Esther Unmasked: Solving Eleven Mysteries of the Jewish Holidays and Liturgy

Mitchell First is a very talented Jewish scholar. He is able to challenge traditional assumptions and reach new, often groundbreaking, conclusions. His articles are meticulously researched, relying both on rabbinic sources and historians of antiquity. A main article explains how both Achashverosh and Esther can be identified in ancient sources.The entire volume consists of eleven articles that address mysterious aspects of the yearly cycle of Jewish holidays and liturgy: what is the meaning of the cryptic phrase in the Sukkot liturgy Ani ve-Ho? what motivated Antiochus to persecute the Jews? what is the origin of Taanit Esther? how many questions were there in the original Mah Nishtannah? why does peprecede ayin in the acrostics of the book of Eikhah?, and more.

Religion & Spirituality

First, Mitchell

Judaism

Kodesh Press L.L.C.

Samuel David Luzzatto (1800-1865), known by his Hebrew acronym Shadal, was the leading Italian Jewish scholar of the 19th century. A linguist, educator, and religious thinker, he devoted his talents above all to the interpretation of the Bible. As a master of Hebrew grammar and usage, he focused on the plain meaning of the text. Although he was a devout believer in the divinity, unity, and antiquity of the Torah, Shadal approached the text in a remarkably free spirit of inquiry, drawing upon a wide variety of sources, ancient and contemporary, Jewish and non-Jewish. As a result, his interpretations may strike even the modern reader as fresh and novel. Among the highlights of Shadal's Exodus (Shemot) commentary are his view of the Ten Plagues as nature-based phenomena that nevertheless contained supranatural qualities, his discerning literary analysis of the Song of the Sea, and his daring willingness--despite his acceptance of rabbinic halakhah in practice--to look behind the Rabbis' interpretation of the book's legal sections and examine their literal meanings. Shadal's treatment of Exodus, as well as the other books of the Torah, consisted of his Italian translation of the text and his Hebrew-language commentary. Here, for the first time, is an all-English version of both the text translation and the unabridged commentary, the first complete edition of Shadal's Exodus since its original publication in 1872. The translator-editor has supplied explanatory notes and a list identifying the sources cited.

Shadal on Exodus

Klein, Daniel A.

Luzzatto, Samuel D

Abraham Isaac Hakohen Kook (1865-1935) served as the Ashkenazic Chief Rabbi of Erets Israel during the period of the British mandate. Rav Kook was a polymath, equally talented as a Talmudic legalist and rationalist philosopher, on the one hand, and as a mystic and poet, on the other. Today, we would say that he was both “left and right hemisphere.” The present collection brings together in English translation Rav Kook’s contributions to the field of Jewish history, though perhaps “historiosophy” would be the better word. Rav Kook joins the ranks of those great Jewish thinkers who preceded him in interpretation of history: Maharal of Prague, Moses Hayyim Luzzatto and Zadok Hakohen of Lublin. If Rav Kook’s philosophy were to be summed up in a single word, it would be: Kelaliyut or universality. Whereas most of us are held captive by individual events, Rav Kook has a great gift for the overview of history. He brings this gift to bear in his ability to provide perspective on the modern rebirth of Israel against the backdrop of mankind’s ongoing spiritual evolution. In the latter regard, his vision has sometimes been compared to that of Teilhard de Chardin and Sri Aurobido, or more recently Ken Wilber. Contained in this collection are Rav Kook’s eulogy for Herzl and Rav Kook’s remarks at the opening of Hebrew University in Jerusalem. The essays are placed in historic context and provided with copious scholarly endnotes.

When God Becomes History: Historical Essays of Rabbi Abraham Isaac Hakohen Kook

Naor, Bezalel

Kook, Abraham Isaac Hakohen

Keys to the Palace: Exploring the Religious Value of Reading Tanakh

Angel, Hayyim

Rabbah bar Bar Hannah has been referred to as the Jewish Sinbad the Sailor. His tall tales, fifteen in all, are recorded in the Babylonian Talmud in Tractate Bava Batra (73a-74a). The particular chapter in which they are situated is named “The Seller of the Ship” (“HaMokher et ha-Sefinah”). Appropriately, these tales of seafarers (ne{utei yama) were inserted in that legal discussion, as is the wont of the Talmud to mix Aggadah with Halakhah, thus tempering law with lore and legend.
Rav Kook’s commentary to the Legends first appeared in print in Jerusalem in 1984 in the second volume of his collected essays, Ma’amrei ha-Rayah. In this early work (written at age twenty-five), Rav Kook yet cites sources. Later, when his style of writing switched to “stream of consciousness,” sources were eliminated. For this very reason, the commentary to the Rabbah bar Bar }annah legends is of extreme importance. Here, Rav Kook divulges the many and varied Kabbalistic sources that informed his view. We see him equally at home in the world of the Vilna Gaon and of his rival Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi. A great influence upon Rav Kook’s thought was the earlier Italian mystic, Rabbi Moses Hayyim Luzzatto In Ma’amrei ha-Rayah, Rav Kook’s commentary was provided by Rabbi Shlomo Aviner with brief summaries as well as an index. These are certainly helpful to the reader. The present edition is the first time in any language that the commentary of Rav Kook is presented complete with much needed explanatory notes.

The Legends of Rabbah Bar Bar Hannah with the Commentary of Rabbi Abraham Isaac Hakohen Kook

Kook, Abraham Isaac

Search Engine: Finding Meaning in Jewish Texts

Student, Gil

As If We Were There: Readings for a Transformative Passover Experience

The Passover Seder is probably the most broadly observed Jewish ritual, as the Exodus from Egypt remains at the forefront of the Jewish consciousness. Since the Torah relates many of its teachings to the bondage of Egypt, Jews are encouraged to internalize the oppression in Egypt, the Exodus through the Red Sea, and the transition from slavery to freedom. As If We Were There: Readings for a Transformative Passover Experience breathes new life in the Passover story by providing 21 daily readings, beginning with the first day of Hebrew month Nisan until the last day of Passover. Each day focuses on a specific aspect of the Exodus experience, as Rabbi Rothstein takes the reader on a journey of intellectual and spiritual development while we study, analyze, and ultimately internalize the events and messages of the Exodus story. In the second part of the book, a memoir of his father's Seder, Rabbi Rothstein utilizes humor and nostalgia to introduce the reader to a Seder that succeeded in finding ways for Jews to see themselves as if they had been redeemed from Egypt.

Rothstein, Gidon

Roots and Rituals: Insights into Hebrew, Holidays, and History

Mitchell First’s 62 short articles address interesting questions about the Hebrew language, liturgy, Jewish history, and the calendar and holidays. For example:On Jewish Liturgy: the origin of the Haftarah, the origin of the blessing “Who Has Not Made Me A Woman,” and the origin of our prayer for the government.On Jewish Holidays and Calendar: the origin of the count from creation, the meaning of Yom Teruah, the meaning of “Maccabee,” identifying Achashverosh and Esther in secular sources, and the original three questions in the Mah Nishtannah.On Hebrew Language: the origin of the words brit, boker, hefker, chalom, chatan, kesef, midbar, navi, olam, she’ol, and seraphim. Also, is there a connection between זכר meaning “male” and זכר meaning “memory”? Is there a connection between לחם and מלחמה? He also has articles on words that appear only once in Tanakh, biblical words of Egyptian origin, wordplay in Tanakh, and interesting words in the daily Amidah.This book also includes two longer articles: “The Meaning of the Word Hitpallel (התפלל)” and “The Root of the Word מבול: A Flood of Possibilities.”

Peshat Isn't So Simple: Essays on Developing a Religious Methodology to Bible Study

The Principal #A-8351

Biographies & Memoirs

Israel, Rosenfeld

Regional U.S.

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