Dear Friends and Colleagues, On the morning of October 7, ca. 2000 HAMAS terrorists launched a brutal attack on civilians in Israeli kibbutzim, moshavim and towns adjacent to the Gaza Strip. They went from house to house to burn, torture,... more
Dear Friends and Colleagues, On the morning of October 7, ca. 2000 HAMAS terrorists launched a brutal attack on civilians in Israeli kibbutzim, moshavim and towns adjacent to the Gaza Strip. They went from house to house to burn, torture, mutilate, and kill Jewish families. They gunned down hundreds of young people at an outdoor music festival that turned into a scene of rape and massacre. Not only did they kill parents in front of children, raped women and children, murdered children and soldiers still asleep in their beds, but also beheaded babies that were sleeping in their cribs.
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This chapter discusses the manifestations of sanctity in the Second and Third Books of Maccabees and the attitudes towards the Temple that emerge from these two books. It demonstrates that though both books were largely or completely... more
This chapter discusses the manifestations of sanctity in the Second and Third Books of Maccabees and the attitudes towards the Temple that emerge from these two books. It demonstrates that though both books were largely or completely authored in the Diaspora, a significant difference between them is apparent in their respective treatments of the concept of sanctity and their attitudes to the Temple. The chapter shows that 3 Maccabees presents, in this context, an emphatically critical diasporan position regarding the Jerusalem Temple while 2 Maccabees presents a substantially more moderate position. It is therefore divided into two sections: the first section examines the occurrence of the concepts of sanctity in the two books, and the second section examines 3 Maccabees' viewpoints concerning the Temple and compares them with those of 2 Maccabees. The Hellenistic Jewish Diaspora's conceptions of sanctity are diverse, particularly with regard to the Temple and sacred places. Keywords:2 Maccabees; 3 Maccabees; Hellenistic Jewish Diaspora; Jerusalem Temple; sanctity
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The text of 3 Maccabees chapter 2 relates that after returning to Egypt from Jerusalem, where the Jews did not permit him to enter and desecrate the Temple, the victorious Ptolemy IV Philopator ordered that all Jews be reduced to menial... more
The text of 3 Maccabees chapter 2 relates that after returning to Egypt from Jerusalem, where the Jews did not permit him to enter and desecrate the Temple, the victorious Ptolemy IV Philopator ordered that all Jews be reduced to menial status, and that they be registered and branded with the ivyleaf emblem of Dionysus. He added, however, that anyone who preferred to join the mystery cult would enjoy equal civic rights with the Alexandrians (3 Macc. 2:28–30). Most of the Jews, according to 3 Maccabees (2:32–33), did not obey the king’s order. Regarding the small minority, the author elaborates as follows (3 Macc. 2:31):
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The numerous ostraca uncovered in Edfu (Apollinopolis Magna) that document the life of Jews in this location led Victor Tcherikover and other scholars to conclude that the Delta Quarter, the fourth quarter of Edfu, was exclusively Jewish,... more
The numerous ostraca uncovered in Edfu (Apollinopolis Magna) that document the life of Jews in this location led Victor Tcherikover and other scholars to conclude that the Delta Quarter, the fourth quarter of Edfu, was exclusively Jewish, a voluntary ‘ghettoʼ that existed from the mid-first century CE until its eradication in the Diaspora revolt in 117 CE. The publication of several demotic ostraca from Edfu, however, suggests that
this historical hypothesis should be rethought. Two new considerations – chronological and demographic – undermine Tcherikover’s view. Chronologically speaking, the new evidence demonstrates that Jews apparently lived in the Delta Quarter from at least the early Roman period and not only from the mid-first century CE onward. The demographic consideration is manifested in the finding that not only Jews lived there
and that the percentage of Jews in this quarter did not differ from that in other places of Jewish residence. Therefore, the fourth quarter of Edfu was neither a Jewish ghetto nor an exclusively Jewish neighborhood. Although many Jews lived there and are presumed to have been organized as a community with its own institutions, this was a common phenomenon of Jewish life in Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt, meaning that the community in the Delta Quarter was not special, let alone unique. The ‘ghettoʼ hypothesis is a projection of Medieval and modern reality onto antiquity.
this historical hypothesis should be rethought. Two new considerations – chronological and demographic – undermine Tcherikover’s view. Chronologically speaking, the new evidence demonstrates that Jews apparently lived in the Delta Quarter from at least the early Roman period and not only from the mid-first century CE onward. The demographic consideration is manifested in the finding that not only Jews lived there
and that the percentage of Jews in this quarter did not differ from that in other places of Jewish residence. Therefore, the fourth quarter of Edfu was neither a Jewish ghetto nor an exclusively Jewish neighborhood. Although many Jews lived there and are presumed to have been organized as a community with its own institutions, this was a common phenomenon of Jewish life in Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt, meaning that the community in the Delta Quarter was not special, let alone unique. The ‘ghettoʼ hypothesis is a projection of Medieval and modern reality onto antiquity.
According to the Letter of Aristeas, the ancient treatise on the creation of the Greek translation of the Pentateuch, the high priest Eleazar chose seventy-two elders and dispatched them to Egypt where they translated the Torah into... more
According to the Letter of Aristeas, the ancient treatise on the creation of the Greek translation of the Pentateuch, the high priest Eleazar chose seventy-two elders and dispatched them to Egypt where they translated the Torah into Greek. Scholars discerned the meaning of this number, indicating the affinity to the seventy elders who joined Moses and Aaron in the Sinai covenant (Exod. 24) and the fact that this number represents all the tribes of Israel equally, thus sanctifying the Greek translation in a similar way to the Torah. Particular attention was paid to Epiphanius, the fourth century church father, who explicitly states that the seventy-two elders provide equal representation to all the constituent tribes of Israel. Rabbinic literature, however, has been entirely absent from this discourse. In this article I point to Sifre on Numbers, a second century midrash, that notes that seventy-two elders experienced the Divine revelation (Numbers 11): seventy in the Tabernacle and ...
The Bible is silent regarding the death of Esau, Jacob’s brother, but Second Temple and rabbinic literature filled the lacuna. Although similar in their basic narrative, these versions differ in significant details, most notably the... more
The Bible is silent regarding the death of Esau, Jacob’s brother, but Second Temple and rabbinic literature filled the lacuna. Although similar in their basic narrative, these versions differ in significant details, most notably the circumstances of and the person responsible for Esau’s death. This paper examines the extent to which these accounts not only present different views of the fraternal relationship but also reflect divergent attitudes towards Jewish relations with the non-Jewish world that are dictated by the time and place of their authorship. Reflecting its diasporan setting, the version in the Babylonian Talmud, it is shown, employs a particularly complex tactic of message encryption.
The Letter of Aristeas has long been considered the work most emblematic, elucidatory and declarative of Jewish identity in Hellenistic Egypt. The work embraces emphatically Jewish content alongside a profound identification with... more
The Letter of Aristeas has long been considered the work most emblematic, elucidatory and declarative of Jewish identity in Hellenistic Egypt. The work embraces emphatically Jewish content alongside a profound identification with Hellenistic concepts, ideas and frameworks. This complexity has intrigued scholars and it continues to do so as they attempt to qualify the essential identity that the author of the Letter of Aristeas seeks to promote and to transmit. The question of identity is two-faceted: First, it explores the nature of the affinity between the Jewish and Hellenistic components in the doctrine advocated by the Letter of Aristeas. Second, it strives to identify the threat and the danger that the author confronts and deplores. In our discussion we aim to provide answers to these questions. Furthermore, we introduce a new conceptualization of the way the Letter of Aristeas combines and “manages” the various identities and their constituent details. For that aim, we draw on models from the realm of social psychology, which we have found to be eminently useful in understanding the complex and dynamic nature of the identities of Antique Jewry. We reason that considering models of social identity could provide us with a fresh perspective of the text, which allows for a new understanding of the complex and dynamic nature of the identities as they appear in the Letter of Aristeas.
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... In cooperation with Cross, Frank Moore / Davies, Graham / Emerton, JA / Heintz, Jean-Georges / Jeremias, Jörg / Kaiser, Otto / Köckert, Matthias / Perlitt, Lothar / Pury, Albert / Römer, Thomas / Säbö, Magne / Schmidt am Busch,... more
... In cooperation with Cross, Frank Moore / Davies, Graham / Emerton, JA / Heintz, Jean-Georges / Jeremias, Jörg / Kaiser, Otto / Köckert, Matthias / Perlitt, Lothar / Pury, Albert / Römer, Thomas / Säbö, Magne / Schmidt am Busch, Hans-Christoph / Schwienhorst ... Noah Hacham 1. ...
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... In cooperation with Cross, Frank Moore / Davies, Graham / Emerton, JA / Heintz, Jean-Georges / Jeremias, Jörg / Kaiser, Otto / Köckert, Matthias / Perlitt, Lothar / Pury, Albert / Römer, Thomas / Säbö, Magne / Schmidt am Busch,... more
... In cooperation with Cross, Frank Moore / Davies, Graham / Emerton, JA / Heintz, Jean-Georges / Jeremias, Jörg / Kaiser, Otto / Köckert, Matthias / Perlitt, Lothar / Pury, Albert / Römer, Thomas / Säbö, Magne / Schmidt am Busch, Hans-Christoph / Schwienhorst ... Noah Hacham 1. ...
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... 19 Flusser," Qumran and the Famine," 7-16. Page 147. ... He interprets m" Un as a reference to the suffering of the Sons of IJght; it is not eternal suffering. He attributes to n" CD similar mean-ings in other... more
... 19 Flusser," Qumran and the Famine," 7-16. Page 147. ... He interprets m" Un as a reference to the suffering of the Sons of IJght; it is not eternal suffering. He attributes to n" CD similar mean-ings in other sources but not a fast. See B. Nitzan," Hymns from Qumran" InS1? ...
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