מאיר בר-אילן
Meir Bar-Ilan began his academic career as a student at Bar-Ilan University (named after his late grandfather) in 1976 and became a Professor of Jewish Studies in 2000. At Bar-Ilan University, he lectured on all aspects of Jewish Studies and specialized in matters concerning the Jewish people in Antiquity, i.e., during Biblical and Talmudic periods. Dr. Bar-Ilan was a Visiting Scholar at Hebrew University (1983), Harvard University (1989), and Vienna University (2001). He was chair of the Talmud department at Bar-Ilan University (2008-9).
Bar-Ilan is an editorial member of two journals: JSIJ and Moreshet Israel.
Dr. Bar-Ilan has spoken and conducted seminars on Jewish Studies, including Parashat-Shavua, Bible, Pseudepigrapha, Talmud, Jewish liturgy, Ancient Hebrew poetry, Jewish society in Antiquity (gender, demography, infant mortality, childhood), as well as literacy, Pseudepigrapha, mystics, magic, medicine, astronomy, calendar, astrology, mathematics, and numerology. He has published several books and articles and has reviewed other experts’ research on such topics.
Meir Bar-Ilan, born in New York, New York, 1951; Bar-Ilan University (B.A., cum laude, 1979, significant in Jewish History and Talmud; Ph.D. of Jewish History, 1983).
He is a veteran of two wars (1973 and 1982) and was severely wounded in Lebanon.
Meir is married to Miriam, and they have five children and 20 grandchildren.
Address: Rehovoth, Israel
Bar-Ilan is an editorial member of two journals: JSIJ and Moreshet Israel.
Dr. Bar-Ilan has spoken and conducted seminars on Jewish Studies, including Parashat-Shavua, Bible, Pseudepigrapha, Talmud, Jewish liturgy, Ancient Hebrew poetry, Jewish society in Antiquity (gender, demography, infant mortality, childhood), as well as literacy, Pseudepigrapha, mystics, magic, medicine, astronomy, calendar, astrology, mathematics, and numerology. He has published several books and articles and has reviewed other experts’ research on such topics.
Meir Bar-Ilan, born in New York, New York, 1951; Bar-Ilan University (B.A., cum laude, 1979, significant in Jewish History and Talmud; Ph.D. of Jewish History, 1983).
He is a veteran of two wars (1973 and 1982) and was severely wounded in Lebanon.
Meir is married to Miriam, and they have five children and 20 grandchildren.
Address: Rehovoth, Israel
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Papers by מאיר בר-אילן
Meir Bar-Ilan
Several sources from Rabbinic and Hekhalot literature are examined to clarify how and why all sorts of divine names were written on the body (sphragis), a magic and mystic practice that was customary among Jews of various beliefs in the Land of Israel in late Antiquity.
The Biblical background of these phenomena is discussed, and Tannaitic sources that have not been studied in this aspect are introduced. These Halakhot exemplify the custom of putting seals with the name of God on the body. Ma'ase Merkava and other extracts from the Hekhalot and late Midrashic literature show that seals were inscribed on the body and were not just referred to as metaphors. This clarifies the magic apotropaic aim of this practice and the use of the seal as a 'password' into the Heavenly palaces and a shield on earth. The phenomenological practice and the application of the custom during the first centuries C.E. is explained.
Meir Bar-Ilan
The paper begins with a brief description of Sefer Hayashar, a popular book on the one hand and enigmatic on the other. It seeks to track the source of a story embedded in Joseph and his brother's narrative about the wolf that presumably devoured Joseph. Jacob interrogates the wolf but claims he has never eaten a human, definitely not Joseph.
This story appears not in Sefer Hayashar only but also in 'The Stories of the Prophets' by al-Kisa'i and al-Tha‘labī. The idea of dialogue between Man and animal is discussed, as well as the assumed divine prohibition on animals not to eat Man, especially prophets. More data is brought to enhance Arabic influence on Sefer Hayashar by drawing attention to another short story about Zuleika, who visits Joseph at the prison. This argument comes from some Islamic art pieces.
It is argued that Sefer Hayashar was composed in Southern Italy around the year 1000, and its author was rooted in three cultures: Byzantine, Arabic, and Jewish.
In a comparative analysis of several societies around the world in the last 120 years, the illiteracy rate is shown to have been correlated with the rate of agriculture, urbanization, and demographical factors such as infant mortality and life expectancy. Taking this data background leads one to surmise that the literacy rate of the Jewish people after the destruction of the Temple was 1.5%, if not lower.
Meir Bar-Ilan
This study aims to give a new explanation of a rite that has been considered incomprehensible until now: the rite of the red heifer. In antiquity and especially in the modern study of religion, all explanations are rooted in some kind of parallelism. However, the rite of the red heifer has almost no parallel, either in Biblical text or any other ancient rite. Therefore, until now, the rite of the red heifer has been understood as the locus classicus for a Biblical rite that has no reason.
The study begins with a methodological discussion concerning the decoding of the ritual rather than the text and maintains that Biblical ritual is symbolic; the concept that ritual is meaningless is rejected. While discussing the ritual, the myth behind it is presented as purity and defilement; this duality is the source of the ritual. This rite aims to solve the problems that arise from touching the dead; the critical issue is how it resolves them. There are several explanations for the meaning of impurity (known in many cultures), and it is assumed that impurity in some way reflects damage to one's vitality, similar to a modern suspicion of contamination. Thus, the rite of the red heifer aims to recover the loss of vitality. It is a rite of passage, an incorporation back into society, and one that sustains that reintegration.
The most bizarre issue in the rite is (Num 19:5): 'And the heifer shall be burned in his sight, its skin, its flesh, and its blood, with its dung, shall be burned' a process unlike that used for any other sacrifice, which is burned without their blood and their dung. It is assumed that this type of burning, together with the rule to put the ashes on 'deposit' (literally: to be kept), was meant to conserve all the elements of the heifer, her vitality, and fertility alike. Just as in modern times, coffee is roasted to preserve its qualities until it comes into contact with water, so the 'living waters' poured on the ashes revived the vitality of the heifer. Then, the water with the ashes was sprinkled on the impure, and thus, the loss of vitality was compensated for, and the impure was revitalized with the vitality of the red heifer and became pure.
Particular discussion is dedicated to explaining how the law was written.
Historical Context: Internal armed struggles are every day in the history of many nations, but Jewish historiography has primarily ignored such conflicts among Jews, focusing instead on external threats and disasters.
Biblical Evidence: Despite the lack of attention in modern scholarship, the Hebrew Bible contains numerous accounts of internal conflicts among Israelites, including:
Pre-Monarchial Period: Stories of fratricide and inter-tribal warfare, such as Cain and Abel, Esau and Jacob, and the near-extermination of the tribe of Benjamin.
Monarchial Age: Conflicts involving kings like Saul, David, and Abimelech, as well as wars between the kingdoms of Israel and Judah.
Types of Wars: The document categorizes the wars between Israel and Judah into three types:
Battlefield Wars: Major battles with significant casualties, such as Abijah and Jeroboam, Amaziah and Jehoash, and Pekah and Ahaz.
Sporadic Clashes: Continuous but less detailed conflicts, like Rehoboam, Jeroboam, and Asa and Baasa.
Raids for No Reason: Smaller, often unprovoked raids motivated by plunder, exemplified by the story of Amaziah's mercenaries.
Historiographical Issues: The document suggests that the neglect of internecine wars in Jewish historiography may be due to a preference for narratives that promote national unity and avoid politically sensitive topics.
Call for Further Study: The author advocates for more research into this aspect of Jewish history to provide a more balanced and comprehensive understanding of ancient Israelite society.
Overall, the document emphasizes the need to acknowledge and study the internal conflicts within Biblical Israel to gain a fuller picture of its history.
The document argues that Prester John was historically located in India, specifically Malabar in southern India, rather than Ethiopia. This conclusion is supported by references in Prester John's Hebrew letters to Indian locations, customs, and flora, such as Kalicut and pepper cultivation, as well as the burial of St. Thomas in India.
The letters of Prester John share motifs with the Romance of Alexander, indicating a literary relationship. Both stories involve exotic adventures and were translated into Hebrew in medieval Europe.
The letters' geographical origin is traced to Italy, where they were translated and spread among Italian Jews. The letters reflect a connection between certain Popes and Christians in India, who were familiar with Jews living there, known later as the Jews of Cochin.
The document concludes that the kingdom of Prester John should be identified with India, and the confusion with Ethiopia arose from medieval geographical misunderstandings and the presence of black Christians in both regions.
Historical Context: Johann G. Eichhorn first brought the book to attention in the late 18th century. It is based on extracts from a Hebrew book in Cochin, translated into multiple languages.
Scholarly Interest: Naphtali Herz Wessely translated and commented on the material, sparking interest in the Jewish community and among scholars.
Manuscript Details: Reverend Claudius Buchanan purchased the manuscript in 1806. S. Z. Schechter and I. Abrahams later examined it, providing descriptions and partial publications of the text.
Content and Significance: The book includes prophecies and writings attributed to biblical figures like Gad, Nathan, Shemaiah, and Ahijah that were considered lost. It also contains unique elements like the NUN verse of Psalm 145.
Publication History: The text has been published in various forms and languages, including German, Hebrew, and English, but has often been overlooked or considered legendary.
Future Research: The document emphasizes the need for further study to understand the significance, date, and geographical source of "The Words of Gad the Seer."
The document concludes with a call to continue exploring and publishing these ancient texts to contribute to studying pseudepigrapha literature.
Theological Perspective on Wealth: The study focuses on how the Rabbis understood and portrayed wealth, rather than providing a historical account.
Korah's Wealth:
Traditional Explanation: Oral traditions were accepted as ancient truths, merging with biblical stories without recognizing their different origins.
Sophisticated Explanation: Rabbi Baruch Halevi Epstein suggested that the Rabbis found hints in the biblical text to justify their traditions, such as Korah's wealth implied in the Bible.
Historical-Critical Explanation: Korah's wealth and rebellion were used to reflect contemporary issues, portraying him as a heretic and wealthy individual who opposed rabbinic authority.
Moses' Wealth:
Rabbinic Legends: Moses was depicted as rich due to divine blessings or by taking advantage of his leadership position.
Contemporary Reflection: This portrayal was likely a veiled criticism of R. Judah the Patriarch, a wealthy and influential rabbi, suggesting that Moses' wealth symbolized the wealth and potential corruption of contemporary leaders.
Purpose of Wealth Attribution: The Rabbis used these depictions to criticize unethical behavior and to reflect on their own experiences and societal issues, showing that wealth could lead to corruption and rebellion against religious authority.
Conclusion: The legends about Korah and Moses being rich were not based on historical facts but were creative commentaries reflecting the Rabbis' views on wealth, heresy, and leadership in their times.
The paper illustrates how the Rabbis reshaped biblical figures to address contemporary issues and convey moral lessons about wealth and authority.
The text's opponents are inferred to be Christians based on symbolic language and theological disputes. The author uses terms like Edom and Kittim to refer to Rome and Christianity, reflecting early Jewish-Christian polemics. The text emphasizes Israel as the chosen people, countering Christian claims of divine favor.
The manuscript's significance lies in its unique blend of biblical rewriting and apocalyptic literature, offering insights into non-Rabbinic Jewish thought in Antiquity. Further studies are expected to provide more precise dating and a deeper understanding of its historical context.
Key points include:
Historical Evidence: Talmudic and post-Talmudic texts reveal instances of Jews praying to angels and celestial bodies despite prohibitions.
Examples of Prayers: Specific prayers, such as those in the Selihot and Ne‘illah services, invoke angels to present prayers to God.
Rabbinic Opposition: Some authorities opposed this practice, emphasizing direct prayer to God.
Human Intermediaries: Jews also sought the intercession of saintly individuals, both living and dead, including prophets and patriarchs.
Cultural Persistence: Praying to intermediaries was widespread and persisted despite theological objections, reflecting a blend of popular and elite religious practices.
The document highlights a complex interplay between official religious teachings and popular devotional practices in early Jewish history.
Meir Bar-Ilan
Several sources from Rabbinic and Hekhalot literature are examined to clarify how and why all sorts of divine names were written on the body (sphragis), a magic and mystic practice that was customary among Jews of various beliefs in the Land of Israel in late Antiquity.
The Biblical background of these phenomena is discussed, and Tannaitic sources that have not been studied in this aspect are introduced. These Halakhot exemplify the custom of putting seals with the name of God on the body. Ma'ase Merkava and other extracts from the Hekhalot and late Midrashic literature show that seals were inscribed on the body and were not just referred to as metaphors. This clarifies the magic apotropaic aim of this practice and the use of the seal as a 'password' into the Heavenly palaces and a shield on earth. The phenomenological practice and the application of the custom during the first centuries C.E. is explained.
Meir Bar-Ilan
The paper begins with a brief description of Sefer Hayashar, a popular book on the one hand and enigmatic on the other. It seeks to track the source of a story embedded in Joseph and his brother's narrative about the wolf that presumably devoured Joseph. Jacob interrogates the wolf but claims he has never eaten a human, definitely not Joseph.
This story appears not in Sefer Hayashar only but also in 'The Stories of the Prophets' by al-Kisa'i and al-Tha‘labī. The idea of dialogue between Man and animal is discussed, as well as the assumed divine prohibition on animals not to eat Man, especially prophets. More data is brought to enhance Arabic influence on Sefer Hayashar by drawing attention to another short story about Zuleika, who visits Joseph at the prison. This argument comes from some Islamic art pieces.
It is argued that Sefer Hayashar was composed in Southern Italy around the year 1000, and its author was rooted in three cultures: Byzantine, Arabic, and Jewish.
In a comparative analysis of several societies around the world in the last 120 years, the illiteracy rate is shown to have been correlated with the rate of agriculture, urbanization, and demographical factors such as infant mortality and life expectancy. Taking this data background leads one to surmise that the literacy rate of the Jewish people after the destruction of the Temple was 1.5%, if not lower.
Meir Bar-Ilan
This study aims to give a new explanation of a rite that has been considered incomprehensible until now: the rite of the red heifer. In antiquity and especially in the modern study of religion, all explanations are rooted in some kind of parallelism. However, the rite of the red heifer has almost no parallel, either in Biblical text or any other ancient rite. Therefore, until now, the rite of the red heifer has been understood as the locus classicus for a Biblical rite that has no reason.
The study begins with a methodological discussion concerning the decoding of the ritual rather than the text and maintains that Biblical ritual is symbolic; the concept that ritual is meaningless is rejected. While discussing the ritual, the myth behind it is presented as purity and defilement; this duality is the source of the ritual. This rite aims to solve the problems that arise from touching the dead; the critical issue is how it resolves them. There are several explanations for the meaning of impurity (known in many cultures), and it is assumed that impurity in some way reflects damage to one's vitality, similar to a modern suspicion of contamination. Thus, the rite of the red heifer aims to recover the loss of vitality. It is a rite of passage, an incorporation back into society, and one that sustains that reintegration.
The most bizarre issue in the rite is (Num 19:5): 'And the heifer shall be burned in his sight, its skin, its flesh, and its blood, with its dung, shall be burned' a process unlike that used for any other sacrifice, which is burned without their blood and their dung. It is assumed that this type of burning, together with the rule to put the ashes on 'deposit' (literally: to be kept), was meant to conserve all the elements of the heifer, her vitality, and fertility alike. Just as in modern times, coffee is roasted to preserve its qualities until it comes into contact with water, so the 'living waters' poured on the ashes revived the vitality of the heifer. Then, the water with the ashes was sprinkled on the impure, and thus, the loss of vitality was compensated for, and the impure was revitalized with the vitality of the red heifer and became pure.
Particular discussion is dedicated to explaining how the law was written.
Historical Context: Internal armed struggles are every day in the history of many nations, but Jewish historiography has primarily ignored such conflicts among Jews, focusing instead on external threats and disasters.
Biblical Evidence: Despite the lack of attention in modern scholarship, the Hebrew Bible contains numerous accounts of internal conflicts among Israelites, including:
Pre-Monarchial Period: Stories of fratricide and inter-tribal warfare, such as Cain and Abel, Esau and Jacob, and the near-extermination of the tribe of Benjamin.
Monarchial Age: Conflicts involving kings like Saul, David, and Abimelech, as well as wars between the kingdoms of Israel and Judah.
Types of Wars: The document categorizes the wars between Israel and Judah into three types:
Battlefield Wars: Major battles with significant casualties, such as Abijah and Jeroboam, Amaziah and Jehoash, and Pekah and Ahaz.
Sporadic Clashes: Continuous but less detailed conflicts, like Rehoboam, Jeroboam, and Asa and Baasa.
Raids for No Reason: Smaller, often unprovoked raids motivated by plunder, exemplified by the story of Amaziah's mercenaries.
Historiographical Issues: The document suggests that the neglect of internecine wars in Jewish historiography may be due to a preference for narratives that promote national unity and avoid politically sensitive topics.
Call for Further Study: The author advocates for more research into this aspect of Jewish history to provide a more balanced and comprehensive understanding of ancient Israelite society.
Overall, the document emphasizes the need to acknowledge and study the internal conflicts within Biblical Israel to gain a fuller picture of its history.
The document argues that Prester John was historically located in India, specifically Malabar in southern India, rather than Ethiopia. This conclusion is supported by references in Prester John's Hebrew letters to Indian locations, customs, and flora, such as Kalicut and pepper cultivation, as well as the burial of St. Thomas in India.
The letters of Prester John share motifs with the Romance of Alexander, indicating a literary relationship. Both stories involve exotic adventures and were translated into Hebrew in medieval Europe.
The letters' geographical origin is traced to Italy, where they were translated and spread among Italian Jews. The letters reflect a connection between certain Popes and Christians in India, who were familiar with Jews living there, known later as the Jews of Cochin.
The document concludes that the kingdom of Prester John should be identified with India, and the confusion with Ethiopia arose from medieval geographical misunderstandings and the presence of black Christians in both regions.
Historical Context: Johann G. Eichhorn first brought the book to attention in the late 18th century. It is based on extracts from a Hebrew book in Cochin, translated into multiple languages.
Scholarly Interest: Naphtali Herz Wessely translated and commented on the material, sparking interest in the Jewish community and among scholars.
Manuscript Details: Reverend Claudius Buchanan purchased the manuscript in 1806. S. Z. Schechter and I. Abrahams later examined it, providing descriptions and partial publications of the text.
Content and Significance: The book includes prophecies and writings attributed to biblical figures like Gad, Nathan, Shemaiah, and Ahijah that were considered lost. It also contains unique elements like the NUN verse of Psalm 145.
Publication History: The text has been published in various forms and languages, including German, Hebrew, and English, but has often been overlooked or considered legendary.
Future Research: The document emphasizes the need for further study to understand the significance, date, and geographical source of "The Words of Gad the Seer."
The document concludes with a call to continue exploring and publishing these ancient texts to contribute to studying pseudepigrapha literature.
Theological Perspective on Wealth: The study focuses on how the Rabbis understood and portrayed wealth, rather than providing a historical account.
Korah's Wealth:
Traditional Explanation: Oral traditions were accepted as ancient truths, merging with biblical stories without recognizing their different origins.
Sophisticated Explanation: Rabbi Baruch Halevi Epstein suggested that the Rabbis found hints in the biblical text to justify their traditions, such as Korah's wealth implied in the Bible.
Historical-Critical Explanation: Korah's wealth and rebellion were used to reflect contemporary issues, portraying him as a heretic and wealthy individual who opposed rabbinic authority.
Moses' Wealth:
Rabbinic Legends: Moses was depicted as rich due to divine blessings or by taking advantage of his leadership position.
Contemporary Reflection: This portrayal was likely a veiled criticism of R. Judah the Patriarch, a wealthy and influential rabbi, suggesting that Moses' wealth symbolized the wealth and potential corruption of contemporary leaders.
Purpose of Wealth Attribution: The Rabbis used these depictions to criticize unethical behavior and to reflect on their own experiences and societal issues, showing that wealth could lead to corruption and rebellion against religious authority.
Conclusion: The legends about Korah and Moses being rich were not based on historical facts but were creative commentaries reflecting the Rabbis' views on wealth, heresy, and leadership in their times.
The paper illustrates how the Rabbis reshaped biblical figures to address contemporary issues and convey moral lessons about wealth and authority.
The text's opponents are inferred to be Christians based on symbolic language and theological disputes. The author uses terms like Edom and Kittim to refer to Rome and Christianity, reflecting early Jewish-Christian polemics. The text emphasizes Israel as the chosen people, countering Christian claims of divine favor.
The manuscript's significance lies in its unique blend of biblical rewriting and apocalyptic literature, offering insights into non-Rabbinic Jewish thought in Antiquity. Further studies are expected to provide more precise dating and a deeper understanding of its historical context.
Key points include:
Historical Evidence: Talmudic and post-Talmudic texts reveal instances of Jews praying to angels and celestial bodies despite prohibitions.
Examples of Prayers: Specific prayers, such as those in the Selihot and Ne‘illah services, invoke angels to present prayers to God.
Rabbinic Opposition: Some authorities opposed this practice, emphasizing direct prayer to God.
Human Intermediaries: Jews also sought the intercession of saintly individuals, both living and dead, including prophets and patriarchs.
Cultural Persistence: Praying to intermediaries was widespread and persisted despite theological objections, reflecting a blend of popular and elite religious practices.
The document highlights a complex interplay between official religious teachings and popular devotional practices in early Jewish history.
Meir Bar-Ilan
In Aleph, 15.1 (2015), pp. 178-180, my book was harshly criticized by Anonymous, though according to the publisher's website, this review was written by the chief editor of Aleph: G. Freudenthal; this paper answers his accusations.
1. Freudenthal claims I should have read and mentioned R. Leicht's book Astrologumena Judaica (Tübingen, 2006), though this book appeared several years after my book was in press, and it investigates different times and sources.
2. After Freudenthal confesses that 'the problems connected with Sefer Yesirah (Book of Creation) are notoriously complex and most of them are well outside his competence, he dares to criticize a book that some 80% of it is beyond his ability, and the other 20% are Talmudic sources that definitely beyond the scope of his expertise.
3. Freudenthal describes my work as characterizing the author of the Book of Creation as a mathematician after he shows his ability in factorial calculations, and the reader is supposed to take my work as a non sequitur. However, Freudenthal forgets to tell the reader that my claim stands not only upon the author's knowledge of the factorial but also on three other abilities: his usage of combinatorics, his division of 22 to a series of numbers, and his scientific description of the cube. The problem is not with my logic but instead with Freudenthal’s false description.
4. Freudenthal condemns me for discussing irrelevant issues such as "bombastic" language. However, while ridiculing me, Freudenthal neglects to inform the reader that I followed and investigated G. Scholem's description of the enigmatic language of Book of Creation.
5. Freudenthal accuses me of quoting from a non-academic edition of one of ibn Ezra's books, in an attempt to reveal to the reader negligence in my academic work. However, the reviewer did not mention to the reader that 1) there is no other academic edition of this text; 2) other reputed scholars have quoted from that edition; and 3) the text was brought not to rely on its academic vigor but rather to show the reader the debt of ibn Ezra to
Hippocratic medicine.
6. The author of Book of Creation shows his competence in combinatorics: how many words are in Hebrew, with the conditions that these words have only two different letters and that their position is irrelevant (=231). In my book, I made a conjecture that perhaps the author of the Book of Creation used combinatorics for astronomy and astrology. Freudenthal alleges I didn't prove my claim (as if I did not know). However, ibn Ezra used combinatorics for astral purposes, and our knowledge of the history of the exact sciences is much poorer than one can be sure of.
7. In one of the footnotes, I assumed that al-Matani and al-Batani, mentioned in ibn-Ezra's work, were one person. The reviewer claims I am unaware of M. Steinschneider’s assertion that these were two different people. This correction of the reviewer is his only valid claim. Freudenthal continues to state that this false
assumption shows the value of my entire work. However, the reviewer doesn't tell the reader that this assumption is irrelevant to my study and continues to describe my work in a grotesque mode that is antagonistic to the civil discourse expected in any scholarly journal.
8. Freudenthal claims that I overstate the idea that Astrology in the Book of Creation was a science since, in our era, its standing is well-known. However, a modern paper by Steven M. Wasserstrom is brought wherein the Book of Creation is characterized as a book of the occult.
Freudenthal did his best to discredit my work and thus misleads one who cannot read my Hebrew book by making false accusations. Interestingly enough, nothing in Freudenthal's Gesammelte Schriften has anything in common with my own work, so one wonders what brought him to volunteer a critique and in doing so represent dishonesty in academe.
Freudenthal wrote a deceitful review, a good example of false scholarship.
It is argued that the meaning of ASN here is like in Syriac and Aramaic: amplify or surmounted, and the correct translation is: then the anger of the Lord will be amplified, and His jealousy against that man'.
It is shown that understanding numbers of census in the Torah should be taken cautiously and with a demographical background.
Without such a background anything that said on these numbers is a pseudo-Torah, or pseudo-science.
It is argued that what characterizes a great scholar is his ability to admit he had made a wrong statement, hence, it is recommended to erase it.
From this angle, several sages in the history of the Jewish people are portrayed as making a late confession of their failures. Lieberman even published a booklet of his wrong explanations, marking self-criticism into a new degree.
This is a Hebrew improved version of my paper:
M. Bar-Ilan, ‘Saul Lieberman: The Greatest Sage in Israel’,
M. Lubetski (ed.), Saul Lieberman (1898-1983) Talmudic Scholar and Classicist, Lewiston – Queenston – Lampeter: The Edwin Mellen Press, 2002, pp. 79-87.
The aim of this paper is to discuss the rare situation when there was a famine in the Land of Israel, as occurred once in few decades, together with a famine in Egypt; as occurred once in several centuries, both famines caused by very different causes.
The historical background of the story of Joseph is discussed as well as why people were transferred all over Egypt during the famine (Gen. 47:21). Ancient Egyptian agriculture as well as the consequences of a year without summer are discussed.
Meir Bar-Ilan
The paper aims to explain a modern Hebrew name: Ṣafrir. This is an Aramaic name of a demon that appears several times in the Aramaic Targumim. This demon operates on morning time, similar to other demons that operate during day and nighttime (Psa. 91:6). The demonological background of Ṣafrir is discussed with the help of 'similar' demons such as Shabriri that are mentioned in Babylonian Talmud (e.g. b. Pes. 112b).
Hebrew modern language became secular and Bialik was the first to adopt Ṣafriri as morning winds. In addition, a stress is made on the onomatopoeic background of these names while drawing attention to more onomatopoeic names, especially of animals, that appear in the Bible.
This paper aims to explain the wages Jacob got for his work as a shepherd of the herd of Laban (Genesis 30-31). The deal began as Laban removed all the streaked and spotted animals leaving Jacob white animals only, with a condition that any non-white animal will be Jacob's wages. Several years later all the flock turned spotted and streaked, hence Laban felt cheated, and the reader is confused of how Jacob managed to do it.
Former commentators claimed Jacob had a special trick and J. Felix claimed Jacob knew modern biology.
However, it is claimed that Jacob was successful because shepherdess experience: he separated the herd to small herds and used to eat the "unwanted" white males.
Meir Bar-Ilan
The paper aims to interpret anew the sin of Miriam (Numbers 12), that was inflicted by leprosy that according Jewish tradition was caused as a sin because of slander.
It is argued that Miriam's sin had nothing to do with slander, rather she was a Rebellion. She claimed that Moses have inappropriate marriage with a black woman, hence he cannot be a leader (a king).
The inappropriateness of marriage with a black woman, according the Bible, is that the blacks do not know their genealogy (as in Am.9:7).
This interpretation, in turn, explain the root of the name Miriam that is derived from MRI, that is a rebellious.
Meir Bar-Ilan
In Katharsis 29 (2018) Prof. C. Werman wrote a long book-review that severely criticizes my book Words of Gad the Seer (Rehovot, 2015). The aim of this paper is to answer Werman any of her accusations.
Though Werman is very generous in bestowing me many faults, misdeeds, and several other textual sins it is argued that none of her accusations is sustained. It is shown that Werman was determined to attribute me concepts I never wrote or said and quoted my arguments falsely and misleadingly.
Nonetheless, Werman not only rejects my interpretations, but she makes her own while ignoring the text, either mine or the author of the text, and attributes Words of Gad the Seer to eras and places arbitrarily.
After demonstrating the way Werman mishandles my book it is argued that her paper demonstrates Post-modernism in Humanities where imaginary alternative interpretations are given while condemning based scholarship, which, in turn, leads Humanities astray and causes the crisis in Humanities.
The editors of Katharsis are called to retract Werman's paper.
The paper ends with an appendix: the first chapter of Words of Gad the Seer, to enable everyone to grasp the argumentation and showing how far Werman went to denounce me.
Scientific work means an endless pursuing the truth; one who doesn't follow this rule excludes himself, or: herself, from the scientific community.
This short paper explain the rationale behind casting lots that cause one goat to be sacrificed while the other should be sent to the desert, similar to the two birds of the leper when he is pure.
Originally the priests took the scapegoat to the desert and left him there alive until they discovered that Saracens (Bedouins) ate it, so the priests killed the scapegoat.
The change in the ritual changed the meaning of the whole ceremony.
The number 127 another time in the book of Esther, as is well known, but also in 2 Kings 20, though under disguise (100,000 + 20,000). More important, this number appears in Herodotus (8:1) as the number of the Greek ships in the battle of Salamis.
According to Pythagorean thinking 127 is a perfect number in disguise; Sarah was a perfect woman (in colloquial English, she was 10).
Discussing the fate of prisoners of war during the ages.
While the Biblical idea of the similarity between man and tree is well-known (Deut 20:19), the prophetic idea that the longevity of the people is like (or: depends on) the longevity of trees (Isa 65:22), is much less famous, and this paper is aimed to clarify this idea.
We begin with a question: why there is such a difference between North and South America, why one is rich and the other poor? Why one has the best universities while the other is in a totally different position? The answer is not only different religions, Catholic vs. Protestantism, but also the attitude to nature. In Jewish religion unlike many other religions, a man is not allowed to rape his own wife, hence he is not allowed to abuse Nature, and his goal is that his land will be called 'espoused' (Isa 62:4), not 'raped'.
Zionism's meaning is not only returning the Jewish people to its land but make the land flourish again as well, in accordance with the prophets, hence one is not allowed to ravage or abuse his land. This behavior is mandatory if we want to face the climate changes.
The Biblical story of the plagues of Egypt is world acclaimed. In this short paper there is a rationalistic interpretation of the narrative based on the unique circumstances of Egypt, showing that all disasters began in abrogation of the ecological balance of the Nile that began in short of rains (because of a Vulcanic eruption in the eastern hemisphere.
Thus, few plagues are explained anew (especially AROB as Hawk-moth).
Each 'pair' of plagues was aimed to smite of the Egyptian gods: the first 2 were against water (Hapi), the second pair against earth (Geb), the third pair against air ( Shu), the fourth pair against Moon (=fertility, Osiris/Nfr), and the last pair were aimed against Sun (Re).
This interpretation follows, in a way R. Yehuda ha Levi's interpretation (apud ibn Ezra).
In the review there are three stages: recension, criticism, and new evidence. First, the Dershowitz’s book is characterized concisely by its content, one chapter after another. Second, the book is criticized because of the methodology Dershowitz used: claiming the date of one text (the disputed scroll), while employing too many assumptions and higher criticism concerning another text (Deuteronomy). Moreover, Dershowitz was so confident that texts only expand over the ages that he did not even consider the other possibility, that a text might be abridged. In any event, we must acknowledge that the new edition of the text is Dershowitz's greatest feat in his book.
Third, it is shown that, so far, all the former scholars who discussed the text were unaware of a Post-Biblical custom attested in the Mishna, Baraita and the Palestinian Targumim. In this custom, when Deu 27 was read in public the text was performed in a certain way: out of the Biblical curses, blessings were made up, by 'mirroring' the text, rephrasing to attain a positive out of negative text. For example, 'Cursed be he that dishonoureth his father or his mother' was 'mirrored' into: 'Blessed be he who honors his father or his mother'. Thereupon blessings and curses were read in public. This custom is attested in Rabbinic sources (m. Sot 7:5; b. Sot 37b; p. Sot 7:4, 21c; Palestinian Targumim: attributed to Jonathan, Jerushalmi, and Neophyte, on Deu 27). Though the custom was projected onto the remote past there is no doubt that the Tannaim were aware of it. Moreover, one of the Tannaim was aware of the custom that is attested in the scroll of Shapira and prohibited it.
Hence, it becomes evident that the text under question corresponds with Rabbinic sources, and therefore there is no doubt that the Shapira scroll is from the first century CE or a bit earlier.
The toll number is discussed showing that it conveys numerological thinking (just like in modern time all numbers are suspicious).
The epidemiology research shows that the plague began after people from Judea visited the Phoenician towns of Sidon and Tyre, well-known of their ports with merchandize from "all over the world" (Eze. 27).
It is argued that the Judeans, while visiting remote places, took with them a virus or germ and spread it in Judea. This happened either because a plague just began in those cities (like in the 14th c. black plague), or because the Phoenicians had a herd immunity while the Judeans came from a different immunity background. The line of thought is following Alfred W. Crosby explanation in his acclaimed book: The Columbian Exchange.
Meir Bar-Ilan
This short paper celebrates the fact that, finally, Qumran studies got their home in a Hebrew journal as against all odds. A comment is made on the calendar at Qumran, as well as in the days of King Solomon, while supporting the theory that the Biblical calendar was based on the Sun.
Another comment is made on the Biblical Vorlage according to the author of Letter of Aristeas and that of Rabbi Meir.
This paper was published as:
Meir Bar-Ilan, 'The First Issue of Meghillot Midbar Yehuda', Cathedra, 117 (2005), pp. 151-156 (Hebrew).
Meir Bar-Ilan
M. Sokoloff and Y. Yahalom wrote Shirat Bnei Maarva where some 80 Aramaic Piyyutim are edited, piyyutim that come from the Land of Israel, composed around the 3-6th centuries and were embedded in the Aramaic Targumim that were part of Jewish service in Antiquity.
The review-paper is divided to 5 chapters discussing issues that the editors left almost untouched. 1) Astrology as reflected in the Piyyutim and their affinities to other Jewish and Syrian astrology. 2) Some of the Piyyutim were composed (written?) by women, as is proven from the text itself. 3) The date of the Piyyutim is discussed showing what signifies their date. 4) The geographical origin of the Piyyutim is discussed: how one knows they originated in the Land of Israel. It is argued that we can ascribe some of the Piyyutim to certain locations such as Beit She'an and Ein Gedi. 5) The book appeared under the auspice of the Israel Academy of Sciences, but somehow the book does not reflect it.
About half of the review was not published "due to lack of space" (where some 50 mistranslations are analyzed).
Meir Bar-Ilan
In a voluminous book Mr. Hillel attempts to reevaluate several texts that originated in Cochin, India at the 18th century. According to Hillel, Immanuel Jacob van Dort (1714? – 1761), a Jew who converted to Christianity who visited Cochin at 1755-56, forged the following books: Words of Gad the Seer, Dream of Britain, The Chronicles of the Jews in Cochin, and Epistle of Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai. Moreover, van Dort was a Christian in public but a concealed Jew.
However, these texts have previously been investigated by the author of this review, as well as by other scholars. Moreover, the history of van Dort was recently researched by Ms. Mascha van Dort, so it is evident that Hillel makes a set of conjectures based on groundless readings. After scrutinizing Hillel's book all his claims were found to be pseudo-science based on fantasy while contradicting facts written in manuscripts as well as in printed books, not to say common-sense.
While the official aim of this book is to discuss scrolls from Cochin, the unofficial aim is to denigrate the author of this review. In any event, in a garrulous book of almost 129,000 words, only 50 words were found to be of value, where the author claims that 1) in Words of Gad the Seer I misread two letters in a manuscript (בכיר instead of כביר), and hence 2) 18 (out of 42) letters of the Name of the Lord appear in the text (in a coded way). These facts I admit and confess but any claim beyond that in this book is baseless.
Unfortunately, the text has a lot of errata, hence this manual magical deeds can not be used.
Meir Bar-Ilan
The aim of the review, like all reviews, is to welcome a new book and to tell people the achievements of the book, as well as its weaknesses. However, while reviewing this book it became apparent that discussing the book is discussing what scholarship is. The book is an upgrade of a Ph.D. that appeared at the Hebrew University seven years ago, and like every thesis, has many fathers, though only one person is responsible for it. Therefore, the discussion begins with the book but ends with the mentors of the writer, that is the Talmud professors at the Hebrew University.
The first chapter covers the achievements of the book, deeply rooted in philology, and aims to present a scientific edition of The Scroll of Fasts (1st century BCE). Most of the book is devoted to the scholion, the Hebrew medieval commentary that was added to the Aramaic text. The diligent scholar made every effort to cover anything that was written on her subject from Antiquity until this very day.
However, as to criticism, there are eleven different aspects in which, unfortunately the scholar is weak or inadequate. These topics are: 1) Although the text is in Aramaic no attempt was made to analyze the Aramaic; 2) The main textual innovation of the scholar is not in the book; 3) Philology is found to be the only method the scholar uses, without trying to add anything new about the compiler of the scholion; 4) The author takes the last line of the text to be part of the scroll while it is argued that it is an additional note; 5) The authors “forgot” to discuss the headline of the text although the whole text derives its authority from the headline; 6) The author is found to know all the former opinions but she can not make any judgment or a new evaluation of them; 7) The author discusses minor issues instead of delving into the major ones; 8) While the author thinks the text is Pharisaic, it has already been proven that the text is not Pharisaic but Priestly with affinities to the Temple; 9) The key-words of the scroll were understood incorrectly: while fasting was partially understood, the root SPD was not mourning over a dead person but a Temple-ritual; 10) The author derives her conclusions not from the text itself but rather from former studies (and the Talmud itself); 11) The author is not aware of the genre of the text, that it is a list, and its significance to text criticism.
In sum: the main problem is not the author’s book but rather her mentors who all belong to the same in-breeding school of thought: they all graduated from the Hebrew University. Therefore, the book that bears the date of 2003 is closer to 19th century scholarship more than the author and her professors are ready to admit.
The author is criticized for using invented term, such as 'Astral Magic', and describing Jewish thought by quoting unknown and forgotten scholars as if they played a real role in Historical Jewish people in Medieval times.
Some medical concepts discussed as well as the debt of Maimonides to ibn Ezra.
The new edition of ibn Ezra's theological treatise is reviewed from the philological point of view and on the way several characterizations of the author are discussed. Ibn Ezra is portrayed as a sever critic of former Jewish authorities, and a bold one. Several subjects that the editors should have included in their introduction to their book are absent, especially ibn Ezra's sources, such as Neoplatonism, Pythagoreanism, Brethren of Purity, astrology and more.
Review of: Ishay Rosen-Zvi, The Rite that Was Not: Temple, Midrash and Gender in Tractate Sotah, Jerusalem: Magnes, 2008 (Hebrew).
Meir Bar-Ilan
This paper is a review of a book which constitutes a revised dissertation submitted to Tel Aviv University in 2004. Rosen-Zvi discusses the ceremony of the wayward wife according the Tannaitic sources and explains in what way this ceremony differs from its Biblical predecessor. He comes to the text with modern cultural insights taken from such sources as Foucault, for example, and explains the gestures and other aspects of the ritual. He subsequently concludes that the ceremony described in the Mishnah is nothing but a fictional reality that had never actually taken place (at least in the era of the Second Commonwealth).
However, though Rosen-Zvi promises to discuss the rite itself more than the text, he shows incompetency in his anthropological methodology. For example, he doesn’t explain the significance of the ceremony as an ordeal, nor does he demonstrate awareness of the meaning of the ceremony as a rite of passage. He does not appear to perceive the uniqueness of the Biblical ordeal as comprised in the written text, one that is unlike any other ordeal in scripture, nor does he seem aware of the grave psychological effect on the suspected wife (since there is nothing dangerous in the ceremony in and of itself). In all, the work shows the failure of Judaic Studies scholarship when investigates Ritus without the help of Anthropology.
Though Rosen-Zvi is fully competent in philology, he evaluates the historical evidence with a touch of nihilism and favors theory rather than doing the requisite historiographical work that is mandatory for anyone who researches in Judaic Studies. After reevaluating the sources that were before Rosen-Zvi and consulting additional sources that he ignored, it becomes evident that the ceremony of Sotah took place in the Temple until it was abolished in the first century.
Haggai Erlich, The Red Sea, The Sad Sea, Tel-Aviv: Resling, 2021, 212 pp.
The book attempts to describe the political history of the countries that reside on the shores of the Red Sea, with a stress on the Red Sea as a factor among the political forces in the history of this region from Antiquity till modern times.
Though the author presents his book as derived from modern oceanic historiography, this is an unattested pretension since the book lacks almost anything that might be related to the Annales school: since it has nothing to do with the concept of la longue durée, and it suffers from an absence of a discussion on commerce, and from misrepresenting the marine arena as part of the Erythraean Sea, as represented in ignoring the key-role of Periplus in the studies related to this region.
Though the book focus on the 20-19th centuries around half of the book is dedicated to historical background but this background is ill-represented: from the Bible through Christianity at the days of Muhammad. This lack of information is prominent as represented in ignoring the ship battles between the Muslims and Crusaders in the Red Sea in the 12th century, and Goitein-Friedman's India book is also ignored.
The reference to Prester John exemplifies another misunderstanding, not to speak of the fact that in a Hebrew book there is no try to discuss the role of Prester John in Jewish messianic concepts as well as ignoring the Indian roots of Prester John as is explicitly stated in the Hebrew text.
Meir Bar-Ilan
This book is based on a dissertation submitted to the Hebrew University at Jerusalem in 2013. The monograph aims to describe and analyze the different attitudes towards understanding Yhwh's name throughout more than 2000 years, which is not a small ambition.
The review is divided into six sub-chapters as follows: 1) First, the book is presented by the author with descriptions of himself as well as the 'content' of the book. 2) Unusual for such reviews, this study includes a short description of the genealogy of the author as well as his alma mater. The author is in the third generation of consecutive scholars in Judaic Studies at the Hebrew University, which shows the achievement of the university, founded more than 90 years ago. 3) The book sets a precedent in two ways: unlike most dissertations in Judaic Studies in Israel, this one was published. Unlike the norm in Judaic Studies, this study aims to discuss sources, by the same scholar, that span more than 2000 years. 4) Even in a systematic methodology there are drawbacks, as is evident in the disregard for historical use of God’s Name on various occasions, in Biblical as well as later Rabbinic sources. 5) Cultural diffusion: the sages permitted the diffusion of the priestly blessing from the Temple though they were reluctant concerning other liturgical customs (with no connection to spelling out the Name of the Lord). 6) While discussing the philosophy of language, whether language is 'natural' or 'conventional,' earlier medieval scholars are missing. Philosophy is presented as superior to other disciplines, disregarding modern methodologies that supersede it. 7) Though the discussion is devoted to sages of the past it does not include any historical research, and the ideas are philosophical in nature. Despite that, the book was awarded a prize for promoting historical research.
In sum, the research in this book transgresses numerous limits in Judaic Studies, hence the advantages and disadvantages are interwoven.
Meir Bar-Ilan
This is a real detective story where a modern historian is tracing the frauds of the suspected criminal after some 170 years of his activities. Shapira with his team are highly qualified to investigate the frauds done by Abraham Fircowicz (1787-1874). Fircowicz was a talented scholar, a Karaite Rabbi, who abused his knowledge to deceive the world, his brethren alike, about the antiquity of the Karaites in Crimea. His method was publishing the engraved tombstones from Crimea in an amalgam of true and fraud data and the modern detectives did their best to decipher his deeds.
Shapira is a polyglot who uses his vast knowledge, combined with interdisciplinary work: historiography, geography, epigraphy and other skills into a comprehensive work, something without precedent. Fircowicz’ work is analyzed diligently in detail in a way a police detective might learn from. Shapira and his colleagues moved every stone, literally, to understand Fircowicz art of forgery.
In a way one can take the book as a contra to pseudo scholars, or: post moderns, who invent the past by captivity in their ignorance combined with their political agenda. Shapira’s work is an example of the heights a scholar can come to and the only flaws in the work are the errata that marred the book almost every second page. These technical flaws should be taken not as Shapira’s sin, rather as conveying the low status of Judaic studies in contemporary money-making universities
Literary formulaic criticism of tannaitic literature that reflect tensions between sages and priests.
The development of the Halcha is portrayed in several halachot.
Dear friends, My new book has just come out. Hopefully, you will enjoy it. Meir
The book ends with an interview with Meir Bar-Ilan on Numerology and Judaic Studies.
Gematria is a false method and the differences between Gematria and Numerology are given. Precedents of numerological commentary among the Rabbis are given.
All sorts of false commentaries are discussed.
It also relates to 153 fish of John 21:11.
phenomena in social terms
in the Hellenistic-Roman and Byzantine Periods
Meir Bar-Ilan
This work is an investigation of the links between the Jews of Palestine and the sciences, especially astrology, in the Hellenistic and Byzantine periods. It is treated in four different chapters: A) The doctor-astrologer in the ancient world, the knowledge about him, and the description of the patriarch Abraham as such an astrologer. This view is augmented with astrological sermons (derashot) in the talmudic period and later Piyyutim. B) The author of Sefer Yezirah (Book of Creation) is revealed as a multitalented scientist: mathematician, linguist, astronomer and astrologer, that is, doctor-astrologer, numerologist, philosopher, astrophysicist and mystic. The author of Sefer Yezirah was probably a Pythagorean and obviously familiar with Aristotelian, Stoic and other philosophies. He dealt with questions of the structure of the universe, of time and atoms; in short, a scientist influenced by Greek science (apparently in Alexandria); C) Baraita de-Mazalot is a compilation of signs of the Zodiac assembled by a scientist: a Palestinian Byzantine astronomer, astrologer and Darshan. A new way is proposed for determining the dating of these two books: approximately the fifth to sixth century. Tiberias is suggested as the location of the composition of these, as well as other books. D) Based on the background of astrological investigations, an explanation is proposed for the Zodiac wheels from the Byzantine period discovered in a number of synagogues in Eretz-Israel.
The investigation clarifies a chapter in the history of science: what is fraud-science, and to what extent science and scientific thinking – and not only mystical thought – are a relative concept. The investigation of Sefer Yezira and the scientific activity of other astrologers clarify subjects in magic, mysticism, medicine, astrology, beliefs and opinions, language, linguistics, mathematics and other sciences in ancient times. The image of Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra, the astrologer, is illuminated in bright light, helping explain the Maimonides opposition to his spiritual world.
This work is based on an analysis that is literary, linguistic, religious and cultural. In reading it, you will encounter over 300 “culture heroes”, many of whom you were not previously aware of. In addition, you will learn to distinguish between more than 130 aspects of language from personal language to the language of prayer, registers for which you will find definitions and examples throughout the book. These diagnoses will help you read diverse literature anew, starting with Ecclesiastes, through books of astrology and ending with a telephone book. If you are lucky – the astrologers will come to life from the pages of this book.
The Bridegrooms’ Diadem
Meir Bar-Ilan
This book is dedicated to the study of Jewish wedding of in antiquity from Biblical times till the end of the Talmud era with emphasize on the Rabbinic sources (ca. 1st-6th centuries C.E.). However, more evidence comes from medieval times as a comparative tool that gives an indispensable viewpoint. Since wedding is a multifarious event it is studied with the help of interdisciplinary methods. First and foremost, the text is analyzed from the literary and philological point of view. Historical, liturgical, sociological and folkloristic aspects are added. Strangely enough, most of the issues discussed herein have not been the subject of critical research until now, including all sorts of lost rituals and customs.
Chapter 1: Wedding-Songs
The aim of this chapter is to draw attention to ancient Jewish wedding-songs, a type of song usually ignored by modern scholars; there are practically no wedding-songs in contemporary Jewish tradition.
The chapter begins with a wedding-song mentioned in the Talmud, continues with one mentioned briefly in the midrash, and goes on to a text preserved in the Hebrew book of Tobit. Additional wedding-songs are dealt with, especially those that seems to be more ancient and do not display marked literary features. Of special interest are wedding-songs from Yemen and Cochin, India. Over 50 songs are discussed in an attempt to understand the special qualities of Jewish wedding-songs in antiquity. A comprehensive bibliography of Jewish wedding-songs in all periods is provided.
Chapter 2: The Seven Wedding Blessings
An integral part of any Jewish wedding is the well-known recital of the seven blessings under the canopy. This chapter seeks to analyze the development and meaning of these blessings.
The main argument is that the sources indicate a development regarding the number of blessings: in the early strata of the liturgy there were people who recited three blessings only. Later these three became four, then five and six. With the additional blessing over the wine, the wedding ceremony reached its present stage, with seven blessings.
The main theme is the form and content of the blessings, with a glance at some marginal features as well. It is shown that the meaning of the blessings is twofold, expressing both Jewish identity of the new couple through ties to family and friends, and the religious credo of their faith.
A special appendix is dedicated to the numerological value of the number seven, trying to explain its meaning as a divine blessing.
Chapter 3: Rejected or Lost Wedding Rituals
This study deals with five different aspects of wedding rituals. The main focus is on virginity and its significance, from Biblical times till the Middle-Ages.
A. According to the Bible (Deut. 22:13-21), a bridegroom may claim that his newly-wed bride was not a virgin at the time of the wedding; if his claim is found to be true – by the test of the blood of virginity on the cloth – the woman is condemned to death. The Tannaim had the same idea of the importance of virginity. Although it is assumed that the practice of displaying the stained cloth had disappeared, it actually prevails to this very day (among some Oriental Jews). In practice, all cases of a groom coming to court claiming that his bride was not a virgin were rejected (indeed, one of the claimants was punished). This change of attitude can perhaps be ascribed to the move of the Jewish people from the cultural influence of the Fertile Crescent region to Mediterranean culture (known later as "Western").
B. A special blessing used to be recited by the groom upon ascertaining the bride's virginity. The blessing is not mentioned in the Talmud, and Maimonides condemned it as immoral; it was subsequently ritually rejected. Some versions of this blessing are discussed, as well as its history.
C. According to the Mishna (Kidushin 1:1), one may “buy” a wife by three different means, one of which is intercourse. This ancient practice was stopped by Rav (3rd c. Babylonia), who ruled that one who wed his wife by intercourse should be whipped. The proof of virginity, the virginity-blessing, and wedding by intercourse are actually different aspects of the same concept: the high value placed on virginity in Jewish culture.
D. The midrash tells a story about the son of R. Aqiba and his bride, who after the wedding studied Torah “all night long”. It is proposed that this story shows that learning Torah in that society was a supreme value.
E. The tractate of Kalla Rabbati tells a story of a bride who commits adultery immediately after her wedding. After many years, this was discovered by R. Aqiba by looking at the woman’s child. It is proposed that this story was told as a kind of hagiography, to show that R. Aqiba had divine powers. It is also suggested that Kalla Rabbati originated from Mehoza and reflects a folk-religion.
Chapter 4: Wedding Stories
This study discusses stories that were told during wedding celebrations among many nations and ends with wedding stories that appear in the Bible.
In the beginning the genre of wedding-story is characterized as a story that was told in a unique occasion, or “Sitz im Leben”, as it is called among Biblical scholars. The first story to be discussed is “The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnelle”, known from the Arthurian legend, a story that exemplify the concept of a wedding-story. The symbols of the story are explained as well as the idea of marrying a monstrous spouse. Several stories from the collection of Grimm Brothers are analyzed showing that they were aimed to be told in wedding occasions.
The Book of Tobit, from the Apocrypha, is shown, according its theme and lexicography, to be a wedding story. These different stories have a common denominator with some Biblical stories where the wedding is the climax of the narrative, such as the Scroll of Ruth and the wedding of Rebecca (Genesis 24). It is assumed that these stories, before they were committed to writing they were told in wedding ceremonies and played a role of Bildungsroman. In an appendix a new story is given: “The Wedding of the Daughters of Zelophehad”.
Chapter 5: The Song of Songs as Wedding Songs
This study is part of type-critical (gattungsgeschichtliche) of the Song of Songs. It aims to show that the genre of the Song of Songs is wedding songs. This hypothesis has been already known to scholars for more than 140 years. The evidence was drawn from cultures far distant, in time and in space, and therefore there was no agreement among the scholars whether to accept or reject this hypothesis.
This study is based on a few hundred wedding-songs sung among Jews in more than a millennium (and still a very long time after the biblical text was composed). The reasons supporting the wedding-songs hypothesis are as follows:
1. Content: specific words and motifs in the biblical text. These words are: wedding, bride, love, scents, physical description and breast. Far later Jewish wedding songs also have the same characters of the Biblical text.
2. Form: the dramatic character of the Biblical text is well known and a ‘modern’ song is presented (assumed to be sung in a new baby-girl ceremony). The song has the same concept, that is: mini-drama and duet between the bride and the groom as to make everyone joyful.
3. Use of the text: the idea is that the modern use of a text should be considered while looking for its genre, a concept already used by Mowinckel while analyzing enthronement psalms. According to this idea it is shown that many verses of Song of Songs are sung, until this very day, among Jews at weddings. This use should be taken as an indicator of the original setting of Song of Songs in its Sitz im Leben.
Special discussion is devoted to understanding why the text was understood allegorically and what made its type irrelevant to rabbinic wedding-songs. It is argued that in “Biblical times” the wedding-ceremony used to be part of popular religion and only in later times, under rabbinic movement, did the ceremony become part of the official religion so the text was understood as immodest (and therefore MUST have been created to describe Divine love).
In sum: different data are put forward and the comparison between known wedding songs and Song of Songs leaves no doubt: the Biblical text was originally composed as wedding songs.
Levi lived 137 years, and there is a try to understand the meaning of this age, though without a specific conclusion.
70 people of Israel came to Egypt, since 70 is 7 multiplied by 10. 7 denotes holiness and blessing, and 10 denotes corporeal (related to 10 fingers that characterize human being. Hence, 70 means blessing and holiness in strength exemplified by people.
Jacob lived 17 years in Egypt while his son, Joseph, supported him in return for the 17 years Joseph, as a child, was supported by his father. Moreover, the years the Patriarchs lived, 175, 180, and 147, are in a mathematical series.
Numbers in the Bible, except chronology, were interpreted using three different methods: 1) Gematria. 2) Bible Codes. 3) Numerology. Gematria is based on a false logic syllogism, while Bible Codes is a pseudo-science. Numerology is not language dependent but rather a cultural phenomenon when a number that portrays quantity also gains a qualitative meaning.
The number 7 appears in Pharaoh's dreams, and Joseph interpreted the number not as symbolic, such as superabundance, but rather as real: 7 years. It seems that Joseph's practical nature, as reflected in his career, led him to take 7 as a realistic number. Moreover, he realized that Pharaoh, in his dream, did not see a cow eating a cow and thin ears that swallowed up the rank and full ears, rather good cows who ate good ears and bad-looking cows who ate thin ears.
The numbers in the dreams are interpreted; they are not coincidental but part of the plot. 12 stars are the Zodiac, and 12 signifies the time, which expresses eternity. 3 in the dreams of Pharaoh's butlers signifies days because of the bread and juice that is served daily, while 7 in Pharaoh's dreams signifies years since corn and cows' health is a yearly phenomenon.
Jacob sent to his brother Esau 220 she and he-goats and 220 ewes and rams. Rav Nahshon Gaon claimed that this number of presents was used deliberately since 220 and 284 are a pair of amicable numbers (220 is divided by 1,2,4,5,10,11,20,22,44,55,110, hence a total of 284. This number is divided by 1,2,4,71,142, which totals 220. Thus, Jacob used this amicable number to appease his brother.
Jacob's dream has no numbers, unlike Joseph's; for example, the number of steps on the ladder is not mentioned. However, in ancient midrashim, there were three traditions that counted the number of steps. The numbers of the steps were 4, 7, and 12, and they witness old numerological commentaries.
Isaac was 40 when he married his wife and 60 when his sons were born. It is also stated that whatever Isaac sowed, he harvested 100 times more. All these numbers were aimed to convey quality more than quantity.
Sarah lived 127 years, and this number is symbolic. According to Pythagorean concepts, as spelled out by Euclid, the numbers 6, 28, 496, and 8128 are "perfect" numbers. According to a simple equation, one can calculate the sum of all the numbers: 1 + 2 +…. N = Σ, so 127 is nothing but n, while the Σ is 8128. Hence, Sarah was given 127 to portray her as perfect.
Abraham was negotiating with God concerning the number of men who might save five towns, Sodom and its counterparts. It is argued that 5 had a vicious meaning, and 10 was considered to represent a community, either of sinners or righteous men.
God told Abraham that his descendants would be in exile for 400 years since this number conveys the idea of a cosmic-physical change.
Flood Narrative is well-known in many ancient cultures, but the Biblical Flood Story is unique, full of numbers that were mostly ignored. Five dates in the "Log Book" of the flood were calculated according to a Solar calendar, while the last date is given according to a solar lunar calendar.
The Torah begins with two creation stories: the first is time and number oriented, while the second story is land oriented. 7 is a sacred number from Creation.
The word 'mispar' appears in the Bible regarding availability of numbering (=numbered). The root SPR has several meanings in Hebrew since the scribe was not writern only but an accountant also.
Korah had a congregation of 250 people who rebelled Moses, and the number of the sinner symbolizes the sin, since 5 means deficiency, in-complete, unlike people with 10 fingers. Hence multiply 5 X 5 conveys the superlative of sin (in accordance with 7 X 7 that symbolizes superlative of holiness, blessing and purity). 25 multiply by 10 signifies corporeal sin.
147,000 people perished in a plague and this number is not random either.
While the punishment of Israel, being 40 years in the desert, seems to be a mere accidental case, in accordance with the days of the spies spent in The Land of Israel, Ezekiel the prophet (4:4-6) was commanded to act in a symbolic way: 390 (read: 39) days and then 40 days ('for a second time').
40 symbolizes metamorphosis, a full change, and this is why an offender gets 40 strikes. According to the Rabbis, these 40 are actually 39, and the same phenomenon is evident in the symbolized acts and days of Ezekiel, as well as the years in the desert (for year Israel spent in the desert before the sin of the spies).
It is stated that Israel left Sinai desert on 20/2/02, that is the 20th day of the second month in the second year of Israel after they left Egypt. This date seems to be nothing of importance and none of the former commentators paid attention to it.
However, it is argued that this date finds its counterpart in Deuteronomy 1:2, where it is stated that Israel went 11 days from Mount Horeb to Qadesh-Barnea. In other words, Israel spent a full year in Sinai desert until they sent spies to Israel after which they were punished. In sum, without the punishment Israel would have been wandering in the desert one year only.
The 12 princes of Israel brought their presents and sacrifices when the Tabernacle was initiated, and Rashi made a special commentary on the numbers involved, based on R. Moshe Hadarshan. This commentary is based on parallel number, that seems to be Numerology, and Gematria.
It is argued that Gematria is a false method, as is evident in Maimonides writings. All the numbers of the presents of the princes have symbolic value. When one gives a present, he accelerates the meaning of his doing by giving it by a certain number (like the number of roses in an anniversary).
After marriage, she became Temima Bar-Ilan (1915-2016).
Attached is an image of all the relatives in the wedding of Joseph Papish and Tova Berlin, another granddaughter of Batya-Miriam Z"L.
Prof. M. Mishor wrote an appendix on the linguistic aspect of the text.