Joshua Levinson | The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (original) (raw)

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Papers by Joshua Levinson

It is worth noting that Richard Kalmin has pointed out that in distinction from Babylonian source... more It is worth noting that Richard Kalmin has pointed out that in distinction from Babylonian sources that demonstrate separatist tendencies, only Palestinian sources 'encourage non-rabbis to provide sages with food, clothing, and shelter, depict informal interactions between rabbis and non-rabbis' (Kalmin, 'Relationships Between Rabbis and Non-Rabbis' , pp. ,. See also Hezser, Jewish Travel in Antiquity, pp.-. yHor : (a); Leviticus Rabba :. Margulies places this event ‫אנטוכיה(‬ ‫)חולת‬ on the

Jews and Journeys, 2021

Socrates: But then what are the things about which they like to listen to you and which they appl... more Socrates: But then what are the things about which they like to listen to you and which they applaud? Tell me yourself, for I cannot discover them. Hippias: Tey are very fond of hearing about the genealogies of heroes and men, Socrates, and the foundations of cities in ancient times.

Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception 13, 2016

Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception, 2022

Poetics Today, 2004

This article investigates the reading dynamics of the rewritten Bible or the exegetical narrative... more This article investigates the reading dynamics of the rewritten Bible or the exegetical narrative in rabbinic literature of late antiquity. The exegetical narrative is composed of a story which simultaneously represents and interprets its biblical counterpart. Its singularity resides precisely in this synergy of narrative and exegesis. As exegesis, it creates new meanings from the biblical verses, and as narrative, it dramatizes those meanings by means of the biblical story world. The concurrent presence of two distinct voices, biblical and rabbinic, as well as two distinct types of discourse,narrative and exegetical, that navigate between these voices, creates a unique type of reading dynamic that I call dialogical reading. It is this dynamic that enables the midrashic text to create new meanings from old and highlights the challenge this genre presents to the theory of reading.

Jewish Quarterly Review, 2009

This article investigates the reading dynamics of the rewritten Bible or the exegetical narrative... more This article investigates the reading dynamics of the rewritten Bible or the exegetical narrative in rabbinic literature of late antiquity. The exegetical narrative is composed of a story which simultaneously represents and interprets its biblical counterpart. Its singularity resides precisely in this synergy of narrative and exege-sis. As exegesis, it creates new meanings from the biblical verses, and as narrative, it dramatizes those meanings by means of the biblical story world. The concurrent presence of two distinct voices, biblical and rabbinic, as well as two distinct types of discourse, narrative and exegetical, that navigate between these voices, creates a unique type of reading dynamic that I call dialogical reading. It is this dynamic that enables the midrashic text to create new meanings from old and highlights the chal-lenge this genre presents to the theory of reading. It is the unwritten part of books that would be the most interesting. W. M.Thackeray Earlier versions...

Harvard Theological Review

In the centuries since Tertullian asked, “What indeed has Athens to do with Jerusalem?” the dicho... more In the centuries since Tertullian asked, “What indeed has Athens to do with Jerusalem?” the dichotomy between these two cities and their respective cultures has assumed almost mythical proportions. Scholars have expended a great deal of energy to show that this sentiment has a greater prescriptive value than a descriptive one. It now seems apparent that for nearly a thousand years, from the time of Alexander to the Muslim conquest, the Jews of Palestine lived in and successfully negotiated with Greco-Roman culture. The question that remains open is the depth and intensity of this interaction. It would plainly be both irresponsible and beyond my capabilities to attempt any type of comprehensive answer to this question.

Homer and the Bible in the Eyes of Ancient Interpreters, 2012

The Poetics of Power in Late Antiquity, 2014

Harvard Theological Review, 2000

Looking at nation as text, as culture, questions the totalization of national culture and opens u... more Looking at nation as text, as culture, questions the totalization of national culture and opens up the widely disseminated forms through which subjects construct “the field of meanings associated with national life.” It offers a perspective that enables us to enter discourses beyond those fixed, static, “official” ones.

Jews and Journeys: Travel and the Performance of Jewish Identity, 2021

It is worth noting that Richard Kalmin has pointed out that in distinction from Babylonian source... more It is worth noting that Richard Kalmin has pointed out that in distinction from Babylonian sources that demonstrate separatist tendencies, only Palestinian sources 'encourage non-rabbis to provide sages with food, clothing, and shelter, depict informal interactions between rabbis and non-rabbis' (Kalmin, 'Relationships Between Rabbis and Non-Rabbis' , pp. ,. See also Hezser, Jewish Travel in Antiquity, pp.-. yHor : (a); Leviticus Rabba :. Margulies places this event ‫אנטוכיה(‬ ‫)חולת‬ on the

Jews and Journeys, 2021

Socrates: But then what are the things about which they like to listen to you and which they appl... more Socrates: But then what are the things about which they like to listen to you and which they applaud? Tell me yourself, for I cannot discover them. Hippias: Tey are very fond of hearing about the genealogies of heroes and men, Socrates, and the foundations of cities in ancient times.

Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception 13, 2016

Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception, 2022

Poetics Today, 2004

This article investigates the reading dynamics of the rewritten Bible or the exegetical narrative... more This article investigates the reading dynamics of the rewritten Bible or the exegetical narrative in rabbinic literature of late antiquity. The exegetical narrative is composed of a story which simultaneously represents and interprets its biblical counterpart. Its singularity resides precisely in this synergy of narrative and exegesis. As exegesis, it creates new meanings from the biblical verses, and as narrative, it dramatizes those meanings by means of the biblical story world. The concurrent presence of two distinct voices, biblical and rabbinic, as well as two distinct types of discourse,narrative and exegetical, that navigate between these voices, creates a unique type of reading dynamic that I call dialogical reading. It is this dynamic that enables the midrashic text to create new meanings from old and highlights the challenge this genre presents to the theory of reading.

Jewish Quarterly Review, 2009

This article investigates the reading dynamics of the rewritten Bible or the exegetical narrative... more This article investigates the reading dynamics of the rewritten Bible or the exegetical narrative in rabbinic literature of late antiquity. The exegetical narrative is composed of a story which simultaneously represents and interprets its biblical counterpart. Its singularity resides precisely in this synergy of narrative and exege-sis. As exegesis, it creates new meanings from the biblical verses, and as narrative, it dramatizes those meanings by means of the biblical story world. The concurrent presence of two distinct voices, biblical and rabbinic, as well as two distinct types of discourse, narrative and exegetical, that navigate between these voices, creates a unique type of reading dynamic that I call dialogical reading. It is this dynamic that enables the midrashic text to create new meanings from old and highlights the chal-lenge this genre presents to the theory of reading. It is the unwritten part of books that would be the most interesting. W. M.Thackeray Earlier versions...

Harvard Theological Review

In the centuries since Tertullian asked, “What indeed has Athens to do with Jerusalem?” the dicho... more In the centuries since Tertullian asked, “What indeed has Athens to do with Jerusalem?” the dichotomy between these two cities and their respective cultures has assumed almost mythical proportions. Scholars have expended a great deal of energy to show that this sentiment has a greater prescriptive value than a descriptive one. It now seems apparent that for nearly a thousand years, from the time of Alexander to the Muslim conquest, the Jews of Palestine lived in and successfully negotiated with Greco-Roman culture. The question that remains open is the depth and intensity of this interaction. It would plainly be both irresponsible and beyond my capabilities to attempt any type of comprehensive answer to this question.

Homer and the Bible in the Eyes of Ancient Interpreters, 2012

The Poetics of Power in Late Antiquity, 2014

Harvard Theological Review, 2000

Looking at nation as text, as culture, questions the totalization of national culture and opens u... more Looking at nation as text, as culture, questions the totalization of national culture and opens up the widely disseminated forms through which subjects construct “the field of meanings associated with national life.” It offers a perspective that enables us to enter discourses beyond those fixed, static, “official” ones.

Jews and Journeys: Travel and the Performance of Jewish Identity, 2021