places them well within the social codes of lecture listening and proper masculine virtues of the time, describing the Therapeutae, especially their ideal masculinity vis-à-vis their lecture event, with imperial mimicry and resistance. Situating Philo's portrayal of the Therapeutae's lecture event within its historical context enhances our understanding Philo within the Roman Empire as well as his portrayal of the ethos of the Therapeutae. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on acceptance of Therapeutae, a Jewish sect alleged by Jewish philosopher Judaeus Philo, over Essenes, another Jewish sect which was supported by Jewish historian Flavius Josephus. Topics discussed include merger of both Jewish sects, historical background of separation of Essenes and Therapeutae by historian Cesare Baronio, and Baronio's attempt to support apostolic origins of Christian monasticism and religious orders.

There is a legal requirement that schools engage with the spiritual aspects of education, which encompasses pastoral care. This reflects the ethical sensibility that is present in individuals and underlies interactions with Others; and which should be part of the ethos of all educational institutions and especially schools. This is because spirituality is important to leading a moral life and to understanding the Other. The article considers specifically the potential of Jewish spirituality, and uses Martin Buber's thought, to gain a better understanding of its contribution to education and to pastoral care. In the first part, we comment on the 'basic words', I-Thou and I-It, which are connected with Hasidism, the Jewish spiritual movement which had a great influence on Martin Buber. Hasidism understands that it is our duty to find and connect with the 'divine sparks', as genuine relations merge with the Divine, and when humans relate genuinely to one another, they relate to God. This is crucial for understanding the superiority of I-Thou relations over I-It relations. In the second and third parts of the article, we consider the implications of this understanding of Jewish spirituality for education and for pastoral care. This is done through highlighting the importance of I-Thou relations if the spiritual aspects of education and of pastoral care are to be encouraged and fulfilled. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Liberal Judaism remained absent in the Netherlands during the nineteenth century but finally became successful in the early 1930s under the influence of the Liberal Jewish Synagogue in London and the establishment of the World Union for Progressive Judaism in 1926. It had a specific Dutch character which was more radical than the German refugees who joined in were used to. The Shoah barely left survivors of the prewar congregations, but Liberal Judaism made a remarkable comeback in the Netherlands and had a key role position for Liberal Judaism on the continent of Europe. In a much smaller Jewish community than the French one, the Dutch Progressive congregations for a considerable period formed the largest Progressive community on the continent, next to France. Even today, while comprising ten congregations, it still has a growing membership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The German Jewish community established after World War Two was shaped by refugees from Eastern Europe, so the congregations they established were Orthodox. However, in 1995 independent Liberal Jewish initiatives started in half a dozen German cities. The story of Beth Shalom in Munich illustrates the stages of such a development beginning with the need for a Sunday school for Jewish families and experiments with monthly Shabbat services. The establishment of a congregation was helped by the support of the European Region of the World Union for Progressive Judaism and ongoing input from visiting rabbis. The twenty years since the founding of the congregation have also seen the creation of the Union of Progressive Jews in Germany, the successful political struggle for a share of the state funding for Jewish communities and the establishment of the first Jewish theological faculty in Germany. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article takes up the paradoxical crux of sacred scriptures defiling hands and offers a solution based on tKelim, BM 5:8, which discusses the protection offered by the Temple courtyard against certain texts defiling hands. While just which texts enjoyed this protection depends on the interpretation of this source, that the Temple courtyard offered some sort of protection against sacred scriptures defiling hands is beyond doubt. I propose that sacred scriptures defiled hands when they were in the profane world, but in the sacred context of the Temple courtyard they did not defile: the interplay of sacred and profane, as elaborated in particular by Mary Douglas in Purity and Danger, was responsible for sacred scriptures defiling the hands. Finally, since sacred scriptures defiling hands was apparently an exclusively Pharisaic practice, I discuss its place and purpose by applying Cultural Theory to understanding the dynamics of the Pharisees and their practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rome or Syria? This article addresses the issue of the provenance of Mark's Gospel by exploring affinities between the second Gospel and Jewish sectarian groups of the first centuries bce and ce. It is argued that Mark displays certain sectarian tendencies, and that these tendencies, most notably seen in the Gospel's negative evaluation of the Jerusalem temple and its priestly overseers, strongly suggest that the Gospel was written in close geographical proximity to Jerusalem and its temple. Accordingly, an area in the Syrian Decapolis is a much more likely place of origin for Mark's Gospel than that of Rome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the gap between the present day theory and reality facing Reform Jews who remain unmarried and sexually active. While the Reform movement has sought to address issues facing women and sexual minorities, there is a paucity of literature on matters concerning the increasing number of heterosexuals who, for one reason or another, choose to remain unmarried while being sexually active. One of the only attempts at addressing the general conduct of Reform Jews has been the 1998 'Reform Jewish Sexual Values' position paper coming out of the Ad Hoc Committee on Sexuality of the Central Conference of American Rabbis. Of the ten guidelines, numbers seven and eight propose a covenantal relationship and describe the conditions under which sexual joy may be experienced within Judaism. The document encourages ' B'rit ('covenantal relationship') ...grounded in fidelity and the intention of permanence' and 'Simcha ...human sexual activity should be experienced only in healthy and responsible human relationships'. Both of these guidelines, if taken literally, would exclude a great many Reform Jews who do not find themselves in committed, long-term, exclusive relationships. What then are the acceptable outlets for sexual energies among this group? Do we accept that persons who do not adhere to these guidelines and those of other Reform groups be regarded as immoral? This is a debate that is long overdue in the modernisation of Jewish practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How do religious denominations select potential adherents? Previous literature indicates that market niches direct this decision, yet few studies examine how religious groups determine their niche. Analyzing annual reports and periodicals of Reform and Conservative Jewish organizations from 1910 to 1955, I find that the two denominations responded differently to the mass influx of Jewish immigrants at the turn of the 20th century. Compared to the Conservative organization, which openly welcomed new immigrants, the Reform organization actively chose not to recruit them. Reform statements make it clear that this decision was a result of how working-class, Eastern European immigrants threatened their American-centered organizational identity. This finding suggests that religious institutions carefully consider their organizational identity based on nativity, ethnicity, and social class when determining whom to include in their market niche. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses Hasidic traditions about the Tzaddik Rabbi Zusha of Annopol and how his conduct can be considered as parodic repetition or deviation from stylized acts. Topics covered include Rabbi Zusha's deep insights into the limitations of human language and structures of consciousness and how the application of post-modern terms and discourse can provide new insights into classic texts.

This article explores the intersection and conflict among homosexuality, Orthodox Judaism, and contemporary mental health theory and practice. The issue of homosexuality within the Orthodox community regarding mental health has generated major points of disagreement and opprobrium when it comes to mental health referral and treatment. In large measure, Orthodox Jewry has continued to seek a solution to the “homosexual problem” and still maintains this solution is to be found through conversion treatments. The authors, from a contemporary psychoanalytic understanding of self states, attempt to find ways to bridge what they refer to as the “incommensurable” gaps between Jewish orthodoxy and queerness. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article aims to identify aspects of demonic possession in the hypocritical behaviour of the Pharisees, starting from the emphasis on "hypocrites" in Matthew's passage and taking into account the severity of the Saviour's critics in the eight "woes" in Matthew 23:13-33. In Matthew's text, the Saviour reprehends (a technical term for exorcism) the Pharisees, in order to expel evil, the spirit of hypocrisy, which paralyzes their mind and heart, and prevents them from approaching the Messiah. We seek to demonstrate that hypocrisy is the devil's influence which Christ wanted to hinder with unprecedented determination expressed in Matthew's text through the excessive use of the expression "Woe to you!". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, one of the outstanding figures of modern Orthodox Judaism in the twentieth century, was opposed to interfaith dialogue and more particularly, to theological dialogue with the Catholic Church. In guidelines laid down in his paper 'Confrontation' in 1964 he proposed that Jews and Christians should discuss social and ethical problems together, but not matters theological. Since he was personally well acquainted with non-Jewish secular learning and had a philosophically sophisticated understanding of the role of halakhah, there has been much speculation as to why he sought to restrict dialogue in this way. Fifty years after 'Confrontation' was issued, it may be useful to re-examine his reasons and motivation in this matter and consider what relevance it has for contemporary interfaith relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents theological research findings concerning the identification of contextual motivations of Jn 4. The text is the starting point, analytically stated based on representative signs from tradition, while the conclusions are presented as comprehensive hypotheses. Among them, the encounter of Jesus and the Samaritan woman is highlighted as a "miracle" story, and as a metaphorical description of the transformation of Christianity, from being a marginal Jewish sect to become an autonomous and independent religion. The procedure is expressed but not the filigree of the abductions, a method of qualitative research to find new meanings, to establish interdisciplinary dialogues and favor the abolition of fanaticisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information regarding the efforts made by author Benjamin Charles Elton to improve the scholarship as well as the understandings of British Jewry. It features Elton's monograph entitled "Britain's Chief Rabbis and the Religious Character of Anglo-Jewry, 1880-1970" wherein he questioned the established historiographical accounts about the development of Orthodox Judaism. Information about the topology of compartmentalization is presented.

Against the reference in Q to "crowds" generally, John the Baptist's response in Matt 3:7 to "Pharisees and Sadducees" who arrive for baptism is, "Offspring of vipers [γεννηματα εχιδνων], who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?" In Matt 12:34, Jesus himself denounces the Pharisees as "offspring of vipers [γεννηματα εχιδνων]." Similarly in Matt 23:33, he demands of "scribes and Pharisees" alike, "Snakes, offspring of vipers [óφεισ γεννηματα εχιδνων], how will you escape the judgment of Gehenna?" The fundamentally ambiguous and frequently negative overtones of serpent imagery elsewhere in Second Temple Judaism and the wider Mediterranean world, the prevalence of wordplay and its application to intercommunal Jewish polemic, and the broader function of texts as instruments of community definition together provide an appropriate series of contexts for understanding this invective. Notwithstanding the plausibility of such language on the lips of John and Jesus alike, these terms are singularly appropriate to Matthew's own task of situating his community in relation to that of Pharisaic Judaism in the immediate aftermath of the first Jewish war. This study explores, first, analogous language from Hellenistic and Jewish (especially Dead Sea and Mishnaic) literature and, second, the possibility that behind the references to serpents lies an invidious wordplay on one or both of רפס, "scribe," and םישןךפ "Pharisees." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As is well known, no Pharisaic document has survived. What we know of this Jewish faction has been transmitted through the mediation of other, frequently hostile, factions, or later sources. The sudden discovery of a Pharisaic document hidden in a cave somewhere would certainly arouse profound interest and excitement. In what follows, I would like to propose that the story of the rupture between King Jannaeus and the Pharisees recounted in b. Qiddušin 66a is actually such a discovery, except that it was not concealed in a sealed jar but rather embedded in the Babylonian Talmud (BT). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It can be observed that as a consequence of growing demands for sexual freedom starting in the 1960s the number of homosexuals and the movements they formed grew remarkably. Though homosexuality continues to be considered a crime in quite a number of countries, during the past years the number of those countries began to decrease. As a consequence of campaigns, homosexuals in some countries like Holland, Belgium and Sweden obtained some important legal gains such as the rights to marry and to adopt children. This situation evoked and still evokes intensive reactions and various protests led by spiritual leaders of religious traditions as Islam, Christianity and Judaism who attach great importance to the concept of family and to a healthy upbringing of new generations. It is safe to say that for Judaism it is seen as a challenge that during the last years the number of homosexuals in its congregations increased, that there are demands for official marriage ceremonies for homosexuals performed by rabbis and for homosexuals to be appointed as rabbis. Jewish thinkers and rabbis have produced different approaches to this challenge. This article tries to put forth the outlines of this approaches and the perspectives of modern Jewish sects or branches on the matter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hasidism has often been defined and viewed as a sect. By implication, if Hasidism was indeed a sect, then membership would have encompassed all the social ties of the “sectarians,” including their family ties, thus forcing us to consider their mothers, wives, and daughters as full-fledged female hasidim. In reality, however, women did not become hasidim in their own right, at least not in terms of the categories implied by the definition of Hasidism as a sect. Reconsideration of the logical implications of the identification of Hasidism as a sect leads to a radical re-evaluation of the relationship between the hasidic movement and its female constituency, and, by extension, of larger issues concerning the boundaries of Hasidism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the importance of “branding” in hasidic life. It considers the impact of place names associated with the title of a particular rebbe or tsadik and his followers. When there is more than one claimant to succeed to the role of rebbe for a particular group of hasidim, the competition is often intensified because even though each claimant may have his own followers, there is only one name available for the group and its leader. This situation, different from the one that existed earlier in the history of Hasidism, makes the circumstances of succession today more fraught than they once were. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is difficult to ascribe to Hasidism sets of distinctive regional characteristics, because Hasidism transcended both communal and national boundaries. Aware of this problem, the authors of this article seek to characterize Hasidism in Russia, while eschewing the essentialist assumption that Hasidism in Russia had a Russian character. The article describes Hasidism in Tsarist Russia from several perspectives. From an internal Jewish perspective, it discusses features of dynasties of hasidic leaders and the courts they lived in. This is followed by a discussion of relations between hasidic centers (the courts) and hasidic peripheries (the local communities). Relations between Hasidism and the Russian administration are also analyzed, as are the various ways in which hasidim in Russia adapted to the challenges of modernity, while hasidic leaders in Galicia and Hungary were usually more hostile towards modernization. Finally, the article describes the consequences of the upheavals of the First World War, Bolshevik Revolution, and the Civil Wars that followed. During these dramatic events and in their aftermath, the majority of the hasidic leaders in Russia moved to other places in Europe, America, and Palestine, and only some of them remained under the Soviet regime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines how different levels of internal organization are reflected in the residential patterns of different population groups. In this case, the Haredi community comprises sects and sub-sects, whose communal identity plays a central role in everyday life and spatial organization. The residential preferences of Haredi individuals are strongly influenced by the need to live among 'friends' - that is, other members of the same sub-sect. This article explores the dynamics of residential patterns in two of Jerusalem's Haredi neighbourhoods: Ramat Shlomo, a new neighbourhood on the urban periphery, and Sanhedria, an old yet attractive inner-city neighbourhood. We reveal two segregation mechanisms: the first is top-down determination of residence, found in relatively new neighbourhoods that are planned, built and populated with the intense involvement of community leaders; the second is the bottom-up emergence of residential patterns typical of inner-city neighbourhoods that have gradually developed over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is the intention of this study to explore the trajectory of the transmission and reception of three elements from Amos 5:25-27 through the stages of its history in ancient religious literature. Four stages in its trajectory are explored, namely in the Amos Masoretic Text (MT), the quotations from the Jewish Damascus Scroll sect, the Jewish-Hellenistic context of the Septuagint (LXX) Amos, and the Early Christian context of Stephen's speech by Luke in Acts 7:42-43. The astral Mesopotamian deities of Amos MT changed to symbols which now stood for the law, the congregation, the prophets and the interpreter of the law in the sectarian context of the Damascus scroll. The LXX, in turn, understood these to be 'the tent of Moloch' and the 'star of your god Raiphan'. This version is used in Acts 7, but whereas the LXX shows traces of a connection with the Heaven-and-Sun god, particularly with the planet Saturn, Luke now places the same elements within the context of the exodus narrative in Stephen's speech. The investigation shows how the mutation of scripture becomes clear in the trajectory of its transmission and how it is constantly being reinterpreted to be relevant within the context of its time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The story of the death of Nadab and Abihu in Leviticus 10 has always been a difficult text to understand. Recently it has been used in debates about possible power struggles between Aaronides and Zadokites in post-exilic Yehud. The article critically explores the work of three European scholars, namely Achenbach, Nihan and Otto on this issue. Initially most of the traditional questions asked by scholars are addressed such as what the 'strange fire' was, and what exactly Nadab and Abihu did wrong. The focus of the article then moves to whether Leviticus 10 reflects badly on certain priestly groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

'The Great Wedding in Uściług' is a well known episode in the history of Hasidism. It serves as the main event in which the divisions between the different Hasidic groups in Congress Poland were formed and stabilized for generations to come. In this article I investigate the various traditions of this episode and trace the evolutionary pattern of its turning into a myth. Apparently the wedding, which I verify as a historical event that took place in the summer of 1821, has attracted additional narratives which were set over this casual event. The main element of this myth was the public debate mounted against the Przysucha school during the gathering in Uściług. Through a detailed dismantling of this famous legend, I came to the conclusion that its first formation and appearance in print were no earlier than the beginning of the twentieth century and I show how this event was utilized by different Hasidic groups as part of their inner competitive discourse. In the course of demolishing this well established literary myth, I re-examine the historiographical conception of the Hasidic movement in the nineteenth century and suggest how cautious one must be while using hagiographical sources as historical data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article revisits the evidence of the Community Rule on commensality in the Yaḥad. Rather than offering a synthesis of various passages, as is customary in many discussions, the approach adopted here stresses significant differences between the description of the common meal in 1QS 6:2c–3, 4b–5 and the place of pure food and drink in the admissions process in 1QS 6:13b–23. The common meal emerges as a rather low-key and uncontroversial shared meal of standard Mediterranean staples preceded by a priestly blessing. The admissions process, on the other hand, is considered afresh against the background of halakhic texts such as 4QTohoraha (4Q274) 3 and 4QHarvesting (4Q284a). It is argued that partaking of the pure food and drink of the community is only the final stage in a more extended and laborious process of food production and preparation envisaged for gradually advancing new members. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article examines the modesty campaigns led by Neturei Karta circles in the period 1938--1974 under the leadership of Rabbi Amram Blau (1896--1974). This study was made possible following the discovery of Blau's personal archive. It explores the defensive stage of the modesty campaign that was aimed mostly to strengthen the Haredi enclave and to separate it from secular Jerusalem with the establishment of the modesty patrols. It discusses the offensive campaign with the examination of the struggle against mixed swimming pools and against a club operated by Working Mothers' organization. The second stage was intended mainly to reinforce Neturei Karta's leadership position among the Haredi public in Jerusalem. It explores the zealotry ethos in the context of the torching of the Eros sex shop in Jerusalem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents an examination into the early reception of Christianity in the first century, questioning whether or not it was seen as a sect within Judaism or as a separate religion at its first emergence. Subjects addressed toward this end include the church-sect model of religious sociologist Ernst Troeltsch, the initial sectarian arguments of the scholar Robin Scroggs, and multiple passages in the New Testament which lack sectarian characteristics.

Abstract The authors of the pesharim clearly had traditions available to them, whether oral or written, that we do not now have in textual form. Figures like the 'Man of the Lie' and 'Wicked Priest' can not be dismissed as fictional, even if their identities are obscure. While the ostensibly historical allusions in the scrolls are always tendentious, they do at least permit us to infer the general context in which the sect developed. It is clear that conflict over the interpretation of the Torah was the primary reason for the formation of the sect. The conflict with the Wicked Priest should be located late in the Teacher's career. A plausible occasion for that conflict is provided by the decision of Alexandra Salome and her high priest, Hyrcanus II, to follow the teachings of the Pharisees, after the death of Alexander Jannaeus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In its significance to both Jewish and Christian studies, resurrection of the dead remains a vital subject of biblical research; and it is now widely recognized that the religious culture of early Judaism (ca. 200 BCE—CE 200) played a crucial role in both its origination and early reception. In the present landscape of study, perhaps the most recent methodological advances arise from sociological studies, which attempt to contextualize resurrection within the social dynamics of the religious movements that advanced this hope. Moreover, at the exegetical level, many vexing pieces of evidence have produced conflicting readings of precisely what individual traditions may say about resurrection. The present article treats these topics, including (1) the application of social-scientific methods to the study of resurrection, and (2) readings of contested literary and epigraphic evidence that remains crucial to the scholarly study of the resurrection hope in early Jewish culture. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article presents a preliminary overview of the influence of progressive Reform Judaism within the Jewish communities of Poland. Accounts are given describing various liturgical and cultural changes which occurred in synagogues throughout Poland beginning in the 1840s until the outbreak of World War I. Major rabbis profiled include Abraham Goldschmidt, Markus Jastrow, and Izaak Cylkow. Commentary is offered noting that despite Polish Jews not asserting as strong an identification in progressivism during the period as did contemporary movements in Germany or the United States, it still marked a major shift in the Jewish history of the nation.

This article presents discussion regarding the relationship between the Qumran community of the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Jewish Essene sect as described by the historian Josephus. Details are given describing the arguments for and against the connection between the two groups, reviewing several textual similarities between their documents and in descriptions of both communities. Conclusions are offered affirming the theory of their connection.

"Haskalah", i.e., the Jewish Enlightenment, denotes a movement that was established in Western Europe in the second half of the 18th century. Its purpose was to make Judaism conformable with the conditions of changing and developing world, to diffuse the European culture among the Jews and to integrate them into the societies in which they lived. Through the Haskala movement, which arose in parallel with the European Enlightenment, the Jews broke their crusts and began to assimilate the language, culture, knowledge, and ideals of the European society. Emerged in Western Europe, it later spread to Eastern Europe, and finally in Russia, when the Jews were accused of the assassination of Alexander II, leading to a violent anti-Semitism, it transformed to the Zionist movement. Therefore, the Haskalah movement had a key role not only in the emergence of the Jewish Reform movement but also in the rise of the Zionist thought. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents an exploration into the figure of Taxo in the apocryphal Biblical text "The Assumption of Moses." Multiple questions are raised associating the identity of Taxo to the thematic and historical context of the work. Details are given reviewing the history of the text, tracing its original language and religious sect characteristics within Judaism, and its date of composition. Theories regarding the Christian authorship of the work are particularly examined.

The Dead Sea Scrolls refer to different kinds of communities. The Damascus Document speaks of people who live “in camps” throughout the land, and marry and have children. The Rule of the Community, in contrast, does not speak of women or children at all. It does, however, speak of small communities with a quorum of ten, as part of the yahad. The Rule of the Community also speaks enigmatically of twelve men and three priests, who are supposed to go into the wilderness to prepare the way of the Lord. It is possible but not certain that these were the founders of the Qumran settlement. Qumran was surely a sectarian settlement in Roman times. It is possible, but not proven, that it was a Hasmonean fort before the Romans came. It was never more than one of many sectarian settlements. The yahad should not be equated with “the Qumran community.” [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Attempts at reconstructing the nature and organizational structure of the Essene movement have largely been based on the manuscripts of the Damascus Document and the Rule of the Community. This article calls attention to a number of additional fragmentary documents from Cave 4, and examines the challenges they pose and how they relate to various theories regarding the nature of the communities behind them. A fundamental question is to what extent the so-called rule texts reflect actual historical circumstances, and this question is intrinsically linked to the question of the function of the texts in the communities that used them. A study of the organizational terms used in the documents reveals that these terms were used in a variety of ways, and while some terms may reflect actual historical circumstances, others probably did not. This result has implications for the feasibility of using these texts for historical reconstruction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Serek and the Damascus Document describe aspects of the procedures by which a person joined the community, and Josephus explains the entry procedures for aspiring Essenes. An oath is included in all of these descriptions, but, it has been claimed, it is placed at different points in them. A close examination of the texts shows that all of the sources probably locate the oath at the same point in the process of entry into the community; as a result, this aspect of the entry procedures constitutes another close parallel between the communal texts found at Qumran and Josephus's description of the Essenes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The New Testament's initial narrative, the Matthean birth story, though immensely well-known, can still provide some surprises. One of its novel elements is its presumption that Joseph requires a divorce in order to sever his betrothal to Mary, pregnant with another's child. That betrothal constitutes a marriage and requires a get to terminate is a commonplace in the law of the Mishna, but appears nowhere in the laws of the written Torah: Matthew, though notoriously anti-Pharisee, is promoting the Pharisaic interpretation of marriage law, and is probably the earliest source available to us for this interpretation. This brief essay suggests some of the new ways that an examination of its contribution to the history of Jewish law provides, to look at this familiar passage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The attribution of stringency to the Qumranites is prevalent in scholarly research. Indeed it is indisputable that the Sect generally adopts stringent positions, compared to rabbinic halakah. However, closer examination indicates that Qumranic law reflects simple, necessary inferences from Scripture itself, whereas the Tannaitic leniency represents a surprisingly revolutionary divergence from the plain meaning of Scripture. The paper surveys several cases in which the bold and exceptional nature of Tannaitic legislation cannot serve as a criterion for evaluating the stringency of Sectarian law. It goes on to review other instances, where the very same traditions formed the basis of Qumranic as well as rabbinic regulation, except that the latter restricted their scope. The third group of examples shows that it was precisely the unrefined, simple character of Qumranic law, in comparison with the conceptual sophistication of Tannaitic halakah, that occasionally led to the opposite result, in which the Tannaitic halakah was strict, and the Sectarian law lenient. In sum, the strictness of Qumranic law is not “objective” but relative. The understanding that sectarian law reflects a series of inductions not altogether removed from the simple sense of Scripture facilitates a more accurate appreciation of the depth of Tannaitic halakah's groundbreaking leniency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]