Welcome to this fifth issue of e-Gorgias, the monthly newsletter of Gorgias Press. This is a special issue dedicated to Women's History Month. The theme this year is "Women: Builders of Communities and Dreams." Gorgias Press is celebrating the achievements of our women authors, editors, and those female personalities featured in our books with special brief articles about them, and a sale. Read more below under "Special Sale". Gorgias Press is proud to announce that it has become the distributor for Yeshiva University Museum. Their books are listed under the Recently Released section. Under the "New on www.gorgiaspress.com" section, we explain how you can enhance your shopping experience on www.gorgiaspress.com by using the Wish List feature of our web site. The march Enthusiast of the Month is Steven Fine, a professor of Judaic Studies at University of Cincinnati, now visiting professor at the Yeshiva University. Scroll down to read about his work and what he has to say about Gorgias Press. As always, if you have any suggestions, feedback, or a story we should cover, do not hesitate to contact our marketing department.
- Titles Recently Released...
- Titles Coming Soon...
- Women's History Month: Articles and Special Sale...
- New on www.gorgiaspress.com ...
- Gorgias Enthusiast of the Month...
Here are some highlights of our new releases. Click on each title to go to the full book page. For the complete list, click here. Gorgias Press is honored to have been chosen by Yeshiva University Museum, one of America's premere Jewish museums, to serve as distributor for many of its fine exhibition catalogs. These include:  | Printing The Talmud: From Bomberg to Schottenstein
By Sharon Mintz and Gabriel Goldstein (eds.)
ISBN 0-945447-16-7, Hb, $85
ISBN 0-945447-17-5, Hb, $60 | A fascinating exploration into the world of Talmud study, this book illustrates how technological advances - the invention of the printing press more than 500 years ago and the impact of computers in recent decades - have transformed the ancient discipline of Talmud study into an accessible pursuit available to all. Runner up for the 2005 National Jewish Book Award in the categories of Scholarship and Visual Arts. |
|  | Sacred Realm: The Emergence of the Synagogue in the Ancient World
By Steve Fine (ed.)
ISBN 0-19-510224-X, Hb, $89.95 | Sacred Realm:The Emergence of the Synagogue in the Ancient World is the companion book to an exhibition that traced the early development of the synagogue from 3 BCE to 700 CE, featuring unique artifacts, most never displayed in the US, and manuscripts on loan from international collections. The exhibition demonstrated that the synagogue in late Antiquity served as an antecedent for today's Christian, Muslim, and Jewish houses of worship: church, mosque and synagogue. Best Book in its category, Society of Architectural Historians, 1996. |
|  | The Sephardic Journey: 1492-1992
By Haham Gaon
ISBN 0-945447-03-5, Pb, $39.99 | This exhibition catalog documents Yeshiva University Museum's "The Sephardic Journey: 1492-1992," which examined the cultural, intellectual, and artistic achievements of Sephardic communities established after the expulsion of Jews from Spain and Portugal. |
|  | Ashkenaz: The German Jewish Heritage
By Gertrude Hirschler
ISBN 0-945447-00-0, Hb, $49 | The early history of Ashkenazic Jewry demonstrates the remarkable persistence of tradition-a persistence that helped German Jews retain their identity through repeated crusades, the Black Death, libels and accusations, burnings, and dispersion through Europe. Much of the material in the show had never before been seen by the public including, The Lehmann Family papers (1720-1880) of Yeshiva University; The Bernstein Collection; a large collection of European memory books, rabbinical records, seals, and civil papers; and the Ettlinger Collection, the personal papers, books, and belongings of Rabbi Jacob Ettlinger, who was rabbi of Altona for 25 years. |
Saint Ephraim's Quotations from The Gospel By F. C. Burkitt
This book is an attempt to determine what text of the Gospels was used in the genuine works of Saint Ephraim, and to investigate the bearing of his quotations upon the date of the Peshitta. S. Ephraim, commonly known as Ephraem Syrus, is the only one of the worthies of the Syriac-speaking Church whose name is well known both in the East and the West, and his surviving works, even when all doubtful and spurious pieces have been set on one side, are by themselves as voluminous as all the other remains of Syriac literature earlier than 400 AD. He himself died about 373 AD, so that any version of the Bible used by him must be at least as old as the fourth century. ISBN 1-59333-320-X, Hb, $58
`Enbe men Karmo Suryoyo (Bunches of Grapes from the Syriac Vineyard) - A Syriac Chrestomathy By Martin Zammit
This chrestomathy includes selections from the best known Syriac authors as well as less familiar ones. In addition to short biographical introductions, the book includes grammatical annotations, and Syriac-English, English-Syriac glossaries. This publication is most welcome since the chrestomathies of the twentieth century have long been out of print. ISBN 1-59333-346-3, Hb, $65
The Wisdom of Isaac the Syrian: A Bilingual Edition By Sebastian Brock
Here, in the inaugural volume of the Texts from Christian Late Antiquity (TeCLA) series, Gorgias Press is pleased to present Sebastian Brock’s masterful English translation of St. Issac’s writings accompanied for the first time by the Syriac text. ISBN 1-59333-335-8, Hb, $38
Gorgias Press Authors and Editors: Enhancing Women’s Place in the Academic World When asked to describe the challenges they face as women in the world of academia, Gorgias Press women authors and editors each expressed the importance of their work in achieving gender equality in the academic world. Lieve Tuegels, the Adjunct Editor at Gorgias Press and one of the three women editors of the Gorgias Press Judaism in Context (JIC) series, says, "I am happy that I found two women co-editors for this series. Research is never gender-neutral, especially not in the humanities. Women might advance different subject matters and have preferences for other methods than men. As editors we will therefore, even unconsciously, make choices that affect the over-all scope of the series, and that hopefully will help balance the influence of the sexes in the field." Regarding the role gender plays in her work, JIC editor Naomi Koltun-Fromm says, "Whether or not the fields in which I work are dominated by men or women, I tend to gravitate towards my female colleagues… who are my best support group." Series editor Rivka B. Kern Ulmer was the first female student to receive a doctorate in Rabbinics in Germany. She teaches a class on Women in Judaism at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, PA, where she is an Assistant Professor of Religion. In describing the challenges faced by women in the academic world, Gorgias author Evangelia Anagnostou-Laoutides says, "I used to hear from more experienced colleagues that being a woman in academia can be very difficult. I would always disregard these discussions as an indication of lack of passion for the job. Today I only hope that my voice is loud enough in addressing this issue." Regarding the impact she hopes her work has on women’s advancement in academia, she says, "My ambition is to highlight the workings of understanding and worshipping the female in antiquity which could offer new paths of redefining women's role in our society." Gorgias author Sara Karz Reid says, "I have been privileged to work under women directors and with wonderful female colleagues. They have been role models as women and as scholars, and I have been fortunate to have been in a position to accept this as the norm."
Gorgias Author Naomi Graetz: Conserving Culture; Challenging Conventions Author Naomi Graetz is a Jewish feminist who has written numerous books confronting controversial issues in an effort to rework conventional gender models. Here, she shares her thoughts on the challenges she faces in integrating modern perspectives into the framework of tradition. She says, "One of the regular issues I face is how I, as a feminist, balance tradition with modernity. When I am confronted with a conflict between my feminism and Judaism I very often will push as far as I can go, but will not abandon my Jewishness if I cannot resolve an issue to my feminist satisfaction. I describe myself as a Feminist Jew and not the reverse, but that is a matter of convenience and convention." Never afraid to deal with sensitive issues, Naomi recently presented a paper about prostitution titled, "What Do Jewish Texts Have to Say about Trafficking in Women," at Ben Gurion University. She is also working on a project about marriages between rabbis, analyzing the role that feminism plays in their relationships and the influence of their careers on their marriage.
Gorgias Press Cultures in Dialogue Series Revives Women’s Voices  Our Cultures in Dialogue Series demonstrates the lasting impressions influential women have made upon communities through their activism. Written with a new introduction by our expert authors, the series writes women into history by putting out of print sources by women writers from the East and West back into active circulation. In describing its impact, series authors Teresa Heffernan and Reina Lewis say, "Cultures in Dialogue confronts issues surrounding the imagined divide between east and west. The series revives a set of exchanges between women whose lives, writings, and politics worked to find connections across cultures. Covering over a century, these rare sources are essential for understanding the history of gender emancipation, imperialism, Islamicism, and modernity."
The featured authors in the series display the qualities needed for constructing new social landscapes by taking risks and asserting their independence. Author Demetra Vaka Brown, a Greek Ottoman born in Constantinople, traveled to America to become a novelist and journalist, marrying an American man along the way. By immersing herself in American mainstream culture, she was the first Greek woman to acquire visibility and power in the U.S. The internationally famous Ottoman-Turkish woman writer, Halid Edib, fled to the United Kingdom during Turkey’s dictatorship, boldly displaying her political position. She lived in Paris and traveled to the United States and India, all the while engaged in social activism, journalism, and public speaking. This essential series prevents the voices of these inspirational women from being left unheard. Sale Instructions: Receive a 30% discount on the books listed in this section. During checkout on the "My Cart" page, copy and paste coupon code 0306-GP-WM into the box appearing below your purchase items, then click "Update Prices". The coupon is for single use only and cannot be combined with other discounts. Offer expires April 1, 2006. All sales are final.
The Gorgias Wish List feature helps you organize your shopping at www.gorgiaspress.com If you see a book that you need, but you are not ready to purchase it yet, simply add it to your own Wish List from the product page. You can make your purchase any time later at your own convenience, or you can delete the book from your Wish List if you no longer wish to purchase it.
Gorgiasians have chosen Prof. Steven Fine as the Gorgias Enthusiast of the Month  Steve Fine began contributing to Gorgias publications when he first accepted writing a new introduction to the Gorgias bilingual edition of Eleazar Sukenik's monumental work, The Ancient Synagogue of Beth Alpha. Ever since, Steve has been in continuous contact with the Press, proposing projects and providing academic support on matters Judaica.
Steve specializes in Jewish history in the Greco-Roman world, focusing on relationships between the literature of ancient Judaism, art and archaeology. Holding a doctorate in Jewish history from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, an MA in art history from the University of Southern California, and a BA in religious studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara, Professor Fine is also an alumnus of Jerusalem's Pardes Institute for Jewish Studies.
His unique blend of history, rabbinic literature, archaeology, and art is expressed in a broad range of publications. He is the author of academic monographs, museum catalogs, articles, and even a book for children. His Sacred Realm: The Emergence of the Synagogue in the Ancient World has been recently added to the Gorgias catalog.
Steve Fine is Professor of Judaic Studies at the University of Cincinnati. In 2005/6, he will be a visiting professor at Yeshiva University in New York.
When asked to say a few words to e-Gorgias readers, Steve said "In creating Gorgias Press, George Kiraz has filled a vital niche in contemporary scholarly publication. Not only is Gorgias providing reprints of significant works in the history of the Near East and related cultures that are otherwise unavailable, but these works are being renewed through the addition of serious introductions by contemporary scholars. The Gorgias dissertation series and other scholarly projects of the press are helping to foster scholarship and make it available in editions that are economically accesable to the broad scholarly public. I am most excited by Gorgias' current collaboration with Yeshiva University Museum, which will facilitate the broad distribution of otherwise difficult to acquire volumes published by YUM— including Printing The Talmud, which has been honored as runner up for the 2005 National Jewish Book Award in the categories of both Scholarship and Visual Arts."
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