Hebrew

Hebrew philologists disagree on how to describe the biblical Hebrew verbal system. We especially disagree about the difference in meaning between the main verb forms: yiqtol and qatal, wayyiqtol, weyiqtol, weqatal: is it tense, taxis, aspect, modality, or something else that prompts the use of one form rather than the other?
In this paper I clarify the semantic value of the finite verb forms in biblical Hebrew by identifying a model that accounts for the selection of verb forms in a limited corpus: the narrative beginning in 1 Samuel.
This study contributes to the resolution of the question of Biblical Hebrew verb form semantics by using the same method I applied to Qumran Hebrew: analyzing all the verbs in this narrative, using an empirical method of statistical correlation between form and meaning. I first produced a computer database of all the verbs in this corpus, tagged for formal features such as morphology, situation aspect, and word order on one hand, and semantic functions such as time reference, viewpoint aspect, and modality on the other. I then determined the strength of an association between each form and each function. Finally, I used the patterns found in these correlations to (1) evaluate conflicting proposed interpretations, and (2) construct a model that accounts for the ancient Hebrew author’s choice of verb forms in this corpus.
In this paper I first introduce the problem of Hebrew tense and aspect, then very briefly outline the basics of relevant theoretical linguistics, significant methodological issues, and previous attempts to explain the Hebrew verbs, synthesize statistical trends from the database into hypotheses, and describe the results of applying these hypotheses to specific verbs in 1 Samuel 1-2.

The research presented here examines two features of word order in the Aramaic and Hebrew documents from the Judean desert refuge caves: (a) subject-predicate > predicate-subject order (in verbal clauses); and (b) predicate (or infinitive)-complement order. It appears that the word order in the legal documents – both Aramaic and Hebrew – resembles the order in the eastern type of Official Aramaic, as described by E. Y. Kutscher: (a) the verb can either precede or follow the subject; (b) the predicate (or infinitive) can precede or follow its complements. The letters, however, show the “western” word order, the one accepted as the usual word order in Semitic languages, as represented in the western type of Official Aramaic, as well as in Old Aramaic, classical biblical Hebrew, and rabbinic Hebrew: (a) the verb precedes the subject; and (b) the predicate or infinitive precedes its complements. Namely, the legal documents follow an (eastern) legal tradition, and therefore do not reflect the word order of their scribes’ native tongue (Aramaic or Hebrew). The letters, on the other hand, are not bound to old traditions, and therefore reflect, to some extent, the natural languages of Judea between the first and the second revolts.

This paper offers a critical analysis of Rabbinic sources concerning the the history of Loshon HaQodesh. The paper first attempts to define the language known as "Loshon HaQodesh" and then trace its origins through Midrashic and Talmudic sources. The paper also follows the rise and decline of this language.
A more complete version of this paper was printed in Nov. 2014 under the name Lashon HaKodesh: History, Holiness, & Hebrew (Mosaica Press, 2014).

The purpose of the present article is the contrastive analysis of the semantic aspect of the lexemes דָםּ (dam), krew and blood, respectively in biblical Hebrew, Polish, and English. Apart from its fundamental meaning referring to the fluid which circulates in the blood vessels of humans and animals, in all of these three languages blood occurs in many other meanings and contexts of language use. The analysis of examples taken from the Hebrew Bible and from Polish and English
dictionaries demonstrates that some of these meanings are coincident for all the three languages, some are analogous only in Polish and English and some typical only to one of these languages.
Key words: blood, contrastive analysis, semantics, symbolism, Polish, English, biblical Hebrew

1. Spanish and English speakers tend to conceptualize time as running from left to right along a mental line. Previous research suggests that this representational strategy arises from the participants' exposure to a left-to-right writing system. However, direct evidence supporting this assertion suffers from several limitations and relies only on the visual modality. This study subjected to a direct test the reading hypothesis using an auditory task. Participants from two groups (Spanish and Hebrew) differing in the directionality of ...

מרבית המחקרים המנתחים את זיכרון הנאציזם בחברות הגרמניות שקמו לאחר מלחמת העולם השנייה טוענים שגרמנים רבים הדגישו את סבלם שלהם במלחמה כאסטרטגיה שנועדה להסתיר את השותפות הפסיבית או האקטיבית של האוכלוסייה הגרמנית לרדיפת היהודים. מאמר זה טוען שייצוגי הסבל או חוסר האונים של "גרמנים רגילים" לא תמיד שימשו כדרך לחמוק מאחריות ולהשכיח את השואה. בחינה מקרוב של סרט מזרח גרמני וסרט מערב גרמני המתארים סדרת ניסיונות כושלים להציל יהודים, מצביעה על מסר מורכב יותר המשתמש במרכיבים אפולוגטיים על מנת לבקר את האוכלוסייה הגרמנית על אדישותה לגורל היהודים ולעמת את הגרמנים עם השואה. ההשוואה בין הסרטים והביקורות עליהם גם מצביעה על ההבדלים בין מזרח ומערב גרמניה בשאלת הלקח שיש
ללמוד ממקרים אלו של הצלה כושלת.

Academic Reference:

Zuckermann, Ghil'ad & Monaghan, Paul (2012). "Revival linguistics and the new media: Talknology in the service of the Barngarla language reclamation", pp. 119-126 of Foundation for Endangered Languages XVI Conference: Language Endangerment in the 21st Century:Globalisation, Technology & New Media. Auckland, New Zealand.

------------------------------


Revival Linguistics and the New Media:
Talknology in the service of the Barngarla Language Reclamation


Ghil‘ad Zuckermann

Chair of Linguistics and Endangered Languages
School of Humanities, University of Adelaide, SA Adelaide 5005, Australia
[ghilad.zuckermann@adelaide.edu.au]


Paul Monaghan

Mobile Language Team
School of Humanities, University of Adelaide, SA Adelaide 5005, Australia
[paul.monaghan@adelaide.edu.au]


Abstract

Revival Linguistics is a new branch of linguistics, currently being established at Adelaide. It analyses comparatively and systematically the universal constraints and global mechanisms on the one hand (see Zuckermann 2009), and local peculiarities on the other hand, apparent in revival attempts across various sociological backgrounds, all over the world (see Zuckermann & Walsh 2011). A branch of both linguistics and applied linguistics, it combines scientific studies of native language acquisition and foreign language learning (language reclamation is the most extreme case of Second Language Learning).

The study: The Barngarla language (spelled Parnkalla by Schürmann 1844) is a no-longer spoken Thura-Yura Pama-Nyungan Aboriginal language of the Lakes Cultural Region of South Australia. Most recently Zuckermann, Monaghan and the Barngarla community have launched a reclamation of this sleeping beauty in three major rural/urban centres on the Eyre Peninsula, namely Port Lincoln, Whyalla, and Port Augusta. The presence of three Barngarla populations several hours drive apart presents the revival linguist with a need for a sophisticated reclamation involving ‘talknological’ innovations, such as online chatting, newsgroups, photo and resource sharing through a Barngarla wiki. This paper also examines the tensions accompanying the creation of a Barngarla ‘community of practice’ (cf. Wenger 1998) in a post-traditional Aboriginal context. In important ways, the new talknology poses a direct challenge to existing authority structures relating to the everyday management of knowledge, collaboration and participation. We predict that how the broader Barngarla community negotiates these issues will have an important bearing on the ultimate results of the reclamation project.




Revival Linguistics

Revival Linguistics is a new branch of linguistics, currently being established at Adelaide. It analyses comparatively and systematically the universal constraints and global mechanisms on the one hand (see Zuckermann 2009), and local peculiarities and idiosyncrasies on the other hand, apparent in revival attempts across various sociological backgrounds, all over the world (Zuckermann & Walsh 2011). A branch of both linguistics and applied linguistics, it combines scientific studies of native language acquisition and foreign language learning (language reclamation is the most extreme case of Second Language Learning).

Revival Linguistics complements the established field of documentary linguistics, which records endangered languages before they fall asleep. Revival Linguistics ought to revise the fields of grammaticography (writing grammars) and lexicography (writing dictionaries): Grammars and dictionaries ought to be written for language reclamation, i.e. in a user-friendly way, for communities, not only for linguists. For example, juxtapose Lutheran missionary Clamor Wilhelm Schürmann’s 1844 spelling of the Barngarla word nunyara ‘recovery’, which ignores the English environment, thus resulting in the pronunciation nanYAra rather than NOONyara.

Closely related to contact linguistics, Revival Linguistics changes the field of historical linguistics, e.g. by weakening the Family Tree model, which implies that a language ought to have only one parent. Assisting Aboriginal communities in a realistic, non-purisitic way, without selling them myths, Revival Linguistics promotes efficiency and efficacy in language reclamation.

Certainly Australia has been made the ‘Unlucky Country’ through the historical processes of linguicide (language killing) and glottophagy (language eating). These twin forces were in operation from the early colonial period. In her detailed study of the role missionary language practices in the early years of the South Australian colony, Scrimgeour quotes the following colonial language ideology: ‘Mr Forster afterwards adverted to the present mode of teaching the children in their own language. He, with all respect to the Missionaries, would say, on several grounds, that this was wrong. The natives would be sooner civilized if their language was extinct. The children taught would afterwards mix only with whites, where their own language would be of no use – the use of their language would preserve their prejudices and debasement, and their language was not sufficient to express the ideas of civilized life.  He gave the Missionaries full credit for their talents and zeal, but he thought it would be better to teach the children in English’ (from Report on a public meeting of the South Australian Missionary Society in aid of the German Mission to the Aborigines, Southern Australian, 8 September 1843; Scrimgeour, 2007: 116, italics added).

In the case of glottophagy, Governor George Grey noted: ‘The merchant in London who lays on a vessel for a certain port, regards the affair as a mere mercantile speculation, but could he trace out the results he effects in their remotest ramifications, he would stand astonished at the changes he produces.  With the wizard wand of commerce, he touches a lone and trackless forest, and at his bidding, cities arise, and the hum and dust of trade collect – away are swept ancient races; antique laws and customs moulder into oblivion.  The strong-holds of murder and superstition are cleansed, and the Gospel is preached amongst ignorant and savage men. The ruder languages disappear successively, and the tongue of England alone is heard around’ (Grey 1841: 200-201, italics added). Grey was a strong supporter of Aboriginal languages, encouraging Schürmann’s work documenting the Adelaide language (Kaurna) and Barngarla at Port Lincoln (see below).

With globalization, homogenization and Coca-colonization there will be more and more groups all over the world added to the forlorn club of the lost-heritage peoples. Language reclamation will become increasingly relevant as people seek to recover their cultural autonomy, empower their spiritual and intellectual sovereignty, and improve their wellbeing. There are various ethical, aesthetic and utilitarian benefits of language revival: for example, social justice, diversity and employability, respectively.

Zuckermann (2012) has enthusiastically called for Native Tongue Title and linguistic human rights, suggesting that the Australian government ought to compensate Indigenous people not only for the loss of land but equally importantly for the loss of language. Zuckermann has suggested to the Australian government to define Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander vernaculars as official languages.

Furthermore, it is predicted that in the future the very insights offered by Revival Linguistics will themselves become part of Indigenous Intellectual Property, when Slovenes and Estonians come to Australia and New Zealand to ask Aboriginal Australians and Maori to assist them in their own European language resurrection.

There is an urgent need to produce perspicacious LINGUISTIC and socio-linguistic insights relevant to language reclamation. Otherwise, linguists or language workers would not be able to offer, if asked by Indigenous people, efficient and efficacious advice. There are linguistic constraints applicable to all revival attempts. Mastering them would help revivalists and First Nations leaders to work more efficiently; for example, to focus more on basic vocabulary and verbal conjugations than on sounds and word order – see Zuckermann (2009: http://www.zuckermann.org/pdf/Hybridity_versus_Revivability.pdf.

Revival linguistics would assist revivalists to be more realistic and to abandon discouraging slogans such as "Give us authenticity or give us death!" The following are among the basic principles that the revival linguist encourages in Aboriginal communities:

i. If your language falls asleep: stop, revive, survive!
ii. If you revive a language, embrace the hybridity of the emerging tongue; and
iii. If your language is healthy, assist others in linguistic need.

One day we may invent devices to “inject” a language into our brains. But until then, any attempt to reclaim a hibernating language will result in a hybrid that combines components from the revivalists' and documenters' mother tongues and, of course, the target language. In the immortal words of Jerry Seinfeld: "Not that there's anything wrong with that!"

The Study


Figure 1: Map of Traditional Aboriginal Country after Norman Tindale (adapted from Hercus 1999)

The Barngarla language reclamation project has arisen through partnerships between the University of Adelaide (Linguistics and the Mobile Language Team) and the Barngarla people. Although still in its infancy, consultations began in September 2011, a number of very significant steps have been made towards reclaiming this ‘sleeping beauty’. Without doubt, the key challenge has been to develop a strategy for the reclamation of the language simultaneously and without favour in three major regional centres. In ways that will be elaborated below, this multi-sited, regional or peripheral reclamation makes demands that are very different to those often found in metropolitan reclamation contexts (e.g. Kaurna, cf. Amery...

This book was written by Leslie Blau (Blau László). It is a translation of the English "Bonyhad: A Destroyed Community" printed by Blau in 1994 (New York, New York). This translation into Hebrew was edited by Reuven Chaim Klein in 2010. It has yet to be published.ג

A denominative verb is one that is derived from a noun. Hebrew nouns are commonly either primary nouns (i.e. without any link to a verb) or else derived from a verb. But in some cases (330 appearing in this list) it is the verb that is derived from a noun.
That is, the meaning of denominative verbs may be said to incorporate that of a noun.
        This list was posted on 17 November 2017,

Volume IX offers a valuable enhancement of the 8-volume Dictionary of Classical Hebrew (1993–2011).

In DCH I–VIII, each volume had its own English–Hebrew Index, but this volume presents a much improved gathering together of all those indexes. The Index here contains every word used as a translation (gloss) in the Dictionary, that is, all the words printed in bold. In addition—a feature not seen before in Hebrew dictionaries—beneath each listed word are noted all the Hebrew words it translates, together with the volume and page reference of the relevant article.

The second element in this volume is the Word Frequency Table. This is a combination of the Word Frequency Tables in the various volumes of DCH. There, the lists of word frequencies were arranged under each letter of the alphabet. In the present publication, all the words in the Dictionary are combined in a single list arranged in order of frequency of occurrence.

Unlike all previous lists of occurrences of Hebrew words, the present list includes the occurrences not only in the Hebrew Bible but also in the whole scope of The Dictionary of Classical Hebrew, which is to say, Sirach (Ecclesiasticus), the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Hebrew Inscriptions as well as the Hebrew Bible itself.

Available from Sheffiiel Phoenix Press; details and order www.sheffieldphoenix.com/showbook.asp?bkid=283.

English below:
Este artículo explora las distintas vías de transmisión de nociones sobre filisología y salud femenina en Occidente durante la Edad Media y su recepción en el corpus médico hebreo. En especial, la forma eclética y armonizadora en que los autores y compiladores médicos judíos parecen haber recibido y adoptado ideas y teorías procedentes de distintas tradiciones médicas. Se ha prestado especial atención a la influencia de la ginecología árabe y a la forma, a menudo indirecta, en que llegó a los textos hebreos. Al final del artículo se ofrece la edición y traducción de un breve tratado titulado Capítulo de mujeres.

Abstract: This article explores the diverse paths of transmission of notions on female phisiology and health in the West during the Middle Ages, and their reception in the Hebrew medical corpus. It has been pais especial attention to the ecleptic and harmonazing way in which Jewish medical authors and compilers seem to have received and adopted ideas from different medical traditions. The article devotes some interest to the influence of Arabic gynaecology and the often indirect way in which it arrived to Hebrew texts. It also includes an edition and translation of a short Hebrew treatise entitled Chapter on women.

Medieval wisdom literature and its translation and adaptation from one language into another is a field of study to which contemporary scholars have dedicated several works. Unlike the Arabic, Hebrew, Latin, and Castilian traditions that have received a great deal of attention, the wisdom-literature production in Judeo-Arabic has been neglected in recent scholarship. The following pages present the Kitāb maḥāsin al-’ādāb (The Book of Excellent Conduct), a Judeo-Arabic sapiential work written in the second half of the fifteenth century, which is an adaptation or a shorter translation of a Hebrew work, Mishlei he-‘arav (The Sayings of the Arabs), written in the Iberian Peninsula or Provence at the beginning of the thirteenth century. Furthermore, an edition and a translation into English of the prologue and the index of the work are provided.

The paper surveys the state of research of Hebrew syntax from approximately the mid-20th century onward. It indicates the themes which have already received the attention of scholars to varying extents and points out areas of research which deserve the attention of scholars in the future. Among the topics discussed are the syntactic roles of word classes; the main syntactic functions, viz. subject, predicate, object, attribute, and adverbial; syntactic relations, viz. the predicative relation, the attributive relation, and the object/adverbial relation; verb government and valency; grammatical agreement; annexation; clause patterns, parataxis and hypotaxis; verbal moods, copulas and auxiliary verbs, and negation.

Diese ungewöhnliche Zauberschale mit einem hekhalotischen Einschub in aramäisch ist mir in einer deutschen Privatsammlung aufgefallen. Sie wurde bereits in der Sektion für Judaistik des XXVIII. Deutschen Orientalistentages in Bamberg 2001 vorgestellt. Die Keramikschale weist den gängigen Typ mit den folgenden Maßen ø 15,8 x h 6,5 cm auf und verfügt über keine Standfläche. Sie ist von der inneren Bodenmitte bis zur Hälfte in einer spiralförmig verlaufenden zierlichen Quadratschrift1 beschrieben und wird von einem Kreis abgeschlossen, an die sich eine Kartusche mit Text anschließt. Die Schrift ist zum Teil auf einem Drittel stark verblaßt und die innere Mitte wird durch eine Verkrustung überdeckt, so daß der Textanfang nicht auszumachen ist. Der Text selber besteht aus gängigen Beschwörungsformeln mit Nennung des Klientennamen mit einem aramäischen hekhalotisch Einschub, der mit der mehrfach wiederholten Abkürzung des Tetragrammatons (24 x) und dem Schma‘ Israel abgeschlossen wird, gefolgt von der Auflistung der vier Erzengel in der Kartusche

par Agnès Tichit.
—
Agnès Tichit propose ici une grammaire qui, tout en tenant compte de la particularité de l’hébreu biblique vocalisé, sensibilise l’étudiant à l’hébreu moderne non vocalisé, dans le cadre des indications pédagogiques.

Une grammaire pratique
L’accent est mis sur la comparaison entre le verbe régulier et les autres selon un plan systématique basé sur la conjugaison expliquée, les exercices d’application et la liste des verbes requis.

Des exercices variés
Chaque leçon est accompagnée de plusieurs types d’exercices, à partir de versets et passages bibliques, qui facilitent l’apprentissage progressif des verbes, dont la conjugaison diffère de celle du verbe régulier. Le corrigé des exercices est fourni.

Public cible
L’ouvrage s’adresse à des étudiants de niveau intermédiaire, qui peuvent l’utiliser selon l’ordre adopté ou à leur convenance. Les plus avancés peuvent s’y référer sans l’aide d’un enseignant.

Détails et table des matières sur http://www.safran.be/proddetail.php?prod=LCA2

Abstract: The origin of Mishnaic Hebrew and its differences from Biblical Hebrew have been explained in different ways, e.g., in terms of chronological development (MH is later), register (MH is colloquial), or geographic (MH originated elsewhere than in Judea). None of these accounts explain, however, just why MH is different in the way that it is different, especially in the pronounced and drastic simplification of its verbal system vis-a-vis BH.

Recent advances in contact linguistics suggest that MH originated out of a very specific kind of contact with Aramaic, namely, the fairly rapid adult acquisition of Hebrew as a second language by Aramaic speakers, which left the language permanently changed. The most likely historical framework for this contact situation is the expansion of the Jewish state under the Hasmoneans in the second and first centuries BCE.

Przedstawione w książce zagadnienia nawiązują do idei integracji międzykulturowej i budowania wspólnoty poprzez radosny śmiech - zwłaszcza w odniesieniu do fascynującej, choć trudnej przeszłości. Ich podstawą jest komizm zawarty w żydowskich dowcipach i anegdotach o edukacji oraz wspólnota śmiechu i humoru ukształtowana w rozmaitych okolicznościach. W poprzedzającym część antologiczną eseju popularnonaukowym, zostały przedstawione argumenty potwierdzające tezę, że w zróżnicowanym kulturowo środowisku, dowcip i towarzyszący mu śmiech mogą stanowić czynnik dialogu międzykulturowego oraz narzędzie edukacji międzykulturowej. Zamiarem zespołu opracowującego niniejszą książkę była popularyzacja działalności Fundacji dla Uniwersytetu Kazimierza Wielkiego w bydgoskim Fordonie i zachęcenie do współpracy poprzez zainteresowanie wspólnym dziedzictwem kulturowym.

cytowanie: P.P.Grzybowski: Morycek w szkole. Żydowskie dowcipy o edukacji, w dialogu międzykulturowym. Fundacja dla Uniwersytetu Kazimierza Wielkiego, Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Kazimierza Wielkiego, Bydgoszcz 2016, 178 s., ISBN 978-83-927223-0-4 (patronat medialny: Oficyna Wydawnicza Impuls)

słowa kluczowe: śmiech, humor, dowcip, anegdota, edukacja międzykulturowa, dziedzictwo kulturowe, kultura żydowska, Żydzi, edukacja

Steinmann needed to show that the chronogenealogical formula throughout Genesis 5 and 11 ("When A had lived X years, he brought forth B") indicates not when B was born but rather when A performed the causing action that initiated the process that culminated in B's birth. His reply, however, does not even attempt to establish this bedrock premise; he continues to treat it as self-evident. My rejoinder demonstrates that Steinmann has not successfully defended the semantics of causation that underlies his unique case for chronological gaps.

A Guide to Biblical Hebrew Syntax introduces and abridges the syntactical features of the original language of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament. An intermediate-level reference grammar for Biblical Hebrew, it assumes an understanding of elementary phonology and morphology, and it defines and illustrates the fundamental syntactical features of Biblical Hebrew that most intermediate-level readers struggle to master. The volume divides Biblical Hebrew syntax and morphology, into four parts. The first three cover the individual words (nouns, verbs, and particles) with the goal of helping the reader move from morphological and syntactical observations to meaning and significance. The fourth section moves beyond phrase-level phenomena and considers the larger relationships of clauses and sentences. Since publication of the First Edition, research on Biblical Hebrew syntax has substantially evolved. This new edition incorporates these developments through detailed descriptions of grammatical phenomena from a linguistics approach. It retains the labels and terminology used in the First Edition to maintain continuity with the majority of entry-level and more advanced grammars.

מה היה "השלב הסופי" של השואה? האם היו לו קווי מתאר ברורים ומוגדרים? איך הוא נתפס בהשוואה לשלבים אחרים, מוקדמים יותר, של השואה? האם אנשים נוטים לייחס לשלב זה משמעות ייחודית כלשהי? חלקו הראשון של המאמר מנסה לענות על שאלות אלו על–ידי בחינת המתחים שבין נוכחותו של שלב זה בספרות הבדיונית על השואה ובמחקרים ההיסטוריים עליה ובין היעדרו מהם. אני מציע לראות בשלב הסופי את ה"שוליים" של "הסיפור העיקרי" המקובל של השואה. בחלקו השני של המאמר אני מיישם המשגה זו ומזהה שתי דרכים שונות שבהן עדויות של ניצולים מגדירות את "השלב הסופי" במונחים של חוויה, זיכרון ונרטיב, ושואל איזה תיקוף
חדש של השואה אפשר להפיק מנקודות המבט של הניצולים.

Throughout the nineteenth century, Maskilic journals increased their publication of anti-Hasidic satires. From the eighteen-sixties onward, this literature came primarily as a response to the revival in the publishing of Hasidic hagiography and to the spread of Hasidism into new territory. To this point, no complete review or even general survey has been performed on this extensive polemical literature, despite the fact that it has much to teach us about Hasidism and the Haskalah in those years. We are not speaking of an insignificant bibliographical lacuna, but of a disregard for an entire field of research which would shed light not only on a forgotten chapter of modern Hebrew and Yiddish literature but also on an important chapter in the relationships between Maskilim and Hasidim in that period and the genesis and development of the different streams of Hasidism. This Maskilic literature intended to do more than eradicate Hasidism; it aimed to strengthen the self-consciousness of the individual Maskilim who found themselves alone in Hasidic territory. Paradoxically, the literature documented the very movement it intended to eradicate from the world. The distorted reflection displayed in the anti-Hasidic literature does more than present a caricature of its subject -- it conceals hitherto unknown elements about the nature and development of the Hasidic movement. The present article deals with one such case, a satire on Bratslav Hasidism from 1863, which has at its core a Maskilic satirical text written by Yehiel Meller on pilgrimage to the grave of R. Nahman of Bratslav in Uman.





כתבי עת של משכילים לאורך המאה התשע עשרה הרבו לפרסם סאטירות בגנותה של החסידות. משנות הששים ואילך באה ספרות זו בעיקר כתגובה להתעוררות הדפסת ספרות השבחים החסידית ולהתפשטות החסידות במרחבים חדשים. לא קיימת עד עתה סקירה שלימה, ואף לא מיפוי כללי, של אותה ספרות פולמוסית ענפה, על אף שיש בה ללמד הרבה על דרכי החסידות וההשכלה באותן שנים.  לא מדובר רק בחסרון ביבליוגרפי שאין לו משמעות, אלא בהתעלמות משדה מחקר רב עניין שעשוי להאיר לא רק על פרק נשכח בספרות עברית ויידיש החדשה אלא גם על פרק חשוב ביחסים בין משכילים לחסידים באותה תקופה, ועל דרכי צמיחתם, פיצולם והתפתחותם של זרמים שונים בחסידות. הייתה זו ספרות שיותר מאשר נועדה לבער את החסידות נועדה לחזק את תודעתם העצמית של המשכילים הבודדים במרחבים החסידיים; ספרות שבאופן פרדוקסלי תיעדה תנועה אותה חפצו לבער מן העולם. הבבואה המעוותת בה התהדרה הסאטירה האנטי חסידית לא רק הציגה דימוי – אלא טומנת בחובה הצבעה על אלמנטים חדשים ועל התפתחויות בחסידות. במקרה אחד ממין זה הנוגע לחסידות ברסלב בשנות השישים של המאה התשע עשרה עוסק המאמר. שלפנינו - שעיקרו מהדורה של טקסט משכילי שכתב יחיאל מלר - בשנת 1863 - על העלייה לקבר ר' נחמן מברסלב באומן
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This was the first-ever article to describe and analyze the possibility of a One-State Solution for Palestine/Israel from a Mizrahi positionality both in the Hebrew original and the English translation. Its composition -- like all of Lavie's writing about the Mizrahi feminist struggle in the context of the Question of Palestine -- has been fraught with all manner of relentless campaigns by those elements in academia that
would rather have Lavie and her research disappear. Needless to say that shortly after this article saw print in the Hebrew original in 2008 its analysis of the possibility for a one state solution for the Israel/Palestine conflict was appropriated and published without proper quotation or citation.

This article explores the career of Jacob Behrman (1921–2012) and the growth of Behrman House from a small Jewish bookseller to the leading publisher of Jewish religious school textbooks. Behrman’s success owed in part to his ability to appeal to the vast center, to gauge correctly his consumers’ needs and reflect their outlook and values, to eschew partisan- ship and play down ideological differences, and to swim with the tide. In addition, I make the case that Behrman House elevated the field of Jewish education by raising the quality of Jewish textbooks, and that through its ascendency played a role in redefining the goals of Jewish education and its undergirding ideological thrust. Behrman was not driven by a single model of Jewish education or a monolithic vision for the Jewish community, but rather, by business exigencies and a connection to Jewish peoplehood and culture.