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In the first book-length study of Takkanot Kandiyah, Martin Borýsek analyses this fascinating corpus of Hebrew texts written between 1228 –1583 by the leaders of the Jewish community in Candia, the capital of Venetian Crete. Collected in the 16th century by the Cretan Jewish historian Elijah Capsali, the communal byelaws offer a unique perspective on the history of a vibrant, culturally diverse Jewish community during three centuries of Venetian rule. As well as confronting practical problems such as deciding whether Christian wine can be made kosher by adding honey, or stopping irresponsible Jewish youths disturbing religious services by setting off fireworks in the synagogue, Takkanot Kandiyah presents valuable material for the study of communal autonomy and institutional memory in pre-modern Jewish society.
From Europe and America to the Middle East, North Africa and other non-European Jewish settlement areas, the Encyclopedia of Jewish History and Culture covers the recent history of the Jewish people from 1750 through the 1950s. Originally published in German as the Enzyklopädie jüdischer Geschichte und Kultur by J.B. Metzler Verlag (Stuttgart/Weimar) in 2011 the work includes approximately 800 entries that present the state of international research and reveal a complex portrait of Jewish life — illuminated by many maps and illustrations. Central themes convey information on topics such as autonomy, exile, emancipation, literature, liturgy, music, and science of Judaism. The encyclopedia provides knowledge in an overall context and offers academics and other interested readers new insights into Jewish history and culture. The work is an outstanding contribution to the understanding of Judaism and modernity.

The first volume of the English edition will appear in 2017 with subsequent volumes following in due course. The volumes may be purchased individually as they appear or as a set once all 7 are available. Both the German and the English editions will also be available online.
Karaite Judaism emerged in the 9th century—an exciting and challenging new stream of medieval Jewish identity and thought which challenged the notions of traditional rabbinic Judaism by rejecting, on the one hand, the sanctified tradition of Jewish oral law and the authority of the ancient Rabbis, while on the other hand re-centering on the text of Hebrew Bible as the sole source of Jewish religion. This Brill subseries, entitled Karaite Texts and Studies, edited by Meira Polliack (Tel-Aviv University) and Michael G. Wechsler (Moody Bible Institute, Chicago) serves as a locus of investigation into medieval Karaism, based on the testimony of its extensive written remains. The recent efflorescence of scholarship on Karaism has provided the impetus for the establishment of the Karaite Texts and Studies series which appears in association with Études sur le judaïsme medieval. The series focuses on the “Golden Age” of Karaism in the Near East (the 10th through 12th centuries) and it covers all genres of Karaite literature, written in Hebrew, Judaeo-Arabic, or other languages.
The mission of this series is to support scholarship in diverse fields under the umbrella of the creative arts. With particular interest in theater, music, film and visual culture, this series seeks to publish cutting edge cultural history that contextualize these growing areas of scholarship within the larger tapestry of the Jewish experience.
Tractate against the Midianites and Ishmaelites
This is the first English translation of one of the most important treatises written during the late-Middle Ages in defense of converts from Judaism, favoring religious tolerance in the face of religious and racially motivated prejudice and violence. The book also includes a fresh Latin edition, drawing on all known manuscripts. The text was written in response to the actions of the "Old Christians" of Toledo against the "New Christians," also called conversos, in 1449. A letter of Pope Nicholas V favouring the converts is included.
The IOS Annual volume 22: “Telling of Olden Kings” brings forth studies devoted to a wide array fields and disciplines of the Middle East. The Ancient Near East section is devoted to Neo-Babylonian Mesopotamia and the Achaemenid Empire (Da Riva and Novotny; Levavi; Tavernier and Azzoni; Zadok). The Semitic section includes three articles dealing with contact between various languages of the Semitic language group and between Semitic languages and dialects and other language groups (Castagna; Cerqueglini; Klimiuk and Lipnicka). The Arabic section contains two articles two articles about Modern Iraqi and Egyptian Poetry (Khoury) and the image of Rahav the harlot in early Muslim traditions (Yavor).
The IOS Annual volume 23: “Drought Will Drive You Even Toward Your Foe” brings forth studies devoted to a wide array fields and disciplines of the Middle East. The two sections – Ancient Near East and Semitics include six articles. The Ancient Near East contains three articles dealing with the history of Mesopotamia and ancient Syria (Steinkeller; Steinmayer; Cohen), and the second and concluding part of “On Aramaic Loanwords in Neo- and Late Babylonian Texts” (Zadok), which appeared in IOS 21. The Semitic section includes two articles. The first is about metaphors in the Bedouins' Poetry (Cerqueglini). The second is a study of the vocalization of guttural consonants in the Secunda (Maurizio)