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The Jewish Quarterly Review @thejqr.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Nahmanides has appeared often in JQR, from Solomon Schechter’s eponymous 1892 essay, to Hannah Davidson’s piece in our summer issue, which examines yet another of his guises: that of physician. On the blog, our latest Archive Dive rounds up some of these studies: katz.sas.upenn.edu/resources/bl...

katz.sas.upenn.edu

Archive Dive: Nahmanides

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The Jewish Quarterly Review @thejqr.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Dylan Shaul's essay in our current issue reconstructs Hegel’s critique of Jewish law and applies a Maimonidean framework to counter it and critique it in turn. Check it out: dx.doi.org/10.1353/jqr....

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The Jewish Quarterly Review @thejqr.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Thank you to all those who have peer reviewed for JQR! You make what we do possible.

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The Jewish Quarterly Review @thejqr.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

In the 1940s-60s, JQR editor Solomon Zeitlin published numerous essays advancing the theory that the Dead Sea Scrolls were not authentic Second Temple compositions, but medieval forgeries. On the blog, we revisit this lively chapter in JQR history: katz.sas.upenn.edu/resources/bl...

katz.sas.upenn.edu

Archive Dive: Zeitlin and the “So-called Phenomenal Discovery” of the Dead Sea Scrolls

Solomon Zeitlin had an axe to grind

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The Jewish Quarterly Review @thejqr.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Have you read Oded Zinger's new essay in JQR 116.3, "Voices, Authorship, and Communication in Women’s Letters from the Cairo Geniza"? Find out what this corpus can tell us about how medieval women effected action in their world. (It's free to read!) muse.jhu.edu/pub/56/artic...

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The Jewish Quarterly Review @thejqr.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

In JQR 116.3, Yuval Fraenkel examines the “narrative world” of the afterlife in the Babylonian Talmud in which the deceased retain their physical bodies, and shows how this signals resistance both to normative rabbinic theology and to Zoroastrian imperial policies. 👇 dx.doi.org/10.1353/jqr....

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The Jewish Quarterly Review @thejqr.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

JQR 116.3 has landed and this one truly has something for everyone: the Babylonian Talmud, Cairo Geniza letters, medieval MSS diagrams, Nahmanides, early Hasidic lit, and Maimonides in dialogue with Hegel. And not a paywall in sight! Peruse the contents: katz.sas.upenn.edu/resources/bl...

katz.sas.upenn.edu

New Issue of the Jewish Quarterly Review: Summer 2026

JQR 116.3 is now available, online and in print

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The Jewish Quarterly Review @thejqr.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

Readers of Christoph Hopp's recent essay might also try Caroline Kahlenberg's 2024 JQR essay on Ribhi Kamal (1912–79), a Palestinian scholar of Semitic languages who grew up in Jerusalem and went on to host Radio Damascus’s Hebrew-language broadcast. dx.doi.org/10.1353/jqr....

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The Jewish Quarterly Review @thejqr.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

In JQR 116.2, Jeremiah Lockwood highlights early 20th-cent American women performers of popular cantorial music (khazntes) and explores what their reception says about gender, religion, and power in that historical moment—and he includes some amazing photos! dx.doi.org/10.1353/jqr....

Publicity photo of Fraydele Oysher standing against a studio backgroun, facing the camera with hands in pockets. Her hair is short or pulled back and she wears a dark suit with dress shoes, white collared shirt, and dark tie.

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The Jewish Quarterly Review @thejqr.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

Interested to learn more about Albo? Some open access classics from JQR's archives: Shira Weiss, "Free Choice in the Responsum of Joseph Albo: The Case of the Katlanit" (2015) dx.doi.org/10.1353/jqr.... Warren Zev Harvey, "Albo's Discussion of Time" (1980) www.jstor.org/stable/1454498

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The Jewish Quarterly Review @thejqr.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

Esra Almas's new essay analyzes language, music, and sound in Who Are You, Jak Samanon? (1997), a novel by Liz Behmoaras about a Jewish family in 19-20th c Turkey, to illuminate how Jews shaped and were shaped by Turkish modernity. dx.doi.org/10.1353/jqr.... (And don't miss her blog post!)

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The Jewish Quarterly Review @thejqr.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

Have you read Tanja Werthmann's new book The Transcendent Beloved: Platonic Eros and Its Graeco-Arabic Paths to Kabbalah (OUP, 2026)? If so, try her latest JQR essay, which exposes the Neoplatonist, Christian, and Islamic underpinnings of Maimonides' via negativa! dx.doi.org/10.1353/jqr....

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The Jewish Quarterly Review @thejqr.bsky.social · 29/06/2026

In JQR 116.2, Christoph Hopp examines how the political ideals of Israel Ben-Ze’ev’s contemporary Cairo informed his History of the Semitic Languages (1929), which postulates, against the scholarly norm, that Hebrew originated from early Arabic dialects. dx.doi.org/10.1353/jqr....

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The Jewish Quarterly Review @thejqr.bsky.social · 25/06/2026

If Jeremiah Lockwood's latest JQR essay on early 20th c. American women cantors left you wishing you could hear their music yourself, you're in luck! On the JQR blog, Lockwood describes how contemporary musicians are continuing the legacy of the early khazntes. katz.sas.upenn.edu/resources/bl...

katz.sas.upenn.edu

Cantorial Music in Ever New Guises

Jeremiah Lockwood is not only a scholar of the female cantorial geniuses of the 20th century—he is a virtuoso performer of this repertoire himself

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The Jewish Quarterly Review @thejqr.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

Check out Yosi Yisraeli's essay in JQR 116.2, which contextualizes Joseph Albo’s Book of Principles (ca. 1420) with Christian conversionist sources. Yisraeli shows how it responds to specific contemporary critiques of Judaism: dx.doi.org/10.1353/jqr.... Like all our content, it is open access!

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The Jewish Quarterly Review @thejqr.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

On the blog, Esra Almas reflects on the life, work, and inspirational friendship of Turkish author Liz Behmoaras—whose 1997 book Kimsin Jak Samanon? (Who are you Jak Samanon?) is the subject of Almas's latest JQR essay. katz.sas.upenn.edu/resources/bl...

katz.sas.upenn.edu

Remembering Liz Behmoaras (1950–2025)

Esra Almas reflects on the life, work, and inspirational friendship of Turkish author Liz Behmoaras

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The Jewish Quarterly Review @thejqr.bsky.social · 05/06/2026

JQR 116.2 is out with 5 new open access essays! Have you perused the table of contents yet? muse.jhu.edu/issue/56911

muse.jhu.edu

Project MUSE - Jewish Quarterly Review-Volume 116, Number 2, Spring 2026

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The Jewish Quarterly Review @thejqr.bsky.social · 02/06/2026

In our latest issue, Tanja Werthmann marshals late antique Eastern Syriac philosophy and theology and their reception in the Islamicate world to shed light on Maimonides’s via negativa. Find out how and why Maimonides elevates silence to a form of spiritual practice: muse.jhu.edu/article/991939

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The Jewish Quarterly Review @thejqr.bsky.social · 28/05/2026

JQR 116.2 is here! Learn about: -Maimonides's via negativa -Joseph Albo (15th c.) on Christian conversionist arguments -early 20th c. popular women cantors -Semitic linguistics historiography -modern Turkish Jewish lit It's open access, so what is there to lose? katz.sas.upenn.edu/resources/bl...

katz.sas.upenn.edu

New Issue of the Jewish Quarterly Review: Spring 2026

JQR 116.2 is now available, online and in print

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The Jewish Quarterly Review @thejqr.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

This week on the blog, we're reflecting on the origins of Jewish art history scholarship through the eyes of pathbreaking 20th century art historian Rachel Wischnitzer—as told in her own words, in JQR essays from 1922–1949. katz.sas.upenn.edu/resources/bl...

katz.sas.upenn.edu

Pathbreaking Scholar Rachel Wischnitzer on Jewish Art, and How to Study It

Explore the beginnings of Jewish art history scholarship in JQR’s pages.

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The Jewish Quarterly Review @thejqr.bsky.social · 11/05/2026

We know you're hungry for spring reading, so we dug deep into the JQR archives and harvested several essays on food and drink, all open access. We hope you enjoy this gastronomic tour from the Roman triclinium to the streets of New York, and everywhere in between! katz.sas.upenn.edu/resources/bl...

katz.sas.upenn.edu

A Feast! Food in JQR

JQR gleans some delicious offerings from the archives

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The Jewish Quarterly Review @thejqr.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

Looking for Earth Day reading? Try Sarah Abrevaya Stein's 2022 essay "The Queen of Herbs: A Plant’s-Eye View of the Sephardic Diaspora," which she describes as an "ethnobotanical, historical study" of the plant known as ruta graveolens, rue, or ruda. muse.jhu.edu/pub/56/artic...

Scientific illustration from 1897 of ruta graveolens from Köhler's Medizinal-Pflanzen by Franz Eugen Köhler.

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The Jewish Quarterly Review @thejqr.bsky.social · 20/04/2026

Check out Elly Moseson's essay in our current issue, which "sheds new light on the complex role played by literature in the transformation of Hasidism from a small local phenomenon into a mass movement." 👇 muse.jhu.edu/pub/56/artic...

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The Jewish Quarterly Review @thejqr.bsky.social · 13/04/2026

In JQR 116.1, Vered Noam investigates why primordial priestly figures in Second Temple Jewish culture who had all but disappeared from early rabbinic literature are celebrated in the High Holiday prayers. Check out her essay! muse.jhu.edu/pub/56/artic...

muse.jhu.edu

Project MUSE -- Verification required!

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The Jewish Quarterly Review @thejqr.bsky.social · 23/03/2026

We combed through the winners and finalists of the latest AJS Schnitzer Awards and National Jewish Book Awards for JQR alumni, and we have gathered their essays on our blog. Some open-access research by the honorees for your reading pleasure! katz.sas.upenn.edu/resources/bl...

katz.sas.upenn.edu

We Knew Them When…

Get to know the latest Schnitzer and NJBA honorees through their earlier JQR publications, all available open access

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The Jewish Quarterly Review @thejqr.bsky.social · 19/03/2026

If you read Benjamin Pollock's essay in our current issue, "Redactor Is Rabbenu: The Editorial Theology of the Buber-Rosenzweig Bible," check out his 2012 JQR essay "On the Road to Marcionism: Franz Rosenzweig’s Early Theology." muse.jhu.edu/pub/56/artic... muse.jhu.edu/pub/56/artic...

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The Jewish Quarterly Review @thejqr.bsky.social · 16/03/2026

Don't miss Elnatan Chen's scholarly note in our winter issue, which assembles evidence for the existence and nature of a previously unknown exegetical text on the Prophets by 11th-cent. Hebrew grammarian Jonah Ibn Janāḥ. muse.jhu.edu/pub/56/artic...

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The Jewish Quarterly Review @thejqr.bsky.social · 09/03/2026

On our blog, Joseph Davis traces afterlives of the tale of Ashmedai, the demon who impersonated King Solomon and ruled for a while in his stead. Learn about the history of this fascinating story and read JQR essays on the topic, now in open access! katz.sas.upenn.edu/resources/bl...

katz.sas.upenn.edu

Solomon and Ashmedai Forever

Joseph Davis is back on the hunt—tracing the long, and growing, afterlives of an especially compelling tale

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The Jewish Quarterly Review @thejqr.bsky.social · 03/03/2026

JQR has long published scholarly "notes" on interesting intellectual nuggets. In 2016 we even devoted a forum--a collection of short essays--to such shortform scholarship! Read our thoughts on the note in this 2016 blog post (and consider submitting one!): katz.sas.upenn.edu/resources/bl...

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The Jewish Quarterly Review @thejqr.bsky.social · 26/02/2026

In JQR 116.1, Katalin Rac unravels the intertwined stories of a paprika merchant and a food journalist in 18th-19th c. Hungary to reveal how Jews contributed to Hungarian cuisine and identity, and how paprika became part of Jewish integration into Hungarian culture. muse.jhu.edu/pub/56/artic...

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The Jewish Quarterly Review @thejqr.bsky.social · 23/02/2026

In our latest issue you’ll find: -Primordial priestly figures in the High Holiday prayers -The role of literature in the origins of Hasidism -Food and Jewish identity in 18-19th c. Hungary -The theology of the Buber-Rosenzweig Bible -Evidence for a previously unknown medieval exegetical text

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The Jewish Quarterly Review @thejqr.bsky.social · 16/02/2026

JQR's move to open access represents a new era in the life of the journal. In a letter to readers in our winter issue and on our blog, the editors reflect on the transition. katz.sas.upenn.edu/resources/bl...

katz.sas.upenn.edu

JQR Enters the Open Era

In a letter to readers in the winter issue, the editors usher in open access

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The Jewish Quarterly Review @thejqr.bsky.social · 12/02/2026

In our fall issue, Edan Dekel and David Gantt Gurley published their 3rd essay tracing the literary roots of the Golem legend. Now on the JQR blog, they reflect on the path their research took. Peruse their conversation and read all 3 essays for free! katz.sas.upenn.edu/resources/bl...

katz.sas.upenn.edu

A Golem Trilogy

Over the past twelve years, two scholars have traced the deep literary roots of the Golem legend in the pages of JQR. Their third essay on the topic, replete with ghost children and adultery, appeared...

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The Jewish Quarterly Review @thejqr.bsky.social · 09/02/2026

Open access has arrived at JQR! You can now read our recent content on Project Muse and our archives on JSTOR for free. Our inaugural OA issue, JQR 116.1, has something for everyone. Check it out! katz.sas.upenn.edu/resources/bl...

katz.sas.upenn.edu

New Issue of the Jewish Quarterly Review: Winter 2026

JQR 116.1 is now available, online and in print.

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The Jewish Quarterly Review @thejqr.bsky.social · 20/01/2026

In our fall issue Isabelle Levy & David Torollo offer the first English translation of a fascinating 13th-cent mixed-form composition by Jacob ben El‘azar: the Sefer ha-meshalim (Book of stories), which stages a debate between a poet and a prosaist. Don't miss it! muse.jhu.edu/pub/56/artic...

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The Jewish Quarterly Review @thejqr.bsky.social · 12/01/2026

In his latest JQR essay, Yehuda Halper investigates Frederick II Hohenstaufen's support for the translation of commentaries on Aristotle & Porphyry into Hebrew, arguing that it evidences a broader goal of making the medical curriculum accessible to Jews. muse.jhu.edu/pub/56/artic...

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The Jewish Quarterly Review @thejqr.bsky.social · 07/01/2026

In JQR 115.4, Ossnat Sharon-Pinto untangles the translation method of late 18th- and early 19th-cent Jüdisch-Deutsch novellas of the Frankfurt (Oder) press. Find out how she contextualizes them in maskilic lit and culture: muse.jhu.edu/pub/56/artic...

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The Jewish Quarterly Review @thejqr.bsky.social · 24/12/2025

Are you a scholar with an open access publishing mandate as a condition of your grant or fellowship? Consider submitting to JQR! The journal will become OA in winter 2026, including all past and future issues.

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The Jewish Quarterly Review @thejqr.bsky.social · 22/12/2025

After unraveling the legend of the Prague golem in two JQR essays (2013, 2017), Edan Dekel & David Gantt Gurley are back with new findings about the tale's origins! muse.jhu.edu/pub/56/artic... But first, get up to speed with a blog post from the archives: katz.sas.upenn.edu/resources/bl...

katz.sas.upenn.edu

The Accidental Golem Hunters: A conversation between Edan Dekel and Gantt Gurley

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Penn Press @pennpress.bsky.social · 15/12/2025

With @jewishstudies.bsky.social's annual conference in full swing, one of @thejqr.bsky.social's most-read pieces is now freely available: muse.jhu.edu/article/959927 As the JQR transitions to Open Access in 2026, its full archive becomes even more valuable to scholars! #AJS25 #JewishStudies

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The Jewish Quarterly Review @thejqr.bsky.social · 08/12/2025

In our current issue, Matan Orian reconciles ostensibly contradictory Second Temple sources attesting to the possibility of conversion to Judaism, arguing that they reflect different stages in a generations-long process of a family becoming Jewish. Check it out! muse.jhu.edu/pub/56/artic...

muse.jhu.edu

Project MUSE - Was the Possibility of Conversion to Judaism Denied in the Second Temple Period?

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The Jewish Quarterly Review @thejqr.bsky.social · 02/12/2025

We are thrilled that three 2025 Schnitzer winners and finalists prefigured their award-winning books in JQR publications: Iris Idelson-Shein, Hannah Pollin-Galay, and Rachel Gordan. Check out their JQR essays in this thread. A warm congratulations to all the honorees!

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The Jewish Quarterly Review @thejqr.bsky.social · 24/11/2025

Our fall issue is out with a range of essays spanning antiquity to the modern period, and including literature, philosophy, and more! Don't have access? It will become open access in winter 2026 along with our whole back catalog! katz.sas.upenn.edu/resources/bl...

katz.sas.upenn.edu

New Issue of the Jewish Quarterly Review: Fall 2025

JQR 115.4 is now available, online and in print

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The Jewish Quarterly Review @thejqr.bsky.social · 17/11/2025

JQR 115.4 is out, feat. essays on conversion to Judaism in antiquity, 13th c. philosophical commentaries, Jüdisch-Deutsch novellas, and the winding modern reception of a 17th c. rabbi, PLUS a text and translation of a medieval prose-poetry story! Peruse the TOC: katz.sas.upenn.edu/resources/bl...

katz.sas.upenn.edu

New Issue of the Jewish Quarterly Review: Fall 2025

JQR 115.4 is now available, online and in print

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Penn Press @pennpress.bsky.social · 20/10/2025

We had a great time kicking off #OAWeek with a panel of Penn Press journal editors (including from Change Over Time, @easmisc.bsky.social, @thejqr.bsky.social, and @sims-mss.bsky.social's Manuscript Studies) discussing their experiences with and thoughts on Open Access publishing!

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The Jewish Quarterly Review @thejqr.bsky.social · 20/10/2025

This #OAweek event is starting soon! See you there.

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The Jewish Quarterly Review @thejqr.bsky.social · 17/10/2025

Interested in our decision to make JQR open access? Join us for the OA Week event "Before and After the Open Access Transition: Penn Editors Share Their Experiences," featuring JQR's own Natalie Dohrmann. Oct. 20, 11:30AM EST. Free, hybrid, open to the public. library.upenn.edu/events/open-...

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The Jewish Quarterly Review @thejqr.bsky.social · 25/09/2025

Did you catch Sunny S. Yudkoff's 2024 JQR essay "Yankev Glatshteyn and the Threat of Yiddish Joy"? muse.jhu.edu/pub/56/artic... If you're in the Philly area, check out her talk at Penn next week! figs.sas.upenn.edu/events/2025/....

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