One of the most peculiar features of the Buber-Rosenzweig Bible translation is its so-called colometric division of the biblical text. This article offers a mapping of the range of considerations that guide Buber and Rosenzweig in determining each colometric unit. Drawing on the myriad exchanges in the Working Papers regarding the length and the rhythm of biblical cola, as well as the reading experience these cola elicit, I aim to show that colometry is not merely a theory of the breath-length rhythm of biblical speech, applied arbitrarily. Rather, the relative consistency with which Buber and Rosenzweig apply an overarching principle and a range of rules to their colometric divisions, suggest there is every reason to view colometry as the foundation of a poetics governing the Buber-Rosenzweig translation - one we might designate as the poetics of the spoken word.
This article examines the rabbinic directive that synagogues be elevated above all other buildings in a city, a law expressed differently in the Tosefta and the Babylonian Talmud. While later authorities like Maimonides treated these sources as reflecting a single, unified legal norm, closer analysis reveals meaningful differences. This study argues that these variations are not incidental but were shaped by each texts distinct geographic, political, and religious contexts. In so doing, the article challenges the tendency to prioritize purely textual explanations to explain differences between rabbinic corpora by highlighting how changing conditions contributed to the formulation and development of Jewish law across diverse rabbinic centers.
This study argues that sexual longing, attraction and eroticism fundamentally shape the narrative dynamics of Jos. Asen. Chaps. 1-21. Focusing on one of the most narratively developed Greek recensions (F, W, G - i. e., family f), it demonstrates that sexuality is not peripheral, but central to driving the plot forward. It explores explicit sexual imagery, symbolic settings and narrative tension generated through the protagonists repeated negotiation and transgression of spatial, social and sexual boundaries. Rather than secondary elements, erotic themes structure the depiction of Aseneths transformation and subsequent union with Joseph. Consequently, Jos. Asen. is best understood as a Jewish adaptation of Greek romantic literature, with eroticism and sexual dynamics providing the primary narrative impetus that frames theological and ethical concerns within the text.
This article explores late antique debates on fasting in Sasanian Mesopotamia through two texts rooted in a common cultural background: the Babylonian Talmud (Taʿanit 11a-b), emphasizing Rav Sheshets dictum, and Aphrahats Demonstration 3 (On Fasting). Aphrahats homily may shed light on Rav Sheshets remark by connecting the postmortem consumption of sinners bodies by dogs to the outcomes of dishonest fasting. Both texts use the biblical story of Naboths vineyard (1 Kings 21) to critique illegitimate fasting, depicting those with corrupt motives as subject to bodily defilement. In the Babylonian Talmud, the discussion of the Nazir concludes with Rav Sheshets dictum, underscoring the importance of proper fasting during Torah study. Aphrahat, in contrast, compares genuine fasts that promote repentance and spiritual growth with false fasts that result in punishment. This comparison highlights recurring literary themes and ideas shared across late antique rabbinic and Syriac traditions in Sasanian Mesopotamia.
A year apart, Walter Benjamin and Franz Rosenzweig each published a volume of translated poems and included short but pivotal essays on translation theory. The first is Benjamin's "Die Aufgabe des & Uuml;bersetzers" (The Task of the Translator, 1923), which appeared as a foreword to his translation of a selection of Charles Baudelaire's poems. The second is Rosenzweig's afterword to his translation of 92 hymns and poems by Jehuda Halevi (1924). This article seeks to examine the ways in which the theories presented in these two essays stand in relation to the translations in the respective volumes. Through close readings of two translated poems-Rosenzweig's "Die Liebenden" (The Lovers), and Benjamin's "Einer Dame" (For a Lady)-this article traces how the translators reflected, neglected or modified their concepts in their translations and what this in turn reveals about their respective approaches to language.
