samuel zinner
Samuel Zinner, Ph.D. (University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2002) is a scholar of ancient and modern history, literatures and linguistics, and a Holocaust researcher. He contributed to German Scholars and Ethnic Cleansing 1920-1945 (Oxford/New York: Berghahn Books, 2004), which was awarded the American Library Association’s prestigious “Choice Outstanding Academic Book of the Year Award” for 2005. He has contributed articles to Holocaust and Genocide Studies (Oxford University Press), Religions/Adyan (Doha International Centre for Interfaith Dialogue), and other academic journals. His books and essays on ancient and modern history and literature have been published internationally in a variety of languages.
At the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Zinner concentrated in modern and ancient languages and literatures, history, and Museum Studies, with a further emphasis on archival studies. He has worked on projects funded by major grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH).
Zinner's video interview program Just Nowhere is available on his Youtube channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpz9L7_6BzodDWVpBKcYOmQ
At the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Zinner concentrated in modern and ancient languages and literatures, history, and Museum Studies, with a further emphasis on archival studies. He has worked on projects funded by major grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH).
Zinner's video interview program Just Nowhere is available on his Youtube channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpz9L7_6BzodDWVpBKcYOmQ
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For more talks on similar topics, see Zinner's channel at Youtube.com@JustNowhere
Send me a message if you are interested in private instruction on this or related topics.
For private instruction involving this or related topics, message me in academia.edu or at samuelzinner1@gmail.com
For more videos on this and other topics, see my channel at Youtube.com@JustNowhere
Zinner's video interview program Just Nowhere is available at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpz9L7_6BzodDWVpBKcYOmQ
The channel's handle is Youtube.com@JustNowhere
Available at Amazon.com
Panel Title: European Scholars and Ethnopolitics during the Third Reich.
Moderator: Eric D. Weitz, University of Minnesota.
Commentator: John Connelley, Berkeley, California.
Speaker: Samuel Zinner (Lincoln, Nebraska), “Georg Leibbrandt and Karl Stumpp and the Fate of Jews and Russian Germans in Ukraine.”
Speaker: Viorel Achim (Bucharest, Rumania), “Rumanian-German
Collaboration. The Case of Sabin Manuila.”
Speaker: Michael Fahlbusch (Basel, Switzerland), “Scholars as Ethnopolitical
Experts in Special SS Units: Hans Joachim Beyer and Fritz Valjavec.”
For more talks on similar topics, see Zinner's channel at Youtube.com@JustNowhere
Send me a message if you are interested in private instruction on this or related topics.
For private instruction involving this or related topics, message me in academia.edu or at samuelzinner1@gmail.com
For more videos on this and other topics, see my channel at Youtube.com@JustNowhere
Zinner's video interview program Just Nowhere is available at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpz9L7_6BzodDWVpBKcYOmQ
The channel's handle is Youtube.com@JustNowhere
Available at Amazon.com
Panel Title: European Scholars and Ethnopolitics during the Third Reich.
Moderator: Eric D. Weitz, University of Minnesota.
Commentator: John Connelley, Berkeley, California.
Speaker: Samuel Zinner (Lincoln, Nebraska), “Georg Leibbrandt and Karl Stumpp and the Fate of Jews and Russian Germans in Ukraine.”
Speaker: Viorel Achim (Bucharest, Rumania), “Rumanian-German
Collaboration. The Case of Sabin Manuila.”
Speaker: Michael Fahlbusch (Basel, Switzerland), “Scholars as Ethnopolitical
Experts in Special SS Units: Hans Joachim Beyer and Fritz Valjavec.”
Updated version uploaded 10 September 2023.
Please be aware that much of the most vital aspects of this essay are contained in the endnotes.
Updated version uploaded 24 Nov 2017.
Translated from the Chinese on 1 January 2021
By Samuel Zinner
(ORCID 0000-0001-8971-2490)
Sometimes words are all that remain.
These poetic impressions preserve traces of my wandering on dusty paths of America’s Great Plains and meandering through Egypt’s desert sands.
The time of final breaths and openings of eyelids is now nearer than more distant.
So I type away and consign these words to paper.
When I have become a ghost in the California Mojave Desert, perhaps these words will remain, somewhere, somewhen.
Samuel Zinner
9 May 2019
In Exsilium
Poems by: Adonis (Ali Ahmed Said), Jacques Prévert, Pierre Emmanuel, Paul Éluard, Robert Desnos, Jorge Luis Borges, Homero Aridjis, José Emilio Pacheco, Dino Campana.
Abstract for my paper:
Samuel Zinner, "Overcoming Mind-Body Dualism in World and Text: Ancient Jewish and Modern Scientific Trajectories"
Abstract
Language origins are group-action oriented. Perception and speech, a mutually-reinforcing loop, serve action. The triad perception, speech, action is rooted in biology, neurobiology, and local “environment.” However, the speaker-thinker-actor is an integral element of the environment; consequently, mind is neither solely subjective nor world solely objective. Speech or writing can never fully convey thought, and often speech or writing conveys thought inadequately or even inaccurately. Conversely, however, thought can never fully exhaust the inherent meanings or implications of speech or writing. There are thus incapacities and inadequacies inherent in both thought and language/speech that is either spoken or written. When examining the origins and functions of language, one can therefore privilege neither interior thought nor exterior speech. Merleau-Ponty’s “body-subject” (modified) overcomes Cartesian dualism. “Modified” because body is neither exclusively subject nor exclusively object. Culture is inseparable from biology, neurobiology, and environment; culture, religion, morality, like language, are therefore not entirely arbitrary or conventional. Words (like culture generally) are determined by/within the parameter constraints of interacting/overlapping biological, neurobiological, and environmental systems. Cultural traditions, e.g., alphabet and number symbolisms, can exhibit tendentious or local aspects, but are nevertheless based in larger biological, neurobiological, and environmental systems that are both inseparably objective-subjective and yet neither of these exclusively. The inseparable dyad biology/body-culture/spirit can be illustrated in Judaism by traditions related to text. Gematria and acrostics at first sight seem like “hidden” textual components, yet they constitute part of the text’s “outward” body. A text’s straightforward statements have potentially (not actually) infinite unsaid and unsayable implications. A text’s “inward” and “outward” components consequently each possesses qualities that are hidden and revealed, indicating the ultimately artificial nature of the dyad inward-outward/esoteric-exoteric. Much of the “senses of scripture” models in Abrahamic religions is influenced ultimately by Philo of Alexandria’s model of the physical performance of the Torah’s commandments forming the Torah’s textual body, which provides access to the text’s hidden, allegorical “soul.” Philo thus anticipates medieval kabbalah, e.g., the zoharic Maiden in the Palace parable. The Jewish emphasis upon the acted, embodied word is congruent with the action-oriented origins of language/speech in which act predominates over theory.
In the Hebrew and Old Greek (LXX) Psalters
And ʾElohim and Theos Acronyms in the MT Tanakh and LXX
I first publicly discussed this topic in a cursory way in my 23 June 2019 presentation in Pleasanton, California at the HUB Language Origins conference featuring Noam Chomsky.
Overview and Highlights
This study dates Hermas’ Visions to ca. 100 (very close to Paget’s Nervan dating of Barnabas); the Mandates and Similitudes would have taken just a few to a handful of additional years to complete. To posit composition over several decades is unwarranted. Rather than calling Hermas Jewish, Christian, or Jewish-Christian, the label “Jamesian” would be more helpful. A careful sifting of the evidence excludes for Similitude 5 a Philippians 2-like glorified servant christology model (pace Taylor 1892 and Bucur 2007, 2009), supporting instead an adoptionist (“possessionist”) paradigm. Already Hilgenfeld 1853 showed that Similitude 5’s anthropological-soteriological and “christological” elements are entirely compatible, being linked by the subject of fasting. (Similitude 5 confirms that already in ancient times Isaiah 58 was the haftarah for Yom Kippur, the Great Fast). In Similitude 5 the servant is the anonymous non-pre-existent human Jesus who becomes an adopted son of God, a co-heir with God’s pre-existent natural son called the holy spirit. In Hermas both the male son of God and the female Lady Ecclesia are hyponyms of “the holy spirit,” based on Gen 1:26-28’s Adam and Eve which are hyponyms of the Androgyne. The received Greek text of Sim. 5.6.5, to pneuma to hagion to proon, to ktisan pasan tēn ktisin, “the pre-existent holy spirit, who created the whole creation,” is an orthodox scribal corruption. The Latin version preserves the original reading, qui creatus est omnium primus, “who was created first of all.” Vis. 2.4.1 says of Lady Ecclesia, “she was created before all things (pantōn prōtē ektisthē).” In Sim. 9.1.1 we learn that “the holy spirit, who spoke with you in the form of the Church . . . that spirit is the son of God.” Consequently, in Hermas the son of God and holy spirit are created entities who are neither eternal nor divine. A critical reading of Hermas confirms the ancient origins of the Jewish traditions about Abraham as cosmic foundation stone and that Lady Ecclesia’s youthful rejuvenation is based on the Sarah story (Massingberd-Ford 1965). That Hermas’ Lady Ecclesia is based on Sarah is confirmed by Philo’s doctrine of the aged Sarah who attains a state of youthful masculine virginity. This agrees with Hermas’ elderly Lady Ecclesia who becomes younger, and who is called a virgin (Vis. 4:2.1 and Sim. 9:1.2), and who subsequently after her youthful renewal is identified as the male son of God (Sim. 5:5-2, Sim. 9:1.2). Consequently, Lady Ecclesia is not to be understood merely as a passing accidental form of the male son of God (pace Bucur 2007, 2009). Tilford 2013 explains that Philo’s Sarah doctrine reflects concepts of Hellenistic medicine and biology, according to which when in her later years a woman passes the stage of menopause and is unable to bear children any longer, she regains, as it were, her virginity, yet because she cannot bear children in this elderly mode of “virginity,” her state takes on a masculine aspect, given that males do not bear children.
Draft Paper
Forthcoming in the Journal of Higher Criticism
Forthcoming in the Journal of Higher Criticism
Forthcoming in the Journal of Higher Criticism
2019 Draft paper.
Updated version, May 2019.
Expanded version, uploaded 29 June 2022.
This is an excerpt from my forthcoming The Gospel of Thomas: Exploring the Semitic Alternatives.
Revised pdf added...
The link to download a pdf of the paper is:
https://works.bepress.com/klyoder/52/
This chapter explores numerical and acrostics features in Psalm 19 and in related psalms.
Revised version uploaded 13 June 2019. (Corrections and additions on pages 25-26),
If ancient, the Jordanian artefacts are apotropaic grave objects designed to afford protection to the deceased and information relevant for their afterlife. Their contents would date from the immediate post-Bar Kokhba period to the time of Julia Domna and beyond (ca. 136-217 CE). Ancient or modern, the artefacts’ contents retrospectively view Jewish history from the Maccabees to Bar Kokhba principally through the prism of the latter’s revolt and its demise.
The artefacts’ main inspirations were ancient Jewish and Greco-Roman coinage, which naturally suggested to their creators the choice of a metal medium. The sheet format was dictated by apotropaic grave precedents such as Orphic tablets. With some exceptions, each Jordanian ‘book’ consists of a large image-text design that has been arbitrarily cut down to smaller-sized individual sheets subsequently bound together in order to retain the separate leaves’ association. ‘Book’/‘codex’ is not the most fitting terminology for these artefacts. The closest comparative parallels are the Martin Schøyen/Würzburg ancient Greek alphabet copper plaques, the Orphic lamellae, the Gnostic lead book in the National Museum at Rome, and the Mandaeans' lead books.
ENDORSEMENTS:
Philip R. Davies (University of Sheffield):
"The validation of the Jordanian lead books has faced three challenges: the determination of the age by means of testing the lead, the decipherment (if possible) of the writing and images, and the investigation of the find site. The unwanted attention of ignorant bloggers has been an additional distraction, but one that deterred many potentially interested scholars and may have adversely affected the investigation of the site.
With the tests on the lead at least ruling out a modern forgery, the major obstacle to an understanding of the purpose and significance of these books remained the apparent lack of any meaning to the images and the letters. Thanks to a monumental effort of considerable ingenuity, Samuel Zinner has now provided an answer that makes possible a second century CE dating. He has also exhaustively demolished arguments against their antiquity based on letter forms. His work now opens up the historical investigation of these objects: let us hope that it leads the way to a serious effort at resolving the mystery of where these objects originated and what was their use."
Robert Gordon (University of Cambridge):
"I think there is a touch of the genius about Zinner. It is very clear that the sophistication is not all imposed by his clever brain: there does indeed appear to be a great deal going on in the texts, whatever the individual details. That makes the project so very important, whatever the ultimate conclusion may be on date and provenance."
Charles Häberl (Rutgers University; Director, Center for Middle Eastern Studies):
"It seems to me that after entering what was a rather contentious debate, Zinner has marshalled an impressive and wide-ranging array of evidence to bolster his claims, which cannot (and undoubtedly will not) be discounted. Such scholarship requires an elevated level of caution and painstaking thoroughness that, prior to his entry into the field, none of the authorities who had weighed into this debate have thus far achieved. While I doubt very much that his contribution will be the last word on the subject, it is destined to be the first word for all future discussions. Well done!"
Bernhard Lang (University of Paderborn, Aarhus University):
"A very, very good piece of work. Breathtaking scholarship."
John F. A. Sawyer (Durham University):
"I’ve greatly enjoyed looking through Zinner’s book and am convinced that he has made good sense of many of the texts. I was particularly impressed by his use of ancient parallels such as the Bar Kokhba coins and weights. Zinner has coordinated the material so brilliantly. Over and over again I had the impression that he has discovered what is going on. I hope his work is soon given the international recognition it deserves."
1 Arabic:
Adonis (Ali Ahmed Said), Lost
Elegy for Al-Hallaj
2. German:
Marion’s monologue to Damiel, from the film, Wings of Desire
Damiel’s monologue about his Love Marion, from the film, Wings of Desire
Max Herrmann-Neisse, You, the Silent Gardener of My Garden
3. French:
Jacques Prévert, Aliconte
Pierre Emmanuel, Les Noces de la Mort, The Marriage of Mortality II
Nada
Paul Éluard, From Celle de Toujours, Toute, This of Time, Totally
From A l’infini, To the Infinite
Robert Desnos, Poème à la Mystérieuse, Poem to the Mysterious Woman
4. Spanish:
Jorge Luis Borges, Amorous Anticipation
To Gunnar Thorgilsson (1816-1879)
Homero Aridjis, Cae la lluvae, The Rain Is Falling, Excerpt
Adapted from Epitafio para un poeta, Epitaph for a Poet
José Emilio Pacheco, From Límites, Limits
5. Italian:
Dino Campana, Giardino Autunnale, Garden Autumnal
Updated and corrected draft version uploaded 3 Deember 2019
BOB DYLAN: JEWISH PERSPECTIVES ON HIS REPERTOIRE: Themes of Prophecy and Redemption
(March 14, 2021: 10AM to 5PM PST)
This virtual conference brings together a wide spectrum of Dylan scholars, academics, students, musicians and fans to discuss Bob Dylan’s repertoire through a Jewish lens. We envision this becoming an annual event.
Conference Participants include:
Dr. Frances Di Lauro
Dr. James Diamond
Dr. Jonathan Karp
Lorelai Kude
Rabbi Aubrey Glazer
Dr. Daniel Mackay
Ahavah Oblak
Seth Rogovoy
Rabbi Joshua Rose
Dr. Jonathan Seidel
Dr. Rob Sean Wilson
Dr. Elliot Wolfson
Rabbi David Zaslow
Dr. Samuel Zinner
Wannsee Conference participant Georg Leibbrandt lied his way out of execution at Nuremberg by cleverly constructing an image of having been a moderate Nazi, not a rabidly ideological one. I exposed this deception in 2003 on the basis of archival evidence I uncovered. Some Holocaust scholars bought into Leibbrandt’s narrative and their influence led to the false moderate image of Leibbrandt at Wannsee seen in the two movies made so far about the conference, Die Wannseekonferenz (Infafilm GmbH Manfred Korytowski Munich, Austrian Television-O.R.F., Bavarian Broadcasting Corporation, 1984) with Jochen Busse as Leibbrandt, and Conspiracy (BBC/HBO, 2001), with Ewan Stewart as Leibbrandt. My work on Leibbrandt is listed in the recently published diary of Alfred Rosenberg edited by Jürgen Matthäus and Frank Bajohr in the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s series Documenting Life and Destruction: Holocaust Sources in Context.