Some Recently — Published Books

Some Recently — Published Books Editor's note: Aleph will not publish book reviews in the usual sense, but only short notices. We will be pleased to announce the appearance of new books in areas of interest to our readers. Authors and publishers are invited to send copies of their books to the Editorial Office. Israel M. Ta-Shma, Talmudic Commentary in Europe and North Africa. Literary History. Part One: 1000-1200 (2nd edition); Part Two: 1200-1400 (Hebrew). Jerusalem: The Magnes Press, 2000. 233 and 221 pp. In many and perhaps most Jewish communities, Talmud study was the scholarly activity practiced by most individuals most of the time. These two volumes (a third is planned) offer a synthetic panorama of this important intellectual activity during a span of four centuries. General introductions to periods and regions are followed by detailed discussions of individual Talmudic students and commentators. This is a monumental work that usefully complements Urbach's classic Bacalei ha-tosafot. Simcha Assaf, Mekorot le-toldot ha-Hinnukh be-Yisrael. A Source Book for the History ofJewish Education from the Beginning of the Middle Ages to the Period of the Haskalah. A new edition, edited and annotated by Shmuel Glick. New York and Jerusalem: TheJewish Theological Seminary of America, 2 vols. (2002 and 2001, respectively). Assaf's classic collection of sources bearing on Jewish education throughout the ages has been updated by S. Glick Although no new sources have been added, Assaf's material has been rearranged, most of the bibliographical references have been brought up to date, and references to new works have been added. David B. Ruderman, Jewish Enlightenment in an English Key: Anglo291 Jewry's Construction of Modern Jewish Thought Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2000. "In this first comprehensive account of the emergence of Anglo-Jewish thought in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, David Ruderman impels a reconsideration of the formative beginnings of modern European Jewish culture. He uncovers a vibrant Jewish intellectual life in England during the Enlightenment era by examining a small but fascinating group of hitherto neglected Jewish thinkers in the process of transforming their traditional Hebraic culture into a modern English one" (from the PUP website). The book's chapters include "Science and Newtonianism in the Culture of AngloJewry " and "Translation and Transformation: The Englishing of Jewish Culture." Gli Ebrei e le Science. The Jews and the Sciences (= Micrologus IX [2001]). [Florence]: Sismel and Edizioni del Galluzo, 2001. 300 pp. A collection of fifteen papers (in English, French, and Italian) on the history of scientific activity by Jews, mainly in the Middle Ages. Contents: Ron Barkaï, "Origines et sources de la médecine hébraïque au Moyen Âge"; Lola Ferre, "The Place of Scientific Knowledge in some Spanish Jewish Authors"; Tony Levy, "Les débuts de la littérature mathématique hébraïque: la géométrie d'Abraham bar Hiyya"; Shlomo SeIa, "Abraham Ibn Ezra's Special Strategy in the Creation of a Hebrew Scientific Terminology"; Mirko D. Grmek, "Une consultation vénitienne de Paolo Sarpi sur l'exercice de la médecine par les juifs"; Piero Morpurgo, "La polemica medievale contro la cultura e la scienza degli ebrei"; Boaz Huss, "Mysticism versus Philosophy in Kabalistic Literature"; Peter Biller, "A 'Scientific' View of Jews from Paris around 1300"; Gad Freudenthal, "Holiness and Defilement: The Ambivalent Perception of Philosophy by its Opponents in the Early Fourteenth Century"; Joseph Shatzmiller, "Jacob Ben Elie, traducteur multilingue à Venise à la fin du XIIIe siècle"; Mauro Zonta, "Aristotle's Physics in Late-Medieval Jewish Philosophy (14th—15th Century) and a Newly Identified Commentary by Yehudah Messer Leon"; Y. Tzvi Langermann, "Studies in Medieval Hebrew 292 Pythagoreanism: Translations and Notes to Nicomachus' Arithmological Texts"; Giuliano Tamani, "La Biblioteca scientifica di Mordekay Finzi"; Diego Quaglioni, "Orta est disputado super matheria promotionis inter doctores. L'ammissione degli ebrei al dottorato"; Myriam Silvera, " 'Le leggi della natura sono cose perfette e efficienti, da non potersi ad esse nulla aggiungere e nulla togliere'. L'ordine naturale e il problema del miracolo da fonti rabbiniche a Spinoza." Daniel H. Frank, Oliver Leaman, and Charles H. Manekin, eds. The Jewish Philosophy Reader. London and New York: Routledge, 2000. 618 pp. An anthology...