Product Description: This volume presents the most important portions of Erwin Goodenough's classic thirteen-volume work, a magisterial attempt to encompass human spiritual history in general through the study of Jewish symbols in particular. Revealing that the Jewish religion of the period was much more varied and complex than the extant Talmudic literature would lead us to believe, Goodenough offered evidence for the existence of a Hellenistic-Jewish mystic mythology far closer to the Qabbalah than to rabbinical Judaism...read more

The Judaism that is defined by its canonical writings (the Hebrew Bible, Mishnah, Talmuds, and Midrash) tells the story of how hope overcomes despair. Neusner explores the way rabbinic Judaism has responded to social, cultural, and political crises by rethinking historical, received paradigms of piety and practice—and finding in them relevant, useful truth for the current situation. When faced with acute and catastrophic events, the Rabbinic sages explored anew the received paradigms and truth of their faith and discovered in them truth that is both continuous with the past and responsive to the contemporary unanticipated crisis. Neusner offers a broad thesis, theological at its core: when defeat turns to despair, Judaism comes to a turning point. And with the response to despair, in an act of stubborn affirmation, Judaism is transformed.

Product Description: Twenty-two essays, written by top scholars in the fields of early Christianity and Judaism, focus on methodological issues, earliest Christianity in its Judaic setting, Gospel studies, and history and meaning in later Christianity...read more

This second volume of a two-part project on the Mishnah displays a broad selection of approaches to the study of the Mishnah in the contemporary academy. The work derives from Israel, North America, and Europe and shows the intellectual vitality of scholarship in all three centers of learning. What these articles show in diverse ways is that the Mishnah forms a critical focus of the study of Judaism. The authors of these studies represent the best of contemporary scholarship on the Mishnah. Because of the many viewpoints included here, this is the most representative selection of contemporary Mishnah-study available in any collection in a Western language.

Product Description: This book introduces Midrash both in general and through many examples of the kinds of Midrash that flourished among ancient Judaism. Neusner, as a preeminent authority on the subject, lays special emphasis upon the exegesis of Scripture produced by the Judaism of the dual Torah, oral and written...read more

About the Contributor(s): Jacob Neusner is Research Professor of Religion and Theology at Bard College and Senior Fellow of the Institute of Advanced Theology at Bard. He has published more than 900 books and unnumbered articles, both scholarly and academic and popular and journalistic, and is the most published humanities scholar in the world. He has been awarded nine honorary degrees, including seven U.S. and European honorary doctorates. He received his AB from Harvard College in 1953, his PhD from Columbia University and Union Theological Seminary in 1961, and rabbinical ordination and the degree of Master of Hebrew Letters from the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in 1960. Neusner is editor of the Encyclopedia of Judaism (Brill, 1999. I-III) and its Supplements; Chair of the Editorial Board of The Review of Rabbinic Judaism, and Editor in Chief of The Brill Reference Library of Judaism, both published by E. J. Brill, Leiden, The Netherlands. He is editor of Studies in Judaism, University Press of America. Neusner resides with his wife in Rhinebeck, New York. They have a daughter, three sons and three daughters-in-law, six granddaughters and two grandsons.

Among the world's religions, Christianity and Judaism are the most symmetrical. But in our day of religious tolerance, a tendency to overlook the vital differences between the two religions in the name of good will can undermine constructive Jewish-Christian dialogue. In this book, Bruce D. Chilton describes early Christian thought and Jacob Neusner describes early Judaic thought on fundamental issues such as creation and human nature, Christ and Torah, sin and atonement, and eschatology. At the end of each chapter, each assesses the other's perspective, and a final chapter explains why the authors believe theological confrontation--not just comparison--defines the task of interfaith dialogue today.

Product Description: The authors seek to identify the recurrent tensions, the blatant points of emphasis, the recurring indications of conflict and polemic. Framing the issue of the disposition of the Scriptural heritage in broad terms, they describe what characterizes the Gospels and the Mishnah, the letters of Paul and the Tosefta...read more

Product Description: This collection of seven insightful essays draws on research completed in 2010. The book systematically analyzes and compares Judaism and includes commentaries on the current state of the academic study of Judaism.

Product Description: The Talmud is a confusing piece of writing. It begins no where and ends no where but it does not move in a circle. It is written in several languages and follows rules that in certain circumstances trigger the use of one language over others...read more

Product Description: The Prophets of Scripture are subverted by the Rabbis of the Talmud and Midrash. In the Rabbinic canon, the Prophets are represented as a miscellaneous mass of proof-texts, made up of one clause or sentence at a time. The Scripture's prophetic writings cited in clauses and phrases in the Rabbinic canon lose their integrity and cease to speak in fully coherent paragraphs and chapters...read more

The Talmud of Babylonia (a.k.a., the Bavli, or Babylonian Talmud), is a sustained commentary on the written and oral law of Israel. Compiled between 500–600 C.E., it offers a magnificent record of how Jewish scholars preserved a humane and enduring civilization. Representing the primary document of rabbinic Judaism, it throws considerable light on the New Testament as well. This monumental English translation was completed nearly a decade ago— but was extraordinarily expensive and difficult to find. Now all 37 Talmudic tractates are available in an affordable CD ROM, featuring commentary and new introductions by Jacob Neusner. Features • Presented in an analytical format that makes logical units easier to follow • Mishnah passages are set in bold type • Passages translated from Aramaic are set in italics • About the Talmud The Hebrew Scriptures contain many hundreds of laws both religious and civil. They concern the Temple (in Exodus), the priesthood (in Leviticus), the Temple offerings and other rites (in Numbers), and the social order of Israel (in Deuteronomy). These may rightly be called the written law (Torah). The oral law is the extension of these precepts to cover all of life and its contingencies. The oral law (or Mishnah) was written down by rabbinic sages about 200 C.E. With the Talmud, Jewish sages systematized the laws in Scripture together with those of the oral tradition. While the Mishnah records rules governing the conduct of the holy life of Israel, the Talmud concerns itself with the details of the Mishnah. Israel’s oral law found its definitive expression in the Talmud.

The Talmud of Babylonia (a.k.a., the Bavli, or Babylonian Talmud), is a sustained commentary on the written and oral law of Israel. Compiled between 500–600 C.E., it offers a magnificent record of how Jewish scholars preserved a humane and enduring civilization. Representing the primary document of rabbinic Judaism, it throws considerable light on the New Testament as well. This monumental English translation was completed nearly a decade ago— but was extraordinarily expensive and difficult to find. Now all 37 Talmudic tractates are available in an affordable 22-volume reprint. Featuring commentary and new introductions by Jacob Neusner, it also includes the full content on CD-ROM. Features • Presented in an analytical format that makes logical units easier to follow • Mishnah passages are set in bold type • Passages translated from Aramaic are set in italics • 22 attractive hardcover volumes • Includes the full set on CD-ROM for effortless searching and research About the Talmud The Hebrew Scriptures contain many hundreds of laws both religious and civil. They concern the Temple (in Exodus), the priesthood (in Leviticus), the Temple offerings and other rites (in Numbers), and the social order of Israel (in Deuteronomy). These may rightly be called the written law (Torah). The oral law is the extension of these precepts to cover all of life and its contingencies. The oral law (or Mishnah) was written down by rabbinic sages about 200 C.E. With the Talmud, Jewish sages systematized the laws in Scripture together with those of the oral tradition. While the Mishnah records rules governing the conduct of the holy life of Israel, the Talmud concerns itself with the details of the Mishnah. Israel’s oral law found its definitive expression in the Talmud.