AJS Review: The Journal of the Association for Jewish Studies (Volume 24) 2

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Front Matter Source: AJS Review, Vol. 24, No. 2 (1999), pp. i-358 Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Association for Jewish Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1486753 . Accessed: 15/07/2011 11:03 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at . http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=cup. . Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

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AJS VOL. XXIV,NO. 2 1999

TheJournalof the Associationfor JewishStudies

REVIE

VOL. XXIV,NO. 2 1999 ASSOCIATION FORJEWISHSTUDIES WALTHAM,MASSACHUSETTS

AJS Review EDITOR:

Norman A. Stillman,University of Oklahoma EDITORS: ASSOCIATE

Nehama Aschkenasy,University of Connecticut,Stamford Rela Geffen, GratzCollege RobertGoldenberg,State University of New Yorkat Stony Brook BenjaminC. I. Ravid, BrandeisUniversity GaryRendsburg,Cornell University MarshaRozenblit, University of Maryland EDITOR: CORRESPONDING

Lloyd P. Gartner,Tel-Aviv University BOOKREVIEWEDITOR:

Marc Saperstein,George WashingtonUniversity ASSISTANT: EDITORIAL

John Borrego The AJS Review(ISSN 0364-0094) is publishedtwice annuallyby the Association for JewishStudies. Manuscriptsfor considerationshouldbe sent to Prof.NormanA. Stillman,History Department,455 W. Lindsey,Universityof Oklahoma,Norman,OK 73019-0535. Books for review shouldbe sent to Prof. MarcSaperstein,JudaicStudiesProgram, The GeorgeWashingtonUniversity,2142 G Street,NW, Washington,DC 20052. C 1999 by the Associationfor JewishStudies IN THEUNITEDSTATES OFAMERICA MANUFACTURED

AJS REVIEW THE JOURNALOF THE ASSOCIATIONFOR JEWISHSTUDIES VOLUME XXIV, NUMBER 2, 1999 Articles 227

JONATHAN BRUMBERG-KRAUS

Meat-Eatingand JewishIdentity:Ritualizationof the Priestly"Torah if Beast and Fowl" [Lev. 11:46] in RabbinicJudaismand Medieval Kabbalah 263

ROBERTEISEN

SamuelIbnTibbonon the Book of Job 301

AHARONGAIMANI

Successionto the Rabbinatein Yemen Review Essays 325

Throughthe Prismof Race and Slavery Michael Rogin. Blackface, WhiteNoise: Jewish Immigrantsin the HollywoodMeltingPot KarenBrodkin.How Jews Became WhiteFolks and WhatThatSays aboutRace in America MatthewFrye Jacobson. Whitnessof a DifferentColor: European Immigrantsand theAlchemyof Race Eli Faber.Jews, Slaves, and the Slave Trade:Setting the Record Straight HAROLD BRACKMAN

337

Pragmatic Idealists: Zionism in America

RafaelMedoff.ZionismandtheArabs:AnAmericanJewishDilemma, 1898-1948 MarkA. Raider.TheEmergenceof AmericanZionism STUARTKNEE

343

Responsa:LiteraryHistoryandBasic Literacy PeterJ. Haas.Responsa:TheLiteraryHistoryof a RabbinicGenre HAYMSOLOVEITCHIK

ii

CONTENTS

Book Reviews 359

S. David Sperling. The Original Torah:The Political Intentof the Bible s Writers GARYA. RENDSBURG

362

NahmanAvigad.Corpusof WestSemiticStampSeals NILIS. Fox

365

StevenWeitzman.Song and Storyin BiblicalNarrative:TheHistory of a LiteraryConventionin AncientIsrael DANIELGROSSBERG

367

MarshaC. White.TheElijahLegendsandJehus Coup CHRISTIAN E. HAUER,JR.

370

Galia Hatav.TheSemanticsof Aspectand Modality.Evidencefrom Englishand BiblicalHebrew SCOTTB. NOEGEL

374

AlbertL. Baumgarten.TheFlourishingof Jewish Sects in the MaccabeanEra: An Interpretation SETHSCHWARTZ

378

CatherineHezser.TheSocial Structureof the RabbinicMovementin RomanPalestine LAPIN HAYIM

381

ArnoldGoldberg.Mystikund Theologiedes rabbinischesJudentums. GesammelteStudienI RIVKAB. KERNULMER

384

Dov Schwartz.Messianismin MedievalJewish Thought DAVIDBERGER

389

Leon J. Weinberger.Twilightof a GoldenAge: SelectedPoems of AbrahamIbn Ezra SUSANEINBINDER

CONTENTS

391

iii

and YomTovAssis. TheGoldenAge ofAragoneseJewry:Community Societyin the CrownofAragon, 1213-1327 DAVIDNIRENBERG

396

Mirian Bodian. Hebrew of the Portugese Nation: Conversosand Communityin EarlyModernAmsterdam MARCSAPERSTEIN

398

TalyaFishman.Shakingthe Pillars of Exile: "Voiceof a Fool" and EarlyModernCritiqueof RabbinicCulture HOWARD TZVIADELMAN

401

FrancesMalino.A Jew in the FrenchRevolution:TheLife of Talkind Hourwitz KENNEDY EMMET

403

Allan Nadler. TheFaith of the Mithnagdim:RabbinicResponsesto Hasidic Rapture ALAN BRILL

406

SusannahHeschel.AbrahamGeigerand theJewishJesus ROBERTSOUTHARD

408

RaphaelPatai.Jadidal-Islam:theJewish "NewMuslims"ofMeshhed VERAB. MOREEN

411

JoshuaEli Plaut. GreekJewry in the TwentiethCentury,1913-1983: Patternsof Jewish Survivalin the GreekProvincesbeforeand after the Holocaust MARKMAZOWER

412

Dianne Ashton.Rebecca Gratz: Womenand Judaismin Antebellum America MYRNAGOLDENBERG

415

JeffreyHerf.DividedMemory:TheNazi Past in the TwoGermanies ELLIOT NEAMAN

417

EmanuelMelzer.No WayOut:ThePoliticsofPolish Jewry1935-1939 PIOTRWROBEL

CONTENTS

iv

419

Witnesses AlanBerger.ChildrenofJob: AmericanSecond-Generation to the Holocaust MICHAEL TAUB

422

GeorgeLavy.Germanyand Israel:MoralDebt andNationalInterest DIVINE DONNAROBINSON

424

SharonaWachs.AmericanJewishLiturgies DEBRAREEDBLANK

426

Eric Friedland. "WereOur MouthsFilled with Song:" Studies in LiberalJewishLiturgy HERBERTBRONSTEIN

430

Hamutai Bar-Yoseph. Decadent Trendsin Hebrew Literature: Bialik,

Berdichevski,Brener ZVIA GINOR

432

Neil R. Davison.James Joyce, "Ulysses," and the Constructionof JewishIdentity:Culture,Biographyand "Jew"in ModernistEurope DANIELR. SCHWARTZ

436

EmanuelFeldmanand Joel B. Wolowelsky,eds. JewishLaw and the New ReproductiveTechnologies AARONL. MACKLER

439

MenachemFisch.RationalRabbis:Scienceand TalmudicCulture ROBERTGOLDENBERG

441

AndreaPoma. TheCriticalPhilosophyofHermannCohen MICHAELZANK

443

Ralph Melnick. The Stolen Legacy of Anne Frank: Meyer Levin,

LillianHellman,and the Stagingof the Diary ALVINH. ROSENFELD

447

Collected Studies

457

Books Received

V

CONTENTS

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Meat-Eating and Jewish Identity: Ritualization of the Priestly "Torah of Beast and Fowl" (Lev 11:46) in Rabbinic Judaism and Medieval Kabbalah Author(s): Jonathan Brumberg-Kraus Source: AJS Review, Vol. 24, No. 2 (1999), pp. 227-262 Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Association for Jewish Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1486754 . Accessed: 15/07/2011 11:03 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at . http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=cup. . Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].



AND JEWISHIDENTITY: MEAT-EATING OF THEPRIESTLY"TORAH RITUALIZATION OF BEASTAND FOWL"(LEV 11:46) IN RABBINICJUDAISM AND MEDIEVALKABBALAH by JONATHAN BRUMBERG-KRAUS In a fascinatingchapterdealingwith the "natureof eating"in Shulhan shel Arba, a short thirteenth-century manualon rabbiniceating rituals,R. Bahyab. Asher suggeststhatTorahscholarsalone arefit to eat meat,based on the followingpassagefromthe Talmud:"it is forbiddenfor an ignoramus [am ha-aretz]to eat meat, as it is written,'This is the torahof beast and fowl' (Lev 11:46);for all who engage in Torah,it is permittedto eat the flesh of beast and fowl. But for all who do not engage in Torah,it is not permittedto eat beast and fowl."' This passageraises many questions, especiallyfor a vegetarian!First,why wouldan intellectualor spiritualelite use meat-eatingas a way to distinguishitself from the masses?The field of comparativereligionsoffersmanycounter-examples to this tendency:the diet of the Hindu Brahmin of Buddhist caste, vegetarian priestsandnuns,the ancientPythagoreans, theNeoplatonistregimenadvocatedby Porphyryin On Abstinence,orevencontemporary eco-theologians,animalrightsactivists,and feministvegetarianslike CarolAdams.2Moreover,the mind/bodydualism 1. b.Pesah49b, quotedby Bahya, Shulhanshel Arba, from Kitve RabenuBahya (Kad ha-kemah,Shulhanshel Arba,PirkeAvot),ed. CharlesB. Chavel(Jerusalem:MossadHarav Kook, 1969),p. 496. 2. See Colin Spencer,TheHeretics Feast: A Historyof Vegetarianism (Hanover,N.H.: UniversityPress of New England,1995); CarolJ. Adams, The SexualPolitics of Meat: A FeministVegetarianCriticalTheory(New York:Continuum,1990).

AJSReview24/2 (1999):227-262

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of Westernphilosophicaland religious traditionsof asceticism tends to reinforcethe idea that vegetarianismand fasting are closer to the ideal of intellectualperfectionthan slavery to our so-called animalcravingsto eat flesh. Giving up meat for Lent or sustainingoneself miraculouslyon the breadand wine of the eucharisticelements,as is reportedaboutsome medieval female mystics, reflectsthis tendencyin the Christiantradition, though vegetariantraditionsare relativelyrare in Judaism.3On the other hand,the medievalsourcescomposedby the circleof late-thirteenth-century Spanishkabbaliststhat we are about to discuss acknowledgethat at first view the Torah'scommandmentsto eat meat are problematic,and demand an explanation.JosephGikatilla,Bahya'scontemporary, suggeststhatkilling animalsfor food seems to contradictGod'sjustice.4Bahyahimselfpointsout 3. On attitudestowardvegetarianismin the early Christianchurch,see Diane Bazell, "StrifeAmong the Table-Fellows:ConflictingAttitudesof Early and MedievalChristians TowardEatingMeat,"Journalof theAmericanAcademyof Religion65 (1997):73-99. Bazell influencesof Greek pointsout a basic tensionin earlyChristianitybetweenthe pro-vegetarian aboutone's diet, philosophicalasceticismand the nonvegetarianimpulseto be indiscriminate i.e., have no qualmsabout eating nonkoshermeat, or meat sacrificedto idols, in orderto distinguishChristianityfrom Judaism(p. 85). See also VeronikaGrimm,FromFeasting to Fasting, the Evolutionof a Sin: Attitudesto Food in Late Antiquity(New York:Routledge, 1996), pp. 103-105. On the medievalaccountsof miraculoussustenanceon the elementsof communion,see CarolWalkerBynum,HolyFeast andHolyFast: TheReligiousSignificanceof Food toMedievalWomen (Berkeley:Universityof CaliforniaPress,1987),esp.pp. 130-135.On Judaism'spredominately pro-meat-eating, anti-vegetarian tendency,see Grimm,FromFeasting to Fasting, pp. 16-17, 27. Vegetarianism has experienceda revivalamongtwentieth-century Jews, for example,Rav AbrahamIsaac Kook, the first chief rabbiof Israel,IsaacBashevis Singer,and RabbiArthurGreen;and there is a Jewish VegetarianSociety that publishesa PassoverHaggadahfor a meatlessseder, TheHaggadahof the LiberatedLamb.While for Rav Kook and I. B. Singer,vegetarianismwas a privatediscipline,Green,in SeekMy Face, Jewish Theology(Northvale,N.J.: J. Aronson,1992), pp. SpeakMy Name:A Contemporary 87-89, and the Jewish VegetarianSociety advocatevegetarianismas a normfor otherJews. animalrightsand ecologicalawareness,they root their Thoughinfluencedby contemporary in some of earlier traditional Jewishsourceswe aregoingto discussbelow.See vegetarianism also Art Waskow,Down to EarthJudaism:Food, Money,Sex and theRestof Life(New York: WilliamMorrow,1995),pp. 135-136. 4. Joseph Gikatilla,Shaare Orah, ed. Joseph Ben Shlomo (Jerusalem:Mossad Bialik, 1981),II, 11-12: And now I havea greatkey to openthis matter.Whatdidthe Lord(mayHe be blessed) see to commandin the Torahthe slaughterof animalsfor humanbeingsto eat?For is it not written,"TheLordis good to all, and His mercyextendsto all His works"[Ps 145:9]?And if He acts mercifully,why did He commandthatbeastsbe slaughteredfor humanbeingsto eat;whereis the mercyin that?But the secretis in thebeginningof the

ANDJEWISHIDENTITY MEAT-EATING

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is God'sconcession thatmeat-eating tohumanity's animaldesiresinourfallen state;AdamandEve didnot eatmeatin Eden.5Andin theworld-to-come, will feastonlyon "litefood,"i.e., light"food"-"fineandpure therighteous Bothintroduce the "torahof beast foodscreatedfromthe supernallight."6

verse, which said, "theLordis good to all,"good in fact, andaccordingly"Hismercy extendsto all his works." Duringtheworkof creation,anagreementwasreachedwiththecowto be slaughtered, and she said, "Good."And whatwas her reason?Since the cow had no highersoul to conceiveof the workof HaShemandHis powers,the Lord(mayHe be blessed),when He was creatingthe world,told all the beaststo standbeforeHim,andHe said,"Ifyou consentto be slaughtered,andto havehumanbeingseat you, thenyou will ascendfrom the statusof a beastthatknowsnothingto the statusof a humanbeingwho knowsand recognizesthe Lord(may He be blessed)."And the beastsreplied,"Good.His mercies are on us." Whenevera humanbeing eats a portionof the portionsof a beast,it turns into a portionof the humanbeing.Herethe beastis transformed intoa person,andher slaughteris an act of mercy,for she leaves the torahof beastsandentersintothe torah of humanbeings.Deathis life for it, in thatit ascendsto the degreeof angels-and this is the secretof "Manandbeastthe Lordwill save"[Ps 36:8]. If you really reflecton the secret of slaughteringanimals,then everythingcomes fromthe side of His mercyandlove forall His creatures.And thusreflecton the reason why ourrabbissaidin tractatePesahimof theTalmud,"Itis forbiddenforan amha-aretz to eat meat."For it was not commandedin the Torahto slaughtera beastunless one knows the "torahof beasts, wild animals,and fowl."And whoeverengages in Torah is permittedto eat meat. Thus an am ha-aretzdoes not eat meatbecausehe is like a beastwithouta soul, andhe is not commandedto slaughtera beastonly so thatanother "beast"can eat it, but rather,if so, it [the beast] becomeslike carrionand prey [i.e., forbidden,of a lower,"unfit"status]. 5. Bahya,Shulhanshel Arba, p. 496: "Considerwell thathumanbeings' food oughtto have been only plantsfromthe earth,such as grainproduceand fruit,not animals... but at the time when all flesh ruinedits way and all animalsdeservedannihilation,they were saved only by the meritof Noah, to whom animalswere thempermitted[to be eaten]just like the greengrasses"(an allusionto Gen 9:3: "Everyliving creatureshallbe yoursfor food, like the greengrasses,I am now giving you everything").Bahyahas a very clearlyarticulatedsense of a fall of humanityin Eden,even if it soundsalmostlike Christianoriginalsin. He refersto the rabbinictraditionsof Adam'sloss of stature,and describesthe post-Edenichumancondition thus,"allthe childrenof Adam,the childrenof the manof sin, we areall stained,andoursoul sickened [gam benei 'adam gam benei 'ish 'avon kulanu nikhtam ve-nafshenu davah ]," p. 459. 6. Bahya, Shulhan shel Arba, p. 501 (ha-ma 'akhlimha-dakim ve-ha-zakhimshenivre 'u min

ha- 'orha- 'elyon).I owe this metaphorto AndreaLieber,whose aptlytitledunpublished paper, "TastesGreat,Less Filling,"deals in detailwith Jewishandparalleltraditionsof nourishment throughthe sense of sight.

230


and fowl" baraitafromthe Talmudto justify Judaism'sslaughterof animals for food. Second, why does engagementin Torahper se qualify someoneto kill animalsto eat their meat? Perhapsit is the way for Jews to assert their distinctivegroup identityvis-a-vis non-Jews.The possession of the Torah revealedto Moses at MountSinaiis whatdistinguishesJews fromnon-Jews, and theirobservanceof the Jewishdietarylaws regardingfit andunfitmeat is the visible, publicembodimentof this distinctively"Jewish"Torah.Bahya offers this argument,suggestingthat the Torahis a sort of "regimenof the pleasures"(dat sha'ashu'im),a remedyfor Adam'ssin thatthe Jews alone possess.7 However, we are distinguished by our regimen of thepleasures from the nations

whoerr,rebelandsin. Forwe foundourRockin the desertin the landof souls,

andthereHe set forus a tableagainstthenations,andthusDavid,peaceon him,said,"Setbeforeme a tableagainstmyenemies"[Ps23:5]. Moreover,Bahyapolemicizesagainstthosewho eat withoutanythought, as mindlesslyas animals. It is well knownof the majorityof the childrenof Adam,thattheirhearts areasleepandslumber, theyeatwiththeblood,theyspillbloodthemselves. 7. The expressiondat sha'ashu'imis difficultto translate,thoughChavel in his notes to Shulhanshel Arba, p. 459, understandsit as an allusionto Ps. 119:92 (lulei toratekha sha 'ashu'iy,"Wouldthatyourtorahwere my pleasure")andmeansthe "Torahwhichis called dat as a synonymfor the Torah.But 'pleasure."'I agreewith ChavelthatBahyaunderstands Bahyadrawson dat'sotherspecificconnotations:law,rule,or decree.I suspectthatBahyahas in mindan analogyto a monasticrule,or manual,for the moralinstructionsfor princesof the typethatbeganto proliferatein medievalEurope,orto theadabmanualsof etiquettein Muslim culture.Bahyaviews the Torahas a kindof manualof conduct,a seferha-hanhagah,whichhas clearaffinitiesto this genreof ethicalliterature.In otherwords,he projectsthe genreof his own Shulhanshel Arbaonto the Torah.For a discussionof this genreand its relationshipto other medievalChristianandMuslimethicalmanuals,see Ze'ev Gries,Sifrutha-hanhagot:toldoteha u-mekomahbe-hayehasideR. Yisra'el Ba 'al Shem-Tov(Tel Aviv: MossadBialik, 1989), pp. 4-11, esp. 5-8. See alsothediscussionof medievalMuslimcookingandtableetiquetteliterature in JackGoody,Cooking,Cuisine,and Class:A Studyin ComparativeSociology(Cambridge: CambridgeUniversity,1982),pp. 127-133. ThoughGoodydoes not discussJewishliterature, his point that literaryelaborationsof cooking and table mannerslegitimateupperclasses is relevantto ourdiscussionof diet andclass distinctionbetweenthe talmideihakhamimandthe ammeiha-aretz.

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Likean ox eatingstrawtheyeat theirbread,andtheirsoulsarewastedand full of thewineof lustandemptyof thewineof intellect.Their devastated, drunken excessturnsagainstthem,hardin pursuitof tangiblepleasures, far fromthewayof truth.Howmanyarethosewhoservetheirsenses,to fulfill theirdesire,who gatherto draintheircupsto pleasetheirgullet!Andhow few aretheelitewhoeatto sustaintheirbodyfortheirCreator's sake!There the shiftyman,whoenjoywithoutblessing, aresome,witlessandignorant, neglectblessings.Therearesomefoolswhospitthegoodof theworldinto theirvessels;thelightof theircalmwillflashawaylikelightning, theyforget thepointwhentheyeatattheirtables,if theydrinkfromtheirbowl.Butunique is theonewhofearsanddelightsintheLordevenovera dinnerof vegetables.8 However,it is not so clearherethatBahyameansthatonlynon-Jewslack"the way of truth,"i.e., the Torah.If the expressions"childrenof Adam"and"they eat with blood"implynon-Jews,the otherphrases:"likean ox eatingstraw," souls "wastedanddevastated,""drunkenexcess turnsagainstthem,""witless andignorant,the shiftyman"areall allusionsto scripturalpassagescriticalof Israeliteswho strayfromthe Lordin pursuitof sensuality.'Moreover,while the use of the intellectdistinguishesthe elite fromthe witless in this passage, meat-eatingdoes not. Thosewho "eatwith the blood"aremeat-eaters,while the uniqueone "whofearsanddelightsin the Lord"does so even overa meal of vegetables!So Bahya must have in mind more than self-differentiation from Gentileswhen he cites the baraitaon the "torahof beast and fowl." Bahya assertsan internaldistinctionbetweenJews who eat mindfully(the "elite"benei 'aliyah)and those who do not, who in his interpretationof the baraitaare labeled"disciplesof the sages"and "ignoramuses," talmidei hakhamimandammeiha-aretz. Thisraisesotherquestions.WhyshouldR. Bahyadrawforhis thirteenthcenturyaudiencean anachronisticdistinctionbetween talmideihakhamim andammeiha-aretz? These labelsderivefroma specificsocial situation,the rabbinicperiodof JabnehandUsha,afterthe destructionof the Templein 70, in the secondandthirdcenturiesC.E.10 Noris thehistoryanddefinitionof these 8. Bahya,Shulhanshel Arba,p. 460. 9. Chavel,Shulhanshel Arba,p. 460, in his notes suggeststhatBahyaalludeshereto Is 11:7,Na 2:11, Hos 4:18, Ezek45:20, Prv 15:28. The'AmHa-aretz:A Studyin theSocialHistoryof theJewish 10. As AharonOppenheimer, Period (Leiden:E. J. Brill, 1977),p. 175, suggestsregarding People in theHellenistic-Roman the traditionin its earliercontextas a baraitain b.Pesah49b.

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hakhamimdistinctionin b.Pesah. termssimple.The ammeiha-aretz/talmidei 49b's baraitaon Lev. 11:46 representsa shift of terminologyfrom earlier tannaitictraditionsaboutthe haverim("colleagues")vs. the ammeiha-aretz tannaitictraditionsof (lit., "peoplesof the land").In the earlier,pre-Yavnean or "trustworthy the MishnahandTosefta,haverim(andne-emanim["faithful" or talmidei not hakhamim hakhamim ("sages") ones"]), ("disciplesof sages"), of of were the self-designations members voluntaryassociationsprimarily composedof non-priestswho were scrupulousaboutpriestlytithesand the conditionsof purity in which they preparedtheir food. They called Jews who did not follow theirrules ammeiha-aretz.The haverimwere probably the Phariseesof the New Testamentand Josephus,who soughtto heighten JewishnationalidentityunderRomanruleby intensifyingthenormsof Jewish behavior.In particularthey adaptedthe priestlystandardsof purity,andtithed food for nonpriests,to encourage"lay"Israelitesto participatein theirtable fellowshippractices,as if they were priests.In otherwords,the fellowship werea strategyof ritualized"streettheater" practicesof the haverim/Pharisees intendedto win Jewish convertsto theirway of practice."In contrast,we have later traditionsopposing the hakhahimor talmideihakhamimto the ammeiha-aretzthatstressthe former'scommitmentto Torahstudyin the Bet Midrashto the latter'signoranceand neglect of it.12 The baraitacontaining our traditionin b.Pesah 49b belongs to this stage in the development.If the pre-70 haverim/Pharisees were membersof associationsthat gathered for table fellowship following priestlike standardsof ritual observance, the post-70 talmidei hakhamimgatheredin associationsfor the study of Torah.'3Consequently,the definitionof theiropponents,the ammeiha-aretz, changedfrom those who did not observepriestliketable-fellowshiprules to those who did not study Torah.Whenmodem scholarsaptly distinguish these two types of am ha-aretzas ammeiha-aretzle-mitzvot("withrespect to the commandments")and ammei ha-aretz le-Torah("with respect to Torahlearning"),they underlinethe conceptualshift fromTorahunderstood "Werethe Phariseesa ConversionistSect?"TheMakingof 11. JonathanBrumberg-Kraus, Proselytes.JewishMissionaryActivityin the Hellenisticand RomanWorlds,ed. A. J. Levine andR. Pervo(ScholarsPress,forthcoming). 12. Oppenheimer,'AmHa-aretz,p. 170. The tannaiticsourcesthemselvesrecognizethis distinction,for examplem. Dem 2:3 regardingwhatis excludedfromthe definitionof a haver. However,in laterstrataof the Talmudand in the DerekhEretzliteraturethe terminological hakhamis blurred. distinctionbetweenhaverandhakham/talmid 13. Ibid.,p. 171.


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as ritualizedpractice-the haver/Pharisee'simitationof priestlyrules, and Torahas study in the Bet Midrashand personifiedby the sage, the talmid hakham.'4Thereis some overlapof usage in talmudicliterature,as haverim are sometimescalled hakhamim,and the "disciplesof the sages,"who did, after all, adoptthe languageand traditionsof the haverim,still considered sharedeatingritualsa partof the social cementthatboundtheirTorah-study groupstogether.Thus,it is not surprisingthatb.Pesah49b is concernedwith whattalmideihakhamimandammeiha-aretzeat. Whatis surprisingis theirunprecedented prohibitionof an am ha-aretz fromeatingmeat.Is it therhetoricof "classwar"betweenwealthy,aristocratic meat-eatingintellectualsandpoorboorswhosedietsareby necessityrestricted to grainsand greens?"'That is possible for the originalrabbinicdictumin the BabylonianTalmud.It is less likely in Bahya's medieval use of the tradition,if YitzhakBaeris rightthatSpanishkabbaliststendedto side with, or at least identifytheir class interestswith, the poorerJews, over against the wealthy,assimilationist,aristocraticcourtJews who were partialto the secularizingtendenciesof Arabic cultureand Maimonideanrationalism.16 Moreover,it is not the explanationBahya himself gives for the "class" distinction,nor does his languagereflecta preoccupationwith the conflict betweenrich and poor Jews as pronouncedas his teacherJonahGerondi's, or of the anonymousauthorof the Raya Mehemnasections of the Zohar. Rather,Bahya resorts to a quasi-physiologicaltheory of reincarnationto explainthe tradition.Namely,only intelligentpeople,thatis, peopleengaged in Torah,have the potentialto transform(by eating)the "animalsoul"'7of 14. Ibid.,pp. 67 ff. Adolf Buchlercoinedthe terms,but Oppenheimer andothersdispute whichhistoricalsocial stratathey accuratelydescribe(p. 5). However,even if coinedlater,the termsaccuratelydescribean implicitdistinctionthatthetalmudicsourcesthemselvesrecognize (p. 67). 15. Goody,Cooking,Cuisine,and Class,p. 123, suggeststhatclass conflictsoftenunderlie gastronomicpreferencesfor meat ("high")vs. vegetable-based("low")cuisines,referringto Islamictexts as examples. 16. YitzhakBaer,"Ha-Reka'Ha-Historishel RayaMehemna,"Zion,n.s. 5, no. 1 (1939): 1-44; idem,A Historyof theJews in ChristianSpain(Philadelphia: JewishPublicationSociety, 1961-66), 1:270-277. 17. Nefeshha-tnuah,literally,"mobilesoul."InBahya'spsychology,therearethreelevelsof soul:the "vegetativesoul"(nefeshtzomahat)characteristic of plants,the "mobilesoul"(nefesh ha-tnuah)characteristicof animals,and the "intellectualsoul" (nefeshsekhlit)characteristic of humanand angelicbeings.Only humanbeingshave all three.See below,my discussionof Bahya,Shulhanshel Arba,p. 496, andn. 72.

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meat into an intelligentsoul; an am ha-aretzcannotdo this, and so should avoid meat. It is as if Torahlearningwere a sort of cosmic digestive aid which by definitionthe am ha-aretz lacks, either because of diminished mentalcapacityor inclination.Finally,the conspicuousabsenceof women in this gastronomictheory of metempsychosissuggests anotherquestion: of the traditionserve to reinforcethe privileged did Bahya's interpretation social status of educatedJewish males? Not only were thirteenth-century Jewish women for the most part excluded from kabbalisticor talmudic Torahstudy, the prerequisitefor eating meat, but they were theoretically unnecessaryfor this metaphysicalprocess of rebirth.In otherwords,male soulswithouthavingthemreborn Torahscholarscouldeffectivelyreincarnate This kabbalisticapproachto meat-eating,especiallywith throughwomen. its extensive use of sacrificiallanguageand images seems to supportthe late Nancy Jay's anthropologicalthesis that sacrificeis a "remedyfor man havingbeen born of women."'"Thatis to say, men use the blood and flesh of sharedmeatsacrificesto fostermythsof communaloriginsandbondsthat root group identityin institutionscontrolledby males, ratherthan in who one's motheris. Israelitepriestswere defined,differentiated,and elevated fromotherIsraelitesas muchby whatthey ate as by who theirfatherswere (muchless theirmothers,since the priesthoodwas transferred patrilineally). only further SubsequentPharisaic,talmudic,and kabbalisticinterpretations eroded the significanceof a priesthoodbased on birth. They replacedit with a "priesthood"based on sharedintensifiedeatingnormsand/orTorah knowledgeacquiredfrom one's teachers.Bahyadoes not seem to imagine, or even discuss, women as participantsin gastronomicmetempsychosis. Moreover,with a few exceptions,wouldn'twomen be equivalentto ammei ha-aratzim,"beasts"who do not engagein the intellectualdisciplineof Torah study?Indeed,feministvegetarianslike CarolAdamscriticizethe tendency of "patriarchal" as meat-eatingcultureto objectifythe womenit subordinates forthis aspectof the theory,the texts animals,as cuts of beef.19Unfortunately do not supportit. Bahya could have identifiedthe ammeiha-aretz/"beasts" explicitlyas women,but he does not. Evenb.Pesah49b comparesprimarily male ammei ha-aretzto beasts fit for slaughter,as cuts of meat and fish. On the otherhand,the Talmudimpliesthatmarryinga femaleam ha-aretz 18. Jay,Throughout YourGenerationsForever:Sacrifice,Religion,andPaternity(Chicago: Universityof ChicagoPress, 1992),p. xxiii. 19. Adams,SexualPolitics of Meat,pp. 48-62.


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is tantamountto bestiality.20So even if feminist theoriesof sacrificeand meat-eatingshed some light on our texts, they do not fully explainthem. We will returnto the feministand otherpossible explanationsfor Bahya's of this meat-eatingtraditionin the Talmudat the conclusionof interpretation ourpaper. Butfornow,all thistalkof talmideihakhamim, ammeiha-aretz,intelligent souls,mealsof supernallight,and"remediesforbeingbornof women"seems a ratherlong way fromthe originalmeaningof the verse "thisis the torahof beastandfowl"!Afterall, it is basicallythebiblicalPriestlywriter'ssummary of the dietaryrestrictionsall Israeliteswere supposedto follow,analogousto the summarystatementsof nine otherunits of priestlyinstructions.21 There are clearly several differentunderstandings of preciselywhat the "torahof beastand fowl" is andhow its Jewishinterpreters relateto it over time. The biblical,rabbinic,and medievalkabbalistictraditionsof "thetorah of beast and fowl" representthe successive developmentsof different"ontologies"of Torah,to use a termfromrecentscholarshipon the comparative "Torah"has become a symbolicmarkerfor the type of studyof scripture.22 knowledgethat defines Jewish social identityand power relationsbetween differenttypes of Jews (priestsand ordinaryIsraelites,talmideihakhamim and ammei ha-aretz,maskilim["enlightenedones"] and ammei ha-aretz), between Jews and non-Jews,and between Jews and God. Also, William Grahamhas stressedthat"scripture"as a cross-culturalcategoryof religious 20. b.Pesah49b: ". .. but he [a talmidhakham]shouldnot marrythe daughterof an am ha-aretz,for they are detestableand theirwives are vermin,and of theirdaughtersit is said, 'Cursedbe he who lies with any kindof beast[behemah][Deut27:21]."' 21. Jacob Milgrom,Leviticus 1-16, Anchor Bible (New York:Doubleday,1991), pp. 382-383. 22. For generalstudies, see MiriamLevering,ed., RethinkingScripture:Essaysfrom a Comparative Perspective(Albany:StateUniversityof New YorkPress,1989);WilfredCantrell Smith, WhatIs Scripture?A ComparativeApproach(Minneapolis:FortressPress, 1993); WilliamA. Graham,Beyond the WrittenWord:Oral Aspectsof Scripturein the Historyof Religion (Cambridge:CambridgeUniversityPress, 1987); and JeffreyTimm,ed., Textsin Context:Traditional Hermeneuticsin SouthAsia (Albany:StateUniversityof New YorkPress, 1992). For studies of Torahfrom this comparativeperspective,see BarbaraHoldrege,Veda and Torah:Transcendingthe Textualityof Scripture(Albany:State Universityof New York Press, 1996); MartinS. Jaffee,"A RabbinicOntologyof the Writtenand SpokenWord:On Discipleship,Transformative Knowledge,andthe LivingTestsof OralTorah"(Paperreadat the AmericanAcademyof ReligionConsultationon the Comparative Studyof Hinduismsand Judaisms,November1996).

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experienceis a "relationalconcept.'23Whatmakes something"Scripture," whatmakessomethingTorah,is not only its content,butwhatpeopledo with it, how they treatit. of In light of these ideas, I will examine the differentinterpretations of and to show how earlier rabbinic and Lev 11:46's "torah beast fowl," latermedievalkabbalisticliteraturetreatthe relativeimportanceof the study of Torahversus its ritualenactmentdifferently.Rabbinicliteraturetendsto subordinateritualpractice,especiallythat associatedwith the priestsin the time of the Temple,to the studyof suchpracticesin the Torah.Whileat first the Pharisees/haverim attemptedto transferthe theurgicefficacyof priestly to "torot" Jewish lay people, the laterpost-Yavneangenerationsof eating rabbisturnedthe languageof priestlysacrificialeating into a metaphorfor rabbinicstudyof Torah.Rabbinicideologycameto view the studyof Torah as a replacementfor the priestly"torot"of sacrificeand puritythat could no longerbe practicedbecauseof the destructionof the Temple.Thereare numerousexpressionsof this ideathroughoutrabbinicliterature.Particularly to the pointis this traditionfromb.Menahot110: the theminhah[grainoffering], "Thisis thetorahof theolah[burntoffering], in the hattat[sinoffering],theasham[guiltoffering],etc."Whoever engages anolah,theportionon studyof theTorahportionon olahis as if he sacrificed minhah,as if he sacrificeda minhah,the portionon hattat,as if he sacrificeda hattat ...24

Or we have the relatedidea articulatedin m.Avot3:3, that Torahstudy at ordinarymeals makesthem like priestlysacrifices,andmealswithoutTorah talkare like sacrilege: whohaveeatenatonetableandhavenotsaidwordsof R. Simeonsaid,"Three Torahoverit, it is as if theyhaveeatenfromsacrifices of thedead[mi-zivkhey metim].... Butif threehaveeatenatonetableandhavespokenoverit words of Torah,it as if theyhaveeatenfromthetableof God,as it is written(Ezek. 41:22), "Andhe toldme:Thisis thetablethatstandsbeforetheLord." TheEncyclopediaofReligion,ed. MirceaEliade 23. WilliamA. Graham,s.v. "Scripture,"in (New York:Macmillan,1986), 13:134. 24. b.Menahot110. R. Bahya,Biural Ha-Torah(ed. Chavel),p. 433, bringsthis tradition in his commentto Lev 7:37, but not to suggestthat Torahstudysupplantssacrificialeating altogether,as I arguelater.


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This formulationsuggests that engagementof scholarsin Torahstudy,not their eating per se, is what makes theirgatheringequivalentto the biblical priests'sacrificialrituals. Medievalrabbinicethicalliterature,informedby kabbalah,tendsto restore the theurgicpriestlydimensionto the meal ritualsof rabbinicscholars.The Zohar and R. Bahya's ideal religious type-the maskilim("enlightened ones"), onto whom they projectthe rabbinictraditionsabout the talmidei hakhamim-act more like prieststhan like "purescholars."Theireatingas function.25R. Bahyaand well as theirstudyhas a theurgicworld-regenerating the circleof Spanishzoharickabbalistssuggestthateatingnot only conforms to the commandmentsof Scripturepermittingor prohibitingspecific food (like Lev. 11:46).Eatingalso ritualizesnonlegalTorahlike "Theyenvisioned God and ate and drank"(Ex 24:11), "My sacrifice,My breadto My fire, my pleasing odor"(Nu 28:2), "Bless the Lord my soul, all my being His holy name"(Ps 103:1);or "Bothhumanbeing andbeast,YHWHwill save" (Ps 36:8).26 In other words, regardlessof whetherthese passages in their originalcontextwere intendedliterally,the kabbalisticethicistsreadthemas referentsto theirsystemof sefirotandtheoryof metempsychosis. metaphorical But beyondthat,those who know the "secretsof the Torah"view not only the Torah'sexplicitmitzvotof eating,butalso theseotherscripturalversesas prescriptionsto enactrituallythe sameextratextualcosmicdramaof "raising souls."27Shulhanshel Arba and similarmanualsproviderabbinicscholars with a "script"for embodyingTorah,or put differently,transformTorah versesinto "ritualizedmetaphors."28 25. E.g., Bahya,Shulhanshel Arba,p. 496; Joel Hecker,"EachManAte an Angel'sMeal: Eatingand Embodimentin the Zohar"(Ph.D. diss., New YorkUniversity,1996;Ann Arbor, Mich.:UniversityMicrofilms,1996),pp. 224-296, esp. 273-279; andalso PinchasGiller,The EnlightenedWillShine:Symbolizationand Theurgyin the LaterStrataof theZohar(Albany: StateUniversityof New YorkPress, 1993). 26. See Bahya,ShulhanshelArba,p. 492, fortheritualization of themetaphorsof Nu 28:2 and Ps. 103:1(andbelow,for my translationof the passage),andof Ps 36:8, JosephGikatilla, ShaareOrah,II, 11. 27. The relationshipof this cosmic dramato these nonlegal Torahverses is basically analogousto VictorTurner's"SocialDramasandStoriesAboutThem,"CriticalInquiry,1980, pp. 141-168. See the next note. 28. See IvanG. Marcus,TheRitualsofChildhood:JewishAcculturation inMedievalEurope James (New Haven:YaleUniversityPress, 1996),p. 6, forthe applicationof the anthropologist Fernandez'sconceptof "ritualization of metaphors"to othermedievalJewisheatingrituals. aptis Marcus'srecognitionof this processas an impulsetowardritualinnovations. Particularly

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In short,medievalrabbinicethicalliteraturetendsto "reritualize" Torah, of whichhadbeen"deritualized" by the earlierrabbinicequation/replacement We can the effect of this with Torah observe avodah by study.29 process priestly examiningthe differentways biblical,rabbinic,andmedievalmystical/ethical interpretersview three crucial componentsof the traditionassociatingthe dietary guidelines for talmidei hakhamimand ammei ha-aretz with the scripturalprooftextof Lev 11:46. First,how does each of the interpreters understandthe term"torah"in general,and its narrowerspecification"torah of beast and fowl"? Second, how does each understandthe natureof the conflictbetweentalmideihakhamimandammeiha-aretz?Finally,how does themeaningof eatingmeat,lit., "eatingbeastmeat"(le 'ekhol eachunderstand will show thatrabbinic basarbehemah)?An analysisof these interpretations tend to make the ideal rabbinic behave less like a biblical type interpretations make priest,while the latermedievalkabbalisticand ethicalinterpretations him behave more like a priest.How does one behave like a priest?Jacob MilgromsuggestsDeut. 33:10 as a concise definitionof the biblicalpriests' function:"Theyshallteachyourlaws to Jacobandyourinstructionsto Israel, they shall offer the incense in Your nostrils and burntofferingson Your (toratekha They arebothto teachGod'slaws andritualrequirements altar."'" le-yisrael)andto give God sacrificesto savor,eitherdirectly,in the smokeof the incenseor olot thatGodsmells,or as God'sagents,by eatingtheirpriestly portions(and in effect sharinga meal with God). Rabbinicinterpretations tend to split these functions,emphasizingthe former,the teaching,over the suchas R. Bahya latter,theurgiccookingandeating.Medievalcommentators, to stressthe extratextual 29. WhatI meanby ritualizationis the tendencyof interpretations performanceof the ritualsdescribedin the texts, or the social dramas"behind"the texts, of which the texts themselves are consciously understoodas a performance.Conversely, deritualizationwould be the tendencyto play down the actualperformanceof the specific ritualsdescribedin the text; in effect, to turn the prescriptiveinto the descriptive,or the imperativeintothe indicative.In additionto IvanMarcus'sapproach,I alsohavein mindVictor Turner,"SocialDramasandStoriesAboutThem,"who views textsthatdescriberitualsas parts of an extratextualritualprocess-"scripts"of social dramas.I have also been influencedby BaruchBokser'sidea thatritualizationcan be an editorialphenomenon,the way thatone text interpretsactionsdescribedin anothertext,as in thetendencyof theBabylonianandPalestinian Talmudsto augmentM.Pesah10's accountof the sederritualsby givingsymbolicexplanations the Seder," forpropsandactionsthatthe Mishnahtreatsmoreor less as accidents."Ritualizing Journalof theAmericanAcademyof Religion56 (1988):443-471. 30. Milgrom,Leviticus,p. 52.


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I will andthe otherSpanishkabbalists,tendto reunitethese two functions.31 demonstratethis by examiningthe treatmentof Lev 11:46firstin the Bible, andthen in rabbinicandmedievalkabbalistictexts. "Torahof Beast and Fowl " in the Bible andmeat-eatingexpressed of "Torah" Thereis a distinctiveinterpretation by the Priestlyredactorof Leviticuslong before rabbinicinterpretersassociated Lev 11:46 with their categoriesof talmidhakhamand am ha-aretz. in Leviticusrefersto instructionsaboutsacrificesandpurityeitherfor "Torah" or priests forinstructionsby prieststo ordinaryIsraeliteson howto be holy (as perthe recurrentwarrantfor the command"Youshallbe holy, for I, the Lord your God, am holy").32Moreover,the basic structureof Leviticusconsists of "manualsof practice"addressedto the priesthoodin chapters1-16, and then priestlyteachingsaddressedto Israelites,the so-calledHolinessCode, chapters17-27. In the firstpart,torotappearsto be Leviticus'own termfor its priestly manualsof practice.In chapters1-16 there are ten torot:five torotof sacrifice:"thisis the torahof the burntoffering[olah]"(6:2); "this is the torahof the grainoffering[minhah]"(6:7); "thisis the torahof the sin offering[hattat]"(6:18);"thisis the torahof theguiltoffering[asham]"(7:1); ". .. the sacrificeof the well-being offerings [zevahha-shlemim]"(7:11); and five torotof impurity:"thisis the torahof beast and fowl" (11:46);".. . of her who bears a child [ha-yoledet]" (12:7); ". .. of an eruptive affection [nega' tzara 'at]" (13:59, 14:54-57); ". . . of the leper [metzora1" (14:2, 32); and ". . . of him who has a discharge [ha-zav]" (15:32). Thus, the "torah

of beast and fowl" in Lev 11:46falls underthe categoryof instructionsfor priestsregardingthe purityof animals.However,if this is so, this torahin chapter11 seems anomalous.It is the only one of the ten torotthatis neither about priests nor addressedprimarilyto priests. These dietaryrestrictions are intendedfor all Israelites,and accordinglyare addressedspecificallyto them. Halpernsuggests that the dietaryrules were originallypart of the 31. JacobNeusner,TheWayof Torah:AnIntroduction to Judaism,4thed. (Belmont,Calif.: Wadsworth,1988), p. 35, similarlyarguesthat differenttypes of Judaismin historycan be distinguishedfromone anotherby theirparticularway of bondingthesetwo generativesymbols of priestly altar and scribal scroll, and a third, messianic/nationalist wreathin a coherent religioussystem. 32. BaruchHalpern,Leviticus(NJPS),pp. xi-xii.

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Holiness Code addressedto Israelites,but thatthe Priestlyredactormoved it so as to "redefine"the guidelinesstressingIsrael'sholiness into a "torah The purposeof the "torah of purity,a manualof proceduresfor priests."33 of beast and fowl, and every living thing which moves in the water or swarmson the earth"(11:46) is to "distinguishbetween the uncleanand clean,betweenthe living thingsthatmay be eatenand the living thingsthat may not be eaten"(11:47).Makingsuchdistinctionsis preciselythe function assignedspecificallyto priests,as statedin 10:10;"Foryou [thepriests]must distinguishbetween the sacredand profane,and betweenthe uncleanand clean."34 However,if the "this"of "thisis the torahof beastandfowl"refers to the verses immediatelyprecedingit, then the "torahof beast and fowl" would be amongthe instructionsaddressedto the Israelitesas a whole (and notjust the priests):"to sanctifyyourselvesandbe holy, for I am holy"and "not to make yourselvesuncleanthroughany swarmingthing that moves uponthe earth.ForI the Lordam He who raisedyou up [ha-ma'aleh 'etkhem] fromEgyptto be yourGod;you shallbe holy for I am holy"(Lev 11:44-45). In otherwords,the "torahof beast and fowl" is an instructionintendedfor both priestsand Israelites.Thereis no intentionhere to establisha double standardfor priestsand Israelites'diets, as ourrabbinictraditionestablishes If anything,it is intendedto for the talmidhakhamversusthe am ha-aretz.35 distinguishIsraelitesfromnon-Israelites(theIsraelitesaremadeholy,thatis, madeseparatefromothers,just as Godis separate,whenGod"raisedthemup out of Egypt").Thoughthe othertorotstressthe distinctionsbetweenpriests andIsraelites,the dietaryruleshereblurtheirdistinctivevocations.In short, the torotof Leviticuswere not an esotericpriestlyloreto be hiddenfromlay people. Indeed,what distinguishedIsraelitepriestsfrom theirancientNear was theirpublicteachingof theirpriestlylore.36So the Easterncounterparts "torah"of Lev 11:46 is (1) a body of learning(aboutpurity);(2) mitzvot to be performed(eatingclean vs. uncleanmeat);and (3) knowledgeshared betweenthe priestlyelite andregular"lay"Israelites(not esotericlore). Finally, let me sketch out why I think P singles out the flesh of animals-meat-as opposed to other edible foods (grains,fruits,vegetables) 33. Ibid.,p. xvii. 34. Ibid. 35. Obviously,thereare otherplaces in Leviticuswherethis is the intention,i.e., in the passages describingthe priestly gift portionsof sacrifices,and the prohibitionof ordinary Israelitesfromeatingthem. 36. Milgrom,Leviticus,pp. 52-53.


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as that which is to be eaten in a discriminatingmanner.37" Echoes of the languageof Genesis 1 in Lev 11 suggest that these dietaryrestrictionsare intendedas ritualizedmnemonicdevices for maintainingthe distinctionsat the basis of God's creationof the world.38Since the first humanbeing and indeedall animals("everyliving thingon the landandeveryflying thingin the sky, and every crawlingthing in the waterwhich has the breathof life [nefesh]in it" are permittedto eat fromall the seed-bearinggrasses(grains and vegetables)and fruit-bearingtrees (Gen 1:29-30), discriminationwas not necessaryfor eating. Any living thing could eat any plant food. Only afterhumanity'sexpulsionfromEden, when God grantshumanbeings the concessionto eat meat (Gen 9:3-4), does one have to begin to distinguish betweenfit andunfitfood. In this case, only the flesh of animalswhose life force, or "breathof life" as the New Revised StandardVersionof the Bible translatesnefesh,has been removedfromit, thatis, in P's view, its blood, is meat fit to eat (Gen 9:4).39Makingdistinctionsbetweenclean and unclean animals is an extension of the basic principlethat makingdistinctionsin creationis whatGod does, andwhatpeople in imitationof God shoulddo.40 Moreover,therepetitionof the Leitwortnefeshseemsto suggestit has special 37. Grimm,FromFeastingto Fasting,p. 16, suggeststhatthe restrictionsin Leviticuson the extensiveenumeration of animalswhichareunfitto eat, animalsfit to eat, andparticularly "ratherthanaddressinga largelyvegetariansociety... confronta humansocietythat... would eatjust aboutanythingthatmoved."She questionsthe assumptionthatmeatwas infrequently eaten, only on sacrificialoccasions,in the ancientNear East. Moreover,she claimsthatthe preoccupationof Leviticuswith clean anduncleananimalswas the precedentfor laterJewish tendenciesawayfromvegetarianism.If Grimmis correctthateverybodywas "eatinganything thatmoved,"the Israeliteswouldhavebeen eatingless meatthantheirneighbors,since fewer animalsare permittedto them to eat. Thus,pace Grimm,it is arguablethatthe narrowingof meatoptionsin LeviticusputIsraelitereligionandlaterJudaismon a continuumtendingtoward vegetarianism. 38. Gen 1:20-21,24-25: i.e.,yishretzuha-mayimsheretznefeshhayahve-'of ye 'ofef...kol nefeshha-hayahha-romesetashershirtzuha-mayimleminehemve-'etkol 'of... totzeha-'aretz nefeshhayahleminahbehemahva-remesve-hayto'eretzleminah... va-ya'as elohimet hayat ha-'aretzleminahve 'etha-behemahleminahve-'etkol remesha-'adamahleminehu. 39. In biblicalHebrewnefesh,lit. "throat,"usuallytranslatedas some sort of life force, or even "self' or "person"dependingon the context,does not have the connotationof an immaterialsoul or spiritthatit developsin laterrabbinicHebrewunderthe influenceof Greek thought.Gen 9:4, Youshallnot eatfleshwith its life [nefesh],thatis, its blood,"equatesnefesh with blood. 40. "Letus createhumanbeing in Our image accordingto our likeness"(Gen 1:26 ff.); "Youshallmakeyourselvesholy andbe holy becauseI am holy"(Lev 11:44).

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meaningin P's rationalefor eatingdistinctions.The vital forces [nefashot] of some animalsrenderIsraelitehumannefashotunclean,as expressedin Lev 11:43-44: "do not defile nafshotekhemwith them . . . do not make nafshotekhemuncleanwith every swarmingthingthatcreepson the earth," for "thisis the torahof... every nefeshof animalsthatcreepin the water and every nefesh which swarmson the land"(Lev 11:46).The nefashotof animalscan make the nefashotof humanbeings uncleanor unholy in two ways: (1) eatingany animal,clean or unclean,with its nefesh/bloodstill in it, and(2) certainanimalsby definitionareunclean,whetheryou eat themor not, or touchthem,or touchthingsthatthey touch,etc.41Plants,in P's view, do not have nefashot(but contrastthis view with latermedievalkabbalistic views of the soul/nefesh),so only meat is potentiallyproblematicin this The rabbinicinterpretations of 11:46thatwe areaboutto discussin regard.42 the next sectionseem to affirmthis perspective,but are so preoccupiedwith establishingscholasticrabbinicauthorityoverpriestlyauthoritythatit drops into the background,a latentidea to be pickedup and emphasizedlaterby medievalkabbalisticinterpreters.

41. Indeed,the rabbinicinterpretation of Lev 11:46in b.Zevah69a drawssimilarconclusions, but I thinkit is thepeshat too. It is apparentthatthe whole subsystemof clean/unclean distinctionsis groundedupon only those creatureswhich have or have had bloodor a nefesh in them. Vegetableand nonorganicitems are neverthe sourcesof uncleanness,but are only secondarycarriersof uncleannessthat originatesfrom corpses,birth-relatedblood, seminal emissions,uncleananimals,etc.; i.e., frombeings composedof flesh andblood.But purityis only one of two basic subsystemsof distinctionsthatare to be madefor priestsandIsraelites actinglike priests.The second system is thatof offeringsandportionsof offeringsset aside for God and the priestsvs. those that are not; e.g., tithes. While includingportionsof meat sacrifices,this system is especiallyconcernedwith vegetableproduce,especiallyin the later elaborationof tithingrulesby the Pharisees.In the New Testament's of polemicalenumeration the Pharisees'picky dietaryrestrictions,"Foryou tithemint,andrue, andherbsof all kinds" (Lk 11:42),"Youtithemint,anddill, andcumin"(Mt 23:23), meatis significantlyabsent.My pointis thatwhilemakingdistinctionsis crucialto the vocationof priests(andpriestimitators), only distinctionsbetweenclean andunclean,i.e., the systemof purities,in effectrequire,or at leastpresuppose,a meat-eatingdiet. 42. See. for example,the medievaltripartitepsychologyof animal,vegetative,and intellectualsouls discussedin Bahya,"Ta'anit,"Kad Ha-Kemah,in KitveRabbenuBahya,ed. C. Chavel,p. 441. The repetitionof nefesh in the treatmentin Leviticusof restrictionson of souls thatthe medieval meat-eatingcertainlylent itself easily to the theoryof reincarnation kabbalistslaterattachedto it.


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RabbinicInterpretations of "theTorahof Beast andFowl" The most obvious innovationin rabbinicinterpretations of "thetorahof beastandfowl"(Lev 11:46)is its use as a prooftextfor whatthe am ha-aretz and the talmidhakhammay and may not eat--namely,meat. However,it is not the only tack that rabbinicinterpreterstake, as a brief comparison between b. Pesahim49b, and b. Menahot110a (and paralleltraditionsin Sifra)will show. The prohibitionof an am ha-aretzfrom eatingmeat in b. Pesah. 49b, which uses Lev 11:46 as its prooftext,clearlyrefersto an am ha-aretzle-torah:"it is forbiddenfor an am ha-aretzto eat meat, as it is written,'This is the torahof beastandfowl' (Lev 11:46);for all who engage in Torah,it is permittedto eat the flesh of beastandfowl. But for all who do not engage in Torah,it is not permittedto eat beast and fowl." The phrase "torahof beastandfowl"has a doublemeaninghere.Onthe one hand,"torah of beast and fowl" refers to the prohibitionof beast-meatto one class of people, and its permissionto others.On the otherhand,"torahof the beast" seems to referto the am ha-aretzhimself. Thatis, the torahis that the am ha-aretzis a beast. This is apparentfromthe contextin whichit occursin b.Pesah49b, as one amonga list of baraitotof nastythingstalmideihakhamimhave to say about ammeiha-aretz.Immediatelyprecedingour baraitais a quotationof Deut 27:21: "Cursedbe he who lies with any kind of beast [behemah],"which functionsbothas a prooftextfor the secondof two baraitotforbiddinga man to marryhis son to the daughterof an am ha-aretzand as the associative verbal link to our baraita,which uses the word "beast"(behemah)three times.43The effect of this whole list of anti-am ha-aretztraditionshere is to suggest that the am ha-aretzand his offspringare beasts fit neitherto eat nor to sleep with. The passage emphasizesthis in severalways. In the firstbaraitaforbiddingmarriageto the daughterof an am ha-aretz,the unfit brideis comparedto inedibleberriesgraftedto ediblegrapes.In the second, marriageto her is equatedwith sex with a beast. Ourrabbistaught,a manshouldalwayssellwhathehasandmarrythedaughter of a talmidhakham,for if he dies or goes intoexile he is assuredthathis 43. Some printededitionsof the Talmudplace a fourthbehemahin parenthesesafteram haaretz asur le- 'ekholbasar,butit seemsclearthatthis a latereditorialaddition,anddoes not appearin R. Bahya'squotationof the baraita.


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childrenwill be talmideihakhamim,and he shouldnot marrythe daughterof an am ha-aretz,for if he dies and goes into exile, his childrenwill be ammei ha-aretz.... But he shouldnot marrythe daughterof an am ha-aretz.This may be comparedto bunchesof grapescombinedwith the berriesof a thorn bush,which is a repulsiveandunacceptablething. Our rabbistaught,a man should always sell all he has and marrythe daughterof a talmidhakham. . . but he shouldnot marrythe daughterof an am ha-aretz,for they are detestableand theirwives are vermin,and of their daughtersit is said,"'Cursedbe he who lies withanykindof beast[behemah]" [Deut 27:21]. It was taught,Rabbisaid, it is forbiddenfor an am ha-aretzto eat meat,as it is written,"Thisis the torahof beastandfowl"(Lev 11:46);for all who engagein Torah,it is permittedto eat the flesh of beastandfowl. But for all who do not engagein Torah,it is not permittedto eat beastandfowl. Immediately following are some vicious traditions that compare the killing of ammei ha-aretz to the ritual slaughter of beasts, or to profane slaughter,or to filleting a fish! R. Eleazarsaid, An am ha-aretzmay be stabbedeven on YomKippurwhich falls on a Sabbath.His pupilssaid to him, Master,say rather,may be ritually slaughtered.He replied,the latterrequiresa benediction,the formerdoes not. . .. R. Samuelb. Nahmanisaidin the nameof R. Yohanan,Onemaytearan am ha-aretzlike a fish. SaidR. Samuelb. Isaac,[Thatis], alonghis back... Rabbi Akiva recalls that before he was a talmid hakham, when he was an am ha-aretz, he used to say, "If ever someone let me at a talmid hakham, I would bite him like an ass." Against his students' suggestion that he bit them like a dog, Rabbi Akiva insisted that he bit them like an ass, because an ass "bites and breaks a bone, while [a dog] bites but does not break a bone." Furthermore,the ammei ha-aretz are beasts not only because of what and how they eat, but also because of how they have sex, as R. Meir makes explicit in the baraita immediately following Rabbi Akiva's statement: R. Meirused to say, Whoevermarrieshis daughterto an am ha-aretzis as if he boundandlaidherbeforea lion, forjust as a lion tearsandeatswithoutany shame,so an am ha-aretzhits andhas intercoursewithoutany shame.44 44. b.Pesah 49b.


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On the otherhand,Torah,unlikethe daughtersandsons of ammeiha-aretzis a good thing to be "marriedto"--metaphorically,since the Torah,according to R. Hiyya, is like one's fiancee(me'orasah).Literally,too, if one follows the adviceof the initialbaraitotto marryone's daughterto a talmidhakham, the embodimentof Torah.45 So whatarewe to makeof this set of analogiesthatstressthe beastliness of the talmid hakham?First, of the am ha-aretzand the "attractiveness" the text points to the am ha-aretz'scrude and shamelessappetitesas the of his beastliness.R. Akiva,whenhe was an am distinguishingcharacteristics couldn't even tell the differencebetweenfood anda Torahsage, as ha-aretz, his bone-breakingass-bitesdemonstrate.Secondly,the am ha-aretz'ssexual appetitesareno better;he violentlyripsintohis spouselike a lionrippinginto his freshlyslain prey,to eat it. In contrast,the talmidhakhamis refinedand civilized.He knowsthe differencebetweenritualslaughterandslaughterthat does not requirea blessing,to fillet a fish firstratherthanshove it whole into his mouth.Ironicallythe talmideihakhamimseem to advocatethe murder of ammei ha-aretzby means of this civilizing knowledge.This bringsme to my thirdpoint, that the whole passage in b.Pesahim49b has the flavor of rhetoricalhyperbole,and is not meantto condonemurder.RabbisAkiva, Eleazar,Samuelb. Nahmani,and Samuelb. Isaac seem more interestedin name-callingthanactualmurder:ammeiha-aretzare beasts,dogs, donkeys, andravenouslions. However,it is notby chancethatthesebaraitotlabeltheir nemeses"beasts."Twothingsdistinguishbeastsfromhumanbeingshere:(1) beastsarepotentialfood, peoplearenot, and(2) peoplehaveknowledge,that is, Torah,and beasts do not. Torahand edibilityare what distinguishmen from"beasts."Thatis probablywhy R. Judahforbidsammeiha-aretzto eat meat.If you don'tknow the differencebetweenmeatanda person(as Akiva the donkey/amha-aretzdidn't,as the lion/amha-aretz,who behavesthe same way with his meatas with his mate,doesn't),thenmaybeyou hadbetterstick to vegetables.Meat-eatingshouldreinforcethe superiorityof the dinerover his dinner.A man withoutTorahis no betterthana beast;therefore,"forall who do not engage in Torah,it is not permittedto eat beastand fowl."46 45. As R. Hiyyataught,"All who engagein Torahin frontof an am ha-aretz,it as if they cohabitedwith his betrothedin his presence.. , for it is said,'Moses commandedus a Torah, as a possession[morashah]for the assemblyof Jacob.'Do not readmorashahbutme orasah, betrothed"(b.Pesah49b). 46. In fact,this is how R. IsaiahHorowitzunderstands thisbaraitain ShnayLuhotHa-Brit, albeitprobablythroughthe kabbalisticlens of R. Bahya'sinterpretation: "Everythingthat is

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The "Torahof beast and fowl" baraita,along with even the harshest of the anti-amha-aretzbaraitotfromb.Pesah49b, arethusthe "propaganda" new class of sages emergingfromthe periodof Yavneh,who "plac[ed]Torah and its study at the centerof the religious-nationallife of the people."47As AharonOppenheimersuggests,the Torah-centered ideology of the talmidei hakhamimwas intended,on the one hand, to bolster their credentialsfor leadership,and,on the other,to of the SecondTempleand the fill the vacuumcreatedby the destruction abolitionof itsritual. theseverityof thestatements is. againsttheammeiha-aretz Accordingly, of in of in the nature favour as to be propaganda studying regarded being . thatoneof themeansof propagating thestudyof theTorah.Itis veryprobable a knowledge of andeducated theTorahandof seeingthateveryJewacquired andvigorous his [sic] childrenin it, was throughthe severecondemnation in advancing thestudyof the of anyonewhofailedto participate disapproval Torah.48 Hence, laterhalakhiccommentatorsdo not view the prohibitionof meat to the am ha-aretzas halakhah,but ratheras a rule of derekheretz ("good manners"),or a derogatorycommentabout ammei ha-aretz,i.e., that the rulesof kashrutfor beef andchicken,slaughter,salting,etc., are so complex that an am ha-aretzwould be betteroff avoidingmeat altogetherunless he deferredto the supervisionof a Torahscholar.49However,they preserveits pro-talmidhakhamintent. propagandistic createdlongs and yearnsto go up to a level greaterthanit until it goes up to the level of an angel.And when a personeats an animalthe flesh of the animalis changedintothe flesh of a humanbeing. Thusan am ha'aretzis forbiddento eat meat.(b. Pesah.49b) Alas for the flesh becauseof flesh. Foran am ha 'aretzis [madeout of] the materialof a beastlike the beastthat is eaten.But whena personwho has intellectandeatsan animal,the animalmeritsto be raised into humanflesh. Afterthatthe humanlevel [itself]goes up due to the intellectand soul that the Holy One Blessed be He placedin it."Sha'arHa-Othiyot4, DerekhEretz(3). AmHa-aretz,p. 184. 47. Oppenheimer, 48. Ibid. 49. So Ozar Ha-Geonim,ad loc.: "Theseare not statementsof halakhicprohibitionor permissionby which one could say this is or is not halakhah.Ratherthey are statementsof rulesof derekheretz,andthe expressionof contemptforammeiha-aretz."In recommendation, generalthe halakhiccommentatorson this baraitastressthatit is the am ha-aretz'signorance of the "torah"of kashrut-the slaughterand preparationof beasts and fowl---thatmakes it Forexample, inadvisableforthemto eatmeatif notunderthesupervisionof talmideihakhamim.

MEAT-EATING ANDJEWISHIDENTITY

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Even other rabbinic traditions that interpret "torah of beast and fowl" without any reference to ammei ha-aretz still function as pro-talmid hakham rhetoric. For example, Sifra to Lev 11:46 and its parallels in the Talmud interpret "torah of beast and fowl" as a type of legal inference by analogy. "Torah"here means the Oral Torah, whether of the tannaitic traditions of purity already assumed in Sifra's formulation or the explicit logical analogy attributedto the text of Lev 11:46. Sifra asks, By whattorahis a beastequatedwitha fowl?A beastmakessomethingunclean by carryingand contact,while a fowl does not make somethinguncleanby carryingand contact.The fowl [meat]makessomethinguncleanwhen it is in a throat,the beast[meat]does not makeit uncleanwhen it is in a throat.So by what torahis a beastequatedwith a fowl, and fowl to beast?It is here to tell you thatjust as a beastmustbe rituallyslaughtered[tobe eaten],so a fowl must be rituallyslaughtered[to be eaten].You mightsupposethatjust as a beastis [madeclean] becausetwo [organsin the throathave been severed],so a fowl because the two [organs]or the greaterpartof the two [have been severed]. But Scriptureteaches[i.e., limitsthe inference],saying"this."R. Eleazarsaid, By what torahis a beast equatedwith a fowl, and fowl to beast?It is here to tell you thatthe fowl is madekosherby slaughteringit fromthe neck,andthe beast is made kosherby slaughteringit from the neck. You might thinkthat just as a fowl is pinchedfrom the shoulders,so a beast is pinchedfrom the shoulders.But Scriptureteaches"itshead"[Lev5:9],theheadof thefowl from its shoulders,andnot the headof a beastfromits shoulders.50 Sifra makes it clear elsewhere that it understandsthe use of the term "torah" in Leviticus as referring to the dual Torahof the rabbis, in a comment to Lev 7:3, the summary of the sacrifices: the RI"Non R. Isaacal-Fasicites R. SheriraGaonandR. Isaacthe Barceloni:"Toobadfor the am ha-aretz,who sometimeshas beastsandfowl, butbecauseof his am ha-aretz-ness,does not knowhow to slaughteror examinethem,so it is forbiddento eat fromthem";the Meiri:"anam ha-aretzwherethereis no one [sage] greaterthanhim, it is forbiddenfor him to eat meat,for manydoubtsmayariseoverthe slaughter,andits corpse,andthe meat'ssalting,andits mixture with otherfoods, andhe does not know";or R. Solomonben Adret(R. Bahya'steacher):"Of beastandfowl therearemanyrules,andwhoeverdoes not engagein Torahcannotdistinguish betweenprohibitedandpermitted,whereasforfish he caneasilydistinguishbetweenprohibited and permitted,he can tell by the scales by himself(cited in M. Kasher,TorahShelemah,vol. 28, p. 242). 50. Sifrato Lev 11:46,par.b.Hull27b, b.Zevah69a.


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Andthe torot.It teachesthattwo torotweregivento Israelat MountSinai, onewrittenandone oral.R. Akivasaid,Twotorotto Israel?Doesit notsay thatmanytorotweregivento Israel?Thisis thetorahof theolah.Thisis the torahof theminhah.Thisis the torahof theasham.Thisis thetorahof the zevahshlemim.Thisis thetorahof a manwhodiedin a tent.... Thetorah its specifics,anditsexplanations wasgiven-its halakhot, byMosesonMount Sinai.s5 The "torahof beast and fowl" would be just one morerabbinicexampleof how the Oral Torahis a necessarycomplementto the WrittenTorah.The Torahmakes "beastand fowl" analogous,but only the OralTorahexplains preciselywhat the analogyis, giving us the torah'shalakhot,specifics,and explanations. In summary,the rabbinictraditionsof the "torahof beast and fowl" referto a kindof knowledge,whetherritualizedin the halakhotof kashrutor expressedas hyperbolicrhetoric,whichdistinguishedthe talmideihakhamim, the ideal rabbinictype, fromordinaryJews expectedeitherto aspireto their statusor to servethem.MartinJaffee'sdiscussionof Torahas "transformative Transknowledge"is particularlyhelpfulfor explainingthis phenomenon.52 formativeknowledgeis the type of knowledgecommunicatedin the social system of the "discipleshipcommunity"which transformsthe subordinate disciple into a master,a memberof the leadershipclass. Torah(the dual Oral and WrittenTorahof rabbinicJudaism)is the knowledgethathas the powerto transforman am ha-aretzwho bites people(andnotjust anypeople but the mastersthemselves!)to the bone like a donkeyinto a RabbiAkiva. The rhetoricof b.Pesah49b is full of metaphorsof transformation--eating and marriageespecially.Both are ways of "becomingone flesh"with their objects,but in this passage,marriageis the moreeffectivemeans.Marriage to Torah,whetheras a metaphorfor studyof Torahor the literalmarriageof one's childrento the embodimentof Torah,the talmidhakham,raises,thatis, transforms,one's own or one's children'sstatusfromdiscipleto master.On the otherhand,biting one's masteronly confirmsone's subhuman,beastly who does status,and the marriageof one's daughterto an am ha-aretz/beast not know Torahlowers her status and condemnsher childrento "beast" status.The "torahof beast and fowl" in the rabbinictexts is transformative 51. SifraBehukotai8:13. 52. MartinS. Jaffee,"A RabbinicOntology."


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knowledge.The "torahof beast and fowl" is what, in effect, convertsthe beastAkiva into the disciple,andeventuallyinto the master,RabbiAkiva.It changeshis way of seeing things.In contrast,the "torahof beastand fowl" in Leviticus (along with its other torot) is what MartinJaffee would call "formativeknowledge"--the"knowledgeexpectedof functionalparticipants in a religioustraditionor culture... the knowledgethatshapesthe cultural and autobiographical Thus,the "torahof beastand identityof the knower."53" fowl" in Leviticus (11:46) is part and parcel of the knowledgethat "you shall make yourselvesholy and be holy becauseI [YHWHyour God] am holy ... becauseI YHWHraisedyou up fromEgyptto be your God"(Lev 11:44-45). The differencein functionbetweenthe torotof Leviticusand of the rabbinictexts is like the differencebetweenthe processesof socialization and conversion,respectively. But it is also importantto pointout thatit was the torotof the priestsand theirsacrifices,not the master/disciplerelationship,thatthe Bible proffersas the basis of Israeliteculturalidentity. The rabbis'interpretations wrenchthese holinessandpurityrulesout of the priestlysacrificialsystemby castingthemalmostentirelyin the language and institutionsof theirown rabbinicconcerns,namely,the master/disciple relationship.The master/disciplerelationshiptends to supplanteven family and kinshipties as the primary"affectiverelationship"in Judaism.54In the languageof the culturalanthropologyof honor and shame, the "acquired honor"of Torahlearninghas replacedthe "ascribedhonor"of familylineage as the primarycriteriafor leadershipandsocialstatusin therabbinicsystem."5 In this context,the dietaryrules are to fosterdistinctionsbetweentalmidei hakhamimand ammei ha-aretzratherthan betweenpriests, Israelites,and non-Israelites(familial, ethnic, hereditarystatuses).Sacredstudy replaces sacred eating, sacred teacherssupplantpriestly officiantsat sacrifices;by playingdown the blood ties reinforcedby the sacrificialsharingof meat,the rabbislegitimatetheirnew Torahlearning-basedauthority.Consequently, the writtenpriestlytorotof LeviticusrequirerabbinicOralTorahforclarification, 53. Ibid.,p. 7. 54. Ibid.,p. 6. 55. My thanksto StanleyStowersfor pointingout the relevanceof this distinctionwhenI presentedan earlierversionof this paperto the BrownUniversitySeminaron Mediterranean Religionsin Antiquity.For a clearexpositionof this theoryandits applicationto first-century Judaism,see BruceMalina,TheNew TestamentWorld:InsightsFromCulturalAnthropology, rev.ed. (Louisville,Ky.:Westminster/John Knox, 1993),pp. 28-62, esp. 33-34.

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specification,andapplication,andit is enoughto studythepriestlytorotrather thando them.

MedievalKabbalisticTransformations of the "Torahof Beast andFowl" Theethicalliteratureemergingfromthirteenth-century Spanishkabbalistic circles reverses the trend. Being engaged in Torahdoes not replace the sacrificesin the "as if' or "insteadof' ways of the Talmudand Midrash Halakhah;it becomes the means of makingsacrifices.Thereare two ways thatTorahstudybecomesa meansof sacrifice.One is thatthroughthe study of the mysticalsecretsof the Torah,one can cause the Divine Presence,the Shekhinah,to be drawndown to this world, even as the sacrificescaused the Divine Glory (KavodHaShem)to hover over the altarin the sanctuary (Mishkan)and give somethingback above, like the "pleasingodor"(reah of the zoharicliterature.R. Bahya, nihoah).This is particularlycharacteristic in his popularethicalmanual,Shulhanshel Arba,suggeststhatbothstudying the "secretsof the Torah"and actuallyeatingfood (as the priestsdid) draw the Shekhinahdown and replenishthe cosmic powersabove. It is precisely in this sense thatthe am ha-aretzwho does not engagein Torah,i.e., does not know the mysteriesof the Torah,cannotraisethe soul energiescontainedin animalmeat,while the talmidhakham,thatis, the maskil("enlightened one"), who does know them, can. Both the zoharicliteratureand R. Bahya rely heavily on the biblicalpriestlylanguageof sacrificeto describethe "secrets of the Torah,"especiallythe idea that the korban("sacrifice,"but literally, "thatwhich is broughtnear")drawsthe sacrificer,the sacrificialvictim, and the sacrificee,God, closer together.It is a metaphorfor the unitingof the differentsefirottogether. Let me brieflysketchout the theoryunderlyingR. Bahya'sinterpretation of our Lev 11:46tradition.In R. Bahya'stheoryof digestion,the spiritand body are inseparablyentwined. Andalreadyyouknowthatthesouldoesnotexistin thebodyanditsactivities arenot manifestunlessthe bodyeats.Andfromthisunderstand the matter of the sacrificeswhicharethe hiddenthingsof the Torah,aboutwhichit is written:"toMy [offeringby] fire,my pleasingodor"[Nu28:2].Thepower of thehighersoulincreasesandis addedto by thefireofferingsin theeating


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of the sacrifices,andso ourrabbissaid;56 "Mysacrifice,My bread,to My butScripture adds,"toMy [offeringby] fire."It couldsayjust"Mybread," of [offeringby]fire";to Myfireyougiveit. Thisis becauseof theconnection the soulto its attributes. Thepowersof the soulareconnected to thepowers of the body.Andunderstand theversethat"thefavoriteof theStrongOne" allthatis insideme [Ps.103:1,i.e.,David]mentions: "Mysoul,blessYHWH; [bless]Hisholyname."Theinvisibleuniteswiththeinvisible,thevisiblewith thevisible.Andunderstand thisthatthepowersof thesoularenotvisibleand areactualized the onlythrough body.If so, thebodyis a greatnecessityforthe revelation of thequalityof thesoulanditsperfection." public R. Bahyaderives Thus,physicaleatingfuses spiritualandphysicalpowers."5 the Hebrewverbfor "eating,",,,. fromthe verbfor "finishing,destroying," Inotherwords,he suggeststhat (whichI translatehereas "toannihilate"). ,,r,5. transformssomethinginto nothing,or perhapssomehow"completes" eating it. Eating is a process where matteris transformedinto spirit.Just as the stomach converts food matter into "invisible"powers that energize the variouslimbs and organsof the body, so the right sort of eatertransforms the spiritualenergiesthat exist in the physicalmatterof food in potential. Propereating/eaters"consume"the matterholdingthese energies--makeit as nothing--likhlotthem, activate them so that they can energize higher beings in their new "form."It is also not unlike what fire does to matter when it consumesit, turningdense solid tangiblematerialinto smoke.59 You can see and smell smoke, but you cannothold it or touch it; it is both like andunlikesomethingtransformedinto "nothing."HenceR. Bahyacompared eatingto the effect of the sacrificialfires on the foods placedand burnedon 56. Song of Songs Zuta,thoughin R. Bahya'sown paraphrased version(as per Chavel's note). 57. Shulhanshel Arba,p. 492. 58. R. Bahya'sinterpretation of the sacrifices-"the hiddenthingsof the Torah"--seems to come fromkabbalahof the Zohar.See esp. Zoharto ParashatTzav(RayaMehemna)33a-b, ed. Margoliot,vol. 3, pp. 65-66. 59. The IggeretHa-Kodesh,a kabbalisticmanualof sexualetiquettefalsely attributedto Nahmanides,but neverthelessfromthe same circleof Spanishkabbalistsas Bahya,statesthis explicitly.GregorySpinner,in his "Sexualand DietaryRestrictionsin the IggeretHakodesh" (Paperdeliveredat the Hinduismsand JudaismsConsultationPanel on "Problematizing the Categoryof Asceticism:The Domestic Arena,"AmericanAcademyof Religion/Societyfor Biblical LiteratureNationalMeeting,New Orleans,1996), p. 11, called my attentionto this reference.

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the priestly altar. However, for this "consumption"to happen, proper eaters must be eating food appropriateto them. Thus, it is to explain God's concession to humanity to eat meat after the Flood in addition to the vegetarian diet permitted to them before it, that R. Bahya draws upon and interpretsour rabbinic tradition that forbids meat to the am ha-aretz, but permits it to the talmid hakham.60Here the talmid hakham's Torah-learninggives him the ability to "burn/consume"food into a more spiritual, refined substance (note especially. R. Bahya's choice of the verb kilah and its cognates to describe this process, and to make it analogous to another Being's "eating": At the time when all flesh went bad, and all animalsdeservedannihilation [kaliyah-from Whom?!]and would not have been savedwere it not for the merit of Noah, it was permittedto eat them [i.e., the meat of animals],just as the greens and grasseshad been before.At that time the animalsoul [lit. "mobilesoul"]was permittedto wait upon the intellectualsoul, who waited upon the Creator.And if so, this is not to demeanthe animalsoul, but rather a markof respect,status,and merit,and accordinglyour sages taught,"It is forbiddenfor an am ha-aretzto eat meat,as it is written,'This is the Torahof the beastand fowl' [Lev 11:46].All who engagein Toraharepermittedto eat the meatof beastsandfowl, andall who do not engagein Torahareforbidden to eat beastand fowl."6'The explanationof this amongthe enlightenedis that when we set aside a soul for a soul, this is nothingotherthanthe mobilesoul thatwe annihilate[me-kalim]for the intellectualsoul. But becauseone is an am ha-aretzandhas no intellectualsoul, you have it thathe is forbiddento eat meat,since [in him] we have nothingto set asideand annihilate[le-kalot]the animalsoul, since he is someonewho has no intellectualsoul, andunderstand this.62 The eating of the talmid hakham is more God-like because it parallels the God's "annihilation"of animals both in the Flood and, as we shall see, in the animal sacrifices. Thus, what the talmid hakham has that the am ha-aretz lacks is the "fire" of the intellect lit by the "light" of Torah.That enables him to "cook" denser, meatier food/soul substances into refined, intellectual/spiritual"soul"--real 60. b.Pesah49b. 61. b.Pesah49b. 62. Shulhanshel Arba,p. 496.


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"soul food." Then, not only the table of the talmidhakham,but the talmid hakhamhimself becomes the altar,or even the ishi, the sacredfire upon it, in which the good of this world is "broughtnear"(hukrav)and"consumed" as olot (lit., "thingsthat go up") up to the upperworld. Here we have a notionof eatingquite similarto the Zohar'sthatis latersystematizedas the Moreover,some foods-finer foods, like chicken "raisingof holy sparks."63 or grains-are more easily transmuted,"raised,"since they have souls that are less earthbound(birdsfly in the air,plantsgrow upward),thanthose of beaststhattreadon the landwith cloven hooves, i.e., redmeat.64 What I inferredfrom R. Bahya is made explicit in the Zohar,namely, the idea that scholars,who know the secretsof the Torah,when they eat, are like the priests' sacrificialfires that transformthe animal food into divine offerings.These ideas are stressedin the Zohar,especiallyin Raya R. Bahyaprobablylearnedthesetraditionsfromthe kabbalistsof Mehemna.65 its circle,66thoughthe Zoharneverspecificallyrefersto the talmudictradition "am ha-aretz asur le-ekhol basar ..." with its prooftext from Lev 11:46.67

However,in additionto Bahya,JosephGikatilla,Josephof Hamadan,Joseph ben ShalomAshkenazi,and the authorof SeferHa-Kanahcite it andgive it a kabbalisticinterpretation, thoughwithoutthe emphasison the symbolism of the sacrifices.68R. Bahya, however,seems to emphasizethe sacrificial 63. See esp. LouisJacobs,"TheUpliftingof Sparksin LaterJewishMysticism,"in Jewish Spirituality:FromtheBible to theMiddleAges,ed. ArthurGreen(NewYork:Crossroad,1987), 2:115-116, 117-119, and the 18th-19thHasidicsourcescited therein.Jacobsviews this as a Hasidicinnovation,the doctrineof avodahbe-gashmiyut("divineworshipthroughthe use of materialthings"),to be contrastedwith the more"ascetical"tendenciesof Lurianickabbalah stressingabstinencefromsensualpleasures,fasting,andgenerallynegativetowardthebody.As we can see, EasternEuropeanHasidicavodahbe-gashmiyutis morelikely a revivalof earlier views such as those of R. Bahya'sShulhanshel Arbathanan unprecedented innovation. 64. Shulhanshel Arba,p. 496. 65. See the excellentstudyby Joel Hecker,EachManAte an Angel'sMeal. 66. "My korban,my bread,my fire" (R. Isaac), cited in EfraimGottlieb,Ha-Kabalah be-khitveRabenuBahyabenAsher(Jerusalem:Be-siyuahReshutha-mehkarshel Universitat; Tel-Aviv:HotsaatKiryatSefer, 1970);ZoharIII, 252-253 (RayaMehemna);"Zaddikknows his beast,"ZoharIII,33b. 67. Hecker,Each Man Ate an Meal, p. 310, remarkson this "notablelacuna"in the Zohar'sinterpretation of eating,Angels especiallyin lightof its frequentdiscussionin the Spanish Zohariccircle. See the texts cited in the followingnote. 68. Gikatilla,ShaareOrah,II, 12;Josephof Hamadan,SeferTashaq,ed. JeremyZwelling (Ph.D. diss., BrandeisUniversity,1975), p. 92; idem, Sefer Ta'ameiHa-Mitzvot,pt. 1, ed.

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connotationsof the "torahof the beast and fowl" more than Gikatillaand Josephof Hamadan,and in this he follows the Zohar.In the Zohar,"Torah" is understoodnot only as halakhahor Oral Torah(this is a lower sort of Torah),but also as the secretsof Torah-how the Torahrefersto the system of sefirot.The secret of the biblical sacrifices(sod ha-korbanot)is one of the centralteachingsof kabbalisticTorah.Namely,the sacrifices(korbanot) cause a "bringingnearer"(hakravah,from the same root as korban)of the The am ha-aretz parts of creationmade separateby the act of creation.69 is at the bottom of a hierarchyof types of people and types of sacrifices with varyingdegreesof efficacy.The am ha-aretz,lackingwisdom,whichis Torah,is like a beast, and fit only for beastsacrifices.In the wordsof Raya Mehemna,some sacrifices arefromthosewhoarelikebeasts;somearefromthoseliketheministering angels,andsomefromthoselikehumanbeings.Forthosewhosedeedsare likedemons,theirsacrifices areallottedto demons.Forthosewhosedeedsare MenahemMeier (Ph.D. diss., BrandeisUniversity, 1974), pp. 309-310; Sefer Ha-Kanah (Cracow,1894), pp. 66a, 119b, 129a, 131a, 132a, cited and discussedby Hecker,Each Man Ate an Angel'sMeal, p. 123, n. 74; pp. 310-311, n. 2. Theirdiscussionof the passagefrom b.Pesahim49b focusesmoreon the competenceof the Torahscholaroverthe ignoramusin the delicateprocessof reincarnation involvedin eatingmeat.In otherwords,the Torahscholar's properslaughterandeatingtransformsthe animalsoul of the meatinto a higher,rationalsoul. As Hecker(EachManAtean Angel'sMeal,p. 123,n. 74) paraphrases Gikatilla,"Youarewhat eats you."Whilethis understanding of eatingas a meansof soul reincarnation is an important of Bahya'sview, too, the otherkabbalistsmentionedin this notebasethe Torah presupposition scholars'superiorcompetenceto transformanimalsouls on theirexpertisein the halakhotof kosherslaughterratherthanon theirknowledgeof the "secretof sacrifices."However,I do not wantto overstatetheirdifferences,which aremoreof emphasisthansubstantive,since Bahya and his Spanishkabbalisticcontemporaries all stressedthatdoing the halakhahand knowing the kabbalisticintentionsandreasonsforthe commandments (ta'ameiha-mitzvot)was farmore efficaciousthan doing the halakhahwithoutsuch esotericknowledge.See also Daniel Matt, "TheMysticandthe Mitzwot,"in JewishSpirituality from theBible ThroughtheMiddleAges, ed. ArthurGreen(New York:Crossroad,1988),p. 393, for furtherdiscussionof theurgiceating andmetempsychosisin thirteenth-century Spanishkabbalah.On the otherhand,Bahyaseems to representa distinctivestreamwithinthis circlefromthirteenth-century ProvenceandSpain, beginningwith Azriel of Gerona,who authoredthe text Sod Ha-Korban,or even his teacher Isaac the Blind (fromwhom Bahyagot the traditionabout"my korban,my bread,my fire," accordingto E. Gottlieb,Ha-Kabalahbe-KhitveRabenuBahya(n. 49 above),andthe authors of the zoharicliterature,who emphasizedthe languageof biblicalsacrificein theirkabbalah. 69. Zohar111,110a(RayaMehemna).


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areallottedto angels,as it is written, likeangels,theirsacrifices "Mysacrifice, my bread,to my fire"(Nu 28:2);thesearethe sacrificesthatdo not depend on beasts,forthesacrificesof beastsareof ammeiha-aretz. Thesacrifices of humanbeingsareprayersandgooddeeds.Andthesacrifices of thedisciples of thesages[talmideihakhamim], menof talent-thesearethemastersof the secretsof Torah,of thehiddenmysteries, andtheHolyOne,Blessedbe He, them a down as result of to Forthisis it, accepttheirsacrifices. goes among "theTorahof YHWHis perfect," theHolyShekhinah of thetenaspects.And thedisciplesof therabbis[talmidei theirwordsarelikeeating de-rabbanan], theremainsof thegrain[minhah] offerings,andthereareothersgreaterthan themwhosewordsarelikeeatingtheminhahitself,andnotits remains,and thereareotherswhosetorahis eatingthe holy [meat]offerings[kodashim] foodof severalkindsfit fortheKing,andall theminhahofferingsof foodsof thesacrifices fromtheHolyOne,BlessedbeHe,aretobringnearto Himallof thesethingsintoHishouse,whichis theShekhinah, andthisis thecommand to "bringnear"korbanot intoHischosenhouse.7" Hence, the Zohar, especially Raya Mehemna,carries over the rabbinic antipathytowardthe am ha-aretzthatwe foundin b.Pesah49b, buttransposes it into its own new schema of sacrifices."It has also been argued,by Y. Baer, that the Raya Mehemnaengages in social polemic against certain upper-classgroups hostile to the poor, with whom, he alleges, the author of Raya Mehemnaand his circle identified.72 Generallythe authorof Raya Mehemnacalls this groupthe erevrav ("mixedmultitudes")andoccasionally ammeiha-aretz,but he also refersto good ammeiha-aretz(i.e., those who servetalmideihakham).The polemicagainstthe ammeiha-aretzseems a bit artificial,not unlikewhatwe saw in b.Pesahim.It probablywas propaganda for being a talmidhakham,thatis, an "enlightenedone"(maskil)engagedin the secretsof the Torah,ratherthanan attackon a specificsocial class, andI thinkthe same is truefor R. Bahya'sreferencesto ammeiha-aretz.73 However,moresignificantfor ourpurposeshereis how R. Bahyaandthe Zoharunderstandthe earlierrabbinicconventionthatthe rabbinicformsof 70. Zohar111,110a(RayaMehemna).Note thatthe eatersof meatandgrainofferingsare of a higherrankthanthose comparedto eatersonly of the grainofferingsor theirremains. 71. See Tishby,Wisdomof the Zohar,pp. 898 andesp. 1430-1432 for a discussionof the am ha-aretzin RayaMehemna. 72. YitzhakBaer,"Ha-Reka'Ha-Historishel RayaMehemna";idem,Historyof theJews

in Christian Spain,vol. 1.

73. Anotherpossibilityis thatthe am ha-aretzas "beast"is not a person,but one of the threepartsof a tripartitedivisionof the soul. Boththe ZoharandR. Bahyainterpretthepasuk,

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divine service,especiallyprayerand the studyof Torah,replacethe priestly sacrifices.It is not simplythe substitutionof applesfor oranges,one distinct mediumof worshipfor another.The metaphorof the processof sacrificeis of divineservice,so thatthe person carriedover into this new understanding learnedand engagedin Torahwhen he eats reallyis like the priestsandtheir families whose consumingof the sacrificesbroughttheiressence closer to God.Somehow,thetalmidhakham'sTorahlearningqualifieshimto transform meat and otherfoods into spiritualenergywhich he sends backupward.He is an essentiallink in the processof "cosmicrecycling."The divine energy, shefa, flows down and makes this world thrive with abundantfruit and animals,which are transformed(in the past as sacrificedfood/firstfruits, etc., by priests,or now as "blessed"food from the talmidhakham'stable) fromits materialformback to energy,and thus sent backup. In R. Bahya's intentionhelps"fuse"the view, eatingwith the "right,"thatis, Torah-formed, and of sends material That them backtogethertoward aspects reality. spiritual theirsourcein a morerefinedform,just as the firetransformed the solid flesh of the korbanotinto the upward-boundetherealsmoke of the reah nihoah ("thepleasing fragrance").Whatwe have here is a theurgicconceptionof eating,analogousto thatof the biblicalpriestlysacrifices,thatwouldseem to requireeatingas well as studyingandknowingthe secret"torot"thatmakeit cosmicallyeffectual.The priestshad to physicallyconsumethe sacrificesto raise them to YHWH.Likewise,the talmidhakhamhas to eat food to raise the energy/soulin it. This kabbalisticunderstandingof the "torahof beast and fowl" ties togethermanyof the strandsof the olderbiblicalandrabbinicinterpretations, but integratesthem in a new way. Like the biblical "torahof beast and fowl,"it suggeststhatordinaryeatingfor Jews is analogousto priestseating theirsacrificialportions,and thatone mustmakethe properdiscriminations between types of food to "be holy as YHWH is holy."Like the rabbinic "torahof beastand fowl,"it is not only a torahof whichbeastsarepermitted or forbiddento eat, but also the torah that ammei ha-aretzare "beasts" themselves,and consequentlyshould or shouldnot eat certainfoods. And it is propaganda like the rabbinicinterpretation, advancingthe claimof Torah scholarsand theirdisciples over nonscholarsas the Jewishauthorities.But "theZaddikknowshis beast,"in this way, anduse am ha-aretzas a synonymfor "beast."See Zohar,III,33b; R. Bahya,KadHa-Kemah,"Taanit."


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unlike the rabbinictraditions,R. Bahya's "torahof beast and fowl" does not replacethe efficaciouspriestlyritualsof eatingwith the studyof them. Ratherhe unites them; the talmid hakham/maskil's eating combinedwith his knowledgeof the kabbalisticsecretsof the Torah,especiallythe secret of sacrifice,make his eatinga theurgicpracticebecause"thepowersof the soul are connectedto the powers of the body."This kind of torahis no longersimply"formative"(like the torotof Leviticus)or self-transformative (like the Torahthat transformedAkiva from a donkey to a rabbi), but It is a theurgic,almostmagicalknow-howthat effects world-transforming. the energyflow of the cosmos,indeedGodGodself.Themedievalkabbalistic "torahof beastandfowl"is a kindof returnto thetheurgicpracticeof biblical sacrifice,where the bountifulproduceand livestock God pouredonto the world were transformedby God's surrogatestomachs,the priestsand their fires, into a reah nihoah, a pleasing odor sent back up to God. But now rabbinicand kabbalistictorahtake on the role of cosmic digestiveaid, the knowledge-formingintentionsthat transformthe eater into the vessel, the fire,"myfire,"thatin turntransformshis food into God'sfood, "mybread," recyclingthe cosmic energies,as the priestsdid before. Now that we have seen how Bahya transformedearlierbiblical and rabbinictraditionsof the "torahof beast and fowl" into a gastronomic theoryof metempsychosisin the metaphoricalsacrificialfires of the Torah scholar'sstomach,the questionremains:why? Severalpossibleexplanations have been suggested for analogousphenomena,if not for this particular medievalJewish traditionper se. Bahya's"torahof beast and fowl" could be an anti-Maimonideanreaction to philosophicrationalism,a means of using sacrificial language to maintainmale hierarchicalprivileges, or a and self-differentiation means of simultaneous"inwardacculturation" from Let us examinethe meritsof eachposition. contemporaryChristianity.74 Bahya'sShulhanshel Arbais an exampleof the genreof ethicalliterature circleof rabbisin Gerona,whichJoseph thatemergedin thethirteenth-century 74. Marcus,Ritualsof Childhood,pp. 11-12, contrastsmodemoutwardacculturation, "the blurringof individualand communaltraditionalJewish identitiesand of the religious and culturalboundariesbetweenJews and modem societies,"to premoderninwardacculturation, "when Jews . . . did not assimilateor convert to the majorityculture[and] retainedan unequivocalJewish identity."At the same time, however,"thewritingsof the articulatefew or the customsof the ordinarymany sometimesexpressedelementsof theirJewishreligious culturalidentityby internalizingandtransforming variousgenres,motifs,term,institutions,or ritualsof the majorityculturein a polemical,parodic,or neutralizedmanner."

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Danclaimswas composedas an anti-Maimonidean responseto philosophical rationalism."Thisnew formof ethicalliterature justifiedpracticeon thebasis traditions rather than on GreekandArabicphilosand midrashic of talmudic Muslim ophy,as, for example,in ethicalworkscomposedin eleventh-century of Spain,like Solomonibn Gabirol'sTikkunMiddotHa-Nefesh("Correction the Soul's Inclinations")or Bahyaibn Pakuda'sHovotHa-Levavot("Duties like Nahmanidesand of the Heart").76In Dan's view, anti-Maimonideans RabbenuJonahGerondi(all citedextensivelyby Bahyain his commentaryto the Pentateuchas his teachers)were, as kabbalists,opposedto philosophical rationalism,especiallyfor its "negativetheology"andits tendencyto weaken commitmentto the practiceof the commandments.77 Kabbalistswho believed in the doctrineof the sefirotand thatTorahwas the nameof God disagreed with Maimonidesthathumanlanguageis incapableof referringaccuratelyto God.78And indeed,the kabbalistsof ProvenceandNorthernSpainwerequite interestedin speculatingaboutthe mysticalmeaningof the commandments However,wishing to keep their kabbalahesoteric, (ta'amei ha-mitzvot).79 would not use it explicitlyto attackthe Maimonideans circle the Geronese and to justify continuedpracticeof the commandments,in Dan's view.80 Rather,their ethical treatisestendedonly to hint at kabbalisticreasonsfor the commandments,or in the case of JonahGerondi,the foremostauthor of ethical works in this period,did not refer to kabbalahat all.81Bahya's workmightbe consideredin this light, as at least two of the fourchaptersof Shulhanshel Arba (chapters1 and 3) are extensivereworkingsof talmudic in JewishMysticismand 75. JosephDan,"PhilosophicalEthicsandthe EarlyKabbalists," JewishEthics,2nd ed. (Northvale,N.J.:JasonAronson,1996),pp. 17-48. 76. Ibid.,pp. 18-19, 23-28. 77. Matt,"TheMysticandthe Mitzwot,"pp. 396-367. 78. They did, however,maintainthe philosophicalidea thatat the highestlevel God was unknowable,as the Ayn Sof, "InfiniteOne,"butthatby meansof the sefiroticemanations,God was knowableandcouldbe named. 79. See especiallyMatt,"TheMysticandthe Mitzwot." 80. They were followingthe instructionsof the letterwrittenby Isaacthe Blind advising Ethicsandthe EarlyKabbalists," themto keeptheirkabbalahesoteric,Dan,"Philosophical pp. 36-37, and see also GershomScholem,Originsof the Kabbalah,ed. R. J. Zwi Werblowsky, transAllan Arkush(Philadelphia:JewishPublicationSociety, 1987),pp. 394-397. Jacobibn Sheshet and Asher ben David are mentionedby Dan, p. 35, as exceptionswho did cite kabbalisticexplanationsin theirethicaltreatises.Obviously,Bahyaben Asheris an exception too. 81. Dan, "PhilosophicalEthicsandthe EarlyKabbalists," p. 39.


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discussionsof blessings, and of the minorrabbinicDerekhEretztractates. Moreover,Bahya and his fellow kabbalists'positive assessment of the sacrificesstandsin diametricoppositionto the explanationof the sacrificial system in Maimonides'Guide to the Perplexed,thatthe sacrificeswere an outdated,temporaryinstitutionprovidedby God to wean the Israelitesaway On the otherhand,Bahya'streatiseis suffusedwith explicit fromidolatry.82 andalso kabbalisticexplanationsof thereasonsfortheeatingcommandments, hasmanyaffinitieswiththeArabic-influenced Jewishphilosophicalliterature. Bahya'sintroductorychapteris writtenin rhymedprose, not unlikeArabic adab manualsor maqamaliterature,and he presentshis second chapter, which includes the "torahof beast and fowl" tradition,as a physiological explanationof digestion,similarto ibn Gabirol'sphysiologicalreasonsfor the commandments.Dan probablyhas exaggeratedthe conflict between philosophyand kabbalah;the actualrelationshipis much more complex.83 While Bahya seems to prefer mystical to philosophicalreasons for the commandmentsfor eatingmeat,it wouldbe an overstatement to describehis approachas a polemicalreactionagainstMaimonideanphilosophy. ThatBahya'srevivalof sacrificiallanguagein orderto justify the restriction of animalflesh to Torahscholarsreinforcedmale privilege has more to recommenditself. Nancy Jay theorizedthat animalsacrifice"identifies, legitimates,andmaintainsenduringstructuresof intergenerational continuity betweenmales that transcendtheirabsolutedependenceon women'sreproductivepowers."84 One of Bahya'srarereferencesto women,thatJews and non-Jewsalike are equallyunderthe "thesentenceof Eve," except for the distinctiveTorahof eating,the dietary"regimenof pleasures,""is virtually a paraphraseof Jay'sremarkthatsacrificeis a "remedyfor manhavingbeen bornof women."86 Otherwise,womenareconspicuouslyabsentfromBahya's discussionof eating.This is remarkable,consideringthe extensivereferences and analogiesbetweeneatingandmarriageand sex with women in Bahya's talmudicsourcefor the prohibitionof meatto an am ha-aretz,b.Pesah49b. of soulscompletelysidesteps Bahya'sgastronomictheoryof thereincarnation therole of childbearingwomen.Soulsarerebornthroughthe sacrificialeating 82. Maimonides,MorehNebukhim(Guideto the Perplexed)3:32; Matt,"TheMysticand the Mitzwot,"p. 372. 83. Scholem,Originsof theKabbalah,pp. 404 ff. 84. Jay,ThroughoutYourGenerationsForever,p. xxvii. 85. Bahya,Shulhanshel Arba,p. 459. 86. Jay,ThroughoutYourGenerationsForever,p. xxiii.

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of male Torahscholars,not born of women. Bahya could have mentioned metempsychosisinvolving souls born of women, a theory articulatedin IggeretHa-Kodesh,fromthe same circle of kabbalists.For even if this text (a soul bornas a puts most of the responsibilityfor a "good"reincarnation withhiswife,87it malechild)in the intentionof thehusbandduringintercourse does not completelyeliminateherrole in the process,as Bahya'sgastronomic metempsychosisin effect does. Similarly,Bahya'suse of the term talmid hakham,"discipleof a sage,"for his idealtype, suggeststhat"real"lineage, the only inheritancethat counts, that is, Torah,is passed from teacherto student,not biologicallyfrommother(or even father)to child. Conversely, the origin of the am ha-aretz would be literally "from the earth."The formationof "disciples terminologyimplicitlyprivilegesthe male "cultural" of sages"over the female "natural" autochthonouscreationof "peoplefrom the earth."The slaughterand consumptionof animalflesh is importantto Jay'stheorybecausethe sheddingof the blood of the sharedanimalsacrifice symbolicallysupplantsthe blood of childbirthas the basis for initiationinto the community.Males ratherthanfemalesgive membersof the grouptheir identityand status.Jayuses as an examplethe revivalof sacrificiallanguage for the Eucharistin the RomanCatholicChurchto legitimatean exclusively To a certainextent,this is analogousto whatBahyadoes male priesthood.88 with sacrificialmetaphors.On the otherhand,Bahya'smeat-eatingdoes not legitimatea hierarchybased on biological inheritance,neithera hereditary priesthood(as in Leviticus) nor maleness per se. In principle,a woman could know Torah,could be a "discipleof a sage," even if not according to Bahya'spractice.89 Interestinglyenough,contemporaryfeministtheories of vegetarianismare often based on the assumptionthatsexist meat-eating tendsto equatewomen with beasts.90This equationis conspicuouslyabsent fromBahya'sdiscussion.On the contrary,Bahyaequatesmale ignoramuses, the ammeiha-aretz,with beasts.Lack of Torahknowledge,not genderper se, makespeoplebeasts,at leastin Bahya'sexplicitlyarticulatedviews. Still, Jay's argumentseems at least partiallyrelevantto Bahya'suse of sacrificial languagein his theoryof gastronomicmetempsychosis. 87. Spinner,"SexualandDietaryRestrictionsin theIggeretHakodesh,"p. 17. 88. Jay,ThroughoutYourGenerationsForever,pp. 112-127. 89. See, for example,ChavaWeissler's"Womenin Paradise,"Tikkun 2 (April-May1987): text 43-46, 117-120, who discusses the "ThreeGates Tkhine,"a later seventeenth-century influencedby kabbalahwhichportrayswomenlearningTorahin paradise. 90. I.e., Adams,SexualPolitics ofMeat.

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Finally,we havesuggestedthatBahya'seatingritualswereanexpressionof vis-a-vistheirnon-Jewishneighbors premodernJewish"inwardacculturation" in ChristianSpain.Marcusdefinesinwardacculturation as a processwhereby Jews "maintainedan unequivocalJewishidentity"but also "sometimesexpressedelementsof their Jewish religiousculturalidentityby internalizing and transformingvariousgenres,motifs, term,institutions,or ritualsof the Thetension majorityculturein a polemical,parodic,orneutralizedmanner."91 thatwe mentionedat the beginningof this paperbetweenBahya'sstatements regardingthe purposesof his eatingritualssupportsthis explanation.On the one hand, Bahya's "torahof beast and fowl" is the "regimenof delights," the dat sha 'ashu'im that distinguishesJews from all the other nationsof the world. On the other hand he suggested that the dietaryrules are a remedy for what looks a lot like originalsin, suggestingthat Bahya may have contemporaryChristianideas in mind. After all, Christianstoo were eatinga sortof sacrifice,the Eucharist,to remedytheirhumancondition.Ivan Marcushas arguedpersuasivelythatthe medievalAshkenazicJewish"ritual of childhood,"in which Jewishboys were initiated,in effect, intothe Jewish communityby licking honey-coveredtabletswith Torahverses on them,or cakes with Hebrewlettersand verses on them, while sittingon the laps of theirteachers,was a sortof Jewishalternativeto initiationinto the Christian Churchby means of communion.The eatingritualsBahyarecommendsin Shulhanshel Arba are probablythe expressionof a similarphenomenon, though in the context of ChristianSpain ratherthan northernEurope.In Marcus'sstudy of Ashkenaziceating rituals,the child/initiategoes from being definedprimarilyas a memberof a biologicalfamily to membership in the community.Jewishiconographyrepresentsthis graphicallyin pictures of Jewishteachersreplacingthe parentsas the ones feedingthe child, much like Christianimagesof MaryfeedingJesus,or Jesusfeedingcommunicants of the Church.While in a sense, one is "born"into eithercommunity,one is not really a full memberuntil one ingests a symbolicrepresentation of the Christiansareinitiatedas memberswhenthey community's"rootmetaphor." eat the Body of Christ,Jews when they eat the Torah.Moreover,this food is servednot by the biologicalparents,butby priestsor teachers,custodiansof the communalinheritance.This type of rite of passagecould accountfor the tensionin Bahya'srationalesfor the "torahof beastand fowl"as intergroup differentiation(Jews vs. Christians)and intragroupdifferentiation(talmidei 91. Marcus, Rituals of Childhood, pp. 11-12.

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hakhamimvs. ammeiha-aretz).Theseeatingritualsmarkthe transitionfrom wouldcall Jewishstatusbasedon one'sethnicbirthright (whatanthropologists an "ascribedhonor")to one basedon learnedexpertisein Torah(an "acquired honor").ForJews living in ChristianSpain,beinga Jew is no longera matter of purely ethnic inheritance,but has a conceptualcontent.For Bahya, the Jewish "torahof beast and fowl," the kabbalisticTorahof the sacrifices,is the concepts and intentionsthat distinguishJudaismfrom Christianityand its distinctive"torahof sacrifice,"the redemptivedeathand resurrectionof Christon the cross.However,these areonly ideas,inheritedmetaphors,until they are actuallyphysicallyinternalizedin the bodies of Jews or Christians. The distinctiveeatingritualsfor each communityare a ritualizationof their fundamentalmetaphors,a way of incarnatingthe souls of their respective Jewish"enlightenedones"werelike priests traditions.The thirteenth-century andsacrificialfires,transformingthe souls of "beasts,"thatis, kosheranimal flesh,intohighersouls,while at the sametimedistinguishingthemselvesfrom human"beasts,"thatis, those who lackedthe intellectandTorahknowledge necessaryforthisprocess.Hence,Bahya's"torahof beastandfowl"ritualizes the original connotationsof Levitical "torah"as both priestly "teaching" about"beastsandfowl"anda "ritual"to be performedon them.But it is done metaphorically,since the performersare not hereditarypriestsbut talmidei hakhamim,and technicallythe "beasts"are not sacrifices.However,thanks to a kabbalistictheoryof reincarnation, Bahyais ableto transformthe "torah of beast and fowl" into a distinctivelyJewish form of inwardacculturation to thirteenth-century ChristianSpain,a Jewishadaptationand alternativeto Christiantendenciestowardincarnational the contemporary theology.92Thus, whilethe "torahof beastandfowl"is not a singleinitiatoryriteof passagelike the ritualsof childhoodthat Ivan Marcusdiscusses,it is a systemof eating rituals,of ritualizedmetaphorsof Torahintendedfor the same purpose,to transformordinaryJewishmales into embodiments,"incarnations" of Torah in a Christiansociety. Wheaton College Norton,Mass. 92. Forthese Christiantendencies,thoughnoneof herexamplesarefromSpain,see Carol andRedemption: WalkerBynum,"WomenMysticsandEucharistic Devotion,"inFragmentation Essayson Genderand theHumanBodyin MedievalReligion(New York:ZoneBooks, 1992), pp. 143-148. A morepreciseaccountof therelationshipof Bahya'seatingritualsto the specific ChristianSpainis still needed. theologicaltrendsof thirteenth-century

Samuel Ibn Tibbon on the Book of Job Author(s): Robert Eisen Source: AJS Review, Vol. 24, No. 2 (1999), pp. 263-300 Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Association for Jewish Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1486755 . Accessed: 15/07/2011 11:03 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at . http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=cup. . Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].



SAMUELIBN TIBBONON THEBOOKOF JOB by ROBERTEISEN

Samuelibn Tibbon(diedca. 1232)is best knownas the translator of Guideof thePerplexed.But as AviezerRavitzkyhas shown Maimonides' and in a seriesof recentarticles,ibn Tibbon in his doctoraldissertation thinkerin his ownright.'Firstandforemost,ibnTibbon was an important of Maimonides' appearsto have been the earliestsignificantinterpreter Whilethere thought.He was alsoone of themostinfluential. philosophical heldradical hadbeensuspicions,evenduringhis lifetime,thatMaimonides esotericphilosophical views,ibnTibbonwasthefirstto lendsophistication to this viewpointby developingan elaboratesystemof interpretation for 1. Aviezer Ravitzky, "The Thought of Zerahiahben Isaac ben She'altiel Hen and Maimonidean-Tibbonian Philosophyin the ThirteenthCentury"[Hebrew](Ph.D.diss.,Hebrew Universityof Jerusalem,1979); idem, "ThePossibilityof Existenceand Its Accidentalityin Maimonidean [Hebrew],Da 'at2-3 (1978-79):67-97; idem, Thirteenth-Century Interpretation" "TheHypostasisof Divine Wisdomin Thirteenth-Century JewishThoughtin Italy"[Hebrew], Italia 3, nos. 1-2 (1981): 7-38; idem, "Samuelibn Tibbonand the EsotericCharacterof the Guide of the Perplexed,"AJS Review 6 (1981): 88-123; idem, "Aristotle'sBook of Meteorologyand the Waysof MaimonideanExegesis in the Accountof Creation"[Hebrew], JerusalemStudiesin Jewish Thought9 (1990): 225-249. Ibn Tibbon'ssignificancewas also acknowledgedby GeorgeVajdain his studyof ibn Tibbon'sMa 'amarYiqqavu Ha-Mayimand its refutationby Jacob ben Sheshetin Recherchesur la philosophieet la Kabbaledans la penseejuive du MoyenAge (Paris:Mouton,1962),pp. 14-31. A somewhatabridgedEnglish versionof this chapterappearedas "AnAnalysisof Ma'amaryiqqawuHa-Mayimby Samuel ben JudahIbn Tibbon,"Journalof JewishStudies10, nos. 3-4 (1959): 137-149. See also the recentarticleof Tzvi Langermann, "A New Sourcefor Samuelibn Tibbon'sTranslation of the Guideof the PerplexedandHis Notes on It"[Hebrew],Pe'amim72 (Summer1997):51-74 I would like to takethis opportunityto thankAvi Ravitzky,as perhapsthe foremostexpert on ibn Tibbon,for readingthis paperand offeringvaluablesuggestionsfor improvingits content.I would also like to thankLarryKaplanfor doingthe same.

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unlockingthe secretsof the Guide,one thatwouldhave a significantimpact of Maimonides.2 on subsequentinterpreters Moreover,ibn Tibbonis to be creditedwith initiatinga school of philosophicalexegesis thatwould developin Provenceand Italyin the thirteenth century,and includedsuch thinkersas his son Moses ibn Tibbon,Zerahiah Hen, and Moses of Salerno.3Ibn Tibbontook up the challengeof takingthe exegeticaltechniquesdevelopedby Maimonidesin the Guideand applying them more comprehensivelyand extensivelyto the Bible thanMaimonides himselfhad. IbnTibbon'stwo majorworksarededicatedto this project.His on Ecclesiasteswas one of the firstcommentarieswrittenon an Commentary entirebiblicalbook in light of Maimonides'philosophicalteachings,while his Ma 'amarYiqqavuHa-Mayimprovideda similartype of commentaryon variousportionsof the biblicaltext manyof which hadnot been interpreted by Maimonides.4 of Maimonidesis alreadyevident 2. The esotericorientationof ibn Tibbon'sinterpretation in his earlyworks:epistles,criticalnotesappendedto his translationof the Guide,a glossaryof to his translationsof Maimonides.But it is extensively philosophicalterms,and introductions on Ecclesiastesand Ma'amarYiqqavu developedin his two majorworks, his Commentary uniquelyableto comprehend Ha-Mayim.IbnTibbonsaw himselfas one of the few interpreters Maimonides'esotericdoctrines,a claimthatfindssupportin a statementby AbrahamMaimuni, Maimonides'son, who testifiesthathis fatherconsideredibn Tibbona greatsage andone who understoodthe secretsof the Guide;see QovesTeshuvotHa-RambamVe-'Iggerotav (Leipzig, 1859;repr.Jerusalem,1967), vol. 3, p. 16. Even thoughibn Tibbon'sworkswere composed beforethe firstmajorwave of the Maimonideancontroversyin the 1230s,he showsawareness of the fact thatthe Jewishcommunitysince Maimonides'lifetimehad been dividedover his writingsandthathis readingof Maimonideswouldbe criticized.In fact,theywere,in particular by the KabbalistJacobben Sheshetwho attackedibn Tibbonin his work MeshivDevarim discussion Nekhohim;see Vajda,Recherchesur laphilosophieet la Kabbale.A comprehensive of these issues can be foundin Ravitzky,"Samuelibn Tibbon." 3. Ravitzky,"SamuelibnTibbon,"pp. 88. Theinfluenceof ibnTibbonon thirteenth-century Europeanand Italianphilosophicalexegesis is discussedextensivelythroughoutRavitzky's dissertation. 4. A key elementunitingthis school of philosophicalexegesis was a theorydeveloped regardingJewishintellectualhistory,a by ibn Tibbonand adoptedby subsequentinterpreters theorydesignedto justify the writingof philosophicalcommentaries.Ibn Tibbonechoes the thoughtsof previousJewishphilosophers,includingMaimonides,in believingthatphilosophy was an esoteric traditionoriginatingwith the Jews. But ibn Tibbon took this theory in an originaldirectionby giving an elaboratedescriptionof how the esoterictruthsof this philosophicaltraditionhadbeen graduallyrevealedfrombiblicaltimes onwardin responseto the circumstancesof variousepochsin Jewishhistory.IbnTibbonsaw Maimonides'Guideas

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Yet, despite the recognitionthat Ravitzky'swork has broughtto ibn Tibbon,relativelylittle work has been done on him. In this paper,it is my intentionto bringattentionto the richnessanddepthof ibn Tibbon'sthought by analyzinga section of Ma 'amarYiqqavuHa-Mayimthatdeals with the book of Job. To my knowledge,this is the firsttime thata close readinghas been done on a specificportionof this text.' Ibn Tibbon'sdiscussionof Job constitutesa relativelysmall section of Ma'amar YiqqavuHa-Mayim,a mere seventeenpages in a treatisewhich extendsto one hundredand seventy in the printededitions,and, therefore, it is not my intentionhere to providea comprehensiveunderstanding of ibn Tibbon'sthought,or even of Ma'amarYiqqavuHa-Mayim,for thatmatter. However, the type of analysis I have chosen is, I believe, necessaryto advanceour understandingof this importanttreatiseand thus ibn Tibbon's thoughtin general.To understandwhy this is the case, it shouldfirstbe noted thatMa 'amarYiqqavuHa-Mayimis ostensiblyan inquiryinto a problemin physics: why is the earthnot covered in its entiretyby water?According to medieval physics, earth is heavier than water and thereforeshould be submergedby the latter.Whatthen explainsthe fact that large portionsof earthpokeoutabovethewaterandarein directcontactwithair?Butwhilethis questionis the statedpurposeof Ma 'amarYiqqavuHa-Mayim,it is largely made up of a series of loosely connectedsections which analyzebiblical passagesfroma philosophicalstandpoint.Onlytowardthe endof the treatise does ibn Tibbondeal with the originalproblem,offeringa solutionthat is by no means clear.6Thus,Ma 'amarYiqqavuHa-Mayimis not a systematic it will requireanalysis philosophicaltreatise,andany hope of understanding of its individualexegetical units. Our choice of formatin this paper is thereforeintendedto addressthis very need.

only the latestin a seriesof attemptsto bringthis traditionto light.See Ravitzky'sdiscussion, ibid.,pp. 108-116. 5. This treatise(hereaftercited as MYH)was edited--somewhatinadequately-byM. L. Bisliches(Pressburg,1837). All citationswill be fromthis edition.IbnTibbon'sdiscussionof Job is containedin chapters15-18, pp. 100-117. 6. The solutionis discussedin MYH,pp. 133-135, 143-146. NeitherVajdanor Ravitzky of ibn Tibbon'sviews on attemptsto tackle this difficultissue. A varietyof interpretations creationcan be foundin medievalsourcesandarediscussedby Ravitzkyin "Aristotle'sBook of Meteorology,"pp. 244-250. Ibn Tibbonadoptsan esotericmethodof writingin orderto concealhis trueviews which in this case appearsto havebeenall too effective.

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Anotherreasonfor limitingthe scope of ourinquiryto a specificsection of Ma 'amarYiqqavuHa-Mayimis its mode of discourse.It is writtenin a difficultstyle thatdemandsclose andcarefulreading.In partthisis dueto the fact thatibn Tibbonemulateshis teacherMaimonidesin adoptingan elusive and esotericform of writing.It is for this reasonthatmanyof ibn Tibbon's basic philosophicalpositionsremainto be clarified. While an analysis of any number of sections of Ma'amar Yiqqavu Ha-Mayimwould yield fruitfulresults,I have chosento look at the portion on Job for two reasons.It is clearfromhis well-knownletterto Maimonides regardingprovidence,writtenin 1199,thatibnTibbonlookedto Maimonides' readingof the book of Jobin Guide111:22-23as key for revealingthe latter's secretdoctrineon providence.It is on the basis of his understanding of this section of the Guide that ibn Tibbonconcludesthat Maimonidessupports an Aristotelianposition regardingprovidence.7Yet it is only in Ma'amar Yiqqavu Ha-Mayim,writtenno earlierthan1221,thatibnTibbonprovideshis own detailedanalysisof Job.8Thus,by lookingat this section of Ma'amar YiqqavuHa-Mayim,we will gain valuableinsight into ibn Tibbon'sown views on providence,an issue thatseemsto havepreoccupiedhimthroughout his writings.Moreover,we will also gaininsightintotherelationshipbetween ibn Tibbonthe interpreterof Maimonidesand ibn Tibbonthe independent thinker.In Ma 'amarYiqqavuHa-Mayim,it is not alwayseasy to figureout when ibn Tibbonis statinghis own positionor adoptingthatof Maimonides. Here we have an ideal opportunityto assess this questionin that we have an earlierletter in which ibn Tibbonclearly spells out his understanding of Maimonides'position on Job. Thus, the questionis whetheribn Tibbon in Ma'amar YiqqavuHa-MayimadoptsMaimonides'readingof Job as he understoodit or offersa new andoriginalview. Before beginningthe discussion,I would like to elaboratefurtheron the difficultiesof ibn Tibbon'sstyle of discourse.As just noted,Ma'amar Ha-Mayimas a whole is writtenin an esotericmannerreminiscentof Yiqqavu thatof Maimonides.Thispresentsa numberof challengesfordecipheringibn 7. This letter was publishedby Z. Diesendruckin "Samueland Moses ibn Tibbonon Maimonides'Theoryof Providence," HebrewUnionCollegeAnnual11 (1936):341-365. The bookof Job is discussedby ibn Tibbonon pp. 355-356. 8. Forthe datingof this treatise,see MoritzSteinschneider, Die HebraeischenUbersetzungen des Mittelaltersunddie Judenals Dolmetscher(Berlin,1893),p. 200.

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Tibbon'sviews on Job.Thereis not only the problemof figuringoutwhatibn Tibbonis sayingon a given pointin his discussion,it is also left to the reader to assemblethese pointsinto a coherentpicture.Passagesthataredifficultto understandin earlierpartsof his discussionareonly clarifiedwiththe help of clues thatemergein laterportions.This qualityin ibn Tibbon'swritingalso makesit difficultfor us to presenthis views, since in the explicationof any one partof his expositionwe mustbe awareof whathe says elsewhere.' Anotherdifficultyis that ibn Tibbonassumesthathis readeris familiar with Maimonides'expositionof Jobin Guide,111:22-23,andthathis reader's of Maimonidesis preciselythe sameas his own. He therefore understanding does not always see the need to acknowledgethose elementswhich he has adoptedfrom his predecessor,or to explain how he has interpretedthem. of how ibn TibbonreadMaimonidesis at timescrucial Yet,an understanding to comprehendinghim. The difficultyis only compoundedby the fact that Maimonides'discussionof Job is one of the most impenetrablesectionsof the Guide-no small distinctiongiven thatthis workas a whole is notorious for its difficulty.10 We will thereforeproceedby summarizingibn Tibbon'sviews on Job of accordingto his orderof exposition,but becauseof the interdependence the differentparts of his presentation,we will not be able to proceed in a completely linear fashion. We will also have to supplythe pieces from MaimonidesthatibnTibbonco-optsintohis own readingbutdoes notalways fully explain. 9. Thesedifficultiesare,in varyingdegrees,characteristic of Ma'amarYiqqavu Ha-Mayim as a whole. 10. A numberof interpretations of Maimonides'readingof Job have been providedby modemcommentators.The differencesbetweenthemunderscorethe difficultyof interpreting this section of the Guide. See LeonardS. Kravitz,"Maimonideson Job: An Enquiryas to the Methodof the Moreh,"Hebrew Union CollegeAnnual38 (1968): 149-158; Charles Touati,"LesDeux Th6oriesde Maimonidesur la Providence,"in Studiesin JewishReligious and IntellectualHistory,Presentedto AlexanderAltmannon the Occasionof His Seventieth Birthday,ed. SiegfriedStein and RaphaelLoewe (University,Ala.: Universityof Alabama Press, 1979), pp. 331-334; HannahKasher,"TheImageandViews of Job in the Guideof the Perplexed,"Da 'at 15 (Summer1985):81-89; CharlesRaffel,"Providenceas ConsequentUpon the Intellect:Maimonides'Theoryof Providence," AJSReview12, no. 1 (Spring1987):25-72; JacobS. Levinger,"Maimonides'Exegesisof the Book of Job,"in CreativeBiblicalExegesis: ChristianandJewishHermeneuticsThroughout the Centuries,ed. BenjaminUffenheimerand HenningGrafReventlow(Sheffield:SheffieldAcademicPress, 1988),pp. 81-88.

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Ibn Tibbonintroduceshis expositionof Job in chapter15 of Ma'amar YiqqavuHa-Mayimwith the specific intentionof analyzingElihu'sspeech. Accordingto ibn Tibbon,Elihu expressesviews on providenceremarkably similarto those foundin Psalm73, a chapterthatibn Tibbonhasjust finished analyzing,and thereforean analysisof Elihu'sremarksserves to reinforce ideasalreadydeveloped.11 Yet,it soonbecomesevidentthatwhileibnTibbon, in his expositionof Job,is mostlyoccupiedwithElihu'sviews, his discussion effectivelyencompassesthe entirebook. Thedirectionof ibnTibbon'sreadingof Jobis madeclearfromtheoutset. The centralmessageof Elihu'sspeech,like thatof Psalm73, andthe central pointof the bookof Jobas a whole, is thatimmortalityis "themostimportant componentof providence"('iqar ha-hashgahah).12Job initiallycomplained aboutthe loss of materialthingsbecausehe knewGodonly throughtradition; but when he came to know God with trueknowledge,he realizedthatthere was no value in these, only in immortallife: thathe saidwhathe saidinhiscomplaints AndJobin hisfinalwordsadmitted andhis lackof andprotests[only]on accountof his lackof understanding thanhim.Thiswasbecausehedidnot of thosethingsmuchgreater knowledge knowGodexceptby virtueof whathe hadheard-thatis, throughtradition. Butwhenhe knewGodandHiswaysthrough trueintellectual ... knowledge he despisedthosegoodswhichwere"dustandashes"andregretted thathe anddesiredthem.Thisis againsttheirabsenceandthathe requested protested I he meant his statement: "Therefore [what in] despiseandrepentof dustand I ashes"(Job42:6).Thefull meaningof theverseis as follows:"Therefore dustandashesandof despisedustandashes,andI repentof havingrequested whenI waslackingdustandashes."'3 havingprotested Ibn Tibbon'sviews here can be fully understoodonly againstthe backgroundof Maimonides'readingof Job. Accordingto Maimonides,Job's from conceptionof divineprovidencewentthrougha processtransformation the beginningto the end of the story: ... the latter[i.e., Job]saidall thathe did say as longas he hadno true andknewthedeityonlybecauseof hisacceptance of authority, just knowledge 11. MYH,pp. 100-101. Psalm73 is given a lengthytreatmentin MYH,pp. 70-100. 12. Ibid.,p. 101. 13. Ibid.


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to theLawknowit. Butwhenhe knewGodwitha as themultitude adhering of whichis theknowledge he admitted thattruehappiness, certainknowledge, to all whoknowHimandthata humanbeingcannot thedeity,is guaranteed in question. Whilehehad be troubled in anywayby anyof allthemisfortunes Job storiesandnotbywayof speculation, traditional knownGodonlythrough suchas health,wealth,and imaginedthatthethingsthoughtto be happiness, as children,aretheultimategoal.Forthisreasonhe fell intosuchperplexity he did.14 In this passage, we get clarificationof ibn Tibbon'sunderstandingof the evolutionin Job's viewpoint,particularlywith respectto the errorin Job's initialposition.For Maimonides,Job'sinitialcomplaintsabouthis suffering were predicatedon a traditionaland erroneousview of God-in particular, the notion that divine rewardand punishmentare exclusively materialin nature.It was only after Job graduatedto a higher level of philosophical awarenessthathe realizedthatthis view was incorrectandwas thereforeable Ibn Tibbon'sentirediscussionassumes to make peace with his situation."1 in Job's outlook.Ibn Tibbonseems to departfrom the same transformation Maimonides,however, in seeing Job's higher philosophicalawarenessas consistingin the appreciationthattrueprovidenceis immortality.But more

on thislater.16

Ibn Tibbonhas yet to informus what Job got to know aboutGod that madehim understandthe centralityof immortalityand how Job gainedthis knowledge.The answersto these questionsare providedin the next chapter of ibn Tibbon'sexposition,which focuses on Elihu'sremarksin Job 33, a chapterwhich ibn Tibbonsees as key to the entirebook.Againthe influence of Maimonidesis apparenthere, since this chapterwas also the centralone for his readingof Job.17But as we shallsoon see, ibn Tibbon'sreadingof the chapteris not a simplereprisalof Maimonides'views. 14. Guideof the Perplexed111:23,pp. 492-493. All citationsfromthe Guideare fromthe translationof ShlomoPines(Chicago:Universityof ChicagoPress,1963). 15. Maimonides'views on the precisecontentof this higherphilosophicalawarenessand whatit is in Job'soutlookthatbringspeaceto himby the endof the storyarenot entirelyclear. See the sourcescited in n. 10 abovefor a rangeof views on this matter. 16. We mightalso note thatthe prooftextof Job 42:6, which is key for ibn Tibbonin the passagefromMYHjustcited,was also of centralimportanceforMaimonides.See Guide111:23, p. 493, and111:24,p. 497. 17. Guide111:23,pp. 494-497.

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According to ibn Tibbon, Elihu, in the opening verses of Job 33, rebuts Job's claim that God has acted unjustly by inflicting suffering on him even though he had not sinned: He saidto him-that is, Elihuto Job--regardingthiscomplaintof his [i.e.,Job's] thatit was notjustifiedandthatit was not correct.He gave an explanation[for Job's suffering]by hint (be-remez)in orderto refuteit [i.e., Job'scomplaint] by saying "God is greaterthan man" [Job 33:12]. That is, God's ways are elevatedabove the ways of flesh andblood. If mattersof this sort [i.e., unjust inflictingof suffering]are [considered]a corruption[of justice] in the ways of flesh and blood, it is not a corruption[of justice] in the ways of God, who is elevatedabove all elevatedbeings.Forit is possiblethatsufferingcan come upon one who has not sinnedagainstGod, even if he acted according to His will. Do not understandfrom my words that God brings suffering essentially(be-'esem)upon him who has not sinnedand has actedaccording to His will-like the opinionof the Asharitesandthe Mutazilites[whobelieve this];this was the opinionof BildadandZophar.Rather,they come uponhim becauseof Satan-that is, by reasonof some of the [celestial]intermediaries to man on accountof his [beingcomposedof] matter whom He has surrendered (homer)-that is, his body,not his soul, if he shouldwantto preserveit. But the body is generatedfrom corruptmatter,and [thus]one does not have the capacity to preserveit completely,not from completedissolutionnor from partialdissolution-that is, from suffering.[Thus,]thereis no corruption[of justice] beforeGod when He does not preserve[thebody].'8 Elihu argues, according to ibn Tibbon, that Job was not correct in complaining to God about the injustice of his suffering because God's ways are unlike those of man. For human beings, the inflicting of undeserved suffering is injustice. But for God this is not the case. When God inflicts undeserved suffering on man, it is due to the fact that man is composed of corruptmatterthat receives influences from God via the celestial world-here referred to as "intermediaries"('emsa "iyyim--in such a way that matter constantly undergoes generation and corruption.It is thus matter,represented in the story of Job by the figure of Satan, which is actually responsible for man's suffering. Therefore, God's justice is vindicated because even though God is the ultimate cause of all events in the world below, suffering does not come from God "essentially" or by "first intention." The key proof-text is 18. MYH, pp. 101-102.


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Elihu'sstatementthat"Godis greaterthanman"(Job33:12),whichis taken to meanthat in a concretephysicalsense God's ways are "elevatedabove" those of humanbeings in thatHe is detachedfromthe negativeeffects that He causes in the worldbelow. A numberof observationsarein orderhere.First,in identifyingSatanwith matter,Ibn Tibbonclearlyadoptswhathe believes to be Maimonides'view. In fact, this identificationin Maimonidesis not entirelycertain.However,a good many commentatorson Maimonidesassumethat,at least in the story of Job, he identifiesSatanwith eithermatteror privation,conceptsclosely relatedin his thinkingon the natureof evil.19 Ibn Tibbon also adopts the relatedNeoplatonicview common among medievalphilosophersthatevil occursbecausemattercorruptsthe essentially good emanationsoriginatingin God. But most important,we get a better picturehere of Job's transformation-inparticular,what it is that Job got to know about God which made him appreciatethat true providenceis immortality.ElihuteachesJob thatundeservedsufferingis possiblebecause of man'smaterialnature,which can receive influencesfromGod thatcause harm, and that this does not constituteany injusticeon God's part.From this lesson, it would seem, Job comes to realizethatthe traditionalmodel of divinerewardandpunishmentin whichhe hadbelievedis notcorrect.Physical well-beingin no way reflectsone's standingwith God,andimmortalitymust be the only truereward. 19. In fact, a good portionof Maimonides'discussionof Job is takenup by the figure of Satan(Guide111:22,pp. 486-487). The commentators on Maimonideswho believethathe connectsSatanwith matteror privationbase themselveson his centraldiscussionaboutevil in Guide111:8-12,where he identifiesprivationand matteras explanationsfor the existence of evil. The two explanationsappearto be closely relatedin thatmatteris the substratumfor privation-thoughMaimonidesneverentirelyclarifiesthe relationship.Thefull rangeof views on Maimonides'understanding of Satanaretreatedby AvrahamNurielin his article"Towards a Clarificationof the Conceptof Satanin the Guideof the Perplexed"[Hebrew],Jerusalem StudiesinJewishThought5 (1986):83-91. Nurielrecountsthetheoriesof variouscommentators of Satan regardingthe referentfor Satanin Maimonides'thinking-includingtheidentification with matter.Nuriel,however,offershis own originalview in arguingthatin his readingof Job Maimonideshas two conceptionsof Satanwhichare not necessarilyrelated:Satanrepresents bothchanceoccurrenceandprivation.Nurielalso takesup Maimonides'identification of Satan with the evil inclination,which is also mentionedin his expositionon Job and is basedon a rabbinicsourcein B.T BavaBatra 16a.Maimonidesappearsto equatethe evil inclinationwith the imagination.Nuriel argues,however,that this understanding of Satanseems to have no impacton his readingof the Job story(p. 91).

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Whatalso seemsto be assumedhereis thatJobdiscoverstheMaimonidean notionthatit is intellectualperfectionwhichis the avenueto trueprovidence and immortality,and that his righteousbehaviorwas not sufficientto bring such a reward.While ibn Tibbondoes not make this idea explicit here, it is impliedthroughouthis exposition.20Moreover,he assumesthathis reader is familiarwith Maimonides'view which ties providentialrewardto the perfectionof the intellect.Therefore,accordingto ibnTibbon,Jobunderwent whattruerewardis, not only with respectto understanding a transformation buthow it is thatone achievesthatreward. In the next section of the discussion,ibn Tibbonbegins to explicate the most centralpartof Elihu'sremarks,Job 33:14-31, which was of such importanceto Maimonides.Hereibn Tibbonbringsthe foregoingissues into a crucial greaterfocus, but, even more important,takes his interpretation furtherby drawing out their implications.The importantconcept which emergeshere is thatnot only does sufferingof the kindthatJobexperienced fail to impugnGod'sjustice, it is even a formof providencein its own right becauseit inspiresone to recognizeimmortalityas the finalreward. will requiresome in-depth How ibn Tibbonarrivesat this interpretation difficult what becomes an of exposition.According increasingly explication to ibn Tibbon,Elihu'sremarksin verse 33:14 in effect introducethe central points which follow: "ForGod speaksonce / And a second time-though [God]does not perceiveit."21IbnTibbonsees in this statementa referenceto two aspectsof providence:oneby whichGodspeaksto manin a mannerwhich He "perceives,"and anotherin a mannerwhich God does not "perceive."22 IbnTibbonthenproceedsto explicatethese crypticremarks. It is the second type of providencethat becomes most importanthere for the issues centralto Job. But let us first look briefly at the first type of providence.Accordingto ibn Tibbon,the type of providenceby which God communicateswith man in a mannerthat God Himself "perceives" 20. See, for instance,MYH,pp. 114-115,partof whichis citedbelow,p. 282. 21. My translationsof the biblicaltextgenerallyfollowthatof the New JewishPublication JewishPublicationSociety, 1985);however,in some instances Society version(Philadelphia: I have madesignificantchangesin orderthatthe wordingbetterreflectthe meaningintended by ibn Tibbon.Here,for instance,the subjectof the secondclauseis "God"ratherthan"man" in the NJPS translationbecause,as we will explain,ibn Tibbonunderstoodthe verse in this manner.The Hebreworiginal,in fact, is ambiguoushere,since the impersonalsubjectof the masculineverb,yeshurenah. clauseis co-optedinto the third-person 22. MYH,p. 104.


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is none otherthan prophecy.This idea is inspiredby the verses in Elihu's speech that immediatelyfollow--"In a dream,a night vision, / Whendeep sleep falls upon men, / While they slumberon theirbeds, / Then He opens men's understanding... "--which appearto confirmthe commonmedieval philosophicalassociationof dreamsand prophecy.Ibn Tibbontells us that Elihuis referringhereto threedifferentlevels of prophecywhichaccompany differenttypes of intellectualperfection. As ibn Tibbonexplains, Elihu is referringto a ratherspecific type of propheticcommunication,one which God impartsto a personlike Job who is righteousin his deeds but who has not achievedintellectualperfection. God informssuch a personthroughprophecythatsufferingcan even strike someonewho exhibitsrighteousbehavior,and He does so in orderto quell any pride he might feel so as to preempthis belief thathis actionsprotect him from suffering.Such a person is ignorantof the criticallessons that Job learned-namely, that a personof exemplarybehavioris not protected from suffering.Thus, Elihu states in verses 16-17, "ThenHe opens men's understanding/ And by discipliningthem leaves His signature/ To turn man away from an action / To suppresspride in man."What ibn Tibbon implies is that such an individualmust be taughtthis lesson as a matterof disciplineso that he might have incentiveto pursueintellectualperfection and not dwell on the prideof his moralrectitude.If he takes this lesson to heart,he will be inspiredto achieveintellectualperfection,whichbringswith it truereward-namely, immortality-a notionwhich ibn Tibbonappearsto read out of verse 18, which follows: "He [i.e., God] spareshis soul from destruction,/ His life fromperishingby the sword."23 But it is the secondtype of providentialcommunication whichGod does not "perceive"that is most relevantto Job's situation.Accordingto ibn Tibbon,the explicationof this second type of communicationis elaborated upon in Job 33:19-22, immediatelyafterthe verses dealingwith prophetic communication: 19Heis reprovedby painson his bed, And the tremblingin his bones is constant. 20Hedetestsfood; 23. I translatethe term shahat here as "destruction" ratherthan "Pit,"as in the NJPS translation.The term"destruction" bettersignifiesthe loss of immortalityto whichibn Tibbon is referringhere.

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Fine food [is repulsive]to him. 21Hisflesh wastesawaytill it cannotbe seen, And his bones arerubbedawaytill they are invisible. 22Hecomes close to destruction, His life [verges]on death. Commentingon these verses, ibn Tibbonsays as follows: ... after[Elihu]explained thefirstwaybywhichGodspeaksto humanbeings theActiveIntellectwhichoverflows (be-'esem)[whichis] through essentially fromHim,mayHebe exalted,by meansof theprophet andwisdom,he began to explainthesecondwayby whichHe seeminglyspeakswithhumanbeings throughchanceoccurrence(ki-mdaber'imbenei 'adambe-miqreh),as he says,

"[God]doesnotperceiveit."Thatis what[Elihumeant]in hissaying:"[Heis by painson his bed."Thus,theorder[of ideas]is as follows:"For reproved] Godspeaksonce/ Anda secondtime-though[God]doesnotperceiveit /. .. In a dream,a nightvisionetc.,"andby painfulchastisements. He speaks[in one way]to themby dreamandnightvision.Thesecond[way}-by which He seeminglyspeaks,thoughHedoesnotperceiveit-is by meansof painful whichcomeuponman.Theintentis thatGodseemingly chastisements speaks to humanbeingsin thismannerby chanceoccurrence; thatis, sufferingand paincomeuponthemby meansof Satan.24 Ibn Tibbonexplainsthatthe allusionto reprovalby "pains"in verse 14 is a referenceto sufferingwhich occursby meansof Satan-i.e., matter.In such instances,God "seeminglyspeaksto man by chanceoccurrence."Yet God "doesnot perceiveit" in thatHe does not perceivethe evil effect whichHis goodnesshas on the worldbelow on accountof the corruptinginfluenceof matter. Thus, ibn Tibbontells us, the undeservedsufferingwhich can afflictthe righteousis in fact providentialin that it is a way by which God indirectly communicateswith them. What is actuallycommunicatedis not yet made clear,but it is obviousfromthe contextof the discussionandbecomesmore explicit in the course of ibn Tibbon'ssubsequentremarks.The recipient of undeservedsufferinglearnsessentiallythe same lesson as the one who receives propheticcommunicationof the sort ascribedto the first type of providence:the traditionalconceptionwherebyGodrewardsandpunishesby 24. MYH,p. 105.


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physicalwell-beingis incorrect,only immortalityis trueprovidence,andthe latterfollows fromintellectualperfection. In sum, thereare two types of providentialcommunications which Elihu refers to in the centralpart of his remarksthat both teach the notion that immortalityis true providence,not physical well-being,and that the only way to achieve this type of providenceis throughintellectualperfection, not just perfectionin one's actions. The first type is throughprophecyby which God directly impartsthis information.Hence, Elihu's referenceto God "perceiving"this type of providence,for herepropheticcommunication comes "essentially"from God via the Active Intellect.The second is the actualexperienceof sufferingitselfwhichteachesthe samelesson,only more indirectly.Here God does not "perceive"the communicationHe imparts because He does not cause evil as a matterof first intention.25Thus, Job's It was sufferingis preciselythis secondtype of providentialcommunication. his sufferingthat proddedhim to a higherphilosophicalawarenessof the natureof ultimateprovidenceandthe meansto achieveit. Sufferingis thereforeprovidentialin that it leads to an awarenessof immortalitywhich is the highest form of providence.But ibn Tibbonhas muchmoreto say in a seriesof lengthyremarksthatfollow aboutthe process of educationby which someonegoes throughthe type of transformation Job This sectionis perhapsthe most difficultof ibnTibbon'sentire experiences.26 exposition,for it is herethatibn Tibbon'sdesireto concealhis views is most evident.This portionof ibn Tibbon'scommentaryis devotedto explicating Elihu's remarksin Job 33:14-31, which accordingto ibn Tibbondescribe why it is thata manexperiencesundeservedsuffering. 23Iftherebe an angel,27 An advocate,one amonga thousand To declarea man'suprightness, 24ThenHe has mercyon him anddecrees, "Redeemhim fromdescendingto destruction, For I have obtainedhis ransom; 25. As we will laterargue,both formsof providenceimplythatibn Tibbonconceivesof God in impersonalterms. 26. MYH,pp. 106 f. 27. Again, I have departedfrom the NJPStranslationby translatingmal'akhas "angel," which is the way ibn Tibbonunderstands the term,ratherthan"representative."

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25Lethis flesh be healthierthanin his youth; Let him returnto youngerdays." 26Hepraysto God andis acceptedby Him; He entersHis presencewith shoutsof joy, For He requitesa man for his righteousness. 27He[i.e., the righteousman]declaresto men, "I have sinned;I have pervertedwhatwas right; But I was not paidbackfor it." 28Heredeemedhim frompassinginto destruction, He will enjoythe light. 29TrulyGod does all these things Two or threetimes to man, 30Tobringhim backfromdestruction, Thathe may baskin the light of life. IbnTibbonidentifiesthreecrucialfactorsin this sectionwhichareconnected to the typeof providentialcommunication whichmanifestsitselfin suffering: who saves the in verse the individual 23, (2) prayerto Godreferred (1) angel to in verse 26, and (3) repentanceand confessionof one's sins to othermen alludedto in verse 27. A discussionfollows as to the natureof the exact relationshipbetweenthe threefactors.Ibn Tibbonconcludesthatwhile the salvationof the angelis a prerequisiteforthe othertwo, the reverseis not the case. At this point in his discussion,it is not at all clear what ibn Tibbonis saying.Wedo notknowhow anyof thesefactorsareconnectedto providence or what they have to do with the notion thatthe sufferingof the righteous is a communicationfrom God. Particularlyunclearis the identityof the angelwhich ibn Tibbonconsidersa centralfactorhere.IbnTibbondiscusses the angel in deliberatelyambiguoustermsbecause he believes it refersto an esotericdoctrinethat cannotbe openly explained.Now accordingto ibn Tibbon,Elihu offers clues thatrevealthe angel'strueidentity.Commenting on verse 33:23, "Iftherebe an angel,/ An advocate,one amonga thousand. .. ," ibn Tibbontells us as follows: afterhe [i.e.,Elihu]concealed [theidentityof] thisoneangel[innottellingus] calledangels fromwhichspeciesof [themany]specieswhichareequivocally

SAMUEL IBN TIBBON ON THE BOOK OF JOB

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[thisangel]belongs-he piercedthe settingsandsaid"amonga thousand." Thatis, thisone[angel]is fromtheangelsthatarein thethousands.28 The referenceto piercingthe settings is an allusionto Maimonides'wellof Proverbs25:11-"A wordfitly spokenis like apples knowninterpretation of gold in settingsof silver"--whichMaimonidessees as an allusionto the dual level of meaning in Scripture,with the apples of gold and settings of silver representing,respectively,Scripture'sinnerphilosophicalmeaning and its plain outer meaning.The notion that Elihu pierces the settingsby identifyingthe angel as one "amonga thousand"thereforemeansthatthis phraseoffers significantclues regardingthe innerphilosophicalmeaningof the angel and raises our hope of understandingibn Tibbon'sinterpretation here. However,as one readsthroughibn Tibbon'scommentary,it is evident thatibnTibbonhimselfhasnot sufficientlypiercedthe settingsforhis readers. In his commentary,ibn Tibbonseems to deliberatelyconcealthe identityof the angel which in variouspassagescould referto the Active Intellect,the humanintellect,or someothercosmologicalforcebeneficialto the individual. But besides the general adoptionof Maimonides'esoteric method of discoursehere,ibn Tibbon'stendencyto obfuscateis inspiredby Maimonides in at least two otherways. First,the term"angel"is highly equivocalin the philosophicalvocabularyof Maimonidesin thatit can referto a wide range of naturalforces.29Ibn Tibbonis thereforeclearlyexploitingthatambiguity. Second, in Maimonides'own expositionof Elihu'sspeechin particular,the angelis also a focal pointfor discussion,andMaimonides'explicationof the termis just as cryptic,if not more so, thanthatof ibn Tibbon.30 Thus,here again, ibn Tibbonseems to have followed Maimonides'lead in concealing his views.

28. MYH,pp. 105-106. 29. Angels are dealt with in a numberof places in the Guide. But Maimonides'most statementaboutthe equivocalnatureof this conceptis in Guide111:6, importantprogrammatic pp. 261-265, especiallyp. 262. 30. A wide varietyof views have been given regardingthe identityof this angel. I will mentionthe views foundamongmodeminterpreters of Maimonideswhichwerecitedin n. 10 above. Kravitzequatesthe angel with the Active Intellect.Touatialso equatesthe angel with the Active Intellectbut gives a readingdifferentfromKravitzon otherdetailsof Maimonides' exegesis. Raffelarguesthatthe angel is the practicalintellect.Levingertakesthe positionthat the angel is the perfectedhumanintellectas a whole.

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Rather than work through all the relevant passages in order to determine the referent of Elihu's angel, I would like to go directly to one crucial passage which I believe provides key clues not only on this matter but on the entire direction of ibn Tibbon's discussion. In a section which follows shortly after the one we have just examined, ibn Tibbon shares a series of thoughts that begin with a criticism of Maimonides: ... it would seem thatthe Rabbi,the trueteacher[i.e., Maimonides],believed thatthe mercyand redemptionin the salvationof the angel,the prayerof the one chastised,his enteringGod's presencewith shoutsof joy, his declaration to men [thathe has sinned]--are all to be understoodas one [matter],as in ourfirstexplication.3'Forhe did not mentionfromthatwhole matteranything otherthanthe salvation[of the angel]. [It was] as if he understoodthe other things[i.e., prayerandrepentance]as only a "setting,"not thatone wouldtruly need them. It is true that it [i.e., the salvationof the angel] is the essential thing becauseit is a hintregardingnecessaryindividualprovidencewhichexists for the [physical]bodies of animals;it is this [providence]which is alludedto in chapter15 of the thirdpart [of the Guideof the Perplexed],as he says, "the individualsof everyspeciesarenot neglectedin everyrespect."Butthereis no doubtthatthe verses"Hepraysto God"(Job33:26)and"Hedeclaresto men[, / I have sinned]"(Job33:27)arenot for concealmentalone,in thattheyarethe centralelementof the secondway by which God seeminglyspeaksto human beings,not by salvation[of the angel],as we havesaid;for in them[i.e., prayer and repentance]there appearsto be some mannerof guidance(he 'arah)for the one chastisedto explorethe reasonsfor his pains, deficiencies,and sins, until he understandsthem.It is as if God spoke to him and informedhim of them [i.e., the reasons].It would appearthat it was aboutthis that the sage [i.e., Elihu] intendedto informJob. Sometimes,throughchastisementsgood thingscome uponthe one chastisedby chanceoccurrence.Foron theiraccount [i.e., chastisements]he will be guidedto thatof which he had been ignorant; they arelike a spokenstatementto him andareprovidentialfor himby chance occurrence.Therefore,one shouldnot protestregardingthem given thatthey arethe cause of somethinggood.32 Ibn Tibbon claims that Maimonides also understood the importance of the three factors in Elihu's remarks-the angel, prayer, and repentance. But 31. A referenceto an earliersectionof ibn Tibbon'sdiscussion,MYH,p. 106. 32. Ibid.,p. 108.


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he takes issue with Maimonidesfor placingall of the emphasison the angel and not on the other two factors:prayerand repentance.Ibn Tibbon is referringto the fact that in Maimonides'expositionof Elihu'sspeechin the Guide,only the angelis mentionedas key to the latter'smessage-not prayer Ibn Tibbon assumes that MaimonidesinterpretedElihu's or repentance.33 mentionof prayerand repentanceas a smoke-screento conceal an esoteric doctrineregardingthe angel. WhatibnTibbonis sayinghereis not of greathelpuntilthenextfew lines, where he providescrucial informationnot only abouthis differenceswith Maimonides,but his own positionas well. Ibn Tibbonstatesthatthe angel in Elihu'sspeechis a "hintregardingnecessaryindividualprovidencewhich exists for the [physical]bodiesof animals"alludedto in GuideIII:15, where Maimonidesnotes that "the individualsof every species are not neglected in every respect."Now in fact the referenceis mistaken;the clause cited from Maimonidesappearsin chapter17, and the wordingof ibn Tibbon's own translationmatcheshis citationthere.34 Whatis most interestingis that the section from which this citationis taken is Maimonides'descriptionof Aristotle'stheoryof providenceaccordingto which all species areprotected only by generalprovidence,therebeing no special providencefor man. A key clue to ibn Tibbon'sviews has thereforebeenrevealed.Whatibn Tibbon is saying here is that,accordingto Maimonides,Elihu'sspeechconcealsan esotericdoctrinethatthe righteousman is saved fromhis sufferingonly by generalprovidenceas definedby Aristotle,not by a personalGod. Elihu's angel in Maimonides'exposition is thereforenothing other than general providence. Moreover,as ibn Tibbon would have it, Maimonidesreads Elihu'sremarksaboutprayerandrepentanceas referencesdesignedonly to appeasethe traditionalview that salvationcomes from the responseof a personalGod. Maimonides,in fact, does not see any efficacyin either. We should note that ibn Tibbon'sunderstandingof Maimonideshere comes as no surprise.The same conclusions are drawn in ibn Tibbon's earlierletterto Maimonidesregardingprovidence.Therehe also interprets Maimonidesas upholdingan esoteric Aristotelianposition on providence, and sees Maimonides'readingof Job as key evidencefor this conclusion.35 33. Guide111:23,p. 495. 34. StandardtraditionalHebreweditionsof the Guide,III:17, p. 23b. 35. Diesendruck,"Samueland Moses ibn Tibbon,"p. 356. This is an issue whichwe will be discussingat greaterlengthbelow.

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But most importantfor our purposesis that in discussingMaimonides' position, it becomes clear what ibn Tibbon'sown view is. It is apparent that he too assumes that Elihu's angel representsgeneralprovidence.But he disagrees with Maimonidesabout the role of prayer and repentance which are also mentionedby Elihu. For ibn Tibbon,prayerand repentance do indeed serve a crucial functionin that they provideinspirationfor the one who experiencesunjustifiedsuffering"to explore the reasons for his pains, deficiencies,and sins until he understandsthem."As such "theyare the essence of the second way by which God seeminglyspeaksto human beings."Throughprayerand repentance"it is as if God spoke to him and informedhim of them." The pieces of the puzzle now fall into place. Accordingto ibn Tibbon, when the righteousman experiencesunjustifiedsuffering,he is inspiredto offer prayersto God and confessionsto other humanbeings which serve the purposeof causinghim to explorethe meaningof his suffering.What he discovers is what ibn Tibbonhas alreadytold us: Physicalsufferingis causedby the corruptinginfluenceof his materialbodyandnot by anydirect intentionalactionon God'spart;thus,thereis no valuein materialwell-being; and one must cultivateintellectualperfectionto achieveimmortality,which is the only true providence.The role of the angel also becomes clear.The angel,or generalprovidence,is apparentlyneededto save the righteousman fromhis suffering--at least physically;otherwisehe could die and gain no benefitfromhis newfoundphilosophicalinsightsregardingtrueprovidence. After all, he must now embarkon the path of intellectualperfectionin orderto be worthy of that providence.Thus, the salvationof the "angel" in combinationwith prayerand repentancelead one to appreciatethat the ultimateprovidentialrewardis immortalityand to eventuallyexperienceit. The entireprocessis initiatedby sufferingwhichturnsout to be providential in leadinghim to these truths. Ibn Tibbonalso informsus thatthis whole processcan occurmorethan once in the lifetimeof an individual,a pointderivedfromElihu'ssubsequent remarks: 29TrulyGod does all these things Two or threetimes to man, 30Tobringhim back fromdestruction, Thathe may bask in the light of life.


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Commenting on the statement that God performs this salvation "two or three times," ibn Tibbon says as follows: ... this chastisementandthis causingof painafterwhichthereis the salvation of the angel, as well as mercy and redemption-God enactsfor man two or threetimes. Thatis, therearethose for whomone [experienceof suffering]is enough,and throughit they recognizetheirdeficienciesand corruptions.But thereare those who do not recognize[this]with one [experienceof this sort], andrequiretwo or three[experiences].36 Thus, someone may undergo suffering and the salvation of general providence a number of times before gaining proper philosophical insight from his experiences. The following passage nicely paraphrasesibn Tibbon's understandingof the key section in Job 33: If there is an angel advocatingon his behalf, he will save him from those afflictions.He will know, eitherafterhe is saved from them or beforehe is saved,whathadescapedhim [previously].He will knowin himselfa deficiency thathe did not knowbeforehand.He will eventuallyknowwhatthe causewas of thatwhich affectedhim. He will feel as if God spoketo him and informed him of what he did not know beforehand.He will be saved fromdestruction because of that knowledge,for he will know whatthe truthof providenceis which will not be lackingin him who is worthyof it. Thus,it was called"the secondway"of God'sspeakingwithhumanbeingsso as to informthemof His way. And yet, He does not perceivenor see thatway [of communication].37 We should note incidentally that this passage is properly understood only when one assumes that the angel representsgeneral providence. We mentioned above that many of ibn Tibbon's references to the angel are ambiguous, and that in some places the angel could be interpreted as an allusion to the Active Intellect or the human intellect. After all, these entities also have a role in "saving" the individual who experiences suffering by providing him with philosophical insights into his situation that lead him to appreciate immortality as true providence. The passage here shows that ibn Tibbon could not have interpreted the angel in this way. Ibn Tibbon states clearly 36. MYH,p. 109. 37. Ibid.,p. 110.

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that the philosophicalinsightswhich such an individualgains are "before" or "after"he is saved by the angel. Thus,the salvationof the angel and the philosophicalinsightswhich the righteouspersongains while sufferingare by no meanssynonymous. In a summaryat the end of his expositionin chapter17, ibn Tibbon reiterateshis readingof Job but also gives us a betterunderstanding of the individualfor whom the lessons of providentialsufferingare specifically intended.Ibn Tibbontells us that the person who stands to benefit from unjustifiedsufferingis the righteousindividual,like Job,who is righteousin his actions but has not yet achievedintellectualperfection.If such people were neverto experiencesuffering,the followingconsequencewouldresult: ... theywouldconsiderthemselves becausetheyhadnot perfectindividuals sinnedin theiractionsandhadperformed gooddeeds.TheywouldknowGod andHiswaysaccording to tradition andwouldnotbe aroused[toknowledge] of anythingbeyondthis.Theywouldnotachievetheperfection intendedfor themin knowingGodandHiswaysaccording to thetrueknowledge thatis man to know. for would remain in their possible They [stateof] deficiency.38 Ibn Tibbon thus emphasizesthat perfectionin one's actions is not only inadequatefor achieving true providence,it can even be a hindranceby giving one a false sense of securitythatGod will rewardsuch an individual forhis righteousbehavior.IbnTibbongoes on to explainthatJobwas suchan individualandthroughsufferingwas inspiredto reacha higherunderstanding of God. Whatwe learnhere is thatunjustifiedsufferingis beneficialfor a rather specific group of people: those who are righteousin terms of their good deeds but have a traditionaland erroneousview of God, and need to be arousedto a higherphilosophicalunderstanding of God in orderto achieve intellectualperfection.While ibn Tibbonhas impliedall along that such a person is the focus of his discussion,it is here that the descriptionof this individualis most explicit.And againthe influenceof Maimonidesis evident, for he too characterizesJobas an individualwho initiallyachievedmoral,not However,ibn Tibbonappearsto give a new twist to intellectual,perfection.39 38. Ibid.,pp. 114-115. 39. Guide111:22,p. 487. Maimonidesis clearlypickingup on the cue in the very opening line of Job,whichdescribeshim as "blamelessandupright,"one who "fearedGodandshunned evil"(Job 1:1)butmakesno referenceto his intellectualachievements.


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Maimonides'thinkingby statingthatmoralperfectionis not only inadequate for helping the righteousindividuallike Job achieve intellectualperfection butcan even be an obstaclebecauseit providesan individualof this sortwith a false sense of securitythathe will be rewardedfor his actions. Crypticreferencescited earlierare now clearedup as well. Now we understandwhy ibn Tibbonstatedthatthe salvationof the angelcouldoccur For salvationthrough withoutprayerand repentance,but not the reverse.40 of whether can occur one regardless praysorrepents,since generalprovidence the latteractivitiesonly providethe opportunityto explorethe philosophical meaningof one's suffering.But withoutthe salvationprovidedby general providence,the righteousman might not physically survive his suffering, andthusthe philosophicalinsightsgainedfromthe introspectioninspiredby prayerandrepentancewouldbe of no value. Anothercrypticreferenceto the angel in this section now makes sense as well. We noted above thatwhen ibn Tibbonfirstspeaksaboutthe angel, he focuses on Elihu's descriptionof this angel as one "amonga thousand," statingthatthis phraseis a crucialclue as to whatit represents.Giventhatwe now have good reasonto thinkthatthe angel representsgeneralprovidence, ibn Tibbon'sallusionis transparent. Ibn Tibbonis subscribingto Aristotle's views on generalprovidenceas describedby Maimonides,andin the latter's descriptionof Aristotle'sposition,generalprovidenceexpressesitself in any numberof ways in that all naturalendowmentsin the variousspecies are an expressionof generalprovidence.Thus, generalprovidencesafeguards animals,for instance,throughprovidingthe facultyof locomotionin orderto seek out whatis beneficialto themandto flee fromwhatis harmful.Human beings are protectedby the intellect in that each person,with the help of the intellect,"governs,thinks,and reflectson whatmay renderpossiblethe durabilityof himself as an individualand the preservationof his species."41 Therefore,when an individualis saved by generalprovidencein a given naturalcapacitiesthatthe latter instance,he is rescuedby one of a "thousand" to the supplies manyspecies. We can now begin to drawsome generalconclusionsaboutibn Tibbon's readingof Job.Whatis perhapsmostsignificantis thatibnTibbonis consistent in describingprovidentialprocessesthatdo not assumea personalGod. God exercises providenceonly in the sense that He is the ultimatesource of 40. See above,p. 276. 41. GuideIII:17,p. 465.

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generalprovidence,whichis synonymouswith the naturalorder.The latteris providentialin thatit is responsibleforthe chanceeventsthatcausesuffering, sufferingthat in turnallows the righteousindividualto discoverwhat true providenceis. The naturalorderis also providentialin savingthe righteous person from physical demise so that he can make use of the philosophical lessons he has learnedfrom his suffering.Prayerand repentanceserve an importantrole but only to force the individualto contemplatewhy he has sufferedand come to the philosophicalrealizationthatphysicalwell-being is of no value. Thereis no suggestionhere thatGod respondspersonallyto either.In general,ibn Tibbonbelieves he is in agreementwith Maimonides, who he believes also upholdsAristotle'sviews on providence. It is for the purposeof concealingthese truthsthatibn Tibbonconsiders Elihu's angel to referto an esotericdoctrinethathe cannotopenly discuss. The righteousperson who suffers is only saved--at least physically-by generalprovidence,not by a personalGod, a view which obviouslyclashes head-onwith the traditionalnotionthata personalGodrewardsandpunishes, and does so with materialrewardsin this lifetime. As ibn Tibbontells us, Elihuat one pointconcealsthis doctrinein sucha way thatthephilosophically unsophisticatedreaderwill thinkthathe is referringto the traditionalview. The key passagein Elihu'sspeech,which is deliberatelydesignedto address both the philosophicallyadeptaudienceas well as those who subscribeto traditionalviews, is Job 33:23-4:

23Iftherebe an angel, An advocate,one amonga thousand To declarea man'suprightness, 24ThenHe has mercyon him anddecrees, "Redeemhim fromdescendingto destruction, For I have obtainedhis ransom... "

The exotericreadingis thatan angel saves man fromdestruction(v. 23), but thatGodis the ultimatecauseof his rescue(v. 24), a readingthatassumesthat God has a personalrole to play in the process.But ibn Tibbonnotes thatthe "He"in verse 24 is ambiguousand shouldbe readaccordingto the esoteric meaningas a referenceto the angel,not God. Therefore,it is only the angel


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which saves man, not God. Translatedinto philosophicalterms,this means thatonly generalprovidencesavesman;thereis no divineinterventionhere.42 In his discussionof prayerand repentanceand their roles in the providentialprocess, ibn Tibbonat times appearsto be speakingin traditional terms.But a close readingof key passagesrevealsthatthis is not the case, and that once again his esoteric style of discourseis meantto conceal his radicalposition.For instance,in the passagein whichibn Tibbondealsmost extensivelywith prayerandrepentance,he says as follows: ... he whois rescuedby prayer[offered]to Godafterhe hasarousedhimself of the]firstcauseof his painsandall mattersin thelowly to the [knowledge andwill rise up as world-his prayerwill be consideredas righteousness He is before God. who saved after confession of his sins appeasement .... of hisdeficiencies andhiscorruption, hasbeenaroused to [the andrecognition abovehavebeen knowledgeof] morethanthatto whichthose[mentioned] to theintermediary causesandultimate aroused.43 Forhehasalsobeenaroused He hasalso [causes],thatis, to all the elevatedbeingsthatareabovehim.44 beenarousedto thedeficiency of therecipient [i.e.,man]andhiscorruption.45 Note how ibnTibbonavoidsanyclearreferenceto personaldivineintervention here.Now he does statethatprayerwill "riseup as appeasement beforeGod," butevenhereibnTibbonshiesawayfromspeakingof Godas actuallylistening or respondingto prayer.The emphasisis on prayerandrepentanceas means to teach man about philosophicaltruthregardingthe corruptinginfluence of matter.For this reason,ibn Tibbongoes on to say in the same passage thatrepentanceis in fact more effective thanprayerin leadingone to true knowledge,because it allows the individualto probethe issue of suffering 42. MYH,p. 106. The esotericreadingwouldthereforerequirethattheupper-caseH in my translationbe convertedto lower-case.Ibn Tibbonnotes thatothercommentators have opted for the exotericreading,an observationthatis borneout by lookingat how Rashiandibn Ezra deal with the same passage.Ourunderstanding of ibn Tibbonhelps make sense of a highly crypticpassagein which ibn Tibbonhas moreto say aboutthis sectionof Elihu'sspeech;see MYH,pp. 108-109. 43. The referencehereis to one who respondsto sufferingby prayeror one who has been savedby the ange--i.e., generalprovidence-cases discussedpreviouslyby ibn Tibbonin his expositionof Job 33:14-31. 44. The referencehereis to the SeparateIntellects. 45. MYH,p. 107.

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of how his own deficienciesas a materialbeing andcome to an understanding andthe celestialworldarethe causeof his suffering.Prayermerelyacquaints him with the "firstcause,"i.e., God, who is responsiblefor all eventsin the world.46 As we noted earlier,Ravitzkyexpressesthe suspicionthatibn Tibbon's God is impersonal.47Here we seem to have confirmationof this view. Yet we must resist drawing a comprehensiveconclusion about ibn Tibbon's philosophicalorientation.Ibn Tibbon'sreadingof Job gives us a limited perspectiveon his views on providencebecauseit is concernedonly with a certaintype of person--one who is righteousin actionbutnot intellectually perfect,and a specific type of providence--thatwhich involves suffering. Thatibn Tibbondid not considerhis readingof Job to be a comprehensive assessmentof providenceis evidentfroma statementin chapter18 in which he takesnote of otherformsof providencein additionto the one dealtwith in Job. Some of these othertypes of providenceare"natural" (tiv'iyyot),which "arethe result of the differenttypes of angels that God commandsso as to preserveman";some are "accordingto choice and free will" (behiriyyot formsof providence(moftiyyot), resoniyyot);finally,thereare "miraculous" whichareonly for select individuals.48 Thus,we cannotconclusivelysay that ibn Tibbonbelieves thatGod acts in an impersonalmannerfor all formsof providence.Of especialinterestis the questionof miracleswhichibn Tibbon mentionshere. Ibn Tibbonidentifiesthis last form of providencewith that which Maimonidesdiscusses in Guide111:51,but addsthathe will address this last issue in a laterwork--thoughthereis no evidencethathe ever did.49 Still, even if firm conclusionscannotbe drawnhere, the suspicionthatibn Tibbonadheredto an impersonalconceptionof God is greatlystrengthened of Job. by ourexpositionof his interpretation 46. Ibid.The referenceto Godhereas "firstcause"of eventsin the worldbelow,including suffering,also has philosophicallysuggestiveovertonesfor the astutereader.Thisphrasecalls to mindAristotle'sPrimeMover,who is the impersonalsourceof all eventsin the universe. Wemayalsonotethatthefirsttypeof providencereferredto by Elihu,by whichtherighteous personreceives prophecyguidinghim to understandthat materialrewardsare of no value, is also presentedin highly naturalisticterms.If one looks carefullyat ibn Tibbon'swording in his descriptionof this form of providence,he actuallyrefers to prophecyand wisdom as if to imply that prophecyprovidesthe same message as philosophical interchangeably, fromGod. See MYH,pp. 104-105. wisdomattainedwithoutany directcommunication 47. Ravitzky,"Samuelibn Tibbon,"pp. 118-119. 48. MYH,p. 117. 49. Ibid.


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Wemustnow aska crucialquestion:how does ibnTibbon'sunderstanding of Jobcomparewiththatof Maimonides?Thisquestionis not easy to answer, given thatMaimonides'readingof Jobis difficultto decipher.Still, I believe of Job thatwe have enoughof a generalsense of Maimonides'understanding thata numberof conclusionscan be drawn. First of all, what is clear is that ibn Tibbon'sreadingof Job is in many respectsa commentaryon Maimonides.IbnTibbonacceptsthe basicfeatures of Maimonides'readingof Job as well as the philosophicalpositionsthat underlieit, at least as ibn Tibbonunderstands them.The followingis a list of the basic ideas that they sharein common,most of which we have already noted: 1. Job is a man who has achievedmoralbut not intellectualperfection, and believes, due to his lack of understandingof philosophicalmatters, that divine rewardand punishmentare entirelythis-worldlyin nature.He thereforebecomes disillusionedabout God's justice when he experiences suffering,since his behaviorhas been blameless.But by the end of the story he rises to a higherphilosophicalunderstanding of rewardand punishment thatallows him to makepeace with his situation. 2. The figure of Satanwho afflicts Job representsmatter.Maimonides never in fact makesthis equationexplicit,but many commentatorsfeel this is a plausiblereadingof Maimonides.Undoubtedly,ibn Tibbonbelievesthat this is Maimonides'view. 3. Thecrucialpassagethatunlocksthe secretsof Jobis Elihu'sspeech-in particularchapter33. Ibn TibbonequatesElihu'sangel with generalprovidence,believingthatit is Maimonides'own position.50 This last point requiresfurtherelaboration.A close examinationof ibn Tibbon'sremarkson Job revealsthat Maimonides'focus on the angel may not havebeenthe only featurein his readingof Elihu'sspeechthatinfluenced ibn Tibbon.Maimonidesmentionsat least two new ideas which are unique to Elihu'sposition as comparedto the opinionsof Job's otherfriends.One is the intercessionof the angel,whichhas alreadybeen discussed.The other is Elihu's descriptionof "the how of prophecy.. .'51 Here Maimonides 50. Anotherpoint in common is that the differentopinions of Job's friendsrepresent differentschools of thoughtregardingprovidence.In one passagecited above,p. 270, Bildad andZopharareidentifiedwith preciselythe sameschoolsof IslamictheologythatMaimonides associateswith them. 51. Ibid.

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refersus to Job 33:14-5, whereElihuappearsto referto prophecywhen he states, "ForGod speaks once / And a second time-though man does not perceiveit. / In a dream,a nightvision, / Whendeep sleep falls uponmen,/ Whilethey slumberon theirbeds."Maimonides'remarkshereareunusually opaque.Yet what is relevantfor our concernsis thatibn Tibbonappearsto have triedboth to make sense of these remarksand to co-optthem into his own reading.As we saw earlier,ibn Tibbonbelieves that Elihu discusses two types of providentialcommunicationregardingsuffering.One is the actualexperienceof sufferingof the kind thatJob underwentin which the individuallearnsaboutthe natureof trueprovidence,while the othertakes the formof prophecywherebyGod informsan individualof the very same lesson. Perhapsthe latterformof providentialcommunication representsibn of Maimonides'referenceto the "how"prophecy. Tibbon'sunderstanding One othercomponentof Maimonides'remarkson Job 33 may have had an influenceon ibn Tibbon.Afternotingthe new ideas which Elihuaddsto the discussionin Job, Maimonidesaddsa rathermysteriousobservation: he [i.e., Elihu]beginsto confirmthisopinionandto makeclear Thereupon its methodby describing suchas his describing manynaturalcircumstances, thiswithmany thunder, rain,andtheblowingof winds.Hecombines lightning, of animals-I meanan outbreak of subjectsbelongingto the circumstances pestilencereferredto in his dictum,In a momentthey die, even at midnight,

of greatwarsreferred andso on [Job34:20];theoccurrence to in his dictum,

He breakethin pieces mightymen withoutnumber,and settethothersin their

stead[Job34:24];andmanyothercircumstances.52

In this difficultpassage-which, incidentally,few commentatorshave attemptedto explicate-Maimonidesrefersto Elihu'sdescriptionin Job34:20f. and"manysubjectsbelongingto thecircumstances of "naturalcircumstances" of animals,"such as theirvulnerabilityto pestilenceas factorswhich help "to confirm"Elihu'sopinionand "to make clearits method."It is not hard to imaginehow these remarksmight have been understoodby ibn Tibbon. He could have easily interpretedMaimonidesto be referringto general providence,which caresonly for the species andnot the individual.Thus,it wouldhave been plausiblefor ibn Tibbonto concludethathereMaimonides 52. Guide 111:23,pp. 495-496. The translationof verses from Job here follows that of Pines.


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hints at an esotericdoctrineaccordingto which the righteouswho sufferare savedby generalprovidencealone andnot a personalGod. This is not to say that ibn Tibbon'sreadingof Maimonidesis the only possiblereading;but it is certainlya legitimateone. It is not implausiblethat Maimonides,in his readingof Job,is, in fact,forwardingan esotericview on providenceandthatit is preciselythe one ibnTibbonis suggesting.However, a full assessmentof Maimonides'positionon providenceandits relationship to his commentson Job would requirean examinationfarbeyondthe scope of this paper. Yet,whilethereareinstancesin whichTibbonclearlyadoptsMaimonides' positions,in otherinstanceshe believes he is adoptingMaimonides'views but in fact takesa positionquitedifferentfromthatof the Master.The most importantexample of this tendencyis ibn Tibbon'sview that the central message of Job is that immortalityis true providence.We have concrete evidence that ibn Tibbon saw this as Maimonides'view. In his letter on providenceto Maimonidesin 1199,he says so quiteexplicitly. The focus of the letter is on the perplexitywhich ibn Tibbon had regardingthe inconsistenciesin Maimonides'presentationof providencein the Guide-in particular,the contradictionbetween Guide I1:17-24 and III:51.Ibn TibbonsurmisesthatMaimonides'positionon providencein the earlierchaptersis an esotericone identicalwith thatof Aristotle.Providence consists in immortality,which is consequentuponintellectualperfection.As for this lifetime,one is "protected" fromsufferingbecausethe awarenessthat true providenceis immortalityprovidesone with psychologicalimmunity from one's afflictions.But ibn Tibbongoes on to say that in Guide111:51, Maimonidesseems to take a differentpositionby depictingprovidenceas coming froma personalGodwho interactsdirectlyin the humanworld. Whatis most importantfor us is thatin the courseof this discussion,ibn Tibbonspells outhis understanding of Maimonides'views on Job.IbnTibbon sees Maimonides'interpretation of Jobas key evidenceforthelatter'sesoteric doctrineon providence.Accordingto ibn Tibbon,Maimonides'readingof Job is as follows: ... afterJobknewtheCreator withtrueknowledge hewasnotconcerned about thosefelicitieswhichareimagined to be felicities,suchas health,wealth,and children.Theintentis thathe wasnotconcerned aboutwhathappened to him afterhe knewaboutimmortality....

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290 ...

afterhe knewthe Creator,he didnot valuemoneyandit was thoughtof

his illnessesanddiseasewerethoughtof lightlyby lightlyby him.Similarly, himafterheverifiedforhimselftheexistenceof anultimate andthe perfection of thesoulonaccountof it.... ItseemstomethatAristotle immortality agrees withthisview;indeedmostphilosophers do, especiallythosewhobelievein immortality.53 Thus, ibn Tibbonclaims that for Maimonidesthe centralmessageof Job is thatimmortalityis trueprovidence.54 Ibn Tibbondoes not provideinformationto explainwhy he read Maimonides' exposition on Job in this way. However,there are some clues in Maimonideswhich may help explain ibn Tibbon'sinterpretation.For one, Maimonidesindicatesthat Job achieved knowledgeof God through negativetheology and love of God on accountof his misfortunes,qualities that appearto be prerequisitesfor immortality.55 It is also importantto note to Job loses faith in rewardin the afterlifeon that, according Maimonides, accountof his sufferingand comes to believe that "thereis no hope after death."56 Therefore,ibn Tibbonmay have inferredfromthese remarksthat 53. Diesendruck,"SamuelandMoses ibn Tibbon,"pp. 355-356. 54. We should note that in the letter,ibn Tibbongoes on to describeanotherfacet of providencein Maimonides'esotericdoctrinewhichis equatedwiththe workingsof nature.All eventsin naturearethe productof naturallaws implementedby God, includingthe actionsof man,whicharecontrolledby his intellect.Hence,providenceovermanalso expressesitself in the very existenceandactivityof the humanintellectwhichhelps protectmanfromharm.See ibid.,p. 357. Both facetsof Maimonides'esotericdoctrineon providenceare adoptedby ibn Tibbonin his readingof Job. The notion that true providenceis immortalitybecomes the centerpoint of ibn Tibbon'sown interpretation of Job. The otheraspectof providenceis reflectedin ibn Tibbon'snotionthatthe naturalorder,identifiedwith the "angel,"has a crucialrole to play in savingthe righteouspersonfromharmandallowinghim to discoverwhattrueprovidenceis. See Ravitzky,"Samuelibn Tibbon,"p. 94, who also mentionsthe two aspectsof providencein ibn Tibbon'sreadingof Maimonides. 55. Therearein factvery few referencesto immortalityin the Guide.However,therearea numberof passageswhichindicatethatMaimonidessawintellectualperfectionas a prerequisite forimmortality. Perhapsthemostexplicitis a passagein Guide111:54, p. 635, whereMaimonides statesthatthe acquisitionof "rationalvirtues"leadsone to achieve"permanent an perdurance," obviousreferenceto immortality.Love of God, which is describedprimarilyin Guide111:51, appearsto enhanceone's chancesfor immortalityin thatit is an intenseemotionalconnection to God one cultivatesafterachievingintellectualperfectionthatallows for easy separationof the soul fromthe body at the pointof death.See especially,Guide111:51,pp. 627-628. 56. Guide111:22,p. 492.


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andgraduatedto a moresophisticated whenJobunderwenthis transformation philosophicalawarenessat the end of the story,Job's belief in the afterlife was reinstated. Yet, if ibn Tibbon saw himself as adopting Maimonides'views by identifyingimmortalityas the centralmessageof Job,it is doubtfulthatthis was in fact Maimonides'position.The thrustof Maimonides'readingof Job is quite clearly that Job achieves knowledgeand love of God, and while thesemightlead one to immortality,Maimonidesin no way suggeststhatthe equationof providencewith immortalitywas includedin Job'seducation. Therearestill otherinstanceswhereit is clearthatibnTibbondepartsfrom Maimonides,but does so quite consciously.In all such cases, Ibn Tibbon's differenceswith Maimonidesare not aboutbasic philosophicalissues, but exegeticalones." Ibn Tibbonwill thereforequarrelwith Maimonidesabout whatkindsof philosophicallessons areto be learnedfromJob,butnot about the philosophicallessons themselves.Most of the disagreementsare about relativelyminorconcerns.For instance,we noted one such instanceabove with respect to Elihu's referenceto prayerand repentancein Job 33. Ibn Tibbonfeels thatMaimonidesdoes not properlyappreciatethe role of these factorsin Elihu'smessage."Anotherinstancewhichwe have not mentioned is a lengthydisagreementthatibn Tibbonhas withMaimonidesregardingthe philosophicallessons thatone learnsfromthe differentreferencesto Satanin the firsttwo chaptersof Job.59 However,thereareat leasttwo instancesin whichibnTibbon'sdifferences withMaimonidesareof a morefundamental nature.First,a key philosophical lesson which ibn Tibbonreads out of Job is the notion that sufferingcan 57. A similarpoint is madeby Ravitzkywith respectto ibn Tibbon'sviews on creation. Heretoo ibn Tibbon"sdifferenceswith Maimonidesare exegeticalandnot philosophical.See Ravitzky,"Aristotle'sBook of Meteorology,"pp. 239-244. 58. See above,p. 278. 59. MYH,pp. 110-114. Ibn Tibbonis also apologeticaboutdisagreeingwith Maimonides but claimsthat one must speakthe truthas one sees it. I chose not to discussthis partof ibn Tibbon'spresentationbecauseit does not seem essentialto his understanding of the story. IbnTibbonalso disagreeswithMaimonideson how to readJob33:29,in whichElihustates that the angel rescuessomeone"two or threetimes."Accordingto ibn Tibbon,Maimonides readsthis statementas sayingthatthe angelsaves a manonly threetimesin his life, given that no humanbeing escapesfromdeath.IbnTibbonarguesthatJob,beingwell awarethatall men die, did not need to learnsuch a lesson. Instead,Elihuis teachingJobthatthe angelcan come andsave a man any numberof times,the numberthreehavingno significancehere.See MYH, pp. 109-110.

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be providentialin that it forces one to recognizethat immortalityis true providence.Now this view may have been inspiredby Maimonides,since Maimonidessees Job's sufferingas leadinghim to the discoveryof exalted philosophicaltruthsandlove of God.However,Maimonidesneverexplicitly drawsout fromJobthe notionthatsufferingis a providentialforce,while for ibn Tibbonthis idea becomesone of centralimportancein his reading.I am thereforeinclinedto think that on this point, ibn Tibbonis departingfrom of the Job story.Moreover,it is a departure Maimonidesin his interpretation thatis significantgiventhattheequationof sufferingwithprovidencebecomes a basic featureof ibn Tibbon'sinterpretation.60 Ibn Tibbon also departsfrom Maimonidesabout one other important matterthat I believe points to a basic differencein how they conceivedof 60. In fact,one mightarguethatin thisinstanceibnTibbongoes againstMaimonides--even philosophically.In GuideIII:17,Maimonidesrejectstherabbinicconceptof "sufferingsof love" (yisurinshel 'ahavah),which claims"thatmisfortunesbefall an individualnot becauseof his havingsinnedbefore,butin orderthathis rewardshouldbe greater"(GuideIII:17,p. 471). The reasonMaimonidescannotaccepthis idea,which he sees as similarto thatof the Mutazilites, is thatit is nowherefoundin the Torah.Maimonidesgoes on to adoptthe view thathe feels is thatof the Torah-namely,thatgood and evil befall humanbeingson accountof theirpast actions,not becauseof any rewardthey mightreceivein the future(ibid.). However,in all likelihoodibn Tibbonbelieved thathis views had little to do with those that Maimonideshad criticized,since Maimonidesarguesspecificallyagainstrabbinicand Mutaziliteviews which see God as bringingsufferingdeliberatelyas a meansto grantfuture reward.Ibn Tibbon,unlike the rabbisor the Mutazilites,does not see providenceas a force coming from a personalGod-at least not the type which manifestsitself with suffering. In fact, ibn Tibbonbrings out the distinctionbetween his views and those of the Islamic theologiansexplicitly in a passage cited earlier.In explicatingElihu'sremarks,ibn Tibbon addsthe following:"Do not understandfrommy wordsthatGod bringssufferingessentially (be-'esem)uponhim who has not sinnedandhas actedaccordingto His will-like the opinion of the Asharitesand the Mutazilites[who believe this]; this was the opinionof Bildadand Zophar.Rather,they come upon him because of Satan--thatis, by reasonof some of the to whomHe has surrendered manon accountof his [beingcomposed [celestial]intermediaries his not his if he matter shouldwantto preserveit"(MYH,pp. is, soul, body, of] (homer)-that 102-103, cited above,p. 270). Ibn Tibbon seems eager to point out that his views differ from those of the Islamic theologians,AsharitesandMutazilites,becausetheybelievethatsufferingcomes"essentially" fromGod, while he does not. But even if ibn Tibbonis not disagreeingwith Maimonideshere on fundamental philosophicalissues,by arguingthatthe equationof sufferingwithprovidence is a majortheme in Job, ibn Tibbonis drawingan importantphilosophicallesson out of Job thatis not presentin Maimonides'reading.


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the actualfigureof Job.Maimonidesstronglysuggeststhatby the end of the storyJobachievesintellectualperfectionin thatJoblearnsnegativetheology, the highest form of understandingof God thathumanbeings can have, and thatJob achieveslove of God, an emotionaltie to God thatonly comeswith perfectionof the intellect.Maimonidesalso acceptsthe biblicaltext at face value in assumingthat Job experiencedprophecyin the final chapters;at the end of his discussion,Maimonidesrefersexplicitlyto Job's "prophetic From a philosophicalstandpoint,it would also make sense revelation."''61 that Job receives prophecy,given that in Maimonides'thinkingintellectual perfectionis the key prerequisitefor this capacity. IbnTibbon,it wouldseem,hasa markedlydifferentview on thesematters. He consistentlymaintainsthatJob learnsthe value of intellectualperfection as a means to immortality,but there is no suggestionthat he ever actually achieves intellectualperfectionhimself. While ibn Tibbonnever says this ibnTibbonclaims explicitly,it is stronglyimplied.In a strikinginterpretation, thatin the final chaptersof Job God neveractuallyspoketo Job,at leastnot directly.Instead,He spoketo him indirectlyin the sense thatHe causedhim to suffer.As we saw earlier,ibn Tibbonbelieves that sufferingis a divine communicationof sortsin thatit teachesvaluablephilosophicallessonsabout the truenatureof providence. The importantquestionis what motivatedibn Tibbonto come up with this interpretation. Ibn Tibbonhinges his readingon a novel understanding of the "whirlwind"(se'arah) out of which God spoke. For ibn Tibbon, the whirlwindhere is the whirlwindof Job's "manychastisements."It was throughthese afflictionsthatGod "spoke."Ibn Tibbonbases his readingon theobservationthatin no otherplacein the Bibledoes Godspeakto anyonein a prophecydescribedas a whirlwind,an indicationthatheresome otherform of communicationoccurred.62 But this exegeticalexplanationalone does not accountfor what is clearlya readingthatgoes againstthe plainmeaningof the biblicaltext as well as the readingof MaimonidesuponwhichibnTibbon is so dependent.My own view is thatthereis a simplephilosophicalreason for ibn Tibbon'sview; Jobdid not achieveprophecybecausehe didnot have intellectualperfection,which is a necessaryprerequisitefor prophecy. Wecanmakesenseof ibnTibbon'spositionby pointingouta philosophical problemin Maimonides'readingof Job. Maimonidessees Job as a figure 61. Guide II1:23, p. 496. 62. MYH, p. 115.

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who initiallyhas only moralperfection,butby the end of the storyachieves intellectualperfectionas well. The questionthatseems to have been on ibn Tibbon'smindis how Job in fact achievedthis latterperfection.Maimonides consistentlydepicts the process of philosophicaleducationas a long and laboriousone; and yet thereis no indicationon Maimonides'partas to how andwhen Job went throughthis process.In fact, if we takethe storyat face value, it would seem implausiblethatJob would have becomeintellectually perfectaftera few-albeit lengthy--conversationswith his friends.I would like to suggest,therefore,thatibn Tibbonwas movedby theseconsiderations to posit a readingthatis muchmorerealisticfroma philosophicalstandpoint: Job simplydid not achieveintellectualperfectionbutonly an appreciationof its value as a prerequisitefor immortality.He thereforedid not experience prophecy.Now Maimonidesmighthaverepliedto thephilosophicalobjections raisedhere that the story of Job, as a parable,is an imaginativestory that teaches us valuablephilosophicallessons, and thereforeone shouldnot be troubledtoo muchby the literalaccountherewhichdepictsJob'sachievement of intellectualperfectionin an unrealisticspanof time.Yetibn Tibbonseems to have felt thatthereshouldbe a close relationshipbetweenthe allegoryand thatwhich is feasiblefroma philosophicalstandpoint. But how thendoes ibn Tibbondealwith the lastchaptersof Job,in which the mysteryof God'sways are extolled?Maimonides'notionthatJob learns aboutthe most exaltedof philosophicaltruths-i.e., negativetheology--may be problematicin termsof his own philosophicalprinciples,butat leastit is a faithfulrenderingof the text. Maimonides'negativetheology,afterall, posits thatGod'sessence cannotbe known,a notionthatfits well with the message of Job'sfinalrevelation.IbnTibbonview makesmoresense philosophically, butleaves him with the taskof explainingwhatwas actuallyconveyedto Job in the final chaptersand how it fits with his theorythat God only spoke to Jobthroughhis suffering. What is odd is how little ibn Tibbonsays about the final chaptersof Job. With the exceptionof his brief remarksaboutthe whirlwind,he has virtuallyno commentabout them, a lacunathat can only give one pause. This may indicate some discomforton ibn Tibbon'spart as to how to fit these chaptersinto his overallreadingof Job.Yet I believe thatif one reads of the last chaptersof Job is at least ibn Tibboncarefully,an interpretation ibn Tibbon As we have maintainsthatin the courseof seen, already implied. the storyJob does in fact discovera negativetheologyof sorts:God'sways


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are not like ours,since God, unlikehumanbeings, can causepeopleto suffer withoutinjusticebeing attributedto Him-this, on accountof the corrupting influenceof matter.This notionwas a key componentof Elihu'sremarksto Job.Now ibn Tibbonneverexplicitlyconnectsthispointto the finalchapters of Job. And yet it is not hardto imaginehow ibn Tibbonmighthave made such a connection.After all, in these chaptersGod emphasizesthe mystery of His ways, a message that ibn Tibboncould have easily interpretedas confirmingthe notionthatGod'sjustice is unlikethatof humanbeings.And, of course, ibn Tibbonhas alreadytold us that this is the message that Job learnedfromhis suffering,sufferingwhich is identifiedwith the whirlwind. The final chapters,therefore,repeat what we alreadyknow from Elihu's speech: God's ways are unlike ours in terms of how he metes out justice. If this interpretationis correct,it may also explain why ibn Tibbondoes not explicatethe last chapters;he may have believed thatthey did not add anythingto Job's philosophicaleducationand assumedthat their meaning was transparent fromhis expositionof Elihu'sspeech. It is importantto note, however,that the negativetheology which Job learns in ibn Tibbon'sreadingis quite differentfrom that found in Maimonides.In fact, technicallyit is not reallynegativetheologyat all, at least not as Maimonidesunderstandsit. Certainly,accordingto ibn Tibbon,Job discoversthat there are differencesbetween God's ways and ours. But the knowledgewhich Job learnsabout God's ways is quite positive in content in that he is told how God, unlike man, can inflict sufferingwithoutour attributinginjusticeto Him. Negative theology in the Maimonideansense would not allow this type of positive description.Thus, for Maimonides, whenJob learnsaboutnegativetheologyin the finalrevelation,he learnsthat God'sways are ultimatelyunfathomable.Furthermore, it mustbe notedthat for ibn Tibbon,what Job discoversis that God's ways are not like ours on one very specific issue: God'sjustice. Thereis no suggestionby ibn Tibbon thatJob comes to a far-reachingunderstanding of God'snegativeattributes, as impliedby Maimonides. These observationslend furthersupportto ourcontentionthatibn Tibbon does not attributeintellectualperfectionto Job. What Job discoversis an important,but limited,series of philosophicaltruthsthathelp him appreciate that true providenceis not to be equatedwith physical well-being. This of Job contrastssharplywith thatof Maimonides,who depicts understanding Job as a figurewho in the end achieves intellectualperfection,experiences

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prophecy,andlearnsphilosophicaltruthsaboutGodthatarethe most exalted that a humanbeing can understand.And yet it is interestingto note that despite ibn Tibbon'sdifferenceswith Maimonideshere, nowheredoes ibn Tibbonindicatethathe has departedfromhis predecessor--eventhoughhe is quickto note such differencesregardingothermoreminorpoints. To summarize,ibn Tibbongleansa numberof philosophicallessonsfrom thebookof Job.Themostimportantone is thattrueprovidenceis immortality, which is consequentupon intellectualperfection.This lesson in turnallows ibn Tibbonto find meaningin the sufferingof the righteous.Sufferingleads a righteousindividualto recognizethatimmortalityis indeedtruereward.It accomplishesthis purposeby causinghim to realizethathis afflictionsare the resultof the corruptinginfluenceof matter.Fromthis insight,he comesto understandthatprovidencedoes not consistin physicalwell-being,andthat that trueprovidenceis achievedin the afterlife.He also comes to understand it is intellectualperfectionwhich is neededto achieve trueprovidence,not just perfectionin one's actions.In short,unjustifiedsufferingteacheswhat true rewardis and the means to achieve it. Yet ibn Tibbonseems to feel that sufferingbenefitsrighteousindividualsof a ratherspecific sort:those who have achievedperfectionin theiractionsbut not in theirintellect,and who believe that their actionswill bringdivine reward.It is they who will be disillusionedby theirsuffering,seek a philosophicalexplanationfor their situation,and come to the conclusionsjust outlined. Jobservesas an exampleof someonewho learnstheselessons.He begins the storyas a man righteousin conductbut lackingin intellectualperfection and expecting physical rewardsfor his righteousbehavior.By the end of the story he has learnedthat true providencehas nothingto do with such rewards,and thattrueprovidenceis immortality,which is consequentupon the perfectionof the intellect. Ouranalysishasallowedus to makesomevaluableobservationsaboutibn Tibbon'sphilosophicalorientation.In ibn Tibbon'sexposition,providencein its variousmanifestationsfunctionsas a forcethatdoes notrequirea personal God. Immortalityis achievedby naturalmeansthroughthe perfectionof the intellect.When the righteousindividualsuffers,what saves him physically fromdemiseis generalprovidencethatis synonymouswiththe naturalorder. Prayerand repentanceare valuable,but only to force such an individualto reflectupon his situationand gain the philosophicalinsightthatwill inspire


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himto pursueintellectualperfection.One cannotconcludewith certaintythat ibn Tibbonbelieved in an impersonalGod for all providentialactivity,since his expositionof Job deals with providenceof a ratherspecificvariety.Still, these observationslend supportto such a conclusion. We also have learnedfromour analysisthatibn Tibbon'srelationshipto Maimonidesis complexin thathe straddlesthe boundarybetweeninterpreter and innovatorin dealing with Maimonides'views. Ibn Tibbonbases his understandingof Job on Maimonides'exposition, and in some respects providesa keen and astutecommentaryon the latter.However,ibn Tibbon's expositionof Job ends up being farmoreelaborateandcoherentthanthatof Maimonides.He makesuse of clues in Maimonides'expositionto formulate a readingof Job thatgoes well beyondthatof his predecessor. Ibn Tibbon also departsfrom Maimonidesin significantways. These differencesdo not involve basic philosophicalpositions,but are concerned with the questionof whichphilosophicalpositionsare containedin the book of Job. Thus, for example, ibn Tibbon,unlike Maimonides,sees Job as teachingus thatsufferingis providentialin leadingus to appreciatethattrue Mostimportantis ibnTibbon'sinterpretation of the providenceis immortality. finalchaptersof Job.IbnTibbonoffersthe novel interpretation thatJobdoes not experienceprophecy,a view which appearsto be basedon ibn Tibbon's assessmentthat Job did not achieve intellectualperfection.Job merelygets to the point of appreciatingthe importanceof intellectualperfectionas a means to immortalityon accountof the "whirlwind"of sufferingwhich he experiences.This is a significantdeparturefrom Maimonides,who clearly regardsJob as a figurewho achievesintellectualperfectionandprophecyby the end of the story. To complicatematters,we also foundone significantinstancein which ibn Tibbonbelieveshe is followingMaimonidesbutis in factformulatinghis own originalview. IbnTibbonthinkshe is adoptingMaimonides'positionin of trueprovidence claimingthatthecentralmessageof Jobis the identification with immortality;andyet thereis little evidenceto suggestthatMaimonides readJob this way. I would like to ask one finalandbasic question:Did ibn Tibbongive any considerationto the audiencefor whom the book of Job was intended?In particular,is the story of Job understoodto be of universalsignificancein dealingwith a problemthatplagues all of humanity?Or is its message for a specificallyJewishaudience?This latteroptionis certainlyfeasible,given

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thatsufferingwas both a historicalrealityand a theologicallychargedissue for the Jews in ibn Tibbon'stime. A cursoryreadingwould supportthe first alternative.Throughouthis exposition,ibn Tibbonappearsto presentthe storyof Jobas one of universal significance,there being no explicit mentionof the sufferingof the Jews. Moreover,in one particularpassage the universalityof the story seems to be underscored.I am referringto a brief discussionin chapter18 where ibn Tibbonpresentshis final remarksaboutJob. Here ibn Tibbongives a numberof examplesof the type of providencementionedby Elihuby which God communicatesto righteousindividualsthroughprophecyand informs them of the same lessons thatJob learnedthroughthe actualexperienceof Becausethis formof providencewas not in fact the type thatJob suffering.63 experienced,ibnTibbondoesnothavemuchto sayaboutit in thecourseof his commentaryon Job.But in the closingremarksof his discussion,ibn Tibbon gives threeexamplesfromthe Bible in whichGodwarnsindividualsthrough prophecyof theirerroneousviews concerningprovidence:these are Laban, Abimelech,and the Pharaohwith whom Abrahaminteractedregardinghis wife Sarah.Whatis mostinterestingto notehereis thatall of theseindividuals are non-Jews.Ibn Tibbonseems to be calling on these specificexamplesto underscorethe universalquality of the teachingswhich the book of Job imparts.We should also note thatmost rabbiniccommentatorsassumethat WhileibnTibbonneverdeclaresa positionon this Jobis himselfa non-Jew.64 he have same opinion,andthereforefelt thatto call on held the matter, may in illustratingone of the lessons non-Jewishexampleswas most appropriate which Job learns. But if one looks carefullyat ibn Tibbon'sreadingof Job, I believe that thereis evidencethatthroughthe figureof Job he is also grapplingwith the plightof the Jews of his own period.We have notedthatibn Tibbonsaw the message of Job as being directedto a ratherspecific groupof individuals. They are righteouspeople who believe erroneouslythat divine rewardis to be equatedwith physical well-being,and that one achieves that reward by good deeds; such people have to be taughtthatthey are wrong on both counts.I thinkit is evidentthatibn Tibbonis addressingand critiquingthe communityof traditionalJews in his own day who meticulouslyobserve butareignorantof philosophy.Thepejorativereferences the commandments 63. See above,p. 273. 64. A lively debateon this questionis recordedin B.T.BavaBatra15a-b.


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to those who do good deeds, and see no need to pursuephilosophyunless they areproddedby the experienceof suffering,seem to be an unmistakable allusion to his pious but philosophicallyunsophisticatedco-religionists.In effect, ibn Tibbonis telling us, they are like Job before his enlightenment. Moreover,he seems to be sayingthatif the Jews areexperiencingsuffering, it shouldonly inspirethemto seek intellectualperfection,whichwill in turn bringprovidence.Effectively,what ibn Tibbonsuggestsis thatthe solution to the predicamentof the persecutedJewish communityis the study of philosophy!65 Admittedly,what is being arguedhere is somewhatspeculative.But our argumentis strengthenedby evidence that ibn Tibbonwas troubledby the lack of philosophicalsophisticationin the Jewishcommunityof his period. As Ravitzkyhas pointedout, in his Commentary on Ecclesiastes,ibn Tibbon expressesconcernthatmost of his co-religionistseitherrejectMaimonides' views or accept his views only after they have distortedthem. In fact, ibn Tibbon sees himself as one of the select few who truly understands Maimonides'teachings.66It would thereforemake sense for ibn Tibbonto directcriticismat his fellow Jews for theirlackof philosophicallearningand to express his thoughtsindirectlythroughan interpretation of Job so as to avoid a backlashfromentrenchedtraditionalists. What we have said here may be true for Maimonidesas well. His expositionof Job also makesno specificreferenceto the Jewishpeople and appearsto teach lessons of universalimportance.Yet it is he who inspires the more particularisticdimensionof ibn Tibbon'sinterpretation of Job as a figurewho initiallybelieves in traditionalviews of divinerewarduntil he is disabusedof these beliefs througha higherphilosophicalunderstanding. Therefore,if ibn Tibbon'sreadingof Job reflectshis views on the Jewish communityof his time, he is perhapsfollowingthe lead of Maimonides. However, ibn Tibbongoes a step furtherthan Maimonideson several points.For,as notedearlier,ibn Tibbonemphasizesthroughthe figureof Job thatthe life of righteousactionis notjust inadequateforachievingprovidence, as Maimonidessuggests,but is a serioushindranceto trueprovidencein that it providesa sense of false confidencethatone will be rewardedfor proper 65. Thenotionthatthe studyof philosophyis prerequisitefor theredemptionof theJewish people from exile is also voiced by othermedievalJewish philosophers.See, for example, JacobAnatoli'sMalmadHa-Talmidim (Lyck:MekiseiNirdamim,1866),p. 160b. 66.. Ravitzky,"Samuelibn Tibbon,"pp. 89-90.

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actionalone. Thus,ibn Tibbon'simpliedcritiqueof his pious co-religionists we also notedthatibnTibbon is sharperthanin Maimonides.Moreimportant, the notionthatsufferingis a in from Job Maimonides deriving goes beyond in its one that can lead the naively righteous force own right, providential to true philosophicalawarenessand true divine reward.Maimonidesstops shortof makingsufferinginto a manifestationof providence.Therefore,ibn Tibbonmay be grapplingwith the meaningof Jewishexile and sufferingin a way thatMaimonidesdoes not. I think our analysis shows that withoutdoubt ibn Tibbonis a thinker with significantdepthand subtlety.It has also becomeclearthatone cannot appreciatethese qualitiesunless one is preparedto readhim with greatcare. One musthave patienceandperseverancein orderto unlockthe meaningof his elusive and esoteric style of writing.We certainlyhave not found that ibn Tibbonoffers originalphilosophicalpositions--andperhapsthis is one reasonthat he has been so little studied.But to look for his originalityin this sphere is to miss ibn Tibbon'strue talent, which lies in his capacity as philosophicalexegete, a form of discoursethat requiresits own unique skills. Only when this point is properlyappreciatedcan one understandibn Tibbon'ssignificanceand why his workswere so influentialon subsequent Jewishphilosopherswho were interestedin biblicalinterpretation. GeorgeWashington University D.C. Washington,

Succession to the Rabbinate in Yemen Author(s): Aharon Gaimani Source: AJS Review, Vol. 24, No. 2 (1999), pp. 301-323 Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Association for Jewish Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1486756 . Accessed: 15/07/2011 11:04 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at . http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=cup. . Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].



SUCCESSIONTO THERABBINATEIN YEMEN by AHARONGAIMANI

Introduction in modemtimeshavebeenthesubjectof some Rabbinical appointments fora sonto inherittheofficeof rabbi study:in Ashkenazit was customary SimhaAssafwrites:"Wedonot fromhisfather,providedhe wasdeserving.' find[in earlierperiods]the practicewhichis widespread today,wherebya the death of its his son or son-in-law even rabbi, upon appoints community, communities not if theyareunworthy were replacements. Previously, subject Underthe rule of the OttomanEmpire, to this 'dynasticimposition."'2 of the rabbinical in the seventeenthcentury,thereare attestations office Sarfati becominga dynastyreservedforcertainfamilies,notablyTaytasaq, was not perceivedas and 'Arameh,in Saloniki.Althoughthe rabbinate the rightfulmonopolyof anyparticular family,interviewsconductedwith leaderson thispointindicatethatcertainfamilieshad rabbisandcommunity overothers.Fromthe seventeenth clearlybeenpreferred centuryonwards the thisgrewmorepronounced: would refrainfrom occasionally, community a new rabbi and wait for a son to reach so he younger appointing maturity couldinherithis father'sposition.3 1. See MordechaiBreuer,TheRabbinatein AshkenazDuringihe MiddleAges (Jerusalem, 1976), p. 13; Responsaof the HatamSofer,OrahHayyim 12; JeffreyI. Roth,"Inheritingthe Crownin JewishLaw:The Questionof RabbinicSuccession,"JewishLawAssociationStudies 9 (1997):237-259. 2. SimhaAssaf,"Le-qorotha-rabbanut (be-Ashkenaz,Polaniave-Lita),Reshumot2 (1919): 272. 3. LeahBornstein,"TheJewishCommunalLeadershipin theNearEastfromthe Endof the 15thCenturyThroughthe 18thCentury"(Ph.D.diss., BarIlanUniversity,1978),pp. 146-150.

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In Moroccoit was quitecommonfor a son to inherithis fatheras rabbi; consequently,several families there establishedrabbinicaldynastiesover the last few centuries,namely Sarfati,Toledano,Berdugo,ben-'Attar,and Ibn-Sur.Problemsarose when the son was not a suitablereplacement,and anothermemberof the family-a son-in-lawor grandchildwho was a scholar in his own right-demandedthe appointment.4 The rabbinatein Yemen was a world unto itself. The responsaand otherrabbinicaldocumentsrevealthatthe rabbisdid not addressthe debate rabbinicalappointments.I proposeto examinethe controversies surrounding in light of the uniquestatusof the rabbinicaloffice and the structureof the Jewish community.This will be illustratedby a discussionof the office of chief rabbiin San'a and othercommunitiesin recentcenturies,makinguse also of interviewsconductedwith the last generationof officiatingrabbisin Yemen;the conclusionswill shed light on the practicein Yemenin earlier periodsas well. TheRabbi:Life and Leadership,TorahandLabor The office of headof the communityin Yemenbearsthe stampof ancient tradition,as articulatedby Maimonides.5In Yemen,the rabbi,and indeed anyoneservingin any spiritualcapacityin the community,was knownby the title of mori,a word appearingin ancientsourcespreservedin the Yemenite Thetitlereferredto theteachersof youngboysandanyonequalified tradition.6 4. Froma privatecommunicationwith R. Moshe 'Ammar,Bnei Braq.For more on this, see, for instance,R. Ya'aqovIbn Sur,Mishpatu-sedaqabe-Ya'aqov(Jerusalem,1981), siman 19, 47, 72, 102; R. Sar ShalomMashash,DivreiShalom(Meknes,1945), HoshenMishpat9; RabbiR. M. Elbaz,Halakhale-Moshe(Jerusalem,1900),OrahHayyim4-6. 5. See Maimonidesin Mishnah with Commentaryby Maimonides,ed. Yosef Qafih (Jerusalem,1965), Avot 4:7, pp. 288-291; MishnehTorahby Maimonides,Sefer Hamada', HilkhotTalmudTorah3:10-11. Maimonideswroteto his disciple,R. JosephBen Yehudah:"I do not adviseyou, but a pennyearnedby a tailoror weaveris morevaluableto me thanthe nobleoffice of exilarch."In R. Yosef Qafih,ed., Igrotha-Rambam (Jerusalem,1965),p. 134. writtenmari.Thetitleis probablyof ancientorigin. 6. Mori,meaning"mister,"traditionally See H. Z. Hirshberg,YisraelBe-'Arav(TelAviv, 1946),p. 193; S. D. Goitein,TheYemenites: SelectedStudies(Jerusalem,1973), p. 278; Y Ratzaby,Dictionaryof the HebrewLanguage Jews (Hebrew)(Tel Aviv, 1988),pp. 146-147; ErichBrauer,Ethnologieder usedby Yemenite JemenitshenJuden(Heidelberg,1934),pp. 283-285.

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to serveas ritualslaughtererorwho hadattainedthehigherdegreeof halakhic decisor.7 In the largerJewishcenters,the mori officiatingas head of the commuwho also borethe title nity-enjoying a higherpositionthanhis counterparts of morias lay leadersor scholars-was joinedby anotherlearnedrabbi,who had a politicalfunction.In most Yemenitecommunities,however,it was the moriwho fulfilledboth spiritualandpoliticaloffices.8 Visitors to Yemen noted the unique natureof the Yemeniterabbi as communityleader.R. Ya'aqov Sapir,the rabbinicalemissarywho visited Yemenin 1859, tells of the mori in differentcommunities.The followingis his descriptionof MoriYosef ben Sa'id of Jirwah: Thistinycity hasa greatrabbi(in theseplacestherabbiis calledmori):he andcantorandbeadleas well;still, is teacher, slaughterer judgeandpreacher, evenwithall these,he hasn'tenoughto ekeouta living.... thusis themori withtheneedto earna livingby hisowntrade.9 burdened He noted that the moris exhibitedmasteryof Talmudand halakhicworks as great as that of Jewish scholarsin other countries,and, as well, were thoroughlyconversantwith the Qabbalah;the mori was also a charismatic leader.At the same time, he workedas a smith,mendedthe peasants'tools, and would combine study with work and communalaffairs:"Even when engagedin this difficultlaborI would find him discussingTorah,wisdom, and ethics. And right there in his shop he judges the people and passes decreeson communalaffairs."On anothervisit to the mori'sworkshop,R. Sapirtells him: "Youare blessed indeed,Mori Yosef, for you are a smith; R. Ya'aqovSapir woe unto those who enjoy the fruitsof the rabbinate."'0 on to describe two other communal dignitaries:MoriSuleimanTa'izzi, goes who preachedin the synagogueand earneda living as a goldsmith,and Avraham'Adani,a merchant."The following is his accountof the mori of 7. 'AmramQorah,Sa 'aratTeiman(Jerusalem,1954),p. 30, n. 33; S. D. Goitein,Yemenites, p. 278; ShmuelYavne'eli,Masa'le-Teiman(Jerusalem,1952,p. 56; R. Yosef Qafih,Halikhot Teiman(Jerusalem,1982, p. 88. 8. Forthe functionsof the mori,see YehielNahshon,"JewishLeadershipin Yemen"(Bar IlanUniversity,1972),pp. 81-103. 9. See Ya'aqovSapir,EvenSapir(Lyck,1866),p. 51. 10. Ibid.,pp. 50-61. 11. Ibid.,p. 51

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Hajre:"MoriYihye Hibbeh,may he live long, a smith, is the teacherand slaughterer,greatin knowledgeof the Torahand a pious man,"thenbriefly describeshis daily routineand work, much similarto that of the Mori of a pious Jirwah.12Of Mudmarhe says: "Theyhave a teacherand slaughterer, he live who sews shoes while his Yosef Mori Yehoshua',may man, long, In of he as the custom here."' the Yafid met the wife tans skins, is city officiatingmori, Suleiman'Amrani,who was also a merchant.14Shibamhad two communities--a local one, headedby Mori Aharon,a merchant;and one consistingof immigrantsfrom San'a, headedby Mori Yosef Sha'tal,a smith.I5Thereweretwo communitiesin Kawkabanas well: in additionto the localone, therewas a congregationof refugeesfromSan'a.Bothwereheaded by MoriYihyeBadihi,a goldsmithwho hadpliedthattradewhile still living in San'a, wherehe had mintedcoins for the imam.'6In the city of 'Amran, MoriSuleimanTan'ami,a refugeefromSan'a,was bothspiritualleaderand a shopkeeper.'7 Mori Yosef of Kuhlanwas a tailor.'8Mori Salim of Hajjeh, The dignitaries a refugeefrom San'a, was a merchantand tobacco-maker."9 of the city of Tan'um,headedby Mori SuleimanSafira,were for the most partwheat and fruitmerchants;20Mori Salim of Mokhawas a goldsmith,21 and MoriMenahemMoshe of 'Aden exportedgoods to India,Ethiopia,and Egypt.22 In 1910 an emissaryof theAllianceIsraeliteUniverselle,YomTovSemah, visitedYemen,andwrotethe followingaccount: Thisdiminutive who returnshomeeacheveningto Jews'Street, ironsmith, histoolsonhisback-why,heis a "moreh" inthesynagogue, carrying (teacher) all. On the when he is unencumbered Sabbath, by highlyrespected especially, worries his of white robes and trade,wearinglong by daily highturban--he 12. Ibid.,pp. 66-67 13. Ibid.,p. 69. 14. Ibid.,p. 73. 15. Ibid.,p. 77. 16. After fallingundersuspicionandbeing sentencedto prison,he fled with his familyto the city of Kawkaban.Ibid.,p. 87. 17. Ibid.,p. 102. 18. Ibid.,p. 104. 19. Ibid.,p. 105. 20. Ibid.,p. 107. 21. Ibid.,p. 110. 22. Sapir,EvenSapir,II (Mainz,1874),p. 8.

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manaltogether. Hesitsintheplaceof honor,instructs becomesa different when difficult of the to begintheprayers, and the Torah, arranges interprets passages he not a should be indeed, Why, readings. dayyan(judge)?23 In 1911 the Zionist movementsent an emissary,ShmuelYavne'eli,to Yemen,who describedits spiritualleadersat length: Outsideof San'aand'Adenthereis nota singlescholarin thecountrywhose wantsareprovided Thelearned menof thisland,rabbisand bythecommunity. as earn their own or labor.Tothis judges(known Mori), livingby commerce the observe the from Torahforone's veryday,they injunction againstprofiting ownneeds.24 Of Mori AvrahamSan'aniof 'Amid he writes:"A scholar,for whom the Torahis his craft,but not his means of livelihood."25 In Arisahe met Mori a The moris of and MoriYa'aqovof Aqmah,28 'Abar,27 Yihye , goldsmith.26 David Sa'id of were all weavers.29 Mori Muqreh These descriptionsindicatethat the rabbinatein Yemenwas markedby adherenceto the precept"Torahtogetherwith labor";the rabbiswere of all trades:merchants,smiths,jewelers,weavers,shoemakers,tailors.As we saw in the descriptionof the Jirwahcommunity,some rabbisministeredto the communitywhile actively engagedin theirtrade.Only in the large centers of San'a, 'Aden,andRada'did the officiatingrabbireceivea decentstipend fromthe community;in most otherplaces the pay was meager.Undersuch conditionsit is not surprisingthat the candidateoften had to be persuaded to acceptthe post. The officiatingrabbishad to make do withoutadequate compensationand pursuea modestlifestyle, devoidof luxury,bothbecause the communalfundscouldnot covera handsomesalaryanddue to fearof the authoritiesandthe Muslimpopulace.We see, then,thatin modemtimes,the office of mori in Yemenhas differedfromthatof rav in Europeandhakham in Easterncommunities. 23. Yom-TovSemah,"Unemissionde l'Allianceau Yemen,"Bulletinde 1'Alliance,1911, pp. 43-44. 24. Yavne'eli,Masa' le-Teiman,p. 52. 25. Ibid.,p. 57. 26. Ibid.,p. 133. 27. Ibid.,p. 136. 28. Ibid.,p. 137. 29. Ibid.,p. 139.

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San'a San'a, Yemen'scapital,hadthe largestJewishpopulationin the country, numberingaboutsix thousandin recentgenerations.30TheJewishpopulation in Yemenwas scattered,andalthoughnot alwaysundera centralizedMuslim the San'a communitywas alwaysrecognizedby the Jews of administration, the countryas the center,andits learnedmenwerereveredby all.31YomTov Semahwrites:"TheSan'a rabbinicalcourtis recognizedby all the Jews of Yemen,its judges are sent questionsfromfar andwide, and all over Yemen Jews awaitthe answerseagerly.It is secondonly to the Jerusalemrabbinical court."'32 Learnedmen from Jewish communitiesall over Yemen would send questionsto the San'a rabbis,acceptingtheir authority.The style of these epistlesindicatesthe centralityof theSan'a dignitaries:a local disputewith a ritualslaughtererover an animalthathadbeen slaughteredwith a knifeunfit for the ritualslaughterled to the suggestionthatthe matterbe broughtbefore the San'arabbinicalcourt.Thusdoes one of the rabbiswriteto his colleague: "Sendyourquestionto the San'arabbinicalcourtand,in yourwisdom,please spareno effort;I myself will have no rest untilI hearthe answersent down fromthe court,with God'shelp.33 R. Yihye 'Umeisi, last rabbiof Rada',the second-largestcommunityin Yemen,habituallyconsultedthe San'a halakhicauthoritiesabouthis legal dilemmas,as did his fatherbefore him. In his prefaceto his anthologyof responsa,comprisingwritingsby the Rada'rabbis,he writes: As anyright-thinking mancanseewithhisowneyes,theSan'arabbisareour and we be protected fortheirsake,Amen);fromearliesttimes (may pride joy untilthisverymoment,theserabbisfirstshine,thendim:No sooneris Moses deadthanJoshuastandsforth.Teachers andluminaries, writersandauthors, of 30. The Jewishpopulationof San'awas assessedat 6,000 by Sapiron his 1859visit (Even Sapir,p. 91 (for his countof "houses"read"people,"basedon the translationby Onkelosof Genesis 45:18) and at 3000 by Semah,based on his 1910 census ("Unemission,"p. 108); Yavne'eli,who visitedSan'ain 1911,agreeswith Semah(Masale-Teiman,p. 13). 31. See, for instance,Yosef Tobi, "Samkhutoha-arsitshel bet hadinbe-San'abe'einei ha-shiltonotha-muslemim," Mi-qeddemu-mi-yam2 (1986): 55-70; see also Tobi'srecordsof in Legacy personaltestimonyfromdifferentcommunities:"Ha-qehillaha-yehuditbe-Teiman," of theJews of Yemen(Hebrew),ed. YosefTobi(Jerusalem,1977),pp. 65-117. 32. Semah,Masa' le-Teiman,p. 43. 33. Ben Zvi Institute,file no. 352/20r.


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shallcomeforthfromSan'a,andthewordof God whichit is said:34 Instruction fromTan'im,as father,theMori,said:35 Justicefortherighteous in theirland. The unquestionedsupremacyof the San'a rabbisis evident in the style of the Rada'rabbis,who approachedthe San'ajudges as well. All communities recognizedtheirauthority,andanyonethey summonedwouldarriveimmediately or risk excommunication.A documentdated1894reportsa rumorof a man,reprimanded by the San'arabbinicalcourt,who madethe pilgrimageto with friends and neighborsto inquireinto the affair,indicating San'a along how bindingwere theirjudgments.36 It is noteworthythatin some remoteareasof Yementhe imamiterulers, from their seat in San'a, failed to subjugatethe local tribes,while the Jews all.over Yemenrespectedthe authorityof the centerin San'a,andeveryJew would do as biddenby its chief rabbi.37 Whenthe needarose,disputantsfromsmallcommunitieswouldapproach the regionalrabbinicalcourt,locatedin a largercenter,andif themattercould not be resolved,they would thengo to San'a,as the highestlegal instance.38 The chief rabbiof San'aperiodicallysentemissariesto far-flungcommunities throughoutYemento ensurethatritualslaughterwas beingperformed On these visits properlyand standardsof religiousobservancemaintained."39 would issue documents that were they attesting they actinguponthe authority of the San'a rabbinicalcourt.40In the twentiethcentury,R. Yihye Nahum was a renownedexpertin the requirementsof ritualslaughter.41ChiefRabbi YihyeYishaqHalevichargedhimwiththetaskof travelingaroundthecountry to supervisethe slaughterersand the rabbiswho performedmarriagesand 34. An allusionto a popularYemeniteproverbof unknownorigin,quotedin: Sapir,Even Sapir,p. 107. 35. Acronym of San'a in Hebrew: X"P2 - MU?TM-9 t1=1

YP, in Y. L. Nahum, Mikhmanim 2T

mehasifatGinzeiTeiman(TelAviv, 5750), p. 65, photop. 93. 36. Ben Zvi Institute,file no. 351/15. 37. Meir Levi recountsa similaranecdoteinvolvinghis own father,Chief RabbiYihye Yishaq Halevi. Meir Levi, "'Atara le-yoshnah,"in Qoves Harel, ed. YehudaRatzabyand YitzhakShivti'el(TelAviv, 1962),pp. 301-302. 38. See, forinstance,N. B. Gamlieli,Teimanu-mahaneGe'ula(TelAviv, 1966),pp.42-44; Yosef Sha'ar,"Yehudeihasarmavet(ha-Habanim)," in Ratzabyand Shivti'el,QovesHarel,p. 235. 39. SeeYosef Tobi, "Shluheibet ha-dinbe-San'a,"Pe'amim14 (1983):92-96. 40. See, for instance,Tobi,Shluheibet ha-din,AppendixA, p. 101;AppendixB, p. 105. 41. Bornin Ash-Sheghadre,northwestof San'a;died in Tel Aviv, 1963.

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divorces.He also issueddocumentsof authorityto the religiousfunctionaries, and wrote responsato questionssent him by communalleaders.42 R. Levi the Dhamar recounted when of that R. Qeshet community YihyeNahumcame to visit his community,he was greetedwith the greatesthonorandhostedby the presidentof the communityin his own home.43Theywould customarily slaughteranimalson Wednesdaysor Thursdays,andR. YihyeNahumwould accompanythe qualifiedslaughterersandexaminetheirwork. In 1679 the Jewswere expelledfromSan'aandfoundrefugein Mawza', in southernYemen. Two years later they were permittedto return,and resettledoutsidethe city walls, where they lived until the establishmentof the State of Israel and the emigrationof the San'a community.44 One of the first ordinancespassed upon their returnfrom exile was to establisha permanentrabbinicalcourt comprisingthreejudges who held court every day, as they had done priorto theirexile.45Extantdocumentsfromthe late seventeenthcenturycontainthe namesof the heads of the rabbinicalcourt. R. 'AmramQorah,the last chief rabbiof Yemen,compiledthis list basedon the signaturesin the Mesawwadeh,the San'acourt'sregister,andusingwrits thatthejudges had signedas witnesses.The permanentrabbinicalcourtwas active until the early twentiethcentury.46 Duringthis period,ten rabbisin turnheld the positionof headof the rabbinicalcourt,functioningas halakhic authorityand leaderof the community. In 1872,the Turksconqueredthe capitalof San'aandruledYemenforthe next fifty years. In the earlytwentiethcentury,ImamYahyaHamidAd-Din succeededin underminingtheirrulein Yemen.In the treatysignedin 1911,it was agreedthatthe TurkswouldleaveYemenin 1918.ImamYahyaremained in power and enjoyed a long reign until his assassinationin 1948. Under Turkishrule,theJewswererequiredto namea leader,knownas hakhambashi 42. See AvrahambenDavidHalevi,Mipihakhamim (BneiBraq,1986),introduction, photo. no. 5; YosefZurieli,Minnuyu-shehitabe-Teimanbadorotha-aharonim(Jerusalem,1990),pp. 66-67; PinhasQorah,ed., NerotZekharia(Bnei Braq, 1990), pp. 39-43; R. YishaqRasabi, Responsa'OlatYishaq,2 (BneiBraq,1992),siman148-150;Meqorhayyim,AshqelonMS, R. ShalomAbhar. 43. Emigratedto Israelin 1949,now living in Bnei Braq. 44. For a surveyof the Muzaexpulsionand its results,see AharonGaimani,"TheJews of Yemen and of Eres Yisrael in the 16th-18thCenturies"(Hebrew)(Ph.D. diss. Bar Ilan University,1992),pp. 186-207. See also below,n. 88. 45. Qoral, Sa 'aratTeiman,p. 14. 46. Ibid.,p. 62.

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("headof the rabbis"),who would act as liaisonbetweenthe communityand the authorities,in compliancewith Ottomanpracticethroughoutthe empire. Seven rabbisofficiatedas hakhambashi; thougha political-rabbinical role, it was filled mostly by the highestreligiousauthorities,andin severalcases, the headof the rabbinicalcourtwas simultaneouslyhakhambashi. In 1918, after the Turks had left Yemen, the religious leader was designatedchief rabbi.The appointmentwas approvedand signed by the leadersof the community.47The religious leaderwas joined by a political functionary.At times, however, one man would fulfill both religious and political duties, the latter consisting mainly of maintainingties with the authorities. The following is the list of the headsof the rabbinicalcourt,the hakham bashi and the chief rabbi:48 R. ShlomoManzili:1681-1690, firstheadof the rabbinicalcourt. R. Yihye Hacohen:1690-1715, secondheadof the rabbinicalcourt. R. ShalomHamdi:1715-1724, thirdheadof the rabbinicalcourt. R. David Hoter:1724-1747, fourthheadof the rabbinicalcourt. R. Sa'adiahQati'i, 1749-1757, fifthheadof the rabbinicalcourt. R. Yihye Salih (Maharitz),1758-1805, sixthheadof the rabbinical court. R. AvrahamSalih, 1805-1808, seventhheadof the rabbinicalcourt. R. Yosef Qareh,1812-1849, eighthheadof the rabbinicalcourt. R. SuleimanQareh, 1849-1889, ninth head of the rabbinicalcourt; 1879-1885, firsthakhambashi. R. YishaqShaul(Sepharadi),1876-1879, secondhakhambashi. R. Yosef Badihi, 1885, thirdhakhambashi. R. Yosef 'Amr, 1886-1897, 1900-1905, fourthhakhambashi. R. SalimJamal,1897-1899, fifthhakhambashi. R. Yihye Qafih,1899-1900, sixthhakhambashi. R. ShlomoSalih, 1889-1902, tenth,andlast, headof the rabbinical court. R. Yihye YishaqHalevi, 1905-1932, seventh,andlast, hakhambashi; 47. Ibid.,p. 24. 48. List compiledfollowingQorah,Sa 'aratTeiman,pp. 14-15, 18-19, 23-24, 41-43, 50, 59-62, 66-68, 73-77. Forbiographicaldetailson thejudgesof the rabbinicalcourts,see Yosef Nahshon,Dyoqna'otba-hanhagaha-yehuditbe-Teimanba-me'otha-18-19 (Netanya,1994).

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chief rabbi. R. Yihye Abyad, 1932-1949, last chief rabbi. This list reveals that only in two cases did sons succeed their fathersin the rabbinate.R. AvrahamSalih succeeded his father,R. Yihye, and R. SuleimanQarehtook office afterhis father,R. Yosef. As we will presently in thesefamily see, the difficultiesof findinga replacementwereinstrumental appointments. In the early nineteenthcentury(1808-1812), the San'a communitywas left withouta headof the rabbinicalcourt,its highestreligiousauthority,for threeyears.YehudaNini surmisesthatthe lacunawas causedby the demand of R. David Salih to be appointedto the office of rabbiheld by his father, R. Yihye;49 R. Avraham,andgrandfather, however,I submitthatthe material the was the entailed in cause of the delay,as no one could position hardship be foundwho would acceptthe position. In the mid-nineteenthcentury,R. SuleimanQarehsucceededhis father, as describedby R. 'AmramQorah: Afterthe deathof the headof the rabbinical court,YosefQareh,of blessed the rabbis and wereanxiousto appointhis memory, community dignitaries eldestson,R. Suleiman, to succeedhis fatheras headof therabbinical court. He refused,at first,as he hadbeenaccustomed sinceyouthto libertyanda freehand,anddidwellin all his affairs.Butit wasdecreedin heavenandhe agreed,withthehelpof God.5o With the Turkishconquest in 1872, R. Suleimanwas appointedthe first hakhambashi.Thesetwo families,SalihandQareh,werethe mostprominent rabbinicaldynastiesin the historyof YemeniteJewry:the Salih familyheld the office for nearlyhalf a century,with R. YihyeSalih(Maharis)servingfor forty-sevenyears;the Qarehfamily held the office for some seventy-seven years. An interestingexceptionon the list is the hakhambashiR. YishaqShaul, the only rabbinot fromSan'a.By requestof the San'acommunity,he agreed to come from Turkeyto serve as hakhambashi in Yemen.The invitation was extended in the hope that he would be able to foster good relations 49. YehudaNini, Teimanv-Ziyyon(Tel Aviv, 1982), p. 125, and, followinghis example, Nahshon,Dyoqna'otba-hanhagahe-yehudit,p. 101. 50. Qorah,Sa'arat Teiman,p. 31.


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with Yemen'sTurkishrulers.He was the only one of the rabbinicalleaders to receive a regularsalary from the community,and held office until his death."R. YishaqShaulwas precededin Yemenby his brother-in-law, the merchantDavid ben ShmuelHalevi Qaraso,who advocatedinvitinga rabbi fromoutsidethe communitywho would be paida salary.As the community claimed they could not affordthis, Qarasoadvised imposinga tax on the purchaseof variousgoods."2 Prior to R. Yishaq Shaul and after him as well, the post was held by R. Suleiman Qareh, a wealthy man not in need of a salary.During R. Yishaq Shaul'sterm of office, R. SuleimanQarehcontinuedto preside as head of the rabbinicalcourt.53There is no evidence to show that R. SuleimanQarehhad any objectionto steppingdown in favorof R. Yishaq Shaul, who even stayed at his home upon his arrivalat San'a.54In fact he seemed to welcome the replacement,since he was therebyrelieved of his burdensomeresponsibilities.As mentionedabove, he had initiallyrefused when approachedby the communityto succeedhis father. The wills left by threeof the prominentrabbiswho held office, R. Yihye Salih (Maharis),R. Yosef Qareh,andhis son, R. Suleiman,makeno mention of successionby sons or any othermemberof the family.55 The office of chief rabbifailed to providea livelihood;the rabbis,forced to ply a trade,were burdenedby their responsibilities,while at the same time unwilling to be supportedby the community.Emolumentfrom ritual slaughter,habituallygrantedthe rabbi,was also a sourceof contention.56 When the head of the rabbinicalcourtR. ShlomoSalih passed away in 1902, the leading citizens of the communitymet to appointa replacement and chose R. Yihye YishaqHalevi.His reactionis describedby R. 'Amram Qorah:"Whenhe heardthat, he remonstratedwith the assemblyand fled 51. On his termof office, see Yosef Tobi,YehudeiTeimanbame'aha-19 (TelAviv, 1979), pp. 104-117; Qorah,Sa 'aratTeiman,pp. 42-43. 52. Tobi,YehudeiTeiman,p. 158. 53. OnR. SuleimanQareh,see AharonGaimani,"Shtarha-sava'ashel R. SuleimanQareh," Tema6 (1998): 81-94. 54. Tobi, YehudeiTeiman,p. 160. 55. Onthe wills of the differentrabbis,see Qorah,Sa 'aratTeiman,p. 23; on R. YihyeSalih: R. YehudaRatzaby,Bo 'i Teiman(Tel Aviv, 1967), pp. 256-258; R. Yosef Qareh:Nahshon, Dyoqna'ot ba-hanhagaha-yehudit,pp. 103-104; R. Suleiman:Gaimani,"Shtarha-sava'ashel R. SuleimanQareh." 56. Qorah,Sa 'arat Teiman,pp. 50, 60, 62, 73; R. ShalomQoralh,Iggeret bokhim(Bet Shemesh,1962),pp. 62-63.

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the assemblywas not reconvened fromthem.""His refusalnotwithstanding, to choose anothercandidate. The difficultiesentailedin the post meantthatonly those possessedof a noble spiritandstrengthof charactercouldendure.Fourof the sevenhakham bashisresignedafterless thanthreeyearsin office.

OtherCommunitiesin Yemen The Jews of Yemen numberedaroundeighty thousandin recent generationsand were scatteredin over a thousanddifferentlocations;most communitieswere very small, some consistingonly of severalhouseholds. The largercommunitieswere locatedin San'a,Rada',Dhamar,and 'Aden.58 The mori in the small communitiesserved as ritual slaughtererand mohel (circumcisor),teacherand preacher,and peace-maker;he performed marriagesand divorces, and at times even collected the head tax (jizya) MoriYihyeMansura,for instance,who imposedby the Muslimauthorities.59 came to San'a fromthe city of 'Amranandmarrieda womanfromShibam, recountsthat Mori Salim Mansur,in Shibam,was the local slaughterer, teacher,performerof marriagesanddivorces,dentist-and still his cupboard was bare. Occasionallyseveralscholarswould act as mori,with the most learned amongthem consideredthe spiritualleader,whose authoritywas based on his eminence and scholarship.He received no pay, and earnedhis living by whatevertradehe plied. He would receive, as did all the slaughterers,a portionof the meator fowl slaughtered.Sometimestheywouldtutorstudents fora meagersum.Thisofficepassedfromfatherto son, or to anothermember of the family,on conditionthatthe candidatewas deemeddeserving. R. Sa'adyaHoze, rabbiof the village of Minzal,in southernYemen,who succeededhis father,R. Rason Yefet, writes on this point, describingthe Jewishcustomsin the southernregionof Shar'ab:

57. Qorah,Iggeretbokhim,p. 62. 58. Yavne'eli,Masa' le-Teiman,p. 13. 59. Brauer,Ethnologie,p. 283, andsee below,the reportsof R. Ya'aqovSapir.

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Shouldthe sonbe as worthyas thefather,andlikedby thepeople,andif he was ordainedby greatrabbis,the leadingcitizensof the community would conferandchoosehim,andthenhis father'sauthority passeddirectlyto him.6 Wepossess verymeagerinformationregardingthe customsandtraditions in Yemen.The following has been gleanedfromdocumentsand interviews with eldersof the last generationin Yemen. In Sa'adah,in northernYemen,the rabbinatepassedfrom fatherto son over four generations:R. Ya'aqov,his son, R. Ya'bes, his grandson,R. Ya'aqov,and his great-grandson,R. 'OvadiaYa'bes, today chief rabbiof Qiryat'Eqron,in Israel.61 Yarimhad the rabbinicaldynastyof the Qafih family: R. Moshe was succeededby his son, R. Hayyim,thenhis grandsonHayyim,who emigrated to Israelwith the rest of Yemen'sJews.62 WhenrabbinicalemissaryR. Ya'aqovSapirtraveledto 'Amranin 1859, he visited the home of the rabbi and president,R. SuleimanTan'ami.63 In the last generation,R. Yosef Tan'ami,presumablya descendantof the aforementionedfamily,was the rabbiof the community.64 In the Mahwitcommunity,R. Yihye Shiromwas head of the rabbinical court.. His son-in-law,R. YehudaDurani,came to live in the community followinghis marriage,andwith him camehis brotherHayyimDurani,who studiedwith the father-in-law.The elderlyR. Yihye appointedhis pupil R. Hayyimas his successor;he, in turn,appointedhis nephewto succeedhim, R. Yosef Durani,son of R. Yehuda.65 In Al-'Iyyashiyah,east of Rada',at the turnof the century,R. Avraham San'ani was head of the rabbinicalcourt.66Family traditionhas it that R. Avraham'sgrandfatherwas R. ShalomHaleviAlsheikh,who had left San'a in themid-nineteenthcenturyto becomeheadof a rabbinicalcourtelsewhere. 60. Hoze, ToldotharavShalomShabaziu-minhageiyahadut Shar'abbe-Teiman (Jerusalem, 1973),pp. 120-121. 61. R. Yosef Qafih,"RabbiYa'bes"(Hebrew),in Ketavim,vol. 2 (Jerusalem,1979), pp. 1033-1034. 62. Ibid.,pp. 1077-1080. 63. Sapir,EvenSapir,p. 102. 64. YehudaRatzaby,Bema'agalotTeiman(TelAviv), 1985,pp. 307, 309. 65. AvrahamAryeh,Ohel Yosef(Be'erYa'aqov),1973,pp. 20-31. 66. In 1911 the JewishAgency emissary,ShmuelYavne'eli,met and describedhim: "A scholar,whose learningis his businessbut not his meansof livelihood,possessedof a lyrical soul, yearningfor the MessiahandEresYisrael."Masa' le-Teiman,pp. 199-200.

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He was succeededby his son, R. SadoqHalevi,fatherof the aforementioned R. Avraham.R. AvrahamSan'aniwas succeededby his son, R. Shalom,who emigratedto Israelin 1950.67 In Kumeim,south of San'a, the head of the rabbinicalcourt,R. Yihye KumeimiTom,also fulfilledpoliticalduties.He succeededhis maternaluncle, R. Yihyeben Yihye Wanneh.68 A similarpictureof successionto the rabbinatein othercommunitiesin Yemenemergesfrominterviewsconductedwith rabbis.They notedthatthe incumbentwouldremainin office as long as he coulddischargehis duties,as the followingexamplesshow. In RasabaR. YihyeQafihwas succeededby two of his grandchildren: his R. who was succeeded his R. son's son, Hayyim, cousin, Yihye Qafih's by daughter'sson, R. Nahum. In Bayda,69the last rabbito hold office was R. Salim Methanne,head of the rabbinicalcourt, who succeededhis father,R. MethanneSalim;70 according to family traditiontheir rabbinicaldynasty extended back to previousgenerations.In Sinwan,in southernYemen,theheadof therabbinical Sinwani,succeededhis father,R. Yihye,who also ordained court,R. the rabbinate.7' his son toH.ayyim Dawale"s last rabbiwas R. Avraham'Afari,now living in Herzliya,Israel. He recountsthe line of his predecessorsin the Mehasrifamily:R. AvrahamMehasrisucceededhis cousin,MoriSalim,who assumedoffice afterhis own fatherpassedaway.In Dahara,R. 'Awadtook over fromhis father,R. Methanne,upon the latter'sdeath.R. RasonDavid, now living in 'Afula, Israel, was mori in southernYemen, following the deathof his uncle,R. Dawidof his own communityof Qarane,andof nearby Parah. R. Salim 'Atharwas the regionalreligousauthorityin 'Athar,near San'a;he succeededhis father,R. Yosef.

67. See the introductions San'ani, by YehielSan'aniHaleviandShalomAshwalto Avrahamn QodeshHillulim(Jerusalem,1971),pp. 3-5, 13-15. 68. Tobi,"Ha-qehillaha-yehuditbe-Teiman," pp. 88-89. Yemen.Fora descriptionof the lastgenerationof thecommunitythere, 69. In southeastern see ibid.,pp. 78-80. 70. On Yavne'eli'smeetingwith Mori Methanne,see Yavne'eli,Masa le-Teiman,pp. 8, 223-224. 71. On his receivingordinationfrom his father,see HayyimSinwani,MeqomMiqdash (Jerusalem,1980), introduction,p. 4; Moshe Cohen,Gedolei Yisraelbe-Teiman(Bnei Braq, 1984),pp. 186.

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In the largercommunities(afterSan'a)of Rada'andDhamar,the tradition passed down in the Al Dahrifamily,originallyof Rada',has it that in the eighteenthcentury,theirancestors,RabbisSa'adyahandSuleiman,weresent by the San'a rabbinicalcourtto Radaand Dhamarto establisha rabbinical court there and serve as its judges.72In 1859, the rabbinicalemissaryR. Ya'aqovSapirnotedthatthe headsof the Rada'communitywereMoriSalim ManiyyehandMori'AwadSuleiman;in Dhamar,MoriAvrahamAl-Qafihand the mentionof two leadersreflectsthe structure: MoriAvrahamAl-Naddaf:73 one held a politicaloffice, while the otherwas the spiritual-religious leader. in As Sapirnotes, Rada', afterMori 'AwadSuleiman,the heads of the rabbinicalcourt were R. Salim Harun,R. Yihye Salim 'Umeisi, R. Salim InDhamar,therabbinical Hatuka,who was succeededby his son,R. Shlomo.74 courtwas headed,in recentgenerations,by R. YihyeJereidi,followedby his disciple,R. ShlomoMelahi.75 In 'Aden, the following rabbiswere heads of the rabbinicalcourt in the nineteenthand twentiethcenturies:R. MenahemMansur,R. Menahem Benin Yeshu'a,YishaqHacohen,SalimMenahem,Yihye Avraham,Shlomo Cohen.76

Successionto the Rabbinate:DeterminingFactors We have seen, then, that in San'a and in other large communitieslike Rada',Dhamar,and 'Adenherewereno rabbinicaldynasties;in themediumsized and smallercommunitiesthe office usuallydidpass fromfatherto son. This arrangement was probablydueto internalpoliticswithinthe community as well as to externalinfluencefromthe authorities. InternalFactors Economicaspects: Whereasin othercountriesthe office of rabbiprovided a stipendand meansof livelihood,in Yementhe rabbishad to earna living 72. Tobi,"Ha-qehillaha-yehuditbe-Teiman," p. 66. 73. Sapir,EvenSapir,p. 108. 74. SalimHatuka,T7qqun qaret(RamatGan, 1966),pp. 5, 8. 75. Shim'onJereidi,Yamim yedaberu(TelAviv, 1995),pp. 21-22. 76. S. Yeshu'a,Nahalat Yosef(Jerusalem,1997), pp. 432-434; ReuvenAharoni,Yehudei Aden(TelAviv, 1991),pp. 61-63, 415-416; J. Tobi, WestofAden (Netanya,1994),pp. 83-86.

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independentlyof theiroffice.In the largercommunitiesthe rabbi'staskswere time-consuming,interferingwith his trade.In the smallercommunities,it was easierfor the rabbito findtime to pursuehis occupation. A letterwrittenby Yom Tov Semah,the Alliance Israeliteemissaryto Yemen,dated 1910, tells of the many dutiesof the chief rabbiof San'a, R. Yihye YishaqHalevi, vis-A-visthe communityas well as the authorities.77 He was also supposedto maintainties with othercommunitiesin Yemenand outside the country,all this leaving him very little time to providefor his family. R. Yosef Badihi,the thirdhakhambashi, also sufferedfinancialdistress afterassumingoffice.78R. Salim Jamal,the fifth hakhambashi,was unable to provide for his family on his meagersalary,and was forcedto sell off his privatepossessions.Finally,in pursuitof an adequatefinancialstanding, he resigned.79Yosef 'Amr was not an ordainedrabbi;sought after by the communitydue to his contactswith the authorities,he agreedto become hakhambashi. He was a wealthy man, and gave so generouslyto the communityandits poor,thathe becameimpoverished.s0 Thefinancialdifficultiesencounteredby R. YihyeQafih,the sixthhakham bashi,towardthe endof thenineteenthcentury,weredescribedby his disciple, R. ShalomQorah: the rabbi'shomesufferedgreatneed, Duringall the daysof his presidency, sincehe couldn'tply his tradeanddidn'twantto becomea burdento the he thusfoundhispocketsempty,hishousebareof grainandother community; hissonswentsecretlyhungry, andhiswiferemonstrated withhim, necessities, andleaderof saying:Howcouldit cometo this,amongJews,thata dignitary severalcommunities hasno breadto eat,norto feedhis family?"8 R. 'AmramQorah describesthe hakhambashi in similar fashion:"a dwellerin the tentof Torah,whose wordsareof greatwisdom-but his home is bare."82 77. 78. 79. 80. 81. 82.

Semah,"Unemission,"p. 44. Sapir,EvenSapir,p. 50. Ibid.,p. 60. Ibid.,pp. 50, 59; Sh. Qorah,Iggeretbokhim,p. 62. Sapir,EvenSapir,p. 66 A. Qorah,Sa 'aratTeiman,p. 60

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Theburdensof office:R. Yosef Badihi,the thirdhakhambashi,resigned This point figuredin the electionof R. Yihye becauseof his heavy duties."3 Abyad in the twentiethcentury.Following the death of R. Yihye Yishaq Halevi in 1932, Imam YahyaIHamidAd-Din decreedthat the Jews must appointa chief rabbi.R. YihyeAbyadwas chosenin absentia;whenthe news reachedhis ears,he refused,claiminghe was unableto cope with suchheavy duties.Only afterthey imploredhim did he finallyrelent,stipulatingthathe be given assistants.The writ of appointment,signedby the imam,bearsthe namesof two assistantsto the rabbi.84 In San'a, the centerof learningand scholarship, Spiritualrequirements: andin the otherlargecommunities,educationwas availableto many,andthe rabbiwas electedto office fromamonghis peers,by virtueof his achievement andexcellence.R. ShmuelYeshu'a,a scholarfrom'Aden,recounts: themori,of blessedmemory, toldmethatMoriMenahem, of blessed Myfather, was the head of the rabbinical court for one since most of the memory, yearonly, citizens were in accord to community's prominent appoint myfather,Yeshu'a, of blessedmemory,sincehe was a greaterscholar,andMoriMenahem, of blessedmemory,wouldbe his assistant.Andfor a reasonunknownto me, of blessedmemory, wasappointed headof therabbinical Menahem, court,and was secondto him,followingwhich my father,Yeshu'a,of blessedmemory, courtforseventeen my fatherMoriYeshu'awasheadof therabbinical years, maytheirgooddeedsvouchforus.85 In smaller communities,however,where learningwas less accessible, fatherswould teach their sons, so it was naturalfor the son to become a scholarin his own rightandcontinuethe familytradition. Communitystructure:In manysmallcommunities,most of the populace belongedto a single extendedfamily,so rabbinicaldynastiesevolved more naturallythanin largercommunities. Communaldisputes:Withthe introductionof the Sephardicliturgy,two liturgieswere created:ShamiandBaladi.86In halakhicdecisionsas well, the 83. Ibid.,p. 50. 84. Ibid.,pp. 75-77; ShalomGamliel,Hakhmeiha-yehudimbe-Teiman(Jerusalem,1992), pp. 42-43. 85. Yeshu'a,NashalatYosef,p. 432. 86. Derivedfromthe ArabicSham= "Syria,"includingEresYisrael;fromtheArabicbalad = "place,"i.e., local tradition.

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Shulhan 'Arukhby R. Yosef Qarohad a markedinfluence,replacingto a ChiefRabbi'Amram degreethe authorityof Maimonides'MishnehTorah.87 tells how the came about: Qorah change Evenin thedayswhentheylivedin thestateof San'a88 theyreceivedprinted siddurim[prayerbooks]withthe Sephardic and liturgy weretoldthatit was the acceptedliturgyforprayersin EresYisrael;likewise,theyweretoldthat the inhabitantsof Eres Yisraelhad acceptedthe Shulhan 'Arukhand abided

by its rulings.Theyfeltit incumbent uponthemto followthepracticeof Eres Yisraelregarding theliturgyandotherlaws;manyfollowedandformedtheir ownseparate calledShami.Therestcontinued to prayaccording community, to theancientliturgy,theTiklal,andfollowtherulingsof Maimonides: these werecalledBaladi.89 R. Qorahdescribesthe split in the community,with the Baladifaction maintainingthe traditionalliturgy and following Maimonidesas decisor, whereasthe Shamiacceptedthe Sephardicliturgyand followed the rulings of R. Yosef Qaro.90 Disputesensued,especiallyin the eighteenthcentury,andYemeniteJewry has been dividedin recentgenerations,as describedby R. Qorah.Another controversymade its appearancein the earlytwentiethcentury.At the time, a groupof scholarsin San'a,headedby R. YihyeQafih,soughtto introduce a new curriculumfor the study of the Bible and religiouseducation.Their emphasiswas on the study of Mishnah,Talmud,and halakharatherthan of Midrashand the mysticaltext of the Zohar,which prevailedin Yemen. The scholars also devoted much attentionto the philosophicalworks of 87. AharonGaimani,"The Penetrationof R. Yosef Qaro'sLiterary-Halakhic work into Yemen"(Hebrew),Pe 'amim9 (1992): 120-134. 88. In 1679-80, the Jews of San'a and othercommunitieswere expelledto a desolate place calledMawza'.In 1681they werepermittedto return,thoughthey resettledin a valley 3 kilometersdistantfromtheirpreviousdwelling-place,andremainedthereuntiltheyleft Yemen. The rabbi'swordsreferto R. Yosef Qaro'sinfluencebeforethe expulsion.On the expulsion, see Gaimani,Yemenite Jewish Community. 89. Qorah,Sa 'aratTeiman,pp. 16-17. 90. Rabbis of the Shami faction did not consistentlyfollow the Shulhan 'Arukh,some adheringto Shami practicesonly for certain customs and liturgy.See R. Rason 'Arusi, in Soharle-hasifat be-'inyanbirkatha-mosibe-se'udathasevashel harabbim," "Ha-mahloqet GinzeiTeiman,ed. Y. L. Nahum(Tel Aviv, 1986;Gaimani,Yemenite Jewish Community, pp. 271-276.


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greatJewish thinkerslike Sa'adiaGaon, RabbeinuBahya Ibn Paquda,and Maimonides.They set out to eradicatethe widespreadsuperstitiouspractices of YemeniteJewry,andwished,moreover,to augmentsecularstudyas well. R. Yihye and his colleagues met with strongoppositionon the partof the otherrabbis,headedby R. Yihye YishaqHalevi.The opponentsof the new ideas called the innovativegroupdarda'im, from dor de'a, "generationof knowledge."91The conservativefaction,headedby R. Yihye Yishaq,were dubbed'iqqeshim--"stubborn generation."Toa greatextentit was the all-out oppositionof R. Qafihand his innovativeprogramto qabbalisticmysticism and the practicesit generatedthat incurredthe wrathof the conservative faction.92The dispute grew more acute, necessitatingMuslim arbitration betweenthe two camps.93 In the aftermathof thiscontroversy,someYemenitescholarssentidentical questionsto two rabbis:R. Yihye Qafihand R. Yihye YishaqHalevi. One question,sentby R. SuleimanYa'ish'Amr,of Shibam,pertainedto hidingan objectin the groundon the Sabbath,andanotherpertainingto a newly born calf, received identicalrulings.94The need to get rulingsfrom both rabbis impliesthe degreeto whichthe controversywas disruptingthe community.95 Withthe deathof the leadersof the two campsin 1932, the issue grew even moreaggravated;in San'a,even the head-tax(jizya)was collectedseparately by the two factions.96 The image of the chief rabbinatewas tarnishedby the rift. In the eighteenthcentury,for instance,there had been a disputeover liturgyand halakhicrulings,with the Shamiand Baladicampseach upholdingits own position.In the late nineteenthcenturythey split againover the emoluments 91. See Y. Ratzaby,"Darda'im(minhagotve-taqanot),"'Edut1 (1946): 165. 92. Some of the correspondence pertainingto this controversywas publishedin Yeshaya andSadoq,eds., ShevutTeiman(TelAviv, 1945),pp, 212-231. The leadersof the factionsalso wrote aboutit: see Yihye Qafih,Milhamothashem(Jerusalem,1931);idem,Emunathashem (Jerusalem,1938). 93. See the legal decisionsignedby the imam,in Yesh'ayahuandSadoq,ShevutTeiman, pp. 223-226. 94. Documentsin the possessionof R. Yehiel'Amir,Bnei Braq. 95. For anotherincidentin which the identicalquestionwas sent to the two rabbis,see YehielHibshush,Shneiha-me'orot,vol. 1 (TelAviv, 1987),pp. 59-60. 96. Qorah,Sa 'arat Teiman,p. 77; ShalomGamliel,Pequdei Teiman,mas he-hasutbeTeiman(Jerusalem,1982),pp. 165-223.

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while in the twentiethcentury,old grievanceswere for ritual slaughter,97 rekindled,with the Qabbalahat the root of the disagreement;the ensuing animosityandill will clearlymadethe role of chief rabbiextremelydifficult. The weakenedpositionof the hakhambashias a resultof thesepolemics was described by YehudaNini in his discussion of the leadershipand institutionsof the community: Thusdid the office of hakhambashidwindleinto abjectness.Insteadof thecommunity to theauthorities andbeinga positionof prestige, representing enjoyingthe completetrustof all sides,the role of hakhambashibecame a stumbling-block for anyonetryingto servein thatcapacity;the postwas andleftreluctantly. Somewerewiseenoughto stepdown acceptedreluctantly theirdignityandfortune,whilethemorenaiveleftoffice in time,preserving pennilessandhumiliated.98 R. Shalom Qorah recountsin his memoirshow the leadershipof R. SuleimanQarehwas plaguedby controversy,includingan attemptto depose After his death, him, which failed because of his charismaticpersonality.99 severalrabbiswere approachedandofferedthe chanceto step intohis shoes as hakhambashi,but all refused. All the learnedmensuitablefor thispositionwereapproached, butnoneof andmanyofthecommon themagreed,sincethisgeneration is rebellious people view themselvesas competent leaders;the insolentputthemselvesforward, Al Qareh,mayhisgooddeeds afterthedeathof thegreatleaderR. Suleiman us.'1 protect Due to the perplexingsituation,a lay leader,Yosef 'Amr,was appointedto the post, acceptingaftermanyentreatieson the partof the community. The difficultiesfaced by R. Yihye YishaqHalevi, of the conservative faction,were describedby R. 'AmramQorah: He soughta peacefullife, hopinghe couldaugmentthe familyincomeby thefee fromritualslaughter. Butthosecovetinghonorandoutward trappings wereenviousof his successas chiefrabbi,andbegrudged himthe slaughter 97. Qorah,Sa 'aratTeiman,pp. 60-61. 98. Nini, Teimanve-Ziyyon,p. 115. 99. Sh. Qorah,Iggeretbokhim,p. 61. 100. Ibid.,p. 62.


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andworriedwhatwouldbefallthem,shouldhe cometo andits emoluments, became ruleall andtheyfalluponhardtimes.So in theirenvytheyindirectly involvedwithtroublemakers, asunder, peopleseekingto rendthecommunity onestookhimto courtwithslanderous talesandperjurious andtheserebellious 0 witnesses.Thechiefrabbifearednot,nordidhe giveway.' We see that even the argumentsabout the meagerpay were not confined to the communityand involved the Muslimcourts.Followingthe deathof R. Yihye Yishaq Halevi of the conservativefaction in 1932, the Muslim authoritiesdemandedthata chief rabbibe appointed.R. YihyeAbyadof the progressivecampwas chosen,in the hope thathe would restorecalm to the ruffledcommunity;however,he was givenno peaceeither.R. 'AmramQorah recounts: heardthathe hadagreedto calmtheruffledwaters Whenthetrouble-mongers honest thatif herefusedtoheedthem,they means, bypeaceful, theythreatened wouldset no endof obstaclesin his path,justas theyhaddoneto thechief rabbibeforehim.'02 The accountgoes on to tell how his healthfailedandhe died afterservingas chief rabbifor two anda half years. R. Yishaq Rasabi, whose parentsemigratedto Israel from Rasabeh, recountsthat one of the rabbiseager for the post contestedthe choice of R. Yihye Qafih.The grandfather his grandfather, was preparedto step down, but the assembledheads of the communityrefusedto let him. R. Avraham 'Afari, last rabbiof the Dawale' Jews, recountsthatwhile his predecessor, R. AvrahamMehasri,was still alive, he himself was recognizedby the communityas the highest halakhicauthority;his predecessorshowed no objectionto this status,andthey remainedon good terms. ExternalFactors Pressure by the authorities:Since the capital,San'a, was the seat of the religious leader, the imam, the discriminatorylaws against the protected minoritieswere strictlyenforcedthere.R. Ya'aqovSapir,on his 1859 visit 101. Qorah,Sa 'aratTeiman,p. 73. 102. Ibid.,p. 77.

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to Yemen,met R. SuleimanQareh,head of the San'a rabbinicalcourtand hakhambashi, at Qaryatal Qabel,andtells: al Qareh,mayhe livelong,headof therabbinical ThegreatR. MoriSuleiman andpersecuted courtof San'aandall the statesof Yemen,exhausted by the Jewsseekingprotection cruelrulersof San'a,fledwithmanyotherprominent of thiscity,whopromised toprotectthem. fromthegovernors (notfornothing) He descriptionof the fearof the Muslimauthoritiescontinues:"Foryearshe has been unableto enterthe capital,since they are lying in wait to seize and imprisonhim."'"' Even in the years of famine,which were many,the authoritiesimposed heavy taxes on the Jews of San'a.'" In othercommunitiesthe Jews enjoyed good relationswiththeirneighborsandwerenotpersecutedby theauthorities, at leastnot to the degreethatmadeit impossibleto acceptthe officialpost of chief rabbi. In otherlargecities, such as Rada'and Dhamar,rabbiswere sometimes persecutedby the Muslimauthorities.R. SalimHatuka,headof therabbinical courtof Rada',was imprisonedwithotherrabbis,afterprotestinganespecially R. Yihye Jereidiand R. high protectiontax levied on the community.'"5 Shlomo Melahi,heads of the rabbinicalcourtof Dhamar,were imprisoned for smugglingorphansfromthe city to save themfromIslam.106 Conclusion Rabbisin Yemencombinedspiritualleadershipwitha trade.Thestipends providedby the larger communitiesenabled their rabbis to maintainan adequatestandardof living, but the office often took a heavy toll on the rabbis'solvency,since the pressureof communitydemandsforcedthem to abandontheiroccupations.Theprestigeof the officewas furtherundermined by the ongoing factionalcontroversy;the rabbithereforesufferedloss of 103. Sapir,EvenSapir,pp. 75-76. 104. Tobi, YehudeiTeimanba-me'a ha-19, pp. 29-30. 105. Shlomo Amihud,Pe'ulot Sadiq R. 'Umeisi(Hemed:AgudatAhim, 1987), p. 307; Tiqqunqaret(RamatGan, 1966),p. 71. 106. Shim'onJereidi,Yamim yedaberu(TelAviv, 1995).Onthe gravedangersfacedby R. Jereidiwhile savingorphans,see MosheSadoq,pp. 108-109.


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pocket and of dignity. There was, moreover,the threatpresentedby the Muslimauthorities,who frequentlyconsideredthe rabbia scapegoatfor the Jewish community.Many, for all of the above reasons,were reluctantto accept the post of rabbi. Rabbinicaldynastieswere periodicallyabruptly cut short--notably in San'a and the other large communities-with the leadingrabbisunwillingto searchfor a replacement,sinceno one wantedthe post, and candidatesrepeatedlyrefusingthe offer. However,in the smaller communities,the chain of successionwas nearlyunbroken,due perhapsto the relativeabsenceof internalrivalryandcontroversy,andthe good relations with the Muslimneighbors.Even thoughrabbisin the smallercommunities also sufferedfinancialdifficulties,they usuallyservedto term,andthe chain of successionfrom fatherto son (or son-in-law)was more sustainedthanin the largercommunities.

Review: Through the Prism of Race and Slavery Author(s): Harold Brackman Source: AJS Review, Vol. 24, No. 2 (1999), pp. 325-336 Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Association for Jewish Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1486757 . Accessed: 15/07/2011 11:04 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at . http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=cup. . Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].



REVIEWESSAY THROUGHTHEPRISMOF RACEAND SLAVERY by HAROLDBRACKMAN MichaelRogin.Blackface,WhiteNoise:JewishImmigrantsin theHollywood MeltingPot. Berkeley:Universityof CaliforniaPress, 1996. xvi, 339 pp. KarenBrodkin.How Jews Became WhiteFolks and WhatThatSays about Race in America.Brunswick,N.J.: RutgersUniversityPress, 1998. xi, 243 pp. MatthewFrye Jacobson.Whitenessof a DifferentColor: EuropeanImmigrants and the Alchemyof Race. Cambridge,Mass.: HarvardUniversity Press, 1998. x, 338 pp. Eli Faber.Jews, Slaves, and the Slave Trade:Settingthe RecordStraight. Reappraisalsin JewishSocial andIntellectualHistory.New York:New York UniversityPress, 1998. xvii, 366. Accordingto a leadingideologistof the new identitypolitics,"America" is an anagramproperlydecoded as "I Am Race."'The first three books underreviewtreatthe historyof racialcategories,andracialprejudice,in the UnitedStatesas the key to understanding the evolutionof modemAmerican Jewish identity.The traditionalexplanationsof the economic and social mobilityenjoyedsince the late nineteenthcenturyby Jewishimmigrantsand their descendants--e.g., high levels of literacyand educationalaspiration, 1. FrancesCressWelsing,authorof TheIsis (Yssis)Papers:Keysto Colors(Chicago:

ThirdWorldPress, 1991) andproponentof the melanintheoryof blacksuperiority.

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widespreadprioracquaintancewithcity living andexperienceof commercial andindustrialemployment,strongnuclearfamiliesandcommunalbonds-are given short shrift. What really matters is the advantageof historically constructed"whiteness."2The fourthbook explores the extent of Jewish involvementin the Atlantic slave tradewhich originatedAmerica'sracial dilemma. Berkeley political scientist Michael Rogin's Blackface, WhiteNoise is a study of blackfaceminstrelsyand racialimageryin the firsthalf-century of American films. It is heavily indebtedfor context to Neal Gabler's popularbook, An Empireof TheirOwn(1989), on how "theJews invented Hollywood."Nor entirelynew is its centralthesis that the rite of passage from Europeanto Americanwas fosteredby white performers---primarily, after 1900, immigrantJews (succeedingIrish Americans)-who assumed the blackfacemask. Overtwentyyears ago, IrvingHowe analyzedhow for performerslike Al Jolson,EddieCantor,GeorgeJessel, and SophieTucker, andfor composerslike IrvingBerlinandGeorgeGershwin,"blackbecamea maskfor Jewishexpressiveness,with one woe speakingthroughthe voice of another."3 Whatdistinguishesthisbookis the extremesto whichit takesits condemnatoryvisionof "JewishAmericanization throughracism"(p. 254). According to Rogin, "Jews acquiredAmericancredentialsby, in this raciallydivided society,takingcontrolof the blackrole"(p. 17). "Allowedto rise above the peoplewhosecauseandwhosemusictheymadetheirown"(p. 68), manyJews blackmusic" acquired"theirown stainof shame"(p. 11) by "expropriating "It (p. 103). was not just that antiblackracismwas the badgeof belonging in the United States,"the authorasserts,"butthat the badge was worn as blackface,andoftenby Jews"(p. 64). Americannationalism,"contaminated" (p. 38) by its "blackfacepast,"prefiguresAmerica's"apartheidfuture"(p.

253).

"A single image,"Rogin tells us, "inspiredthe presentstudy:Al Jolson, bornJackieRabinowitzin TheJazzSingerandrebornas JackRobin,singing 'My Mammy'in blackfaceto his immigrantJewishmother"(p. 5). Indeed, 2. For the new "whitestudies"movementseekingto deconstructwhite privilege,see the journalRace Traitor,editedby Noel IgnatievandJohnGarvey,andJoe L. Kincheloe,Shirley R. Steinberg,Nelson M. Rodriguez,and RonaldE. Chennault,eds., WhiteReign:Deploying Whitenessin America(New York:St. Martin'sPress, 1998). 3. IrvingHowe with the assistanceof KennethLibo, Worldof OurFathers (New York:

Harcourt BraceJovanovich, 1976),p. 561.

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the core of the book is devoted to what Rogin calls "a deeper layer"(p. 89) analysis of Jolson's landmark1927 film, the first talkingpicture,and a handfulof other films, includingEddie Cantor'sWhoopie!(1930), made duringHollywood's intense but relativelyshort infatuationwith blackface movies. An enthusiastof the FrankfurtSchool'sFreudianizedMarxismand Roginoffersjargon-ladentheoreticalglosses JacquesLacan'spostmodernism, on blackfacethatcan be difficultto digest.4 The authorof a previousbook on HermanMelville, Rogin here rivals Ahab'shuntfor the WhiteWhalein his own intrepidquestto use the key of blackfaceto decipherevery "sinisterparadox"(p. 112) of Americanculture. Hence, in additionto "literalblackface"films, Rogin analyzes the many guises of "metaphoricalblackface"(p. 252). These includefilms like Gone Withthe Wind(1939), in which black actorswere limitedto servile roles, and even antiracistpostwarfilms featuringstellar black protagonistslike Homeof the Brave (1949) andNo WayOut(1950), whichRoginmercilessly dissects as symptomaticof the raciallypatronizingattitudesof the Popular Front,usuallythe Jewishfilmmakerswho madethem.NathanGlazer,Daniel PatrickMoynihan,and historiansOscar Handlinand Stanley Elkins are amongthose lampoonedas practitionersof scholarly"liberalblackface"(pp. 247-248, 261-263). Evenmorebroadly,Roginviews the Black-Jewishcivil rightsallianceas politicalblackfacein whichJewish"ventriloquists" (p. 99) servedas "mouthpieces" for African Americans who were not allowed 10) (p. to speak"forJews"(p. 17) or unconstrainedly for themselves(p. 257). Rogin is awarebutunfazedthatsome will findin his book echoesof "HenryFord's ravings about 'Jewish supremacyin the motion pictureworld'" (p. 89), of Nazi and McCarthyitegibes againstmalevolentlyself-interestedJewish manipulationof race relations(pp. 58, 212), andof morerecentaccusations andProfessorLeonardJeffriesthatHollywood by MinisterLouis Farrakhan is a Jewish-controlled conspiracyagainstAfricanAmericans(p. 16). WhileRogin'smotiveshavenot been questioned,Blackface,WhiteNoise has beencriticizedfor arbitrariness by scholarsof Black-Jewishrelationsand 4. For example, "the fetish condensesthe unanalyzedmagical significanceassigned to blacks, functioninglike the substitutephallus in Freud'sanalysisand like the commodity in Marx's.Signifying transvestitemasqueradeand expropriationof black labor,burntcork fetishizednot only blacknessbutsexualdifferenceandthecommodityformas well. Butthough blackfaceis detachableand reattachable-likeFreud'sfetish-making visible the pleasureof rule that puttingon and taking off burntcook may seem to violate the Marxian/Freudian demystifyingthe fetishinterfereswith its work"(pp. 182-183).

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movieindustryhistorywhoseworkit selectivelydeploys.5Itsone-dimensional of minstrelsyon both stage and screenalso fails seriouslyto interpretation Where Rogin sees unalloyedracist more nuancedinterpretations. engage denigration,otherssee racialambivalencecombinedwithclass subversionof the culturalinhibitionsof VictorianAmerica.6 In termsof Black-Jewishrelationsin twentieth-century popularculture, MariaDamonhas demonstratedthatJewishmusicianMilton"Mezz"Mezzrow embracedAfricanAmericanjazz duringthe 1930s and 1940s, not to assimilate,but to put as much distanceas possiblebetweenhimselfand the white middle class.7Where Rogin dismisses Jewish musiciansduringthe 1920s as "whitenoise" drowningout black creativity,Ann Douglaspoints to Sophie Tucker'srepertoire,which combined"My YiddisheMama"with songs by African Americancomposers,as "proofthat Jewish and Negro musicalstyles and influencecould andoftendid flow seamlesslytogether."' While Jewishinstitutionalandfinancialsupporthelpednurturethe postWorldWarI HarlemRenaissance,the culturalrelativismof JewishanthropologistsFranzBoas andMelvilleHerskovitz,accordingto WilsonJ. Moses, were layingthe foundationsfor whatarenow knownas multiculturalism and Afrocentrism.9 Duringthe DepressionandWorldWarII, JewishCommunists, accordingto GeraldHome were much more prone to accommodatethan "dominate"African AmericanCommunists.10 Before Hollywood absorbed 5. Neal Gablerin the Forward,May 24, 1996; LarryMay in AmericanJewish History 85 (March1997): 115-119;HasiaDinerin Commonquest, Summer1997,pp. 40-43; Thomas Cripps in Journal of American History 83 (March 1997): 1462-1463. 6. Eric Lott, Love and Theft: Blackface Minstrelsy and the American WorkingClass (New York: Oxford University Press, 1993); Dale Cockrell, Demons of Disorder: Early Blackface

Minstrelsand TheirWorld(Cambridge: CambridgeUniversityPress,1997);WilliamJ. Mahar, Behind the Burnt Cork Mask: Early Minstrelsy and Antebellum American Popular Culture

(Urbana:Universityof Illinois Press, 1999); W. T. Lhamon,Jr., Raising Cain: Blackface Performance from Jim Crow to Hip Hop (Cambridge, Mass.: HarvardUniversity Press, 1998).

7. MariaDamon,"Jazz-Jews,Jive andGender:TheEthnicPoliticsof JazzArgot,"in Jews and Other Differences: The New Jewish Cultural Studies, ed. Jonathan Boyarin and Daniel

Boyarin(Minneapolis:Universityof MinnesotaPress,1997),pp. 150-175. 8. Ann Douglas, Terrible Honesty. Mongrel Manhattan in the 1920s (New York: Farrar,

Straus& Giroux,1995),p. 359; also LewisA. Erenberg,Steppin'Out:New YorkNightLifeand the Transformation of American Culture, 1890-1930 (Chicago: University of Chicago Press,

1981),pp. 176-205. 9. Douglas, Terrible Honesty, p. 358; Wilson J. Moses, Afrotopia: The Roots of African

AmericanPopularHistory(Cambridge:CambridgeUniversityPress, 1998), pp. 10-11, 206, 235.

10. GeraldHome,"Black,White,andRed:JewishandAfricanAmericansintheCommunist

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independentfilm production,EdgarUlmer,a refugeefromHitler,bridgedthe audienceandfilms for an African gap betweenfilms for a Yiddish-language Americanaudience."Douglas calls such multifacetedcreativeinterchanges betweenJews and AfricanAmericans"culturalmiscegenation."(Roginalso does not explainwhy Jewishborrowingfromblackpopularcultureis theft, but AfricanAmericanindebtednessto the Book of Exodusfor a liberation theologyis not.) Even in today'spoliticallycorrectenvironment,Anne Pelligrinishows how Jewish lesbiancomedienneSandraBernhardtstill satirically"blackens up"in orderto act out the permeabilityof racialand sexualboundariesand the hybridityof Americanculture.'2 In parallelfashion,AfricanAmerican actressAnnaDeavereSmithplayedJewishandAfricanAmericancharacters of both gendersin her one-womanplay Fires in the Mirror,dramatizingthe tragedyin Brooklyn'sCrownHeights.'3 critic"neednot be Rogin follows his own dictumthat"thecontemporary boundby the intentionof the performeror the reactionof the audience.He has anachronisticdisdainfor how both Jewish and AfricanAmericanfilm audiencesof an earlierera viewed TheJazz Singer,for example.Despitethe sensationalinnovationof sound,thereis no evidencethatJewishaudiences sharedRogin's fixation on Jolson's corkingup for the climactic song. A Yiddishreviewerwas pleased that "the son of a line of rabbiswell knows how to sing the songs of the most cruelly wrongedpeople in the world's history."'4Otherwise,the film seemsto havebeenviewedas one amongmany dramasaboutthe contradictory demandsof traditionand generational-conflict ambition;amongthesewas the playDer vilnerbalebesl,also abouta cantor's son who has to choose betweenfilial obedienceand artisticsuccess, not on Broadwaysingingjazz in blackfaceto an audiencethat includesboth his

ed. MarlaBrettschneider Party,"in The NarrowBridge:Jewish Viewson Multiculturalism, (New Brunswick,N.J.:RutgersUniversityPress, 1996),pp. 123-135.

11. GeorgeLipsitz,TimePassages:Collective andAmerican Memory PopularCulture of Minnesota (Minneapolis: Press,1990),pp.194-200. University 12. AnnPelligrini, Performances: andJewishBodies,"inJews "Whiteface 'Race,'Gender

and OtherDifferences,pp. 108-149. 13. David K. Shipler,A Countryof Strangers:Blacksand Whitesin America(New York:

AlfredA. Knopf,1997),p. 467.

14. Quotedin Hasia Diner,In the AlmostPromisedLand:AmericanJews and Blacks,

1915-1935(Baltimore: JohnsHopkinsUniversity Press,1995[1977]),p. 69.

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motherand his gentile girlfriend,but at the WarsawOperain consortwith a Polish countess.15 At aboutthe sametimethatthe crudeantisemiticstereotypesin earlyfilms (which Rogin ignores)helpedtriggerthe formationof the Anti-Defamation League,16AfricanAmericans,joined by Joel Spingarn,LillianWald,Jacob Schiff, and Rabbi StephenWise, had picketedD. W. Griffith'svirulently racistBirth of a Nation (1915)."7Rogin has only weak explanationsof why AfricanAmericanaudiencesa decadelaterenthusedover TheJazzSingerand an AfricanAmericannewspapereditorializedof Jolsonthat"everycolored performeris proudof him"(pp. 196-197). The readerskepticalof Rogin's claim to superiorinsightmay take seriouslyhis joke thathis own "attackon blackfacemay simplybe anotherway of puttingit on"(p. 99). In HowJews Became WhiteFolks, KarenBrodkin,a UCLAanthropologist, utilizesfamilyhistory(herown) andsocial commentaryto complement Rogin's picture of American Jewry's embourgeoisementat the expense of African Americans.Accordingto Brodkin,Jews and other European immigrantsexperienceda "temporary darkeningduringthe periodwhenthey formedthe core of the industrialworkingclass" (p. 76). After WorldWar II, however, in a period of decliningantisemitism,they renegotiatedtheir "ethno-racial assignment"(pp. 22, 103) andwere extended"whiteprivilege" by participatingin "affirmativeactionprogramsfor Euromales"(e.g., the GI racism"against Bill, FHA home loans)who were guilty of "institutionalized AfricanAmericans(pp. 38-43). "Jewishethnicwisdom"that Jews "pulled themselvesup by theirown bootstraps"is largelymythical(pp. 26, 50-51). It has been perpetratedby male Jewishintellectuals--"somewhere between wannabesand nouveauarrivistes,acceptedas white, but not securely"(p. 153)-whose celebrationof the Jewish"modelminority"anddeprecationof black"deficitculture"contrasted"'good' Jewishness... with 'bad' African Americanness"(p. 146). Publicintellectualslike NathanGlazerandNorman Podhoretzwere also responsiblefor the adoptionof "imageslike Jewish Amer15. LouisHarap,DramaticEncounters:TheJewishPresencein Twentieth-Century ican Drama, Poetry, and Humor and the Black-JewishLiteraryRelationship(New York: GreenwoodPress, 1987),pp. 116-117. 16. LesterD. Friedman,Hollywood'sImageof theJew (NewYork:FrederickUngar,1982), pp. 1-55; StuartSvonkin,Jews AgainstPrejudice:AmericanJews and the Fightfor Civil Liberties(New York:ColumbiaUniversityPress, 1997),p. 12. 17. Diner,In theAlmostPromisedLand,p. 134.

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mothersand JAPs ... by mainstreamwhite Americato form misogynist versionsof white womenhood"(p. 168). Brodkincharacterizesher own grandmotheras a racist for calling the Jamaicanimmigrantmaid whom the family hired aftermoving to a Long Islandsuburbin 1949 "theshwartze"(pp. 17-18). Even so, she nostalgically venerates"theYiddishkeitsof memory"(p. 187)-a lostworldwhere"ahegemonic Jewish socialism"(p. 104) ostensiblyimmunizedher grandparents' generationagainstthe acids of capitalistmodernity(pp. 106, 186).18In those "messianic"(p. 186) days of yore, Jews were symbolicallyblackor at least "off-white"(p. 1)by virtueof theirpovertyandpersecution.Givenherclaimto be a radicalwho has outgrownherearlierJewishandNew Leftromanticisms (pp. 19, 170-171), Brodkin'ssentimentalvision of the pristineLowerEast Side ironicallyresonateswith Al Jolson's vocal tributesto his imaginary "OldFolksat Home"on the Southernplantations.'9 Quiteunconvincingas an of Black-Jewish a which she treatsas if therewere relations, subject analysis no suchthingas a successfulAfricanAmericanmiddleclassthatincreasingly defines itself in competitionwith Jews,20Brodkin'sstylisticallyaccessible book canbe readwith cautiousedificationas a participant-observer's account of "genderwars"withinJewishAmerica. In Whitenessof a DifferentColor,MatthewFryeJacobson,who teaches AmericanStudiesat Yale,treatsthe evolutionof AmericanJewishidentityin the contextof two centuriesof evolving conceptionsof racialclassifications and consciousnessin the UnitedStates.Jacobsonrecognizesthat"theJews' versionof becomingCaucasian"(p. 172)is rootedin the distinctivehistoryof antisemitismin bothEuropeandthe UnitedStates.Yethe arguesfor viewing the AmericanJewishexperiencecomparativelywith thatof otherimmigrant groupsin termsof a three-stageperiodization:1790-1840,whenall European newcomers were accepted as "presumptivelywhite" and entitled to full citizenshiprights(pp. 15-28); 1840-1924, when a nativistreactionresulted 18. Close readersof AbrahamCahan'snovel The Rise of David Levinskyhave always knownthatshtetlculture,even beforeits transitto America,was in processof dissolution.See David Singer,"DavidLevinsky'sFall: A Note on the LiebmanThesis,"AmericanQuarterly 19 (Winter1967):697-706. 19. My view of Brodkin'sromanticismhas been reinforcedby readingSeth Foreman's Blacksin the JewishMind(New York:New YorkUniversityPress, 1998),especiallychap.4, "TheUnbearable'Whiteness'of Being Jewish." 20. GlennC. Loury,"TheEnd of an Illusion:Black-JewishRelationsin the Nineties,"in Loury,Oneby OnefromtheInside:EssaysandReviewson RaceandResponsibilityin America (New York:FreePress, 1995),pp. 83-92.

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in the "fracturingof whitenessinto a hierarchyof pluraland scientifically determinedwhite races"that placed "Anglo-Saxons"and "Teutons"above and others (pp. 39-90); "Celts,""Hebrews,""Slavs," "Mediterraneans," of from when the end mass 1924-1965, immigration Europeandthe national of the African American population"reforgeda unifiedwhiteness" dispersal of recentEuropeanimmigrants encompassingthe childrenandgrandchildren (pp. 91-136). Jacobson'sapproachframesanimportant twentieth-century changein how AmericanJews were viewed, and sometimesviewed themselves,between 1915,whenLeo Frankwas lynchedin Georgia,havingearlierbeenwrongfully convicted of raping and murderinga gentile factory girl, on the basis of the testimony of his AfricanAmericanjanitor (pp. 62-67), and 1947, when the film versionof LauraZ. Hobson'snovel Gentleman'sAgreement, starringGregoryPeck, dramatizedantisemitismas the misperceptionthat Jews "lookeddifferent"fromotherwhites(pp. 125-131). Jacobson'sresearchis wide-rangingin legislativedebatesandlaw codes, judicial opinions, and scientific (and pseudo-scientific)treatises,as well as literatureand popularculture.Mercifullyjargon-free,Jacobson'sfinely writtenbook also managesto keep fairlytightrein on ideologicalpredispositions-for example,that the United Statesis exceptionalprimarilyfor its racialpathology--thatare freelyventedby RoginandBrodkin. The book does, however,have limitations.First,despitethe discussion of the Frankcase and of "frontierrace relations"(pp. 155-161), it does not deal in sustainedfashionwith ongoingregionaldifferencesbetweenNorth, West,and South.Particularlywith regardto SouthernJews,with a historyof being viewed as "neitherfish nor fowl" by both white and black Southern Jacobsonprovidesverylittleclarificationof whethertheybenefited gentiles,21 fromtheirdistinctiveregional or sufferedin termsof racialhierarchization exposure.22Second, despite Jacobson'srecognitionof antisemitism'slong transatlantichistory,his analysis does not go back far enoughto properly gauge its impact on Americanrace relations.He cites James Shapiro's 21. EugeneLevy,"'Isthe Jewa WhiteMan?':PressReactionto the Leo FrankCase, 1913-1915," Phylon 35 (Summer 1974): 212-222; RichardM. Dorson,AmericanNegro Folktales(Greenwich,Conn.:FawcettPublications,1967),pp. 171-175. 22. RobertSingerman,"TheJews as RacialAlien:The GeneticComponentof American inAnti-Semitism inAmericanHistory,ed. DavidA. Gerber(Urbana:University Anti-Semitism," of IllinoisPress, 1986),pp. 103-128; EdwardS. Shapiro,"Anti-Semitism MississippiStyle," in AmericanHistory,pp. 129-151; MarcDollinger,"'Hamans'and 'Torquein Anti-Semitism

andNorthern JewishResponses to theCivilRightsMovement, madas':Southern 1945-1965,"

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importantShakespeareand the Jews (1996), but does not incorporateinto his analysis the pivotal studies by Yosef Hayim Yerushalmiand others arguingthatearlymodem Spainwas the cruciblefor the emergenceof racial WhathappenedtherenotonlyprefiguredtheNurembergLaws antisemitism.23 but helpedcrystallizeNew Worldracialhierarchies,includingthe invidious contrastbetween"white"or "good"Jews and "black"or "bad"Jews, which has deeperrootsin AmericanhistorythanJacobsonthinks.24Third,the book does not adequatelyexplainwhy antisemitismpeakedpreciselyduringthe Depressionand WorldWarII periodwhich he sees as mediatingAmerican Jewry's new "presumptive"whiteness.25Invoking Freud's"narcissismof small differences,"Daniel Itzkovitzsuggeststhatperceptionsof the Jews as "almostthe same"--andthereforedifficultto categorizeor control--gavethe antisemitismof the interwaryearsan explosivepotential.26 Fourth,the book's systematicanalysis ends too soon for the skeptical readerto be convinced by Jacobson'sconcludingcriticismsof "the white ethnicrevival"since the 1970s. Grantinghis argumentthatthe participants in the Europeanmass immigrationto the UnitedStatesenjoyed,even during difficult times, advantagesas "probationary whites,"this hardlyjustifies, withoutfurtheranalysisof the operationof currentracialpreferencesystems, thecomplaintsof discrimination Jacobson'sdismissalas "spurious" by today's "Euro-Americans" 7, (pp. 278-280). He also leaves unanalyzedthe political logic behind the Census Bureau'sclassificationsof many new immigrants (Israelisof NorthAfricanorigin,forexample,areshoehornedintothecategory "non-Hispanicwhite")and its refusalto adopta new "mixedrace"category for Americansof multipleheritages.27 Despite these criticisms, Jacobson'score thesis that races, far from in The Quiet Voices:SouthernRabbisand Black Civil Rights,1880s to 1990s, ed. MarkK. BaumanandBerkleyKalin(Tuscaloosa:Universityof AlabamaPress, 1997),pp. 67-94. 23. Yosef HayimYerushalmi,AssimilationandRacialAnti-Semitism: TheIberianand the GermanModels(New York:LeoBaeckInstitute,1982);JeromeFriedman,"JewishConversion, the SpanishPureBlood Laws and Reformation:A RevisionistView of Religiousand Racial Anti-Semitism,"SixteenthCentury18 (1987): 3-29; MarcShell, "Marranos (Pigs);or, From Coexistenceto Toleration,"CriticalInquiry17 (Winter1991):306-336. 24. RudolphGlanz, The Jew in Old AmericanFolklore (New York:AlexanderKohut MemorialFoundation,1961),p. 7. 25. LeonardDinnerstein,Anti-Semitism in America(New York:OxfordUniversityPress, 1994),pp. 105-149. 26. DanielItzkovitz,"SecretTemples,"in Jews and OtherDifferences,pp. 176-202. 27. ForDavidA. Hollinger'sobservationson the currentracialclassificationsystem,which

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being biologicalgivens, are historicallycontingent,sociallyconstructed,and Jewishhistory.28 politicallycontested,is importantnot leastforunderstanding The most extremeformof the claim of Jewishcomplicityin the origins of Americanracismis the chargethatJews "dominated" the Atlanticslave tradeleveled in TheSecretRelationshipBetweenBlacksandJews (1991), an Nationof Islam. anonymouslyauthoredtractpublishedby LouisFarrakhan's Eli Faber'sJews, Slaves,and the Slave Tradeis the latest,leastpolemical, and arguablymost importantcontributionto the veritablecottage industry of essays and books refutingthis charge.29 An indefatigableresearcherinto the historyof Anglo-AmericanJewry,Faberdeployshis masteryof archival materialson both sides of the Atlanticto reinforcethe conclusion,already reachedby Jacob RaderMarcusover a quarterof a centuryago, that the Jewishrole in the tradewas minimal.He breaksnew groundby showingnot only that Britishand AmericanJews were marginalplayersin the Atlantic slave trade,but thatthis odious trafficdid not contributesignificantlyto the economicdevelopmentof eitherOld Worldor New WorldJewry. Faber's focus is on Great Britain'stransatlanticcommerceduring its preeminentperiod as a slave-tradingpower. Between the late seventeenth andearlynineteenthcenturies,nearlyhalf of the almostseven millionslaves fromAfricato the Americaswerecarriedon Britishships(pp. 9, transported Faber uses Spanishand Portuguesesurnameson Britishmerchantlists 259). to identifySephardim.He cross-checksless distinctivepatronymicsagainst synagoguerolls, naturalizationlists, testamentaryrecords,tombstones,and genealogicalstudiesto confirmthe Jewishidentityof other,oftenAshkenazic

he calls "theenthno-racialPentagon,"see PostethnicAmerica:BeyondMulticulturalism (New York:Basic Books, 1995),pp. 19-50. 28. On the perceptionof the Jew as blackin Europeanantisemitism--andthe substrateof realityfor it in the historicethno-racialdiversityof the Jewishpeople-see SanderGilman, TheJew'sBody (New York:Routledge,1991),pp. 99-101, 172-179, 198-199, 234-243; Paul Wexler,TheNon-JewishOriginsof theSephardicJews (Albany:StateUniversityof New York Press, 1996),pp. 45-46. 29. See, for example,David BrionDavis, "Jewsin the Slave Trade,"Culturefront 1 (Fall 1992):42-45; Davis,"TheSlaveTradeandtheJews,"New YorkReviewofBooks41 (December Slave Trade," 22, 1994): 14-16; SeymourDrescher,"TheRole of Jews in the Transatlantic ImmigrantsandMinorities12 (1993): 113-125;HaroldBrackman, Ministryof Lies: TheTruth BehindTheNationof ls!ams "TheSecretRelationshipBetweenBlacksandJews"(New York: FourWallsEightWindows,1994);SaulS. Friedman, Jewsand theAmericanSlave Trade(New Brunswick,N.J.:TransactionPublishers,1998).

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families. His comprehensivesamples for both the home countryand its colonies reveal the role of Jews as investorsin slave-tradingcompanies, ownersof slave ships, slave-retailingfactors,and employersof slave labor. From Bristol to Barbadosand Nevis to Newport,the generalpicturethat emergesamidstregionalvariationsis of very limitedJewishparticipation. Jewish merchantsin GreatBritainwere extensively involved in internationaltradein textiles, gold, silver, and diamonds,but not slaves. None investedin the Royal AfricanCompanyuntil 1691, two decadesafterit was chartered.Subsequently,they preferredinvestingin the Bankof Englandand the East IndiaCompany(pp. 23-24). Jews do not seem to have been among the primaryownersof, or even consistentminorinvestorsin, the slave fleets of London,Bristol,and Liverpool(pp. 41-42). Overall,Jewishinvolvement in Britain'seighteenth-century slave tradewas "minutein the extreme"(p. 144). In the WesternHemisphere,individualJewish firms, such as Lindo, Aguilar& Dias in Jamaica,emergedas importantslave retailersduringthe 1780s,buttheyweretheexceptionsto therule(pp.39, 116).Between1742and 1769,of 149,705AfricanslavesimportedintoJamaica,only 665-four-tenths of one percent-were carriedon ships owned by Jews (p. 74). The Jewish role in the reexporttradeof so-called refuse Negroes-ill or infirmslaves who were rehabilitatedfor resaleon the SpanishMain-accounted for about six percentof such slaves sales duringmost of the eighteenthcentury(pp. 80-82). Yet it was enoughto fosteran enduringimageof Jews as the "used car dealers"of the slave trade. In terms of slave ownership,the Jewish shareon Britain'sCaribbeanislandsvariedbetweenone andtwo percent(pp. 123-125). In the plantationeconomy,which employedover nine-tenthsof the slaves,Jewishmasterswere almostunknown,thoughJewishtraderswere accused of corruptingfield handsby traffickingwith them in stolen goods (pp. 62-63). In the cities, Jews were as likely or even more likely to own slaves as non-Jews,but Jewish owners typically owned fewer slaves than theirnon-Jewishcounterparts. Jewishmasterswerealso creditedwith giving theirslaves Saturdaysoff in additionto Sundays(pp. 111-112, 123-124). In the mainlandcolonies that maturedinto the United States,Newport, Rhode Island, was the preeminentslaving entrepot,but rankeda distant fourth behind London, Liverpool, and Bristol, which sent in excess of 10,000 slave-tradingvoyages to Africaduringthe eighteenthcentury.Jewish merchants,notably Aaron Lopez and his father-in-law,Jacob Rodrigues Rivera,were responsiblefor thirty-fourof Newport'sover 900 slave trading

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voyages-under fourpercent-between 1709and 1807 (pp. 136-137). Slave tradinghas left an indelibleimprinton Lopez's reputation,but it shouldbe bornemindthatonly ten percentof his seaborneventuresinvolvedslaves(p. 138). Faberdoes not addressthe questionof motivation.Giventheirproficiency in SpanishandPortuguese,andnetworkconnectionswiththeNew Christians of LatinAmerica,why did the Jewishmerchantsof the BritishEmpireand buddingUnited States fail to carve out a largerniche for themselvesin the Atlantic slave trade?Were they inhibitedsolely by economic calculations of risk vs. reward?Or did ethical scruplesalso play a role? Despite such unansweredquestions,Faber'sbook is a definitiverefutationof a dangerous historicallibel. HaroldBrackman SimonWiesenthal Museumof Tolerance, Center LosAngeles,Calif.

Review: Pragmatic Idealists: Zionism in America Author(s): Stuart Knee Source: AJS Review, Vol. 24, No. 2 (1999), pp. 337-341 Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Association for Jewish Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1486758 . Accessed: 15/07/2011 11:05 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at . http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=cup. . Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].



REVIEWESSAY PRAGMATICIDEALISTS: ZIONISMIN AMERICA by STUARTKNEE Rafael Medoff. Zionism and the Arabs: An AmericanJewish Dilemma, 1898-1948. Westport,Conn.:Praeger,1997. viii, 188 pp. MarkA. Raider.TheEmergenceofAmericanZionism.New York:New York UniversityPress, 1998. xvii, 296 pp. Someyearsago, when I was conductingresearchin the field of American Zionism, I had occasion to submit some essays I had writtenfor possible publicationin a numberof importantscholarlyjournals.At that time, one periodicalcontactedme, indicatingthatthe editorialstaff liked the research and inquiringwhetherI was a studentof Ben Halpern's.I replied that I wasn't,butthe whole incidentmademe chuckle.I realizedthatthe discipline I was in was small enough to allow comparisonswith its pioneerfounder, and for thatI was grateful. Actually,"pioneerfounder"is the perfectapproachone shouldtake to the two books under discussion here, Rafael Medoff's Zionismand the Arabs:An AmericanJewish Dilemma,1898-1948 and MarkRaider'sThe Emergenceof AmericanZionism.To tell the truth,the field is still relatively small and select, so we welcome these two scholars.The questionsthey ask and answer really cut to the core of what diasporaJudaismis. and perhapstherein lies the importanceof these monographs.Both historians make it clearthatto be an AmericanZionistis not quitethe sameas being a Zionist.The commondenominator, EuropeanZionistor a Palestinian/Israeli AJSReview24/1 (1999):337-341

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of course, is "Zionism,"but its manifestationdependson the descriptive adjectiveprecedingthe term. Medoff and Raidercautionthat scholarshad best pay attentionto the distinctions,since the economic,political,andsocial of diverse well-beingof the historicYishuvdependeduponan understanding constituenciesand theirmotivations. Medoffpresentsus witha predicamentfacedby AmericanZionistsduring WorldWarI andat the ParisPeaceConference:how does a peoplelegitimize the concept of a returnto a nationalhomelandwhere, in terms of current populationbut not in termsof ancienthistory,desire,or need, the returning group is a numericalminority?Put anotherway, how does one realize a nationalvision in a twentieth-century world? nineteenth-century The opportunitypresented itself at Versailles,and Zionists from all concernedregions prioritizeddifferentpolitical and social models. For the Americans,a true nationalhome would somehow conformto liberalism, which, for supportersof the BalfourDeclaration,meant constitutions,the ballot box, competitiveeconomic structures,and, in general,a commitment to theWesternEnlightenment. Zionism,then,wasanoptimisticphilosophybut in anachronistic even 1919,given the realitiesof trenchwarfare,the possibly Russiancivil war,millionsdead,and,in Palestine,a nascentArabnationalism. Whilelife's contradictions rarelyfazedEuropeanZionistsresidentin London, or Americans likedconsistency.Theyreallybelievedtheycould Kiev, Minsk, reconciledivergentArab-Jewishattitudesin Palestinein a mannerthatwould ultimatelybenefitboth populations,and for a while they soughtto do just this. It was a task for Don Quixote,but it needed to be done, not just for Zion, but for the sake of validatingone's self-worthin the Americanmilieu. As Medoffindicates,quitecorrectly,leadingZionistsof the AmericanJewish establishmentlike LouisBrandeis,JulianMack,StephenWise,andHenrietta Szold "were confrontedwith an identitycrisis: how to balancetraditional Jewish ideas . . . with the desire to gain acceptancein a countrywhere conflictingvalues ... were an integralpartof the ... politicalculture"(p. 5). So, while grapplingwith mentalitiesthatappearedto be far distantfrom Arab-Jewishrealitiesin the MiddleEast,AmericanZionistsset themselveson a developmentalpathfor 1920s Palestinethatincludedexperimentation with and implementationof certainProgressiveeconomic and social beliefs. It was widely held thatArabswouldend theiroppositionto the presenceof the growingnumberof Jewishsettlersif the latterdemonstratedthatthey were there to serve and not diminishhumanity.And serve they did, by creating the HebrewUniversity,the HadassahMedical Organization,and a host of

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enterprisesdesignedto be bothattractiveandutilitarian.Maybeall thiswould allay Arabfears,so thatopponentsof Jewishsettlementwouldcease to take a sanguinarypath,as they had done on EasterSunday,1920, andat Jaffathe followingyear.Butthereweretwo realitiesAmericanZionistscouldnotalter: first,that Jewish settlerswere still a minorityand would probablycontinue to be in the foreseeablefuture;second, that traditional,liberal,democratic panaceaswould not preventoppositionto Zionism,becauseArabhostility was rootedin millennialreligio-politicalcompetition"thateconomicprogress could not change"(p. 43). "Jobsand an increasedstandardof living"(p. 43) were gifts tenderedto Arabsby Americanswho knew they were playingfor time in whichto build a majoritariandemocracy,but time ran out in the Hitlerera as conciliation gave way to Realpolitik.Zionistscontinuedto debatethe meritsof hiringall laborequally,includingArab,flirtedwith binationalism,andhostedeminent historianswith informedpoints of view, among them Salo Baron, Hans Kohn, and Oscar Janowsky.In the end, however, the proposedsolution of Arab populationtransfersto Iraq or Transjordanseemed compelling, especiallywhen millionsof Jewishlives were at risk. Althoughthe transferidea failed, the Medoffbook demonstratesAmerican Jewish pragmatismin the face of insolubledifficulties.Understanding AmericanJews as pragmatistsin the traditionof WilliamJamesis also the key themeof MarkRaider,who attempts,with muchsuccess,to place Labor Zionism at the heartof AmericanJewish comprehensionof self. Raideris an effective narratorand, like Medoff, employs a wide varietyof archival, monographic,and periodicalsources.But he need not be so insistentabout his theme, which sometimesbecomes a chant, that LaborZionism had a salubrious,even transforming,effect on AmericanZionism and American Judaism.It is a point well takenand recognizedby majorhistorianssuch as WalterLaqueurand HowardM. Sachar.WhetherLaborZionistsin America and PalestinelackedZionist "starquality"is importantto Raider,since the AmericanZionist "titans"(p. 171) have garneredmore historicalnotoriety than their less glamorouscompatriots.Not to worry:persuasiveideas and magneticspokespersonsareequallyimportant; sometimes,themoremagnetic the spokesperson,the betterfor the ideas! LaborZionism'sfocus was nonideologicaland nondoctrinaire; it held to certainecumenicalprinciplesbut entertainedno particulardogma.In short, one could be a LaborZionist and also be either Marxistor anti-Marxist; by the same token, one could hold with communalor collective labor,

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traditionalprivateenterprise,or a combinationof the two. Therewere only two principlesthat boundthe LaborZionists,both of which are beautifully capturedin Raider'schapter3 pictorial:first,a belief in the legitimacyof "the worker,"and second,thatJews shouldemigrateto and settlein Palestine. The majorstrengthof LaborZionismlay in an adaptabilitythatrendered the movemententirelyamenableto Americanculturalcues. At its American inceptionin the 1880s, its directionseemedhardto predict,since its Eastern Europeancomponentwas steeringand shapingit. However,its role in the formationof the AmericanJewishCongressin 1918, the compellingnature of the Ahad Ha'amculturalphilosophyas projectedby HoraceKallen,and the entry of interpretiveHebrew-languagematerialsinto school curricula dispelledany publicdoubtsas to the directionin which LaborZionismwas headed.The foundingof PioneerWomenas an alternativeto Hadassahand the NationalCouncilof JewishWomen,andthe locationof commonground with Jewish and mainstreamAmericanlaborunionsindicatedan American approachto constructinga Zionistconsensus. By the mid-1930s,the LaborZionistversionof the halutz,or "pioneer," was successfullyconveyedto cognizantAmericanJews.It was not a moment too soon, since fascism,internationalantisemitism,immigrationrestrictions, and quotalaws createdimmediateneeds for potentialandactualrefugeesof persecution.Themovementitself,verymuchlike EuropeanJewsthemselves, was at a crossroads.A misstepforAmericaLaborZionistsin the interpretation of an heroic Jewish futurewouldn'tmean much to them personally,since they, as the saying goes, would live to fightanotherday. On the otherhand, thereweremillionswhose survivalmightbe compromisedif the fundamental notionof the "ideal"Jewishworkerwas not refashionedandexpanded. It was, and its tangibleexpressionmanifesteditself in the 1942 Biltmore Program.The workerfor Palestineand his laborwere valued as they had alwaysbeen. Bothwere centralto LaborZionism'sideology,butas everyone at the BiltmoreHotel knew,the image of the workerwas underrenovation. At this time, it probablywould not includeyoung Americanseven if they danced, sang, spoke some Hebrew,subscribedto the Jewish Frontier,sat aroundbonfiresin brotherhood,andjoined Habonim.Youthin the United States needed directionbut not a ticket out: their lives would continuein safety,thus excludingthem frommassivealiyah.As for the millionscaught in Europe,they might one day arrive in Palestine,but the overwhelming majorityof themwere not in love with andbarelyunderstoodZionism'scall to the "heartyworker"and "free,yeomanfarmer."In a timely fashion,over

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the course of a decade and more precedingWorldWarII, a suitableimage had been forgedinclusiveof refugees.Zionistsin generalhad learnedfrom LaborZionists in particularthat Jewish survivaldependedupon optimistic arrivalsin the presentas propagandathatcould accommodateunanticipated well as it had accommodatedsmaller,more ideologicallycommittedgroups in the past. Since Zionismwas never a majoritarian movementin the United States and, as a matterof fact, would best be describedas winningthe heartsand minds of a minusculeproportionof America'sJews priorto 1948, what is the purposeof the bookswrittenby MedoffandRaider,whichemphasizethe pre-stateera?All they seem to do is perpetuatethe angstof a few withinan impressiveethnicpopulation.Perhapsthe answeris partof a largertruth:that in troubledtimes, a socially conscious, activist,flexible minority,or more correctlya minoritywithin a minority,shapedthe courseof Jewishhistory and, indeed,may do so againas the centuryturns. StuartKnee of Charleston University S.C. Charleston,

Review: Responsa: Literary History and Basic Literacy Author(s): Haym Soloveitchik Source: AJS Review, Vol. 24, No. 2 (1999), pp. 343-357 Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Association for Jewish Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1486759 . Accessed: 15/07/2011 11:05 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at . http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=cup. . Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].



REVIEWESSAY RESPONSA:LITERARYHISTORY AND BASICLITERACY by HAYMSOLOVEITCHIK Peter J. Haas. Responsa: The Literary History of a Rabbinic Genre. Society

of BiblicalLiteratureSemeiaStudies.Atlanta:ScholarsPress, 1996. 320 pp. I have readgood books and I have readbadbooks, andnow I have read a book by PeterJ. Haas.It has been a singularexperience,and I would like to shareit with others. The author,a disciple of Jacob Neusner and currentlya professorof religionat VanderbiltUniversity,openswith a surveyof the "academicstudy of responsa"and bemoansthe neglect of this importantgenre.Responsa,he claims, have been studiedfrom two vantagepoints only, and by precious few scholarsat that. Several scholars,such as IsidoreEpsteinand Irving Agus, have mined it for historicaldata or for the mental universe of a single author.Others, such as David Feldman,have used it to trace the developmentof a foundationalset of values.Both of these approachessuffer from the same fatal flaw: They "sharedand perpetuateda conceptiontaken over fromtraditionalrabbinism,namely,thatJewishlegal traditionis a rather stable ahistoric 'thing' that can be comprehended altogether . . . and that

subsequentrabbiniclaw was simply the unfoldingand ramificationof the lines"(pp. 17-18). Therehave been, systemalong essentiallypredetermined of course,Haasadds,notableexceptions,suchas JacobKatz'sExclusiveness and Tolerance, and this writer's article on usury in the Proceedings of the American Academyfor Jewish Research. The "turningpoint" in the study of

in the responsa,Haasannounces,was JacobLauterbach's entryon "responsa" AJS Review 24/1 (1999): 343-357

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JewishEncyclopediain 1905(pp. 18-19). Ourauthoris apparently unawareof the writingsof YitzhakBaer,Salo Baron,EliezerBashan,H. H. Ben-Sasson, MenahemBen-Sasson,Reuven Bonfil, and MordechaiBreuer,to mention onlyhistorianswhosenamesbeginwithB. He is equallyinnocentof theworks of MenahemElon, ShmuelShilo, GideonLebson,andNahumRackover,to list but a few figuresof the mishpat'ivrischool. Even the choice of worksof the two authorshe singlesout for theirinnovative treatmentof responsais strange.Katz'sExclusivenessand Tolerance is cited,thoughit scarcelyuses responsa,butnot his Goyshel Shabbator his Halakhahve-Qabbalah,bothof whicharebasedprimarilyon responsa,anda farmore sophisticateduse of them,at that.Indeed,inconceivableas it might sound,these worksarenevercited in the entirebook. My articlein PAAJRis cited,butnot She'elotu-Teshuvotke-MaqorHistori(Responsaas an Historical Source),a subjectcertainlycloserto Haas'sconcernsthanis the topic of usury.Thereis not a single referencein the entirebookto any articlein Zion, Tarbiz,Sinai,Mishpat 'Ivri,or Dinei Yisrael.Lest the readersuspectthatthe authorhas some difficultieswith modernHebrew,a thoughtthatmightcross the mind of the less charitablyinclined,I shouldpointout thatthereis also no referenceto any articlein the AJSReview,the Jewish QuarterlyReview, or the Journal of Jewish Studies.Needless to say, referencesto the Revue des EtudesJuives,the Jahrbuchderjuedisch-literarischen Gesellschaft,and the MonatschriftfuerGeschichteund Wissenschaft der Judenare not to be found.The authorcites one chapterfromSimhahAssaf's posthumoussurvey of 1955, Tequfatha-Geonimve-Sifrutah,but nothingelse of that scholar's voluminouswritings,He betraysno cognizanceof the worksof B. M. Lewin, ShragaAbramson,Moshe Gil, RobertBrody,and Neil Danzig. Indeed,he knows nothingof the vast literatureof geonica of the last fifty years, other thanZvi Groner'sTheLegal Methodologyof Hai Gaon and I. Ta-Shema's articleon responsain theEncyclopaediaJudaica.He informsthereaderof the existenceof Urbach'sBa 'alei ha-Tosafot(p. 140), but neveruses it, though he sorely needs to. He writes, or at least thinkshe is writing(see below), on R. Eliezerben Joel ha-Levi,commonlyknownas Ravyah,but is unaware of Aptowizer'sgreatMavo le-SeferRavyah.He discussesthe rabbinatein CentralEurope,but hasn't read Schochet's 'ImHillufei eighteenth-century He writes of HatamSofer and "modemorthodoxy,"but hasn't ha-Tequfot. readKatz'sHa-Halakhahbe-Mezar,not even his famedbiographicalstudy of HatamSofer.' 1. In the GershomScholem Jubilee Volume,edited by R. Z. W. Werblowskyet al.

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This is not to say that Haas hasn't read anything.He has, indeed;and much of what he has read,not to speak of what it has enabledhim to see, will come as a revelationto most scholars.For works on "the difference betweenearlyFrenchand SpanishJewry,"we are referredto a tome issued by the PickwickPress of Pittsburgh,authoredby Philip Sigal, entitledThe Judaism(p. 135);for informationon Rashi,we Emergenceof Contemporary are referredto a work by one SamuelBlumenthal,entitledTheMasterof Troyes:A Studyof RashitheEducator(p. 140).Ourauthorhas readone book on the MiddleAges, NormanCantor'sMedievalHistory:TheLifeandDeath of a Civilization.From Cantor'ssix pages on the revival of jurisprudence in the twelfth century,Haas is able to detectthe influenceof Germanlegal scholars on Ravyah (p. 164). He has read several articles in English on rhetoricin the MiddleAges, and this has enabledhim to discernCiceronian (yes, Ciceronian)influenceson Rashi (p. 149). Readerswill also discover thatthe Jewishcommunityof Troyeswas devastatedin the FirstCrusadeand that"Ravyahsucceededhis fatheraround1200 as chief rabbiof Berlin"(pp. 141, 165). All this is but a small sampleof the rich surprisesthatawaitthe reader. Ourauthormightwell contendthatthe reasonhe hasnotreadmuchin the writingsof othersis thathe has a differentagenda.He seeks to bringa new modeof analysisto bearupontheresponsaliterature-thatof communication theory.Indeed,the entire second chapterof the book is takenup with the presentationof this theory.And there is little that any of the above works could contributeto such a discourse.Theremay be some meritto this claim. Whatmay be legitimatelydemandedof Haas,or of anyoneelse who chooses responsaas the subjectof his or her book, is a basic literacyin Rabbinics, thatis to say, competencein Talmud,a commandof halakhictechnique,and, needless to say, a knowledgeof RabbinicHebrew.Let us see how well our authormeets these requirements. Letus beginwitha rathersimpleresponsumof thegreatRabbenuTam,the founderof the Tosafistmovementand one of the most influentialtalmudists of the past millennium. Haaspresentsthe questionposedto RabbenuTamas being:Mustchildren who are no longerinfantsfast on YomKippur?(p. 155). This neverwas the question,never could have been the question,posed to RabbenuTam.It had (Jerusalem,1968), Hebrew sec., pp. 115-148, and reprintedin Jacob Katz, HalakhahveQabbalah(Jerusalem,1984),pp. 353-387.

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beensettledclose to a thousandyearsearlierby theMishnah(Yoma82a)when it statedthatchildrenmustbegin fastingtwo yearsbeforeadulthood-ten in the instancesof girls, eleven, in the case of boys. Beforethey attainthatage there is no prohibitionwhatsoeveragainsttheir eating.The issue at bar in the responsumis whetheradultsmay activelyfeed childrenon YomKippur. Despitethe facts thatadultfeedingis repeatedlystatedbothin the queryand in the reply, and that every proof-textcited deals with adult feeding,Haas still construesthe responsumas dealingwith the permissibilityof children's eating, that is to say, the entire responsumdeals with a non-issue. This, of course, rendersmuch of his discussionmeaningless.As if this weren't sufficient,Haasproceedsto inventa controversyin the responsumthatdoes not exist--even in his own translation--andthen contributeshis own novel of the Talmud.As it will give the readersome sense of Haas's interpretation the passagebearscitation.But firsta wordof introduction. skills, exegetical RabbenuTamcites a passagein Eruvin(40b) whichstatesthatwe do not make Kiddushon wine in the synagogueon Yom Kippurbecausesomeone mustdrinkit, and it is forbiddento do so. Givingthe wine to a child is also out of the question,as it would be uneducational: the child mightconclude thatdrinkingon YomKippuris permitted.Haaswrites(p. 156): Accordingto the simplemeaningof the text [in Eruvin],a childmaynot be givenwineon YomKippurlest he cometo thinkthatdrinking wineon YomKippuris generally Underdebateis whattheTalmud is afraid permitted. he will get usedto. Onepossibilityis thatthe childwill get usedto having to drinkafterYomKippurofficiallybegins.Theassumption is that something thechildmustlearnto fast.Rabbenu Tam(followingRashi'sinterpretation of thispassage)holdsthatat issueis thechild'saddiction to wine.Onthisview, thechildmaydrink(andby extension,eat)on YomKippur, butoughtnotbe in theoriginal]. givenwine[emphasis No such debate is found in the responsum,nor is it found in Haas's own translationa page or two before (pp. 153-154). Rashi never offered,never couldhaveoffered,suchan interpretation, nordidRabbenuTamever"follow him" in this. How can a child possibly become addictedto wine from sipping it once a year? Let us assume, for Haas's sake, that there was "crack-wine"in talmudictimes. Why then did the Talmudallow childrento sip wine-fifty-two times a year--on Fridaynights? Whathappened,apparently,is thatHaaslookedup the wordsarakhin a Hebrewdictionaryand found"to be dragged,to adhere,to clutch,"whichin

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our context,he decided,mustmean"hookedon,"andso he createdtalmudic "crack-wine."Thathe did not look at Rashi(a frequentomissionof his) is understandable, given the difficultiesthat he has, as we shall soon see, in understandinghim.2Whatis astonishingis thathe did not even look at the Soncinotranslation,which rendersthe passageaccurately.This is a pattern thatrepeatsitself throughoutthe book:Haasmistranslatesandmisconstrues passagesthatare accuratelyrenderedin Soncinoand,as we shall see further on, mistranslateswordsandphrasesfoundin Jastrow'sdictionary.A second patterninstantiatedin this passage is that of fictitiousreference(here to Rashi). Again and again, citationsare given to both rabbinicand general sourcesthat simply do not exist. Forexample,eightpages later,Haaswrites (p. 164 n. 25): in law of the twelfth Eliezer'sformmayreflectsomeof the developments in German scholars were interested in andarranging century. particular collating themassof German commonlawin theirrealm,aneffortprobably inspired by theexampleof Justinian's code.Infactoneof theinitiators of thisprocesswas the Bishopof Worms.... Cf. Cantor,Medical[sic] History340.

Thereis nothingwhatsoeverof this in NormanCantor'sMedievalHistory, norcouldtherebe. German"commonlaw"beganto be committedto writing only in the courseof the thirteenthcentury,so it wouldbe surprisingto find scholarscollatingit in the twelfth.Nor, I shouldadd,is thereany mentionin Cantor'swork of any bishopof Wormsinvolvedin such an enterprise. A stray sentence, however strange,may yet be a regrettablelapse, an inadvertenceof no significance.And while it is truethatHaashas gottenthe entireresponsumwrong,one badmistakeshould,perhaps,notbe heldagainst him. Let us turnthen to anotherresponsum,thatof R. Meir of Rothenburg, anothermightynamein rabbinics,anduse it to examineHaas'sscholarship. The queryis: whetherone may lend the charitymoneysat interest,and if not, whetherone could insist on the restitutionof interestthat has been paid.The inquirerinformsR. Meirof Rothenburgthatsomeonetoldhimthat Rashi had explicitly statedthat even if such restitutionis owed, the courts were not empoweredto enforceit. The inquirerinformsR. Meirof Rashi's positionin a paragraphof six sentences.We will firstcite Haas'stranslation of the passage(p. 169) and then commenton it, sentenceby sentence.(For 2. Theword"11does, indeed,mean"toadhere."Inourcontext,it means,as Rashiexplains, "toadhereto the practiceof eatingon YomKippur."

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the reader'sconvenience,the sentencesof the translationand the parallel ones of the commentsarenumbered.) to b. B. Mes.91a:"TheTorah (1) I foundit explicitlyin Rashi'scomments forbidsthehireof a harlotevenif onehadrelations withhismother... (Deut. to is that one The whobringsa harlotinto 23:19)."(2) point,according Rashi, the Templemustpayherfee, eventhoughbringingher[there]was illicitto b. San.72a,whichreports,"Rabbi beginwith.(3) Thisdoesnot contradict hadsomesheepstolenby onewhobrokeintothehousethrough a tunnel.(4) thesheep,buthe wouldnotacceptthem,saying,'I Later,theywantedto return to Rava[whoruledthatbecauseof mortaldangerto whichsuch go according thievesexposedthemselves, the stolengoodsaredeemedto be theirs.']"(5) we allowthem Further, by turningthecapitaloffenseintoa kindof purchase, to cleartheirnamesbeforeheaven,evenif theydo not wantto comeclear beforeheaven.(6) Thisis shownin b. B. Qam70b. Comments: 1. (a) There is no such verse in Deuteronomy.(b) Why the "even"? If the whore with whom you had intercoursehappensto be your mother, does this makethe offense less grave?Perhapswe are misconstruingHaas's translation.The verse or dictumgiven us may equallymean:Even one who has had relationswith his mothermay not hire a harlot.If this be the intent, had anyoneheretoforesuggestedthat committingincest permitsconsorting with harlots,that one needs a verse (or a talmudicdictum)to specifically enjoinit? 2. (a) Thereis no such statementof Rashiat the citedplace or anywhere else in the Talmud.Nor could therebe. Thereis no law againstpaying a prostituteto go with you to the Temple.It is hardlythe best of company, but there'sno law whatsoeveragainstit. (b) Let us grantHaashis fictitious citation,how does an injunctionagainstbringingharlotsinto the Temple proveanythingaboutthe restitutionof usury? 3-4. This passagecertainlydoes not "contradict" the previoussentence; it has nothingto do with it. Whatdoes stealingsheepthrougha tunnelhave to do with bringingprostitutesto the Temple?Furthermore, how can "Rabbi" cite a rulingof "Rava,"who lived fourgenerationslater? 5. Whatdoes this sentence,in itself, mean?Whatdoes it meanin context; what does it have to do with the whores in the Temple?(The text is not responsible.The sentence is Haas's creation.He has added no less than thirteenwordsthatarenot foundin the original.)

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6. Thereis nothingin B. Qam.thatis even vaguelyreminiscentof these statements;and if Haashad difficultieswith the text in the original,a simple glance in Soncinowouldhave revealedthis to him. Two final questions:(1) What does this whole paragraphabout sheep and whoresmean?It's an agglomerationof meaninglesssentences.(2) How is this paragraph,whateverit may mean, connectedto what precedesand follows it? This paragraphis broughtas "explicitproof' for inabilityto compelrestitutionof the interestobtainedby charityfromits loans.Whatdo sheep,whores,and incesthave to do with usury? To unravelthe errorsin this one brief paragraphwould requireseveral pages. Let us contentourselveswith simplysayingthatHaas'stroubleshere begin not with Rashi,not with the Talmud,nor even with RabbinicHebrew and Aramaic(all of which cause problemsfor him), but with the English Bible, with the KingJamesversionof the GoodBook. Theverse"Thoushalt not bring the hire of a whore into the house of the Lordthy God"(Deut. 23:18) does not mean,as Haasthinks,"Thoushaltnot hirea whoreto come with you into the house of the Lord,"but "Thoushalt not bring into the house of the Lord[i.e., offeras sacrifice]the hire [i.e., the payment]given to the whore (for her services)."3"Hire"in this verse is a noun (andpreceded by "the"),not a verb. And buildingon his misconstructionof the Bible, our authorproceedsto furthermisconstruethe TalmudandRashi,inventingnew verses, new laws, and entirelynew passagesin the Talmudas he makeshis way. This passage, and the numerousothers like it, are but an extensionof another,yet morefrequentproblem;indeed,one thatplaguesthe entirebook, namely,literaltranslationof technicaltermswithoutany explanation,andoftenwithoutanycomprehension of theirlegalmeaning.Anycourtdecisionwill invokefive or ten basic conceptsof the system,almostinadvertently-which is why teachingAmericanlaw in a foreigncountryby the case methodis so difficult.The largenumberof terms,even in an abridgeddecision,thatneed to be explainedto the foreignstudent,to whom such basic notionsas grand jury,due process,andjudicialreviewarealien,provesa formidableobstacle. Translationof a rabbinicdecision is no different.To translatea phrasein a responsumliterallyand leave it at that,with no intimationto the readerthat 3. Haas'sreadingof the verse is characteristicof his approachto texts. The verse reads "Thoushaltnot bringthe hireof a whore... intothe houseof the Lordthy God for anyvow."

Thelastthreewordsmakeit clearthatwe aredealingwitha sacrifice offeredin payment of a vow,notwiththehiringof anescortservice.Haassimplyignored theending.

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this is a technicaltermand with no explanationof the term'smeaning,is to It is equivalentto translating reducethe translationto incomprehensibility. verbatiminto French"separatebut equal,"but not informthe Frenchreader that this deals with segregationin publicplaces and services. Or rendering "contraryto the commerceclause"as "contrairea l'article de commerce," withoutexplainingto the readerthat it refersto the constitutionalinability of the statesin a federalsystemto pass laws thataffectinterstatecommerce. The translation,even if accurate,wouldmakeno sense. And if the translator himself did not know the technicalmeaningof thesephrases,as is generally the case with Haas,he would soon be compelledto addwords,phrases,and whole sentencesto the decision in an attemptto have the decisionmake,at least, some surfacesense. This is whathappensthroughoutthe book.In the eighteenresponsathatI checked,I foundsixty-fourtalmudicpassagesthatwentunrecognizedby our authorandweremistranslated or literallytranslatedas if theywerethe words of the respondenthimself.I furtherfoundover ninetylegal terms4thatwere either mistranslatedor translatedliterallywith no explanation(generally, with no comprehension)of what they meant,and the resultantproductis, at best, a pale reflectionof the respondent'sargument,at worst,a senseless or contradictoryconcatenationof sentences.Haas's techniquefor dealing with such contradictionsis to inventwhateveris necessary,to his thinking, to sustainhis mistranslations, be they talmudicpassagesand statementsby Rashi, as here, or new religiousrequirements,as in the responsaof Nod'a be-Yehudah(see below). In the case underdiscussion,Haas doesn't know what din shamayyimmeans legally. He may know what the words mean literallyandthatthe termhas somethingto do with unenforceablecollection. However,he is unawareof its legal nature--itsmuch-disputedlegal nature, which plays a centralrole in the discussion--andis wholly ignorantof the principle'sscope. As a result,stolensheepandwhoresstartprancingabouta discussionon "comingcleanbeforeheaven"(Haas'sinimitabletranslationof din shamayyim),withoutthe astonishedreaderhavinga clue as to how they ever got there. GivenHaas'sskills,one does not expectmuchin the way of identification of authorship.However,if a responsumis foundin the work of R. Eliezer ben Joel Halevi (more commonlyknown as Ravyah),and at the beginning 4. I say "overninety"becauseI stoppedcountingwhen I reachedthatnumber.The actual countis considerablyhigher.

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of the responsum,at the top of the page, in big black lettersit says, "THIS one does not expectto see IS A RESPONSUMOF MY GRANDFATHER," it presentedas a responsumof Ravyah.Yet this is whatHaasdoes (p. 158). (Perhapshe took the heading'1pTnalt•niTas meaning"Thisis a Responsum of My Beard,"andjudged it a scribalerror.)The editorof the Hebrewtext, AvigdorAptowizer,footnotesthe headingandprovidesthe referencewhere work (SeferRavan,#108). Not this responsumis foundin the grandfather's the or not understood noticed having heading,Haas never checked having the reference.He then begins to drawvariousinferences(p. 163) from the somewhattruncatedbeginning,unawarethatthis is but a sectionof a larger discussionfoundin the originalsource. Haashas furtherthoughtsaboutthe responsum(pp. 163-164): of thistextis structured in a waywe havenotseenbefore... Thisargument of the text its material to thehistorical evolution [T]hebody arranges according of thehalakhah, notthelogicof theargument. ThusEliezer's' discourse begins in this case,the Talmudof the Landof Israel. withthe talmudicliterature, of factsis thenexpanded Thisbasicstatement it in lightof other byexamining talmudicstatements. All thesestatements arethenexpounded in lightof the of laterrabbinic theauthor's ownfather. authorities, interpretations including Thediscussionis concluded by theauthorsettingforthhis ownview.Weend overviewof thelawas it emergedin theTalmud, reaches upwitha historical under the rabbis,andis appliedby today'sauthorities. clarity Haas,indeed,has not seen this structurebefore;however,anyonefamiliar with responsawill have encounteredit hundreds,if not thousands,of times. In fact, Haas has describedadmirablyone of the standardstructuresof responsa literature.The reply opens with citation of the most plausible precedent,usuallya talmudicpassage,thenexaminesthe commentaries upon this passage, often in chronologicalsequence, as one halakhistis usually commentingupon or reactingto the position of his predecessors.(This is almostinvariablyso, if one is citingthe scholarsof a single culture,as here.) And occasionally,and more thanoccasionallyin medievaltimes, the writer offers his own understandingof the talmudicprecedent.He then explores whetherthis precedent(in one or severalof its interpretations) is applicable to the case at hand. 5. Haasis on a first-namebasis with manyof the greathalakhicfiguresof the past.

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Haas,however,believesthatthereis profoundsignificanceto the structure thathe has discerned.He immediatelycontinues(p. 164): formadoptedheresuggeststhatEliezerbenJoelHaleviis working Theliterary witha theoryof lawdifferentfromtheoneswe haveexamined. He seemsto view the lawnotas a predetermined to be discovered givenwaiting through talmudiclogic,butas theresultof historical fromgeneration to development On this the rabbi exercises theory, generation. discretionary legislative authority muchas didthe Geonim.Wedo nothaveto do witha revealedor "natural" law,butwitha law of humanmaking,albeitone guidedby thepreceptsof thereceivedtradition. Thatis, to discussthelawas a historical processplaces thanonthedivineorthe emphasison thehumanelementin Jewishlaw,rather eternal.Thisis, of course,preciselywhythisformenjoysa newpopularity in themodemworld.Butit is somewhat outof placein theJudaism of Medieval Europe. But if thereis any truthto the rest of The last sentenceis an understatement. the paragraph,then one can safely statethatmuchof the halakhicwritingof the pastmillenniumhas been very,very modem. This mode of inferenceis a recurrentone in the book. Haas"discovers" an instanceof some fairly commonphenomenonin the responsaliterature. Havinglittle familiaritywith this genreof halakhicwriting,he assumesthat the case in whichhe encountersit constitutesa "first,"andproceedsto build on it castles in the air. For example, R. YehezkelLandau,the authorof the Nod'a be-Yehudah,writes (in a responsumthat we shall discuss) that huntingwild game is halakhicallypermissible,but an inappropriate pursuit for a Jew. This distinctionbetweenpermissibilityand appropriateness, the licit but assessmentof religiouslyabhorrentconduct,is a commonplacein rabbinicliterature.(It findsits mostpungentexpressionin the famousphrase M 2 All this is news to ourauthor.He sees this of Nahmanides, r•lin mnil= 2)."of the active distinctionas a superb example legal discretionthatthis new rhetoric[i.e.pilpul] now allows the rabbi.... Jewishlaw, in otherwords,no longerstandssolely withinthe boundsof the writtentext of the Talmud,but is a productof the legislativeinitiativeof the rabbinicestate"(p. 195). Again, Haas discovered in a responsumof R. Yekutiel Teitelbaum (1808-1883) the phrase "rnPvv?K6;1i

rt b". This too is news to

him, though he realizes that it might (!) have been used in previouseras. Haaslinks this "new"phenomenon"to the changesin the conceptionof the rabbinatein modem times" (p. 244). No more and no less. He is further

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"temptedto see this new discursiverole of the responsawriteras teacher ratherthan decisor as a function of the Hasidic communityfrom within which Teitelbaumwrites."In fact, this phrasehas been commoncurrencyin halakhicliteraturefor well over seven hundredyears,ever since the days of R. SolomonIbnAderet(Rashba,d. 1315).How ubiquitousit is may be seen from the Bar-IlanResponsaProject.The project'sdatabankyields no less thaneighty-seveninstancesof its use in the sixteenthcenturyalone. And, finally,to Haas'sdiscussionof a responsumof Rashi,one treatinga claim to a sharein a partnershipon the basis of a dowry. Haaswritesin an authoritativetone (pp. 150-151): Whatthe responsum [of Rashi]doesnot do is the one thingthatwe might expect,namely,to framemattersexplicitlyaroundtalmudicprecedents.... Thisis so despitethe fact,as we havenoted,thatthe generalnatureof its discourse-itsvocabulary, mode. syntaxandlanguage-areall in thetalmudic It seemsto me,thatwe canmakesenseof thesefactsbyunderstanding the sourceof the responsum's to be, then,notthetalmudic textperse, authority butthelanguage andreasoning Thatis, thatmakeuptheOralTorahingeneral. therabbi'svirtueis notto knowandcitetheTalmud as muchas it is to be able to "do"Talmudafresh.. . . Rashi sees the rabbias one who carriesforththe

talmudicenterprise in his ownwork.Thatis, Rashilocateshimselfnotas an outsiderto andinterpreter of theTalmud [sic],butas onestillworkingwithin thattradition. This is a novel understanding of Rashi'slife workandself-perception,to say the least. And the thoughtthat rabbinicvirtuedoes not lie in knowingthe Talmudis understandably a consolingoneto ourauthor.Thereis nothingin the responsum,however,which indicatesthatRashisharedthese views. Rashi's responsumis, in fact, shot throughwith talmudicproof-texts,only Haashas not recognizedthem.Throughoutthe book,Haasis unawarethatrespondents often do not cite the sourceof well-knownandappositequotations(muchas we mightwrite,"However,'thereis a tide in the affairsof men,'" ratherthan "However,as Shakespearewrote in Julius Caesar [Act IV, scene 3], 'There is a tide in the affairsof men"').Indeed,manyof thesepassagesin responsa makelittle sense unlessone is awarethatsegmentsof themarecitations.For example,Haastranslatesa passagein this responsumthus(pp. 145-146): Butif... [hesuddenly] appears... witha writthatsayshe is to getsuchand sucha dowry;andhe married andacquired it, andthensaid,"Ihaveearned

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whether andI amyourpartner thisfromthemomentof marriage youlikeit or not." This is a free translationby Haas(andone of the muchbetterones). The actualpassage,however,cites the Talmudin Kiddushin(9b) thatstatesthat an oralcommitmentaboutweddinggifts anddowryis bindingif themarriage took place on the basis of that commitment,and addressesthe attemptto collect on the basis of the citation.6In the responsumunder discussion, Rashiinvokesand incorporates,withoutexplicitattribution,no less thansix talmudictexts. All six passed over Haas'shead.He failed, consequently,to suchbasictermsas "surety," "powerof recognize,andnaturallymistranslated, "writ of oral "lack of standing," dowry,""binding commitments," attorney," "derivativerights,"and"courtproceedingswith fraudulentclaims,"7with all the attendantconfusion.Indeed,large segmentsof Haas'stranslationbears little semblanceto the argumentsactuallyadvancedby Rashiin the Hebrew text. At times, it statesthe exact opposite.8 Whatis moststrikingis not simplyHaas'signorancebutalsohis approach. Mostof the above termsare foundin Jastrow,butHaasmakesno use of that scholar'swork.Whenconfrontedwith a wordor phraseor even a technical 6. The passage in Rashi'sresponsumreads(and I italicizewhere the actualtext differs fromHaas'srendition):"Butif... [he suddenly]appearswith a writof dowry[based]on (the passagein Kiddushin9b which reads:)'How muchdo you give [as a weddinggift]for your son?' 'Suchand such a sum [i.e,. an oral commitment]. If theyproceededto marry[on that basis],she [the bride]acquired[the gift]."(end quote)[i.e., theplaintiff'swritatteststhatsuch an oral commitmentwas made]and he says, "I acquired[theshare in thepartnership]from the moment[of marriage]and [therefore]I am yourpartnerwhetheryou wishit or not." n,•trandnai t'lT areall unrecognized.References:B. Batra173b,Shevu'ot31b, Kiddushin9b (forbothKnipm oP itv andn'etK2T'iaPn a'nrn'mTnTn),B. Mesi'a 14a,B. Mesi'a 101b,Sanhedrin does not mean"right,"but "powerof attorney";T,' 32b. Examplesof mistranslations: nKWOjin ni1a3ndoes not mean "too much litigation,"but "courtproceedingswith fraudulentclaims"; ~'30 j ?la x does not mean"fromthose againstwhomshe holds liens"(p. 144), ,L') i3n=m No securitieshave been "fromthose suretieswho have guaranteedher [commitment]." but as that mentionedin the responsum,nor is there any mentionof such a weird arrangement of the debtor(i.e., the widow) taking a lien againsther own suretiesto ensurethe latter's paymentshouldthe debtorherselfdefault!The defendant,in this responsum,simplyrepliesto the plaintiffthathis remedylies with the sureties. 8. For example,in the continuationof the above-citedpassage,Haas'stranslationreads: "He has no authorityto place othersunderher obligationbecauseof her gift such thattheir claim is strongerthanhers."The Hebrewreads:"She [the widow] cannot,by gift, empower others[i.e., derivativeclaimants]with rightsgreaterthanherown."


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term that is unknown to him, our authordoes not turn to a Hebrew or Aramaicdictionary,but makesup whateverseems appropriate to him in the context-with all the resultantconfusion. To our author'scredit,it must be noted, he did realizewas thatthereis a great deal of TalmudicAramaicin Rashi'sresponsum,indeed, far more thanhe, PeterJ. Haas,deemsnecessary.Why all the Aramaicmumbojumbo on Rashi'spart?"Thediscussionis muchmorecomplex,thatis, muchmore 'Talmudic'thanit needbe,"he writes.Andhis conclusion:"Thenatureof the discourseis suchas to discouragesecularadjudication by invokingtechnical, one mightsay,holy discourseof therabbinate" (p. 151).Thereare,as we have seen, reasonabledoubtsas to this conclusion.Thereis, however,little doubt thatthe natureof Rashi'sdiscourse,andthatof othermedievalhalakhists,is such thatit shoulddiscourageDr. Haasfromwritingaboutthem. Fearingthatmedievalresponsamay not be Haas'sstrongpoint (though they do constitutea full half of the responsaanalyzed),and wishing to avoid any rush to judgment,I read on. Haas'snext chapterdeals with the seventeenthto mid-nineteenthcentury,a period characterizedby what he calls ClassicalRabbinism.Let us take Haas'sanalysisof a responsumof R. Ezekiel Landau,the authorof the Noda' be-Yehudah,one of the towering figuresof the responsaliterature,and see whetherhis handlingof medieval literature,which we treatedin extenso,was typicalor not. Haashas chosen a very simpleresponsum(Tinyana,YorehDeah 10). R. Landauwas askedwhetherit was permissiblefor a Jewto huntwild animals. He repliesthatthoughhuntingis an inappropriate pursuitfor a Jew, thereis nothinghalakhicallywrongper se. However,as huntingneedlesslyexposes the aficionadoto danger,it shouldbe discouraged,if not forbiddenoutright. The argumentfrom needless peril is introducedthus:trD 5 i?n 17 ... in • .91 m np fIr n m This is a reference to Berakhot 53a: tnn, ,• ,1l9tn1i ~,'tb,. "Threethings cause the sins of man to be remembered[i.e., invite adverse divine judgment;in idiomaticEnglish, 'tempt fate'] . . . [one who walks needlessly under]a crumblingwall, etc." Haas, however,translates p~,~,t as "he must confess his sins" (p. 192). Thathe did not recognize the in1•Mi talmudicpassageis understandable. Thathe did not use Jastrow'sdictionary is less understandable but wholly in character.Had he done so, he would have found(underthe entry both the meaningof this commonrabbinic 1•T) idiom and the referenceto the above passagein Berakhot.Haas'sproblems, however,have just begun. Who has ever heardof an obligationto confess one's sins when in peril? Our authoris equal to the challenge.He handles

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this problem,as he regularlyhandlessimilarproblemsthroughoutthe book, by fabrication."Itis," he announces,"a generalprincipal[sic] thatwhenone walks in a dangerousplace one mustconfess one's sins"(p. 194). But if this is so, the text makesno sense.Therespondentintroduced p1'n as an nim••"71 it a and views as whereas confession hunting argumentagainst transgression, is clearly a virtue. This gives Haas no pause. The fact that the argument makes no sense never suggeststo him that he may have misunderstoodit. was not Apparently,concludesHaas,Landau(as he calls Nod'a be-Yehudah) at his best in this sectionof the responsum. Haas then proceedsto analyzethe responsumin light of the movement of pilpul to whichhe devoteseveralpages (pp. 177-178). I choose[theseventeenth thenineteenth becauseresponsa of through century] thisperiodreflecta newanddistinctstyleof rabbinic rhetoric: As pilpul.... I shallshowbelow,thisstyle[i.e.pilpul]represents a particular epistemology, whichdevelopedout of the neo-Aristotelian of the renaissance speculations thatthe duringthelateMiddleAges[sic].... Inessence,themethoddeclared overtlanguageof thetextmustbe seenas a reflection of thementallanguage of theauthor. After dilating on this for several pages, Haas goes on to apply all this concretelyto the responsumat hand(pp. 193-197). Let us grant Haas all his pronouncementson the epistemologyand rhetoricof pilpul; we are, nevertheless,confrontedwith one smallproblem: this responsumis notpilpul at all. Indeed,it is the very antithesisof pilpul, as are all the responsaof Nod'a be-Yehudah.If Haashad actuallyreadthe articleby Dimitrovskythat he cites,9he would have knownthatpilpul has a fixed, almostformulaicstructuretogetherwith a very distinctivetechnical vocabulary,none of which is presentin the responsum.Had he readabout pilpul, otherthanBoyarin'sbrief Englishsummaryof his Hebrewbook, he would have knownthat-with one sixteenth-century exception-pilpul was neverused in Ashkenazin responsa,only in hiddushim.Its leadingadvocates took care not to use it in legal decisionsand severelycastigatedthose who had initiallyattemptedto do so. Pilpul is used in novellae,and in novellae alone. 9. Pp. 178-180. In the spaceof threepages,the articleis citedas "Al derekhha-pilpul"(n. 3), "Al Kerekh[sic] Ha-Pilpul"(n. 4), and"derekhHa-pilpul"(n. 9).


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Haas'sanalyseswereof the samepiece. I putthebookdown,notknowing whetherto laughor to cry. He apparentlydoesn't That Haas writes as he does is understandable. know any better.But scholarlypresses,one thought,hadreaders. YeshivaUniversity NewYork,N.Y.

Review: [untitled] Author(s): Gary A. Rendsburg Source: AJS Review, Vol. 24, No. 2 (1999), pp. 359-362 Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Association for Jewish Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1486760 . Accessed: 15/07/2011 11:05 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at . http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=cup. . Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].



BOOKREVIEWS S. David Sperling.The Original Torah:The Political Intentof the Bible's Writers.Reappraisalsin Jewish Social and IntellectualHistory.New York: New YorkUniversityPress, 1998. xiv, 185 pp. Anyonewho has followedthe courseof biblicalstudiesin thepastthirtyyears knows that a majorshift has occurredin the discipline.Whereasprevious generationsof scholars accepted the basic historicityof the pentateuchal narratives,the currentgenerationis much more skeptical. Thus, David Sperlingstates at the outset of The Original Torahthat "the archaeology of the past threedecadesdemonstratesthatthe Torah'sfundamentalclaims appearto be unhistorical.Israelwas neverenslavedin Egypt,so consequently therewas no exodus and no trekthroughthe desert.The people 'Israel'did not come fromoutsidethe land,so therewas no conquest"(pp. 7-8). Accordingly,we must look elsewhereto situatethe Torah'sbasic story of Israel's"past."Sperlingcontinues:"Whatthis means is that the Torah does not have a thirteenth-century agenda,and certainlynone that reaches furtherbackintothesecondmillennium.Instead,thestoriesin theTorahreflect communitiesbetween1100 religious-politicalconcernsof the Israelite-Jewish and400 B.C.E." (p. 8). In short,"thenarrativesof the Toraharebestdescribed as allegories,narrativescontrivedto signifya secondorderof meaningfrom whatthey presenton the surface"(ibid.). Withthe aboveas his basicpointof departure, Sperlingproceedsthroughout this well-writtenand very accessiblebook to demonstratethe political and religious agendasof the authorsof many of the Torah'smost familiar accounts.The Abrahamnarrativesare seen as a reflectionof the careerof King David;in generalthey are"politicalpropagandacomposedin the reign of Solomon,David'sson and successor,to answercriticismof the monarchy which, in its earliestdays, had maderadicalchangesin Israelitesociety"(p. 84);' thus,for example,the need to portrayAbrahamas a warriorin Genesis 14 in orderto justify David'smilitaryexpansionism. 1. Thisview has been expressedby manypreviousscholars,includingthe reviewer:G. A. Rendsburg,"BiblicalLiteratureas Politics:The Case of Genesis,"in Religionand Politics in

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The northernkingdom also had its heroes. Jacob'swrestlingwith the angel at Penuel,his gainingthe name "Israel"(bothin Gen 32:23-33), and his consecrationof the site of Bethel (Gen 28:10-22; cf. 35:7) serve as an "allegoryof Jeroboam"(p. 93), the first king of the northernkingdomof "Israel,"who moved his capitalto Penueland establishedBethel as one of its two sanctuarysites. In Sperling'ssummation,"TheBibleprovidesus with a twice-toldtale: 1 Kings relatesrealisticallythe tale aboutJeroboam,and Genesis... relatesallegoricallythe eventsaboutJacob"(p. 94). In like fashion operatethe narrativesin Exodus.Aaron'smanufacture of the golden calf (Exodus 32) serves as the model for Jeroboam'suse of golden calves at Dan and Bethel (1 Kgs 12:28-30), and many centuries later Aaron was grantedan even greaterrole as high priest "to serve the religious agenda of certainelements of the second temple priesthood"(p. 117). Moses is the prefigurationof Saul, both of whom unite "the people of Israelunderthe bannerof the god Yahweh"(p. 122). In many instances, "thesimilaritiesbetweenSaulandMoses have been obscuredby the biblical writer"(p. 123), butenoughremainsto allow Sperlingto readthe latteras an allegoryof the former.Sperlingmakesan excellentpoint in his acceptance of the literalmeaningof 1 Sam 14:35, '6t6 hihil libn6tmizbjahlaYHWH "he was the first to build an altarto Yahweh"(p. 129);this is clearlywhat the grammarintends,andno mannerof scholarlygymnasticscanproducethe reading"it was the firstaltarthathe builtto the LORD,"as manytraditional Jewish commentatorsand moderntranslationswould prefer.Moses, as the initiatorof Yahwehworshipin Israel,thusrepresentsSaul.Furthermore, "we must interpretthe Hebrewtraditionsof servitudein Egypt as allegoriesof servitudeto Egypt"(p. 54), for while archaeologyhas shown that there is no veracityto the Torah'saccountof an Israelenslavedin Egypt,there is considerableevidence pointingto the emergenceof Israelas a Canaanite groupthat sufferedas a mas-peopleduringEgypt'srule over the land (see especiallyAmamaletter365 with Exod 1:11). How are we to judge Sperling'soverallproject?As intimatedabove(see n. 1), I amverywillingto acceptthatmanyof thenarrativesin the Torahserve the voice of politicalpropaganda.Furthermore, I personallyam convincedof manyof Sperling'sspecificexamples.I partcompanywithhim, however,on two issues. theAncientNear East, ed. A. Berlin(Bethesda,Md.:UniversityPressof Maryland,1996),pp. 47-70.

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First,I believe thatthereis sufficientevidencewith which to defendthe essentialhistoricityof the Torah'snarrative(not the patriarchsnecessarily, about whom we have nothing save the materialin Genesis),but the basic accountof a Semitic groupmigratingto Egypt, sojourningthere,working thereas corveelaborers,andleavingthere.Egyptianrecordsof theNineteenth TheTorah'saccountindeedwas Dynastyamplydocumentthesephenomena.2 writtencenturieslaterandserveda politicalfunctionalongthe linespresented by Sperling,butthereis no reasonto "throwoutthebabywiththebathwater." A bettermodel, I believe, is a literaryworklike ArthurMiller'sTheCrucible or a modem movie like RobertAltman'sM*A*S*H.The Salemwitch trials actuallyoccurred,even if we view them in Miller'splay throughthe lens of McCarthyism;and the KoreanWaractuallyoccurred,even if Altman's movie presentsthat conflict throughthe lens of anotherU.S. involvement in a small East Asian country,that is, the VietnamWar.In otherwords,the biblicalauthorsutilizedsome basic historicalmaterial,but the actualhistory (thatis, whateverwas knownto latergenerations)playeda subservientrole to the writers'maininterests,whichderivedfromtheirpoliticalandreligious agendas. Secondly,the linguisticevidence-and this is the mostobjectiveevidence we possess-demonstrates that both the priestlymaterialand the narrative traditionsare pre-exilic.3Sperlingbringstwo pieces of informationthat he believes point to the Persianperiod.The first is the name Pamach(Numb 34:25), which closely resemblesthe well-attestedPersiannameFamaka(p. 7). The second is the presenceof mikn5sebdd "linentrousers"amongthe priestlygarments(Exod28:42),though"arthistorianshavedocumented[that] breechesandtrouserswereIranianinventions,firstfoundin thePersianreliefs of the sixth centuryB.C.E."(p. 116).But otherexplanations arepossible.The namePamachcorrespondsequallywell to Egyptianprnk,andwhilethisname is attestedonly for an Old Kingdomfemale,4our knowledgeof Egyptian 2. Fordetails,see G. A. Rendsburg,"TheEarlyHistoryof Israel,"in CrossingBoundaries and LinkingHorizons:Studiesin Honorof MichaelC. Astouron His 80thBirthday,ed. G. D. Young,M. W. Chavalas,andR. E. Averbec(Bethesda,Md.:CDLPress, 1997),pp. 433-453. 3. On the former,see the manyworksof A. Hurvitz,most importantly A LinguisticStudy of the RelationshipBetweenthe PriestlySourceand the Book of Ezekiel(Paris:J. Gabalda, 1982);on the latter,see now R. M. Wright,"LinguisticEvidenceforthe Pre-ExilicDateof the YahwistSourceof the Pentateuch"(Ph.D.diss., CornellUniversity,1998). 4. H. Ranke,Die EgyptischenPersonennamen, vol. 1 (Glyckstadt: J. J. Augustin,1935),p. 133.

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ancient personalnamesshowsthatthe samenamesareattestedthroughout often and are borne both males and females. we history by Egyptian Similarly, as breeches or shouldbe cautiousin identifying*miknosayim trousers only of thePersiantype,forit maybe closerto theloinclothattestedthroughout ancientEgyptianhistory,aboutwhicha recentscholarlytreatment noted the following:"Itsexistenceseemsto be totallyignoredin favourof its moreillustrious This relations,namely,the varioustypesof outergarment. omissionmaybe dueto the factthatit was a purelyfunctional itemworn eitherby itselfor underneath anothergarment,forinstance,a skirt,kiltor bag-tunic."' In sum, Sperlinghas writtena stimulating book filled with original to be significant insights.WhileI considertheabovepointsof disagreement I appreciate our ones,nonetheless greatlythevalueof thisstudyin advancing of the of the Torah. understanding origins GaryA.Rendsburg Cornell University N.Y. Ithaca, NahmanAvigad.Corpusof WestSemiticStampSeals.Revisedandcompleted by BenjaminSass. Jerusalem:Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities/IsraelExplorationSociety/Instituteof Archaeology,HebrewUniversity of Jerusalem,1997. 640 pp. The significanceof nonbiblicalwrittensourcesfor the studyof ancient Israel,Judah,andtheotherstatesof theLevantis widelyrecognized.Formore than a century,scholarshave utilizeddata gleanedfromthese voices from antiquityin generalhistoriesas well as in specializedinvestigationsdealing with philology, paleography,iconography,and related subjects.Inscribed stampseals, bullae,' and impressedjar-handlescomprisean importantpart of the extant corpus of epigraphicmaterial.The inscriptionsprovidenot only personalinformationaboutthe seal ownersbut insightinto the social, economic, and political structureof their societies. A growingnumberof 5. G. Vogelsang-Eastwood, PharaonicEgyptianClothing(Leiden:E. J. Brill, 1993),p. 10 (emphasisadded). 1. A bulla(sing.) is a lumpof clay impressedwith a personalseal. It was attachedto the documentswere sealed in this stringthatsealed a document.Both privateand administrative manner.Sometimesseveralbullaewereused to seal a single document.

Review: [untitled] Author(s): Nili S. Fox Source: AJS Review, Vol. 24, No. 2 (1999), pp. 362-365 Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Association for Jewish Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1486761 . Accessed: 15/07/2011 11:05 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at . http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=cup. . Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].



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ancient personalnamesshowsthatthe samenamesareattestedthroughout often and are borne both males and females. we history by Egyptian Similarly, as breeches or shouldbe cautiousin identifying*miknosayim trousers only of thePersiantype,forit maybe closerto theloinclothattestedthroughout ancientEgyptianhistory,aboutwhicha recentscholarlytreatment noted the following:"Itsexistenceseemsto be totallyignoredin favourof its moreillustrious This relations,namely,the varioustypesof outergarment. omissionmaybe dueto the factthatit was a purelyfunctional itemworn eitherby itselfor underneath anothergarment,forinstance,a skirt,kiltor bag-tunic."' In sum, Sperlinghas writtena stimulating book filled with original to be significant insights.WhileI considertheabovepointsof disagreement I appreciate our ones,nonetheless greatlythevalueof thisstudyin advancing of the of the Torah. understanding origins GaryA.Rendsburg Cornell University N.Y. Ithaca, NahmanAvigad.Corpusof WestSemiticStampSeals.Revisedandcompleted by BenjaminSass. Jerusalem:Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities/IsraelExplorationSociety/Instituteof Archaeology,HebrewUniversity of Jerusalem,1997. 640 pp. The significanceof nonbiblicalwrittensourcesfor the studyof ancient Israel,Judah,andtheotherstatesof theLevantis widelyrecognized.Formore than a century,scholarshave utilizeddata gleanedfromthese voices from antiquityin generalhistoriesas well as in specializedinvestigationsdealing with philology, paleography,iconography,and related subjects.Inscribed stampseals, bullae,' and impressedjar-handlescomprisean importantpart of the extant corpus of epigraphicmaterial.The inscriptionsprovidenot only personalinformationaboutthe seal ownersbut insightinto the social, economic, and political structureof their societies. A growingnumberof 5. G. Vogelsang-Eastwood, PharaonicEgyptianClothing(Leiden:E. J. Brill, 1993),p. 10 (emphasisadded). 1. A bulla(sing.) is a lumpof clay impressedwith a personalseal. It was attachedto the documentswere sealed in this stringthatsealed a document.Both privateand administrative manner.Sometimesseveralbullaewereused to seal a single document.

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West Semitic seals displayofficial titles and personalnames attestedin the Bible and other ancientNear Easterntexts. Designationssuch as "king," "sonof the king,"and "daughterof the king"as well as the titles of various royal functionarieshave appearedon seals. Occasionally,the seal beareris identifiablewith a characterknownfrombiblicalor extrabiblicalsources. Avigad'sandSass'sCorpusof WestSemiticStampSealsis a mostwelcome up-to-datereferencevolume for scholarsand studentsof ancienthistoryand philology.The book representsdecadesof painstakingcollection,research, andnotationby NahmanAvigad,whoseendgoalwas to producea singlework encompassingall extantWestSemiticseals andsealings.FollowingAvigad's deathin 1992, BenjaminSass undertookthe completionof this huge project. Thepresentcorpusincludesboththe publishedandunpublished materialfrom Avigad'scollectionin additionto items publishedby otherscholarsthrough 1991.A totalof 1,217seals andseal impressionsarepicturedanddiscussedin thebook.Thecorpusof materialis classifiedaccordingto nationality:Hebrew, Phoenician,Aramaic,Ammonite,Moabite,Edomite,and Philistine.Objects thatarenot clearlyidentifiablewith a particularnationalgroupbasedon their paleography,personalnames,and/oriconographyareclassifiedas hybrid;for Hebrew-Aramaic. For example, Moabite or Edomite,Hebrew-Phoenician, each nationalgroupingthe orderingis as follows: seals, bullae and other sealings, jar-handleimpressions.Seals of titled individualsprecede those that are untitled.Except for inscriptionsmentioninga royal name, which are arrangedchronologically,the objectsare listed alphabeticallyaccording to the personalnames of the seal owners. Seals bearingfemale names are cataloguedseparately. The book's introductionfocuses primarilyon the Hebrewmaterial,althoughit also containsgeneralinformationpertainingto the studyof seals.2 Avigaddiscusses a varietyof issues, such as the uses of seals in antiquity, the onomasticonof the seals and its role in identifyingthe ethnic origins of seal owners,the presenceof official titles on seals, and the social status of women in light of the presence of seals inscribedwith female names. A key methodologicalproblemdiscussedin the introductionis the dating of lapidaryinscriptions,in particularseals. Avigadrecognizesthe imprecise natureof datingbased on paleographicaland orthographicguidelines.Two majorobstaclesto this datingmethodare slow-changingscripts,especially 2. Morethanhalf the introductionis takenfromAvigad'sHebrewBullaefrom the Timeof Jeremiah:Remnantsof a BurntArchive(Jerusalem:IsraelExplorationSociety,1986).

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the Hebrew script, and evidence that multiple workshopsproducedthe seals. Surprisingly,in his discussionof biblicalfunctionariesAvigadhardly addressesthe difficultiesinvolved in identifyingseal ownerswhose names areknownfromthe Bible with the biblicalcharacters. Followingthe introduction,the body of the volume is dividedinto two parts.PartI consists of a catalogueof the more thantwelve hundredseals andseal impressionsrepresentingat least half a dozennationalgroups.Each entry is displayedby an enlargedphoto or drawingalongsidea readingof its text. In addition,the object is describedin detail as to provenanceor mode of acquisition,presentlocation(if known),material,size, inscription, iconography,and estimateddate. Personalnamesknownfromothersources arecross-referenced anda bibliographyis includedfor the publishedobjects. In cases of special-interestobjects,the mainpointsof historicalsignificance arediscussed.PartII is a majorcontribution to the volumeby BenjaminSass. It consists of a glossaryof titles and professions,place names,deity names, andotherterms,as well as thepersonalnamesandtheircomponents(prefixes, this suffixes, and hypocoristicendings)attestedin the corpus.Importantly, sectionincludesa philologicalanalysisof the WestSemiticnamesandterms. A short section containingstatisticalanalysesfollows the glossary.Tables 1 and 2 (pp. 549-551) are especiallyvaluableas they providestatisticson the numberof seals and seal impressionsassignedto differentnationalities, the percentageof provenancedvs. unprovenanceditems for each, and the geographicallocationsof the provenancedfinds. Issuessurrounding the originof theseobjectsarea seriousconcernforthis type of work,sincethe provenanceof mostof the corpusis unknown.In other words,a largepercentageof the seals and seal impressionsdiscussedin this volume, close to 85 percent,does not derivefromcontrolledarchaeological excavationsbuthascometo lightprimarilyvia theantiquitiesmarket.Inherent in objects lackingprovenanceis the possibilityof forgery.The authenticity of a numberof objectsin this corpusis dubious.Those deemedlikely to be andforgedseals"(pp.453-460). An forgeriesarecategorizedas "questionable additionalgroupof forty-nineseals and seal impressionswhose authenticity has been questionedis listed in JosephNaveh's prefaceto the book (p. 12). Avigad'sprizebulla,inscribed"lbrkyhwbn nryhwhspr,"whichhe associates with the biblicalBaruch,the scribeof Jeremiah,is conspicuouson this list (#417, two bullae). The inclusionof the items in this groupin the present volume is based on Avigad's appraisalthat these, as well as all the other unprovenanced objects,are authentic.

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Sass is well awareof the possiblepresenceof forgeriesin the collection, andconsequentlyhe exercisescautionby drawingfew statisticalconclusions. Severalof his remarksspeak to the issue (e.g., pp. 15, 465, 552). Notably, his final commenton this seriousmatterappearsdirectlyabovehis nameat the end of the volume. It clearlymirrorshis deep concern:"Thepossibility thatour mostly unprovenanced materialcontainsforgeriesshouldalwaysbe borne in mind, for the impactof such items on works like the presentone is inestimable"(p. 552). Given Sass's legitimateconcernover authenticity,it is surprisingthathe did not divide the maincatalogueby separatingobjects derivedfrom controlledarchaeologicalexcavationsfrom those acquiredby othermeans.Theexistingformattendsto impartequalvalidityto provenanced and unprovenanced objects. Still, in the final analysisthis volume constitutesa monumentalcontribution to the study of West Semitic seals and sealings. It is an excellent referencesource, far more informativethan a simple catalogueof objects, andwill undoubtedlycontinueto servegenerationsof studentsand scholars. Nili S. Fox HebrewUnionCollege-Jewish Institute of Religion Ohio Cincinnati, Steven Weitzman.Song and Story in Biblical Narrative:The Historyof a LiteraryConventionin AncientIsrael. IndianaStudiesin BiblicalLiterature. Bloomingtonand Indianapolis:IndianaUniversityPress, 1997. xiv, 209 pp. The presentvolume is a revisedversionof a doctoraldissertationwritten underthe directionof JamesKugel at HarvardUniversity.StevenWeitzman learned well from his mentor. Both scholars have mastery over ancient Near Easterncomparativeliterarystudies and methodology.Furthermore, Weitzmandeals with aspectsof biblicalproseandpoetry,as did his teacher. This in no way demeans Weitzman'sstudy; on the contrary,it enhances it. Weitzmanbuilds upon his teacher'swork for his own research.In the introductorychapterof the presentvolume, Weitzmansets the intellectual stage for the impressiveshow thatfollows. His investigationhererejectsthe notion that biblical mixing of story and song is "a mixing of reason and emotion,of objectivityand subjectivity,or of the sublimeandthe mundane." This interpretationis but an imposition of our own literarycultureand sensitivitiesonto the Bible. Weitzmaninsists that the sense of poetry and

Review: [untitled] Author(s): Daniel Grossberg Source: AJS Review, Vol. 24, No. 2 (1999), pp. 365-367 Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Association for Jewish Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1486762 . Accessed: 15/07/2011 11:09 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at . http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=cup. . Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].



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Sass is well awareof the possiblepresenceof forgeriesin the collection, andconsequentlyhe exercisescautionby drawingfew statisticalconclusions. Severalof his remarksspeak to the issue (e.g., pp. 15, 465, 552). Notably, his final commenton this seriousmatterappearsdirectlyabovehis nameat the end of the volume. It clearlymirrorshis deep concern:"Thepossibility thatour mostly unprovenanced materialcontainsforgeriesshouldalwaysbe borne in mind, for the impactof such items on works like the presentone is inestimable"(p. 552). Given Sass's legitimateconcernover authenticity,it is surprisingthathe did not divide the maincatalogueby separatingobjects derivedfrom controlledarchaeologicalexcavationsfrom those acquiredby othermeans.Theexistingformattendsto impartequalvalidityto provenanced and unprovenanced objects. Still, in the final analysisthis volume constitutesa monumentalcontribution to the study of West Semitic seals and sealings. It is an excellent referencesource, far more informativethan a simple catalogueof objects, andwill undoubtedlycontinueto servegenerationsof studentsand scholars. Nili S. Fox HebrewUnionCollege-Jewish Institute of Religion Ohio Cincinnati, Steven Weitzman.Song and Story in Biblical Narrative:The Historyof a LiteraryConventionin AncientIsrael. IndianaStudiesin BiblicalLiterature. Bloomingtonand Indianapolis:IndianaUniversityPress, 1997. xiv, 209 pp. The presentvolume is a revisedversionof a doctoraldissertationwritten underthe directionof JamesKugel at HarvardUniversity.StevenWeitzman learned well from his mentor. Both scholars have mastery over ancient Near Easterncomparativeliterarystudies and methodology.Furthermore, Weitzmandeals with aspectsof biblicalproseandpoetry,as did his teacher. This in no way demeans Weitzman'sstudy; on the contrary,it enhances it. Weitzmanbuilds upon his teacher'swork for his own research.In the introductorychapterof the presentvolume, Weitzmansets the intellectual stage for the impressiveshow thatfollows. His investigationhererejectsthe notion that biblical mixing of story and song is "a mixing of reason and emotion,of objectivityand subjectivity,or of the sublimeandthe mundane." This interpretationis but an imposition of our own literarycultureand sensitivitiesonto the Bible. Weitzmaninsists that the sense of poetry and

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prose is contingentand culture-bound.Hence, his copious and persuasive comparativeanalyses. In this learnedandextensivelyresearchedwork,StevenWeitzmantracks the developmentof the incorporationof songs in biblicalnarrativesfrom a mereliteraryfeatureto a self-conscious,scripturalized convention.Originally, the fusion of song and story reflectedIsrael'srecombinationof preexisting materialssharedwith otherancientNearEasternculturesintonew compositions.Weitzmanreviews,for example,the likelihoodthatExodus15, Judges 5, andDeuteronomy32 werecomposedpriorto theirpresentliterarysettingin the Bible. He demonstrates,however,how the biblicalnarrators reworkedthe earliermaterialsfor theirnew narrativesurroundings. The new combinations drawGod into the actionof a battleandpresentthe finalteachingof a dying sage. Weitzmanalso cites the biblical fear that the introductionof foreign culturalelementsconstituteda threatto Israel'sbeliefin God.Israel,therefore, often disguisedits indebtednessto otherNear Easternliteratures.The clear cultureson Israelis seen,nevertheless,in literaryinfluenceof the surrounding the storiesandsongs of Exodus14-15, Judges4-5, andDeuteronomy31-32, which raises the interestingissue of Israel'stensionbetweentwo opposing forces:borrowingfromotherNearEasternculturesand strivingto establish independencefromthem. Weitzmandrawsfreely uponall the necessarycomparativeevidence.He arguesthat in the course of time, as the narrativeand song compositions developedintothe earlystagesof precanonizedliterature,earlyJewscameto lookuponthe literatureas normsforreligiousactionandliterarycomposition. It was this perceptionthatled the canon-consciousJewsto incorporatesongs into otherbiblical-narratives-in-the-making. The mergingof storyand song was not merely stylistic.Weitzmanmakesa compellingcase that"theearly Jewsexpectedtheirbiblicalheroesto breakout intosongwhenevertheywere deliveredby miracles.Whenbiblicalfiguresfailedto do so ... earlyJewish readers... respondedby re-imaginingandeven rewritingbiblicalhistoryso as to providethe missingsong"(p. 127). This subsequentdevelopmentwas a "theologizing"and not solely a literaryadaptationof the material.Later,Tobit,Judith,Josephand Asenath, the Apocalypseof Abraham,the Testamentof Job, and the Gospelof Luke also have their heroes uttersongs of praiseupon theirmiraculousrescues. The rabbis,too, creativelyinventedsongs for theirbiblicalheroes. Weitzmanlooks upon this developmentas momentousin the literary historyof ancientIsrael.For it is here, he notes, thata special sanctityand

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authoritywas ascribedto inheritedtexts. This stage,he contends,completely reshapedthe act of readingandwritingin ancientJudaism.The extensionof this idea, the idea of the Bible as literaryand liturgicalparadigm,eventually resulted in nothing less than the full canonizationof the Bible as holy scripture. It is not a new idea in biblical scholarshipthat several of the songs embeddedin biblical storieswere secondaryinterpolations.Commentators, however,have not satisfactorilyexplainedthe reasonsfor the introduction of these songs. Weitzman'swork fills this void. It shows that many of the songs were the productsof correctivesinsertedby canon-consciousJews who sought to harmonizebiblical narrativewith its elevated literaryand paradigmaticstatus.Althoughmany of the paraphrasesand interpretations of the Jewish readerswere preservedin postbiblicalliterature,in some instances--andthis is the bulkof the study--"earlyscribesevidentlyrewrote the biblicaltext itself-'postscripted' it--to overcomethe differencebetween biblical narrativeas it was and as it was expectedto be in the wake of its scripturalization" (p. 129). DanielGrossberg StateUniversity of NewYorkatAlbany Albany,N.Y. MarshaC. White.TheElijahLegendsandJehu'sCoup.BrownJudaicaSeries 311. Atlanta:ScholarsPress, 1997. vi, 116 pp. The book at hand is a revision of a 1994 Harvarddissertationdirected Peter Machinist.This, plus its publicationunderthe aegis of the Brown by JudaicaSeries, guaranteesthat it is a high-qualitypiece of work,as indeed it is: well researched,meticulouslyargued,clearlywritten.Dr.Whiteis very about her thesis: "The purposeof this study is to dispute straightforward the notion that there was a mid-ninthcenturyprophetic'revolution'linked with the Jehu-led'revolt' againstthe 'oppressive'house of Omri,implying a broad popularbase for the 'revolt'" (p. 1). I would judge that she is largelysuccessful in sustainingthis primarythesis. It would be unfortunate if well-takenskepticismabout some of her subthesesundercutthis central conclusion. The campaignis mountedon two fronts. Part I seeks to demonstrate throughliteraryanalysisthattheElijahtraditionsarealmostentirelyderivative

Review: [untitled] Author(s): Christian E. Hauer, Jr. Source: AJS Review, Vol. 24, No. 2 (1999), pp. 367-370 Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Association for Jewish Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1486763 . Accessed: 15/07/2011 11:28 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at . http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=cup. . Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].



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authoritywas ascribedto inheritedtexts. This stage,he contends,completely reshapedthe act of readingandwritingin ancientJudaism.The extensionof this idea, the idea of the Bible as literaryand liturgicalparadigm,eventually resulted in nothing less than the full canonizationof the Bible as holy scripture. It is not a new idea in biblical scholarshipthat several of the songs embeddedin biblical storieswere secondaryinterpolations.Commentators, however,have not satisfactorilyexplainedthe reasonsfor the introduction of these songs. Weitzman'swork fills this void. It shows that many of the songs were the productsof correctivesinsertedby canon-consciousJews who sought to harmonizebiblical narrativewith its elevated literaryand paradigmaticstatus.Althoughmany of the paraphrasesand interpretations of the Jewish readerswere preservedin postbiblicalliterature,in some instances--andthis is the bulkof the study--"earlyscribesevidentlyrewrote the biblicaltext itself-'postscripted' it--to overcomethe differencebetween biblical narrativeas it was and as it was expectedto be in the wake of its scripturalization" (p. 129). DanielGrossberg StateUniversity of NewYorkatAlbany Albany,N.Y. MarshaC. White.TheElijahLegendsandJehu'sCoup.BrownJudaicaSeries 311. Atlanta:ScholarsPress, 1997. vi, 116 pp. The book at hand is a revision of a 1994 Harvarddissertationdirected Peter Machinist.This, plus its publicationunderthe aegis of the Brown by JudaicaSeries, guaranteesthat it is a high-qualitypiece of work,as indeed it is: well researched,meticulouslyargued,clearlywritten.Dr.Whiteis very about her thesis: "The purposeof this study is to dispute straightforward the notion that there was a mid-ninthcenturyprophetic'revolution'linked with the Jehu-led'revolt' againstthe 'oppressive'house of Omri,implying a broad popularbase for the 'revolt'" (p. 1). I would judge that she is largelysuccessful in sustainingthis primarythesis. It would be unfortunate if well-takenskepticismabout some of her subthesesundercutthis central conclusion. The campaignis mountedon two fronts. Part I seeks to demonstrate throughliteraryanalysisthattheElijahtraditionsarealmostentirelyderivative

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of traditionsaboutMoses,Elisha,Nathan,andJehu,theapologetichandiwork of scribesin thepayof theJehudynasty.This"QuestfortheHistoricalElijah," a tour de force worthy of the Jesus seminar,leaves only the charismatic rainmakerof the droughtstory as an originalfigure,and Elishais, afterall these centuries,deliveredfrom the shadow of his putativemaster.Part II is a historicalessay, arguingthat Jehu'srevolt was a militarycoup, not a popularmovementled by a propheticparty.Intheprocess,Whitesubstantially rehabilitatesJezebeland the Omridedynasty,and shows thatthe penetration of Israelitesocietyby TyrianBaalismwas muchless thansomehadsupposed. The authorprovides a valuable appendix(pp. 79-93) containingher translation,with textual notes, of the Elijah passages that she attributes to "Jehuitehistorians."She omits what she regards as deuteronomistic expansions.Thusone has readyto handthe textualevidenceon which some of herargumentsarebased,in the formthatunderliestheargument.Onenotes a preferencefor SeptuagintandLucianicreadingswhen she departsfromthe Masoretictext, but thereis also appealto the Targum,Syriac,Vulgate,and so on. "Minimalists"will probablynot be amusedto see texts attributedto the ninthcenturythatare allegedlybasedon even earliermaterial. The second sectionof the book is, in my judgment,the morepersuasive. Jehu's rebellion was almost certainlya militarycoup. Successfulpopular revolutionarymovementsdirectedagainstwell-entrenchedgovernmentsin antiquity(with or without propheticsupport)are largely the productof romanticimagination.I notedsomeyearsago a tendencyof biblicalhistorians to overemphasizepopularassent.The coups,revolutions,and counter-coups in ancientIsrael/Judah were eitherpalacerevolutionsor coupsd'etatbrought off by recognized notables (a class that would have includedprominent prophets),membersof theprofessionalmilitary,or somecombinationthereof. The natureof militarytechnologypriorto the wide disseminationof simple, reliable firearmsin the eighteenthcenturyc.E. gave trainedprofessional soldiers an almost insurmountableadvantageover the masses except in guerilla actions.' White marshalsboth the documentedtraditionsof other andthe preciselanguageappliedto Jehu'sactionsin supportof "overthrows" herthesis. She notesthe wholesaleexterminations thataccompanieddynastic rebellions.As one of my anthropologistcolleagues once said, "The usual

Journalfor the Studyof the Old 1. ChrisHauer,Jr.,"Anthropologyin Historiography," Testament39 (1987):20-21.

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custom is to kill the chief (or king) and everyonewho knew him."It helps preventrecidivism. White's view that only the servitorsof the TyrianBaal cult were exterminatedby Jehu, and not ordinaryIsraelites,is also the most probable understandingof 2 Kings 10:18-28. The victims of the slaughterwere inside the house of Baal, the provenanceof the servitors,not of ordinary worshippers.This tells in favor of her contentionthat the TyrianBaal cult had not significantlypenetratedIsraelitesociety.This is not to say thatthere were no cultic practicesin ninth-centuryIsraelthatmight have offendeda simon-puredeuteronomist! Less compellingis theattemptedrehabilitation of Jezebel(pp.65-75). The historicalreconstructionis strainedand largelyconjectural,often appealing to dubious parallels.White correctlynotes that the queen motherwas an officerof statein the Judeanroyalpolity.Thereis no documentaryevidence for such an office in the NorthernKingdom.The lack of dynasticcontinuity in the northcould mean that variouscustomswere followed. The point is, we don't know, and conjecturingthatthe sourcesare deficientdoes not fill the gap. I am also unconvincedthat the evil foreign wife was a figure of preexilicIsraelitelore.None of White'sexamplesarelodgedin the age of the Israelitestate(s),andone (Potiphar'swife!) isn't even marriedto an Israelite. The small, threatenedpostexilic communitywas justifiablyanxious about unassimilatedforeignwives. Exogamy-angstdoes not seem to have afflicted earliergenerations.The deuteronomiccode even providedfor "naturalizing" the captive "warbride"(21:10-14; cf. Num 31:18). The erotichistoriesof Tamar,Rahab,Jael(?),andRuthdo not detractfromtheirpositiveimagesin the traditions.Nor is it easy to conceive the "illegitimatefemaleruler"as a standardliterarytype. Athaliahis the only documentedexample;Jezebel's regencyis merelyposited. The firstsectionof the book attemptsto drawa seriesof literaryparallels between the Elijah traditionsand those about Moses, Nathan,Elisha, and Jehu. The Elijah tales are alleged to be derivativeand framedto justify Jehu's coup in the face of a series of challenges(cf. p. 33). The putative parallelsseem as strainedas some of the historicalparallelsof PartII. Is the Elijahof the flight-to-Horebstory a "secondMoses"or a "second-rate" Moses, an object of satire?Does Moses' unknowntomb inspire Elijah's apotheosis,or is the directionof influencefromEnochand Elijahto the late postexilicAssumptionof Moses?EvenwithNathan'sparableas middleterm, it requiresa leap of the imaginationto get fromthe David-Bathsheba-Uriah

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story to Naboth'svineyard.And so on. But so much of literarycriticismis in the eye--or mind--of the beholderthat I hesitateto pile up examples. The book is an interestingand entertainingread. But it also suggests that every scholarlygenerationshouldbe exposed to the late ProfessorSamuel Sandmel'scautionaryaddress,"Parallelomania."2 E. Hauer,Jr. Christian Westminster College(emeritus) Ala. Huntsville, Galia HatavTheSemanticsof Aspectand Modality:Evidencefrom English andBiblicalHebrew.Studiesin LanguageCompanionSeries34. Amsterdam: JohnBenjamins1997, 224 pp. ThisrevisedTel Aviv Universitydissertationprovidesa generalsemantic theory for the Tense Aspect-Modalverb system of English and Biblical Hebrew.As such, it seeks to accountfor the temporalnuancesof English and Biblical Hebrew verbal systems by studyingthem within the context of truth-conditionalsemantics, a linguistic approachthat has undergone considerablemodificationin recentyears, and which is furthermodifiedin this work,albeitslightly.Althoughthe resultsof this investigationenlighten our understandingof the English and Biblical Hebrewverbal systems, I shall limit my remarksto the contributionswhichthis workoffersHebraists. Sincethe reviewnecessarilyentailslinguisticterminology,I herewithbeg the nonlinguist'sindulgence. Typicallyinvestigationsof the TenseAspect Model in Biblical Hebrew have followed the pragmaticapproach.Thus,tense denotes"morphological markersof the verb which functionto characterizethe temporalrelations between the situationand the utterancetime" (p. 2), whereas aspect and modality are defined as denoting intention,attitude,and viewpoint. This study is premisedupon the assumptionthat the Tense Aspect-Modalverb System "shouldbe definedwithin truthconditionalsemantics,in termsof temporality,ratherthanwithina pragmaticapproach"(p. 195). Thus,Hatav investigatesthe tense and aspect of Biblical Hebrew first by separating temporalityinto S(peech)=time,i.e., the time in which the utterancetakes place; E(vent)=Time,i.e., the time in which the event relatedtakes place; 2. Samuel Sandmel,"Parallelomania," Journal of Biblical Literature81 (March1962): 1-13.

Review: [untitled] Author(s): Scott B. Noegel Source: AJS Review, Vol. 24, No. 2 (1999), pp. 370-374 Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Association for Jewish Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1486764 . Accessed: 15/07/2011 11:28 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at . http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=cup. . Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].



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story to Naboth'svineyard.And so on. But so much of literarycriticismis in the eye--or mind--of the beholderthat I hesitateto pile up examples. The book is an interestingand entertainingread. But it also suggests that every scholarlygenerationshouldbe exposed to the late ProfessorSamuel Sandmel'scautionaryaddress,"Parallelomania."2 E. Hauer,Jr. Christian Westminster College(emeritus) Ala. Huntsville, Galia HatavTheSemanticsof Aspectand Modality:Evidencefrom English andBiblicalHebrew.Studiesin LanguageCompanionSeries34. Amsterdam: JohnBenjamins1997, 224 pp. ThisrevisedTel Aviv Universitydissertationprovidesa generalsemantic theory for the Tense Aspect-Modalverb system of English and Biblical Hebrew.As such, it seeks to accountfor the temporalnuancesof English and Biblical Hebrew verbal systems by studyingthem within the context of truth-conditionalsemantics, a linguistic approachthat has undergone considerablemodificationin recentyears, and which is furthermodifiedin this work,albeitslightly.Althoughthe resultsof this investigationenlighten our understandingof the English and Biblical Hebrewverbal systems, I shall limit my remarksto the contributionswhichthis workoffersHebraists. Sincethe reviewnecessarilyentailslinguisticterminology,I herewithbeg the nonlinguist'sindulgence. Typicallyinvestigationsof the TenseAspect Model in Biblical Hebrew have followed the pragmaticapproach.Thus,tense denotes"morphological markersof the verb which functionto characterizethe temporalrelations between the situationand the utterancetime" (p. 2), whereas aspect and modality are defined as denoting intention,attitude,and viewpoint. This study is premisedupon the assumptionthat the Tense Aspect-Modalverb System "shouldbe definedwithin truthconditionalsemantics,in termsof temporality,ratherthanwithina pragmaticapproach"(p. 195). Thus,Hatav investigatesthe tense and aspect of Biblical Hebrew first by separating temporalityinto S(peech)=time,i.e., the time in which the utterancetakes place; E(vent)=Time,i.e., the time in which the event relatedtakes place; 2. Samuel Sandmel,"Parallelomania," Journal of Biblical Literature81 (March1962): 1-13.

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andR(eference)=time,the time referencedby the speaker.'Tenseis seen as a functionfromthe intervalsof S-timeandR-timeto truthvalues.SinceBiblical Hebrewverbsdo not "encodethe three-placedistinctionof past,presentand future,"HatavclassifiesBiblicalHebrewas a tenselesslanguage(p. 195).He definesaspectas a functionfromthe intervalsof R-timeandE-timeto truth values. Thus, "thecrucialtemporalrelationsin [BiblicalHebrew]are those holdingbetweenthe situationsandtheirR-times"(p. 6). Thisresultsin three aspects:sequentiality,progressiveinclusion,andperfect. As corporafor study Hatav selects sixty-two narrative-prose chapters. Exludedare poetic and prophetictexts as well as units containingBiblical Hebrewwha:ya and wayhi forms becausethey functionnot only as verbs, but as particlesmarkingtemporalsegmentation.(Hatavdoes not adoptthe idea thatthe waw constitutesan operatorof sequentiality.) The analysis carefully distinguishesbetween genre and chronological strata,and is meticulousthroughout. At the centerof Hatav'sinterestsis the problemof modality,i.e., how Biblical Hebrewexpressesa speaker'sattitude,intentions,and desires.For Hatav,a speaker'sdisposition"cannotexplainmanyphenomenaconcerning the modal system in language"(p. 9), see, e.g., how in BiblicalHebrewthe yiqtol and wqatalformsappearboth for "futurepropositionsas well as past habituals"(p. 9). Again, for Hatav,the answer lies in a truth-conditional semanticapproachto the material.Thus, Hatavaccountsfor the nonmodal but volatileyiqtol andwqatalformsas follows: to thelogicalapproach, a modalproposition hasa necessityorposAccording as universal andexistential sibilityoperator, analyzed involving,respectively, overa set of possibleworlds.I haveappliedthis analysisto quantification thedifferent usesof yiqtolandwqatal,showingthattheyall exhibitmodality of somekind.Andvice versa,all modalfunctionsrecognized by thegeneral accountwereshowntobeexpressed byoneof theseforms(whichdifferintheir Sincefutureandhabitual statements wereshownto be modal, sequentiality). it waspredicted thattheybothwouldbe expressed byyiqtolor wqatal.Now since [BiblicalHebrew]doesnot encodetenses,habituals in all timesphere [sic],includingthepast,wereexpectedto be expressed by one of theforms, in thepastbeingexpressed resolvingtheseemingproblemof habituals by the sameformsas futurestatements. 1. Thereare,of course,additionalsubcategoriesof eachof thetemporalsituations,as Hatav illustrates(pp. 2-6).

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semanticstheory,arguesHatav,is morehelpful, Applyinga truth-conditional since "unliketense and aspect, [the theory] does not follow from R-time relations.Insteadit involves the notion of possible worlds (or branching options)"(pp. 9-10).2 Hence, unlike previouswriterson the topic, Hatav characterizesthe Biblical Hebrewyiqtol and wqatal forms as semantically relatedmodal propositions(along with conditionalsand habituals).Similar for Hatavarethe directives(i.e., jussive, cohortative,andimperative),which also constitutemodalforms. semanticsapproach Indeed, as Hatav demonstrates,a truth-conditional does reveal subtletiesin Biblical Hebrew.For example,"the modal forms wqatalandyiqol cannotbe used whenthe modalityinteractswith the perfect or inclusiveaspects"(p. 156). Instead,the qotel formindicatesinclusiveness in modal clauses, and "modalclauses which bear the perfect aspect have verbsin qatar' (p. 156). Nevertheless,Hatavdoes note that"thefunctionof qatal as a perfectaspectis not limitedto modalsituations"(p. 157). Moreover,he demonstratesthat"theqoteldenotesnotjust thata situation is simultaneouswith anothersituationin the descourse,butmorespecifically thatit includesit, as it has to containan R-time"(p. 104).Thus,qotelclauses denoteinclusivesituations.Hatavconcludes,therefore,that"whathas been traditionallytreatedas modals are not the only clauses which appearwith modalforms,"but that"thereis an interactionbetweenaspectandmodality" (p.161). Hatavalso discusses the perfectaspect, includingsimultaneity,anteriority,and backgrounding,demonstratingthat the qatal form'svarioususes (e.g., temporal)are due to its "'parasitic'natureas the perfectaspect"in Biblical Hebrew(p. 163). By "parasitic,"Hatavmeans that it functionsto reportsituationswhich include their R-time; the perfect is also parasitic accordingto Hatav,and serves to expressthe relationof anteriority,"where the situationis claimedto precede"the R-time(p. 197).Hatavshowshow the qatal is the perfectin BiblicalHebrewfor denotinga simultaneoussituation thatcannotprovideits own R-time,and for markingthe transitionfromthe main time-line to the subnarrative(Hatavalso treatsdirect discourseas a In this treatment,Hatav'sapproachdiffersfrommany type of subnarrative). "that claimthatqatalclausesindicatenot only thatan event previousanalyses occurred(in the past), but furthermorethat it resultedin a state-of-affairs which holds at a currentR-time, like the aoristin Greek"(p. 177). Hatav 2. Emphasisadded.

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demonstratesthis by showinghow theqatalformappearsto marka transition fromthe mainto subordinatediscourse;"wherethe time does not startat the (p. 181).3 opening of the direct speech text its first clause is in wayyiqto'l" for Thus,accordingto Hatav'sanalysis,BiblicalHebrewuses the Wayyiqtol clauseson the time-lineandthe wqatalfor modalsequentialclauses. Hatav also concludes that "wayyiqtoland wqatal verbs may appear, formsqatal indeed,only in a sequence"(p. 83); whereasthe "non-sequential and andyiqtol may appearin sequenceonly at the beginningof a subnarrative in directspeechwhereit functionsto markthe transitionfromthe mainto the subordinatediscourse"(p. 83). Accordingto Hatav,"bydefinitionwayyiqtol may appearonly in non-modalsequentialclauses,but by eliminationit can appearonly in clauseswhichreportpast time situations"(p. 85). Whilethe "linguist-ese"in whichthis studyis writtenmay seemtaxingto the nonlinguist,the analysesoften shed light on biblicalpassages.Consider the case of Gen4:1, "Themanknew(3'/) his wife Eve,andshe conceivedand gave birthto Cain,"a line containingthe qatal formYj/. Herewe findwhat appearsto be a subnarrative,by Hatav'sdefinition,even thoughthe event has not been relatedbefore.Accordingto Hatav'sanalysis(andinterestingly in agreementwith Rashi and Ibn Ezra,as Hatavalso notes), the qatal form suggeststhat"thesexual act took place beforethe exile fromthe Gardenof Eden,which is reportedin the last clauseof the precedingchapter"(p. 187). As Hatav shows, the truth-conditionalsemantic approachalso could influencehow we understandthe relationshipbetweenbiblicalpericopes.For example, the parallelaccountsof how Josephwas broughtto Egypt (Gen 37:28, 39:1) have been explainedboth as evidencefor differentsourcesand as a literaryretelling.Hatav'sstudyappearsto vindicatethe literaryunityof the text by revealinghow the qatal formin 39:1 servesas a subnarrative to recallthe informationgiven earlier. Hatav concludes the book by providingan excellent summaryof the variousapproachesthat have been appliedto the semanticsof the Biblical Hebrewverbalsystem and by offeringa theoreticalanalysisof temporality in language. He also suggests other ways in which the truth-conditional semanticapproachcould be appliedto Biblical Hebrew,includingstudies of differentBiblical Hebrewgenres, chronologicalstrata,infinitivalforms, andthe pragmaticsof modalformsin BiblicalHebrew. counterfactuals, Hatav'sattentionto detailandthesubtletyof BiblicalHebrewis refreshing, 3. Emphasisadded.

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and one would like to see the methodologyof this workappliedto the areas thatHatavsuggests are worthyof study.In addition,Hatav'sanalysistakes us throughthe historyof scholarshipon the subject,makingthe booka useful resource.While the linguisticterminologythat dominatesthe book can be dense in places,the insightsprovidedby Hatav'sapproachareimportantand worthyof recognition.Moreover,the organizationof the book, its abundant use of Englishand Hebrewprooftexts,and its helpfuluse of bold and italic typefacefacilitateits reading. ScottB. Noegel of Washington University Seattle,Wash. Albert I. Baumgarten.The Flourishingof Jewish Sects in the Maccabean Era:An Interpretation.Supplementsto the Journalfor the Studyof Judaism, vol. 55. Leiden:E. J. Brill, 1997. xx, 240 pp. In this humane,well-informed,thought-provoking, and frustrating book, Albert Baumgartenattemptsto explainwhy sectarianismflourished,as he believes, in Jewish Palestine of the Maccabeanperiod. His approachis comparative.In particular,Baumgartenhas done a tremendousamountof readingabout the religious history of Englandin the seventeenthcentury, andhe is also stronglyinfluencedby Anglo-Americanstructural-functionalist social theory,in which he is impressivelyknowledgeable.The comparative materialoccasionally misleads Baumgarten(see below), but it does not confinehim. Indeed,one of the pleasuresof the book is the eclecticismof its approach;its structural-functionalism is more an ethos, a self-conscious mark of its author'ssympathywith the Past & Present school, than raw materialfor the constructionof still anotherreductive,oversimplemodel, generatedfrom partialand undigestedreadingin a narrowlyconstruedand reified social science. Baumgartennever forgetsthat he is writingabouta society of humans. First, though,the problems.The chief of these is that, as Baumgarten himself notes in passing,almostnothingis knownaboutthe social aspects of sectarianismin the Maccabeanperiod. Only for the first centuryC.E. is there anythinglike satisfactory,if still limited,information.Baumgarten evidencecanbe used dealswith this problemby pretendingthatfirst-century to reconstructconditionsof the secondcenturyB.C.E. This unproblematically

Review: [untitled] Author(s): Seth Schwartz Source: AJS Review, Vol. 24, No. 2 (1999), pp. 374-378 Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Association for Jewish Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1486765 . Accessed: 15/07/2011 11:30 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at . http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=cup. . Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].



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and one would like to see the methodologyof this workappliedto the areas thatHatavsuggests are worthyof study.In addition,Hatav'sanalysistakes us throughthe historyof scholarshipon the subject,makingthe booka useful resource.While the linguisticterminologythat dominatesthe book can be dense in places,the insightsprovidedby Hatav'sapproachareimportantand worthyof recognition.Moreover,the organizationof the book, its abundant use of Englishand Hebrewprooftexts,and its helpfuluse of bold and italic typefacefacilitateits reading. ScottB. Noegel of Washington University Seattle,Wash. Albert I. Baumgarten.The Flourishingof Jewish Sects in the Maccabean Era:An Interpretation.Supplementsto the Journalfor the Studyof Judaism, vol. 55. Leiden:E. J. Brill, 1997. xx, 240 pp. In this humane,well-informed,thought-provoking, and frustrating book, Albert Baumgartenattemptsto explainwhy sectarianismflourished,as he believes, in Jewish Palestine of the Maccabeanperiod. His approachis comparative.In particular,Baumgartenhas done a tremendousamountof readingabout the religious history of Englandin the seventeenthcentury, andhe is also stronglyinfluencedby Anglo-Americanstructural-functionalist social theory,in which he is impressivelyknowledgeable.The comparative materialoccasionally misleads Baumgarten(see below), but it does not confinehim. Indeed,one of the pleasuresof the book is the eclecticismof its approach;its structural-functionalism is more an ethos, a self-conscious mark of its author'ssympathywith the Past & Present school, than raw materialfor the constructionof still anotherreductive,oversimplemodel, generatedfrom partialand undigestedreadingin a narrowlyconstruedand reified social science. Baumgartennever forgetsthat he is writingabouta society of humans. First, though,the problems.The chief of these is that, as Baumgarten himself notes in passing,almostnothingis knownaboutthe social aspects of sectarianismin the Maccabeanperiod. Only for the first centuryC.E. is there anythinglike satisfactory,if still limited,information.Baumgarten evidencecanbe used dealswith this problemby pretendingthatfirst-century to reconstructconditionsof the secondcenturyB.C.E. This unproblematically

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is his avowed methodin the long and wide-rangingfirst chapter,subtitled In the brieferthirdand "a social descriptionof ancientJewishsectarianism." fourthchapters,he arguesthatthe rise of sectarianismin the secondcentury B.C.E.was in parta result,as in earlymodemEngland,of urbanization andthe of This extension in is case consequent literacy. argument any problematic, an instancewhereBaumgarten's parallelshave led him astray.Certainlyat no time in ancientPalestinewas thereanythingremotelycomparablein scale to the gallopingurbanizationof seventeenth-century Europe(by the end of the centurythe populationof Londonreachedone million--a figureno Western city had attainedsince the thirdcentury),or the geometricgrowthin literacy rates generatednot only by bourgeoisification,but also by the Protestant Reformationandthe inventionof movabletype.Butto the extentthatancient Palestinedid undergoa seriesof social changesmeaningfullycorrelatableto the spreadof sectarianism,it was only in the first centurythattheireffects werepalpable.In otherwords,Baumgarten was mistakento conflateevidence from the first centurywith that from earlierperiods,for reasonsI will now brieflyexplore. Letus begin,as Baumgartendoes,withthe questionof numbers.Josephus assertedthatin the days of Herodtherewere six thousandPharisees,andthat (in his own day?but Philo reportsthe same number)the Essenesnumbered fourthousand.The Sadduceeswere certainlyless numerous.Baumgarten,in commonwith manyscholars,emphasizesthatif thesenumbersaretrue,then the sectariansconstitutedonly a smallpercentageof the Jewishpopulationof Palestineas a whole in the firstcentury,mostresponsiblyestimated,following M. Broshi,at five hundredthousand.' But a morenuancedconsiderationof the numbersleadsto very different conclusions.The sectariansweremainlyconcentrated in the districtof Judea, not were unknown in other districts of Palestine.Judea's thoughthey entirely can have exceeded two hundred population scarcely thousand,and was probablymuch smaller.If we supposethatthe sectarianswere adultmales, as Baumgartenplausiblydoes, andfurthersuppose,followingmosthistorical thatadultmalesconstitutedabout30 percentof the population demographers, in premodernsocieties, then we come to the astonishingconclusionthat in Judeain the late first centuryB.C.E. and/orthe first centuryC.E.,sectarians

1. "ThePopulationof WesternPalestinein the Roman-Byzantine Period,"Bulletinof the AmericanSchool of OrientalResearch236 (1979): 1-10

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constitutedat least one-sixth,andprobablycloserto one-quarter, of the adult male population. How can we make sense of this anomaly,which so blatantlycontradicts the hypothesisof sectarianmarginalitysharedby most scholars,including The obvioussolutionis to supposethatJosephus'snumbersare Baumgarten? mistaken.In fact, this is almostcertainlythe case. The numberscan scarcely havebeenotherthanguesses,given theunlikelihoodthatJosephushadaccess to sectarianregisters,if such documentsever existed. But are the numbers likely to be off by an orderof magnitude,andhow, anyway,can we be sure that they are not too low? In the end, we tend to evaluatethe accuracyof numbersin ancientsourceson the basisof theirplausibility.Thus,Josephus's statementthat 1,100,000 Jews died in the Romansiege of Jerusalemin 70 is generallydismissed,while his figure of 97,000 captives is treatedwith respect.But whatis plausiblewhen it comes to the sects?It seems to me that hereJosephus'snumbersshouldbe takenseriously,at leastheuristically. To make sense of them,we need to considerfactorswhich Baumgarten neglects. Chief among these is that PalestinianJewish society in the first centuryC.E.,in the wake of the Hasmoneanexpansion,the Herodianconbasinunderthe Roman solidation,and the pacificationof the Mediterranean other eased communications between principate(whichamong thingsgreatly Palestineand the diasporaand enabledan explosivegrowthin pilgrimage), was vastlylarger,wealthier,andgeometricallymorecomplexthanit hadbeen in the secondandearlierfirstcenturiesB.C.E.Jerusalemwas now transformed froma backwaterinto a metropolis,not only the goal of pilgrimage,but also the recipientof tremendousamountsof silver.Whilemuchof this investment mayhavebeenunproductive,as MartinGoodmanemphasized,the remainder was enoughto maintaina huge clericalandcommercialestablishment.2 Judeain the firstcenturywas thuscharacterized by an anomalousconcentrationof the well-to-do, and thereforepresumablythe literate,comparable to that in centralItaly in the same period,thoughon a much smallerscale. Suchpeople were often also pious-deriving theirwealth,as they did, from the Templeand the interpretation of the Torah-and idle. Thereis no reason to think that Josephuswas unique in having done next to nothing,by his own account,between the end of his adolescentexperimentation with the sects and the outbreakof revolt ten years later,when he was twenty-nine years old. Youngmen like Josephusmay have aspiredto magistraciesand 2. The Ruling Class ofJudea (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987), pp. 51-75.

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administrativeposts in the Temple(aboutwhich little is known),but there were certainlymany more men thanjobs. That religiousand, in the end, military adventurismof an at least mildly anti-establishment type should have provedattractiveto greatnumbersof the well-off but underemployed youthsof Judeaseems underthe circumstancesunsurprising. These considerationsimply thatJewishPalestineof the firstcenturywas a very differentplace fromthatof the secondcenturyB.C.E.,andfurthermore thatthe sects necessarilyplayedvery differentroles in the two periods,and so they constitutea seriousobjectionto Baumgarten's work,given his heavy dependenceon first-centurymaterial.But Baumgartenbegins his book with disarmingmodesty,presentinghis accountof the sects as a set of suggestions or hypotheses,intendedto arouseinterestand discussion,not as the single solution to the problem of their rise. As such, the book is in large part successful. The first chapter(providedwe recall that its contentsreally concernthe firstcentury)is filled with novel andcompellingobservations.Baumgarten's remarkson the social backgroundsof the sectarians(mainlywell-to-dorather than truly aristocratic,except perhapsfor the Sadducees),on the reasons for their attractionto the sects, on the importanceof individualismand a sense of personal choice among potentialsectarians,should find general acceptance.And his departuresfromthe consensusconcerningthe exclusive role of halakhicdisagreementin generatingsectarianism,and the excellent observation,buriedin a footnote,thateven calendricaldisagreementsarenot sufficientcause for sectariandivision shouldbe widely discussed(I believe Baumgartenis rightin bothcases). Perhapsthe strongestchapteris the second,rathermisleadinglyentitled "The Encounterwith Hellenism."In fact, it is basicallyphenomenological, exploringthe ways in which sectarianrules functionedto markthe boundaries between the sects and the wider Jewish community,and betweenthe differentsectariangroups.The chapteralso diffidentlyadvancesthe thesis that disappointmentwith the Hasmoneans'incompletedisengagementfrom their gentile neighborsand overlordswas an importantfactorin the rise of sectarianism--athesis which seems to me unobjectionable; in any case, the chapter'simportanceis independentof its thesis. The final majorchapter,on millenarianism,is complementary, arguing, throughthe convincingdeploymentof muchcomparativematerial,thatit was the partialsuccess of the Hasmoneansthathelpedproducethe eschatological concernsof some of the sects, just as it helped motivatetheir separatism.

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insistencethatmillenarianism neednotbe thelastresortof the Baumgarten's of thevictors,notthe dispossessed-hespeaks(p. 164)of "themillenarianism now of a truismamong correct and by something obviously vanquished"--is withsociology.It scholarswitheventheslightestsympathetic acquaintance the traditional "relative to is less clearwhyBaumgarten rejects deprivation" it with to accountfor the appealof millenarianism only replace "cognitive weakin its whichis comparably dissonance," unspecificandso comparably force.Howmanypeople,evenin mostpremodern societies,are explanatory or do notsufferfromcognitivedissonance, that notrelativelydispossessed, is, arenothappyas theyfeeltheydeserveto be? Theproblemswith TheFlourishingof JewishSectsarenot trivial,but neitherareits accomplishments. Baumgarten's maybe summarized argument as follows:the threemainsects wereessentiallymainstream phenomena, by the relativelywell-to-do,who weremainly,at leastearlyon, populated to thefactthattheirlivesreallyweren'tso bad(thoughtheycould responding havebeenbetter),by adoptingsimilarsetsof sometimesextremepositions to all Jews.Thoughthisargument on issuesthatmattered shouldhavebeen forceis considerable. I happento think mademoreexplicitly,its cumulative theproblematic it is mainlycorrect,notwithstanding details. thanthecontentofhisargument is Baumgarten's Moresignificant embrace of comparison as a method,andhisopennessto socialanthropology. Ancient in and an untheorized theirsubjectasunique, Judaists tacitly wayoftenregard operatingaccordingto its own rules.'Wouldit be too muchto hopethat colleaguesmightlearnfromthelessonthatheteachesso gently Baumgarten's and,in thefinalanalysis,so well,thatthebestwayto beginto makesenseof theJewsis to attendnotonlyto theirparticularities, butalsoto thewaysin whichtheyarea societylikeanyother? SethSchwartz JewishTheological Seminary NewYork,N.Y. CatherineHezser,TheSocial Structureof the RabbinicMovementin Roman Palestine.Tubingen:J. C. B. Mohr,1997. x, 557 pp. In this importantstudy,CatherineHezser drawson networktheoryand 3. Cf. F.Endelman,inT. Endelman,ed., Comparing JewishSocieties(AnnArbor:University of MichiganPress, 1997),pp. 10-13.

Review: [untitled] Author(s): Hayim Lapin Source: AJS Review, Vol. 24, No. 2 (1999), pp. 378-380 Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Association for Jewish Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1486766 . Accessed: 15/07/2011 11:30 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at . http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=cup. . Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].



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insistencethatmillenarianism neednotbe thelastresortof the Baumgarten's of thevictors,notthe dispossessed-hespeaks(p. 164)of "themillenarianism now of a truismamong correct and by something obviously vanquished"--is withsociology.It scholarswitheventheslightestsympathetic acquaintance the traditional "relative to is less clearwhyBaumgarten rejects deprivation" it with to accountfor the appealof millenarianism only replace "cognitive weakin its whichis comparably dissonance," unspecificandso comparably force.Howmanypeople,evenin mostpremodern societies,are explanatory or do notsufferfromcognitivedissonance, that notrelativelydispossessed, is, arenothappyas theyfeeltheydeserveto be? Theproblemswith TheFlourishingof JewishSectsarenot trivial,but neitherareits accomplishments. Baumgarten's maybe summarized argument as follows:the threemainsects wereessentiallymainstream phenomena, by the relativelywell-to-do,who weremainly,at leastearlyon, populated to thefactthattheirlivesreallyweren'tso bad(thoughtheycould responding havebeenbetter),by adoptingsimilarsetsof sometimesextremepositions to all Jews.Thoughthisargument on issuesthatmattered shouldhavebeen forceis considerable. I happento think mademoreexplicitly,its cumulative theproblematic it is mainlycorrect,notwithstanding details. thanthecontentofhisargument is Baumgarten's Moresignificant embrace of comparison as a method,andhisopennessto socialanthropology. Ancient in and an untheorized theirsubjectasunique, Judaists tacitly wayoftenregard operatingaccordingto its own rules.'Wouldit be too muchto hopethat colleaguesmightlearnfromthelessonthatheteachesso gently Baumgarten's and,in thefinalanalysis,so well,thatthebestwayto beginto makesenseof theJewsis to attendnotonlyto theirparticularities, butalsoto thewaysin whichtheyarea societylikeanyother? SethSchwartz JewishTheological Seminary NewYork,N.Y. CatherineHezser,TheSocial Structureof the RabbinicMovementin Roman Palestine.Tubingen:J. C. B. Mohr,1997. x, 557 pp. In this importantstudy,CatherineHezser drawson networktheoryand 3. Cf. F.Endelman,inT. Endelman,ed., Comparing JewishSocieties(AnnArbor:University of MichiganPress, 1997),pp. 10-13.

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system,builtup arguesthatrabbisare best understoodas a personal-alliance individual rabbis(and their disciples) associatedthrough"smallcircles by of colleagues whom they met on various informaloccasions"(p. 493), and establishinglinks with other rabbis in other locations throughvisits and other modes of communication,but with no degree of centralization or institutionalizationto speak of. In the introduction,after outliningthe shortcomingsof previousgenerationsof scholarshipon rabbis(pp. 1-36) and discussing social-historicaland sociological approachesto ancient society (pp. 36-42), Hezserbrieflydiscussesher own approach(pp. 43-51). PartI of therabbinicmovement,including (pp. 53-154) considersthe "boundaries" such questionsas the usage of the term "rabbi,"the problemof rabbinic "ordination" (it did not exist as such) and bans,rabbiniccomportment,and the generalabsenceof evidencefromGreekandLatinliterarysources. PartII (pp. 155-327) turnsto relationshipsbetweenrabbis,arguingthat rabbishad no one center,althoughcities may have had largernumbersof rabbis,andhadno "permanent judicialand/oreducationalbodiesin the form of a centralcourtor sanhedrinand/oracademies"(p. 185),butwereorganized in a loose networkof informalrelationshipsthat decreasedin intensityas one moves outwardfrom any one rabbi.In addition,Hezser discussesthe evidence for conflict and agreementbetweenrabbisand for differencesof status (includingbut not limited to wealth), and proposesthat such terms as "house"or "fellows" describeno more than the household(including disciples)andmoreintensive"socialclusters"of individualrabbis. PartIII (pp. 329-489) considersaspectsof rabbinicpatronagesystems: relationsbetween rabbisand students(includingcompetitionamong disciples), rabbisand the community(discussingevidenceboth for adherenceto anddisregardof rabbis,andrabbinicattitudeson serviceto the community), and rabbisand the patriarch;noninstitutionalsourcesof rabbinicauthority (e.g., theirconnectionto Torah,theirabilityto give guidance,as well as their individualreputations,see p. 461); andthe existenceof potentialcompetitors to rabbis (e.g., scribes, otherjudges, and priests). A lucid summary(pp. 491-497) concludesthe book. Hezser's work is resolutelyphilological(with extendeddiscussionsof the terms "rabbi,"pp. 55-62; "elder,"pp. 277-286; and and relatedterms,pp. 301-306),andlargeportionsof the workread as reviewsof gdd61/q.tan set-piecesof traditionalscholarship(e.g., muchof PartI and the discussion of the patriarchate in PartIII).However,the real contributionof the work is its consistentapplicationof networktheoryto dismantlebothancientliterary

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and contemporaryscholarly conventionsabout rabbinicrelationshipsand authority.Thereis certainlyroomfor scholarlydissentoverparticularissues, such as the extent and significanceof rabbinicconnectionswith cities (pp. 157-161 and elsewhere),the degree of rabbinicwealth (pp. 256-257), the of "studyhouses"as not particularlyrabbinicinstitutionsthat understanding rabbismerely happenedto use (pp. 195-214), and the extentto which the literarytraditionitself maybe theproductof a greaterdegreeof consolidation and corporateidentitythanHezserassumes.In general,thereis roomleft in Hezser'sdiscussionfor greaterattentionto class andeconomicstructureboth in her citationof rabbinictexts (e.g., pp. 101, 137, 456-457, in connection with rabbis as an "intellectualelite") and in her various cross-references between rabbinicand "Greco-Roman"(generallyelite) society (e.g., pp. 130-132, 166, 211-212, 310, 319-320, 329-331, 341-342, 349, 400). Nevertheless,the systematicattentionthatHezserpaysto thoseaspectsof rabbinicinteractionsthatpresupposea loosely boundandshiftingnetworkof personalrelationshipsis a crucialstep forwardfor the field. Forthis reason, the lack of an extendeddiscussionand critiqueof networktheory(described in scatteredsectionsof the book:pp. 48, 233-237, 251-252, 322, 324-327 form a partiallist) and of its applicabilityand limitationsis a particular disappointment.(For instance,to apply the observationthat links climate, marketing,and intensityof relationships,p. 237, requiresa discussionof the extent and social distributionof commercializationin the economy of RomanPalestineandhow thesemaystructuresocialinteractions.) Inaddition, althoughHezseris acutelyawareof methodologicalproblemsrelatedto the historiographicaluse of rabbinictraditions(see esp. pp. 43-47), a more detaileddiscussionof her own strategiesfor determiningwhen, for instance, apparentdifferencesbetweentannaiticandamoraicreportscanbe interpreted as reflectingrealchangeovertime(e.g., in connectionwithprimaryeducation, pp. 94-96, 100-101, 102, 106)andwhentheycannot(e.g., in connectionwith rabbinicstudy in privatehouses in the amoraicperiod,pp. 209-210) would have been a useful addition.These observationsnotwithstanding, this book makesa contributionto the studyof Palestinianrabbisthatis as impressive as it is important. HayimLapin of Maryland University CollegePark,Md.

Review: [untitled] Author(s): Rivka B. Kern Ulmer Source: AJS Review, Vol. 24, No. 2 (1999), pp. 381-384 Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Association for Jewish Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1486767 . Accessed: 15/07/2011 11:31 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at . http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=cup. . Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].



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ArnoldGoldberg.MystikundTheologiedes rabbinischen Judentums.GesammelteStudienL Editedby M. SchloterandP. Schafer.TexteundStudienzum AntikenJudentum61. Tobingen:MohrSiebeck,1997. xxiii, 457 pp. This volume containsreprintsof articlesby ArnoldGoldberg,together with one previouslyunpublishedessay.Goldberg,who died in 1991, was the most influentialthinkerin Jewish Studies in post-WorldWarII Germany. This collectioncontainsthe followingarticlesand lectures:(1) "DerVortrag des Ma'ase Merkawa.Eine Vermutungzur frilhenMerkawamystik" (1973); (2) "RabbanYohanansTraum.Der Sinai in der frtlhenMerkavamystik" (1975); (3) "DerverkannteGott. Prtifungund Scheiternder Adeptenin der (1974); (4) "EinigeBemerkungenzu den Quellenund den Merkawamystik" redaktionellenEinheitenderGrossenHekhalot"(1973);(5) "DasSchriftzitat in der Hekhalotliteratur" (1985); (6) "PereqRe'uyot Yehesqe'el.Eine formanalytischeUntersuchung"; (7) Sch6pfungund Geschichte.Der Midrasch von den Dingen,die vor derWelterschaffenwurden"(1968);(8) "DieMoihe Gottes. Die ethische Dimension des Sch6pfungsaktesin der rabbinischen Theologie"(1980); (9) "Der siebenarmigeLeuchter.Zur Entstehungeines jUdischenBekenntnissymbols" (1967); (10) "Sitzendzur RechtenderKraft. ZurGottesbezeichnung Geburain der frilhenrabbinischenLiteratur" (1964); Wasdie RabbinenHansJonasantwortenk6nnten" (11) "IstGottallmaichtig? (1991); (12) "DieNamendes Messiasin derrabbinischenTraditionsliteratur. Ein Beitrag zur Messianologieder rabbinischenJudentums"(1979); (13) "Kain:Sohn des Menschenoder Sohn der Schlange?"(1969); (14) "Der einmalige Mensch. Der absolute Wert des Lebens und der Warde des Menschen im rabbinischenJudentum(1.-3. Jahrhundert n. Chr.)"(1975); zur Theologie des (15) Der Heilige und die Heiligen. Voriaberlegungen Heiligen Menschenim rabbinischenJudentum"(1976); (16) Die Heiligkeit des Ortesin der frlihenrabbinischenTheologie"(1976); (17) "DerGerechte ist der Grunde der Welt" (1977); (18) "Rede und Offenbarungin der SchriftauslegungRabbi Aqibas" (1980); (19) "Das Martyriumdes Rabbi Aqiva. Zur Kompositioneiner Martyrererzahlung (bBer 61b)" (1984); (20) "Die Zerstorungvon Kontext als Voraussetzungfir die Kanonisierung religitiserTexte im rabbinischenJudentum"(1987). The introductionby the editorsof the volume consistsof a brief sketch of Goldberg'slife and a summaryof his academicaccomplishments.The presentworldwiderecognitionof GermanJudaicscholarshipis substantially the resultof Goldberg'screativeand seminalthinking.In the 1960s, Judaic

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Studies in Germanywas revived with the creationof several departments of JudaicStudies.Goldberg,in particular,was the drivingforce behindthe high academicstandardsand the revolutionarymethodologicalinnovations in respectto the analysisof rabbinictexts. Some of the articles (nos. 7, 11, 14) were obviously addressedto a gentile audience that needed to be educated in respect to Judaism(p. 148); otheressays were scholarlylecturesand oralpresentationsto students of Christiantheology (nos. 9, 13, 15, 16, 18). In readingthese eclectic essays, one is able recognizean enormousdevelopmentin the sophistication of Goldberg'sinsights, from descriptionsand explanationsof Judaicato concise analysesof rabbinicand earlymysticaltexts. Severalof the essays changedthe courseof GermanJudaicStudiesand inspiredotherscholarsto undertakeseriousresearchin previouslyunchartedterritories.In particular, no. 4 laid the foundationfor a long overdueedition of the Hekhalottexts by PeterSchiiferand his co-workers. Goldberg'skeen awarenessof methods in other disciplines, such as modem linguisticsand Russianformalism,'in all likelihoodresultedfrom his earliertrainingin Egyptology.He was able to embracea new discipline, modem linguistics, in his explorationsof the functionalforms of rabbinictexts. Linguisticanalysis underlieshis methodologicalstudies of the functionalformof midrashandthe discourseanalysisof talmudictexts. Several terms in Goldberg'smetalinguisticvocabulary-like any explorer he had to first create the language with which he describedthe linguisticand formaltraitsuniqueto rabbinicmidrash-are directlyadapted from linguistics;among these terms are "synchronic,"2 "morphological,"3 and "metacommunicative," as used in "emic,"4"syntagma,"'"formalism,"6 1. V. Propp,"Morfologijaskazki"(1928), translatedas "Morphologyof the Folktale," InternationalJournalof AmericanLinguistics24, no. 4 (1958). 2. See F. de Saussure,Cours de linguistiquegenerale (1916), translatedas Course in General Linguistics,ed. Ch. Bally and A. Riedlinger(New York:PhilosophicalLibrary,

1959). 3. Ch. F. Hockett,A Course in ModernLinguistics,2nd ed. (New York:Macmillan,

1962). 4. K. L. Pike,Phonemics: A Technique to Writing for Reducing Languages (Glendale,

Calif.:SummerInstituteof Linguistics,1943). 5. Saussure,Coursein GeneralLinguistics. 6. Based upon the subcategorization rules in Noam Chomsky'sfamousAspects Model. N. Chomsky,Aspectsof the Theoryof Syntax(Cambridge,Mass.:MITPress, 1965),pp. 120

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linguisticpragmatism,'to mentionjust a few. However,as innovativeas he was, Goldbergwas acutelyawareof the experimentalnatureof his methods; in his humble way he sometimes describedhis brilliantexplorationsas merely "guesswork"(p. 4). Anotherinfluencewas the terminologyutilized by the circle of studentsat BrownUniversityunderthe guidanceof Jacob Neusner, as is evidenced by Goldberg'stermformanalytisch,which was used widely by Jacob Neusner himself in his form-analyticalstudies of rabbinicliterature.8 Goldberg'sformulafor a metalinguisticmidrashicsentenceposits thata midrashicoperationis appliedto a lemmafromScripturewhichthenresults in a dictum (e.g., see p. 80). Nevertheless,there are inherentproblems in such a strict formalizationprocess. An abstractformulafor midrashas developed by Goldbergdoes not necessarily apply only to a midrashic sentencebut to any hermeneuticalapproachto texts. Goldbergcountersthis contentionby claiming that rabbinictexts are withoutcontext,ahistorical, and display a unique type of discourse (see no. 20);9 thus, the "form" discoveredby Goldberghas its functiononly in rabbinictexts. In a brilliant continuationof his method (no. 6) Goldberganalyzedthe text known as 'el. In this long essay, publishedfor the first time in this Re'uyot Yehezke book, he criticizes Halperin'swork'0and then proceeds to translateand annotatethis difficulttext. The culminationof the essay is a form-analytic descriptionof the text which leadsto the conclusionthatit is not a "mystical midrash"but a work in a genre of its own, consisting of an exegetical midrashand a descriptionof heaven by a prophet,and not by a mystic. Since Re 'uyotYehezke 'el is its own uniquetype of text, it deviatesfromthe Hekhalotliteratureand apocalypticforms(p. 147). Some of the essays are especiallynoteworthyandcan be summarizedas follows: a lectureon the ma'aseh merkawahas a functionalform in early mysticism is tracedin no. 1; the importanceof the Sinaiticrevelationin 7. See, for example, U. Maas, Pragmatikund SprachlichesHandeln(Frankfurta. M.: Athenaeum,1972). 8. For example,J. Neusner,Form-Analysisand Exegesis:A FreshApproachto the InterMakhshirin(Minneapolis: pretationof Mishnah,with SpecialReferenceto Mishnah-Tractate FortressPress, 1980). 9. Incidentally,this essay was first publishedby a team of Egyptologists.A. Assmann and J. Assmann,eds., Kanon und II Archaologieder literarischenKommunikation (Munich:Fink, 1987), pp. 201-211. Znsur. 10. D. J. Halperin,TheFaces of the Chariot,Texteund Studienzum AntikenJudentum 16 (Tflbingen:Mohr/Siebeck,1988).

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earlymysticismis the centralfocus in no. 2; the testingof the mystic in the Story of the FourWho Enteredthe Pardes(Hagigah14b) is consideredin no. 3; gevurahas a termreferringto God who revealsHimselfis explained in no. 10; no. 11 addressesthe Holocaustfrom the presumedperspective of rabbis of antiquity,utilizing their responsesto other catastrophesthat devastatedthe Jewish people; the names of the Messiahas a typology of rabbinicmessianismare discussedin no. 12; no. 18 is an originalapproach to the deictic elementsin midrashbaseduponBtUhler;" no. 19 analyzesthe formandcontextof martyrnarrativesin rabbinicliterature; no. 20 considers the canonizationof rabbinictexts. Goldbergwritesin a turgidstyle of Germanthatrequiresbothdiscipline and patience of the reader.The essays on form analysis found in this collection served as a catalyst that transformsthe study of the rabbinic literatureof antiquity.It is convenientfor scholarsand studentsof rabbinics to have these essays in one volume,andany seriousJudaicaresearchlibrary shouldhave this book in its collection.'2 RivkaB. KernUlmer Harvard University Mass. Cambridge, Dov Schwartz. Messianism in Medieval Jewish Thought.Ramat Gan: Bar-IlanUniversityPress, 1997. 292 pp. (Hebrew). Dov Schwartzhas takenan insightthatall studentsof medievalJewish messianism will recognize, sharpenedit, placed it at the center of an originalanalysis of a large corpusof messianicliterature,and produceda stimulating,important,occasionallyproblematicwork thatwill surelyplay a majorrole in futurescholarship. The key insight is that the standardJewish conceptionof the ultimate destiny of righteousindividualsis riven by an almost unbearabletension. 11. K. Bfthler, Sprachtheorie.Die Darstellungsfunktion der Sprache (1934; reprint der Deixis ed., Stuttgartand New York: Fischer, 1982); and K. Ehlich, Verwendungen beim sprachlichenHandeln, linguistisch-philologischeUntersuchungenzum hebraischen deiktischenSystem(Frankfurta. M.: Lang, 1979). 12. The reviewerof this book was a studentand collaboratorof Goldberg'sfor eleven years(1975-86).

Review: [untitled] Author(s): David Berger Source: AJS Review, Vol. 24, No. 2 (1999), pp. 384-388 Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Association for Jewish Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1486768 . Accessed: 15/07/2011 11:31 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at . http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=cup. . Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].



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earlymysticismis the centralfocus in no. 2; the testingof the mystic in the Story of the FourWho Enteredthe Pardes(Hagigah14b) is consideredin no. 3; gevurahas a termreferringto God who revealsHimselfis explained in no. 10; no. 11 addressesthe Holocaustfrom the presumedperspective of rabbis of antiquity,utilizing their responsesto other catastrophesthat devastatedthe Jewish people; the names of the Messiahas a typology of rabbinicmessianismare discussedin no. 12; no. 18 is an originalapproach to the deictic elementsin midrashbaseduponBtUhler;" no. 19 analyzesthe formandcontextof martyrnarrativesin rabbinicliterature; no. 20 considers the canonizationof rabbinictexts. Goldbergwritesin a turgidstyle of Germanthatrequiresbothdiscipline and patience of the reader.The essays on form analysis found in this collection served as a catalyst that transformsthe study of the rabbinic literatureof antiquity.It is convenientfor scholarsand studentsof rabbinics to have these essays in one volume,andany seriousJudaicaresearchlibrary shouldhave this book in its collection.'2 RivkaB. KernUlmer Harvard University Mass. Cambridge, Dov Schwartz. Messianism in Medieval Jewish Thought.Ramat Gan: Bar-IlanUniversityPress, 1997. 292 pp. (Hebrew). Dov Schwartzhas takenan insightthatall studentsof medievalJewish messianism will recognize, sharpenedit, placed it at the center of an originalanalysis of a large corpusof messianicliterature,and produceda stimulating,important,occasionallyproblematicwork thatwill surelyplay a majorrole in futurescholarship. The key insight is that the standardJewish conceptionof the ultimate destiny of righteousindividualsis riven by an almost unbearabletension. 11. K. Bfthler, Sprachtheorie.Die Darstellungsfunktion der Sprache (1934; reprint der Deixis ed., Stuttgartand New York: Fischer, 1982); and K. Ehlich, Verwendungen beim sprachlichenHandeln, linguistisch-philologischeUntersuchungenzum hebraischen deiktischenSystem(Frankfurta. M.: Lang, 1979). 12. The reviewerof this book was a studentand collaboratorof Goldberg'sfor eleven years(1975-86).

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On the one hand, the disembodiedsoul ascendsto a state of spiritualbliss often describedas eternaland surelyperceivedin a mannerthatwouldmake one hope that it is. On the otherhand,the dogma of physicalresurrection points with eager anticipationto the momentwhen the righteoussoul is wrenchedout of this supernalbliss to be reunitedwith the body. Schwartz demonstratesthat the power of each of these models was so great that some thinkersaffirmedthem both, occasionallywithinthe same few pages, withoutnoticingthe glaringdifficulty. Maimonides attemptedto mitigate the tension by the expedient of a temporaryresurrectionfollowed by a returnto the disembodiedstate. Schwartzsuggests that the purposeof this resurrectionmay be to provide an opportunityto merit an even higher level of spiritualimmortality(p. 77); still, Maimonideshimself specifies no reason, and I suspect that his resolutionleft him less than fully content. For many othermedievalJews, the resurrectedstate was permanent.In the classic presentationsof R. SaadyaGaonandNahmanides,the messianic age (yemot ha-mashiah)would be followed by a transformedreality in which humanbeings would, in the famousrabbinicformulation,neithereat nor drinknor engage in sexual relations,but sit with crownson theirheads and enjoy the splendorof the Divine Presence. For Schwartz,the first approachis typical of philosophicalrationalists and helps producewhathe describesas naturalisticmessianism;the second, while endorsedby some philosophers,is moretypicalof literalisttheologians and kabbalists,and coheres with a view that he terms apocalyptic.The naturalisticmodel is generallymarkedby a deemphasisof the messianic age in favor of the personal salvation of the disembodiedsoul (a state called 'olam ha-ba), a smooth, bloodless, nonmiraculoustransitionto the redemption,a redeemedworld governedby naturallaw, a temporary resurrection(if that),and an unchangedhalakhah.The apocalypticapproach envisions a messianic age inauguratedand characterizedby the uprooting of the naturalorder,the destructionof the enemiesof Israel,and,ultimately, eternallife in transformedbodies following the disembodiedsoul's sojourn in a physical Gardenof Eden. It is this eternallife, where there is little room for much (if any) traditionalJewish law, thatthe rabbiscalled 'olam ha-ba. With impressiveeruditionand subtle argumentation,Schwartzunfolds a tapestrythat begins with R. Saadya'sphilosophicallegitimationof the apocalypticmodel, moves to Maimonides'thoroughgoingnaturalism,and

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proceedsto the shifting,complex confrontationswith both approaches:the of an apocalypticmodeldisciplinedby Maimonidean partialreestablishment extreme naturalism that flirts with the rejectionof a physical rationalism, messianicage, the more systematicanalysisof the modelsby late medieval thinkers,and, finally,what is presentedas the victoryof apocalypticismin the syntheticworks of Abravanel. This is an ambitiousand impressivereconstruction.It is not, however, without its difficulties.For a book whose majorobjective is to limn the detailedcontoursof the end of days in medievalJewish thought,there is a remarkabledegree of imprecisionin the use of critical terms. We are told about the eternityof the Torahin "the Messianicera" (p. 54) in a context where much dependson the unclarifiedquestionof whether 'olam ha-ba is included;we read of "the futureperiod(ha-tequfahha-'atidit)of the days of the Messiah,"(p. 104), and, without clear differentiation,of the unmodified"futureperiod"(just ha-tequfahha-'atidit),wherethe latter must refer to the 'olam ha-ba thatfollows "the days of the Messiah";we confrontthe startlingassertionthatR. Shimonb. ZemahDuranmaintained that "the Messianic world" (ha-'olam ha-meshihi)would begin after the seventh millennium,i.e., after the destructionof the world following the sabbaticalperiod (p. 227, n. 70), when Duran is of course referringto 'olamha-ba;and in the final summarywe begin with the positionthat"the Messianicworld"is a wholly new cosmos, but the only examplesdeal with the periodof 'olamha-ba (p. 244). Schwartz'soccasionalfailureto distinguishbetweenthe messianicage and the subsequentworld-to-comemay be connectedwith his view that the scenarioof the end of days was not really clarifieduntil the fourteenth and fifteenthcenturies,even thoughearlierfigures"hinted"at the relevant distinctions(p. 198). While I am persuadedthat therewas a move toward systematizationin the laterMiddleAges, the authorascribesa muchgreater At the end of a very degreeof fuzzinessto earlierthinkersthanis warranted. brief presentationof Nalhmanides'analysisin Sha'ar ha-Gemul,Schwartz informsus in a single sentenceof the redemptiveprocessset forthexplicitly in that work and remindsus in a footnoteof Saadya'ssimilar,thoughnot identical,position(p. 108, and cf. p. 180). MedievalJews readthese works and knew what they said. Schwartzgives short shrift to Sha'ar ha-Gemulin anotherrespectas well. He tells us nothingaboutits author'senormouslyinfluentialarguments forthe eternal,physicalcharacterof 'olamha-bauntilthe muchlateraccount

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of the views of AbrahamBibago, where we are providedone exampleof "a series of proofs [Bibago] cites in the name of Nahmanides"(p. 216). Thus, when readersare informed(not quite accurately,in my view) that Bibago's approacheliminatedNalhmanides'proofs, they have no way of evaluatingthe assertion.Moreover,Schwartzappearsto be struckby the novelty of Abravanel'sargumentthat the naturalisticview of "thedays of the Messiah"ascribedto the talmudicsage Samuelappliesonly to the period before the physical 'olam ha-ba; this argument,we are told, undermined the last textualbulwarkof the naturalists(p. 240). In fact, Nahmanideshad alreadytaken for granted,quite correctly,that this is the straightforward, almost self-evidentmeaningof Samuel'sassertionthat the only difference between this world and the messianic age is political subordination; after that age, the extravagantvisions of the prophetsbegin to apply (Sha'ar ha-Gemul,Chavel'sKitveiRambanII, pp. 300-301). The most interesting aspect of this talmudictext has been missed not only by Schwartzbut, to the best of my knowledge,by all studentsof medievalmessianism:despite its use by Maimonidesand otherrationalists,it is in realityone of the most powerfulargumentsagainstthe denialof a physical 'olamha-ba. Schwartzpresents sharpmethodologicalobservationsabout the value and limitationsof models and on the need to dismantle,rebuild,and refine themin the courseof a historicalanalysis.Nonetheless,his use of the models is sometimes confused and sometimes arbitrary.Not until the discussion of Abravaneldoes he clearly recognize that an "apocalyptic"redemptive process can logically be followed by a naturalisticage of redemption; there is in fact nothing at all novel about Abravanel'spresentationof such a scenario. (After the section on Abravanel,we find the assertion that this was ha-Meiri'sview as well [p. 244], but the point is much less clear in the discussion of ha-Meiri[pp. 169-172]). This conception, which Schwartzconsidersessentiallyapocalyptic,also weakenshis clever argumentthat rationalistslogically requirea nonapocalypticmessianicage since the contemplativelife which is the objectiveof that era dependson observingthe operationsof the naturalworld (pp. 75-76). On two occasions (pp. 109, 174), Schwartzdescribesthe doctrineof a purified, eternal body as a retreatby conservativesof the mid- and late-MiddleAges fromfull apocalypticism,whenthe doctrine,as he himself notes elsewhere, is Saadyanicpure and simple. He regardseven the most elementaryaffirmationof peace and rectitudeat the end of days as a deviation from the apocalypticmodel (pp. 167, 190, n. 94). He sees the

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denial of sin in the messianic age as a sign of apocalypticismand even antinomianism.Hence, he fails to understandthatha-Meiri'sassertionthat no sin offering will be broughtin the future age because there will be no sin is far from the acceptanceof an "antinomiandimension"after the redemption;it is his effort to neutralizethe antinomianposition that the sacrifice will be abolished in principle (pp. 170-171). In one passage, Schwartzregardsthe attemptto renderthe miracleof resurrectionplausible by referenceto creationex nihilo as a sign of a Maimonideanorientation (p. 211), while in anotherhe appropriatelypresents it as Saadyanic(p. 225). Even the assertionthat the messianicage is not crucialto Judaism, which he correctlysees as congenialto naturalism(e.g., p. 192), was also made by Nalhmanides-who is improperlycharacterizedas "obsessed"by messianism (p. 247)--on two separateoccasions (Kitvei RambanI, pp. 279-280, 310). Finally,I believe that Schwartzoverstatesmatterswhen he affirmsthat Maimonidessaid "openly and vigorously that the Messianic doctrine is an inconsequentialincentiveto study and enlightenment"(p. 186). While Maimonides'discussion in his Commentaryto the Mishnahdoes suggest thatnaive conceptionsof both the messianicage and the world-to-comeare to be comparedto candy given to a child as an encouragementto study, an age of peace and prosperitythatwill affordan untrammeledopportunity for contemplationis not necessarilyas utterlyinconsequentialas Schwartz repeatedlyindicates.In a similarvein, we aretold thata seriesof rationalists after Maimonidesreachedthe point of denyingthe realityof the messianic age and seeing it as a symbol for the state of disembodiedimmortality (pp. 121, 126, 148, 154). Here too the evidence for this strongformulation strikesme as tenuousin the extreme. Precisely because several of these reservationsspeak to centralpoints of Schwartz'sargument,I mustclose with a reiterationof the importanceof this study.Althoughthe messianic idea has been a majorfocus of Jewish scholarship,nothinglike this book has ever been attempted.Schwartzhas provideda new angle of vision for the examinationof a core doctrinein the historyof Jewishthought.Few workscan aspireto such an achievement. DavidBerger School, BrooklynCollegeandtheGraduate of NewYork CityUniversity N.Y. Brooklyn,

Review: [untitled] Author(s): Susan Einbinder Source: AJS Review, Vol. 24, No. 2 (1999), pp. 389-391 Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Association for Jewish Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1486769 . Accessed: 15/07/2011 11:31 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at . http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=cup. . Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].



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Leon J. Weinberger,ed. and trans. Twilightof a Golden Age: Selected Poems of AbrahamIbn Ezra. Tuscaloosa:Universityof AlabamaPress, 1997. xv, 267 pp.

As LeonWeinbergercommentsin his introduction, of the five "celebrated scholar-poetsin 'Golden Age' Spain, only AbrahamIbn Ezra inspiredin the public mind the kind of legend generallyassociatedwith a Moses or Elijah the Prophet"(p. 55). Mathematicianand exegete, philosopherand to wanderfromSpainto poet, Ibn Ezrawas led by fortuneandtemperament and North To Africa,France, Italy, England. him, perhaps,morethanto any otherthinkeror influence,the Jews of ChristianEuropeowed theirexposure to the new forms of knowledge that had blossomed in Arab Spain. An English-languagework devotedto Ibn Ezrathe poet, and makingavailable some of the vast rangeof his oeuvre,is long overdue. This said, scholarshipon the period and its writers has advanced considerablysince ProfessorWeinberger'sfirstmonographson GoldenAge and BalkanHebrewwritersbeganappearingin the 1970s. Held againstthis standard,both in form and substance,this book will disappoint. The introductoryessay moves througha numberof themesaddressedby the selected poetic texts. However,the discussionof intellectual,cultural, and historicalcurrentsis superficial,and the bibliographyrevealsthatonly a cursorynod has been given to the bounty of recent work on medieval AndalusianHebrew poetry and culture. This goes for the treatmentof astrology,Neoplatonism,Jewish scholarshipin northernFrance, and the attitudesof medievalChristiansandMuslims.Theportrayalof IbnEzraas an anti-Christian readsgenericdismissals polemicistis astonishing;Weinberger of Islam and Christianityas specific referencesto Christian"monks"and Almohad persecutors.There is no evidence for accusing the Christian monasticsof Ibn Ezra'stime with particularlyvirulentanti-Jewishbehavior, a belief Weinbergerhas perhapsacquiredby extrapolatingbackwardsthe work of Jeremy Cohen on the thirteenth-century friars. Likewise, it is not clear why Muslim polemicistswould be engagedin Hebrewgematria (p. 48), or in Hebrew at all. Weinberger'sgeneralizedreferencesto "the realism in mid-twelfth-centuryHispano-Hebrewprosody"(p. 69) seem again to extrapolatefrom trendsassociatedwith twelfth-centurywritingin (Christian)northernEuropeto poetic productionin Arab Spain. In a way thatevokes touchinglythe editionsof GoldenAge poets produceda century ago, Weinbergerconstructsa romanticizedversion of his subjectat odds

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with the hard-headedand occasionallysharp-tonguedrationalistportrayed by the poet's own words. are harderto explain. In a section devoted Other misrepresentations to Ibn Ezra as a popularfigure in Jewish legend, Weinbergerincludes texts presentedas translationsfrom Egyptian"folk-tales"(pp. 57, 58). As Weinbergernotes, the texts were publishedin 1992 by Yitsaq Avishur, who, however, identifiesthem as Iraqi and Egyptianlegends transcribed from living Iraqi Jews in Israel today. For secular muwashshahatwith Judeo-Arabicor Arabic and romanceendings,Weinbergerhas reproduced S. M. Stem's translationswithoutclear attribution. The translationspose other problems.In some cases, an old attitude towardstranslationis perhapsat stake,one thatpermitsthe translatorgreater libertyin refashioningthe originaltext. In other cases, Weinbergerseems to miss conventionaltopoi of the genre. In poem 10, for instance,the poet resortsto a standardtopos of the ailing lover, and the text must be translated:"takepity on his sadness./He is so light he almost flies like a bird, and grief has threadedhis hair with silver / He is so thin he can't be seen, and his heart melts from sickness"(p. 83, 11.3-5). Weinberger translates,"takepity on his condition[i.e., matsavnot ma'atsav]]./From anguish,gray hairs hastenupon his head, Almost as fast as the bird flies./ The wretchedman, his heartmeltingfromlove's fever,Is reluctantto show his face" (p. 81). In yet othercases, the meaningof the poem is seriously distortedby mistranslations.Thus, in poem 9, 1. 22, the verse "my body is exhaustedand my soul burnedout" is renderedas "My family is disabled and I am ignorantof what lies ahead"(p. 79), or in poem 21, 11.6-7, where the Hebrewmust mean "In all His works He is wondrous;He heals the sick,/ He works without agency (i.e., directly),openly and not in secret" (see Levin's note, 1:77-78), Weinbergerhas "He labors in secret healing the sick/ He works concealedwithouttools thatcan be seen"(p. 133)-the precise opposite,theologically,of the Hebrew'sintent. Weinbergeruses Hebrew texts from either Schirmannor Levin; the Eggers text, for all its problemsthe earliest,is unmentioned.Inexplicably, he occasionallychangesthe orderof lines (poem 15A, p. 100) or of entire stanzas(poem 10, p. 82) from theirappearancein his source.In short,this is a book that falls short of many scholarlyexpectations,while ironically remindingus of the laborsof men like its author,who in many ways laid the groundworkfor the studiesto come. If Twilightof a GoldenAge leaves

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the readerlonging for anotherbook aboutAbrahamIbn Ezra,then perhaps, afterall, partof its job has been done. SusanEinbinder HebrewUnionCollege Ohio Cincinnati, Yom Tov Assis. The Golden Age of AragoneseJewry: Communityand Society in the Crownof Aragon, 1213-1327. London:LittmanLibraryof JewishCivilization,1997. xvi, 380 pp. Yom Tov Assis. Jewish Economy in the Medieval Crown of Aragon, 1213-1327: Money and Power. Brill's Series in Jewish Studies, vol. 18. Leiden:Brill, 1997. xii, 261 pp. The Jews of the Crownof Aragonbequeathedto posteritya tremendous documentaryrecord,and for this generositytheirhistoriographycontinues to pay a price. Overwhelmedby the richnessof the sources,no one since Yitzhak Baer at mid-centuryhas dared to attempta synthesis of Jewish historicalexperiencein the Crownof Aragon,each scholarpreferringinstead patientlyto tendhis own smallpatchof earth.Theresulthasbeen less a field thana communitygarden,with some subjectsintensivelycultivated,others neglected, and little orderto orientthose studentswho tend to hover at a prudentheightabove detail. In The GoldenAge of AragoneseJewry,Yom Tov Assis risks an aerial view of a partof this field, andthe scene is a breathtaking one indeed.Within its statedchronologicalandgeographicalboundariesthe book is meantto be comprehensive,and it drawsupon a wide arrayof sourcestoo often found apart:romanceandLatinnotarial,legal, androyalrecords,Hebrewresponsa, halakhicandreligioustexts. Therecan be little doubtthatProfessorAssis is well preparedfor the magnitudeof the task. Evenbeforethe defenseof his dissertationin 1981 he hadeditedandrepublishedJeanRegn6'ssummaryof the documentationin the archiveof the Crownof AragonconcerningJews in the periodbetween 1213 and 1327.' Since thenhe has writtenarticleson 1. See JeanRMgn6, Historyof the Jews in Aragon:Regestaand Documents,1213-1327, HispaniaJudaica,vol. 1 (Jerusalem,1978). Assis's dissertation,"TheJews of Aragonunder JamesII, 1291-1327,"defendedat the HebrewUniversityof Jerusalemunderthe directionof HaimBeinart.

Review: [untitled] Author(s): David Nirenberg Source: AJS Review, Vol. 24, No. 2 (1999), pp. 391-396 Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Association for Jewish Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1486770 . Accessed: 15/07/2011 11:31 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at . http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=cup. . Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].



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the readerlonging for anotherbook aboutAbrahamIbn Ezra,then perhaps, afterall, partof its job has been done. SusanEinbinder HebrewUnionCollege Ohio Cincinnati, Yom Tov Assis. The Golden Age of AragoneseJewry: Communityand Society in the Crownof Aragon, 1213-1327. London:LittmanLibraryof JewishCivilization,1997. xvi, 380 pp. Yom Tov Assis. Jewish Economy in the Medieval Crown of Aragon, 1213-1327: Money and Power. Brill's Series in Jewish Studies, vol. 18. Leiden:Brill, 1997. xii, 261 pp. The Jews of the Crownof Aragonbequeathedto posteritya tremendous documentaryrecord,and for this generositytheirhistoriographycontinues to pay a price. Overwhelmedby the richnessof the sources,no one since Yitzhak Baer at mid-centuryhas dared to attempta synthesis of Jewish historicalexperiencein the Crownof Aragon,each scholarpreferringinstead patientlyto tendhis own smallpatchof earth.Theresulthasbeen less a field thana communitygarden,with some subjectsintensivelycultivated,others neglected, and little orderto orientthose studentswho tend to hover at a prudentheightabove detail. In The GoldenAge of AragoneseJewry,Yom Tov Assis risks an aerial view of a partof this field, andthe scene is a breathtaking one indeed.Within its statedchronologicalandgeographicalboundariesthe book is meantto be comprehensive,and it drawsupon a wide arrayof sourcestoo often found apart:romanceandLatinnotarial,legal, androyalrecords,Hebrewresponsa, halakhicandreligioustexts. Therecan be little doubtthatProfessorAssis is well preparedfor the magnitudeof the task. Evenbeforethe defenseof his dissertationin 1981 he hadeditedandrepublishedJeanRegn6'ssummaryof the documentationin the archiveof the Crownof AragonconcerningJews in the periodbetween 1213 and 1327.' Since thenhe has writtenarticleson 1. See JeanRMgn6, Historyof the Jews in Aragon:Regestaand Documents,1213-1327, HispaniaJudaica,vol. 1 (Jerusalem,1978). Assis's dissertation,"TheJews of Aragonunder JamesII, 1291-1327,"defendedat the HebrewUniversityof Jerusalemunderthe directionof HaimBeinart.

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manyaspectsof Jewishlife in the Crown.Assis's overviewis thereforebuilt upon a mountainof research. The book begins by examiningJewish legal status in the Crown, an examinationwhich focuses on relationsbetweenthe Jews andthe monarchy. Assis underscoresrepeatedlyboth the monarchy'sdependenceon Jews for rather financialand(until1284)administrative support,andtheself-interested, thanprincipled,protectionandprivilegesthatthe monarchyofferedthe Jews in return.Both here and in JewishEconomy,Assis's carefuldocumentation of the fiscal importanceJews had for the monarchyprovidesthe strategic backdropfor the gradualerosion of Jewish statusthat Assis believes was occurringthroughoutthe latterpart of the period coveredby his work, an erosionhe sees arisingfromthe increasingaggressionandintoleranceof the Churchthroughoutthe thirteenthcentury.Thisemphasison the role financial pressureplayed in conditioningthe Jewishexperiencein the Crownallows him to avoid idealizations(like convivencia),and tempersany romanticism abouta "goldenage." Followingthis initial section settingthe Jews withinthe widerpolitical framework,Assis turns to one of his primaryinterests,the analysis of Jewishself-government.For Assis, the community,or qehilah,providedthe basic frameworkfor Jewish life, and was "a source of spiritualstrength and comfort."It was also "anorganicstructurethatmustbe reviewedin its whatAssis meansby "organic" totality"(pp.67-68). Oneneednotunderstand in orderto appreciatehis encyclopedictreatmentof Jewishself-government andthe stressesandchangesit underwentin the latethirteenthcentury.Based on extensivereadingin the responsaliterature(particularly thatof Solomon ben Adret),he providesa clearexpositionof the Jewish"politicaltheory"and the financialstructuresunderpinningcommunalautonomy.Throughout,the analysisof communalorganizationis placedwithinthe overarchingChristian context:"the structureof Jewish society was almost an exact duplicateof Christianurbansociety"(p. 69). At times, Assis appearsto have an overly optimisticview of the inclusiveness of Jewish self-government,as when he claims thatthe reformsof the early fourteenthcentury"ensuredrepresentationfor all classes in the communalgovernment"(p. 73). In general,however,he is very muchon the qui vive for signs of class tension,internalfaction,oligarchy,andrepression. It is withinsuch contextsthathe analyzescommunaladministration andthe distributionof powerin Jewishcommunities.Manyscholarswill appreciate

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the catalogueof officeholdershe provides,withcompletedescriptionsof their roles in political,economic,judicial,andreligiousadministration. The same gratitudewill be felt by readersof sections 3 and 4, which respectivelytreatrelationsbetweenJewishcommunitiesandthe organization of the Jewish quarter.Section 3 provides a clear exposition of regional of thatcuriousfiscal/politicalorganization called organizationandparticularly the Collecta, a structureby which the largestaljamas dominatedsmaller Jewish settlementsin their hinterlandsand administeredtheir tax burden. He also treatsthe representativeassembliesthatbroughttogetherdelegates from all the communitiesof a given realm,and contextualizesthe role of such assembliesin the differentsituationsin each of the threepolities with which he is concerned(Aragon,Catalonia,andValencia).Section4 provides something of a sociohistoricaltour throughthe constructedenvironment of fourteenth-century Jewish ritual life, with discussions of synagogues, kasher meat markets,ritual baths, bakeries,and cemeteries.The section also addresses,albeit obliquely,the importantissue of segregation.Jewish quarterswereoftennot exclusivelyJewish,norChristianquartersexclusively Christian,but Jews often preferredto concentratetheir habitationwithin defendableperimeters(i.e., walls or castles), and Christianmunicipalities sometimeslobbiedto move or restrictthe Jewishquarterin orderto achieve morecompletesegregation.This is valuablematerial,althoughAssis himself does not explorethe broaderissue of how Jewish-Christian relationsaffected the shape of the urbanspace availableto Jews, an increasinglypressing problemthroughoutthe middledecadesof the fourteenthcentury. Like the precedingsections, the concludingtwo ("JewishSociety"and "ReligiousLife") are organizedby topic. The chapteron family life, for example, includes sections on courtship,marriage,dowry,bigamy,incest, concubinage,adultery,and divorce.Such a structurewill be appreciatedby the many readerswho will undoubtedlyturn to the book as a reference work,but it does impose some costs: issues are oftentreatedin comparative isolation, and any overarchingnarrativeor analyticalvoice is obscured. The first of these problems,that of isolation,is writ large in the apparent autonomythe authorgrantsto the Jewishcommunityas an objectof study. RepeatedlyAssis warnsus thatthe Jewishcommunitiesof Spainwere more open to Christianinfluencethanany otherin medievalEurope,thatJewish communalorganizationwidelyimitatedChristianmunicipalmodels,andeven that"concubinageamongJews in the Aragoneserealmwas the outcomeof a strongnon-Jewishsocial influence"(pp. 267, 288). Yet,apartfromthe initial

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pages dedicatedto the effect of royalfinancialinterestsuponJewishpolitical structure,the book rarely addressesthe Christiancontext, or the cultural processesby whichit may have influencedJewishsociety.Theauthormakes minimal gestures in this direction,as when he cites two textbooksfrom the 1970s as his only sources on Christianurbanlife in Catalonia-Aragon (p. 288). Further,the emphasison the royal perspective,while invaluable, could have been enrichedby a more extensivetreatmentof nonroyal(i.e., municipal,nobiliary,mercantile,and "popular")attitudes,which were also importantin shapingJewish experience.Assis does pay some attentionto clericalopinions,but his treatmentmay seem to some readersinsufficiently complex. The second issue is not in and of itself problematic:with or withoutan overarchingnarrative,Assis's volumeis a magnificentlyorganizedsynthesis thatwill benefitall researcherson the topic. At times, however,it seems as if a slightlyapocalypticnarrativevoice is being suppressed.Thus,although TheGoldenAge is explicitlynot aboutthe declineof Jewishfortunesin the Crownof Aragon,the authorfrequentlyforeshadowsdisaster.Describingthe many chartersand privilegesreceivedby the Jews, for example,he writes crypticallythatthese signs of strength"containedthe hiddenrootsof future disasters"(p. 48, and similarlyat p. 24). Reversals,such as the prohibition on Jews in royal serviceissuedin 1284, are describedas the "firststageof a processthatwas to end in massacres... anddestruction" (p. 14). Evenvery earlyin his studythe authorturnsto this paradoxof declinewithinsuccess: "By the beginningsof the thirteenthcenturyJewish society . . . contained both the ingredientsof its futuregreatnessand the roots of the social and religiousconflictsthatwere to tearit apartin latergenerations" (p. 5). These are hints of a teleologicalargumentthatneverfully emerges,partlybecause the structureof the book precludesits development,andpartlybecausesuch an argumentcannotconvincinglybe madewithoutpayingmoreattentionto the Christiancontext. A similarargumentlies behindJewishEconomy,in manywaysintendedas a companionvolumeto TheGoldenAge. Thebookconcludes:"paradoxically, the greaterthe economic supportthe Jews lent to the king, the nearerthey drew to their tragic end" (p. 242). Jewish Economyconcentrateson the firsthalf of this argument,documentingin unprecedented detailthe financial transactionsthatboundJewsto the monarchy.Readerswill be amazedat the extentto whichtheroyalhousedependedon Jewsforits solvency:day-to-day expensesrangingfrombed linens to the purchaseof mules,big-ticketitems

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like land purchasesand large-scalemilitarycampaigns,even the meat for feedingthe lions in the royalmenagerie(an examplenot cited by Assis); all were financedby Jewishtaxes, Jewishloans,Jewishgifts andbequests. As with The Golden Age, however, the authoris less successful at establishingthe secondhalf of his paradoxicalargument,thatthis successled to the Jews' downfall.He oftenalludesto popularresentmentof the Jewsas a causalforcein theirfate,buthe rarelydocumentsor describestheseChristian attitudes,and makes no attemptto explain them. If anything,he engages in apologeticsagainstthem:high interestrateswerejustified,debtorswere not "oppressed"(pp. 41, 54). The problemis to some extent compounded by his separationof royal policy from popularattitudestowardJews. The kings were not anti-Jewish,he insists,theirpoliciesweredesignedto protect this importantsourceof income,andthey frequentlyintervenedon behalfof Jewish lenders.It was ratherthe populace,whippedup by the church,that was hostile to the Jews. At some level this is clearly true: monarchsdid dependon the taxes and subsidiesthey demandedof the Jews, andthereforethey triedto protect Jewishcommunitiesandto enforceJewishloans.It is equallyclear,however, thatthe immensefinancialburdenthe monarchyplacedon the Jews,together with its frequentinterventionin the marketfor money (selling moratoria on loans, launchinginquisitionsinto usuriouspracticesfor the purposesof collectingmassive fines, etc.), drove up the cost of capitaland contributed to resentmentof the Jews. Even from a strictlyeconomicpoint of view, it seems difficultto attemptto classify,as Assis oftendoes (e.g., p. 67), a given fiscal policy as pro- or anti-Jewish.Of coursethe study of these policies is an importantelement in understandingthe fate of the Jews of the Crown of Aragon,but the analyticalfield will have to be considerablybroadened beforewe can begin to understandadequatelythe paradoxAssis pointsto as the cruxof the matter. Butthesearequibbles.Specialistswill muchappreciate JewishEconomy's of Jewisheconomiclife, taxation, many contributionsto our understanding tax collection,and a vast numberof relatedissues. Moregeneralreaders,as well as specialists,cannotfail to learnfromthe wide sweep of The Golden Age's erudition.Some may wish for fullerbibliography.Both volumescite very little of the relevantbibliographyon the "non-Jewish"historyof the Crownof Aragon,andeven on specificallyJewishtopicsthereare important omissions.The authorseems to prefercitingmedievaldocumentsratherthan modemresearch,even when it providesusefulcommentaryto the documents

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he is citingor makesthemavailablein publishedform.But he also overlooks he seems scholarswhose work makesavailablefundamentaldocumentation unawareof, such as Elena Lourie'sarticlesdrawingon the trialtranscripts preservedin the archiveof the Crownof Aragon,or ThomasBisson's study fiscalaccountsof Catalonia.These andeditionof the early-thirteenth-century omissions are regrettable,but they are perhapsinevitablein a projectof this scope and majesty,a projectthathas yieldedtwo such significantsteps forwardin the historyof Jews in the Crownof Aragon. DavidNirenberg RiceUniversity Houston,Tex. MiriamBodian.Hebrewofthe PortugueseNation:ConversosandCommunity in EarlyModernAmsterdam.The ModemJewishExperience.Bloomington: IndianaUniversityPress, 1997. xiii, 219 pp. The PortugueseJewish communityof Amsterdamwas one of the most dynamiccentersof Jewishlife in the seventeenthcentury.Composedalmost entirelyof Portuguese"New Christians"who had decidedto abandonthe Iberianpeninsulaandlive openlyas Jewsin a locationwhere,untilthe 1590s, no Jews hadresided,it was a communitycreated,as it were,ex nihilo.Many of its memberswere quite sophisticated,educatedin the best universities of Portugal,renownedphysicians,prosperousinternational merchants.They knew thatthey wantedto be Jewish.But they had little specificknowledge aboutwhatthis meant,whatwas requiredof them,wherethe boundarylines of dissentwouldbe drawn. While considerableattentionhas been paid to what has been called the religion of the Marranos,less has been paid to their sense of ethnic identity.This is the focus of MiriamBodian'snew study.She reviews and synthesizesa massiveamountof scholarship,writtenin Spanish,Portuguese, Dutch,andHebrewas well as English,therebymakingthis materialavailable to those of us who do not commandall these languages.But this valuable workof synthesisalso presentsa distinctiveapproachto the subject,exploring importantissuesof the sociologyof religionwithoutthetechnicalterminology andjargonthatoften seem to obfuscate. Shefirstsketchesthebackground on theIberianpeninsula,whichproduced the communityof PortugueseNew Christians.Thenshe treatsthe "founding

Review: [untitled] Author(s): Marc Saperstein Source: AJS Review, Vol. 24, No. 2 (1999), pp. 396-398 Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Association for Jewish Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1486771 . Accessed: 15/07/2011 11:31 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at . http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=cup. . Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].



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he is citingor makesthemavailablein publishedform.But he also overlooks he seems scholarswhose work makesavailablefundamentaldocumentation unawareof, such as Elena Lourie'sarticlesdrawingon the trialtranscripts preservedin the archiveof the Crownof Aragon,or ThomasBisson's study fiscalaccountsof Catalonia.These andeditionof the early-thirteenth-century omissions are regrettable,but they are perhapsinevitablein a projectof this scope and majesty,a projectthathas yieldedtwo such significantsteps forwardin the historyof Jews in the Crownof Aragon. DavidNirenberg RiceUniversity Houston,Tex. MiriamBodian.Hebrewofthe PortugueseNation:ConversosandCommunity in EarlyModernAmsterdam.The ModemJewishExperience.Bloomington: IndianaUniversityPress, 1997. xiii, 219 pp. The PortugueseJewish communityof Amsterdamwas one of the most dynamiccentersof Jewishlife in the seventeenthcentury.Composedalmost entirelyof Portuguese"New Christians"who had decidedto abandonthe Iberianpeninsulaandlive openlyas Jewsin a locationwhere,untilthe 1590s, no Jews hadresided,it was a communitycreated,as it were,ex nihilo.Many of its memberswere quite sophisticated,educatedin the best universities of Portugal,renownedphysicians,prosperousinternational merchants.They knew thatthey wantedto be Jewish.But they had little specificknowledge aboutwhatthis meant,whatwas requiredof them,wherethe boundarylines of dissentwouldbe drawn. While considerableattentionhas been paid to what has been called the religion of the Marranos,less has been paid to their sense of ethnic identity.This is the focus of MiriamBodian'snew study.She reviews and synthesizesa massiveamountof scholarship,writtenin Spanish,Portuguese, Dutch,andHebrewas well as English,therebymakingthis materialavailable to those of us who do not commandall these languages.But this valuable workof synthesisalso presentsa distinctiveapproachto the subject,exploring importantissuesof the sociologyof religionwithoutthetechnicalterminology andjargonthatoften seem to obfuscate. Shefirstsketchesthebackground on theIberianpeninsula,whichproduced the communityof PortugueseNew Christians.Thenshe treatsthe "founding

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legends"of the Amsterdamcommunity,and its establishmentand growth duringits earlyyears.At this point,a chronologicalnarrativeis abandonedin favorof a conceptualorganization,with chaptersdevotedto the relationship withtheDutchhosts,thememoriescarriedto AmsterdamfromthePortuguese conversopast, the process of "rejudaization" by which Jewishknowledge, convictions,and loyalties were engenderedand subversiveideas opposed, and the ways in which the distinctiveethnic identityof the "Portuguese nation"was cultivatedandmaintained. With regardto the Dutch, both Portugueseand Jewish aspects of their identitywere emphasizedto good effect:the Portuguesebackgroundensuring theirvalue for internationalcommerce,theirJewishnessensuringloyaltyto theirnew home in times of conflictwith Spain(p. 64). But these elements were sometimesin tension. The PortugueseJews in Amsterdamoften felt closer to other Portugueseconversos living as Christiansin Antwerpor was maintained,thanto Bordeaux,with whom a networkof communications theAshkenazicJewslivinga few blocksaway,whosechildrenwereprohibited fromattendingthe communalschool (p. 131). How did the AmsterdamJews feel aboutconversoswho remainedin Portugal?WhataboutotherSephardic Jews, emigres from Spain in 1492, who had not sharedin the Portuguese experience?Childrenof PortugueseJewish fathersand Christianmothers? Convertsto Judaismwhose fatherswere not Portuguese? In cases such as these, Bodian shows that the rulings imposed in the communitysometimesdivergedfromrabbinicnorms.Muchof this material is drawnfromwhat she calls the "quintessentially 'Portuguese'institution," the Dotar Confraternityfor providingdowriesto orphansand impoverished brides, about which Bodian has alreadypublishedan illuminatingstudy comparingit with its Venetianelder-sistersociety. Membershipwas (with rare special exceptions)restrictedto Jews of the Portuguesenation, or at least Sephardim,and "theirdescendantsby the masculineor feminineline" (p. 48). An illegitimatedaughterof a PortuguesefatherandChristianmother could enter the dowry lottery,but an illegitimatedaughterof a Portuguese mothercouldnot (p. 115).Sucha ruleillustratesthe "reinforcement of Iberian sociosexualattitudes,even whenthesewere at oddswithrabbinicprinciples" (p. 115).

The argumentfor the enduringlegacy of Iberianvalues is not always so persuasive.There is no questionthat membersof the Portuguese"nation" were proudof theirnobilityof lineageand"purityof blood"(p. 86), andthat these values correspondedto valuesof Iberiansociety.But MartinLuther,in

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his diatribe"Onthe Jews and TheirLies,"spendsconsiderabletime talking aboutsimilarthemes:"Thereis one thingaboutwhich [the Jews] boastand pridethemselvesbeyondmeasure,andthatis theirdescentfromthe foremost peopleon earth,fromAbraham,Sarah,Isaac,Rebekah,Jacob.... Therefore they boast of being the noblest,yes, the only noble peopleon earth."Luther was not talkingspecificallyaboutIberianJews. This raises the questionof how necessarythe Iberianbackgroundwas in fosteringprideof descent. Anotherexample: Bodian discusses the controversyof 1635 over the "etemalityof punishment"after death, based on the study by Alexander Altmann(pp. 121-122). She presentsthis as "a clear case of 'converso' innovationconfrontingrabbinicorthodoxy"(p. 121). But this is not so clearat all. As Altmannshowed,the issue has philosophicaldimensions(is infinitepunishmentfor finitesin compatiblewith divinejustice?)andhinges largelyon the statusof kabbalisticsourcesin Jewishtheology.The converso dimension cut both ways: the "conservative"Rabbi Saul Levi Morteira, insisting on the eternalityof punishment,warnedthat promisingultimate salvationto all Jewishsouls, regardlessof theirsinfulness,wouldundermine the determinationof conversos to leave Portugal,and even facilitatethe decisionof somenewcomersto returnto the "landsof idolatry."Furthermore, Christianswere also debatingthis problem.In short,the conversodimension was one componentof a complex issue; it is not obvious that it drovethe controversy. Thereis still substantialsourcematerial,bothin manuscriptandin print, thathas not been used in this work,notablythe sermonsthatwere a primary instrumentfor the rejudaizationof the formerconversosand furnishedan ongoing rebuttalof unacceptabledoctrines,both from within and outside the community.While it makes no claim to be a definitivehistoryof the Portuguesecommunityof Amsterdamin all its dynamics,this book is the best syntheticstudy of the problemsof identityamongthese early modem "newJews." MarcSaperstein GeorgeWashington University D.C. Washington, Talya Fishman. Shaking the Pillars of Exile: "Voice of a Fool, " an Early Modern Jewish Critique of Rabbinic Culture. Stanford University Press,

1997. xviii, 362 pp.

Review: [untitled] Author(s): Howard Tzvi Adelman Source: AJS Review, Vol. 24, No. 2 (1999), pp. 398-401 Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Association for Jewish Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1486772 . Accessed: 15/07/2011 11:31 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at . http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=cup. . Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].



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his diatribe"Onthe Jews and TheirLies,"spendsconsiderabletime talking aboutsimilarthemes:"Thereis one thingaboutwhich [the Jews] boastand pridethemselvesbeyondmeasure,andthatis theirdescentfromthe foremost peopleon earth,fromAbraham,Sarah,Isaac,Rebekah,Jacob.... Therefore they boast of being the noblest,yes, the only noble peopleon earth."Luther was not talkingspecificallyaboutIberianJews. This raises the questionof how necessarythe Iberianbackgroundwas in fosteringprideof descent. Anotherexample: Bodian discusses the controversyof 1635 over the "etemalityof punishment"after death, based on the study by Alexander Altmann(pp. 121-122). She presentsthis as "a clear case of 'converso' innovationconfrontingrabbinicorthodoxy"(p. 121). But this is not so clearat all. As Altmannshowed,the issue has philosophicaldimensions(is infinitepunishmentfor finitesin compatiblewith divinejustice?)andhinges largelyon the statusof kabbalisticsourcesin Jewishtheology.The converso dimension cut both ways: the "conservative"Rabbi Saul Levi Morteira, insisting on the eternalityof punishment,warnedthat promisingultimate salvationto all Jewishsouls, regardlessof theirsinfulness,wouldundermine the determinationof conversos to leave Portugal,and even facilitatethe decisionof somenewcomersto returnto the "landsof idolatry."Furthermore, Christianswere also debatingthis problem.In short,the conversodimension was one componentof a complex issue; it is not obvious that it drovethe controversy. Thereis still substantialsourcematerial,bothin manuscriptandin print, thathas not been used in this work,notablythe sermonsthatwere a primary instrumentfor the rejudaizationof the formerconversosand furnishedan ongoing rebuttalof unacceptabledoctrines,both from within and outside the community.While it makes no claim to be a definitivehistoryof the Portuguesecommunityof Amsterdamin all its dynamics,this book is the best syntheticstudy of the problemsof identityamongthese early modem "newJews." MarcSaperstein GeorgeWashington University D.C. Washington, Talya Fishman. Shaking the Pillars of Exile: "Voice of a Fool, " an Early Modern Jewish Critique of Rabbinic Culture. Stanford University Press,

1997. xviii, 362 pp.

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TalyaFishmanhas writtena brilliantbook thatsheds muchlight on the enigmaticbutwell-documentedpersonalityof LeonModenaas well as about the natureof rabbinicJudaism. Leon Modena(1571-1648), the outstandingVenetianrabbiof the early modem period,wrote many Hebrewworks in many of the literarygenres of Renaissanceand BaroqueItaly and personallyengagedin polemicswith Jews and Christiansabout the natureof rabbinicJudaism.Althoughmost of Modena'swritingshave been long availablein print,new compositions by him are still being discovered,such as his Bible commentaries,recently describedby BinyaminRichler.AlthoughModenawrote many responsa, of his thoughtareworksthat letters,and poems, centralto an understanding he never explicitlypreparedfor publication:his autobiography, his critiques of Kabbalah--particularly his scholarlyassaulton the antiquityof the Zohar and Christianuse of it for missionaryactivity--and his transmissionof a powerful critiqueof rabbinicJudaism,Kol Sakhal,the subjectof Talya Fishman'sstudy. As Fishmancorrectlynotes, reactionsto Kol Sakhalfor the past century and a half have been based on the Jewishdenominational preferenceof the historian.Some have tried,for variousreasons,to identifyModenanot only as the editorand copyist of the work, aboutwhich therecan be no dispute, but also as its author,therebyvindicatingtheir own desire to undermine either rabbinicauthorityor else Modena'sposition as a rabbi.Fishman's contributionoffers a new interpretation of Modena'srelationshipto the Kol Sakhal and of the natureof rabbinicJudaismin the early modem period. She submitsthat inherentin early modem rabbinicJudaismin particular, and in all stages of rabbinicJudaismin general,can be found a sustained critiqueof rabbinicculture.Thussheassertswithconsiderableevidence--and even more is available,includingreferencesin the works of Modenaand othersto contemporary"Karaites,""fools,""so-calledrabbis,"and "Jewish Lutherans,"the removalof titles fromrabbis,and the conversionof rabbis to Christianity--thatpremodemJews and even the rabbisthemselveswere not unquestionablyobedientto rabbinicauthority,and that modem Jewish movementsdistortedthe sources and suppressedthe evidence for earlier diversityin Jewishlife andthought. Fishmandrawson a comparisonof passagesin Modena'soeuvreand in Kol Sakhalto reachthe conclusionthatModenawas theauthorof Kol Skahal. Sheputsforwardtwo possiblereasonswhy Modena,a rabbi,mayhavewritten so anti-rabbinica work:eitheras a private"prank,"or as a "ventriloquist's

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dummy,"to enable him to presenthis own views. To these two reasons could be addeda third:Modenaset up the text as a foil for presentingand refutingargumentsagainstrabbinicJudaism.Fishman,however,tacitlydoes not acceptthese positions. Fishmanraises the interestingpossibilitythat Modenadonneda mask when writingKol Sakhal,a work she characterizesas an "invention."This thesisbecomesespeciallyconvincingwhenKol Sakhal,purportedly acquired Modena in the summer of is to Modena's 1622, by compared autobiography, Hayyei Yehudah,begunby him between 1617 and 1622 and continueduntil shortlybeforehe died. This latterwork,often presentedas the firstHebrew can easily seducereadersto thinkthattheyhavehadaccessto autobiography, thefactsof its author'slife andthattheauthormaynothavebeena particularly happy,successful,or endearingperson.This createswhat could be called a false positivismbecause,especiallywhenhis otherwritingsarecompared,the factualnatureof his autobiographical narrative apparentlystraightforward, to be falsified facts. proves by competing In herintroductionto HayyeiYehudah, drawingon the canonsof autobiothe work graphicalcriticism,NatalieZemonDavis insightfullycharacterized as "Fameand Secrecy,"partof a program,consciousor not, of posturing, confessing,bragging,andrepenting.A similarconclusionemergeswhenone with AbrahamYagel'scontemporaneous comparesModena'sautobiography edited and translatedby David Ruderman,a work Valleyof Vision,recently that clearlymixes dreamsequenceswith descriptionsof what seem to have been actualevents,heighteningthe question,not of how to separatefact from writersmix them so effortlessly fiction,but ratherof why autobiographical in theirconstructionsof themselves.Similarly,by avoidingthe trapof taking apparentfacts at face value, by refusingto rejectfancifulelements,and by looking at the largerpictureof the book itself, Fishmansees the Kol Sakhal as partof a historiographicand politicalprogramfor the secularizationof Jewish culture,offering a fascinatingcomparisonto the life and writings of his VenetianCatholiccontemporaryFra Paolo Sarpi.Alas, for the Jews, she notes, such a programfailed duringthe seventeenthcentury,although she could find no evidencethatModenacontributedmorethanone draftof Kol Sakhal,but it was at least in the good companyof Spinoza'sslightly laterpseudepigraphicalTheological-PoliticalTreatiseand Uriel Da Costa's Exampleofa HumanLifeandhis condemnedExamedas tradi 6es Phariseas conferidascom a lei escrita,recentlyrediscovered,translated,andeditedby H. P. Salomon.

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Fishmanremindsus on several occasions that the entirepoint of Kol Sahal as well as the life and thoughtof Leon Modenaand their place in seventeenth-century thoughtis missedby comparingthem,as is so oftendone, with developmentsin the nineteenthcentury,often characterizingModena as the first modem rabbi,or as I myself have suggestedin protest,the last medievalrabbi.If, instead,we follow TalyaFishman'scarefulprogramfor readingModena,we may be able to concludethatLeon Modenawas in fact the firstpostmodernrabbi. HowardTzviAdelman MofetInstitute andAchvaCollege BeerTuvia,Israel FrancesMalino.AJew in theFrenchRevolution:TheLifeofZalkindHourwitz, Cambridge,Mass.:Blackwell, 1996. xx, 281 pp. FrancesMalino,who has previouslywrittenaboutthe Jews of Bordeaux, has founda fascinatingindividual,ZalkindHourwitz,throughwhose life and lettersshe examinesthe conditionof an ordinaryeasternJew living at the dawnof Jewishemancipation. Hourwitz,a Pole fromLublin,seems to have left all tracesof kin behind to settle in the quartierSaint-Martinof Paris in 1774, where he remained untilhe died in 1812. He threwhimselfintotheintellectualdebateabouttheconditionandfuture of the Jews of Francewhen the Academyof Metz in Lorrainesponsored a contest in 1785 on the question:"Are there means of renderingJews happierand more useful in France?"The threewinnerswere announcedin 1788. Hourwitz'sApologie des Juifs (1789) sharedfirst prize with Claude Antoine Thieryand the abbe Henri Gr6goire.The latter'ssubmissionwas entitledEssay on the Physical, Moral, and Political Regenerationof the Jews (1789). Hourwitzeschewed Gr6goire'sapproach,the title of which he found degradingto Jews. While fully awareof Voltaireand Rousseau's antisemitism,he preferredthe enemyof his enemy(respectivelyVoltaireand Christianity)to Gr6goire'sovert conversionism.But seculartolerancewas not all Hourwitzwanted.His Apologie sought acceptanceof Jews as fully equalcitizensof Franceon no otherbasis thancommonhumanity. While never elected to office, Hourwitzwas an effective autodidact, author,and correspondentwho lived throughthe exciting years of the

Review: [untitled] Author(s): Emmet Kennedy Source: AJS Review, Vol. 24, No. 2 (1999), pp. 401-403 Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Association for Jewish Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1486773 . Accessed: 15/07/2011 11:31 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at . http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=cup. . Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].



REVIEWS BOOK

401

Fishmanremindsus on several occasions that the entirepoint of Kol Sahal as well as the life and thoughtof Leon Modenaand their place in seventeenth-century thoughtis missedby comparingthem,as is so oftendone, with developmentsin the nineteenthcentury,often characterizingModena as the first modem rabbi,or as I myself have suggestedin protest,the last medievalrabbi.If, instead,we follow TalyaFishman'scarefulprogramfor readingModena,we may be able to concludethatLeon Modenawas in fact the firstpostmodernrabbi. HowardTzviAdelman MofetInstitute andAchvaCollege BeerTuvia,Israel FrancesMalino.AJew in theFrenchRevolution:TheLifeofZalkindHourwitz, Cambridge,Mass.:Blackwell, 1996. xx, 281 pp. FrancesMalino,who has previouslywrittenaboutthe Jews of Bordeaux, has founda fascinatingindividual,ZalkindHourwitz,throughwhose life and lettersshe examinesthe conditionof an ordinaryeasternJew living at the dawnof Jewishemancipation. Hourwitz,a Pole fromLublin,seems to have left all tracesof kin behind to settle in the quartierSaint-Martinof Paris in 1774, where he remained untilhe died in 1812. He threwhimselfintotheintellectualdebateabouttheconditionandfuture of the Jews of Francewhen the Academyof Metz in Lorrainesponsored a contest in 1785 on the question:"Are there means of renderingJews happierand more useful in France?"The threewinnerswere announcedin 1788. Hourwitz'sApologie des Juifs (1789) sharedfirst prize with Claude Antoine Thieryand the abbe Henri Gr6goire.The latter'ssubmissionwas entitledEssay on the Physical, Moral, and Political Regenerationof the Jews (1789). Hourwitzeschewed Gr6goire'sapproach,the title of which he found degradingto Jews. While fully awareof Voltaireand Rousseau's antisemitism,he preferredthe enemyof his enemy(respectivelyVoltaireand Christianity)to Gr6goire'sovert conversionism.But seculartolerancewas not all Hourwitzwanted.His Apologie sought acceptanceof Jews as fully equalcitizensof Franceon no otherbasis thancommonhumanity. While never elected to office, Hourwitzwas an effective autodidact, author,and correspondentwho lived throughthe exciting years of the

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ConstituentAssemblyto see, Bordeaux'sPortugueseJews given civic rights in 1789, and then the much greaterlandmarkof 1791, when all Jews, the vast majorityof them from easternFrance,were given full civic equality. This meantthe abolitionof numerousthings Hourwitzhad deploredin his Apologie, such as propertyand residentialrestrictionsas well as exclusion frommanyprofessions. Reubell, Emancipationwas opposedby the futuredirectorJean-Frangois for whom the indebtednessof the Alsatianpeasantryto Jewishcreditorswas an insuperableobstacle.But it was ardentlysupportedby anotherAlsatian legislatorandeditor,Pierre-LouisRoederer,who withGr6goireandMirabeau carriedthe day. Hourwitzwas notgrantedpoliticalcitizenshipuntil1800,ironicallyby the Napoleonicgovernmentthatput an end to manyof the libertiesfor whichhe hadfought.It was the informalcitizenshipin theRepublicof Letters,however, to which he aspired.He knew most of those who concernedthemselves with the Jewish question,includingGuillaume-Chr6tien de Lamoignonde Malesherbes,the formercensor of Louis XV and ministerand defenderof Louis XVI. That Hourwitz,who had no family and no initial connections, who lived in a garreton the rue Saint-Denisand stereotypicallysold used clothesto makea living whenhe was not employedas a Hebrewspecialistat theBibliothbqueNationale,couldgainentryto suchrespectablecirclesshows the social fluidityof the revolutionarydecadeas well as the gritof Malino's protagonist.It is also a tributeto the powerof theacademiesin the eighteenth century.Having received certainrecognitionfrom that of Metz, Hourwitz went on in the Directoryto compete in an essay contest on a universal languageorganizedby the newly createdInstitutNationaland chairedby Destuttde Tracy.Hourwitzhadtaughthimselfquitea few languages,andhe devisedan elaborateforerunnerof Esperantobasedon a Latinkey. This led to the publicationof threeworks:the Polygraphieof 1801, the Lacographie ou Ecriturelaconiqueof 1811andthe Originedes langues(n.d.).The search for a universallanguagewas a pairto the searchfor a universalcitizenship AnacharsisCloots,styledhimself"the (Hourwitz'sfriend,the Prussian-born oratorof the humanrace,"andCharlesDupuiswrotea multivolumeOrigine de tous les cultes in 1795). Universalitywas the inseparablecompanionof fraternityand equality. Napoleonrestoredslaveryin 1804, and in 1807 he summonedthe Great Sanhedrin,which imposed"particular economic,geographical,and military restrictions"for all FrenchJews exceptthe portugais(p. 185).No Jew could

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settle in Alsace at all, nor in any otherdepartmentwithouta ruralproperty, and conscriptswere obliged to do personalservice.In spite of whatMalino calls the reappearance of the discourseof the Old Regime,it was hopedthat full assimilationwould be achievedin ten years.Whetherthis would mean more mixed marriagesor more Jewishcohesivenesswas unclear.For Jews the questionwas how to remainJewish while enjoyingthe "rightsof man and the citizen."Marx, in On the Jewish Question(1843), would say that this was an impossibleagenda.But Thieryasked:"Wouldthe Jewsbe ableto ruleus?"(p. 53). Whilehe thoughtnot, the questionseems anachronistically prescient. Malino has written a very easy-handed,graceful, and perceptiveaccount-neither hagiographynorpedestrianbiography.Herresearchin archival andprintedmaterialsseems thoroughand fruitful.The only gap seems to be the voluminouscorrespondence of HenriGr6goirehousedat the Biblioth que de PortRoyal, which may keep moresecrets. EmmetKennedy GeorgeWashington University D.C. Washington, Allan Nadler.TheFaith of the Mithnagdim:RabbinicResponsesto Hasidic Rapture.Baltimore:JohnHopkinsUniversityPress, 1997. 254 pp. Those interestedin LithuanianJewish cultureowe a debt of gratitude to Allen Nadler, who opens up his fine study on the Lithuanianrabbinic elite, the Mithnagdim,by noting the lack of prior scholarshipon their theologyandthe crucialneed for such studies.He focuseson R. Phinehasof Lithuanianpreacher,who traveledwidely Polotsk,a late-eighteenth-century in BelorussiafightingHasidism.R. Phinehashada close associationwith the Vilna Gaon for many years and was chosen for the study because"he was not an exceptionallyoriginalor innovativethinker.In Phinehas'swritingswe have the ratherprosaicreflectionsof an ordinaryrabbiandpopularpreacher of the day"(p. 10). The book focuses on R. Phinehas'spolemicalworks,and reflects the options that the preachingof the Mithnagdimheld out for the masses. Chapter1 discussesthe VilnaGaon'sobjectionsto the Hasidicdoctrineof God'simmanencein physicalobjects.Accordingto the GRA,one cannotdiscuss theologicalpositionsfromGod'sperspective,andthereforediscussions

Review: [untitled] Author(s): Alan Brill Source: AJS Review, Vol. 24, No. 2 (1999), pp. 403-406 Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Association for Jewish Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1486774 . Accessed: 15/07/2011 11:31 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at . http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=cup. . Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].



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settle in Alsace at all, nor in any otherdepartmentwithouta ruralproperty, and conscriptswere obliged to do personalservice.In spite of whatMalino calls the reappearance of the discourseof the Old Regime,it was hopedthat full assimilationwould be achievedin ten years.Whetherthis would mean more mixed marriagesor more Jewishcohesivenesswas unclear.For Jews the questionwas how to remainJewish while enjoyingthe "rightsof man and the citizen."Marx, in On the Jewish Question(1843), would say that this was an impossibleagenda.But Thieryasked:"Wouldthe Jewsbe ableto ruleus?"(p. 53). Whilehe thoughtnot, the questionseems anachronistically prescient. Malino has written a very easy-handed,graceful, and perceptiveaccount-neither hagiographynorpedestrianbiography.Herresearchin archival andprintedmaterialsseems thoroughand fruitful.The only gap seems to be the voluminouscorrespondence of HenriGr6goirehousedat the Biblioth que de PortRoyal, which may keep moresecrets. EmmetKennedy GeorgeWashington University D.C. Washington, Allan Nadler.TheFaith of the Mithnagdim:RabbinicResponsesto Hasidic Rapture.Baltimore:JohnHopkinsUniversityPress, 1997. 254 pp. Those interestedin LithuanianJewish cultureowe a debt of gratitude to Allen Nadler, who opens up his fine study on the Lithuanianrabbinic elite, the Mithnagdim,by noting the lack of prior scholarshipon their theologyandthe crucialneed for such studies.He focuseson R. Phinehasof Lithuanianpreacher,who traveledwidely Polotsk,a late-eighteenth-century in BelorussiafightingHasidism.R. Phinehashada close associationwith the Vilna Gaon for many years and was chosen for the study because"he was not an exceptionallyoriginalor innovativethinker.In Phinehas'swritingswe have the ratherprosaicreflectionsof an ordinaryrabbiandpopularpreacher of the day"(p. 10). The book focuses on R. Phinehas'spolemicalworks,and reflects the options that the preachingof the Mithnagdimheld out for the masses. Chapter1 discussesthe VilnaGaon'sobjectionsto the Hasidicdoctrineof God'simmanencein physicalobjects.Accordingto the GRA,one cannotdiscuss theologicalpositionsfromGod'sperspective,andthereforediscussions

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of God'sultimateunitytranscendthe limitsof humanunderstanding. Nadler refutesthe commonmistakennotionthatthese epistemologicallimits imply that Mithnagdimenvisioneda distanttranscendentdeity, divestedreligion of its experientialelements,or were opposedto Kabbalah.The Vilna Gaon was a mysticalkabbalistwho discussedmysticalascents,illuminations,and manyparanormalreligiousexperiences.However,he limitedthese supernal flights to the elite. Nadler considersR. Phinehasof Polotsk to have been the embodimentof this Mithnagedtheology, which maintaineda socially conservativeand pessimistic doctrinetowardthe ability of the masses to achieve certaintypes of religious experiencessafely. The second chapter continuesthis expositionby showing the oppositionof the Mithnagdimto popularizingKabbalahand teachingit to the vulgar masses. In achieving kabbalisticexperiences,R. Phinehasarticulateda worldviewthat limited cleaving to God to a post-mortembeatitude.In contrast,Nadlerfinds the Hasidimto have been optimisticaboutthe inherentgodlinessof the material universe. The third chapterpresentsthe Hasidic valuationof prayerover studyandthe Hasidicquestforecstaticprayer,as comparedto the Mithnagdic limitationof the popularprayerof the masses to a simple recitationof the wordsof the petitionaryprayer. Chapters4 and 5, togetherwith Phinehas'sdeath poem, translatedin an appendix,containthe most originalparts of the Mithnagedworldview and of Nadler's work, the ascetic focus on death. The Vilna Gaon, as mentionedabove, opposedall formsof physicalenjoyment,familylife, and otherdistractionsfromlearningTorah.Therenownedpuritanismof the Gaon inspiredthe Mithnagdimto take literallythe rabbinicexhortationto live on breadandwater,andto regardany desirefor this-worldlypleasuresas sinful. Accordingly,R. Phinehas,as a follower of the Gaon, preacheda dualistic asceticismbased on tight controlof one's actionsand avoidanceof physical pleasure,althoughhe censuredmortificationof the flesh. Accordingto Phinehas,who here calls for an attitudesimilar to the contemplationof deathamongthe Puritansor in Enlightenment thought,one should contemplateone's futuredeath,and throughit see the vanityof life. Thephysicalworldcan leadonly to shameanddegradation,andthis-worldly life gives no cause for anythingbut pessimism.Deathoffersthe only means of salvation,providedthatone has prepared,while still alive, to meet one's maker.The wickedignoretheirdeathsandarecaughtin the snaresof human arroganceand egotisticalimpudence.This partof the book deservesfurther asceticismandthe studyto delineatethedifferencesbetweentheother-worldly

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kabbalists deathbedritualsfoundin the seventeenth-and eighteenth-century andthe role of deathamongMithnagedthinkers. Nadlerpointsout the optimismof the VilnaGaon'sunflinchingbelief in the beatitudeavailablein the world-to-come,and his pessimismregarding those who did not observethe Torahand faced the horrorsof reincarnation. However,the book'smethodof firstpresentingthe VilnaGaonon a topicand thenpresentingR. Phinehasleadsto a blurringof thelinesbetweenthebeatific optimismof the formerandthe populistpessimismof the latter.Oneexample is sufficient;a quotationcited from the GRA, "'Verygood'---thisrefersto death"(p. 115),is usedto comparethe Gaonto Phinehason the importanceof contemplatingdeath,yet in theoriginalthepassagecontinues,"ofthephysical to allow spirituallife."The Gaondid not shareR. Phinehas'sfocus on death; physicalasceticismwas sufficientto permitintellectualcontemplation.The book does not distinguishclearlywhatEtkestermedthe lamdan-hasid--the followerof the VilnaGaon'selite pathof mysticalilluminationand beatific optimism--fromthe adherentof the generallyacceptedpessimisticideology. Chapters6 and7 dealwith the educationalphilosophyof the Mithnagdim andthe role of Torahstudyin theircurriculum.R. Phinehasis shownto have anticipatedall of R. Hayyimof Volozhin'scriticismsof Hasidismby decades and to have createdan ideology that supportedthe aristocraticassumptions of the rabbinicleadershipbeforethe onslaughtof the masses.Nadlerportrays the exclusive study of Talmudas restrictivecomparedto the optimismand expansivenessof Hasidismand Haskalah.He considersthe greatnessand powerascribedto Torahstudyby the Mithnagdimto havebeen "adistinctive effetenessand an intellectualsnobbery"(p. 164). Similarly,theirinterestin medievalrationalism,rejectionof supernatural faith,andeducationalreform, which prior scholarshipwanted to make into a form of proto-Haskalah, are deemedrestrictivecomparedto the sense of autonomyand this-worldly SincetheGaonwasclearlynotproto-Haskalah, progressof theEnlightenment. the comparisonof R. Phinehasto theautonomousreasonof theEnlightenment is unfair.Comparisonsto othermodernreligious-education movementswith a conservativeagenda,like the Jesuits,wouldhavebeen moreproductive. Mithnagdutas an ideology existed because of the strong determining influenceof the Vilna Gaon and the subsequentinternalstrugglesfor selfunderstandingamong adherentsof this position.Nadler'sstudy remindsus thateven socially conservativemovementsare subjectto theirown internal dynamics and ideological struggles.Lithuaniansobrietywas not solely a reactionarymovementbefore the rise of Hasidimor the Haskalah.Today,

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two centuriesafterthe Gaon'sdeath,the termMithnagedhas lost its original meaningand is used to describethose inclined to choose rationalismand studyoverprayer,ritual,Kabbalah,orreligiousexperience.Nevertheless,one still sometimesencountersa conservativesocial theorythatreservesmany aspectsof Judaismfor a rabbinicelite, recallingthe originalMithnagdimand theirBurkeanrhetoricagainstthe populace. Some readersof Nadler'sbook will find thatthe lack of a biographical sketchand a clearpresentationof the contextof R. Phinehas'sworkmakeit his importance.Also,whendiscussingsocialhistory,the difficultto understand workoccasionallydoesnotdifferentiate betweeneighteenth-,nineteenth-,and positions.Thesecaveatsaside,Nadlerhas employed earlytwentieth-century bothcriticalacumenandwide eruditionto producean importantworkon the theologyof the Mithnagdim. AlanBrill YeshivaUniversity NewYork,N.Y. SusannahHeschel.AbrahamGeigerand the JewishJesus. ChicagoStudies in the Historyof Judaism.Chicago:Universityof ChicagoPress, 1997. xii, 315 pp. SusannahHeschel performsfive importanttasks in this excellentbook. First, she demonstratesthe unity of AbrahamGeiger's scholarshipand its integralrelationshipto his advocacy.From his early (1833) Washat Mohammedaus dem Judenthumaufgenommen("WhatDid Mohammed Acquire from Judaism?")throughhis Urschriftund Uebersetzungender Bibel ("OriginalTextandTranslationsof the Bible")andhis Das Judenthum und seine Geschichte("Judaismand Its History")to his later,increasingly angryrepliesto scholarlyChristianattacks,Geigerportraysboth Islam and Christianityas derivativesof a vital, self-criticalrabbinicJudaismin Second Templetimes. This portrayal-Heschelcalls it a "construction"--ofthe past meantthatJudaism,not Christianity, was reallytheuniversalistreligionof the West.This, in turn,meantthatReformJudaismwas continuouswith liberal, SecondTemplePharisaism,whereasrigid Jewishorthodoxywas actuallya morerecentresponseto Christianoppression.So, ReformJudaismwas not a mereinnovation,andreallyliberalChristiansshouldbecomeReformJews. Second, Heschel narratesand analyzes Geiger's success, and failure,

Review: [untitled] Author(s): Robert Southard Source: AJS Review, Vol. 24, No. 2 (1999), pp. 406-408 Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Association for Jewish Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1486775 . Accessed: 15/07/2011 11:31 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at . http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=cup. . Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].



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two centuriesafterthe Gaon'sdeath,the termMithnagedhas lost its original meaningand is used to describethose inclined to choose rationalismand studyoverprayer,ritual,Kabbalah,orreligiousexperience.Nevertheless,one still sometimesencountersa conservativesocial theorythatreservesmany aspectsof Judaismfor a rabbinicelite, recallingthe originalMithnagdimand theirBurkeanrhetoricagainstthe populace. Some readersof Nadler'sbook will find thatthe lack of a biographical sketchand a clearpresentationof the contextof R. Phinehas'sworkmakeit his importance.Also,whendiscussingsocialhistory,the difficultto understand workoccasionallydoesnotdifferentiate betweeneighteenth-,nineteenth-,and positions.Thesecaveatsaside,Nadlerhas employed earlytwentieth-century bothcriticalacumenandwide eruditionto producean importantworkon the theologyof the Mithnagdim. AlanBrill YeshivaUniversity NewYork,N.Y. SusannahHeschel.AbrahamGeigerand the JewishJesus. ChicagoStudies in the Historyof Judaism.Chicago:Universityof ChicagoPress, 1997. xii, 315 pp. SusannahHeschel performsfive importanttasks in this excellentbook. First, she demonstratesthe unity of AbrahamGeiger's scholarshipand its integralrelationshipto his advocacy.From his early (1833) Washat Mohammedaus dem Judenthumaufgenommen("WhatDid Mohammed Acquire from Judaism?")throughhis Urschriftund Uebersetzungender Bibel ("OriginalTextandTranslationsof the Bible")andhis Das Judenthum und seine Geschichte("Judaismand Its History")to his later,increasingly angryrepliesto scholarlyChristianattacks,Geigerportraysboth Islam and Christianityas derivativesof a vital, self-criticalrabbinicJudaismin Second Templetimes. This portrayal-Heschelcalls it a "construction"--ofthe past meantthatJudaism,not Christianity, was reallytheuniversalistreligionof the West.This, in turn,meantthatReformJudaismwas continuouswith liberal, SecondTemplePharisaism,whereasrigid Jewishorthodoxywas actuallya morerecentresponseto Christianoppression.So, ReformJudaismwas not a mereinnovation,andreallyliberalChristiansshouldbecomeReformJews. Second, Heschel narratesand analyzes Geiger's success, and failure,

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in reachingand persuadingliberalProtestantscholarsin Germany.Geiger received frequentacknowledgmentsin their notes, but he did not affect their essentiallyahistoricalportrayalof Jesus' religiosityand of theirantijudaic understandingof the Pharisaismthat, so Geigerbelieved, Jesus had practiced.They insultinglyrefused to open their scholarlyjournalsto his writings.(LiberalProtestantresponsesareat issue becauseCatholicreligious scholarshipwas not yet historical,and Protestantconservativesdismissed Geiger'sworkout of hand.) Heschel's thirdachievementis her descriptionand contextualizationof liberalProtestantchristologyin her seventhchapter,"Fixingthe Theological Gaze." There she traces liberal Protestanttreatmentof Geiger's leading ideas and, in so doing, gives a clear and economicalhistoryof nineteenthGermanconstructionsof SecondTempleJudaismand andtwentieth-century to the idea of a JewishJesus.Heschelacknowledgeshavingdone responses extensivework in the relevantholdingsof the Union TheologicalLibraryin New York.She put her time thereto very good use. Heschel's book would be valuableif she had done nothingmore than these three things, for she has carriedfurtherthe work of the scholarsshe MichaelMeyerandthelateUrielTal-in acknowledgesattheoutset---notably this indispensable,contextualizedstudyof a centralfigureof the Wissenschaft des Judenthumsmovement.But Hescheldoes more. She usefullyapplesthe lateAdamFunkenstein'sconceptof 'counterhistory to analyzeGeiger'swork. Christianscholars,she argues,had alreadyconstructeda counterhistoryof the Jewish past, and Geiger defended his people with a "counterhistory of Christiancounterhistory." He could do this because he, not they, knew rabbinicsources.It follows thatwhen Christianscholarsignoredhis findings, they movedbeyond"involuntaryignorance"to a "deliberateeffortto present a falserecordas the truth"(pp. 13-14). Geiger'sscholarlycase, therefore,was deliberatelyradicalas a counterto Christian(and Islamic)supersessionism. This offeredto "colonized"Jews a chanceto reacquirea history.Heschel's showing, therefore,increasesour understandingof the scholarlybases of Germanjudeophobia. Fifth,andfinally,Heschel'sinterpretivemodeis contextualistintellectual elements. For example, she usefully history with franklypoststructuralist applies Foucaulton authorship,and her languagecontinuallyremindsus that Geiger and his adversarieshad to "negotiate"and "construct."These unquestionablyare the best terms to characterizethe process she studies. Thereis more.Heschelbeginsherbookwith a discussionof the furorcaused

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in 1856by the displayof Manet'sOlympia,in whichthe nude"staredstraight out at herviewer"in a mannerthatseemed"insolentanduncivilized"(p. 1). The metaphorseems apt, and Heschelreturnsto it in both her final chapter andher conclusion.Thus,Geigerfixed his gaze at Christianscholars,though he eitherdidnot catchtheireyes or offendedthem.At the endof herbook,we learn:"Thereis a metaphoricarchitectureto the femalebody thatconstructs both genders,and thereis a metaphoricarchitectureto Judaismin Christian theologicalwritingsthat constructsboth religions;both the female and the Jewishbecome the sites for productionof the uncanny"(p. 241). Geiger,of course,revealinglychallengedandshockedChristianreadersinjust the same way that Manet'snude shockedvisitorsto the 1856 WorldExhibition.The effect, as Heschel's final sentenceargues,was that "the Jewish scholar,in narratingthe Jesus story,becomesthe hero,capturingthe powerof the story and attemptingthe same destabilizationof ChristianitythatChristianshave attemptedof Judaism"(p. 242). Heschel's book is an importantcontributionto the history of Jewish studies and to the understandingof Christianscholars'sense of Judaism. It is also enjoyableto read. The book's two weaknessesare instancesof of importantideas alreadypresentin it. First,I wantedto underdevelopment know more aboutwhat otherJewish scholars,apartfrom HeinrichGraetz, thoughtaboutGeiger'sworkandaboutChristianresponsesandnonresponses to it. Heschelgives some instances,butlittlesenseof how like-mindedJewish scholarsthoughtabouthis efforts.Perhapsthis discussionwouldhavemadeHeschel'sworktoo lengthy. Second,in her closing, gendereddiscussion,Hescheladducesthe conceptof cross-dressingin literarytheoristsEve Sedgewickand MarjorieGarberto situateJesus liminallybetween Judaismand Christianity.The idea is both naughtyand plausible.I only wish Heschel had introducedit earlierin her discussionandused it to studycases of responsesto Geiger'sideas. RobertSouthard Earham College Ind. Richmond,

RaphaelPatai. Jadtd al-Islam: The Jewish "NewMuslims"of Meshhed. Detroit:WayneStateUniversityPress, 1997. 325 pp.

Review: [untitled] Author(s): Vera B. Moreen Source: AJS Review, Vol. 24, No. 2 (1999), pp. 408-411 Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Association for Jewish Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1486776 . Accessed: 15/07/2011 11:31 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at . http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=cup. . Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].



BOOKREVIEWS

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in 1856by the displayof Manet'sOlympia,in whichthe nude"staredstraight out at herviewer"in a mannerthatseemed"insolentanduncivilized"(p. 1). The metaphorseems apt, and Heschelreturnsto it in both her final chapter andher conclusion.Thus,Geigerfixed his gaze at Christianscholars,though he eitherdidnot catchtheireyes or offendedthem.At the endof herbook,we learn:"Thereis a metaphoricarchitectureto the femalebody thatconstructs both genders,and thereis a metaphoricarchitectureto Judaismin Christian theologicalwritingsthat constructsboth religions;both the female and the Jewishbecome the sites for productionof the uncanny"(p. 241). Geiger,of course,revealinglychallengedandshockedChristianreadersinjust the same way that Manet'snude shockedvisitorsto the 1856 WorldExhibition.The effect, as Heschel's final sentenceargues,was that "the Jewish scholar,in narratingthe Jesus story,becomesthe hero,capturingthe powerof the story and attemptingthe same destabilizationof ChristianitythatChristianshave attemptedof Judaism"(p. 242). Heschel's book is an importantcontributionto the history of Jewish studies and to the understandingof Christianscholars'sense of Judaism. It is also enjoyableto read. The book's two weaknessesare instancesof of importantideas alreadypresentin it. First,I wantedto underdevelopment know more aboutwhat otherJewish scholars,apartfrom HeinrichGraetz, thoughtaboutGeiger'sworkandaboutChristianresponsesandnonresponses to it. Heschelgives some instances,butlittlesenseof how like-mindedJewish scholarsthoughtabouthis efforts.Perhapsthis discussionwouldhavemadeHeschel'sworktoo lengthy. Second,in her closing, gendereddiscussion,Hescheladducesthe conceptof cross-dressingin literarytheoristsEve Sedgewickand MarjorieGarberto situateJesus liminallybetween Judaismand Christianity.The idea is both naughtyand plausible.I only wish Heschel had introducedit earlierin her discussionandused it to studycases of responsesto Geiger'sideas. RobertSouthard Earham College Ind. Richmond,

RaphaelPatai. Jadtd al-Islam: The Jewish "NewMuslims"of Meshhed. Detroit:WayneStateUniversityPress, 1997. 325 pp.

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Now thatRaphaelPataiz"l is no longeramongus, we canbeginto assess his broadandvariedscholarlylegacy.Runningthroughit all was his profound devotionto numerousdisciplinesthat would help explicateand enrichour understandingof the Jewishexperiencein both its historicaland its cultural framework.FromPatai'spen came books on mythology,folklore,alchemy, the Bible, history,biography,and autobiography, to mentiononly the most Patai's and importantgenres. productivelife, straddlingthe twentieth long century,testifies to a mentality,ability,and staminasharedby only a few greatscholarsin this century,individualswho, like Patai,felt littlehampered by narrowconcepts of specializationand followed their interestswherever they led them,and who achievedenviableresultsin manyareas. Jadtd al-Islam (Arabicfor "New Muslims")may well be the last book to reachus from RaphaelPatai,but one cannotbe certainthat this prolific and versatilescholardid not have othersurprisesin press at the time of his death. Seeminglya new book, some of the materialin Jadid al-Islam(i.e., chaps. 24 and 25) is based on earlierresearchpublishedin Hebrewin the late 1940s and the 1950s. An Englishtranslationof these chapters,as well as chapters13, 14, and 17 of the presentbook, was publishedearlieras Part III of On JewishFolklore(Detroit,1983).Nevertheless,the republicationof all these materialshere, in a muchbetterarticulatedhistoricalcontext,is not superfluous,becausethe events and customsthey describeare farfromwell knownin the Jewishworld in generaland in the worldof Jewishlearningin particular. Jadid al-Islam is a volume in the Jewish Folkloreand Anthropology Series,a series devotedto subjectsdearto Patai'sheart,with whose genesis he was probablyinvolvedpersonally,andto whichhe contributedfourother Thislatestbookby Pataiis devoted significantvolumes(two as collaborator). to the studyof the Jewishcommunityof Mashhad,Iran(spelled"Meshhed," colloquially,throughthe book and in its title). Forcedto convertto the Shi'i form of Islam in 1839, the membersof the Jewishcommunityof Mashhad succeededin preservingtheirJewishidentityclandestinelywhile living their outwardlives as Shi'i Muslims.In timebothJewsandMuslimscameto refer to the conversionsas Allahdad,which can meanboth"Godgave"andGod's justice,"a termmost likely coinedby Muslims.Unliketwo earlierperiodsof forcedconversionsenduredby IranianJews, which were shorterin duration (seven yearsand seven months,respectively),'the Jews of Mashhadlived as anusim("forcedconverts")for almosta centuryand developeda distinctive 1. Vera B. Moreen, Iranian Jewry Hour of Peril and Heroism: A Study ofBdbafilbn Luffs' s

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religiousculture.They bore Muslimnamesand celebratedMuslimholidays and customs,yet the Jews of Mashhadneverthelesspreservedalmostintact, perhapsmoreso thanany otherJewishdiasporacommunityin similarstraits, their communalidentity.While deflectingMuslimvigilance, these anusim went to great lengths to foster and nurturetheir adherencenot only to the fundamentaltenets,but also, andto a largeextent,to the halakhicminutiae, of Judaism.The survivalof the communitywas undoubtedlyhelpedby the fact that its duplicitousreligious charactercame to be toleratedand even accepted,afterthe firstgenerationor so, by the Muslimsamongwhom they lived. Jadtd al-Islam is based on oral testimonycollected in the mid-1940s from MashhadJews who had relocatedto Israel in the earlierpart of this Nasrullayoff,the headof theJewishcommunityof century,notablyFarajullah Mashhadin Jerusalem,his son Yohanan,who translatedhis father'snarratives intoHebrewforPatai,andothermembersof theirextendedfamilyandfriends. Hereinlies both the strengthand the weaknessof Patai'sbook. On the one hand, like a first-rateanthropologist,Pataicollectedauthenticnarrativesas best as he could. However,he did so withoutknowingthe languageof his interlocutors(Farsi),solely throughthe mediumof translation.Throughthese prismsit wouldhavebeen difficult,if not impossible,to makecertainthatthe detailsand/orembellishmentsof the narrativeswere entirelyreliable.On the otherhand,we haveno reasonto doubtthebroadoutlinesandmajordetailsof the narrativesPataicollected.Fullyawareof the pitfallsof his methodology, Pataimadecommendableeffortsto double-checkthenarratives,especiallythe information Allahdad,by collectinga considerableamountof corroborating from non-Jewishsources, such as Russian and British travelers,and the Jewish apostateJosephWolff (pp. 32 ff.). Understandably, given that Patai was not a specialistin Islamic studies,he did not investigatelocal Muslim chroniclesor fatwas that might have mentionedthe events he describes. This remainsan importantmissing dimensionfor a criticalappraisalof the Allahdad. The firstpartof Patai'swork also sheds some light on the phenomenon of Jewish attractionto Sufism(chap. 3) and Baha'ism(chap. 6), important historicaland culturalphenomenathatJewishand Muslimscholarscontinue to neglect.The secondandthirdpartsofJadtd al-Islamarea treasure-trove of Chronicle(1617-1662) (New York,1986);idem,IranianJewryDuringtheAfghanInvasion: IbnFarhad(1721-1731) (Stuttgart,1990). TheKitab-iSar Guzasht-iKashanofBabdaf

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onJewishanusicustomsinMashhad: information life-cycleevents,folktales, secretschools,religiouscustoms,andso forth,all of whichtestifyto the of theJewsof Mashhad to preserve theirJewishfaith. determination InJadidal-Islam,RaphaelPataionceagainmadea seriouscontribution to a neglectedfield in Jewishstudy,namelythe studyof IranianJewryin of Mashhad in particular. Heprovided generalandof theJewishcommunity us withvaluablebuildingblocks,which,butforhim,wouldhaveremained materialsfor the uncollected.Patai'sworkhas thus providedimportant of the experiences andevaluation of an important historicalreconstruction Iranian Jewishcommunity. VeraB. Moreen Swarthmore College Pa. Swarthmore, JoshuaEli Plaut.GreekJewryin the TwentiethCentury,1913-1983:Patterns of Jewish Survivalin the GreekProvincesBeforeand Afterthe Holocaust. Madison,N.J.:FairleighDickinsonUniversityPress, 1996.220 pp. At the time thatthe authorembarkedon his researchinto Jewishlife in modemGreecein the late 1970s andearly 1980s,his subjectwas an unusual one. It remainsmarginalto scholarsof both Jewish and Greek subjects, thoughby no meansas marginalas it was then.Todaythis book can be read in the companyof a largenumberof recentpublications,and in the light of ongoingresearch,on variousaspectsof GreekJewry. The book itself is hardto categorizeand harderto judge. It combinesa mixtureof modem history,ethnography,and sociology and containsa large amountof new and interestinginformation.Particularlyvaluable are the passagesconcerningthe rehabilitationof Jewishlife afterthe SecondWorld War,anddetailsof theroleplayedby nationalandinternational agenciesin this process.The author'swork in the AmericanJointDistributionCommittee's archiveshas allowed much new materialto emerge,especiallyon the issue of propertydisputesandmanagement. The struggleto resuscitateand maintainJewishprovinciallife afterthe Holocaustformsthe centralthemeof the book. I have to confess thatit was not clearto me why the authorchose to focus on provincialGreekJewry,as thereis little mysteryaboutthe basic cause of its decline.The ravagesof the Holocaust,combinedwith migrationeitherto Athensor out of the country

Review: [untitled] Author(s): Mark Mazower Source: AJS Review, Vol. 24, No. 2 (1999), pp. 411-412 Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Association for Jewish Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1486777 . Accessed: 15/07/2011 11:32 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at . http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=cup. . Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].



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onJewishanusicustomsinMashhad: information life-cycleevents,folktales, secretschools,religiouscustoms,andso forth,all of whichtestifyto the of theJewsof Mashhad to preserve theirJewishfaith. determination InJadidal-Islam,RaphaelPataionceagainmadea seriouscontribution to a neglectedfield in Jewishstudy,namelythe studyof IranianJewryin of Mashhad in particular. Heprovided generalandof theJewishcommunity us withvaluablebuildingblocks,which,butforhim,wouldhaveremained materialsfor the uncollected.Patai'sworkhas thus providedimportant of the experiences andevaluation of an important historicalreconstruction Iranian Jewishcommunity. VeraB. Moreen Swarthmore College Pa. Swarthmore, JoshuaEli Plaut.GreekJewryin the TwentiethCentury,1913-1983:Patterns of Jewish Survivalin the GreekProvincesBeforeand Afterthe Holocaust. Madison,N.J.:FairleighDickinsonUniversityPress, 1996.220 pp. At the time thatthe authorembarkedon his researchinto Jewishlife in modemGreecein the late 1970s andearly 1980s,his subjectwas an unusual one. It remainsmarginalto scholarsof both Jewish and Greek subjects, thoughby no meansas marginalas it was then.Todaythis book can be read in the companyof a largenumberof recentpublications,and in the light of ongoingresearch,on variousaspectsof GreekJewry. The book itself is hardto categorizeand harderto judge. It combinesa mixtureof modem history,ethnography,and sociology and containsa large amountof new and interestinginformation.Particularlyvaluable are the passagesconcerningthe rehabilitationof Jewishlife afterthe SecondWorld War,anddetailsof theroleplayedby nationalandinternational agenciesin this process.The author'swork in the AmericanJointDistributionCommittee's archiveshas allowed much new materialto emerge,especiallyon the issue of propertydisputesandmanagement. The struggleto resuscitateand maintainJewishprovinciallife afterthe Holocaustformsthe centralthemeof the book. I have to confess thatit was not clearto me why the authorchose to focus on provincialGreekJewry,as thereis little mysteryaboutthe basic cause of its decline.The ravagesof the Holocaust,combinedwith migrationeitherto Athensor out of the country

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altogether,providethe obviousexplanationforwhy Jewishcommunitieshave diedout in placeslike Verroia,Xanthi,andDidymotikon.Thisis anotherway of sayingthatthe declinecan be easily explainedwithoutappealingto Greek antisemitismor statehostility.The latterexist, to be sure,butprobablywere of little relevancein this case. In general,the authormanifestsa very shakygraspof the Greekcontext. He exaggeratesthe importanceof Jewsin Greeklife before 1940,andmakes a worryingnumberof howlers:Englanddid not cede controlover the Ionian islandsin 1858 (p. 23), and Greecedid not annexCorfuin thatyear(p. 27); Metaxaswas not appointedprimeministerin August1936butseveralmonths earlier(p. 52), and so on. The situationof Jews in early twentieth-century Greecewas more complex thanthe authorsuggests;it shouldnot be made partof a storyof post-Ottomancatastrophewhich sees the emergenceof the Greeknation-stateandthe 1917firein Salonikaas partof a downwardslideto catastrophe culminatingin theFinalSolution.Onewonderswhetherthe author was in a positionto consult the recordsof parliamentary debatesand other Greek-languagesources,as thereis almostno referenceto Greek-language materialin the book. ImportantEnglishor French-language secondaryworks arealso ignored,such as GeorgeMavrogordatos's StillbornRepublicor Aron Rodrigue'svariousstudiesof the AllianceIsraelite.Perhapsthe book is best minedas a descriptivesource,accompaniedby somegoodphotographs, rather thanas a workof analysis.But in its focuson post-1945developmentswithin GreekJewryit pointsthe way, in welcome fashion,for furtherresearch. MarkMazower of Sussex University U.K. Brighton, DianneAshton.RebeccaGratz:WomenandJudaismin AntebellumAmerica. AmericanJewishCivilizationSeries.Detroit:UniversityPress,1997.329 pp. Set in the Philadelphiamade familiarby Ben Franklin,DianneAshton's biographyof thelegendaryRebeccaGratzis a fascinatingstudyof thetensions born of balancingone's Jewish religiousidentityand one's commitmentto an emergingnation that was decidedly and increasinglyChristian.While otherscholarsof earlyAmericanJewishhistoryhavesketchedtheantebellum periodin termsof uncoveringJewishheroes,the impactof quietantisemitism, economic growth,and immigrationpatterns,Ashton studiesthe periodby

Review: [untitled] Author(s): Myrna Goldenberg Source: AJS Review, Vol. 24, No. 2 (1999), pp. 412-415 Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Association for Jewish Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1486778 . Accessed: 15/07/2011 11:32 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at . http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=cup. . Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].



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altogether,providethe obviousexplanationforwhy Jewishcommunitieshave diedout in placeslike Verroia,Xanthi,andDidymotikon.Thisis anotherway of sayingthatthe declinecan be easily explainedwithoutappealingto Greek antisemitismor statehostility.The latterexist, to be sure,butprobablywere of little relevancein this case. In general,the authormanifestsa very shakygraspof the Greekcontext. He exaggeratesthe importanceof Jewsin Greeklife before 1940,andmakes a worryingnumberof howlers:Englanddid not cede controlover the Ionian islandsin 1858 (p. 23), and Greecedid not annexCorfuin thatyear(p. 27); Metaxaswas not appointedprimeministerin August1936butseveralmonths earlier(p. 52), and so on. The situationof Jews in early twentieth-century Greecewas more complex thanthe authorsuggests;it shouldnot be made partof a storyof post-Ottomancatastrophewhich sees the emergenceof the Greeknation-stateandthe 1917firein Salonikaas partof a downwardslideto catastrophe culminatingin theFinalSolution.Onewonderswhetherthe author was in a positionto consult the recordsof parliamentary debatesand other Greek-languagesources,as thereis almostno referenceto Greek-language materialin the book. ImportantEnglishor French-language secondaryworks arealso ignored,such as GeorgeMavrogordatos's StillbornRepublicor Aron Rodrigue'svariousstudiesof the AllianceIsraelite.Perhapsthe book is best minedas a descriptivesource,accompaniedby somegoodphotographs, rather thanas a workof analysis.But in its focuson post-1945developmentswithin GreekJewryit pointsthe way, in welcome fashion,for furtherresearch. MarkMazower of Sussex University U.K. Brighton, DianneAshton.RebeccaGratz:WomenandJudaismin AntebellumAmerica. AmericanJewishCivilizationSeries.Detroit:UniversityPress,1997.329 pp. Set in the Philadelphiamade familiarby Ben Franklin,DianneAshton's biographyof thelegendaryRebeccaGratzis a fascinatingstudyof thetensions born of balancingone's Jewish religiousidentityand one's commitmentto an emergingnation that was decidedly and increasinglyChristian.While otherscholarsof earlyAmericanJewishhistoryhavesketchedtheantebellum periodin termsof uncoveringJewishheroes,the impactof quietantisemitism, economic growth,and immigrationpatterns,Ashton studiesthe periodby

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analyzing Gratz's choices and decisions. Throughher exhaustive search of Gratz family papers, archivalrecords of Philadelphia'smoral reform institutions,and generalAmericanand AmericanJewish historybooks, as well as her understanding of feministtheoryandhistory,Ashtonhas created touchstone. a Rebecca Gratzis a rich sourceof informationaboutprivilege coupled with "otherness,"social mores of the literaryand economic elite, the restrictionson women that ironicallybecamethe sourceof community authority,andJewishfamilyandculturaldaily life in earlyAmerica. RebeccaGratz,one of the twelve childrenof a wealthy,merchantfamily and aunt to twenty-sevennieces and nephews,many of whom she raised, revealedherselfthroughhundredsof lettersthatparadoxicallydepictboththe narrownessandtheurbanityof New York,Baltimore,andPhiladelphia. These three cities constitutedher world, and she traveledcomfortablybetween her home and the homes of relatives and friendswhere she winteredor summeredand, more often than not, nursed or attendedto the needs of others.Undoubtedly,she was attendingto her own needs as well: her need for companionship,intellectualstimulation,andsocial acceptance. As portrayedby Ashton, Gratzwas intelligent,cultured,resilient,sensitive, and ambivalent.Religion was her refuge but sometimesthe source of some of her most difficultchallengesand, it seems, her preoccupation. She had close friendshipswith Christianwomen and men, some of whom fall into the category of admirers,but she was steadfastlycommittedto Judaism.In this regard,she may indeed,as is oftensaid,haveinspiredScott's romanticizedportrayalof Rebecca in Ivanhoe,but that is more properlya footnotethanan achievement.She was also sensibleandbroad-mindedand embracedher Christiansisters-in-lawand nieces and nephewsratherthan fracturethe family.She devotedmanylettersandconversationsto explaining anddefendingJewishpracticeandbelief to her friends,who assuredherthat realChristiansheld no contemptfor JewsbecauseJesushimselfhadforgiven themon the Cross!(Ashton'srestraintis admirable.) In an era in which Christianevangelismspawnedincreasinglystrident expressionsof antisemitism,Gratzfirmlybelievedandlived by the principle of exemplars,believing that her good works demonstratedthe worthiness of all Jews. She dedicatedherself to charity,foundingthe FemaleHebrew BenevolentSociety, the PhiladelphiaOrphanAsylum, the HebrewSunday School (later mergedwith the HebrewEducationalSociety) for the influx of Jewish immigrants,and the Jewish Foster Home. The institutionsshe foundedinfluencedthe ethos of similarorganizationsthroughoutthe United

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States and helped shape Judaismto its Americancontexts.In antebellum America, as less than 1 percentof the population,Jews were vulnerable in thisreligiousrevival targetsof Christianzeal. Becausewomenparticipated so vigorously,Gratzwas subjectto her friends'religiouspassions.Aware of the temptationsof conversion,she organizedcommunallife to strengthen Jewish educationand self-knowledge,remindingthe Jewishcommunityof its obligationsto provideservices accordingto biblicaltradition-care for the poor,the widow,andthe child.Ashton'sdominantthemeis the mannerof Gratz'sexpressionof her Judaism:She expressedher faiththrough"charity and ethicalactions"(p. 91), the realmof women in antebellumAmericanin contrastto the ritualandprayerof men. Ashton also tracksthe attitudesof Gratz'speers to sex and marriage, both of which were constanttopics in the lettersshe exchangedwith her sistersandfriends.Theprevailingattitudetowardsex cautionedwomenof its dangersto physicalandspiritualhealth.In antebellumAmerica,femalepurity was exalted, while formaland informaleducationfor girls preparedthem for fulfillmentas wives and mothers.Althoughit is impossibleto determine the reasonswith any certainty,Gratzremainedsingle all her life, devoting herself to Jewish communalorganizationsand to her family, developing the formerto supplementthe latter.Her good works were significantand practicalcontributions,anticipatingthe needsof womenandchildrendirectly andpowerfully.Herconsiderableorganizational andleadershipskills shaped the FemaleHebrewBenevolentSocietyandthe Philadelphia OrphanAsylum, androotedthemin the ethicof tzedakah.ForGratz,thesevisibleexpressions of Jewish self-help would demonstrateto the non-Jewthe willingnessand abilityof Jewsto acceptresponsibilityfor theirown community.At the same time, these institutionsimprovedthe lives of Jewishwomenandchildren. Gratz'smost visible legacy was her work as a builderof communal institutions,which demonstratesconcretelythe piety she hopedto instill in theJewishcommunity.Groundedin Jewishethics,theseinstitutionsembodied theteachingsof thereligion.ButGratz'slegacy,as provedby Ashton,extends beyondthe individualand communalmitzvot.She was a courageousleader, a strongwoman who loved her family, her religion,and her country,and servedthemall by forginga new type of woman,someonewho understood that spiritualitywas necessaryand practicalin a developingcountry.She showed that women could express nurturancethroughcommunalservice, that they could also be skilled managersand leaders,that one could be an Americanand not compromiseone's Judaism.Dianne Ashton's carefully

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researchedbiographyis a responsibleevocationof an accomplishedwoman who consciouslygrew into a gracious,substantialAmericanJewishhero. MyrnaGoldenberg Montgomery College Rockville,Md. JeffreyHerf. DividedMemory:TheNazi Past in the TwoGermanys.Cambridge,Mass.:HarvardUniversityPress, 1997. 527 pp. In the last decade,the scholarlyliteratureon the topic of memoryand the Holocausthas grownexponentially,with the resultthatan entirecottage industryhas grownup aroundvague theorizingaboutsocial and collective memory.JeffreyHerf's new book is a superbantidoteto this trendbecause he offers a balanced,lucid, and archival-basedportraitof exactly how the personalexperiencesof postwarleadersin the two Germanyscontributedto the very differentpaths takento reconstituteGermanidentityand politics afterthe SecondWorldWar. After what Herfcalls the NurembergInterregnum, which was so crucial because Germanscould henceforthdisagreeabout the causes of Nazism, but not aboutits fundamentallyevil nature,the politicalcultureof the two Germanstates evolved by appropriating variousand sometimesconflicting historicalnarrativesaboutNazism, and equallydiverseinterpretations of its causes. Herf arguesthatthe main historicalnarrativein what becameWest Germanycenteredon the destructionof democracyin the Weimarperiodas the crucialmistaketo be avoidedin any futurepoliticalreconstruction. West most leaders across the Germany's importantearlypolitical agreed, political spectrum,on the moral and politicalnecessity of public atonementfor the crimesof the Nazi regimeandon financialrestitutionto andpoliticalrelations with the Stateof Israel.In the East, on the otherhand,afterStalindropped his initialsupportfor Israelin 1948,an olderCommunistnarrative,in which the issue of antisemitismwas marginalized,led to a stress on the sacrifice of Communistsin the fight againstfascism.Hitler'swar againstBolshevism was viewed as the essence of the Nazi regime,while its waragainstthe Jews was deemphasized,with the resultthatthe memoryof Jewishvictimsandthe centralityof the Holocaustbecame obscuredand politicallydangerousfor any Communistleaderto advocate. In comparingthe two political cultures,Herf applauds,on the whole,

Review: [untitled] Author(s): Elliot Neaman Source: AJS Review, Vol. 24, No. 2 (1999), pp. 415-417 Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Association for Jewish Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1486779 . Accessed: 15/07/2011 11:32 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at . http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=cup. . Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].



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researchedbiographyis a responsibleevocationof an accomplishedwoman who consciouslygrew into a gracious,substantialAmericanJewishhero. MyrnaGoldenberg Montgomery College Rockville,Md. JeffreyHerf. DividedMemory:TheNazi Past in the TwoGermanys.Cambridge,Mass.:HarvardUniversityPress, 1997. 527 pp. In the last decade,the scholarlyliteratureon the topic of memoryand the Holocausthas grownexponentially,with the resultthatan entirecottage industryhas grownup aroundvague theorizingaboutsocial and collective memory.JeffreyHerf's new book is a superbantidoteto this trendbecause he offers a balanced,lucid, and archival-basedportraitof exactly how the personalexperiencesof postwarleadersin the two Germanyscontributedto the very differentpaths takento reconstituteGermanidentityand politics afterthe SecondWorldWar. After what Herfcalls the NurembergInterregnum, which was so crucial because Germanscould henceforthdisagreeabout the causes of Nazism, but not aboutits fundamentallyevil nature,the politicalcultureof the two Germanstates evolved by appropriating variousand sometimesconflicting historicalnarrativesaboutNazism, and equallydiverseinterpretations of its causes. Herf arguesthatthe main historicalnarrativein what becameWest Germanycenteredon the destructionof democracyin the Weimarperiodas the crucialmistaketo be avoidedin any futurepoliticalreconstruction. West most leaders across the Germany's importantearlypolitical agreed, political spectrum,on the moral and politicalnecessity of public atonementfor the crimesof the Nazi regimeandon financialrestitutionto andpoliticalrelations with the Stateof Israel.In the East, on the otherhand,afterStalindropped his initialsupportfor Israelin 1948,an olderCommunistnarrative,in which the issue of antisemitismwas marginalized,led to a stress on the sacrifice of Communistsin the fight againstfascism.Hitler'swar againstBolshevism was viewed as the essence of the Nazi regime,while its waragainstthe Jews was deemphasized,with the resultthatthe memoryof Jewishvictimsandthe centralityof the Holocaustbecame obscuredand politicallydangerousfor any Communistleaderto advocate. In comparingthe two political cultures,Herf applauds,on the whole,

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West Germany'sconfrontationwith the fascistpast, while the East German Communistgovernmentis depictedas morallybankrupt,self-servingat best andcriminalat worst.He is careful,though,to pointto the checkeredpathin both cases and how in West Germanythe unambiguousrecognitionof guilt was interspersedwith sporadicmoods of self-pity and moralequivocation. KonradAdenauerpursueda two-prongedstrategyof rhetoricallycondemning Nazism, along with Communism,as nihilistic and un-Christian,while he workedhardto put an end to the prosecutionof formerNazis and facilitated widespreadrehabilitationof compromisedcivil servantsandprofessionalsto their formerpositions.Conservativeshave long arguedthatthese measures werepoliticallyastutebecausethe Adenauerregimewas therebyableto stave off a right-wingrevivalandintegratereluctantGermansintonew democratic forms of government.To his credit, Herf punchesholes in this argument andshows how Adenauer'spolicies allowedcriminalsbackintothe German judicialsystemand,in the contextof the ColdWar,allowedaverageGermans to fall into a collective amnesiaaboutthe full extentof Germancrimeson the easternfront.The chancellorshipof Willy Brandtfrom 1969to 1974 was a crucialturningpoint in this regard,becausethe Social Democratsrealized thata morethoroughreckoningwiththe crimesof the Nazi occupationin the Eastwas the only way to assureEasternEuropeansthatpostwar,democratic Germanyhad really changed.With the election of HelmutKohl in 1982, Herf traces the resurgenceof a self-exculpatoryright-wingdiscourseon the Germanpast, culminatingin the disturbingsymbolismof the Bitburg cemetery,where Ronald Reagan and Kohl honoredGermanSS soldiers, therebyeliminatingany distinctionbetweenvictimsandperpetrators. Herf'snarrativeis underpinned by manynewandexcitingarchivalsources fromthe SED (SocialistUnityPartyof Germany)andthe infamousStasifiles of the paranoidandbizarreEastGermansecretpolice. One of the heroesfor Herf is the Communistleaderand secretcominternagentPaulMerker,who returnedfromMexicanexile after1945withthehopeof guidingEastGerman policy towardrestitutionfor Israelandplacingthe Holocaustat the centerof Communistantifascism.Merkerwas pushedoutof the Politburoin 1950,and aftera series of secrettrialswas sentencedto eight years in prisonin 1955 for being an "agentof Jewish capitalists."Like a detective,Herf brilliantly pulls togetherthe desultorynarrativeof betrayaland opportunismfrom an incompletearchivalrecord.Althoughit is perhapsa touchnaiveto believethat Merker'sprogramhad any chanceof success in Moscow-dominated Berlin, Herf does show that the alignmentof East Germanywith the Arabworld,

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includingtrainingand armingPalestinianterrorists,could have come about only with incrediblyindependentideologicalblindnessaboutthe historyof antisemitism. This is an importantcontributionto the history of postwar German politicalcultureandleaves one withthe optimisticimpressionthatpeoplecan indeed learnfrom historicalmistakes.My only criticismis thatHerf tends to projectthe lessons learnedby Germany'spostwarleaders,the majority of whom sufferedat the hands of the Nazis, onto the generalpopulation. It is not clear that ordinaryGermansassimilatedthe lessons of the past as seamlesslyas the Sundayspeechesof Germanpresidentsthathe oftenquotes. But the importantquestionsthat Herf asks in this book, and goes a long way to answering,will undoubtedlyhelp otherscholarsin formulatingfuture researchprojectsin this area. ElliotNeaman of SanFrancisco University SanFrancisco, Calif. EmanuelMelzer.No WayOut: The Politics of Polish Jewry, 1935-1939. Cincinnati:HebrewUnion College Press, 1997. xii, 235 pp. The years 1935-1939 constitutea sad chapterin the historyof Polish Jewry.Jews were exposed to persecutions,violent attacks,legislative and economic discrimination,hostile propaganda,and boycotts. Nevertheless, PolishJews hadtheirown parliamentary as well as numerous representation, political parties and social organizations.Jewish education and cultural life blossomed.In some countries,suchas Germanyor Romania,the Jewish situationwas worsethanin Poland,wheremanyJews,likeCalelPerechodnik, theauthorof thememoirsof a Jewishghettopoliceman,consideredthemselves "goodpatrioticPoles,""adoredPolishpoetry,""didnotpaytoo muchattention to the problemof anti-Semitism,"and "didnot take notice that the ground was on fire underour feet."' It is difficult,therefore,to presentan objectiveand balancedpictureof prewarPolish Jewry.EmanuelMelzer, a scholarteachingat the Diaspora ResearchInstituteof Tel Aviv University,a co-editorof thejournalGal-Ed: On the History of the Jews in Poland, and the authorof numerousworks 1. CalelPerechodnik, AmI a Murderer?Testament ofa JewishGhettoPoliceman(Boulder, Colo.:WestviewPress, 1996),pp. xxii-xxxi.

Review: [untitled] Author(s): Piotr Wróbel Source: AJS Review, Vol. 24, No. 2 (1999), pp. 417-419 Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Association for Jewish Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1486780 . Accessed: 15/07/2011 11:32 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at . http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=cup. . Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].



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includingtrainingand armingPalestinianterrorists,could have come about only with incrediblyindependentideologicalblindnessaboutthe historyof antisemitism. This is an importantcontributionto the history of postwar German politicalcultureandleaves one withthe optimisticimpressionthatpeoplecan indeed learnfrom historicalmistakes.My only criticismis thatHerf tends to projectthe lessons learnedby Germany'spostwarleaders,the majority of whom sufferedat the hands of the Nazis, onto the generalpopulation. It is not clear that ordinaryGermansassimilatedthe lessons of the past as seamlesslyas the Sundayspeechesof Germanpresidentsthathe oftenquotes. But the importantquestionsthat Herf asks in this book, and goes a long way to answering,will undoubtedlyhelp otherscholarsin formulatingfuture researchprojectsin this area. ElliotNeaman of SanFrancisco University SanFrancisco, Calif. EmanuelMelzer.No WayOut: The Politics of Polish Jewry, 1935-1939. Cincinnati:HebrewUnion College Press, 1997. xii, 235 pp. The years 1935-1939 constitutea sad chapterin the historyof Polish Jewry.Jews were exposed to persecutions,violent attacks,legislative and economic discrimination,hostile propaganda,and boycotts. Nevertheless, PolishJews hadtheirown parliamentary as well as numerous representation, political parties and social organizations.Jewish education and cultural life blossomed.In some countries,suchas Germanyor Romania,the Jewish situationwas worsethanin Poland,wheremanyJews,likeCalelPerechodnik, theauthorof thememoirsof a Jewishghettopoliceman,consideredthemselves "goodpatrioticPoles,""adoredPolishpoetry,""didnotpaytoo muchattention to the problemof anti-Semitism,"and "didnot take notice that the ground was on fire underour feet."' It is difficult,therefore,to presentan objectiveand balancedpictureof prewarPolish Jewry.EmanuelMelzer, a scholarteachingat the Diaspora ResearchInstituteof Tel Aviv University,a co-editorof thejournalGal-Ed: On the History of the Jews in Poland, and the authorof numerousworks 1. CalelPerechodnik, AmI a Murderer?Testament ofa JewishGhettoPoliceman(Boulder, Colo.:WestviewPress, 1996),pp. xxii-xxxi.

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on Polish Jewry,has answeredthis challengesuperbly.His book, which is probablythe most detailedand the best existingmonographon its subject, describesthe effortsof PolishJews to securetheirexistenceandrealizetheir political goals. It also depicts changesin the attitudeof the Polish people towardtheirJewishfellow citizens.Melzer'smonographbeganas a doctoral dissertation,based mostly on the Yiddishand Polish press and on archival materialin Israel.It was publishedin Hebrewby the DiasporaInstitutein 1982. The book underreviewis a condensed,updated,andmodifiedEnglish versionof the dissertation.For this editionthe authoraddednumerousnew sourcesthathe gatheredandanalyzedduringhis additionalresearchin several importantarchivesin Poland,GreatBritain,andthe UnitedStates. The book is dividedinto ten chaptersand a shortsummation.The first chapter,"Background:The Pilsudski Years,"describes the 1918 revival of Polandand its historyuntil 1935. It also presentsPolishpoliticalparties, Poland'seconomicproblems,andthe international situation,anda description of Polish Jewish life. It shows divisions amongthe Jews and theirvarious attitudestowardPoland.The chapterprovidesa good generalPolishcontext is superb),although (Melzer'sknowledgeof Polishhistoryandhistoriography it includessome minordebatableissues. The authoroverestimatesthe Nazi influenceon the NationalDemocrats(Endek).It was apparentbut, simultaneously,limitedby the traditionalEndekhostilitytowardGermans.Melzer's situationanddiplomaticcooperationwith discussionof Poland'sinternational Germanydoes not mentionthe 1925 Locarnotreatyand its consequences for Poland,Pilsudski'splan for a preventivewar againstGermany,and the Westernreaction. The second chapterdescribesthe disintegrationof Pilsudski'spolitical camp after his death. It shows how the Pilsudskifaction,which remained in power, tried to attractthe Endeks. Some of them cooperatedwith the rulingelites and "infected"them with strongantisemitism,othersused the anti-Jewishcampaignto attractgreaterpopularsupportand win over more people to the Endekside. The chapterdepictsthe reactionof the Polishand Jewishpoliticalpartiesto the anti-Jewishcampaign. The two following chaptersdescribe"TheEconomicCampaignAgainst the Jews" and "Anti-JewishViolence:Riots, Pogroms,Recriminationsand Responses."Theauthorexplainshow theeconomicboycottcreateda pogromlike atmosphereand eventuallyturnedinto a seriesof anti-Jewishriots.Not only does the book depictseveralpogroms,it also describesPolishattempts, especially the activities of the Polish Socialist Party(PPS), to defend the

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Jewsandstopthe violence.Thefifthchapteris devotedto "'GhettoBenches,' Agitation,andViolencein the Universities";the sixthchapterto "TheKosher SlaughteringBan and OtherAnti-JewishLegislation."Eventually,the ban was not introducedand state control over slaughteringwas initiated.The campaignagainstritualslaughtering,like severalotheranti-Jewishactivities, was indeedstartedto gain politicalsupportamongthe non-Jewishpopulace. The seventh chapter,"The Failureof Jewish Leadershipin Poland,"is perhapsthe most interestingin the entire book. It explains why Jewish politicianswere unableto coordinatetheiractivitiesor to create'acommon leadership.Some readersmight, however,raise questionsconcerningthis chapter.For example, was there really a "mountingsense of catastrophe" among the Jewish masses in Poland in early 1939 (p. 112)? The eighth chapter,entitled"Ukrainiansand Germansin Poland:FluctuatingRelations andAnti-JewishAgitation,"also provokesdoubts.It statesthatthe "friendly relationsbetween [Polandand Germany]symbolizedby the non-aggression pact of 1934"affectedPolish publicopinion,"especiallywith regardto the Jewish question"(pp. 116-117). In fact, this effect was limited.Moreover, Poland also had a non-aggressionpact with the Soviet Union. The last chapter,"TowardWar"(which follows the interestingninthchapter,"Jewish Emigration:Effortsand Realities"),also makes some debatableassertions, includingMelzer'sview thatPolish foreignpolicy was "basedupon Polish consultationwith and at times even cooperationwith Germany"(p. 154). Sadly,Polishantisemiteswerenastyenoughwithoutthe influenceof theNazi party. In general,Melzer's book, balanced,objective,well written,and based on an impressivenumberof primaryand secondarysources,constitutesan exemplaryscholarlywork and should be read by everyonewho hopes to understandthe contemporary historyof PolishJewry. PiotrWr6bel of Toronto University Ont. Toronto, Alan Berger.Childrenof Job:AmericanSecond-Generation Witnessesto the Holocaust.Witha forewordby Elie Wiesel.Albany:StateUniversityof New YorkPress, 1997. ix, 215 pp. I predictthatAlan Berger'snew book is preparingthe groundfor many

Review: [untitled] Author(s): Michael Taub Source: AJS Review, Vol. 24, No. 2 (1999), pp. 419-421 Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Association for Jewish Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1486781 . Accessed: 15/07/2011 11:32 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at . http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=cup. . Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].



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Jewsandstopthe violence.Thefifthchapteris devotedto "'GhettoBenches,' Agitation,andViolencein the Universities";the sixthchapterto "TheKosher SlaughteringBan and OtherAnti-JewishLegislation."Eventually,the ban was not introducedand state control over slaughteringwas initiated.The campaignagainstritualslaughtering,like severalotheranti-Jewishactivities, was indeedstartedto gain politicalsupportamongthe non-Jewishpopulace. The seventh chapter,"The Failureof Jewish Leadershipin Poland,"is perhapsthe most interestingin the entire book. It explains why Jewish politicianswere unableto coordinatetheiractivitiesor to create'acommon leadership.Some readersmight, however,raise questionsconcerningthis chapter.For example, was there really a "mountingsense of catastrophe" among the Jewish masses in Poland in early 1939 (p. 112)? The eighth chapter,entitled"Ukrainiansand Germansin Poland:FluctuatingRelations andAnti-JewishAgitation,"also provokesdoubts.It statesthatthe "friendly relationsbetween [Polandand Germany]symbolizedby the non-aggression pact of 1934"affectedPolish publicopinion,"especiallywith regardto the Jewish question"(pp. 116-117). In fact, this effect was limited.Moreover, Poland also had a non-aggressionpact with the Soviet Union. The last chapter,"TowardWar"(which follows the interestingninthchapter,"Jewish Emigration:Effortsand Realities"),also makes some debatableassertions, includingMelzer'sview thatPolish foreignpolicy was "basedupon Polish consultationwith and at times even cooperationwith Germany"(p. 154). Sadly,Polishantisemiteswerenastyenoughwithoutthe influenceof theNazi party. In general,Melzer's book, balanced,objective,well written,and based on an impressivenumberof primaryand secondarysources,constitutesan exemplaryscholarlywork and should be read by everyonewho hopes to understandthe contemporary historyof PolishJewry. PiotrWr6bel of Toronto University Ont. Toronto, Alan Berger.Childrenof Job:AmericanSecond-Generation Witnessesto the Holocaust.Witha forewordby Elie Wiesel.Albany:StateUniversityof New YorkPress, 1997. ix, 215 pp. I predictthatAlan Berger'snew book is preparingthe groundfor many

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works literature: morestudiesof thisemergingnew genrein Jewish-American studiesof this by childrenof Holocaustsurvivors.Usually groundbreaking kind try to cover the entirefield and end up being ratherthin on in-depth analysis.Not so here, for remarkably,Bergermanagesboth to introduceus to all the majorfiguresandto offer incisivediscussionsof theirworks. Berger'spreviousbook, Crisisand Covenant:TheHolocaustin American JewishFiction (SUNY Press, 1985), dealswith the worksof suchAmerican classicsas SaulBellow,I. B. Singer,Elie Wiesel,BernardMalamud,andCynthiaOzick.ThisbookandLillianKremer'sWitnessThroughtheImagination: JewishAmericanHolocaustLiterature(WayneStateUniversityPress, 1989) are to datethe most comprehensivestudiesof a generallyoverlookedaspect of modernAmericanliterature.WhileKremerdividesup the fieldby authors, Bergerpresentsthe works throughthe prismof thematiccategories.Thus, Berger'sanalysis of literaryresponsesto the Shoah is found underthese headings:"Judaismas a Religious Value System,""Judaismas a Secular ValueSystem,"and "SymbolicJudaism." In Childrenof Job, Alan Berger studies writings,documentaries,and docudramasby second-generationartistswhose work, accordingto Berger, falls underone of two overarchingthemes:"JewishParticularism" or "Jewish Universalism."Amongthe writersdiscussedwe findArt Spiegelman,whose narrativeof livingwithsurvivorparents, Maus,thetwo-volumecartoon-drawn broughthim instantcelebritystatus,as well as lesser-knownthoughequally talentedwriterslike Melvin Bukiet, ThomasFriedman,Lev Raphael,and ThaneRosenbaum. In Berger'sscheme, "JewishParticularism" means that certainsecondare writers with the "wrestling generation meaningof Jewishidentityafter Auschwitz in terms of both the Holocaust'spsychologicaleffect on their lives and its theologicalimpact.The psychologicaleffect is seen in a variety of frequentlycontradictoryways. For example,as adolescents,the second generationboth rebel againstand identifywith theirparents'victimization. Thereappearsto be guilt fornot havingbeenin the Holocaustanddenialthat the Shoahhas any bearingon theiridentity"(p. 35). ThomasFriedman'snovel Damaged Goods (1984), Bukiet'scollection of shortstories, Whilethe Messiah Tarries(1995), and Spiegelman'sMaus I & II (1986, 1991) are three"particularist" narrativesthatBergerexamines in detail. In all of them, major characterswho are childrenof survivors are trying desperatelyto carve out an existence in families possessed by darkmemories,guilt, and ambivalenceaboutGod and humanity.In lucidly

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written,jargon-freestyle, Berger analyzes these writers' handlingof the complex parent-childrelationship,especially as it affects the questionof legacy, the concernwith the continuationof bearingwitness to a past that is integralto these "childrenof Job" althoughthey are foreign to it. To bolsterhis arguments,Bergerengagesa distinguishedgroupof sociologists and psychologists-Aaron Hass, RobertJ. Lifton,WilliamHelmreich,Eva Fogelman,and Helen Epstein-whose studies have greatly enhancedour of the lives of Holocaustsurvivorsandtheirchildrenwho live understanding in America. While the "particularists" focus primarilyon issues of post-Holocaust and set identity,familyrelations, theologicalrebellion,"Jewishuniversalists" thebroadersocietalimplications theseconcernsin the contextof "articulating of antisemitismand the Shoah"(p. 88) In otherwords,these artistswould the lessonsof the Shoahto tikkunolam--combatingracial, like to appropriate ethnic,or religioushatred,fightingall formsof prejudice,wherevertheymay occur.CarolAscher,JulieSalamon,andLev Raphaelaresome of the writers examinedby Bergerin this chapter. Childrenof Job deals mainly with Americanwritersand filmmakers, but the productionof Holocaust-related artby second-generation artistsis a worldphenomenon.In fact,in a New YorkTimesarticle,"Forthe Holocaust's 'Second Generation,'an Artistic Quest" (Dec. 23, 1997), Dinitia Smith mentionsthe work of Israelirock starsYehudaPolikerand ShlomoArtzi, singers who have incorporatedtheir parents'experiencesinto their music andfilms. Smithalso interviewedDeb Filler,a Canadianstand-upcomedian, whose "Punchme in the Stomach"is a series of comic monologuesabout familyandfriendswho, one way oranother,havebeentouchedby thehorrible events in Europe. No doubt, as the remainingsurvivorsdraw near the inevitable end, increasingnumbersof second-generationwriterswill emergeto tell stories like those coveredby Berger.These are not easy storiesto write,since their creationinvolves a greatdeal of guilt, ambivalence,and inadequacy.Aren't all stories about parentslike this? Kal vachomerhere, where in addition to parent-childissues, these childrenfind themselvesin the difficultrole of sustainingthe voice of witnessesto the worstdisasterin Jewishhistory,and to this waningcentury'smost horriblecrime. MichaelTaub NewYork,N.Y.

Review: [untitled] Author(s): Donna Robinson Divine Source: AJS Review, Vol. 24, No. 2 (1999), pp. 422-423 Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Association for Jewish Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1486782 . Accessed: 15/07/2011 11:32 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at . http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=cup. . Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].



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GeorgeLavy.GermanyandIsrael:MoralDebtandNationalInterest.London: FrankCass, 1996. 222 pp. Normalizationcame to be regardedas both a political objective and a problem for the foreign relations of Israel and West Germany.Both countrieswereestablishedon partitionedterritory-a Jewishstatesharingthe geographyof Palestinewith the Arabstateof Jordan,anda dividedGermany reflectingCold Warpolarities.Howevermuchthe circumstancesof the wars that producedthese countriesdiffered,their borderssharedone significant quality:bothwere drawnin conflict. Forbothcountries,therefore,the conditionsof theirfoundingwerebound to suggest a less than stablepolitical future.Aiming at the reunificationof the two Germanies,the FederalRepublic'sleadersinsistedthatconquestand Soviet protectionaffordedno legitimacyto East Germany.Denouncingthe East Germanregimeas tyrannical,WestGermanpoliticiansharnessedtheir own willingnessto provideinternational supportandforeignaid to countries agreeingto adhereto the Hallsteindoctrineof isolatingEast Germany.The Arab countriesof the Middle East were similarlyinclinedto isolate Israel as a pariahstateandto threatensanctionsagainstcountriesandcorporations thatextendedmilitaryandeconomicassistance. But as GeorgeLavy's examinationof WestGerman-Israeliforeignrelations indicatesin its very title, the leadersof postwarWestGermanycould not constructa Middle East policy withouta consciousnessof the past. If West Germanywished to become a significantpower in the newly formed Westernallianceof nationsin the contextof the ColdWar,the countryhadto acknowledgethe crimescommittedby NazismagainsttheJewishpeople.The memoryof WorldWarII andof its atrocitieswas fresh,andthe chillingstory of the destructionof EuropeanJewish cultureinformedall aspectsof West Germany'sMiddle East policy. A consensusdevelopedin West Germany supportiveof Israel's claim that the Jewish state had a right to receive financialcompensation,known as restitution,for Nazism's destructionof Jewishcivilization.Moreover,KonradAdenauerandDavidBen-Gurion,each a foundingfatherof his respectivecountry,anticipatedthatthis claimwould include a perpetualGermanobligationto sustainthe survivalof a Jewish state. To honor this obligation,however,often appearedto damageWest Germany'snationalinterest,which dependedon soundand dense economic relationswith the Arab world. Constructinga foreign policy that heeded moraland prudentialstandardsraisedall sorts of problemsfor the Federal

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Republicof Germanyand for Israel,themeswhich GeorgeLavy chronicles in Germanyand Israel. The book, a revisionof Lavy'sdoctoraldissertation, skillfully summarizesthe many policy dilemmasconfrontinggovernments in Israel and West Germanyas political leaderssought to normalizetheir foreignrelationsandtheirpositionsin an abnormallyconfiguredworld.The extensionof Germaneconomicandmilitaryaidto Israelalwaysprovokedan adversereactionfromthe Arabstates,which ultimatelyled manyto accord diplomaticrecognitionto East Germanyas a measureof their disdainfor WestGermany'sassumptionof responsibilityfor Israel'sexistence. Whilethe actualrelationsbetweenWestGermanyandIsraelwerealways framedas a tension betweenmoralityand nationalinterest,the issues were much more complexthantheirpresentationsuggests.Lavy's work hints at, but does not fully probe, the complex context of internationalrelationsin which such issues were considered.Israel's initial reluctanceto establish normalrelationswith West Germanywas counterbalanced by a recognition that "if Israel was to avoid the dangerof isolation by establishingclose relationswith westernEurope,both Franceandthe FederalRepublicwould occupy key positions in this relationship"(p. 5). Similarly,as Cold War rivalriesdiminished,"Whilethere was continuingsympathyfor Israel [in Germany],therewas also increasingimpatiencewith the role of the eternal penitentwhose atonementmustcontinueindefinitely"(p. 163).This is not to suggest that Lavy lacks appreciationfor the multilayerednatureof foreign relations,but ratherthat he chooses to focus on how Germanmorality intersectedthe country'snationalinterest.Relyingheavily uponnewspaper accountsprovidessome insightintothe public'sperceptionsof thesevarious policy dilemmas,but it does not adequatelypreparethe groundfor a deeper investigation.And while Lavy's detaileddiscussionsof particularcrises are thorough,given the publishedrecord,they do not resolve the ambiguities inherentin the two centralanalyticconceptshe deploys:moralityandnational interestare never really defined.Thus studentsof Israelipolitics interested in understanding the Jewishstate'srelationswith Germanyoughtto consult this book as a useful first referencebut only as a bridgeto furtherserious sustainedinquiry. DonnaRobinson Divine SmithCollege Mass. Northampton,

Review: [untitled] Author(s): Debra Reed Blank Source: AJS Review, Vol. 24, No. 2 (1999), pp. 424-425 Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Association for Jewish Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1486783 . Accessed: 15/07/2011 11:32 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at . http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=cup. . Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].



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SharonaWachs.AmericanJewish Liturgies:A Bibliographyof American JewishLiturgyfrom the Establishmentof the Press in the ColoniesThrough 1925. BibliographicaJudaica14. Cincinnati:HebrewUnion College Press, 1997. ix, 221 pp. Thefieldof Jewishliturgyis usuallytendedby scholarsof Bible,rabbinics, or linguistics,andrarelyby anyone literature,history,theology,anthropology, exclusivelydevotedto the phenomenonof liturgy.As a result,liturgicaltexts usuallyend up servingas handmaidto otheracademicdisciplines.Moreover, when one speaks of Jewish liturgy,one generallyhas in mind textualand musicalphenomenaof Europeandthe MiddleEast,andthenwhatconstitutes the statutoryprayersof the synagogue. Now a volume has appearedthat managesto focus exclusively upon liturgicaltexts (and theirmusicalsettings),specificallythose of the United States.To say, albeit with completeaccuracy,thatthis volume will greatly facilitatethe study of both liturgyand of Jewry in the United States is to understateits contributionas well as its delight,forwhatis foundwithinwill of liturgy. also serveto broadenpopularunderstanding At the outset a complaintmustbe made,and thatis thatthe title of this book is annoyinglymisleadingandjust plainwrong.The contentsarelimited to materialspublishedin theUnitedStates;the subtitlehintsattheprovenance of the materialslisted hereinbut still does not correctthis glaringerror.(I, for one, was eagerto see materialsfromthe Caribbeanand SouthAmerica, not to mentionCanada.)The subtitledoes, however,let the readerknowthat thereis a cut-offpoint,andI can only hope thatWachsis hardat workon the post-1925materials,as well as on those otherAmericanliturgies. Whatis in this book is a listingof all the liturgicalmaterialspublishedin theUnitedStatesbeginningwiththatinitial,delectableentry,"TheFormof the prayerwhichwas performedat the Jews' synagoguein the city of New York, on ThursdayOctober23, 1760: being the date appointedby proclamation for a general Thanksgivingto Almighty God for the reducingof Canada to His Majesty'sdominions."The reader(yes, I foundmyself readingthis entertainingbook) then goes on to discover all kinds of musical scores, privatedevotionalliterature(particularlyfor women and girls, often--but not always--ranslatedfromEuropeantehinnot),synagoguededicationceremonies,hymnals,memorialservicesfor notableindividuals(#131: "Service and sermonheld on the day of lamentation:June 1st 1865, in memoryof ourlatebelovedPresidentAbrahamLincoln . .."),children'sprayerbooks and textbooks,confirmation handbooks,notto mentiona treasuretroveof siddurim

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andmahzorim,psalters,s'lihot---theusualcast of liturgicalcharacters. The bibliographyis arrangedchronologically,so one can easily trace the liturgicaldevelopmentamong the Jews of this countryfrom the timid few offeringsof the late eighteenthcenturyto the veritableexplosionin the mid-nineteenth;fromthe urbancentersof the easternseaboardto the towns of the south, back northagain, to the mid-westand the far west; from the Sephardiccommunitiesto the Germanto the Polish; from the publications of prominent,individualrabbis to those of major institutions.The two introductoryessays, by KarlaGoldmanand Eric L. Friedlandrespectively, on just these chronologicalmattersgive the readerfree-sample-sizedtastes (thatis, tastybut tiny) of what a scholarcan do with this material. If one does not wish to proceed chronologically,the indices enable a topical, geographical,name, or title search. Who would have guessed Evansville, Indiana,to be a hotbed of liturgicalpublishing(#160 being the earliest entry; "Der israelitischeConfirmand"from 1868)? There is the promise of such entries as "Prayerat the Opening of the House of (#88; 1860;p. 216 in the misnamed"liturgical" Representatives" index-why not "subject"?)and"Paducah,Kentucky"(Geographicalindex,p. 171). And one can discoverthatHoursof Devotion:A bookofprayersand meditations for the use of the daughtersof Israel, duringpublic service and at home for all the conditionsof woman'slife went throughthirteenprintings(p. 195 in the title index)--and that does not includethe numerousreprintingsof the Germanedition!Such index-delightshelp one overlookthe uselessness of index entriesthat can go on for more than six and one-halfinches (for example,the entry"ReformRite"in the liturgicalindex). Occasionalerrorsalso marthe indices (#65 does not appearin any way to be correctlyindexedunder"Tehinnot," for example);andsome entriesare "lost"underthe botchedplacementof the topicalheading"MusicalServices" (p. 216 in the liturgicalindex),which certainlyshouldnot, but does, include theentry"PrayerBooksfortheDeaf."Thesekindsof errors,easilyoverlooked in a conventionaltext, are counterproductive in a bibliography,detractingin this case from a work which is otherwisewell-organized,with a clear and concise format.Yetthe totalstrengthsof this volumeresultin an outstanding contributionto the studyof liturgicaltexts,music,andcontexts,as well as to the studyof UnitedStatesJewry. DebraReedBlank JewishTheological Seminary NewYork,N.Y.

Review: [untitled] Author(s): Herbert Bronstein Source: AJS Review, Vol. 24, No. 2 (1999), pp. 426-430 Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Association for Jewish Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1486784 . Accessed: 15/07/2011 11:32 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at . http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=cup. . Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].



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Eric Friedland,"WereOur MouthsFilled WithSong": Studiesin Liberal Jewish Liturgy.Monographsof the HebrewUnion College 20. Cincinnati: HebrewUnion College Press, 1977. xiv, 367 pp. This body of work places Eric Friedlandwell withinthe ranksof those in the studyof modemJewish to whom he pays tributeas ground-breakers Z. Abraham andJakobJ. Petuchowski.His Ismar Idelsohn, Elbogen, liturgy: work is indispensableto all who study the field of modem non-Orthodox Jewishliturgy,of which he is now the uncontestedmaster.A readingof the workrevealsthathe has not cast his net too widely in describingthose who shouldbe interestedin these essays:"ThecompleteJudaicist,the studentof comparativeliturgies,the theologian,the sociologistof religion,the rabbiof a congregation,the seminarian,the prayerbook compilerto be .. ." (p. xi). The essays, publishedover decadesin variousjournalsand collections directedat specific disciplines, range over a variety of topics. Collected togetherin this volumeto the considerableadvantageof anyin the broadarea of modemJewishstudies,theyforma remarkably consistentwhole,usefulfor research,reference,and even coursesin modem Judaism.In these respects the value of the book is enhancedby a comprehensiveif not exhaustive Jewishliturgicalbibliographyanda thoroughindexof sourcescited,prayers, hymns,and piyyutim.The carefulfootnotes,extensivewhen called for, are often as meatyand interestingas the well-writtentext itself. The essays can be groupedin the following categories:(1) extensive studies of particularfoundationalliturgies, such as the Olath Tamidof David Einhom (Baltimore, 1858) and the Szold/JastrowAbodath Yisrael (Baltimore,1864-73); (2) descriptiveand criticalstudies of contemporary prayerbooks, such as Gates of Prayer (Reform, 1975), Kol Haneshamah (Reconstructionist; Wyncote,1994),Ha-AvodahShebaLev(IsraelProgressive movement;Jerusalem,1982); (3) specializedliturgiesfromNorthAmerica, England,andIsrael,suchas thosefortheHighHolidays,Passover,andYizkor MemorialServices;(4) specifictopicsrelatedto modemliberalliturgies,such as liturgicalcreativityin the Hebrewlanguage,and mysticaland Sephardic influenceson liberalliturgies. Consideringthe range of subjectmatter,one shouldnot, as the author himself notes in the preface, expect a single structuralor methodological approachthroughout,nor,I wouldadd,a consistentcriticalstance.Sometimes, perhapsdue to the auspicesfor which a particularessay was written,one senses that Friedlandis as generousin his judgmentsas his consistently

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high standardswill allow,oftenputtinghis most criticalremarksin footnotes and finding a way to excuse the scholarlygaffes or liturgicalblundersof which he takes note. Neverthelesshe is ever alertto faulty facts or sloppy scholarshipand frank about what he clearly perceives as thoughtlessor groundlessliturgicalefforts.Onthe otherhand,he is vocal in his appreciation of liturgicalexcellenceas well as religiousgeniusemanatingno matterfrom what streamof modemJudaism. One cannotsufficientlypraisethe many positive aspectsof Friedland's efforts,only a few of which can be noted within the limitedscope of this review.These flow from a combinationof masteryof the facts in his field, his broadJudaicerudition,and his considerableinterpretiveand analytical powers. This is evident in the depthstudiesin the collection,for example, thoseof the Einhom(pp. 17-49) andSzold/Jastrow prayerbooks(pp.55-69). His sheermasteryof fact appearsagainandagainthroughoutthe work.One example:He tracesthe trail of a particularinnovationalphrase,"mehayyeh ha-kol,"in the Reformversionof the Gevurot(whichreplaced,for doctrinal reasons, the referenceto the resurrectionof the dead) to Samuel Adler's revisionin the 1864 editionof Merzbacher'sOrderofPrayer forNew York's TempleEmanu-El,and furtherto Nehemiah9:6 (p. 246). Again,becausehe has traversedthe entireareaof non-Orthodoxliturgiesto ourown day,he can raisenumerousquestions,askingwhy,forexample,IsaacM. Wise'sfelicitous renderingof theBirkatShalomdoes not appearin anyof the servicesin Gates and Conservativeprayerbooks (p. of Prayer as it does in Reconstructionist 230). Moreimportant,we areaffordeda view of issuesthatroiledsegmentsof modemJewryin Europeandthe UnitedStatesin the mid-nineteenth century. We are given relevantbiographicalinformationaboutindividualliturgists, their intellectuallineage and relationshipsto fellow reformers,particularly in regardto such issues as the role of the Hebrewlanguagein prayer,the importanceof the Stammgebete,andthe like. Theentireworkprovidesmanycorrectionsto scholarlyimagesnow a part of our mentalfurniture.One of these is of David Einhomas the archetype of an extremeradicalReform.Einhomindeed,in oppositionto IsaacMayer Wise's aspirationfor a unified AmericanJewry, did want a clear break with those who consideredrabbinichalakhahas authoritative.On the other hand,Einhomrejectedextremesof the FrankfurtSynodReformverein (1843) as "A Confessionof Unbelief."He never acceptedhis mentorand backer SamuelHoldheim'sconceptionof the Sabbathas merelysymbolic,norwould he permitits transferto Sunday.Intermarriage was for him anathema,the

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revelationat Sinai real, and the Torah,the word of God. "In cases where [theworshipservice]servedno purposeexceptto satisfythetaste restructuring of a given congregation[or rabbi]it was to be avoided"(p. 22). Friedland shows that while in a period when even someone like Samson Raphael Hirschwas not averseto adoptingcertainaspectsof Protestant-style worship, Einhornhadno objectionto the innovationof blessingthe congregationafter the sermon.But while he eliminatedor transposedaspects of the prayers accompanyingthe blowingof the shofarandreplacedthe shofar-sounditself with a Trompetenklang, neverthelessinsteadof the halbjiidischcharacterof earlierReformliturgies,Einhornwanteda servicethatwouldbe echtJiidisch (pp. 18-24). He furtherretainedin full the traditionalscripturalreadingsfor YomKippurin comparisonwith the amendedreadingsin subsequentReform worship.Friedlandgoes on to demonstratehow the structuralstrategiesof the OlathTamidremainedfoundationalin all subsequentliturgies,thoughthe confusedeffortsof latereditorsof Reformprayerbooks show thattheywere often unawareof the principlesthat underlaythe model from which their workderived. Scholarshipshould also enlightenthe present.It is a prime virtue of Friedland'sliturgicalanalysis,in ourown contemporary contextof dissolving ethnic forms of AmericanJewish identity,that we can now appreciatein David Einhorn,however mistakenin certainrespectsabout the American Jewishfuture,a manwho rejectedthe lachrymosevision of Jewishdiaspora existence and affirmedan AmericanJewish identitycenteredin God and Torah,for whichthe synagoguewas essential. We find the same combinationof detailed knowledge, broad Judaic erudition,and interpretativeability in Friedland'sstudy of MarcusJastrow as liturgist.He revealsin Jastrow,congregationalrabbi,appreciativescholar of rabbinicJudaism,editor of the monumentalAramaicdictionaryof the Targumimand Talmud,a representativeof the so-calledPositive-Historical School, a person who saw no contradictionbetween an objectivedetailed studyof thepeopleof Israelanda passionatecommitmentto Judaism.Thus,in Friedland'sview, theAbodathYisraelbecomesa liturgyfreefromtheological and aestheticdissonance(pp. 55-60). Jastow'sliturgicalwork becomes an exampleof how the betterpartof Jastrow'slife was spentin tryingto bring about a modus vivendi between the innategenius of Judaismand the just demandsof Reform(p. 66). Friedland'sstudyof theAbodathIsrael recoversJastrowas a personwho representsthe innerconflictsnot only of manyrabbisof his own time butof

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ours as well. He was a rabbiwho wantedvery much to reconcilethe spirit of Reformwith the innategenius of Judaism,who believed in the mission of Israel,in ethics andmoralityas the core of Judaism,but was unwillingto sacrificethe authenticformsof Judaismor the wholenessof Klal Yisraelon the altarof radicalReform.In theserespectsa liturgybecomesa reliablekey to the positionor outlookof a person,a group,or a Jewishmovement. While the relationshipbetween modem Jewish liturgy and the wider culturalcontextis not withinthe purviewof theseessays,Friedland'sstudies make it possible to proceedto the next importantstep, the investigationof the relationshipbetweenmodem liberalJudaismandwhatwe mightcall the faithof modernity.For example,he shows how prayerbooks (in nineteenthandearly-twentieth-century Reform)revealan animusagainstritual.Among the non-Jewish culturalelite of the time, "ritual"and "ritualistic"were terms of opprobriumassociatedwith primitive,backwardsuperstitionand the unconscious;with Africanandothernativepeoples;in otherwords,with the "other"to the civilized reason of the evolved and progressiveWest. and "theEast"were also associatedamongGermanand And "Orientalism" with WesternJewry Ostjudenand their embarrassingeasterntraditionand this ritual.Ironically, clusterof attitudeswas an integralpartof the ideology of Westerncolonialism.One is remindedof JakobJ. Petuchowski'saperCu thatsome Reformprayerbooksgive the impressionthattheireditorsprepared themas if Christianswere lookingover theirshoulders.This ReformJewish anti-ritualismmay also have representeda "buying into" the Protestant anti-Catholicapologeticagainstreligiousquackery.Along the same lines, it would be of interestto relatethe emphasison biblicalmoralityas the true core of Judaismeven in persons like MarcusJastrowand the distancing fromrabbinicobservanceeven in the MinhagAmericaof IsaacM. Wise to the "coreand husk"ideas of the liberalChristian"Essenceof Christianity" ideology. Readingthe essays we findanothertendencyin modemliturgiesthatalso calls for a cultural-context investigation:prayerbooksas literaryanthologies. Friedland's work can detect an overall trend in modem Anyone reading the of toward retrieval liturgies poetic and inspirationaltexts derivingfrom sources ancientto modem. Also, arisingfrom a surmisehere and thereby Friedland,we can see a need now to studyliturgiesin termsof the audience to which they were directed.Friedlandaptlyinterpretsaffectingpassagesin earlyAmericanReformmemorialservicesexpressinga yearningfor distant relatives and their gravesites as particularlyappealingto GermanJewish

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immigrants.Otherquestionsarise:Why,for example,in modemliturgiesdid the Yizkormemorialservicesbecomeevermoreelaborate? No study of modem liturgycan cover all bases. Withoutconsiderable interviewswith manyindividuals,it wouldbe difficultforanyoneto discover how recentprayerbooks,manyof whicharethe workof committees,actually arrivedat theirfinal formulation.The inclusionof so manykindsof sources andviews foundin Gatesof Prayer,whichFriedlandsees as the resultof the creativeworkof a singleeditor(p. 242), mayhaveresultednot froma studied effort at cogent synthesisbut from an addingtogetherof varioustexts. In this respect,entireservicesandsubsectionsof serviceswerethe resultof the workof variousliturgistsin additionto the editor,ChaimStem. OneperceivesthatFriedland'sengagementwithliturgyis derivednotfrom the choice of a rewardingscholarlyniche but out of a personalengagement fromyouthin the musicof worshipandprayer.Finally,his enthusiasmmakes this scholarlycollectiona delightto read. Herbert Bronstein LakeForestCollege LakeForest,Ill. Hamutal Bar-Yoseph.Decadent Trends in Hebrew Literature:Bialik, Berdichevski,Brenner Sede-Boker:Ben-GurionUniversityof the Negev, 1997,416 pp. (Hebrew). As she sets out to observe trendsof decadencein the literatureof the threemajorHebrewauthorsat the turnof the century,HamutalBar-Yoseph anticipatesa numberof theoreticaland ideological obstacles.Indeed,the approachthoroughthe lens of decadenceshouldbe viewed as a pioneering step. The introductionprovidespreemptivearguments,confrontingat least four possible challenges.The first stems from the somewhatcomplicated concept of decadence,which is generallyassociatedwith social, ethical, and personal degeneration,and is often condemnedand judged to be a negativeculturalvalue.Bar-Yosephoffersherown workingdefinitionof this fin-de-sieclemood in WesternEuropeand in Russia,liberatingthe concept fromits commondenotationandsuggestingthatit was a philosophicalclimate and literary-stylistictrendwhose failureor success in literaryworksshould be evaluatedon the basis of theirartisticauthenticity. The associationof the conceptof decadencewith the modernistHebrew

Review: [untitled] Author(s): Zvia Ginor Source: AJS Review, Vol. 24, No. 2 (1999), pp. 430-432 Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Association for Jewish Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1486785 . Accessed: 15/07/2011 11:32 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at . http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=cup. . Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].



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immigrants.Otherquestionsarise:Why,for example,in modemliturgiesdid the Yizkormemorialservicesbecomeevermoreelaborate? No study of modem liturgycan cover all bases. Withoutconsiderable interviewswith manyindividuals,it wouldbe difficultforanyoneto discover how recentprayerbooks,manyof whicharethe workof committees,actually arrivedat theirfinal formulation.The inclusionof so manykindsof sources andviews foundin Gatesof Prayer,whichFriedlandsees as the resultof the creativeworkof a singleeditor(p. 242), mayhaveresultednot froma studied effort at cogent synthesisbut from an addingtogetherof varioustexts. In this respect,entireservicesandsubsectionsof serviceswerethe resultof the workof variousliturgistsin additionto the editor,ChaimStem. OneperceivesthatFriedland'sengagementwithliturgyis derivednotfrom the choice of a rewardingscholarlyniche but out of a personalengagement fromyouthin the musicof worshipandprayer.Finally,his enthusiasmmakes this scholarlycollectiona delightto read. Herbert Bronstein LakeForestCollege LakeForest,Ill. Hamutal Bar-Yoseph.Decadent Trends in Hebrew Literature:Bialik, Berdichevski,Brenner Sede-Boker:Ben-GurionUniversityof the Negev, 1997,416 pp. (Hebrew). As she sets out to observe trendsof decadencein the literatureof the threemajorHebrewauthorsat the turnof the century,HamutalBar-Yoseph anticipatesa numberof theoreticaland ideological obstacles.Indeed,the approachthoroughthe lens of decadenceshouldbe viewed as a pioneering step. The introductionprovidespreemptivearguments,confrontingat least four possible challenges.The first stems from the somewhatcomplicated concept of decadence,which is generallyassociatedwith social, ethical, and personal degeneration,and is often condemnedand judged to be a negativeculturalvalue.Bar-Yosephoffersherown workingdefinitionof this fin-de-sieclemood in WesternEuropeand in Russia,liberatingthe concept fromits commondenotationandsuggestingthatit was a philosophicalclimate and literary-stylistictrendwhose failureor success in literaryworksshould be evaluatedon the basis of theirartisticauthenticity. The associationof the conceptof decadencewith the modernistHebrew

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writers is the second issue, particularlysince they are generallyseen as Authorsof Revival, thus presentinga certaincontradictionin worldview and style. Moreover,these authorsare also classifiedby criticsas romantics or neo-romantics,because they themselves condemnthe decadentmood. of Bar-Yosephinsists that decadencemust be includedin an interpretation theseauthors,notas a replacementfortheirmainconcernsbutas anadditional dimensionheretoforeignoredby scholars. Anotherclaim of this work calls for the reintroductionof the study of contextto the mainstreamof literaryanalysis.Indeed,the contextprovided by Bar-Yoseph,that of the contemporaneousliteratureof WesternEurope, andmore so of Russianliterature,is quiteabsentfromthe prevailingcritical readingsof the authorsin question.This is due not so much to theoretical objectionsas to technicalones;the knowledgeof Russianliteratureaccumulatedby Bar-Yosephseems to be unmatchedin currentHebrewstudies,and hercontributionis, therefore,in andof itself singular.The situationis suchas to discourageattemptsat a trueevaluationof the studyunderreview,leaving the authorwantingfor the scholarlydialoguethatshe certainlydeserves. English-readingscholarsare advisedto referto the previouslypublished translationsof essays by Bar-Yosephthat are includedin the book, especially "Romanticismand Decadencein the Literatureof HebrewRevival," publishedin ComparativeLiterature46, no. 2 (Spring1994),"Bialikandthe BaudelairianTriangle:Ennui, Cats and Spiders'Webs,"in Jewish Studies Quarterly1, no. 4 (1993/94),and"TheInfluenceof Decadenceon theConcept of Femininityin Bialik's Poetry,"in Genderand Textin ModernHebrew and YiddishLiterature.editedby N. B. Sokoloff,A. LapidusLerner,and A. Norich(New York,1992). Bar-Yosephdoes not rejectthe psychologicalreadingsof Bialik,Brenner, andBerdichevski,or the poetics of theirinnerstruggles;rather,she subordinatesthese readingsto the dominanceof the spiritof decadence.Thetension resultingfrom the insinuatingand unavoidableinfluenceof decadence,she states,shouldbe seen as yet another,andperhapscentral,sourceof anguish. Indeed,her studyassertsthatit is the literatureof decadencethatturnedthe attentionof these authorsto the neurotic,the depressed,the erotic,and the suppressedaggression,creatinganawarenessof thepsychoticandnegotiating with the ideas of predetermination and the impossibilityof healing:"These are not intended to questions place in doubtthe authenticityof the despair in Bialik his expressedby poetry,or the claimthatdepressionwas embedded in his personality,but they point out an additionalpossibility,accordingto

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which the expressionof depression,pessimism,and death wishes befitted the literarytaste and the conceptualconventionsin Russiaat the turnof the century"(p. 113). Reading Bialik's poetry next to the quotedpoems of Fiodor Sologub, Dimitri Merezhkovskii,and the Russian translationsof the contemporary poetry of Baudelaireand Verlain,as Bialik must have read them, not to mentionthe comparisonsto Lermontovand Pushkin,is in itself a treatfor the non-Russianreader,aboveandbeyondthe enlightenmentone experiences upondiscoveringthe affinitiesof metaphors,language,andpoetic structures. By andby, the issues of classificationandperiodizationcome to the fore, withtheentanglementof definitionsof modernism,itsprecursorsandits onset, and the ensuing particularitiesof Jewish literaturebetween Enlightenment andrevivalism,romanticismandrealism.Thisbookpointsto the publication of Y. L. Peretz's collected poems, in 1894, as the initiationof Hebrew literarymodernism.While its decadentqualitieswerenotedby severalcritics early on, Bar-Yosephmarksthe appearanceof these decadentqualitiesas the commencementof modernism,a rathercontroversialoption, given the diglosicworksof Peretz'spredecessors,who hadalreadyindicatedmodernist poetics andworldviewsin boththeirHebrewandYiddishwritings. Whereasthe theoreticalissues presentedin the openingchaptersinvite more critical discussion, the merit of the main chaptersof this book lies in the learnedand detailed survey,utilizing these specific tools, of some widely studiedworksby the threeauthorsunderconcern.Thebroadscope of the culturalcontextoffered,despitethe somewhatsingle-mindedapproach, is invaluablefor the continuousinterpretationand reinterpretation of our canonicaltexts. ZviaGinor JewishTheological Seminary New York,N.Y.

Neil R. Davison. James Joyce, "Ulysses, " and the Construction of Jewish Identity: Culture, Biography and "Jew" in Modernist Europe. New York:

CambridgeUniversityPress, 1996. xii, 305 pp. Although Ulysses demonstratesthe strong kinship between different cultures,and the possibilityof reconcilingapparentculturaldifferencesin

Review: [untitled] Author(s): Daniel R. Schwarz Source: AJS Review, Vol. 24, No. 2 (1999), pp. 432-436 Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Association for Jewish Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1486786 . Accessed: 15/07/2011 11:32 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at . http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=cup. . Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].



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which the expressionof depression,pessimism,and death wishes befitted the literarytaste and the conceptualconventionsin Russiaat the turnof the century"(p. 113). Reading Bialik's poetry next to the quotedpoems of Fiodor Sologub, Dimitri Merezhkovskii,and the Russian translationsof the contemporary poetry of Baudelaireand Verlain,as Bialik must have read them, not to mentionthe comparisonsto Lermontovand Pushkin,is in itself a treatfor the non-Russianreader,aboveandbeyondthe enlightenmentone experiences upondiscoveringthe affinitiesof metaphors,language,andpoetic structures. By andby, the issues of classificationandperiodizationcome to the fore, withtheentanglementof definitionsof modernism,itsprecursorsandits onset, and the ensuing particularitiesof Jewish literaturebetween Enlightenment andrevivalism,romanticismandrealism.Thisbookpointsto the publication of Y. L. Peretz's collected poems, in 1894, as the initiationof Hebrew literarymodernism.While its decadentqualitieswerenotedby severalcritics early on, Bar-Yosephmarksthe appearanceof these decadentqualitiesas the commencementof modernism,a rathercontroversialoption, given the diglosicworksof Peretz'spredecessors,who hadalreadyindicatedmodernist poetics andworldviewsin boththeirHebrewandYiddishwritings. Whereasthe theoreticalissues presentedin the openingchaptersinvite more critical discussion, the merit of the main chaptersof this book lies in the learnedand detailed survey,utilizing these specific tools, of some widely studiedworksby the threeauthorsunderconcern.Thebroadscope of the culturalcontextoffered,despitethe somewhatsingle-mindedapproach, is invaluablefor the continuousinterpretationand reinterpretation of our canonicaltexts. ZviaGinor JewishTheological Seminary New York,N.Y.

Neil R. Davison. James Joyce, "Ulysses, " and the Construction of Jewish Identity: Culture, Biography and "Jew" in Modernist Europe. New York:

CambridgeUniversityPress, 1996. xii, 305 pp. Although Ulysses demonstratesthe strong kinship between different cultures,and the possibilityof reconcilingapparentculturaldifferencesin

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personaland historicalterms,it is informedby Joyce's distinctionsbetween the Greek and Jewish civilizations,distinctionsderivedfrom his classical educationbut generallysupportedby modem scholarship.For the Greeks, mankindbecomes importantonly when it achieves an heroic aspect. This occurs when an individualis a leader or a majorfigure in great events, such as war or revolution,that change historyor when his deeds or words challengethe gods. Memoriesof legendsof gods andearlierheroesshapethe decision-makingand behavioralpatternsof the classicalGreekprotagonists and their successors.In his obsession with the Christstory and the life of Shakespeare,isn't StephenDedalusin this Greektradition?Forthe Jews, by contrast,humanbeings are the supremebeings on earth;they do not share space or focus with Gods or mythicalheroes.Humanlife itself is not only sacred,butthe way humanslive andbehaveis an importantsubjectfor study. It follows thatpersonalexperiencesandmemoriesgive shapeto the lives of individualJews. Thus the thought, feelings, and motives of Joyce's Irish Jewish hero, LeopoldBloom, are shapedby memoriesof his own and his family'spast. But LeopoldBloom has neverbeen bar-mitzvahor circumcised;nor is he the son of a Jewish mother,which by conventionis the determinantof Jewish genealogy. Indeed, he has been baptized.Yet he is considereda Jew by everyonein Dublin,and his identityas an ostracizedoutsiderandthe victim of antisemitismis crucialto his characterization. By the time he wrote Ulysses in 1922, Joyce was fascinatedwith Jews. His embracingof Jews had to do with his rejectionof RomanCatholicism. It also had to do with an incidentwhen a man namedAlfred Hunter,who Joyce thoughtwas a Jew, befriendedhim duringa drinkingspree on June 22, 1904. As Neil R. Davison argues,Joyce identifiedwith Bloom as an outcast in his own country:"To be born a CatholicIrishman,reject the Church,and then to call oneself the great Irish writerof his era appears to have been parallel in Joyce's mind to being uncircumcised,unkosher, agnostic,and still thinkingof oneself as a Jew"(p. 201). Joyce sees Bloom, like himself,as a threateningpresenceto traditionalIrishculturalprejudices: "Perceivedas a Jew, Bloom will appearas an 'intrusion'into Irishculture and social discoursethroughout[Ulysses}--the threateningpresenceof the Otherthatliterallyhauntsthe dominantculture"(p. 200). LikeJoyce,Bloom is a pacifist and internationalistwho considershimself a patriot;Bloom "is not a Zionist, but an Irish nationalistwho is dogmaticallypacifist, a prophet of peaceful coexistence--the 'opposite of hatred"'(p. 218). By

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havinginnocuous,good-heartedBloom also be a Mason,Joycedebunkedthe widely acceptednotion that the Masonswere in treacherouscollusionwith threatto Ireland the Jews,or thatthe Masonsor theJewswerea conspiratorial or Europe.Nor did Joyce have much use for the widely held nonsensical view thatconsideredthe Irishto be the lost tribesof Israel. In his Trieste years, Joyce was exposed to Jews, for Trieste had an influentialJewish population.Davison discussespersuasivelythe influence of Italo Svevo (EttoreSchmitz),whom Joycemet in Trieste: to Joycehowonecouldbenon-practicing orperhaps Schmitzalsoexemplified Jewish(as in Bloom'scase)andnevertheless evennon-matrilineally perceive withSchmitz oneselfasa Jew.... Inmanyways,Joyce'srelationship completed olderman,indeedperhaps hisownsearchfora "goodfather"-acompassionate of Schmitzas a "European" likeAlfredHunter. writerand Joyce'sperception attentiveolderfriendmayhavefusedwiththe imageof Hunteras a kind, Becauseheperceived bothof thesemento beunequivocally "goodEuropean." of themthrough thoserepresentations of Jewish,Joycefilteredhisperceptions in so manytexts. "theJew"he hadbeenencountering (pp.165-166) While Joyce was influencedby Otto Weininger'sSex and Character (1906) andMauriceFishburg'sTheJews:A Studyof RaceandEnlightenment (1911), he wantedto rejectracialstereotypes:"Joyce'srefusalto capitalize the word 'Jew' throughoutUlysses furtherindicates his distrustof the nineteenth-centuryconcept of racial determinationin the modem world. Joyce appearsto consider 'Jewishness,'then, as neitherreligion nor race, but as an accepted self-image and personal commitment"(p. 232). Yet Joyce's Bloom, we need note, is not withoutJewishracialstereotypes;he is guilt-ridden,family oriented,compulsivelycurious,womanly,passive, and worriedaboutmoney. The chaptersfollow the orderof Joyce'slife priorto writingUlysses.In the concludingpages of A Portraitof the Artistas a YoungMan, Joyce's narratorwrote:"I will try to expressmyself in some mode of life or art as freely as I can and as wholly as I can, using for my defencethe only armsI allow myself to use-silence, exile, and cunning"(p. 247); using "silence," "exile,"and"cunning"as his structuring themes,Davisonprecedesa reading of Ulyssesin chapter8 with seven chaptersthatassiduouslyexamineJoyce's biographyand the possible Jewishcontextsto whichhe responded.Davison touches upon every conceivableaspect of Joyce's knowledgeof Jews;just

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whenwe thinkhe may have gone astrayto touchon suchsubjectsas Pissaro's or Degas's depictionsof Jews, we realizethattheremightbe an interesting connection. Davison'sreadingof Ulysses is perceptivebut not strikinglyoriginalor alwayscriticallydeft;yet it does focusourattentionon theJewishimplications of the text. In his finalchapter,he somewhatperfunctorilyaddressesthe issue of Molly'sJewishness,butdoes he do enoughwith the reasonforherinterest in Jews-her own heritage?LunitaLaredo,her mother,has the name of a prominentSephardicfamily in Gibraltar,and if she had a Jewish mother, Molly would be Jewish even if, as Davison claims, she considersherself descent"(p. 237)--a description an "IrishDublinerof Spanish-Moroccan that hardly accounts for Molly's father,MajorTweedy.Put anotherway: while the last chapterregardsUlysses in termsof Bloom's Jewishness,it is a little like the mountainthat gave birthto the mouse. Yet Davison does, at times, compellingly draw on the elaboratemusteringof evidence that precedes:"Caughtin his double-bindas an IrishJew, and now even more apprehensiveaboutnationalisticdivisions,Bloom sadlybums the Agendath Netaimprospectushe had saved throughouthis day.His lack of enthusiasm Jewishassimilationistsof theera-an attitude forZionismagaincharacterizes Joyce encounteredin his Jewishfriendsin bothTriesteandZurich"(p. 235). Readableandwell researched,if on occasionrelentlessandslow moving, Davison'swide-rangingstudyexhaustivelyexploreseveryconceivableJewish source and context until we have a thoroughwork of scholarshipthat will set the standardfor futurestudents.I am a little skepticalof the claimsthat JoyceknewNietzschewell. CallingNietzsche"theprophet,"Davisonargues for the importanceof Nietzsche'sview of the Jews to Joyce: Nietzsche'sdiscussion of contemporary forJoyce's Jewrylaidthegroundwork laterbeliefthatthe Jewshaddevelopedan acute"shrewdness of character" describedby othersas "cunning") to combatandendure (oftenpejoratively theirmarginality.... [But]Christianity is to Nietzschethefinal,degenerate of characterization floweringof theoriginalHebraic mentality....Nietzsche's theJewsas "survivors" excellence influenced of par greatly Joyce'sperception "theJew." (pp.114-116) Once in a while Davison indulges in LitCritSpeak:"Later on in life Joyce reified those feelings by including in Ulysses the younger Dodd's embarrassingplunge into the Liffey in 1911, which was rumoredto have

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been an attempt at suicide" (p. 58), and he writes: "Bloom, however, deconstructsStephen'smyth"when he reallymeansBloom 'challenges'or 'undermines'Stephen'svalues (p. 233, emphasisadded).Notwithstanding these semanticlulls, Davison's book is generallylucid, insightful,erudite, and persuasive.' DanielR. Schwarz CornellUniversity Ithaca,N.Y. EmanuelFeldmanand Joel B. Wolowelsky,eds. Jewish Law and the New ReproductiveTechnologies.Hoboken,N.J.:KTAV,1997. vii, 186 pp. This anthologypresentseightessays fromthe OrthodoxjournalTradition andresponsesto infertility. thataddressselectedissuesrelatedto reproduction This descriptionsuggests some of the value, as well as the limitations,of the work. Positively,the essays in the volume representsome of the most valuable writings available(especially in English) on halakhahand these topics. They are thoroughand well documented,with extensivereferences to classical sourcesand contemporaryOrthodoxhalakhicwritings,manyof which are not readilyaccessibleto most readers.On the whole, the essays areclearlywritten,conveyinga good sense of the characterandintricaciesof this literature,as well as the intellectualskill andcreativitymanifestedwithin this traditionaldiscourse. A numberof the essays strikeme as especiallystrong.Yoel Jakobovits, a physician,discusses"MaleInfertility:HalakhicIssuesin Investigationand Management."He nicely contextualizesthe discussionby beginningwith personalandsocial aspectsof "thelongingfor children,"andconcludingwith attentionto spiritualand psychological'responsesto infertility.Throughout the essay, Jakobovitspresentsclear descriptionsof medical causes of and treatmentsfor infertility,andvariedOrthodoxresponses.Perhapsthe central issue in traditionalhalakhicthought,in light of the traditionalprohibition of masturbation,is the collection of semen for infertilitytesting (or the use of reproductivetechnologies).Here Jakobovitsprovidesa nice sense of the historicaldevelopmentof varying strandsin the tradition.He surveys 1. Formy own discussionof Jewishthemesin Ulysses,see my ReadingJoyceS "Ulysses" (New York:St. Martin'sPress, 1978), especiallychapter5 andpp. 181-88.

Review: [untitled] Author(s): Aaron L. Mackler Source: AJS Review, Vol. 24, No. 2 (1999), pp. 436-439 Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Association for Jewish Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1486787 . Accessed: 15/07/2011 11:32 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at . http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=cup. . Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].



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been an attempt at suicide" (p. 58), and he writes: "Bloom, however, deconstructsStephen'smyth"when he reallymeansBloom 'challenges'or 'undermines'Stephen'svalues (p. 233, emphasisadded).Notwithstanding these semanticlulls, Davison's book is generallylucid, insightful,erudite, and persuasive.' DanielR. Schwarz CornellUniversity Ithaca,N.Y. EmanuelFeldmanand Joel B. Wolowelsky,eds. Jewish Law and the New ReproductiveTechnologies.Hoboken,N.J.:KTAV,1997. vii, 186 pp. This anthologypresentseightessays fromthe OrthodoxjournalTradition andresponsesto infertility. thataddressselectedissuesrelatedto reproduction This descriptionsuggests some of the value, as well as the limitations,of the work. Positively,the essays in the volume representsome of the most valuable writings available(especially in English) on halakhahand these topics. They are thoroughand well documented,with extensivereferences to classical sourcesand contemporaryOrthodoxhalakhicwritings,manyof which are not readilyaccessibleto most readers.On the whole, the essays areclearlywritten,conveyinga good sense of the characterandintricaciesof this literature,as well as the intellectualskill andcreativitymanifestedwithin this traditionaldiscourse. A numberof the essays strikeme as especiallystrong.Yoel Jakobovits, a physician,discusses"MaleInfertility:HalakhicIssuesin Investigationand Management."He nicely contextualizesthe discussionby beginningwith personalandsocial aspectsof "thelongingfor children,"andconcludingwith attentionto spiritualand psychological'responsesto infertility.Throughout the essay, Jakobovitspresentsclear descriptionsof medical causes of and treatmentsfor infertility,andvariedOrthodoxresponses.Perhapsthe central issue in traditionalhalakhicthought,in light of the traditionalprohibition of masturbation,is the collection of semen for infertilitytesting (or the use of reproductivetechnologies).Here Jakobovitsprovidesa nice sense of the historicaldevelopmentof varying strandsin the tradition.He surveys 1. Formy own discussionof Jewishthemesin Ulysses,see my ReadingJoyceS "Ulysses" (New York:St. Martin'sPress, 1978), especiallychapter5 andpp. 181-88.

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the views of contemporaryauthorities,and concludes with a ruling that masturbationis to be avoided,but couldbe acceptableas a last resortin this context. One intriguinghalakhicissue raisedby reproductivetechnologiesis the determinationof maternalidentitywhen one womangestatesandgives birth to a child that derives in part from an egg providedby anotherwoman. This could occurin a case of ovum donation,or, less frequently,gestational surrogatemotherhood.No fewer than four of the eight essays are devoted largely or entirely to this topic. J. David Bleich's "In Vitro Fertilization: Questionsof MaternalIdentityand Conversion"offers a masterfulsurvey of dozens of halakhicwritingson this topic. Bleich managesto presentthe intricaciesof the competingargumentsand analogiesmarshaledto support the positionsthat birth,gestation,genetic connection,more thanone of the above, or none of the above determinesmaternalidentity.A weak point in this carefullyarguedarticleis Bleich's assertionthat,even if genetic origin does not entail a maternalrelationship,Jews shouldnot donateova to help non-Jewshave children."Thepermissibilityof such a donationis far from clear and, at the very minimum,the procedureis contraryto the ideological normsof Judaism"(p. 68). In support,he providesonly one talmudiccitation objectingto helpingthebirthof idolaters.Evenasidefromtheethicalconcerns thatmany of us would raise, it seems far fromobviousthata restrictionon helping idolaterswould apply to Christiansor secularistsin contemporary nationslike the United States.Given the complexityof traditionalhalakhic views, one might have expectedmore of an argumentfor this applicability, or citationof halakhicsourcesdrawingthis conclusion. Additionalessays address"SpermBankingin Anticipationof Infertility" (includingmoregeneralissuesof artificialinsemination),andoffera historical overviewof selectedaspectsof embryologyin Westernandrabbinicthought. Finally,YitzchokBreitowitzdiscusses "HalakhicApproachesto the Resolution of Disputes Concerningthe Dispositionof Preembryos."Breitowitz begins with a helpful overview of the medicaland legal backgroundof in vitro fertilization(IVF). He explores five halakhicmodels for addressing such disputes,and argues effectively for a model of partnership,drawing on analogies from halakhicdiscourseon business partnershipsthat reflect traditionalunderstandings of equity. Some of the volume'slimitationsare simplythose chosenby the editors in delimitingtheirwork.Not surprisingly,these essays fromTraditionreflect mainstreamOrthodoxviews. Thereare no contributionsby moreheterodox

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Orthodoxthinkerslike Noam Zohar,Conservativethinkerslike DavidFeldman or Elliot Dorff, Reformviews like those reflectedin the collectionsof Reformresponsaeditedby WalterJacob,or otherJewishvoices. Moreover, with the exceptionof a few referencesto Feldman,none of these thinkers is representedamong the hundredsof sources referencedin the endnotes. Secularandnon-Jewishethicalwritingsare cited only rarely.All writersare of courseentitledto writefollowingthepracticesof theirown communitiesof discourseas they definethem. Still, in my view, moreextensiveengagement with divergentviews would have enrichedthe essays. It also would have made then more helpful for readersnot themselvesfirmly entrenchedin Orthodoxdiscourse,but interestedin learningfromandbeing challengedby these voices. Otheromissionsstem less fromideologythanfromthe parametersof the volume,as a collectionof essaysthatappearedin a givenjournal.Someof the most helpfulpresentationsof Orthodoxviews on reproductivetechnologies have been offeredby RichardGraziand Wolowelsky,one of this volume's editors.Yet because they appearedin variousmedicaljournalsinsteadof Tradition,they arenot in the volume. A more general limitationrelates to the topics discussed. A reader approachinga volume entitled Jewish Law and the New Reproductive Technologiesmight expect to encountera reasonablyfull discussion of artificialinseminationwith a husband'ssperm,artificialinseminationwith donor sperm, IVF, surrogatemotherhood,and so forth. There is nothing nearlyso systematicin this volume. For example,while seventy-fivepages are devoted to maternalidentity following ova donationin IVF, general A reader issues of IVFarementionedonly in passingin scatteredparagraphs. law a and more of Jewish reproductive comprehensivepresentation desiring technologies, instead of or in addition to these more particularessays, might turn to RichardV. Grazi, ed., Be Fruitfuland Multiply(Jerusalem: Genesis, 1994); Elliot N. Dorff, Mattersof Life and Death (Philadelphia: Jewish PublicationSociety, 1998); or Michael Gold, And Hannah Wept (Philadelphia:JewishPublicationSociety, 1988). The essays in JewishLaw and the New ReproductiveTechnologieslack the breadthof these works,but offer impressivedepthin the topics discussed.Forthe readerwho is already familiarwith traditionalhalakhicviews in this area and wants to explore some issues in greaterdepth,or who has a specialinterestin the issues that are coveredin the volume,or who simplywantsexamplesof how Orthodox halakhicapproachesoperate,this volume providesvaluableresources.In

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keeping with the editors' goal, it illustrateshow "the sources of old still continueto offer insightsinto the most contemporary of problems." AaronL. Mackler DuquesneUniversity Pa. Pittsburgh, MenachemFisch. RationalRabbis:Science and TalmudicCulture.Bloomington:IndianaUniversityPress, 1997. xxii, 263 pp. The central claim of this book is that the Talmudgives voice to an epistemologyanda styleof reasoningnotverydifferentfromthoseunderlying modem science. The authorbegins by workingout his own philosophyof science on the basis of Karl Popper'sidea that scientifichypothesescan be refutedbut not proven.Fisch depictsscience as workingby progressive troubleshooting:scientistsknow that today's regnanttheoriesmay be supplantedtomorrow,but this awarenessdoes not degenerateinto relativismor conventionalismbecause carefulmethodallows the body of knowledgeto grow and not simply change.Science advancesby continuallyimprovingits approximationof reality,even thoughits graspof realitywill neverget past the approximate,and even thoughwe can neverreallyknow which features of thatapproximation will finallyhave to be alteredor discarded. Fisch then abruptlyshifts to the world of talmudicJudaism,where he finds two competingideologies of Torah.The "traditionalist" view holds that authentictraditionis the only valid basis for judging the legitimacy of a teaching.Rules or opinions,once acknowledgedas based on authentic tradition,can neverbe set aside or changed:one may challengethe pedigree of such teachings,but never their content.The "antitraditionalist" school, however,insists that all receivedteachingsmust constantlybe reevaluated in the light of new developmentsand new ways of thinking;viewpoints universallyaccepted in one generationcan be nullifiedin anotherif later authoritiessee fit to replacethem.The traditionalistview mustthereforesee halakhicdevelopmentas no morethanthe applicationof receivedteachingto unanticipatedsituations,while the otherapproachesTorahthe way scientists approachthe world, with a method of progressivetroubleshootingthat is always ready to alter received norms when new defects are detected in them,or even to startthe traditiondowna previouslyunchartedcoursewhen

Review: [untitled] Author(s): Robert Goldenberg Source: AJS Review, Vol. 24, No. 2 (1999), pp. 439-441 Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Association for Jewish Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1486788 . Accessed: 15/07/2011 11:33 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at . http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=cup. . Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].



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keeping with the editors' goal, it illustrateshow "the sources of old still continueto offer insightsinto the most contemporary of problems." AaronL. Mackler DuquesneUniversity Pa. Pittsburgh, MenachemFisch. RationalRabbis:Science and TalmudicCulture.Bloomington:IndianaUniversityPress, 1997. xxii, 263 pp. The central claim of this book is that the Talmudgives voice to an epistemologyanda styleof reasoningnotverydifferentfromthoseunderlying modem science. The authorbegins by workingout his own philosophyof science on the basis of Karl Popper'sidea that scientifichypothesescan be refutedbut not proven.Fisch depictsscience as workingby progressive troubleshooting:scientistsknow that today's regnanttheoriesmay be supplantedtomorrow,but this awarenessdoes not degenerateinto relativismor conventionalismbecause carefulmethodallows the body of knowledgeto grow and not simply change.Science advancesby continuallyimprovingits approximationof reality,even thoughits graspof realitywill neverget past the approximate,and even thoughwe can neverreallyknow which features of thatapproximation will finallyhave to be alteredor discarded. Fisch then abruptlyshifts to the world of talmudicJudaism,where he finds two competingideologies of Torah.The "traditionalist" view holds that authentictraditionis the only valid basis for judging the legitimacy of a teaching.Rules or opinions,once acknowledgedas based on authentic tradition,can neverbe set aside or changed:one may challengethe pedigree of such teachings,but never their content.The "antitraditionalist" school, however,insists that all receivedteachingsmust constantlybe reevaluated in the light of new developmentsand new ways of thinking;viewpoints universallyaccepted in one generationcan be nullifiedin anotherif later authoritiessee fit to replacethem.The traditionalistview mustthereforesee halakhicdevelopmentas no morethanthe applicationof receivedteachingto unanticipatedsituations,while the otherapproachesTorahthe way scientists approachthe world, with a method of progressivetroubleshootingthat is always ready to alter received norms when new defects are detected in them,or even to startthe traditiondowna previouslyunchartedcoursewhen

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this seems desirable.To Fisch, this readinessto test and improvereceived knowledgeis the essence of rationalbehavior;hencethe title of his book. Fisch demonstratesthat ancientrabbinicliteraturegives voice to both these points of view. By comparingparallelversionsof well-knownstories, he showsthatthe Mishnahtendsto revealan antitraditionalist mindset,while the Toseftapresentsthe samematerialsin a traditionalistframe.Fischnotes, the Yavnehstories however,thatthe openbattlesoverissuesthatcharacterize are prettymuch absentfrom depictionsof latergenerations;he claims that but the BabylonianTalmudrevealsa strongcommitmentto antitraditionalism concealsthis commitmentbehinda traditionalistfacade.In Fisch'sview, the strategybackfired;later ages read the Talmuditself as a traditionalisttext, and mistakenlyadoptedits apparentresistanceto innovationand changeas the hallmarkof Jewishpiety. This reviewwill not presumeto judge the philosophyof science laid out in PartI of the book. With respectto PartII, the great strengthof Fisch's work is the qualityof his close readings.Fisch examineshis selectedtexts with unremittingcareandbringsout innervoices thatcouldeasilybe missed. By tracingthe unstatedpresuppositionsthat underliethese sugyot, rather thantheirovert content,he identifiesan ideologicalrift thattraversesall of rabbinicliteraturebut is usuallyconcealedby harmonization. Readershave long sensed thatthe Talmudhas no uniformstanceon the issue of tradition and innovation,and Fisch has provideda sustained,coherentaccountof this uncertaintyandits origin.This contributionis mostwelcome. The book's weaknessesare two, of which the firstis style. The writing in this volume is all too frequentlydense and graceless.Wordsare often This book says importantthings,butthe misused,sentencesungrammatical. authorwas not well servedby his editors,andthe book shouldnot have gone to printin its presentform. Second, this reviewerremainedunconvincedaboutthe relationshipbetween the two partsof the book. It may be truethat(some) talmudicrabbis and (some) modem scientiststhink in similarpatterns,but what does this prove?Fischadmitsthatotherrabbis,andotherscientists,view thesematters differently,and he is also carefulto avoid any suggestionof a historical Is anythingleft, then,otherthan link betweenhis two cases of "rationality." coincidence? superficial is therenot an importantdifferencein the datathese"ratioFurthermore, handle? nal"thinkers Scientificdataare in principleobtainedby observation from a world the scientist did not make;the act of observationcan affect

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data,but it does not generateits own objects.Rabbinicthinking,however, by the rabbis' own admission,is mostly aboutpreviousrabbinicthinking; its roots in a momentof extrarabbinicrevelationare, again by the rabbis' own admission,of dubiouspracticalconsequence(bBM 59b). Does not this self-referentialqualityof rabbinicteachinghavesomebearingon thequestion underdiscussion?This is a matterthatFisch neveraddresses,butthis reader couldnot get it out of his mind. RobertGoldenberg StateUniversity of NewYorkat StonyBrook StonyBrook,N.Y. AndreaPoma.TheCriticalPhilosophyofHermannCohen.Translated by John Denton.New York:SUNY Press, 1997. xi, 320 pp. (Originallypublishedas La Filosofia Criticadi HermannCohen.Milano:Ugo MursiaEditore,1988) Eleven years after its first publicationin Italian,AndreaPoma's study on HermannCohen's criticalphilosophyis now availablein English and it is the best comprehensivecontemporaryexpositionof its topic available in this language to date. Of the various studies on Cohen's philosophy published in Germanand Italian since the 1970s, Poma's has been one of the best informed,most elegantly written,and least cumbersome,and Kenneth Seeskin, the editor of the SUNY series in Jewish Philosophy has done a real service to the communityof readersin the Anglophone academy to have this volume translatedand published.Both Jewish and generalphilosophicalreaderswill welcome this concise introductionto an unjustifiablyobscurethinker.Seeskin,RobertGibbs,NorbertSamuelson,and quitea few otherJewishphilosophershavebeenfollowingthe leadof the late StevenS. Schwarszschildin keepingalive interestin HermannCohen'swork despitethe almostpervasiveverdictof perditioncast in Jewishand general philosophyon this late nineteenth-and earlytwentieth-century philosopher. They are now aided in theircalls to returnto Cohenby a movementamong Europeanphilosophers(HelmutHolzheyin Zurich,GeertEdel in Hamburg, andPoma,PierfrancescoFioratoandIreneKajonin Italy,to namejust a few) which has produceda numberof fine internationalconferences,numerous articles,and several monographson variousaspects of neo-Kantianismin general and of HermannCohen's philosophyin particular.This work of commentaryanddiscussionaccompaniesthe ongoingnew editionof Cohen's

Review: [untitled] Author(s): Michael Zank Source: AJS Review, Vol. 24, No. 2 (1999), pp. 441-443 Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Association for Jewish Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1486789 . Accessed: 15/07/2011 11:33 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at . http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=cup. . Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].



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data,but it does not generateits own objects.Rabbinicthinking,however, by the rabbis' own admission,is mostly aboutpreviousrabbinicthinking; its roots in a momentof extrarabbinicrevelationare, again by the rabbis' own admission,of dubiouspracticalconsequence(bBM 59b). Does not this self-referentialqualityof rabbinicteachinghavesomebearingon thequestion underdiscussion?This is a matterthatFisch neveraddresses,butthis reader couldnot get it out of his mind. RobertGoldenberg StateUniversity of NewYorkat StonyBrook StonyBrook,N.Y. AndreaPoma.TheCriticalPhilosophyofHermannCohen.Translated by John Denton.New York:SUNY Press, 1997. xi, 320 pp. (Originallypublishedas La Filosofia Criticadi HermannCohen.Milano:Ugo MursiaEditore,1988) Eleven years after its first publicationin Italian,AndreaPoma's study on HermannCohen's criticalphilosophyis now availablein English and it is the best comprehensivecontemporaryexpositionof its topic available in this language to date. Of the various studies on Cohen's philosophy published in Germanand Italian since the 1970s, Poma's has been one of the best informed,most elegantly written,and least cumbersome,and Kenneth Seeskin, the editor of the SUNY series in Jewish Philosophy has done a real service to the communityof readersin the Anglophone academy to have this volume translatedand published.Both Jewish and generalphilosophicalreaderswill welcome this concise introductionto an unjustifiablyobscurethinker.Seeskin,RobertGibbs,NorbertSamuelson,and quitea few otherJewishphilosophershavebeenfollowingthe leadof the late StevenS. Schwarszschildin keepingalive interestin HermannCohen'swork despitethe almostpervasiveverdictof perditioncast in Jewishand general philosophyon this late nineteenth-and earlytwentieth-century philosopher. They are now aided in theircalls to returnto Cohenby a movementamong Europeanphilosophers(HelmutHolzheyin Zurich,GeertEdel in Hamburg, andPoma,PierfrancescoFioratoandIreneKajonin Italy,to namejust a few) which has produceda numberof fine internationalconferences,numerous articles,and several monographson variousaspects of neo-Kantianismin general and of HermannCohen's philosophyin particular.This work of commentaryanddiscussionaccompaniesthe ongoingnew editionof Cohen's

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works,published 1977ff),which by GeorgOlms(NewYorkandHildesheim, 17 critical runsto volumes,including betweenvariouseditions comparisons andan integrated andannotated of Cohen'sworks,excellentintroductions, editionof theshorterJewish,political,andphilosophical writings.It is to be interestin thisbranchof Continental will hopedthatAnglophone philosophy momentum that a translation of this new edition will gainenough eventually becomefeasibleas well. Poma'sintroduction placesCoheninthecontextof therenewalof critical of thenineteenth idealismin thelastquarter centuryin reactionto a crisisof philosophyassociatedwiththecollapseof Germanidealism,followedby a of theempirical risein popularity sciencesandthechallengeof philosophical Severalstudiesareavailablein Englishthatdescribethiscrisis materialism. in its wakebutPoma'sis the only alongwiththe rise of neo-Kantianism one to date that dedicatesits effortnot to a generalphilosophical and historical that can be described phenomenon university sociologicallybut of Cohen'sprogramof criticalphilosophy ratherth the development as an to the historyof philosophy. He beginswiththeonset originalcontribution of Cohen'sinterestin Kantthatleadshimto thepublication of the firstof threeworksonKant,KantsTheoriederErfahrung (firstedition1871).Poma thendescribesCohen'sself-extricationfromthe thendominantpsychological of the apriorithrougha seriesof studieson Platothatled Cohen interpretation to develop a criticalphilosophicalprogramthat is indebtedto Plat no less

thanto Kant.In furtherproblem-history on the studies,mostimportantly methodof the infinitesimalcalculus,Cohenreviseshis owh interpretation of

Kant'sphilosophy, ratherthana historicalinterest revealinga constructive and approach.Pomanot only tracesCohen'spathth eminencein early 20th-centuryEuropeanacademicphilosophybut competentlyintroducesthe

of criticalidealism.Afterhe clarifiesthisprogram readerto Cohen'sprogram in contrastto (Kant's) transcendentalidealism, materialism,spiritualism, skepticisom,eudemonism,pantheism,andabsoluteidealism,Pomaproceeds, followingthe structureof Cohen'sphilosophicalsystem(publishedbetween 1902 and 1912), in chapterson Logic, Ethics,and Aesthetics,coveringalso

theimportant whichis expressed aspectof theideaof a systemof philosophy

in Cohen'sconceptof a "unityof the culturalconsciousness."FinallyPoma addressessthe importantand,as he putsit, "stillopen"questionof therelation of the programof critical idealismto the "late"philosophyof religion to which he dedicatesthe fourfull chapters(aboutone thirdof the book).

Thereis no roomherefora detailedcriticism.Sufficeit to takea look

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at the way Poma suggests to settle the discussionon the relationbetween Cohen's system of philosophyand his "late"philosophyof religion.Poma seeks a compromisebetweenthe positionstakenby FranzRosenzweig(and SiegfriedS. Ucko) on the one handand by AlexanderAltmann(and Heinz M.Graupe)on the other. Following Altmann,he establishescontinuityin Cohen'sinterestin the programof criticalidealism,extendinginto his late philosophyof religion.Yet followingRosenzweig,he shows thatthe themes and ideas takenup in his "late"philosophyof religionforce him to modify the contentsof his criticalphilosophyin orderto accomodatethat which Logic andEthicscannotaddress:the humanbeing in his or herconcreteness and subjectivity.This part of Poma's work shows the strengthsas well as the weaknesses of the book as a whole. Poma is a fine readerif and when the text supportshis thesis, but, like Rosenzweig, whose cues he follows a bit too unsuspectingly,he ignoresthe sourcesor readsthem too of how Cohen'swork superficiallywhere they contradicthis understanding and thoughtdeveloped,certainlynot a grave mistakein a book which, at the time of its composition,was a pioneeringwork of great scope. In his researchPoma covered Cohen's printedworks and he handlesthem well. Yet he fails to ventureinto documentaryevidenceof any sortor to look for deeperexplanationsfor some of the majorinconsistenciesin Rosenzweig's accountof Cohen'sdevelopmentfroma criticalphilosopherto a pious Jew. Whilethis weakeraspectof the book may havebeen acceptablein 1988, the Englisheditioncould have been revisedto respondto morerecentresearch whichhas significantlychallengedthe commonunderstanding of the relation between Cohen's system and his philosophyof religion.Notwithstanding these shortcomingsin the psychologicaland biographicaldepartment,the book deserves full endorsementas a guide to a maze of late 19th-century philosophicalproblemsand intellectualstruggles,and as an introductionto the criticalphilosophyof HermannCohen. MichaelZank BostonUniversity Boston,Mass.

Melnick, Ralph. The Stolen Legacy of Anne Frank:Meyer Levin, Lillian Hellman,and the Stagingof the Diary. New Haven:Yale UniversityPress, 1997. xxii, 268 pp.

Review: [untitled] Author(s): Alvin H. Rosenfeld Source: AJS Review, Vol. 24, No. 2 (1999), pp. 443-446 Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Association for Jewish Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1486790 . Accessed: 15/07/2011 11:33 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at . http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=cup. . Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].



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at the way Poma suggests to settle the discussionon the relationbetween Cohen's system of philosophyand his "late"philosophyof religion.Poma seeks a compromisebetweenthe positionstakenby FranzRosenzweig(and SiegfriedS. Ucko) on the one handand by AlexanderAltmann(and Heinz M.Graupe)on the other. Following Altmann,he establishescontinuityin Cohen'sinterestin the programof criticalidealism,extendinginto his late philosophyof religion.Yet followingRosenzweig,he shows thatthe themes and ideas takenup in his "late"philosophyof religionforce him to modify the contentsof his criticalphilosophyin orderto accomodatethat which Logic andEthicscannotaddress:the humanbeing in his or herconcreteness and subjectivity.This part of Poma's work shows the strengthsas well as the weaknesses of the book as a whole. Poma is a fine readerif and when the text supportshis thesis, but, like Rosenzweig, whose cues he follows a bit too unsuspectingly,he ignoresthe sourcesor readsthem too of how Cohen'swork superficiallywhere they contradicthis understanding and thoughtdeveloped,certainlynot a grave mistakein a book which, at the time of its composition,was a pioneeringwork of great scope. In his researchPoma covered Cohen's printedworks and he handlesthem well. Yet he fails to ventureinto documentaryevidenceof any sortor to look for deeperexplanationsfor some of the majorinconsistenciesin Rosenzweig's accountof Cohen'sdevelopmentfroma criticalphilosopherto a pious Jew. Whilethis weakeraspectof the book may havebeen acceptablein 1988, the Englisheditioncould have been revisedto respondto morerecentresearch whichhas significantlychallengedthe commonunderstanding of the relation between Cohen's system and his philosophyof religion.Notwithstanding these shortcomingsin the psychologicaland biographicaldepartment,the book deserves full endorsementas a guide to a maze of late 19th-century philosophicalproblemsand intellectualstruggles,and as an introductionto the criticalphilosophyof HermannCohen. MichaelZank BostonUniversity Boston,Mass.

Melnick, Ralph. The Stolen Legacy of Anne Frank:Meyer Levin, Lillian Hellman,and the Stagingof the Diary. New Haven:Yale UniversityPress, 1997. xxii, 268 pp.

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The storyof MeyerLevin'slengthy,tortuousrelationshipto AnneFrank's Diary of a YoungGirl is not a new one, but Ralph Melnickhas pursued it more thoroughlythan anyone else to date and has produceda book that recaststhe playersin this complicatedtale in some new andrevealingways. of this In doing so, Melnickposes a seriouschallengeto otherinterpretations most Lawrence Graver's An Obsession with Anne Frank: samestory, notably MeyerLevinand the Diary (1995). Briefly stated,the story that has given rise to both books is as follows. Meyer Levin, a well known and relativelypopularAmericanwriterof the mid-century,was among the first in this countryto readthe famousDiary and workedtirelesslyto promoteit. Among otherthings,he contactedOtto Frank,the fatherof Anne Frankandthe only survivingmemberof the Frank family,and securedfromhim permissionto try his handat turningthe book into a stage play. For a numberof reasons,Levin's dramatization of Anne Frank'sbook was passedover for a morepopularversionby the Hollywood screenwritingteamof FrancesGoodrichandAlbertHackett.Thisunexpected rejectionof his work cut to the core of Levin'ssense of himself as a writer and as a Jew and, over the last thirtyyears of his life, it propelledhim to wage a determinedcampaignfor personalvindicationandartisticjustice.He was convincedthathe was the victim of a conspiratorial effortcarriedon by dogmaticStalinistsandideologicalantisemites,whose goalswereto stripthe Nazi Holocaustof its Jewishcharacteras well as to striphim of his rightsas a seriouswriter.He foughtfuriouslyagainsthis enemies,mostof whomwere themselvesJews, but in his lifetimeLevin receivedlittle satisfactionfor his efforts.Apartfrom some minorstagings,his play remainedsuppressed;and its suppression,he was convinced,permitteda sentimentalized -andlargely de-Judaizedversion of Anne Frankto replacethe "real"Anne Frank,an invidiousdevelopmentthatresultedin a seriousdistortionof the historyof Jewishsufferingunderthe Nazis. In LawrenceGraver'saccountof this story,thereis littlereasonto believe that Meyer Levin was victimizedby any such "conspiracy"as the one he imagined.In many ways, Graveris sympatheticto the author'splight,but in the main he understandsLevin's troublesas stemmingfrom his own self-defeatingfixationon being a victim as well as from a series of highly tangledpersonal,legal, commercial,and professionalcircumstances.Thus, GraverconcludesthatLevin'sassessmentof his travailis "mistakenin many of its details and unconvincingin its overallemphasisand finaljudgment" (p. 207).

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In sharpcontrastto Graver'sconclusions,those reachedin The Stolen Legacy of Anne Frank clearly indicatethat Levin has found a latter-day champion in Ralph Melnick. Drawing on archivalmaterialsthat Graver evidentlydid not discover,Melnickis able to fill in this story in some new ways and to makemore credible,if not wholly convincing,the notionthata degreeof ideologicalcensorshipmay indeedhave been a contributingfactor in the denial of Levin's work. There is no doubtthat, in crucialrespects, Levinwas his own worstenemy,but TheStolenLegacyofAnneFrankreveals others who certainlydid not wish him well and workedin one fashionor another,and for one motive or another,to help kill his play. These included the writerLillianHellman,a well knownandhighlyinfluentialfigurein New Yorktheatercircles,whom Melnickportrays,moreconvincinglythannot, as a "self-hatingJew and a Stalinist"(p. 34) and a personwho was not above ways. actingin underhanded For reasonsboth personalandpolitical,even if not perhapsas conspiratorial as Melnickmakes them out to be, Hellmanplayeda decisive role in sideliningLevin, in bringingin Goodrichand Hackettto replacehim and, on variousoccasions, in influencingthe latterin the way they adaptedthe Diary for the populartheater.Hellmanalso playeda criticalrole with Kermit Bloomgarden,the play's producerand her onetimelover,who sharedmany of her political and ideological tendencies,as she did with variousothers involved in the composition,direction,production,and promotionof the play. Melnick overreacheshimself when he arguesfor a close connection between Hellman's manipulationsand the Stalinist executions of Jewish writers in the Soviet Union that were taking place at the same time. But he otherwise succeeds in bringingHellmanprominentlyto the fore as a determinedopponentof bothMeyerLevinanda dramatizedversionof Anne Frank'sDiary thatwould retainmoreof its recognizablyJewishfeatures. Anotherkey actorwhom Melnickrecastsin this storyis Otto Frank.In Graver'sbook, Frankemerges as a more innocentfigurethan he is made out to be in TheStolenLegacy of AnneFrank,where it becomesclearthat Frank,"a curiousmixtureof greatemotionandbusiness"(p. 135),dealtwith MeyerLevin in ways that were not always fully honest.A highly cultured, more or less assimilatedGermanJew,OttoFrankwas touchyon the "Jewish element"in the play and was basicallyat odds with Levin over this matter, statingat one point that"theplay would be muchmorereadilyacceptedon its meritsif it were writtenby a non-Jew"(p. xiii). Thatidea both insulted andinfuriatedLevinand,in privatecorrespondence as well as in publiclegal

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suits, broughthim to hurlchargesagainstOttoFrankthataccusedthe latter of treatinghim in the same brutalways as the Nazis treatedFrank'sdead upsetby Levin'soutrageousverbaland daughter.Frankwas understandably but Melnick assaults makesclearthat,for all of its rhetorical uponhim, legal wildness,Levin'schargethatOttoFrankactedin some ways out of less than honorablemotiveswas not groundless.Tobe sure,Frankwas not consciously in leaguewithHellmanandBloomgardenin conspiringto blockLevin'splay. Rather,he was drivenby a mission to "propagateAnne's ideas and ideals in every manner"(p. 96) to the widestpossibleaudience.He andnot Levin would interpretthe "spirit"of the diaryand give meaningto its "message," which he did not take to be an especiallyJewishone. And if Levin proved to be a hindranceto him in carryingout this sacred"duty,"then he could be dispensedwith. In the end, though,Frankwas himselfoutmaneuvered as the sole owner or authoritativeinterpreterof his daughter's"message"by those who popularizedher image for the Broadwaystage. And ultimately, as Melnickdescribeshim, he becamea compromisedfigure.That,more or less, is the image of Otto Frankand his relationshipto Meyer Levin that Melnickgives us. On the evidencedrawnfroma largevolumeof published andunpublishedsources,it is basicallya credibleone. Melnick'sbook does not invalidateGraver's,but it does adddimensions to this complex story that are well worthhaving.In ways that go beyond the argument presented in An Obsession with Anne Frank, Melnick's study

helps us betterunderstandhow Anne Frank's"legacy,"itself a significant partof the popularimageof the Holocaust,has been shapedby peoplewhose motives were sometimesquestionableandwhose ideas were not always for the best. AlvinH.Rosenfeld Indiana University Ind. Bloomington,

Collected Studies Source: AJS Review, Vol. 24, No. 2 (1999), pp. 447-456 Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Association for Jewish Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1486791 . Accessed: 15/07/2011 11:33 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at . http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=cup. . Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].



COLLECTEDSTUDIES Elliott Abramsand David G. Dalin, eds. Secularism,Spirituality,and the Future of AmericanJewry. Washington,D.C.: Ethics and Public Policy Center,1999. vii, 65 pp. ElliottAbrams,"Preface."DavidG. Dalin,"Introduction." CONTENTS: Charles AmericanJewry:FromEthnicto PrivatizedJudaism." S. Liebman,"Post-War JonathanWoocher,SylviaBarackFishman,andCliffordLibrach,"Spirituality andthe Civil Religion."DennisPrager,RobertM. Seltzer,David Singer,and Neil Gillman,"SustainingJewishBelief in a Secularor ChristianAmerica." Jack Wertheimer,Barry Shrage,Peter S. Knobel, and Adam Mintz, "The Rabbi,The Synagogue,andthe Community." Dan Ben Amos, ed. Folklorejuif. Cahiersde Litt6ratureOrale44. Paris: PublicationsLangues'O,1998. 266 pp. CONTENTS: Dan Ben Amos, "Editorial."OralitMet &criture.Galit HasanRokem, "> Figureset symboles f6minins dans le midrachLamentationsRabbah."IssacharBen-Ami, "F6condit6et symbolisme."Ronnie Biran,"L'affaireBerl Verblunsky:Pol6miqueautour du folklorejuif entreles deux guerres."Folklorejudio-espagnol.SamuelG. Armistead,"La litt6ratureorale des Juifs s6farades."TamarAlexander,"La perceptionde J6rusalema traversles contesdess6pharades hyerosolymitains." Folklorejudio-arabe. JosephChetrit,"Direproverbialet dire m6ta-textuel. Analyse socio-pragmatiqueproverbesjud6o-marocains."Ethnicit6juive. VeronikaGO3r6g-Karady, "St6r6otypesethniqueset litt6ratureorale:L'image du Juif a traversdeux contes merveilleuxhongrois."HayaBar-Itzhak,"Les Juifspolonaisface au <monstre>> isra61ien: R6citsd'exp6riencespersonnelles la a radio Barbara "Larenaissance Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, narr6s isra61ienne." du Klezmer:R6flexionssurun chronotopemusical." 447

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AnilBhattiandJohannesH. Voigt,eds.JewishExilein India,1933-1945. NewDelhi:Manohar, 1999.195pp. Anil Bhattiand JohannesH. Voigt,"Preface." CONTENTS: Introductory. of the JewishPeople:Preludeto the JohannesH. Voigt,"Persecution Policies and responses.JoachimOesterheld, Holocaust." "BritishPolicy towardsGerman-speaking in Emigrants India,1939-1945."MajidHayat Nationalsin Exile in ColonialIndia Siddiqi,"JewsandCentralEuropean betweenthe TwoWorldWars."TilakRajSareen,"Indian Responsesto the Holocaust." ShalvaWeil,"FromPersecution to Freedom: CentralEuropean JewishRefugeesandtheirJewishHostCommunities in India." Personalities andproblems.AgataSchindler, "Walter Kaufmann: A Forgotten Genius." Anil Bhatti,"WillyHaasand Exile in India."MartinKimpchen,"Alex Aronson:RefugeefromNaziGermany in Santiniketan." Johannes H. Voigt, "Underthe Spellof the Mahatma: Dr Margarete and Spiegel."Receptions RainerLotzandRekhaKamath, A Viewfrom reflections. "Interculturality: Below.AnitaDesai'sBaumgartnerBombay." Rajendra Dengle,"Ranangan s to the Theme or Responsein MarathiLiterature of JewishEmigration." "ToRudolfvonLeyden:A LetterOutof Season." KrishenKhanna, MichaelBrennerandDerekJ. Penslar,eds.In Searchof JewishCommunity: JewishIdentitiesin Germany andAustria,1918-1933.Bloomington: Indiana Press,1998.xv, 251pp. University Shulamit CONTENTS: JewsbetweenFulfillment andDisilluVolkov,"German sion:TheIndividual andtheCommunity." MichaelA. Meyer,"Gemeinschaft withinGemeinde: David ReligiousFermentin WeimarLiberalJudaism." in WeimarGermany: The Approaches of Ellenson,"Gemeindeorthodoxie NehemiahAntonNobelandIsakUnna."MichaelBrenner, Inward: "Turning JewishYouthin Weimar Avraham Deutschtum Barkai,"Between Germany." andJudentum: Controversies the inside Centralverein." Jacob Ideological des Judentums': Was Therea ZionistSubculture in Borut,"'Verjudung Weimar JackJacobs,"Written Outof History: BundistsinVienna Germany?" andtheVarieties of JewishExperience intheAustrian FirstRepublic." Marsha L. Rozenblit, "JewishEthnicity in a NewNation-State: TheCrisisof Identity in theAustrianRepublic." HarrietPassFreidenreich, and "Gender, Identity, JewishUniversityWomenin GermanyandAustria." Sharon Community:

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"TheCrisisof the JewishFamilyin WeimarGermany: Social Gillerman, Conditions andCultural Claudia in Need': "'Youth Prestel, Representations." Correctional Education andFamilyBreakdown in German JewishFamilies." StevenM.Lowenstein, "DeclineandSurvival of RuralJewishCommunities." HarryJamesCargas,ed. ProblemsUniqueto the Holocaust.Lexington: 1999.viii, 198pp. UniversityPressof Kentucky, CONTENTS: StevenL. Jacobs,"CanBetrayalEverBe Legitimate?" David "TheMoralDilemmaof Motherhood in theNaziDeathCamps." Patterson, SusanL. Pentlin,"HolocaustVictimsof Privilege."CharlotteGuthmann "SuicidesorMurders?" JackNusanPorter, "Holocaust Studies." Opfermann, DidierPollefeyt,"Victimsof Evil or Evil of Victims?" DianeM. Plotkin, "Medicinein the Shadowof Nuremberg." RobertS. Frey,"Is Objectivity in Defensible the Holocaust?" EricSterling,"IndifferMorally Discussing ent Accomplices." AlastairG. Hunter,"Intruding on PrivateGrief."Leon as HolocaustScholars." Stein,"Christians StephenC. Feinstein,"ArtAfter Auschwitz." JohnK. Roth,"Reflections on Post-Holocaust Ethics."Harry JamesCargas,"Afterword." AlanD. Crown,ed. NoblesseOblige:Essaysin Honourof DavidKessler OBE.Portland, Ore.:Vallentine Mitchell,1998.209 pp. CONTENTS: NedTemko,"DavidKessler: I: DavidKesslerin thecommunity. A Biographical Sketch."ChaimBermant, "TheSquireof StokeHammond." MarcusBraybrooke, "Makingthe Effortto Hear:David Kessleras an of the QualitiesRequiredforInterfaith EnaHalmos, Exemplar Dialogues." "ThePreservation of 'Unmitigated David Kessler and the England."' II. Jewishpress.Matthew "Taleof aClassicTranslation." AlanD. BarrySullivan, andJewishPublishing in Australia." Crown,"TheJewishPress,Community David Cesarani,"DavidKesslerand the Jewish Chronicle." III: David KesslerandAnglo-Jewish Ben "David Kessler at the Wiener history. Barkow, and The Vision of James Library." TonyKushner, "Independence Integrity: ParkesandDavidKessler."JohnA. Franks,"TheEmancipation of AngloJohnD. Rayner, Motivated Jewryin theNineteenth Century." "Ideologically in Anglo-Jewish Emendations RabbiRaymondApple,"Hermann Liturgy." Adler:ChiefRabbi."IV:Falashaand relatedstudies.PaulStenhouse, "A

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Brief Mentionof the Falashasin the Futiihal-Habasa."EmanuelaTrevisan Semi, "Faitlovitch,Marguliesand the AllianceIsraelite:WhichEducational Policy for the EthiopianJews in 1907?" TudorParfitt,"The Imam, the Orphansand the Jews."MichaelCorinaldi,"Halakhicand Legal Statusof des premieresattestations EthiopianJews."VittorioMorabito,"L'Importance Habib des Juifsd'Ethiopieen Occident." Tawa,"Tracesde l'IsraelEthiopien au traversdes principauxgeographesArabesdu moyenage." JosephDan and KlausHerrmann,eds. Studiesin JewishManuscripts.Texts and Studies in Medieval and Early Modem Judaism14. Ttlbingen:Mohr Siebeck, 1999. xv, 254 pp. CONTENTS: Joseph Dan and Klaus Herrmann,"Introduction." JosephDan, "TheBookof Divine Gloryby RabbiJudahthe Piousof Regensburg." Klaus of "The Hekhalot-Literature in Yohanan Alemanno's Herrmann, Reception AutographMS Paris 849." Naftali Loewenthal,"RabbiShneurZalmanof Liadi's KitzurLikkuteiAmarim,BritishLibraryOr. 10465."AviezerRavitzky, "The God of the PhilosophersVersusthe God of the Kabbalists:A Controversyin 15thCenturyCrete(MSS VaticanHeb. 105 and254)."Marc Saperstein,"TheManuscript/sof Morteira'sSermons."GabrielleSed-Rajna, "TheHistoryof a HebrewCodex:A HebrewCodexas History.Maimonides' MishnehTorahat the Libraryof the HungarianAcademyof Sciences."Joseph Shatzmillerand Anne-MarieWeil, "Un autographede Gersonide.Examen MarkVerman,"SignorTranquillo'sMagicNotebook." graphologique." Zvia Ginor, ed. YakarLe'Mordecai:Jubilee Volumein Honor of Rabbi MordecaiWaxman.Hoboken,N.J.:Ktav,1998. x, 394 pp. WillaMorris,"Dedication." CONTENTS: IsmarSchorsch,"Preface." I: History is also theology.MordecaiWaxman,"Reflectionson a RabbinicLifetime." II: Jewish thought.Neil Gillman,"Tensionsin the ClassicalJewish Image of God." David Lieber,"IsraeliteSociety in the Eighth Century."Gilbert S. Rosenthal, "The Teleological Approachto Halakhah."LawrenceH. Schiffman, "The Pharisees Revisited: Louis Finkelsteinon the Second Temple Period."Rabbi Meyer Waxman,"Maimonidesas a Dogmatist." Jack Bemporad,"Some Aspects of the Doctrine of Salvationin Jewish Thought."William CardinalKeeler, "New Moments in Catholic-Jewish

COLLECTED STUDIES

451

Relations."IV:AmericanJudaism.HaroldS. Kushner,"TheFoundationsof ConservativeJudaism."JonathanWaxman,"MivaMi HaHolkhim:A Profile of the FoundingCongregationsof the United Synagogue."MarkPerlman, "The Opening of AmericanAcademiato Jews in the Post-WorldWar II Period."Rela MintzGeffen,"TheComplexityof Women'sLives:The Case of AmericanJewish Women."JudithFriedlander,"Reflectionsof a Jewish Feminist."ShulyRubinSchwartz,"RuthWaxman,'OurEleanorRoosevelt': TheRole of theRebbetzinin Post-WarConservativeJudaism." RuthWaxman, "JewishWomenin the ConservativeTradition." MartinGoodman,ed. Jews in a Graeco-RomanWorld.Oxford:Clarendon Press, 1998. 293 pp. CONTENTS: I: TheHellenisticand Romanworld:Jewishperspectives.Martin Goodman,"Jews,Greeks,andRomans."ErichS. Gruen,"Jews,Greeks,and Romansin the ThirdSibyllineOracle."Seth Schwartz,"TheHellenization of Jerusalemand Shechem."Daniel R. Schwartz,"Josephus'Tobiads:Back to the Second Century?"II: Social integration?BenjaminIsaac, "Jews, ChristiansandOthersin Palestine:The EvidencefromEusebius."DavidNoy, "WhereWere the Jews of the DiasporaBuried?"III: Similarities?Albert Baumgarten,"Graeco-RomanVoluntaryAssociationsand Ancient Jewish Sects."WilliamHorbury,"AntichristamongJews andGentiles."MichaelL. Satlow, "Rhetoricand Assumptions:Romansand Rabbison Sex." Joshua Schwartz,"Gamblingin AncientJewish Society and in the Graeco-Roman World."HannahM. Cotton, "The Rabbis and the Documents."Aharon Oppenheimer,"JewishPenalAuthorityin RomanJudaea."IV:Differences? Lee Levine, "SynagogueLeadership:The Case of the Archisynagogue." MargaretWilliams, "The Structureof the Jewish Communityin Rome." Tessa Rajak,"The Gifts of God at Sardis."Sacha Stem, "Dissonanceand in Jewish-RomanRelations." Misunderstanding Dov-BerKerler,ed. ThePolitics of Yiddish:Studiesin Language,Literature, andSociety.WinterStudiesin Yiddish,vol. 4. WalnutCreek,Calif.:AltaMira Press, 1998. 212 pp. CONTENTS: Introduction.Dov-Ber Kerler,"On the 'Politics of Yiddish."' Politics, ideology, and scholarship. Emanuel S. Goldsmith,"Yiddishism

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and Judaism."Avraam Greenbaum,"Yiddish Language Politics in the Ukraine(1930-1936)." ChristopherHutton,"WhatWas Going On at the 1935 Yivo Conference?"RobertD. King, "TheCzernowitzConferencein Conferenceof the Catalan Retrospect."HolgerNath,"TheFirstInternational Languagein Barcelona(1906):A SpiritualPrecursorto Czernowitz(1908)?" RakhmielPeltz,"ThePoliticsof Researchon SpokenYiddish."Communities, centres, and cities. Milton Doroshkin,"YiddishSocialist Press in New York,1880s-1920s."MiriamIsaacs,"Yiddishin OrthodoxCommunitiesof Jerusalem."Josef Kerler,"ShloymeMikhoels and His Theatre."Hannah Kilger,"WritersMust Eat: The New YorkCity YiddishWritersGroupof the WorksProgressAdministration." RaphaelaLewis, "PetticoatLane and the North-WestPassage (London, 1880-1940)." Edna Nahshon,"Art and Politics:The Case of the New YorkArtefTheatre(1925-1940)."Language, folklore, and literature.Ahuva Belkin, "Zmirespurim:The ThirdPhase of Jewish CarnavalisticFolk-Literature." Dafna Clifford,"Dovid Bergelson's Bam Dnieper:A Passportto Moscow."Josef Kerler,"DovidHofstein:Our FirstWonder."FrankKnowles,"TheAston Corpusof Soviet YiddishLexicon."RinaLapidus,"A VilnaFolklorist'sCollection:StructuralAnalysisof Miss Shaihets,Mrs YiddishRiddles."Wolf Moskovich,"Mr Khatlruchenka, Names." Hoikaand Others:The Originof Some Unusual Family MarcLee Raphael,ed. Agendasfor the Studyof Midrashin the Twenty-first Century.Williamsburg,Va.:College of WilliamandMary,1999. 136 pp. Alan T. Levenson, "Introduction."Steven D. Fraade, "'ComparCONTENTS:

ative Midrash'Revisited:The Case of the Dead Sea Scrolls and Rabbinic Midrash."David J. Halperin,"Origenand Seder Eliyahu:A Meeting of MidrashicTrajectories?"Lewis M. Barth, "Is Every Medieval Hebrew Manuscripta New Composition?The Case of Pirqe RabbiEliezer."Dvora E. Weisberg,"Men ImaginingWomen ImaginingGod: GenderIssues in Classical Midrash."Marc Bregman,"Seeing with the Sages: Midrashas Visualizationin the Legendsof the Akedah."David H. Richter,"Farewell, My Concubine:The Difficult,the Stubborn,and the Outrageof Gibeah." Alan T. Levenson,"ChristianAuthor,JewishBook?MethodsandSourcesin ThomasMann'sJoseph."

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CatherineM. Soussloff,ed. JewishIdentityin ModernArtHistory.Berkeley: Universityof CaliforniaPress, 1999. x, 239 pp. CatherineM. Soussloff, "IntroducingJewish Identity to Art CONTENTS: History."I: Theories,laws, and disciplines.MargaretOlin, "FromBezal'el JewishArtin Nineteenth-Century to Max Liebermann: Art-Historical Texts." KalmanP. Bland, "Anti-Semitismand Aniconism:The Germanophone Refor Jewish Visual Art." Lisa "To or Not to Saltzman, Figure, quiem Figure: The IconoclasticProscriptionand Its TheoreticalLegacy."II: Artists and collectors.LarrySilver,"JewishIdentityin Art and History:MaurycyGottlieb as EarlyJewish Artist."Robin Reisenfeld,"Collectingand Collective Memory: German ExpressionistArt and Modem Jewish Identity."Lisa Bloom, "EthnicNotions and FeministStrategiesof the 1970s: Some Work by Judy Chicagoand EleanorAntin."III: Art historiansand critics. Karen Michels,"ArtHistory,GermanJewishIdentity,andthe Emigrationof Iconology." Louis Kaplan,"Reframingthe Self-Criticism:ClementGreenberg's 'ModernistPainting'in Light of Jewish Identity."Donald Kuspit,"Meyer Schapiro'sJewish Unconscious."CharlotteSchoell-Glass,"Aby Warburg: ForcedIdentityand 'CulturalScience.'" YedidaK. StillmanandNormanA. Stillman,eds. FromIberia to Diaspora: Studiesin SephardicHistoryand Culture.Brill's Series in Jewish Studies. Leiden:Brill, 1999. xiv, 563 pp. CONTENTS: Yedida K. Stillman and Norman A. Stillman, "Preface."L and Sephardic Orientalcommunities past andpresent.WalterF.Weiker,"The of and Jewish Turkish Blending IdentityAmongthe Jews in Turkey."Fitima S. Dias, "TheJewish Communityin the Azores from 1820 to the Present." Guy H. Haskell,"TheDissolutionof SephardicCulturein Bulgaria."Annette B. Fromm,"A RitualBloodLibel in NorthwesternGreece."YitzchakKerem, "The Europeanizationof the SephardicCommunityof Salonika."Richard Ayoun, "Les Sefaradesd'Espagne en Algerie aux XIIIeet XIVe si cle." DanielJ. Schroeter,"Morocco,England,andthe Endof the SephardicWorld Order(The Sultan'sJew, Meir Macnin)."M. MitchellSerels, "Aspectsof the Effects of Jewish PhilanthropicSocieties in Morocco."Rachel Simon, "Mores and Chores as Determinantsof the Status of Jewish Women in Libya." Bat-Zion Eraqi-Klorman,"The Yemeni Messiah in the Time of

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Maimonides:Preludefor FutureMessiahs."WalterP. Zenner,"Streamsof Immigration:SephardicImmigrationto Britainandthe UnitedStates."Sarah Taieb-Carlen,"TheNorth AfricanJews in TorontoToday:Assimilationor Survival."Annie Benveniste,"TheJudeo-SpanishCommunityin Paris."II. Intellectualhistory.JohnEdwards,"TheBeginningsof a ScientificTheoryof de l'histoiredans Race?Spain,1450-1600."J. Genot-Bismuth, "L'Argument " d'Isidorede Seville le traditionespagnolede polkmiquejud6o-chr6tienne Isaac Abravanelet AbrahamZacuto."T. A. Perry,"Montaigne'sEssay on VanityandKohelet."Zvi Zohar,"SephardicTraditionon GalutandPolitical Zionism:TheHalakhicPositionof RabbiYa'akovMosheToledano."Raphael Patai, "SephardicAlchemists."III. Literatureandfolklore. NormanRoth, A. Sienz-BadillosandJ. Targarona, "WhatConstitutesSephardicLiterature?" "JewishTraditionin ArabicFormin the WarPoetryof Shemuelha-Nagid." Aviva Doron, "The Poetryof TodrosHa-LeviAbulafiaas a Reflectionof CulturalContacts:HebrewPoetryin ChristianSpain."CarlosMota-Placencia, "Mis sobreel presuntojudaismode Celestina."JuliaR. Lieberman,"'Jonen Dalim,' autoaleg6ricode MiguelDanielLevi de Barrios."RebeccaScherer, "Judeo-SpanishFolktales from the Balkans and Istanbulin Their Jewish and Non-JewishSocietal Contexts."Isaac Jack Levy and RosemaryLevy Zumwalt,"MadameSara:A SpiritMediumBetweentwo Worlds."Paloma Yael espaftolacontemporanea." Diaz-Mis,"Judiosy conversosen la literatura "A Window onto a 'Vanished World': Fiction Zerubavel, SephardicSalvage MarioEduardoCohen,"Latematica and the Rhetoricof Commemoration." judia--y en particularla sefaradi-en la obrade ErnestoSibato."El-Hassane Chrifi-Alaoui,"Typologiedu recit 16gendairedu saintjudeo-musulmanau Maroc."IV Linguisticsstudies. Ora Rodrigue Schwarzwald,"Language Choice and LanguageVarietiesBefore and After the Expulsion."Laura Minervini,"The Developmentof a Norm in AljamiadoGraphicSystem in Medieval Spain."Tracy K. Harris,"Code-Switchingin Contemporary ReginaIgel, "Haquitiaas Spokenin the BrazilianAmazon." Judeo-Spanish." Zacharia Appelbaum,"GrowingUp in a PolyglotSephardicHousehold." Joy MessodSalama,"Texts,Contexts,andSubtextin the Judeo-Spanish Biblical Y Tamar." V Music and art. Ruth Melodies as Ballad,Amnrn Davis, "Piyyut Mirrorsof Social Changein HaraKebira,Jerba."JudithR. Cohen,"Backto the Future:New Traditionsin Judeo-Spanish Song."ZefiraGitay,"TheImage of Moses in the SpanishHaggadot."BatshevaGoldman-Ida, "TheSephardic Woman'sHead-dressin Spainand in the OttomanEmpire."VI.Conclusion:

STUDIES COLLECTED

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Educationand thefutureof Sephardicstudies.TamarFrank,"TheSephardic CurrentPracticesandFutureDirections." Heritagein the JewishCurriculum: S. Ilan Troen,ed. Jewish Centers& Peripheries:EuropeBetweenAmerica and Israel Fifty YearsAfter WorldWarII. New Brunswick,N.J.:Transaction Publishers,1999. xi, 438 pp. The Post-HolocaustDynamicsof S. Ilan Troen,"Introduction: CONTENTS: Jewish Centersand Peripheries."I: Theoreticalperspectives.Yosef Gorny, "Reflectionson the Jewish Present-Past."Gabriel Sheffer, "FromIsraeli Hegemonyto DiasporaFull Autonomy:The CurrentStateof Ethno-National Diasporismand the AlternativesFacingWorldJewry."II: Historicaldocumentation.RalphI. Goldman,"TheInvolvementand Policies of American Jewry in RevitalizingEuropeanJewry, 1945-1995." Leon Volovici, "National Communismand Jewish Politics: RomanianChief Rabbi Rosen's Miracles and Dilemmas."III: Communityperspectives-Eastern Europe. RashidKaplanov,"Jews in the FormerSoviet Union: BetweenDissolution and Renaissance."MikhailKrutikov,"JewishIntellectualsand the Problem of Reconstructionof the Jewish Communityin Russia."G6za Komor6czy, "JewishHungaryToday:The JewishCulturalHeritagein the Contemporary Cultureof Hungary."Sonia Misak, "The Jewish Communitiesof Vienna and Cracow: CommunitiesAgainst All Odds."IV: Communityperspectives-Western Europe.MortonH. Narrowe,"FromMosaics to Jews: The Rejectionof an UnsuccessfulPattern."Jean-JacquesWahl,"FiveCenturies Afterthe Expulsionof the JewsfromSpain,Is the FrenchJewishCommunity a Modelof a New GoldenAge?"MarlenaSchmool,"BritishJewry:Prospects andProblems."IsraelFinestein,"ACommunityof Paradox:Office,Authority, and Ideas in the ChangingGovernanceof Anglo-Jewry."Alan Mittleman, "TheGermanJewishCommunity:BetweenAdjustmentand Ambivalence." David Patterson,"TheRenaissanceof JewishLearningin Post-WorldWarII Europe."V Viewsfrom Americaand Israel. BarryA. Kosmin,"OldWorld andNew WorldDiasporas:SimilarProblemsButDifferentSolutions?"David Clayman,"Cooperationand TensionsBetween AmericanJewryand Israel over Selected ProblemsConfrontingEuropeanJewry."Avi Beker, "Sixty Yearsof WorldJewish CongressDiplomacy:From ForeignPolicy to the Soul of a Nation." E. Zev Sufott, "Israeland the Diaspora:Roles and

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Responsibilities."DanielJ. Elazar,"Conclusion:Buildinga EuropeanJewish Future." Journals Nashim:A Journal of Jewish Womens Studiesand GenderIssues. Vol. 2 (Spring1999). ShulamitReinharz,"Introduction." CONTENTS: "Editor'sNote.""Symposium: TeachingJewishWomen'sStudies."PaulaHyman,"TheJewishBodyPolitic: GenderedPoliticsin the EarlyTwentiethCentury." Don SeemanandRebecca Korbin,"'LikeOneof the WholeMen':Learning,GenderandAutobiography in R. BarukhEpstein'sMekorBarukh."Ailene CohenNusbacher,"Efforts at Changein a TraditionalDenomination:The Case of OrthodoxWomen's PrayerGroups."Adeena Karasick,"Shekhinah:The SpeculumThat Signs, or 'The FlamingS/wordthat Turns[s]Every Way' (Genesis 3:24)."Helen Epstein, "Diving into the Wreckage:Salvaging Family History from the Holocaust."Reviewessays.MosheBenovitz,"MichaelD. HalpernandChana Safrai (eds.): Jewish Legal Writingsby Women."Naomi Graetz,"Siddur Va'aniTefillati."Bookshelf

Books Received Source: AJS Review, Vol. 24, No. 2 (1999), pp. 457-463 Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Association for Jewish Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1486792 . Accessed: 15/07/2011 11:33 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at . http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=cup. . Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].



BOOKSRECEIVED Abramowicz,Hirsz. Profiles of a Lost World:Memoirsof East European JewishLife beforeWorldWarII. RaphaelPataiSeriesin JewishFolklore andAnthropology.Detroit:WayneStateUniversityPress, 1999. 386 pp. Abrams,Elliott, and David G. Dalin, eds. Secularism,Spirituality,and the Futureof AmericanJewry.Washington,D.C.: Ethicsand PublicPolicy Center,1999. vii, 65 pp. Alcoloumbre,Thierry.Maimonideet le problkmede la personne.Etudesde PhilosophieMedievale77. Paris:LibrairiePhilosophiqueJ. Vrin, 1999. 183 pp. Arad, Yitzhak.Belzec, Sobibor,Treblinka:The OperationReinhardDeath Camps.Paperbacked. Bloomington:IndianaUniversityPress,1999.viii, 437 pp. Avivi, Yosef. RabbinicManuscripts:Mendel GottesmanLibrary,Yeshiva University.New York:YeshivaUniversityLibraries,1998. xii, 146 pp. (English),262 pp. (Hebrew). Bashan,Eliezer.TheAnglicanMissionand the Jews of Moroccoin the 19th Century.RamatGan:Bar-IlanUniversity,1999. 204 pp. (Hebrew). Baumel,JudithTydor.DoubleJeopardy:Genderand the Holocaust.ParkesWiener Series on Jewish Studies. Portland,Ore.: VallentineMitchell, 1998. xix, 292 pp. Ben Amos, Dan, ed. Folklorejuif Cahiersde LitteratureOrale44. Paris: PublicationsLangues'O,1998. 266 pp. Bhatti,Anil, andJohannesH. Voight,eds. JewishExile in India, 1933-1945. New Delhi:Manohar,1999. 195 pp. Borowitz,Eugene B., and FrancesWeinmanSchwartz.TheJewish Moral Virtues.Philadelphia:JewishPublicationSociety,1999. xxii, 360 pp. Brenner,Michael,andDerekJ. Penslar,eds. In SearchofJewish Community: Jewish Identities in Germanyand Austria, 1918-1933. Bloomington: IndianaUniversityPress, 1998. xv, 251 pp. 457

458

BOOKSRECEIVED

Brody, Robert.A Hand-Listof RabbinicManuscriptsin the Cambridge GenizahCollections.Vol. 1: Taylor-Schechter New Series. Cambridge: 1998. 352 Press, xiii, CambridgeUniversity pp., 24 plates. Cargas,HarryJames, ed. Problems Unique to the Holocaust. Lexington: UniversityPressof Kentucky,1999. viii, 198 pp. Clendinnen,Inga.ReadingtheHolocaust.Cambridge: CambridgeUniversity Press, 1999. ix, 227 pp. Crown,Alan D., ed. Noblesse Oblige:Essays in Honourof David Kessler OBE.Portland,Ore.:VallentineMitchell,1998.209 pp. Dan,Joseph,andKlausHerrmann,eds. Studiesin JewishManuscripts.Texts andStudiesin MedievalandEarlyModemJudaism14. Ttibingen:Mohr Siebeck, 1999. xv, 254 pp. David, Abraham.To Come to the Land: Immigrationand Settlementin Eretz-Israel.JudaicStudiesSeries.Tuscaloosa:University 16th-Century of AlabamaPress, 1999. xiii, 306 pp. Dubin, Lois C. ThePort Jews of HabsburgTrieste:AbsolutePolitics and EnlightenmentCulture.StanfordStudiesin JewishHistoryand Culture. Stanford:StanfordUniversityPress, 1999. ix, 335 pp. Faur,Jose. Homo Mysticus:A Guideto Maimonides s "Guidefor the Perplexed". Syracuse:SyracuseUniversityPress, 1998. xiii, 272 pp. Freeman,David L., and JudithZ. Abrams,eds. Illness and Health in the Jewish Tradition:Writings Jewish from the Bible to Today.Philadelphia: PublicationSociety, 1999. xxvii, 291 pp. Gilbert,Martin.HolocaustJourney: Travellingin Search of the Past. Paperback ed. New York: ColumbiaUniversity Press, 1997. xvi, 480 PP. Ginor,Zvia. YakarLe 'Mordecai:Jubilee Volumein HonorofRabbiMordecai Waxman. Hoboken:KTAV,1998. x, 394 pp. A FourteenthCenturyScientificPhilosophicalControversy: Ruth. Glasner, Jedaiah Ha-Penini' "Treatiseon OppositeMotions" and "Bookof Confutation". Sources for the Study of Jewish Culture5. Jerusalem: WorldUnion of JewishStudies,1998. 255 pp. (Hebrew). Glazier,Jack.Dispersingthe Ghetto:TheRelocationof Jewish Immigrants AcrossAmerica.Ithaca:CornellUniversityPress, 1998. x, 245 pp. Goldberg,Steven.Seducedby Science:HowAmericanReligionHas LostIts Way.New York:New YorkUniversityPress, 1999. ix, 220 pp.

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459

Goodman,Martin,ed. Jews in a Graeco-RomanWorld.Oxford:Clarendon Press, 1998. 293 pp. Grosskopf,Barry.Forgive YourParents,Heal Yourself:How Understanding YourPainfulFamilyLegacy Can TransformYourLife. New York:Free Press, 1999. 279 pp. Hamacher,Elisabeth. Gershom Scholem und die Allegemine ReligionsVersucheundVorarbeiten 45. Berlin: geschichte.Religionsgeschichtliche Walterde Gruyter.x, 358 pp. Halacha,and Henkin,Yehuda.EqualityLost:Essays in TorahCommentary, Jewish Thought.Jerusalem:UrimPublications,1999. 189 pp. Henshke,David. The OriginalMishnain the Discourseof Later Tanna'im. RamatGan:Bar-IlanUniversity,1997. 365 pp. (Hebrew) Ibry,David.Exodusto Humanism:JewishIdentityWithout Religion.Amherst, Prometheus 1999. 143 Books, pp. N.Y.: JPS Hebrew-EnglishTanakh.Philadelphia: JewishPublicationSociety,1999. xxvii, 2038 pp. Kalman,Ruthie,ed. Amos Oz-Bibliography,1984-1996. Beersheva:BenGurionUniversityof the Negev, 1998.x, 340 pp. (Hebrew). Kaplan,Chaim,Scroll of Agony: The WarsawDiary of ChaimA. Kaplan. Trans.and ed. AbrahamI. Katsch. Reprinted. Bloomington:Indiana UniversityPress, 1999. 410 pp. in American Kaufman,David. Shul with a Pool: The "Synagogue-Center" Jewish History. BrandeisSeries in AmericanJewish History,Culture, andLife. Hanover,N.H.: UniversityPressof New Englandfor Brandeis UniversityPress, 1999. Kerler,Dov-Ber,ed. ThePolitics of Yiddish:Studiesin Language,Literature and Society.WinterStudiesin Yiddish4. WalnutCreek,Calif.:AltaMira Press, 1998. 212 pp. Kohn, Daniel B. PracticalPedagogyfor the Jewish Classroom:Classroom Management,Instruction,and CurriculumDevelopment.Greenwood Educators'ReferenceCollection. Westport,Conn.: GreenwoodPress, 1999. xiv, 202 pp. Kremer,S. Lillian. Women' Holocaust Writing:Memoryand Imagination. Lincoln:Universityof NebraskaPress, 1999. xi, 278 pp. Kumove,Shirley.More Words,MoreArrows:A FurtherCollectionof Yiddish Folk Sayings.Detroit:WayneStateUniversityPress, 1999. 313 pp. 150 Years(1845-1995) in Levin, Marjorie,ed. TheJews of Wilkes-Barre:

460

BOOKSRECEIVED

the WyomingValleyof Pennsylvania.Wilkes-Barre:JewishCommunity Centerof WyomingValley.1999. xv, 367 pp. Liedtke,Rainer.Jewish Welfarein Hamburgand Manchester,c. 1850-1914. OxfordHistoricalMonographs.Oxford:ClarendonPress, 1998. vi, 266 PP. SUNY Seriesin PostmodernCulMacKendrick,Karmen.Counterpleasures. ture.Albany:StateUniversityof New YorkPress, 1999.xii, 212 pp. in America.Reprint McWilliams,Carey.A Maskfor Privilege:Anti-Semitism ed. New Brunswick,N.J.:TransactionPublishers,1999. xxvii, 299 pp. Marcus,Paul.Autonomyin theExtremeSituation:BrunoBettelheim,theNazi ConcentrationCampsand the Mass Society.Westport,Conn.:Praeger, 1999. xiv, 212 pp. Masada VI: Yigael YadinExcavations, 1963-1965, Final Reports. ShemaryahuTalmon,"HebrewFragmentsfrom Masada";Yigael Yadin, "TheBen Sira Scroll fromMasada."MasadaReports.Jerusalem:Israel ExplorationSociety, 1999. 252 pp. Massil,StephenW.,ed. TheJewishYearBook,1999.Portland,Ore.:Vallentine Mitchell,1999. li, 374 pp. Meacham,Tirzah,ed. The "Bookof Puberty"(Sefer ha-Bagrut)by Rav Samuelben Hofni Gaon and the "Bookof Years"(Seferha-Shanim)by Rav Judah Rosh ha-Seder.Jerusalem:Yad Ha-RavNissim, 1999. 288 pp. (Hebrew). Mendes-Flohr,Paul. GermanJews: A Dual Identity.New Haven: Yale UniversityPress, 1999. xvi, 149 pp. Mittelman,KarenS., ed. CreatingAmericanJews: HistoricalConversations About Identity. Philadelphia:National Museum of AmericanJewish History,1998. 88 pp. Nashim:A Journal of Jewish Women' Studiesand GenderIssues. Vol. 2 (Spring1999). Nilsse, Andrea.Muslim Palestine: The Ideology of Hamas. Amsterdam: HarwoodAcademicPublishers,1998. vii, 190 pp. Patterson,David.AlongtheEdgeofAnnihilation:TheCollapseandRecovery of Life in the HolocaustDiary. Seattle:Universityof WashingtonPress, 1999. xi, 311 pp. Paul,Terri.GlassHearts.Chicago:AcademyChicagoPublishers,1999. 326 pp. Pelli, Moshe.Kindsof Genrein HaskalahLiterature:Typesand Topics.Israel:

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461

HakibbutzHameuchadPublishingHouse, 1999. xxv (English),357 pp. (Hebrew). Ranki,Vera.ThePolitics of Inclusionand Exclusion:Jews and Nationalism in Hungary.New York:Holmes& Meier,1999. xviii, 269 pp. Raphael,MarcLee, ed. Agendasfor the Studyof Midrashin the Twenty-first Century.Williamsburg,Va.:Collegeof WilliamandMary,1999. 136 pp. Jews and Reizbaum,Marilyn.James Joyces Judaic Other.Contraversions: OtherDifferences.Stanford:StanfordUniversityPress, 1999.ix, 194pp. Rickman,Gregg J. Swiss Banks and Jewish Souls. New Brunswick,N.J.: TransactionPublishers,1999. xvii, 294 pp. Robbins,Jill. AlteredReading:Levinasand Literature.Chicago:University of ChicagoPress, 1999. xxiv, 185 pp. Rubenstein,Joshua.TangledLoyalties:TheLifeand Timesof lya Ehrenburg. Paperbacked. JudaicStudiesSeries.Tuscaloosa:Universityof Alabama Press, 1999. xii, 482 pp. Rubin,Miri. Gentile Tales: TheNarrativeAssaulton Late MedievalJews. New Haven:Yale UniversityPress, 1999. xiii, 266 pp. Scharf,RafaelF. Poland, WhatHave I to Do with Thee... : Essays Without Prejudice.Portland,Ore.:VallentineMitchell,1998. xviii, 182 pp. Shadur,Joseph.A Drive to Survival:Belgium,France,Spain,Portugal,1940. SouthDeerfield,Mass., 1999:KennethSchoen, 1999. 144 pp. . YoungTravelersto Jerusalem: The Holy Land in Americanand EnglishJuvenileLiterature,1785-1940. RamatGan:BarIlanUniversity, 1999. xix, 208 pp. Shapira,Avraham.Hopefor Our Time:Key Trendsin the Thoughtof Martin Buber.SUNY Seriesin Judaica:Hermeneutics,Mysticism,andReligion. Albany:StateUniversityof New YorkPress, 1999. ix, 263 pp. Shapiro,Gerald,ed. AmericanJewishFiction:A Centuryof Stories.Lincoln: Universityof NebraskaPress, 1998. xv, 445 pp. Skloot,Robert,ed. TheTheatreof theHolocaust,Vol.2. Madison:University of WisconsinPress, 1999. viii, 407 pp. Soussloff,CatherineM., ed. JewishIdentityin ModernArtHistory.Berkeley: Universityof CaliforniaPress, 1999. x, 239 pp. Sprecher,Drexel.InsidetheNurembergTrial:A Prosecutors Comprehensive Account.2 vols. Lanham,Md.:UniversityPressof America,1999. xvii, 1580 pp. Stillman,YedidaK., andNormanA. Stillman,eds. FromIberiato Diaspora:

462

BOOKSRECEIVED

Studiesin SephardicHistoryand Culture.Brill'sSeriesin JewishStudies. Leiden:Brill, 1999. xiv, 563 pp. Svonkin, Stuart.Jews Against Prejudice:AmericanJews and the Fight for Civil Liberties.Paperbacked. ColumbiaStudies in Contemporary AmericanHistory.New York:ColumbiaUniversityPress, 1999. Talmage,Frank.Apples of Gold in Settingsof Silver: Studiesin Medieval Jewish Exegesis and Polemics. Ed. BarryWalfish.Toronto:Pontifical Instituteof MediaevalStudies,1999. xv, 447 pp. Tessler,Gloria.Amblie:The Storyof LadyJakobovits.Portland,Ore.:VallentineMitchell,1999. xvi, 318 pp. Tewarson,Heidi Thomann.RahelLevin Varnhagen:TheLife and Workof a GermanJewishIntellectual.Textsand Contexts.Lincoln:Universityof NebraskaPress, 1998. 262 pp. Tobias,Sigmund.StrangeHaven:A JewishChildhoodin Wartime Shanghai. Urbana:Universityof IllinoisPress, 1999. xxiv, 162 pp. Troen,S. Ilan, ed. Jewish Centers& Peripheries:EuropeBetweenAmerica and Israel Fifty YearsAfter WorldWarII. New Brunswick,N.J.: TransactionPublishers,1999. xi, 438 pp. Udoff, Alan, and BarbaraE. Galli, ed. and trans.FranzRosenzweig's"The New Thinking".Syracuse:SyracuseUniversityPress, 1999. 232 pp. Ulrich,Eugene.TheDead Sea Scrollsand the Originsof theBible.Studiesin the Dead Sea Scrolls and RelatedLiterature.GrandRapids:Eerdmans, 1999. xviii, 309 pp. Varon,Laura.The Juderia:A Holocaust Survivor'sTributeto the Jewish of Rhodes.Westport,Conn.:Praeger,1999, 166 pp. Community Weinreich,Max. Hitler Professors:ThePart of Scholarshipin Germany's s CrimesAgainsttheJewish People.Paperbacked.,witha new introduction New Haven: Martin Gilbert. YaleUniversityPress, 1999. xi, 291 pp. by P. The M. Version Weitzman, Syriac of the Old Testament:An Introduction. University of CambridgeOrientalPublications56. Cambridge: CambridgeUniversityPress, 1999. xiv, 355 pp. Wyszogrod,Morris.A Brush with Death: An Artist in the Death Camps. SUNY Series in Modem Jewish Literatureand Culture.Albany:State Universityof New YorkPress, 1999. xii, 254 pp. Yablonka,Hanna.Survivorsof the Holocaust:Israel after the War.New York:New YorkUniversityPress, 1999.xiii, 337 pp. Yinger,KentL. Paul,Judaism,andJudgmentAccordingto Deeds.Societyfor

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463

New TestamentStudiesMonographSeries 105. Cambridge:Cambridge UniversityPress, 1999. xiv, 318 pp. ed. Portland, Zaidner,Michael,ed. Jewish TravelGuide,1999. International Ore.:VallentineMitchell,1999. 419 pp.

Review: [untitled] Author(s): ‫נורית גוברין‬ Source: AJS Review, Vol. 24, No. 2 (1999), pp. 1-3 Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Association for Jewish Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1486793 . Accessed: 15/07/2011 11:33 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at . http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=cup. . Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].



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AJS Review: The Journal of the Association for Jewish Studies (Volume 24) 2

AJS Review (The Journal of the Association for Jewish Studies), Vol 18, No. 2 1993

AJS Review (The Journal of the Association for Jewish Studies), Vol 19 No. 2 1994

AJS REVIEW The Journal of the Association for Jewish Studies Vol. IX, No. 1 Spring 1984

AJS Review (The Journal of the Association for Jewish Studies), Vol 19, No. 1 1994

AJS REVIEW. VOL. 6. 1981. VI ASSOCIATION FOR JEWISH STUDIES

Association for Jewish studies 1999- 24(1)

AJS REVIEW - VOLUME THREE

Association for Jewish studies 1997- 22(2)

Association for Jewish studies 2010- 34(2)

Association for Jewish studies 2003-27(2)

Association for Jewish studies 2009- 33(2)

Association for Jewish studies 2005-29(2)

Association for Jewish studies 1998- 23(2)

Association for Jewish studies 2004-28(2)

Association for Jewish studies 2002-26(2)

Ajs Review, 1995 No 2

Ajs Review, Volume Four (1979)

Ajs Review, Volume Two, 1977

Ajs Review, 1984 No 2

Ajs Review, 1992, Part 2

Association for Jewish studies 2004-28(1)

Association for Jewish studies 2010- 34(1)

Association for Jewish studies 2000-2001- 25

Association for Jewish studies 2003-27(1)

Association for Jewish studies 2009- 33(1)

Association for Jewish studies 1997- 22(1)

Association for Jewish studies 2002-26(1)

Association for Jewish studies 1998- 23(1)

Association for Jewish studies 2005-29(1)

Ajs Review 1986: Fall, No 2

AJS Review: The Journal of the Association for Jewish Studies (Volume 24) 2

AJS Review (The Journal of the Association for Jewish Studies), Vol 18, No. 2 1993

AJS Review (The Journal of the Association for Jewish Studies), Vol 19 No. 2 1994

AJS REVIEW The Journal of the Association for Jewish Studies Vol. IX, No. 1 Spring 1984

AJS Review (The Journal of the Association for Jewish Studies), Vol 19, No. 1 1994

AJS REVIEW. VOL. 6. 1981. VI ASSOCIATION FOR JEWISH STUDIES

Association for Jewish studies 1999- 24(1)

AJS REVIEW - VOLUME THREE

Association for Jewish studies 1997- 22(2)

Association for Jewish studies 2010- 34(2)

Association for Jewish studies 2003-27(2)

Association for Jewish studies 2009- 33(2)

Association for Jewish studies 2005-29(2)

Association for Jewish studies 1998- 23(2)

Association for Jewish studies 2004-28(2)

Association for Jewish studies 2002-26(2)

Ajs Review, 1995 No 2

Ajs Review, Volume Four (1979)

Ajs Review, Volume Two, 1977

Ajs Review, 1984 No 2

Ajs Review, 1992, Part 2

Association for Jewish studies 2004-28(1)

Association for Jewish studies 2010- 34(1)

Association for Jewish studies 2000-2001- 25

Association for Jewish studies 2003-27(1)

Association for Jewish studies 2009- 33(1)

Association for Jewish studies 1997- 22(1)

Association for Jewish studies 2002-26(1)

Association for Jewish studies 1998- 23(1)

Association for Jewish studies 2005-29(1)

Ajs Review 1986: Fall, No 2

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