Ze’enah U-Re’enah: A Critical Translation into English

Description

This book is the first scholarly English translation of the Ze’enah U-Re’enah, a Jewish classic originally published in the beginning of the seventeenth century, and was the first significant anthological commentary on the Torah, Haftorot and five Megillot. The Ze’enah U-Re’enah is a major text that was talked about but has not adequately studied, although it has been published in two hundred and seventy-four editions, including the Yiddish text and partial translation into several languages. Many generations of Jewish men and women have studied the Torah through the Rabbinic and medieval commentaries that the author of the Ze’enah U-Re’enah collected and translated in his work. It shaped their understanding of Jewish traditions and the lives of Biblical heroes and heroines. The Ze’enah U-Re’enah can teach us much about the influence of biblical commentaries, popular Jewish theology, folkways, and religious practices. This translation is based on the earliest editions of the Ze’enah U-Re’enah, and the notes annotate the primary sources utilized by the author. Acknowledgments Contents Introduction Part I: Torah 1. Genesis 2. Exodus 3. Leviticus 4. Numbers 5. Deuteronomy Part II: Megillot The Song of Songs Ruth Lamentations The Destruction of the Temple Ecclesiastes Megillat Esther Part III: Special Haftorot Sabbath and Rosh Hodesh When Rosh Hodesh occurs on Sunday (this haftorah is read on the previous Sabbath) Parshat Shekalim Parshat Zachor Parshat Parah Parshat Ha-Hodesh Shabbat Ha-Gadol First Day of Passover Second Day of Passover Intermediate Sabbath of Passover Seventh Day of Passover Last Day of Passover First Day of Shavuot Second Day of Shavuot Tisha B’av First Day of Rosh Hashanah Second Day of Rosh Hashanah Fast of Gedaliah Shabbat Shuvah Shaharit for Yom Kippur Minhah of Yom Kippur First Day of Sukkot Second Day of Sukkot Intermediate Sabbath of Sukkot Shemini Azeret Shabbat of Hanukkah Second Shabbat of Hanukkah Appendix Ze’enah u-Re’enah – Title Pages – Basel/Hanau, 1622 Bibliography Index of Sources