Based on author's Ph.D. thesis, ha-Universiṭah ha-ʻIvrit, Jerusalem, 1996, under the title: ha- Haśkalah ha-Yehudit be-Rusyah, 1800-1860. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 299-323) and index.

Based on author's Ph. D. thesis, ha-Universiṭah ha-ʻIvrit, Jerusalem, 1996, under the title: ha- Haśkalah ha-Yehudit be-Rusyah, 1800-1860. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 299-323) and index.

There has been relatively little historical analysis of the life and work of Hayim Zelig Slonimski (1810-1904), the foremost popularizer of the sciences in the Eastern European Jewish Enlightenment movement. Initially inspired by the rationalist trend and discussion of scientific matters in the classical Jewish religious sources, he succeeded in linking these traditionally sanctioned modes of thought to the burgeoning field of nineteenth century science. / Slonimski thought that the dissemination of scientific knowledge among the traditionalist Jewish readership would strengthen their commitment to rationalism and the belief in progress, fundamental principles of liberalism, and thus facilitate the secularization and modernization of Eastern European Jewry. He was eminently successful in his strategy of using the holy tongue, Hebrew, to popularize modern science among his traditional readers. His periodical Ha-Tsefirah (The Herald) represents a significant and unique contribution to the advancement of the Jewish Enlightenment's program among Eastern European Jewry.

No description available.

This study deals with the surprising commissioning of a new translation into Hebrew of the New Testament only months after the prestigious translation by the celebrated German Hebraist Prof. Franz Delitzsch had been published, in 1877. An alternative to the professor’s version was to be molded by Isaac Salkinson, a renowned Hebrew translator of world classics, like Shakespeare’s Othello. Salkinson, who despite his controversial status as a convert to Christianity, and even as a Presbyterian missionary, was still ‘high in demand’ by high-profile Haskalah proponents, due to his exceptional knowledge of Hebrew idioms. As an all-Jewish enterprise, Salkinson’s Hebrew NT, edited by the acclaimed Jewish scholar, Christian D. Ginsburg, aroused a storm of criticism among Protestant Hebraists after its publication in 1885. Foremost among the critics was the Oxford professor Samuel R. Driver, co- author of the BDB lexicon, the standard reference for Biblical Hebrew. Driver publicly declared Salkinson’s knowledge of Hebrew to be inadequate. At the same time, Salkinson’s language was pronounced a source of delight by a Jewish audience ready to reclaim Hebrew as their national tongue. Even today Salkinson’s rich Hebrew is admired by Israeli authors. The present linguistic study of Salkinson’s NT translation has been undertaken to provide insights into these very divergent evaluations of his opus.

Ch. 1: Introduction: A Destruction without Adequate Precedent. Ch. 2: Rupture and the Holy Ideal: Redemption in the Hebrew Bible. Ch. 3: Giving the Sense: The Rise of Commentary. Ch. 4: Rabbi Eliezer’s Silence. Ch. 5: Gold and Glass: Ethical Rupture in Mystical Union? Ch. 6: Our Impossible Victory.

abstract: One of the great hallmarks of Russian life during the nineteenth century was the proliferation of alternative identities at nearly every level of society. Individuals found, created, or adopted new ways of self-identifying oneself vis-à-vis religion, nationality, and politics. This project examines the life of Daniil Avraamovich Khvol'son (1819-1911) and his understanding of his identity--from poor Lithuanian Jew to German educated scholar, to leading defendant of Jews accused of ritual murder, to renowned university professor. Khvol'son is often mentioned in works of the period but remains understudied and, as a result, poorly understood. This dissertation is the first to examine the man's life and times, his scholarly and public writings, as well as available commentaries about him from former students, opponents, and colleagues. This project is based on the available archival sources housed in the central archives of Russia and draws upon the different literary venues in which Khvol'son published during his lifetime. While it provides a broad biography of the man, more importantly, it takes on the content of his writing, the themes he explored, and the ways in which his contributions were viewed within their own time. This project argues that the aim of Russian imperial policy toward Jews was based on a hopeful, if hesitant, desire to gradually bring Jews into the state's service. Khvol'son was among the most successful of those candidates who received a world-class German education, a position within the state, and an opportunity to participate fully within Russian intellectual circles. However, Khvol'son's legacy is complex because he promoted a radical rethinking of Christian understanding of Jews and Judaism and by doing so, he challenged the Orthodox world to reconsider in a deeply personal way the ongoing persecutions of Jews based on false tales about them and their religion. Khvol'son painstakingly challenged the blood libel and sought to prove that it was not based in any identifiable reality but perpetuated an un-Christian worldview that demonized and vilified Jews. In doing so, Khvol'son formulated a controversial self-understanding for his position in society as situated between two diametrically opposed worlds--one Christian, the other Jewish. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. History 2014

No description available.

Ch. 1: Introduction: A Destruction without Adequate Precedent. Ch. 2: Rupture and the Holy Ideal: Redemption in the Hebrew Bible. Ch. 3: Giving the Sense: The Rise of Commentary. Ch. 4: Rabbi Eliezer’s Silence. Ch. 5: Gold and Glass: Ethical Rupture in Mystical Union? Ch. 6: Our Impossible Victory.

This thesis is a comparative study of Michel Foucault's History of Madness and Rabbi Nachman's teachings 64 and 5 from Liqqutei Moharan and Liqqutei Moharan Tinyana, respectively. The author compares how both authors conceive of madness and the limits of reason. The study is divided in three parts. The first and second parts are analytical, dealing with History of Madness and Nachman's teachings. At the beginning of the second part, the author also provides a general introduction to madness in Early Chasidism and a short biography of Nachman. Finally, in the third part, the author compares Foucault's and Nachman's thought in three sections: madness vindicated, reason exposed and power & the void. By reading Foucault through the lenses of Nachman and vice versa, the author attempts to provide new insights into the work of both.