Hazar Hakanlığı'nın Museviliğe Geçişi

Author(s): Omeljan Pritsak / Language(s): Turkish Issue: 13/2007

The Khazars conversion to Judaism is reevaluated in the light of Byzantine and Islamic sources in this article, which was originally published in Harvard Ukranian Studies in 1978. Pritsak, who interrogates why the Khazars changed their religion and why this case do not so much attest in contemporary Judaic, Islamic and Byzantine sources, focuses on there stories of the term, and claimes that not missionaries but traders were influential in conversion.

Žmogų išbandantis blogis Grigorijaus Kanovičiaus romane „Šėtono apžavai“

Author(s): Rima Kasperionytė / Language(s): Lithuanian Issue: 2/2017

The article discusses the novel Šėtono apžavai (Satan’s Spell) (published in Lithuanian in 2002 and in Russian in 2002 and 2007) by Grigorijus Kanovičius, the laureate of the Lithuanian National Prize, depicting the life of the Jews in a fictitious Lithuanian town of Miškiniai during the Soviet and Nazi occupations in 1939-1941. The novel is important because of the depiction of the Holocaust specific to Lithuania. It reveals the little-known biblical subculture of Jewish culture in Lithuania. The problem of the Holocaust is discussed not only in the context of concrete historical time but also of the universal human experience, raising the sensitive issue of the relationship between evil and God and discussing the nature of evil and the possibilities of resisting it from different national, religious, and ideological perspectives. In the article, Kanovičius’s novel is analyzed by linking it with the spiritual tradition of the Jews and Christians (Norman Solomon and Mindaugas Pikūnas), the idea of God who sows evil found in the Books of Esther, Job, Zechariah and Amos, its interpretation in works by Emmanuel Levin and Antanas Maceina. It also examines some more general political and moral aspects of the Holocaust (Hannah Arendt and Robert van Voren), as well as Litvak lifestyle and religious customs.

Halál Qumránban

Author(s): Nóra Dávid / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 1/2009

The question of death and burial at Qumran has been a subject of debates already since the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Normally, we could study this practice based on the archaeological data and on the written sources. In this paper we can see, that in the case of Qumran it is not so easy. The cemetery found next to the site of Khirbet Qumran has been excavated only in a very small part, and even this is not properly documented. On the one hand, the known scrolls hardly speak about everyday practices, such as birth or death, but on the other they have strict rules about purity – rules relating the corpse, as the highest source of impurity. Furthermore, we can study possible parallels of burial practices at Qumran, both in the field of archaeology and written sources. Within the framework of this paper my aim is not to solve the problem of “Death at Qumran”, but rather to give an insight into the problem and the method of investigation.

PAWEŁ FIJAŁKOWSKI, WARSZAWSKA SPOŁECZNOŚĆ ŻYDOWSKA W OKRESIE STANISŁAWOWSKIM 1764–1795. ROZWÓJ W DOBIE WIELKICH ZMIAN

Author(s): Przemysław Zarubin / Language(s): Polish Issue: 42/2018

Review of: Paweł Fijałkowski, Warszawska społeczność żydowska w okresiestanisławowskim 1764–1795. Rozwój w dobie wielkich zmian, Żydowski Instytut Historyczny im. Emanuela Ringelbluma, Warszawa2016, ss. 529. Review by: Przemysław Zarubin

Peter Hallama: Nationale Helden und jüdische Opfer. Tschechische Repräsentationen des Holocaust. (Schnittstellen, Bd. 1.)

Author(s): Milan Řepa / Language(s): German Issue: 2/2019

Review of: Milan Řepa - Peter Hallama: Nationale Helden und jüdische Opfer. Tschechische Repräsentationen des Holocaust. (Schnittstellen, Bd. 1.) Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. Göttingen 2015. 368 S., Ill. ISBN 978-3-525-30073-2. (€ 64,99.)

Linguistic Image of the Non-Christian Jews in Early Christian Narrative as a Function of Inter-Group Conflict (Text Analysis and Interpretation)

Author(s): Amadeusz Citlak / Language(s): English Issue: 3/2019

This article is an attempt to apply a psycholinguistic tools to reconstruct a linguistic image of the non-Christian Jews in chosen narratives taken from the Greek canonical Gospels of the New Testament. In this part of the analysis, Author uses the basic and empirically confirmed thesis of the linguistic category model and attribution processes, which are crucial when analysing the language of negative stereotypes.

Scyzoryk Mojżesza. O marańskiej homoteologii Juliana Stryjkowskiego

Author(s): Adam Lipszyc / Language(s): Polish Issue: 40/2019

The paper deals with a variety of ways in which the phenomenon of Marranism can be perceived as being at play within the work of the Polish-Jewish writer Julian Stryjkowski. First, the author discusses Stryjkowski’s explicit references to Marranism in a novel and two short stories where this historical phenomenon becomes a point of reference for a reflection upon contemporary Jewish condition. Then, by means of a close reading of the first chapter of Stryjkowski’s first novel (Voices in the Dark), the author shows a deeper, implicit and metaphorical understanding of “Marranism”: this time the term would refer to the disguised presence of the homosexual desire within the framework of the traditional Jewish life. The author points to the complex relation between homosexuality and the transgressive lure of Christianity within Stryjkowski’s work, as well as to the ways in which the Frankist heresy can be seen as offering a historical precedence and context for Stryjkowski’s ‘homotheology’. Finally, the third and most comprehensive understanding of Marranism is presented. This time the term refers to the fragile identity of the Polish-Jewish writer himself, which precisely due to its fractured nature enables the writer to capture a whole universe of tensions within the Jewish world and the complex dialectics of heretical homotheology.

Żydzi sefardyjscy jako „współtwórcy atlantyckiego świata”

Author(s): Aleksandra Bilewicz / Language(s): Polish Issue: 44/2019

Review of: Aleksandra Bilewicz - Henryk Szlajfer, Współtwórcy atlantyckiego świata. Nowi chrześcijanie i Żydzi w gospodarce kolonialnej Ameryki Łacińskiej XVI–XVII wieku, Wydawnictwo Naukowe Scholar, Warszawa 2018, ss. 428.

Synagogue paintings as indicating a developing conception of national redemption

Author(s): Zvi Orgad / Language(s): English Issue: 34/2019

This article compares the interior paintings in the ‘Ades and Ohel Moshe synagogues, both of which are non-Ashkenazi, in the Naḥlaot neighborhood in Jerusalem. Although the synagogues were decorated 50 years apart, there are similarities in the painted motifs and drawing schemes, but also some differences. I suggest that these differences reflect the development of a Jewish concept of national redemption during the 50 years that elapsed between the adornment of the two synagogues.

Antisemitismul interbelic analizat cu ajutorul Jurnalului lui Wilhelm Filderman

Author(s): Liviu Rotman / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 3 (19)/2018

This study looks at a new perspective of anti-Semitism during the interwar period, based on the rich source of information provided by Wilhelm Filderman’s Diary. The study reveals the causes of the rise of anti-Semitism at the time: the new state that was formed after 1918 was imposed the political culture of the Old Kingdom; the ”sacredness” of the nation-state as a form of government and the diffusion of xenophobia across the political spectrum. The article draws attention to the particular features of Romanian anti-Semitism at the time, namely the primacy of physical violence. Thus, given its large-scale in space and time, one can refer to a permanent pogrom ambiance in interwar Romania. In the case of Greater Romania, its 20 years of existence could not lead to a cultural, political and social integration of the different regions, but anti-Semitism was one of the few elements of fusion that implicitly helped create a national Romanian identity.

Schiță pentru biografia unui intelectual uitat: Moses Schwarzfeld

Author(s): Maria Mădălina Irimia / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 3 (19)/2018

The study „A Short Biography of a Forgotten Intellectual - Moses Schwarzfeld” is an insight into Jewish intellectual history that focuses on the biography of Moses Schwarzfeld, who testified, in his writings, the modernization of Jewish life in Romania. He was the longest-running Jewish journalist of the time, as an editor of the Egalitatea Jewish newspaper for 50 years. He was also one of the spiritual leaders of the Jews in their struggle for emancipation and cultural progress. His work, scattered in periodicals along decades, is little known, but extremely valuable, nevertheless. By connecting his articles as if they were the pieces of a puzzle, we discover a mature, knowledgeable thinker who was capable of an objective analysis, in the spirit of democratic moderation. Schwarzfeld published his memoirs in the form of a series, thus providing us with a view to a discreet biography, dedicated to the cause of Jewish emancipation, through efforts and modesty. Schwarzfeld’s writings are a true chronicle of Jewish life after 1866. The encounter with his biography and writings is an encounter with a whole age of which we know very little, today.

Diversitate în unitate, unitate în diversitate: rabini,șef-rabinat și curente religioase în obștea evreiască din România interbelică

Author(s): Lucian-Zeev Herșcovici / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 3 (19)/2018

This article aims to answer a few specific questions about the situation of social and religious life of the Romanian Jews in the interwar period. How was the Mosaic Faith organized in Romania during this period? How did religious diversity and the diversity of Jewish traditions in the provinces of interwar Romania influence organization of their spiritual and religious life, given the new framework? Was there a link between the emancipation of Romanian Jewry and the reorganization of their religious life? What were the main Jewish religious movements in interwar Romania? Was there a mutual influence between Jews in the various Romanian provinces, in the field of communal and religious life, in terms of the Chalacha, as well as of the emergence and development of various philosophical-religious currents of Judaism? Let me mention a few elements meant to provide a general answer to these questions: the diversity of regional and historical traditions, as well as the presence of different religious and cultural traditions among the Jews in the various Romanian provinces; a change in the status of the Jews, both individually and collectively, within the Romanian state; the reorganization of communal and religious life; contacts between casuistic rabbis from different provinces; the mutual influence in the field of Torah study and in publishing Hebrew books. One aspect I will refer to is that of the colliding tendencies between the followers of the various trends, as well as the collisions of interests between the followers of centralism and the followers of religious pluralism. I need to mention that the interwar period was the age of maximum development of the Romanian Jewry, both in terms of demography and level of integration, as well as in terms of philosophical-religious thinking and religious practice. Due to these aspects, I believe one can refer to a certain diversity in unity and to a unity in diversity, as far as the Romanian Jewry in the interwar period is concerned. This issue sparked controversy among the followers of various Jewish currents and tendencies within the community at the time, as well as later, between historians of Judaism and apologists belonging to different religious currents and political tendencies. Another aspect is the fact that the Romanian Jewry had been given citizenship, which meant they now faced different issues from those of the previous period. One such issue was the official acknowledgement of the Mosaic Faith, its right to have a representative in the Romanian Senate, just like all other religious groups, and the state’s obligation to subsidize it proportionally with the number of its members. This was one of the claims of the Union of the Local Jews, which later became the Union of Romanian Jews. Its main leader, Dr. Wilhelm Filderman, acknowledged the existence of linguistic differences between the Jews living in the various provinces of Romania. While recognizing the religious differences with regard to the Jews in Transylvania, he wanted to present the Mosaic Faith as a unitary organization, before the authorities, asserting the religious unity of the Jews and of Judaism, based on the Chalachic rules of the Shulchan Arukh religious codex. He considered that religious differences were only an internal matter, while the mosaic faith was unitary, and he gained the support of the Liberal Party, that shared this view. Unlike the Liberal Party, the National Party of Transylvania, which later became the National Peasants’ Party, supported the idea of pluralism, with different mosaic denominations.

Ion Popa: The Romanian Orthodox Church and the Holocaust (Biserica Ortodoxă Română și Holocaustul), Bloomington, Indiana University Press, 2017, 238 pp.

Author(s): Mariuca Stanciu / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 3 (19)/2018

Școala Ciocanul. Prima școală evreiască de meserii din București

Author(s): Anca Tudorancea (Ciuciu) / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 1 (16-17)/2016

This study is aimed at providing new pieces of information regarding the activity of the school, from the archive of the Center for the Study of Jewish History in Romania or from the Jewish press of the time, as well as at highlighting the role of the school, due to the modern teaching methods applied there and their impact upon students (whose professional integration can be traced in various reports, where their names and the names of the employers, from within the country or from abroad, are mentioned).

Символічний зміст сакральних об’єктів світових релігій

Author(s): Оlha Zhovkva / Language(s): Ukrainian Issue: 1/2020

Purpose of the article. The objective of the paper is to reveal the spiritual and religious content of the sacred constructions of world religions (Christianity, Islam, Judaism) in the context of canonical and sacred religious requirements. Methodology. It is based on the use of the method of on-site investigation of domestic and foreign sacred constructions and on the historical method, which allowed us to study the development process in historical context. With the help of the method of comparative analysis, special and common aspects of the space organization of the sacred constructions of world religions were determined. Scientific novelty. General features of the architecture of the Christian, Muslim and Jewish sacred buildings, as well as the semantic charge of their single forms and elements are determined from the point of view of religious sacred positions. Conclusions. Based on the historical and contemporary experience of designing and building of the Christian, Muslim and Jewish sacral buildings, general features of the architectural composition (space solutions), as well as the semantic charge of their architectural forms, deriving from religious dogmatics are determined.

The Karaite communities: harnessing the multi-lingual linguistic strategies for nationalism

Author(s): Dovile Troskovaite / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2020

The Karaites communities of former Polish – Lithuanian Commonwealth in the beginning of the 20th century started a discussion in their communal press on which language they should adopt as their communal or national language. This view remained important during the first half of 20th century. It was considered as a tool for social and cultural consolidation of the communities and as an important aspect of their social image in the eyes of Polish society. Karaite leaders tried several different strategies for establishment of national language, starting from traditional bilingualism (Hebrew – Turkic) to different combinations of Russian – Hebrew, Polish – Turkic and etc. These initiatives grew stronger after the World War 1, when ethnic nationalism was arising both in Karaite communities and in dominating Polish society. The analysis of these language strategies was done using a model language planning elaborated by Geoffrey Haig in Kurdish language in modern Turkey, under the politics of Kemal Ataturk (Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, 1881–1938). The article has highlighted these strategies, analyzed argumentation, and presented linguistic reforms implemented in the Karaite communities in the first half of the 20th century. It was argued that the social image of Karaites in the dominating society played an important role in decision making by Karaite leaders. It was also understood that language was not only an important aspect of Karaite cultural identity but also a tool for integration into dominating society.

Antagonizmy medzi judaizmom a helenizmom v Knihe múdrosti

Author(s): Rederic Raurell / Language(s): Slovak Issue: 1/2021

Author offers a concise synthesis of main subjects of the biblical book Wisdom of Salomon, such as justice and immortality. These themes are elaborated in strongly Hellenised context of Jewish diaspora of Alexandria by the well prepared and acculturated writer and presented in the light of traditional teaching of the Old Testament. Author also provides a good bibliographical overview.

Tożsamość uczniów

Author(s): Jan Opiełka / Language(s): English,Polish Issue: 23/2019

Przedmiotem badań w niniejszym artykule jest poszukiwanie fundamentów tożsamości ucznia Chrystusa znajdujących się w Ewangelii, aby w obliczu świata, w którym wszelkie granice się rozmywają, na nowo pokazać wyraźne rysy ucznia Pana. Cel ten został zrealizowany poprzez egzegezę fragmentu 17. rozdziału Ewangelii według św. Jana (J 17,9-19) z wykorzystaniem biblijnej retoryki semickiej oraz z uwzględnieniem najnowszej literatury z zakresu przedmiotu badań.Zasadnicze etapy pracy, którymi były: delimitacja badanego fragmentu, opis kontekstu biblijnego, interpretacja i wyciągnięcie wniosków teologicznych, zostały ujęte w trzech punktach. Na początku pierwszego punktu omówiono delimitację, ukazując kontekst dalszy oraz bliższy dla J 17. Następnie z zastosowaniem analizy odgórnej wydzielono w nim trzy jednostki: ww. 1d-8, 9-19 i 20-26. Do dalszej pracy wybrano fragment środkowy (ww. 9-19), którego treścią jest modlitwa Syna za uczniów. Poprzez zastosowanie metody analizy retorycznej udało się w badanym tekście wyszczególnić trzy części (ww. 9-11c, 11d-13 oraz 14-19) ułożone koncentrycznie w schemacie ABA’. Dla każdej z nich została opisana struktura wewnętrzna, konieczna do przeprowadzenia właściwej interpretacji. W punkcie drugim przeprowadzono interpretację poszczególnych części poprzedzoną analizą kontekstu biblijnego dla każdej z nich. Ta analiza pozwoliła m.in. zobaczyć powiązanie badanej perykopy z przypowieścią o synu marnotrawnym (Łk 15,31-32) oraz z modlitwą Ojcze nasz (Mt 6,9-13), a przez to dostrzec głębszy sens tekstu biblijnego.Trzeci punkt, który składa się z dwóch podpunktów, pokazuje kompozycję retoryczną całego fragmentu, prowadzącą do wniosków teologicznych. Na jej podstawie pokazano, że istotą przesłania J 17,9-19 jest miłość Ojca, która przyjmuje niedoskonałych synów, aby ci mogli prawdziwie stać się dla siebie braćmi.

Trzecia pieśń Sługi Pańskiego (Iz 50,4-11) – tekst kanoniczny i jego paralela w Targumie Jonatana

Author(s): Adrian Skutnik / Language(s): English,Polish Issue: 23/2019

Cierpiący Sługa Pański ukazany w czterech fragmentach Księgi Izajasza jest postacią zarówno fascynującą, jak i niezwykle tajemniczą. Niniejszy artykuł, zatytułowany Trzecia Pieśń Sługi Pańskiego (Iz 50,4-11) – tekst kanoniczny i jego paralela w Targumie Jonatana, miał na celu przybliżenie osoby Sługi poprzez szczegółową analizę fragmentu znajdującego się w 50. rozdziale tej prorockiej księgi Starego Testamentu. Punkt 1. prezentuje tło historyczne oraz teologiczny klimat, w jakim powstały poszczególne pieśni. Deutero-Izajasz, anonimowy prorok, który zebrał i zredagował myśli tzw. szkoły Izajasza, działał w czasach niewoli babilońskiej. Głosił pocieszenie narodu i łaskawą miłość jedynego Boga, który posłużył się osobą perskiego władcy, Cyrusa II Wielkiego, aby wybawić swój wybrany naród z niewoli. Mając w pamięci czasy niewoli, została spisana Trzecia pieśń Sługi Pańskiego, której szczegółowa analiza znalazła swoje odbicie w punkcie 2. Wyłania się z niej obraz wybranego przez Boga Sługi, którego intymna więź ze Stwórcą przeplata się z niesprawiedliwym cierpieniem. Jednak ufność w Bożą pomoc utwierdza Sługę w trwaniu przy powierzonej mu misji. W punkcie 3. biblijny tekst został wzbogacony żydowską tradycją aramejskich tłumaczeń, tzw. targumów. Przekłady te były niezbędną pomocą dla narodu, który po powrocie z niewoli posługiwał się jedynie językiem aramejskim. Oprócz funkcji translatorskiej targumy pełniły także zadanie interpretacji tekstu biblijnego, wprowadzały konieczne wyjaśnienia i doprecyzowania, a ich rewizja w szkołach rabinackich pomagała utrzymać ortodoksyjną teologię judaistyczną. W Targumie Jonatana Sługa Pański jest prorokiem, którego zadaniem jest wykładanie Tory tym, którzy odeszli od Bożych przykazań. Zatem łatwiejsze będzie nie tylko teologiczne zgłębienie jednego z tekstów Starego Testamentu, ale również bliższe poznanie tajemniczego Sługi, który w proroczym słowie stał się obrazem i pierwowzorem wcielonego Słowa – Jezusa Chrystusa.

L’Insegnamento dell’Apostolo Paolo sui carismi in alcuni testi ecclesiologici

Author(s): Paolo Cocco / Language(s): English,Polish,Italian Issue: 23/2019

Po przedstawieniu rzeczywistości dotyczącej charyzmatów w Starym Testamencie, w Ewangeliach, Dziejach Apostolskich zostało omówione pierwotne znaczenie i występowanie słów „charyzmat/charyzmaty” w Biblii. Na tym tle autor rysuje bezpośredni kontekst nauczania o charyzmatach omawiając wspólnotę Koryncką i Pierwszy List do Koryntian. W swoich analizach koncentruje się na sekcji dotyczącej rzeczywistości duchowej (1 Kor 12–14) ukazując różne funkcjonowanie charyzmatów wewnątrz Kościoła przedstawionego jako ciało Chrystusa. Ujmuje zależności pomiędzy charyzmatami a miłością oraz praktykowaniem glosolalii i proroctwa. Całość dopełnia omówienie analiz dotyczących nauczania św. Pawła o charyzmatach dokonanych w różnych artykułach przez Käsemann, R.Y.K. Fung, G.D. Fee, J.D.G. Dunn. G. Barbaglio.