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Front Matter Source: AJS Review, Vol. 24, No. 1 (1999), pp. i-120 Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Association for Jewish Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1486518 . Accessed: 15/07/2011 10:53 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. 1 1999

TheJournalof the Associationfor JewishStudies

EEW

Volume XXIV, Number 1

1999 ASSOCIATION FOR JEWISH STUDIES WALTHAM, MASSACHUSETTS

AJS Review EDITOR:

NormanA. Stillman, University of Oklahoma ASSOCIATEEDITORS:

Nehama Aschkenasy,University of Connecticut,Stamford Rela Geffen, GratzCollege RobertGoldenberg,State University of New Yorkat Stony Brook BenjaminC. I. Ravid, BrandeisUniversity Gary Rendsburg,CornellUniversity MarshaRozenblit, University of Maryland CORRESPONDINGEDITOR:

Lloyd P. Gartner,Tel-Aviv University BOOK REVIEWEDITOR:

Marc Saperstein,George WashingtonUniversity EDITORIALASSISTANT:

JohnBorrego The AJSReview(ISSN 0364-0094) is publishedtwice annuallyby the Association for JewishStudies.

forconsideration shouldbe sentto Prof.NormanA. Stillman,History Manuscripts 455 W. Norman,OK73019-0535. Lindsey,Universityof Oklahoma, Department, Books for review shouldbe sent to Prof. MarcSaperstein,JudaicStudiesProgram, The GeorgeWashingtonUniversity,2142 G Street,NW, Washington,DC 20052.

C 1999by theAssociation forJewishStudies MANUFACTUREDIN THE UNITED STATESOF AMERICA

AJS REVIEW THE JOURNALOF THE ASSOCIATIONFOR JEWISHSTUDIES VOLUMEXXIV, NUMBER 1, 1999

Articles 1

SHMUELSHEPKARU

FromAfterDeathto Afterlife:Martyrdomand Its Recompense 45

ARYEHCOHEN

"Do the Dead Know?"The Representation of Deathin the Bavli 73

REUVENSHOHAM

Haim Gouri and "The Jewish People Who Have Been Severely Injured" Review Essays 101

"Foolsfor Love of the Republic"? Pierre Birnbaum. The Jews of the Republic: A Political History of State Jews in France from Gambetta to Fichy VICKICARON

111

ConstructiveFeministTheologyandReflectiveSelf-Critique:A Male Readingof RachelAdlerandLauraLevitt Laura Levitt. Jews and Feminism: the Ambivalent Search for Home Rachel Adler. Engendering Judaism DAVIDR. BLUMENTHAL

Book Reviews 121

David Marcus. From Balaam to Jonah: Anti-Prophetic Satire in the Hebrew Bible MARVINA. SWEENEY

123

128

David Goodblatt. The Monarchic Principle: Studies in Jewish SelfGovernment in Antiquity STUARTS. MILLER Leon J. Weinberger.Jewish Hymnography:A Literary History RUTHLANGER

CONTENTS

ii

131

Hayim Lapin.Early RabbinicCivil Law and the Social Historyof RomanGalilee:A Studyof MishnahTractateBaba' Mesi'a' JOHNH. CORBETT

138

Amnon Linder.TheJews in the Legal Sourcesof the Early Middle Ages BERNARD S. BACHRACH

140

AviezerRavitzky.HistoryandFaith: Studiesin JewishPhilosophy EISEN ROBERT

142

Shmuel Feiner.Haskalah and History: The Emergenceof Modern JewishAwarenessof the Past MICHAEL STANISLAWSKI

145

Nitsa Ben-Ari. Romance with the Past: The Nineteenth-Century German-JewishHistorical Novel and the Creationof a National Literature(Hebrew) JONATHAN SKOLNIK

147

YuditGreenberg.Better ThanWine:Love,Poetry,and Prayerin the Thoughtof FranzRosenzweig ManfredVogel.Rosenzweigon Profane/SecularHistory L. MORGAN MICHAEL

151

Berel Lang.Heidegger'sSilence MICHAEL WYSCHOGROD

153

BailaRoundShargel.LostLove: TheUntoldStoryofHenriettaSzold, UnpublishedDiary and Letters PAMELAS. NADEL

156

Rachel FeldhayBrenner.Writingas Resistance:Four WomenConfrontingthe Holocaust SaraHorowitz.Voicingthe Void:MutenessandMemoryin Holocaust Fiction BERELLANG

160

HouseJoelleBahloul.TheArchitecture ofMemory:A Jewish-Muslim hold in ColonialAlgeria, 1937-1962 D. LOEB LAURENCE

CONTENTS

162

111

JosephHeller.TheSternGang:Ideology,Politics and Terror WILLIAMM. BATKAY

164

Bobbie Malone. Rabbi Max Heller: Reformer,Zionist, Southerner, 1860-1929 GARYP. ZOLA

168

Steven T. Katz.AmericanRabbi: TheLife and Thoughtof Jacob B. Agus StevenT. Katz. TheEssentialAgus: The Writingsof JosephB. Agus R. HEINZE ANDREW

171

JeffreyGurockand Jacob Schacter.A ModernHereticand a Traditional Community:MordecaiM. Kaplan, Orthodoxy,and American Judaism EMANUEL S. GOLDSMITH

174

Mark K. Baumanand Berkley Kalin. The Quiet Voices:Southern Rabbisand Black CivilRights,1880s to 1990s JAYM. EIDELMAN

176

StuartA. Cohen.TheScrollor the Sword?Dilemmasof Religionand MilitaryServicein Israel GARY S. SCHIFF

178

Joel ShatzkyandMichaelTaub.Contemporary Jewish-American Novelists: a Bio-CriticalSourcebook STANLEYTRACHTENBERG

181

Collected Studies

209

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From after Death to Afterlife: Martyrdom and Its Recompense Author(s): Shmuel Shepkaru Source: AJS Review, Vol. 24, No. 1 (1999), pp. 1-44 Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Association for Jewish Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1486519 . Accessed: 15/07/2011 10:55 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].



FROMAFTERDEATHTO AFTERLIFE: MARTYRDOMAND ITS RECOMPENSE by SHMUELSHEPKARU In rabbinicalliteraturethe belief in a postmortemexistence is rather obvious. Related terminologyis relatively abundant,althoughfluid and obscureat times.Theuse of this terminologyby a diversityof Jewishsources of theenigmaticnotioncalledafterlife.' furthercomplicatesthe understanding The purposeof this articleis to exploreone aspectof the Jewishcredo of the afterlife:the natureof divine recompensein relationto martyrdom.2 The articleaims at determiningwhena relationshipbetweenvoluntarydeath and divine recompensewas first establishedand what the natureof this recompensewas. While this relationshipdoes not containanswersto every questionregardingJewishtenetson the afterlife,I believeit to be indicativeof generalJewishattitudestowardlife anddeathin variousperiodsandJewries. The article'smethodologicalapproach,however,shouldbe made clear fromthe outset.Ratherthanreconstructing actualhistoricalevents,the article aims at tracingthe theoreticaland theologicalevolutionof the relationship 1. S. P.Raphaeltracesthehistoryof thenotionof afterlifein hisJewishViewsof theAfterlife (London, 1994). His analysis relies heavily on biblical, apocryphaland pseudepigraphic, rabbinic,midrashicphilosophical,kabbalistic,andHasidicliterature.His book,however,does not includemany of the sourcesanalyzedbelow, of which some show attemptsat historical writing. E. E. Urbachaddressedthe issue of rewardand punishmentin The Sages: Their ConceptsandBeliefs (Jerusalem,1979),pp. 436-448, andon suffering,pp. 444-448. 2. By martyrdomI refer to forms of voluntarydeaththat are exercisedin a religious context, a phenomenonusually describedin rabbinicJudaismas "the sanctificationof the DivineName"(qiddushha-Shem).Themartyr,therefore,is one who consciouslychoosesdeath over life for religiousreasons.On rabbinicdefinitionandusageof the term,see E. Grunewald, "Qiddushha-Shem:An Examinationof a Term"(Hebrew),Molad24 (1968):476-484, andS. Safrai,"Qiddushha-Shemin the Teachingsof the Tannaim" (Hebrew),Zion43 (1979):28-42. Voluntarydeathin rabbinicwritingswill be analyzedbelow.

AJS Review 24/1 (1999): 1-44

1

2

SHMUELSHEPKARU

between voluntarydeath and divine recompenseas presentedin various literaryworks.By andlarge,it treatsspeechesthatauthorsattributedto their martyrologicalheroeseven thoughthereis no way of knowinghow accurate and genuinethese speechesare, for the authorswere not alwayspresentor committedto carefullyrecordingthe martyrs'exact words.This fact alone may suggestthatthemartyrs'declarations,althoughnotnecessarilytheevents themselves,are oftenthe productof the authors'creativity.3 Withthis caveatin mind,we turnto the two depictionsof Jewspassively giving up theirlives ratherthantransgressGod's laws thatare foundin the books of the Maccabees.Second Maccabees,a first-centuryB.C.E. epitome of a five-volumeaccountby Jasonof Cyrene,relatesthe storyof the elderly Eleazar,who chose deathratherthansubmitto KingAntiochusIV Epiphanes. EleazarservedAntiochusas theperfecttarget,forhe was "oneof theforemost scribes,a manwell advancedin yearsandof mostnoble countenance." Of interesthere is how the authordescribesEleazar'smotivationfor dying. The martyrologicalmotif is clear. In the author'sopinion, Eleazar "welcomeddeathwith glory ratherthan life with pollution,and of his free will wentto the rack."He makesEleazar"anexampleof whatmen shoulddo who are steadfastenoughto forfeitlife itself ratherthaneat whatis not right ... in spite of the naturalurgeto live."4The finalexplanationfor embracing deathover life is left to Eleazar: Evenif forthepresentI wereto escapethepunishment of men,nevertheless I could not escape, either living or dead, the vengeanceof the Almighty.

thislife courageously Therefore, now,I shallhaveleft a noble by departing of how to die and in behalf of ourreveredandholy example happily nobly laws.... TheLordinHissacredknowledge is awarethatthoughI couldescape in mybodyunderthisflogging;yetwith deathI nowendureterriblesuffering my soul I sufferthis gladly,becauseof my reverencefor Him.'

3. Althoughthis fundamentalcaveat shouldalways be observedwhen dealingwith martyrologicalaccounts,each accountdeservesan individualtreatment.The sourcesdescribing eventsduringthe Crusades,for example,reflectgenuineattemptsat writinghistoricalreports, althoughrecordinghistorywas notconsistentlytheironly objective.See discussionandrelevant scholarlyworksbelow. 4. 2 Maccabees6:18-30. The translationis from the DropsieCollege editionof Jewish ApocryphalLiterature,ed. S. Zeitlin,trans.S. Tedesche(New York,1953). 5. Ibid.

FROMAFTERDEATHTOAFTERLIFE

3

Eleazarmakeshis difficultdecisioncalmly,for transgressionwill bringupon him the unescapablevengeanceof the Almighty.Eleazar'schoice contains two positive features:the opportunityto expresshis ultimateloyaltyto God, anda noble methodof avoidingan unbearablelife of divinepunishment. In his account of the martyrdomof an anonymousmother and her seven sons, the authoradvances an even more daring concept.6Despite the dismemberingand frying of their organs in pans and cauldrons,the martyrspronouncetheirconvictionof theirphysicalresurrectionafterdeath. In contrastto the ephemeralphysicaltortureby the humanking,the heavenly Kingwill granttheman eternalrewardhereandnow-corporeal resurrection in this world. Resurrectionemerges as a recurrentmotif in this account.After the execution of the first son, the second son reassuresthe king that he may terminatetheir"presentexistence,but the King of the Universewill raiseus up to everlastinglife becausewe have died for His laws."Coincidingis the thirdson's proclamation:"fromheavenhave I hadthese [limbs],yet because of God's laws I count them as nothing,for from Him I hope to have them back again."Thus, he believes, "betteris it for people to be done to death by men if they have the hopeful expectationthat they will againbe raised up by God."The authorhas the seventhson summarizethe essence of the struggleand the sons' conviction.After enduringbrief troublethey will be "underGod'scovenantfor everlastinglife."Themother,who was not forced to transgress,does not lose faith eitherwhen watchingthe gory executions of her children.She expects God to "give life back"to themso thatshe can receivethemback again.7 Passivevoluntarydeathin the nameof Godandtherewardof resurrection constitutetwo innovativeconceptsthat2 Maccabeesintroduceswith the two

6. On the storyof the motherand her seven sons, see the classicalworksof J. Guttmann, "The Motherand Her Seven Sons in the Aggada and the Second and FourthMaccabean Iudaico-Hellenisticaein Memoriamlohanis Lewy,ed. Books"(Hebrew),in Commentationes M. Schwabeand J. Guttmann(Jerusalem,1949), pp. 25-37, and G. D. Cohen,"TheStoryof in MordecaiM. KaplanJubilee Volume Hannahand Her Seven Sons in HebrewLiterature," (New York,1953),Hebrewsec., pp. 109-1?2. 7. 2 Maccabees7.

4

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Since the storiesrepresentfolktalesratherthangenuineevents,9 narratives.8 didnot servesolely as a meansof rationalizingthe the conceptof resurrection of "bodyandsoul"(2 Maccabees and resurrection Martyrdom "calamities."•o 7:37-38, emphasisadded)in the here and now displaythe author'sattempt not an easy taskaftersix centuriesof an to instillnew conceptsin his circle;11 Israelitetheology--termedby scholarsthe Yahweh-alonemovement--that

of the resurrectionof the dead appearin severalplaces in the Bible. 8. Representations Ezekiel'svision of the awakeneddry bones in the valley (37:1-13) providesa well-known illustration.Otherpassagesappearin Isaiah26:19 andthe apocalypticvision of Daniel 12:1-2. of theDeadin theOldTestament," See also H. Birkeland,"TheBelief in theResurrection Studia Theologica3 (1950): 60-78. The differencebetweenthe biblicaldepictionand2 Maccabees lies in the factthatthe Bible recountsprophecies,while 2 Maccabeesdescribes"actualevents." Moreover,the propheciesreferto the nationof Israelandits collectivefate,not to individuals and certainlynot to individualmartyrs.Daniel'sdescriptionof a finaljudgment,punishment, andrewardis somewhatcloser in natureto thatof 2 Maccabees,whichis not surprisinggiven the factthatDaniel'slastsix chapterswerewrittensometimearoundthe dateof theHasmonean revolt.Tothesebiblicaldepictionswe mayaddthe storyof Elisha,who bringsa boy backto life (2 Kings4:32-35, 1 Kings 17:17-22).Elisha'srevivalof the boy,however,describesa miracle influenceon the conceptof bodilyresurrection ratherthana reward.Fora possibleZoroastrian in Ezekiel, see B. Lang, "StreetTheater,Raisingthe Dead, and the ZoroastrianConnection in Ezekiel'sProphecy,"in Ezekieland His Book,ed. J. Lust(LeuvenUniversityPress, 1986), pp. 297-316; C. McDannelland B. Lang,Heaven:A History(New Haven,1988),pp. 12-13. in Traditionin And compareL. J. Greenspoon,"The Originof the Idea of Resurrection," B. D. ed. and J. Levenson 247-350. 1981), Halpern pp. Transformation, (Bloomington, 9. SolomonZeitlin,TheRise and Fall of theJudaeanState(Philadelphia,1968),p. 90; V. HellenisticCivilizationand theJews (New York,1979),p. 200; idem,"Antiochus Tcherikover, in Jerusalem" (Hebrew),Tarbiz20 (1949):61-67; idem,"ThePersecutionof AntiochusandIts Problems"(Hebrew),Eshkolot1 (1954):86-109; Y.Baer,"ThePersecutionof the Monotheistic TheHasmonean (Hebrew),Zion38 (1971):32-47; S. Derfiler, Religionby AntiochusEpiphanes" Revolt:Rebellionor Revolution(Lewiston,1990), 4:59-64; J. Silvers, TheHasmoneansand theirSupporters(Atlanta,1990),p. 24. of martyrdom,see A. E. Agus, TheBindingof Isaac and the 10. On the "rationalization" Messiah(Albany,N.Y., 1988),pp. 14-16. 11. G. W. Bowersockbelieves that the two storiesof martyrdomin 2 Maccabeesare a late additionto the text. He writes:"So if the two storiesin the booksof the Maccabeeshave nothingto do eitherwith the authentichistoryof the Maccabeesor with the lost originaltext that recountedit, it may be suggestedthat they have everythingto do with the aspirations and literatureof the early Christians."In other words, he sees the stories as the product of a first-century"or slightly later"Palestiniancopier or translator.Martyrdomand Rome (Cambridge,1995), pp. 12-13. AlthoughBowersock'ssuggestionwould supportthe article's theses,I did not findenoughevidenceto accepthis theory.


5

separatedGod and the living fromthe realmof the dead.12Accordingly,any significantexistenceends with death,because,as Psalm 115:17conveys,to mentionone example,"thedeaddo notpraiseYah."Thosewho cannotpraise Him thuscannotbenefitfromHim. Boththe validityof thistabooandthe attemptby 2 Maccabeesto do away with it find expressionalso in the depictionof JudahMaccabee'streatment of his fallen comrades.The authorfinds it necessaryto explainwhy Judah offered penance on behalf of his slain soldiers,who had carried"amulets sacredto idols." Forif he hadnotbeenexpectingthe fallento riseagainit wouldhavebeen to prayfor the dead.But sincehe hadin view the foolishandsuperfluous rewardforthosewhodiea godlydeath,hispurposewasa holyand wonderful piousone.Andthiswaswhyhe offeredan atoningsacrificeto freethedead fromtheirsin.'3

This explanationwould have been superfluousif the convictionin physical resurrectionor a "wonderfulreward"hadconstitutedan integralpartof firstcenturyJewishtheology.The absenceof this convictionin FirstMaccabees thenotionof the futilityof life afterdeath,whichappears furthersubstantiates to be especiallytruein relationto voluntarydeath. Accordingto First Maccabees,one thousandJews escaped with their families and belongings to the wildernessto avoid Hellenization.'4When 12. The theologythatfollowedKingJosiah'sreformsmaintainedno promisefor the dead regardlessof circumstances.See, for example,Job 14:12,26:5-6, 42:10;andespeciallyIsaiah 26:14, "They are dead, they can never live. Rephaim[i.e., the dead] they can never rise," or Ecclesiastes9:5, "The living know they will die, but the dead know nothing,nor they have any more a reward,for the memory of them is forgotten."See M. Smith's revised version of his essentialTh.D. dissertation,PalestinianParties and Politics ThatShapedthe Old Testament(New York,1971),wherehe describesthe outcomeof the conflictbetweenthe Yahweh-aloneand the syncretistparties.See also W. F. Albright,Yahwehand the Gods of Canaan(London,1968);B. Lang,Monotheismand the PropheticMinority(Sheffield,1983), pp. 13-59; McDannellandLang,Heaven:A History,pp. 1-11; M. S. Smith,TheEarlyHistory of God: Yahwehand the OtherDeities in AncientIsrael (SanFrancisco,1990). 13. 2 Maccabees12:43-45. 14. Accordingto Zeitlin,"TheseJudaeans... were the firstmartyrsin history."Rise and Fall of theJudaeanState,p. 91. See also J. Klausner,Historyof the SecondTemple(Hebrew), 5 vols., 2nd ed. (Jerusalem,1950), 3:17. B. Bar Kochvatoo sees these refugeesas "martyrs (cf. 1 Maccabees1.63) who chose to be passive and refrainfromall defensiveaction."Judas Maccabaeus(New Rochelle,N.Y., 1989),p. 482.

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discoveredin a cave, they preferredto let the king's supporterskill them ratherthan transgressGod's commands.Since the attackoccurredon the Sabbath,the refugeesdid not defendthemselves.Accordingto the narrative, they did not expect any futurephaseto succeedtheirdeath.They contented themselveswith the knowledgethat all of them died in "innocence."Their hope that "heavenand earth[might]testify"on theirbehalfthatthey were destroyed"againstall justice" suggests that these martyrsexpected their ultimateact of loyaltyto terminatetheirexistence,leavingfor posterityonly the memoryof theirinnocentlives.5 To be sure, the story is more complicatedthanit appears,but suffice it here to emphasizethe existenceof martyrologicalbehaviorand the absence of rewardin the account.'6As in Eleazar'sstory,the authorascribesto the refugees'act only the benefitof preventingtransgression.Divine retribution ratherthanrewardis said to propelthese actorstowardtheirfinaldeed."7 merit Thisattitudetowardvoluntarydeathandthe absenceof supernatural continuedto dominateJewishsocietyafterit cameunderRomandominion.'8 The conflicts between the new rulers and their pacifist Jewish subjects

15. 1 Maccabees2:29-38. 16. On the identity and ideology of these thousandrefugees, see the divers opinions of K. Schubert,The Dead Sea Community(New York, 1959), pp. 32-35; F. N. Cross, Jr., TheLibraryof AncientQumran(GardenCity, N.Y., 1961), pp. 131-134; D. Mantel,Anshe Kenesetha-Gedolah(TelAviv,1983)pp. 104, 142;J. Kampen,TheHasideansandtheOriginof From Pharisaism(Atlanta,1988),pp. 76, 81;J. Sievers,TheHasmoneansand TheirSupporters: Mattathiasto theDeathofJohnHyrcanusI (Atlanta,1990),p. 26. OnwhetherornotJewsfought on the Sabbathand Mattathias'reactionto the refugees'martyrdom(1 Maccabees2:39-41), see D. Herr,"TheQuestionof Halakhotof Waron the Sabbath"(Hebrew),Tarbitz30 (1971): 242-256, 341-356; Mantel,AnsheKenesetha-Gedolah,pp. 102-107; Kampen,Hasidean,pp. 78-80; Siever,Hasmoneans,p. 39; B. Bar Kochva,TheBattlesof the Hasmoneans:TheTime of Judas Maccabaeus(Jerusalem,1980), pp. 331-342; L. H. Schiffman,Law, Custom,and Messianismin the Dead Sea Sect (Hebrew)(Jerusalem,1993),pp. 130-131. 17. A. SethPringle-Pattison's applies generalstatementaboutdivinejusticeandpunishment also to our study cases."Justiceitself, for primitivethought--andfor a greatdeal of thought that is not primitive--is mainly concernedwith punishment,"not with reward.TheIdea of Immortality(Oxford,1922),p. 119. 18. Referringto the firstcenturyC.E.,D. Flusserarguesthat"Thereis also, as far as can be seen, no instanceshowingthat resurrectionshouldbe the crownand consequenceof the Judaismandthe Originsof Christianity (Jerusalem,1988),p. 235. expiatorydeathof a martyr." Flusser,however,seems to overlook2 Maccabees7, unless he meantto say thatresurrection one. was an integralpartof the eschatologicaldramain general,not only of the martyrological


7

usually had peaceful endings, and thus there was no dramaticincreasein Jewishmartyrdom.19 Conflictsof this kind occurredwhen PontiusPilate(26-36 C.E.)brought Caesar's effigies from Caesareato be erected in Jerusalem.This action, accordingto JosephusFlavius,triggeredunrestandnumerousJewishpetitions on account of the prohibitionagainst installing icons in the city. Pilate expected the demonstrationsto end violently, but the protestorsinstead, "castingthemselvesprostrateandbaringtheirthroatsdeclaredthatthey had gladlywelcomedeathratherthanmakeboldto transgressthe wise provisions of the laws."20 SimilardeclarationsweremadeduringanotherconflictwithRome(40-41 C.E.),triggeredby Apion's imputationsof Jewishtreachery.To test Jewish loyalty and asserthis authority,the emperorGaiusCaliguladispatchedhis generalPetroniuswith clearinstructions"to set up an imageof Gaiusin the Templeof God and if, however,they [the Jews] were obstinate,he was to subduethemby force of armsandso set it up."21 Fortunatelyfor the Jewish participants,the incidentended peacefully and withoutcasualties.But the elaborateproclamationsJosephusattributes to them demonstratetheir readinessto be killed ratherthan violate God's laws. Whatis noticeablyabsencein theseproclamations is the expectationof rewardafterdeath.As the "manyten thousandof Jews"proclaimed: If you [Petronius] proposeat all coststo bringin andset uptheimages,slay us firstbeforeyou carryouttheseresolutions. Forit is notpossibleforus to surviveandto beholdactionsthatareforbidden us by thedecisionbothof our In order to ourancestral lawgiverandof ourforefathers. code,we preserve .... shallpatientlyendurewhatmaybe in storeforus. In Tiberias,Jews expressedparallelmotivesfor choosingdeathin preference to acceptingPetronius'plan.Fightingthe Romanwas not an optionfor these Jews, but they were willing to "die soonerthanviolate"theirreligiouslaws. 19. In accordancewith my definitionof martyrdom,I am referringhere only to conflicts with Jews who were readyto be killed ratherthanlet the Romanschangethe religiousstatus quo in Jerusalem,butrefusedto takeup arms.As is well known,the conflictswiththe militant Jewishfactionsendedin bloodshed. 20. JosephusFlavius,Antiquitiesof the Jews, XVIII,iii, 1. The followingtranslationsof Josephus'worksarefromthe LoebClassicalLibrary. 21. Josephus,Ant.XVIII,viii, 2.

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andreadinessto die ratherthanto "Forthey showeda stubborndetermination in thesecasesonlyas a means death serves see the imageerected."22 Voluntary of circumventinga transgression.Whatemergesfromthe potentialmartyrs' proclamationis thatthe boon of life surpassesthe void of death.Thusthey challengeddeath"withthe assurancethat for those who are determinedto takethe risk thereis hope even of prevailing;for God will standby us if we The truepurposeof altruismwas thus the welcome dangerfor His glory."23 annulmentof religiousoppressionand the preservationof Jewishlife in the long run. Philo of Alexandriaalso provides a descriptionof the conflict with Petronius,one of severalaccountsthatrevealsnot only the potentialmartyrs' views on voluntarydeath, but also his own. His accountsare especially valuableto us becauseof theirphilosophicalandreligiousaspects.In addition to statementsaboutpassivevoluntarydeath,self-annihilation, andintentional self-sacrificeof fellow Jews,his reportof the conflictwithPetroniuscontains explicitevaluationsof life and death.Accordingto Philo,Jews were willing to die and kill themselves ratherthan violate the Law even though they believed that deathwould be the end of theirexistence."Butif we cannot he purportedly persuadeyou [Petronius]," quotesthosereadyto die as saying, "we give up ourselvesfor destructionthatwe may not live to see a calamity worsethandeath [emphasisadded]."Tombetween"fearof the emperorand loyaltyto the consecratedlaws,"theirvoluntarydeathsserveas the only way in contemptof the life whichis no life."24 of "departure This nihilisticapproachtowarddeathwas also Philo'spersonalopinion. Before departingfor Rome to persuadeCaligulato nullifyhis decree,Philo was well awarethatthe missionmightcost him his life. Still, he writes, Andevenif we wereallowedto approach him[Caligula] what unmolested, havewe to expectbutdeathagainstwhichthereis no appeal?Well,so be it, we will die and be no more[emphasisadded],for the trulygloriousdeath,met

in defenseof thelaws,mightbe calledlife.25

22. Ibid.,2-3. 23. Ibid.,2. 24. Philoof Alexandria,TheEmbassyto Gaius,XXXII,229-236, trans.F.H. Colson,Loeb ClassicalLibrary(Cambridge,Mass., 1962). 25. Ibid., XXIX, 192. Philo's fatalisticview resurfacesin his On Joseph68. "I will fear none of the tyrant'smenaces,even thoughhe threatenme with death,for deathis a lesserevil thandissimulation."


9

In this circumstance,Philo views deathas a betteroptionthan "life which is no life," even thoughhe believes thatnothingmeaningfullies beyondthe thresholdof death.26For Philo, life withoutthe Torahis death,while the Torahrepresentsthe only trueandeternallife.27Philo'sview on the function of voluntarydeath,then,concurswith thatfoundin Josephus'reportson the peacefulprotestsin PtolemaisandTiberias. At first glance, however,Josephusappearsto departfrom this "downto-earth"view in his account of Eleazar,the leader of the Jewish rebels who killed themselves and their families at Masada.In quotingEleazar's speech, Josephusintroducesthe conceptof the immortalsoul as a possible rewardfor voluntarydeath.But more than substantiatinga Jewishtrustin a postmortemexistence,the speechechoes a debateover the validityof the conceptof immortalityandthe moregeneraldilemmaas to whethervoluntary self-terminationof life is legitimateandmorallyacceptable. There is no need to repeathere Josephus'lengthyaccountof the 960 suicides at Masada.Suffice it to emphasizethat in Josephus'accountthe rebelsfirstrejectEleazar'scall to self-destruct.As a result,Eleazareventually delivers a long philosophicalspeech on the issue of the immortalsoul to convince his audienceto accept self-killingin orderto liberatetheir souls from their bodies. Eleazar'sspeech reflects the difficultiesJews faced in absorbing(1) the innovativenotionof immortality,and(2) the acceptanceof these ideas in relationto self-killing. Whatfinallypersuadedthe besiegedat Masadato acceptdeath,according to Josephus,was not the notion of rewardafter death.In his accountthe motivationfor their act was the rebels' love of freedomand, mainly,their fatalisticview that it was by "God'swill and of necessity that we are to die." Josephusassertsthatthey held that"man'shighestblessingis life and thatdeathis a calamity."28 Similarly,Josephus'soldiers,who preferredto kill 26. See also his interpretation of Paradiseand the Treeof Life. "Of Paradise,"he writes, "so faras the literalmeaningis concerned,thereis no needto give an explicitinterpretation... . Symbolically,however,it is wisdomor knowledgeof the divineandhumanandtheircauses." On GenesisII, 8, and see also II, 9. 27. On thePreliminaryStudies86-87. 28. Josephus,WarVII, viii, 7. Fromhis narrationof Mattathias'speechto his sons, it is clearthatimmortalitydoes not indicatea postmortemcondition.In his opinion,onlythefameof deedsandheroismareimmortal."Forthoughourbodiesaremortalandsubjectto death,we can Ant.XII,vi, 3. On Masada throughthe memoryof ourdeeds,attainthe heightsof immortality." andrelevantbibliography,see L. H. Feldman,"Masada:A Critiqueof RecentScholarship," in Judaismand OtherGreco-RomanCults,ed. by J. Neusner(Leiden,1975), pt. 3, Christianity,

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themselvesratherthansurrenderto Nicanorat Jotapata,madeno referenceto rewardsin theirargumentsfor self-killing.In theireyes, it was "honorableto die in war"andeven to kill themselvesforliberty.But,accordingto Josephus, they did not mentionotherbenefitsbeyondtheiraltruism.29 As is well known,Josephus'descriptionscannotalwaysbe takenat face value. Josephusis often tendentious,writingmainlyfor his Greekreadersin Rome.He, therefore,maybe suspectedof deliberatelysprinklinghis depiction with Greekphilosophyandutilizingnotionsandimagesthatwereintelligible to the Romans,but relativelynovel to his co-religionists.30 Nevertheless,his accountof Masadareflectsmorethanhis subjectiveviews. Josephus'account of Masadaechoes a genuineongoing Jewishdebateon the dilemmaof the after-death.It is importantto recapitulatehere the argumentsof this debate, for these views will come into play lateron. The Sadducees,Pharisees,andEssenesrepresentedthreedifferentvoices in this debate.3'The conceptsof immortalityandresurrection,in additionto the innovativephrase"theworldto come"(or literally"thenextworld,"olam ha-ba),were majorelementsin the dissensionsbetweenthese sects, and still remaineda controversialmatterin fourth-century rabbinicJudaism.32

theJewishKantianphilosopherHermannCohenhelda similarview. pp.218-248. Interestingly, In his opinion,it is not the individualthat is immortal,but only his heritageas it influences in Contemporary humanhistory.A. Arkush,"Immortality," JewishReligiousThought,ed. A. A. CohenandP. Mendes-Flohr(New York,1987),pp. 479-482. 29. WarII, viii, 5. Josephus'soldiers,who threatento kill him if he does not agreeto kill rewardsas an incentivefor dying.Insteadthey himselfwith them,do not mentionsupernatural offeredhim only a noble place in the historyof his people. "If you [Josephus]meet death willingly,you will have died as generalof the Jews,if unwillingly,as a traitor."WarII, viii, 4. 30. On suicide as a virtuousideal in Romanliterature,see Cicero'saccountof Cato of Utica in TusculanDisputations1:71-75 or Seneca,On Providence2:9-12 andEpistle 12:10, to mentiononly a few examples.Ant.XIV,iv, 3 is one illustrationthatJosephushadhis Roman in mindwhenwriting. historiancounterparts 31. On the sects, see L. Finkelstein,The Pharisees (Philadelphia,1940), esp. vol. 2, pp. 110-112, 145-159, 178; A. Guttmann,RabbinicJudaismin the Making(Detroit,1970), pp. 124-141; J. Le Moyen,Les Sadducees(Paris,1972);S. Sandmel,Judaismand Christian Beginnings(New York,1978),pp. 154-165;J.Neusner,Judaismin theBeginningof Christianity (London,1984),p. 26; L. H. Schiffman,ReclaimingtheDead Sea Scrolls(Philadelphia,1994), pp. 72-81, theirbeliefs, pp. 154-157. 32. See, for example,San.90a-b, whereit is declaredthatthosewho denounceresurrection I will returnto the rabbinicperiodbelow. afterdeathwill not be resurrected.


11

About "the persistence of the soul after the death, penalties in the underworld,and rewards,"the Sadduceesargued,the dead "will have none of them."33 Accordingto Josephus,they believedthatthe "soulperisheswith the body"andthe two elementswithertogether.34 The Pharisaicformulationof the resurrectionconceptis not completely clear either.35As Josephusrelays, they believed that "the soul of the good alone passes into anotherbody,"which, accordingto Paul, shows that the Pharisees held the hope of resurrection.36 Josephus,a Phariseehimself, expressedsimilar personalopinions in his speech againstmass suicide at Jotapata."Knowyou not that they who departthis life in accordancewith the law of nature,"he asks his comrades,"in the revolutionof the ages, This is in contrast they returnto find in chastebodies a new habitation?"37 to those who kill themselves.The phrase"the world to come," which the Phariseesand theirrabbinicsuccessorsused extensivelylateron, appearsto represent,in its early stages, a new orderin the terrestrialrealmthatwould be attainedby the believer.In contrast,the evildoerwould be destroyed.38 Thenthe humanandmortalMessiahwouldrestoreJudeanindependenceand annul Romanpower, leadingthe people of Israelto a new utopianage of 33. Josephus,WarII, viii, 14, andAnt.XVIII,i, 4. See alsoAnt.X, xi, 7. 34. Josephus,Ant.XVIII,i, 16. Accordingto Paul,the Sadduceesfit the segmentof society thatopposesthe belief in resurrectionand insteadbelievedthatit was betterfor themto "eat anddrink,for tomorrowwe die." 1 Corinthians15, especially,15:32.Acts 23:8 also relatesthat the Sadduceesdid not believe in angelsandspirits. 35. Josephus,WarII,viii, 14, andAnt.XVIII,i, 3, andsee L. Finkelstein,Mavole-Masekhot Avotve-Avotde RabbiNatan(New York,1950),pp. 222-223. 36. Josephus,WarII, viii, 14;Ant.XVIII,i, 3; Acts 23:6, "reviveandlive again."See also, T. F. Glasson,GreekInfluencein JewishEschatology(London,1961),pp. 30-31. 37. WarIII, viii, 5. In AgainstApionhe writesthatthose who live in accordancewith the laws, includingthose who have died for them,"Godhas granted[them]a renewedexistence andin the revolutionof the ages the gift of a betterlife."This,however,is notto say thatthose who died for the laws did so in orderto be rewarded.As he indicates,the motivationof the was only theirpreference"to braveall mannerof sufferingrather "manyof our countrymen" thanto uttera single word againstthe Law."AgainstApionII, 29. Also, in ibid. I, 8:42-43, and II, 32, the willingnessto sufferdeathis explainedin relationto the fear of transgressing the Law. In these descriptions,too, rewardis absent.In Ant. XVIII,i, 3, Josephussays that, accordingto the Pharisees,all souls survivedeath,regardlessof the way it was achieved,and thatthe righteousandthe evil receivetheir"rewardsandpunishmentsunderthe earth." 38. L. H. Schiffman,"At the Crossroads:TannaiticPerspectiveson the Jewish-Christian ed. E. P.Sanders,2 vols. (Philadelphia,1980), Schism,"in Jewishand ChristianSelf-definition, pp. 140-141; idem, TheEschatologicalCommunityof the Dead Sea Scrolls(Atlanta,1989), of the dead,see G. pp. 1-9. On the connectionbetweenthe worldto come andthe resurrection

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It is vital to bearin mindthatthis terrestrial glory,peace, andpureholiness.39 worldwill be the place of the ensuingmiraculousepoch. Differentis the view of the Essenes.Once againthe informationcomes to us fromJosephus,who had spentsome of his earlylife with the Essenes.40 The Essenes distinguishedbetween the corruptiblebody and the immortal andimperishablesoul. Theybelievedthatwiththephysicaldeathof thebody, the virtuoussoul escapedthe "prison-house" and, rejoicing,rose upwardto its "abodebeyondthe ocean."On the otherhand,the wickedsoul descended to Hadesto be punished.Resurrectionis missingin the Essenedescriptions, as well as a cleardescriptionof the "abodebeyondthe ocean."41In a passage reminiscentof the Maccabeanstory of the motherand her seven sons (2 Macc. 7), Josephussays thatthe Romans F. Moore,Judaismin the First Centuriesof the ChristianEra (Cambridge,Mass., 1927-30), vol. 2, pp. 378-385, 387, 392-395. 39. Sandmel,Judaismand ChristianBeginnings,pp. 200-208, and esp. 208. Schiffman, Law,Custom,andMessianism,pp. 268-311; Moore,Judaism,2:323-376. As Schiffmanpoints out, a clearideologicalcombinationof the restorativeandutopiantrendsis evidentforthe first time in the Qumrandocuments,which set the foundationsfor the Jewishmessianicideology, with its specialdialecticcharacteristics. Also, Schiffman,EschatologicalCommunity, pp. 3-8; idem,"JewishSectarianismin SecondTempleTimes,"in GreatSchismsin JewishHistory,ed. R. Jospeand S. M. Wagner(New York,1981),pp. 1-46. 40. On the Essenesand a possibleconnectionto the sect at Qumran,see M. Smith,"The Hebrew Union College Descriptionof the Essenes in Josephusand the Philosophumena," Annual29 (1958): 273-313; D. S. Russell, TheMethodand Message of JewishApocalyptic (Philadelphia,1964), pp. 22, 23-24; G. Vermes,"The Etymologyof 'Essenes,."Revue de Qumrdn2 (1960):427-444; idem,TheDead Sea Scrolls:Qumranin Perspective(Philadelphia, 1981); idem and M. D. Goodman,eds., The Essenes Accordingto the Classical Sources (Sheffield,1989);Schiffman,ReclaimingtheDead Sea Scrolls,pp. 78-79. 41. Josephus,WarII, viii, 11. See also Ant.XVIII,i, 5. Philo does not discussthe Essene eschatologyin his description.Thethreesectarianviews come intoplay in Jesus'disputewith widowwho, in accordancewith Jewish the Sadducees.Theyposedthe dilemmaof a remarried Law, had to marryher husband'ssix brothersaftereach one's death.Jesus' solutionof the resurrection Sadducees'dilemmaclearlyindicatedthathe approached differently.Accordingly, thatthe Phariseeshad of the deadwouldbe morethanthe simpleresurrection the resurrection suggested.Those "worthyof resurrectionfromthe dead ... become like angels and are no they are childrenof God."Luke20, Matt. longerliableof death.Childrenof the resurrection, 22:23-33, Mark 12:18-27. In otherwords, theirresurrectionis not in this corporealworld. By this answer,Jesusavoidedthe dilemmathe Phariseeswould face when tryingto solve the Sadducees'questionaboutthe widow, which was based on the Pharisaicbelief in a future in the physicalworld.Josephus'reportof the widow Glaphyrain WarII, vii, 4, is resurrection reminiscentof the above-mentioned gospels.


13

triedtheir[i.e., the Essenes']soulsthroughandthroughby everyvarietyof test.Rackedandtwisted,burntandbroken,andmadeto passthroughevery in orderto inducethemto blaspheme theirlawgiverorto instrument of torture, eatsomeforbidden noreveronce thing,theyrefusedto yieldto eitherdemand, orsheda tear.Smilingin theiragoniesand didtheycryingto theirpersecutors theirsouls,confident theirtormentors, theycheerfully resigned mildlyderiding thattheywouldreceivethembackagain. In contrastto the Maccabeansons, who had hoped to receive their bodies again,this dubiousreportemphasizes,the Essenesonly expectedto receive theirsouls back.42 The questionthatpresentsitself is, Whateffect,if any,didthe threeviews thatJosephusattributedto the sects have on futuremartyrdoms? A first-centuryPalestinianwork, the Assumptionof Moses,43describes, in style and contentreminiscentof 2 Maccabees'martyrology,how a man namedTaxo and his seven sons were readyto withdrawfrom society and starveto deathin a cave in orderto bringan end to religiousoppression.44 In this story,which does not reveal the fate of the family,the motive for self-starvationexcludes any type of reward.To be sure, the disassociation of rewardfrom self-sacrificein the story does not arise from the author's ignoranceof the eschatologicalschemethatpromisesIsraelthe finalvictory. The chapteron Taxo serves as a transitionfrom an historicalsurvey to of the Endandthe kingdomof God.Chapters10 apocalypticrepresentations the 12 through develop apocalypticmotifandprovideclues indicativeof the End.The book'spromiseof salvationis to the nationas a whole. Regardless 42. WarII,viii, 10. Thestatement"inorderto inducethem[theEssenes]to blasphemetheir lawgiveror to eat some forbiddenthing"clearlydrawson SecondMaccabees.The talmudic reportsindicatethatthe RomandecreesforcedJewsto transgressonly positivecommandments. The transgressionof negativecommandments, such as eatingporkand bowingbefore idols, was characteristicof Antiochus'persecution."Confidentthat they would receive them back again"also echoes SecondMaccabees. 43. Accordingto S. Baron,it is possiblethatTheAssumptionofMoses, also knownas The Testament ofMoses, was writtenafterthe fall of Jerusalem.Baron,SocialandReligiousHistory, vol. 2, p. 59. Russell dates the book somewherebetween6 and30 C.E.Methodand Message of JewishApocalyptic,pp. 58-59, 148, n. 1. "TheAssumptionof Moses,"in Apocryphaand Pseudepigraphaof the Old Testament,ed. R. H. Charles,vol. 2 (Oxford,1913),pp. 407-424. See also TheOld Testament Pseudepigrapha,ed. J. H. Charlesworth (New York,1985),vol. 1, pp. 919-921. 44. Assumptionof Moses, chap.9. See also J. Licht,"Taxoor the ApocalypticDoctrineof Vengeance,"Journalof JewishStudies12, nos. 3-4 (1961):95-105.

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of human activities, Israel will eventually come out victorious according to the predetermineddesign of history. At the end of days "Israelwill be happy," and God will cause the nation to "approach the heaven of the stars in the place of their habitation."45 Still, Taxo does not speak of the kingdom of God as the destination of his family or as their motivation for dying. Similar to the literary motifs in 2 Maccabees, Taxo is prepared to die for the tradition of his forefathers because of his fear of tempting God. In addition, he views his sacrifice as the atonement for the nation's sin. Observe,my sons, beholda secondruthless(and)uncleanvisitationhas come upon the people, and a punishmentmercilessand far exceedingthe first.For what nationor what regionor what people of those who are impioustoward the Lord,who havedonemanyabominations,havesufferedas greatcalamities as have befallenus? Now thereforemy sons, hearme: for observeandknow thatneitherdid our fathersnortheirforefatherstemptGod, so as to transgress his commands.And ye know thatthis is our strengthandthuswe will do. Let us fast for the spaceof threedaysandon the fourthlet us go intoa cave which is in the field, and let us die ratherthantransgressthe commandsof the Lord of Lords,the God of our fathers. Although Taxo and his seven sons did not face an immediate threat, he believed that the blood of those sacrificed "will be avenged before the Lord" and so bring an end to the nation's suffering.46The Assumption, too, then, deprives its protagonists of personal rewards. At first glance, however, it appears that Fourth Maccabees no longer denies martyrstheir personal trophies. This contemporaryof TheAssumption makes a full and elaborate usage of the story of the seven martyredbrothers.47 45. Chap. 10. Quotationsare from Charles'sedition.As J. Priestpoints out, "Whether this is to be interpretedliterallyor metaphoricallyremainsproblematical." Old Testament Pseudepigrapha,vol. 1, p. 933, n f. Thephrasein terram,whichis translatedas "inGehenna," does not necessarilyindicatea contrastbetweenheavenand Gehenna,but rather,a contrast betweenthe salvationof Israelandthe fall of its adversaries.Ibid.,n. f. 46. AssumptionofMoses 9:1-7. This is not the firsttimethe bookmakessuchclaims.See, for example,1:18, 10:1-10. 47. The following quotations are from The Third and Fourth Books of Maccabees, edited

andtranslatedby M. Hadas,in the DropsieCollege Editionof JewishApocryphalLiterature, "TheDateof IV Maccabees," 1953.Fordating,see introduction, p. 96, andalso E. Bickermann, in Louis Ginzberg Jubilee Volume(New York, 1945), pp. 105-112. Hadas accepts Guttmann's

specificplacementof the book in the reign of Caligula.Othersplace the originof the book


15

But insteadof physicalresurrectionafterdeath,FourthMaccabeespromises its martyredprotagonistsan eternalexistence.Thedescriptionsof themartyrs' destinyin this renditionthus resemblesthe Essenes'view on the soul. Like the Essenes,FourthMaccabeesspeaksof a belief in the immortalsoul, yet in additionit offersa clearerpictureof the souls of the martyrsin the beyond. The book presentsthe novel idea thatthe seven executedsons "nowhave theirstandbeforethe throneof God, andlive the life of eternalblessedness." The authorexpoundsthat those who put their religion before their lives do so because they believe "thatto God they die not, as neitherdid our patriarchsAbraham,Isaac, and Jacob, but live to God." This assurance becomesmorepersuasivewhenthe authoradvancessuchnotionsas the sons' conviction.They "knewtoo well that those who died for the sake of God live with God as do Abrahamand Isaac and Jacoband all the patriarchs." Similarstatementsare utteredby the martyrsthemselves:"Whenwe have died in such fashion,Abraham,Isaac and Jacobwill receive us and all the patriarchswill praiseus."48Such martyrologicalstatementscontrastsharply with those noted earlier.Thus, in the firstcenturyFourthMaccabeesstands alone in Jewishmartyrologicalliterature.First-century Judaismrarelyspeaks in psychologicaltermsof a dualismof body andsoul,49 anddoes not provide a clearpictureof the beyond. Excludingthese atypicalstatementsof reward,FourthMaccabeescorrespondswith the generaltenorof its period.Its mainthemeis the prevailingof the nationandnot the martyrs'reward.Likethe restof the materialanalyzed above, the sons' motivationfor dying hinges on theirfear of transgression. in Alexandria.H. Lietzmann,TheBeginningsof the ChristianChurch(New York,1922), p. 107. In contrast,Hadassets the originof the book in Antioch,pp. 109-113. Similarly,G. W. BowersocksuggestsAsia Minoras the book's sourceof origin,Martyrdom and Rome,p. 79, and inclines towardA. Dupont-Sommer's datingof it to the periodof Trajanor Hadrian,Le quatridmelivredes Machabees(Paris,1939). 48. 4 Maccabees17:18,7:19, 16:25, 13:17,and see also the statementaboutthe martyrs' motherin 17:5"lightingtheway to pietyforyoursevenstarlikesons;honoredby God,andwith themfixed in heaven.For your childbearingwas of our FatherAbraham[emphasisadded]." These descriptionsresonatecontemporary Christianviews, andit is possiblethatthe accounts reflectChristianinfluence.The idea of the martyrsbeing receivedby the patriarchshas its parallelin Luke20:37, "Now thatthe deadare raised,even Moses showedat the bush,when he calleththe LordGod of Abraham,andthe Godof Isaac,andthe Godof Jacob." 49. Dualismof humannaturewas moretypicalof Greekphilosophy.See Russell,Method and Messageof JewishApocalyptic,p. 153.

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The associationof voluntarydeathwith the oppressor'spunishmentandthe nation'ssalvationemergesas the centralmotif of the story.50 Thus, it standsto reasonthat we shouldacceptboth C. L. W. Grimm's linguistic-basedargumentthat verse 7:19 ("believingthat to God they die not")is a lateinterpolationandJ. Freudenthal's rejectionof verse 16:25("and knew too well that those who die for the sakeof God live with God")on they the basis of a deficientsyntacticalconnection."H. Anderson'sobservation thatthe martyrs'wordsin 9:8, "andwe shallbe with God on whose account we suffer,"do not exist in one of the earliestmanuscripts,furthersupports the theoryof text manipulation.52In particular,verse 17:18 ("wherebythey now have their standbefore the throneof God, and live the life of eternal structure blessedness")revealsa peculiarimageandanabnormalgrammatical that even Hadas,who makes an agonizedeffort to discountGrimm'sand Freudenthal'sproposals,cannot explain. He thus considersthis verse "an odd conclusionto a sentence[v. 17] which beginswith the effects uponthe king" and suggests that the first part of the sentence(i.e., v. 17) "should continue with v. 23" instead of with the statementin question.3 Hadas, however,does not offer an alternativesolution,thus leaving out verse 17 and its celestialdescription.Furthermore, accordingto Anderson,the phrase unto God" indicate more thantheir[i.e., the martyrs']final "no "living may vindicationby God.'"54Finally,the biblical quotation("I kill and I make alive" [Deuteronomy32:39]) in verses 18:18-19 also createsdifficultiesof fluidityand an anachronisticdepictionof Jewishhistory.It can additionally 50. In the speechof Eleazar:"Makemy bloodan expiationforthem,andtakemy life as a ransomfortheirs"(6:29);"Greatis thetrialof soul,andthedangerlaidup in eternaltribulation, forthosewho transgressthe commandment of God"(13:15);"Andit was becauseof themthat ournationobtainedpeace;they renewedthe observanceof the Law in theircountry,andlifted theirenemies' siege. But the tyrantAntiochuswas punishedupon earth,and is yet chastised afterhis death"(18:4-5). 51. C. L. W.Grimm,"ViertesBuchderMaccabaer," inKurzgefasstes exegetischeshandbuch zu en Apokryphendes alten Testaments(Leipzig, 1857), p. 289; J. Freudenthal, Die Flavius eine Predigt JosephusbeigelegteSchriftueberHerrschaftder Vernunft (IVMakkabaerbuch), aus demerstennachchristlichen Jahrhundert(Breslau,1869),pp. 117-120, 123, 165; Hadas, ThirdandFourthBooksofMaccabees,pp. 25, 186. 52. In Old Testament Pseudepigrapha,2:554,n. b. 53. A. Deissmannoffersa differentstructure, "DasvierteMakkabaerbuch," in L.Kautzsch's undPseudepigraphen Die Apokryphen des alten Testaments (Tilbingen,1900),2:149-177, but, as Hadaspointsout, withoutsolvingthe problems,p. 236. 54. Old Testament Pseudepigrapha,2:561, n. d.


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be arguedthat this verse and, for thatmatter,verse 18:17 ("Shallthese dry bones live?" [Ezekiel37:3]) may referto the notionof physicalresurrection (as in 2 Maccabees),not necessarilyto life in heaven.Notions of physical resurrectioncontradictheavenlydepictionsand wouldrequirethe exclusion of heavenlyrewards.These inharmoniousverses in the text thus sharetwo characteristics.As individualverses they grammaticallyand conceptually disagreewith the rest of the text, yet they convey the same idea of glorious recompense. Based on the Jewish attitudetoward death in the first century,the intermittentand infrequentdelineationsof the afterlife,and their obscure grammaticalcontext in FourthMaccabees,it is plausiblethatoriginallythe book pursuedthe traditionalline of martyrological thinking,whichexpected to benefit from an individual's the nation voluntarydeath.The verses only in questionthusmay implya late interpolation by an editorwho foundthese As is well known,FourthMaccabees versescompatiblewith his conviction.55 became extremelypopularamong the ChurchFathers,who often use the verses in questionto describetheirconceptof martyrologicalrecompense.56 55. E. Schtlreralreadysuggestedthat"thetext seems to be not quite free fromChristian TheLiteratureof theJewishPeople in the TimeofJesus (New York,1972),pp. interpolations." 244-246, especiallyn. 30. 56. "Believingthatto God they die not ... but live to God"has its parallelsin the New Testament:Rom. 6:10, 14:8; Gal. 2:19; on the patriarchs,Mark 12:26; Matt. 22:32; Luke 20:37-38. The grammaticallyodd verse "havetheirstandbeforethe throneof God and live the life of eternalblessedness"has its parallelin Rev. 7:15. It is worthquotingthis passage aboutChristianmartyrsin full. "Theyhave washedtheirrobesandmadethemwhitewith the blood of the Lamb.Thatis why they standbeforethe throneof God andministerto him day andnightin his temple;andhe who sits on the thronewill dwell withthem.... the lambwho is at the heartof the thronewill be theirshepherd."Accordingto St. Augustine,the Church preservedand honoredthe Maccabeanbooks becauseof theirmartyredheroes.Cityof God 18:36.On stylisticandconceptualsimilaritiesbetweenFourthMaccabeesandDio Chrysostom, Le quatriemelivre des Machabees,p. 76, and conversely,Hadas,Third see DuPont-Sommer, and FourthBooks of Maccabees,pp. 98-99, esp. n. 15. For the influenceof the book on Gregoryof Nazianzus,JohnChrysostom,andAmbrose,see Hadas,pp. 123, 127. See also W. H. C. Frend,Martyrdomand Persecutionin the Early Church(GardenCity,N.Y., 1967),pp. 18-21, esp. nn. 159-160, andpp. 417, 464, 558. Aboutthe possibleinfluenceof the book on Ignatius,see C. Munier'ssurvey,"Ouen est la questiond'Ignaced'Antioche?Biland'unsidcle de recherches1870-1988,"in AufstiegundNiedergangder romischenWelt2 27.1 (1993), pp. 359-484. In contrast,see Anderson,who suggests"acommonclimateof thoughtandreligious imaginationsharedby both."Old Testament Pseudepigrapha,2:539, followedby Bowersock, and Rome,pp. 77-8 1. Martyrdom

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In contrast(andthis is a pointto bearin mindthroughoutthis article),Fourth Maccabeesdid not capturethe attentionof Jews and before long vanished fromJewishawareness.As we areaboutto see, thebook'simpacton rabbinic sourceswas inconspicuous." Given the Pharisaicbackgroundof the emergingrabbinicleadership, the rejectionof the present formatof FourthMaccabeesand its rewards is not surprising.Traditionhas it that the legendaryCouncil of Jamnia embracedthe Pharisaicidea of resurrection(tehiyyatha-metim),which has To give the conceptof resurrection becomean axiom in OrthodoxJudaism.58 moreweight, severalpassagesin the Talmudassert,in the nameof Rabban Gamliel(San. 90b) and R. Meir,that"theresurrectionis deduciblefromthe Torah"(San. 91b), and thus,those who denouncethe fundamentalnotionof In line with tehiyyatha-metimwill not be resurrectedat the end-of-days.59 the Pharisees'eschatologicalformula,M. Avot 4:29 teachesthat humanity as a whole will be resurrected,includingthe gentiles and the wicked. In contrast,othertalmudicpassagesreservethe resurrectionfor the righteous.60 This would make the martyra logical candidatefor resurrectionat the end-of-days.Whatneeds to be examinedis whetherearlyrabbinicliterature maderesurrectionor, moregenerally,rewardpartof the martyr'sfate. Like the martyrologicalviews we have seen in the Greco-Romanperiod, halakhicformulationsjustify intentionaldeathonly as a meansof avoiding transgression,and lack of resurrectionas a designatedrewardis one of the more obvious earmarksof rabbinicrulingson voluntarydeathin the name of God.61Generally,theserabbinicformulationsdescribeJewswho passively 57. Hadasrightlyarguesthat "amongthe Jews, apparently, the book did not survivethe Hellenizedmilieu out of which it rose,"p. 123, and "It is true that Jewishtraditionoffers of the martyrsof IV Maccabees."But he then goes no directevidenceof a commemoration of these martyrswas a on to say: "It is naturalto assumethatthe Christiancommemoration continuationof a Jewishinstitution," p. 109. 58. To this day, the EighteenBenedictionsprayer,reciteddaily in synagogues,asserts: "Youareeternallypowerful,O Lord;Youaremightyto save.Yousustainthelivingwithloving kindness.Youmakethe deadlive with greatmercy.You supportthosewho fall ... andcarry out the faithto those how sleep in the dust.Who can be like You,masterof powers,andwho can resembleYou,a king who bringsdeath,andmakesalive, andmakessalvationsprout?You are reliablein thatYou bringthe deadto life. Blessed are You,O Lord,who bringsthe dead backto life."Quotedin Sandmel,Judaismand ChristianBeginnings,p. 148. 59. See also the second-century M. Sanhedrin10.1. 60. Ket. Illb, San. 90a 61. San. 92b makes a connectionbetweenresurrectionand the threeprotagonistsof the Book of Daniel, Hananiah,Mishael, and Azariah,who were eventuallyviewed in Jewish


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give up their souls (notenimnafsham)or handedthemselvesover (masru a 'tzmam)for this reasononly. In situationsof deathand life it is requiredto "let oneself be killed ratherthantransgress"(yeharegv 'alya 'vor). The rabbisestablishedthe legal principlethat deathwas requiredonly to avoid threespecificviolations:idolatry,bloodshed,andprohibitedsexual acts.62With these decisions, the rabbisdid not alter the biblical principle that life is superiorto death.63In additionto being a rabbinicauthorization of lawful willing death, this set of rules emerges from an acute sense of the traditionalappreciationof life and fromthe need to confinethe assorted popularself-destructivetendenciesthatwe have so far encountered.Thus it is statedin the nameof R. Akivathatin all othercases Jews may violatethe commandmentsto save life, while R. Ishmaelheld even a morelenientview. In his opinion,when forcedin private(i.e., in the presenceof fewerthanten Jews), one may worshipidols ratherthandie, becauseof the importanceof life--a concepttodaytermed"thesanctityof life." Leviticus18:5,"Yeshall thereforekeepMy statutesandMineordinances,whichif a mandoes he shall

literatureas martyrs,althoughthey had never died as such. To be sure, in the talmudic passagethe miraclethat the threecompanionsexperiencedis relatedto the resurrectionthat Ezekielenvisioned,butthe passagedoes not claimthatresurrection is the martyrs'reward.The resurrectionin the valley of Dura(Daniel3:33) is one of six miraclesthatGod performedon the day He savedthe threebiblicalheroesin the palaceof Nebuchadnezzar. In contrast,Agus sees a connectionbetweenmartyrdomand resurrectionin the passage.Bindingof Isaac and theMessiah,pp. 43-44. Pesiktade-RabKahana,zot habberaka,associatesIsaac'sakedahwith the futureresurrectionof Israel. It is not clear whetherthe Pesiktaviews Isaacas an actual Thenatureof resurrection, sacrifice,althoughhe is depictedas a willingparticipant. however,is identicalto whatthe Phariseeshadenvisioned;thatis, the finalandpredetermined apocalyptic event in which God will bringthe deadto life, only herethe resurrection of the nation,not of Isaac, will come to be becauseof his willingnessto be sacrificed.On the developmentof the notionof the actualakedah,see J. D. Levenson,TheDeath and Resurrectionof the Beloved Son (New Haven, 1993), esp. pp. 173-199. 62. Similarprohibitionsalreadyexistedin the Book of Jubilees,chap.20. See againSafrai, "Qiddushha-Shem," p. 39. 63. For example,BabaKama61a, "No halakhicmattermay be quotedin the nameof one who surrendershimself to meet deathfor wordsof the Torah."Baba Kama,followedby the storyof Davidpouringoutthewaterbroughthimby his soldiers(2 Sam.23:16-17), emphasizes thatone shouldnot look forwardto riskinghis life in the nameof the Torah.Also, Ber.3a, 8b, Tan.5b, Shab.32a, Pes. 112a.On the importanceof life in the Bible, see M. Greenberg,"The ed. I. M. Gafniand Sanctityof Life in the Bible"(Hebrew),in Sanctityof LifeandMartyrdom, A. Ravitzky(Jerusalem,1992),pp. 35-54.

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live by them,"providedthe balancewheel for R. Ishmaelrulings.64Other legal opinionsin the Talmudaddmorerestrictionsor furtherbuilduponthese but what they all have in commonis theirdisregardof reward. principles,65 From its very beginning,voluntarydeathwas only used as a tool in legal deliberationsfor instructingJews on how to maintaina moralJewishlife in times of duress.The biblicalregardfor life preventedtalmudicrabbisfrom transformingmartyrdominto an attractivepractice;thus in theirordinances concerningintentionaldeath, they did not include individualbenefitsthat transcendthe act itself. While these opinions representlegal decisions, talmudicnarrativesof martyrdomdo not tend to departfrom R. Akiva's and R. Ishmael'sbasic formulasrelatingto purposefuldeath.66The talmudicversionof the storyof the anonymousmotherandherseven sons displaysthe sametendency.Gittin 57b stripsthe storyof the rewardsmentionedin the Maccabeanbooks. The absenceof rewards--eitherresurrectionin the physicalworldor immortality in heaven-indicates the rabbis' intentionaleliminationof the concept of individualrecompensefrom the originalstory.LamentationsRabba53 on Lamentations1:16 also presentsa version of the story of the mother,now namedMiriambat Tanhum,and her seven sons. Like Gittin57b, the early midrashignoresthe Maccabeanrewardsandassertsthat"ahumanbeinglives today and is dead tomorrow";God, in contrast,"lives and enduresfor all eternity."Moreover,the midrashemphasizesthatonly fear of transgression motivatedthe sons, who believed that God would avenge their blood and bringretributionon the oppressor(this time Caesar)andhis people.67 64. On the verse and its meaning,see D. Schwartz,"WhatShouldHe Answer?And He ShouldLive by Them"(Hebrew),in Sanctityof Life,pp. 69-83. 65. San. 74a-b, 75a, 110b;A.Z. 27b; Pes. 25a-b, 26a, 53b; Shab.130a;YT San.3, 21b. 66. This is not to say thatthesenarrativesdo not havelegal functions.Oneof the purposes of these narrativesis to validatethe halakhicrulings,but theirlegal implicationsneed to be deduced. 67. InPesiktaRabbati43 themotheris sayingto herhesitantyoungson:"Omy son, do you wish thatin the time-to-comeall yourbrothersbe in the bosomof Abraham?" Thephrase"the time-to-come"is missing in the NushatHa-Garazprintededition,while Friedmann'sedition, basedon the Vienna1880editioprinceps,addsto the mother'sstatement:"whileyou arein the bosom of Esau."R. Ulmernotes in her synopticeditionof PesiktaRabbatithatthe Warsaw, 1893 editionand the Friedmannedition,Vienna,1880, are inadequate.Moreover,she writes: "Friedmann (Atlanta,1977),vol. frequentlyemendedthe text baseduponhis own conjecture." 1, p. xxxvii. Thismay explainthe unusualendingandstatementin the storyandmaysuggesta in my opinionmedieval."Inthe bosomof Abraham"is frequentlyused in late "emendation,"


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These deliberateeliminationsof rewardwere intendedto emphasisthe main motif of the talmudicversions:the absolutecommitmentto Law and loyaltyto God.Eliminationof recompensedismisseddoubtsaboutselfishness andmade it clearthatthe traditionalconceptof reverencealone inspiredthe martyrs,theirsole aim being to avoidtransgression. Othertalmudicnarrativesdescribethe new applicationof halakhicrules on voluntarydeathduringthe Romanpersecutionsof rabbinicleaders.The lateMidrashElehEzkerahcombinedthesetalmudicstoriesintoone unitwith variousversions, known as the powerfulstory of the Ten Martyrs(Aseret Threemotifs characterizethese talmudicnarratives:(1) HarugeiMalkhut).68 the rabbisdo not seek martyrdom(as instructedby BabaKama61a), (2) they insist on passive death(i.e., in accordancewith the halakhicview, they did not take theirown lives), and (3) they do not directlyassociatethe act with recompense. Informationregardingthese rabbis is not always comprehensive,and importantquestionsregardingtheirmartyrdomremainunanswered.Still, it is safe to remarkthat the stories revolve aroundthe religious and social commitmentof these protagoniststo the Law andtheircommunitiesduring times of duress.Hullin 142a,Kid. 39b, andYT Hag.2:1 laconicallymention the deathsof Judahthe Baker,Huzpit,andYesebabwithoutprovidingrelevant details.In fact, YT Hag. 2:1 revealsthatJudahthe Baker'sdeathwithouta rewardor acknowledgmentcausedthe greatscholarR. Elishaben Abuyato turnagainstthe Torah,denyingthe rabbinicidea of the resurrectionof the dead.Seeing R. Judahthe Baker'stonguein the mouthof a dog, Elishasaid: "Thisis the Torah,and this its reward.This is the tonguethatwas bringing forththe words of the Torahas befits them. ... This is the Torah,and this

the Hebrewnarrativesof the FirstCrusade.Thesesourcesandtheirdescriptionsarediscussed below. Meanwhile,"He [God] will place him [R. Meshullam'sson, Isaac] in the bosom of Abraham,"in A. Habermann, Sefer GezerotAshkenazve-Zarfat(Jerusalem,1945),pp. 47, 96. 68. S. Zeitlin, "The Legend of the Ten Martyrsand Its ApocalypticOrigins,"Jewish QuarterlyReview36 (1945-46): 1-16; G. Scholem,MajorTrendsin JewishMysticism(New York, 1961), p. 51; J. Dan, "TheImportanceand Meaningof the Storyof the Ten Martyrs" (Hebrew),in Studies in LiteraturePresentedto SimonHalkin,ed. E. Fleischer,(Jerusalem, 1973), pp. 15-22; idem, "TheHekhalotand the Storyof the Ten Martyrs"(Hebrew),Eshel Be'er Sheva2 (1980):63-80; M. Hirschler,"MidrashAsaraHarugeiMalkhut"(Hebrew),Sinai 71 (1974): 218-228.

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its reward!It seems as thoughthereis no rewardandno resurrectionof the dead."69

thatpermita soundanalysisare descriptions Amongthemoreelaborate of R.JudahbenBaba,R.Akiva,andR.Haninah benTeradyon. theexecutions withtheobvious:Thestoryof R.JudahbenBabamakesno Letus commence If anything, thestoryatteststo theimportance use of rewardwhatsoever. of of life. ben Baba his Judah to fleeandsavetheirlives. thegift urged students Becauseof hisoldagehe stayedbehindandfaceda gruesome execution. But his heroismwas not in vain,althoughhe didnotbenefitfromhis altruism in anyway.Thetruebeneficiary was the nation,for "wereit not for him, in Israelandmighthavebeen the lawsof kenaswouldhavebeenforgotten This testimonyrevealsthe truenatureof Judahben Baba's abolished."70 his life to the pointof wastingit forthe gainof the altruism: endangering nation. of R. Akivareceivesmoreattention;he is the most The martyrdom in Jewishmartyrological celebrated tradition. Ber.61b,YT.Ber. archetype to Akivathe question,"When 9, 14, 2, andYT. Sotah5, 20, 3 attribute of fulfillingthis["AndthoushaltlovetheLord shallI havetheopportunity God with all thy soul andwith all thy might,"Deuteronomy 6:5]?"This his as features death a to be worthyof long-awaited aspiration question of dying,and it mightbe assumedthatit alludesto Akiva'sexpectation Butas S. Safraihasobserved,Ber.andYT Sotahin individual recompense. donotincludethisstatement, theLeidenandRomemanuscripts whichreads syntacticallyawkwardlyin the text.71The allusionto Akiva'sexpectationof of latereditors. an individualrewardin returnreflectsthe understandings 69. Thereafter,he is mentionedas Aher,i.e., a differentmanor a stranger.Kid. 39b. 70. San. 14a;A.Z. 8b, 27b; Y. A.Z. 2:2, 4, I; Shab.14:4. See also Krauss,"TenMartyrs," in the Wakeof BarKochva's pp. 111-112;0. Oppenheimer, "Sanctityof Life andMartyrdom Rebellion"(Hebrew)in Sanctityof Life,pp. 85-97, esp. pp. 92-93. 71. S. Safrai,"Qiddushha-Shem,"pp. 28-42, esp. pp. 36-38. See also S. Lieberman,"The Martyrsof Caesarea,"Annuairede l'Institutde Philologie et d'histoireorientaleset Slaves 7 (1934-44): 420-421; Urbach,Sages, p. 882, n. 76; Oppenheimer,"Sanctityof Life and Martyrdom," pp. 90-91; Agus, Bindingof Isaac and the Messiah,pp. 59-60 andnn. 85-88. Also, M. Ber. 9:5, T. Ber. 7:7, and Sifre to Deuteronomy6:5. Variantstatementsalso do not include "destinedto the world to come,"which appearsin Bet ha-Midrash,ed. A. Jellinek (Jerusalem,1938), 6:27. In contrast,see Bet ha-Midrash,3:34. Thusit couldbe that"destined to theworldto come"is a latemedievaladdition,a possibilitythatwill becomemorepersuasive as this articleprogresses.


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Immediatelyafter his death, we are told, the divine voice (bat qol) proclaimed,"Happyare you, Akiva, that your soul has departedwith the wordehad [of the Shemabenediction]."Akiva'sproclamationof the Shema, despite the Romans' efforts to stop him, is the rewarditself. The divine voice consideredAkiva'slast-breathShemaa meritoriousact in its ownright. Akiva'sinitialmartyrologicalrewardwas martyrdom.72 Both acknowledging and protestingAkiva's end, "The ministeringangels said before the Holy One, blessed be He: 'Such Torah,and such a reward?'"73 Only afterthatdid the bat qol proclaimthatAkiva'sfatewas changed;he was destinednow "for the life of the worldto come."Whatneedsto be remembered,though,is that Akiva was concernedonly with avoidingtransgression.In Akiva's words, "Itis betterthatI myself shoulddie thanthatI shouldtransgressagainstthe opinionof my colleagues."74 Particularlyrevealingis the dialoguebetweenGod andMoses in B. Men. 29b. God reveals to Moses the futureof the Jewish people. Impressedby Akiva'spiety andknowledgeof Torah,Moses asksGodto show himAkiva's reward.Instead He shows him Akiva's gruesomeexecution. Seeing this, Moses cries: "Lordof the universe,such is Torah,and such is its reward?" God responds:"Be silent, for such is My decree."Both the questionandthe answerareequallyimportant.Whilethe answerdoes not mentionreward,we shouldnote thatMoses bases his argumentfor rewardon the fact thatAkiva taughtthe Law and enlightenedthe people,not on his execution.75 72. Thiscorrespondswith anotheramoraicopinionthatonly a commandment (misvah)can be the rewardfor performinga misvah.Avot 4:2, B. Ber. 17a. The preceptsthat are related to rewardare "honoringfatherandmother,the practiceof lovingkindness,andmakingpeace betweenman and his fellow; but the studyof the Torahis equalto them all," M. Pe'ah 1:1. Urbach,Sages, pp. 346, 443-444. On the commandments,see S. Safrai,Be Shilheha-Bayit ha-Mishnah(Jerusalem,1983),p. 103; See also D. Flusseron the Torah ha-Sheniuvi-Tekufat andreward,"HeHas PlantedIt [i.e., the Law] as EternalLife in OurMidst"(Hebrew),Tarbiz 58 (1988-89): 47-153; Friedman,"Inthe Past: 'May He PlantHis Torahin OurHearts'-In the Future"( Hebrew),Tarbiz60 (1990-91): 265-268; Schiffman,"Atthe Crossroads," p. 141. 73. Ber. 61b; andsee Tanchuma,Tetzave5. 74. Eru.21lb. In answeringR. Eliezer'squestionregardingthe meaningof Deuteronomy 6:5, Akiva interpretsthatone shouldlove God "evenif He takesawaythy soul,"butno divine rewardis mentioned.Lack of rewardindicatesthe truenatureof the devotee'sunconditional love of God. 75. Lack of rewardis emphasizedin the storyof R. Simeonben Gamlieland R. Ishmael the High Priest.Watchingthe executionof his colleague,R. Ishmaelcriedbitterly,"Whereis Torah,andwhereis its reward?"Next, duringR. Ishmael'sexecution,"Theministeringangels said to the Holy One: 'Such a righteousman, to whom You showed all the treasuresof the

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The phrase"theworld to come"is also mentionedin the martyrdomof R. Hananiahben Teradyon.Beforeexaminingthe conjunctionof martyrdom and reward,it merits mention that the accountbegins with Haninahben Teradyon'sexplicit appreciationof life. His dialoguewith R. Eleazarben PerataclarifiesthatTeradyondid not view his comingexecutionas a positive event.He considersR. Eleazarben Peratato be the morefortunate,because Eleazarwill be rescued,while he will be executed. whohasbeenarrested onfivecharges, Happyartthou[R.EleazarbenPerata], woeis me[R.Haninah benTeradyon], butwillberescued; who,thougharrested willnotbe rescued.76 on onecharge[studying Torah], CouldR. Haninahben Teradyon'sdevotiongo unnoticed?Or would he be, perhaps,compensatedfor his reverenceandrescuedin the worldto come?If thatwere the case, R. Haninahben Teradyonshouldhave consideredhimself the fortunateone. But R. Haninahben Teradyon"will not be rescued"from his coming executionon only the admissionof pursuingthe studyof Torah. In contrast,R. Eleazaris rewardedwith life, for he occupiedhimself with Torahas well as with acts of benevolence. In San.8:12 supernatural rewardhadno partin R. HaninahbenTeradyon's decisionto ignorethe Romandecrees,nor had it a partin his expectations. Watchingher father burning together with the Torahscroll, Teradyon's daughterexclaims in horrorthe same words attributedto R. Elisha ben Abuyaand Moses: "Is thatthe Torahand this its reward?"The only visible consolationis the uniqueact itself. Haninahben Teradyon'sreplyreaffirms this assumption. if it is forme thatyou areweepingandforme thatyouthrow My daughter, yourselfon the ground,it is betterthata firemadeby manshouldconsume me,ratherthana firenotmadeby man.... Butif it is fortheTorahscrollthat worldsaboveandthe mysteriesof the worldsbelow--shouldhe be putto deathin so strangea way? Such is Torahand such is its reward?'... A divinevoice came forthand said:'If I hear another[such]cry,I will turnthe worldto void anddesolation!'WhenR. Ishmaelheardthis, he fell silent."MidrashEle Ezkerah,in Bet ha-Midrash,2:64-72. ThisMidrashfocuseson the andthe eliminationof Israel'senemyin returnforthe punishmentof "thewickedgovernment" sacrificeof the ten rabbis,not as theirreward. 76. A.Z. 17b.


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youareweeping,lo, theTorahis fire,andfirecannotconsumefire.Behold,the itselfis burning. lettersareflyingintotheair,andonlytheparchment The awe of God emergesonce againas the drivingforce in overcomingthe naturaldreadof physicalpain. A bit more comfortingis the parallelversionin A.Z. 18a. HereHaninah ben Teradyonhopes that God will have regardfor his plight, althoughin what mannerremainsa conundrum.But beforehis execution,an optimistic Haninahben Teradyonrejects R. Jose ben Kisma'sadvice to refrainfrom violatingthe Romandecrees.Teradyoncan only hopethat"heavenwill show mercy."The answerstrikesJose ben Kismaas an irrationalandirresponsible attitude,which will lead to Teradyon'sexecutionandTorahburning.Unlike the othermentionedmartyrs,Teradyon'sconcernwas, how didhe "standwith regardto the world to come?"This questionto R. Jose ben Kismaprojects Teradyon'sown doubtsregardinghis fateafterdeath.Voluntarydeathis notto be the determiningfactorof his fate. As if to answerTeradyon'suncertainty, the Talmudtells that a bat qol declaresthat he is assignedto the world to come. Whatremainsunclearhereis: (1) whatexactlyis meantby "theworld to come," and (2) whetherit is Teradyon'svoluntarydeaththat guarantees him a place in the worldto come or whetherthe worldto come is a recurrent talmudicpromiseto all Jews. A.Z. 18a-b providesan answeronly to the secondquestion.77 Thisanswer of the atypicalconjunctionof voluntary providesthe key to ourunderstanding deathand the world to come in the text. To determinewhetherTeradyonis destinedto the worldto come,JosebenKismaneededadditionalinformation. "Isthereanyparticular actthatthouhastdone?"he inquired. He replied:"I oncemistookPurim-money forordinary andI distributed charity-money, [of my own]to thepoor.""Wellthen,"saidhe, "wouldthatthyportionweremy portionandthylotmy lot." 77. It is possiblethat"theworldto come"in Akiva'sandTeradyon'saccountsrefersto a of thedeadat the end-of-time, posthistoricexistence,i.e., the Pharisaicview of the resurrection insteadto a heavenlypostmortemexistence.See, for example,Shab. 89a, where it is stated thatthe heavenlyrealmis reservedfor angels and not for humanbeings.A.Z. 17a generally indicatesthat the rewardof the righteousis eternallife, which meansafterthe resurrection. See also the preludeto R. Haninahben Teradyon'sstory in 18a, wherethe worldto come is associatedwith resurrection.Anotherassociationbetweenthe worldto come andresurrection can be foundin Kid. 39b.

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Kisma'sinquirybetokensthatTeradyon'sapproaching deathdoes notprovide a ready answerto the questionof martyrologicalmerit.Like ben Kisma's question,the answer completelyoverlooksthe fact that he is about to be executed; it centers only upon a single good deed Teradyonhas done. Teradyon'smeritis not basedon his voluntarydeath;distributionof his own money for the poor securedhis place in the worldto come.78 Perhapsthe best conspectusof this approachis providedby BabaBathra thatevery 10b.As a startingpoint,it asserts,withoutmentioningmartyrdom, scholarwho is honoredforhis wisdomwill attaintheworldto come.R. Joseph the son of R. Joshuaconfirmedthis view in a trance,while havinga brush with death.The ailing Josephvisualizesthe martyredrabbisas individuals so uniquethat"no creaturecan attainto theirplace."But "hadthey no other meritbutthis [martyrdom]?" the tractatecontinues.Toreconfirmthe meritof all Torahscholarsregardlessof martyrdom,it is concludedthat"Obviously even withoutthis [act,they would have attainedthis rank]."Martyrdom was of the one exclusiveness of these rabbis. Those aspect only martyred martyred by the Romansreceived their rewardon the basis of how they lived their lives, andnot on the basis of how they endedthem. Thestorymakesone moresignificantcomment.R. Josephalso envisioned the futureworldin his trance.He witnessed"aworldupsidedown,the upper below and the lower above";an atypicallyskimpyreport,but a heartening promise to sufferersin general. His socially orientedvision testifiedto a scrupulouslyjust existencein the futureworld,which does not appearto be of heavenly nature.In that place the poor will gain the upperhand. This promise,however,did not hangon self-sacrifice. Finally,life in the futureworld and voluntarydeathsurfacein another talmudicstory.In Gittin57b the protagonistsarefourhundredboys andgirls who are transportedfor sexual enslavement.Whenthey discoverwhat is in store for them, they decide to drownthemselves.In contrastto the rabbinic martyrs,the storyof the fourhundredyouthsdescribesa self-inflicteddeath. The account opens with the children'squestion:"If we drown in the sea, will we reachthe life of the worldto come?"They find an answerin Psalm 78. Teradyon'sRomanexecutioneralso receiveda sharein the worldto come. Here we see the principleonce again:he receivedhis rewardfor expeditingTeradyon'sdeath(in order to bringquickrelief fromthe torture),andnot for his self-annihilation thatfollowed,A.Z. 18a. A similarstoryis told in Tan.29a. Here,too, the Romanofficer,who foundR. Gamlielin his hidingplace, asks, "If I save you, will you bringme into the world to come?"His suicide, whichfollowed,was not a factorin the dialogue.


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68:23, "Iwill bringagainfromthe depthsof the sea."Thisanswerconvinces firstthe girls and then the boys to leap into the sea. To be sure,the children do not ask whethervoluntarydeath, specifically,will lead to the world to come. Nor are they troubledby their active methodof departing.Entering the world to come was an inevitableevent accordingto the eschatological premise;the world to come was a posthistoricdevelopmentthat appeared obvious to the youths.Theirdoubtsarisebecauseof the place of deaththey are forcedto embrace.79 Since they were aboutto drownin the sea without a final restingplace, they wonderedwhetherthey would still acquirelife in the futureworld.s0The youthsdid not perceivetheirnoble act as the ultimate fast pass to the afterlife. Deemedworthyof mentionis thatall of the citednarrativesshareseveral common factors.They all describesituationsthat Jews find themselvesin unwillingly.In these situationsthey employ the option of voluntarydeath only to avoid transgressions.Voluntarydeath does not emerge as a good deed, a misvah,that could guaranteea place in the word to come. This is also truein the accountsof the martyredrabbis,which equivocallymention rewardonly in regardto R. Akiva and R. Haninahben Teradyon.This is not to weaken, however,the talmudicnotion of divinejustice in the next existence.Accordingto this divine system,good deeds bringthe individual 79. Doubtsthat the dead could be resurrectedfromthe sea come into play in Eusebius' narrationof the Christianmartyrsof Lyons.Eusebiusreassuredhis readersthateven drowning in largebodies of watercould not preventthe martyrs'physicalresurrection. Afterdisposing of the ashes of the martyrsin the RhoneRiver,"thatthey may have no hope of resurrection," theirpersecutorssarcasticallyexclaimed:"Nowlet us see if theywill riseagainandif theirgod can help them and save them from our hands."Historyof the Church5:1, 60-63. The same questionregardingthe resurrectionof those who kill themselvesby drowningis askedby R. Moses' wife in the famousstoryof the fourcaptivesin AbrahamibnDaud'sSeferha-Qabbalah (TheBook of Tradition),ed. andtrans.G. D. Cohen(Philadelphia,1967),pp. 63-64. 80. Ket. 111b deals with the same questionof wherethe eschatologicaldramawouldtake "evena Canaanitemaidservant," place. Accordingto Ket. 111b, everyonewill be resurrected, as long as they dwell in the land of Israel."Thosewho die outsidethe landof Israelwill not live again ... and those who die in the land of My delightwill live again,but those who do not die therewill not."The emphasison the word"land"couldonly increasethe complication of the youths' dilemma.Because of the talmudicapproachto the importanceof the place of resurrection,it becamecommonfor DiasporaJews to send decomposedbodiesto the Landof Israelfor burial.Otherrabbinicopinionscompromisedand promiseda miraculousuniversal PesiktaRabbati1:6, gatheringof the deadin the Landof Israelforthe purposeof resurrection. Ket. 35b. See also Raphael,Jewish Viewsof theAfterlife,pp. 158-160.

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closer to the worldto come, while evil deeds generatedivinepunishments.8s The martyrologicalstories do not challengethis talmudicsystem of divine justice, knownin Hebrewas middahke'negedmiddah,nor do they disclose the natureof reward. The dilemmasconcerningvoluntarydeath reveal that the act was not consideredan ultimategood deed, a misvah,in its own right.Whileformsof existencein the worldto come werenot to be disavowed,voluntarydeathdid not guaranteea rewardafterdeath.82As the martyrdomof R. Haninahben Teradyonproves,good deedswereviewedas a morepowerfulvehicletoward rewardthanvoluntarydeath.At best, voluntarydeathservedto preventthe performanceof forcedevil acts. Indirectly,by his voluntarydeatha person could preventthe accrualof transgressionsin the final divine count.83In the Talmud,the powerof martyrdomspringsfromits abilityto preventsin. Submissionto deathfunctionedas a restrictedobligatoryact, whichwas not sanctionedin orderto endorsethe notionof rewardin the afterlife.Withthis view well established,the Jews enteredthe MiddleAges. ByzantineJewry was the first EuropeanJewryto put these views into practiceand to associatethe victims with divine sacrifice.A tenth-century epistle from the communityof Bari to the celebratedCordovancourtier Hasday ibn Shaprutdescribesthe first known acknowledgmentof Jewish on Europeansoil in theMiddleAges. Reminiscentof theHadrianic martyrdom persecutionsof the talmudicrabbisand the prohibitionsof Torahstudy,the epistlereportshow, The holy congregation of Otrantohas lost threeassociates(re'im)for they werecompelledby thatcurseddecree.TheirnameswereRayIsaiah... and R. Menahem ... andtheirdiscipleElijah.R Isaiahtookin his handtheknife

81. For example,the importanceof observingthe Sabbathand dwellingin the sukkahas meritoriousacts is discussedby J. L. Rubenstein,"An EschatologicalDrama:Bavli Avodah Zarah2a-3b,"AJSReview1 (1996): 1-37. Note thatin the worldto come the eternalreward, symbolizedby the sukkah,is collective,and is reservedfor the nationof Israelfor studying Torahin this world.On the conceptof divinejustice,see againUrbach,Sages,pp. 448-461. 82. Some talmudicpassagesindicatethatthose who were readyto die in orderto avoid transgressionreceived their rewardin this life (like the biblicalheroes Hananiah,Mishael, and Azariah),becausemiracleswere performedto save them fromdeath.See the case of R. Jonathanin A.Z. 17a-b or Kid. 39b. 83. Kid. 40a-b.


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lambin theTemplecourt.R. Menahem andslashedhis throatlikea sacrificial had that into a his sun himself.84 darkened, Elijahstrangled pit.Seeing leaped Two centralsymbolsuncoverwhatthe martyrstriedto accomplishandhow the communityviewed voluntarydeath.R. Isaiah,who "tookin his handthe knife," alludes to Isaac's akedah,while the rest of the descriptionclearly identifiesIsaiahwith the sacrificiallambin the Templecourt(korbanolah). The three martyrsfunctionedas atonements,sacrificingthemselvesfor the commongood. It was not a coincidence,therefore,thatthe communitywas miraculously"deliveredfromdarknessto light"exactlyon thethirdday.Each self-sacrificeatonedfor one day of persecution.Becauseof them,the epistle Moreover,not reports,"evenone letterof the Torahwas not burnedthere.""8 save the also it to flourish human sacrifices caused did community,they only and become an importantTorahcenter.86The benefits from these human self-sacrifices,then, were confinedto the living.87No rewardis said to have been the martyrs'lot.88 84. The epistle was publishedby J. Mann in Textand Studies in Jewish History and Literature,2 vols. (Cincinnati,1931),vol. 1, pp. 23-24. Sincethe epistlementionstheBookof Josippon,it is obviousthat it was writtenafter953, the time the book came to light. See the introductionto SeferJosippon,ed. D. Flusser,2 vols. (Jerusalem,1981),esp. vol. 2, p. 63, n. 183, p. 165; idem, "TheAuthorof SeferJosippon:His Characterand His Period,"(Hebrew), Zion 18 (1953): 109-126. Also, Y. Baer,"TheHebrewSeferJosipphon"(Hebrew)in Sefer Dinur (Jerusalem,1949), pp. 178-205. On the letter,see U. Cassuto,"Una letteraebraica de secolo X," Giornaledella SocietaAsiatica Italiana29 (1918-1920): 97-110; S. Krauss, "Un documentsur l'histoirede Juifsen Italie,"Revuedes etudesjuives67 (1920):40-43; A. Scharf,ByzantineJewry(London,1971),p. 170.Andsee also A. Grossman'simportant article, "TheRoots of Qiddushha-Shemin EarlyAshkenaz,"in Sanctityof Life and Martyrdom, pp. 99-130. The last known persecutionin Italy duringthe Byzantineregimetook place under EmperorRomanusI, who was deposedin 944. The epistlemay havebeen writtenagainstthis background. 85. This is reminiscentof R. Haninahben Teradyon'sdeathwith the Torah.In his case, too, the lettersof the Torahdid not burn. 86. Mann,Textand Studies,1:25. 87. This is despitethe author'sfamiliaritywith SeferJosippon,whichpromisesparadise, "thegreatlight,"anda "goodhotel"to Jews.Flusser,SeferJosippon,1:382,424. Thisnotionis elaboratedin the later(12thcent.)"versionc" of the book.Ontheseimages,see Baer,"Hebrew SeferJosipphon,"pp. 194-195, 199-203, and comparewith Flusser,SeferJosippon,2:32, n. 82, pp. 96-98. In the epistle,only the community'slot shiftsfromdarknessto light. 88. It is worthyof mentionthatJustinian'ssixth-century Novella 146 accusesthe Jews of the end-of-days,andthe dayofjudgment.J. Justersees in renouncingthe belief in resurrection, these accusationsa proofof the long impactof Sadduceedoctrineson ByzantineJews,which

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Lackof personalrecompensealsomarksan anonymousHebrewreporton ThereportdepictsKing eventsbetweenthe years 1007 and 1012 in France.89 Robert'svigorouseffortsto convertthe Jews of his kingdom,offeringthem the alternativesof conversionor expulsion.Less fortunatewere the Jews of Rouen(andperhapsotherunspecifiedlocalities),who hadto choosebetween conversionand death.The fairlydetailedreport,which is buttressedby two Latinaccounts,portraysthe heroismof thevictimsandtheirvariousmodesof out reacting.90Membersof a Jewishdelegationat the king'spalace"stretched theirthroatsto be slain";women drownedthemselvesin rivers;and"fathers did not sparetheirchildren,nor childrentheirfathers."9' The source reveals the martyrs'motivation.Those in the palace were readyto be killed "forthe sanctityof His nameandunity."Womenwent to theirdeathsso as "notto desecratetheNameof Heaven."Fathersandchildren killed one other in order"not to profanethe VenerableName."For these individuals"deathwas betterthanlife,"becauseit servedto avoid "heeding the wicked." With these statementsthe anonymousauthorconcludesthe martyrs'actions. The victimsmeet a dreadfulend to avoid conversion,withoutbenefitting fromtheirdeaths.In contrast,the livingprosperedbecauseof thesesacrifices. eventuallyled to Karaism.Les Juifs dans 1'Empireromain,2 vols. (Paris,1914), 1:377-374. See also Ch. Merchavia,The ChurchVersusTalmudicand MidrashicLiterature(500-1248) (Hebrew)(Jerusalem,1970),pp. 11, 445-446. 89. On the source and events it describes,see R. Chazan,MedievalJewry in Northern France(Baltimore,1973),pp. 12-15; idem,"1007-1012:InitialCrisisfor NorthernEuropean Jewry,"in Proceedingsof the AmericanAcademyfor Jewish Research38-39 (1970-71): 101-117. Conversely,see K. R. Stow's The "1007Anonymous" andPapal Sovereignty: Jewish Perceptionsof thePapacyandPapalPolicy in theHighMiddleAges,in HebrewUnionCollege AnnualSupplements4 (Cincinnati,1984), and Chazan'sreviewof it in Speculum62 (1987): 728-731. And againsee Stow in AlienatedMinority(Cambridge,1994),p. 95. 90. The two Latinreportsareby RaoulGlaberin J. P. Migne,PatrologiaLatina,vol. 142, col. 635, and Adhemarde Chabannesin M. Bouquet,Recueildes historiensdes Gaul et de la France, 10:152. Also in B. Blumenkranz,Le auteurschritiensLatinsdu MoyenAge sur les Juifs et le Judaisme(Paris, 1963), pp. 250-251, 256-257. On these sources,see Chazan, "1007-1012: InitialCrisis,"and Stow, The "1007 Anonymous",pp. 29-31. Thereare two versions of Adhemar'sreport.Only one version mentionsJewish self-killing.Blumenkranz raises the possibilitythat the version that mentionssuicide is a later one and refersto the martyrsof the FirstCrusade(to be discussedbelow).Les auteurschritiens,p. 251, n. 3. 91. Habermann, Gezerot,pp. 19-20, originallypublishedby A. Berlinerin OzarTovy (1878), pp. 46-48.


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As in the Bari epistle, the anonymousreportsuddenlytakes an optimistic turn.Focusingon the advantageslife has to offer,the reportdoes morethan associate the victims' sacrificeswith the terminationof the persecution;it insinuatesthatthe personalsacrificesresultedin the astonishingaccomplishof buddingJewish ments of the community,which becamethe birth-mother settlementsin northernEurope. Their successors, however, were less fortunate.Franco-German Jewry fell prey to crusaderbandson theirway to Jerusalem.Theseattacksresulted in numerouscases of mass suicide in the spring and summermonths of 1096. Depictionsof rewardsaboundin threeHebrewdocumentspertaining to these bloody events.92In these documentsmartyrologicalrewardstands literallyworlds away from what is depictedin the previoussources.Terms describingthe medievalmartyrs,suchas "thepious of High"(hassidiElyon) and"theSupremeGod"(El Elyon),aretakenliterallyto meanlivingdwellers in heaven. Acts of voluntarydeath on earthinitiatethe dwellers' ascent93 92. The threeHebrewdocumentswere firstpublishedin a criticaleditionby A. Neubaure wahrendder Kreuzzuge and M. Stern in HebraischeBerichte uber die Judenverfolgungen SeferGezerotAshkenazve-Zarfat.There (Berlin,1892).Theywere reprintedin A. Habermann, area few Englishtranslationsavailable.The mostusefulones areS. Eidelberg'sTheJews and the Crusaders(Medison, 1977) and the recenttranslationof two of the three-Shlomo bar Shimshon'sreportandthe "MainzAnonymous"--inR. Chazan'sEuropeanJewryand theFirst to ShlomobarShimshonas Crusade(Berkeley,1987).Chazandesignatesthe sourceattributed L (for"long")andthe anonymousone as S (for"short").All the translations belowaremine,as is theuse of italicsforemphasis.Thehistoricalvalidityof thesesourcesandthe methodological approachthey requireare discussedby Chazanin EuropeanJewry,pp. 40-49; "TheHebrew CrusadeChronicles,"Revuedes etudesjuives 133 (1974):235-254; "TheHebrewChronicles: FurtherReflections,"AJS Review3 (1978): 79-98; "TheFacticityof MedievalNarrative:A Case Study of the Hebrew First CrusadeNarratives,"AJS Review 16 (1992): 31-56; and comparewith I. G, Marcus,"FromPoliticsto Martyrdom: ShiftingParadigmsin the Hebrew Narrativesof the 1096 CrusadingRiots,"Prooftext2 (1982): 40-52; "History,Story and CollectiveMemory:Narrativein EarlyAshkenazicCulture,"in TheMidrashicImagination,ed. M. Fishbane(Albany,N.Y., 1993), pp. 255-279. See also G. D. Cohen,"TheHebrewCrusade in Minhahle-Nahum:Biblicaland OtherStudiesin Chroniclesandthe AshkenazicTradition," Honor of NahumM. Sarna, ed. M. Fishbaneand M. Brettler(Sheffield,1993), pp. 36-53; J. Cohen,"ThePersecutionof 1096:The SocioculturalContextof the Narrativesof Martyrdom" (Hebrew),Zion 59 (1994): 169-208; and recently,S. Goldin,who was kind enoughto send me his "TheSocializationfor Qiddushha-ShemamongMedievalJews,"Journalof Medieval notionsand History23, no. 2 (1997): 117-138. Ourtopic andprimeinterestin martyrological symbolssparesus here fromdiscussingthe facticityof the sources. 93. Habermann,Gezerot,p. 75, "thepious of High were sanctifiedto ascend to God all together,infantandelderly."

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with the sole resultof providingtheiradmissionto God's celestialpalace.94 Now martyrsalone receive theirrewardin heaven(olam ha-ba),and solely becauseof theirsanctificationof God's name(qiddushha-Shem).These are fundamentalconceptsthatthe Hebrewsourcesreiteratetime andagain. Take,for example,the dialoguethatone of the Hebrewreportsattributes to the Jews of Mainzwhile they are surrounded by the armyof the notorious his followers encouragedeach Emico. R. Kalonymusbar Meshullamand otherto enduredeathbecauseit wouldunlockthe gatesof heavenfor them. the "Letus be strongandsuffertheyokeof thesacredawe.For themoment enemywill kill us. ... But we shall remainalive and endure,our souls in the

Gardenof Eden,in theluminousgreatmirrorforever.Happyarewe if we do His will. Happy is everyonewho is killed and slaughteredand dies for the sanctificationof His name.He shall be destinedto the worldto comeandshall

"thepillarsof the R.Akivaandhisassociates, sit in thecircleof therighteous, whowerekilledforHisname."Thantheyallcriedoutunanimously universe," in a loudvoice:". .. Let us go quicklyandsacrificeourselvesbeforethe Lord."95 The sanctificationof God's name in the here-and-nowdid not terminate the martyrs'worldlyactivities.God chose these martyrsto be "Hisportion, becausethey had the vigor andvalorto standin His palace andperformHis commandand to sanctifyHis exaltedName in His world."96The sanctifications of God's namecontinuedbeforeHim in heavenperpetually.Thusthey denoteboththe terrestrialpricefor andthe sublimeprizeof admittance. In contrastto the talmudicdepictionsof martyrdom,the worldto come is no longeran abstractnotion.The martyrs"exchangea worldof darkness for a world of light, a world of misfortunefor a world of blissfulness,and a transitoryworld for an eternalworld."Life in heaven is utterlydifferent fromlife on earth;rewardis not only eternal,butalso personal."Eachone of them"is dressedin "eightapparelsof gloriousclouds,each one is crowned 94. Habermann,"to standin His palace,"p. 73; "theyare in the King's palace,"p. 74; "hassidaiElyon,"pp. 26, 29, 75; "theyarebondedin the bondof life in the King'schamber," p. 82, to mentiononly a few examples. 95. Habermann,Gezerot,p. 31; Eidelberg,Jews and the Crusaders,p. 31; Chazan,L, pp. 253-254. The languageof thedescriptionhereis reminiscentof the languageof SeferJosippon; the essenceof the description,however,differs,becauseit refersto the martyrs'reward. 96. Habermann,Gezerot,p. 25; Chazan,L, p. 244.


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Eachmartyr,the three with two diadems... holdingmyrtlesin his hand."97 sourcesemphasize,receives a golden throneunderthe Treeof Life next to the talmudicmartyrswe met earlier.Moreover,God will recompenseeach martyrby allowing him or her to experiencethe unthinkable:seeing and joining God Himself. The accountcommenceswith the familiartheme of separationbetweenthe lowerandhigherrealms.The"piousof High(hassidei Elyon)were sanctifiedto ascend to God all togetherin purityandholiness." Thereafter,it was believed, Weshallexistin a worldthatis entirelydaylight,in paradise, in theluminous Weshallsee Himeye to eye, in Hisgloryandin Hisgreatness. mirror. Each of us shallreceivea goldencrownon his head,in whichpreciousstonesand and pearlsareplaced.Weshallsit thereamong"thepillarsof theuniverse" shalldinewiththecircleof thesaintlyin paradise. Weshallbe in thecircleof R.Akivaandhiscompanions. Weshallsitona goldenthroneundertheTreeof Life. Each of us shallpoint at Him withhisfinger and say: "Hereis our God

whomwe hopedfor,andwe shallrejoiceandexultin His salvation." There we shallobservethe Sabbath, forhere,in thisworldof darkness, we cannot restandobserveit adequately. Theyall camerejoicingandexultingbeforethe heavenlyGod.Similarly, theywerehappyto runandenterintotheinnermost of paradise.98 chambers These exceptionalheavenlyendowmentsare comparedto preciousphysical goodsreservedsolely for Europe'saristocrats.Yetexistencein "theluminous mirror"is not just a mirrorimage of an improvedterrestrialrealm."99 God's celestial palace is now shared exclusively with each martyrof past and present. Such powerful images served not only to rationalizethe "calamityof the generation"post factum. The authorsof the Hebrewdocumentspresent these images as the faith that motivatedthe martyrsto give up their lives. Compensationis featuredas a significantelement in their conscious final decisions. Death also attractedRabbiYequtielbar Meshullamand his son-in-law, who managedto escapea deadlyattack.Theircase demonstrates not only the 97. Habermann,Gezerot,p. 82. 98. Habermann,Gezerot,pp. 48-49; Eidelberg,Jews and the Crusaders,p. 56; Chazan,L, pp. 281-282. 99. Unlikethe above-mentioned talmudicdescriptionin BabaBatra10b.

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wish of two individualsto die together,but also theirwish to die with their brothers,who had alreadybeen killed, and to lie next to theirbodies. After fleeing from Mainz,the two decidedto returnto theirtown to realizetheir deathwish. werekilledthereontheroad barMeshullam andhisson-in-law RabbiYequtiel whentheyreturned to theplacewhereRabbi betweenMainzandRudesheim his brother, theparnas,hadbeenkilled[withhis followers], Kalonymus, for they intended to return to the city, Mainz, in order that the enemy would kill

withtheirbrethren thepious,upright, andburythemtherein thecemetery and innocent. '00 Anothergood demonstration,among several, is furnishedby the case of R. Samuelbar Gedaliahand Yehiel bar Samuel.After survivinga wave of crusaderattacks,the two escaped to a nearbylake in orderto drown themselves.The dialogueattributedto the two friendsexplainstheirtwofold motive: Betterto diehere[inthelake]forHisgreatNameandto strollwiththesaintly thanthattheseuncircumcised anduncleanseizeus andsully onesin paradise us againstourwillwiththeirevilwaters.I'0 Throughoutthe threeHebrewsourceson 1096, the readeris remindedthat "thosewho were killed for the sanctificationof His holy Name, the sublime God, [aredestined]for the life of the world-to-come.Theirsouls will reside in paradise,boundup in the bondsof life."Reward,then,playedan essential role in the eleventh-century martyrological concept.By developinga detailed doctrineof celestialreward,the martyrs,we are told, conqueredthe natural fearthey encounteredon theirlong voyage to theirfinaldestination. Clearly,manyof the besiegedJewspreferredto kill themselvesto prevent forcedconversionor torturousdeathat the handsof the crusaders.'02At the 100. Habermann,Gezerot,p. 42; Eidelberg,Jews and the Crusaders,p. 47; Chazan,L, p. 271. 101. Habermann,Gezerot,p. 45; Eidelberg,Jews and the Crusaders,p. 52; Chazan,L, p. 276. 102. For example, see the case of the dying Shmaryahu,who refusedto convert,and Gezerot, declared,accordingto the source:"Forthis day I havehopedall my life."Habermann, p. 51; Chazan,L, pp. 284-285. Also the voluntarydeathof Asherbar Josephand Meir bar to preventany Shmuel,a lad. Gezerot,p. 55. MarcussuggeststhatJewschose self-destruction contactwith crusaders,whichthey consideredpollution."FromPoliticsto Martyrdom," p. 48.


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same time, however,we encounterJews wishingto put an end to theirlives even thoughthe crusadershad continuedon theirway and calm had been restored.Circulatingrumorsof the total eradicationof RhinelandJewryand the loss of relativesandfriendsdepletedthe will to live, butthe defeatof the will to live was complementedby a strongwill to live againin theupperworld. The visible motivationfor this groupof people is a combinationof survivor guilt, in some cases due to conversion,and the attractionof the glorious world to come, where the dead can be rejoined.Isaacthe son of David the parnas and his friendUri, for example,reversedtheirinsincereconversions by sacrificingthemselvesafterthe crusadershadcontinuedon theirway.First, Isaacsacrificedhis two sons as his atonementin the synagogue,so thatthey would "come before the unique and eternalKing and before the throneof His glory."Forhimself, Isaachoped,throughself-sacrifice,to do "penitence and 'to be faithfulandperfectwith the LordGod' of Israel .... PerhapsHe will do accordingto His loving-kindnessandI shall still attainmy comrades andcome to be with them,to the greatlight."'03This is not a self-sacrificein the face of danger.His sacrificeswere calculatedfor the purposeof entering the divine celestialchamberso as to be with his loved ones. Particularlyilluminatingin regardto the attractionof rewardis the case of a certainJewishconvertfromXanten.As he was startinga freshlife alone in a new Jewish community,family ties and friendshipsdid not play the samerole in his commitmentas in othermembers'behavior.The anonymous convertbasedhis decisionon one factoralone.Perhapsrevealinghis position in the community,he wonderedhow his non-Jewishroots would influence his fate in the worldto come. "HeaskedR. Moses,the high priest:'My lord, if I slaughtermyself for the unityof His greatName,whatwill be my fate?"' The answercould not have been morepromising: Youshallsitwithus inourcircle,foryoushallbea trueconvertandsitwiththe restof thesaintlytrueconvertsin theircircle.Youshallbe withourancestor whowasthefirstof theconverts. Abraham, Hearingthe rabbi'sresponse,the convertslaughteredhimself withouthesitation. "His soul," the chronicle continues,"is bound up in the bond of life, in paradise,in the light of the Lord."'14 Accordingto the Hebrewand 103. Habermann,Gezerot,pp. 36-38; Chazan,L, pp. 262-265. Cohen,"Persecutionsof 1096,"p. 191 104. Habermann, Gezerot,pp.49-50; Eidelberg,Jews andthe Crusaders,p. 58; Chazan,L, p. 283. In the Bariepistlethe phrase"fromdarknessto light"symbolizedthe endof oppression,

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Latinsources,manyJews, like the convertfromXanten,were the authorsof The Hebrewsourceslink this patternof behaviorto the theirown deaths.'15 belief in a heavenlypostmortemexistence.Accordingly,"Thesesaintlyones desiredto sanctifythe reveredandawesomeNamewithjoy andcheer,like a mangoing to a feast, andto declarehis unity."'" Such notionsof martyrdomand its rewardcontinuedto characterizethe Jewswell afterthe FirstCrusade.It is not within writingsof Franco-German our frameworkto mentionall the medievalJewishsourcesthatmakesimilar use of these notions.•"7 But it is clear enoughthat the popularityof these martyrologicalnotionssoon reachedthe pointof becominga majorattribute of Ashkenazicliteratureand belief, until they overflowedinto a varietyof JewishsourcesandJewries.'08 Whatcausedthis clearnexusbetweenmartyrdom andimmediatereward? How can we explain the transformationfrom an existing (althoughnot andreward,or,at best, consistent)rabbinicreluctanceto combinemartyrdom from a nebulousresurrectionor olam ha-ba, to an intricateand elaborate conceptionof heavenlyrewardin the presenceof God? A logical explanationwouldbe the survivors'naturalneed to rationalize the tragic outcomeof the crusaders'butchery.Compensatingall casualties of crusaderviolence with the only possible reward,therefore,enabledthe living to cope with the painfulrealizationof physicaldefeat.Not only had "theenemyof God"slaughteredHis peoplewithoutbeingpunished,theyhad also defeatedthe Muslimsandcapturedthe landthatHe hadpromisedto His but in the Hebrewsourcesof 1096 it denotesthe martyrs'transitionfromthe physicalto the divinerealm. 105. Albert of Aix, in Recueil des Historiensdes Croisades:Historiensoccidentaux,5 vols. (Paris,1844-95), 5:292-293 (hereaftercitedas RHC,Oc.). 106. Habermann,Gezerot,p. 52; Chazan,L, p. 286. 107. See, forexample,EphraimbenJacobof Bonn,SeferZechira,in Habermann's Gezerot; SeferHasidim,ed. R. Margaliot(Jerusalem,1957),no. 22; J.Katz,"Between1096and1648-49" (Hebrew),in Sefer ha-Yovelle-Y Baer ed. S. Ettingeret al. (Jerusalem,1961),pp. 318-337; Sefer ha-Dmaot,ed. S. Bernfeld(Berlin, 1884), vol. 3, pp. 291-292, "to sanctifyHis Name therebymakesus worthyof enteringthe worldto come."A. Mintz,"TheRussianPogromsin HebrewLiteratureand Subversionof the Martyrological Ideal,"AJS Review7-8 (1982-83): 263-300. 108. See J. Hacker,"WasQiddushha-ShemTransferred to the SpiritualRealmToward the ModemEra?"(Hebrew),in Sanctityof Life, pp. 221-232; M. Fishbane,TheKiss of God (Seattle,1994).


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people.109Martyrdomand rewardthus fit into the theologyof sufferingand

the medievalgenreknownas "theepic of defeat.""•Martyrdomand reward reassuredthe shakenJews thatthe crusadersmighthavetemporarilywon the terrestrialbattlebutcouldnot deprivethemof theireternalreward.Heavenly recompensetransformedthe victimsinto the victorious."' This interpretationalone, however,would not explain the course and metaphorsemployedin the Hebrewnarratives.Martyrdomandrewardwere not only a product of internalneeds, but also a result of complicated acculturationbetween Jews and their Christianneighbors."2The Hebrew sourceson 1096 revealthe same intensemartyrological ideasthatservedthe propagandaof the FirstCrusade. Althoughthe fourversionsof PopeUrbanII's speechat Clermontdo not all utilizethe term"martyrdom," referencesto the act andits rewardabound. Urbanofferedhis listeners"theonly warfarethatis righteous,for it is charity to risk your life for your brothers,"and promisedthatthey would "achieve everlastingglory"with their"ownblood."'13 In all of the fourreconstructed speeches,Urbanis portrayedas presenting the Crusadeas a formof potentialmartyrdom, becausethecrusaders'sacrifice would lead to eitherthe terrestrialor celestialJerusalem.Guibertof Nogent includedthe term "martyrdom" in his version of the pontiff's speech and it as a presented "gloriousgift"(gloriosummartyrii munus).Tryingto recruit

109. Accordingto Baldricof Dol's versionof PopeUrban'sspeechat Clermont,thepontiff comparedthe crusadersto the childrenof Israel,who wereled outof Egyptby divineforceand "havetakenthatland [of Israel]by theirarms,with Jesusas leader.They have drivenout the Jebusitesand otherinhabitantsandhave themselvesinhabitedearthlyJerusalem,the imageof celestialJerusalem." RHCOc., 4:12-16. 110. Chazan,EuropeanJewry,p. 151. 111. Grossmanmakesa similarargument.In his opinion,the belief in rewardencouraged the survivorsto cope withthe devastation.A. Grossman,TheEarlySagesofFrance(Jerusalem, 1995),p. 498. 112. On the dynamicsbetweenJews and Christiansduringthe FirstCrusade,see again Chazan'sEuropeanJewry,especiallyp. 323 n. 109; also Cohen,"Persecutions of 1096,"pp. 175, 199-200. 113. The four versions are by Guibertof Nogent, Gesta Dei per Francos, RHC Oc., 4:137-140; Fulcherof Chartres,HistoriaHierosolymitana,ed. H. Hagenmeyer(Heidelberg, 1913), pp. 132-138; Robertof Rheims,HistoriaHierosolimitana,RHC Oc., 3:727-730; and Baldricof Dol, HistoriaJerosolimitana,RHC Oc., 4:12-16. See also the anonymousGesta Francorumet aliorumHierosolymytanorum, ed. andtrans.R. M. Hill (London,1962),pp. 1-2.

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his audienceto the divinemission,Urbanremindedhis listenersof the deeds of the Maccabees,the Apostles,andthe saints,andthenrhetoricallyasked: to visit Whydo you declineto rescuethe Cross,the Blood,the monument; the priceof yourlives in rescuingthem?. . . Now we them,to contribute whichnow proposeto you warswhichholdthe gloriousgift of martyrdom, andforeverwill restorethepraisedtitle.114 Accordingto Baldericof Dol, Urbanassuredhis audiencethat"givingyour life for your brotheris an exceptionallygood work of charity,""'which, Fulcherof Chartresexplained,brings"eternalrewardfor a few farthings."116 In Baldric'sversion,Urbandidnotuse theterm"martyrdom" whenpromising the crusadersa celestialrewardandan entryintoparadise,butdiduse it when instructinghow the crusadeshouldbe conductedand also when giving the examplesof otherearly Christianheroes."'Robertof Rheims,who viewed the crusadeas a martyrium,had the pope transferthose willing to take the cross into living sacrifices."8 The initial canon of the Councilof Clermontmay have spokenonly of the remissionof penance,not of forgivenessof sins. But for the majority, C. Erdmannwrites, "The First Crusadebroughtforth the notion that the forgivenessof sins was the specialportionof thosewho diedon the campaign. deathon a crusadewas regardedas martyrdomor at leastas an Furthermore, assuredentryinto paradise.""9 Relyingon the Chronicleof Montecassino,H. E. Mayeralsomentionsthis noveltyof the eleventhcentury,"forotherwise,"he writes,"therewouldhave been no need to stress [in the Chronicleof Montecassino]thatthe crusaders went off confidentof the promisedreward."120 The followingcrusadersong well demonstratesthis popularmisinterpretation of crusadepropaganda: Whoeverproceedsthither, 114. Guibertof Nogent,RHCOc., 4:138. 115. Baldricof Dol, RHCOc., 4:15. 116. Fulcherof Chartres,Historia Hierosolymitana,p. 136. Also, "Greatwill be your reward,"in the GestaFrancorum,trans.R. Hill anded. R. Mynors(London,1962),pp. 1-2. 117. Baldricof Dol, RHCOc., 4:15. 118. Robertof Rheims,HistoriaHierosolimitana, RHCOc., 3:727-730. 119. C. Erdmann,TheOriginof the Idea of Crusade(Princeton,1977),p. 344. See also J. Riley- Smith,"Deathon the FirstCrusade,"in TheEndof Strife,ed., D. Loades(1984), p. 17. 120. H. E. Mayer,TheCrusades(Oxford,1988),p. 294.


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And shoulddie there, He will receivethe bountiesof heaven And live with the saint.121 Rather than markinga genesis, the associationbetween death, martyrdom,and celestial rewardin the First Crusaderepresentsa theological 122PetertheHermit'svision in Jerusalemin 1094"confirmed" the culmination. the of Paradise for the masses who follow him in of would the gates opening upcomingFirstCrusade.123As Eadmer,Anselmof Canterbury's biographer, reported,the issue of martyrdomand sainthoodwas almosta dailymatterin eleventh-centurynorthernEurope.DuringAnselm'sfirstvisit to England,in 1079,Lanfranc,the abbotof Bec, andthe archbishopof Canterbury, presented Anselmwith the case of ArchbishopElphegeto illustratethe disturbingtrend of popular canonizationof saints and martyrs.'24 To Lanfranc'sdismay, 121. G. M. Dreves,AnalectahymnicaXLV(Leipzig,1904),2, p. 78. QuotedfromErdmann, Originof theIdea of Crusade,p. 345. 122. One of the strongestadvocatesof the message of self-sacrificeamongthe officials of the Churchwas none otherthan Pope GregoryVII himself. In a message reminiscentof the languageof Pope JohnVIII, Pope Leo IV, and Pope Leo IX (Migne,PatrologiaLatina, vol. 126, col. 816), GregoryaskedCountessMatildaof Tuscanyto assisthim in his effortson behalfof the EasternChurch."Do all thatyou can to give your counsel,and still moreyour help, to your Creator;for if, as some say, it is a noble thingto die for our country,it is a far morenoble and a trulypraiseworthythingto give our corruptibleflesh for Christ,who is life eternal."Gregoryhimself was readynot only to call for a crusade,but also to participatein it with the same enthusiasticenergyhe requiredfromothers."As for me, furnishedwith such sisterlyaid I would most gladly cross the sea, if need be to lay down my life for Christwith you whom I always desire shouldcleave to me in the heavenlycountry."H. E. J. Cowdrey, The Epistolae Vagantesof Pope GregoryVII(Oxford, 1972), pp. 13, 29. Otherstatements of the same kind are found in Migne, PatrologiaLatina,vol. 148, col. 329. See also the andthe FirstCrusade,"in CrusadeandSettlement, importantstudiesof Cowdrey,"Martyrdom ed. W. P. Edbury(Cardiff,1985), pp. 46-56; J. Riley-Smith,TheFirst Crusadeand the Idea of Crusading(Philadelphia,1986), pp. 13-30; idem, "An Approachto CrusadingEthics,"in ReadingMedievalStudies6 (1980): 3-19. 123. RHCOc., 4:273. 124. The doubtfulLanfrancchose amongmany examplesthe case of the noblemanand archbishopElphege,which disturbedLanfrancthe most, for the masses "number[Elphege] not only amongthe saintsbut also amongthe martyrs,thoughthey confess thathe was slain for refusingto ransomhimself' from his captors.Being awarethat in orderto collect the largeransomdemandedhe would have to striphis vassalsof theirpossessions,the would-be martyr"choseratherto lose his life thankeep it on suchconditions."Eadmer,VitaS. Anselmi, archiepischopiCantuariensis,lib. I, c. v, s. xlii, ed. andtrans.R. W. Southern(London,1962).

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Anselm approvedthe popularmartyrologicalcanonizationof Elphegeand "countedhim among the martyrs,since he is trulyrecordedto have borne deathwillingly for so high andrighteousa cause.... whatmattersit whether a man die for righteousnessor for truth?"AfterAnselmconvincedLanfranc that Elphege should be considereda martyr,Lanfrancmade sure that the martyr'sname would be rememberedand praised,"reador sung in God's Church.""25 In France,even an advocateof martyrdomlike Guibertof Nogentechoed concernsand complaintssimilarto those of Lanfrancin a lengthyreporton the problemof popularcanonizationof saintsand martyrsand the worship of their relics throughoutChristendom.As Guibertindicates,almostevery town and districtadoptedsaints or martyrsand erectedshrinesto preserve the alleged martyrs'relics, despitethe Church'soppositionto the swelling trend.126 Like the Hebrewsources,Eadmer'sandGuibert'sreportsrevealthe same populartrendof transformingvictims of violence into celebratedmartyrs. An eleventh-centuryversionof St. Boniface'sbiographyindicatesthatstyle andimageryconstitutedadditionalsharedmotifs.127Thebiographerrecounts Boniface's final speech and encounterwith the pagans on the banks of the Boorne River in 754. The following account is strikinglysimilar to the martyrologicaldepictionsfound in the HebrewChroniclesof the First Crusade. "This now is that very day we have long dreamed of. That moment offreedom we have yearned for is right here. So be heroic in the Lord and suffer this royal grace of his will gladly. Keep your trust in him and he will set your souls

free."Thenhe turnedto the priestsanddeaconsandotherclericsstanding besidehim,Godswornmenall of them,andspoketo themlikea father:"My herobrothers, be boldof heart.Haveno terrorof theseslayersof the body, fortheyhaveno powerto killthesoul,whichlivesforever.Takecheerin the Lord andfix the anchorof your hope in God, becausein anotherinstanthe 125. Ibid.,lib. I, c. v, s. xlii. 126. Onlyin 1170was the canonizationof saintsandmartyrsreservedsolely to the Church. The endeavorsof Guibertand otherChurchofficialsto correctthe situationwere in vain, for in manycases the emotionalpopulacerefusedto yield to "logic"or to Churchpolicy.Guibert of Nogent, Treatiseon Relics, I, chap. 1, col. 614. See also G. G. Coulton,Life in the Middle Ages, 4 vols. in 1 (New York,1931),vol. 1, pp. 12-13, 15-21. 127. I deal with parallelimagesof the afterlifeduringthe crusadesmorespecificallyin an articleI hope to publishin the nearfuture.


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will give you your eternal reward and lead you to your rightful seat in the great hall of heaven among the fellowship of the angels noble beyond earthly

tothedoomedloveof thislife.Snarenot Do notsurrender measure. yourselves with heart the base and hollow blandishments theheathendo.Butsubmit your courageously to this brief instant of death so that you may reign with Christ

Whilehe waslovinglyurginghis discipleson to themartyr's crown forever." withtheseheartening theragingstormof pagansoverwhelmed words,suddenly them with swords and every sort of weapon,and stained the bodies of the

saints with the blood of a happy death.128

The reportedyearningfor death, the desire to do God's will, the instant transitionfrom deathto life, the everlastingrewardsin heaven,the crowns and the seats among the saints, the emphasison martyrs'blood, and the martyrs'"happy"end are centralmotifs in Willibald'sbiography.The very same motifs magnify and dignify the heroes and heroinesof the Hebrew sources. The identicalfundamentalsmadeit possiblefor the Ashkenazicminority to cope with its secularlife in a religiouscontext.Suchpopularfundamentals compelled AshkenazicJews to turn victims of violence into holy martyrs (sacrifices,korbanot)who would be admiredin the synagoguesin the same way thatthe Christianmartyrs(in Urban'swords,recta oblatio, i.e., a right kind of sacrifice)129were in the churches.The AshkenaziJews could not remainoblivious to the concept of heavenlyrewardin a milieu thatmade such a concept the ultimatevalidationof religious triumph.To offer the Jewish victims less thanthe transcendental rewardsthatwere circulatingin the LatinWestwould not only have deprivedthe dead of whatwas viewed as the ultimatevictory,but would also have markedan acknowledgmentby the living of a finalreligiousdefeat.The authorsof the Hebrewchroniclesof the FirstCrusadewould have none of it.

128. Versionsof the biographyexist in MonumentaGermaniaeHistorica,Scriptorum2 (1829): 331-353 and VitaeSancti BonifatiiArchiepiscopiMoguntini,in ScriptoresRerum Germanicarumin usum scholarumex MonumentisGermaniaeHistoricis separatimediti (Hannoverand Leipzig, 1905), pp. 1-57. The translationis from C. Albertson,Anglo-Saxon SaintsandHeroes(New York:FordhamUniversityPress,1967),pp. 313-314, emphasisadded. 129. R. Somerville,The Councilsof UrbanII, i: Decreta Claromontenisa (Amsterdam, 1972),p. 74.

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Conclusion It is often assumedthatthe notion of the martyrs'placementin heaven next to God in returnfor theirultimateact has its rootsin Jewishtradition.130 We have seen thata theologythatclearlyconnectedmartyrdomandpersonal rewarddid not exist in the Greco-Romanperiod.The year 1096 thusconstitutesa criticalturningpointin the evolutionof this relationship.The Hebrew chroniclesof the First Crusadeunite martyrdomand celestial reward,and, for the firsttime, providea clearpictureof the worldthatawaitedmartyrs. In the Greco-Romanperiod,the martyrs'concernwas to avoidtransgression and keep the social and religiousstructureintact.Voluntarydeathwas intendedto benefit the nation, collectively.Second and FourthMaccabees seem to providethe only exceptions.We have, however,enoughsyntactical and conceptualreason to see the rewardsin FourthMaccabeesas a late interpolation, possiblyby Christianwritersor as a resultof externalinfluence. In anyevent,one cannotignorethe followingcrucialpoint:thesedepictionsof martyrologicalrecompense-and this is especiallytruein regardto heavenly rewards-did not penetratethe ensuingrabbinicliterature.If the rabbisdid use FourthMaccabees,then they eitherhad beforethem a versioninnocent of these rewardsor else they deliberatelyomittedthem. What the Greco-Romanand rabbinicsourcesclearly sharedis the presentationof voluntarydeathas the victims' last resort;one, in fact,thatthey often triedto avoid.The TalmudaskedJews in believe in resurrectionin the world to come as partof the Jewish tenet. The Talmudviews resurrection as a standardstage that follows upon life, regardlessof the natureof life. Thus it is not surprisingto find the notion of resurrectionor the world to come in the accountsof the 400 youthsandof Teradyon.Moreover,we have seen talmudicrejectionsof a connectionbetween martyrdomand reward (Men. 29b; Y. Hag. 2:1; A.Z. 17b; Kid. 39b; and also in the midrashin Bet ha-Midrash2:64-72). In any case, details of the heavenly existence of martyrswere not provided in the martyrologicalstories. At best, the world to come was describedas a communityof talmudicscholarsand the inevitableoutcome of the eschatologicaldrama.We have continuedto see the associationof martyrswith the nation'sbenefitsuntilthe eve of the First Crusade. 130. For example,J. B. Russell,A Historyof Heaven(Princeton,1997),p. 55; Drogeand Tabor,NobleDeath,p. 75.


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rewards, Thereafter,the Ashkenazitheologyof individualmartyrological which indicates a growing awarenessof the self in Ashkenazicsociety, took off. Insteadof resurrection,its innovativemetaphysicaldoctrinenow concentratedon heaven, where the entire Jewish communitycontinuedto exist as a social unit. The upperworldis a bustlinglocality,repletenot only with scholarsand rabbis,but also with childrenrunningin the chambersof God,youngmen andwomengettingengagedandmarried,andnew converts In contrastto thetumultuous equallyenjoyingthe metaphysicalcommunity.131' realityof the medievalworld,life in heavenis pleasurableandtranquil,and in it the society of martyrsenjoys a divine meal and the eternalrest of the Sabbath. In parallelto the unblemishedhumanrelationshipsin heaven,theregrew directrelationbetweeneachindividualandGod.Thosewho the all-important dwell in heavenpraiseandsing to God,while continuingthe ritualof human sacrificesbefore Him. These activities are participatedin by all martyrs, past and present,together,yet each martyrhas his own stage before God. Each individual,sitting in the circle, focuses on God alone. In returnGod concentrateson the individual. While the crusadersoffered the Jews a utopianEuropeansociety as a rewardfor conversion,direct relationwith God was the one promisethat only martyrdomcould guarantee.Among the differentpatternsof Jewish responseto the attacks,the authorsof the Hebrewchroniclespresentthese vivid imagesof theocentriclife in olam ha-baas the mainattractiveforcefor Jews willingly going to theirself-designeddeaths.Qiddushha-Shemwas no longersolely a practiceof atonementthatservedthe commongood or a way to preventtransgression.VoluntarydeathservedmedievalJewsas an avenue throughwhich to ascentto God andpersonallybenefitfromtheiraltruism. These new characteristicswere added to the martyrologicalnarrative because of the new living reality in the Latin West and the venerationof martyrdomand its blissful reward.The Christianleaders of the crusades ensuredthe appeal of the crusadesthroughmartyrdomand by grantinga subsequentcelestialrewardin heavenlyJerusalem.AshkenazicJewscouldnot fall behindandproducedtheirown systemof reward.Thenew characteristics of this celestial system were thus uniquelyAshkenazic,yet not exclusively Jewish. 131. Comparewith Ber. 18a:"inparadisethereis not eatingor drinkingor copulation,no business,no envy,no hatred,no ambition."

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Martyrdomandrewardcontinuedto characterizethe writingsof FrancoGermanJewsafterthe FirstCrusade.Thepopularityof martyrological images clearlytookoff after1096,becominga majorattributeof Ashkenazicliterature andbelief. To this day,it is oftentheseAshkenazicnotionsof celestialreward thatfirstcome to mind in relationto martyrdom. TheUniversity of Oklahoma

"Do the Dead Know?" The Representation of Death in the Bavli Author(s): Aryeh Cohen Source: AJS Review, Vol. 24, No. 1 (1999), pp. 45-71 Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Association for Jewish Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1486520 . Accessed: 15/07/2011 10:55 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].



"DO THE DEAD KNOW?" THE REPRESENTATIONOF DEATH IN THE BAVLI* by ARYEHCOHEN whena greatthinker becomessilent,onewhomwe Whathappens knewliving,whomwe readandreread,andalsoheard,onefrom whomwe werestill awaitinga response,as if sucha response wouldhelpus notonlyto thinkotherwisebutalsoto readwhat a response we thoughtwe hadalreadyreadunderhis signature, in reserve,andso muchmorethanwhatwe thatheldeverything in thatsignature?' thoughtwe hadalreadyrecognized Death,the space of death,the momentwhen one as mourneror passerby comes into the orbit of the dead, engagingthe face of the dead, is one of the cultural the definingmomentsof the humanexperience.Understanding constructionof that space promises to shed light on some of the central questionsof the culture. In this paperI interrogatethe representation of deathin rabbinic(textual) culturethroughone sugya in the Bavli, Berachot17b-19a. I will arguethat the narrativeof the sugyaleadsto an understanding of the spaceof deathas a somewhatfluidspacein whichthe deadandthe living can interactandaffect one other.The space of deathis also permeablein thatgenderconstructions move smoothlythroughit. * This essay is dedicatedto the memoryof 'nxi '117Prof.MarvinFox, 5"T. I would like to thankMichaelCarrasik,CharlotteFonrobert,and an anonymousreviewer for theirvery helpfulcommentson this essay. This is a much-improved versiondue to their efforts. 1. JacquesDerrida,"Adieu,"CriticalInquiry23, no. 1 (August1996):1.

AJS Review 24/1 (1999): 45-71

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My approachto this sugya is by way of a sugyaeticanalysis,that is, an analysisof the poetics of the sugya. This entails,first,readingthe sugya against its grain, asking what the variousrhetoricalmoves do, ratherthan acquiescingto theirown claimsas questionsandanswers.Second,a structural analysisof the sugyato identifyits recurrentforms,tropes,andimages.Third, an intertextualanalysisthatsituatesthe sugyawithinits literaryandcultural universe.These analyticalframesare all governedby an understandingof sugya as narrative.Not only (thoughalso) in the sense that it claims to be narrativeby seeminglyhavinga beginning,middle,and end to its dialogic structure;but more so in identifyingthe narrativethat is groundedin its recurrentforms,tropes,andimages.2 TheSugya Bavli Berakhot17b-18b Mishnah(3:1) One whose dead lies [unburied]before him is exempt from reciting the Shema,and from [wearing]phylacteries. Gemara 1. [If the dead actually]lies beforehim, then this is the case. Whenit does not [actually]lie beforehim, this is not the case. 2. But thereis an incongruity[withanothertannaiticsource]: 3. One whose dead lies beforehim eats in anotherhouse. If he has no other house,he eats in his fellow's house. 4. If he has no fellow to whose house he can go, he makesa partitionand eats. If he has nothingwith whichto makea partition,he turnshis face away andeats. 5. He does not reclinewhile eating,nor does he eat meat,nor does he drink wine, nor does he say a blessing [over food], nor does he say the blessings aftermeals, 2. Aryeh Cohen, RereadingTalmud:Gender,Law and the Poetics of Sugyot(Atlanta: ScholarsPress, 1998),chap.5.

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6. nor do otherssay a blessing for him, nor is he invitedto join in the grace; and he is exempt from [the obligationsof reciting]the Shema,[sayingthe] statedin the Tefillah,[wearing]phylacteries,andfromall the commandments Torah. 7. On the Sabbath,he reclinesand eats meatand drinkswine, andhe says a blessingover food, andhe says the blessingsaftermeals,andothersmay say the blessingforhim,andinvitehimtojoin in the blessingsaftermeals,Andhe is obligatedto recitethe Shema,andthe Tefillah,andall the commandments statedin the Torah. 8. RabbanGamalielsays, since he is subjectto these, he is subjectto all of them. 9. Said R. Yohanan,they differ in regardto [whetherhe is subjectto the obligationof] maritalintercourse. 10. R. Papa explainedthis [tannaiticsource as applyingonly] to one who turnshis face away and eats. 11. R. Ashi says, as long as it is [incumbent]uponhimto buryhim, it is as if [the corpse]were lying beforehim. 12. As it says, "ThatI may burymy deadout of my sight"(Gen.23:4). 13. At thattime was [Sarah'sdeadbody] lying beforehim? 14. But since [the obligationis] uponhim to buryhim, it is as if [thecorpse] were lying beforehim. 15. [If it is actually]his dead,yes [thisis the case],butif he is [just]watching [the dead],no. 16. But is it not taught[in a tannaiticsource],Onewho guardsthe dead,even if it is not his dead---heis relievedof the obligationof recitingthe Shema, andfrom [saying]the Tefillah,andfrom[wearing]phylacteries,andfromall the commandmentsstatedin the Torah. 17. "Hisdead,"even if he is not the guard;"theguardof [the dead],"even if it is not his dead;"hisdeadandhe is the guard"---inall these cases]yes [he is exempt]. 18. But one who is [merely]walkingthroughthe cemeteryis not. 19. But is it not taught[in a tannaiticsource],A man shouldnot walk in the cemeterywith phylacterieson his head, and a Torahscroll in his arms, readingfromit. 20. And if he does so he abrogates[theimpliedinjunction]"Onewho mocks the poorblasphemeshis Maker"(Prov.17:5).

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21. They[might]say,Thereit is withinfourcubitsthatit is forbidden, outside of fourcubitshe is obligated[torecitetheShemaetc.]. 22. Fora Mastersaid,A dead[body]seizesfourcubits[in regardto] the recitation of theShema. 23. Here,beyondfourcubitshe is alsorelieved[ofhis obligation]. 24. [Aboutthisstatement] itself, 25. Onewhoguardsthedead,evenif it is nothis dead26. he is relievedof theobligationof recitingtheShema,andfrom[saying] the Tefillah,andfrom[wearing]phylacteries,andfromall the commandments statedin the Torah. 27. [If] therewere two-this one guardsandthis one recites,and [then]this one guardsandthis one recites. 28. Ben 'Azzai says, If they were coming in a boat, they rest him in this cornerand they bothprayin anothercorner. 29. Whatis [the difference]betweenthem? 30. Said Rabina,[Whetheror not] we take mice into considerationis [the difference]betweenthem. 31. One Masterholds thatwe take [mice]into consideration,andone Master holds thatwe do not take [mice] into consideration. 32. Ourrabbistaught, 33. One who transportsbones fromplace to place,behold,he shouldnot put themin a saddlebag, 34. and lay them on the donkeyand ride on them,for he is treatingthemin an insultingmanner. 35. And if he was fearfulof the gentilesor of bandits-it is permitted, 36. As they said aboutbones, so too they said abouta Torahscroll. 37. Aboutwhich [case is this last statementreferring]?If we say it is about the firstpart[of the sourcetext], thatwhich it teaches: 38. he shouldnot put themin a saddlebag, and lay themon the donkeyand rideon them. 39. This is obvious!Is a Torahscrollworse thana bone? 40. But, rather,[the statementis referringto] the end [of the sourcetext],that which it teaches:And if he was fearful,etc. 41. Rahabasaid in the name of R. Judahin the nameof Rab,whoeversees a corpse [on the way to burial],and does not accompanyit for four cubits, transgresses,since "Onewho mocksthe poorblasphemeshis Maker"(Prov. 27:5).

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42. And if he accompaniesit, what is his reward? 43. About[one like] him Scripturesays, "Onewho is graciousuntothe poor lendsuntothe Lord,andHe will repayhim for his deed"(Prov.19:31). 44. R. Hiyya andR. Yonathanwere once walkingin a cemetery, 45. the blue fringeof R. Yonathanwas trailingon the graves. 46. Said R. HIiyyato him, Lift it up, so thatthey [the dead] shouldnot say, "Tomorrowthey are comingto join us, andnow they areinsultingus!" 47. He said to him, And do they know?Is it not written"Forthe living know thatthey shall die, but the deadknow nothing"(Eccles.9:5)? 48. He saidto him, If you havereadonce, you havenot repeated;if you have repeated,you have not gone over it a thirdtime; if you have gone over it a thirdtime, sages have not explainedit to you. 49. "Forthe living know that they shall die," these are the righteouswho even in theirdeathare called living, 50. as it says, "AndBenaiahthe son of Jehoiada,son of a valiantman."But it is written,"theson of a living man"(2 Sam.23:20). 51. [Is it only] Benaiahthe son of Jehoiadawho is "theson of a livingman"? Are all otherpeople, then,the sons of deadmen?Rather"theson of a living man"[means]thateven in his deathhe was calledliving. 52. "fromKabzeel,who had done mightydeeds"(ibid.), one who gathered [kibbes]numerousworkersfor the Torah. 53. "he smote the two altar-hearths [ariel]3of Moab"(ibid.), this indicates that he did not leave his like either in the First Templeor in the Second Temple. 54. "he went down and also slew a lion in the midst of a pit in the time of snow,"some say [thatthis indicates]that he brokeblocks of ice and went down and [ritually]bathed; 55. otherssay thathe went throughthe Sifraof the Schoolof Rav4on a short winter'sday. 56. "butthe dead know nothing,"these are the wicked who even in their lifetimesare called dead, 57. as it says, "Andyou, O wicked one, thatare slain, the princeof Israel" (Ezek.21:30)-and was he dead?He was indeedalive! 58. Orif you preferI will deriveit fromhere,"Atthe mouthof two witnesses shallthe deadbe put to death"(Deut. 17:6). 3. Ariel ("lionof God")is a rabbinicnamefor the Temple.MishnahMiddot4:7. 4. The halakhic,or legal, midrashon Leviticus.

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59. Is he dead?He is still alive! Rather"thedead"[means]he is [countedas] deadfromthe start. 60. The sons of R. Hiyyawent to the town 61. andtheirlearningwas lost to them. 62. andthey were sittingand grieving. 63. One said to the other,Does our fatherknow of ourpain? 64. The othersaidto him, Canhe know?Behold,it is written,"Hissons come to honor,and he does not know it; they are broughtlow, andhe perceivesit not"(Job 14:21). 65. The othersaid to him, Does he not know?Behold,it is written,"Hefeels only the painof his own body,andhe mournsonly for himself(ibid.22). 66. And said R. Yitzhak,A worm is [as] hardfor the dead as a needle in living flesh. 67. He saidto him, He knowsof his own pain;of the painof othershe knows not. 68. But is it not taught[in a tannaitictext]: 69. A ma'aseh of a certainrighteousperson [hasid]who gave a dinarto a poorpersonon the eve of the New Yearin a yearof drought. 70. His wife provokedhim to anger[aboutthis incident]. 71. He went and slept in the graveyard. 72. He heardtwo spiritstalkingwith each other. 73. One said to her friend,My friend,come andlet us floatin the world,and we will hearfrombehindthe curtainwhattroubleswill befallthe world. 74. Herfriendsaidto her,I am unable,becauseI am buriedin a matof reeds. But you go and listen,andwhateveryou hear,come andtell me. 75. She went andheardand cameback. 76. She saidto her,My friend,whathaveyou heardfrombehindthe curtain? 77. She said to her,I heardthemsayingthatall who plantin the firstquarter will be damagedby hail. 78. Thatrighteouspersonheard,he went andplantedin the secondquarter. 79. The whole world's[crop]was damaged,his was not. 80. The next yearhe went and slept in the graveyard. 81. He heardthe same spiritstalkingto each other. 82. She saidto her,My friend,come andlet us floatin the world,andwe will hearfrombehindthe curtainwhattroubleswill befallthe world. 83. Herfriendsaidto her,I am unable,becauseI am buriedin a matof reeds. But you go, andwhateveryou hear,come andtell me.


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84. She went andheardandcame back. 85. She said to her,My friend,whathave you heardfrombehindthe curtain? 86. She said to her, [I heard]them saying that all who plant in the second quarter,a blightwill damageit. 87. Thatrighteouspersonheard,he went andplantedin the firstquarter. 88. The whole world's[crop]was blighted,his was not blighted. 89. His wife said to him, Why is it that last year the whole world's [crop] was damaged,andyourswas not damaged,andnow the wholeworld's[crop] was blighted,andyourswas not blighted. 90. He told her whole event. 91. In a few days a fight brokeout betweenthe wife of thatrighteousperson andthe motherof thatyoung girl. 92. She said to her, I will see you like your daughterwho is buriedin a mat of reeds. 93. The next year he went and slept in the graveyard,andhe heardthe same spiritstalkingto each other. 94. She saidto her,My friend,come andlet us floatin the world,andwe will hearfrombehindthe curtainwhattroubleswill befallthe world. 95. She saidto her,Leaveme [alone],forthingsthat[werediscussed]between us have been heardby living. 96. Therefore,they know!Perhapsa mandied thereandwent andtold them. 97. Come andhear, 98. ThatZe'iri depositedmoneywith the daughterof his innkeeper. 99. Beforehe returnedfromthe academy,she died. 100. He went afterher to the courtyardof death. 101. He said to her,Whereis the money? 102. She said to him, Go take it fromunderthe doorpivot in the gateway. 103. And tell motherto send me my tube of eye paintand my combs with so-and-sodaughterof so-and-sowho is comingtomorrow. 104. Wherefore[it seems that]they know! They said, Perhapsit was Dume [one of the minionsof the afterlife]who announced[hercoming]previously. 105. Come andhear: 106. Thatthe fatherof Samuel[AvuhaDiShmuel] 107. hadmoney belongingto orphansdepositedwith him. 108. By the time Samuelreturnedfromthe academy,his fatherhaddied. 109. They calledhim "Onewho consumesthe moneyof orphans." 110. He went afterhim [his father]to the courtyardof death.

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111.He said to them:Whereis Abba [father]? 112. They said to him:Therearemanyfathers[abbatuva]here. 113. He said to them:I wantAbbabarAbba. 114. They said to him:TherearemanyAbbabarAbbas. 115. He said to them:I wantAbbabarAbbathe fatherof Samuel. 116. They said to him:He has gone up to the Academyof Heaven. 117. Meanwhilehe saw Levi sittingoutside. 118.He said to him:Why areyou sittingoutside? 119. Why have you not gone up [to the Academyof Heaven]? 120. He said to him: Since all those yearsyou did not go up to the Academy of R. Efes 121. and you painedhim, now we will not let you go up to the Academyof Heaven. 122. Meanwhilehis fathercame. 123. [Samuel]observedthathe was bothweepingand laughing. 124. He said to him:Why areyou weeping? 125. Becauseyou are cominghere soon, for the day of yourdeathis close. 126. Whatis the reasonyou are laughing? 127. Becauseyou arehighly esteemedin this world. 128. He said to him:If I am so esteemed,let themtakeup Levi. 129. They led Levi andtook him up. 130. He said to him:Whereis the moneyof the orphans? 131. He said to him:I put it in the case of the millstones. 132. [The money on the] top and the bottomis yours,thatin the middleis the orphans'. 133. So that if thieves steal, they will steal yours;if the earthdamages[the money],it will damageyours. 133. Therefore[it seems that]they know! 134. Samuelis different.Since he is an importantperson,they precedehim andannounce:"Makeway!" 135. And even R. Yonathanreversedhimself. 136. ForR. Samuelb. Nahmanisaid in the nameof R. Yonathan,How do we know thatthe deadtalkto one other? 137. For it is said, "Thisis the landof which I sworeto Abraham,to Isaac, andto Jacob,saying ..." (Deut.34:4). 138. Whatis [themeaningof] "saying"? 139. The Holy One of Blessing said to Moses,


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140. Go and say to Abraham,to Isaac,andto Jacob:The oaththatI sworeto you I have alreadyfulfilledfor yourchildren. 141. And if you shouldthinkthatthey [the dead]do not know,this thathe [Moses]told them,what [use] is it? 142. Rather,what [is the case]?Thatthey know. 143. Why does he [needto] tell them? 144. So they will be gratefulto Moses. TheMomentofDeath/TheSpace of Death The sugya is generatedby the first clause of M Berachot3:1. This is the first clause of a mishnahthat details exemptionsfrom the recitationof Shemaandthe wearingof phylacteriesfor variousparticipantsin the funeral -party.It follows on a similarexemptionin the precedingchapterfor grooms on theirweddingnight (2:5). The mishnahdoes not detailthe reasonfor the exemption.The gemara,too, is seeminglynot interestedin this question.The sugya startswith an answerto a differentquestion:whatexactlyis meantby "beforehim"?This choice of focus sets the stagefor the whole sugya. The stammaiticmove in line 1 is of the greatestrhetoricalimportancefor the purposesof the sugya.Therearetwo possibilitiesfordefining"onewhose deadlies [unburied]beforehim."The firstis in termsof time.Thatis, for the periodbeginningat deathand endingat burial.The secondpossibility-and the one pursuedin the sugya-is spatialproximity.If the body of the dead is exempt. This person is there in front of him, then the relative/mourner firstpartof the sugyareinforcesthe idea thatthe momentof deathis defined spatially. First,a beraita,a tannaiticsource,is quoted(lines 3-8) that deals with the same situationin much greaterdetail. The beraitais introducedby the stam as incongruouswith this readingof our mishnah(i.e., the momentof deathdefinedspatially),since the exemptionslistedin lines 6 and 7 seem to apply not only to the one whose dead lies beforehim, but even to the one who eats in anotherhouse. Note that the exemptionslisted in this beraita are far more numerousthanthe two listed in our mishnah.This fact is not insignificant;the printededitions of the Bavli, probablyinfluencedby this statedin the Torah"to the beraita,add "prayer"and "allthe commandments two in the mishnahas above (andin the MSS). I will have moreto say about this shortly.

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R. Pappa"translates" (tirgemah)the beraitaso thatthe exemptionslisted only applyto the one who turnshis face to the wall, since he does not have anywhereelse to go. R. Pappa'sinterpretiverationale,seemingly,is thatthis is the clause immediatelypriorto the listing in lines 6 and 7. While this answersthe objectionof line 2, it also does muchmore.The rhetoricalmove servesto narrowthe focus of "beforehim"to the actualintimatespaceshared by the deadpersonandthe living personsittingbeforehim. The intimacyof the momentis reinforcedby the recurrenceof the wordpanimin the opening question("beforehim" = lefanav) and in R. Papa'sanswer("he turnshis face"= panim). Oncethis strictspatialdefinitionis established,the sugyamovesto widen the spacewithinwhichone is considered"before"the deadperson.However, the wideningservesto reinforceboththe spatialandthe relationalor intimate characterof the "before."5R. Ashi (line 11) translatesthe durationinto the relationaland intimatecharacterof "before"by way of a midrashicreading of Genesis33:4, partof Abraham'sbargainingfor a gravefor Sarah: 11.R. Ashisays,as longas it is [incumbent] uponhimto buryhim,it is as if [thecorpse]werelyingbeforehim. 12.As it says,"ThatI mayburymy deadfrommypresence(alt.frombefore myface)"(Gen.23:4). deadbody]lyingbeforehim? 13.At thattimewas[Sarah's 14. Butsince[theobligationis] uponhimto buryhim,it is as if the corpse werelyingbeforehim. The emphasisagain is on the physical proximity--"asif the corpse were lying beforehim." Thisspatialreferenceandthe intimacyof facingthedeadsuggestedby the physicalproximityto deathrecursthroughoutthe sugya.In this sameunit in line 21, the prohibitionof walkingin a cemeterywhile wearingphylacteries or carryinga Torahscroll is quantifiedspatially."There,it is within four cubitsthatit is forbidden."And again,"a deadbody occupiesfourcubitsin 5. By way of illustratingthe otherpossibleway that"before"couldhavebeenunderstood. Tosafotad loc., s.v. ve 'eino,understands"before"in termsof the halakhiccategoryof onen, whichis the timeuntiltheburialandhasnothingto do withphysicaldistance.Tosafotillustrates this with a storyaboutRabbenuTam,who was in anothercity whenhis sisterdied. Since she hada husbandto buryher,he atemeatanddrankwine.Tosafotstressesthatit was only because she hada husband,not becausehe was in a differentcity.


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regardto the recitingof the Shema"(1.22). R. Hiyya and R. Yonathanwalk in the cemeteryand drag their tzitzit along the top of a grave (11.44-45). R. Hiyya's sons go to the town (1. 60). The hasid spendsa night with the deadin the cemetery(11.69-95). Ze'iri(1. 100) andSamuel(1. 110) go to the "courtyardof death."A significantpartof the sugya is aboutdefiningwhat happensin the space of death. Thisbringsus backto a pointI notedbefore.Theberaitathatis broughtas a challengeto ourmishnahhas a far longerlist of thingsfromwhichthe one facing the deadpersonis exempt.If we comparethe componentsof this list with the list as it appearsin the two parallelsof this beraitain Semahot10:36 and y Ber. 3:1, we note that our beraitahas more exemptions.Specifically, the clause in the beraitain b Ber.thatis missingin the othertwo is: 6. . . . andhe is exemptfrom[theobligations of reciting]theShema,[saying and from all thecommandments statedin the]Tefillah,[wearing] phylacteries, theTorah. This phraseeffectively "emptiesout"the space of deathfrom any and all misvot.This, of course,raises some seriousquestions.First,why empty the space of deathof miyvot,especiallythose misvotthatare "thecomplete acceptanceof the kingdomof heaven"?7Second,if the space of deathdoes not containritualobligation,if it is not definedby halakhah(exceptperhaps in its absence),whatdoes it contain? Thereis an importantintertextthatilluminatesthis partof the sugya:the issue of whetherdeath is the endpointof halakhicobligationor obligation underthe Torah.This vexing questionserved,of course,as one of the major cornerstonesforthe constructionof deathin anotherculturalformationof Late Antiquity,PaulineChristianity.In a discussionin b Nidah 60b concerning what may or may not be done with a garmentthathas a threadof kil'ayim8 in it, the following is found: to makeit intoa sheathforthedead. 1. ... butoneis permitted 6. Ed. Higger,180. 7. Reciting the Shema, wearingphylacteries,and saying the Tefillah,accordingto R. Yohanan.b Ber. 14b. 8. The prohibitedmixing of plantsin the samefield or of wool andlinen in the sameweb (sha'atnez).

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2. SaidR. Yosef,This is to say thatthe commandments arevoid in the coming time. 3. Abbayye(and some say R. Dimi) said to him, But did not R. Mani say in the name of Yannai,they only taughtthus [to cover the corpsewhile] they eulogizedhim, butto buryhim it was forbidden? 4. He said, No. 5. It is said on this [topic]:R. Yohanansaid even to buryhim [in it]. 6. R. Yohananis followinghis own thinking. 7. For R. Yohanansaid, What[does it mean]thatit says: "Amongthe deadI am free"9(Ps. 88:6)?Whena persondies he becomesfree of the misvot. R. Yosef concludes, from the ruling in line 1, that a dead person is allowed to be buried in a garment that a living person is forbidden to wear, and thus that death serves as a boundary for obligation. R. Yohananis quoted as stating this very law, according to a general principle attributedto him that "when a person dies he becomes free of the misvot."1'This means that the moment of death is a moment of being freed from the obligation of the commandments. This formulation of the death-as-boundaryprinciple does not, however, affect the living person. In a sugya in b Shabbat (151b) there is a more suggestive and, perhaps, more significant statement. The unit is interpreting a beraita attributedto R. Simeon ben Gamliel. 1. "One violates the Sabbathfor a day-old infant [whose life is in danger]"-Torah said, "Violateone Sabbathfor him in order that he might preservemanySabbaths." 2. "One does not violate [the Sabbath]for David, King of Israel, who is dead"--sincea manis dead,he is voidedfromthemisvot(keyvanshemetadam batel minhamisvot). 3. And this is what R. Yohanansaid, "Amongthe dead I am free."When a persondies he becomesfree of the misvot. "Since a man is dead, he is voided from the misvot."This phrase is ambiguous in that it is not the dead man, but rather the living person, who is not 9. See Brown-Driver-Briggs, HebrewandEnglishLexicon,344, s.v. 'Von:"forsakenamong the dead."Septuagint,"thrownin a sleepingstatein the grave"(errimmenoikatheudontes en taphdi) 10. It shouldbe understoodthat"R.Yohanan"meansR. Yohananas the literaryrepresentationin this exchangewithoutany necessaryimplicationsfor any historicalR. Yohanan.

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obligated--to violatethe Sabbathfor the deadKingDavid.'lVoidedfromthe misvotcan, of course,be understoodto meanthathe is not withinthe realm of thosewho mightobligateothers(as a sick childmight).If one wereto take this route,though,the phrasein line 2 is not parallelto "freeof the misvot" in line 3, where it definitelyinvolves the obligationor lack thereofto act.12 Thereis room here to see that the dead man's freedomfrommisvotaffects the obligationsof the living in the spaceof death. Both of the termsof this discussion,deathas a boundaryfor obligation and being freed fromthe misvot,are powerfulwithinthe culturalcontextof LateAntiquity.In Gal. 2 Paulsays: (19) Forthrough[the]LawI diedto [the]Law,in orderthatI mightlive for God.I havebeencrucified withChrist;(20)andit is no longerI wholive,but Christlivesin me ...

11. An argumentcan be made,basedon the Toseftanversionof this beraita,thatthereis an "intentionalambiguifying."The Toseftanversionis as follows: And R. Simeonb. Lazarwouldalso say: Even a living one-day-oldbaby--one violates. And even a dead David, King of Israel-one may not violatethe Sabbathfor him (in case of dangerto life). For as long as a personis alive, he engagesin the performanceof misvot,therefore one violatesthe Sabbathfor him. Whenhe dies he is idle (batel)from[performing the] misvot,thereforeone does not violatethe Sabbathforhim. The Bavli's versionof this beraitais farmoreambiguous,becauseit uses the phrase"since a man is dead, he is voided fromthe misvot(keyvanshemetadambatel min hamisvot)"as a reasonfornot violatingthe Sabbathto save the deadKingDavid.Therationale("sincea man. in this syntacticcontextfocuses uponthe "one [who] does not violatethe Sabbath," just ?.") as in the precedingline it focusedon the "one[who]violatedthe Sabbath." 12. A differentreadingof R. Yohanan'sstatementandthe whole discussionis foundin b Shabbat30a: This thatDavid said, "Thedeadwill not praiseGod"(Ps. 115:17),this is whathe said: A manshouldalwaysengagein Torahand[theperformance of] the commandments beforehe dies, for once he dies he is idle (batel) from Torahand from [the performance the of] andGod receivesno praisedfromhim. commandments, And this is [that]whichR. Yohanansaid,Whatis it thatis written"Amongthe dead I am free"? Whena persondies he becomesfree of the misvot.

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The death on the cross is the boundaryof obligation.Participatingin that death,Paul(andall otherswho wouldalso participate)is no longerobligated by Torah.He makesthis clearin Gal. 3:23-25. Before[the]faithcame,we werekeptin custodyundertheLaw,confined until thecomingfaithwastoberevealed. theLawhasbeenourguardian"3 Therefore untilChrist,in orderthatwe mightbejustifiedby faith;Butsincethefaithhas come,we areno longerundera guardian. "No longerunderthepaidagdg6s,"for Paul,meansno moreobligationunder the Law.I do not want,or, in the presentcontext,need to get involvedin the the exegesisof thesedifficultpassagesin Galatians.14 controversysurrounding I merelywantto use it to demonstratethe structureof a constructionof death in whichthe spaceof deathis a spaceof freedomfromthe Law forthe living. Thatis, the crossingof the space of death(i.e., as or "with"Christ")affects the living. It is obvious that the rabbis'constructionof deathdoes not conformin toto with this constructionof death.However,in the narrativeof our sugya, I would arguethat those who pass throughthe space of deathare relieved of obligationto the misvot.Whatis valorized(for men, or at least for sages) beyonddeathis studyof the Torahandnot practiceof misvot.Forthe rabbis, then, death frees them from the yoke of misvot.Further,it is at this very point where rabbinicand early Christianconstructionsof death seem to approximateeach otherso closely thatwe will see theirgreatestdifferences.

13. FlusserpointsoutthatthetermPauluses here,paidaggd6s,is used in BereishitRabbah 1:1to referto Torah.See DavidFlusser,JewishSourcesin AncientChristianity(Hebrew),4th ed. (Jerusalem:SifriyatPoalim,1979),p. 376. 14. See the discussionin HansDieterBetz, Galatians(Philadelphia: FortressPress,1979), pp. 121-126, 161-180. Theissue of Paul'srelationto halakhahis also verymuchin contention. See Flusser,JewishSourcesin EarlyChristianity,, pp. 359-380; PeterJ. Tomson,Paul and the JewishLaw:Halakhain theLettersof theApostleto the Gentiles(Minneapolis:FortressPress, 1990), pp. 222-230, 259-281; and the more recentdiscussionin Daniel Boyarin,A Radical Jew: Paul and the Politics of Identity(Berkeley:Universityof CaliforniaPress, 1994), pp. 130-143. Boyarinalso reviewsthe earlierscholarship. 15. Cf. Gal. 3:20.


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Dead and/orAlive The secondpartof the sugyastartswith line 41. Rahba'sstatementaddsa new textureto the intimacyof facingthe dead.Seeinga deadpersoncreates an obligationof honoringthatpersonby escortinghim for four cubits.Not escortingthe deadis seen as mockingthrougha midrashicreadingof Proverbs 27:5. As Rashicomments:"Whois poorerthanthe dead?"16 Escortingthe dead,on the otherhand,is rewardedby God.Thephrasein Proverbs19:31 "lends(malveh)unto God,"is rereadas "escorts(melaveh) God" by a simple change in the pointing (1. 41). This rendersthe whole pericope as: "One who is gracious [= escorts] unto the poor [= dead, as above],escortsGod, and God will repayhim for his deed."17 These lines continuethe embodimentof the dead that startedas a faint notion with the reasonfor forbiddingwalkingin a cemeterywhile wearing phylacteriesand carryingandreadingfroma Torahscroll(11.19-20). There, too, the reasongiven is: "Onewho mocks the poorblasphemeshis Maker." Mockingis dependentupona mockedsubject.This is whatI intendwith the in its usage here:the processof recognizingthe deadas term"embodiment" a deadperson,with some amountof interestor impactin the presentandnot only in the past. Rahba'sstatementsin lines 41-43 continuethe embodimentandaddsthe furthernotionof the identificationof the deadpersonwith God. Thereis no one moreembodiedthanthe one who is the imageof God.These statements blurthe boundariesbetweenthe deadandthe living. The deadis not merely inertmatter.This framesthe comingsectionof this part(11.44-67). R. HiyyachallengesR. Yonathan Duringtheirsojournin the cemetery,18 abouthis behaviortowardthe dead. Significantly,R. Hiyya gives voice to 16. Rashi'scommentis actuallyon the verse fromKoheletin line 43, but the midrashic move is the same in bothcases. 17. The identificationof the poor with God occursalso in b B.B. 10athrougha midrashic readingof the same verse. Thereit is readthatone who gives moneyto the poor will be paid backby God, who incursthe debt. 18. The way that strollingin a cemeteryis representedas unproblematicor at least by itself unexceptionablesupportsPhillipeAries'sclaimthata new attitudetowarddeath"appears clearlyaroundthe fifthcenturyA.D., whichwas verydifferentfromthe centuriesthatpreceded it. ... It begins with the rapprochement betweenthe living and the dead,the invasionof the towns and villages by cemeteries,which were henceforthsurroundedby the habitationsof men."Aries, TheHour of OurDeath, trans.HelenWeaver(New York:VintageBooks, 1982), p. 29.

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the dead. In the statementof the dead (1. 46) it becomes clear thatthere is a relationshipbetweenthe living and the dead which can includehurtand jealousy.R. Yonathanobjectsto the suppositionthatthe deadcan know (or care)whatis happeningto them.R. Yonathan'sobjectionis basedon a literal (and contextual)readingof Kohelet9:5: it is only the living who can know. The deadknownothing.Further,the versecontinues,the dead"haveno more reward"since deathis the boundaryof obligation.This objectionis met with an admonitionanda midrashby R. Hiyya (11.48-59). R. Hiyya objects both to R. Yonathan's"theology"and to his reading how thetwo arelinked.He midrashically practice.R. Hiyyathendemonstrates rereadsthe versefromKoheletthatR. Yonathanquoted,"Forthe livingknow that they shall die (sheyamutu),"readingthe prefix she to mean "when" (kesheor ka 'asher).This transposesthe meaningof the verseto: "For(even) whenthey die the living will know."Thisreadingof the firsthalf of the verse informsthe readingof the parallelsecond half of the verse: "butthe dead know nothing[evenwhenthey arealive]."Thismustmean,as the midrashist says (1.56), thatthe wicked,even in theirlifetimes,are calleddead.19 R. Hiyya bringsas a prooftextan extendedmidrashto 2 Samuel23:20. Forthe argumentthatthe righteousare(considered)alive even whentheyare dead,only the firstpartof the midrash(11.50-5 1) wouldhavebeennecessary. The rest of the midrash(11.52-55) performsthe idea thatthe righteouslive even afterdeathby readingBenaiahthe son of Jehoiadaalive-creating a life It will proveworthwhileto readthroughthe midrash throughinterpretation. briefly. AndBenaiahthesonof Jehoiada, thesonof a valiantmanfromKabzeel,who haddonemightydeeds,he smotethetwoAriels20 of Moab;he wentdownand alsoslewa lionin themidstof a pitin thetimeof snow. (2 Samuel23:20) 19. JonahFraenkelhas a somewhatdifferentreadingof the midrashicmove here. See DarkheiHa 'agadahVeHamidrash ([Israel]:YadLatalmud,1991),pp. 150-151, and 'Iyyunim Be'olamo HaruhaniShel SippurHa'agadah (Tel Aviv: HakibbutzHameuchad,1981), pp. 44-45. On Fraenkel'smethodologyandmy critiqueof it, see my RereadingTalmud:Gender, Lawand the Poetics of Sugyot(Atlanta:ScholarsPress, 1998),chap.4:1. 20. It is unclearwhat the phraseariel moavmeans.The Septuaginthas duos 'uoisariel, following which the Revised StandardVersionhas "the two sons of Moab.""Sons"is not in the MasoreticText, thoughit has been suggestedthatthis is a scribalerrorcausedby its 72, s.v. 5Nx. orthographic similarityto the word"two."Cf. Brown-Driver-Briggs


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The verse is from the list of David's heroes at the end of the book of Samuel. It is the first part of a descriptionof the heroic exploits of one Benaiahthe son of Jehoiada.This (andthe parallelin I Chronicles11:22)is the only mentionof this exploitin the Bible. The first midrashicmove is to read with the ktiv (hay) againstthe qri (hayil), which rendersthe phraseas: "theson of a living man."This opens the way for R. HIiyya'srhetoricalquestion:"Washe the only livingman?Was everybodyelse a son of a dead man?"Thatis, why write such an obvious phrase?The midrashicanswerto the rhetoricalquestionis R. Hiyya'sproof that"evenin his deathhe was called living." thathegathered 52."fromKabzeel,whohaddonemightydeeds,"thisindicates workersfortheTorah. [kibbes]numerous The midrash,by repointingthe hometownof Benaiah,readsmekabesel, "one who gathersfor God," ratherthan mikabse'el,"fromKabzeel."The midrashthen repointsrav pe 'alim, "who had done mighty deeds,"as rov po'alim, "numerousworkers,"therebyrereadingthe whole phraseas "he gatherednumerousworkersfor the Torah." 53. "hesmotethe two Arielsof Moab"(ibid.),thisindicatesthathe didnot leavehis likeeitherin theFirstTempleor in theSecondTemple. It seems that the midrashhere is takingoff fromthe usage of 'Arielas a name for the Temple,21and is then rereadingthe phraseas somethinglike "hebestedall in both Temples."22 54. "hewentdownandslew a lion in themidstof a pit on a dayof snow," somesay [thatthisindicates] thathe brokeblocksof ice andwentdownand bathed; [ritually] 55. otherssaythathe wentthrough theSifraof theSchoolof Rav23 on a short winter'sday. 21. Cf. M Middot4:7. Rashiad loc. suggeststhatArielrefersto theTemplebasedon Isaiah 29:1, in whichthe wordArielappearstwice andis identifiedas the placewhereDavidcamped. 22. If the midrashwas readingthe phraseas in the Septuagint,"twosons of Ariel,it holds togethersomewhatbetter.Thoughthe wordmoabis still "unmidrashable." 23. The halakhic,or legal, midrashon Leviticus.

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Oncethe restof the verse has been readin sucha manneras to transform Benaiahfroma warriorintoa sage,24the lastphrase,describingactof physical bravery,is readas "obviously"referringto an act of braveryin the serviceof Torah.One suggestionis physicalprowessin bravingthe elementsto ritually bathe.Thisis suggestedby the combinationof the verb"wentdown"(yarad), and which is oftenused togetherwith "andrituallybathed"(yaradvetaval),25 the fact thathe went down to a pit on a snowy day,suggestinga snow-filled pit. The other suggestionis intellectualprowess in studyingthe complete book of the Sifraon a shortday. Benaiahwas righteous,and this reinforces the fact thatthe righteousare consideredliving even when they aredead. R. Hiyya'smidrashdoes somethingelse, too. It forcefullyintroducesthe idea of the dead knowing.The rest of the sugya expandsthis notion from the narrowfocus of knowingwhat is being done to themto the muchwider knowledgeof the affairsof the world,the knowledgeof the academy(Torah study),andthe abilityto teachthe living. On the Road The next story (11.60-67) introducesa trope that is woven through the rest of this sugya in interestingways. Its near-oppositeis found in the second-to-the-laststory (11.106-132). The tropeis the living (not) learning fromthe dead. The first line of this ma'aseh sets up an expectationthatis immediately frustratedin the next line. The phrase"wentto the town"(naphuk/nephak lekiryyata)appearssix times in the Bavli.26 Three of these times it refers In all the occurrencesof the phrase,the sage(s) to the sons of R. come to town andIH.iyya.27 immediatelyare asked a questioninvolvingTorahstudy (eitherpracticalor abstract).Whenthe sons of R. Hiyya come to town it is theirfatherwho engagesthem.The expectationhere,then,is thatthe sons of R. Hiyya, upon coming to town, would be engagingin the study of Torah. Instead,the oppositeis statedon the next line (61): "theirlearningwas lost 24. Thismoveis foundearlierin b Ber3b-4b,whereKingDavidis transposedmidrashically froma warriorking to a humblesage. 25. Cf. esp. M Yoma3:4, 6; 7:3. 26. Here,Pes. 3b, Bezah9b, Yeb. 105, B.B. 88b, Nidah24a. 27. Here,Bezah9b, Nidah24a.


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to them."Theirlearningor study(talmudayhu),which was acquiredin part throughtheirinteractionswith theirfather,is beinguprooted(it'aqer28). We do not know fromthe storywhen R. Hiyya died. The storydoes not say thathe hasjust died;ourexpectationin the firstline is thathe wouldhave been there.Perhaps,though,this was the firstexperienceof his deathas what Derrida,in his eulogy for EmmanuelLevinas,calledthe "experience"of the It was, perhaps,only upon returningto theircity and "without-response."29 not havingR. Hiyya greetthemwith a questionabouttheirstudiesthatthey knew his death.Theirimmediatereaction(1. 62) is to sit and grieve. Their grief is all the morepoignantbecausetheirfatheris unawareof it. Thereis, of course,an ironyin the fact thatthis storyis aboutR. Hiyya, who in the previousstoryarguesstronglyfor the fact thatthe righteousdead do know.That,for all intentsandpurposes,they are alive. Ultimately,at the end of the sugya, R. Yonathaneven agreeswith him (1. 135). However,the conclusionof the story of R. Hiyya's sons is thatthe dead only know that which narrowlyaffectstheirpersons(11.66-67). I mentionedthatthereis a near-oppositeemploymentof this tropein the second-to-the-laststory in the sugya--the storyof the fatherof Samueland Samuel.While in the story of R. Hiyya ("our"story)it is the fatherwho is namedand the sons are only namedin relationto the father,in the "father of Samuel"story,it is the fatherwho is namedonly in relationto the son. While in our story the sons learn from the fatherduringhis lifetime, and this learningrelationshipends at (perhapsdefines)the father'sdeath,in the "fatherof Samuel"story,the son only learnsfromhis fatherafterthe father's death.These two stories,however,frametwo othersto which we now turn our attention. The rest of the stories in the sugya are rhetoricallytagged as proofs for the propositionthat the dead "know."The introductoryterms used ' (vehatanya ta' shma) are the staple technicalterms of halakhicsugyot. Moreover,aftereach ma 'asehthe stamattemptsto close the discussionwith the phrase"wherefore/therefore theyknow"('almadeyad'i),30thusanswering the question "do the dead know?"The "conclusio"is only rhetoricaland is immediatelyrefuted in a way that advancesthe sugya before the next proofstoryis brought.The refutationsthemselvesserve as muchto reiterate 28. So in the bettermanuscripts; ed princeps: andcf. Rashiad loc. ityaqer, 29. Derrida,"Adieu,"p. 5. 30. Lines 96, 104, 134.

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thatthe space of deathis permeableas to enablethe introductionof another proofstory. In the Graveyard The next story(11.68-96), introducedas a beraita(vehatanya),continues one motif from the previous stories and introducesa new and important settingand theme. Travelor movementis woven into almostevery partof this sugya, beginningwith walking in the cemetery(1. 18) and continuing with travellingon a ship (1.28), ridingon a donkey(1.34), escortingthe dead (1.41), strollingthrougha cemetery(1.44), going to the town (1.60), and in this ma'aseh,walkingto the cemetery.Throughout the narrativeof this sugya thereis a distanceto be coveredand a place to get to. The place to get to is suggestedby the dead throughthe voice of R. Hiyya:"Tomorrowthey are comingto join us" (1.46). The story begins with a hasid, a righteousperson,who is spurnedby his wife. The opening line of the story (1. 69) is comfortablypredictable. In the Bavli, a hasid is one who is very strictabouthis own fulfillmentof misvot.31A hasid, therefore,is someonewhom one would expectto help out a poor personin hardtimes. The settingof the story"in a year of drought" reinforcesthe righteousnessof the hasid. The phrase"in a year of drought" (shnat basoret)only appearsonce in Tanakh.The contextis praisefor the one who has faithin God. He shall be like a tree plantedby waters,sendingforthits roots by a stream: It does not sense the comingof heat,its leaves areever fresh; It has no carein a year of drought,it does not cease to yield fruit. (Jeremiah17:8) The hasid in our storyfits this image.Eventhoughit is a yearof drought,he supportsthe pooranyway,trustingthatGod will provide. The second line, though,is surprising.His wife, perhapsupsetaboutthe fact thatit is a year of drought,andperhapsjust followingthe stereotypeof 31. See, e.g., b Ber. 3b-4b, whereKing Davidis describedas a hasidbecauseof his strict fulfillmentof misvot.


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Ratherthanbeingrewarded, theargumentative wife,32picksa fightwithhim.33 the hasidfindshimselfin an uncomfortable positionthatonly gets worse.His next actionis almostshocking.He goes to sleep in the graveyard. Sleeping in the graveyardis an activity that is known in the Bavli. However,it is not an activitythatis associatedwith a hasid.In b Nidah 17a we find the following: SaidR. SimeonbenYohai,Therearefivethingsthattheonewhodoesthemis forwithhis life,andhisbloodis uponhishead. accountable ... andone who sleeps in a graveyard.

The gemarathen proceedsto explain why these activitiesare censuredso strongly. Andonewhosleepsin a graveyard. In orderthatan impurespiritrestuponhim--attimesit mightendanger him.34 Although"accountablefor with his life" is not the same as a deathsentence, andpartof the statement'sconcernseems to be the safety of one who goes to the graveyard,it still does not seem to be an activitythata hasid would participatein. In otherpassages,sleepingin a graveyardis consideredone of the five signs of a fool.35Again,not an activitythata hasidwouldindulgein. The result of sleeping in the graveyardis exactly what the beraitain b Nidahadmonishesone not to do: he contactsspirits.(1.72) Moreto thepoint, he falls asleep in the middleof an intimateconversationbetweentwo spirits who areunawareof his presence.(11.73-79) The word"talking"(mesaprot) 32. On the stereotype,see b Temurah16a:"Justas this donkey,when he has no food in his troughhe immediatelyscreams,so too a woman,whenshe has no wheatin herhouse,she immediatelyscreams."Cf. b Yeb.63b. 33. The latterreadingis supportedby the factthatin line 91 she also picksa fightwith the motherof the young girl. 34. S. Lowy refersto this as "cemeterysorcery"in "TheMotivationof Fastingin Talmudic JournalofJewish Studies9 (1958):33-34. MosheIdelunderstands Literature," cemeteryvisits as anomianmysticaltechniques(i.e., formsof mysticalactivitythatdid not involvehalakhic practice)eitheraloneor with weeping.Accordingto Idel'snotionthatthe mediuminformsthe mode of the vision, it is unclearwhy the hasid in our storyhearseverything.Kabbalah:New Perspectives(New Haven:YaleUniversityPress, 1988),p. 77. 35. E.g., Hagigah3b. R. Yehoshuain M Sotah3:4 rantsagainsta foolishhasid.

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At the leastit connotesan intimatesetting. occursas a euphemismfor"sex."36 I stressthis becauseabove I notedthatit is the intimacyof the engagement with the deadthatcreatesthe spaceof death(whichobligates.. .). Here, in this surprisingsetting,the hasid inadvertentlygets his reward. The spirit who is free to fly eavesdropson a conversationthat occurs in Whenshe returnsto tell the the innermostchambers-behind the curtain.37 her the overhears the conversation and profitsfrom it news to friend, hasid mightily.This happensthe next year also (11.80-87). Ultimately,the wife of the hasid becomes suspiciousof his newfoundagriculturalskill (1. 89) and confrontshim, andhe relatesthe storyto her. She gets into a fight with the motherof the young girl whose spiritwas trappedin the graveyard,andblurtsout whatshe knowsin the heatof anger. It gets backto the spirits,andthey cease theirforays(11.91-95). Whatcharacterizesthis ma'asehis thatit is told as a chainof "chance" the spiritoverhearsa conversahearings,with little intendedcommunication: tion behindthe curtain;the hasid overhearstheirconversation;afterthe wife confrontshim, he relatesthe whole event;she blurtsthe storyout in the heat of an argument.If the stammaiticrefutation(1. 96) is added,the news gets back to the dead throughthe deathof anotherunrelatedpersonwho heard about these events. There is indirectcommunicationthroughthe space of death,fromthe deadto the living. The second strikingcharacteristicof this ma'aseh is the constructionof by fourfemalecharacters gender.Theone activemalecharacteris surrounded who move the actionof the storyalong.The male is given a positivevalence even before he acts, while the female charactersare all neutralto bad. His actionsarefirstan act of righteousness,andthenpositiveactionin the world; theirsare acts of idle gossip. Commonto both the communicationand the genderconstructionis thatdeathdoes not makea difference.Thatis, on both sides of death,communicationis by chanceandfemaleactionis "idle." Fromthe Academyto the Courtyardof Death to theAcademy In the next story (11.97-104) we are once againon the move, or rather Ze'iri is. Arrivingat his inn fromthe academy,he findsthatthe innkeeper's 36. E.g., b Ned. 20a, b Ber.3a. of shedimis thatthey can hearthe future"from 37. One of the angel-likecharacteristics behindthe curtain"(b Hag. 15a).

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daughter,with whomhe has depositedhis money,has died.Withouta second thoughthe follows her to the courtyardof death(hasar hamavet)to get the money back. She tells him whereit is, and asks for a favor.She asks him to take a message to her mother,asking her to send some personalgrooming items with someonewho is convenientlydyingthe next day. The most striking thing about this story is the ease with which the charactersnavigateback and forthover the spaceof death.Thereis a direct and mundaneconversationbetweena deadwomanand a living man. There is even the possibilityof passingmaterialgoods over the boundaryof death. And finally,the space of deathis named:the courtyardof death.This is one of only two occurrencesof the termin the Bavli.38(Theotheroccurrenceis in the next story.)It is a strikinglyappropriate termfor the spacethatthe sugya as a whole is discussing. A courtyardof deathis the spaceof death,not the spaceof the dead,like a graveyardor bet haqevarot.Thereis a detaileddescriptionof an ossuary with a courtyardin b B.B. 101b. The courtyardis the entranceto the caves. If this is the modelon whichthe courtyardof deathwas imagined,thenit is a space thatmustbe passedthroughby the dead.It is a spacethatis occupied at times by both living and dead.39In the Ze'iri story,as in the storyof the hasid, genderconstructionsalso cross over the spaceof death.The daughter of the innkeeper,thoughdead, still wants her beautyitems. Ze'iri is being troubledon his way home fromthe academy. TheFather,the Son and the Courtyardof Death As I mentionedabove, the next story(11.105-134) is a near-oppositeof the storyof R. Hiyya'ssons. Samuel'sfatheracts as a guardianforthe money of orphans.Samuel,however,knows nothingof this. It does not seem as if the communicationbetweenSamuelandhis fatheris very good at all. While Samuelis away studying,his fatherdies. His return,however,is not caused 38. In this sense it occursalso in MidrashPsalms11:6,wherethe structureof a "courtyard of death"is described. 39. In the descriptionof the hasar hamavetin MidrashPsalms11:6,it is just sucha place: "A courtyardof the spiritsof deadpeople,andit is a place like a houseanda yardsurrounded by a fence, and in frontof the fence is a river,and in frontof the rivera field, andevery day Dume takesthe spiritsout, andthey eat [the grassof the] field anddrinkthe [waterfromthe] river."

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concerned (andperhaps by his father'sdeathor funeral.Theorphans others) figurethathe mustknowwherehis fatherkepttheirmoney.Theycallhim It is thiswhichprecipitates namesandsullyhisreputation. Samuel'sreturn. WemustnoteatthispointthatwhileSamueldidnotseemto havemuch of an interestin his father'sdoings,his father'swholeidentityis tiedup withhim.Hisfatheris knownsimplyas AvuahdeShmuel, "Samuel's father." WhenSamuelgetsto thecourtyard of deathhe engagesin a tragicomic pas de deuxthroughwhichhe is forcedto namehis fatheras his father(1.115). It is only aftertraversing the physicaldistance(fromthe academyto the of death),andthepsychicdistance(fromthegenericAbbato the courtyard namingof his fatheras his ownfatherin line 115)thathe is allowedto see his father.Whenhefinallyadmitsthathe wantsto seehisfather(andnotjust a father),he is toldby whatevergatekeeper standsatthecourtyard of death thathis fatherhasgoneupto theAcademyof Heaven.Thistoo,forSamuel, is structured as a revelation. At thispointthenarrative is so constructed thatSamuelcomesfromthe earthlyacademyto meethis fathercomingfromtheHeavenlyAcademyin the courtyard of death.Themeetingof fatherandson is (finally)a meeting of equals. Samuel,at thismoment,takesnoteof LevisittingoutsidetheAcademy, stillin thecourtyard of death(1.117).Itis perhaps presumably onlynowthat Samuelcannoticesomeoneelse'spain.Leviexplainshisplight(11.119-121). attheendof Levi'sexplanation Samuel'sfather Promptly (adehakhi vehakhi) and appearsweeping laughing(11.122-123). Samuelnow learnsfromhis father.Firsthe learnsthathis fatheris sad abouthis imminentdemise(11.124-125).Second,he learnsthathis father is (11126-27).His nextstatement rejoicesat his renownin the afterworld transformative. He uses his ownrenownto procureforLevia placein the Academyof Heaven(11.128-129).Thatis, hedoeswhathisfatherhasalways his fatheris free done--gooddeedsforothers.OnceSamuelis transformed, to let him takehis placeas the guardian of the moneyof the orphans(11. 130-134).Heteacheshimthewayto careforothersfirst. Thisstoryshareswiththosebeforeit thethematization of thespaceof death as a somewhatfluidmeetingplacebetweenlivinganddead.The gender heretoo is as it hasbeenthrough construction thesugya.Sagesremainsages afterthey die. The movementby Samuelfromstudyhouseto courtyard of deathis mirrored by Samuel'sfather'smovementfromtheAcademyof


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Heavento the courtyardof death.The innkeeper'sdaughterin the last story, by way of contrast,is embeddedin a worldof beautyandcosmetics.Herea experiencein whichreal learning questfor moneybecomesa transformative house. In the storyaboutthe daughterof it would in the as study happens, the innkeeper,a questfor money remainson the level of the mundane. This story expandsthe power of the space of death.The space of death is now representedas a potentiallytransformative spacewith greatpotential for the living to learnfromthe dead. Coda The sugya finishes somewherenear the place it starts (11. 135-144). Abraham,whose burial of Sarahin a courtyardof death40expandedthe representationof the space of death (11. 11-12), is told in death of the fulfillmentof the promisemade to him at the beginningof his journey(1. 140). R. Yonathan,a participantin an initialphaseof the sugya,arriveswith us at the end of the narrativeat a greatlyexpandedview of the spaceof death (1. 135). This coda adds one more aspect to the relationshipbetweendead and living-the possibilityof the living also teachingthe dead.While the dead whose gravesR. Yonathan'stzitzitsweptwerejealous,thesedeadaregrateful (1. 144). Conclusion:Death and Body This constructionof the spaceof death,andof deathitself, standsin stark Thecomparisonis interestingbecause, oppositionto thatof earlyChristianity. as I notedabove,thereis some powerfulcommonground.The SyriacFather Aphrahatwrotethe followingin the fourthcentury: death,O wise scribe,thatthyheartbe notlifted l11.Do thoualsoremember Deathleavesnot up,so thatthoushouldestforgetthesentenceof judgement. asidethe wise, norrespectsthe personsof the subtle.Deathleadsawayto 40. Cf. Gen. 23:17, "thefield andthe cave thatis in it";b B.B. 101b,the descriptionof the courtyardof a grave.

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himselfthewisescribes,so thattheyforgetthatwhichtheyhavelearned, until thetimecomesin whichall therighteous shallriseagain. nor ?12. . .. Theyshallnot be boundtherein the desireof covetousness shalltheygo astraythereconcerning remembrance. Therea manshallnotlove his neighborwith especial reverence,but abundantlyshall they all love one

anotherafterone fashion.Theyshallnot marrywives there,norshallthey fromthefemale;but norshalltherethemalebe distinguished begetchildren; all shallbe sons of theirFatherwho is in heaven;as the Prophetsaid:-Is there not one Father of us all; is there not one God Whocreated us? (Mal 2: 10).41

There is almost a point-by-pointoppositionbetweenthese paragraphsand our sugya.42Death in our sugya is not a solid boundarythat separatestwo radicallydifferentmodes of existence.WhereasAphrahatwarnsthe scribes: "Deathleads awayto himselfthe wise scribes,so thatthey forgetthatwhich they have learned,"in the Bavli the wise do taketheirwisdombeyonddeath. It is what they do afterdeath.They are sages, and they spendtheirtime in the Academy of Heaven.43Further,there is desire,jealousy, and gratitude. Finally,male is very definitelydistinguishedfrom female, and all are not equal. It wouldappearthatthe constructionof deathgoes to the veryheartof one of the foundationalissuesdividingJudaismandChristianity in LateAntiquity. Therelativelynegativevalenceattachedto the body in AphrahatandPauline Christianity-in relationto marriage,celibacy, circumcision-leads to an obliteratedbody in death. There is nothingthat passes over the space of death.Thereareno genderdistinctionson the otherside of death. 41. "Select Demonstrations,DemonstrationXXII: Of Death and the LatterTime,"in NiceneandPost-NiceneFathers,vol. 13 (reprinted., Peabody,Mass.:Hendrickson,1995),pp. 405-406. 42. I am not arguingthat our sugya was writtenas a polemicaltext, but ratherthat the "logical"ramificationsof the constructionof the body in the RabbinicJudaismrepresented in the Bavli and in early Christianityas representedin Aphrahat'swritings are here in evidence. The question of whetherthere was an actual polemic between the Babylonian (i.e., SassanianPersian)Jewish communityand Aphrahat'scommunityis still open. For a recentreview of the literature,see Naomi Koltun-Fromm, "A Jewish-Christian Conversation in Fourth-Century PersianMesopotamia," Journalof JewishStudies47, no. I (Spring1996): own conclusionis that "one can sense from Aphrahat'sconcerned 45-63. Koltun-Fromm's answersthat some people in his communityhad experiencedencounterswith Jews that had includedinformalreligiousdiscussionsor debates"(p. 62). of RabbahbarNahmanito the Academy 43. See the wonderfulstoryof the "summoning" of Heaven(RabbahbarNahmaninitbakeshleyeshivahshel ma'alah).


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The relativevalorizationof the body in RabbinicJudaism--atleast to the extent of the positive attitudetowardmarriage,sex, and procreationin permittedunions-leads away fromthe dualismthatsolidly identifiesgood with soul and bad with body.44It is this dualismthat underliesthe notion thatthe soul yearnsto free itself of the body and returnto the stateof "nor In RabbinicJudaism shalltherethe male be distinguishedfromthe female."45 the individualcontinuesas a unique,bodily, genderedidentityafterdeath. This allows imaginingthe meetingand interactionof the living anddeadon intermediateground-the courtyardof death.The genderedidentitiesof the dead follow the same patternsas those of the living. The male sage is freed from misvotand is thereforefree to devote himself to study,the woman is freedfrommisvotbut is still not foundin the (Heavenly)Academy. In the end, the continuedexistenceof embodieddeadpersonsallows the existenceof the space of deathas a powerfulandpotentiallytransformative space, a space wherethe dead can teach the living, a space wherethe dead know. of Judaism University LosAngeles,Calif.

44. Cf. Daniel Boyarin, Carnal Israel: Reading Sex in TalmudicCulture(Berkeley: Universityof CaliforniaPress, 1993). 45. I say returnsbecauseGalatians3:28, "thereis neithermalenorfemale"(oukeni arsen kai thelu)is alludingto Genesis1:27,"maleandfemalehe createdthem"(Septuagint: arsenkai theluepoieisenautous).Thispresenteschatologyof Paul,whichis theundoingof the separation andmaterialityof creation,is transferred by Aphrahatto the descriptionof the existenceafter death.Cf. KristerStendahl,TheBible and the Role of Women: A Case Studyin Hermeneutics (Philadelphia:FortressPress, 1966):32.

Haim Gouri and "The Jewish People Who Have Been Seriously Injured" Author(s): Reuven Shoham Source: AJS Review, Vol. 24, No. 1 (1999), pp. 73-100 Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Association for Jewish Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1486521 . Accessed: 15/07/2011 10:55 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].



HAIMGOURIAND "THEJEWISHPEOPLE WHOHAVEBEEN SERIOUSLYINJURED" by REUVENSHOHAM Thepoet HaimGouriis a centralfigureamongthe artistsof thegeneration of the Warof Independenceand one of the firstIsraelipoets and novelists to expressexperienceof the Holocaust.Gouri,who was bornin Tel Aviv in 1922,was sentto Europein 1947to smuggleJewishHolocaustsurvivorsinto Palestine.Subsequently,he servedin the Palmachandfoughtin the battlesin theNegev in 1948.He atteststhathis encounterwiththe survivorsof theNazi campschangedhis life, and thatthe experiencebecamean obsessivetheme throughouthis work.' This articlefocuses on two complementarysubjects: (1) Gouri's perceptionof Jewish history and the effect of his encounter with Holocaustsurvivorsin the formulationof his autobiography;(2) the concreteshapingof the experienceof this encounterin his firstthreebooks esh [Flowersof fire] (Merhavya,1949)to Ha-ba 1. See his books of poetry,from 1994);his novel 'Isqatha-shoqolad(TelAviv, 1965;2nd aharay[Theone afterme] (TelAviv,Pirh.ey ed., 1995;Englishtranslationby SeymourSimckes,TheChocolateDeal, New York,1968) is devotedto the almostimpossibleattemptto observethe remainsleft by the Holocaustthrough the eyes of the victims. See also his book Mul ta ha-zekhukhit[The glass booth](Tel Aviv, 1962) containinghis newspaperessays on the trialof Adolf Eichmann;and his documentary films The81st Blow (VHSvideo edition,Ergo,1992),Flamesin theAshes(VHSvideo edition, Ergo, 1992), andLast Sea (VHS video edition,Ergo, 1997).The Englishreadercan now find a fine selection from Gouri'spoetryin StanleyF. Chyet,trans.,Wordsin My LovesickBlood (Detroit,1996). This collectionincludesseveraltexts concerningGouri'straumaticencounter with Holocaustsurvivorsduringhis 1947 mission to Europe(pp. 6-7, 28-33, 62-65, 70-71, 80-81, 104-105, 122-123, 228-231).

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of poetry,Pirhey esh, 'Ad 'alot ha-shahar,and Shireyhotam,2and in his novel Ha-haqira,sippuroshel Re'u'el. autobiographical This articlemay contributeto a questionand to a debate.The question is, Wheredoes one find a real literaryreactionto the Holocaustin Israeli literature?Is it only fromUri Zvi GreenbergandAharonAppelfeld,as, for example,A. B. Yehoshuaand Alan Mintz think,or is it earlier,in Gouri's firstbook,Pirheyesh (1949)?4As for the debate,this is the disputebetween the so-called new historiansand the conservativehistoriansof the Zionist movementover the patronizingattitudeof the Yishuvandthe sabrastoward the survivorsof the Holocaust.'

2. Flowersof Fire(Merhavya,1949);UntilDawn(TelAviv, 1950);andSignetPoems(Tel Aviv, 1954). 3. The Investigation,the Storyof Re'u'el (TelAviv, 1980). 4. See Alan Mintz, "Introduction: Survivorsand Bystanders"in: Hurban:Responsesto Catastrophein HebrewLiterature(New York, 1984), pp. 158-164; and ibid., "TheUneasy Burden,"pp. 239-269. In the thirdpartof his book,especiallythe lastchapter,Mintzexamines the beginningsand the main literarymanifestationsconcerningthe Holocaustin Hebrew literaturein the 1950s and the 1960s:Uri Zvi Greenberg'sRehovotha-nahar[Streetsof the river],pp. 165-202; AharonAppelfeld'snovels, pp. 203-238; HanochBartov,Pis 'ey bagrut (Englishtrans.by DavidS. Segal, TheBrigade,Philadelphia,1968);Gouri'sTheGlassBooth; TheChocolateDeal (see above,n. 1),pp.239-244, 256-258; YehudaAmichai,Lo me-'akhshav, lo mi-kan(1963) (Englishtrans.by ShlomoKatz,Not of this Time,Not of this Place, New York,1968),pp. 248-251; YoramKaniuk,Adambenkelev(1969) (Englishtrans.by Seymour Simckes,AdamResurrected,New York, 1971), pp. 251-256. ConcerningGouri'swritings, Mintz,like most of Gouri'scritics,did not considerhis poetryon the Holocaustwrittenbefore The Glass Booth and The ChocolateDeal, in Pirhey esh (1949), Shireyhotam(1954), and Shoshanatruhot[Compassrose] (TelAviv, 1960).See also RobertAlter'sessay "Confronting the Holocaust,"in Afterthe Tradition(New York,1969),pp. 163-180. Alter,like Mintzafter him, deals with Gouri's The ChocolateDeal (pp. 171-175), togetherwith Amichai'snovel Lo me-'akhshav,lo mi-kan(pp. 166-170) and Bartov'sPis'ey bagrut(pp. 175-180), without mentioningGouri'sattemptsto deal with the Holocaustin his poetry.On TheChocolateDeal in comparisonwith Amichai(ibid.),Bartov(ibid.),Dan Ben Amotz(ToRemember, to Forget (Englishtrans.by Zeva Shapiro,Philadelphia,1973), and Kaniuk(ibid.), see also Edward Alexander,"BetweenDiasporaandZion:IsraeliHolocaustFiction,"in TheResonanceofDust, (Columbus,1979), pp. 73-120, and also, Alan J. Yuter,"HaimGouri,"in TheHolocaustin HebrewLiterature(New York,1983),pp. 69-71. 5. See, e.g., Tom Segev, The SeventhMillion,trans.HaimWaltzman(New York, 1993), pp. 129-135; IdithZertal,The Gold of the Jews (Hebrew),(Tel Aviv, 1996), forthcomingin to Israel, Englishas FromCatastropheto Power:TheHolocaustSurvivorsandtheImmigration 1945-1948. See also Oz Almog:TheSabra;A Profile(Hebrew)(TelAviv, 1997),pp. 137-148.

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Gouriis essentiallya poetwho identifieswiththe"Zionistmeta-narrative," as GershonShakedputit,6 namely,withtheexistentialexperienceof the entire Jewish people, to the point of his being a spokesmanfor his people even in the ironic and postmodernliteraryatmospherethat began to bear down on Israel's heroic Israeli in the early 1950s. Several poets and novelists with Gouri,amongthemHillel Omer,AmirGilboa,Yizhar contemporaneous and Aharon Smilansky, Megged, introducedantiheroesand speakerswho and oppositionalopinionsafter 1949, in orderto voiced anti-establishment piercethe new bureaucraticatmospherethatdominatedthe "morningafter" the Warof Independence.Gouri'scharacters,by contrast,especiallyin the threebooks mentionedabove, are plantedin the very soil and spiritof the mainstreamposition. In all three books, no trace of the weary hero is to be found, except for occasions when the hero meets his defeatedpeople in Europe;but more of that later.Even subsequently,with his fourthbook, Shoshanatruhot,7and afterwards,as a nostalgicpoet8or novelist, Gouri's poetry and prose mainly reflect this position, affirmingmost of the chief manifestationsof the JewishexperienceandEretzIsrael.Becausehis poetry is not oppositional,it is also usuallyinnocentof satiricalandironicelements aimedagainstthe predominantly secularIsraeliethosdominantin EretzIsrael before and immediatelyafter the Warof Independence.This runs counter to the historicaland socioculturalclimateof the twentiethcentury,which is ready to demolish almost every myth and ideal of the social and cultural establishment.He himselfattests:"Ina certainperiodI was one of the 'court poets' of the Palmach.It was a marveloustime of absoluteidentitybetween the settingandthe personality,betweenthe whole andthe individual."9 Gouri,then, is in principlea mainstreampoet, not in the narrowpolitical sense, of course,butin the broadmeaningof identitywiththe heroicstruggle of his people, with "the Jewish people who have been seriously injured" as he puts it in the poem "Rasheiperakimle-yoman"("An outline for a He unconditionallyidentifieswith the entireweb of Jewishhistory, diary").'" 6. Gershon Shaked, Hebrew Narrative Fiction, 1880-1980 (Hebrew), vol. 4 (Tel Aviv, 1993), pp. 14-45.

7. CompassRose (Tel Aviv, 1960). 8. See ReuvenShoham,"Fromthe Naive to the Nostalgicin the Poetryof HaimGouri," Prooftexts, forthcoming.

9. YardeniGalia, "WithHaim Gouri,"in 16 Conversationswith Writers(Hebrew)(Tel Aviv, 1962),pp. 167-181, 173-174. 10. CompassRose, p. 59.

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within the special historicalsituationof his people in WorldWar II and the Warof Independence,where many see an apocalypticelement,one of destructionand redemption.Like HanokhBartov,"Gouriwas, and is, one of the contemporaryHebrewpoets most attachedto the fate of the Jewish peopleandthe Israelisituation.He eschewsthe criticismof the so-callednew postmodernisthistorians'2and the ironic poetics that set the tone from the mid-1950sthroughsuch poets as YehudaAmichai,NatanZach, and David Avidan.Hereis whathe says of himselfandhis generation: All in all these writers [i.e., Gouri's contemporaries]were, so to speak, identifierswith the principlesof the Israelirevolution.Theywerenot alienated from it, because they felt that it was vital andjust, that they were a partof those oppressedand in danger.Fromthis, too, emergesthe phraseI haveused (in Shoshanatruhot,p. 97), "Thepeoplespokein the first-personplural."'3

Gouri'sidentificationwith the continuingrevolutionof the Jewishpeople and theirhistoric,"messianic,"destinyis the startingpoint of the Independence poetry,and also of his entireoeuvrefromthe beginningto the point he has reachedtoday. Such poetry must necessarilyobserve the unifying factoron the metahistoricalplane, not the divisive, the separating,and the disconnecting.He declares: I hearfromJews suchquestionsas, "Hasn'tthe priceof redemptiondoneharm to the traditionalattributesof the Jewishgenius?"I have saidmorethanonce that "the full accountisn't completeyet," as Brennerputs it, and it is too soon to judge the spiritualface of such a variegatedand amazingsociety as Israelisociety.I refuseto believethatthe redemptionwill actuallybe linkedto spiritualcastration.14 11. See, e.g., Bartov'snovel Pis 'ey bagrut(above,n. 4). 12. See, e.g., his lively responseto IdithZertal'sresearch:TheGold of the Jews (above, n. 5). In this essay, "OnBooks and WhatThereIs AmongThem"(Hebrew),in Alpaiym,no. 14 (1997): 9-30, Gourirespondsharshlyto Zertal'smainhypothesisthatBen-Gurionbrutally exploitedthe survivorsin his struggleagainstBritainto win over public opinionin Europe and the United States;and he rejectsthe idea thatthe Yishuvand the sabraspatronizedthe Holocaustsurvivors.He cites muchevidencefromTheBrigadeby Bartov,a sabralike himself, who also rejectsthe new post-Zionistideas. 13. HaimGouri,"Begufrishonrabbim"[First-person plural],Ma'ariv,May 10, 1978. 14. This was statedin an interviewwith the poet YotamHa-Reuvenion the publication of his book Ayuma[Terrible](Tel Aviv, 1979), the title takenfrom Song of Songs 6:4, 10: "Comelyas Jerusalem,terribleas an army."Davar,February23, 1979.

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In an interviewwith MiriPaz he said: Inthemovingandupliftingeulogydelivered by Chiefof StaffEhudBarakat thegravesideof thelateGeneral NehemiaTamari, he notedthatNehemiawas of Kibbutz namedafterNehemiaSchein,a member EinHarod,whofellonthe of the in a when June the Palmach blewup 1946, night "Night Bridges" fighters severalbridgesin ordertopreventtheentryof ArabandBritishreinforcements intoEretzIsrael.NehemiaSchein,whowasanextraordinary figureof a fighter wasmy captainin A Company andintellectual, of thePalmach. At theageof 16NehemiaScheinwroteof "theassemblyof allthegenerations," to whichhe of allthegenerations inEretzIsraeland belonged.I feellikehim:thegathering in theJewishpeople.Onlytheassumption of allthecomponents of identity, of allthecontradictions inthis,prevents I containwithinmeall spiritual depletion. of belonging, thecomponents whichsometendtobelittlebecause"presentism" is fashionable andspiritual fair.15 The feeling of so totally belongingto the historyof the Jewishpeople, with its mass of contradictions,exists throughan inexplicableoptimismand faithin the people's future.This optimismis realizeddespiteJewishhistory, not necessarilybecause of it. Indeed, Gouri replacesthe actual course of historywith a mythologicaltale. Historicaloccurrencesare perceivedfrom within and from a mythic perspectivein which isolatedevents are always part of the metahistoricalcycle, even thoughGod has forsakenthe world. The place of the poet, or the place of the speakeror his autobiographical narrator,in this mythic story is clear.If historyacts in accordancewith the laws of the myth of rebirthand redemption,with God or withouthim (in Gouri'spoetry), its hero, too, is partof the myth.'6This is how the words soundwhenthey aretransposedfromGouri'scredoto his literaryelaboration and to his autobiographicalcreation,Re'u'el: "--So who the devil am I then!?"the hero asks, and continues,"This is me, and this is my life! As if some blemish has been laid on me. A burningscar.Oh land, land,what are you doing to me?" Re'u'el, as a true sabra,a native son of the land of Israel,alienatedas an adolescentfromhis people but intimatelyattachedto 15. MiriPaz,"Srudimmi-sedekve-sigaryot"[Hoarsefromjusticeandcigarettes],interview with HaimGourifollowingthe publicationof Ha-baaharai.Davar,January21, 1994. 16. Reuven Shoham,"Be-simankutonetha-pasim"[Underthe sign of the coat of many colors: Study of the portraitof the speakerin Flowers of Fire by Haim Gouri],Mehkarei yerushalayimbe-sifrut'ivrit(JerusalemStudiesin HebrewLiterature)12 (1990):277-304.

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the country and its landscapes, characteristically directs his question to the land, to the place. Unexpectedly, the answer is given by the generations of the Jewish people throughout their wanderings all over the world. The people's answer, abridged as necessary, is this: You areours,Re'u'el, ours.Youalonecarryall the years.Youhavebeen at all the stations,and you will not choose any otherbiographyfor yourself.True, you have never set foot inside a synagogue,you have shed the burdenof the mitzvot,but you are ours, and we shall not relent.Ben-PoratYosef. You will tell our glory.Whereverwe havebeen,you havebeen. Since thatCovenantof the Pieces and the Night of Angels and the Ladder,and the wrestlingmatch beforedawn.At all times,in all the wanderings,ourdearbrother,ourheretical brother.You too went downto Egypt,andyou too cameup fromtherefor the festival.Andwhenyou triedto conductvile selectionsamongus, andstrikeout we taughtyou thata manmaychoosehis the inapplicable,as in questionnaires, wife, but he does not choose his motherandhis father.Becauseyou belongto us, and the roots of your soul are here,amongus. Thereforeyou will do well to acceptwith greatjoy the privilegethathas befallenyou of belongingto this noblefamily,oppressedandelect. ... Becauseyou needus morethanwe need you. Becausewithoutus you are chaff and dust in the wind, andwithoutyou we are a people. (Ha-haqira,pp. 217-218) Re'u'el, the author's autobiographicalprotagonist and narrator,states his condition, in light of all the transformationsof Jewish history, as an endless myth of exile and redemption. The Jewish people refuse to release the sabra hero, refuse to afford him the opportunityto be a son of the land alone. They oblige him to be a son of his people too, despite his own desire, almost in opposition to the Zionist ethos in which the hero grew up in the 1930s, an ethos of much Land of Israel and little, if any, People of Israel. The imposition of the Jewish people onto Re'u'el stems directly from the poet's traumatic encounters with camp survivors when he was a Haganah emissary. The section preceding the above quotation'7 concerns the tragic meeting that "changed my life," Re'u'el states.18 It entirely rid him of the seeds of the Canaanism that had sprouted in him as a typical sabra educated in the Zionist ideology of the first 'aliyot. Gouri often attests how much 17. Ibid., pp. 205-215. 18. Ibid., p. 211.

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Ratosh'sCanaanitemovemententhralledhim, how stronglyhe was attracted to the Canaaniteideology,which soughtto detachthe Jewishpeople "from 2000 years of dismal Diasporaand its rabbinicalculture"in orderto "look furtherback into" the "roots and identity with the Canaanitepast."'9In his essay "Kemo hipus kerovim"("Like Searchingfor Relatives")Gouri declares:"Ratoshcame and sold me a pagangoldenage, andaskedthe boys to carryout a slaughterof theirancestors.He cut loose fromthe roots."20 In he related: an interviewwith Nili Carmel-Flumin One of the encountersthatchangedmy life was one thattook place duringa bitterCentralEuropeanwinter,in the RothschildHospitalin Vienna.I came uponwhatwas left of the Jewishpeoplein Europe.Thatunforgettable meeting shatteredall the autismandnarcissismthatuntilthenhadin someway marked my personalbiography.At thatmomentI was instantlyjoltedoutof my lifelong ways, complacencyand pride,out of the feeling of being a fine youth from Eretz Israel,out of the plague of the Canaanitevirus, and into the need for self-definition,which decreedthat I must assume the totalityof the Jewish people'spast. There,amongdistantrelatives,unknown,wrappedin overcoats distributedby the Joint,theterriblemiscomprehension withinme becameclear,

19. BenjaminTamuz,"World'sNumberTwo Canaanite,"in Haim Chertok:WeAre All Close (conversationswith Israeliwriters)(New York,1989), pp. 105-117. The poet Yonatan Ratoshwas the leaderand ideological"prophet" of the Canaanitemovementin the 1940s and 1950s in Eretz Israel.After the Warof Independencea very small group of young people gatheredaroundhim and aroundthe periodicalAlef, editedby Ratosh,and afterhim by the poet AharonAmir. Twenty-threeissues were publishedbetween 1948 and 1953. The group called itself "TheYoung 'Ivrim,"but the poet AvrahamShlonskigave it the pejorativename Kna'anim.Ideologicallyand poetically,this movementwantedto renew the most archaic elementsof the ancientculturesthathadexistedin the biblicaltimeandarea.Themost famous of its memberswerethenovelistBinyaminTamuz,thepoetAharonAmir,Uzzi Oman(Ratosh's brother),the sculptureYitzhakDanziger,EzraZohar,Amos Keinan,andBoaz andYairEvron. On Ratoshand the Canaaniteideology in English,see YoramBrunovsky,"Yonathan Ratosh: Poet andIdeologist,"ModernHebrewLiterature,Summer1984,pp. 5-12; JamesS. Diamond, Homeland or Holy Land? The Canaanite Critique of Israel (Bloomington, 1986). The name of

Gouri'shero, Re'u'el, means "comradeof God,"re 'a shel ha-'el. But he also has an almost "Canaanite" originaccordingto the mentionsof the namein the Old Testament:Re'u'el is the nameof Esau'sson (Genesis36:10);also of the fatherof Zipporah,Moses'swife (Exodus2:17, Numbers10:9), and it is one of the namesof Benjamin'sson (1 Chronicles9:9). This name atteststo its basic connectionto the Canaanitemovement. 20. GouriHaim,Ma 'ariv,July23, 1976.

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thatwhichhadexistedwithinus andoutsideus aboutall the mysteryof our nationalexistence.It hasneverreleasedits gripon mesince.21

So muchfor Gouri'spersonaltestimonyabouthis own andhis speakers' attitudeto the Jewish people and, more particularly,to the place of the Holocaustin its spiritual,national,and culturalidentity.In the following I wish to examinewhat occurs in this domainfrom a poetical aspect,in his poetry,and I shall focus principallyon his firstthreebooks,Pirheyesh, 'Ad 'alot ha-shahar,and Shirey hotam;I treat the poetry section in 'Ad 'alot ha-shaharas an integralpartof Pirhey esh, as is evident from the second esh (1961).22 editionof The first Pirh.ey collections of poems deserve special attentionbecause they containthe firstsparksof Gouri'spoeticalworldviewandof the place of the Holocaustin the fashioningof his "I".Here are to be found cornerstones and landmarksfor the futurethatexpandanddeepenwith the passageof the years.The literarysectionof Pirheyesh may be subdividedinto fourparts: 1. "Sderatha-yasmin"("Avenueof Jasmine"):This partcenterson a youthful speakerand his innocentgirl, aboutto take to the road and set out on life, wanderingarounda romanticand moonstruckworld, devoid of elementsof definedtime andplace. 21. Nili Carmel-Flumin, "Mi-Pirheyesh le-Ayuma," meetingwith HaimGourifollowing the publicationof his new book of poems, Ayuma,in Yedi'otaharonot,February9, 1979. These statementsare repeatedin Ha-haqira(p. 211). Therethe investigatorsactuallyaccuse Re'u'el of plainantisemitism:"Youchoose evil andthe repulsiveandthe ugly [in referenceto the descriptionof "Diaspora-like" Jewishfigures].This is an antisemitictrait.Thereis within you a full measureof self-hatred.You are ashamedof yourself,your people, your brothers. You would like to be someoneelse" (p. 215). In the interviewwith MiriPaz (n. 11),the poet relatedhow he was curedof the "Canaanite virus"afterthe encounterwiththe survivorsof the extermination. "Theencounterconstitutedanotheressentialelementin my identity.InBudapest I chancedupona memorialservicefor the victimsof the extermination. A certainrabbi,who spokeHungarian,recitedin the mannerof the expositorsa Hebrewverse:'I seekmy brothers' (Genesis34:16). Aroundme I heardsoundsof weeping,thenI recalledJosephin searchof his brothers,the shepherdsin the Valleyof Dothan.I becamea memberof this body thatbegan thereandcontinuedas faras the graystreetsof CentralEurope." 22. 'Ad 'alot ha-shaharis Gouri'swar diary,writtenduringand afterthe battlesin the Negev duringthe Warof Independence.Its last partis the poemcycle Kelulot[Wedding].

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2. " 'Of ha-nedudim"("MigrantBird"):Herethe youngherodepartson a difficultjourneyto foreignlands,in the heartof destroyedpost-Nazi Europe,with a suddentransitioninto a definedsocial and historical world. 3. "Shirimmi-thokhyalqutha-sad"("Knapsack Poems"):Heretoo there is a sharppassageto the realityof EretzIsrael,to the overridingatmosphereof the Warof Independenceand the land of the Mediterranean noon. 4. "Kelulot"("Wedding"):The poet addedthis cycle from 'Ad 'alot ha-shaharto the secondeditionof Pirheyesh (1961); these arepoems of battle and conquest,bringingwhat began in "KnapsackPoems" to a climax. Here the speakerand his comradesreachtheir goal, the mountainof God, the holy center,havingtraversedthe pathof fire and triumph. These four parts are characterizedby thematicfoci restingmainly on features of narrativeand atmospherethat change from part to part, but togetherthey create a single whole: the hero on a quest that in the end is fulfilled-salvation of the people and the country.Not surprisingly,this narrativeand thematic structurepresents a hero who operateswithin a romantic-mythictale adaptedto the circumstancesof time and place.23For this purposethe poet provideshis autobiographical speaker,the sabra,with an archetypalheroic biography.The two centralplots in this biographyare the adventure-filledquest and the story of the battle.24These two elements are what eventuallylead the hero to the goal that awaits him. This quest, as may be expected, derives from some flaw--physical, metaphysical,or psychological--thatthe hero has an unconquerable compulsionto set right. Fryebelievesthatthe mostimportantelementof theromanceandthemythical tale is the adventure,whose beginningslie in a flow of minorevents,leading to a climax in whichthe goal is apparentlyachieved.This is the intermediate quest,which consists of four stages. Only two of themare of concernto us: 23. For a wide-rangingdiscussionof the mythicalromanticquestin these collections,see Shoham,"Be-simankutonentha-pasim."NorthropFrye,in TheSecularScripture:A Studyof theStructureof Romance(Cambridge,Mass., 1976),pp. 1-32, arguesthatfroma literarypoetic viewpointthereis no differencebetweena mythicaltale anda romancetale. 24. See Joseph Campbell,The Hero with a ThousandFaces (New York, 1956); Lord Raglan,TheHero:A Studyin Tradition,MythandDrama(New York,1956);NorthropFrye, Anatomyof Criticism(Princeton,N.J., 1957),pp. 186-205.

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(1) the agon is the initialstageof the dangerousquest,in whichthe herotests his strengthin a seriesof minorincidentsthatpreparehim forthe chiefthing, the stage of pathos;(2) the pathos is the decisive life-and-deathstruggle against the antagonist,the enslaving and uprootingmonster.This mythic patternincludesa formalarchetypalbiographythatembracesthe hero'slife frombirth,throughadolescence,departurefor the struggle,the struggleand ritualdeath,to the final recognitionthathe attains.On this mythicalcourse the hero is the savior,the representativeof the powers of spring,fertility, and the rising sun, while the antagonist,as the antithesis,is associatedwith aspectsof decline:winter,darkness,barrenness,andold age.25 In the "'Of ha-nedudim"city we find ourselves at the first stage of the overall quest, which began to emerge in "Sderatha-yasmin,"namely the agon. Already in "Sderatha-yasmin"it was becoming evident that the protagonist-spokesman, despitebeing a youth of the night, who moves tirelesslyin the darknessover fields and in the forest,in fact representsthe daylightthat is aboutto breakat any moment.He moves constantlyacross sacredsoil andin a sacredtime, whichby metonymyturnshim into a sacred youth. Of all the seasons of the year, the only one that does not figure in "Sderatha-yasmin"is the freezingwinter.The spokesmanproves to be a potentiallysunlit hero, garbed,not surprisingly,in a "coatof many colors" (Genesis37:4), andengrossedentirelyin a "questwith passingtime." arovil ninb

I have crossedpeaksandcrests. I have carvedmy nameon treetrunkandrocks. My body was haggard,andthe coat of manycolors was like a limp flag, schooledin battlesandhardship, a splendidbannertornto pieces.26 25. Frye,Anatomyof Criticism,pp. 187-195. 26. Gouri,Pirheyesh, p. 17.

)n.nny

HAIM GOURI AND "THEJEWISHPEOPLEWHO HAVEBEEN SERIOUSLYINJURED" 83

The chosen spokesmanlives and walks in the night,but his destinyand his goal are linked to the dawn that is aboutto breakat any instantover the holy groundin the course of holy events. The insertionof the "coatof manycolors"into the gruelingquestfor lightattestsnot only to his beinghis father'sfavoriteson andto his futuresunnyfatebutalso to the reasonfor the quest:searchandconcernfor his brothers:"I seek my brothers."27 In " 'Of ha-nedudim"the centerof gravityshifts from the restless and aimlesswanderingof "Sderatha-yasmin"to the fatefulquest.The speakeris thrusttowardconcreteand bruisedhistoricalreality,which will necessitate his maturingfrom a potentialhero to an active hero to preparehim for the stage of pathos, the final confrontationwith the forces of evil, in orderto rescuehis brothers."Sderatha-yasmin"was a localitylackingany featureof time andplace,a sortof worldof a distanttale.Butnow we pass intothe very heartof post-NaziEuropeancivilization.The firstmeetingwith the terrible Europeanworld is "Be-veitha-netivot"("At the RailroadStation,"ibid., p. 25). This title, thatof the openingpoem,placesthe spokesmanat a symbolic junctionof the worldof doing andthe modemquest.The herowith the coat of manycolorshas reacheda partingof the ways at a definedtime andplace. The texts in this partof the cycle depict a state of destruction,winter,and barrenness,for Europegenerallyand the Jewish people in particular.The poems are repletewith specific names of towns, streets,rivers,and events associatedwith the horrorthathas overtakenEurope,thusturningthe terrible fromsomethingabstractinto somethingreal andconcretein time andplace. The wanderingsin this Europeacquirea characterof "agoniesand suffering, and fighting from doorwayto doorway"(p. 25); the chill of the transport stationis cruel, "the mire reachesup to the knees, / and the village lost in a cloud disappearsin thousandsof darknesses."Europeis grippedin an icy winter,with teemingrain (ibid.):"thestreetsare batteredwith rain./ Black scenes of no light"(p. 31), and "on the horizonare banksof cloudsandthe snow falls dismally"(p. 38); "on KerendTer(a squarein Budapest:poet's note) the snow of Decemberfalls" and "deathso white driftstowardme" (p. 54); and so on. Winter,which was absentin "Sderatha-yasmin,"sweeps in with full violence in the second part of the collection, symbolizingthe hungerand freezingcold thatEuropeancivilizationsuffersafterthe war.In the traditionalmannerthis winterhas to be drivenoff in orderfor the city, the community,or the tribeto be saved from its claws. The climax of this 27. See Genesis 37:15-16 and n. 17 above.

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REUVEN SHOHAM

apocalypticwinterlies in the surrealistpicturesof the murderof the Jewish People.Forexample,when the speakerwalksthroughthe streetsin "Geneva 1947"he beratesthis neutral,indifferentcity for the fate of his people:

. ~r I . r .. 5I v. ".. . Xv ,

,n.

My blood neverflowedhere, No soldiersbeatmy babies on the cobblestoneshere. You only held yourpeace, innocentdove. A few miles away blackhungrysmokecoiled skyward. Forgiveme. My bitterheart, You cannotknow,lovely doe. You've not seen Geneve,Geneve. (pp. 26-27)28 The poem ends with a cry of sadness from one whose hearthas been touchedby the distressof his people: "My land, my humiliatedland"(p. 27). In "Yomanleily" ("NightDiary")he stridesthroughthe razedstreets on the banksof the Danubeat night,when suddenlyfromthe surrealistcity "someoneappears(an ice-coldhand),"some unknownpersonwho takeshim on anguidednighttourof theplaceswherethe atrociousactswerecommitted: "Herethey shot themwith lead bullets,/ they fell, anddidn'tmakea sound, / the nameswere carriedoff with the rivercurrent."Andthen out of despair 28. Translation by Stanley F. Chyet, in Wordsin My Lovesick Blood. (Detroit, 1996), p. 7.


the speakeraddressesthe night:"Night... strangenight./ WhereshallI go, tell me?"andthe alternativeshe presentsareall of deathanddestruction:

,l.n.•9 ,n.pt. ,u.)tp, --)x!

To the road,emptyandterrible. To the trainsleadingeastward, To the forestsat the sides of the path, To the cursedlandof the Poles. (pp. 28-30) Europeis locked in the "heartof the greatdarkness,"frozen,and even "thestatuesof heroesare silentwith theirhorses"(p. 31). Theknownheroes arefrozenin stone,so someonemusttaketheirplace.Wherethereis no hero, the speakersenses himself to be the one uponwhom the mantleof the hero has fallen.In hostile, indifferent,anddestroyedEuropehe seeks himselfand his brothersin a labyrinthwhose Minotaurhas indeedbeen vanquished;but the desolationandbarrennessassociatedwith it arestill evidentin everything and cry out fromevery comer,beggingfor a saviorandsalvation. In this part of the collection the speakerseeminglydivergesfrom the image of the potentialsavior hero of "Sderatha-yasmin."He is still on a rigorousquest,but he is portrayedas a dual character,unitingthe hero and the antiherointo a single entity. On the one hand he is a stranger,adrift, in keeping with modem Westernliteratureand in the style of the tehiya generationandits "hero"ha-talush:He "walkson... walkson"(p. 27), and it is not withinhis power to save because"I am a foreignerand a stranger" (p. 31), "a man's body heated with a soul" (p. 33). On the other hand, the portrayalof the "stranger," the antihero,does not exhaustthe speaker's essence. As an outsiderthe distancebetweenhim and the archetypalsavior is great,but by modem standards"a man'sbody heatedwith a soul"sounds well comparedwith the spiritof heroismthat prevailsin twentieth-century

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literature,peopled with "hollowmen."Indeed,as we read further,we find increasinglydistinctfeaturesalludingto the hero'sheroic"origins"as partof esh. the speaker'spsycho-poeticsin Pirh.ey the " 'Of ha-nedudim"cycle is "Be-veit As noted, the poem that opens ha-netivot."In it the speakercharacterizesthe "we"as those who are sworn to give themselvesoverentirely,to love as a supremevalue,notmerelygoing throughthe motionsor at the commandof the superego.29

.-on,•

,r-nno inart x I-, ,..,i

Let us walk againon the emptyroads---tothe poem. And let us sufferagoniesandsuffering,andfightingfrom doorwayto doorway. And let us recallhow the fearbristledin the women'seyes, The chill of the transportstation,cruelwith humansilence, Did not wave a white handkerchief,when ourtime approachedtrembling. We did not bid farewellto thingswe loved once. Wejust have been swornto love, until deathcarriesoff our life. We were only good and simple,in silence andin thunder. Only our soul in its completeinnocencesubmittedto sadness, And day-oldwrinkles,soundlessly,slowly bloomedin the garden of ourcheeks. (p. 25) 29. Dan Miron,"TimeMarchingOn and PointlessDeath:On Flowersof Fire by Haim Gouri,"in BeforetheSilentBrother:Studiesin thePoetryof the Warof Independence (Hebrew) (TelAviv andJerusalem,1992),pp. 197-234, 222-226.

HAIMGOURIAND"THEJEWISHPEOPLE WHOHAVEBEENSERIOUSLY INJURED" 87

For the first time in Gouri'spoetry the readerencountersthe innocent protagonistspeakingin the first-personplural.Only an innocenthero who identifiesunconditionallywith the tribulationsof his tribeand his brothers can rise to do heroic deeds. The directcharacterization of innocentyouths, themselves until death to the is love, devoting thingsthey supportedby three attributesthatreinforceone otherin a singledirection:theyaregood,they are simple,and above all theirsouls arenotjust innocentbut "very"innocent.It is theywho stand,in theirperfectinnocence,beforethe destroyed,misshapen, post-NaziEurope.Againstperfectgoodnessis posedperfectnegation,which has to be annihilatedthrough"agonies and suffering"in "fightingfrom doorwayto doorway,"and all because "we have been swornto love, until deathcarriesoff our life." But the innocentspeakerandhis comradesutterly identifynot only with the sufferingof the batteredtribein woundedEurope but also with their existence that they left behind (with the "thingsthat we loved once"). The speaker,here and everywhereelse in Gouri'spoetry, refusesto allow realityto alterhim, to changehim froman innocentmaninto a bitter,sarcastic,and satiricalfigure.He refusesto be transformedfroma man with a naive sense of the world,believingthatthe good end will indeed come, into a man with a tragic sense of the world, knowingthat the good end is an illusion and a mirage.He and his comradeswalk again "on the empty roads--to the poem"despiteknowingthe agonies and the suffering andthe ceaselessfighting;despiteacquaintancewith the fearthatbristled"in the women'seyes,"andthe suckingmirethatreaches"tothe knees."Despite all these things,and not becauseof lack of experience,the poem ends on an optimisticnote, whichonly a speakerwho is innocentenoughcan formulate: "And let us look for a brief momentskyward,and we shall be kissed with the road,ourroad."'0 The innocentheroism in the speaker'spersonalityis frequentlylinked with anothercity, the brightheavenlyblue one, which the troubadour-hero has left behindhim, namely,the white city of the summerylandof Israel(p. 32). It is fromthatsummerthathe drawshis strengthin times of crisis:

in Im "" "nitp

-lix pinl r"9pP

yI

30. Gourideletedthis endingin the secondeditionof the book(1961, p. 25).

p

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Summer,long summer,and azure,which makes flocks bleat in the fields, latein its evening,whichinflamestheblood,whichcauseslegends to be told. Summerhuge and strong,light shed on distantcities. The flamesdartaboutin my eyes; whereshallI turn? ("TwoPoems of QuarterVI,"p. 39) At the end of the poem we hearalmosta braggingdeclaration,when the speakeraddressesGod, havingpresentedhimselfas "amanwho straysfrom thepath"in the city of the night.Outof modesty,andto distancehimselffrom his alter-ego,he shifts to the third-person: "RemoteGod, if on thousandsof horizonsthe sparksfrom your burningfire have gone out, / Take a brand fromthe light of his eyeballs,and illumineyourworldfor a fleetinginstant" (p. 40). This then is the sunnyhero, the saviorof the people,who offersthe fire in his eyes to the remoteGod whose firehas gone out. The detachedstranger feels his mission in his fingertips,a mission assignedto him by "a Divine Residenceof reflections,"which is a psychologicalsubstitutefor the classic Presenceof God (ha-shekhina).The hero drawsthe reservesof his strength fromhis innocentand vivid childhood:"Andyour soul,"he declaresto his own alter-ego,"is purerthanspringsandsummer."Thenhe adds:

will answerme a noise with wavingof hands And my locks move in a strongwind.31 31. Locks of hairare traditionallyassociatedwith heroism,e.g., the case of Samson.For ironicvariationson this subject,see Bialik's"Megilatha-esh"[Thescrollof fire]in Kol kitvey


Thisis thelawof procreation beyondthetime, Whichalterstheirlight,andtheirfaceis two, Anda fine,tallGodsetsuphisplumblines. ('Ad 'alotha-shahar," p. 42)

The"flowersof light"areakinto the"flowersof thefire,"theheraldsof withthefine, andtherefore theyarein a reciprocal relationship redemption, andredemption tallGod,whosetsuphisplumblinesforthedayofjudgment andmodifiesAmos;whereas together(Amos7:7-9).Thespeakeraugments theprophetset up onlyone plumbline,andit was fordestruction, Gouri's speakersees many,but they are plumblines for buildingthe redemption of Israel.In the poem "Silo shel ha-'ish"("TheShadowof the Man"), the connectionbetweenthe European questandthe mission(whichis not him on but unwillingly graspedby himalmostby force)is stillmore imposed obvious.

He followedthe dustypaths, His two eyes the hunger.

He stretched outhis hurthands, H. N. Bialik [Collectedworks] (Tel Aviv, 1971), pp. 102-109; and Amichay'spoem "Ani rotsela-mut'al mitati"["Iwish to die in my bed] in Shirim,1948-1962 [(Poems, 1948-1962] (Jerusalemand Tel Aviv, 1963), p. 82. The locks of the speakerthat are ruffledin the wind in Gouri'spoem are free of all irony,and therebyhe establishesa link with otherheroeswith a forelockand curly hairin the Warof Independenceliterature,e.g., the characterof Uri in Hu halakhba-sadot[He walkedin the fields)by MosheShamir(Merhavia,1947),who has "a lock of hair,a nomad'sturban,a knapsack"(p. 9). OmerHillel in his poem "'Al mekhonit mas'a doge bi-khvishHaifa-TelAviv"[Ona Dodgetruckon the Haifa--TelAvivroad]in Eretz ha-sohora'yim[Landof noon] (Tel Aviv, 1957),p. 28, has his speakersay: "Loveyour lock of hair,black or blond,which laughedin the wind!"This subjectis expandedin RivkaMaoz of the Lock of Hair in IsraeliLiterature"(Hebrew),Moznaim62 (1988): "Transformations 50-56.

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And broughtdown the light fromon high.

(p.45) He hearsa commandingvoice, sendinghim on his mission:"Go,gather the posies of flowers"in orderto reach "the meaningsof things"(p. 46). At times he does indeedfeel that he has missed "thecarriageof eagles, its wheels smashed"(p. 48), butfor all thathe feels thathe "is going up to those skies,"andin his vision he returnsagainto the "blue,gay summer,endless," that floats towardhim from the valleys of EretzIsrael,which are also the sourcefor his verses and poems. The endingof this partof Pirheyesh with the poem "Zekherkayis"("Memoryof Summer")evokes the wintryreality of Europecontrastedagainstthe summeryrealityof EretzIsrael.

mi

r AlintflV

2MnWmt~in ~n?nf

nx ni-ipn nimn,

.,1.1_

niyinTim

But I dream,andfroma distanceshe rises. Withthe beat of drums,in the dazzlingsun. A festive dress,light blue andembroideredat the hem, And a pairof brownarmsclaspmy neck. (p. 54)

The circle is complete. The gentle boy with the handsomeeyes of "Sderatha-yasmin,"who grew up and went off to discoverhimselfin " 'Of indeedfindshis summermissionin "TheLandof Noon,"where ha-nedudim," not only the mission but also the prize awaitshim, in the formof a pairof brownarmsthatclasp his neck, as partof the storyof salvation.He cannot save his brothersin Europe,but he is able to accomplishhis mission,even for the survivingremnant,therein the landof noon.And indeed,at precisely this stage we move to the third part of Pirhey esh, the "Shirimmi-tokh yalkutha-sad"cycle, whichtogetherwith the "Kelulot"cycle constitutesthe climatic stage in the mythical-romancefabricof Gouri'searly poetry,the stage of pathos.But as we areconcernedwith the encounterof the poet with the remnantsof the Holocaust,I bypassthis stageto reachthe Shireyhotam. *

*

*

INJURED" 91 HAIMGOURIAND"THEJEWISHPEOPLEWHOHAVEBEENSERIOUSLY

Shireyhotamis dividedinto five parts,whichshow a distinctconnection, despitesome essentialchanges,with the structureof Pirheyesh. 1. PartI is parallelto "Sderatha-yasmin"andis markedby moonstruck individualism.At its centerwe find the wayfarer,who wandersaway from civilizationalong the nocturnalpaths of the countryside,maintainingan intimaterelationshipwith some female"you"who at timesis flesh-and-blood,at times a divinefigure,andat times a personification of the motherland.Towardthe end we are witness to glimmeringsof the collectiveexperienceof the war,whichis the essenceof the second part. 2. PartsII and IV are parallelto "Shirimmi-tokhyalqutha-sad"and "Kelulot."At theircenterthe poet placesthe memoryof war,the Land of Israelwith its summerlandscapes,and the complexof the ties, his own andhis comrades',with the landandwith thosewho fell in battle. 3. PartIII largelycontainspoems of ars poetica, and in this respectit is exceptionalin this collection,as it has no parallelin the poet's early work. inPirheyesh; atits centeris the 4. PartV is parallelto" 'Ofha-nedudim" Holocaustand the speaker'sattemptto contendwith its consequences. Thispart,the middlepartin the firsteditionof Pirheyesh, closes Shirey hotam. Since it concernsthe speaker'sencounterwith the surviving remnant,we shall consideronly this fifthpart,whichmay be given the title "Ha-avivha-shahor"("TheBlack Spring"),from the title of the thirdpoem in the cycle.32 In these poems the antihero,the outsider,of " 'Of ha-nedudim"returns yet again, but with a notably differentquality from elsewhere.Here God functionsas a fatherfigure,in contrastto the goddessmotherfigurewhich appearsin the other parts of the book. The female "you"revealedin the previouspartsis associatedwith the figureof the GreatMother,alternately the bearerandburierof herchildren.The ties of the fighters,the sabras,with the GreatMotherare made on an archetypalchessboard,linkedto the great female fertilitydivinitieslike Anat,33the Canaanitegoddess,sister,andwife 32. Gouri,Shireyhotam,pp. 98-102 33. And see the following poems in 'Ad 'alot hashahar:"'Anat" [Anat], pp. 9-10; "Kelulot"[Wedding],pp. 131-122; "Ke-'alumathitim"[Likea sheaf of corn],pp. 136-139; and also in Shireyhotam:"Ba-derekhla-bustan"[Onthe way to the fruitgarden],pp. 12-13;

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92

of Mot,the god of death.By contrast,whenthe speakercomesuponthe divine in the landof post-NaziEurope,the traditional, wickedstepmother this fatherfigurereturns,so to speak,of itself.Accordingto the tradition, is to maintainwith the entirepeopleof Israelthe relationship Father-God of a mercifulfatherwitheachandeveryone of thepersecuted tribe,andof husbandto his bride,the strickenpeopleof Israel. a powerful,omnipotent the Now the GreatMotheris replacedby the female"you"whorepresents "ThisnightI tookthe peopleof Israel,theJewishpeoplethathaveperished: / Thereis the stoneheavywithsilence/ Up fromthevalleyto themountain. Thestranger of yoursolitarytomb."34 habitation layshis headon the stone, on Jacob(Genesis28:11-20)andit turnsintoa tombstone likehis forefather Israel. of thegraveof thefemale"you,"themurdered people ,ni~rT)

mE rnimiri0

mwn -'ri

n.

The who did one notbindhishead This is the stranger. Canyou see his face with tremblingjaws, The one who did not bindhis head And did not enterinto the sanctuary. He arosein me to scratchin the dustandpoundat the doors

He treadsin thetracksthatyouleftbehind

Whenyou marchedto die And his living handson yourheartwhichhas fallen silent. (p. 101) "Zikhrekhba-bustan"[Yourmemoryin the FruitGarden],pp. 14-15; "Apraqdan" [Supine], pp. 16-17; "Bat-galim"[Daughterof waves],pp. 21-22; andespeciallyPartIV,pp. 73-92. 34. Shireyhotam:"Ha-zarle-yadekh"[Thestrangerby yourside],p. 101.

WHOHAVEBEENSERIOUSLY INJURED" 93 HAIMGOURIAND"THEJEWISHPEOPLE

The hero,who againhas becomea detachedstrangerwho "didnot enter into the sanctuary,"is incapableof bringingsalvation,but he can lament beforethe Fatheras in the poem "Qina"("Lament"):

God of the low heavens; Father of the most recent hatred; God of the poor, God of the forgotten; God of maladies and lice; God of fear on the dark and empty roads; Father of all the wiped-out cities.

(p. 104) This dirge is marked entirely by the statement of facts and definitions

concerningthe relationshipbetween the Father-Godand his people. The rhetoricalarrangement thatthe speakerconstructsis basedon an alternating thespeakeralternatelyaddresses anaphoricorationto God.Inthisarrangement the same recipient, God, with two traditional construct cases: "God of...

X" and"Fatherof... Y."Thesetwo interchangeunvaryinglythroughoutthe discourse.The poem preparesa grandaddressto the Father-Godin the spirit of the normativeJewishtradition,or alternativelya screamingprotestof the type of Bialik's"Be-'irha-harega"("Inthe Cityof Slaughter"): "Forgiveme, wretchedof the world,your God is as poor as you,"but not a single one of the expectations is realized. At the end of the text there is no demand to God

to use his mighty arm, nor is there any stridencyor ridiculeregardingthe Father-God'simpotence.God is the Fatherof all the X andGod of all the Y, but it seems thatthis does not commithim to anything.This runscounterto the expectationthat the God of all the world and the Fatherof the rejected will step forthto defend them. The techniquecreatesexpectationswithout fulfillingthem or disappointingthem. It leaves the facts hangingin the air withouta formalconclusion.On the one hand,thereappearsthe incapacity of the Fatherto act for his people, for "thechildrenwho turnedinto cinder";

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94

and on the otherhand,thereis an intimationof the spiritualinadequacyof the speaker,"whodid not bindhis head"(withphylacteries),to contendwith the divine Father.The words are utteredas if in condemnation,but remain hangingin the air, awaitinga readerwho will add the request,the entreaty, the protest,or the sarcasticmockery.The positionexpressedby thesewords is especially effective because in at least two earlierpoems (in PartI) the speakerrefersto God in the two ways mentioned.On the one handhe denies God--"And over my head the clouds meander/ and the heavensare empty on the other,in the poem "Baqasha"("Request"),he affirmsGod of God";35 andhas faithin his powerto act:the speakeraddressesGodandrequeststhat he protectthe hero--"Guardhim,"a plea repeatedanaphorically everyother line (p. 29). The appearanceof the Father-Godis thereforedual, indecisive anddenial,andthisperhapsis whatexplainsthespeaker's betweenaffirmation or need to tendency replacethe GreatFatherwith the GreatMother,even thoughshe, by virtueof herinneressence,is a motherwho devourshersons and buries them within her. But whoever is swallowedinto the womb of MotherEarthhasnot diedin vain.He yieldshimselfto the supremeactof life, the act of fertility:"Afterwardsyou will return,"the living speakerpromises his dead comradein the poem "Az" ("Then");"Likethe warmand heavy fertility./ And yourhairis fields.Andyourtwo eyes arelakes"(p. 38). To die andbe buriedin the femininebosom of MotherEarth,of the Landof Israel, meansfulfillmentof the mythicmission:assuranceof fertilityandcontinuity of life. By contrast,accordingto the prevalentperceptionsat the time, to be incineratedin the ovens of Auschwitzwas a wasted,unheroicdeath,making no contributionto the ethos of the people's redemptionand potency,and it takes place before the eyes of the Father,who was supposedto be active but becamepassive. Gouriactivatesa thematicscheme here for which the two foundingfathersof Hebrewpoetryat the beginningof the centurywere perhapsresponsible.On the one hand,thereis HaimNahmanBialik,who in his "Be-'irha-harega"("Inthe City of Slaughter")has God speakand puts in his mouththe dreadfulwordsreferringto the pogromat Kishinev,frankly blamingthe slaughtered:"Youthe fallenare fallenfor nothing,andneitherI nor you / Do we know why you died and for what you died / And thereis no purposeto your death,just as thereis no purposeto your life."36on the in whose ritualisticpoem "Re'i, otherhand,there is Saul Tchernichowsky, 35. See the poem "Betekh"[Yourhouse],ibid.,p. 25. 36. Bialik, CollectedWorks(TelAviv, 1971),p. 97.

HAIMGOURIAND"THEJEWISHPEOPLEWHOHAVEBEENSERIOUSLY INJURED" 95

theJewishfatherlamentsthedeathof his youngsons adama" ("See,Earth") in battle,as he buriesthemin thesoillikeseedsin theMotherEarthof Eretz Israel:"Nowyou coverall theseup.Lettheplantflourishin its duetime!/ A hundred sacredto thepeopleof thehomeland! gatesof gloryandstrength, / Blessedbe theirsacrificein the secretof death,the ransomer of ourlife in splendor."" Gouri'sspeaker,in thepreviousparts,is one of thepotential Heacceptsthe seeds,meantto be plantedin thebosomof theGreatMother. mythicalverdict,is readyto laydownhislife,to beboundforsacrifice,as an In integralpartof existencein theholy,mythicaltimein whichhe is living.38 thisrespectthepositionof thespeakeris identicalto thenormative position of the Jewishsettlementin EretzIsrael,whichacceptedthesetwocontrary as in accordwithtwodifferent existences: onecharacterizing the perceptions of that of the fathers' on passivity beingsacrificed, soil; generation European the otherheroic,embodiedin the sacrificeof the sonson the soil of Eretz Israel.Boththeseperceptions, upto a point,explaintheattitudeof Gouri's speakerto the two sacrifices.Gouri'schiefdeviationfromthesenormsis linkedfirstof all to the tradition of "Be-'irha-harega" andnot necessarily to thetradition of "Re'i,adama." His speakerdoesnotaccusethemurdered andthe slaughtered of going"likesheepto slaughter." Theirdeathsmay haveno purpose,buthe doesnotberatethemwithalltheaccusations leveled Thehelplessnessof thosewho againstthemby Godin "Be'irha-harega." wereburnedarousesthepity,no less theguiltfeelings,of himwhoremains alive.ThedeadJewburnedin theovensis ",,y

!

nunto ,,.inn

.(99 "p•nlxPIN) 'in 5•il

A gash of my memoryand a living wound, And his gravedoes not bearmy flowers. 37. Tchemichowsky,Shirim[Poems](JerusalemandTel Aviv, 1950),p. 642. 38. PaulNeumarket,"AnOrgyof Self-Abandonment" (studieson thewarmotifin modem literature)(Hebrew),Qeshet,no. 39 (Spring1968),pp. 63-74.

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REUVEN SHOHAM

And he visits me at the due time Like a markof disgrace. And he is the weeping,andthe echo is in the markof his voice. (Ha-'aharon"["TheLast"],p. 99) The guilt feelingsof the living facingthe deadhaveappearedearlier-for example,in PartI of the cycle " 'Al ha-halomot"("OnDreams")(p. 31), but therethe guilt carriesno disgrace.The subjectis a fighterwho has put his life at risk, as have his comrades,the heroicfighters,and blind fate makes the choice: this one to die, thatone to live. But beforethe millions of dead Jews of the incinerators,of whose sacrificeno one sang, and whom almost no one soughtto avenge,the Jewswho remainedsilentwhenled to the ovens of Auschwitz,the tannedsabrastandsimpotent,as in "Ha-aharon."

innot like a corpse: he lies And me,throw supine I did my skullinto the sewage, beheaded Because for the not ask death of my did look And the soul, from thewretched fire did not of my mother And pierceme like a And I did not feastmy hearton the mice of the plague. (pp. 99-100) He who was burnedwas selectedto be "Nahshon,one of the first,"to be "a daily delicacy for the ovens"(p. 100). The man of the ovens becomesa mementoof sin for the sabra,the proudson of the land, and not an object for arrogantpity. The sabraheroshedshis heroismandstandsa strangerand an outsidernot only before aberrantEuropebut chiefly before him whose "deathwas jealous of the deathof a dog" and whose "headis as heavy as an entirepeople"(ibid.).Memory,the memoryof the war,the comrades,the fallen, which has been so centrala subjectthroughoutthe book, does not lose its force here either,but undergoesa changeof directionandmeaning.


In the earlierparts memory operatedon two planes. On the one hand it fills the speakeras part of the heroic being of the veteranfighter,as part of his yearningfor the heroic in the Warof Independence,and as partof his heroic EretzIsrael existence. On the otherhand,the same war veteran cannot forget his dead comrades,because they always return,obstinately forcingthemselvesinto his mind in the poem "'Al ha-halomot":"Theone whom I buriedstandsbefore me with his smiles. / The one whose candleI put out came back to touch"(p. 31). In this case memorycauses suffering, which seeks the consolationof forgetfulness.But forgetfulnessis a remote possibility,becausethe dead returnto touchthe living; they are, as it were, merciless,demanding,andthe speakerattestsof himselfthat"as if fromout of the depths/ I open up my life to the shadowof theirbody./ I know:... / This is my throatalive in theirfist"(ibid.).Therequestfor forgetfulnessis an effortto push the deadout of consciousnessandat the sametime an attempt to become free of the guilt feelings aboutthis forgetfulness.The fighterwho has returnedfrom the battlefieldtries to live a normallife, to come to terms with the dead, to accept the loss, to be healed. Whoeverremainsalive at the end of the fightingwishes to become reattachedto life, as in the poem "Ha-heshbonotha-arukim"("TheLong Accounts")(pp. 36-37). But beforethe deadon Europeansoil mattersareotherwise.The speaker does not seek forgetfulness,becausehe knowsthatit is the mostavailableand most naturaloption for him. He does not know the burnedones personally, theywerenothis comradeson themarchandin battle.Thereforehe is obliged to swearhimself and othersto remembranceforever:"Andthereis no peace for the forgetter,the betrayer/ of the memory"("Ha-avivha-shahor"["The Black Spring"],p. 99). Thereis somethingterrifyingin this memorythatis aboutto be erased,expunged,of the strangeunknowndeadwho elicit guilt feelings regardingthose pale, unlovely Jews with the "gold-teethsmile,"39 they not of EretzIsrael.Hereforgetfulnessis a realoption,andone so simple that it is necessary,absurdly,to wage war againstit with vows and oaths. But we avail ourselvesof these vows of remembranceand oathsonly when we are awareof the shamefulwish to forgetthose whom we wish to forget and mustnot. Gouri'sspeakeris awarethatthis guilt feeling is liableto find escape in forgetfulnessor in a profoundamnesia.As if therereallywere no escape from loss of the threateningmemory,the speakeraddressesthe dead Jew right from the opening stanza,thus:"Pleaseforgivethe forgettersone 39. Ha-haqira (1980), p. 215.

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thing! / They are more deservingof mercy than you" ("Ha-zekher"["The Memory"],p. 98). It is difficultto acceptthatthosewho forgetdeservemercy more thanthe victims, but what is decisive here is the fact thatthe speaker conjureshimself and othersto avoid the consolationof amnesia.The dead do not have the power to come back to the sabrain dreamsand relentless grab him by the throat,as do his "fightingcomrades"here on the soil of EretzIsrael.They belong to a differentexistence,whichthe speakerandhis comradesdo not share.Therefore,the speakeris obligedto encirclehimself with vows and oathswhose purposeis to shoreup memory.

To sum up, the guilt feeling in Shireyhotamis double.On the one hand, it is the guilt of the hero who has failed in his mission of savinghis people fromthe valley of deathin Europe.On the other,it is guilt over the factthat he is unableeven to rememberhis peoplebecausehe does not knowthemat all, and he knows thathe is liable, all too easily, to sink into forgetfulness. The double guilt feeling leads the speakerto a state of helplessness.He is drawnin a similarway as in Pirheyesh, but moremarkedlyas the antihero, as an alienatedstranger.The fact that this is how Shirey hotam ends is perhapsnot accidental.In Pirhey esh the parallelsection,"Of ha-nedudim" ("MigrantBird"),is set as the opening and the introductionto the heroic battle, at whose conclusionthe hero (with his brothers)redeemsthe land andthe tribefromthe claws of the dragon.In Shireyhotamthe parallelpart concludesthe collection.Thatis, the major-key,springlikeendingof Pirhey esh is substitutedby a minor-key,wintryendingof one who triedto save his people and failed. Here a fresh avenue opens for a furtherhypothesisthat thatoccursin the characterof Gouri'sheroin may explainthe metamorphosis Shoshanatruhot("CompassRose," 1960). In this fourthbook of poems one clearlydiscernschangesin Gouri'spoeticsin consequenceof the new,ironic, poetic climate of the 1960s (introducedto modem Hebrewpoetryby poets like YehudaAmichai,NatanZach, David Avidan,and Daliya Rabikovitz). In additionto the new poetic influences,the changesmay also be partof the developmentandpersonaltemperingof the poet:the sunlightheroof the earlycollections,the one of fire anddawn,makesway in Shireyhotamfor a veteransoldier,yearningfor his heroicpast,but also filled with guilt for his failureto fulfill his role in the greatbattlefor the salvationof his people on Europeansoil, and thus his involvementin its catastrophe,even thoughhe

INJURED" 99 HAIMGOURIAND"THEJEWISHPEOPLEWHOHAVEBEENSERIOUSLY

fulfilledhis mission in EretzIsrael.Fromhereit is only one step,perhaps,to the portraitof the Odysseanhero,standingwearyandwise at the crossroads, which is Shoshanatruhot.40 Here too one finds a differencebetweenGouri'sattitudeto the survivors and the attitudeof the novelist AharonAppelfeldor the poet Abba Kovner. Appelfeldand Kovnersurvivedthe deathcamps.They knew the Holocaust from within, and thereforetheir point of view is from the eyes of the survivorsthemselves. Gouri'sviewpoint(at least in his three first books), like that of his contemporarythe novelist HanochBartov,is fromwithout, albeit with sympathyand guilt feelings regardingthe survivors.His novel is the first real attemptto overcomethis limitationin 'Isqatha-shoqolad41 orderto express the horroras seen by the victims themselves,to shed his andlyric "I."An experimentlike this was possible for him autobiographical only afterhe attendedthe Eichmanntrialas an eye-and-earwitness for the In this collectionof essays one can find a statementlike daily La-merhav.42 this: Whenthismaterial wastakenupby theprosecution andmadepartof thebill of indictment, whenthesedocuments brokeoutof thesilenceof thearchives, it wasas if theywerenowspeakingforthefirsttime... andthattheirlatent Theprocessreleasedthe enormous potentialhadbeensuddenlyactualized. comes with the I understand!"43 that realization "now energy This realizationandunderstanding gave Gourithe insightandcouragenot only to see the horrorfrom withinbut to expressit fromwithin.Therefore, Alan Mintz's statementthat "the story [of the Eichmanntrial] rebounded is only partiallytrue.His first upon the writer [Gouri]and changedhim""44 encounterwith the survivors(1947) had alreadychangedhim, as we saw above, andthe Eichmanntrialwas only the catalystin a very painfulprocess that enabledGourito feel and expressthe inexpressible.At the trial,Gouri attests,he learned 40. See his poems "Oto 'erev be-Mabion"[This eveningin Mabion]and "Odysseus"in Shosanatruhot,pp. 85-86, 115-116. 41. TheChocolateDeal (Tel Aviv, 1965;2nd ed. 1995)(see above,n. 1). 42. A selectionof his newspaperreportswere collectedin his book Mul ta ha-zekhukhit (see above,n. 1). 43. Ibid.,p. 243; quotedfromAlan Mintz,Hurban,pp. 239-240. 44. Ibid.,pp. 240-243.

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the uniquenessof each testimony.... Eachof the prosecutionwitnesseswas, therefore,the hero of an act of rescue.I referto the rescueof the testimonies of these unfortunatepeople fromthe dangerof beingperceivedas all alike,all shroudedin the sameimmenseanonymity.45 Alan Mintz is right when he states that in The Chocolate Deal Gouri manages to get out of himself as a sabra in order to express not only the guilt feelings of his generation but the impossible and surrealistic world of the survivors.46 However, Gouri succeeded in this only after many efforts in his poetry from the late 1940s to the early 1960s. The long and painful process culminated in The Chocolate Deal, but this novel is certainly not the end of the theme in Gouri's poetry. Universityof Haifa Haifa,Israel

45. Mul ta ha-zekhukhit, pp. 241-242. Mintz translation, ibid., p. 243.

46. Mintz,Hurban,pp. 256-258.

Review: Fools for Love of the Republic? Author(s): Vicki Caron Source: AJS Review, Vol. 24, No. 1 (1999), pp. 101-109 Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Association for Jewish Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1486522 . Accessed: 15/07/2011 10:55 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 "FOOLSFORLOVEOF THEREPUBLIC"? by VICKICARON Pierre Birnbaum. The Jews of the Republic: A Political History of State Jews in France from Gambetta to Vichy.Stanford:StanfordUniversity Press, 1996.

449 pp. This English translationof PierreBirnbaum'sseminalwork, Les Fous de la Republique: Histoire Politique des Juifs d'Etat ("The Fools of the

Republic:A Political Historyof State Jews" [Paris, 1992]), constitutesan to two themesthathavedominatedthe studyof modem importantcontribution FrenchJewry:the natureof Franco-Jewishassimilation,and the character and functionof antisemitism. Ever since the publicationof MichaelR. Marrus'simportantbook, The Politics of Assimilation(Oxford, 1971), which arguedthat the majorityof FrenchJewssubmergedtheirparticularist Jewishidentities nineteenth-century in favorof a moreuniversalFrenchrepublicanidentity,FrenchJewshavebeen depictedas the most highly assimilatedof all EuropeanJews. Birnbaum's study,which drawson a richarrayof previouslyuntappedsources,andmost innovativelyon the administrativedossiersof 171 Jews who held civil and militaryposts underthe ThirdRepublic(1871-1940), reveals,however,that the integrationof Jews into Frenchsociety was a far morecomplexprocess thanMarrussuggested.To be sure,accordingto Birnbaum,therewere some Jews who endeavoredto efface completelytheirJewishidentitiesin favorof the universalistand rationalistvalues associatedwith the FrenchRevolution of 1789, and especially with the ThirdRepublic.As the radicalsecularist and free-thinkerPaul Grunebaum-Ballin declaredwhen confrontedwith the antisemiticlegislationof the Vichyregime:"Irefusecategoricallyto consider AJSReview24/1 (1999):101-109

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myself a FrenchIsraelite,a FrenchJew.I am a Frenchmanwho is not of the Jewish race because there is no Jewish race .... Nor am I a Jew by religion,

for I am detachedfromany religiousbelief or practice,Jewishor otherwise" (pp. 59-60). Such radical assimilation was not, however, the path followed by the majority of French Jews. Rather, according to Birnbaum,it was preciselybecausethe Frenchstate,in sharpcontrastto its CentralEuropean counterparts,did not requireits civil and militaryservantsto adhereto one or anotherof the Christiandenominations,that FrenchJews were able to eschew the most radicalbrandof assimilation,conversion.Instead,the majorityof state Jews opted for a more moderateform of accommodation that balanced a continued Jewish identity with a firm commitmentto universal republicanvalues. Indeed, it was the secular ideology of the French state, and especially the ThirdRepublic,which relegatedreligion entirelyto the privatesphereand insistedon the principleof careersopen to talent,that permittedthese Jewish functionariesto remainJewishwhile assuming their public duties. Thus, althoughFrench Jews did articulate an ideology known as Franco-Judaism,which stressed the ethical and universalisticaspects of Judaism,which in turn were identifiedwith the values of the Enlightenmentandthe FrenchRevolution,this ideologynever entailed the complete negation of Judaism.Rather,the majorityof Jews continuedto believe that Jews had a special mission to spreadthe secular messianicideas of liberty,equality,and fraternity. But while the ideology of Franco-Judaism has receivedclose historical scrutiny,Birnbaum,as a sociologist,examinesthebehaviorof thesestateJews as well, and here, too, he shows thatFranco-Judaism by no meansimplied a negation of Jewish identity for the vast majorityof them. While some state Jews disaffiliatedwith the Jewish community,the majorityremained active in Jewishcommunallife. As Birnbaum'sclose readingof the Jewish press from this period shows, the state Jews nearlyalways marriedJewish women,retainedtheirbiblicalnames,hadJewishreligiousburials,and,most significantly,playedleadingrolesin theJewishcommunity,frequentlyserving as officersof the CentralConsistoryand the Alliance IsraeliteUniverselle. Jewishsocialnetworks Furthermore, theycontinuedto move in predominantly madeup largelyof otherstateJews. They vacationedtogether,marriedinto each other's families, and helped one anotherwith job recommendations. Finally,Birnbaumillustratesthatthe traditionof stateservicewas frequently passedalongin families;one canthereforespeakof veritableJewishdynasties

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of stateJews, such as the Reinachs,the Bedarrides,the Hendlks,the VidalNaquets,andthe Weillers,to namebuta few. Althoughthe publicandprivate lives of the state Jews clearlyoverlapped,Birnbauminsists thatmost never felt a great tension between these two aspects of their identities.Indeed, even the most ardentlysecularof them generallytook pridein theirJewish backgrounds.As the anarchistand radical deist Alfred Naquet admitted towardthe end of his life: "Wefeel Jewishwhen Jews are attacked,andwe declareit proudly"(p. 84). In addition to examining the complexities of assimilation,Bimbaum also tells us a great deal aboutFrenchantisemitism,and he shows thatthe antisemiticmovementin Francewas distinctivein thatit continuedto exhibit a strongclerical cast. AlthoughBimbaumviews this clerical antisemitism as traditionalratherthan modem, his evidence clearly suggests that this was not the case. Rather,the chief theoreticiansof right-wingnationalism and antisemitismat the end of the nineteenthcentury-EdouardDrumont, MauriceBarres,and CharlesMaurras--madeFrance'sCatholicidentitythe centerpieceof their organicbrand of Frenchnationalidentity,and in so doing they createda distinctlymodempoliticalmovement.Not surprisingly, a principalstrandof this antisemitismwas the chargethat Jews played a role in the anti-clericalbattles of the late nineteenthand disproportionate earlytwentiethcenturies.AlthoughBimbaumclearlyfeels thatthe chargeis unwarranted, claimingthatthe role of Jews in these struggleswas relatively his evidence once againsuggestsa morecomplicatedpicture.While minimal, Jews were by no means the sole leadersof the anti-clericalcampaigns,a numberof stateJews, such as AlfredNaquet,CamilleSee, CamilleDreyfus, ErnestHendle,GeorgesWeill,andPaulGrunebaum-Ballin, playedprominent rolesin theanti-clericalstruggleandwereevenresponsibleforframingseveral key pieces of anti-clericallegislation,such as the 1884 divorcelaw and the 1905 law mandatingthe separationof churchandstate.Hence,this particular antisemiticchargewas based on a grain of truth.Thatmost of these Jews hadtenuousties with the Jewishcommunity,as Bimbaumnotes,was of little consequenceto Frenchantisemites,who seized on their role to depict the ThirdRepublicas a Jewish-Masoniccabal. Therecan be no doubt,however,thatBirnbaum'smost surprisingfinding with respectto antisemitismis that the bureaucracyof the ThirdRepublic, despite its anti-clericaltendenciesand its supposedlyfirm commitmentto the equalityof all individualsbeforethe law, continuedto note the religious identitiesof appointeesto civil andmilitarypostsin its administrative dossiers.

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Althoughthe religious identitiesof all state officialswas noted, Birnbaum insists that the bureaucracypaid special attentionto Jews. Nearly always, the religiousidentityof the wives of Jewishappointeeswas noted,although this was not the case for either Catholicsor Protestants.Moreover,these annotationswere frequentlytinged with antisemitism.One Jewish official was describedas being "of Jewish originbut withoutthe Jewishmind"(p. 43), while a Jewish army officer,althoughpraisedfor his intelligenceand diligence,was also saidto possess "thefaultsof his race"(p. 50). In response to this startlingdiscovery,Birnbaumappropriatelyasks: "Did antisemitic feelings, surprisingly,figure at the very heartof the republicanstate with which the Jews were madlyin love? This state,almostalone in the worldat the time . .., made possible the political integration of Jews ... by means of

meritocraticpromotion,to the highestcareersin the administrative apparatus; did it nonethelesspresentsomethinglike a hiddenface?"(p. 320). richnessof Birnbaum'sanalysis,and the subDespite the extraordinary stantialamountof new informationhe bringsto bearon our knowledgeof modem FrenchJewishlife, thereare neverthelessseveralproblemswith his account.First,his attemptto drawa dichotomybetweencourtJews,who, he claims,continuedto exerciseinfluencethroughthe SecondEmpire,andstate Jews, who dominatedthereafter,is a bit too pat. France,unlikemost Central Europeanstates,neverhada strongtraditionof courtJews,andto use theterm "courtJew"to referto any Jew involvedin large-scalecommerceconstitutes a misuse of the term.Moreover,althougha small numberof Jews did enter state service after 1871, the vast majorityremainedheavily concentratedin commerce,andthis shift was thereforenot as radicalas Birnbaumsuggests. More significantly,Birnbaum'saccount is characterizedby a strong teleological thrustwhich to some extent distortsthe experienceof French Jewry.Time and again,while discussingevents in the nineteenthand early twentiethcenturies,Birnbaumanticipatesthe Vichyregime,andhe suggests thatthe stateJewswerenot "onlyfools for love of the republic"butfools for having devotedthemselvesso passionatelyto a state thatultimatelyturned its backon them.Thus,in his discussionof the notoriouslyantisemiticHenry Memorialduringthe DreyfusAffair,Bimbaumwrites:"As if, fortyyearsin advance,the intellectualconditionsfor the tragedythatthe JewsunderVichy would experiencehad alreadycome together,their destiny alreadysealed in the consciousnessof a large portionof their fellow citizens"(p. 152). Moreover,of theJewishgeneralswho servedFrancein WorldWarI, Birnbaum notesthattheywouldhave foundtheirfateunderVichyinconceivable.While


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this statementis true, it neverthelessimplies the inevitabilityof Vichy's antisemiticlegislation,which, for the firsttime since 1791, strippedFrench Jews of their emancipation.This teleological aspect is furtherreinforced by the fact that Birnbaumconcludes his book with a discussion of the tragedyof the state Jews underVichy. While few would deny that Vichy did constitutethe blackestperiod for FrenchJewry,the enormoussuccess experiencedby many state Jews duringthe Fourthand Fifth Republics,as exemplifiedby the careersof Ren6 Cassin, Michel Debr6,PierreMendes France,RobertBadinter,and DominiqueStrauss-Kahn, suggestsa far more of Franco-Jewish than integration Bimbaumoffershere. optimisticreading is Birnbaum's assertionthat the antisemitismof the Also problematic Vichy regimegrew directlyout of the exclusionarytendenciesof the Third Republic.He even entitleshis conclusion"TheTwo Faces of the Republic." Yetthe evidenceBirnbaumadducesto provethispointis farfromconclusive. Although the administrationof the ThirdRepublicdid note the religious backgroundsof candidatesfor state positions, this informationwas rarely usedto discriminateagainsttheseindividuals.WhilesomestateJewsmaynot have advancedas quicklyup the careerladderas theirChristiancounterparts, the fact is that few of them sufferedany long-termharmas a resultof state discrimination.Of the Jewish generalwho was describedas possessingthe "faultsof his race,"Birnbaumnotes thathe was ultimatelypromotedto the highest militaryrank.Of anotherJewish appointee,the subprefectCharles Isaac,his superiornotedin 1888 thatIsaac's"religionis in itself an obstacle to his being sent into a clericalCatholicdepartmentlike the Nord."YetIsaac was ultimatelysent to this post, despitehis Jewishbackground. Most frequently,as Isaac'scase suggests,stateadministrators wereafraid thatsendingJewishofficialsto intenselyconservativeregionslike the Nord or Brittanycould provokea popularbacklashand diminishthe authorityof these officials, a fear that made a good deal of sense, since, as Birnbaum shows, Jews who ranfor publicoffice or receivedcivil serviceappointments in these regions invariablyfaced virulentantisemiticcampaigns.What is trulyamazingin Birnbaum'sstoryis the phenomenalsuccessof theseJewish officialsdespitethe groundswellof popularantisemitism,a trendsuggesting that secular republicanismhad as much if not more popularsupportthan right-wingnationalism.Nor does Birnbaum'sevidencesupporthis contention thatthe ThirdRepublicdeliberatelyscapegoatedJewishofficialsby placing themin untenablepositionsandthusmakingthemlightningrodsfor popular discontentthat would otherwisehave been focused on the republicitself.

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ThoseJews who advancedcontroversialpolicies did so voluntarily,andhad the Republicpreventedthem from assumingproblematicposts, it would have been guilty of the anti-JewishdiscriminationBimbaum so derides. Hence, in the end it seems grossly unfairto blamethe anti-Jewishpolicies of Vichy on the ThirdRepublic.A far strongercase can be madethatVichy antisemitismwas partandparcelof a broaderanti-republican agenda,which the Crisis and the to DreyfusAffair, began garnerstrengthduring Boulanger intensifiedduringthe 1930s, but reachedits apogee only duringPetain's NationalRevolution. Perhapsthe mostproblematicaspectof Birnbaum'sdiscussionis his final chapteron the roleof the stateJewsunderVichy.Onthe one hand,the chapter is incrediblymoving, and it conveys a far more positive pictureof native FrenchJewishbehaviorthanany previousstudyto date.By citingnumerous letterswrittento Petainpersonallyby nativeFrenchJews, Birnbaumshows that the majorityof them did not seek personalexemptionsfrom Vichy's antisemiticlegislation,and that many were preparedto defendJewishcivil rightswithexceptionalvigor,thusbelyingthe oft-repeatedchargesof political passivity.Max Hymans,deputyof Indre,thus explainedto Petainthat he would bearhis new status"withoutshame,"andhe added:"Howdistressed my grandfatherwould be if he were here to see those of his descendants who were not killed in action and who were all, or almost all, wounded, cited, decoratedwith the medaillemilitaireor the Legion of Honor,today reducedto second-classFrenchmen"(p. 351). And, in what is perhapsthe most poignantof these letters,Lieutenant-Colonel RogerDreyfussdeclined to accepthis nominationintothe Legionof Honorin June1942.Pointingout the extraordinary hypocrisyof the state,Dreyfussaskedhow it was possible to "be allowed into the orderof the Legion of Honorby a governmentthat at the same time declaresme unworthyto serve Franceas a soldier,by a governmentthatseems to place the downfall,the despoiling,the humiliation of French Jews at the forefrontof the spiritualand moral principlesof the 'NationalRevolution."'If he were ever to enterthe Legion of Honor, Dreyfussdeclared,he would do so only "on a perfectlyequal footingwith my comradesin war. Before that day, I will have to become once more a FrenchmanamongFrenchmen"(pp. 51, 341-342). Yet whetherall these Jews behavedas honorablyas Birnbaumsuggests, and whetherthey were all besottedby love of the Republic,is by no means clear.First,as Birnbaumhimselfnotes,manyof the Jewishparliamentarians who featureso prominentlyin his accountactuallyvotedfull powersto Petain


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in June 1940, casting a shadowof doubtover theirrepublicansympathies. And, in fact, many of them were deeply conservative.Moise Levy, senator of the Haute-Sa6ne,was well known for his anti-immigrant views, and he even sponsoredseveral bills in the late 1930s to tighten up naturalization proceduresand to strip even naturalizedcitizens of their rights. Another Max Hymans,was not a socialist, as Birnbaumat Jewish parliamentarian, one pointclaims,but a neo-socialist,a memberof a dissidentfactionthathad brokenwith the SocialistPartyin the early 1930s,andwhose followers,like MarcelDeat, had, by 1940, veeredtowardthe extremeright.In reality,the politicalaffiliationsof manyof the stateJews were farcloserto the views of the right-wingauthoritarian leader,ColonelFrancoisde La Rocque,thanto those of Leon Blum and the PopularFront.Nor is it an accidentthat from 1934 to 1936 the CentralConsistory,whose vice presidentat the time was none otherthanJacquesHelbronner,whom Birnbaumhails as the "thefinal incarnationof Franco-Judaism" (p. 370), repeatedlyinvitedLa Rocque,the head of Croix de Feu, a paramilitaryorganization,to presideover its annual synagoguecommemorationforJewishwardead.Onlyin the wakeof protests froma largesegmentof the ParisJewishcommunitydidthe Consistoryfinally haltthispractice.Moreoverin 1941,as Birnbaumnotes,Helbronner, who was now servingas presidentof the CentralConsistory,andwhose ties to Petain were so close thathe was referredto as "themarshal'sJew"(p. 361), even be placedon the executiveboardof the suggestedthata Jewishrepresentative des LegionFranqaise combattants,Vichy'sveteransorganization,whichlater devoteditself to rootingout communistsand resisters.In truth,the political sympathiesof manyof the stateJews laudedas heroesby Birnbaumwere so far to the right that many of them would have gladly supportedVichy had the regimerefrainedfromcarryingout its anti-Jewishprogram. Similarly problematicis Birnbaum'sdecision to depict as an act of resistancethe CentralConsistory'srefusalin the fall of 1941to participatein theUnionGeneraledes Israelitesde France(UGIF),thenewlycreatedFrench JewishCouncil.As RichardI. Cohenhas shownin TheBurdenof Conscience: FrenchJewrys Responseto theHolocaust(Bloomington,Ind., 1987),a book curiouslynot cited by Birnbaum,those Jewish leaderswho participatedin the creationof the UGIF,and especiallyRaymond-RaoulLambert,felt they had little choice, since it offeredthe sole avenuefor the provisionof reliefto foreignJews, the majorityof whom were living in horrendousconditionsin Vichy internmentcamps.Moreover,the creationof the UGIFwas a German andnot a Frenchdecision,contraryto Birnbaum'saccount,andXavierVallat,

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Vichy's commissionergeneral for Jewish affairs,made it crystal-clearto Jewishleadersthatif they refusedto cooperatein this organization,he would or shystersfromoutside have no choice but to appointeight "margoulins," the Jewishcommunity,a situationthatwouldhavehaddireconsequencesfor France'sforeignJewishpopulation.As Birnbaumreluctantlyacknowledges, the real reasonfor the Consistory'srefusalto participatewas thatit resented the lumping together of French and foreign Jews into a single "Jewish of the UGIFand a longtime herd"(p. 363), and Lambert,secretary-general of Helbronner's was on targetwhen he said of opponent refugee policies, Helbronnerthat "the fate of foreignersdoes not in the slightestmove him" (p. 367). Indeed,from 1933to 1935,Helbronnerhadlobbiedthe government to close the bordersto JewishrefugeesfromGermany,whomhe referredto as "theriff-raff,the rejectsof society,the elementswho could not possibly have been of any use to their own country."'Nor is there any supportfor Birnbaum'sassertionthattherewas scantdifferencebetweenthe respective attitudesof the Consistoryand the UGIFwith regardto foreignJews. Once again, RichardCohen'sstudy of the UGIF,as well as his annotatededition of Lambert'swartimediary,2flatlycontradictthis assertion. In the end, those state Jews who felt betrayedby Vichy may well have been "fools of the state,"but not all of them were "fools for love of the republic."To the extentthatJews like Helbronnershouldbe consideredfools at all, it is only because some of them had ceased to love the republicby 1940 andwere readyto pin theirhopes on a right-wingauthoritarian regime. Ironically,the voices of those Jews who remainedfaithfulto the republic throughoutthese darkyears--Leon Blum, SalomonGrumbach,JulesMoch, PierreMendesFrance,and Jean PierreBloch, to name but a few-are not representedhere at all, since the majorityof themwereeitherin exile or had been throwninto prison.To liken theirresistanceactivitiesto the behavior of Jews like Helbronner,PierreMaase,or GeneralPierreBoris, who were preparedto supportVichy fully, at least untilthe proclamationof the Statut des Juifs, seems to me a travestyof what it meantto have been a "resistor from the first hour."Similarly,Birnbaum'scomparisonof Helbronnerto a state Jew like Isafe Levaillant,who, as editor-in-chiefof the Univers israelite at the time of the DreyfusAffair,called on Jews to bandtogether 1. Cited in Vicki Caron,"Loyaltiesin Conflict:FrenchJewry and the Refugee Crisis, 1933-1935,"Leo BaeckInstituteYearBook,36 (1991):305-337, esp. 320-321. 2. Lambert,Carnetd'un timoin, 1940-1943 (Paris,1985).


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to fight antisemitism,would almost certainlycause Levaillant,as well as his grandson,HenryTorres,the greatdefense lawyerof the interwaryears and an ardentspokesmanfor Jewishrights,to turnin theirgraves.In sharp contrastto Helbronner,who deniedthat Judaismhad an ethnic dimension, andwho firmlybelievedthatantisemitismhadto be combatedthroughquiet, behind-the-scenesdiplomacy,Levaillantand Torresboth insistedthat Jews as a people, andnot merelya religiousgroup,neededto fightantisemitismin a vigorousandpublicfashion. Theseproblemsnotwithstanding, thisbookremainsa majorcontribution to ourunderstanding of the FrenchJewishexperience.By examiningnumerous sourcesnot previouslytappedby Jewishhistorians,andespeciallythe administrativedossiersof stateJews, Birnbaumhas greatlyexpandedthe scope of whatconstitutesthe properterrainof Jewishhistory.Moreover,by exploring the dynamicinterplaybetweenthe privateand public worldsof the Jewish civil servants,Birnbaumhas greatlyenrichedour understanding not only of Jewish history,but of Frenchpolitical and social history,and has proven that the two spherescan no longer be treatedas discreteentities. Finally, even if one disagreeswith some of Birnbaum'sviews, his book remains so informativeand so suggestiveof new approachesto the studyof Jewish historythatit cannotbe ignored.Despiteoccasionalawkwardconstructions, andthe failureto includesome explanatorynotes thatwouldhave madethis book more accessibleto an Anglo-Americanaudience,StanfordUniversity Press is to be commendedfor havingbroughtout this Englishtranslationof Birnbaum'simmenselyprovocativestudy. CornellUniversity Ithaca,N.Y.

Review: Constructive Feminist Theology and Reflective Self-Critique: A Male Reading of Rachel Adler and Laura Levitt Author(s): David R. Blumenthal Source: AJS Review, Vol. 24, No. 1 (1999), pp. 111-119 Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Association for Jewish Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1486523 . Accessed: 15/07/2011 10:55 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 CONSTRUCTIVEFEMINISTTHEOLOGY AND REFLECTIVESELF-CRITIQUE: A MALEREADINGOF RACHELADLERAND LAURALEVITT by DAVIDR. BLUMENTHAL LauraLevitt. Jews and Feminism: TheAmbivalentSearchfor Home. London:

Routledge,1997. 224 pp. RachelAdler.EngenderingJudaism.Philadelphia:JewishPublicationSociety, 1998. xxviii, 269 pp. As a memberof the Jewish academicestablishment,I assumedmany things for a long time. It never occurredto me thatgenderedlanguagewas exclusive, nor that I needed to identify myself as male, Jewish,rabbinic, middle-aged,heterosexual,academic,and so on. Weren'twe all thatway? LauraLevitt taughtme that it wasn't so; that I had a full rightto be who I am, but needed to identifymy "homes,"that is, to be self-consciousabout my commitments.I have triedto do this in each of the books I have written since. Now Levitt has written her own statementof self-identificationas a model for others.In doing so, she has foundthatone's commitmentsarenot alwayswholehearted.Indeed,they arealmostalwaysambivalentbecausethe promisesof "home"have never been quite fulfilled.This does not render them, or our commitmentto them, invalid. But it does remindus of the complextextureof the manyideas andidealsthatmakeup ourpersonaland culturalidentity. AJSReview24/1 (1999):111-119

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In this very subtlebook, Levittworksclosely with personalhistoryand a series of texts from sources as varied as the rabbinicmarriagecontract (ketubah),Locke,Napoleon,Pateman,Borowitz,Plaskow,Lorde,Miller,De andKlepfisz. Laurentis,Pratt,Martinand Mohanty,Rich, Kaye/Kantrowitz, Eachchapterchooses one or moreof these sourcesandengagesin dialogue with Levitt'sown personalhistory.The latterincludesherfamilybackground and, in particularlyhonest fashion, her rape while a graduatestudentin Atlanta. The introductionand chapter1 set the tone and programof the book. They move back and forth between several themes:Levitt's rape and the of rapeby the Ku Klux Klan in southernculture,marriagein appropriation liberallegal and social culture,and the "unheimlich"sense of Jewishness conveyedto her by her father.All these themesare developedas the book progresses. Chapter2 deals with the rabbinicketubah.The text and its background areset forthclearly,andLevittnotesthatthe woman'sconsentis not actually given when the documentis signed (p. 37) and thatthe ketubahis, then, a contractbetweenthe bridegroomandthe communityratherthanbetweentwo beloveds(p. 42). Levittcomparesthis with the talmudictexts thatdeal with compensationfor rape,notingthatthe outrageof the victim is not the topic of discussion,andthatthe substantivepainof the victimis but an "imagined norm"(pp. 44-48). Chapter3 deals with the marriagebetweenmodemJews andthe emancipation.Jews, in orderto "pass,"were expectedto assimilateto the prevailing liberalculture.They were expectedto speak the local language,go to the local schools, and generallyaccept local bourgeoisstandardsof what was right and wrong. Using the questionsthat Napoleonposed to the Jewish communityof Franceas her text, Levittnotes thatthe key was the question on the permissibilityand desirabilityof intermarriage as the ultimatejudge of successful emancipation.The nature of liberalism,then, was largely "colonial,"thatis, it demandedgivingup a significantamountof the political and culturalautonomyof Jewish communallife. The modemJew can only embracethe liberalismof the emancipationambivalently. Chapter4 deals with the institutionof marriagein the modem liberal state. Using the work of the feministlegal theoristCarolePateman,Levitt points out that "consent"to the marriage"contract"in Westerncultureis highly irregular.The termsof the contractarenot writtenandfirstexamined (p. 68). Until very recently,the termsincludeda vow of obedience(p. 69).

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And, in any case, once she gives her consent,the womanloses manyrights, e.g., to controlher own property,to protestsexualabuseinsidethe marriage (pp. 66-67), etc. This, in turn,affectsthe definitionof rapein the courtssuch thatthe burdenof proofrests on the victim,who has to prove"nonconsent" in orderto establishrape (p. 71). Here, again,the liberalideal can only be embracedwith ambivalence. Chapter5 pushesthe liberalidea into Jewishtheologythrougha studyof the workof EugeneBorowitz.Levitt,a formerstudentof Borowitz,respects his effort to develop a genuinely mutual, covenant-rootedliberal Jewish theology. However, she disagreesvery stronglywith the hierarchicaland antihomosexualstandof Borowitz'sliberalJewishtheology(p. 87). Chapter6 takesupthe liberalJewishandfeministviews of JudithPlaskow. Clearlyin sympathywith Plaskow'seffort,Levittnotes thatshe replacesthe view of God andthe Jewishcommunitywith hierarchical,authority-oriented a chorus of divergentvoices (p. 94), a nonhierarchicalGod (p. 95), and permissionfor same-sex relationships(p. 97). Still, Levitt points critically whichvalues long-termmonogamousrelationto Plaskow'shierarchicalism, shipsand full respect,as opposedto Lorde,who advocatesa nonhierarchical liberalism(pp. 99-102). In Chapters7 and 8, Levittdeals with the sense of exclusionthatJewish women,quaJews,havefeltwithinthe feministmovement.Theliberalpromise of feminismturnedout to have its own colonialism,which excludedJews, the poor, and women of mixed heritage,and generatedits own "horizontal violence.""Whymusttherebe competition?" Levittis forcedto ask (p. 112). Betterto let go of liberalism'sdemandfor universalsamenessand imagine otherways of "specificand local liberation"(p. 128). And betterto use this newfound"home"as a place fromwhichto resistthe "oppositionallogic"of classicalliberalism(p. 131). In chapters9, 10, and 11, and in the conclusion,Levitt returnsto the ambivalenceshe feels towardliberalism,rabbinicJudaism,Jewish liberal theology,and feministstudy.On the one hand,each of thesemovementshas fallen shortof its promiseof liberation.Yet,on the otherhand,no alternative positionhas provenas liberating."Thereis no otherplace to go," as Irena Klepfisz says (p. 151). Levitt, thus, lets go of some of her expectationsof these movements.She no longerfeels boundby the desirefor a guaranteeor permanence.Rather,she mournsthe incompletenessand affirmscontinued, ambivalent,commitmentto these ideals (pp. 157, 163). Methodologically,this is a very importantand interestingbook. Coming

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fromthe cuttingedge of the fields of feministandculturalstudies,Jews and Feminismforcesus to recognizethe very specificandlocal contentof all that we do. Eachpersonwritesfromwithina seriesof traditionsandassumptions. It is good to clarifythis point. Furthermore, no one does, or should,accept the ideals of his or her several contextswholeheartedly.All ideals require questioning.Questioningdoes not invalidatethem.Nor does incompleteness underminetheirethicalvalue. One reallydoes need to look criticallyat, and accept critically,the ideals towardwhich one aspiresand works-even if doing so createsa certainambivalence,even multivalence. Looking at this book as a male theologian,however, I cannot help wonderingwhatLevittbelievesin. Whatwouldshe do withGod'sattributes? with revelation?with the bindingqualityof communalpatternsof living? As we shall see, RachelAdler has come out in favorof genderedlanguage for God because genderis unavoidable;what is Levitt'sposition?Further, Adlerhas struggledmightilyto reconstructthe weddingceremonyprecisely becauserite andritualare centralto Jewishexistence;whatwouldLevittdo with this motif andpraxis?This is, to be sure,Levitt'sfirstbook. I, for one, hope she continuesto do her specific and local work, but in the contextof specificandlocal communitiesthatacknowledgetheirhistoricalanddoctrinal roots. RachelAdler is a learnedJew, at home in halakhicas well as midrashic sources.She is also experiencedin psychotherapy, psychoanalysis,feminist studies,historyof religions,and otherareasof modemculture.Engendering Judaismis, thus,a very learnedbook. It is also a sustainedargumentfor a feminist readingand praxis of halakhah.For Adler, feminismand halakhahare locked in an embraceand cannot be separated.This means that, from the point of view of serious Jewishwomen,"anyfuturecommunityof law makersmustincludewomen, andthey must co-determinewith men both legal contentand legal process" (p. 46, agreeingwith JudithPlaskow).Adler then goes on to do just that. She analyzestexts thatrepresswomen and unveils texts aboutwomenwho subvertthe patriarchalhierarchyof rabbinicJudaism,thus suggestinghow to begin integratingwomen into the halakhicprocess. She also proposesa modificationof the halakhicmarriageceremonythat embodiesa feminist view of whatmarriagecould, andshould,be about. Chapter1 analyzes four texts in which rabbis are depictedas heroes but which show a differentface when seen in a feministlight. In two of


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them, rabbis who are dependentupon women come to power and then degradethe womenuponwhomthey once depended.In the othertwo, rabbis deal with sexual temptationin a way that debases women. "Why don't womenget haloes?Why don'tcrowdsacclaimtheirdeedsor heavenlyvoices assure them of their portion in the world to come?"asks Adler (p. 10). Using object-relationspsychology,Adler offers an answerthatexplainsthe androcentricnatureof rabbinichero stories. Chapter2 surfaces stories of Skotsl and of Yalta,about women who challengehalakhicpraxisfromwithin.Using these storiesandreason,Adler veryfirmly,andin theface of oppositionfromfeminists,maintainsthatwomen cannotrejecthalakhahbecausehalakhahis the structuring mechanismof the functionwithinJudaism.Jewish covenant,andbecauseit is thenorm-defining women, therefore,must work fromwithinhalakhahto embodythe feminist vision. Concerningthe latter,Adlermountsa blisteringcritiqueof "liberal" halakhistswho tinkerwith the system but accept its basicallyandrocentric structureand methods. Feminist legal method, she suggests, has renewed generallegal thinkingand praxisby use of narrativeas a way to imaginea world in which men and women can flourishtogether(p. 38) and by use of rich contextualizationof already-embedded narratives(p. 39). This renewal could, and should,extendto halakhicthinkingandpraxis.The incorporation of women in the halakhicprocessis partof the "engendering" of Judaism. 3 deals with Adler out the basically Chapter worship. Again, points androcentricfocus of rabbinicprayer--e.g., Jewish liturgyconfesses only men's sins (p. 63)-and mountsa witheringcritiqueof the variousevasive maneuversthatareused to avoidconfrontinga communitypraxisthatwould be best for bothmen andwomen(pp. 69-73). She maintains,too, thatJewish womendo not need"theirfairshareof the God-languagepie"(p. 86). Rather, Adlerproposesthatwomen mustbe involvedin the creationand compiling of liturgyright from the beginning,thus enablingnot only new language but new genres,gestures,and styles of prayer(p. 67). She even suggeststhe shape that such a new approachmight take. ArguingagainstMarciaFalk, Adlerproposesa "spiritualityof otherness"thathonorsthe othernessof God and of humans.It is a spiritualityin which both sides can ask "Whereare you?"and in which the images of friends,lovers, co-creators-and not the hierarchicalimages of lord-servant,king-subject,father-child--predominate (pp. 92-93). ForJewishwomenthe issue is creating"wordsof power"in this realmof "inheritedwordsof religiouspower"(pp. 78, 81, 103). As partof this renewedmetaphoricworld,Adlertakes a strongstandin

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wouldhave been a betterterm) favorof anthropomorphic ("anthropopathic" lacks vividness and Neuter power;"mother"or "father," language imagery. Adlernotesthatone cannotexpunge for exampleis morevivid than"parent." genderfromhumanspeech,and even if one could, it wouldnot be desirable because"All God'schillungot gender"(p. xiv), andbecausegenderimplies relatedness,which is whatcovenantis all about(pp. 95-96). Chapter4 deals with sexuality.Adlerexpoundsvery carefullythe text of Genesis 1, in which sexualdifference,thatis, creatingintersubjectivespace, is partof the imageof God in whichGodcreates(pp. 118-119),in contrastto Genesis2, wherewomanis constructed,not created,as the oppositionalother to man,yieldinga genderpolaritythatis a burdenon the subjugatedas well as on the dominantfigurethatmustconstantlydefendits superiorposition(pp. 121-125). Adlerthenmoves on to interpretLeviticus18, the Song of Songs, the Book of Ruth,and the violent propheciesof Hosea. Each interpretation eroticism"of Song of is stunning;I shallnote only two. The "polymorphous in contrast with the of its stands homoeroticism" sharp "spiritualized Songs rabbinicinterpreters(pp. 138-140), and the violent degradationof marriage in Hosea is useful becauseit affirms"Godas an injurableotherenmeshedin a danse macabre of reciprocal injury. . . . God, the husband, as erotic subject

who can be hurt... Israelwith the powerto hurt"(pp. 160-161). InChapter5, Adlersetsaboutwhatshe intendedall along- reconstruction of the traditionalJewishmarriageceremony.She reachesinto texts, showing thatthe kiddushintext (ringandketubah)embodiesan acquisitionalview of marriage,while the blessingsat the end embodythe celebratory,covenantal aspect of marriage.Adler firmly rejects the idea of kiddushinbecause it is rooted in a unilateralacquiringof the woman by the man, and because its method imposes the unilateraldissolutionof the marriageby the man, and because such an attitudecommodifiesthe humanbeings involved.She thereforereframesthe documentsand the ceremonyon the basis of Jewish partnershiplaw. Adler arguesfor her positionand thenpresents,in Hebrew andin English,thetextof herbritahuvim,or "Lovers'Covenant,"a ceremony that could be used in a same-sex context. Adler even arguesthat the brit ahuvimcouldbe classifiedby the Orthodoxas "non-halakhic kiddushin"and thus couples who use it would be exemptfromrabbinicdivorceprocedures (pp. 204-206). Doing so would "savethe collectiveIsrael"(p. 206). Severalresponsesto this rich analysisandcarefulreconstruction: First, after meticulouslydetailingthe intensityof resistancewithin the rabbinichalakhicculture(e.g.,p. 202), andafterinterpretdeeplyandrocentric


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ing--correctly,to my mind-why this is so, it seems to me morethannaive for Adlerto thinkthatthe rabbinichalakhicculturewill accepther proposal as a non-halakhicformof marriageforthe sakeof savingthe collectiveIsrael. The men who dominatethatculture,be theymodemOrthodoxor haredi,are, by Adler's own analysis,more likely to opt for stubbornresistancethan to yield power to women on the issue of the role and place of woman in the patriarchalhousehold. Second,Adler assertsthe value of the stormy,indeedabusive,image of covenantedmarriageof Hosea,denyingtherebythe affirmationof Godas the Abuser(p. 192 with pp. 157-158). It seems to me thatif God is depictedas wishing, or encouraging,the gang-rapeof his bride,Israel,then God has a problem.One must admitthe problemand confrontthe abusivenessof God as directlyas traditionand spiritualcourageallow--especially if one is to assertthe value of this metaphor. Third,I applaudthe call for a genderedJudaismand, particularly,for a genderedGod. I have called for personalistlanguagein talking about, and in talking to, God (see my Facing the Abusing God: A Theologyof Protest)."All God's chillun-and theirGod-got gender."I agree,too, that Jewishwomen must find genderedwordsof power.I thinkthatsome of this alreadyexists--e.g., SiddurNashim (ed. privatelyby MargaretWenigand Naomi Janowitz),which, very early,used not only femininepronounsbut also womanlyimagery--thoughAdlerrejectsthis as imagerythatlimitsboth men andwomen (p. 99). Fourth,I personally-and perhapsI speakfor otherJewishmen--prefer my Godmale.I wantHimto be a He.I alsowantHimto be in thepsychological image in which He createdhumanity---powerful, yet not omnipotent;wise andjust, yet not perfect;and caringand loving, even with His truefaults.I do not objectto God'sbeing fallible;the texts andhistorysupportthat.I also want,as does Adlerfollowingthe traditionof covenant,to be interactivewith God.I wantto love Him,to supportHim,evento comfortHim-as He loves, supports,andcomfortsme. I understandthatI am His co-worker,His partner. I do my share, and He does His. When I fail, He remindsme, and when He fails, I remindHim of our mutualresponsibilities.While I appreciate natureof rabbinic deeply,andagreewith,Adler'sanalysisof the androcentric texts and institutions,andwhile I also appreciatedeeply,andagreewith, her proposalthat only by addingwomen into the decision-makingbodies and be corrected,I am not sureI agreethatwe processescan thatandrocentrism need a unitedcommunityworshippraxis.My Godworksfor me, andI don't

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feel the need to changeHim, thoughI feel that His Presenceand even His have been distortedby androcentrictrendsin Jewishculture. representation I hear the call for a united liturgybackedby a united image of God, but why not, as Levittmightsuggest,morespecificandlocal solutions?Whynot multipleliturgiesfor differentgroups? Finally,I need to confess, as a traditionalJewishmale who also wishes to be in shareddiscussion,that I feel threatenedby Adler's insistenceon a genuinely sharedresponsibilityfor rabbinicJewish religion. Part of me welcomes sharingthe burdenof the presentand the responsibilityfor the future;yet partof me resists it. As Adler comments,Jewishmen fear that will lead to a Judaismthatis not recognizable,to a way this new partnership of Jewishbeing that is no longerfamiliar,undercontrol(p. 74). I admitto this, thoughI have no reason not to trustRachel Adler,LauraLevitt, and the otherwomen colleagueswith whom I have been in dialoguefor a long time. Perhapstime, experience,andbookslike thesewill heal this separation wound. As a sympatheticoutsider,I see these two recentand importantbooks in Jewish feministthoughtand praxisas partof a full-fledgedeffortto renew the consciousnessand place of women in Jewishculture.One reallycannot turn back the clock on women's economic, political, social, and cultural emancipation,at least not in the broadersegmentof Jewishsociety.Rachel Adler'sbook puts the texts clearlybeforeus, the "good"ones andthe "bad" ones, and it proposes a new conceptionof, and a new praxis of, Jewish marriagethat is as learnedas it is novel. WouldI, as a rabbi,use the brit ahuvim?Yes, I would. WouldI make it the only form of marriage?No, I wouldnot. Thesetwo importantbookstalkto eachother,too. I thinkthatEngendering Judaismraisessome questionsfor Levitt:Whatis yourview of praxis?How do you pray?How do you marry?Wheredo you belong?Thatis, given the subtletyof your self-identificationand the ambivalenceof your embraceof liberalism,rabbinicJudaism,and feminism,what do you do to be Jewish? And whatdo you teachothersabouthow to be Jewish?How do you respond mechanismof the covenant? to the claim thathalakhahis the structuring I think, too, that Jews and Feminismraises questionsfor Adler: Who are you? What is your history,and how does it relate to your theology andpraxis?On whatgroundsdo you generalizefromyour own undisclosed self-identityto the largercommunityof Jewishmen andwomen?Also, given


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the learnednessandcriticalstanceof yourexpositionof the sources,how does your ambivalencetowardthem express itself? Whatare your fundamental doubtsandhesitanciesaboutthe traditionsandassumptionsuponwhichyour life is based? The dialogue has only begun, here and throughoutthe communityof seriousJewishthinkersat the end of this twentiethcentury. EmoryUniversity Atlanta,Ga.

Review: [untitled] Author(s): Marvin A. Sweeney Source: AJS Review, Vol. 24, No. 1 (1999), pp. 121-123 Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Association for Jewish Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1486524 . Accessed: 15/07/2011 10:56 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 David Marcus. From Balaam to Jonah: Anti-Prophetic Satire in the Hebrew

Bible. BrownJudaicStudies301. Atlanta:ScholarsPress, 1995. xii, 214 pp. Thepurposeof Marcus'sstudyis to examinefournarrativesin theHebrew Bible which appearto be criticalof prophets:Balaamandhis donkey(Num 22:21-35), the boys andthe baldprophetElisha(2 Kings2:23-25), the lying prophetat Beth El (1 Kings 13), and Jonah.In each case, Marcusargues thatthe primarygoal of the narrativeis to employ satirein orderto portray the prophetnegatively.He thereforecontendsthat the four narrativesare examples of anti-propheticsatire. They representa point of view current in the sixth centuryB.C.E. that contrastsearliermiracle-workingprophets or seers with non-miracle-working prophetslike Jeremiahor Ezekiel. They functionas warningsagainstpast (or present)types of authorityfigureswho arechargedwith lying, foolishness,pettiness,andotherbehaviorunbecoming to a prophet. Overall,Marcus'sstudy arises from the relativelyrecent concernover the past two decades or so with interpretingthe Bible as literature.Until the emergenceof such interest,satirehad not been widely recognizedin the Bible. Theprimaryreasonforthis failurewas the generalattitudeof reverence towardsacredscripture,especiallyon the partof Christianexegetes,whichin turnled to the misconceptionthatthe Bible is entirelylackingin humorand thereforedevoidof satire.In orderto lay the groundwork forthe identification of the above-namednarrativesas anti-propheticsatire,Marcusidentifiesthe characteristicsof satire.He statesthat"a text may be identifiedas a satireif it has a targetwhich is the objectof attack,eitherdirectlyor indirectly,and has a preponderanceof the essentialattributesof satire"(p. 9), including"a mixtureof unbelievableelements,""ironies,ridicule,parody,and rhetorical features."These elementsmust not simplybe presentin the text, they must dominateit andconstitutethe essence of the work. Marcusthenturnsto an analysisof eachof the fournarrativesin an effort to characterizethem as satire.Variouselementsin the Balaamnarrativeare designedto make this Arameanseer appearto be ridiculous.He fails to see the angel of God standingin the road,but his donkeysees it and eventually 121

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has to speak to the great seer in orderto informhim of its presence.This is afterthe seer beatsthe donkeythathasjust savedhis life afterrepeatedly attemptingto warn him of the danger.The narrativecontrastsBalaam's behaviorwith thatof Samuel(1 Samuel3) andAbraham(Genesis22) under similarcircumstances,andthereforerepresentsan exampleof anti-prophetic satire. The narrativeconcerningthe prophetwho calls upon bears to maul forty-twoboys who mocked him for his baldness is a satire against the prophetElisha. Among the many indicationsof the prophet'spower, this narrativeis particularlygrotesqueand ironic because the reason for the maulingis so petty and becausethe prophetpresumablyhad the power to silence the boys by less lethalmeans.Why shouldthe nameof God be used by the prophetfor such a purpose? The narrativeconcerningthe lying prophetfromBeth El relateshow an unnamedman of God condemnsthe altarat Beth El by announcingto the Israeliteking Jeroboamben Nebat that King Josiahof Judahwill one day destroy the illegitimateworship site. Althoughthe man of God has been clearly instructedby God not to eat or drink in Beth El, an old prophet informshim thata new revelationindicatesthatit is okayto do so. Whilethe two are eating and drinking,the old prophetreceives a genuinerevelation, and informsthe man of God thathe will die for his disobedience.Afterthe man of God is mauledby a lion, he is buriedat Beth El in the graveof the old prophet.Marcus'sanalysisemphasizesthe gullibilityof the man of God andthe outrightlie of the old prophetfromBeth El. Finally,his analysis of the book of Jonaharguesthat Jonahis made to appearridiculous.Jonahflees upon being commandedby God to condemn Nineveh;he sleeps in the ship while the pagansailorsinvoke God;Jonah's own prayerto God appearsto be motivatedby those of the pagansailors; Jonahhopes for the destructionof Ninevehafterfinallydeliveringhis oracle and grieves for the demise of the qiqayonplant.As in the previouscases, the JonahnarrativetargetsJonahand must be consideredas an exampleof anti-propheticsatire. Withoutquestion,Marcus'sstudydemonstratesthateach of these narratives constitutesan exampleof satire,buthis contentionthatall fourrepresent examplesof anti-propheticsatireappearsto be overly reductionist.Are the prophetsindeed the primarytargetsor concernsin each narrative,or must otherfactorsbe considered? In the case of Balaam,the Arameanseeris clearlysatirized.Nevertheless,

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the full literarycontextindicatesthatthe primarygoal of the narrativeis to demonstrateYHWH'spower to make this renownedpaganprophetspeak whateverYHWHcommandshim to speakand to bringthe people of Israel into the PromisedLanddespitethe presenceof powerfulsettlednations. In the case of Elisha, the literarycontext emphasizesthe dangerous characterof a man who challengesthe powerfulOmridedynastyand,with the backingof God, bringsaboutcoupsd'etatin bothIsraelandAram.He is petty,but the narrativeindicatesthathe is not to be trifledwith. The setting of Beth El must be taken into accountin interpretingthe narrativeconcerningthe lyingprophet.BethEl hada reputationfordeception, dishonesty,and pain in Judeaneyes. It is the site of weepingwhereforeign gods and Rebekah'snurse Deborahwere buried(Gen 35:15); where Israel sinnedandJoshuadied (Judges2; contraJoshua24); whereIsraeldetermined to destroyBenjamin(Judg20:18-35); andwherethe northerntribesof Israel abandonedYHWH and the JerusalemTemple(1 Kings 12-13; 2 Kings 17; N.B., Elishawas on his way to Beth El when the boys tauntedhim). Jonahis hardlyan exemplaryprophet,but he is forcedto wrestlewith the fact thatYHWHhas decidedto spareNineveh,even thoughas a prophet fromthe time of Jeroboamben Joash(2 Kings 14:25)he presumablyknows thatAssyriawill one day destroyhis own country,Israel.It would seem that the book of Jonahparodiesthe prophetin an effortto raise the questionof YHWH'srighteousness(andmercy)in this matter. In sum, Marcus'sstudy certainlypoints to the satiricalnatureof these narratives,but they appearto be concernedwith issues beyond the mere condemnationof theircentralpropheticcharacters. MarvinA. Sweeney Claremont Schoolof Theologyand Claremont Graduate University Calif. Claremont, David Goodblatt. The Monarchic Principle: Studies in Jewish Self-

Governmentin Antiquity.TUibingen: J.C.B. Mohr(Paul Siebeck), 1994. xii, 336 pp. In this work, David Goodblattseeks to provideinsight into the Jewish political traditionof the Second Temple and talmudicperiods. Goodblatt

Review: [untitled] Author(s): Stuart S. Miller Source: AJS Review, Vol. 24, No. 1 (1999), pp. 123-128 Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Association for Jewish Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1486525 . Accessed: 15/07/2011 10:56 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 full literarycontextindicatesthatthe primarygoal of the narrativeis to demonstrateYHWH'spower to make this renownedpaganprophetspeak whateverYHWHcommandshim to speakand to bringthe people of Israel into the PromisedLanddespitethe presenceof powerfulsettlednations. In the case of Elisha, the literarycontext emphasizesthe dangerous characterof a man who challengesthe powerfulOmridedynastyand,with the backingof God, bringsaboutcoupsd'etatin bothIsraelandAram.He is petty,but the narrativeindicatesthathe is not to be trifledwith. The setting of Beth El must be taken into accountin interpretingthe narrativeconcerningthe lyingprophet.BethEl hada reputationfordeception, dishonesty,and pain in Judeaneyes. It is the site of weepingwhereforeign gods and Rebekah'snurse Deborahwere buried(Gen 35:15); where Israel sinnedandJoshuadied (Judges2; contraJoshua24); whereIsraeldetermined to destroyBenjamin(Judg20:18-35); andwherethe northerntribesof Israel abandonedYHWH and the JerusalemTemple(1 Kings 12-13; 2 Kings 17; N.B., Elishawas on his way to Beth El when the boys tauntedhim). Jonahis hardlyan exemplaryprophet,but he is forcedto wrestlewith the fact thatYHWHhas decidedto spareNineveh,even thoughas a prophet fromthe time of Jeroboamben Joash(2 Kings 14:25)he presumablyknows thatAssyriawill one day destroyhis own country,Israel.It would seem that the book of Jonahparodiesthe prophetin an effortto raise the questionof YHWH'srighteousness(andmercy)in this matter. In sum, Marcus'sstudy certainlypoints to the satiricalnatureof these narratives,but they appearto be concernedwith issues beyond the mere condemnationof theircentralpropheticcharacters. MarvinA. Sweeney Claremont Schoolof Theologyand Claremont Graduate University Calif. Claremont, David Goodblatt. The Monarchic Principle: Studies in Jewish Self-

Governmentin Antiquity.TUibingen: J.C.B. Mohr(Paul Siebeck), 1994. xii, 336 pp. In this work, David Goodblattseeks to provideinsight into the Jewish political traditionof the Second Temple and talmudicperiods. Goodblatt

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wishes to ascertainwhich personsand institutionsactuallypossessedpower andtriesto identifythe ideasused to promotetheirauthority. The authoris especiallyinterestedin ideologiesthatsupportedeitherthe restorationof the House of David or priestlyrule. With the "departureof the Davidicdynastyfromthe publicstage,"a priestly"monarchy" emerged. At the same time, anothertendencyexisted,the "diarchicconstitution."The diarchy,as opposedto the monarchy,hadtwo individualssharepower,in this instancethe prince and the priest.This theoryattemptsto balancebiblical notions of royalty with the realities of the Second Templeperiod, when, with few exceptions,the high priests achievedsupremacy.The emergence of the nesi'ut duringtalmudictimes representeda "move from priestlyto lay rule."This relativelylate development,Goodblattargues,was partof a of Jewishcivilizationfroma priestlyto a non-priestly "generaltransformation character,a movewhichwas decisivein thedevelopmentof rabbinicJudaism" in establishingnon-priestly (p. 4). Despitethe role playedby the patriarchate that talmudic sources to Goodblatt tend rule, argues downplaythesignificance of both the patriarchandthe exilarch. Goodblattattemptsto show that the notion of a priestly monarchy, which went beyond the notion of priestly superiorityby promotingthe high priest as the sole ruler,existed betweenthe fourthand firstcenturies B.C.E.Goodblattsharplydisagreeswith the assertionof D. R. Schwartzthat Josephusformulateda notionof a highpriestlyprostasiain orderto promote the existence of Judeaafter 70 C.E.as a religiousnationwithouta state.' Nor was priestlymonarchy,as othershave claimed,a late attemptto justify Hasmoneanrule. Drawing on such diverse sources as the AramaicLevi materialsfromthe CairoGenizahandQumran,Jubilees,andthe Testaments of the TwelvePatriarchs,Goodblattshowsthatthereis considerableevidence for the promotionof the prieststo centerstage of Judeanpoliticallife. So we are not dependenton Hecataeusand Josephusfor the prostasia,which Schwartzpresumesis a Hellenisticinstitutionwith roots in the Diaspora, wherethe Jews wouldhave been able to relateto a statelesshierocracy. Goodblattdoes not regardthe complaintof the delegationbeforePompey in 63 B.C.E. as a rejectionof the Hasmoneancombinationof kingshipand priesthood.Insteadhe sees an appealfor priestlymonarchy.The delegation saw no need for a king because it viewed the high priest as the supreme 1. D. R. Schwartz, "Josephus on the Jewish Constitution and Community,"Scripta Classica Israelica 7 (1983-84): 43-51.

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authority.Withthe exceptionof the Herodianinterlude,"thehigh priestwas the nominalleaderof the nation,andthe priestlyaristocracythe single most dominantforce in Judeansociety"(p. 28). Most interestingis Goodblatt's argumentthatthe Hasmoneansresortedto the title "priestsof the most high God."2 The Hasmoneansmay very well have sharedthe notion of a royal priestwith othersin the ancientNear East, and could easily turnto Genesis 14:18,wherethe figureof Melchizedekprovideda fittingprecedent. The alternativenotion of sharedrule in which the high priest reigns alongsideof the princeis best expressedin Zechariah4. It also appearsin the Testamentsof the TwelvePatriarchs,whereit is presentedbehindthe figures of Levi and Judah.Goodblatteven finds evidence for an "eschatological diarchy"at Qumran.All told, the idea of a diarchywas in the air, as it can be tracedfrom Joshua,Ezra and Nehemiah,Ezekiel, the Testamentof the TwelvePatriarchs,andJubilees.The opponentsof Hasmoneanrulewere not the first to foster the notion; it was alreadywell entrenchedin the Persian period(p. 75). Tobe sure,Goodblattdoes admitthattheadoptionof a diarchic ideologyin the time of the Hasmoneansmay havebeen in oppositionto their buthe assertsthatthe ideawas not leadership,as contendedby A. Hultgaird,3 createdfor this purpose,since it was in existenceearlier. So we areleft with two tendencies,the priestlymonarchyandthe diarchy. Both can be seen, says Goodblatt,as attemptsto come to grips with the biblicalemphasison the House of David in an era in which the high priests hadclearlyrisento power.GoodblattaddressesHultgaird's concernas to why a diarchywould have arisen at a time when the priests indeedruled. The answeris that a diarchy,as opposedto a priestlymonarchy,did not ignore the very real emphasison royaltyin the biblicaltradition;the hope for the restorationof the Davidic line could be securelyprojectedinto the future. Indeed, accordingto Goodblatt,the notion of a diarchypersistedinto the secondcenturyC.E.,when coins provideevidencethatEleazarthe priestand Bar Kosibathe "Nasi"togetherled the revoltagainstRome.He regardsthis as a "deliberatediarchyof princeandpriest." In reality, however, the notion of a priestly monarchy would be supplantedby the patriarchate,which, by the third century,saw itself as descendedfrom the House of David. In orderto show just how innovative 2. See especiallyAssumptionofMoses 6:1. 3. A. Hultgird,L'eschatologiedes Testamentsdes Douze Patriarches,vol. 1 (Uppsala, 1977),pp. 15-45.

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the development of the lay patriarchatewas, Goodblattexamines the evidence for a Sanhedrinand goes to greatlengthsto provethateven prior to 70 C.E.,Palestinelackeda nationalcouncil. Althoughhe admitsthatthe sunedrionbefore which Herodwas triedwhile he was governorof Galilee (Antiquities14:158-184) could have been a nationalcouncil,he downplays its importance.Similarly,he regardsthe boule in Jerusalemthat met in the period leading up to the First Revolt (Antiquities20:11-14; War2: 331) as little more than a municipalauthority.Only the high priesthood constituteda nationallyrecognizedoffice. This situationpersistedafterthe FirstRevolt, when GamalielII and a "consiliumof the patriarch" emerged. This consilium,too, was not a nationalauthority,and the patriarchwould truly emerge as a type of monarchin his own right. A similar situation existed in Babylonia,wherethe exilarchate,also thoughtto be derivedfrom the House of David, would be established. Goodblattdeservescreditfor boldly constructinga theorythat explains the move from royal and priestlyrule to lay/rabbinicauthority.It is here, construct. however,thathe repeatedlyforcestheevidenceto fithis overarching Recently,L. Levinehas cogentlyarguedthatthe "exiles"of the Sanhedrinat BereshitRabbah97 andB. RoshHa-Shanah31a-b cannotbe takenas proofof a Sanhedrinin the talmudicperiod.4Goodblattgoes even further,arguingthat a nationalauthoritydid not exist priorto 70. This is pivotalto his argument thatthe high priestand laterthe nasi functionedas a monarchwith no other competingauthority.However,the sunedrionbeforewhich Herodwas tried andthe leadershipthatmet duringthe FirstRevoltin Jerusalemcouldin fact havehadconsiderablepowers.This is suggestedby theirjurisdiction,in both instances,over mattersin the Galilee, howevereffective or ineffective.As for the laterperiod,Goodblattdoes admitthata patriarchalconsiliumcould have existed alongsidethe patriarch.Such a consilium,he says, wouldhave derivedits authorityfromthe patriarch.Maybeso, but this possibilityneeds to be exploredfurther. Goodblattcontinuesthis line of thoughtwhen he suggeststhat Genesis Rabbah97 and B. Rosh Ha-Shanah31a-b reflectan anti-patriarchal polemic of the rabbis.Accordingly,the rabbiswere promotingtheir own councils, whichexistedin theverytownsto whichthe Sanhedrinwas exiled.Therabbis probablywere doingjust that,but not out of oppositionto the patriarchate. 4. L. I. Levine, TheRabbinicClass of RomanPalestinein LateAntiquity(Jerusalem: Yad IzhakBen-Zvi, 1989),pp. 76-83.

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The rabbis,who regardedthe nasi as one of theirown, wouldnaturallyhave maintainedcourts in the towns in which he resided,and these very likely were theirmost importantjudicialbodies. The nasi may at times have been in conflictwith the hakhamim,but as L. Levinehas recentlyshown,he also "workedin tandemwith them."'P. Sanhedrin1, 19a, which Goodblattdoes not discuss,revealsthe conflictbetweenthe nasi andthe rabbisovertheright to makejudicial appointments(minnui).The same source,however,reveals just how intertwinedthe nesi'utandthe rabbiswere. Goodblattbelieves that the transitionfrom priestly to lay monarchy "accelerated"the emergenceof lay Torahauthorities,i.e., the rabbis:"The appointmentof a leaderwho himselfcamefroma familyof lay Torahexperts [i.e., the nasi] musthave contributedto the eventualtriumphof the principle thatpriestlyaffiliationwas irrelevantfor Torahauthority" (p. 230). Goodblatt actuallygives the Romanscredit for this shift to a lay monarchy,since he believesthatthey wereresponsiblefor elevatingGamalielII to thepositionof patriarchin the firstplace. GamalielII, however,mustalreadyhaveachieved considerablerecognitionas a lay Torahscholar(Goodblattconteststhis) and leader before his promotion.To be sure, the appointmentof Gamalielas nasi lent prestigeto the rabbis,but how much his appointmentaffectedthe acceptanceof lay Torahscholars,a processthatGoodblattadmitswas already of Gamalielmayhavehelped underway,is hardto say.Whilethe appointment this processreachits culmination,it seems morelikely thatthe realityof the destroyedTemplehadmoreto do with it thananythingelse. Goodblattcontendsthat the rabbis downplayedthe importanceof the andthe exilarchate.Withregardto the exilarchate,he is particupatriarchate and larlyconvincing.Palestiniansources,however,alludeto the patriarchate to individualnesi'im much more frequently,and includethem in rabbinic circles in a morecompellingway.Accordingto Goodblatt,patriarchal claims of royaltyand Davidic heritagewere "filtered"by the rabbis.While this at times does appearto be true, we can still sense a tension (as opposed to polemic) with the rabbinicrealizationthat the nasi was in fact somebody to be respectedbecause of his position. GoodblattrightlyproducesEsther Rabbah4:4 as evidencethatthe nasi thoughtof himselfas a king.6A closer reading,however,revealsthatthis latemidrashis derivedfromP. Shabbat12, 5. See L. Levine,"TheStatusof the Patriarchin the ThirdandFourthCenturies:Sources andMethodology," Journalof JewishStudies47, no. 1 (1996): 11 f. 6. Goodblatt,on p. 142,wronglyidentifiesthe passageas RuthRabbah4:4.

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13c (= P. Horayot3, 48c). The Yerushalmidiscussesthe rivalrythatexisted betweenvariouselementsof society,includingsages, who wishedto appear firstin the salutatiobeforethe nasi. Thepointof thesugia is thateven theam ha-aretzwho acquiresknowledgeof Torahdeservesprecedenceover a king or a high priest.7It is knowledgeof Torahthatempowers.Goodblattcould have used this passageto furthersupporthis argumentthatthe sages rivaled the patriarchate (andpriests)for authority.At the sametime,thispassageand othersmay revealnothingmorethanthe evidentesteemthe rabbisassigned to the office of the nasi. Thisis a bookthatscholarswill wantto consultfrequently.Unfortunately, the authorhas not made this easy to do. Thereis no bibliography,and the works cross-referencedin the extensive notes are difficultto trackdown. More importantly,the book desperatelyneeds a final chapterto tie together the manyargumentsandconclusionsproffered. Still, Goodblatthas writtena penetratingstudyof Jewishself-government in antiquity.He is to be commendedfor his skillfulandexhaustivetreatment of traditionsthatshed light on theoriesof powerduringthe talmudicperiod and for his always perceptivereadingof the sources.A study addressing this subject has been long overdue.Goodblatt'sbold foray into this area will assuredlypromotefurtherinterestand discussion,andwill serve as the startingpoint of any futuremonographdevotedto the subject. StuartS. Miller at Storrs of Connecticut University Storrs,Conn. Leon J. Weinberger. Jewish Hymnography: A Literary History. London:

LittmanLibraryof JewishCivilization,1998. xxiii, 492 pp. Jewishpostbiblicalliturgicalpoetry(piyyut)in a rangeof genresfor all liturgicalsituationshas been composedever since the late rabbinicperiod. The publicationand analysisof the voluminousmaterialsdiscoveredin the Cairo genizah have enabled scholars to understandmuch more fully the developmentof these complex liturgicaland literarytraditions.In the last 7. For an in-depthdiscussionof the passage and its parallels,see S. S. Miller,"Those Cantankerous SepphoreansRevisited,"in Ki BaruchHu: AncientNear Eastern,Biblical,and JudaicStudiesin HonorofBaruchA. Levine,ed. R. Chazan,W.W.Hallo,andL. H. Schiffman (Warsaw,Ind.:Eisenbrauns,1999),pp. 550-57.

Review: [untitled] Author(s): Ruth Langer Source: AJS Review, Vol. 24, No. 1 (1999), pp. 128-130 Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Association for Jewish Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1486526 . Accessed: 15/07/2011 10:56 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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13c (= P. Horayot3, 48c). The Yerushalmidiscussesthe rivalrythatexisted betweenvariouselementsof society,includingsages, who wishedto appear firstin the salutatiobeforethe nasi. Thepointof thesugia is thateven theam ha-aretzwho acquiresknowledgeof Torahdeservesprecedenceover a king or a high priest.7It is knowledgeof Torahthatempowers.Goodblattcould have used this passageto furthersupporthis argumentthatthe sages rivaled the patriarchate (andpriests)for authority.At the sametime,thispassageand othersmay revealnothingmorethanthe evidentesteemthe rabbisassigned to the office of the nasi. Thisis a bookthatscholarswill wantto consultfrequently.Unfortunately, the authorhas not made this easy to do. Thereis no bibliography,and the works cross-referencedin the extensive notes are difficultto trackdown. More importantly,the book desperatelyneeds a final chapterto tie together the manyargumentsandconclusionsproffered. Still, Goodblatthas writtena penetratingstudyof Jewishself-government in antiquity.He is to be commendedfor his skillfulandexhaustivetreatment of traditionsthatshed light on theoriesof powerduringthe talmudicperiod and for his always perceptivereadingof the sources.A study addressing this subject has been long overdue.Goodblatt'sbold foray into this area will assuredlypromotefurtherinterestand discussion,andwill serve as the startingpoint of any futuremonographdevotedto the subject. StuartS. Miller at Storrs of Connecticut University Storrs,Conn. Leon J. Weinberger. Jewish Hymnography: A Literary History. London:

LittmanLibraryof JewishCivilization,1998. xxiii, 492 pp. Jewishpostbiblicalliturgicalpoetry(piyyut)in a rangeof genresfor all liturgicalsituationshas been composedever since the late rabbinicperiod. The publicationand analysisof the voluminousmaterialsdiscoveredin the Cairo genizah have enabled scholars to understandmuch more fully the developmentof these complex liturgicaland literarytraditions.In the last 7. For an in-depthdiscussionof the passage and its parallels,see S. S. Miller,"Those Cantankerous SepphoreansRevisited,"in Ki BaruchHu: AncientNear Eastern,Biblical,and JudaicStudiesin HonorofBaruchA. Levine,ed. R. Chazan,W.W.Hallo,andL. H. Schiffman (Warsaw,Ind.:Eisenbrauns,1999),pp. 550-57.

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century,and especially in recentdecades,a libraryof books on the subject has appeared,includingcriticaleditionsof the oeuvresof individualpoets, manyof whom were previouslyunknownor knownonly by name,andmore comprehensivevolumes analyzing literarydevelopmentsor specific rites. Little of this is accessible to those lacking a sophisticatedknowledge of Hebrew. Leon Weinberger's Jewish Hymnography: A Literary History addresses

this lacunawith an English discussionof the developmentof piyyut from its origins in late antiquitythroughthe late medievalworld. Althoughhe admitsthat true comprehensivenessis impossible(p. 3), Weinbergercovers a broaderrange of poetic traditionshere than did Ezra Fleischerin his equally massive Shirat Hakodesh Ha 'IvritBiyemei Habeinayim (Keter, 1975),

dedicatingfullyhalfhis bookto the Romaniotepoetictraditions(includingthe Karaites).His first 192 pages mostlyabbreviateFleischer'sdense486 pages, dedicatingchaptersto the preclassical,classical, and postclassicalperiods of hymnographyin Eretz Yisrael (and Babylonia),the Spanishtraditions, and the traditionsof Italy, Ashkenaz,and England.Like Fleischerbefore him, Weinbergerdoes not look beyond the countriesnorth and east of the Mediterranean, a glaring omission given his extensivetreatmentof the Greco-Romanioteritesandrecentpublicationson the poetryof NorthAfrica and Yemen. WeinbergerpreservesFleischer'sbasic organizationof topics,addressing issues of language,style, and genre in each period. Hebrewtexts appear issues like rhyme, (in transliteration) only when he addressesuntranslatable or alliteration. meter, Otherwise,poetry appearsonly in English. Unlike Fleischer,he includesbrief but more directdiscussionsof select individual payyetanim,includingexcerptsfromtheirpoetry. To organizeand condense such a vast and complex topic successfully requiresthe careful crafting of a formulato structureevery chapterand provide consistent criteriafor the inclusion or exclusion of the available information.This allows interestedreadersto constructfor themselvessome of the comparativeconnectionsthatwould confusethe narrativestructureof thebook.It alsopreventstheauthor'sowninterestsfromintrudingexcessively into the survey and allows the depth of any particulardiscussionto signal to the readerthe importanceof the subject.While Weinbergerdoes have a basic formula,it is not alwayssuccessful,andhis deviationsfromit areoften misleading or lead to redundancies.Several times he discusses a specific point of contentor poetics twice, once as the poet's contributionand once as

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a characteristicof the period.Perhapsto avoid this redundancy,Weinberger omits all direct discussionof the internationallyinfluentialSephardipoets. Mostof the discussionof Yannaiactuallyappearsin the sectiontitled"Qillir," whichdiscussesclassicalpoeticsin general,althougha postclassicalexample creepsin. Yannai,Qillir,andSa'adyaharethe only classicalandpostclassical poets to meritindividualattention;in contrast,the ItalianAnanb. Marino,of whose work only a single poem is known,and numerousRomaniotepoets merittheir own sections. "New Genres"appearsas a headingonly for the postclassicalperiod;the significantinnovationsof othereras are embedded in otherdiscussions. Moresignificantly,Weinbergernevergives the uninitiatedreadera clear sense of howpiyyutworksas liturgyor literature;he illustrateswith extracts andrarelypresentsfull compositions.His illustrationsalso disproportionately voice anti-Christian (or anti-Muslim)polemic.Some literarydevicesarefirst mentionedin passagespertainingto matterscoming generationsaftertheir origins,and his historyof syllabicmeteris inconsistent(pp. 150 and 341). His treatmentsof the use of rabbinicliteratureand legend by the poets and manyof his historicaldiscussionsareproblematicor outdated. The most obviousorganizationalpeculiarityof this book,its emphasison the Romanioterites, is also its greateststrengthand its uniquecontribution. Weinberger'sown scholarly contributionhas been the publicationof the stylisticallymore derivativepoetry of these rites. The second half of the book is a rich summaryof his findings,with discussionsandexamplesmuch more extensive than those in the first half of the book. Indeed,while he totallyignoresregionalrites in the rest of the Jewishworldandpays limited attentionto their historicaldevelopment,this section preservesdetail on severaldiscretesub-ritesand time periods.The chapteron Karaitepiyyutis also significant. The challengeof composinga comprehensiveEnglishhistoryof piyyut thatdoes justice to Hebrewpoetics is formidable.The Hebrewreaderis still better served by Fleischerand his Israeli colleagues. While Weinberger's volumewill aid the Englishreader,the novicewill findit confusing.Its value lies in its treatmentof the Romanioterites. RuthLanger BostonCollege Chestnut Hill,Mass.

Review: [untitled] Author(s): John H. Corbett Source: AJS Review, Vol. 24, No. 1 (1999), pp. 131-138 Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Association for Jewish Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1486527 . Accessed: 15/07/2011 10:56 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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Hayim Lapin.Early RabbinicCivil Law and the Social Historyof Roman Galilee:A StudyofMishnahTractateBaba'Mesi'a'. Atlanta:ScholarsPress, 1995. x, 368 pp. This book is a masterworkof learningand eloquence, setting a new standardfor the historicaland literarystudyof the Mishnah.Lapinoffers a wealth of learningin the substantivediscussionof his subject,but it is his methodologythathas the most to teach us. The tractateBabaMesi'a offers manyvivid vignettesof social andeconomicrelationsin the worldit purports to describe;this treasureis multiplieda hundredfoldin the author'slearned notes and perceptivediscussions.And this despitethe fact thatthe promise held out by the title remainsunfulfilled:"A scholarwho expecteda detailed discussionof the social historyof RomanGalileewill havebeendisappointed by this volume"(p. 237). No completemapof wealthandpowerin theJewishcommunityis offered the tractate--orcan be extractedfrom it by all the critic'scunning.The by reasonsfor this are perhapssurprising.The text, of course,is the productof a religiouselite, but also of a relativelyprivilegedclass of propertiedhouseholders whose many concerns-agriculturalproduction,large-scaletrade, banking,taxes, business transactions-reflectvery accuratelythe common concerns of prosperoussmall-townpeople in the Roman world. What is by no means apparentin this documentis the social world of the villagers who sharedtheirlives with thesethrivinghouseholders.Evenfellow Jewsfor whomtherabbis'opinionswerenormativearemoreorless missinghere--and sectariangroupsare completelyabsent.But the tractatedoes offer a rather of life surprising,detailedconfirmationof ournewly emergingunderstanding in the hinterlandof the Romanworldduringthe firstcenturiesof the common era. The wealth that Lapin displays in this book is diverse. First, there is the annotatedtext and translationof the Mishnahtractate,which appearsas it is not Lapin's AppendixI. Thebasis of this text is the Kaufmanmanuscript; intentionto supply a critical edition, but the most importantvariantsare presentedand criticallyassessed.The translationis fluentand careful-and very readabledespitethe translator'scommitmentto follow closely the "flow of the rhetoricof the Hebrewtext and to highlightits complexity"(p. 243). The second appendixdiscusses the relationshipof Baba Mesi'a to other "Tannaitic"corpora.Much of this lattermaterial,so Lapin concludes (p. 329), is clearlysecondaryto Baba Mesi'a and influencedby it; the halakhic

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midrashimespeciallyshow such influences.In othercases, most notablythe Tosepta,it remainspossible that the influenceran the otherway; at least, the Toseptaatteststo the existenceof "independentformulationsof similar materialwhose existencecannotbe attributedsolely to borrowingfromthe Mishnah"(p. 329). Whatwe learnfromLapinaboutthe literaryandsocial contextin which the Mishnahwas producedstronglysuggests"awiderintellectualcommunity, in which theremay well have been considerablymorematerialthanthatto whichwe have access"(p. 329). But the effect of this observationis to draw our attentionback to the processthattransformedthese traditionalmaterials into the Tradition.The studyof the social, literary,andredactionalstructures is the centralconcernof andprocessesthatbroughtaboutthis transformation Lapin'swork. He begins with the social study of the Mishnah.Defining terms and establishingthe social context of the Mishnahare his first concerns(chap. 1, pp. 2-19). We have little evidence for the wider authorityof rabbinic law; mishnaictexts expressthe concernsof the rabbiswho producedthem. Beyond that, what can we say? The texts reveal themselvesas partsof a legal compendiumin which m. Baba Mesi'a had its place as the second of threeprivate-lawtractatesconcernedwith damages,contracts,andproperty; m. Baba Mesi'a itself ostensiblypresents"rulesfor lost objects, deposits, sale, loans of variouskinds, hiringand leasing of laborand property,and conflictsarisingbetweenneighbours"(p. 4). Likethe Digest of Justinian,the Mishnahis an anthologyof diverselegal opinionsarrangedby topic;unlike the Digest, the individualauthorityof the mishnaiceditorsis deliberately effaced,reflectingthe "oralsetting"of the originaltraditions,or the concern of the editorsto clothethemin the rhetoricalguise of orality. The historicalbackgroundof the rabbinicmovementis similarlyelusive. Lapinwisely eschews the task of narrativereconstruction,recognizingthe risk of "inventinghistories out of the narrativeintentionsand choices of Rabbinicnarrators,tradentsand redactors"(p. 6). Muchis known,however, aboutthe historicalsettingof RomanPalestine,andLapinhas takenaccount of the best of recentscholarship(MillarandIsaac,for instance),chartingthe evolutionfromclientkingdomto garrisonedprovince,fromthe experienceof of the Severan repeatedrebellionsanddefeatsto a role as valuedcollaborator emperors.Certainlyby the early years of the third centuryJews emerge as agents of the imperialpeace in controlof the communitiesof Galilee. The remainsof numeroussynagoguesare tangiblematerialevidencefor the

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social dominanceof the "urbanelite"thatbuiltandcontrolledthem;andit is these urbanelites who shapedandcontrolledwhatLapincalls the "Rabbinic movement." "Nevertheless,outsideof Rabbinicsourceswe knowpreciouslittle about Rabbis"(p. 13). The patriarchhimselfis not attestedin secularsourcesuntil well after the establishmentof the Christianempirein the fourthcentury. The Christianperspectivesof Justinand Origenadd little to ourknowledge of the originand historyof the rabbinicmovement,thoughthey attestto the social prominenceof rabbisin the Palestiniansociety of theirtime. And this picturewell confirmswhat little we can infer from rabbinictexts regarding the wealthand social authorityof the rabbis. Still, it remainsunlikely that the rabbis"servedas the governingbody of Roman Palestine"(p. 18). The rabbisof the mishnaicperiodresemble the many other "figuresin the ancient Greco-Romanworld who served as judges, miracle workersand arbitersof public opinion"(p. 19 and n. 49 with appropriateallusion to the classic essay of Peter Brown on the rise and functionof the holy man in Late Antiquity).Well-to-dopropertied householders,communityleaders,and arbitrators--suchwere no doubtthe rabbisof Roman Palestine.As definedby their social functions,however, these rabbismore closely resemblethe holy men and women of (Christian) LateAntiquity,with whom they sharea varietyof charismaticroles.' The textsthatattestto the social functionsof the rabbisareat once literary artifactsand historicaldocuments.Only a sophisticatedmethodologywhich accordsequal importanceto both aspectscan hope to understandhow these texts satisfy the formalrequirementsof their genre(s)while reflectingand attestingto the contingenthistoricalprocessesthatshapedtheirformationin conformitywith the formalparadigm(cf. pp. 19-20, whereLapineloquently articulatesthe historicalimportanceof tracingthe boundariesof the world in rabbinictexts). "constructed" As Lapin notes, the "construction"of rabbinicliteratureand society 1. Lapin's imaginativeinsight and maturejudgmentare well exemplifiedin his brief discussionof the everpopularHoniha-Ma'agel(pp.6-7, n. 15),whosecharismatic rain-making causedsuchdiscomfortto his contemporaries. At leasttheydidnotmakethemistakecommitted by most modemhistoriansof denyinghis rain-making.As it happens,Josephusindependently atteststo the rain-makingof a certainOnias in the first centuryB.C.E.,but if Honi was not successful in bringingdown the rain,what is the point of his story and what its "historical kernel"?This discussionreveals the hand of a truly gifted phenomenologistof religion,an approachmorehonoredthanemulated.

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is a task inherited,on the one hand, from ancient Judaismand closely allied, on the other,to the politicaland intellectualprojectsof othermodem Westernacademicmovements,suchas "orientalism" (pp.20-21). Thevarious modem scholars have been constructionsof ancient Judaismshaped by made to serve the needs of Christianpolemic or conservativeJewish selfunderstanding.More recent researchhas brokenwith these early-modem approachesand focused insteadon "methodologicalstudies exploringand rethinkingthe compositionaland redactionalstrategiesthat producedthe Rabbinic texts" (and, by extension, has also focused on their historical circumstances;see p. 22). Centralto this more recent researchis the work of Jacob Neusner, of form and redactionalcriticismfromNew with its inspiredappropriation and symbolistmodels fromsocial Testamentscholarshipand of structuralist Here shows Lapin again anthropology. good judgment:Neusner'semphasis of eachseparaterabbinicworkrepresentsa usefuladvance, on the "argument" even if his sense of what constitutesthatargumentis often unbalanced,and he often "naivelyignoresthe problemsof the indeterminacy andmultiplicity of meaning"(p. 25). Emphasizingthe unity of a documentcan also lead to a devaluationof the redactionalprocess and a neglect of the social matrix.NonethelessNeusner'smethodologyremainsthe most useful guide (as exemplifiedin the "Historyof MishnaicLaw"series).Lapinthuschooses BabaMesi'a as his focus. He views the text criticallyas a "literaryartifactof latesecondandearlythirdcenturyRomanGalilee"(p. 25). Andhe compelsit to revealwhatthe Mishnah"betraysaboutits own composition"(ibid.),while respectingthe complexityof the Mishnahas a text (followingthe examples of EpsteinandHalivnibutin a morefocusedandsubtleway). Excludedfrom the outset is the option of takingmaterialattributedto individualrabbisas the words of these sages; rather,these attributionsare rhetoricalstructures arisingin the courseof literaryproduction. This being so, what can be said about the Mishnahas a historical document?Breakinghere with Neusner'sapproach,Lapinattemptsto deal seriously with the historicalprocesses that shaped the Mishnahand are reflectedtherein:the interestsof priests,scribes,and householdersmust be situatedwithintheirhistoricalcontexts,not left as abstractionsor dealtwith on the basis of "simplistichistoricalassumptions"(p. 29). In the "agrarian world of Roman Galilee"(p. 29) these texts can be situatednot as some abstract"law" but as a reflectionof legal systems that are portrayedas operatingwithinthe "fictionalworld"of the text. Some aspectsof this world

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areself-evident:thepredominanceof adultmalehouseholders,orthe function of marketsand bankersas a system servingtheirinterests.Otheraspectsare how to define"Israel"in thiscontext,how to relatetherabbis less transparent: to the landedelites of such concernto the text, how far down the social and economicspectrumrabbinicnotionsextended.The rhetoricof these texts is notablyinclusive-but is it credible? In any case, Lapin'sstudymustacknowledgemanylimits.Not thatlittle is known about Roman Galilee, but the relationshipbetween the Galilean worldrevealedby recentscholarshipandthe imaginativeworldof thesetexts remainsmost uncertain.Their "constructionof knowledge"remainsto be associatedwith contemporary"relationsof power"--notleast betweenthe Greco-Romanelite and a whole range of indigenouscultures/communities in the ancient Near East. Here is furtherevidence of Lapin'sinsight and judgment:his exercise is resolutelyhistorical--theimaginativeworldof the texts is assumedto have some relationshipto a larger"historicalworld."The potentialrewardsare great:the historyof Judaismis "de-centred"but the studyreveals"thatwhich is uniquein Jewishcivilizationsas well"(p. 34). Lapin'sfirsttask is to identifyand characterizethe sourcesthatunderly the tractateBabaMesi'a. But his primaryfocus is on the redactionalprocess: how sourcesarewoven togetherin the Mishnahtext--often not smoothly,so thatthe weaving process is apparentin the disjunctures;how some sources circulatedmore widely and were reused in a varietyof contexts;how we can identify"strategiesfor organizingandpresentingmaterialthatpreceded the final redactionof the tractate"(p. 115);and how sourcematerialswere adaptedto theirpresentfunctionin the text. A separatebut closely related issue concerns "the significanceand utility of the traditionsattributedto individuals"(p. 116). If we understandthe redactionalprocess aright,we will recognizethat core traditionshavebeenratherconservativelypreservedin ourtext although freely organized,glossed, and corrected.Unfortunately,much less can be said aboutthe sourcesthemselves:how they were shapedin variousschools of rabbinicthought,how they were formulatedor organized.The purposeof the redactionalprocess is quiteclear.It was a processof social construction designedto centralizeand institutionalizethe rabbinicmovement. In the worldthusconstructed,concludesLapin(p. 117),two thingsstand out: the storiesall involve rabbis,and they assumethatpracticeis at issue, not correctopinion.How a rabbitreatshis workersandtenantsis offered"as evidencefor how the worldshouldbe run"(p. 117).Thebalanceof the book

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is devotedto explicatingthe economicinstitutionsand social relationships with which the text is concemed--the business of well-to-do rabbis and householders.How many daily workersand tenantswould see their lives reflectedin this text is anotherquestionaltogether. Threeeconomicand social institutionsconstitutea primaryfocus of the book:money,markets,andbanks.The text reflectsthe use of a standardized system of coinage, in which, however,the coins could vary in value with respectto one another(a familiarfacet of the Romanprovincialeconomy). A distinctionwas commonlymadebetween"money"and"commodity," but the rabbisunderstoodvery well the trade in futures.More strikingis the picturethat emergesof the nonmonetaryeconomy:the Mishnahcommonly presupposesthatagriculturalworkersare,at leastpartially,paid in kind,and thatagriculturalleases generallydo not involve the paymentof cash, while othershave "a greateruse for money as well as greatermeans for gaining wealthin the formof coin"(p. 134). Needless to say, as well-to-dohouseholdersthe rabbis,for the most part, sharethe perspectiveof the monetarizedeconomy.And the marketis also all-importantin their world with its omnipresentmiddle-men:direct sale from producerto consumeris conspicuouslyabsent(p. 145). And even if marketprofessionalsare not presupposedin every narrative,the scale of the transactionscommonlyadduceddoes not reflecta worldof small sellers (cf. p. 147: "Rabbisare concernedwith smallfarmersandmarketsprimarily when questionsof ritualare raised").Lapineven suggeststhat the people "aboutwhomthe rulesof mBabaMesi'a speak"werenotthemselvesdirectly dependenton the produceof fields; they boughttheirfood in marketsand storedtheirwealthas money (p. 147). Banks and bankersare common featuresof the mishnaicworld. Their activitieswerecomparableto thoseof otherbanksin the Greco-Roman world from the of at But bankers are small-scale (apart lending money interest). business people, more comparableto money changersand marketsellers; we shouldnot imagineancientbankingas a powerfulinstitutioncontrolling assets on a large scale, but as somethingthat served as a convenienceto "retail"customers. Economicand social relationshipsrevealthe dynamicdimensionof this world. Consistentlyemphasizedhere is the social equalityof the partners to the relationships:finder and loser, placer and receiver of a deposit, buyer and seller, lender and borrower,laborerand employer,lessor and lessee. Throughout,an agrarianeconomyis presupposed;its naturalrhythms

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condition most actions here. The Mishnahalso presupposesa consistent institutionalframeworkfor economic transactions.It is more difficultto decide how comprehensivethat frameworkwas. In any case our text seems to assumethathouseholders,not bankers,controlthe economicsystemas the sourceof loans, the holdersof substantiallandedproperty. All this is consistentwiththe worldviewthatemergesfromGreco-Roman documentsand Romanjuristic texts. "Whatis peculiarto the Mishnah. . is the way in which rules concerningmoney and contractsare utilizedto articulatethe boundariesof a Jewishsociety"(p. 234). And this community is imaginedas an egalitarianone, which possiblyexplainsthe neglectin the mishnaictext of trulydependentlaboror long-termtenancy,commonfeatures of the rabbinicworld,as far as we canjudge. Hereis revealedthe centralparadoxof our subject-the tensionbetween the "consistentattentionto the concernsof wealthierownersof propertyand statusegalitarianism" (p. 234). Thistensionis well expressedin a storyabout R. Yohananb. Mattya(M 7:1): becausehis workersare entitledto nothing but the best food as fellow Israelites,the rabbiinsiststhatthe laborcontract shouldstipulatewhatthey will receive,only the breadandbeanscommonto agriculturalworkers! Lapin'sconclusionsareconsistentwith this picture.Givenits redactional history,ourtext cannotbe understoodas a " 'handbook'for landholderswho wish to proceedaccordingto God's law" (p. 237). Rather,it was produced by the rabbiniccommunityfor its own specialistaudience.Purportingto describethe structuresand functioningof the society that is its imagined context,the text propagandizesfor its own worldview,as suchtexts arewont to do. And its intendedaudienceseems to consist of wealthyhouseholders, propertyownersfor the mostpart.A high standardis prescribed;it is not only explicitlyusuriousloans that are prohibitedbut even those loans for which the borrowerprovides"gifts"in moneyor kind."Herethe laws of usuryseem to be constructedto avoid systemsof patronagebasedon wealthandpower" (p. 239). But the text avoids truly dependentrelationships,such as bound tenancy.All Israelitesareequal,butsocial andeconomicinequalitiesmustbe accepted--whichis anotherway of sayingthatthe rabbissanctioneda set of unequalrelationshipsbetweenrich and poor,markingit with the image of a theoreticalegalitarianism.This conclusionis absolutelyconsistentwith what we knowindependentlyof the socialrole andfunctioningof small-townelites in the Romanworld, as Lapinrightlyobserves.And yet it is this aspiration towardan egalitarianIsraelthatgives the rabbinicworldviewits distinctive

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identity,the more so in a world that was otherwiseso deeply divided on ethnic,religious,and economiclines. Lapin'swork standsout as articulateandinsightful.Moreexpertreaders will judge for themselves his mastery of the rabbinicsources. His sure of a wide rangeof Greco-Romansourcesandhis suregraspof understanding modeminterpretivescholarshipdistinguishhimas thepeerof thebest among contemporaryscholars.And yet what is most distinctivein his contribution of the rabbinicworldis Lapin'ssense of how to increasingourunderstanding the authors,andmoreexplicitlythe redactors,of thistextworkedto construct the worldas they wished it to be, by constructingthis text in whichall Israel standforthas equalswhateverthe circumstancesof theirsocial situation. JohnH. Corbett of Toronto at Scarborough University Ont. Scarborough, Amnon Linder,ed. and trans. TheJews in the Legal Sourcesof the Early MiddleAges. Detroit:WayneStateUniversityPress, 1998. 717 pp. Amnon Linder,professorof medieval history in Jerusalem'sHebrew University,was the editorof TheJews in RomanImperialLegislation(1987). The volume underreview is a sequel that bringsthis importantprojectto the late twelfth centuryin regardto some text genres. Althoughmany of the texts are alreadyavailablein English translation,Linderhas done an immense service to those who teach courseson the historyof the Jews in the medieval West and in the ByzantineEmpireby bringingthe material togetherin a single volume, executing translationsof items that had not previouslybeen available,includingthe originalGreekand Latintexts for those who might use them in advancedcourses,and providinga useful if brief introductionto each selection.Thus,the observationsbelow shouldbe seen not as diminishingthe value of Linder'scontributionbut merely as suggestions for the improvementof what likely will be a needed second editionof a workthatis sureto becomean essentialteachingtext. Specialistsin WesternEuropeanearlymedievalhistorygenerallybegin their studies duringthe last centuryof the Roman Empireand end with the dissolutionof the CarolingianEmpirein the laterninthand early tenth centuries.This is particularlyrelevantto the study of law because during

Review: [untitled] Author(s): Bernard S. Bachrach Source: AJS Review, Vol. 24, No. 1 (1999), pp. 138-140 Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Association for Jewish Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1486528 . Accessed: 15/07/2011 10:56 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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identity,the more so in a world that was otherwiseso deeply divided on ethnic,religious,and economiclines. Lapin'swork standsout as articulateandinsightful.Moreexpertreaders will judge for themselves his mastery of the rabbinicsources. His sure of a wide rangeof Greco-Romansourcesandhis suregraspof understanding modeminterpretivescholarshipdistinguishhimas thepeerof thebest among contemporaryscholars.And yet what is most distinctivein his contribution of the rabbinicworldis Lapin'ssense of how to increasingourunderstanding the authors,andmoreexplicitlythe redactors,of thistextworkedto construct the worldas they wished it to be, by constructingthis text in whichall Israel standforthas equalswhateverthe circumstancesof theirsocial situation. JohnH. Corbett of Toronto at Scarborough University Ont. Scarborough, Amnon Linder,ed. and trans. TheJews in the Legal Sourcesof the Early MiddleAges. Detroit:WayneStateUniversityPress, 1998. 717 pp. Amnon Linder,professorof medieval history in Jerusalem'sHebrew University,was the editorof TheJews in RomanImperialLegislation(1987). The volume underreview is a sequel that bringsthis importantprojectto the late twelfth centuryin regardto some text genres. Althoughmany of the texts are alreadyavailablein English translation,Linderhas done an immense service to those who teach courseson the historyof the Jews in the medieval West and in the ByzantineEmpireby bringingthe material togetherin a single volume, executing translationsof items that had not previouslybeen available,includingthe originalGreekand Latintexts for those who might use them in advancedcourses,and providinga useful if brief introductionto each selection.Thus,the observationsbelow shouldbe seen not as diminishingthe value of Linder'scontributionbut merely as suggestions for the improvementof what likely will be a needed second editionof a workthatis sureto becomean essentialteachingtext. Specialistsin WesternEuropeanearlymedievalhistorygenerallybegin their studies duringthe last centuryof the Roman Empireand end with the dissolutionof the CarolingianEmpirein the laterninthand early tenth centuries.This is particularlyrelevantto the study of law because during

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the period adumbratedabove, personalityof the law dominated.The postCarolingianera saw the developmentof territorialityof the law. Linder's periodizationis unhelpfulbecauseJews continuedto be regardedas Romani, i.e. they lived under the lex Romanorumin the early medieval RomanoGermanicsuccessor states of the empire. We know these as the regna of groups such as the Burgundians,Visigoths, and Lombards,and their laws are known as the Lex Burgundionum, the Lex Visigothorum, and the Lex Langobardorum. However,as Romanithe Jews continuedto enjoy the specialprivilege,given themby the empire,of livingunderthe LexJudeorum in regardto mattersthatconcernedJews alone.Becauseof the persistenceof personalityof the law throughoutthe earlyMiddleAges, therewas a need for legislationthatwouldmakeit possibleto effectlegal interactionsbetween partieswho lived underdifferentleges. For example,therewas legislation thatenableda Saxon to deal with a Frankor a Gothto deal with a Roman. In regardto those who lived underthe LexJudeorum,scholarstraditionally have come to call this legislation"Jewrylaw." Linderleaveshis readersignorantof thisrathercomplicated Unfortunately, medieval situation. Moreover,he does not seem to realize that the early countiesand duchiesthatemergedduringthe post-Carolingian era were, for all intents and purposes,autonomousstates in which local territoriallaw was very rapidly developed and displacedpersonalityof the law. Linder misleadinglylabels this locally based territoriallaw as "customarylaw" and mistakenlyobserves that it is "characterized by oral transmissionand tens of thousands of procedure"(p. 14). Rather, survivingtenth-andeleventhacta for centuryjuridical testify, example,to a vast corpusof propertylaw and to well-establishedlegal proceduresthatindicateboth developmentand the syncretismof the variousabove-mentionedleges. The greatimportance of these changes for Jews is obvious. They succeededin maintainingtheir personallaw in the new conditionsand thushighlightedtheiralien identity; i.e., they were no longermerelyone of the gentilepeoples. A strictconstructionof Jewrylaw shouldbe limitedto laws thatdictate how a Jew must behave in specific contexts.Thus, most of the legislation by earlymedievalchurchbodies is not properJewrylaw becauseit dictates the behaviorof Christians,not of Jews. See, for example,the penancethat reads,"If any Christianwomanshould... willinglyfornicate[mistranslated as "commitadultery"]with them [Jews], she shall be separatedfrom the Churchfor a whole year"(p. 602). This is not Jewrylaw, althoughit may indicate somethingabout a local behaviorthat is underattackby church

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authorities.In a similarvein, Linderincludesnumeroustexts suchas Charles theBald'sletter(p. 367), whichindicatesthatthekingis usinga messengeron royalbusinesswho is a Jew.Withoutcommentarythis letterhas no juridical significanceregardingJews. Although many texts that are not properJewry law or even legal in naturehave been includedin this volume, a greatdeal that is of relevance has been omitted.In the early medievalWest, most texts were writtenon papyrusinto the latereighthcentury,andthis is a very fragilemediumin the northernEuropeanclimate. However,many lost juridicalacta, technically called perdita, are discussed in later survivingdocumentsand some are even quoted;this providesus withfragmenta.For example,Charlemagne issued numerouscapitulariesthat have not survived,but his previousacta are frequentlymentionedin latertexts. Theseperditaandfragmentadeserve some treatmentin the volumeunderreview.Thereare alsoperditaof Jewry law to be identifiedin HebrewandArabicresponsa. Since AJS Review is not a journaldevotedto the technicalaspects of medievalhistory,it would not be appropriateto compile a list of lacunae, which I am surewill be coveredin dubioustranslations,and interpretations, more specializedpublications.However,my article"WasRumexa Tinctura Judeorum?"'will help the reader makes sense of the capitulum"Mitte rumice,"attributedto Charlemagne,for which Linder'stranslationis not comprehensible. Bernard S. Bachrach of Minnesota University Minn. Minneapolis, AviezerRavitzky.Historyand Faith: Studiesin JewishPhilosophy.Amsterdam:J. C. Gieben,1996. ix, 325 pp. This book is a collection of nine essays by one of today's leading scholarsof Jewishphilosophy.Previouslypublishedbetween1981 and 1990 (thoughthecitationsidentifyingwheretheyfirstappearedarelistedsomewhat awkwardlyand unclearlyat the end of the volume),the essays have been revisedfor this volume.The focus of the collectionis almostexclusivelyon issues in medievalJewish philosophy,the field which has been Ravitzky's 1. In PACT 38 (1993): 363-370.

Review: [untitled] Author(s): Robert Eisen Source: AJS Review, Vol. 24, No. 1 (1999), pp. 140-142 Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Association for Jewish Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1486529 . Accessed: 15/07/2011 10:56 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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authorities.In a similarvein, Linderincludesnumeroustexts suchas Charles theBald'sletter(p. 367), whichindicatesthatthekingis usinga messengeron royalbusinesswho is a Jew.Withoutcommentarythis letterhas no juridical significanceregardingJews. Although many texts that are not properJewry law or even legal in naturehave been includedin this volume, a greatdeal that is of relevance has been omitted.In the early medievalWest, most texts were writtenon papyrusinto the latereighthcentury,andthis is a very fragilemediumin the northernEuropeanclimate. However,many lost juridicalacta, technically called perdita, are discussed in later survivingdocumentsand some are even quoted;this providesus withfragmenta.For example,Charlemagne issued numerouscapitulariesthat have not survived,but his previousacta are frequentlymentionedin latertexts. Theseperditaandfragmentadeserve some treatmentin the volumeunderreview.Thereare alsoperditaof Jewry law to be identifiedin HebrewandArabicresponsa. Since AJS Review is not a journaldevotedto the technicalaspects of medievalhistory,it would not be appropriateto compile a list of lacunae, which I am surewill be coveredin dubioustranslations,and interpretations, more specializedpublications.However,my article"WasRumexa Tinctura Judeorum?"'will help the reader makes sense of the capitulum"Mitte rumice,"attributedto Charlemagne,for which Linder'stranslationis not comprehensible. Bernard S. Bachrach of Minnesota University Minn. Minneapolis, AviezerRavitzky.Historyand Faith: Studiesin JewishPhilosophy.Amsterdam:J. C. Gieben,1996. ix, 325 pp. This book is a collection of nine essays by one of today's leading scholarsof Jewishphilosophy.Previouslypublishedbetween1981 and 1990 (thoughthecitationsidentifyingwheretheyfirstappearedarelistedsomewhat awkwardlyand unclearlyat the end of the volume),the essays have been revisedfor this volume.The focus of the collectionis almostexclusivelyon issues in medievalJewish philosophy,the field which has been Ravitzky's 1. In PACT 38 (1993): 363-370.

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primaryspecialty,though some deal with rabbinicand modem materialas well. The essays are divided into two groups.The first deals with questions of philosophyand history.As Ravitzkytells us in his preface,these essays areconcernedwith philosophicalreflectionson Jewishhistory-in particular, the issue of messianismand whetherit seeks to be continuouswith history or to transcendit. This groupbegins with an essay effectively introducing the entirevolume in which Ravitzkydiscusseshis views on the natureand scope of the field of medievalJewishphilosophy.It is followedby chapters on issues relatedto messianism:the conceptof peacein Judaism,the political thoughtof Isaac Abravaneland RabbiNissim of Gerona,and Maimonides' views on the messianicage. Here, in effect, we see the "Israeli"dimension of Ravitzky's scholarship.Ravitzky,like many Israeli scholars,has been particularlyinterestedin utopianism,messianism,and relatedthemes, such as the philosophyof Jewishhistoryand politicaltheory.The reasonfor this interestis obvious in that these are issues with which Israelishave had to struggle.Thatstrugglehas been particularlymeaningfulfor Ravitzky,whose activitieswith the politicalLeft in Israelarewell known. The second groupis concernedwith philosophyand faith, examininga varietyof issues relatedto the age-olddilemmaof reasonandits relationship to revealedreligion.The firstessay in this sectiondealswith a controversyin Cretebetweenproponentsof Kabbalahand of philosophy. fifteenth-century The next essay deals with what Ravitzkycalls the anthropologicaltheory of miraclesin medievalJewishphilosophy,whichposits thatmiraclesoccur becauseof specialpropertiesin the soul of the prophet.Thisis followedby an that analysisof Samuelibn Tibbon'sthoughtin whichRavitzkydemonstrates ibn Tibbonwas the firstinterpreter of Maimonidesto developa sophisticated method for interpretingthe Guide of the Perplexedin an esotericmanner. The same themeis pursuedin a subsequentessay in which Ravitzkygives a lengthyhistoryof how the esotericreadingof Maimonidesdevelopedfrom medieval throughmodem times. Finally,the last essay deals with the lost Arabicversionof Aristotle'sParva Naturaliaand its influenceon medieval Jewishthought. It is evident from this collection why Ravitzkyhas become a scholar of such stature.His scholarshipis impressiveon a numberof levels. First, he has a knackfor honingin on importantand interestingissues previously unexploredby others.His work on ibn Tibbon,not to mentionhis work on otherthirteenth-century figuresnot representedhere,hasbroughtattentionto

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a schoolof philosophicalexegesisthatdespiteits importancehasarousedlittle remarkable breadthof erudition scholarlyinterest.His essaysalso demonstrate not just in medievalJewishphilosophy,but also in relateddisciplines,such as Kabbalah(and this volume does not even touch on his contributionsin modem Jewish thought,which in recentyears have been substantial).But whatis perhapsmost impressiveis Ravitzky'scapacityforinsight.Thistalent is evident on any numberof points too numerousto list. It is also evident in his abilityto come up with broadand creativeconceptualframeworksto organizeand analyzehis material.His essay on peace, for instance,creates a conceptualstructurefor analyzingin a highly effective mannera diverse body of materialconsistingof rabbinicand medievalsources.He does the same in his analysisof the variousesotericapproachestowardMaimonides' philosophy. Perhapsa limitationin Ravitzky'sworkis thatit is verymuchin the style of the scholarshipthathas dominatedthe studyof Jewishphilosophysince the lastcentury.This approachis devotedto organizingandsystematizingthe philosophicalideasfoundin a wide varietyof medievalsourcesthattouchon philosophicalproblems,andtracingthe developmentof these ideasfromone thinkerto the next. While this approachis certainlyvaluable,one wonders whetherit is not time to entertainthe use of other methodsalongsideit. However,if Ravitzkyhas not experimentedwith new methodologies,neither havehis colleaguesin the samefield.Moreover,the historyof ideasapproach is one that will always have an importantplace in the study of medieval Jewishphilosophy.Ravitzky'swork shouldcertainlybe regardedas one of its finestexemplars. RobertEisen GeorgeWashington University D.C. Washington, Shmuel Feiner.Haskalahand History: The Emergenceof ModernJewish Awarenessof the Past. Jerusalem:ZalmanShazarCenterfor JewishHistory, 1995. 523 pp. (Hebrew) This excellent and learnedbook makesan importantcontributionto the ongoing debate over the origins of modem historicalthinkingamong the Jews, as well as the farbroader-and morecontentious-argumentaboutthe very essence of the historian'scraft,the contestedclaimsof the possibilityof an objective,"scientific"studyof thepast.ShmuelFeiner,a Jerusalem-trained

Review: [untitled] Author(s): Michael Stanislawski Source: AJS Review, Vol. 24, No. 1 (1999), pp. 142-145 Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Association for Jewish Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1486530 . Accessed: 15/07/2011 10:56 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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a schoolof philosophicalexegesisthatdespiteits importancehasarousedlittle remarkable breadthof erudition scholarlyinterest.His essaysalso demonstrate not just in medievalJewishphilosophy,but also in relateddisciplines,such as Kabbalah(and this volume does not even touch on his contributionsin modem Jewish thought,which in recentyears have been substantial).But whatis perhapsmost impressiveis Ravitzky'scapacityforinsight.Thistalent is evident on any numberof points too numerousto list. It is also evident in his abilityto come up with broadand creativeconceptualframeworksto organizeand analyzehis material.His essay on peace, for instance,creates a conceptualstructurefor analyzingin a highly effective mannera diverse body of materialconsistingof rabbinicand medievalsources.He does the same in his analysisof the variousesotericapproachestowardMaimonides' philosophy. Perhapsa limitationin Ravitzky'sworkis thatit is verymuchin the style of the scholarshipthathas dominatedthe studyof Jewishphilosophysince the lastcentury.This approachis devotedto organizingandsystematizingthe philosophicalideasfoundin a wide varietyof medievalsourcesthattouchon philosophicalproblems,andtracingthe developmentof these ideasfromone thinkerto the next. While this approachis certainlyvaluable,one wonders whetherit is not time to entertainthe use of other methodsalongsideit. However,if Ravitzkyhas not experimentedwith new methodologies,neither havehis colleaguesin the samefield.Moreover,the historyof ideasapproach is one that will always have an importantplace in the study of medieval Jewishphilosophy.Ravitzky'swork shouldcertainlybe regardedas one of its finestexemplars. RobertEisen GeorgeWashington University D.C. Washington, Shmuel Feiner.Haskalahand History: The Emergenceof ModernJewish Awarenessof the Past. Jerusalem:ZalmanShazarCenterfor JewishHistory, 1995. 523 pp. (Hebrew) This excellent and learnedbook makesan importantcontributionto the ongoing debate over the origins of modem historicalthinkingamong the Jews, as well as the farbroader-and morecontentious-argumentaboutthe very essence of the historian'scraft,the contestedclaimsof the possibilityof an objective,"scientific"studyof thepast.ShmuelFeiner,a Jerusalem-trained

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historianteachingat Bar-IlanUniversity,providesus with the firstdetailed analysis of the use and abuse of history in the Haskalah,demonstrating once again that thereis still much to be minedin these much-studiedtexts. It is Feiner's great merit that he is able to take a fresh and lively look at materialspreviously studied for their ideological and culturalcontent or literary style, dissecting their often disjointedand even parenthetical commentson and abouthistory,and reassemblingtheminto a coherentand compellingnarrativeaboutthe ways in which Jews since the Enlightenment have thoughtor, moreproperly,writtenabouttheirpast. Feineris very openaboutthe revisionistgoals of thisbook,hopingto correct at least threeconceptionshe considerswidespreadin the literature:first, that the maskilim,as typicalmembersof the anti-historicistEnlightenment, were artificiallycut off from the Jewish past; second, that modem Jewish historicalthinkingbegan with the Wissenschaftdes Judentumsmovement andthe rise of professionalstudentsof Jewishhistory;andthird,thatmodem Jewishhistoricismwas thus firstand primarilya creationof GermanJewry, and came only late to East EuropeanJewry in the generationof Simon Dubnowand otherRussianor Polishpractitionersofjiidische Wissenschaft. To rebutthese claims, Feinertakesthe readerthrougha rigoroustourof both the majorand the minorfiguresof the Haskalah,Westand East, from Moses Mendelssohnto PeretzSmolenskin,with a seminalstopin Galicia.He dismissesthe oft-citedclaim thatMendelssohnwas not interestedin history, revealingthe scoresof historicalcitationsandinsightsin his worksandthose of his disciples.In so doing,Feinerrevealshimselfto be extremelywell read in recentAmericanand,to some extent,Europeanscholarlyliteratureon the historicismof the EuropeanEnlightenment, ably applyingthe insightsof this to the case of the Jewish Onthisbasishe provides scholarship Enlightenment. a thoroughchronicleof the largely didacticand utilitarianconceptionsof historyarticulatedor assumedby the maskilim,as he moves fromBerlinto Galiciato Russiain heavily documentedand extraordinarily dense chapters. At times some readersmay wish for a more selective screeningof dramatis personae,as one minormaskilfollows anotherin relentlesssuccession.But Feiner generallydoes not lose his way in these sometimesratherprosaic thickets.By the time the readerarrivesat the last chapter,on the collapseof Haskalahhistoriographyin the 1860s and 1870s, the point has been made well andrepeatedlythattherewas, indeed,sucha phenomenon:an indigenous historicalscholarshipbornin Berlinin the late eighteenthcentury,reaching its ultimatefruitionin Galicia and the Pale of Settlementin the nineteenth

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century,bequeathingto its successors a keen interestin the Jewish past, some familiaritywith non-Jewishhistory,a relentlessandmostly optimistic convictionof the benign anomalousnessof the modem era and the idea of universalprogress,andan overridingsense of the centralityof understanding the Jewishpast in ordermorefruitfullyto createthe Jewishfuture. Although he is very careful to keep within the temporalparameters of his subject, one senses that Feiner would like to push his argumenta bit further,in two complex but intersectingdirections.First,he tentatively andReuvenBonfil engagesthe sharpdisagreementbetweenYosefYerushalmi on the nature of the break between premodemand modem conceptions of the Jewish past, presentingHaskalahhistoriographyas clearly at odds with traditionalconceptionsof Jewishhistory,but not yet imbuedwith the des Judentumsand its Rankean positivismand objectivismof Wissenschaft claims. Unfortunately,Feineris a bit too quick to stress the traditionalism of premodernJewish historicalwriting,thus eliding and transcendentalism the difficult question, for example, of Ibn Verga'snaturalismand starkly explicationof humanandevenJewishhistory.Ona related nonsupematuralist front,it is difficultto readFeiner'sexcellentanalysisof Smolenskin'srejection of Graetzwithoutthinkingof Scholem's"Hirhurimal hokhmatyisrael."As Feinerremindsus, Smolenskinbelievedthatonly when a nationalistJewish historiographyarose,writtenin Hebrew,would the assumptionsandverities of the Wissenschaft scholarsbe examinedandredressed,with the creationof Jewishhistoricalscholarshipat once less "neutral" andless apologetic. Herewe aredrawnbackto Feiner'sfirst,mostanalyticchapter,whereone wisheshe wouldhavetakenmoreintoaccountthesine quanonof theRankean dispensation,the belief in the possibilityof a truly"wissenschaftlich" study of the past, i.e., the attemptto applythe scientificmethodto humanhistory, includingthatof the Jews. Clearly,the firstcorollaryof this convictionis the notionthatthe historian,like the chemist,may brookno restraintsin either the materialssubjectedto analysisor the conclusionsreachedthroughthe use of an (ostensibly)neutralmethodology.Thisbelief lay behindtherejectionof Jewswho intuitedthehereticalpotentialof such Wissenschaft by traditionalist and a stance, by nationalisthistorianswho rejectedpretensionsof dispassion thatcouldeasily contradictbasicnationalistclaims.(Whatif therehadindeed been no Exodus from Egypt or no conquestof the Land?)It is only one of the ironiesof ourcurrentculturalmomentthatthe rejectionof suchclaimsto Right. objectivityis sharedby the culturalLeft andthe nationalist/religious Whichbringsus backto theHaskalahandits view of Jewishhistory.Feiner

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has performeda crucialservice in retrieving,documenting,and explicating the reamsof historicalclaims and commentaryproducedby maskilimfrom Berlinto nineteenth-century Berdichev.Hisfirstrevisionist eighteenth-century thrustis thus intact:no one can any longerclaim thatthe maskilimignored or were uninterestedin history,or thatthey acceptedthe traditionalnotionof a divinelyordainedLeidensgeschichte. But intenseinterestin andknowledge of the past is not synonymouswith historicismin its modem professional, "scientific"sense; neitherVoltairenor Mendelssohnwas a criticalhistorian, not to speak of their lesser successorsamongthe East Europeanmaskilim. And Smolenskinwas quitesimplywrongin his evaluationof Graetz.Not, of scholarstrulypracticed course,that Graetzor any of the other Wissenschaft neutralor objectivehistory-writing; theymerelybelievedthatsucha goal was desirable,andperhapseven obtainable.As one of the diminishingnumberof theirremainingacolytes,I wouldwelcome ShmuelFeinerto thisbeleaguered club on the basis of this wonderfullyeruditebook, at once impassionedand dispassionate. MichaelStanislawski Columbia University NewYork,N.Y. Nitsa Ben-Ari. Romancewith the Past: The Nineteenth-Century GermanJewishHistoricalNovel and the Creationof a NationalLiterature.Tel-Aviv: Dvir/MakhonLeo Baeck, 1997. x, 225 pp. (Hebrew). "Romancewith the Past" is the translationoffered on the overleaf of Nitsa Ben-Ari'sRoman 'imha-avar yet the title of her studymightalso be renderedas "a novel with a past."The word-playnicely capturesthe subject of Ben-Ari'sliteraryinvestigation:the historicaladventurestories,so popular with the Hebrew-readingpublic from the 1890s until the mid-twentieth century,thatwerelargelyadaptationsof nineteenth-century German-language novels aimedat a Jewishreadership.BuildinguponhistorianShmuelFeiner's monumentalstudyof the role of popularizedhistoriography in the shapingof a modem Jewish historicalconsciousnessin EasternEurope,Ben-Ariturns her attentionto the paradoxicalroots of the new nationalHebrewliterature in works originallyproducedby a German-Jewishcultureconcernedwith andintegrationratherthannationalrevival. emancipation,embourgeoisement, All nationalistmovementsthrive on the creativeconstructionof usable

Review: [untitled] Author(s): Jonathan Skolnik Source: AJS Review, Vol. 24, No. 1 (1999), pp. 145-147 Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Association for Jewish Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1486531 . Accessed: 15/07/2011 10:58 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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has performeda crucialservice in retrieving,documenting,and explicating the reamsof historicalclaims and commentaryproducedby maskilimfrom Berlinto nineteenth-century Berdichev.Hisfirstrevisionist eighteenth-century thrustis thus intact:no one can any longerclaim thatthe maskilimignored or were uninterestedin history,or thatthey acceptedthe traditionalnotionof a divinelyordainedLeidensgeschichte. But intenseinterestin andknowledge of the past is not synonymouswith historicismin its modem professional, "scientific"sense; neitherVoltairenor Mendelssohnwas a criticalhistorian, not to speak of their lesser successorsamongthe East Europeanmaskilim. And Smolenskinwas quitesimplywrongin his evaluationof Graetz.Not, of scholarstrulypracticed course,that Graetzor any of the other Wissenschaft neutralor objectivehistory-writing; theymerelybelievedthatsucha goal was desirable,andperhapseven obtainable.As one of the diminishingnumberof theirremainingacolytes,I wouldwelcome ShmuelFeinerto thisbeleaguered club on the basis of this wonderfullyeruditebook, at once impassionedand dispassionate. MichaelStanislawski Columbia University NewYork,N.Y. Nitsa Ben-Ari. Romancewith the Past: The Nineteenth-Century GermanJewishHistoricalNovel and the Creationof a NationalLiterature.Tel-Aviv: Dvir/MakhonLeo Baeck, 1997. x, 225 pp. (Hebrew). "Romancewith the Past" is the translationoffered on the overleaf of Nitsa Ben-Ari'sRoman 'imha-avar yet the title of her studymightalso be renderedas "a novel with a past."The word-playnicely capturesthe subject of Ben-Ari'sliteraryinvestigation:the historicaladventurestories,so popular with the Hebrew-readingpublic from the 1890s until the mid-twentieth century,thatwerelargelyadaptationsof nineteenth-century German-language novels aimedat a Jewishreadership.BuildinguponhistorianShmuelFeiner's monumentalstudyof the role of popularizedhistoriography in the shapingof a modem Jewish historicalconsciousnessin EasternEurope,Ben-Ariturns her attentionto the paradoxicalroots of the new nationalHebrewliterature in works originallyproducedby a German-Jewishcultureconcernedwith andintegrationratherthannationalrevival. emancipation,embourgeoisement, All nationalistmovementsthrive on the creativeconstructionof usable

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pasts, yet from Mapu'spioneering1853 novel AhavatZion to the works of KabakandIbnZahavin thelate 1920s,no new originalHebrewhistoricalnovels werewritten,andreadershungryforhistoricalheroessatisfiedthemselves with tales that had first appearedas serials in German-Jewishnewspapers like the AllgemeineZeitungdes Judentumsor Der Israelit.EasternEuropean Maskilimsuch as KalmanSchulman,S. J. Fiinn,and A. S. Friedberg(HarShalom)translatedand adaptedthe worksof writer/journalist/rabbis Ludwig PhilippsonandMarcusLehmann,whoturnedoutnumerousGerman-language novels for Jewish readers.Ben-Ari'sinnovativestudy is a broadsurveyof this neglectedchapterof Jewishliterature. Ben-Ari's first chapterssituate the German-Jewishhistoricalnovel in its social, literary,and historicalcontexts.She then moves on to four case studies: the Orthodoxwriter MarcusLehmann'sdramatizedbiographyof Akiba (1881), a novel set in the era of Julianthe Apostateby reformer Ludwig Philippson(1866), a five-volumesaga of Jewish historyfrom the destructionof the First Templeto the Berlin Haskalahby the ArabistHermann Reckendorf(1856-57), and the popularHebrew-languageadaptation of Reckendorf'snovel by A. S. Friedberg(1890s).Ben-Arimeansto contrast novels from GermanJewry's various "ideologicalcamps,"with Hermann Reckendorf'snovel held up as an exampleof "extremeReformideology." Her attemptto correlatethe narrativefeaturesof these novels with their political tendenciesis interesting,but not always convincing;the passages quoted from Reckendorf'safterwordto the readersuggest that his own sympathieslay with the traditionalistcamp. In general,Ben-Ari'sstudy is strongestin its analysisof the neo-Orthodoxandromanticnationalistnovels of MarcusLehmannandA. S. Friedberg,butshe takesa somewhatpolemical stancein her portrayalof the German-Jewish liberaltradition.This is made clearby one tellingerror:Ben-Arimislabelsthe writerBertholdAuerbachan apostate(p. 43), whereashe was in factthemostprominentnineteenth-century authorwho did not convert. German-Jewish Ben-Aripinpointswhat is interestingaboutthese novels for the student of nationalistmovements:thatthe samehistoricalimagesemployedby Jews reinventingthemselves for a complex agenda combiningintegrationinto Europeanbourgeoisculturewith the preservationof Jewish identitycould laterbe mobilizedin the service of nationalism.Whetherone acceptsBenAri's thesis thatthese novels are evidenceof subconscious"vaguenational longings"thatcontrastedwith the declareddiasporismof nineteenth-century GermanJewry,or insteadhistoricizesthesenovelsas delicate(anddeliberate)

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renegotiationsof groupidentityin an age of mutableboundaries,Ben-Ari's workopensnew avenuesforanyoneinterestedin theintersectionsof historical thoughtandpopularculturein the nineteenthcentury. Jonathan Skolnik Columbia University NewYork,N.Y. YuditGreenberg.BetterThanWine:Love,Poetry,andPrayerin the Thought ofFranz Rosenzweig.AmericanAcademyof Religion,Reflection& Theory in the Studyof Religion7. Atlanta:ScholarsPress, 1996.xii , 165 pp. ManfredVogel.Rosenzweigon Profane/SecularHistory.SouthFloridaStudies in the Historyof Judaism141. Atlanta:ScholarsPress, 1996. 70 pp. FranzRosenzweigwas one of the handfulof majorJewishtheologians and philosophersin the twentiethcentury,and arguablyhe has been the most importantinfluence,amongearlytwentieth-century figures,on Jewish of the But is pastfiftyyears. Rosenzweig difficultandoftenarcane.To thought understand him,one mustknowsomethingaboutGermanidealism,especially Hegel and Schelling, about the philosophicaland historicaldebatesof the earlytwentiethcenturyin Europe,aboutGermanculture,aboutthe historical contextfor his work,andaboutthe Jewishsourceshe drawson. Goodstudies of Rosenzweigare rare.Two new books may seem like a bonanza.They are not quitethat,butthey areintelligentandinformed.Both authorsunderstand somethingaboutRosenzweig.Greenberg'sbook is far more interestingand challenging,but both arehelpful. Vogel'spiece is more a long essay thana book. It asks how Rosenzweig can arguethatsecularhistoryis confinedto paganismandhow it is associated with historicism and the problematicof relativism.These are important questions. Vogel claims that we can find Rosenzweig's argumentin the first pages of a lecturedeliveredin 1919 called "The Spiritand Epochsof Jewish History."He translatesthe pages, providesa lengthyexplicationof theircontent-albeit a completelyahistoricalone--and prefacesthis with a discussionof Rosenzweig'sresponseto historicism.Vogel'saccountis either a brilliantanalysisof an underappreciated text or an exaggeratedbelaboring of a minorone. I am inclinedto thinkthathis pedanticessay is only the latter. VogelunderstandsRosenzweig,buthe forcesthesepages to yield morethan they contain.He never uses otherwritingsto illuminatethe issues, and the

Review: [untitled] Author(s): Michael L. Morgan Source: AJS Review, Vol. 24, No. 1 (1999), pp. 147-151 Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Association for Jewish Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1486532 . Accessed: 15/07/2011 10:58 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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renegotiationsof groupidentityin an age of mutableboundaries,Ben-Ari's workopensnew avenuesforanyoneinterestedin theintersectionsof historical thoughtandpopularculturein the nineteenthcentury. Jonathan Skolnik Columbia University NewYork,N.Y. YuditGreenberg.BetterThanWine:Love,Poetry,andPrayerin the Thought ofFranz Rosenzweig.AmericanAcademyof Religion,Reflection& Theory in the Studyof Religion7. Atlanta:ScholarsPress, 1996.xii , 165 pp. ManfredVogel.Rosenzweigon Profane/SecularHistory.SouthFloridaStudies in the Historyof Judaism141. Atlanta:ScholarsPress, 1996. 70 pp. FranzRosenzweigwas one of the handfulof majorJewishtheologians and philosophersin the twentiethcentury,and arguablyhe has been the most importantinfluence,amongearlytwentieth-century figures,on Jewish of the But is pastfiftyyears. Rosenzweig difficultandoftenarcane.To thought understand him,one mustknowsomethingaboutGermanidealism,especially Hegel and Schelling, about the philosophicaland historicaldebatesof the earlytwentiethcenturyin Europe,aboutGermanculture,aboutthe historical contextfor his work,andaboutthe Jewishsourceshe drawson. Goodstudies of Rosenzweigare rare.Two new books may seem like a bonanza.They are not quitethat,butthey areintelligentandinformed.Both authorsunderstand somethingaboutRosenzweig.Greenberg'sbook is far more interestingand challenging,but both arehelpful. Vogel'spiece is more a long essay thana book. It asks how Rosenzweig can arguethatsecularhistoryis confinedto paganismandhow it is associated with historicism and the problematicof relativism.These are important questions. Vogel claims that we can find Rosenzweig's argumentin the first pages of a lecturedeliveredin 1919 called "The Spiritand Epochsof Jewish History."He translatesthe pages, providesa lengthyexplicationof theircontent-albeit a completelyahistoricalone--and prefacesthis with a discussionof Rosenzweig'sresponseto historicism.Vogel'saccountis either a brilliantanalysisof an underappreciated text or an exaggeratedbelaboring of a minorone. I am inclinedto thinkthathis pedanticessay is only the latter. VogelunderstandsRosenzweig,buthe forcesthesepages to yield morethan they contain.He never uses otherwritingsto illuminatethe issues, and the

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long, tediousfootnotes,while oftenaccurateenough,do not addmuchto the ponderousexaminationof a relativelymarginaltext. His ten-page"chapter" on the philosophyof historyis itself virtuallyunnecessaryandahistorical;its or two. PerhapsVogel'smostegregious gist couldbe hadin a briefparagraph faultis to fail to appreciatethe developmentof Rosenzweig'sthinkingabout history,politics, religion, and redemption--fromhis first encounterwith Meineckeand Rickertin 1907 in Freiburg,throughhis intensediscussions with Rosenstockin 1913 and after,to his reactionto the war and German politics,and the publicationof his Hegel book andthe Star in 1921. Even if Vogel is right,thatin 1919 Rosenzweigarguedfor the coincidenceof pagan relativismandprofanehistory,his book neverclarifieswhen,how, andwith what implicationsthis conceptionarose in Rosenzweig'smindand whether it is carriedover to the Starunchanged. Greenberg'sbook is muchricherandmoreintriguing.She focuseson the Starandthe texts groundedin it; she understands muchof whatRosenzweig seeks to accomplishand how he goes about his project.Her goal, which she states very explicitly, is to identify featuresof Rosenzweig'sthought thathave become,or could become,elementsof a postmoderninterpretation of Judaism,e.g., the relationalself, the role of liturgy and gesture, and the "tropeof the face." Anothergoal is to point out similaritiesbetween Rosenzweig'sthinkingand kabbalisticviews. In orderto accomplishthese twin tasks, GreenbergexaminesRosenzweig'sdevelopmentof threecentral notions--creation,revelation,and redemption-in terms of his use of art, speech,love, prayer,and face-to-facecommunity.Thesethreechaptersform the core of herbook, andthey aremuchthe best partof it. Theyareprefaced by chapterson the new thinking,dialogicalthinking,mysticism,and brief discussionsof Heidegger,Benjamin,and Levinas.The book concludeswith some critical commentson Rosenzweig'streatmentof Judaismand other religions and an acknowledgmentof recent developmentsin postmodern Jewishthought,e.g., by EugeneBorowitz. The strengthof Greenberg'saccountof the centralconceptsof the Staris thatshepointsto interestingthemes,topics,andproblemsandidentifiesissues worthexploring.For example,she calls attentionto the role of languagein creationand points out that a comparisonof Rosenzweigand Schellingon Genesis 1 would be helpful.But when she turnsto the task,she disappoints. So it is with her discussion of languagein Benjaminand in figures like Hamannand Herder.Similarly,Greenbergnicely notices the importanceof Rosenzweig'streatmentof art and pointsto a comparisonwith idealistand

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romantictheoriesof art.Butwhatshe does is notveryhelpful.Statementsthat areprovocativeandinterestinggo completelyunclarified,e.g., "[Rosenzweig] establishesa link betweenartas the languagebeforerevelationandspeechas the languageof revelation"(p. 74). And when she says thatRosenzweig,in the firstpartof the Star "developsaestheticsas an epistemologicalcategory," no effortof any kind is madeto explainwhatthis statementmeans. Revelationis the centralcategoryof the Star. Greenberg'schapteron it is the most coherentpiece of reasoningin the book. She recognizesthat of revelation. languageplays a complexrole in Rosenzweig'sunderstanding On the one hand,languageprecedesand follows the event of revelation;on the other,revelationitself is linguisticor at leastdialogical.Greenbergseems to appreciatethis tensionby distinguishing"audiblespeech"in revelationand "texts"priorto and afterit (p. 81). But she has her own way of puttingthe problem.She refersto Rosenzweig's"hermeneutical turn,fromthe notionof speech as revelatory to the notion of a revelatory text" (p. 82); she asks how

biblicalspeech can be revelatory,since it is a text abouta past event andnot itself living speechin the present(p. 83). Heransweris thatfor revelationthe Song of Songs "is literallythe dialoguebetweenhumanityandGod"(p. 88). "Theembodiedspeechof the Songof Songsis nota descriptionof revelation; ratherit is the embodimentof revelatoryspeech"(p. 88). Greenbergclarifies thisclaimby discussingRosenzweig'sandZohar'sinterpretations of the Song, the role of love in revelation,andthe way in whichthe reader'sinterpretation of a text is constitutiveof the text's meaning.In a sense, then,she is raising the questionof how the eventof revelationis relatedto the linguisticresponse to it. Her answeris that in a sense they are the same. The text "embodies" the revelatoryspeech,which by itself is languagewithoutmeaning.But this accountis confusedandmistaken.ForRosenzweig,revelationis dialogicalor dialecticalbutnot literallylinguistic.It is an eventor set of events,involving a loving encounterbetween the divine and the human,and while there is a sense in which any responsein languageis partof it, such responseis a distinguishablepart.Thereis a middleground,so to speak,betweendetached descriptionand identity;languagecan be neitherbut ratheris a responseto revelation,a humanattemptto graspthe meaningof the Divine Presenceand a device wherebythe humanseeks to confirmeveragainthe relationshipthat framesthatmeaning,betweenthe divineandthe human.Greenbergmistakes the way in whichthe biblicaltext is centralfor Rosenzweig.It is not literally the divine revelation;it is the historicallypreeminenthumaninterpretation of the meaningof Jewish existenceas an existencewith God, articulatedin

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responseto the original,foundingevent of revelationfor the Jewishpeople andtheirdestiny,their"orientation" throughhistory. Greenberg'schapteron redemption,if less realisticand concretethanit might be, is very helpful. She nicely sees redemptionfor Rosenzweigas "yearningto overcomethe imperfectionsof the humancondition"(p. 103) andas the soul'syearningforthe enduranceandpermanenceof God"slove (p. 104).As she pointsout,this is also a yearningto embodythatlove in a human communityof intimacy,concern,and love; hence it leadsto a social act or a life of "socialacts [thatreflect]love of neighborandthebondof community" (p. 104). But althoughshe has a good grasp of the social, aesthetic,and metaphysicalaspects of redemption,Greenbergunfortunatelysuccumbsto a spiritualor theological emphasis.In a sense, for Rosenzweig,one can speak of redemptionas the creationof a perfectsocial worldby partnersin social life or as a vehicle for drawingclose to God--or as both of these. The best interpretation,I believe, is one that never severs the relationship betweenthese two dimensionsof redemption.This is reallywhatseeing God in a humanface amountsto (pp. 114, 116); Rosenzweig'sgoal for history is boththeologicaland political.In Greenberg'saccount,however,thereis a the love of man to the love tendencyto spiritualizethis goal, subordinating of God, ratherthanseeing the two as fully co-instantiated. The remainderof Greenberg'sbook, its early and late chapters,is less good. Her brief, sketchy treatmentsof figures from Feuerbach,Cohen, Rosenstock,Ebner,andBuberto Schelling,Heidegger,Benjamin,andLevinas barely scratchthe surfaceand do not contributemuch of substanceto her argument. Moreover,her overallstrategyis to treatRosenzweigas a bridgebetween the existentialreactionto Enlightenmentreligiousthoughtand trendsnow associatedwith postmodernismand figureslike Levinas.Thus,Greenberg's book is akin to the recent books by Handelman,Gibbs, and Cohen. In orderto make her case, she points to themeslike love, poetry,gesture,and prayerand ideas like that of the relationalself, and she makes much of the comparisonbetween Rosenzweigand the Kabbalah.Doubtlessthereis somethingin this kind of approach;it wouldbe surprisingif recentthinking did not developideasprominentin Rosenzweig'sthinking.But Greenbergis much too uncritical.Rosenzweigwas certainlydeeply indebtedto German idealism,romanticism,and reactionsto traditionalphilosophyandtheology. He may have made poetry,love, and prayercentralto his understanding of religious existence. But Greenbergdoes not question deeply enough

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whetherhe uses these notions in the same way as earlierand more recent thinkers,nor does she evaluatethe significanceof his debtsand departures. Furthermore,Greenbergrestrictsher critiqueto some ratherconventional worries about Rosenzweig'sportrayalof Judaism,Christianity,and Islam. She does not ask whetherthe Star succeedsin its primarygoal, to providea philosophical,systematicjustificationfor Jewishlife as a mode of historical existence. Instyle,thesetwobooksdifferdramatically, andwhileneitheris extremely well writtenor engaging,both contributesomethingto ourunderstanding of on whose of Judaism Rosenzweig, impact contemporaryunderstandings continuesto be felt. MichaelL. Morgan Indiana University Ind. Bloomington, Berel Lang.Heideggers Silence.Ithaca:CornellUniversityPress, 1996. 129 pp. MartinHeidegger,arguablythe most importantphilosopherof the twentieth century,was a memberof the Nazi Partyuntilthe last day of the Third Reich. In 1949, he wrote:"Agricultureis now a mechanicalfood industry, in essence the same as the manufactureof corpses in the gas chambers and exterminationcamps, the same as the blockadeand starvationof the countryside,the same as the productionof the hydrogenbombs"(quoted in Lang, p. 16). This is approximatelyall Heideggerhad to say aboutthe Holocaustafterthe war,wheneverybodykneweverything,even if therewere Germanswho duringthe warwere unawareof the full magnitudeof the Nazi crimes. The case of Heideggerhas generateda vast controversyin which every possible position is advanced,rangingfrom the view that he was a terriblephilosopherandan even worseperson,to the view thathe was a great philosopherwho made a relativelyminorpoliticalmistakethat in no way detractsfromhis philosophicalstanding. Lang's book deals with Heideggerand the "Jewishquestion."A whole chapterof the book is devotedto distinguishingbetweenthe Jewishquestion andthe "Jewishquestion."Beforethe Holocaust,arguesLang,we can speak of the Jewishquestionwithoutquotationmarksbecausewe are dealingwith

Review: [untitled] Author(s): Michael Wyschogrod Source: AJS Review, Vol. 24, No. 1 (1999), pp. 151-153 Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Association for Jewish Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1486533 . Accessed: 15/07/2011 10:58 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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whetherhe uses these notions in the same way as earlierand more recent thinkers,nor does she evaluatethe significanceof his debtsand departures. Furthermore,Greenbergrestrictsher critiqueto some ratherconventional worries about Rosenzweig'sportrayalof Judaism,Christianity,and Islam. She does not ask whetherthe Star succeedsin its primarygoal, to providea philosophical,systematicjustificationfor Jewishlife as a mode of historical existence. Instyle,thesetwobooksdifferdramatically, andwhileneitheris extremely well writtenor engaging,both contributesomethingto ourunderstanding of on whose of Judaism Rosenzweig, impact contemporaryunderstandings continuesto be felt. MichaelL. Morgan Indiana University Ind. Bloomington, Berel Lang.Heideggers Silence.Ithaca:CornellUniversityPress, 1996. 129 pp. MartinHeidegger,arguablythe most importantphilosopherof the twentieth century,was a memberof the Nazi Partyuntilthe last day of the Third Reich. In 1949, he wrote:"Agricultureis now a mechanicalfood industry, in essence the same as the manufactureof corpses in the gas chambers and exterminationcamps, the same as the blockadeand starvationof the countryside,the same as the productionof the hydrogenbombs"(quoted in Lang, p. 16). This is approximatelyall Heideggerhad to say aboutthe Holocaustafterthe war,wheneverybodykneweverything,even if therewere Germanswho duringthe warwere unawareof the full magnitudeof the Nazi crimes. The case of Heideggerhas generateda vast controversyin which every possible position is advanced,rangingfrom the view that he was a terriblephilosopherandan even worseperson,to the view thathe was a great philosopherwho made a relativelyminorpoliticalmistakethat in no way detractsfromhis philosophicalstanding. Lang's book deals with Heideggerand the "Jewishquestion."A whole chapterof the book is devotedto distinguishingbetweenthe Jewishquestion andthe "Jewishquestion."Beforethe Holocaust,arguesLang,we can speak of the Jewishquestionwithoutquotationmarksbecausewe are dealingwith

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a realproblem.Afterthe Holocaustandthe creationof the Stateof Israel,we may use the expressiononly with quotationmarks.Afterthe Holocaust,to raisethe Jewishquestionwithoutquotationmarksis a moraloffensebecause we now know the consequencesof turningJews into a problem.In addition, the State of Israel normalizesJewish existence even for those Jews who choose not to emigratethere. They become like any group living in one countrywith ties to another.The Jewish questionthus ceases to be unique and can only be referredto in quotationmarks,signifyingan allegedrather thana realproblem. Thequestionthatpermeatesthisbookis: Afterthewar,why didHeidegger remainsilentabouttheNazi crimesagainsttheJews?Did he notmakematters worse by comparingthe deathcampsto the mechanizedfood industry,as in the quotationabove?Morebroadly,was Heideggeran antisemite? Langargues,to the extentI understandhim, thatHeideggerdid not raise the Jewishquestionbeforethe war.Becauseof his belief in the metaphysical superiorityof the German Volk,he had "little to say about those other 'peoples' for whom satisfyingthe requirementof a metaphysical'essence' ... was in doubt"(p. 55). When he spoke of other nations, it was "in terms that only rehearsefeaturesmore definitivelypresentin the German Volk"(p. 55). Heideggerthus foundit difficultto takemetaphysicalnote of any nationotherthan Germans(with the exceptionof the ancientGreeks). His ignoringthe Jews was just a partof his ignoringall non-Germansand becomes problematiconly in retrospect,when his prewarpolicy of silence continuedafterthe Holocaust. Heidegger'spublic silence on the Jewishquestionduringthe Nazi era is not an insignificantfact. There is a handfulof privateletterswith passing antisemiticcommentsbut nothing similarin anythinghe publishedbefore or duringthe Nazi era. Given the depth of the Nazi obsession with Jews as the poisonersof Westerncivilizationand the Jewishspiritas the eternal enemy of the Germanspirit,had I been Gauleiterof Freiburg,I would have worriedaboutthis philosopherclaimingto be a Nazi who did not publish a bad word about the Jews. This is particularlypuzzling in the light of Heidegger'sGermanmetaphysicalchauvinism.To see the superiorityof the the metaphysicalone--and not Germanspiritin every respect--particularly to see the satanicevil of its opposite,the Jewishspirit,is a gravedefectfor a Nazi philosopher. Why did Heideggersuffer from this defect? I think it had to do with his Christianproblem.He startedhis careeras a Christianthinker,but the

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Christiandimensionsoon disappearedfromhis thought.In Being and Time, there is much talk about anxiety but almost nothing about love. God is replacedby being that is as much nonbeingas being. With being eroded by nonbeingand eternityby temporality,anxiety and being-to-deathrather than love and forgiveness become the metaphysicalcoin of the realm. Heideggerhas come a long way from his Christianity.He has become a Nazi philosopher. But his break with Christianity,I think, was not clean. It was never polemic.He recognized,I surmise,thatto explicit;thereis no anti-Christian attackthe Jewishspiritis to attackthe spiritof Jesusandthe New Testament, andthis he was not willing to do. So we remainwith a Nazi philosopherwho would not attackthe Jews duringthe Nazi periodand could not face up to the magnitudeof Nazi crimesagainstthe Jews afterthey becameknownto the whole world.By equatingthe Holocaustwith mechanizedagriculturehe madehimself a metaphysical,moral,andreligiouslaughing-stock. meditationon a deeplyembarrassing Lang'sbook is a thought-provoking in of Western the history thought. episode MichaelWyschogrod of Houston University Houston,Tex. Baila Round Shargel. Lost Love: The Untold Story of Henrietta Szold, UnpublishedDiary and Letters. Philadelphia:Jewish PublicationSociety, 1997. xii, 382 pp. HenriettaSzold's diaryof despair,chroniclingher failureto win the love of the eminentscholarLouis Ginzberg,is one of the most painfulaccountsI have ever read.It exposesthe frailtiesof the womanwho stands,even today, as the leadingicon of AmericanJewishwomanhood. Thetaleof theextraordinary friendshipof thesegiantsof twentieth-century Jewry is well known. Szold, born in 1860, was, by the time she presented "WhatJudaismHas Done for Women"at the 1893 ChicagoWorld'sFair,the leadingJewishwomanof herday.A writer,lecturer,pioneeringeducator,and communalorganizer,Szold was also the executive secretary-in effect the underpaideditorand translator--ofthe PublicationCommitteeof the Jewish PublicationSociety. In 1903, devastatedby the deathof herfather,RabbiBenjaminSzold,she

Review: [untitled] Author(s): Pamela S. Nadell Source: AJS Review, Vol. 24, No. 1 (1999), pp. 153-156 Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Association for Jewish Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1486534 . Accessed: 15/07/2011 10:58 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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Christiandimensionsoon disappearedfromhis thought.In Being and Time, there is much talk about anxiety but almost nothing about love. God is replacedby being that is as much nonbeingas being. With being eroded by nonbeingand eternityby temporality,anxiety and being-to-deathrather than love and forgiveness become the metaphysicalcoin of the realm. Heideggerhas come a long way from his Christianity.He has become a Nazi philosopher. But his break with Christianity,I think, was not clean. It was never polemic.He recognized,I surmise,thatto explicit;thereis no anti-Christian attackthe Jewishspiritis to attackthe spiritof Jesusandthe New Testament, andthis he was not willing to do. So we remainwith a Nazi philosopherwho would not attackthe Jews duringthe Nazi periodand could not face up to the magnitudeof Nazi crimesagainstthe Jews afterthey becameknownto the whole world.By equatingthe Holocaustwith mechanizedagriculturehe madehimself a metaphysical,moral,andreligiouslaughing-stock. meditationon a deeplyembarrassing Lang'sbook is a thought-provoking in of Western the history thought. episode MichaelWyschogrod of Houston University Houston,Tex. Baila Round Shargel. Lost Love: The Untold Story of Henrietta Szold, UnpublishedDiary and Letters. Philadelphia:Jewish PublicationSociety, 1997. xii, 382 pp. HenriettaSzold's diaryof despair,chroniclingher failureto win the love of the eminentscholarLouis Ginzberg,is one of the most painfulaccountsI have ever read.It exposesthe frailtiesof the womanwho stands,even today, as the leadingicon of AmericanJewishwomanhood. Thetaleof theextraordinary friendshipof thesegiantsof twentieth-century Jewry is well known. Szold, born in 1860, was, by the time she presented "WhatJudaismHas Done for Women"at the 1893 ChicagoWorld'sFair,the leadingJewishwomanof herday.A writer,lecturer,pioneeringeducator,and communalorganizer,Szold was also the executive secretary-in effect the underpaideditorand translator--ofthe PublicationCommitteeof the Jewish PublicationSociety. In 1903, devastatedby the deathof herfather,RabbiBenjaminSzold,she

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turnedto New York'sJewishTheologicalSeminaryof America,seekingthe trainingin rabbinicsshe believedessentialto edit his manuscripts.Thereshe appliedher literary,linguistic,and editorialtalentsto the scholarshipof the Seminary'sforeign-bornfaculty. Among these was Louis Ginzberg.Born in Kovno, Russia, in 1873, Ginzbergintegratedtwo very differentintellectualtraditions,the classical worldof the Lithuanianyeshivotwiththe Semiticsscholarshipof the German university. In 1902, Ginzbergjoined the Seminaryfacultyas professorof Talmud. There Szold met the scholar,thirteenyears her junior.For the spinsterof forty-three,it was love at first sight. Theirremarkablefriendshipcame to a shatteringconclusionfor her when, in 1908, the professorreturnedfrom a summerin Europeto announcethat in less than a year he would marry another. Until now the Szold-Ginzbergcorrespondenceremainedburiedin the archives. Only a privileged few had ever seen anotherrecord of their relationship,the journal Szold began in the wake of the traumaticbreak in her relationshipwith Ginzberg.To her greatcredit,Baila RoundShargel, authorof Practical Dreamer: Israel Friedlander and the Shaping ofAmerican

Judaism(1985), a fine studyof anotherof the Seminary'searlyfaculty,won the confidenceof the Szold family, which closely guardedaccess to the diary.Understandingthat the diarysheds new light on the historyof early twentieth-centuryAmericanJewry,on the men of the Seminary,on New York's immigrantlife, and on the travailsof Jewish publishing,Shargel securedpermissionto publishthe lettersandthe diary. Lost Love confirmsthe wisdom of the family's confidencein Shargel. The gifted historianintroducesthe texts by describingthe concentriccircles of Szold's and Ginzberg'sworld. She emphasizesthe multipleand pivotal roles Szold played in Ginzberg'slife. The German-speaking scholar,unsure of his English,dependeduponthe translatorto set his workbeforeAmerican Jewry.The womanin love freelytenderedher services,translatinghis letters andarticles,his classroomandpubliclectures.ForGinzberg'smagnumopus, TheLegendsof the Jews, whose first four volumes the Jewish Publication Society issued between 1909 and 1913, she "was more coauthorthanmere translator." IndeedGinzbergprivatelyreferredto the Legendsas "ourbook" (pp. 10-11). Beyondworkingtogether,the two spenta greatdealof timetogether.The lettersand diary dwell upon their long strolls in RiversidePark,Ginzberg

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diningat the Szold home (an almostdaily occurrenceduringthe 1907-1908 academicyear),theirShabbatafternoons,andhis smallgifts. Szold'sreactionto Ginzberg'sengagementformsthe heartof an enduring legend.The scholarasked Szold to congratulatehis bride-to-be.Presumably oblivious to her true feelings, the professorproceededas he had in the past, working,dining,and walkingwith Szold. Weekslater,when she could no longer endure the charade,the woman who believed herself spurned confrontedthe scholarindifferentto her charms. Subsequently,Szold endureda deep and prolongeddepression.Writing the diary became, as Shargeldiscerns,one step on her road to recovery. Another,the one the legendemphasizes,was herjourneyto Palestine.When Szold returnedto New York, she set herself upon a new course, leading Americanwomen to build the lasting legacy of Hadassah,the Women's ZionistOrganization. At the core of LostLove lies the Szold-Ginzbergcorrespondence andthe has the texts for the reader diary.Shargel arranged chronologically,unfolding the relationshipas Szold lived it. Thoseseekingdetailsof Szold'sinfatuation will findthemhere. However,I hopethe readerwill continuebeyondthe close of the diary,for ShargelendsLostLovewitha cruciallyimportantepilogue.Hereshe counters thosewho have determinedto cast Szold'slife by seeingthe Ginzberg"trial" as the pivotal event propellingher away from the "'masculine'life of the mind"towardthe "'feminine,''practical'pursuits"of socialwelfare(p. 320). Shargelprovesthis dichotomyfalse. Long beforeher breakdown,Szold was drawnto the practicalwork of education,culture,and Zionism.Moreover, her lettersto Ginzbergreveal her as alreadyponderingthe activistposition she would assume after 1912. Those seeking to understandthe constraints Victorianmiddle-classconventionsimposedupon women's lives would do well to readShargel'sanalysis. Finally,I must issue a word of caution.Last springone of my students, an internin Hadassah'sWashingtonAction Office, askedme what to read to help her contextualizeher experience.When she suggestedLost Love, I quickly answeredno. Lost Love is not where to begin learningaboutthe womanwho foundedHadassah.It describesandexplainsthe consequencesof a single darkepisode in the eighty-fiveyearsof a remarkablewomanwhose intelligenceand energy enabledher to leave a lasting legacy to American Jewry.Probably,in directingmy studentto begin her encounterwith Szold elsewhere, I have helped to perpetuate Szold the icon. Lost Love must be

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read,butonly by thosealreadysomewhatfamiliarwith Szold'slife andwork. Only then can I share in Shargel'sassessmentthat the publicationof Lost it (p. xii). Love, "farfromtarnishing"Szold'smemory,has "burnished" PamelaS. Nadell American University D.C. Washington, Rachel Feldhay Brenner. Writing as Resistance: Four WomenConfronting

the Holocaust.UniversityPark:PennsylvaniaStateUniversityPress, 1997. vii, 216 pp. SaraHorowitz. Voicingthe Void:Muteness and Memory in Holocaust Fiction.

Albany:StateUniversityof New YorkPress, 1997.vii, 276 pp. Far from the slackeningone might expect more than fifty years into post-Holocausthistory,the numberof booksabouttheHolocaustcontinuesto multiply.The qualityof this writing,moreover,is impressivelyhigh in most areas,includingthefieldsof literaryandculturalcriticism,to whichboththese books are contributions.To be sure,differencesmarkindividualwritingson the Holocaustas on any subject,andHolocaustwritingscollectivelyhavenot entirelyavoidedthe "deformations" againstwhichcriticshavewarnedalmost fromthe timeof theirorigin.Evenworkopento thisobjection,however,often respondsto the exaggerationof a qualitythat in itself had been a positive factor.Few writersaboutthe Holocausthave been impededby doubts,let alone denials, that their work has ethicalpresuppositionsand implications; they assumethis when they don't argueit, and it is, in any event,evidentin the form and contentof theirwriting,virtuallya stylistic featurethat is all the morenotableandcompellingbecauseof its usualabsencefromacademic or scholarlyworks. I mentionthismoralimpulsein writingsabouttheHolocaustbecause,apart fromits generalstatus,its presenceis evidentandfruitfulin RachelBrenner's accountof four women writerscaughtup in the Holocaustand is the focus of SaraHorowitz'sanalysisof mutenessas a key to the understanding (and beforethat,the writing)of Holocaustfiction:the limitof silenceor linguistic inadequacywhich thatwritingboth assertsandattemptsto overcome.To be sure,the same moralimpulsecan sometimesturnthe text againstits author throughthe forcedjudgmentsor moralizingit encourages(andwhichattimes

Review: [untitled] Author(s): Berel Lang Source: AJS Review, Vol. 24, No. 1 (1999), pp. 156-160 Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Association for Jewish Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1486535 . Accessed: 15/07/2011 10:59 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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read,butonly by thosealreadysomewhatfamiliarwith Szold'slife andwork. Only then can I share in Shargel'sassessmentthat the publicationof Lost it (p. xii). Love, "farfromtarnishing"Szold'smemory,has "burnished" PamelaS. Nadell American University D.C. Washington, Rachel Feldhay Brenner. Writing as Resistance: Four WomenConfronting

the Holocaust.UniversityPark:PennsylvaniaStateUniversityPress, 1997. vii, 216 pp. SaraHorowitz. Voicingthe Void:Muteness and Memory in Holocaust Fiction.

Albany:StateUniversityof New YorkPress, 1997.vii, 276 pp. Far from the slackeningone might expect more than fifty years into post-Holocausthistory,the numberof booksabouttheHolocaustcontinuesto multiply.The qualityof this writing,moreover,is impressivelyhigh in most areas,includingthefieldsof literaryandculturalcriticism,to whichboththese books are contributions.To be sure,differencesmarkindividualwritingson the Holocaustas on any subject,andHolocaustwritingscollectivelyhavenot entirelyavoidedthe "deformations" againstwhichcriticshavewarnedalmost fromthe timeof theirorigin.Evenworkopento thisobjection,however,often respondsto the exaggerationof a qualitythat in itself had been a positive factor.Few writersaboutthe Holocausthave been impededby doubts,let alone denials, that their work has ethicalpresuppositionsand implications; they assumethis when they don't argueit, and it is, in any event,evidentin the form and contentof theirwriting,virtuallya stylistic featurethat is all the morenotableandcompellingbecauseof its usualabsencefromacademic or scholarlyworks. I mentionthismoralimpulsein writingsabouttheHolocaustbecause,apart fromits generalstatus,its presenceis evidentandfruitfulin RachelBrenner's accountof four women writerscaughtup in the Holocaustand is the focus of SaraHorowitz'sanalysisof mutenessas a key to the understanding (and beforethat,the writing)of Holocaustfiction:the limitof silenceor linguistic inadequacywhich thatwritingboth assertsandattemptsto overcome.To be sure,the same moralimpulsecan sometimesturnthe text againstits author throughthe forcedjudgmentsor moralizingit encourages(andwhichattimes

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surfacein both books). But even then, the issues raisedhave an instructive weightthey would not have in othersettings. Brenner'saccountof writingas resistancesets out from the significant commonelementsshe findsin the fourfigureswhom she considers:Simone Weil, EdithStein,Anne Frank,andEttyHillesum.All of themwere women born Jewish into fairly assimilated(acculturated?)households;all were writers(most relevantlyfor Brenner,of autobiographical texts);all perished either as a direct or (in the case of Weil, who starvedherself to death in England)indirectconsequenceof the Holocaust;all of them--this is the core of Brenner'sthesis--resisted the Nazi effort at dehumanization by the act of writing and by the "solidarity,sympathy,and identificationwith [other] victims" evident in that act and in their conductmore generally.(Brenner regardsthese facets of empathyas also reflectingtheir identityas women, althoughthis claim remainsrelativelyundeveloped.) Necessarily Brennerrecognizes importantdifferencesamong the four: most notably, that Stein was a Carmelitenun when she was killed in Auschwitz, and that Weil, who was only one step (baptism)away from Catholicism,came as close to overt antisemitismas most antisemites(including,in her variedwritings,a cloak of silence aboutthe Holocaust).But these differences-and othersthat go unremarked,the most obvious being the age-differencebetween Anne Frank,barelya teenagerwhen she died, and the others:all are groupedtogetherby Brenneras "intellectuals"and "cosmopolites"--matterless in her view than the contentof theirwritings andtheirlives, andthe relationshipbetweenthese;specifically,the respective responsesof the fourto the extremitythey faced. Brenner'saccountis at its best in analyzingthe individualresponsesthat shapedthe authors'autobiographical writings.Thisleadsin turnto suggestive commentsabout autobiographical discoursemore generallyas a means of creatingandaffirmingthe self, a processcentralforBrenner'scharacterization of the fouras participantsin the wartime"resistance" againstthe Nazi attack not only on the Jews but, in Brenner'sview, on the humanistictradition. There has been considerabledisagreement,in referenceto the Holocaust, about what types of conductotherthan overt expressionsshould count as resistance.The broaddefinitionused by Brenner,which includesthe writing of diariesor memoirs,is certainlyarguable,althoughit seemsthatmoreneeds to be said aboutthe relationship(anddifferences)amongtypes of resistance. Horowitz posits the feature of muteness or silence as a key to the centraltheoreticalissue affecting the status of Holocaustfiction: the jus-

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tification--morally,conceptually-for representingthe brute facts of the Holocaustin imaginativeform. The argumentsagainstsuch representations have ranged from the traditionalPlatonic attack against art as such--art simply as a cognitive and emotive falsification--tomore nuancedcritiques of Holocaustart as misrepresentingthe impersonalityof genocide and/or imposingindividualartifice(the artist's)on events so severe that they not only speak for themselves(thus,as history)but defy any effortto "improve on"theircorerepresentation. Horowitz'sapologiaforHolocaust Interestingly, fiction is itself couchedin representational terms,claimingthatsuch fiction is capable of capturingaspects of the reality of the Holocaustthat other forms of representationeithermiss or realize less adequately;and that the prooftextfor this defense appearsin the featureof mutenessor silence that is prominentas bothmeansandcontentin the writersshe cites. This feature, she suggests--evident in the many charactersin Holocaustfictionwho are aphasiacor feeble-mindedorrefrainfromspeaking,andin thestylisticmanner that some Holocausttexts attainthroughliterarydevices like discontinuity, "deflatedrhetoric,"and non-narratednarration-contributesto a collective of the inadequacyof expressionandcomprehension in respect representation to the Holocaust.To be sure,this inadequacyis not by itself the whole story (for if so the genrewould be silence alone).Althoughthe Holocaust"defies our best efforts to know ...

[or] to tell," Holocaust writers "simultaneously

succeed and fail"-with their success evidentlytwofold: representingthe of the event), struggleto tell an event beyondtelling (itself a representation in andthen actuallyrecoveringat least some memoriesthatcan be expressed the limitationsof the discourse. notwithstanding Thisis a powerfulcounter-argument to thecritiquesof Holocaustimaginative literaturethattypicallyfinda sourcein Adorno'sdenunciationof"poetry afterAuschwitz."Horowitz'swritingitself,moreover,hasa compellinglyfluid reach to it-at once judicious and incisive (quite a differentrepresentation thanthe mutenessaboutwhich she writes),as she moves "tellingly"among figuresas diverseas WieselandCelan,RingelblumandKosinski,JakovLind and PrimoLevi. Her accountsof these and the otherauthorsshe discusses are penetratingas practicalcriticismand to some extentsupporther overall thesis. I say "to some extent"becausethat practicalcriticismalso, to some extent,poses itself againsther thesis. The generalclaim thatthe Holocaust is incomprehensible andineffable,whichon heraccountis madeapparentin Holocaustfictionby variousartisticstrategies,has been often cited on more abstractor theoreticalgrounds,butneitherof theseapproachesmeansthatthe

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claim'struthis self-evidentor even at all evident.Unlessit is meantonly as a metaphorforthe Holocaust'smoralenormity(whichit oftenis, sometimesby Horowitzherself),its literalor empiricalstatuswouldyet haveto be assessed. And on this point it can surelybe arguedthatthe voluminouswritingsand testimoniesaboutthe Holocausthave by now yielded at least as much and its enormity,as has as clear a comprehensionof thatevent, notwithstanding been the case for most large-scalehistoricallyand morallychargedevents. Horowitzmakesit clearthatthe fictionon whichshe focusesis Furthermore, thatitself essentiallydependenton an historicalandconceptualsubstructure is non- or extra-fictional.Howeverinconsistent,it is no accident,it seems to me, that she includesa finely drawnchaptercomparingRingelblum'sDiary andthe LodzChronicle,or an(admittedlybrief)expositionof thephilosopher Jean Amery,in a book on Holocaustfiction--not in orderto representthe diary or chronicleor philosophicalreflectionas fictionalin the same sense that Lind's Soul of Wood(for example)is, but, as I read it, to confirmthe implicationsof the moreobvious"fictions"she analyzesin thoseothermodes of discourse.Againstthe postmodernist(andsometimesherown) conception thatviews history,becauseof its typicalnarrativestructures,as anothergenre of fiction,Horowitzseems at thesejuncturesto regardfictionas a genreof history.Perhapsfiction, or at least Holocaustfiction, is usefully viewed in such terms,but this would then seem to require,withinthe now very broad categoryof historicalwriting,distinctionsof a sortmoretraditionallydrawn externallybetweenfictionandits Others. As furtherevidenceof thisuneasyconflationof typesof discourse,I would cite the issueof literaryevaluation,whichgoes unmentioned by Horowitz-an absencethat by implicationplaces all the authorsshe considers,and many whom she does not, on the same level. (Appelfeld,for example,whom she mentionsonly incidentally,and who is an obvious"practitioner" of silence, is one of a numberof authorswith strongerclaims as writersthan certain of those she considers.)When she transposesthe imaginativewriting of authorsas differentin literarystandingas Celan and Wiesel (for example) into quasi-theoreticalstatementsof meaning,their respectivewritings, at least in that respect, appearas one; and indeed all Holocaustfiction is presumablyopen to the same sortof transposition.But this hardlyallows for the differencesamongwritersof Holocaustfictionfromone otheror, indeed, from any other writers.What does distinguishthem would thus remainto be formulatedin termsof fictionaldiscourseor "literariness" itself. To some extent, Horowitzdoes this when she addressestheir writingsindividually,

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but it is not much evident in the conceptualframeworkof her book-or in the larger(and also evaluative)question of how the representationof mutenessin Holocaustfiction compareswith its corollariesin othermodes of discourse.To addressthese issues, however,would requireelaborationin a workalreadyrich in valuableinsightsandassociationsaboutthe structures of Holocaustfiction both collectively and in many individualappearances. Horowitz'sbook deservesa place amongthe canonicalworkson the literary of the Holocaust. representation BerelLang TrinityCollege Conn. Hartford, Jodlle Bahloul. TheArchitectureof Memory:A Jewish-MuslimHousehold in ColonialAlgeria, 1937-1962. CambridgeStudiesin Social and Cultural Anthropology.Cambridge:CambridgeUniversityPress, 1996. xiv, 158 pp. This is a fascinatingexcursusinto memory,ethnography, andthe flow of interactivetime and space. JodlleBahloulhas writtenextensivelyin French about cultureand symbolismamong AlgerianJews in France.This study is largely a translationof La maison de memoire,first publishedin 1992, with some new material.The author,a culturalanthropologist,attemptsto convey somethingof the existenceof an Algerian"household"--atwo-story dwelling with many apartmentssurroundinga courtyard:the downstairs inhabitedby Muslims,andthe upstairsby Jews--priorto Jewishemigration in 1962. Because the household is rememberedin two culturesby two long-separatedpopulationswith overlappingyet distinctiveviews of their earliercoexistence,Bahloulappropriately proposesto use the opportunityto the contextualization of as explore memory well as the culture-histories they produce. The strengthsof this study are readilyapparent.The narrativeis well writtenand quite engaging.The focus is unusual,i.e., a kind of diachronic ethnographyof a complexhousehold(Dar-Refayil)of Jews and Muslimsin the Algeriantown of Setif. Accordingto the author,thejoint Jewish-Muslim housingcomplexwas notunusual,butto dateverylittlehasbeenwrittenabout it. Data-collectionrelied heavily on interviews-reconstructinga time and locationfar removedfrom most informants--participation, and observation in the remnantsof Dar-Refayilgroupculture,i.e., of the author'sfamily,still

Review: [untitled] Author(s): Laurence D. Loeb Source: AJS Review, Vol. 24, No. 1 (1999), pp. 160-162 Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Association for Jewish Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1486536 . Accessed: 15/07/2011 10:59 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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but it is not much evident in the conceptualframeworkof her book-or in the larger(and also evaluative)question of how the representationof mutenessin Holocaustfiction compareswith its corollariesin othermodes of discourse.To addressthese issues, however,would requireelaborationin a workalreadyrich in valuableinsightsandassociationsaboutthe structures of Holocaustfiction both collectively and in many individualappearances. Horowitz'sbook deservesa place amongthe canonicalworkson the literary of the Holocaust. representation BerelLang TrinityCollege Conn. Hartford, Jodlle Bahloul. TheArchitectureof Memory:A Jewish-MuslimHousehold in ColonialAlgeria, 1937-1962. CambridgeStudiesin Social and Cultural Anthropology.Cambridge:CambridgeUniversityPress, 1996. xiv, 158 pp. This is a fascinatingexcursusinto memory,ethnography, andthe flow of interactivetime and space. JodlleBahloulhas writtenextensivelyin French about cultureand symbolismamong AlgerianJews in France.This study is largely a translationof La maison de memoire,first publishedin 1992, with some new material.The author,a culturalanthropologist,attemptsto convey somethingof the existenceof an Algerian"household"--atwo-story dwelling with many apartmentssurroundinga courtyard:the downstairs inhabitedby Muslims,andthe upstairsby Jews--priorto Jewishemigration in 1962. Because the household is rememberedin two culturesby two long-separatedpopulationswith overlappingyet distinctiveviews of their earliercoexistence,Bahloulappropriately proposesto use the opportunityto the contextualization of as explore memory well as the culture-histories they produce. The strengthsof this study are readilyapparent.The narrativeis well writtenand quite engaging.The focus is unusual,i.e., a kind of diachronic ethnographyof a complexhousehold(Dar-Refayil)of Jews and Muslimsin the Algeriantown of Setif. Accordingto the author,thejoint Jewish-Muslim housingcomplexwas notunusual,butto dateverylittlehasbeenwrittenabout it. Data-collectionrelied heavily on interviews-reconstructinga time and locationfar removedfrom most informants--participation, and observation in the remnantsof Dar-Refayilgroupculture,i.e., of the author'sfamily,still

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alive, andfinally,observationat the subjectsite of discussionandinterviews of its present-dayinhabitants. this an Throughoutthe descriptionand narrativeare interpretations; rich in and into the symbolism insight unabashedlyinterpretiveethnography, thoughtprocesses producingthe behavioranalyzed.The elegance and real beautyof the workis speciallymarked,sometimesreadingas if the narrative were poetry,a text lendingitself to myriadinterpretations. This is, however,also a sourceof potentialdifficulty.Whose interpretations arewe being exposedto? Do theybelongto the informants,or arethey those of the researcher?Bahlouloftenfails to clue the readeras to the source She seems intertwinedwith her informants,presenting of the interpretations. that are confidentand assured,but rarelyattributed.Justifiinterpretations cation and/orsupportingevidence for the interpretations are not generally given. The primaryfocus is the Senoussifamily,in transitionfroma traditional Jewishpast to a modem Frenchfuture.The perioddescribedis 1937-1962, and Setif's Jews are strivingfor acceptanceby the French,who viewed them as "indigenous"and,duringWorldWarII, seemedin sympathywiththe Nazi inclinationto eliminatethem. Jews were actuallyfar closer to their Arab neighbors,but while sympathizingwith the latter'snationalistsentiments, they identifiedthemselvesas Frenchor with their own ethnic nationalism, Zionism. How personaland political events affectedthe residentsof Dar-Refayil is thoroughlyexamined,but much of the basic ethnographyof Setif Jewry is sadly overlooked.Thereis little sense of what goes on outsidethe house complex. What is the neighborhoodabout?How is the Jewish community organized?Whatlivelihoodsdid Jews dependon? Whatwas their standard of living overall in comparisonwith non-Jews?Bahloultells us a bit about religiousceremonies,such as Bar Mitzvah,but whatJudaismmeantto S6tif Jewry generally,and Dar-Refayilin particular,is largelyunexplored.Men and women went to synagogue,but how often, why, and what did they do there?Familyrelationshipswithinthe householdare scrutinized,butwithout muchreferenceto broaderkinshipnetworks.Women'slives andconcernsare amplydiscussed,but deliberationaboutmen'slives is sterileby comparison. Photographswould have helped measurablyin bindingthe descriptionand analysis. Dar-Refayilandits inhabitantsarethe organizingframeworkof this study, so do not expecta broad,richethnographyof AlgerianJewryhere.Bahloul's

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studyviews a microcosmof AlgerianJewishlife, andis verypersonalizedand subjective.Possibleshortcomingsdue to microscale,breadthlimitations,and unexplainedinterpretativecommentsare compensatedfor by the intimacy of the narrativeshe presents, compelling the readerto engage with the personalitiesand situationsdescribed.As a resultof the reflexivestyle, the author'smotivesanddilemmasin writingthis studycombinewell withlasting impressionsaboutthe waningyearsof Jewishcommunitylife in Algeria. In the concludingchapter,the authorvisits the recenteffortsof Jewish scholarsto explore social memory.Bahlouluses the resultsof her studyto make a good case for exploringsuch memoriesnot as timelessentities,but as tightlyconnectedto incidentsand eventswithina framedspatialcontext. In this case, the domesticsphereevokes a warmsymbolicglow thattightly binds the presentsociety to a past that is estrangedin locationas well as in time. Bahloul finally opines that "memoryestablishesan operativelink betweenthe practiceof the social orderand its symbolicrepresentation" (p. 136). Laurence D. Loeb of Utah University SaltLakeCity,Utah Joseph Heller. The Stern Gang: Ideology,Politics and Terror,1940-1949. London:FrankCass, 1995. x, 358 pp. The twentiethcenturyhas been aptly dubbedthe Centuryof Ideology. First,nationalismand fascismconvulsedthe Old Orderin EuropeandJapan in the firstdecadesof the century.Then,Nazismwreakednew havoc in the 1930s and 1940s. Communism'sseventy-someyears in power have left an indelible,perhapsineradicable,stampon one-thirdof humanity.It is hardly surprisingthat Jews, too, were inspiredby these ideological movements. JosephHeller'sTheSternGang:Ideology,Politics and Terror,1940-1949 is a detailedstudyof a fascinating,if doomed,effortto adaptCommunismand Fascismto the serviceof Jewishnationalismby a numericallytiny,politically marginal,yet historicallysignificantJewishliberationmovementin Palestine. Heller divides his survey chronologicallyinto five parts, following a brief introductionto the characterof Revisionism,from which the Stem Gangemerged.PartI examinesthe Revisionistmovementin Palestinein the 1930s as it oscillatedbetweenpoliticalmovementandunderground fighting

Review: [untitled] Author(s): William M. Batkay Source: AJS Review, Vol. 24, No. 1 (1999), pp. 162-164 Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Association for Jewish Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1486537 . Accessed: 15/07/2011 10:59 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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studyviews a microcosmof AlgerianJewishlife, andis verypersonalizedand subjective.Possibleshortcomingsdue to microscale,breadthlimitations,and unexplainedinterpretativecommentsare compensatedfor by the intimacy of the narrativeshe presents, compelling the readerto engage with the personalitiesand situationsdescribed.As a resultof the reflexivestyle, the author'smotivesanddilemmasin writingthis studycombinewell withlasting impressionsaboutthe waningyearsof Jewishcommunitylife in Algeria. In the concludingchapter,the authorvisits the recenteffortsof Jewish scholarsto explore social memory.Bahlouluses the resultsof her studyto make a good case for exploringsuch memoriesnot as timelessentities,but as tightlyconnectedto incidentsand eventswithina framedspatialcontext. In this case, the domesticsphereevokes a warmsymbolicglow thattightly binds the presentsociety to a past that is estrangedin locationas well as in time. Bahloul finally opines that "memoryestablishesan operativelink betweenthe practiceof the social orderand its symbolicrepresentation" (p. 136). Laurence D. Loeb of Utah University SaltLakeCity,Utah Joseph Heller. The Stern Gang: Ideology,Politics and Terror,1940-1949. London:FrankCass, 1995. x, 358 pp. The twentiethcenturyhas been aptly dubbedthe Centuryof Ideology. First,nationalismand fascismconvulsedthe Old Orderin EuropeandJapan in the firstdecadesof the century.Then,Nazismwreakednew havoc in the 1930s and 1940s. Communism'sseventy-someyears in power have left an indelible,perhapsineradicable,stampon one-thirdof humanity.It is hardly surprisingthat Jews, too, were inspiredby these ideological movements. JosephHeller'sTheSternGang:Ideology,Politics and Terror,1940-1949 is a detailedstudyof a fascinating,if doomed,effortto adaptCommunismand Fascismto the serviceof Jewishnationalismby a numericallytiny,politically marginal,yet historicallysignificantJewishliberationmovementin Palestine. Heller divides his survey chronologicallyinto five parts, following a brief introductionto the characterof Revisionism,from which the Stem Gangemerged.PartI examinesthe Revisionistmovementin Palestinein the 1930s as it oscillatedbetweenpoliticalmovementandunderground fighting

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force. Part II details the internalconflicts in the IZL (IrgunZvai Leumi), the Revisionistmilitaryorganizationcreatedby Ze'ev (Vladimir)Jabotinsky, Revisionism'sfounder.In PartIII, Heller analyzesthe dramaticideological reformulationthat accompaniedthe Stem Gang's revival underits formal sobriquet,Lehi(LohameiHerutIsrael),andits embraceof terror.PartsIV and V investigateLehi'srole in the postwaryearsandits unsuccessfulstrivingto fromthe stageof history.An effectiveconclusion avertits finaldisappearance of the author'smaincontentionsanda offersbotha persuasivereformulation balancedevaluationof Lehi'smodestcontributionto the attainmentof Israeli statehood. Heller's approachis of the revisionist (i.e., myth-debunking)history variety.Accordingto him, the Stem Gang has heretoforebeen the subject only of self-servingandmisleadingmemoirsby formermembersor enemies. His thesisis thatLehireinventeditselfrepeatedlyin orderto adaptits program to currentrealities.He analyzesin voluminousdetailthe ideologicalshiftsthe groupunderwent,along a continuumfrompuristhardrightto opportunistic left. While acknowledgingthe sincerityof the group'sintellectualleaders (Israel Eldad and Nathan Friedman-Yellin),Heller nonethelesspresentsa pictureof a politicallyineptorganizationwhosechiefraisond' trewas driving the British from Palestine. From Heller's perspective,Lehi's ideological contortionswere the most interesting,if not the mostnotorious,aspectsof its history. According to Heller's interpretation,Lehi began with a radical-right orientationbased on faith in an Axis victory in WorldWarII. Its lack of materialresourcesand, shall we say, quixoticforeignpolicy approachled to its completecollapse in 1942. The Gang resurfacedin 1943 in a startlingly differentguise-with a pro-Sovietforeignpolicy orientationandon a search for legitimizationfrom the Zionist left. Paradoxically,Lehi's radical-right programremainedunaltered,althoughsomeelementsof Communistideology were graftedonto it. The resultingamalgam,Hellerargues,was analogous to the "NationalBolshevism"movementin WeimarGermany,butpolitically unattractive to the Israelipublic.TheGang'sattemptto turnitselfintoa viable politicalpartyafter 1947 thusprovedabortive,andits disintegration was, in Heller's view, inevitable.The unifyingglue had been the Gang'srelentless and violent anti-Britishstruggle.Once independencewas won, Lehi simply ceasedto have a purpose. Extensivenotes documentHeller's prodigiousresearchin virtuallyevery Zionist archive in existence. Despite this impressivescholarship,and

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notwithstandingthe fascinationof Lehi's shortbut colorfullife, TheStern Gangsuffersfroma numberof problems.Amongtheseis the veryprofusion of detail,particularlyconcerningthe ideologicalandtacticalpronouncements of the group'svariousleaders.While Hellerpersuasivelydemonstratesthat the Stern Gang took its ideology deadly seriously,it is not at all obvious readersshouldfindit as rivetingas Hellerevidentlydoes, why contemporary the numerical insignificanceof the group(it nevernumberedmorethan given of broader its lack 800), politicalinfluence,and its only modest impacton the independencestruggle.A book of 350 pages seems too muchto devote to whatwas, aufond, little morethana footnoteto Zionisthistory. Zionistpolitics in the prestateperiodis indeeda thicketinto whichonly the most courageousscholarsoughtto venture.This volume, followinghis 1984 volume in Hebrew,TheStrugglefor a Jewish State:ZionistPolitics, 1936-1948, confirmsthat JosephHeller ranksamongtheir number.While the NationalBolshevismof the SternGangproveda nonstarterin the Yishuv, Heller'smeticulousexaminationof its originsandtrajectoryaptlyillustrates the politicalrelevanceof the quip of the late Leo RostenthatJews are like everybodyelse, only more so. Just as Zionismwas itself a Jewishversion of the nationalistideologies of Europeangentiles,so the SternGangwas a Jewishreplicationof radical-rightorganizationsin prewarEasternEurope. Althoughhis subjectmay be too arcanefor the generalreader,specialists will findTheSternGangchallengingandinformative.Onecanonlyadmirethe dedicationof JosephHeller,a specialistin international relationsat Hebrew in the University, presenting strange,fascinatingideologicalcomponentof the storyof this bit playerin the Zionistdrama. WilliamM.Batkay Montclair StateUniversity N.J. UpperMontclair,

Bobbie Malone. Rabbi Max Heller: Reformer, Zionist, Southerner, 1860-1929. Tuscaloosa:Universityof AlabamaPress, 1997. xvii, 275 pp. Overthe past decade,ourknowledgeof the Americanrabbinate,as well as of the impactrabbishave had on local, national,and, in some instances, internationalevents, has been significantlyadvancedby the appearanceof

Review: [untitled] Author(s): Gary P. Zola Source: AJS Review, Vol. 24, No. 1 (1999), pp. 164-168 Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Association for Jewish Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1486538 . Accessed: 15/07/2011 10:59 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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notwithstandingthe fascinationof Lehi's shortbut colorfullife, TheStern Gangsuffersfroma numberof problems.Amongtheseis the veryprofusion of detail,particularlyconcerningthe ideologicalandtacticalpronouncements of the group'svariousleaders.While Hellerpersuasivelydemonstratesthat the Stern Gang took its ideology deadly seriously,it is not at all obvious readersshouldfindit as rivetingas Hellerevidentlydoes, why contemporary the numerical insignificanceof the group(it nevernumberedmorethan given of broader its lack 800), politicalinfluence,and its only modest impacton the independencestruggle.A book of 350 pages seems too muchto devote to whatwas, aufond, little morethana footnoteto Zionisthistory. Zionistpolitics in the prestateperiodis indeeda thicketinto whichonly the most courageousscholarsoughtto venture.This volume, followinghis 1984 volume in Hebrew,TheStrugglefor a Jewish State:ZionistPolitics, 1936-1948, confirmsthat JosephHeller ranksamongtheir number.While the NationalBolshevismof the SternGangproveda nonstarterin the Yishuv, Heller'smeticulousexaminationof its originsandtrajectoryaptlyillustrates the politicalrelevanceof the quip of the late Leo RostenthatJews are like everybodyelse, only more so. Just as Zionismwas itself a Jewishversion of the nationalistideologies of Europeangentiles,so the SternGangwas a Jewishreplicationof radical-rightorganizationsin prewarEasternEurope. Althoughhis subjectmay be too arcanefor the generalreader,specialists will findTheSternGangchallengingandinformative.Onecanonlyadmirethe dedicationof JosephHeller,a specialistin international relationsat Hebrew in the University, presenting strange,fascinatingideologicalcomponentof the storyof this bit playerin the Zionistdrama. WilliamM.Batkay Montclair StateUniversity N.J. UpperMontclair,

Bobbie Malone. Rabbi Max Heller: Reformer, Zionist, Southerner, 1860-1929. Tuscaloosa:Universityof AlabamaPress, 1997. xvii, 275 pp. Overthe past decade,ourknowledgeof the Americanrabbinate,as well as of the impactrabbishave had on local, national,and, in some instances, internationalevents, has been significantlyadvancedby the appearanceof

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severalexcellentbiographicalstudies.'BobbieMalone'swell-researchedand lucidly writtenstudy on RabbiMax Heller of New Orleansconstitutesone of the morerecentexamplesof this importanttrend.In sharpcontrastto the sentimentalismof many rabbinicautobiographies and filio-pietisticrabbinic histories, Malone's scholarly reconstructionof Heller's life is biography at its best; she has writtena critical,thoroughlydocumentedanalysisthat effectivelyplaces the focus of her study,RabbiMax Heller,in the contextof boththe Jewishandthe generalsociety in whichhe functioned. Max Heller was born and raised in Bohemia.He came to the United States in 1879 afterhaving been urgedby his fatherto study at the newly foundedrabbinicalseminaryin Cincinnati,HebrewUnion College (HUC). Hellerquicklybecameone of IsaacMayerWise'sloyalprot6ges,imbibinghis mentor'sdeterminationto promulgatea Judaismthatwas "living,changing, developing"(p. 16). Hellerwas ordainedin 1884--one of thefive membersof HUC's secondclass of rabbinicgraduates.Afterspendinghis firsttwo years in ChicagoworkingunderRabbiBernhardFelsenthal'stutelage,Hellerwas calledto thepulpitof TempleSinaiin New Orleans.He spenttheremainderof his rabbinate-fortyyears--servingas thiscongregation'sspiritualleader.The impactof Heller'scareerextendedbeyondthe boundariesof his synagogue; as a prolificcorrespondentand editorfor severalJewishnewspapers,as one of the Southland'smost prominentclergymen,and as a nationalleaderof the Reformmovement,Heller assumeshistoricalsignificanceand earnestly meritsthe kindof in-depthexaminationMalonehas proffered. As was true of many of those who consideredIsaac Mayer Wise a "spiritualfather"(p. 18), Heller's religious, philosophical,and scientific des Judentums. perspectiveswere groundedin the principlesof Wissenschaft He was committedto the idea that modem Jewish scholarshipwas an indispensabletool in helping AmericanJewry cope with the realities of modernity.Despite his personalloyaltyto Wise, and his commitmentto the fundamentalideologicaltenetsthatcharacterized AmericanReformJudaism 1. A partiallist of rabbinicbiographiespublishedover the past decadeinclude:MarcLee Raphael, Abba Hillel Silver: A Profile in American Judaism (New York: Holmes & Meier, 1989); Sefton D. Temkin, Isaac Mayer Wise: Shaping American Judaism (Oxford: Littman Library, 1992); Mark K. Bauman, Harry H Epstein and the Rabbinate as a Conduitfor Change

N.J.:FairleighDickinsonUniversityPress,1994);LanceJ. Sussman,Isaac Leeser (Rutherford, and theMakingofAmericanJudaism(Detroit:WayneStateUniversityPress,1995);JeffreyS.

Gurock and Jacob J. Schacter, A Modern Heretic and a Traditional Community:Mordecai M. Kaplan, Orthodoxy, and American Judaism (New York: Columbia University Press, 1997).

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duringthe last decadesof the nineteenthcentury,Hellerwas an independent thinker.Time and again he challengedthe prevailingwisdom of colleagues who insistedthattheirown conceptionof ReformJudaismas a relentlessly liberal and universal faith was utterly embodiedin Isaac Mayer Wise's teachings.Manyof the passionatelycherishedideologicalcanonsof Heller's era were, fromhis perspective,trendsthatdid not fully representthe ideals thathis saintedteacherandmentorhadcherished. From the beginning of his rabbinate,Heller advocateda heightened sense of spiritualzeal in Reform Judaism.He attackedthose colleagues who in his view were attempting"to secularize [their] synagogues into liberaltemples"by stripping"religiousthoughtsinto baldphilosophies[and] religiousabstraction"(p. 86). Heller insistedthatthis spiritualapproachno longeraddressedthe emotionalneedsof AmericanJewry.Thepeoplewanted Reformto be a religionthatpossessed"color,body,poetry,character" (ibid.), and his sermonsrepeatedlychampioneda Jewish faith that was "vivid in historicassociations,richin symbols,[and]strongin its claspon life"(p. 73). Hellerchampionedmanycontroversialconvictionsthat,as Malonenotes, "were substantiallyahead of their time" (p. xiii). Like many of his peers, for instance,Heller devoted himself to the cause of interfaithrelationsby fosteringbondsof fellowshipwith the Christiansof New Orleans.Yetit was in the realmof intra-JewishrelationsthatHeller'scontributions meritspecial notice. Thoughhe was a committedreformer,Heller neverthelessrefused to join with those who upbraidedOrthodoxy.He deplored intra-Jewish anddedicatedhimselfto the goal of "peaceableco-operation" recriminations, betweenthese two segmentsof the Jewishcommunity.He tookgreatpridein the respectand affectionhis equanimousconductearnedfor him withinthe Orthodoxcommunity(p. 202). Perhapsthe most noteworthyaspectof Heller'sideologicalindependence was his eventualembraceof the Zionistcause.Despitethe fact thattherehad alwaysbeen a pro-Zionistpresencewithinthe Reformmovement,the famed PittsburghPlatform(1885)-the defacto creedof ReformJudaism--insisted thatJews viewed themselvesas a religiouscommunity,not as a nation,and Heller'spublic"conversion" "therefore[didnot]expecta returnto Palestine."2 to Zionismin 1901 identifiedhim as the firstHUC-trainedrabbito embrace the Jewishnationalmovement.His lifelongstruggleto reconcileReformand 2. WalterJacob,ThePittsburghPlatformin Retrospect(Pittsburgh: RodefShalomCongregation, 1985),p. 108.

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debatethateventuallymade Zionismmadehimanearlyvoice in theprotracted Zionisma luminousstarwithinReformJudaism'scontemporary constellation of values.3 As Malone deftly illustrates,Heller carved a niche for himself as an advocate for social reform and communalmorality.While many of his contemporariesbelieved thatthe massive influxof Jewishimmigrantsfrom EasternEuropeposed a gravethreatto the social standardof Americanized native-bornJews,Hellerdefendedthese co-religionistsvigorously.He called the EasternEuropeanJew a "Hebrewof the Hebrews,"andhe predictedthat the immigrant'slove of a "flesh-and-blood" Judaismwouldbe the harbinger of a "spiritualrenaissance"amongAmericanJewry(p. 86). Anotherremarkableaspectof the rabbi'scareerwas his firmand public dissensionfromthe South'sracialcaste system.In 1910,he raisedeyebrows audithroughoutNew Orleansby agreeingto addressan African-American ence and, in doing so, assuredthem of theirrightand duty"to confrontthe injusticeof prejudicewith the legitimateprepossessionsof a strengthened loyalty"(p. 107). Studentsof civil rights in the South shouldtake note of the fact that, as early as 1907, Heller used TempleSinai's pulpit to urge his congregantsto "pluckout from [their]heartswhateverracial,national or religious prejudicemay dwell there"and to champion"thecause of the oppressedand downtroddenof all racesandclimes"(p. 101). All of thesecrusadeswereriskybusinessforafin de siecle Southernrabbi. Heller's public espousal of Zionism and outspokenoppositionto Classical ReformJudaism's"religiousanemia"(p. 73) keptthe HebrewUnionCollege from awardinghim the honorarydoctoratethat was customarilyconferred upon its distinguishedalumni, and his frequentrefusals to toe the party line in public almost cost him the presidencyof the CentralConferenceof AmericanRabbis.As Malone aptly notes, these setbackstestify to the fact that,thoughHellermaynot havebeena revolutionary thinker,he clearlytook fundamental ideals to heart. Progressivism's Musteringan obligatorylist of picayuneshortcomingsservesno purpose in this instance;Maloneprovidesherreaderswitha solidpiece of scholarship, and the resultis an insightfulbiographythatsheds light on a broadrangeof

3. MichaelA. Meyer,"AmericanReformJudaismandZionism:EarlyEffortsandIdeological Rapprochement," Studiesin Zionism7 (Spring1983):49-64; GaryP. Zola, "Maximilian Heller:ReformJudaism'sPioneerZionist,"AmericanJewishHistory4 (June1984):375-397.

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topics thatwill edify thosewho studythe historyof New Orleans,the South, and,of course,the AmericanJewishexperience. GaryP.Zola HebrewUnionCollegeJewishInstitute of Religion Ohio Cincinnati, StevenT. Katz,ed. AmericanRabbi:TheLifeand ThoughtofJacob B. Agus. New York:New YorkUniversityPress, 1997. x, 244 pp. StevenT. Katz,ed. TheEssentialAgus: The WritingsofJacob B. Agus.New York:New YorkUniversityPress, 1997. xii, 573 pp. In a forceful, erudite afterwordto FatherJean Danielou's Dialogue withIsrael (1966), JacobAgus urgedforward-looking Christianthinkersto in themselves of elements their tradition and to build a divest anti-Jewish life. "We,in strongerfaithout of living, dynamicinsightsinto contemporary for ourselvesthe spiritualheritageof our past, do not granta appropriating blanketendorsementto all the actionsof ourforefathers,or to all theirbeliefs. andthatof our Ourfaithat any time is a synthesisof ourown understanding fathers." His wordswere self-referentialas well, forAgus'slife as a congregational rabbi and a philosopherof ConservativeJudaismturnedon this dialectic betweenold andnew, collectiveandpersonal,inheritedandinnovated.Agus constructeda world of thoughton two premises,one traditional--morality ensues fromdivine commandment,and one modern--allpeople are equally capableof moralityregardlessof religiousparticularity. Born in 1911 into a distinguishedPolish rabbinicalfamily on both his father's and mother's sides, Jacob Agus (Agushewitz)was acclaimedas an illui ("genius")when he enteredthe Tachkemoniyeshiva in Bialystok. His family migratedto Palestinein 1925, had troublegettingan economic foothold,andmovedagainin 1927to the UnitedStates,settlingin BoroPark. An outstandingstudentat YeshivaUniversity,Agus receivedsmichain 1933 and two years laterthe traditional"YadinYadin"smichathatelevatedhim to the statusofposeik. Aftertakinghis firstpulpitin Norfolk,he engagedin an intensivestudy of midrash(by mail) with Louis Ginzbergof the Jewish TheologicalSeminaryandthenfulfilleda growingdesireforsecularexpertise

Review: [untitled] Author(s): Andrew R. Heinze Source: AJS Review, Vol. 24, No. 1 (1999), pp. 168-171 Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Association for Jewish Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1486539 . Accessed: 15/07/2011 10:59 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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topics thatwill edify thosewho studythe historyof New Orleans,the South, and,of course,the AmericanJewishexperience. GaryP.Zola HebrewUnionCollegeJewishInstitute of Religion Ohio Cincinnati, StevenT. Katz,ed. AmericanRabbi:TheLifeand ThoughtofJacob B. Agus. New York:New YorkUniversityPress, 1997. x, 244 pp. StevenT. Katz,ed. TheEssentialAgus: The WritingsofJacob B. Agus.New York:New YorkUniversityPress, 1997. xii, 573 pp. In a forceful, erudite afterwordto FatherJean Danielou's Dialogue withIsrael (1966), JacobAgus urgedforward-looking Christianthinkersto in themselves of elements their tradition and to build a divest anti-Jewish life. "We,in strongerfaithout of living, dynamicinsightsinto contemporary for ourselvesthe spiritualheritageof our past, do not granta appropriating blanketendorsementto all the actionsof ourforefathers,or to all theirbeliefs. andthatof our Ourfaithat any time is a synthesisof ourown understanding fathers." His wordswere self-referentialas well, forAgus'slife as a congregational rabbi and a philosopherof ConservativeJudaismturnedon this dialectic betweenold andnew, collectiveandpersonal,inheritedandinnovated.Agus constructeda world of thoughton two premises,one traditional--morality ensues fromdivine commandment,and one modern--allpeople are equally capableof moralityregardlessof religiousparticularity. Born in 1911 into a distinguishedPolish rabbinicalfamily on both his father's and mother's sides, Jacob Agus (Agushewitz)was acclaimedas an illui ("genius")when he enteredthe Tachkemoniyeshiva in Bialystok. His family migratedto Palestinein 1925, had troublegettingan economic foothold,andmovedagainin 1927to the UnitedStates,settlingin BoroPark. An outstandingstudentat YeshivaUniversity,Agus receivedsmichain 1933 and two years laterthe traditional"YadinYadin"smichathatelevatedhim to the statusofposeik. Aftertakinghis firstpulpitin Norfolk,he engagedin an intensivestudy of midrash(by mail) with Louis Ginzbergof the Jewish TheologicalSeminaryandthenfulfilleda growingdesireforsecularexpertise

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by enteringthe doctoralprogramin philosophyat Harvard,whichculminated in a dissertationpublishedas ModernPhilosophiesofJudaism(1940). Agus went througha decisive intellectualchange after completinghis Ph.D. and acceptingthe pulpitof CongregationAgudasAchim in Chicago. Increasinglydisenchantedwith Orthodoxdogma, he moved on to Dayton, Ohio, to officiateover a liberalOrthodoxcongregationthat turnedConservative duringhis tenure.In Ohio, Agus met andbefriendedAbrahamJoshua Heschel,who was thenteachingat the HebrewUnionCollege.In the context of a lifelong friendship,Agus and Heschel collaboratedin effortsto reform the curriculumand characterof the Jewish TheologicalSeminaryand to dialogue.Agus finallybrokefromOrthodoxyafter promoteJewish-Christian 1945 in frustrationat havingfailedto inducegreaterflexibilityandchangein halakhah. Switchingto the Conservativemovement,Agus joined forces with likemindedreformersSolomon Goldman,RobertGordis,MorrisAdler,Milton Steinberg,Ben Zion Bokser,and TheodoreFriedman.As a highly esteemed poseik, Agus weighed in on critical halakhicdecisions such as the 1950 Responsumon the Sabbath,which allowedthe use of electricityanddriving to synagogueon the Sabbath.Ever since his discovery,while a studentat Yeshiva,that therewas no clear biblicalor rabbinicbasis for the mechitza, Agus had been interestedin this point of law. At the requestof the United Synagogue,hejustifiedmixedseatingin two secularcourtcases of the 1950s. Orthodoxy'sresponsewas to officiallyaffirmthenecessityof the mechitzafor communalprayerandto placeAgus in herem.(Thebanwas laterrepudiated.) In the 1950s and 1960s Agus builtup Baltimore'sCongregationBeth El into one of the leadingConservativesynagoguesin the country,overseeing its growth from fifty families to more than fifteen hundred.A dominating intellectualpresence in the Baltimore-Washington area, Agus was known as "rabbiof the rabbis."He not only taughtand advisedConservativeand Reformrabbisbut also attracteda groupof ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students who secretly studied Talmudwith him at his home. In academia,Agus served on the faculty at TempleUniversityfor many years and at Dropsie College for five of the last six yearsof his life. Of particularsignificancewas his appointmentat St. Mary'sSeminaryin Baltimore,makinghim the first non-priestauthorizedby the Vaticanto teachCatholicseminarians.There,he lecturedon the Jewishcontextof the Gospels. Agus's involvementin interfaithactivitieswas one of the most important elementsof his career.Workingclosely withthe AmericanJewishCommittee

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and the National Conferenceof Christiansand Jews to develop interfaith programs,Agus enteredinto a vital relationshipwith AugustinCardinalBea thatculminatedin the epic declarationsof VaticanII on the statusof Judaism andthe Jewishpeople in Catholicdoctrine. The two volumes underreview comprisea 244-page biographicalanthology and a 573-page collection of Agus's writings.Each volume opens with an introductoryessay by Steven Katz and concludeswith the same bibliography.Norton Shargel, David Novak, David Blumenthal,Eugene Fisher,MiltonKonvitz,WilliamKaufman,Neil Gillman,MordecaiWaxman, Elliot Dorff, and MarkLoeb contributedessays on Agus's life and thought for AmericanRabbi; for The EssentialAgus, they provideda selection of Agus's writingson such subjectsas medievaland modem Jewishphilosophy, Jewish-Christiandialogue,the ideology of AmericanJudaism,Jewish conceptsof God, ConservativeJudaism,andJewishlaw andstandards. Structureis a factor that begs for comment here, because it is not evidentthattwo volumeswere eithernecessaryor desirablein this important presentationof JacobAgusto thereadingpublic.Muchbetter,in termsof both concisenessandaccessibility,wouldhavebeena singlevolumein whicheach biographicalessay precededa selection of Agus's writings.Threehundred pages of Agus's work, insteadof 550, would sufficeand would not pose an insurmountable editingproblem,because,inevitably,someof his analysesare now datedand dispensable,while some shouldbe abridged,eitherbecause of overlapwith otherselectionsor for simple economy.It is to the editor's creditthat he wantedto avoid cuttingup Agus's impressivelycraftedwork. But a well-consideredellipsis hereandthere,coupledwith a morerestrained selectionof readings,wouldbetterconveywhatis trulyuniquein his thought. For a contemporaryaudience,Agus's writingsare at their best when he is analyzingJewish-Christiandialogue,the parametersof Conservative Judaism,and the historicallyprevalentintellectualtensions within Jewish thought.Particularlybecausethe fields of Jewish-Christian dialogueandthe in law non-Orthodox of Judaism remainpartiallycultivatedat philosophy retain their His historicalsurveysof Jewish best, Agus's insights potency. new to specialists,but they engage the reader thoughtmay presentnothing in a rewardingencounterwith the grandsynthesisand articulationthat are Agus trademarks. These two books describea fiercelyindependentthinkerwho possessed the presence of mind and the characterto engage Arnold Toynbee in a personalandintellectualrelationshipthatresultedin Toynbee'sreconsidering

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of Judaismhe originallyespousedin A Studyof the negative interpretation and "neo-Maimonidean" A staunch humanist rationalistwho liked History. to speak of the "darkcobwebs"of mysticism,Agus nonethelessextolled AbrahamIsaac Kook for his uniquefusion of traditionalGod-centeredness An anti-romantic andanti-nationalist, he vocally with socialcontemporaneity. criticized certain aspects of Zionism and made enemies as a result. An innovatorwho yet insisted on rigor in halakhicdeterminations,Agus was criticizedbothby Conservativecolleagueswho consideredhim insufficiently liberalandby the Orthodox,anda few Conservatives,who rejectedhim as a radicalrevisionist. As Steven Katz writes in introducingAgus, he was "a serious and respectful critic" and a formidablethinkerwhose writings covered "an enormoushistoricaland conceptualrange"(pp. 12-13) and who "heldfirm to the conviction that Judaismwas explicableand defensiblein universal rationaland ethicalterms"(p. 33). Buttressedby theiroften-closepersonal to this anthologysuccessfully relationshipswith JacobAgus, the contributors the intellectual of a man whose meditationson the present primal energy natureof Jewishexistence,philosophy,and law demandan audience. AndrewR. Heinze of SanFrancisco University SanFrancisco, Calif. Jeffrey Gurockand Jacob Schacter.A ModernHeretic and a Traditional MordecaiM. Kaplan,Orthodoxy,and AmericanJudaism.New Community: York:ColumbiaUniversityPress, 1997. x, 220 pp. Despitechangesin religiousfads andfashions,MordecaiKaplanremains the central figure in the history of AmericanJudaismin the twentieth century.Kaplan'spivotal role in the evolution of Reform,Orthodox,and ConservativeJudaism,his foundingof ReconstructionistJudaism,and his crucialsignificancein AmericanZionism,Jewisheducation,socialwork,and the Jewishcentermovementhave been chronicledin a numberof important volumes publishedin recentyears, includingRichardLibowitz'sMordecai M. Kaplanand the Developmentof Reconstructionism (1983), JacobRader MarcusandAbrahamJ. Peck's TheAmericanRabbinate(1985), DeloresJoan Rogers's TheAmericanEmpiricalMovementin Theology(1990), Emanuel S. Goldsmith,Mel Scult, and RobertM. Seltzer's TheAmericanJudaism

Review: [untitled] Author(s): Emanuel S. Goldsmith Source: AJS Review, Vol. 24, No. 1 (1999), pp. 171-174 Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Association for Jewish Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1486540 . Accessed: 15/07/2011 10:59 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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of Judaismhe originallyespousedin A Studyof the negative interpretation and "neo-Maimonidean" A staunch humanist rationalistwho liked History. to speak of the "darkcobwebs"of mysticism,Agus nonethelessextolled AbrahamIsaac Kook for his uniquefusion of traditionalGod-centeredness An anti-romantic andanti-nationalist, he vocally with socialcontemporaneity. criticized certain aspects of Zionism and made enemies as a result. An innovatorwho yet insisted on rigor in halakhicdeterminations,Agus was criticizedbothby Conservativecolleagueswho consideredhim insufficiently liberalandby the Orthodox,anda few Conservatives,who rejectedhim as a radicalrevisionist. As Steven Katz writes in introducingAgus, he was "a serious and respectful critic" and a formidablethinkerwhose writings covered "an enormoushistoricaland conceptualrange"(pp. 12-13) and who "heldfirm to the conviction that Judaismwas explicableand defensiblein universal rationaland ethicalterms"(p. 33). Buttressedby theiroften-closepersonal to this anthologysuccessfully relationshipswith JacobAgus, the contributors the intellectual of a man whose meditationson the present primal energy natureof Jewishexistence,philosophy,and law demandan audience. AndrewR. Heinze of SanFrancisco University SanFrancisco, Calif. Jeffrey Gurockand Jacob Schacter.A ModernHeretic and a Traditional MordecaiM. Kaplan,Orthodoxy,and AmericanJudaism.New Community: York:ColumbiaUniversityPress, 1997. x, 220 pp. Despitechangesin religiousfads andfashions,MordecaiKaplanremains the central figure in the history of AmericanJudaismin the twentieth century.Kaplan'spivotal role in the evolution of Reform,Orthodox,and ConservativeJudaism,his foundingof ReconstructionistJudaism,and his crucialsignificancein AmericanZionism,Jewisheducation,socialwork,and the Jewishcentermovementhave been chronicledin a numberof important volumes publishedin recentyears, includingRichardLibowitz'sMordecai M. Kaplanand the Developmentof Reconstructionism (1983), JacobRader MarcusandAbrahamJ. Peck's TheAmericanRabbinate(1985), DeloresJoan Rogers's TheAmericanEmpiricalMovementin Theology(1990), Emanuel S. Goldsmith,Mel Scult, and RobertM. Seltzer's TheAmericanJudaism

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of MordecaiM. Kaplan (1990), Mel Scult's JudaismFaces the Twentieth Century(1993), and S. Daniel Breslauer'sMordecaiKaplan's Thoughtin a PostmodernAge (1994). This newly publishedstudyby JeffreyS. Gurockand JacobJ. Schacter is unique in that it offers us an Orthodoxview of the OrthodoxKaplan. Although it covers much of the groundalreadytraversedby Scult, it is importantfor threereasons.Firstof all, it sees Kaplanthe Orthodoxrabbi throughthe eyes of his Orthodoxfollowersandopponents.Second,it charts Orthodoxfascinationwith, and ambivalenceabout,Kaplanfromthe time of his breakwith Orthodoxyin the 1920s until his death in 1983. Finally,it reflectsOrthodoxy'sfailureto trulycome to grips with Kaplanand indeed with all non-Orthodoxmanifestationsof Judaismin Americaor, for that matter,anywherein the worldto this very day. The authorshave producedan excellentlyconceived,written,organized, and documentedwork. They succeed in conveyingthe flavor of Kaplan's home and community,the atmosphereof the RabbiIsaacElchananYeshiva and the Jewish TheologicalSeminaryin the early decadesof the century, andthe mood of the OrthodoxsynagogueandstreetwhenKaplanfunctioned as a "minister"in CongregationKehillathJeshurunin New York City's Yorkvilleand, later, as a rabbi in the Jewish Centeron the Upper West Side. They demonstratethat Orthodoxreactionsto Kaplanalways ranged fromwillingnessto acceptpartsof his messageto implacableoppositionto everythinghe represented. Throughoutthe volume,the authorsalternatetheterm"heretic"with"outandespecially"dissenter." sider,""opponent," Theyfinallysettleon "heretic," the most theologicalof these words.Yet they fail to refuteconvincinglythe andcategorizationas a hereticwas suspicionthatKaplan'sexcommunication more culturalthan theological,more the result of the failureof American Orthodoxleadersto squareinnovationandcriticismwith theiroppositionto inevitablechangeandadjustmentthanan intellectualrepudiationof Kaplan's thinking.In fact, it would seem to have been due primarilyto what Kaplan in anothercontextonce termed"anti-Maimunism in modemdress."Kaplan's to sins have been his of the kindof supernatural belief great appear rejection that accepts the miracle tales in the Bible literally,his assertionthat the viabilityof suchbasic Jewishtraditionsas Shabbatandkashrutneededto be reassessedin the modemworld,andhis denialthatGod spokein an audible voice at Sinai or thatthe revelationthereactuallytook place as describedin the Torah.Withregardto the last of these points,it is worthrecallingwhat

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JacobAgus, discussingMaimonides,wrote in his TheEvolutionof Jewish Thought(1959, pp. 190-191): Whenthe Jewishpeoplestoodat the footof MountSinaiandheardthe Ten recitedby Moses,theywereso deeplymovedthatin their Commandments imagination theyheardvoicesandbeheldwondrous sights.Buttheaccountof atSinaimustnotbetakenliterally....according therevelation to Maimonides, in theBookof Exodusshouldbe readas theaccountof theSinaiticrevelation a parable(moshol)..... in general,"the innermeaningsof the words of the

Toraharethegemswhiletheliteralparables areno morethanillustration.

Maimonidesalso had his problemswith miracles,andhe expendedno small effortin dealingwith them in his Guideof the Perplexed.As far as Shabbat andkashrutareconcerned,reassessmentneedneverhavebeenconfusedwith repudiationor rejection. Kaplan'smajorcontributionto Jewishthought,hailedby Orthodoxrabbi Shlomo Riskin as worthyof being emblazoned"in gold lettersatop every Jewish institutionalbuilding"(p. 156), was his definitionof Judaismas a civilization.ButthisdefinitionclearlyimpliesthatJudaismmustbe pluralistic. In a pluralisticcivilization,diversityreplacesheresyas a sine quanon.Indeed, Kaplanmayhavehituponhis definitionas a resultof his desireto delegitimize heresyas a categoryof Jewishthought. The authorsfail to accountadequatelyfor whatfinallymotivatedKaplan to break with Orthodoxyintellectually.Kaplan,it must be recalled, was the outstandingrepresentativeof the Haskalahmovementin the twentieth century.Althoughconventionalwisdomregardsthe Haskalahas havingrun its course in the 1880s, in fact it continuesto this very day with all Jews who choose a synthesis of modernityand Judaismas their way of life. (Modem Orthodoxyis itself a productof the Haskalah.)The rationalistic, universalistic,and this-worldlyemphasesof the Haskalahwere the primary sourcesof Kaplan'sobjectionsto Orthodoxyas it was practicedin America in the firsthalf of the twentiethcentury. Kaplanwas also greatlyinfluencedby new developmentsin religionand religious thoughtin the Americaof the late nineteenthand early twentieth centuries.In 1874 the popularChicagopreacherDavid Swing was triedfor heresy in the Presbyterianchurch.Swing taughtthat if Christianityin the modemworldcouldno longerbe spreadas a dogma,it couldnowbe promoted as a way of life andas a civilization.Swing'sheresytrialwas widelyreported in the press and was a cause celebre in AmericanChristianityfor decades

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thereafter.Kaplanwas, of course,primarilyinfluencedby the philosopher WilliamJames,butthe writingsof RalphWaldoEmerson,JosiahRoyce,John Dewey, Douglas Macintosh,HenryWieman,AlfredNorthWhitehead,and othersalso influencedhim. Sociology,psychology,and comparativereligion also had lastingeffects on Kaplan'sthinkingandhelpedhim decideto break with Orthodoxy,and in fact to repudiateReformand ConservativeJudaism as well. This study clarifies not a few conundrumsof early-twentieth-century AmericanJudaism.In the earlydecadesof the century,for example,the only real differencebetweenthe Jewish TheologicalSeminaryand its Orthodox counterpart,the RabbiIsaac ElchananTheologicalSeminary,was the willingness of the formerto tolerateKaplan.The YoungIsraelmovement,of whichKaplanwas a founder,saw itself in thosedaysas neitherOrthodoxnor Reform,neitherZionist nor Socialist.It intendedrather"to awakenJewish young men and women to theirresponsibilitiesas Jews, in whateverform these responsibilitiesbe conceived"(p. 80). Everyoneinterestedin any aspectof Judaismwill benefitfroma reading of this well-conceivedandexcellentlyexecutedbook. Emanuel S. Goldsmith QueensCollegeof the of NewYork CityUniversity Flushing, N.Y. MarkK. BaumanandBerkleyKalin,eds. TheQuietVoices:SouthernRabbis and Black CivilRights,1880s to 1990s. Tuscaloosa:Universityof Alabama Press, 1997. x, 444 pp. Jews have long been in the vanguardof the strugglefor civil libertiesin America.But as this excellent new collectioneditedby MarkBaumanand BerkleyKalin demonstrates,the AmericanJewishcommunity'sreactionto the blackcivil rightsmovementwas less enthusiasticthanmanymay realize or be willing to accept. The Quiet Voices,as its subtitleimplies,purportsto be the storyof southernrabbisin the struggleagainstsegregation.Indeed,a greatdealof the collectionis devotedto biographiesandmemoirsof southern rabbiswho workedto end segregationandchallengedtheircongregationsto do the same.Tomy mind,however,manyof the collection'smostprovocative and points concernnorthernJewishambivalencetowardAfrican-Americans

Review: [untitled] Author(s): Jay M. Eidelman Source: AJS Review, Vol. 24, No. 1 (1999), pp. 174-176 Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Association for Jewish Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1486541 . Accessed: 15/07/2011 10:59 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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thereafter.Kaplanwas, of course,primarilyinfluencedby the philosopher WilliamJames,butthe writingsof RalphWaldoEmerson,JosiahRoyce,John Dewey, Douglas Macintosh,HenryWieman,AlfredNorthWhitehead,and othersalso influencedhim. Sociology,psychology,and comparativereligion also had lastingeffects on Kaplan'sthinkingandhelpedhim decideto break with Orthodoxy,and in fact to repudiateReformand ConservativeJudaism as well. This study clarifies not a few conundrumsof early-twentieth-century AmericanJudaism.In the earlydecadesof the century,for example,the only real differencebetweenthe Jewish TheologicalSeminaryand its Orthodox counterpart,the RabbiIsaac ElchananTheologicalSeminary,was the willingness of the formerto tolerateKaplan.The YoungIsraelmovement,of whichKaplanwas a founder,saw itself in thosedaysas neitherOrthodoxnor Reform,neitherZionist nor Socialist.It intendedrather"to awakenJewish young men and women to theirresponsibilitiesas Jews, in whateverform these responsibilitiesbe conceived"(p. 80). Everyoneinterestedin any aspectof Judaismwill benefitfroma reading of this well-conceivedandexcellentlyexecutedbook. Emanuel S. Goldsmith QueensCollegeof the of NewYork CityUniversity Flushing, N.Y. MarkK. BaumanandBerkleyKalin,eds. TheQuietVoices:SouthernRabbis and Black CivilRights,1880s to 1990s. Tuscaloosa:Universityof Alabama Press, 1997. x, 444 pp. Jews have long been in the vanguardof the strugglefor civil libertiesin America.But as this excellent new collectioneditedby MarkBaumanand BerkleyKalin demonstrates,the AmericanJewishcommunity'sreactionto the blackcivil rightsmovementwas less enthusiasticthanmanymay realize or be willing to accept. The Quiet Voices,as its subtitleimplies,purportsto be the storyof southernrabbisin the struggleagainstsegregation.Indeed,a greatdealof the collectionis devotedto biographiesandmemoirsof southern rabbiswho workedto end segregationandchallengedtheircongregationsto do the same.Tomy mind,however,manyof the collection'smostprovocative and points concernnorthernJewishambivalencetowardAfrican-Americans

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integration.The title couldthusbe seen as havinga doublemeaning,alluding both to the rabbis'propheticconvictionsspoken softly and to other,more mutedJewishresponsesto blackstruggle. The collection is built aroundtwo powerful themes. The first is the tremendousconviction of many of these mostly Reform rabbis that the prophetictraditionin Judaismrequiredthemto speakout againstsegregation even when this upset their congregantsand endangeredtheir lives and the lives of theirfamilies.The secondthemeis the precariouspositionof Jewsin southernwhite society.While northernJewishleadersmay have recognized thatworkingto end racialprejudiceservedtheirown interests,southernJews realizedthattoo loud a confrontationwith Jim Crowwould bringthem into the line of fire. But while northernJews may have supportedthe civil rights struggle,they were less delightedby the encroachmentof blacks into their neighborhoods,and like manywhites,they took flightto the suburbs. The collection is divided into four parts.The first looks at threerabbis who servedin the late nineteenthand earlytwentiethcenturies.The second part,"TheHeyday,"skips aheadto the periodfollowing the SecondWorld War. Introducingthe section is the collection's most provocativeessay, "'Hamans'and 'Torquemadas':Southernand NorthernJewish Responses to the Civil Rights Movement,1945-1965"by MarcDollinger.It criticizes both southernand northernJews for theiroften ambivalentattitudestoward the diresituationthatfaced blackcivil rightsand for not fully understanding African-Americansin this era. If we seek an answer to the question of and Jews why the once-strongpolitical bonds betweenAfrican-Americans have weakened, Dollinger says we need to look no furtherthan Jewish politicalactivityduringthe height of civil rightsagitationin the 1950s and 1960s. Jewish political organizationswere focused on promotingequality of opportunitywhile Americanblackswere quite literallyfightingfor their lives. This fundamentallack of understanding aboutthe realitiesof AfricanAmericanlife coupledwith African-American misreadingof the actualpower of the Jewishcommunitywas boundto cause friction. The third part of the collection containsmemoirs of three prominent southernrabbis,JacobRothschild,MalcolmStem, and MyronBerman.The book is completedby MicahD. Greensteinand HowardGreenstein'sessay "'Thenand Now:' SouthernRabbisand Civil Rights."This father-and-son team,bothrabbiswho have servedin a varietyof southernpulpits,updatethe story.Thoughobserversof southernJewishculturehad earlyon speculated thatthe so-calledblack-Jewishcoalitionwas less solid thanmany assumed,

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and the Greensteinsnotethatthepartingof ways betweenAfrican-Americans Jews reflectsthe growingdifferencesin the positionof these communities in Americansociety. For all intentsand purposesJews have made it, and southernrabbisare no longer focused on the issues thatbroughtthem into common cause with African-Americanministers.This is not to say that southernrabbisno longerdevote themselvesto civil rights,but often it is a commonthreatthatbringsthe two communitiestogether. Forall the voices represented,the collectionalmostignoresOrthodoxand Helen Conservativerabbisin the South.Womenare also underrepresented. her Rabbi David who worked husband, Jacobson,for Jacobson, alongside integrationin SanAntonio,Texas,is one of the few exceptions.Nonetheless, this collectionhangstogetherverywell. The editorshavenot neglectedthose rabbiswho did not join the civil rights battle.Nor have they ignoredthe difficultposition facing southernJews, caught in the middle between the demandsof social justice and the precariousnessof their own position in white southernsociety. And northernJews who rememberthemselvesas havingbeen at the heartof the civil rightsstrugglemay see a very different face reflectedback to them. All in all, this is a carefullycraftedand subtle collectionthatwill interestscholarsof AmericanJewishhistory,black-Jewish relations,andthe Americancivil rightsmovement. JayM.Eidelman Museumof theJewishHeritage NewYork,NY StuartA. Cohen.TheScrollor theSword?DilemmasofReligionandMilitary Servicein Israel. Amsterdam:HarwoodAcademicPublishers,1997. xii, 98 pp. In this slim volume,a Bar-Ilanpoliticalscientisttracesthe oft-timescomplex, controversial,and still evolving relationshipbetweenIsrael'smilitary and its religious(readOrthodox)community. Cohen first surveys traditionalrabbinicthoughton militaryquestions, fromMaimonides'familiardistinctionbetweenmilhemetmitzvah(obligatory war)andmilhemetreshut(optionalwar)to the views of morerecentthinkers. Suchwritings,however,werepurelytheoreticalandlargelypassiveduringthe 2,000-yearexile. All this changedwith the rise of modempoliticalZionism and the establishmentof the Stateof Israel.Suddenlythese issues took on a

Review: [untitled] Author(s): Gary S. Schiff Source: AJS Review, Vol. 24, No. 1 (1999), pp. 176-178 Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Association for Jewish Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1486542 . Accessed: 15/07/2011 11:00 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 the Greensteinsnotethatthepartingof ways betweenAfrican-Americans Jews reflectsthe growingdifferencesin the positionof these communities in Americansociety. For all intentsand purposesJews have made it, and southernrabbisare no longer focused on the issues thatbroughtthem into common cause with African-Americanministers.This is not to say that southernrabbisno longerdevote themselvesto civil rights,but often it is a commonthreatthatbringsthe two communitiestogether. Forall the voices represented,the collectionalmostignoresOrthodoxand Helen Conservativerabbisin the South.Womenare also underrepresented. her Rabbi David who worked husband, Jacobson,for Jacobson, alongside integrationin SanAntonio,Texas,is one of the few exceptions.Nonetheless, this collectionhangstogetherverywell. The editorshavenot neglectedthose rabbiswho did not join the civil rights battle.Nor have they ignoredthe difficultposition facing southernJews, caught in the middle between the demandsof social justice and the precariousnessof their own position in white southernsociety. And northernJews who rememberthemselvesas havingbeen at the heartof the civil rightsstrugglemay see a very different face reflectedback to them. All in all, this is a carefullycraftedand subtle collectionthatwill interestscholarsof AmericanJewishhistory,black-Jewish relations,andthe Americancivil rightsmovement. JayM.Eidelman Museumof theJewishHeritage NewYork,NY StuartA. Cohen.TheScrollor theSword?DilemmasofReligionandMilitary Servicein Israel. Amsterdam:HarwoodAcademicPublishers,1997. xii, 98 pp. In this slim volume,a Bar-Ilanpoliticalscientisttracesthe oft-timescomplex, controversial,and still evolving relationshipbetweenIsrael'smilitary and its religious(readOrthodox)community. Cohen first surveys traditionalrabbinicthoughton militaryquestions, fromMaimonides'familiardistinctionbetweenmilhemetmitzvah(obligatory war)andmilhemetreshut(optionalwar)to the views of morerecentthinkers. Suchwritings,however,werepurelytheoreticalandlargelypassiveduringthe 2,000-yearexile. All this changedwith the rise of modempoliticalZionism and the establishmentof the Stateof Israel.Suddenlythese issues took on a

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more real and urgentquality,forcing Orthodoxyto come to grips with the demandsof militaryservice. As I have discussedelsewhere,Orthodoxy'sresponseto the challengesof modernitywasbifurcated.ThosewhoaffirmedZionismandall its implications gravitatedtowardthe Mizrahi(now NationalReligiousor Mafdal)partyand its sundryoffshoots.For ReligiousZionistsandtheirseminalthinkers,most notablyRabbiAbrahamIsaacKook, militaryservicewas seen as morethan a mere civic duty. Rather,it was a religiousobligation,partof the overall processof redemptioninherentin the Zionistenterprise. The responseto the same challengesby the haredim(ultra-Orthodox), associated mainly with Agudat Yisrael and its various outgrowths,was negative.As non- or anti-Zionists,haredimviewed the Zionistundertaking, atbest,asjust anotherseculargovernmentimposingontheirreligiouslifestyle, andat worst,as an illegitimateattemptof a rogueJewishgovernmentto force God's hand.Militaryservice for males was deemedbitul Torah(a waste of time), with talmudicstudy being equatedwith militaryservice in assuring Jewishsurvival.For women, servicein the militarywas simplyanathema. Due to these stridentobjections-and their political implications--he state, from the very outset, grantedconcessions.Defermentsand/orexemptions were given for yeshiva students,whose numbersswelledoverthe years from severalhundredto tens of thousands.Virtuallyautomaticexemptions were institutedfor haredi women, too. This blanketrelease from one of society's most serious and onerousobligationsremainsa sore point in the already-strained relationshipbetweensecularandreligiousin Israel. Even in the ReligiousZionistcamp,wheremilitaryservicefor males and alternativeservicefor femaleshas longbeenthe norm,someaccommodations hadto be made.An extensivechaplaincyservicewas establishedto providethe basicreligiousneedsfor full participation in militarylife. A networkof hesder set was students to combineperiodsof study yeshivot up, enablingyeshiva with stintsof militaryduty,despitethe IsraelDefenseForces' long-standing the oppositionto separateunits of any kind. Concessionsnotwithstanding, NationalReligiouscontingenthas acquitteditselfwith greatdistinctionin the IDF. Thus far Cohen covers familiar ground. His contributionlies in his discussionof the changesthat have befallenboth the IDF and the National Religious camp over the last two decades, fundamentallyaltering their historicalrelationship.While the IDF is still arguablyIsrael'smost widely respectedpublic institution,its starhas dimmedappreciablyin recentyears,

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beginningwiththe 1973YomKippurWar,followedby theLebanonincursion, the Intifada,andthe on-again,off-againpeaceprocess.Thede-ideologization and Westernization(Americanization?)of Israeli society has, as in most Westerncountries,resultedin a sharpdeclinein the statusof the military. In the NationalReligioussector,equallyprofoundchangeshaveoccurred. of much of the communityin recentyears has For one, the "haredization" led to far less enthusiasmfor militaryservice.Further,muchof the National Religious communityidentifiesstronglywith the settlermovement,which has a disparagingview of the IDF and its ability and/orwillingness to defend settlersagainstArab violence. Many leadingreligiouslights of the communityhave issued decreesprohibitingsoldiersfromobeyingordersto withdrawfrom the territories.Ironically,the same religious ideology that once motivatedMafdalniksinto devoted militaryservice may now propel themtowardconscientiousobjection,insubordination, mutiny,or worse. While Cohenthinksthatthese are unlikelyoutcomes,I am not so sure. Rabin assassin Yigal Amir was not only a Bar-Ilanstudent,he was also a hesder yeshiva graduate,as were many of those involved in various undergroundviolent plots uncoveredin recent years. While the criminal activities of a handfulof individualsshould not be attributedto an entire group, the attitudesand mind-set reflected in such behavior are by no meansconfinedto thosefew individuals.Increasingly,Israel'sonce-moderate NationalReligiouscommunityandits secularmajorityandgovernmentappear to be on a collision course. If and when substantialterritorialwithdrawals loom imminent,we maywitnessthe kindof civil conflictthatwouldmakethe Yamitepisode pale into insignificance.In Cohen'sown words,"Dilemmas betweenreligiousbeliefs andmilitaryservice... now constitutea majoritem on the Israelinationalagenda.... Insteadof beinga 'nationbuilder,'military service in the IDF now threatensto becomea great'nationdivider'." GaryS. Schiff

Baltimore HebrewUniversity Md. Baltimore, Joel Shatzkyand MichaelTaub,eds. Contemporary Jewish-American Novelists: A Bio-CriticalSourcebook.Westport,Conn.:GreenwoodPress, 1997. xxxi, 506 pp. Otherthanalmostobsessivelyaskingitself the questionof ethnicidentity,

Review: [untitled] Author(s): Stanley Trachtenberg Source: AJS Review, Vol. 24, No. 1 (1999), pp. 178-180 Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Association for Jewish Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1486543 . Accessed: 15/07/2011 11:00 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

178

beginningwiththe 1973YomKippurWar,followedby theLebanonincursion, the Intifada,andthe on-again,off-againpeaceprocess.Thede-ideologization and Westernization(Americanization?)of Israeli society has, as in most Westerncountries,resultedin a sharpdeclinein the statusof the military. In the NationalReligioussector,equallyprofoundchangeshaveoccurred. of much of the communityin recentyears has For one, the "haredization" led to far less enthusiasmfor militaryservice.Further,muchof the National Religious communityidentifiesstronglywith the settlermovement,which has a disparagingview of the IDF and its ability and/orwillingness to defend settlersagainstArab violence. Many leadingreligiouslights of the communityhave issued decreesprohibitingsoldiersfromobeyingordersto withdrawfrom the territories.Ironically,the same religious ideology that once motivatedMafdalniksinto devoted militaryservice may now propel themtowardconscientiousobjection,insubordination, mutiny,or worse. While Cohenthinksthatthese are unlikelyoutcomes,I am not so sure. Rabin assassin Yigal Amir was not only a Bar-Ilanstudent,he was also a hesder yeshiva graduate,as were many of those involved in various undergroundviolent plots uncoveredin recent years. While the criminal activities of a handfulof individualsshould not be attributedto an entire group, the attitudesand mind-set reflected in such behavior are by no meansconfinedto thosefew individuals.Increasingly,Israel'sonce-moderate NationalReligiouscommunityandits secularmajorityandgovernmentappear to be on a collision course. If and when substantialterritorialwithdrawals loom imminent,we maywitnessthe kindof civil conflictthatwouldmakethe Yamitepisode pale into insignificance.In Cohen'sown words,"Dilemmas betweenreligiousbeliefs andmilitaryservice... now constitutea majoritem on the Israelinationalagenda.... Insteadof beinga 'nationbuilder,'military service in the IDF now threatensto becomea great'nationdivider'." GaryS. Schiff

Baltimore HebrewUniversity Md. Baltimore, Joel Shatzkyand MichaelTaub,eds. Contemporary Jewish-American Novelists: A Bio-CriticalSourcebook.Westport,Conn.:GreenwoodPress, 1997. xxxi, 506 pp. Otherthanalmostobsessivelyaskingitself the questionof ethnicidentity,

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what, if anything,makes Jewish-Americanwriting uniquelyJewish?Joel Shatzkyand MichaelTaub'sstimulatingsourcebooksuggestsan answerin the case of sixty-threecontemporarywriters,fromWalterAbish to Herman Wouk. Shatzkyand Taublimit their selections chiefly to writerswhose major worksappearedafterthe SecondWorldWar.In so doing,thisvolumecomplementssuch earlierreferenceworksas Lewis Fried'sHandbookofAmericanJewish Literature,Hana Wirth-Nescher'sWhatIs Jewish Literature?,and Dan Walden'sDictionaryof LiteraryBiographyvolume Twentieth-Century Fiction Writers. American-Jewish We have come a long way fromLionelTrilling'sassessmentin the 1940s thatno writerin Englishhas addedto his statureby "realizinghis Jewishness" or AlfredKazin'ssimilarlydatedinabilityto findmuchto admirein American Jewishcultureor amongJewishwritersin Americagenerally. For Saul Bellow, as SanfordMarovitzremindsus in a tightly compact thoughcomprehensiveintroduction,Jewishliteraturegoes backto the Scriptures, which emphasizethe worth of the individual,while for writerssuch as CynthiaOzick it is markedby a morecommunalvoice. Marovitzargues thatJewish-Americanfictionreachedits peak in the two and a half decades following the war and has remainedat that high level ever since. Partof this achievementMarovitzattributesto the emergenceof Jewish-American women,nineteenof whom are treatedin essays in this volume. The entriesare structuredinto sections on biography,majorworks and themes, and critical reception,and containuseful bibliographiesof works both by and aboutthe authors.Particularlyincisive are the essays in which SanfordPinskerexaminesBernardMalamud'suneasinessaboutbeinglabeled as an AmericanJewishwriter,MarkShechnerlooks at the fantasticelement of "riffartist"Steve Stem, andSuzanneKlingensteinanalyzesthe conflictof artandJewishlaw in the workof CynthiaOzick. The historicaldevelopmentof Jewish themes follows the struggleof an immigrantpopulationto assimilate, the dislocationthat accompanied increasingsecularizationand acculturation(with a sense of freedomand opportunityanda correspondingsense of loss), the emergenceof the Stateof Israel(which alteredthe conventionaloppositionof the physicalworldand the worldof ideas),the difficultyof comingto termswith the Shoah,andthe recentrecoveryof a Jewishheritage. Within these developmentsis a continuingconcern for sufferingand redemptionandfor the moralquestionsthatdefinewhatwe thinkit meansto

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be human.A moreparochialissueraisedin theseessaysis therelationbetween an author'slife and work. CarolynSofia, for example,finds that Daphne Merkin'ssensitivityto genderis embeddedin her early experience,Myrna Goldenbergidentifiesthe oral qualityin Faye Moskowitz'sautobiographical writing,while ThomasFranknotes the social purposethat informsGrace Paley's work in her acknowledgmentthat her languageand subjectmatter come fromthe neighbors,the street,andherfamily. Yet it is not always easy to find a uniformprincipleof inclusionfor this volume. Thoughdevoted to Jewish-Americannovelists, its essays include CanadianhumoristMordecaiRichleras well as NormanMailerand Joseph Heller,whose writings,at times, seem deliberatelyto avoid any connection to Jewishthemes.JeromeCharyn,Leslie Fiedler,J. D. Salinger,IrwinShaw, and MichaelChabonarejust some of those left out, while the selectionson MarkHelprinandWallaceMarkfieldby ShatzkyandTaubdo littlemorethan list the authors'publications. The necessarilycompact natureof these entries limits their use as a scholarlyresource.If not for the high cost, this readablesurveymightfinda wideraudiencein the rapidlyexpandingculturalphenomenonof book clubs, whosenumbersareundoubtedlyswelledby Jewsbuthardlyconfinedto them. StanleyTrachtenberg GeorgeWashington University D.C. Washington,

Collected Studies Source: AJS Review, Vol. 24, No. 1 (1999), pp. 181-208 Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Association for Jewish Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1486544 . Accessed: 15/07/2011 11:00 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 toStrength: Lectures Israel. MarcD. Angel,ed.FromStrength fromShearith 1998. 195 Press, vii, pp. Brooklyn, N.Y.:Sepher-Hermon MarcD. Angel,"Introduction." SectionI. JudithS. Kaye,"TradiCONTENTS: 100Yearsof Sisterhood." Fortuna tionandChange:Celebrating Calvo-Roth, of theSpanish of Service:SocialActivismandtheSisterhood "ACentennial MarcD. Angel,"TheReligiousVisionof Rev. andPortuguese Synagogue." Dr. HenryPereiraMendes."JeffreyGurock,"A Venerable Congregation in a New Building:A Look into the Life of ShearithIsraelin 1897." of JusticeBenjaminNathanCardozo." JudithS. Kaye,"AnAppreciation and VisualArtsof the Spanishand RondaAngel Arking,"Architecture Synagogueof New YorkCity."SectionII. MarkD. Angel,"The Portuguese WalterS. Wurzburger, Visionof Judaism." "Judaism andthe Universalistic "Praise the All Valuesof Modernity." You Nations: Lord, HayyimAngel, A Studyof Psalm117."Menachem on Kellner,"Maimonides' Commentary Reuven Mishnah "Guilt Guilt Towards." Howard Bulka, From, Hagigah,II.I." to theJewishPeople:RabbiJosephB. Joseph,"TheChallengeof Modernity Covenantal Soloveitchik's LouisH. Feldman,"TheSeptuagint: Response." The FirstTranslation of the TorahandIts Effects."HayyimAngel,"Why Didn'tHe Do It?An Analysisof WhyDavidDidNot Kill Saul."Norman Adler,"TheUniversityandtheJewishStudent." Back:ImagesofJewishWomen inAmerican JoyceAntler,ed.Talking Popular N.H.:Brandeis Culture. Press(University Pressof New Hanover, University England),1998.xviii,410 pp. CONTENTS: Betweentwo worlds:Changing Joyce Antler,"Introduction." women.JanetBurstein, Women; imagesof immigrant "Translating Immigrant 181

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Surfacingthe ManifoldSelf." SharonPuckerRivo, "ProjectedImages:Portraits of Jewish Women in Early AmericanFilm." Assimilatingimages: Representationsof the "lostgeneration." JoanJacobBrumberg,"The 'Me' of Me:Voicesof JewishGirlsin AdolescentDiariesof the 1920sand 1950s." June Sochen, "From Sophie Tuckerto BarbraStreisand:Jewish Women Worldof as Reformers."DonaldWeber,"TheJewish-American Entertainers GertrudeBerg:TheGoldbergson RadioandTelevision,1930-1950."Changing stereotypes:Jewish womenin postwarAmerica.SusanneKlingenstein, "SweetNatalie:HermanWouk'sMessengerto the Gentiles."Riv-EllenPrell, "CinderellasWho (Almost)NeverBecomePrincesses:SubversiveRepresentationsof JewishWomenin PostwarPopularNovels."BonnieLyons,"Faith andPuttermesser: ContrastingImagesof TwoJewishFeminists."ContempoJewish feministsas imagemakers.SylviaBarackFishman,"OurMothers rary andOurSistersandOurCousinsandOurAunts:DialoguesandDynamicsin andFilm."FeliciaHerman,"TheWaySheReallyIs:Imagesof Jews Literature andWomenin the Films of BarbraStreisand."SarahBlacherCohen,"From Criticto Playwright:FleshingOutJewishWomenin Contemporary Drama." Recoveringreligiousrole models:New imagesof womenin storiesandsong. Gail TwerskyReimer,"EschewingEsther/Embracing Esther:The Changing of E. Biblical Heroines." Maida Solomon, "ClaimingOur Representation and in Feminism Judaism Women's Questions: Haggadot."Joyce Antler, "Epilogue:JewishWomenon Television:Too Jewishor Not Enough?" AlanJ.Avery-Peck,WilliamScottGreen,andJacobNeusner,eds. TheAnnual of RabbinicJudaism:Ancient,Medieval,and Modern.Leiden:Brill, 1998. 182 pp. AncientJudaism.Alan J. Avery-Peck,"The Exodus in Jewish CONTENTS: Faith:The Problemof God's Interventionin History."Aloys Hitttermann, "WaterandPurity:Microbiologyandthe Preceptsof the Torah,Mishnah,and Talmud."DvoraE. Weisberg,"LevirateMarriageandHalitzahin the Mishnah."Brigitte(Rivka)Kern-Ulmer,"SomeRedactionalProblemsin Pesiqta in Shirata." Rabbati."MartinPickup,"Eschatological Medieval Interpretation "The Judaism.Yosef Levanon, Holy Placein JewishPiety:Evidenceof Two JewishItineraries." Dov SchwartsandEliezerSchlossberg, Twelfth-Century "Sourcesof Maimonides'Conceptof Idolatryas Mediation." Jewishstudiesin the Jewishstate today.IthamarGruenwald,"JudaicStudiesat a Crossroads:

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CulturalSubstanceor Academic Framework?"Jacob Neusner,"Why No Historyin RabbinicJudaism?Yerushalmi'sZakhorRevisited."Reviews. Moshe Bar-Asherand Steven E. Fassberg,eds. Studies in Mishnaic Hebrew.ScriptaHierosolymitana,vol. 37. Jerusalem:Magnes Press, Hebrew University,1998. 457 pp. Moshe Bar-Asher,"The Study of MishnaicHebrewGrammar CONTENTS: Based on WrittenSources:Achievements,Problems,and Tasks."Shelomo Morag,"The Study of MishnaicHebrew-The OralEvidence:Natureand Appraisal."Moshe Azar, "The ConditionalClause in MishnaicHebrew." Moshe Bar-Asher,"TheFormationof the Nif'al III-yParticiplein Mishnaic Hebrew."YaakovBentolila,"MishnaicHebrewin a MedievalFrench-Italian Tradition:Points of Interest."GabrielBirnbaum,"Studiesin Determination in Mishnaic Hebrew."YohananBreuer,"On the Hebrew Dialect of the 'Amra T'min the BabylonianTalmud."Steven E. Fassberg,"Constructions of Purposeand IntendedResult in the Hebrewof the Mishna."Shamma Friedman,"The BabylonianBranch of TanaiticHebrew and an Ancient ScrollFragment(b. Hulltn10la-105a)." IsaacGluska,"TheDevelopmentof New ConjugationsfromBiblicalRoots ThatSurvivedin MishnaicHebrew." MenahemZevi Kaddari,"OnDeonticModalityin MishnaicHebrew."Yechiel Kara,"YemeniteTraditionsof MishnaicHebrewin theTractateK6llm."Menahem Kister,"LexicographicalProblems-Early and Late."AharonMaman, "Karaitesand MishnaicHebrew:Quotationsand Usage." ShelomoMorag, "The Samaritanand YemeniteTraditionsof Hebrew:Points of Contact." and Lexicography:The Case of atrp."Gad Shlomo Nach, "Interpretation B. Sarfatti,"tsntroDinr."ShimonSharvit,"InfinitivalSentencesin Mishnaic Hebrew:A Syntacticand SemanticStudy."AbrahamTal,"Observations on WordFormationin SamaritanAramaicII: The hntpPattern."David Talshir, "RabbinicHebrew as Reflected in PersonalNames."Ofra Tirosh-Becker, "LinguisticStudyof a RabbinicQuotationEmbeddedin a KaraiteCommentary on Exodus."TalmaZurawel,"TheS~wdin Maimonides'Commentary to the Mishna(Autograph)." David Biale, MichaelGalchinsky,and SusanHeschel,eds. Insider/Outsider. AmericanJews and Multiculturalism.Berkeley: University of California Press, 1998. vi, 280 pp.

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David Biale, Michael Galchinsky,and SusannahHeschel, "InCONTENTS: Americansymphonyor troduction:The Dialecticof JewishEnlightenment." meltingpot?DavidBiale,"TheMeltingPotandBeyond:JewsandthePolitics of AmericanIdentity."MitchellCohen,"InDefenseof Shaatnez:A Politicsfor Jews in a Multicultural America."CherylGreenberg,"PluralismandIts Discontents:The Case of Blacks and Jews."MichaelWalzer,"Multiculturalism andthe Politicsof Interest."Canonsandcounterhistories. SusannahHeschel, Sara R. Horowitz,"The Paradoxof "Jewish Studies as Counterhistory." JewishStudiesin the New Academy."RobertAlter,"TheDoubleCanonicity of the HebrewBible."Amy Newman,"TheIdeaof Judaismin Feminismand Afrocentrism." Diasporanegotiations.MichaelGalchinsky,"ScatteredSeeds: A Dialogue of Diasporas."HanaWirth-Nesher, "Languageas Homelandin Jewish-AmericanLiterature." MichaelGluzman,"Modernismand Exile: A View fromthe Margins."NaomiSeidman,"Fag-HagsandBu-Jews:Towards a (Jewish)Politics of VicariousIdentity." Randolph L. Braham, ed. The Destruction of Romanian and Hungarian Jews

DuringtheAntonescuEra. New York:ColumbiaUniversityPress,1997.xvi, 413 pp. CONTENTS: Setting the stage. Lya Benjamin, "Anti-Semitism as Reflected

in the Records of the Council of Ministers, 1940-1944: An Analytical Overview."Dalia Ofer, "Emigrationand Immigration:The ChangingRole of RomanianJewry."Randolf L. Braham,"The ExculpatoryHistory of RomanianNationalists:TheExploitationof the HolocaustforPoliticalEnds." The drive against the Jews. Radu Florian, "The Jassy Massacre of June

29-30, 1941: An Early Act of GenocideAgainst the Jews." Jean Ancel, "TheRomanianCampaignsof Mass Murderin Trans-Nistria,1941-1942." PaulA. Shapiro,"TheJewsof Chivindu(Kishinev):RomanianReoccupation, Ghettoization,Deportation."Leon Volovici, "The Victim as Eyewitness: JewishIntellectualDiariesduringthe AntonescuPeriod."Theforeignfactor. Radu loanid, "The Fate of RomanianJews in Nazi-OccupiedEurope." RachelVago,"TheSituationof RomanianJewryduringtheAntonescuPeriod: ReactionsandPerceptionsof the Yishuv."CarolIancu,"TheJewsof Romania duringtheAntonescuRegimeas Reflectedin FrenchDiplomaticDocuments." Notes and history cleansing. Victor Eskenasy, "HistoriographersAgainst

the AntonescuMyth."VladimirTismaneanu,"Fascism,Anti-Semitism,and

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Mythmakingin EastCentralEurope--theCaseof Romania."MichaelShafir, CuiBono?" "MarshalAntonescu'sPostcommunistRehabilitation: RandolphBraham,ed., with Scott Miller. The Nazis' Last Victims:The Holocaustin Hungary.Detroit:WayneStateUniversityPress, 1998. 224 pp. MichaelBerenbaum,"Foreword." CONTENTS: RandolphL. BrahamandScott in Hungary:A Retro"The Holocaust Miller,"Preface."RandolfL. Braham, spective Analysis."Attila P6k, "Germans,Hungarians,and the Destruction of HungarianJewry."Rudolf Vrba, "The Preparationsfor the Holocaust in Hungary:An Eyewitness Account." Laszl6 Karsai, "The Last Phase of the HungarianHolocaust:The Szilasi Regime and the Jews." Asher Cohen, "TheDilemmaof Rescue or Revolt."RobertRozett,"International TheRole of Diplomatsin Attemptsto RescueJewsin Hungary." Intervention: Mikl6s Hernmdi,"Unlearningthe Holocaust:Recollectionsand Reactions." CharlesFenyvesi,"Varietiesof the HungarianJewishExperience."Menahem Schmelzer,"PersonalRecollections." ElishevaCarlebach,JohnM. Efron,andDavidN. Myers,eds.JewishHistory and JewishMemory:Essays in Honorof YosefHayimYerushalmi. Hanover, N.H.: BrandeisUniversityPress, 1998. xv, 462 pp. David N. Myers, "Of Marranosand Memory:Yosef Hayim CONTENTS: YerushalmiandtheWritingof JewishHistory."Traditionandtheconstruction of Jewishhistory.DavidBerger,"Onthe Uses of Historyin MedievalJewish Polemic againstChristianity:The Quest for the HistoricalJesus."Elisheva Carlebach,"BetweenHistoryand Myth:The RegensburgExpulsionin Josel of Rosheim'sSefer ha-miknah."RobertChazan,"TheMainz Anonymous: Perspectives."TalyaFishman,"ForgingJewishMemory:BeHistoriographic samimRoshandthe Inventionof Pre-Emancipation JewishCulture."Edward of a Tale in Fram,"Creating Martyrdom Tulczyn, 1648."MarcSaperstein, as Homiletics: The Use of HistoricalMemoryin the Sermonsof "History Morteira." Michael Stanislawski,"TheYiddishShevet Yehudah: Saul Levi A Study in the 'Ashkenization'of a Spanish-JewishClassic." Timeand historyin Jewish thought.MosheIdel, "SomeConceptsof TimeandHistory in Kabbalah."Hava Tirosh-Samuelson,"Maimonides'View of Happiness: Philosophy,Myth, and the Transcendenceof History."Elliot R. Wolfson,

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the Covenant:Memory,Forgetfulness,andthe Construction "Re/membering of History in the Zohar." The ruptureof modernity. Pierre Birnbaum, "Exile,

Assimilation,andIdentity:FromMosesto Joseph."Lois C. Dubin,"TheRise andFall of the ItalianJewishModelin Germany:FromHaskalahto Reform, 1780-1820."JohnM. Efron,"Interminably Maligned:TheConventionalLies aboutJewishDoctors."ToddM. Endelman,"Memoriesof Jewishness:Jewish Convertsand Their Jewish Pasts."ArthurA. Goren,"SanctifyingScopus: Locatingthe HebrewUniversityon MountScopus."Hillel J. Kieval,"Texts andContest:Mythsof OriginandMythsof Belongingin Nineteenth-Century Bohemia."MichaelA. Meyer,"Reflectionson JewishModernization." Pierre Vidal-Naquet,"Auschwitzand Atlantis:Commentson a Story by George Perec." Jewish memory and historical writing in the modern age. Michael

Brenner,"BetweenHaskalahand Kabbalah:PeterBeer's Historyof Jewish Sects."Ira Robinson,"HasidicHagiographyand Jewish Modernity."Aron Jacob Rodrigue,"LeonHalevy and ModemFrenchJewishHistoriography." and of The of J. Schacter,"History Memory Self: Autobiography Rabbi Jacob Emden."John M. Efron, "Yosef Hayim Yerushalmi:The Teacher." "Bibliographyof the Worksof Yosef HayimYerushalmi." Bryan Cheyette and Laura Marcus, eds. Modernity, Culture and "the Jew".

Stanford:StanfordUniversityPress, 1998. xx, 297 pp. CONTENTS: Bryan Cheyette and Laura Marcus, "Preface."Homi K. Bhabha,

"Foreword:Joking Aside: The Idea of a Self-CriticalCommunity."Bryan Cheyette and Laura Marcus, "Introduction:Some MethodologicalAnxieties." Gender,psychoanalysis and history. Ritchie Robertson, "Historicizing

GermanImageof the FeminizedJew." Weininger:The Nineteenth-Century Eric L. Santer,"My Own PrivateGermany:Daniel Paul Schreber'sSecret History of Modernity."Daniel Boyarin, "GoyimNaches; or, Modernity and the Manliness of the Mentsh." Literature, modernism, antisemitism.

JeanRadford,"TheWomanand the Jew: Sex and Modernity."DanielPick, "Powersof Suggestion:SvengaliandtheFin-de-Sidcle." IanPatterson,"'The PlanBehindthe Plan':Russians,JewsandMythologiesof Change:TheCase of Mary Butts." Modernity, postmodernity and "the Jew ". Zygmunt Bau-

man,"Allosemitism:Premodern,Modem,Postmodem."WilliamOuthwaite, "Habermas:Modernityas Reflection."David Feldman,"Was Modernity Good for the Jews?"GeoffreyBennington,"Lyotardand 'the Jews'."Max

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Silverman,"Re-Figuring'the Jew' in France."Memory,memorialization, and the Holocaust. James E. Young, "The Arts of Jewish Memoryin a PostmodernAge." Tony Kushner,"Rememberingto Forget:Racism and Anti-Racismin PostwarBritain."Gillian Rose, "Beginningsof the Day: Fascism and Representation." Nancy Wood, "The Victim's Resentments." Bryan Cheyette, "The Ethical Uncertaintyof Primo Levi." Paul Gilroy, "Afterword:Not Being Inhuman." BernardDov Cooperman,ed. In Iberiaand Beyond:HispanicJews Between Cultures.Proceedingsof a Symposiumto Markthe 500thAnniversaryof the Expulsionof SpanishJewry.Newark:Universityof DelawarePress, 1998.x,

390pp. Adele Seeff, "Director'sPreface."BernardDov Cooperman, CONTENTS: "Introduction." Dwayne E. Carpenter,"ThePortrayalof the Jew in Alfonso the Learned'sCantigasde SantaMaria."BernardSeptimus,"Hispano-Jewish Views of Christendomand Islam."MarkD. Meyerson,"TheEconomicLife of the Jews of Murviedroin the FifteenthCentury."BenjaminR. Gampel, "DoesMedievalNavarreseJewrySalvageOurNotionof Convivencia?" Isaac in Two The and Its Muwassah." Eleazar Benabu,"Poetry Languages: Kharja Gutwirth,"Widows,Artisans,and the Issues of Life: Hispano-JewishBouron LateIberian geois Ideology."DanielJ. Lasker,"TheImpactof Christianity Jewish Philosophy."Hava Tirosh-Rothschild, "HumanFelicity-FifteenthCenturySephardicPerspectiveson Happiness."LindaMartz,"Implementation of Pure-BloodStatutesin Sixteenth-Century Toledo."Renee Levine "Judaizers and in Alcazar."Bernard Melammed, Prayer Sixteenth-Century Dov Cooperman,"PortugueseConversosin Ancona:JewishPoliticalActivity in EarlyModernItaly."HenryMechoulan,"TheImportanceof Hispanicity in JewishOrthodoxyand Heterodoxyin Seventeenth-Century Amsterdam." Karl P. Donfried and Peter Richardson,eds. Judaismand Christianityin First-CenturyRome.Cambridge:WilliamB. Eerdmans,1998.xiv, 329 pp. CONTENTS: Introduction.Karl P. Donfried,"In the First Century:The Nature and Scope of the Question."Archaeologicaland epigraphicstudies. PeterRichardson,"Augustan-Era Synagoguesin Rome."L. MichaelWhite, "Synagogueand Society in ImperialOstia:Archaeologicaland Epigraphic

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Evidence."GraydonF. Snyder,"TheInteractionof Jews with Non-Jewsin Rome."Social-historicalstudies. LeonardVictor Rutgers,"RomanPolicy towardthe Jews:Expulsionsfromthe City of Romeduringthe FirstCentury C.E." Rudolf Braindleand EkkehardW. Stegemann,"TheFormationof the First'ChristianCongregations'in Romein the Contextof the JewishCongregations."James S. Jeffers,"Jewishand ChristianFamiliesin First-Century Rome."CarolynOsiek,"TheOralWorldof EarlyChristianityin Rome:The Case of Hermas."Developmentalstudies.JamesC. Walters,"Romans,Jews, and Christians:The Impactof the Romanson Jewish/Christian Relations in First-CenturyRome."WilliamL. Lane, "SocialPerspectiveson Roman Christianityduring the FormativeYears from Nero to Nerva: Romans, Hebrews,1 Clement."ChrysC. Caragounis,"FromObscurityto Prominence: The Developmentof the RomanChurchbetweenRomansand 1 Clement." EmanuelFeldmanand Joel B. Wolowelsky,eds. JewishLaw and the New ReproductiveTechnologies.Hoboken,N.J.: Ktav PublishingHouse, 1997. vii, 186 pp. Emanuel Feldman and Joel B. Wolowelsky, "Introduction."EdCONTENTS:

ward Reichman,"The RabbinicConceptionof Conception:An Exercise in Fertility."Azriel Rosenfeld, "Generation,Gestationand Judaism."J. David Bleich, "In Vitro Fertilization:Questionsof MaternalIdentityand Conversion."EzraBick, "OvumDonations:A RabbinicConceptualModelof J. David Bleich, "MaternalIdentityRevisited."Yoel Jakabovits, Maternity." "Male Infertility:Halakhic Issues in Investigationand Management."J. David Bleich, "SpermBankingin Anticipationof Infertility."YitzchokA. Breitowitz,"HalakhicApproachesto the Resolutionof DisputesConcerning the Dispositionof Preembryos." JonathanFrankel, ed. The Fate of the European Jew, 1939-1945: Continuity

or Contingency?Studiesin Contemporary Jewry:An Annual,13. New York: OxfordUniversityPress, 1997. xiv, 407 pp. CONTENTS: Symposium. Yehuda Bauer, "Some Introductory Comments."

Gavin L. Langmuir,"Continuities,Discontinuituesand Contingenciesof the Holocaust."Zygmunt Bauman, "The Camps: Eastern,Western,and Modern."Steven T. Katz, "RadicalHistoricalDiscontinuity:Explainingthe

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189

Holocaust."Gotz Aly and SusanneHeim, "ForcedEmigration,War,DeportationandHolocaust."MichaelR. Marrus,"Auschwitz:New Perspectiveson the FinalSolution."DanDiner,"MemoryandMethod:Variancein Holocaust Narrations."Geoff Eley, "WhatAre the Contextsfor GermanAntisemitism? Some Thoughtson the Origins of Nazism, 1800-1945." Susan Zuccotti, "TheItalianRacialLaws, 1938-1943:A Reevaluation." HenryRousso,"The DreyfusAffairin VichyFrance:PastandPresentin FrenchPoliticalCulture." John-PaulHimka,"UkrainianCollaborationin the Extermination of the Jews the Second World War: Out the and During Sorting Long-Term Conjunctural Factors."AntonyPolonsky,"BeyondCondemnation, ApologeticsandApoloOn the of Complexity Polish BehaviorTowardthe Jews Duringthe gies: Second WorldWar."Dan Michman,"Understanding the JewishDimension of the Holocaust."Essay: Anita Shapira,"The Originsof the Myth of the 'New Jew': The ZionistVariety."Reviewessays:RichardH. King, "Hannah Arendt:The Publicandthe Private."J. C. Hurewitz,"IsraeliForeignPolicy: Documentingthe Past, 1947-1953." MurrayFriedmanand Nancy Isserman,eds. The TribalBasis of American Life: Racial, Religious, and Ethnic Groupsin Conflict.Westport,Conn.: Praeger,1998. viii, 168 pp. CONTENTS: Introduction.MurrayFriedman, StephenSteinlight,"Foreword." "TheTribalBasis of AmericanLife." ThechangingAmericangroupsetting. Pluralism,and PublicPolicy."JamesDavison GaryE. Rubin,"Immigration, Hunterand KimonHowlandSargeant,"TheReligiousRoots of the Culture Wars:How CompetingMoralVisions Fuel CulturalConflict."Case studies of ethnic conflict.JonathanRieder,"The Tribesof Brooklyn:Race, Class, and Ethnicityin the CrownHeightsRiots."GaryY. Okihiro,"ThePersistence of Anti-AsianHatred."PhilipPerlmutter, "TheDynamicsof American IntergroupConflict and Responses to Bigotry."JudithGoode, "Becoming Insiders:Factors Affecting the Creationand Maintenanceof Boundaries for New Immigrants."Theworldsettingand response.JamesKurth,"Ethnic ConflictatHomeandAbroad:TheUnitedStatesin Comparative Perspective." NathanGlazer,"HowShouldWe TalkAboutIntergroup Conflict?" BenjaminR. Gampel,ed. Crisisand Creativityin the SephardicWorld.New York:ColumbiaUniversityPress, 1997. xvi, 413 pp.

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Historical overview. Yosef Hayim Yerushalmi, "Exile and ExCONTENTS: pulsion in Jewish History." Iberian Jewry: culture and society. Raymond P.

Scheindlin,"SecularHebrewPoetryin Fifteenth-Century Spain."Seymour Feldman,"1492: A House Divided."ThomasF. Glick, "On Conversoand Marrano Ethnicity." Iberian Jewry: the expulsions. Haim Beinart, "Order

of the Expulsionfrom Spain:Antecedents,Causes,and TextualAnalysis." ThePortuguese MariaJosePimentaFerroTavares,"ExpulsionorIntegration? JewishProblem."BenjaminR. Gampel,"TheExiles of 1492 in the Kingdom of Navarre: A Biographical Perspective." Continuity and change in the Sephardic diaspora: communal life. Yosef Kaplan, "The Self-Definition of

the SephardicJews of WesternEuropeand Their Relation to the Alien and the Stranger."Jacob Barnai,"Prototypesof Leadershipin a Sephardic Community:Smyrnain the SeventeenthCentury."RenataSegre,"Sephardic Refugees in Ferrara:Two Notable Families."Continuityand change in the Sephardic diaspora: intellectual pursuits. Moshe Idel, "EncountersBetween

Spanishand ItalianKabbalistsin the Generationof the Expulsion."Hava Tirosh-Samuelson,"The Ultimate End of Human Life in Postexpulsion Philosophic Literature." Continuity and change in the Sephardic diaspora:

culturaldimensions.MenahemSchmelzer,"HebrewManuscripts andPrinted Books Among the SephardimBefore and Afterthe Expulsion."DwayneE. Carpenter,"A ConversoBest-Seller:Celestinaand Her ForeignOffspring." VivianB. Mann,"SephardicCeremonialArt:Continuityin the Diaspora." Menachem D. Genack, ed. Rabbi Joseph B. Man of Halacha, Soloveitchik.

Man of Faith. Hoboken:KtavPublishingHouse, 1998.xii, 274 pp.

Julius Berman, "Dedication."Menachem Genack, "Introduction." CONTENTS:

YitzchakTwersky,"The Rov." AharonLichtenstein,"The Rav at Jubilee: An Appreciation."Mosheh Lichtenstein," 'For My GrandfatherHas Left Me.' " MayerTwersky,"A Glimpseof the Ravy."GeraldBlidstein,"Onthe HalakhicThoughtof RabbiJosephB. Soloveitchik:The NormsandNature of Mourning."StanleyBoylan, "Learningwith the Ray, Learningfromthe Ravy."MarvinFox, "The Rav as Maspid."MenachemGenack,"Walking with Ramban."NormanLamm,"Eulogyfor RabbiJosephB. Soloveitchik." "RabbiJosephB. Soloveitchik:The EarlyYears." AaronRakeffet-Rothkoff, BernardRosensweig,"TheRav as CommunalLeader."

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191

Zvi Gitelman,ed. Bitter Legacy: Confrontingthe Holocaust in the USSR. Bloomington:IndianaUniversityPress, 1997. viii, 332 pp. Zvi Gitelman,"SovietJewrybeforethe Holocaust."Zvi Gitelman, CONTENTS: "Politics and the Historiographyof the Holocaustin the Soviet Union." Shmuel Spector,"The Holocaust of UkrainianJews." M. I. Koval, "The Nazi Genocide of the Jews and the UkrainianPopulation(1941-1944)." AndriiSheptyts'kyiandthe Complexitiesof ShimonRedlich,"Metropolitan Relations."MordechaiAltshuler,"Antisemitism in Ukraine Ukrainian-Jewish towardtheEndof WorldWarII."MichaelMacQueen,"NaziPolicytowardthe Jews in the Reichskommissariat Ostland,June-December1941:FromWhite Terrorto Holocaust in Lithuania."Hans-HeinrichWilhelm, " 'Inventing' the Holocaustfor Latvia:New Research."Yosef Litvak,"JewishRefugees from Poland in the USSR, 1939-1946." MordechaiAltshuler,"Jewish Warfareand the Participationof Jews in Combatin the Soviet Union as Reflected in Soviet and WesternHistoriography."Sara Shner-Neshamit, "Jewish-Lithuanian RelationsduringWorldWarII: Historyand Rhetoric." SimaYcikas,"Lithuanian-Jewish Relationsin the Shadowof the Holocaust." ShalomCholawski,"The Holocaustand the ArmedStrugglein Belorussia as Reflectedin Soviet LiteratureandWorksby Emigresin the West."Daniel Romanovsky,"SovietJews underNazi Occupationin NortheasternBelarus and WesternRussia."Documents. Seymour Gitin, Amihai Mazar, and EphraimStem, eds. Mediterranean Peoples in Transition:Thirteenthto Early TenthCenturiesBCE. Jerusalem: IsraelExplorationSociety, 1998. xix, 481 pp. CONTENTS: Traditionand change in the Mediterraneanbasin. ElizabethB. French,"TheUps andDownsof Mycenae:1250-1150BCE."GeraldCadogan, "The ThirteenthCenturyChanges in Cyprusin Their East Mediterranean Context."Wolf DietrichNiemeier,"The Mycenaeansin WesternAnatolia andthe Problemof the Originsof the Sea Peoples."LuciaVagnetti,"Variety and Functionof the AegeanDerivativePotteryin the CentralMediterranean in the LateBronzeAge."Mechanismsof identityandculturaltransformation. PaulAstrOm,"Continuityor Discontinuity:IndigenousandForeignElements in Cyprusaround1200 BCE." Ora Negbi, "Reflectionson the Ethnicityof Cyprusin the EleventhCenturyBCE."GuenterKopcke, "CyprioteFigural

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STUDIES COLLECTED

Bronzes:QuestionsaboutMycenaeanCivilizationand Sea People."Shlomo Bunimovitz,"Sea Peoples in Cyprusand Israel:A ComparativeStudy of ImmigrationProcesses."SigridDeger-Jalkotzy,"TheLast Mycenaeansand Their Successors Updated."Christos G. Doumas, "Aegeans in the Levant: Myth and Reality." Philistia: chronology and cultural affinities. Israel

Finkelstein,"PhilistineChronology:High, Middleor Low?"TrudeDothan, "InitialPhilistine Settlement:From Migrationto Coexistence."Seymour Gitin,"Philistiain Transition:The TenthCenturyBCE andBeyond."Discussion. Egyptians, Canaanites, Israelites, and Ammonites. James M. Weinstein,

Worldat the Endof the "EgyptianRelationswith the EasternMediterranean SecondMillenniumBCE."DavidUssishkin,"TheDestructionof Megiddoat the End of the Late Bronze Age and Its HistoricalSignificance."William G. Dever, "IsraeliteOrigins and the 'Nomadic Ideal': Can Archaeology SeparateFact from Fiction?"AdamZertal,"TheIronAge I Culturein the Hill-Countryof Canaan-A ManassitePerspective."LarryG. Herr,"Tell el-Umayriand the MadabaPlainsRegion duringthe Late Bronze-IronAge I Transition." Discussion. Alternative perspectives for understanding the Late Bronze Age-Early Iron Age transition. Neil Asher Silberman, "The

Sea Peoples, the Victoriansand Us: Modem Social Ideologyand Changing of the Late Bronze Age Collapse."Vassos ArchaeologicalInterpretations Karageorghis,"Hearthsand Bathtubsin Cyprus:A 'Sea Peoples' Innovation?"David B. Small, "Survivingthe Collapse:The Oikos and Structural Continuitybetween Late Bronze Age and Later Greece."Susan Sherratt, " 'Sea Peoples' and the EconomicStructureof the Late SecondMillennium in the EasternMediterranean." JamesD. Muhly,"Copper,Tin, Silver and Iron:The Searchfor MetallicOres as an Incentivefor ForeignExpansion." The crystallization of new societies. Maria Iacovou, "Philistia and Cyprus in

the EleventhCentury:Froma SimilarPrehistoryto a DiverseProtohistory." EphraimStem, "TheRelationsbetweenthe Sea Peoplesandthe Phoenicians in the Twelfthand EleventhCenturiesBCE." Nicolas Coldstream,"TheFirst Exchangesbetween Euboeansand Phoenicians:Who Took the Initiative?" Discussion. Pottery and culture change: some new analyses. Amihai Mazar,

"On the Appearanceof Red Slip in the Iron Age I Periodin Israel."Ann Killebrew,"CeramicTypologyand Technologyof Late BronzeII and Iron I Assemblagesfrom Tel Miqne-Ekron:The Transitionfrom Canaaniteto PhilistineCulture."Anat Cohen-Weinberger, "Petrographic Analysis of the VI at from Stratum Tel Beth-Shean." Forms Ayelet Gilboa,"Iron Egyptian

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193

Age I-IIA Pottery Evolution at Dor-Regional Contextsand the Cypriot Connection."Coastal trade,commerceand settlement.AvnerRaban,"Near MichalArtzy,"Routes, EasternHarbors:Thirteenth-Seventh CenturiesBCE." Trade,Boats and 'Nomads of the Sea.' " Samuel Wolff, "An Iron Age I Site at 'En Hagit (NorthernRamatManashe)."Canaanitesand Israelites in the north of Israel. Amnon Ben-Tor,"The Fall of CanaaniteHazor-The 'Who' and 'When' Questions."Moshe Kochavi,"TheEleventhCenturyBCE TripartitePillarBuildingat Tel Hadar."AvrahamBiran,"BiblicalDan and the House of DavidInscription:Fromthe LateBronzeAge to the IronAge." HarveyE. Goldberg,ed. Sephardiand MiddleEasternJewries:Historyand Culturein the ModernEra. Bloomington:IndianaUniversityPress, 1996. xiii, 346 pp. CONTENTS: Harvey E. Goldberg, "Introduction."Sephardi and Middle Eastern

communitiesin the contextof modernJewish history.NormanA. Stillman, "MiddleEasternand North AfricanJewriesConfrontModernity:Orientation, Disorientation,Reorientation."Jacob Barnai,"FromSabbateanismto Modernization:OttomanJewryon the Eve of the OttomanReformsandthe Haskala."Aron Rodrigue,"EasternSephardiJewryand New Nation-States in the Balkansin the NineteenthandTwentiethCenturies."EstherBenbassa, "TheProcessof Modernizationof EasternSephardiCommunities." DanielJ. SchroeterandJosephChetrit,"TheTransformation of the JewishCommunity of Essaouira(Mogador)in theNineteenthandTwentiethCenturies."Varieties of responses.Zvi Zohar,"Traditional FlexibilityandModemStrictness:Two HalakhicPositionson Women'sSuffrage."Zvi Yehuda,"IraqiJewryandCulturalChangein the EducationalActivityof the AllianceIsraeliteUniverselle." YaronTsur,"Haskalain a SectionalColonialSociety:Mahdia(Tunisia)1884." HarveyE. Goldberg,"The Maskil and the Mequbbal:MordecaiHa-Cohen and the Grave of Rabbi Shim'on Lavi in Tripoli."Isaac Guershon,"The Foundationof Hispano-JewishAssociationsin Morocco:ContrastingPortraitsof Tangierand Tetuan."SusanGilsonMiller,"Kippuron the Amazon: JewishEmigrationfromNorthernMoroccoin the LateNineteenthCentury." Languages and literatures.Yosef Tobi, "The Flowering of Judeo-Arabic Literaturein NorthAfrica,1850-1950."DavidM. Bunis,"Modernization and the LanguageQuestionamongJudezmo-Speaking of the Ottoman Sephardim Empire."Amnon Netzer, "PersianJewry and Literature:A Sociocultural

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View."History and memory.LaurenceD. Loeb, "Gender,Marriage,and Social Conflict in Habban."Esther Schely-Newman,"'The Peg of Your Tent':Narrativesof NorthAfricanIsraeliWomen."YoramBilu and Andre Levy, "Nostalgiaand Ambivalence:The Reconstructionof Jewish-Muslim Relationsin OuladMansour."JodlleBahloul,"TheSephardiFamilyandthe Challengeof Assimilation:FamilyRitualandEthnicReproduction." LeonardJay Greenspoon,ed. Studiesin Jewish Civilization9: YiddishLanguage and CultureThen& Now. Omaha:CreightonUniversityPress, 1998. xvii, 328 pp. DavidG. Roskies,"Yiddishin theTwentiethCentury:A Literature CONTENTS: of Anger and Homecoming."Ori Z. Soltes, "Language,Art and Identity: Yiddishin Art from Chagallto Shalomof Safed."Rick Kuhn,"Organizing Yiddish-SpeakingWorkersin Pre-WorldWarI Galicia:The Jewish Social DemocraticParty."Cecile E. Kuznitz,"Onthe JewishStreet:YiddishCulture and Urban Landscapein InterwarVilna."Vassili Schedrin,"Equationof GOSET:Historyof YiddishTheaterin the USSR."EdnaNahshon,"Radical Politics, RadicalArt:The Case of the Artef."OliverPollakand Leo Greenbaum,"TheYiddishTheaterin Omaha,1919-1969."MiriamIsaacs,"Yiddish 'Then and Now': Creativityin ContemporaryHasidic Yiddish."Marilyn Halter,"LongingsandBelongings:YiddishIdentityandConsumerCulture." KathrynHellerstein, "The Metamorphosisof the Matriarchsin Modem YiddishPoetry."TheodoreWeinberger, "YiddishLiterature as SecularJewish The World of Lillian Howe." S. Kremer,"Reflectionsof Scripture: Irving YiddishArchetypesin JewishAmericanLiterature:Fictionby Saul Bellow andBernardMalamud."RichardA. Freund,"A Theologyof YiddishPrayer: Yiddish as a CreativeLashon HaQodesh (Holy Language)."LeonardJ. Greenspoon,"BringingHome the Gospel:YiddishBibles, Bible Societies, and the Jews."HalinaRothsteinand RobertA. Rothstein,"Foodin Yiddish and Slavic Folk Culture:A Comparative/Contrastive View." MicahD. Halpernand ChanaSafrai,ed. JewishLegal Writingsby Women. Jerusalem:UrimPublications,1998. 307 pp. (English),72 pp. (Hebrew) Thebody.NormaBaumelJoseph,"HairDistractions:Womenand CONTENTS: Worshipin the Responsaof RabbiMoshe Feinstein."TirzahMeacham(le

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195

Beit Yoreh),"Marriageof MinorGirlsin JewishLaw:A LegalandHistorical Overview."Chana Safrai, "Beauty,Beautification,and Cosmetics:Social Controland Halakhain TalmudicTimes."Deena RachelZimmerman,"Durationof Breastfeedingin Jewish Law."DevorahZlochower,"Establishing with the Pill."Thesoul. Aliza Berger,"Wrapped andUprootingMenstruation Attention:May Women Wear Tefillin?"Aviva Cayam, "FringeBenefits: Womenand Tzitzit."SusanHandelman,"Womenand the Studyof Torahin the Thoughtof the LubavitcherRebbe."Rochelle L. Millen, "TheFemale Voiceof Kaddish."GillaRatzersdorfer Rosen,"BetweenThoughtandAction: The Role of Intentin the Performanceof Mitzvot."The community.Erica Practice." S. Brown, "The Bat Mitzvahin Jewish Law and Contemporary RachelFurst,"RedStrings:A ModemCaseof AmuletsandCharms."Chanah Henkin, "Womenand the Issuing of HalakhicRulings."Maidi Katz z"l, "SecularStudiesat the VolozhinYeshivah."Theindividual.Gili Zivan,"The Blessings of Shelo Asani Isha and She 'asani Kirtzono." Malka Puterkovski,

"TheObligationof ChildrenTowardSenileParents."DvoraRoss, "Artificial Inseminationin Single Women." Alan Helmreich and Paul Marcus, eds. Blacks and Jews on the Couch: Psychoanalytic Reflections on Black-Jewish Conflict. Westport, Conn.: Praeger,

1998. x, 229 pp. Paul Marcus, "Preface." Alan Helmreich and Paul Marcus, CONTENTS:

"Introduction:Black-JewishConflict."Alan Helmreichand Paul Marcus, "TimeLine of Black-JewishRelations."Alan Helmreichand Paul Marcus, "Black-JewishConflict and the Regions of the Mind." C. Fred Alford, "If I Am You, Then You Are ...

Fake." E. Victor Wolfenstein, "Black

Liberationand the Jewish Question."MortimerOstow, "BlackMyths and Black Madness:Is Black AntisemitismDifferent?"MauriceApprey and HowardF. Stein, "Rupturesin Time: The BranchThat Holds the Fork in AfricanAmericanandJewishAmericanHistory."CynthiaBurackandBonnie J. Morris," 'UnlearningRacism'atWomen'sMusicFestivals."AishaAbbasi, A. MicheleMorgan,"SharingtheMarkof Cain: "Speakingthe Unspeakable." The JewishandAfricanAmericanCommunitiesin America."MarkBracher, "TheConflictBetweenBlacksandJews:A LacanianAnalysis."Lee Jenkins, "Black-JewishRelations:A Social and Mythic Alliance."Alan Helmreich

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InformedSuggestions andPaul Marcus,"SomePracticalPsychoanalytically for CommunalLeadersfor ImprovingBlack-JewishRelations." YizharHirschfeld,ed. TheRomanBathsofHammatGaderJerusalem:Israel ExplorationSociety, 1998. xv, 448 pp., 8 plates YizharHirschfeld, GioraSolar,"BuildingMethodsandMaterials." CONTENTS: of theArchitectural "WaterSupplySystems."YizharHirschfeld,"Description Remains."YizharHirschfeld,"ProposedReconstructionof the BathsComplex and its Functions."HannahHirschfeld,"TheColumnedPortal."Leah Di Segni, "TheGreekInscriptionsof HammatGader."NitzanAmitai-Preiss, "ArabicInscriptions,Graffitiand Games." Rachel Barkay,"Romanand ByzantineCoins."NitzanAmitai-PreissandArielBerman,"MuslimCoins." TaniaCoenUzzielli, "TheOil Lamps."RoniBen-Arieh,"TheRoman,Byzantine andUmayyadPottery."AdrianJ. Boas, "LateCeramicTypology."Einat Cohen, "Roman,Byzantine,and UmayyadGlass."Ayala Lester,"Islamic Glass Finds."TaniaCoen Uzzielli, "MarbleDecorations,WallMosaicsand Small Finds."Roni Ben-Arieh,"TheMarbleStatuesfromHammatGader." EsteeDvorjetski,"MedicinalHotSpringsin theGreco-Roman World."Yizhar and Conclusions." Naomi Hirschfeld,"Summary Porat,"Appendix:Analyses of BuildingStones." Sian Jones, Tony Kushner,and SarahPearce,eds. Culturesof Ambivalence and Contempt:Studiesin Jewish-Non-JewishRelations:Essays in Honorof the Centenaryof the Birth of James Parkes. London,VallentineMitchell, 1998. xii, 321 pp. Sian Jones, Tony Kushner,and Sarah Pearce, "Introduction: CONTENTS: relations. Interdisciplinary Approachesto JamesParkes."Christian-Jewish Nicholas de Lange, "JamesParkes:A CentenaryLecture."SarahPearce, "Attitudesof Contempt:ChristianAnti-Judaismand the Bible." Elisabeth Maxwell,"Silenceor SpeakingOut."Paolo Bernardini,"TheSilentRetreat of JewishHistoryand of the Fathers:Episodesin the Processof Re-appraisal and the construction Jewishness Culturein Eighteenth-Century England." national James and identities. of "racial" Shapiro,"Shakespeareand the "Radical Identities? Native Claire Jews." Jowitt, Americans,Jews, and the TonyKushner,"InEngland'sGreenand Pleasant EnglishCommonwealth."

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197

Land: James Parkes and Jerusalem."Jews and antisemitism.Colin Richmond,"Parkes,Prejudiceandthe MiddleAges."DavidCesarini,"Reporting Antisemitism:The Jewish Chronicle,1879-1979." FredericRaphael,"The Necessity of Antisemitism."RaymondPlant, "Afterword:Liberalismand Toleration." BenjaminZ. Kedarand R. J. Zwi Werblowsky,eds. SacredSpace. Shrine, City,Land.New York:New YorkUniversityPress, 1998.348 pp. R. J. Zwi Werblowsky, "Introduction:Mindscape and Landscape." CONTENTS:

JonathanZ. Smith,"Constructing a SmallPlace."ItamarSinger,"A City of of Many Temples:Hattusa,Capital the Hittites."AbrahamMalamat,"The SacredSea."SaraJaphet,"SomeBiblicalConceptsof SacredPlace."Doron Mendels, "The Temple in the HellenisticPeriodand in Judaism."Haviva Pedaya, "The Divinity as Place and Time and the Holy Place in Jewish Mysticism."Evelyne Patlagean,"Byzantium'sDual Holy Land."Benjamin Z. Kedar,"IntellectualActivities in a Holy City: Jerusalemin the Twelfth Century."David Ayalon,"TheHarem:A MajorSourceof Islam'sMilitary Might."KennethR. Stow, "HolyBody, Holy Society:ConflictingMedieval StructuralConceptions."Alfred Haverkamp,"Cities as Cultic Centresin GermanyandItalyduringthe EarlyandHighMiddleAges."DavidShulman, "Ambivalenceand Longing: Vyasa's Curse on Kasi." Allan G. Grapard, "GeotypingSacred Space: The Case of Mount Hiko in Japan."Richard Nebel, "TheCultof SantaMariaTonantzin,Virginof Guadalupein Mexico." NehemiaLevtzionand GideonWeigert,"TheMuslimHoly Citiesas Foci of IslamicRevivalismin the EighteenthCentury."HedvaBen-Israel,"Hallowed Landin the Theoryand Practiceof ModemNationalism."YoramBilu, "The Role of CharismaticDreamsin the Creationof SacredSites in Present-Day Israel."MosheKalianandEliezerWitztum,"Facinga Holy Space:Psychiatric Hospitalizationof Touristsin Jerusalem." Ernest Krausz and Gitta Tulea, eds. Jewish Survival: The Identity Problem at the Close of the Twentieth Century. New Brunswick, N.J.: Transaction

Publishers,1998. xvii, 269 pp. Moshe Kaveh, "Foreword." Julius Gould, "Introduction."IrvCONTENTS:

ing Louis Horowitz, "Minimalismor Maximalism?Jewish Survival at

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the Millennium."Sociological analysis of Jewish identity.Regine Azria, "TheDiaspora-Community-Tradition Paradigmsof JewishIdentity:A Reappraisal."EliezerBen-Rafael,"Quasi-Sectarian Religiosity,CulturalEthnicity and National Identity:Convergenceand Divergenceamong Hahamei Yisrael." Eva Etzioni-Halevy,"CollectiveJewish Identityin Israel:Towards an IrrevocableSplit?" Samuel C. Heilman,"BuildingJewish Identityfor Tomorrow:PossibleorNot?"StephenSharot,"JudaismandJewishEthnicity: andDifferentiationsin the DiasporaandIsrael." ChangingInterrelationships StuartSchoenfeld,"OnTheoryandMethodsin the Studyof JewishIdentity." Jewishcommunityboundaries.ChristieDavies,"JewishIdentityandSurvival in Contemporary Society:The EvidencefromJewishHumor."SolomonPoll, "JewishIdentityin the Twenty-firstCentury."NaftaliRothenberg,"Jewsin Israelandthe UnitedStates:DivergingIdentities."WilliamShaffir,"Hasidic Jews: Social Boundariesand InstitutionalDevelopmentas Mechanismsof IdentityControl."Factual accountsfrom the diasporaand Israel. Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi,"NamingNormsandIdentityChoicesin Israel."Leo Davids, "Tracking DemographicAssimilation:EvidencefromCanada'sMajorCities." StephenH. Miller, "The Structureand Determinantsof Jewish Identityin the UnitedKingdom."LarissaI. Remennick,"IdentityQuestamongRussian Jews of the 1990s: Before and After Emigration."ErnestKrauszand Gitta Tulea,"ConcludingRemarks:Patternsof JewishIdentity." ElazarLeshemandJudithT. Shuval,eds. Immigrationto Israel:Sociological Perspectives.Studiesof IsraeliSociety 7. New Brunswick,N.J.:Transaction Publishers,1998. xii, 569 pp. CONTENTS: Introduction.JudithT. ShuvalandElazarLeshem,"TheSociology of Migrationin Israel:A CriticalView."Sergio DellaPergola,"TheGlobal Context of Migrationto Israel."Migrants in the occupationalstructure. MiriLernerandYeoshuaHendeles,"NewEntrepreneurs andEntrepreneurial from the Former in Israel."Rebecca U.S.S.R. AspirationsamongImmigrants and Moshe of "Modes Labor Market and Raijman Semyonov, Incorporation OccupationalCost amongNew Immigrantsto Israel."JudithT. Shuvaland JudithBernstein,"The Dynamicsof ProfessionalCommitment:Immigrant Physiciansfrom the FormerSoviet Union in Israel."Migrationand health. OfraAnson,Dina Pilpel, andValentinaRolnik,"PhysicalandPsychological

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199

Well-BeingamongImmigrantReferralsto Colonoscopy."ShalviaBen-Barak, "FertilityPatternsamong Soviet Immigrantsto Israel:The Role of Cultural Variables."Eitan F. Sabatello, "Continuityand Change in Reproductive and Abortion Patternsof Soviet Immigrantsin Israel."Formal and informal mechanismsof integration.Majid Al-Haj, "Soviet Immigrationas Viewed by Jews and Arabs:Divided Country."VictorAzaryaand Baruch Kimmerling,"New Immigrantsas a Special Groupin the Israeli Armed Forces." TamarHorowitz, "The Influenceof Soviet Political Cultureon ImmigrantVotersin Israel:The Electionsof 1992."ZinaidaZ. Ilatov and Shmuel Shamai, "IsraeliStudents'Attitudestoward Children-Immigrants fromRussia."ReuvenKahane,"InformalAgencies of Socializationandthe Integrationof ImmigrantYouthintoSociety:An ExamplefromIsrael."Elazar Leshem,"The IsraeliPublic'sAttitudestowardthe New Immigrantsof the 1990's."Ethnic identitiesand processes of integration.EliezerBen-Rafael, Elite Olshtain,and Idit Geijst,"IdentityandLanguage:The Social Insertion of SovietJews in Israel."TovaBenski,"EthnicConvergenceProcessesunder Conditionsof Persisting Socioeconomic-DecreasingCulturalDifferences: The Case of IsraeliSociety."JudithL. Goldstein,"IranianEthnicityin Israel: The Performanceof Identity."StevenKaplanandChaimRosen,"Ethiopian Immigrantsin Israel: Between Preservationof Cultureand Inventionof Tradition."Rina Neeman, "InventedEthnicityas Collective and Personal Text:An Associationof RumanianIsraelis."RinaShachar,"TheAttitudesof IsraeliYouthtowardInter-Ethnic andIntra-Ethnic Marriage:1975and 1990." Processes of emigrationand their implications.Zvi Eisenbach,"Jewish EmigrantsfromIsraelin the UnitedStates."DavidMittelbergandZvi Sobel, "Commitment,Ethnicity and Class as Factors in Emigrationof Kibbutz andNon-KibbutzMembersfromIsrael."MosheShokeid,"One-NightStand Natan Uriely, "Rhetorical Ethnicity: The Malaise of Israeli-Americans." of Permanent The of Case IsraeliImmigrantsin the Ethnicity Sojourners: Area." Chicago Uriel Leviatan,Hugh Oliver, and Jack Quarter,eds. Crisis in the Israeli Kibbutz:Meetingthe Challengeof ChangingTimes.Westport,Conn.:Praeger, 1998. xvii, 187 pp. CONTENTS: Uriel Leviatan,JackQuarterandHughOliver,"Introduction: The Kibbutzin Crisis."Stanley Maron,"KibbutzDemography."Shlomo Getz,

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"Windsof Change."MenachemRosner, "Workin the Kibbutz."Michal Palgi, "Organizationin KibbutzIndustry."YechezkelDar, "The Changing Identityof KibbutzEducation."RonitPlotnik,"Attitudesof Parentstoward TheirOwn Role and Thatof the Caregiverin Two SleepingArrangements for KibbutzChildren."Uriel Leviatan,"Secondand ThirdGenerationsin Avraham Kibbutzim--Isthe Survivalof the KibbutzSociety Threatened?" in the of the Gila "The Governmental Kibbutz." "Women Adar, Pavin, System Distribution Kibbutz." Yaakov "Individual Needs and Public Gluck, Changing in the Kibbutz."Uriel Leviatan,"Aging-The KibbutzExperience."Daniel Rosolio, "Inter-Kibbutz Organizationsand Cooperatives."Uriel Leviatan, JackQuarter,andHughOliver,"SummaryandConclusions." NormanLinzer,David J. Schnall,and JeromeA Chanes,eds. A Portraitof the AmericanJewish Community.Westport,Conn.:Praeger,1998. xvii, 222 pp. NormanLinzer,"TheChangingNatureof JewishIdentity." CONTENTS: Jeffrey "America's Gurock, Challengeto Jewish Identity:A HistoricalPerspective on Volunteerismand Assimilation."JeffreyScheckner,"The 1990 National Jewish Population Survey: Impact and Implications."David J. Schnall and SheldonR. Gelman,"The Jewish Communal-Service Arena."Donald Feldstein, "The Jewish Federation:The First HundredYears."Lawrence Grossman,"JewishReligionin America."SylviaBarackFishman,"TheWay We Are:PlanningPolicy to Servethe Contemporary JewishFamily."Steven Dru and Joel A. ThreeViews." Greenwood, Block, "Intermarriage: Bayme, MenachemKellner,"Israel-Diaspora RelationsAfterthe Assassination:Can We RemainOne People?"JeromeA. Chanes,"JewishInvolvementin the AmericanPublic-AffairsAgenda."MarkHandelman,"CulturalAdaptation in Soviet-JewishResettlement:A ReciprocalAdjustmentProcess."Steven M. Cohen,"Reengineeringthe JewishCommunity." Jodi Magnessand SeymourGitin,eds. Hesed Ve-Emet:Studiesin Honorof ErnestS. Frerichs.Atlanta:ScholarsPress, 1998. xiv, 440 pp. HebrewBible.JamesBarr,"Adam:SingleMan,orAll Humanity?" CONTENTS: David Blumenthal,"Psalm 145: A LiturgicalReading."RobertD. Haak, "The Philistines in the PropheticTexts."Philip J. King, "Commensality

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in the Biblical World."Saul M. Olyan, "'To Uproot and to Pull Down, Simon B. to Build and to Plant': Jer 1:10 and Its EarliestInterpreters." in Parker,"Pushingthe Limits: Issues Jewish Bible Translation."Judith RomneyWegner,"'Coming beforethe LORD':mml'a and the Exclusion of Womenfromthe Divine Presence."AncientJudaism.ShayeJ. D. Cohen, "On Murderingor Injuringa Proselyte."Steven D. Fraade, "Scripture, A ComplexTextualStoryfromtheSifra." Targum,andTalmudas Instruction: W. "Enochic Wisdom:An Alternativeto the Mosaic George E. Nickelsburg, Torah?"RichardS. Sarason,"Interpreting RabbinicBiblical Interpretation: The Problemof Midrash,Again."LawrenceH. Schiffman,"TheProhibition of JudicialCorruptionin the Dead Sea ScrollsandTalmudicLaw."StanleyK. Stowers,"Onthe Comparisonof Bloodin GreekandIsraeliteRitual."Ancient Near East. EdwardL. Greenstein,"TheRetellingof the Flood Storyin the in the Edictof AmmiGilgameshEpic."WilliamW. Hallo, "Sharecropping H. Leonard "Women and in Priests Two Lesko, saduqa." EgyptianStores." AbrahamMalamat,"EpisodesInvolvingSamueland Saul andthe Prophetic Texts from Mari."Archaeology.WalterE. Aufrecht,"TwoIronAge Seals: Hebrewand Aramaic."WilliamG. Dever, "WhatDid the Biblical Writers Know,andWhenDid They Know It?"TrudeDothan,"AnEarlyPhoenician Cache fromEkron."SeymourGitin,"ThePhilistinesin the PropheticTexts: An ArchaeologicalPerspective."MarthaSharpJoukowsky,"ThePetraGreat TempleProject,1993-1995: A ThreeYearAssessment."JodiMagness,"The Mausolea of Augustus, Alexander,and Herod the Great."Carol Meyers, "Sepphorisand 'Ein Zippori:EarliestTimes throughthe PersianPeriod." Eric M. Meyers, "The Early Roman Period at Sepphoris:Chronological, Joe D. Seger,"Stone Archaeological,Literary,and Social Considerations." Scale Weightsof the JudeanStandardfromTellHalif."EphraimStem,"New PhoenicianElementsin the Architectureof Tel Dor, Israel."Jewish history and thought. Joseph Dan, "The Two Meaningsof Hasidic Messianism." Ivan G. Marcus,"The FoundationLegend of AshkenazicJudaism."Anita Novinsky, "PoliticalZionism in the PortugueseRenaissance(Damiao de Gois)."JonathanD. Sarna,"A Forgotten19th-Century Prayerfor the United StatesGovernment:Its Meaning,Significance,and SurprisingAuthor." David N. Myers and David B. Ruderman,eds. TheJewish Past Revisited: Reflectionson ModernJewishHistorians.New Haven:YaleUniversityPress, 1998. 256 pp.

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David N. Myers, "Introduction." Anthony Grafton, "Jacob CONTENTS:

Bernays,Joseph Scaliger,and Others."Moshe Idel, "SubversiveCatalysts: Gnosticismand Messianismin GershomScholem'sView of Jewish Mysticism." Israel Jacob Yuval, "YitzhakBaer and the Search for Authentic Judaism."David N. Myers,"BetweenDiasporaandZion:History,Memory, andtheJerusalemScholars."DerekJ. Penslar,"Narratives of NationBuilding: Themes Zionist in David B. Ruderman,"CecilRoth, Major Historiography." Historianof ItalianJewry:A Reassessment."ElliottHorowitz,"JewishLife in the MiddleAges andthe JewishLife of IsraelAbrahams." GideonLibson, "HiddenWorldsand Open Shutters:S. D. Goitein Between Judaismand Islam."MarthaHimmelfarb,"EliasBickermanon JudaismandHellenism." SaraJaphet,"InSearchof AncientIsrael:Revisionismat All Costs." RonaldL. Nettlerand Suha Taji-Farouki,eds. Muslim-JewishEncounters: IntellectualTraditionsandModernPolitics.Amsterdam: HarwoodAcademic Publishers,1998. xvi, 204 pp. Ronald L. Nettler and Suha Taji-Farouki,"Introduction."Ronald CONTENTS:

L. Nettler, "EarlyIslam, Modem Islam and Judaism:The Isra'iliyyatin "AContemporary Construction ModemIslamicThought."SuhaTaji-Farouki, of the Jews in the Qu'ran:A Review of MuhammadSayyidTantawisBanu Isra'ilfi al-Qur'anwa al-Sunnaand 'Afif 'Abdal-FattahTabbara's Al-yahud fi al-Qur'an."Hugh S. Galford,"SayyidQutb and the Qur'anicStory of Joseph:A Commentaryfor Today."JeffreyT. Kenney,"Jews,Karaijitesand the Debateover ReligiousExtremismin Egypt."IlanPappe,"Understanding the Enemy:A ComparativeAnalysisof PalestinianIslamistandNationalist Leaflets, 1920s-1980s." Glenda Abramson,"JewishReligious Nationalist Writingson the Palestine Question:The Case of Gush Emunim."Laila Parsons,"TheDruze,the Jews,andthe Creationof a SharedHistory."Sorour Soroudi,"MirzaAqa Khan Kermaniand the Jewish Question."RonaldL. Nettler,"MohamedTalbi:For DialogueBetweenAll Religions." Dalia Ofer and Lenore J. Weitzman,eds. Womenin the Holocaust.New Haven:Yale UniversityPress, 1998. vii, 402 pp. CONTENTS:Lenore J. Weitzman and Dalia Ofer, "Introduction:The Role of

Genderin the Holocaust."Before the war. PaulaE. Hyman,"Genderand

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203

the JewishFamilyin ModemEurope."MarionKaplan,"KeepingCalmand Weatheringthe Storm:Jewish Women'sResponsesto Daily Life in Nazi Germany,1933-1939." GershonBacon,"TheMissing52 Percent:Research on Jewish Women in InterwarPoland and Its Implicationsfor Holocaust Studies."Daniel Blatman,"Womenin the Jewish LaborBund in Interwar Poland."Gisela Bock, "OrdinaryWomen in Nazi Germany:Perpetrators, Victims, Followers, and Bystanders."Life in the ghettos. Liza Chapnik, "TheGrodnoGhettoand Its Underground: A PersonalNarrative."IdaFink, "The Key Game."MichalUnger,"The Statusand Plight of Womenin the Lodz Ghetto."Dalia Ofer,"GenderIssues in DiariesandTestimoniesof the Ghetto:The Case of Warsaw."Resistanceand rescue.BronkaKlibanski,"In the Ghettoandin the Resistance:A PersonalNarrative." LenoreJ. Weitzman, on the in Side Poland: Gender,Passing,and the Natureof "Living Aryan Resistance."Nechama Tec, "WomenAmong the Forest Partisans."Renee Poznanski,"Womenin the French-JewishUnderground:Shield-Bearersof the Resistance?"Yehuda Bauer, "Gisis Fleischmann."Labor camps and concentrationcamps. Lidia RosenfeldVago, "OneYearin the Black Hole of Our Planet Earth:A PersonalNarrative."Felicja Karay,"Womenin the Forced-LaborCamps."RuthBondy,"Womenin Theresienstadt and the in Birkenau." "Memoirs of Auschwitz Family Camp MyrnaGoldenberg, Survivors:The Burdenof Gender."Joan Ringelheim,"The Split Between Gender and the Holocaust."LawrenceL. Langer,"GenderedSuffering? Womenin HolocaustTestimonies."SaraR. Horowitz,"Womenin Holocaust Literature:EngenderingTraumaMemory." MarkA. Raider,JonathanD. Sarna,and RonaldW. Zweig, eds. AbbaHillel Silverand AmericanZionism.London:FrankCass, 1997. 127 pp. Mark A. Raider, JonathanD. Sarna, and Ronald W. Zweig, CONTENTS: "Introduction." AlexanderM. Schindler,"ZionismandJudaism:The Pathof RabbiAbbaHillel Silver."MichaelA. Meyer,"AbbaHillel Silveras Zionist withinthe Campof ReformJudaism."AnitaShapira,"A ComparativeStudy of ZionistLeadership:AbbaHillel Silver and David Ben-Gurion."HasiaR. Diner, "Zion and America:The FormativeVisions of Abba Hillel Silver." ArthurA. Goren,"BetweenIdeal and Reality:Abba Hillel Silver'sZionist Vision."MarkA. Raider,"WhereAmericanZionismDiffered:Abba Hillel SilverReconsidered."

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Sybil Sheridan,ed. Hear Our Voice: Womenin the British Rabbinate. Columbia:Universityof SouthCarolinaPress, 1994.xx, 203 pp. Whowe are. ElizabethSarah,"Introduction." ElizabethSarah, CONTENTS: "RabbinerRegina Jonas, 1902-1944: Missing Link in a Broken Chain." MargaretJacobi,"LilyMontagu."JacquelineTabick,"INeverReallyWanted to Be First."JuliaNeuberger,"TheWay Things Are."HadassahDavis, "I Don't Like Converts."Aviva Kipen,"At the Edge of a New Road."In the Rachel Montagu,"PirkeImot: beginning.Sheila Shulman,"Introduction." Women as Role Models in the Hebrew Bible." Sheila Shulman,"Some Thoughtson Biblical Prophecyand FeministVision."Sybil Sheridan,"The Song of Solomon'sWife."Sheila Shulman,"A Womanof StrongPurpose." ElizabethSarah,"Beruria: Turningit over. MargaretJacobi,"Introduction." A SuitableCasefor Mistreatment." BarbaraBorts,"Lilith."MargaretJacobi, "Serachbat Asher and Bitia bat Pharaoh,Names WhichBecameLegends." AmandaGolby, "Womenand the New Moon."MarciaPlumb,"New Discoveries in Ancient Texts." Sylvia Rothschild,"Underminingthe Pillars That Supportthe Women'sGallery."Speakingfor a new world. Barbara AlexandraWright,"AnApproachto JewishFeminist Borts,"Introduction." Rachel Theology." Montagu,"InclusiveLanguagein the Liturgy."Barbara "On Borts, Trespassingthe Boundaries:A Reflectionon Men, Womenand JewishSpace."Helen Freeman,"Chochmahand Wholeness:Retrievingthe Femininein Judaism." GrahamN. Stantonand Guy G. Stroumsa,eds. Toleranceand Intolerance in EarlyJudaismand Christianity.Cambridge:CambridgeUniversityPress, 1998. xiv, 370 pp. GrahamN. Stanton,"Introduction." CONTENTS: IthamarGruenwald,"IntoleranceandMartyrdom: FromSocratesto RabbiAqiva."DanielR. Schwartz, "TheOtherin 1 and2 Maccabees."AlbertI. Baumgarten, "ThePursuitof the Millenniumin Early Judaism."MichaelMach, "ConservativeRevolution? The IntolerantInnovationsof Qumran."John M. G. Barclay,"Who Was Consideredan Apostatein the Jewish Diaspora?"JustinTaylor,"WhyDid Paul Persecutethe Church?"StephenC. Barton,"Pauland the Limits of Tolerance."MarenR. Niehoff, "Philo'sViews on Paganism."Moshe Halbertal,"Coexistingwith the Enemy:Jews and Pagansin the Mishnah."Guy

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G. Stroumsa,"Tertullianon Idolatryandthe Limitsof Tolerance."Francoise Blanchetiere,"The ThreefoldChristianAnti-Judaism."Joel Marcus,"The IntertextualPolemic of the MarkanVineyardParable."RichardBauckham, "Jews and Jewish Christiansin the Land of Israelat the Time of the Bar KochbaWar,with Special Referenceto the Apocalypseof Peter."Martinus C. De Boer, "The Nazoreans:Living at the Boundaryof Judaismand Christianity."GrahamN. Stanton,"JustinMartyr'sDialogue with Trypho: " JudithM. Lieu, "AcGroupBoundaries,Proselytes,and 'God-Fearers.' cusationsof Jewish Persecutionin EarlyChristianSources,with Particular Referenceto JustinMartyrandtheMartyrdom ofPolycarp."WilliamHorbury, on Christians and AndrewChester, SynagoguePrayer "Early Imprecation." "Messianism,Torah,and Early ChristianTradition."MarkusBockmuehl, "Jewishand ChristianPublic Ethics in the EarlyRomanEmpire."Guy G. Stroumsa,"Postscript:The Futureof Intolerance."

Journals DeborahGreniman,managinged. NASHIM:A Journalof Jewish Women 's Studiesand GenderIssues, no. 1 (Winter5758/1998).Jerusalem:Schechter Instituteof Jewish Studies and InternationalResearchInstituteon Jewish Women,BrandeisUniversity,1998. 168 pp. CONTENTS: Womenand the Land of Israel. Susan Sered,"A Tale of Three Rachels; or, The CulturalHerstory of a Symbol."Tal Ilan, "Patriarchy, the Land of Israel and the Legal Position of Jewish Women in Rabbinic Literature."Ruth Lamdan, "The Mercies of the Court: Jewish Women Seeking Divorce in SixteenthCenturyPalestine,Syria,and Egypt."Doreen Stock, from: "MemorialService, Poems of Arad."MargaritShilo, "The Double or Multiple Image of the New HebrewWoman."ClaudiaPrestel, "Arabsand Women:ConstructingZionistImagesof the 'Other'in Pre-State IsraeliFilms."ShulamitReinharz,"Irma'Rama'Lindheim:An Independent AmericanZionistWoman."Womenin therabbinate.EzraKopelowitz,"Three Subculturesof ConservativeJudaismand the Issue of OrdainingWomen." Leah Shakdiel,"The Straightforward, the Comfortableand the Conflicted: Books on WomenRabbis."

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E.A. Goldman,ed. JewishLawAssociationStudiesIX. London1996Conference Volume.Atlanta:ScholarsPress, 1997. 301 pp. Jacob Bazak, "PeopleUsually Don't WatchTheir Steps on the CONTENTS: Roads."Leah Bornstein-Makovetsky, "RabbinicScholarship:The Development of Halakhahin Turkey,Greece and the Balkans,1750-1900." David M. Cobin,"Jewsand the MedievalSlave Trade:The Law and Its Historical Context."Elliot N. Dorff, "'Legislated SpiritualDisciplines':JacobAgus' Philosophyof JewishLaw."HillelGamoran,"TheToseftain Lightof theLaw "MentalCapacityandthe Deathbed AgainstUsury."Ben TzionGreenberger, Will." Moshe Ish-Horowicz,"The Problemof Iggun and Its Solutions." JonathanM. Lewis, "Insolvencyin Jewish Law."David Novak, "Parental Rightsin the Marriageof a Minor."StephenM. Passamaneck,"Remarkson Pesquisa in MedievalJewishLegal Procedure."ChaimPovarsky,"TheLaw of the Pursuerand the Assassinationof PrimeMinisterRabin."Laurence J. Rabinovich,"HiddenInterestAnd Risk Managementin SixteenthCenCommerce."NahumRakover,"PreventingApostasyby tury Mediterranean the Sabbath." Yosef Rivlin,"ConsecutiveGifts." Violating LadislauGyemaint, ed. StudiaJudaica,vol. 5. Cluj-Napoca:SincronPublishing House, 1996. ThePast of the Transylvanian CONTENTS: Jewry.InternationalConference, October 1995. Nicolae and His24-26, Cluj-Napoca, Cajal,"Cohabitation Andrei Marga,"Typesof Ecumenism."Moshe Carmilly-Weinberger, tory." "The Jewish Reform Movementin Transylvaniaand Banat:RabbiAaron Chorin."Ivan Sanders,"'Transylvanism'and Jewish Consciousness."Lya Benjamin,"TheDeterminantsof JewishIdentityin Inter-War Transylvania." Paul Niedermaier,"The Old Synagoguein Sibiu."Anton E. Drnmer,"The Jews of Satu Mare County in the 18th Century."Victor Neumann,"The Ordinance(Judenordnung) Regardingthe Jews of Banat."ErnestNeumann, "The Chief-Rabbinatein Alba lulia between 1754 and 1879. Organization andDevelopment."Mihily Spielmann-Sebestyen, "TheStatusof the Jewsof at the End of the 18th Transylvania Century(Opiniode Judaeis)."Ladislau Gyemaint,"The TransylvanianJewish Society in the Age of Emancipation (1790-1867)." Gelu Neamtu,"Jewsand JewishQuestionin the Revolution of 1848 in Transylvania." EugenGlick, "TheJewishPopulationof Satmar

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Around1848."VictorKaraidy, "Jewsin FreemasonLodges in Transylvania andVoivodinabefore 1940."Zvi Hartman,"FromIdeologyto Practice:The Zionist Movementin Transylvania." MariaUjvairi,"Uj Kelet:A Sourcefor the Studyof Transylvanian Jewry.Book reviews. LadislauGyemaint,ed. StudiaJudaica,vol. 6. Cluj-Napoca:SincronPublishing House, 1997. CONTENTS: Enlightenment(Haskalah)and its impacton Jewishlife in Romania. InternationalConference,Cluj-Napoca,October22-24, 1996. Moshe "WolfJonasEybeschtitz:an 'Enlightened'Sabbatean Carmilly-Weinberger, in Transylvania." LyaBenjamin,"MosesMendelssohnin the JewishPressof Romania.Brief AnalyticalSurvey."AlexandruSinger,"MosesMendelssohn Nowadays."MihaelaMudure,"SamsonHirschandMoses Mendelssohn.An Exercisein Intertextuality." Stela Maries,"A Moses Mendelssohnof Jewish in Romania: Dr. Iulius Barasch (1815-1863)." Alexander Enlightenment "Between Liberal Orbach, Integrationistsand Political Segregationists;the Zionismof AsherGinsberg1889-1907."ItzhakArtzi,"A. L. Zissu,an Intellectualand a Leader."Ivan Sanders,"FatalFreedoms:Enlightenment Ideals in Miria Frldes's Novel, A sita (The Walk)."LadislauGyemaint,"Projects for the Modernizationof the Jewish Schooling System in Transylvaniain 19th Century."RodicaEugeniaAnghel, "Commentson the Activity of the JewishSchools in Moldovain the 19thCentury."AndreiCorbea,"TheJews in the 19th Centuryas Portrayedby the LiterarySourcesof from Cemrnuti the Time."CatalinTurliuc,"TheImpactof Modernisation on the Moldavian Jewsin the SecondHalfof the 19thCentury." EugenGltick,"TheEducational and EconomicConditionsof the Jews in WesternTransylvaniain the 19th Century."Lucian-ZeevHerscovici,"Hebrew'Maskilim'Writersin Romania, 1850-1900." BainyaiVikt6ria,"HebrewLiteraturein Hungaryin the Epoch of Haskalah."HarryKuller,"JewishPress, Haskalahand Zionism."Tereza M6zes, "The Results of Emancipation:Urbanizationin Ordea."Archival documents.Anton Dmrner,"TheFirstCensusof the Jews in CareiBorough (1727)."Book reviews. JewishHistory,vol. 12, no. 1. Spring1998. 150 pp. "In Memoriam:ProfessorJacob Katz."Summaries.RobertC. CONTENTS: Stacey,"FromRitual Crucifixionto Host Desecration:Jews and the Body

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of Christ."Susan L. Einbinder,"Pucellinaof Blois: RomanticMyths and Fleshandthe Social NarrativeConventions."DeniseL. Despres,"Immaculate and Halakhic Body: Maryand the Jews."Haym Soloveitchik,"Catastrophe Forum: the use and 1306 and 1298." Ashkenaz-1096, 1242, Creativity: Remarks."ErichS. abuse of the Exodusstory.MenahemMor,"Introductory Gruen,"TheUse and Abuse of the ExodusStory."Louis H. Feldman,"Did Jews Reshapethe Tale of the Exodus?"JohnG. Gager,"SomeThoughtson Greco-RomanVersionsof the ExodusStory."JosephM6lze Modrzejewski, "TheExodusTraditions:Parodyor ParallelVersion?"Bookreviews. JewishHistory,vol. 12, no. 2. 1998. 148 pp. Summaries. Benjamin Z. Kedar,"CrusadeHistoriansand the MasCONTENTS:

sacresof 1906."StephenKatz,"History,Memory,andIdeology:Ben-Avigdor andFin-de-SiecleHebrewLiterature." JosephHeller,"ZeevJabotinskyand the RevisionistRevolt against Materialism--InSearchof a WorldView." Forum: Jewish history in art and exhibition. Robert Weinberg, "Visualizing

Pogromsin RussianHistory."Daniel Gutwein,"Depictingthe HiddenJew: The LiberalDilemmain Vakhrenov'sIllustrationsof the OdessaPogrom." RichardI. Cohen, "ExhibitingHistoryor Historyin a Showcase."Elliott Horowitz,"TheCourtandthe JewishQuestion."Bookreviews. Studia Rosenthaliana, vol. 32, no. 2. 1998. 248 pp. Articles. Yosef Kaplan, "For Whom did Emanuel de Witte Paint CONTENTS:

His Three Pictures of the SephardicSynagogue in Amsterdam?"Lydia Hagoort,"A RestlessPeople:ConflictsBetweenthe JewishMerchantsLopo Ramiresand ManuelDias Henriquesand the Parnassimof the Portuguese NationAbout the Inheritanceof RebeccaNaar."Dan Michman,"Preparing for Occupation?A Nazi SicherheitsdienstDocumentof Spring1939 on the Jews of Holland."Historicalsources.PeterBuijs and IreneFaber,"Sources Families:The De Pinto and Relatingto the Historyof Portuguese-Jewish Lopes Suasso Family."Julie-MartheCohen,"Noteson David Henriquesde CastroDzn (1837-1890)."JudithFrishman,"TheBelmonteWomenandTheir Lies Kruijer-Poesiat, "Ph.A. Samsonand His Conversionto Christianity." Archiveon the Jewsin Surinam.""NotarialDeedsRelatingto theAmsterdam Portuguese Jews before 1639." Reviews. Recent publications on the Jews in the Netherlands.

Books Received Source: AJS Review, Vol. 24, No. 1 (1999), pp. 209-226 Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Association for Jewish Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1486545 . Accessed: 15/07/2011 11:00 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].



BOOKS RECEIVED Aberbach, David. Revolutionary Hebrew, Empire and Crisis: Four Peaks in Hebrew Literature and Jewish Survival. New York:New YorkUniversity

Press, 1998. xii, 164 pp. Abramson, Glenda. Drama and Ideology in Modern Israel. Cambridge:

CambridgeUniversityPress, 1998. x, 265 pp. Alexander, Michael. The Poetic Achievement of Ezra Pound. Paperback ed.

Edinburgh:EdinburghUniversityPress, 1998. 249 pp. Angel, Marc, ed. From Strength to Strength: Lecturesfrom Shearith Israel.

Press, 1998. vii, 195 pp. Brooklyn,N.Y.: Sepher-Hermon Antler, Joyce. The Journey Home: How Jewish Women Shaped Modern

America.New York:Schocken,1997. xviii, 410 pp. , ed. Talking Back: Images of Jewish Womenin American Popular

Culture.BrandeisSeries in AmericanJewishHistory,Culture,and Life. Hanover,N.H.:UniversityPressof New EnglandforBrandeisUniversity Press, 1998. xi, 301 pp. Apte, Helen Jacobus. Heart of a Wife: The Diary of a Southern Jewish

Woman.Ed. and with essays by MarcusRosenbaum.Wilmington,Del.: SR Books, 1998. xx, 222 pp. Aronowicz, Annette. Jews and Christians on Time and Eternity: Charles Poguy ' Portrait of Bernard-Lazare. Stanford Studies in Jewish History

and Culture.Stanford:StanfordUniversityPress, 1998. xii, 185 pp.

Aschkenasy, Nehama. Womanat the Window:Biblical Tales of Oppression

and Escape. Detroit:WayneStateUniversityPress, 1998. 181 pp.

Ashton, Dianne. Rebecca Gratz: Womenand Judaism in AntebellumAmerica.

AmericanJewish CivilizationSeries. Detroit:Wayne State University Press, 1997. 329 pp. Assis, Yom Tov. Jewish Economy in the Medieval Crown of Aragon, 1213-1327: Money and Power. Brill's Series in Jewish Studies. Leiden:

Brill, 1997. xii, 261 pp. 209

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Attias, J.-C., and E. Benbassa.Israel imaginaire.Paris:Flammarion,1998. 391 pp. Bach, Alice. Women,Seduction, and Betrayal in Biblical Narrative. Cam-

bridge:CambridgeUniversityPress, 1997.xiv, 296 pp. Bar-Am, Micha. Israel: A Photobiography. The First Fifty Years. Essay by

ThomasFriedman.New York:Simon& Schuster,1998. 200 pp. Bar-Asher,Moshe,ed. Studiesin MishnaicHebrew.ScriptaHierosolymitana, vol. 37. Jerusalem:MagnesPress, 1998.457 pp. Barclay, John M. G. Jews in the Mediterranean Diaspora: From Alexander to Trajan (323 BCE-117 CE). Paperback ed. Berkeley: University of

CaliforniaPress, 1999. xvi, 522 pp. Bardach, Janusz, and Kathleen Gleeson. Man Is Wolfto Man: Surviving the

Gulag.Berkeley:Universityof CaliforniaPress, 1998.xvi, 391 pp. Bar-Ilan, Meir. Some Jewish Womenin Antiquity. Brown Judaic Studies 317.

Atlanta:ScholarsPress, 1998. xii, 165 pp. Barkai, Ron. A History of Jewish Gynaecological Texts in the Middle Ages.

Brill's Seriesin JewishStudies.Leiden:Brill, 1998. xi, 241 pp. Bar-Yosef, Hamutal. Decadent Trends in Hebrew Literature: Bialik, Berdy-

chevski,Brenner.Jerusalem:Mosad Bialik, for Ben-GurionUniversity Press, 1997. 416 pp. (Hebrew). Beard, Mary,John North, and Simon Price. Religions of Rome. Vol. 1: A History.Cambridge:CambridgeUniversityPress, 1998.xxiv, 454 pp. . Religions of Rome. Vol. 2: A Sourcebook. Cambridge: Cambridge

UniversityPress, 1998. xiv, 416 pp. Beinin, Joel. The Dispersion of Egyptian Jewry: Culture, Politics and the Formation of a Modern Diaspora. Contraversions: Critical Studies in

JewishLiterature, Culture,andSociety.Berkeley:Universityof California Press, 1998. xii, 329 pp. Benabou, Marcel. Jacob, Menahem, and Mimoun: A Family Epic. Stages,

vol. 11. Lincoln:Universityof NebraskaPress, 1998.xvii, 222 pp.

Ben-Ami, Issachar. Saint VenerationAmong the Jews in Morocco. Raphael

PataiSeries in JewishFolkloreandAnthropology.Detroit:WayneState UniversityPress, 1998. 388 pp.

Ben-Ari, Nitsa. Romance with the Past: The Nineteenth-Century GermanJewish Historical Novel and the Creation of a National Literature. Tel

Aviv: Dvir/MekhonLeo Baeck, 1997.x, 225 pp. (Hebrew). Benbassa, Esther, and Aron Rodrigue, eds. A Sephardi Life in Southeastern

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Europe: The Autobiography and Journal of Gabriel Ari, 1863-1939.

Seattle:Universityof WashingtonPress, 1998. xv, 317 pp. Ben-Eliezer, Uri. The Making of Israeli Militarism. Bloomington: Indiana

UniversityPress, 1998. xii, 278 pp. Benveniste, Meron. City of Stone: The Hidden History of Jerusalem. Pa-

perbacked. Berkeley:Universityof CaliforniaPress, 1998. viii, 274 PP.

Berger,Michael.RabbinicAuthority.Oxford:OxfordUniversityPress,1998. xii, 226 pp. Bernstein, Richard J. Freud and the Legacy ofMoses. Cambridge:Cambridge

UniversityPress, 1998. xii, 151 pp. Biale, David, Michael Galchinsky, and Susannah Heschel, eds. Insider/Outsider: American Jews and Multiculturalism. Berkeley, Uni-

versityof CaliforniaPress, 1998. vi, 280 pp. Bloch, Ariel, and Chana Bloch, trans. The Song ofSongs: A New Translation with an Introductionand Commentary.Berkeley: University of California

Press, 1998. x, 253 pp. Blumberg,Arnold.TheHistoryoflsrael. GreenwoodHistoriesof the Modern Nations.Westport,Conn.:GreenwoodPress, 1998.xli, 218 pp. Bodian, Miriam. Hebrew of the Portuguese Nation: Conversos and Community in Early Modern Amsterdam. The Modem Jewish Experience.

Bloomington:IndianaUniversityPress, 1997.xiii, 219 pp. Boyarin, Daniel. A Radical Jew: Paul and the Politics of Identity. Contraver-

sions. Paperbacked. Berkeley:Universityof CaliforniaPress, 1997. xi, 366 pp. Braham, Randolph, ed. The Destruction of Romanian and Ukrainian Jews During the Antonescu Era. Holocaust Studies Series. New York:

ColumbiaUniversityPress, 1997. xvi, 413 pp. --

. Romanian Nationalists and the Holocaust: ThePolitical Exploitation of Unfounded Rescue Accounts. Holocaust Studies Series. New York:

ColumbiaUniversityPress, 1998. 289 pp. Braiterman, Zachary. (God) After Auschwitz: Traditionand Change in Post-

HolocaustJewish Thought.Princeton:PrincetonUniversityPress, 1998. 208 pp.

Brenner, David A. Marketing Identities: The Invention of Jewish Ethnicity in

"OSTund WEST". Detroit:WayneStateUniversityPress, 1998.246 pp.

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Brenner, Michael. The Renaissance of Jewish Culture in WeimarGermany.

Paperbacked. New Haven:YaleUniversityPress, 1998.xi, 306 pp. Breuer, Edward. The Limits of Enlightenment: Jews, Germans, and the Eighteenth-Century Study of Scripture. Cambridge: HarvardUniversity

Press, 1996. 332 pp. Brichto, Herbert Chanan. The Names of God: Poetic Readings in Biblical

Beginnings.Oxford:OxfordUniversityPress, 1998.xvii, 462 pp. Brody, Robert. The Geonim ofBabylonia and the Shaping ofMedieval Jewish

Culture.New Haven:YaleUniversityPress, 1998.xxii, 382 pp. Cargas, HarryJames, ed. Holocaust Scholars Writeto the Vatican.Christianity

and the Holocaust-Core Issues. Westport,Conn.: GreenwoodPress, 1998. xvii, 156 pp. Carlebach,Elisheva, John M. Efron, and David N. Myers, eds. Jewish History and Jewish Memory: Essays in Honor of YosefHayim Yerushalmi.

Hanover,N.H.:UniversityPressof New EnglandforBrandeisUniversity Press, 1998. xv, 462 pp. Casey, Maurice. Aramaic Sources of Mark' Gospel. Society for New Testa-

ment StudiesMonographSeries 102. Cambridge:CambridgeUniversity Press, 1998. x, 278 pp. Cheyette, Bryan, ed. Contemporary Jewish Writingin Britain and Ireland:

An Anthology.Jewish Writingin the ContemporaryWorld.Lincoln: Universityof NebraskaPress, 1998. lxxi, 336 pp. and Laura Marcus, eds. Modernity, Culture, and "the Jew". Con-

traversions:Jews and OtherDifferences.Stanford:StanfordUniversity Press, 1998. xx, 297 pp. Coenen, Thomas. Ydele verwachtinge der Joden getoont in den Persoon van

SabethaiZevi [The false hopes of the Jews, as revealedin the figureof ShabbetaiZevi]. Trans.ArthurLagawierandEfraimShmueli,introd.by YosefKaplan.Kuntresim:TextsandStudies83. Jerusalem:DinurCenter, 1998. 116 pp. (Hebrew). Coffin, Edna Amir. Encounters in Modern Hebrew: Level 3. Ann Arbor:

Universityof MichiganPress, 1997.xiv, 395 pp. Cohen, Arthur. An Arthur Cohen Reader: Selected Fiction and Writings on Judaism, Theology, Literature, and Culture. Detroit: Wayne State

UniversityPress, 1998. 573 pp. Cohen, Aryeh. Rereading Talmud: Gender, Law and the Poetics of Sugyot.

BrownJudaicStudies318. Atlanta:ScholarsPress, 1998. 242 pp.

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213

Cohen,Avner.Israel and the Bomb.New York:ColumbiaUniversityPress, 1998. xviii, 470 pp. Cohen, Richard I. Jewish Icons: Art and Society in Modern Europe. Berkeley:

Universityof CaliforniaPress, 1998. xviii, 358 pp. Cohen, Shaye J. D. The Beginnings of Jewishness: Boundaries, Varieties,

Uncertainties.HellenisticCultureand Society 31. Berkeley:University of CaliforniaPress, 1999. xv, 426 pp. Cohn-Sherbok,Dan. Judaism.Religionsof the World.UpperSaddleRiver, N.J.: Prentice-Hall,1999. 128 pp. Cooperman, Bernard Dov, ed. In Iberia and Beyond: Hispanic Jews between

Cultures.Newark:Universityof DelawarePress, 1998. x, 390 pp. Coudert, Allison P. The Impact of the Kabbalah in the Seventeenth Century: The Life and Thought of Francis Mercury van Helmont (1614-1698).

Brill's Series in JewishStudies.Leiden:Brill, 1999.xx, 418 pp. Danzig. Neil. A Catalog of Fragments of Halakhah and Midrash from the Cairo Genizah in the Elkan Nathan Adler Collection of the Library of the Jewish Theological Seminary ofAmerica. New York:Jewish Theological

Seminary,1997. lxxxvii, 362 pp. (Hebrew),xvi pp. (English). Diner,Hasia.Jews in America.Religion in AmericanLife. Oxford:Oxford UniversityPress, 1999. 158 pp. Donfried,Karl P., and Peter Richardson,eds. Judaismand Christianityin First-CenturyRome.GrandRapids:Eerdmans,1998.xiv, 329 pp. JewishTheology: Dorff,ElliotN., andLouisE. Newman,eds. Contemporary A Reader.Oxford:OxfordUniversityPress, 1999. xvi, 522 pp. Dowty, Alan. The Jewish State: A Century Later. Berkeley: University of

CaliforniaPress, 1998. xiv, 337 pp.

Eisen, Arnold. Rethinking Modern Judaism: Ritual, Commandment,Commu-

nity. ChicagoStudiesin the Historyof Judaism.Chicago:Universityof ChicagoPress, 1998. xiii, 339 pp. . Taking Hold of Torah: Jewish Commitment and Community in

America.Bloomington:IndianaUniversityPress, 1997. xv, 186 pp.

Eisenberg, Laura,and Neil Caplan. Negotiating Arab-Israeli Peace: Patterns,

Problems,Possibilities. Bloomington:IndianaUniversityPress, 1998. 252 pp. Elias, Ruth. Triumphof Hope: From Theresienstadtand Auschwitz to Israel.

New York:JohnWiley, 1998. x, 274 pp.

214

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Elkin, Judith.TheJews of Latin America.Rev. ed. New York:Holmes & Meier, 1998. xv, 339 pp. Elon, Amos. A Blood-Dimmed Tide: Dispatches from the Middle East.

Paperbacked. New York:ColumbiaUniversityPress, 1999. 332 pp. Ezrahi, Yaron. Rubber Bullets: Power and Consciousness in Modern Israel.

Paperbacked. Berkeley:Universityof CaliforniaPress, 1998. 308 pp. Faber, Eli. Jews, Slaves, and the Slave Trade: Setting the Record Straight.

Reappraisalsin Jewish Social and IntellectualHistory.New York:New YorkUniversityPress, 1998. xvii, 366 pp. Feiler, Gil. From Boycott to Economic Cooperation: The Political Economy of the Arab Boycott of srael. Portland, Oreg.: FrankCass, 1998. xv, 335

PP. Feldman, Louis H. Josephus ' Interpretationof the Bible. Hellenistic Culture

and Society 27. Berkeley:Universityof CaliforniaPress, 1998. xvi, 837 PP. Felstiner, Mary Lowenthal. ToPaint Her Life: Charlotte Salomon in the Nazi

Era. Paperbacked. Berkeley:Universityof CaliforniaPress, 1997. xiv, 291 pp. Finkielkraut, Alain. The Future of a Negation: Reflections on the Question

of Genocide.TextsandContexts.Lincoln,Nebr.:Universityof Nebraska Press, 1998. xxxi, 146 pp. Fischel, Jack. The Holocaust. Guides to HistoricEvents of the Twentieth Century.Westport,Conn.:GreenwoodPress, 1998. xxxvii, 196 pp. Fischler-Martinho,Janina. Have YouSeen My Little Sister? Libraryof Holo-

caustTestimonies.Portland,Oreg.:VallentineMitchell,1998. 277 pp. Forman, Seth. Blacks in the Jewish Mind: A Crisis of Liberalism. New York:

New YorkUniversityPress, 1998. x, 274 pp. Fram, Edward. Ideals Face Reality: Jewish Law and Life in Poland,

1550-1655. Monographsof the HebrewUnion College 21. Cincinnati: HebrewUnion College Press, 1997. xii, 186 pp. Frankel,Jonathan,ed. TheFate of the EuropeanJews, 1939-1945: Continuity

or Contingency?Studies in ContemporaryJewry 13. Oxford:Oxford UniversityPress, for the AvrahamHartmanInstituteof Contemporary Jewry,HebrewUniversityof Jerusalem,1997.xiv, 407 pp.

Friedland, Eric. "WereOur Mouths Filled with Song": Studies in Liberal

JewishLiturgy.Monographsof theHebrewUnionCollege20. Cincinnati: HebrewUnion College Press, 1997. xiv, 367 pp.

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215

Friedman, Jonathan C. The Lion and the Star: Gentile-Jewish Relations in Three Hessian Communities, 1919-1945. Lexington: University Press of

Kentucky,1998. 292 pp. Friedman, Murray, and Nancy Isserman. The Tribal Basis of American Life: Racial, Religious, and Ethnic Groups in Conflict. Westport;Conn.:

Praeger,1998. viii, 168 pp. Gampel, Benjamin, ed. Crisis and Creativity in the Sephardic World,

1391-1648. New York:ColumbiaUniversityPress.1997. xvi, 413 pp. Gay, Peter. My German Question: Growing Up in Nazi Berlin. New Haven:

YaleUniversityPress, 1998. xii, 208 pp. Genack, Menachem D., ed. Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik: Man of Halacha,

Man ofFaith. Hoboken:Ktav,1998. xii, 274 pp. Gera, Dov. Judaea and Mediterranean Politics, 219 to 161 B.C.E. Brill's

Series in JewishStudies.Leiden:Brill, 1998.xii, 362 pp. Gilbert, Martin. Jerusalem in the Twentieth Century. Paperback ed. New

York:JohnWiley, 1998. xvi, 412 pp. Gilman, Sander. "Love + Marriage = Death", and Other Essays on Rep-

resentingDifference.StanfordStudies in Jewish Historyand Culture. Stanford:StanfordUniversityPress, 1998. vi, 247 pp. Ginsberg, Benjamin. The Fatal Embrace: Jews and the State. Paperback ed.

Chicago:Universityof ChicagoPress, 1998. xii, 286 pp. Gitelman, Zvi, ed. Bitter Legacy: Confronting the Holocaust in the USSR.

Bloomington:IndianaUniversityPress, 1997.viii, 332 pp. PeoGitin,Seymour,AmihaiMazar,andEphraimStem,eds. Mediterranean ples in Transition: Thirteenthto Early TenthCenturies BCE. Jerusalem:

IsraelExplorationSociety, 1998. xix, 481 pp. Glassman, Bernard. Protean Prejudice: Anti-Semitism in England's Age of

Reason. South Florida-Rochester-Saint Louis Studieson Religion and the Social Order.Atlanta:ScholarsPress, 1998.xii, 250 pp.

Glick, Leonard B. Abraham'sHeirs: Jews and Christians in Medieval Europe.

Syracuse:SyracuseUniversityPress, 1999. xiv, 323 pp. Goldberg, Arnold. Mystik und Theologie des rabbinischen Judentums:

GesammelteStudienL Texte und Studienzum AntikenJudentum61. Ttibingen:MohrSiebeck, 1997. xxiii, 457. Goldberg, Harvey, ed. Sephardi and Middle Eastern Jewries: History and

Culturein theModernEra.Bloomington:IndianaUniversityPress,1996. xiii, 346 pp.

216

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Goldstein,YaacovN. From Fighters to Soldiers:How the Israeli Defense Forces Began. Portland,Oreg.:Sussex AcademicPress, 1998. 302 pp. Govrin,Nurit. LiteraryGeography:Lands and Landmarkson the Map of HebrewLiterature.Jerusalem:Carmel,1998. 622 pp. (Hebrew). Green,KennethHart.Jew andPhilosopher:TheReturnto Maimonidesin the Jewish Thoughtof Leo Strauss.SUNY Seriesin Judaica:Hermeneutics, Mysticism,and Religion. Albany,StateUniversityof New YorkPress, 1993. xiv, 278 pp. Green,Nancy, ed. Jewish Workersin the ModernDiaspora.Berkeley:Universityof CaliforniaPress, 1998. 256 pp. Greenspan,Henry.OnListeningto HolocaustSurvivors:RecountingandLife History.Westport,Conn.:Praeger,1998. xi, 199 pp. Greenspoon,LeonardJay,ed. YiddishLanguageand Culture:ThenandNow. Studies in Jewish Civilization9. Omaha:CreightonUniversityPress, 1998. xvii, 328 pp. Gregor,Neil. Daimler-Benzin the ThirdReich.New Haven:YaleUniversity Press, 1998. 276 pp. Griffith,Sidney.A Treatiseon the Venerationof the Holy Icons Writtenin Arabicby TheodoreAbuQurrah,BishopofHarran(c. 755-c. 830 A.D.). EasternChristianTexts in Translation.Leuven:Peeters, 1997. xxii, 99 PP. Gruen,Erich.Heritageand Hellenism:TheReinventionof Jewish Tradition. HellenisticCultureandSociety.Berkeley:Universityof CaliforniaPress, 1998. xx, 335 pp. Gurewitsch,Brana,ed. Mothers,Sisters,Resisters:OralHistoriesof Women WhoSurvivedthe Holocaust.Tuscaloosa:Universityof AlabamaPress, 1998. xxi, 396 pp. Gurock,JeffreyS., andJacobJ. Schacter.A ModernHereticanda Traditional Community:MordecaiM. Kaplan, Orthodoxy,and AmericanJudaism. Paperbacked. New York:ColumbiaUniversityPress, 1998.x, 220 pp. Hallamish,Moshe.AnIntroductionto theKabbalah.Trans.RuthBar-Ilanand OraWiskind-Elper. SUNY Series in Judaica:Hermeneutics,Mysticism, and Religion. Albany:State Universityof New YorkPress, 1999. viii, 379 pp. Halpern,Ben, and JehudaReinharz.Zionismand the Creationof a New Society. Studies in Jewish History.Oxford:Oxford UniversityPress, 1998. 293 pp.

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217

Halpem, Micah D., and Chana Safrai. Jewish Legal Writings by Women.

Jerusalem:UrimPublications,1998. 307 pp. (English),72 pp. (Hebrew). Hartmann,Heinz. In Search of Self in the Service of Others: Reflections of a Retired Physician on Medicine, the Bible and the Jews. Amherst, N.Y.,

PrometheusBooks, 1998. 198 pp. Haselkom, Avigdor. The Continuing Storm: Iraq, Poisonous Weapons, and

Deterrence.New Haven:YaleUniversityPress, 1999. xxvi, 374 pp. Helmreich, Alan, and Paul Marcus, eds. Blacks and Jews on the Couch: Psychoanalytic Reflections on Black-Jewish Conflict. Westport, Conn.:

Praeger,1998. x, 229 pp. Herf, Jeffrey. Divided Memory: The Nazi Past in the Two Germanys. Pa-

perbacked. Cambridge,Mass.: HarvardUniversityPress, 1997. 527 PP. Heschel, Susannah. Abraham Geiger and the Jewish Jesus. Chicago Studies

in the Historyof Judaism.Chicago:Universityof ChicagoPress, 1998. xii, 317 pp. Hezser, Catherine. The Social Structureof the Rabbinic Movement in Roman

Palestine.Tfibingen:J.C.B.Mohr,1997. x, 557 pp. Howe, Kathleen, and Nitza Rosovsky. Revealing the Holy Land: The Photographic Exploration ofPalestine. Santa Barbara:Santa BarbaraMuseum

of Art, 1997. 144 pp. Hyman,PaulaE. TheJews of ModernFrance. JewishCommunitiesof the Modem World.Berkeley:Universityof CaliforniaPress, 1998. xii, 283 PP. Idel, Moshe.MessianicMystics.Oxford:OxfordUniversityPress, 1998. x, 451 pp. Israel, Jonathan. European Jewry in the Age of Mercantilism, 1550-1750.

Reprinted., revised and updated.London:LittmanLibraryof Jewish Civilization,1998. xix, 266 pp. Jewish Travel Guide 1998 (International Edition). Portland,Oreg.: Vallentine

Mitchell, 1998. vi, 421 pp. Jones, Sian, Tony Kushner,and SarahPearce,eds. Culturesof Ambivalence and Contempt: Studies in Jewish-Non-Jewish Relations. Parkes-Wiener

Series on JewishStudies.Portland,Oreg.:VallentineMitchell,1998. xii, 321 pp. Kagan, Jack, and Dov Cohen. Surviving the Holocaust with the Russian

JewishPartisans.Portland,Oreg.:VallentineMitchell,1998. xi, 275 pp.

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218

Kaplan, Edward, and Samuel Dresner. Abraham Joshua Heschel: Prophetic

Witness.New Haven:YaleUniversityPress, 1998.x, 402 pp. Karp, Abraham J. Jewish Continuity in America: Creative Survival in a Free

Society.JudaicStudiesSeries.Tuscaloosa:Universityof AlabamaPress, 1998. xii, 301 pp. Katz, Yossi. Between Jerusalem and Hebron: Jewish Settlement in the Pre-

StatePeriod. RamatGan:Bar-IlanUniversityPress, 1998.295 pp. Kedar,Benjamin,andR. J. Zwi Werblowsky,eds. SacredSpace:Shrine,City, Land.New York:New YorkUniversityPress, 1998. 348 pp. Kelley,Page;DanielMynatt;andTimothyCrawford.TheMasorahofBiblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia: Introduction and Annotated Glossary. Grand

Rapids:Eerdmans,1998. xiv, 241 pp. Kipen, Israel. Ahad Ha-am: The Zionism of the Future. Sydney, Aus.:

Universityof Sydney,1997. 204 pp. Kirshenblatt-Gimblettt, Barbara. Destination Culture: Tourism, Museums,

and Heritage.Berkeley:Universityof CaliforniaPress, 1998. xviii, 326 PP. Klingenstein, Susanne. Enlarging America: The Cultural Workof Jewish Literary Scholars, 1930-1990. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press,

1998. xxxiv, 492 pp. Klinghoffer, David. The Lord Will Gather Me In: My Journey to Jewish

Orthodoxy.New York:FreePress, 1999.262 pp. Konvitz, Milton R. Torah and Constitution: Essays in American Jewish

Thought.Modem Jewish History.Syracuse:SyracuseUniversityPress, 1998. xiv, 222 pp. Krassen, Miles. Writer of Heaven and Earth: Rabbi Meshullam Feibush Heller of Zbarash and the Rise of Hasidism in Eastern Galicia. SUNY

Seriesin Judaica:Hermeneutics,Mysticism,andReligion.Albany:State Universityof New YorkPress, 1998. 309 pp. Krausz, Ernest, and Gitta Tulea, eds. Jewish Survival: The Identity Problem at the Close of the TwentiethCentury.New Brunswick, N.J.: Transaction

Publishers,1998. xvii, 269 pp. Kugelmass, Jack, and JonathanBoyarin. From a Ruined Garden: TheMemorial Books of Polish Jewry. 2nd ed., expanded. Bloomington: Indiana

UniversityPress, 1998. xvi, 353 pp. Kuperhand,Miriam, and Saul Kuperhand.Shadows of Treblinka.Champaigne:Universityof IllinoisPress, 1998. xvi, 185 pp.

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219

Langer,LawrenceI. PreemptingtheHolocaust.New Haven:YaleUniversity Press, 1998. xix, 207 pp. Langer, Ruth. To WorshipGod Properly: TensionsBetween Liturgical Custom

and Halakhahin Judaism.Monographsof the HebrewUnion College 22. Cincinnati:HebrewUnion CollegePress, 1998.xiii, 287 pp. Le-Brun, Jacques, and Guy Stroumsa, eds. Les Juifs pre'sentesaux Chritiens ("C&rdmonieset coutumes qui s'observent aujourd'huiparmi les Juifs, " par Leon de Modene, et "Comparisondes ceremonies des Juifs et de la discipline de l 'Eglise, "par Richard Simon). La Roue a Livres. Paris: Les

Belles Lettres,1998. xlix, 289 pp.

Lenowitz, Harris. The Jewish Messiahs: From the Galilee to Crown Heights.

Oxford:OxfordUniversityPress, 1998. viii, 297 pp. Leshem, Elazar, and Judith Shuval. Immigration to Israel: Sociological Per-

spectives.Studiesof IsraeliSociety8. New Brunswick,N.J.:Transaction Publishers,1998. xii, 569 pp. Levi ben Gershom (Gersonides). Commentary on Song of Songs. Trans.,

introduced,and annotatedby MenachemKellner.Yale Judaic Series. New Haven:YaleUniversityPress, 1998. xxxi, 161 pp. Leviatan,Uriel, Hugh Oliver, and Jack Quarter,eds. Crisis in the Israeli Kibbutz: Meeting the Challenge of Changing Times. Westport, Conn.:

Praeger,1998. xvii, 187 pp. Levinas, Emmanuel. Entre Nous: On Thinking-of-the-Other. New York:

ColumbiaUniversityPress, 1998. xiii, 256 pp. Lewis, Selma S. A Biblical People in the Bible Belt: The Jewish Community of Memphis, Tennessee, 1840s-1960s. Macon: Mercer University Press,

1998. xvi, 245 pp. Linder, Amnon. The Jews in the Legal Sources of the Early Middle Ages.

Detroit:WayneStateUniversityPress, 1998. 717 pp. Linzer,Norman,David Schnall,and JeromeChanes,eds. A Portraitof the AmericanJewish Community. Westport,Conn.:Praeger,1998. xvii, 222 PP. Lipinsky, Edward. Semitic Languages: Outline of a Comparative Grammar.

OrientaliaLovaniensiaAnalecta80. Leuven:Peeters,1997. 754 pp. MacDonald, Kevin. The Culture of Critique: An Analysis of Jewish Involvement in Twentieth-CenturyIntellectual and Political Movements. Human

Evolution,Behavior,and Intelligence.Westport,Conn.:Praeger,1998. viii, 379 pp.

220

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. Separation and Its Discontents: Towardan Evolutionary Theory of

Anti-Semitism. Westport,Conn.:Praeger,1998. x, 325 pp. Magness, Jodi, and Seymour Gitin. Hesed ve-Emet: Studies in Honor of

ErnestS. Frerichs.Brown JudaicStudies320. Atlanta:ScholarsPress, 1998. xiv, 440 pp. Malino, Frances, and David Sorkin. Profiles in Diversity: Jews in a Changing

Europe, 1750-1870. Detroit:WayneState UniversityPress, 1998. vii, 339. Marissen, Michael. Lutheranism, Anti-Judaism, and Bach 's "St. John Passion ". Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998. xii, 109 pp. Masters, Peter. Striking Back: A Jewish Commando's WarAgainst the Nazis.

Novato, Calif.:Presidio,1997. xiii, 340 pp. Matza, Diane, ed. Sephardic-American Voices: Two Hundred Years of a

LiteraryLegacy. Paperbacked. BrandeisSeries in AmericanJewish History, Cultureand Life. Hanover,N.H.: University Press of New Englandfor BrandeisUniversityPress, 1999. xii, 363 pp. Meirovich, Harvey. A Vindication of Judaism: The Polemics of the Hertz

Pentateuch.New York:JewishTheologicalSeminary,1998.xvi, 304 pp. Melnick, Ralph. The Life and Workof Ludwig Lewisohn, 2 vols. Detroit:

WayneStateUniversityPress, 1998. 754 pp. and596 pp. Merkley, Paul. The Politics of Christian Zionism, 1891-1948. London: Frank

Cass, 1998. x, 223 pp. Meyer, Michael, ed. German-Jewish History in Modern Times. Vol. 3: Integration in Dispute, 1871-1918. New York: Columbia University Press,

1998. viii, 466 pp. . German-Jewish History in Modern Times. Vol. 4: Renewal and

Destruction,1918-1945. New York:ColumbiaUniversityPress, 1998. ix, 479 pp. Morris, Bonnie J. Lubavitcher Womenin America: Identity and Activism in

the PostwarEra. Albany:StateUniversityof New YorkPress, 1998. x, 186 pp. Mundill, Robin R. England's Jewish Solution: Experiment and Expulsion,

1262-1290. CambridgeStudiesin MedievalLife and Thought,Fourth Series.Cambridge:CambridgeUniversityPress, 1998. xxviii, 332 pp.

Munk, Linda. The Devil s Mousetrap: Redemption and Colonial American

Literature.Oxford:OxfordUniversityPress, 1997. xii, 144 pp.

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Nadell, Pamela. Women Who Would Be Rabbis: A History of Womens

Ordination,1889-1985. Boston:BeaconPress, 1998. xiii, 300 pp.

Nadler, Allan. The Faith of the Mithnagdim: Rabbinic Responses to Hasidic

Rapture.Baltimore:JohnsHopkinsUniversityPress, 1997. xi, 254 pp. Nahshon, Edna. YiddishProletarian Theatre: TheArt and Politics of the Artef

1925-1940. Contributionsin Dramaand TheatreStudies85. Westport, Conn.:GreenwoodPress, 1998. xiv, 260 pp. Narkiss,Uzi. SoldierofJerusalem.Portland,Oreg.:VallentineMitchell,1998. xviii, 250 pp. Near, Henry. The Kibbutz Movement: A History. Vol. 2: Crisis and Achieve-

ment,1939-1995. Portland,Oreg.:LittmanLibraryof JewishCivilization, 1997. xii, 418 pp. Nettler, Ronald, and Suha Taji-Farouki.Muslim-Jewish Encounters: Intellectual Traditionsand Modern Politics. Studies in Muslim-Jewish Relations.

Amsterdam:HarwoodAcademicPublishers,1998. xvi, 204 pp. Newman, Louis E. Past Imperatives: Studies in the History and Theory

of Jewish Ethics. SUNY Series in Jewish Philosophy.Albany: State Universityof New YorkPress, 1998. xiii, 283 pp. Niditch,Susan.AncientIsraeliteReligion.Oxford:OxfordUniversityPress, 1997. 146 pp. Novack, David.NaturalLaw in Judaism.Cambridge:CambridgeUniversity Press, 1998. xii, 210 pp. Ochs, Peter. Peirce, Pragmatism, and the Logic of Scripture. Cambridge:

CambridgeUniversityPress, 1998. ix, 361 pp. Ofer, Dalia, and Lenore J. Weitzman,eds. Womenin the Holocaust.New Haven:Yale UniversityPress, 1998. vii, 402 pp. Ofrat, Gideon. One Hundred Yearsof Art in Israel. Boulder, Col.: Westview

Press, 1998. viii, 392 pp. Orleck, Annelise. The Soviet Jewish Americans. New Americans Series.

Westport,Conn.:GreenwoodPress, 1999. xiv, 216 pp. Patai, Raphael. Jadid al-Islam: TheJewish "NewMuslims" ofMeshhed. Jew-

ish Folkloreand AnthropologySeries. Detroit:WayneStateUniversity Press, 1997. 325 pp.

Patterson, David. The Hebrew Novel in Czarist Russia: A Portrait of Jewish Life in the Nineteenth Century. Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield,

1999. xiv, 318 pp.

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Peck, Jean M. At the Fire 's Center: A Story of Love and Holocaust Survival.

Urbana:Universityof IllinoisPress, 1998. xiii, 243 pp. Pelli, Moshe. Hebrew Culture in America. 80 Years of Hebrew Culture in the United States, 1916-1995. Tel Aviv: Reshafim Publishers, 1997. xx

(English),392 pp. (Hebrew). Peltz, Rakhmiel. From Immigrant to Ethnic Culture: American Yiddish in

South Philadelphia. StanfordStudies in Jewish History and Culture. Stanford:StanfordUniversityPress, 1998.xix, 269 pp. Poirier, V6ronique. Ashkenazes et Sefarades: Une etude comparde de leurs relations en France et en Israel (annees 1950-1990). Paris: Editions du

Cerf, 1998. 312 pp.

Polt, Renata, trans. and ed. A ThousandKisses: A Grandmother's Holocaust

Letters.Tuscaloosa:Universityof AlabamaPress, 1999. xvii, 210 pp.

Portugese, Jacqueline. Fertility Policy in Israel. The Politics of Religion,

Gender,and Nation.Westport,Conn.:Praeger,1998., 212 pp. Raider, Mark. The Emergence of American Zionism. New York: New York

UniversityPress, 1998. xvii, 296 pp. , JonathanSarna,and Ronald Zweig, eds. Abba Hillel Silver and AmericanZionism.Portland,Oreg.:FrankCass. 1997. 127 pp. Raviv, Hana. A House of Memories. 58 Avenue Road. Portland, Oreg.:

VallentineMitchell,1998. xii, 91 pp. Rayner, John. A Jewish Understanding of the World. Providence, R.I.:

BerghahnBooks, 1998. xi, 196 pp. Raz, Hilda. The Prairie Schooner Anthology of ContemporaryJewish Amer-

ican Writing.Lincoln:Universityof NebraskaPress, 1997. 293 pp. Redlich, Fritz. Hitler: Diagnosis of a Destructive Prophet. Oxford: Oxford

UniversityPress, 1999. xviii, 448 pp. Rivkin, Ellis. What Crucified Jesus? Messianism, Pharisaism, and the Development of Christianity. New York: UAHC Press. 1997. viii, 181 PP. Rizzuto, Ana-Maria. Why Did Freud Reject God? A Psychodynamic Inter-

pretation.New Haven:Yale UniversityPress, 1998. xvii, 297 pp. Rogin, Michael. Blackface, WhiteNoise: Jewish Immigrantsin the Hollywood

MeltingPot. Berkeley:Universityof CaliforniaPress,1996.xvi, 339 pp. Rojtman, Betty. Black Fire on WhiteFire: An Essay on Jewish Hermeneutics

CriticalStudiesin Jewish from Midrashto Kabbalah.Contraversions:

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Literature,Culture,andSociety.Berkeley:Universityof CaliforniaPress, 1998. xii, 194 pp. Roland, Joan. The Jewish Communities of India: Identity in a Colonial Era.

2nd ed. New Brunswick,N.J.:TransactionPublishers,1998. xv, 392 pp. Rowe, John Carlos, ed. "Culture"and the Problem of the Disciplines. Critical

Theory InstituteBooks. New York:ColumbiaUniversityPress, 1998. 236 pp. Rutgers, L. V. The Hidden Heritage of Diaspora Judaism: Essays on Jewish Cultural Identity in the Roman World.Leuven: Peeters, 1998. 320 pp. Sagi, Avi. "Elu va-Elu": A Study on the Meaning of Halakhic Discourse.

Heilel ben ShaharLibrary.Tel Aviv: HakibbutzHameuchad,1996. 256 pp. (Hebrew). Sakamoto, Pamela Rotner.Japanese Diplomats and Jewish Refugees: A World

WarII Dilemma.Westport,Conn.:Praeger,1998. xvi, 188 pp. Samokovlija,Isak.Talesof OldSarajevo.Portland,Oreg.:VallentineMitchell, 1997. xii, 180 pp. Sandrow, Nahma, trans. and ed. God, Man and Devil: Yiddish Plays in

Translation.Syracuse:SyracuseUniversityPress, 1999. xii, 321 pp.

Sanua, Marianne R. "Here's to Our Fraternity ": One Hundred Yearsof Zeta

Beta Tau,1898-1998. Hanover,N.H.: UniversityPressof New England for ZetaBeta TauFoundation,1998. x, 319.

Scheindlin, Raymond. A Short History of the Jewish People: From Legendary Times to Modern Statehood. New York: Macmillan, 1998. xiii, 274 pp.

, trans.TheBook ofJob. New York:Norton,1998. 237 pp.

Schiffman, Lawrence. Textsand Traditions:A Source Readerfor the Study of Second Temple and Rabbinic Judaism. Hoboken: Ktav, 1998. xxvi, 771

PP. Schwarcz, Vera. Bridge Across Broken lime: Chinese and Jewish Cultural

Memory.New Haven:YaleUniversityPress, 1998. xiii, 232 pp. Shafir, Shlomo. Ambiguous Relations: TheAmerican Jewish Communityand

GermanySince 1945. Detroit:WayneStateUniversityPress, 1999. 508 PP. Shain,Milton.Antisemitism.BowerdeanBriefings.London:BowerdeanPublishing Co., 1998. 124 pp. Sheridan, Sybil, ed. Hear Our Voice: Womenin the British Rabbinate. Studies

in ComparativeReligion.Columbia:Universityof SouthCarolinaPress, 1998. xx, 203 pp.

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Sherman, A. J. Mandate Days: British Lives in Palestine, 1918-1948. New

York:Thames& Hudson,1998. 264 pp. Sigal, Goldie. A Garment Worker' Legacy: The Joe Fishstein Collection of YiddishPoetry. The Catalogue. Montreal: McGill University Libraries,

1998. xliii, 391 pp., 45 pp. (Tableof Name Equivalents). Slomovitz, Albert. The Fighting Rabbis: Jewish Military Chaplains and

AmericanHistory.New York:New YorkUniversityPress, 1999. xiii, 170 pp. Snell, Daniel C. Life in the Ancient Near East, 3100-332 B.C.E. Paperback

ed. New Haven:YaleUniversityPress, 1998. xvii, 270 pp. Solomon, Norman. Historical Dictionary ofJudaism. Historical Dictionaries

of Religions,Philosophies,andMovements19. Lanham,Md.,Scarecrow Press, 1998. viii, 521 pp. Somerville,Robert,andBruceC. Brasington.Prefacesto CanonLawBooks in Latin Christianity:Selected Translations,500-1245. New Haven: Yale

UniversityPress, 1998. xiii, 247 pp. Sommer, Benjamin D. A Prophet Reads Scripture:Allusion in Isaiah 40-66.

Contraversions: Jews and OtherDifferences.Stanford:StanfordUniver1998. xiii, 355 pp. sity Press, Sperber, Daniel: The City in Roman Palestine. Oxford: Oxford University

Press, 1998. viii, 200 pp. Sperling, S. David. The Original Torah: The Political Intent of the Bible's

Writers.Reappraisalsin Jewish Social and IntellectualHistory.New York:New YorkUniversityPress, 1998. xiv, 185 pp.

Sprinzak, Ehud. Brother Against Brother: Violence and Extremism in Israeli Politics from "Altalena" to the Rabin Assassination. New York: Free

Press, 1999. xii, 366 pp. Stanton, Graham,and Guy Stroumsa, eds. Toleranceand Intolerance in Early

JudaismandChristianity.Cambridge: Cambridge UniversityPress,1998. 370 xiv, pp.

Stem, Chaim. Day by Day: Reflections on the Themes of the Torahfrom Literature, Philosophy, and Religious Thought. Boston: Beacon Press,

1998. xi, 372 pp. Stem, David, and MarkJ. Mirsky.Rabbinic Fantasies: ImaginativeNarratives from Classical Hebrew Literature. Reprint ed. Yale Judaica Series 29.

New Haven:Yale UniversityPress, 1998. ix, 364 pp. Stem, Josef. Problems and Parables of Law: Maimonides and Nahmanides

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on Reasons for the Commandments(Ta 'amei Ha-Mitzvot). Albany: State

Universityof New YorkPress, 1998. xi, 201 pp. Thurner, Erika. National Socialism and Gypsies in Austria. Tuscaloosa:

Universityof AlabamaPress, 1998. xx, 218 pp. Toll, Nelly. When Memory Speaks: The Holocaust in Art. Westport, Conn.:

Praeger,1998. xviii, 124 pp. van Alphen, Ernst. Caught by History: Holocaust Effects in Contemporary Art, Literature, and Theory. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1997.

viii, 233 pp. van Bekkum, W. J. Hebrew Poetry from Late Antiquity: Liturgical Poems of Yehudah. Critical Edition with Introduction and Commentary.Arbeiten

zur Geschichtedes AntikenJudentumsund des Urchristentums. Leiden: Brill, 1998. xxx, 183 pp. Vincent, Isabel. Hitler's Silent Partners: Swiss Banks, Nazi Gold, and the

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Back Matter Source: AJS Review, Vol. 24, No. 1 (1999) Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Association for Jewish Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1486546 . Accessed: 15/07/2011 11:00 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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