Codes and Hypertext: the Intertextuality of International and Comparative Law

The field of information studies reveals gaps in the literature of international and comparative law as part of interdisciplinary and textual studies. To illustrate the kind of theoretical and text-based work that could be done, this essay provides an example of such a study. Religious law texts, civil law codes, treaties and constitutional texts may provide a means to reveal the nature of hypertext as the new format for commentary. Margins used to be used for commentary, and now this can be done with hypertext and links in footnotes. Scholarly communication in general is now intertextual, and texts derive value and meaning from being related to other texts. This paper draws upon examples chosen after observing relationships between text presentation and hypertext as well as detailing similar observations by scholars to date. However, this essay attempts to go beyond a descriptive level to argue that this intertextuality, and the hypertext nature of the web, bring together texts and traditions in a manner conducive to the study of legal systems and their points of convergence

Responses to comments and elaborations of previous posts III

This post is dedicated to the memory of Rabbi Chaim Flom, late rosh yeshiva of Yeshivat Ohr David in Jerusalem. I first met Rabbi Flom thirty years ago when he became my teacher at the Hebrew Youth Academy of Essex County (now known as the Joseph Kushner Hebrew Academy; unfortunately, another one of my teachers from those years also passed away much too young, Rabbi Yaakov Appel). When he first started teaching he was known as Mr. Flom, because he hadn't yet received semikhah (Actually, he had some sort of semikhah but he told me that he didn't think it was adequate to be called "Rabbi" by the students.) He was only at the school a couple of years and then decided to move to Israel to open his yeshiva. I still remember his first parlor meeting which was held at my house. Rabbi Flom was a very special man. Just to give some idea of this, ten years after leaving the United States he was still in touch with many of the students and even attended our weddings. He would always call me when he came to the U.S. and was genuinely interested to hear about my family and what I was working on. He will be greatly missed

Purity/Impurity and the Lordship of Jesus in the Gospel According to Mark

Lewis, David Issac. “Purity/Impurity and the Lordship of Jesus in the Gospel according to Mark.” Ph.D. diss., Concordia Seminary, 2020. 238 pp. Most modern scholars read purity/impurity to be a major theme in the handwashing controversy of Mark 7:1–23, and the majority further interpret the parenthetical participle clause in Mark 7:19b to indicate that Jesus abrogates the food regulations of Leviticus 11. Many interpreters also detect purity/impurity to be a theme in the three miracle accounts of Mark 1:40–45 and 5:21–43 and in the exorcism accounts. Fewer interpreters, however, read these various accounts together in light of the entire narrative to investigate how Mark presents both Jesus’ relationship to purity and his overall authority, in particular his authority with respect to the Torah. A narrative approach to analyzing the Gospel of Mark would intentionally interpret together the passages where purity is an underlying theme. Such a narrative approach would also consider the OT background, how this was understood in the Second Temple era, and other passages in Mark’s Gospel where Jesus displays unique authority with respect to the Torah. In the three miracle accounts of Mark 1:40–45 and 5:21–43, Jesus overcomes contact-contagion impurity as defined in the Leviticus 11–15 and Num 19:11–22 by coming into physical contact with unclean persons. In each of these miracles, Jesus brings cleansing/salvation to an unclean person based in his own authority and so apart from the regulations of the Torah. Jesus then displays this same authority when he abrogates Leviticus 11 during the handwashing controversy of Mark 7:1–23. When Mark 7:1–23 is compared to other passages in the Gospel of Mark where Jesus teaches about the regulations of the Torah, the narrative indicates that Jesus’ authority is based in his inauguration of the reign of God and the coming of the new age. Therefore, Jesus’ authority encompasses the entire Torah and not just the purity laws. In the exorcism accounts, Jesus displays authority over the unclean spirits whose impurity represents a cosmic and generic class of impurity that is not defined by the Torah. The baptismal ministry of John initiates the fulfillment of the eschatological promises of Ezek 36:26 and Zech 13:1–2 that God would cleanse his people Israel from their sin. As the one who receives the Holy Spirit at his baptism, Jesus continues this cleansing ministry, and this is accomplished in part through the exorcisms by which he removes the unclean spirits from both Jews and Gentiles. By interpreting together the exorcisms, these three miracle accounts, and the handwashing controversy through this narrative approach, it is shown that Mark’s Gospel depicts Jesus as one who has authority over every type of impurity—both the generic impurity of the spirits as well as Levitical impurity defined by the Torah—and so Jesus is one who is Lord over all things, even Lord over the Torah

Cultures in Collision and Conversation

In Cultures in Collision and Conversation, David Berger addresses three broad themes in Jewish intellectual history: Jewish approaches to cultures external to Judaism and the controversies triggered by this issue in medieval and modern times; the impact of Christian challenges and differing philosophical orientations on Jewish interpretation of the Bible; and Messianic visions, movements, and debates from antiquity to the present. These essays include a monograph-length study of Jewish attitudes toward general culture in medieval and early modern times, analyses of the thought of Maimonides and Nahmanides, an assessment of the reactions to the most recent messianic movement in Jewish history, and reflections on the value of the academic study of Judaism

The enduring yod: an examination of Torah observance in the prophetic ministry and teaching of Jesus

This dissertation examines whether the Synoptic Jesus upheld the importance of Torah observance in his life and message, especially pertaining to his reputation as a miracle prophet. After surveying various viewpoints from prominent scholars, this study challenges broad trends that position Jesus in discontinuity with the Mosaic covenant and emphasize the Hellenization of Galilee. It begins with an analysis of Jesus’ Jewish context, both his devout socio-religious setting and his conservative upbringing presented by Matthew and Luke. This study then highlights indicators of Torah praxis in Jesus’ life and the significance of Jesus’ role as a prophet, restoring Israel back to covenantal fidelity. It then examines Jesus’ most explicit endorsement of the Hebrew Scriptures and the ethical injunctions of the Sermon on the Mount, and Jesus is presented as one expounding and elucidating the will of God as revealed in the Law and Prophets. Using three major controversy stories recorded in Mark, this study determines whether Jesus abolishes or disregards Torah observance related to Sabbath, food and purity, and the Temple cult. The result is that the Synoptic Jesus does not abrogate or devalue such covenantal adherences, but emerges as a conservative and passionate advocate of obedience to every yod, or smallest letter, of Hebrew Holy Writ

Jewish Revenge: Haredi Action in the Zionist Sphere

This is a pre-copyedited version of an article accepted for publication in (journal title, volume and issue numbers, and year) following peer review. The definitive publisher-authenticated version is available from Wayne State University Press.Jewish ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) cinema in Israel has become increasingly prominent in recent years. Emerging as a highly controversial, secluded, and gender-segregated form of “amateur cinema,” it is currently seeing gradual professionalization. This article discusses Haredi cinema in the context of the Haredi community’s relationship with the Israeli state and the doctrine of Zionism. Appropriating generic conventions of mainstream Hollywood cinema, yet keeping within the secluded Haredi space, this form of minority cinema functions as an alternative (virtual) sphere in which a complex set of negotiations occurs between Jewish ultra-Orthodox ideals and those of the surrounding Israeli society and Zionism. It is reflective of and engaged in the production of recent social and discursive transformations within the Haredi community in Israel. We examine this phenomenon through a focused analysis of the male action genre, specifically the popular series Jewish Revenge (Yehuda Grovais, 2000–2010). As we demonstrate, the mode of representation and the narratives of these films bring models of masculinities and notions of heroism under scrutiny. The Zionist narrative, the national body, and the (imaginary) place of the Haredi within it are being reconfigured through the prism of body politics and fantasies of transgression