'A superb work of committed scholarship . . . a work full of interest to those already familiar with the material it contains, and compelling reading for those who are not. Maccoby has done a fine job in recapturing the intellectual and social drama of the confrontations.' Jonathan Sacks, Jewish Journal of Sociology Hyam Maccoby's now classic study focuses on the major Jewish—Christian disputations of medieval Europe: those of Paris (1240), Barcelona (1263), and Tortosa (1413-14).

In this first volume of a trilogy, Daniel J. Elazar addresses political uses of the idea of covenant, the tradition that has adhered to that idea, and the political arrangements that flow from it, Among the topics covered are covenant as a political concept, the Bible as a political commentary, the post-biblical tradition, medieval covenant theory, and Jewish political culture.

This four-part work describes and analyses democracy and despotism in tribes, city-states, and nation states. The theoretical framework used in this work combines Weberian, Aristotelian, evolutionary anthropological, and feminist theories in a comparative-historical context. The dual nature of humans, as both an animal and a consciously aware being, underpins the analysis presented. Part One covers tribes. It uses anthropological literature to describe the “campfire democracy” of the African Bushmen, the Pygmies, and other band societies. Its main focus is on the tribal democracy of the Cheyenne, Iroquois, Huron, and other tribes, and it pays special attention to the role of women in tribal democracies. Part Two describes the city-states of Mesopotamia, Syria, and Canaan-Phoenicia, and includes a section on the theocracy of the Jews. This part focuses on the transition from tribal democracy to city-state democracy in the ancient Middle East – from the Sumerian city-states to the Phoenician. Part Three focuses on the origins of democracy and covers Greece—Mycenaean, Dorian, and the Golden Age. It presents a detailed description of the tribal democracy of Archaic Greece – emphasizing the causal effect of the hoplite-phalanx military formation in egalitarianizing Greek tribal society. Next, it analyses the transition from tribal to city-state democracy—with the new commercial classes engendering the oligarchic and democratic conflicts described by Plato and Aristotle. Part Four describes the Norse tribes as they contacted Rome, the rise of kingships, the renaissance of the city-states, and the parliamentary monarchies of the emerging nation-states. It provides details of the rise of commercial city states in Renaissance Italy, Hanseatic Germany and the Netherlands.

The subject of this book is the prophetic history of the political-military leaders, called judges, that succeeded Joshua and led the tribes of Israel during the tumultuous anarchic period between the death of Joshua and the transformation of the Israelite confederation of tribes into a nation-state (as subsequently described in the biblical book of Samuel, presented in the Masoretic text of the biblical book of Judges.) The term prophetic history is employed to describe the subject because prophecy in biblical thought is not fatalistic and does not predict future events. What it does do is assert that the moral course that a society chooses to follow in the present can determine its probable but not inevitable future. The purpose of the biblical book is to inform the reader of the historical consequences of the failure to observe the terms of the divine covenant entered into between God and the children of Israel at Mount Sinai following the exodus from Egypt. Although the biblical narrative is based on events that were believed to have taken place, the primary focus of prophetic history is on the moral implications of the decisions taken by men rather than the factual accuracy of the details of the events described, which have been studied exhaustively by archaeologists and historians of the ancient world.

A teacher's bible for teaching the Five Books of Moses This invaluable guide for preparing to teach or study the weekly Torah portion provides a precise synopsis of each of the 54 parashiyot, as well as overviews of commentaries and sources, capsule biographies of Torah interpreters, and provocative questions. Over 1,000 unusual strategies help readers analyze, extend, and personalize the text. A bibliography and a thematic index make this an especially useful resource for Bar/Bat Mitzvah preparation, sermon/D'var Torah ideas, and Havurah discussions.

Weber’s classic study which deals specifically with: Types of Asceticism and the Significance of Ancient Judaism, History and Social Organization of Ancient Palestine, Political Organization and Religious Ideas in the Time of the Confederacy and the Early Kings, Political Decline, Religious Conflict and Biblical Prophecy.

In this first volume of a trilogy, Daniel J. Elazar addresses political uses of the idea of covenant, the tradition that has adhered to that idea, and the political arrangements that flow from it, Among the topics covered are covenant as a political concept, the Bible as a political commentary, the post-biblical tradition, medieval covenant theory, and Jewish political culture.

This collection of essays contextualizes the history and current state of the social science method in the study of the Hebrew Bible. Part 1 traces the rise of social science criticism by reprinting classic essays on the topic; Part 2 provides "case studies," examples of application of the methods to biblical studies.

Torah can help you recover your soul—if you are willing to ask yourself the right questions. "If the Torah is the all-encompassing moral compass that it claims to be, and I believe it to be so, then we can find anything in it, including the support needed for recovery.... In it are the remedies for all spiritual maladies—we just have to probe the text, dig deeply in it and drink of its life-giving waters." —from the Foreword In this soul-restoring resource, Rabbi Mark Borovitz combines his knowledge of Judaism and his experience as a leader in the field of recovery to help you find in the Five Books of Moses the deeper meaning, wisdom and guidance for living well in the moment. For each Torah portion, he provides seven days of teachings and reflection questions to help you reconnect with your sacred self, discover solutions to life's challenges and to help you heal. Advertising