Executives’ morality and ethics became major research topics following recent business scandals, but the research missed a major explanation of executives’ immorality: career advancement by "jumping" between firms that causes ignorance of job-pertinent tacit local knowledge, tempting "jumpers" to covertly conceal this ignorance. Generating distrust and ignorance cycles and mismanagement, this choice bars performance-based career advancement and encourages immoral careerism, advancing by immoral subterfuges. Such careerism is a known managerial malady, but explaining its emergence proved challenging as managerial ignorance is covertly concealed as a dark secret on organizations’ dark side by conspiracies of silence. Managerially educated and experienced, Dr. Shapira achieved a breakthrough by a 5-year semi-native anthropological study of five "jumper"-managed automatic processing plants and their parent firms. This book untangles common ignorance and immoral careerism, concealed as dark secrets by executives who "rode" on the successes of mid-level "jumpers" who high-morally risked their authority and power by admitting ignorance and trustfully learned local tacit knowledge. The opposite choice tendencies accorded power, authority, and status rankings, which made practicing immorality easier the higher one’s position, suggesting that the common "jumping" between managerial careers nurtures immoral executives similar to those exposed in the recent business scandals.
The prayer book is our Jewish diary of the centuries, a collection of prayers composed by generations of those who came before us, as they endeavored to express the meaning of their lives and their relationship to God. The prayer book is the essence of the Jewish soul." This stunning work, an empowering entryway to the spiritual revival of our times, enables all of us to claim our connection to the heritage of the traditional Jewish prayer book. It helps rejuvenate Jewish worship in today's world, and makes its power accessible to all. This third volume of the series explores the rich content and meaning of the P'sukei D’zimrah, the morning psalms that serve as the introduction to the larger prayer service. The P’sukei D’zimrah sets the tone and prepares the way for the daily transition from secular routine to the sacred act of communal prayer; Vol. 3 helps us to appreciate this "prayer before the prayer" as a profoundly moving spiritual experience in its own right. Vol. 3—P’sukei D’zimrah (Morning Psalms) features the authentic Hebrew text with a new translation designed to let people know exactly what the prayers say. Introductions tell the reader what to look for in the prayer service, as well as how to truly use the commentaries, to search for—and find—meaning in the prayer book. Commentaries from some of today’s most eminent scholars and teachers from all movements of Judaism examine P’sukei D’zimrah from the perspectives of ancient Rabbis and modern theologians, as well as feminist, halakhic, Talmudic, linguistic, biblical, Chasidic, mystical, and historical perspectives. Even those not yet familiar with the prayer book can appreciate the spiritual richness of P’sukei D’zimrah. My People’s Prayer Book enables all worshipers, of any denomination, to encounter their own connection to 3,000 years of Jewish experience with the world and with God.
Holy war, sanctioned or even commanded by God, is a common and recurring theme in the Hebrew Bible. Rabbinic Judaism, however, largely avoided discussion of holy war in the Talmud and related literatures for the simple reason that it became dangerous and self-destructive. Reuven Firestone's Holy War in Judaism is the first book to consider how the concept of ''holy war'' disappeared from Jewish thought for almost 2000 years, only to reemerge with renewed vigor in modern times. The revival of the holy war idea occurred with the rise of Zionism. As the necessity of organized Jewish engagement in military actions developed, Orthodox Jews faced a dilemma. There was great need for all to engage in combat for the survival of the infant state of Israel, but the Talmudic rabbis had virtually eliminated divine authorization for Jews to fight in Jewish armies. Once the notion of divinely sanctioned warring was revived, it became available to Jews who considered that the historical context justified more aggressive forms of warring. Among some Jews, divinely authorized war became associated not only with defense but also with a renewed kibbush or conquest, a term that became central to the discourse regarding war and peace and the lands conquered by the state of Israel in 1967. By the early 1980's, the rhetoric of holy war had entered the general political discourse of modern Israel. In Holy War in Judaism, Firestone identifies, analyzes, and explains the historical, conceptual, and intellectual processes that revived holy war ideas in modern Judaism.
Holy war, sanctioned or even commanded by God, is a common and recurring theme in the Hebrew Bible. Rabbinic Judaism, however, largely avoided discussion of holy war in the Talmud and related literatures for the simple reason that it became dangerous and self-destructive. Reuven Firestone's Holy War in Judaism is the first book to consider how the concept of ''holy war'' disappeared from Jewish thought for almost 2000 years, only to reemerge with renewed vigor in modern times. The revival of the holy war idea occurred with the rise of Zionism. As the necessity of organized Jewish engagement in military actions developed, Orthodox Jews faced a dilemma. There was great need for all to engage in combat for the survival of the infant state of Israel, but the Talmudic rabbis had virtually eliminated divine authorization for Jews to fight in Jewish armies. Once the notion of divinely sanctioned warring was revived, it became available to Jews who considered that the historical context justified more aggressive forms of warring. Among some Jews, divinely authorized war became associated not only with defense but also with a renewed kibbush or conquest, a term that became central to the discourse regarding war and peace and the lands conquered by the state of Israel in 1967. By the early 1980's, the rhetoric of holy war had entered the general political discourse of modern Israel. In Holy War in Judaism, Firestone identifies, analyzes, and explains the historical, conceptual, and intellectual processes that revived holy war ideas in modern Judaism.
This study analyzes the key functions of arms planning and procurement in the ongoing Israeli defence effort. Part I addresses individual constraints placed on the shaping of arms control policy. Part II asks how Israel might best meet its arms needs over the next decade.
The book discusses the image of the prophet and the role of prophecy in Modern Hebrew Poetry. The first part of the book presents the prophetic archetypal biographies of prophets, heroes and artists in Hebrew and European mythologies. It also examines the historical facts which lead to the departure of the prophet from Hebrew literature following the destruction of the second temple. Finally, it addresses the necessity of reappearance of the prophet in the 18th and 19th centuries in Hebrew thought and literature and provides a short history of that reappearance in Haskala literature. The second part focuses upon three major “prophets poets”: Haim N. Bialik, Avraham Shlonski and Uri Z. Greenberg. The book may be of interest to scholars of Literature, Judaism, Philosophy, Science of Religion, Anthropology, Folklore and Rhetoric.
In Who Needs Arab-Jewish Identity?: Interpellation, Exclusion, and Inessential Solidarities, Professor Reuven Snir, Dean of Humanities at Haifa University, presents a new approach to the study of Arab-Jewish identity and the subjectivities of Arabized Jews. Against the historical background of Arab-Jewish culture and in light of identity theory, Snir shows how the exclusion that the Arabized Jews had experienced, both in their mother countries and then in Israel, led to the fragmentation of their original identities and encouraged them to find refuge in inessential solidarities. Following double exclusion, intense globalization, and contemporary fluidity of identities, singularity, not identity, has become the major war cry among Arabized Jews during the last decade in our present liquid society. "In Who Needs Arab-Jewish Identity? Reuven Snir brings out an important contribution to studies of the history, literature and identity of Arabized Jews, showing the significant shifts these communities have undergone in the ways their identities have been defined and constructed in the modern period." - Lisa Bernasek, University of Southampton, in: Journal of Modern Jewish Studies 18.2 (2019)
In Job's final concession to God, he uses a phrase generally translated from the Hebrew as, "Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes" (afar va-eifer). A very small number of scholars see this translation as forced. While most translations have Job referring to himself with the words afar va-eifer, this small group of scholars does not believe the Hebrew to be so clear. They maintain that the phrase afar va-eifer could just as easily be translated as referring to God. In this translation of the text, Job is calling God "dust and ashes." Can Job truly be referring to God, not himself, as dust and ashes? How dare he? And if he did, what did this mean theologically? If this linguistic analysis is correct, how are we to understand not only the ending of the book, but also the entire story of Job? These are the questions From Job to the Shoah strives to answer. The conclusions it reaches have profound theological implications, especially in our modern era when the "dust and ashes" of the six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust still hang heavily above us.
The study of Arabic literature is blossoming. This book provides a comprehensive theoretical framework to help research this highly prolific and diverse production of contemporary literary texts. Based on the achievements of historical poetics, in particular those of Russian formalism and its theoretical legacy, this framework offers flexible, transparent, and unbiased tools to understand the relevant contexts within the literary system. The aim is to enhance our understanding of Arabic literature, throw light on areas of literary production that traditionally have been neglected, and stimulate others to take up the fascinating challenge of mapping out and exploring them.
A Linguistic Journey from Eden to Israel Throughout Jewish literature, the Hebrew language is referred to as Lashon HaKodesh. Its history, origins, decline, and rebirth are simply fascinating. Furthermore, at its deepest level, Lashon HaKodesh is called such (“the Holy Language”) because it is intrinsically sacred – and is thus unlike any other language known to Man. Lashon HaKodesh: History, Holiness, & Hebrew seeks to understand the holiness of Lashon HaKodesh, follows its history, and focuses on the significance of Aramaic and other ‘Jewish languages’ such as Yiddish and Ladino. An extended section is devoted to Modern Hebrew, its controversies, and its implications from a religious perspective. This unique work delves into the linguistic history of each ‘Jewish language’, as well as the philological, Kabbalistic, and Halachic approaches to this topic taken by various Rabbinic figures through the ages. The author also compares and contrasts traditional Jewish views to those of modern-day academia, offering proofs and difficulties to both approaches. As the old saying goes, “Two Jews, three opinions.” In almost every chapter, more than one way of looking at the matter at hand is presented. In some cases, the differing opinions can be harmonized, but ultimately many matters remain subject to dispute. Hopefully, the mere knowledge of these sources will whet the reader’s intellectual curiosity to learn more. Written by a brilliant young scholar, Lashon HaKodesh: History, Holiness, & Hebrew is ground-breaking, intriguing, and truly remarkable.
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