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This article attempts to explain the particular position of Dahlia Ravikovitch among her fellow poets of the Statehood Generation (1950s-1960s) and in Israeli literature in general—namely, the triangular connection between poetics, gender, and canon in the young Israeli-Hebrew culture. I argue that the founding of the nation-state instigated far-reaching changes in the life, structure, and symbolic identity of the nation, and it is in light of these changes that Israeli culture should be analyzed. The main change was the death of constitutive Zionist desire, by which the nation underwent several shifts, one of which was from a masculine to a feminine symbolic identity. Reading Ravikovitch's poem "Dyokan yehudi" and connecting it to other poems, I argue that, in this "feminine" stage of the nation, she fills the previously masculine function of the national poet (and the poet-prophet). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By the 1960s, sociology had risen to a place of prominence in American-Jewish life. No topic brought American Jews into contact with sociologists more than that of intermarriage. Far from simply communicating empirical realities, sociologists sculpted ideologies about family, religion, and citizenship. Over the first half of the twentieth century, sociological thought shifted from defining Jewish outmarriage as a step toward creating a true melting pot to defending inmarriage as crucial to the ideals of democracy and social stability. When commentators and Jewish leaders declared an intermarriage crisis in the mid-1960s, they relied on sociological models to anchor their pronouncements. Yet in treating sociology as a source of unbiased information, Jewish leaders often concealed their own commitments and deeply felt belief systems. Ironically, sociology emerged as one of the most prescriptive forces in Jewish life, even as it was assumed to offer mere description of Jewish patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By focusing on Minsk, a historic Jewish demographic, religious, and political center in pre-revolutionary Russia and capital of the Belorussian Soviet Socialist Republic after 1919, this article examines two aspects of Jewish religious practice in the interwar period: the production of kosher meat, and the practice of circumcision. As the persistence of kosher butchering and circumcision during the 1920s and mid-1930s reveals, Jewish life did not change radically in the immediate aftermath of the Bolshevik Revolution; even some of the most devoted Communists maintained an allegience to specific features of Jewish self-identification. A study of religious practice in this Soviet city provides a window into the fragmented lives of post-1917 Russian Jews, illuminating the complexity of their acculturation into Soviet society and showing that religious identification was common and multifaceted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the ways on how Jewish Community legitimizes its disputed presence in Hebron. According to the author, the religious worldview of the Jewish Community of Hebron is based on a messianic framework. He added that the residents are obliged to aspire to be reunited with God and their land, and thus to push forward the Age of Redemption. He emphasized that the violence conducted by the Jewish Community is a counter-cultural religious war.

This essay focuses on the emergence of an Anglophone Jewish diaspora in the mid-nineteenth century that knitted the Jewish communities of English-speaking countries into a new cultural, religious and social sphere. This occurrence happened as the Jewish population in England and the U.S. grew significantly. The author observes that these Jewish communities shared a culture specific to Anglophone Jewry where ties of language and trade encouraged the circulation of information, ideas, customs and fashions. He claims that this common cultural cargo produced a distinct English-speaking Jewish diaspora.

This essay discusses the Jewish medieval traditions in the episode of Sancho Panza and the island of Barataria in the novel "Don Quixote," by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra. It cites the similarities of the character with King Solomon. It explores the Jewish folk elements in the judgments of Panza. It analyzes the parallels between Panza's experiences in the island with Solomon's exile.

The permeable boundaries of the major components of Chinese religion (Confucianism, Daoism, Buddhism) and the relatively tolerant pluralism of the religious milieu are important factors in accounting for the religious acculturation of the Jewish community in the Chinese city of Kaifeng. A comparison of the acculturation of Chinese Jews with that of Muslims in Imperial China shows that, though the small size of the Jewish community and its lack of contact with other Jewish communities for a long period made it particularly susceptible to the influence of the Chinese milieu, this milieu was conducive to the acculturation of even a large minority. The unwillingness of the Catholic Church to compromise with the syncretistic milieu and its demand for an exclusive commitment from Chinese converts led to the expulsion of its missionaries. A comparison of Buddhism and Islam in China indicates that an important social structural basis for the long survival of the Kaifeng Jewish community was the combination of communal and congregational religion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An important aspect of Jewish emancipation was the regulation of Jewish marriage by civil law. This article examines the impact on Jewish communities and particularly on Jewish women of the entry of modern states into this domain. It reconstructs and analyzes the divorce of Rachele Morschene of Trieste, who in 1796 became one of the first Jewish women to obtain a civil divorce in Christian Europe. Indeed, she successfully negotiated both the new civil marriage law of the Habsburg monarchy (1783 Josephinian Marriage Patent) and Halakhah to become divorced both civilly and religiously. Her case illustrates Enlightenment and natural-law views of marriage and health because she strongly argued the mortal danger posed by her husband's venereal disease. The novel legal situation led to negotiation of procedure and authority by Jewish leaders and state officials as well as greater room for Jewish women's initiative in divorce than traditionally allowed by Jewish law and custom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Haifa has played no significant political or economic role in the history of Israel, and yet it is special—it is the only major city in Israel located between a sea (the Mediterranean) and a mountain (Mt. Carmel)—and has been a symbol of Jewish-Arab co-existence since the British Mandate of Palestine. The article describes Haifa and its population as reflected by some Hebrew and Arabic prose works whose writers have lived in the city. It focuses on Haifa as a composite of geographically and socially different neighborhoods and on the relations between its Arab and Jewish inhabitants-friendships, conflicts, professional cooperation, and romantic involvement. Hana Wirth—Nesher's model for the study of city novels and Gavriel Zoran's model of time and space in prose works are both brought into play. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the importance of spiritual, religious, and cultural life among a sample of Jewish people with learning disabilities and their families within Greater London. Emphasis was placed on generating practical ideas and recommendations for improving opportunities for spiritual life and development, plus religious and cultural inclusion. Findings were then reviewed with professionals from Jewish support organisations to better identify and discuss service gaps, needs, and next steps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Jews' who are blind are generally obligated to observe the commandments, even those which apparently require vision. They may certainly lead prayer services and chant from the Haftarah for the congregation. Torah reading is a special case since it must be performed directly from a kisher scroll, while adaptive devices may eventually allow a blind person to read directly from the parchment, at this point there are three options for Jews who are blind to read Torah: (1) To receive all aliyah and repeat the words after the Sighted reader; (2) to serve as meturgamon, the simultaneous translator of the text (like the Talmudic Rav Yosef, who was blind); (2) chant the maftir section from a braille Bible after it is chanted by a sighted reader as shevii. This responsum was approved by the CJLS on January 15, 2003 by a vote of 16 in favor (16-0-0). The responsum includes technical information [Jewish Law] regarding the inclusion of Jews who are blind in the Torah service. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under current government directives, parents, along with professionals, are ascribed a central role in contributing to the processes associated with meeting their children's special needs. Yet many obstacles continue to hinder the achievement of good working relationships between parents and professionals. For parents located within minority ethnic communities, however, it is known that the challenges to attaining partnership working are often further heightened. Drawing on the day-to-day experiences of six families located in one minority ethnic context - the Anglo-Jewish community - the author uses family systems theory as a useful lens through which parents' understandings of, and responses to professionals can be further interpreted and understood. All the names used in this article are pseudonyms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deals with a study which examined the extent to which the habitual abstinence of Orthodox Jews during the Sabbath is associated with craving to smoke and with other reactions to smoking abstinence. Background to the study; Assessment of withdrawal symptoms; Discussion of the study findings.

Using story-telling as the medium for conveying a message was a method favoured by the Jewish prophetic and Rabbinical traditions, and, supremely, by Jesus himself. This article draws on the writer's own experiments with this medium to explore some of the implications, advantages and risks of preaching through narrative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I present material remains relevant to understanding Jewish life in Palestine in the century or so before the Revolt. These remains comprise tangible data by which Jewish praxis, actual behavior, as well as attitudes, can be identified and dated. From the early-mid first century B.C.E., Jews adopted what I call 'household Judaism'—using mikva'ot as well as locally manufactured oil, wine, and cooking vessels—in order to incorporate a religious sensibility into their daily lives. At the end of the first century B.C.E. and in the early first century C.E., they began using plain oil lamps and stone dishes as markers of ethnic solidarity and, perhaps, religious attitudes. Throughout these years, most Jews in Jerusalem and Judea followed identical burial practices, with understated funerals at undecorated family tombs. 'Household Judaism' developed outside halakhic or priestly concerns. The remains reflect shared beliefs as well as a broad desire for material possessions that would encode and reflect religious unity and identity. Other remains, however, tell a different story. In country villas and in the Upper City of Jerusalem, wealthy Jews embraced the use of decorated table vessels, Italian-style cooking pans, and foreign modes of dining. They built elaborate display tombs whose large courtyards and impressive façades provided a classicizing backdrop for staged funeral ceremonies. These sorts of remains are rare or absent in rural Judea, Jewish Galilee, and Gaulanitis. The archaeological evidence thus provides an eyewitness view of a population strongly unified in religious practices but sharply divided by cultural ethic. Over the course of the first century that division may have helped weaken the link between position and moral authority, which in turn created a space and a platform for new voices and different agendas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stephen Mitchell has proposed a broad view of the cult of the Most High God (Theos Hypsistos) in which the followers describe themselves as theosebes. This provides a robust identity for these God-fearers and allows for a wider local context for theosebes (and other God-fearer) inscriptions. Mitchell's view is applied to the famous seating inscription for Jews and God-fearers in the theatre in Miletos. Here a quiet Jewish community is associated with a community of followers of the Most High God which included prominent members. The inscription should be read as, "The place of the Jews [real Jews], who are called [are part of] the group of theosebioi [followers of the Most High God]." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analyzes the employment of kabbalistic and Jewish signifiers in the cultural productions of singer and actress Madonna. Interpretation of the Hebrew letters lamed, aleph, vav tattooed on Madonna's arm in the James Bond film "Die Another Day"; Role of the inscription in the Lurianic Kabbalah; Background on the Kabbalah Center established by R. Philip Berg and his wife Karen.

Focuses on the Jewish studies in the U.S. Establishment of the history of the Jewish body; Lack of understanding of the corporeal dimensions of Jewish life; Subject of Jewish cultural materialism.

The article offers observations related to cemetery as an aspect of family culture. Death is cited as a vital and pressing problem for any person, and violent death manifests itself as a dead person in the corpse. In this context the article cites the culture since the days of the Neanderthal men 180,000 years ago, when dead bodies were dyed and were laid together with utensils in a pit. The death of a being was processed culturally. At that time graves were like mirrors of the present day culture: they expressed images about death like life. In the present article the cemeteries are cited as arrangements of graves. Cemetery means one enclosed place for the dead people With it a relatively neutral concept is marked for the general burial place. In the course of the discussion the author observes the research results of complexes, death and grief in the beginning of the 1980s. No social-scientific discussion with the cemetery can be traced in the papers, according to the author. There were monographs in which historically interesting cemeteries with Christian and Jewish coinage were introduced.

Presents several abstracts related to the study of Judaism. "Spiritual Exercises in Rabbinic Culture," by Jonathan Schofer; "Daniel's Portrait of Antiochus IV: Echoes of a Persian King," by Paul Niskansen; "The Cosmopolitan Expression of Josephus' Prophetic Perspective in the Jewish War," by Nicole Kelly.

This article focuses on the Jewish community center (JCC) as a host setting for social work practice. Findings of a national study of JCC professional staff designed to explore the degree of congruence between social work values and JCC practice are presented. The findings have' implications for other sectarian and nonsectarian host settings providing similar types of services. The survey was sent to practitioners at 191 of 200 JCCs. The sample was drawn from a population of MSW and non-MSW personnel. Respondents were asked to indicate the extent to which they fulfilled particular social work responsibilities. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and the independent (tests were used to analyze the data. The study findings demonstrate that social workers actively call on their knowledge, values, and skills, deal with the social welfare concerns of constituents, and use the agencies' Jewish function as a guide for their practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article looks into the modern Jewish traveling cultures of remembrance in Worms, Germany. In the city, the physical perseverance of synagogue, the cemetery, and religious artifacts and historical documents anchored remembrance and bestowed community upon the rapidly modernizing Jewish community. Yet Jewish tourism during the modern age did not follow a simple nostalgic yearning. The representation of the city more solidified German Jews' self-understanding as culturally integrated members of German society.

Organizational identity is that which is central, distinctive, and enduring about an organization. Clarity and consensus about organizational identity is an essential element in setting successful long term strategy in nonprofit organizations. At the same time, changing environmental conditions require that Identities, and concomitant strategies, be revisited over time, in order to ensure survival and growth. This paper examines the experiences of an important subset of nonprofit organizations-community-based federations in the United States as they have evolved from the end of the 19th century to the present day. These organizations originally emerged as vehicles for the more efficient collection and distribution of charitable contributions and provision of related services, but over time their identities have evolved in important ways. The differential experiences of United Ways, alternative funds, Catholic Charities, and United Jewish Communities illustrate various possible identities for such federated organizations. The future success of these organizations depends on successful adaptation of theft identities to contemporary conditions, and the implementation of new strategies consistent with, and supportive of, those identities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In medieval Jewish mysticism, interpretive legitimacy was often a function of tradition. If a particular idea or practice was transmitted through reliable sources, if the teacher in question was deemed authoritative, then the content of the tradition was considered to be credible and therefore true. In this article I examine the living dynamic of reception and transmission in the writing of a fourteenth-century kabbalist--a figure who may be considered paradigmatic of a larger phenomenon in medieval Jewish religion. Through analysis of rhetorical tropes and types, I seek to demonstrate the ways in which meaning and authoritative status were construed in kabbalistic culture, how the Jewish mystic aims to determine exegetical and pedagogical legitimacy. This larger conceptual rubric is manifested through a variety of subissues, including oratity and textuality in the reception and perception of tradition, the impulse to reconcile seemingly conflicting teachings, and the pursuit of authorial intent by the kabbalist in explaining the received words of a master. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reviews some classical rabbinic sources and Jewish traditions that exhibit a more inclusive attitude toward non-Jews and nonconforming Jews. Recognition of other communities in the Jewish tradition; Boundaries of the Jewish community; Role of historical experience in shaping Judaism's political and social practices of inclusion and exclusion.

Presents the 2003 Van Der Zyl Memorial Lecture delivered by Graham Zellick, vice-chancellor of London University in London, England, at the West London Synagogue in England on May 8, 2003. Difficulty faced when the personal conception of ethics comes into conflict with the ethical or moral imperative deriving from the working or professional environment; Roles where private conscience may have to yield to other imperatives; Benefit of the Jewish heritage to reconciling competing values.

Focuses on the issues to be tackled during the celebration of American Jewry. Assessment of the majority of the American ambiance toward Jewish immigrants; Analysis of the diverse ways in which Jews have adapted to America; Investigation of the creative directions Jewish life has taken in the country.

In this article I offer a comparative view on two merchant diasporas residing in the British crown colony of Gibraltar: the Sindhi Hindus and the Sephardic Jews. Diasporic groups have often been defined through their relationship to their homeland and/or place of residence. Based on fieldwork among these two groups I argue that their identifications, their culture and their social structure cannot be understood by focusing solely on local life and on the relationship to the homelands. A complete understanding must take account of a third spatial connection: the links between the individual communities that create a new and unique field of discourse, symbols and practice. This third connection is emblematic for the working of pre- and postmodern capitalist networks. The article examines this issue in relation to religion, education, politics and other arenas of life in Gibraltar and wider diasporas, drawing upon anthropological concepts of boundaries and borders, which are here conceived as 'zones-in-between'. The research demonstrates how both local and global changes since 1945 have resulted in the contrasting paths taken by Sindhis and Jews in Gibraltar. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Jewish Community Center (JCC) movement and social work share a common history and many common values. Jewish agencies were founded, staffed and maintained by social workers (Dubin, 1980; Greenfield, 1982; Rosen, 1985; Altman, 1988). Over time, a variety of phenomena have influenced and changed the nature of practice within the center field (Berger, 1966; Shafler, 1978; Reisman, 1981; Altman, 1988). This paper will review both empirical and theoretical literature related to the interactions and interrelationships between JCCs and social work, focusing on what is known about social work as a “guest” discipline in the JCC. In order to provide context and clarity, a review of literature related to the status of social work in other types of “host” agencies (i.e., hospitals and schools) is also included. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Discusses the validity of the arguments of scholars Israel Finkelstein and Baruch Halpern that systematic changes in Judahite society brought about the Assyrian invasions of the late 8th century BCE resulted in the growth of the state and an increase in the role of the individual. Scrutiny of Judahite internments; Process of evolution or revolution. INSET: ABOUT THE AUTHOR.

Observes that the Anglo-Jewish patrimony is neglected in comparison with the nostalgia for the Jewish past in Europe and the new field of holocaust studies. Sample of those who appreciate the Jewish heritage; Victorian synagogues that are popular venues for marriages; Description on most postwar synagogue and community building.

Discusses the influence of folkloric traditions on the creation and preservation of Jewish culture and identity. Information on the novel 'En Jode,' by Meir Goldschmidt; Role of legends,magic tales and biblical stories in the creation and preservation of the Jewish identity of author Jacob Bendixen; Role of folklore in the framework of the novel.

Offers a contextualized interpretation of the De arte cabalistica, a treatise written in 1517 by Johannes Reuchlin. Information on Plotinus; Meaning of the Hebrew term Kabbalah; Concerns of Kabbalah; Details on the medieval Hebrew tradition; Features of the late ancient esoteric mentality.

Provides information on the history of the Cairo genizah. Background of the term genizah; Derivation of the genizot; Changes in the transmission of Jewish culture which led to literacy achievements; Role of the Arabic language in Jewish way of life despite the dominance of the Islamic environment in their society.

Looks at the link between Judaism and the Greco-Roman culture by analyzing the the Roman bath-houses in Palestine. Description of the bath-houses; Purpose of the bath-houses; Criticism of the bath-houses; Attitude of the Jews of Palestine toward the bath-houses; Fundamental features of Jewish bath-houses.

The article pays tribute to Sergio DellaPergola's contributions to Jewish demography and asserts that 'demographic data are the building blocks of analysis and not an end in themselves.' The author identifies the limitations of the demographic analysis of Jewry that can be remedied through cultural, anthropological and psychological methodologies. The article notes that conventional measures of entrances and exits (i.e. birth, migration and mortality) prove inadequate when dealing with a large aggregate of people, when demographic analysis will have to be augmented by other methodologies.

Examines the Saturday Morning Informal Service of a Reform Jewish congregation in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Description of Squirrel Hill, the core of Pittsburgh's Jewish community; Details on Shabbat or Sabbat services in Temple Israel; What attracts people to the informal service and what keeps them coming; Conclusion.

Proverbs as a folklore genre are part of the sapiential literature of a people and are acquisitions in time of a certain ethical code and life experience; they are at the same time a self-educational exercise. This paper offers some reference points in the comparative sudy of Hebrew and Romanian proverbs. The first part is a general survey of the Romanian preoccupations in the field of comparatism in sapiential literature. The second part insists on the dynamics of Jewish culture in Europe in order to emphasize the context in which Jewish sapiential literature could have got in contact with Romanian spirituality. The third part offers a case study regarding similarities and differences from a stylistic or grammatical point of view between Hebrew and Romanian proverbs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines some salient aspects of the Jewish biblical tradition of active risk-taking and explores the renewal of Israeli risks for peace since the Wye summit. Peace negotiations as active risk-taking; Discussion on the biblical tradition of dynamic risk-taking; Comparison between the prophet Moses with religious leader Doctor Martin Luther King.