Joel Gereboff - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Joel Gereboff
Oxford Handbooks Online, 2009
The emotions are an important feature of Jewish life and thought throughout the ages. From biblic... more The emotions are an important feature of Jewish life and thought throughout the ages. From biblical descriptions of a God of pathos to early rabbinic and medieval works detailing the virtues, to mystical tracts focused on the inner life, and occasionally portraying emotion filled religious experiences of the adept, there have always been Jewish representations of the affective dimensions of life. In addition, the many ways Jews have actually participated in prayer and in the celebration of holidays, and in the construction of material objects and spaces in which such activities took place, also give evidence of emotional texture of the lives of Jews. John Corrigan's concluding observations in his introduction to Religion and Emotion: Approaches and Interpretations, in which he sets forth a model for future scholarship in this field, provide a standard against which to assess present investigations into Judaism and the emotions. Others who have produced methodologically astute sc...
BRILL eBooks, Dec 31, 1972
The Review of Rabbinic Judaism, 2016
The Oxford Handbook of Jewishness and Dance, 2022
This chapter examines the life and art of Polish-born Jewish actor and dancer Felix Fibich as a r... more This chapter examines the life and art of Polish-born Jewish actor and dancer Felix Fibich as a rich example of the intersection of discourses about the Jewish body, movement, the emotions, and dance in the twentieth century. Fibich devoted his life to performing, analyzing, and preserving “Jewish movement,” which he believed was the direct reflection of a unique Jewish character. The chapter demonstrates how the specific image and enactment of the torqued, angular body, defined by twists and oppositional pulls in space, provides a powerful modernist mapping of Jewish male subjectivity that migrated from Eastern Europe to the United States, and also of the struggle for transcendence in the face of adversity. Frequently represented in popular culture in a simplistic and stereotyped manner, this richly conceived perspective of the dancing Jewish body provides important insights into shifting ideas about the relationship between Jewish souls, bodies, and emotions.
To Fix Torah in Their Hearts, 2018
The Oxford Handbook of Deuteronomy, 2020
Early Rabbinic Judaism (70–500 ce) was a period of intense intellectual and pastoral creativity t... more Early Rabbinic Judaism (70–500 ce) was a period of intense intellectual and pastoral creativity that crafted an enduring cultural identity for Jews. The Tannaim were teachers during this period whose theological explanations and pastoral applications preserved in the Sifre Devarim bring Deuteronomy into a conversation with a complex of nonbiblical traditions. The Tannaim treat Deuteronomy only as part of their overall interpretation of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers. There are scholarly analyses of the Sifre Devarim; however, there is no systematic examination of the overall influence of Deuteronomy on writings in Early Rabbinic Judaism. Instead, scholars have focused on the history and range of views on specific legal issues in Deuteronomy. I will focus on how Tosefta, Mishnah, and Sifre Devarim handle Deuteronomy in general, rather than how they treat specific legal issues like tithes (14:22–29), holy days (16:1–17), household discipline (21:18–21), divorce (24:1–4), or the levira...
Journal of the Society of Christian Ethics, 2009
A Legacy of Learning, 2014
Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies, 1995
History and the Art of Memory (Hanover, NH: University Press of New England, 1993) for an excelle... more History and the Art of Memory (Hanover, NH: University Press of New England, 1993) for an excellent discussion of the relationship between academic historical research and writings and formulations that are the results of the processes of collective memory. The section below on historical societies also contains references to research that notes tensions between these groups.
The Journal of the American Academy of Psychoanalysis and Dynamic Psychiatry, 2004
The authors examine the conflicted relationship between Orthodox Judaism and psychoanalysis. Orth... more The authors examine the conflicted relationship between Orthodox Judaism and psychoanalysis. Orthodox Jewish thinkers about psychology have responded to psychoanalysis as incompatible with the practice of Orthodox Judaism. On the other hand, those psychoanalytic writers who have examined the beliefs and practices of Orthodox Jews have tended to treat these issues in a reductionistic fashion. However, the authors find possibilities for reconciliation and dialogue in the work of Aaron Rabinowitz and Moshe Halevi Spero. This article will review the relationship between Orthodox Judaism and psychoanalysis as one example of the broader field of the relationship between psychology and religion. 1 The relationship between psychology and religion has been marked by a curious juxtaposition of hostility and tolerance. From the side of religion, psychology (and especially psychoanalysis) has been seen as hostile and reductionistic. Psychologists, on the other side, have treated religious belief and behavior as a field of study but with an attitude of bemused tolerance-or at times hostility. The notion of a dialogue be
Journal for the Study of Judaism, 2013
Along with its companion publieadon,/eivis/î Literature from late Antiquity (135-700 CE): A Handb... more Along with its companion publieadon,/eivis/î Literature from late Antiquity (135-700 CE): A Handbook, edited by Eyal Ben-Eliyahu, Yehuda Cohn, and Fergus Millar, this volume bears the ripened fmiXs of a 2007 conferenee at the Bddsh Academy. The aim ofthe eonferenee and the books is to address the fact that rabbinie literature, despite represendng a vast corpus of texts from the late ancient world, is rarely tapped by historians investigadng late-Roman Palesdne; when it is, it is often used improperly or without appreciation for its peculiar eharaeter. As Martin Goodman puts it in the "Introduedon," "these texts are ealled into serviee as historieal evidence by non-specialists only rarely and only tentatively, and with little awareness of the issues of provenanee, dadng, transmission and genre" (1). Aeeordingly, Goodman coneludes, "this volume will have succeeded if... it eneourages aneient historians to begin to cite the rabbinie texts more often and with greater eonfidenee" (3). Part I, ealled "The Issues," introduces the problem. In "Using Rabbinie Literature as a Souree for the History of Late-Roman Palesdne: Problems and Issues," Philip Alexander notes that use of rabbinie sources by historians has been stymied by eoncems over what constitutes the "rabbinic" corpus, the difficulty of original languages, and the integdty, transmission, and idiosynerade genres of rabbinic texts. Alexander nevertheless remains eonfident that historieal information can be extracted from these texts, provided the phenomena they deseribe are "triangulated" with related desedpdons in Christian and Pagan literature. This claim sets the stage for the next essay, "The Palesdnian Context of Rabbinic Judaism," in which Fergus Millar provides a dense descripdon of Late-Roman Palesdne informed not only by Chdsdan literary sources, but also archaeological and epigraphie data. Millar thus provides some ofthe vertices in view of which rabbinie sourees might be confirmed or contextualized. The final three entries revive the longstanding debate between Peter Schäfer and Chaim Milikowsky over the extent to which rabbinic texts aequired fixed forms in late andquity. First eome repdnts of their eontribudons to Ûiefournal offewish Studies in the 1980s, "Research into Rabbinic Literature: An Attempt to Define the Status Quaestionis" (Schäfer) and "The Status Quaestionis of Research in Rabbinie Literature" (Mflikowsky), then a eurrent instaflment, "Current Views on the Edidng of the Rabbinie Texts of late Andquity: Refleetions on a Debate After Twenty Years," in which the contending scholars reassert their posidons with minor modifieadons. Milikowsky remains opdmistie that original versions of (midrashie) texts ean be approximated, and therefore that eddeal editions are possible; Schäfer sdll favors the synoptie presentation of manusedpts.
Journal for the Study of Judaism, 2013
Oxford Handbooks Online, 2009
The emotions are an important feature of Jewish life and thought throughout the ages. From biblic... more The emotions are an important feature of Jewish life and thought throughout the ages. From biblical descriptions of a God of pathos to early rabbinic and medieval works detailing the virtues, to mystical tracts focused on the inner life, and occasionally portraying emotion filled religious experiences of the adept, there have always been Jewish representations of the affective dimensions of life. In addition, the many ways Jews have actually participated in prayer and in the celebration of holidays, and in the construction of material objects and spaces in which such activities took place, also give evidence of emotional texture of the lives of Jews. John Corrigan's concluding observations in his introduction to Religion and Emotion: Approaches and Interpretations, in which he sets forth a model for future scholarship in this field, provide a standard against which to assess present investigations into Judaism and the emotions. Others who have produced methodologically astute sc...
BRILL eBooks, Dec 31, 1972
The Review of Rabbinic Judaism, 2016
The Oxford Handbook of Jewishness and Dance, 2022
This chapter examines the life and art of Polish-born Jewish actor and dancer Felix Fibich as a r... more This chapter examines the life and art of Polish-born Jewish actor and dancer Felix Fibich as a rich example of the intersection of discourses about the Jewish body, movement, the emotions, and dance in the twentieth century. Fibich devoted his life to performing, analyzing, and preserving “Jewish movement,” which he believed was the direct reflection of a unique Jewish character. The chapter demonstrates how the specific image and enactment of the torqued, angular body, defined by twists and oppositional pulls in space, provides a powerful modernist mapping of Jewish male subjectivity that migrated from Eastern Europe to the United States, and also of the struggle for transcendence in the face of adversity. Frequently represented in popular culture in a simplistic and stereotyped manner, this richly conceived perspective of the dancing Jewish body provides important insights into shifting ideas about the relationship between Jewish souls, bodies, and emotions.
To Fix Torah in Their Hearts, 2018
The Oxford Handbook of Deuteronomy, 2020
Early Rabbinic Judaism (70–500 ce) was a period of intense intellectual and pastoral creativity t... more Early Rabbinic Judaism (70–500 ce) was a period of intense intellectual and pastoral creativity that crafted an enduring cultural identity for Jews. The Tannaim were teachers during this period whose theological explanations and pastoral applications preserved in the Sifre Devarim bring Deuteronomy into a conversation with a complex of nonbiblical traditions. The Tannaim treat Deuteronomy only as part of their overall interpretation of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers. There are scholarly analyses of the Sifre Devarim; however, there is no systematic examination of the overall influence of Deuteronomy on writings in Early Rabbinic Judaism. Instead, scholars have focused on the history and range of views on specific legal issues in Deuteronomy. I will focus on how Tosefta, Mishnah, and Sifre Devarim handle Deuteronomy in general, rather than how they treat specific legal issues like tithes (14:22–29), holy days (16:1–17), household discipline (21:18–21), divorce (24:1–4), or the levira...
Journal of the Society of Christian Ethics, 2009
A Legacy of Learning, 2014
Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies, 1995
History and the Art of Memory (Hanover, NH: University Press of New England, 1993) for an excelle... more History and the Art of Memory (Hanover, NH: University Press of New England, 1993) for an excellent discussion of the relationship between academic historical research and writings and formulations that are the results of the processes of collective memory. The section below on historical societies also contains references to research that notes tensions between these groups.
The Journal of the American Academy of Psychoanalysis and Dynamic Psychiatry, 2004
The authors examine the conflicted relationship between Orthodox Judaism and psychoanalysis. Orth... more The authors examine the conflicted relationship between Orthodox Judaism and psychoanalysis. Orthodox Jewish thinkers about psychology have responded to psychoanalysis as incompatible with the practice of Orthodox Judaism. On the other hand, those psychoanalytic writers who have examined the beliefs and practices of Orthodox Jews have tended to treat these issues in a reductionistic fashion. However, the authors find possibilities for reconciliation and dialogue in the work of Aaron Rabinowitz and Moshe Halevi Spero. This article will review the relationship between Orthodox Judaism and psychoanalysis as one example of the broader field of the relationship between psychology and religion. 1 The relationship between psychology and religion has been marked by a curious juxtaposition of hostility and tolerance. From the side of religion, psychology (and especially psychoanalysis) has been seen as hostile and reductionistic. Psychologists, on the other side, have treated religious belief and behavior as a field of study but with an attitude of bemused tolerance-or at times hostility. The notion of a dialogue be
Journal for the Study of Judaism, 2013
Along with its companion publieadon,/eivis/î Literature from late Antiquity (135-700 CE): A Handb... more Along with its companion publieadon,/eivis/î Literature from late Antiquity (135-700 CE): A Handbook, edited by Eyal Ben-Eliyahu, Yehuda Cohn, and Fergus Millar, this volume bears the ripened fmiXs of a 2007 conferenee at the Bddsh Academy. The aim ofthe eonferenee and the books is to address the fact that rabbinie literature, despite represendng a vast corpus of texts from the late ancient world, is rarely tapped by historians investigadng late-Roman Palesdne; when it is, it is often used improperly or without appreciation for its peculiar eharaeter. As Martin Goodman puts it in the "Introduedon," "these texts are ealled into serviee as historieal evidence by non-specialists only rarely and only tentatively, and with little awareness of the issues of provenanee, dadng, transmission and genre" (1). Aeeordingly, Goodman coneludes, "this volume will have succeeded if... it eneourages aneient historians to begin to cite the rabbinie texts more often and with greater eonfidenee" (3). Part I, ealled "The Issues," introduces the problem. In "Using Rabbinie Literature as a Souree for the History of Late-Roman Palesdne: Problems and Issues," Philip Alexander notes that use of rabbinie sources by historians has been stymied by eoncems over what constitutes the "rabbinic" corpus, the difficulty of original languages, and the integdty, transmission, and idiosynerade genres of rabbinic texts. Alexander nevertheless remains eonfident that historieal information can be extracted from these texts, provided the phenomena they deseribe are "triangulated" with related desedpdons in Christian and Pagan literature. This claim sets the stage for the next essay, "The Palesdnian Context of Rabbinic Judaism," in which Fergus Millar provides a dense descripdon of Late-Roman Palesdne informed not only by Chdsdan literary sources, but also archaeological and epigraphie data. Millar thus provides some ofthe vertices in view of which rabbinie sourees might be confirmed or contextualized. The final three entries revive the longstanding debate between Peter Schäfer and Chaim Milikowsky over the extent to which rabbinic texts aequired fixed forms in late andquity. First eome repdnts of their eontribudons to Ûiefournal offewish Studies in the 1980s, "Research into Rabbinic Literature: An Attempt to Define the Status Quaestionis" (Schäfer) and "The Status Quaestionis of Research in Rabbinie Literature" (Mflikowsky), then a eurrent instaflment, "Current Views on the Edidng of the Rabbinie Texts of late Andquity: Refleetions on a Debate After Twenty Years," in which the contending scholars reassert their posidons with minor modifieadons. Milikowsky remains opdmistie that original versions of (midrashie) texts ean be approximated, and therefore that eddeal editions are possible; Schäfer sdll favors the synoptie presentation of manusedpts.
Journal for the Study of Judaism, 2013