The teaching and research in folklore at the Hebrew University in Israel, as in many American universities, preceded the formal establishment of a folklore department. Most of these activities were carried out by members of the Institute of Jewish Studies. The present collection of twelve essays represents, as it purports to do, the scholarly position of Jewish folk-literature at the Hebrew Uni...

a doctrine which has played a significant role in the beliefs of the jews, the christians and the moslems is the issue of the garden of eden and the renowned tree in it (one tree in islam, and two trees in the judaism and christianity, i.e. the tree of life and the tree of knowledge). this essay deals with a comparative study of the forbidden tree in judaism and islam, and for this sake we have...

Europe holds a unique status in Jewish history. For centuries, it played host to the intellectual heart of Jewish life, and provided the backdrop for many of the greatest Jewish cultural developments in the realms of Jewish art, music and literature. It was the cradle of the Enlightenment, the continent which produced the philosophies of Voltaire, Rousseau, Kant, Descartes and Locke, and the re...

When book selectors, book award judges, and reviewers seek to identify excellence in Jewish children’s literature, they must look beyond the accepted criteria for literary and artistic quality. This article discusses that criteria and focuses on the special elements that contribute to excellence in the Jewish content of books for children and teens.

This paper surveys classical Jewish texts--from the Hebrew Bible through Medieval codes--regarding the concept and practice of Bikkur Holim, literally, "the sick visit." How does this literature understand this ethical, religious act; who are the practitioners; what are their objectives? Although the Hebrew Bible does not contain a biblical precedent or legal mandate for Bikkur Holim, various c...

Objective Canavan disease (CD) is a type of vacuolating leukodystrophy with autosomal recessive inheritance. Aspartoacylase deficiency results in decrease of myelin biosynthesis, dysmyelination and brain edema. Although CD is a very common in Ashkenazi Jews patients, several cases have been reported from non-Jewish population. This report is based on a homozygous C.202G>A mutation in the ASPA g...

______________________________________________________ Edward Reichman is an Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine and Associate Professor of Philosophy and History of Medicine at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine (AECOM) of Yeshiva University, where he teaches Jewish medical ethics. He received his rabbinic ordination from the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary of Yeshiva Univ...

______________________________________________________ Edward Reichman is an Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine and Associate Professor of Philosophy and History of Medicine at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine (AECOM) of Yeshiva University, where he teaches Jewish medical ethics. He received his rabbinic ordination from the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary of Yeshiva Univ...

this article exposes an analysis of the zoroastrian persian calendar in a 12th century hebrew book on the jewish calendar (sefer ha-‘ibbūr). the hebrew treatise was composed by the polymath abraham bar ḥiyya, probably in northern france. bar ḥiyya depicts the structure of the zoroastrian persian calendar, its months and some of its festivals. he then expounds on calendrical algorithms which ena...

Kosher food properly prepared according Jewish dietary law has become one of the biggest trends in the food service industry. The demand for Kosher food markedly increased in recent years, especially in non-Jewish community. To examine the intention of nonJewish consumers in purchasing Kosher food, this study investigated underlying factors influencing a such behavior from three aspects, namely...