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| Jacob Neusner (Foto: Goodreads) |
Zu den bedeutendsten Religionswissenschaftlern und Judentums-Forschern der Gegenwart gehörte Jacob Neusner (geb. 28.07.1932 in Hartfort, Connecticut). Er starb am 8. Oktober 2016 in Rhinebeck, NY. In einmaliger Intensität und Kompetenz veröffentlichte er als Autor und Herausgeber mehr als 900 Bücher. Schwerpunkte seiner Forschung waren die Tora, der Talmud, aber auch die christlichen Schriften des Neuen Testaments sowie das frühe Christentum. Dazu gehört auch die dialogische Auseinandersetzung um die Bedeutung Jesu für Juden und Christen:
- Ein Rabbi spricht mit Jesus (Herder-Verlag 2007)
- Bilder und Buchtitel zu Jacob Neusner (Google)
Nachruf des Verlags Brill (Okt 2016)
Brill is greatly saddened to hear of the passing of Professor Emeritus
Jacob Neusner (New York Times, 10.10.2016) was a Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus of the
History and Theology of Judaism and Senior Fellow, Institute of Advanced
Theology, at Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. He published
over 900 books during the course of his lifetime with almost 200 at
Brill alone, including the most recent publication Earliest Christianity within the Boundaries of Judaism (2016).
Nachruf und Lebensbeschreibung der American Academy of Religions (AAR),
deren Präsident Jacob Neusner seit 1969 war.
Die im Jahre 2014 erschienene Festschrift zu Ehren des großen Forschers kann einen ersten Einblick in das umfassende Werk von Jakob Neusner geben:
A Legacy of Learning — Essays in Honor of Jacob Neusner
Editors: Alan J. Avery-Peck (College of the Holy Cross)
Bruce D. Chilton (Bard College) /William Scott Green (University of Miami)
Gary Porton (University of Illinois, Urbana)
Brill: Leiden (NL) 2014, XVI, 430 pp., illustr.
Gary Porton (University of Illinois, Urbana)
Brill: Leiden (NL) 2014, XVI, 430 pp., illustr.
ISBN13: 978-900-428-4272 — E-ISBN: 978-900-284-289
In a career spanning over
fifty years, the questions Jacob Neusner has asked and the critical
methodologies he has developed have shaped the way scholars have come to
approach the rabbinic literature as well as the diverse manifestations
of Judaism from rabbinic times until the present. The essays collected
here honor that legacy, illustrating an influence that is so pervasive
that scholars today who engage in the critical study of Judaism and the
history of religions more generally work in a laboratory that Professor
Neusner created. Addressing topics in ancient and Rabbinic Judaism, the
Judaic context of early Christianity, American Judaism, World Religions,
and the academic study of the humanities, these essays demarcate the
current state of Judaic and religious studies in the academy today.
Biographical note
- Alan J. Avery-Peck is Kraft-Hiatt Professor of Judaic Studies at the College of the Holy Cross.
- Bruce Chilton is Bernard Iddings Bell Professor of Religion at Bard College.
- William Scott Green is Professor of Religious Studies, Senior Vice Provost, and Dean of Undergraduate Education at the University of Miami.
- Gary G. Porton is Professor Emeritus at the University of Illinois, Urbana.
Reviews: „The
compilation of essays in Neusner’s honor is, among other things, a
wonderful testament to his most important and innovative scholarly
claims.”
Dov Weiss, The University of Illinois, RRJ 19 (2016) 147-172.
Table of contents / Inhaltsübersicht
— Preface
— Introduction
— Introduction
— Jacob Neusner’s Legacy of Learning, William S. Green, Alan J. Avery-Peck, Bruce Chilton, Gary G. Porton
— The Amoraic Agenda in Bavli Rosh Hashanah: A Generational Analysis, Alan J. Avery-Peck
— Women and Gender in Jacob Neusner’s Writings, Judith R. Baskin
— “It is time to act for the Lord:” In Appreciation of Midrash Samuel, Craig A. Evans
— Tent of Meeting as bet ulpana: Temple as Torah in the Targums of Israel, Paul V.M. Flesher
— Talmudic Stories about Angry and Annoyed Rabbis, Joel Gereboff
— Judaism Evolving: An Experimental Preliminary Translation, William Scott Green
— “The Weaver of Midrash in Performance:” Notes to an Oral-Performative Translation of Sifre Devarim,
Martin S. Jaffee
Martin S. Jaffee
— The “Neusnerian Turn” in Method and the End of the Wissenschaft as We Knew It, Peter J. Haas
— Israelite Religion in the Light of Hebrew Epigraphy: The Inscriptions from Kuntillet ‚Ajrud, Baruch A. Levine
— How the Rabbis Imagined Sarah: A Preliminary Study of the Feminine in Genesis Rabbah, Gary G. Porton
— Varieties of Religious Visualizations, Tzvee Zahavy
— Vayavo Ya’acov Shalem, Herbert Basser
— The Platform of Mark’s Gospel, Its Aramaic Sources and Mark’s Achievement, Bruce Chilton
— Embodied Judaism, Emplaced Judaism, David Kraemer
— Jesus Talks Back, Amy-Jill Levine
— Jesus Talks Back, Amy-Jill Levine
— Parting of the Ways that Never Parted: Judaism and Christianity in the Work
of Jacob Neusner, Elliot R. Wolfson
of Jacob Neusner, Elliot R. Wolfson
— The American Jewish Holocaust “Myth” and “Negative Judaism:” Jacob Neusner’s Contribution
to American Judaism, Shaul Magid
to American Judaism, Shaul Magid
— Intentionality and Meaning, Robert Berchman
— Another Prophetic Paradigm: Moses in Sufi Verse, Th. Emil Homerin
— The Formative Period of Islam and the Documentary Approach: A Prolegomenon, Aaron W. Hughes
— Transcendent Education: Immortality and the Liberal Arts, Roger Brooks
About the Reviewer: Daniel Picus is Robert A. Oden, Jr.
Postdoctoral Fellow for Innovation in the Humanities and Judaism at Carleton
College. Date of Review: October 12, 2018
Aron W. Hughes: The Example of Judaism
New York, NY: Routledge 2015, 132 pp. — ISBN 9781138949393
Aaron W. Hughes holds the Philip S. Bernstein Chair in Jewish Studies at the University of Rochester. He has taught at McMaster University, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the University of Calgary, and the University at Buffalo.
Review: Aaron W. Hughes’s Jacob Neusner on Religion is a welcome
contribution, and not only for its concision and clarity. It serves as a crucial
companion to Hughes’s longer biography of Neusner (published in 2016, and
reviewed here), delving into what Hughes identifies as the four main
phases and contributions of Neusner’s enormous oeuvre without
getting too bogged down in the often messy vicissitudes of a
scholar with a long, important career. Hughes argues that Jacob Neusner, more
than any other scholar, helped to integrate the study of Judaism into the
context of the academy, and that in so doing, he made major theoretical
contributions to the study of religion (1, passim). Hughes is worried, however,
that Neusner’s contributions are neither fully understood, nor even fully
integrated into the contemporary study of religion, Judaism, or rabbinics (106).
In that sense, this book serves as both an introduction and an elegy.
contribution, and not only for its concision and clarity. It serves as a crucial
companion to Hughes’s longer biography of Neusner (published in 2016, and
reviewed here), delving into what Hughes identifies as the four main
phases and contributions of Neusner’s enormous oeuvre without
getting too bogged down in the often messy vicissitudes of a
scholar with a long, important career. Hughes argues that Jacob Neusner, more
than any other scholar, helped to integrate the study of Judaism into the
context of the academy, and that in so doing, he made major theoretical
contributions to the study of religion (1, passim). Hughes is worried, however,
that Neusner’s contributions are neither fully understood, nor even fully
integrated into the contemporary study of religion, Judaism, or rabbinics (106).
In that sense, this book serves as both an introduction and an elegy.
Hughes begins with a short biographical sketch of Neusner’s life. More is
contained in Hughes’s longer biography, as the point of this short chapter is
mainly to highlight some of the correlations between Neusner’s scholarship and
his institutional affiliation. Following this chapter, Hughes outlines what he
considers the four main periods of Neusner’s scholarship, with a chapter devoted
to each; he concludes with a short assessment of Neusner’s work and its
reception in religious studies, Judaic studies, and rabbinics.
contained in Hughes’s longer biography, as the point of this short chapter is
mainly to highlight some of the correlations between Neusner’s scholarship and
his institutional affiliation. Following this chapter, Hughes outlines what he
considers the four main periods of Neusner’s scholarship, with a chapter devoted
to each; he concludes with a short assessment of Neusner’s work and its
reception in religious studies, Judaic studies, and rabbinics.
The simple division of Neusner’s life’s work might seem crude, but for a
corpus that spans over a thousand books and forty years, such heuristics are
helpful and necessary. Hughes’s divisions are: history, literature, religion,
and theology. Scholars of ancient Judaism, and rabbinics in particular, are
likely to be familiar with work from the first three periods. It is in the
attention that Hughes devotes to the fourth period, the theological, that he
makes one of his major contributions, contextualizing the latter part of a
career whose zenith, many might claim, had come much earlier.
corpus that spans over a thousand books and forty years, such heuristics are
helpful and necessary. Hughes’s divisions are: history, literature, religion,
and theology. Scholars of ancient Judaism, and rabbinics in particular, are
likely to be familiar with work from the first three periods. It is in the
attention that Hughes devotes to the fourth period, the theological, that he
makes one of his major contributions, contextualizing the latter part of a
career whose zenith, many might claim, had come much earlier.
The initial portion of Neusner’s career was devoted to the reconstruction of
Jewish history from the corpus of classical rabbinic texts. Neusner’s initial
attempt to write history was characterized by a naïve belief that the content of
these texts, once properly decoded and understood, was ultimately reliable. This
is the same naiveté of which he later accused Israeli scholars. The turning
point for Neusner, and the initiation of both the critical phase of his
historical inquiry and the shift into interrogating literature and religion,
came, as it does for so many of us, after contact with Jonathan Z. Smith. In
Neusner’s case, however, this contact was in person, in a faculty seminar at
Dartmouth College that included Hans Penner as well.
Jewish history from the corpus of classical rabbinic texts. Neusner’s initial
attempt to write history was characterized by a naïve belief that the content of
these texts, once properly decoded and understood, was ultimately reliable. This
is the same naiveté of which he later accused Israeli scholars. The turning
point for Neusner, and the initiation of both the critical phase of his
historical inquiry and the shift into interrogating literature and religion,
came, as it does for so many of us, after contact with Jonathan Z. Smith. In
Neusner’s case, however, this contact was in person, in a faculty seminar at
Dartmouth College that included Hans Penner as well.
The critical phase of Neusner’s career was by far the most prolific. Some of
his best-known works are from this phase, as are the bulk of his translations.
Hughes selects from this period well: the works that he singles out for extended
discussion are works that contain some of Neusner’s most innovative ideas and
succinct distillations of his project. The discussion of Judaism: The
Evidence of the Mishnah (University of South Florida, 1988), for
example, clearly demonstrates how reliant Neusner’s broader theorizations about
rabbinic Judaism were on his prior translation activity, and how masterfully he
constructed historical worlds based on the rhetorical evidence of important
texts read as documents. There are gaps, of course: Hughes only engages
substantively with a few of Neusner’s critics. When he does, such as in the case
of Saul Lieberman’s review of Neusner’s translation of three volumes of the
Palestinian Talmud, the claims of the review are left unevaluated, and Neusner’s
response is, for the most part, valorized. As one-sided as this approach might
seem, it can also be read as a necessary corrective: so much of Neusner’s legacy
among academics rests in responses to his work, rather than a sincere engagement
with his ideas.
his best-known works are from this phase, as are the bulk of his translations.
Hughes selects from this period well: the works that he singles out for extended
discussion are works that contain some of Neusner’s most innovative ideas and
succinct distillations of his project. The discussion of Judaism: The
Evidence of the Mishnah (University of South Florida, 1988), for
example, clearly demonstrates how reliant Neusner’s broader theorizations about
rabbinic Judaism were on his prior translation activity, and how masterfully he
constructed historical worlds based on the rhetorical evidence of important
texts read as documents. There are gaps, of course: Hughes only engages
substantively with a few of Neusner’s critics. When he does, such as in the case
of Saul Lieberman’s review of Neusner’s translation of three volumes of the
Palestinian Talmud, the claims of the review are left unevaluated, and Neusner’s
response is, for the most part, valorized. As one-sided as this approach might
seem, it can also be read as a necessary corrective: so much of Neusner’s legacy
among academics rests in responses to his work, rather than a sincere engagement
with his ideas.
Hughes considers the fourth and final stage of Neusner’s work, the
theological stage, to comprise the “mature expression” of his thinking (80). No
longer content to simply read texts piecemeal, Neusner began to write about the
overarching structures that link rabbinic texts together, that render them
manifestations of a broader rabbinic movement. This period was also
characterized by Neusner’s close association with theologians from other
religions, most notably Bruce Chilton and Pope Benedict XVI. Hughes is careful
to continually note that Neusner was not engaging in constructive or systematic
theology, but rather theology as a descriptive, analytic enterprise. We could
even say that Neusner was interested in contrasting various theologies as
ultimately incompatible structures, and in so doing casting aside any claims
that he might be engaged in a sort of facile interfaith dialogue. Neusner
produced an enormous amount of work in this category, not all of it limited to
rabbinics: he wrote about Holocaust theology, American Judaism, and early Islam
as well as the deep structures of rabbinic Judaism. This chapter represents one
of Hughes’s most valuable contributions, as scholars who are familiar with
Neusner’s work tend to be aware only of the first three periods.
theological stage, to comprise the “mature expression” of his thinking (80). No
longer content to simply read texts piecemeal, Neusner began to write about the
overarching structures that link rabbinic texts together, that render them
manifestations of a broader rabbinic movement. This period was also
characterized by Neusner’s close association with theologians from other
religions, most notably Bruce Chilton and Pope Benedict XVI. Hughes is careful
to continually note that Neusner was not engaging in constructive or systematic
theology, but rather theology as a descriptive, analytic enterprise. We could
even say that Neusner was interested in contrasting various theologies as
ultimately incompatible structures, and in so doing casting aside any claims
that he might be engaged in a sort of facile interfaith dialogue. Neusner
produced an enormous amount of work in this category, not all of it limited to
rabbinics: he wrote about Holocaust theology, American Judaism, and early Islam
as well as the deep structures of rabbinic Judaism. This chapter represents one
of Hughes’s most valuable contributions, as scholars who are familiar with
Neusner’s work tend to be aware only of the first three periods.
To read Hughes’s last chapter, the assessment of Neusner’s legacy, is to be
left with an impression of a vanishing giant: Neusner is painted as someone who
single-handedly worked to push the study of Judaism and rabbinic literature into
the umbrella of American academic religious studies, and whose innovative vision
remains, according to Hughes, largely unfulfilled. The teaching of Judaism in
American universities, he contends, still largely falls along the lines that
Neusner opposed: removed from religion departments, and often oriented toward
Jewish students and Jewish groups. This author, however, is a little more
circumspect: there are religion departments across the country where Judaism is
taught as part of a much broader context and where graduate students study
rabbinic Judaism alongside other ancient Mediterranean religions. Neusner’s
vision for the academic study of Judaism might not have been fully realized, but
Hughes’s book helps us to see just how responsible Jacob Neusner is for the
shape it holds today.
left with an impression of a vanishing giant: Neusner is painted as someone who
single-handedly worked to push the study of Judaism and rabbinic literature into
the umbrella of American academic religious studies, and whose innovative vision
remains, according to Hughes, largely unfulfilled. The teaching of Judaism in
American universities, he contends, still largely falls along the lines that
Neusner opposed: removed from religion departments, and often oriented toward
Jewish students and Jewish groups. This author, however, is a little more
circumspect: there are religion departments across the country where Judaism is
taught as part of a much broader context and where graduate students study
rabbinic Judaism alongside other ancient Mediterranean religions. Neusner’s
vision for the academic study of Judaism might not have been fully realized, but
Hughes’s book helps us to see just how responsible Jacob Neusner is for the
shape it holds today.
About the Reviewer: Daniel Picus is Robert A. Oden, Jr.
Postdoctoral Fellow for Innovation in the Humanities and Judaism at Carleton
College. Date of Review: October 12, 2018
About the Author
Aaron W. Hughes holds the Philip S. Bernstein Chair in
Jewish Studies at the University of Rochester. He has taught at McMaster
University, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the University of Calgary, and
the University at
Buffalo.
Jewish Studies at the University of Rochester. He has taught at McMaster
University, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the University of Calgary, and
the University at
Buffalo.
Zur Thematik des Zusammenhanges
von Israel, Neuem Testament und Kirche
Jacob Neusner / Bruce Chilton: The Body of Faith
Valley Forge, Pennsylvania (USA): Trinity Press 1996, XVI, 183 pp., indices
The
first part of the book deals with Israel in the theology of Judaism,
Israel as a kingdom of priests and holy nation, Israel as family, and
Israel as (Christian) Rome. The second part examines Jesus and the
absence of Israel, the Israel of James, the community of „Q“ and Peter,
and the church (ekklesia) in the Synoptic Gospels, Paul, Hebrews, and Revelation.
first part of the book deals with Israel in the theology of Judaism,
Israel as a kingdom of priests and holy nation, Israel as family, and
Israel as (Christian) Rome. The second part examines Jesus and the
absence of Israel, the Israel of James, the community of „Q“ and Peter,
and the church (ekklesia) in the Synoptic Gospels, Paul, Hebrews, and Revelation.
Lizenz: CC
