The Festschrift Darkhei Noam: The Jews of Arab Lands(55 Brill's Series in Jewish Studies)

The Festschrift Darkhei Noam: The Jews of Arab Lands presented to Norman (Noam) Stillman offers a coherent and thought-provoking discussion by eminent scholars in the field of both the history and culture of the Jews in the Islamic World from pre-modern to modern times. Based on primary sources the book speaks to the resilience, flexibility, and creativity of Jewish culture in Arab lands. The volume clearly addresses the areas of research Norman Stillman himself has considerably contributed to. Research foci of the book are on the flexibility of Jewish law in real life, Jewish cultural life particularly on material and musical culture, the role of women in these different societies, antisemitism and Jewish responses to hatred against the Jews, and antisemitism from ancient martyrdom to modern political Zionism.

Table of Contents:
The Contributors Foreword: President Boren, President of the University of Oklahoma Introduction by the three editors 1. Karaite and Sadducee Inheritance Law in Light of Yefet ben ʽElī’s Commentary on Genesis 36, Yoram Erder 2. Apes & the Sabbath Problem, Reuven Firestone 3. Notes on the Islamic Toponymy of the Holy Land and Holy City, Jacob Lassner 4. A Look at Women's Lives in Cairo Genizah Society, Renée Levine Melammed 5. The Custom of the Merchants in Geonic Jurisprudence and in Maimonides’ Mishneh Torah, Mark Cohen 6. Yiṣhaq-i Kamāl – a Martyr in Bukhārā, Vera Basch Moreen 7. “Those Who Walk in the Court of Our Master the King”. The Sephardic Courtier Tradition Revisited, Jane Gerber 8. Deniers et marchandises; le financement commercial des juifs portugais à Bayonne au XVIIIe siècle, Gerard Nahon 9. A Pioneer Publication in Context: Abraham Zvi Idelsohn’s Gesänge der Marokkanischen Juden (1928/9), Edwin Seroussi 10. Two Judeo-Arabic Translations of the Scroll of Antiochus from Ghardaia (Algeria), Ofra Tirosh Becker 11. Secular Trends and Tradition: Post Immigration Debates and Practices among Yemeni Jews, Bat-Zion Eraqui-Klorman 12. Max Nordau: The Post-Herzl Years, Allan Arkush 13. Bibliography of Prof. Stillman’s Publications, Walker Robins Index

About the Author :
Carsten Schapkow is Associate Professor of History and Judaic Studies at the University of Oklahoma. He has published on Iberian-Sephardic history and German-Jewish history. Shmuel Shepkaru is Schusterman Professor of Jewish Intellectual and Religious History at the University of Oklahoma. He has published on the topic of martyrdom, Jewish-Christian relations, and Jewish-Arab relations. Alan T. Levenson is Schusterman/Josey Chair of Jewish History at the University of Oklahoma. He has published on Jewish history and the use/abuse of the Bible in modern Jewish culture.

Review :
"Dr. Norman Stillman is one of the leading scholars of Jewish history, especially the history of the Jews in the Islamic World from pre-modern to modern times. This excellent collection raises questions about the remarkable flexibility of Jewish law in the day to day life of Jews in Arab lands; Jewish cultural life, particularly material and musical culture; the role of women in these different societies; Antisemitism and Jewish responses to hatred against the Jews, up to modern political Zionism." --David B. Levy, Touro College, NY, AJL Reviews, Volume VI, No.1