The Cultural Legacy of the Pre-Ashkenazic Jews in Eastern Europe

The Cultural Legacy of the Pre-Ashkenazic Jews in Eastern Europe PDF

Author: Moshe Taube

Publisher: Univ of California Press

Published: 2023-01-10

Total Pages: 152

ISBN-13: 0520390784

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A free ebook version of this title is available through Luminos, University of California Press’s Open Access publishing program. Visit www.luminosoa.org to learn more. This book uncovers cultural traces of the ancient Jewry of Eastern Europe from the 10th to 15th centuries. These traces take the form of translations from Hebrew into East Slavic, ranging from accounts of Old Testament prophets and other historical figures of interest to both Jews and Christians, such as Alexander the Great, to scientific and philosophical texts on everything from astronomy to physiognomy to metaphysics. Moshe Taube’s fine-grained analysis teases out a robust picture of this massive cultural enterprise: the translators, their erudition, their biases, and their collaborative method of translation with neighboring Christians. Summarizing over thirty years of philological and linguistic research, this book offers a substantial original contribution to the cultural history of Jews in Eastern Europe and their interaction with, and influence on, Slavic culture in the Middle Ages and Early Modern period.

Ashkenazic Jews and the Biblical Israelites

Ashkenazic Jews and the Biblical Israelites PDF

Author: Jits Straten

Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG

Published: 2021-01-18

Total Pages: 133

ISBN-13: 3110701499

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Who were the early ancestors of East European Ashkenazic Jews, how were they related to the biblical Israelites/Judeans, and when and from where did they arrive in Eastern Europe? This book intends to answer these questions, but first it discusses some of the important questions that are neglected in the literature but important in the author’s work such as the ethnic composition of Canaan/Palestine and the switch from a patrilineal system (Israelites/Judeans) to a matrilineal one including converts (Jews). The author also discusses more present-day topics such as whether it is possible to determine if someone is (Ashkenazic) Jewish and a descendant of the biblical Israelites based on a genetic profile, and whether Ashkenazic Jews are more Jewish than Indian or Ethiopian Jews. Jits van Straten argues that the answer is negative in both cases, based on the official definition of who is a Jew. Finally, it is shown why East European Ashkenazis speak Yiddish without originating from a German-speaking region.

The Origin of Ashkenazi Jewry

The Origin of Ashkenazi Jewry PDF

Author: Jits van Straten

Publisher: Walter de Gruyter

Published: 2011-03-29

Total Pages: 249

ISBN-13: 3110236060

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Where do East European Jews – about 90 percent of Ashkenazi Jewry – descend from? This book conveys new insights into a century-old controversy. Jits van Straten argues that there is no evidence for the most common assumption that German Jews fled en masse to Eastern Europe to constitute East European Jewry. Dealing with another much debated theory, van Straten points to the fact that there is no way to identify the descendants of the Khazars in the Ashkenazi population. Using a multidisciplinary approach, the author draws heavily on demographic findings which are vital to evaluate the conclusions of modern DNA research. Finally, it is suggested that East European Jews are mainly descendants of Ukrainians and Belarussians. UPDATE: The article “The origin of East European Ashkenazim via a southern route” (Aschkenas 2017; 27(1): 239-270) is intended to clarify the origin of East European Jewry between roughly 300 BCE and 1000 CE. It is a supplement to this book.

Alef, Mem, Tau

Alef, Mem, Tau PDF

Author: Elliot R. Wolfson

Publisher: Univ of California Press

Published: 2006-04-05

Total Pages: 346

ISBN-13: 0520246195

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Alef, Mem, Tau also discusses Islamic mysticism and Buddhist thought in relation to the Jewish esoteric tradition as it opens the possibility of a temporal triumph of temporality and the conquering of time through time."

The Jews of Eastern Europe

The Jews of Eastern Europe PDF

Author: J. H. Adeney

Publisher: Wentworth Press

Published: 2019-03-13

Total Pages: 100

ISBN-13: 9781010146773

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This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Eighteenth-Century Russian Music

Eighteenth-Century Russian Music PDF

Author: Marina Ritzarev

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2017-07-05

Total Pages: 416

ISBN-13: 1351568604

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Little is known outside of Russia about the nation's musical heritage prior to the nineteenth century. Western scholarship has tended to view the history of Russian music as not beginning until the end of the eighteenth century. Marina Ritzarev's work shows this interpretation to be misguided. Starting from an examination of the rich legacy of Russian music up to 1700, she explores the development of music over the course of the eighteenth century, a period of especially intense Westernization and secularization. The book focuses on what is characteristic and crucial to Russian music during this period, rather than seeking to provide a comprehensive survey. The musical culture of the time is discussed against the rich background of social, political and cultural life, tying together many of the phenomena that used to be viewed separately. The book highlights the importance of previously marginalized sectors - serf culture, choral sacred culture, the contribution of foreign musicians, the significant influence of Freemasonry, the role of Ukrainian and West-European cultures and so on - as well as casting new light on the well-researched topic of Russian opera. Much new archival material is introduced, and revised biographies of the two leading eighteenth-century Russian composers, Maxim Berezovsky and Dmitry Bortniansky, are provided, as well as those of the serf composer Stepan Degtyarev and the Italian Giuseppe Sarti. The book places eighteenth-century Russian music on the European map, and will be of particular importance for the study of European musical cultures remote from such centres as Italy, Germany-Austria and France. Eighteenth-century Russian music is organically linked with its past and future and its contributory role in forming the Russian national identity and developing the Russian idiom is clarified.