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Dans la premiere partie de cette etude, nous explorons l'evolution semantique des termes hebreux 'olam et ha-'olam d'une connotation purement temporelle a une connotation qui est a la fois temporelle et spatiale. Nous examinons aussi la tournure melekh ha-'olam et suggerons qu'il s'agit d'une adaptation de mlk 'lm (hebreu et ugaritique), qui signifie, "roi qui regne pendant longtemps." Dans la deuxieme partie, nous rapportons le traitement de 'olam a la semantique de saeculum (latin) et des mots romans qui en derivent. Nous etudions finalement la maniere dont 'olam et melekh ha-'olam ont ete rendus dans des traductions de la Bible et du rituel juif, du XV e siecle a nos jours.

The two volumes reviewed here are the latest in the series Mikra3ot Gedolot "Haketer" prepared by Professor Menachem Cohen at the Institute for the History of Jewish Biblical Research at Bar-Ilan University. The previ ous six volumes covered the biblical books of Joshua and Judges (1992), Kings (1995), Isaiah (1996), Genesis 1-25 with Haftaroth (synagogal pro phetic lection) (1997), Genesis 25-51 with Haftaroth (1999), and Ezekiel (2000). The avowed purpose of this series, which, Deo volente, will include all twenty-four books of the Hebrew Bible (corresponding to all thirty-nine books of the Lutheran canon of the Old Testament), is to replace the com mon editions of Mikra'ot Gedolot, commonly called in English "the Rabbinic Bible." The so-called Rabbinic Bible presents in a few compact volumes the Masoretic Text of the Hebrew Bible, one or more Aramaic versions of the Jewish Bible, the Masorah, and several Hebrew commentaries, mostly from the High Middle Ages. The reason for replacing the common editions of the so-called Rabbinic Bible with new editions is that the common editions pre sent inaccurate versions of the Masoretic Text, the Masoretic notes, the privi leged (indeed, canonical, for the Pentateuch and the Prophets) Aramaic translations (Targumim) of the Bible, and selected biblical commentaries com posed in Rabbinic Hebrew, primarily in Spain, France, and Italy in the High Middle Ages. Moreover, the older editions, in which most commentaries are printed in so-called Rashi script, rarely identify quotations and sources, and they lack modern punctuation. Cohen's editions, on the other hand, transcribe insofar as is humanly pos sible the Hebrew text and the Masoretic notes from the Aleppo Codex. Where (as in Ps 15:1-25:1, the only portion missing from the Book of

edited by Gerard P. Luttikhuizen. Leiden: Brill, 2000. 214 pp. $76.00. This book is a collection of twelve fascinating articles related to the biblical accounts of the creation of humankind in Gen. 1-3, all expanded from papers originally presented at the June 1999 conference of the "Jewish and Christian Traditions" research group of the Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. The first chapter, "The Creation of Man and Woman in Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Traditions," by Ed Noort, attempts to determine the original and abiding messages of Gen. 1:27 and Gen. 2:7, 18-24 concerning the relative place of the two human sexes in the divine economy. Noort's exegesis rests upon two of the pillars of the modern academic study of Hebrew Scripture. These are 1) the documentary hypothesis, which treats Gen. 1:1-2:4a and Gen. 2:4b-3:24, respectively, as two separate narratives produced by distinct authors at different times; and 2) the utilization of ancient Near Eastern texts to shed light upon the Bible. Noort shows that the documentary hypothesis provides cogent answers to many of the exegetical questions raised by Philo Judaeus in first-century C.E. Alexandria and by the Talmudic sages of the early centuries C.E. Taking for granted that the Priestly narrative contained in Gen. 1:1-2:4a was composed in an Achaemenid period urban society, Noort argues that Gen. 1:27 teaches that "the separation [of humankind] in male and female belongs to creation from the beginning. There is no priority. Neither male nor female have a dominant position." Noort accepts the dominant view in contemporary biblical research that the second biblical creation story contained in Gen. 2:4b-3:24 originates in the agricultural society of Ancient Israel [i.e., Iron Age II; 9th to 6th centuries B.C.E.] (cf. p. 11). This "Yahwist Account" teaches that "Woman belongs to the same `material' as man does; from their very origins they are an unseparable union" (p. 12). Moreover, Gen. 2:18 teaches that man is "the perfect counterpart to" man "and vice versa" (p. 13). Like Noort's article, the second chapter, "Pandora or the Creation of a Greek Eve," written by Jay N. Bremmer, proves indispensable for reading the subsequent articles. Bremmer introduces the reader to the legacy of Hellenic speculation, which, alongside of Hebrew Scripture, formed the common cultural legacy of ancient Christians, Jews, and Gnostics, whose exegeses of Gen. 1:27 and Gen. 2:7, 18-24 are the agenda of Chapters Three through Nine. The third article, "The Creation of Man and Woman in Early Jewish Literature," by J. T. A. G. M. van Rutten, discusses the exegeses of Gen. 1-3 reflected in several corpora of Second Temple period Jewish sacred literature. Van Rutten employs tables to clarify comparisons and contrasts between various Second Temple writings and Hebrew Scripture. The fourth chapter, "Endowed with Reason or Glued to the Senses: Philo's Thoughts on Adam and Eve," by Annewies van den Hoek, analyzes both the sources of Philo's theories and the influences of Philo upon Patristic thought. Because Philo's corpus is not canonical for either Judaism or Christianity as is Gen. 1-3 for both Judaism and Christianity and as are 1 Cor. 11:2-16 and 1 Tim. 2:8-15 for Christianity, van den Hoek can be completely objective in delineating both egalitarian and misogynist tendencies within the Philonic corpus. L. J. Lietaert Peerbolte, on the other hand, in "Man, Woman and the Angels in 1 Cor. 11:2-16," the fifth chapter of the volume, seeks to reconcile the latter texts' apparent justification of the subordination of women to men with Gal. 3:28 in which Paul asserts, "There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female in Christ Jesus." Peerbolte explains, therefore, that the real reason why women must cover their heads in church is to prevent angels from lusting after them. After all, it was the lusting of the angels after mortal women, described in Gen. …

On 9 September 2014 the newspaper Israel Today reported ‘The oldest Hebrew map of the land of Israel uncovered’. According to that article, the oldest Hebrew map of the land of Israel was in a book...

In 1925 R. A. S. MacAlister explained that the purpose of archaeological excavation is not confirmation but illustration, and he lampooned persons who excavate in order to prove the truth or untruth of Scripture. Nevertheless, archaeologist Ze'ev Herzog shocked an Israeli public when he declared in a newspaper article in October 1999 that since archaeology had found no evidence for the patriarchs, the exodus, or King David he could not quite understand why people still read the Bible. The shocked Israeli public and a number of archaeologists and historians appear to share in the loth century myth that anything created by the Jews after 586 BCE is of no consequence. A Postcolonial reading of the history of ancient and modern Israel offers the promise of I) fully understanding the subtext of the current debate; and 2) a return to objectivity, which would foster a healthier climate for biblical and archaeological research.

Read in the light of the best selling books by John Gray and Deborah Tannen concerning communication between the sexes, three ancient tests—two from Hebrew Scripture and one from ancient Iraq—teach primarily by illustration how not to dialogue with one's spouse, one's friend, or one's boss. Rereading these ancient texts in the light of what John Gray Men are From Mars, Women are From Venus [New York: Harper Collins, 1992] calls “advanced relationship skills” reveals vital lessons, which can be applied to improve the quality of life at home, in the workplace, and God help us, in the house of mourning.

Judaism and Disability: Portrayals in Ancient Texts from the Tanach through the BavliIn this book Judith K. Abrams presents scholar and layperson alike with a masterful study of the treatment of the physically and cognitively challenged in the authoritative sacred texts of Israel from the Iron Age through the Babylonian Talmud circa 500 C.E. (her date, which follows the traditional date given by Sherira, head of the academy of Pumbeditha [c. 970-1000 C.E.]). She exhibits total mastery of the relevant passages in Hebrew Scripture, the Dead Sea Scrolls, Mishnah, Tosefta, the Talmuds and Rabbinic midrash. She makes creative use of the work of the important pathfinders in 1) twentieth century Jewish biblical studies (Haran, Kaufman, Knohl, Milgrom, Weinfeld); 2) the contemporary scientific study of rabbinic literature (Halivni, Jaffee, Kraemer, Neusner); and 3) the post-modern study of the body in Judaism (Boyarin, Eillberg-Schwartz). Abrams is equally at home in the history of medicine and in anthropology and sociology. The depth and breadth of Rabbi Dr. Abrams' knowledge is a tribute not only to the author of Judaism and Disability but also to her mentors at Hebrew Union College, where she earned her rabbinic ordination and at Baltimore Hebrew University where she earned her Ph.D.A generation ago Rabbi Douglas Goldhamer, spiritual leader of the Jewish congregation for the deaf in Greater Chicago (Bene Sholom), reported to the Chicago Board of Rabbis the grave difficulty that deaf Jews had in receiving a fair hearing within the Jewish community. Wrongly assuming that every deaf person should be defined as cheresh (deaf and dumb; consequently in a subcategory of shoteh [imbecile]), rabbis and congregations refused to provide prayer groups of deaf Jews with Torah scrolls and other necessary appurtenances of public worship. Finding that the Jewish community turned a deaf ear to their pleadings, hearing-impaired Jews often fled to the welcoming arms of Christian churches.In a feature article concerning the treatment of the handicapped in the State of Israel in the Hebrew daily newspaper Ma'ariv (February 10, 2000) Tall Barzilai Sonenfeld writes: "Israel is insensitive to the physically handicapped; it does not see the blind, nor does it hear the deaf." Consequently, she explains, elevators in public buildings lack buttons with captions in Braille for the blind; many government buildings provide no wheelchair access, and few ATMs are situated low enough to be operated from a wheelchair. Moreover, she reports, the head of one supermarket chain asked Ms. Sonenfeld please not to report that the chain would, if asked, help handicapped customers carry their purchases to their vehicles: "We do not want the handicapped taking advantage of us."Rabbi Dr. Judith Z. Abrams shows that the basic sacred texts of Judaism -- Hebrew Scripture, Mishnah, Tosefta, the two Talmuds, and the vast midrashic literature produced in Byzantine-age Palestine -- constitute a treasure-trove of insights as to how the physically and cognitively unchallenged can learn to treat as peers the blind, the lame, the deaf, as well as the cognitively challenged.The author explains that the priestly heritage of Judaism exemplified by Lev. …