Eric Lawee
Eric Lawee is a full professor in the Department of Bible at Bar-Ilan University, where he teaches the history of Jewish biblical scholarship. His *Rashi’s Commentary on the Torah: Canonization and Resistance in the Reception of a Jewish Classic* (2019), published by OUP, won the 2019 Jewish Book Award in the category of Scholarship of the Jewish Book Council (Judges' Remarks below) and was finalist for a Jordan Schnitzer Book Award of the Association for Jewish Studies in 2021. He holds the Rabbi Asher Weiser Chair for Medieval Biblical Commentary Research and directs Bar-Ilan's Institute for Jewish Bible Interpretation.
Address: Yerushalayim, Israel
Address: Yerushalayim, Israel
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Books by Eric Lawee
The book takes as its larger integrating perspective processes of canonicity as they shape how traditions flourish, disintegrate, or evolve. Rashi's scriptural magnum opus, the foremost work of Franco-German (Ashkenazic) biblical scholarship, faced stiff competition for canonical supremacy in the form of rationalist reconfigurations of Judaism as they developed in Mediterranean seats of learning. It nevertheless emerged triumphant in an intense battle for Judaism's future that unfolded in late medieval and early modern times. Investigation of the reception of the Commentary throws light on issues in Jewish scholarship and spirituality that continue to stir reflection, and even passionate debate, in the Jewish world today.
"This exceedingly rich and well-written book offers students of Jewish intellectual history and historians of scriptural exegesis, for the first time, a study of Abarbanel as biblical commentator. Lawee argues convincingly for Abarbanel's merit as a 'harvester' and a 'builder'--harvesting the fruits of his predecessors and building his own edifice upon their efforts. This book is bound to become the definitive study of medieval Jewry's last great biblical parshan (commentator)." -- Charles H. Manekin, coeditor of The Jewish Philosophy Reader
"Lawee's nuanced analysis results in a more accurate understanding of Abarbanel's legacy in the context of Renaissance humanism. Abarbanel emerges as a deeply learned Jewish intellectual, who defended Judaism against its detractors by entering a creative dialogue with ancient, medieval, and contemporary authors." -- Hava Tirosh-Samuelson, Arizona State University
Articles by Eric Lawee
: זכרה לאהרן: קובץ מחקרים במקרא ובפרשנותו – ספר זיכרון לפרופ' אהרן מונדשיין
The article traces elements of continuity in Abarbanel’s presentation with medieval (especially Maimonidean) teachings on the human side of prophecy as they stand at the nexus of Greco-Arabic philosophic poetics, psychology, and prophetology. At the same time, it identifies dimensions of that presentation consonant with ideas and habits of mind attested by Renaissance humanists. In short, this case study shows how Abarbanel’s approach to Jeremiah reflects an unusual confluence of intellectual traditions born of his status as a transitional figure from medieval to early modem times. More broadly, it opens a window on shifts in scriptural commentary that lead some modem scholars to regard Renaissance humanism as the beginning of developments that lie at the heart of modern biblical scholarship.
תקציר עברי
'אומת אדום העדינה': גישות יהודיות משתנות לתרבות הנוצרית בספרד בשלהי ימי הביניים
למרות שגילויי הערצה יהודיים כלפי הישגי העולם הנוצרי אינם שכיחים בימי הביניים, ובודאי שאין הם בבחינת מנהג רווח, מספר משכילים באיטליה ודרום צרפת מתחילים להביע מודעות ביחס להישגיהם של הנוצרים בתחומים שונים במאה השלוש עשרה. תופעה זו מוצאת את ביטויה במאות שלאחר מכן במגוון מרשים של כתבים פרי עטם של מחברים יהודיים על אדמת ספרד. המאמר מתאר ומנתח את אופייה וגלגולה של תופעה זו, שמבחינות רבות משקפת התפתחות בלתי צפויה מצדם של יהודים בשבתם בספרד במהלך מאה וחמישים השנים שקדמו לגירושם, תוך הצבעה על ייחודן של הגישות השונות והבלטתן של מגמות-נגד. בבוחנו את הגישות היהודיות המשתנות בנידון, המאמר מסתמך על עדויות מתחומי יצירה וכתיבה רבים ומגוונים ורואה במונח 'תרבות' קטגוריה מושגית. כתוצאה מכך מתגלה מאפיין שלא זכה להבלטה מספיקה בעבר, הנוגע לסיפור המורכב של המפגש היהודי-נוצרי בשלהי ימי-הביניים: חלק מהמלומדים היהודים בספרד מחילים הבחנה מובלעת בין דת לתרבות.
The book takes as its larger integrating perspective processes of canonicity as they shape how traditions flourish, disintegrate, or evolve. Rashi's scriptural magnum opus, the foremost work of Franco-German (Ashkenazic) biblical scholarship, faced stiff competition for canonical supremacy in the form of rationalist reconfigurations of Judaism as they developed in Mediterranean seats of learning. It nevertheless emerged triumphant in an intense battle for Judaism's future that unfolded in late medieval and early modern times. Investigation of the reception of the Commentary throws light on issues in Jewish scholarship and spirituality that continue to stir reflection, and even passionate debate, in the Jewish world today.
"This exceedingly rich and well-written book offers students of Jewish intellectual history and historians of scriptural exegesis, for the first time, a study of Abarbanel as biblical commentator. Lawee argues convincingly for Abarbanel's merit as a 'harvester' and a 'builder'--harvesting the fruits of his predecessors and building his own edifice upon their efforts. This book is bound to become the definitive study of medieval Jewry's last great biblical parshan (commentator)." -- Charles H. Manekin, coeditor of The Jewish Philosophy Reader
"Lawee's nuanced analysis results in a more accurate understanding of Abarbanel's legacy in the context of Renaissance humanism. Abarbanel emerges as a deeply learned Jewish intellectual, who defended Judaism against its detractors by entering a creative dialogue with ancient, medieval, and contemporary authors." -- Hava Tirosh-Samuelson, Arizona State University
: זכרה לאהרן: קובץ מחקרים במקרא ובפרשנותו – ספר זיכרון לפרופ' אהרן מונדשיין
The article traces elements of continuity in Abarbanel’s presentation with medieval (especially Maimonidean) teachings on the human side of prophecy as they stand at the nexus of Greco-Arabic philosophic poetics, psychology, and prophetology. At the same time, it identifies dimensions of that presentation consonant with ideas and habits of mind attested by Renaissance humanists. In short, this case study shows how Abarbanel’s approach to Jeremiah reflects an unusual confluence of intellectual traditions born of his status as a transitional figure from medieval to early modem times. More broadly, it opens a window on shifts in scriptural commentary that lead some modem scholars to regard Renaissance humanism as the beginning of developments that lie at the heart of modern biblical scholarship.
תקציר עברי
'אומת אדום העדינה': גישות יהודיות משתנות לתרבות הנוצרית בספרד בשלהי ימי הביניים
למרות שגילויי הערצה יהודיים כלפי הישגי העולם הנוצרי אינם שכיחים בימי הביניים, ובודאי שאין הם בבחינת מנהג רווח, מספר משכילים באיטליה ודרום צרפת מתחילים להביע מודעות ביחס להישגיהם של הנוצרים בתחומים שונים במאה השלוש עשרה. תופעה זו מוצאת את ביטויה במאות שלאחר מכן במגוון מרשים של כתבים פרי עטם של מחברים יהודיים על אדמת ספרד. המאמר מתאר ומנתח את אופייה וגלגולה של תופעה זו, שמבחינות רבות משקפת התפתחות בלתי צפויה מצדם של יהודים בשבתם בספרד במהלך מאה וחמישים השנים שקדמו לגירושם, תוך הצבעה על ייחודן של הגישות השונות והבלטתן של מגמות-נגד. בבוחנו את הגישות היהודיות המשתנות בנידון, המאמר מסתמך על עדויות מתחומי יצירה וכתיבה רבים ומגוונים ורואה במונח 'תרבות' קטגוריה מושגית. כתוצאה מכך מתגלה מאפיין שלא זכה להבלטה מספיקה בעבר, הנוגע לסיפור המורכב של המפגש היהודי-נוצרי בשלהי ימי-הביניים: חלק מהמלומדים היהודים בספרד מחילים הבחנה מובלעת בין דת לתרבות.
"After finishing this book, one feels that one has just put down a great piece of scholarship. A book that is deserving of its forthcoming awards. One that will now be on the reading list of every Jewish educator who teaches Rashi and on the reading list of every graduate student. The years put into this project show in the wonderful final product. ... This book is groundbreaking for opening up new avenues of research on Rashi's thought, on medieval intellectual trends, and on the exegetic imagination. "-Alan Brill, Cooperman/Ross Endowed Professor
"This is the first comprehensive examination of the reception of the Bible Commentary of Rabbi Solomon Isaaci of Troyes, known as Rashi, much of it based on new and original research. It is an excellent book by an erudite, responsible, and articulate scholar. "-Warren Zev Harvey, Professor Emeritus of Jewish Thought, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
"The commentary of Rashi on the Torah is without doubt the most widely known, accepted, and studied commentary in the Jewish world. It was also influential among the Christian Hebraists. Until now, no one has tried to tell this story in depth, a story that should be of interest not only to students of biblical exegesis, but to all students of Jewish medieval thought and culture. Eric Lawee has written a book of first rate scholarship and told a fascinating, multifaceted story. "-Haim Kreisel Director of the Goldstein-Goren International Center for Jewish Thought, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev 3 0 % O F F ! April 2021 $34.95 $24.47 | £22.99 £16.09 Paperback | 9780197584354 | 496 pages Order online at www.oup.com/academic with promo code AAFLYG6 to save 30% Eric Lawee is Professor of Bible at Bar-Ilan University where he specializes in Jewish biblical interpretation in medieval and modern times. Rashi's Commentary on the Torah Canonization and Resistance in the Reception of a Jewish Classic Eric Lawee R ashi's Commentary on the Torah explores how and why the Commentary has left so indelible an imprint on generations of Jews and the processes that turned it into the closest thing Judaism has to a canonical commentary on scripture.
pensee parfois subtile et informee de theories de l'hermeneutique au-dela des necessites primaires de l'histoire des commentaires juifs, cependant toujours clairement exposee.
Daniel J. Crowther
The volume is available in a print edition or on JSTOR and ATLA with no moving wall.
Contents:
“Two Are Better than One”: The Conceptual and Thematic Use of Numbers in Ecclesiastes
Katharine J. Dell and Tova Forti
University of Cambridge; Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
“The Fear of the Lord is Wisdom”? A Consideration of Job 28 as a Sarcastic Response to the Wisdom Tradition
Kyle R. Greenwood
Development Associates International
“And Who Wrote Them?” (Bava Batra 14b–15a) The List of Biblical Authors, Its Sources, Principles, and Dating
Eran Viezel
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
Merciful, Shamefaced, and Kind: Israel’s Character in y. Qiddushin 4:1 and b. Yevamot 79a
Kacie Klamm
University of Notre Dame
Recognizing the Anti-Mysticism Polemic in Genesis Rabbah: A Bourdieusian Reading
David H. Aaron
Hebrew Union College
“With Specious Contentions, He Cast Blemishes on His Holy Ones”: Abraham ibn Ezra, Maimonides, and Nahmanides in Zecharyah ben Moshe’s Poetic Preface to Offering of Zeal
Eric Lawee
Bar-Ilan University
Wandering Jews in England’s Green and Pleasant Land: Wissenschaft des Judentums in an Anglo-Jewish Context
Daniel Langton
University of Manchester