Jewish Moralistic Writings (Musar) of the Early Modern Period: 1600-1800

• Applicant: Professor Patrick Koch, Ph.D.
• Subject Area: Religious Studies and Jewish Studies ; Art History
• Term: from 2017 to 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 320105005

• Final Report Year: 2024

Final Report Abstract

The “Jewish Moralistic Writings of the Early Modern Period” Emmy Noether project has successfully established new ways of researching Jewish literature dealing with moral instruction (musar). Between 2017 and 2024, the group has produced in-depth studies on specific topics, themes, and issues related to musar, providing new research impetus and demonstrating the great potential that lies in a thorough analysis of this phenomenon in its various socio-historical, linguistic, and cultural settings. Furthermore, it has developed the “Early Modern Musar in Print” (EMMIP) database, an online tool that grants easy access to bibliographical data about Jewish moralistic literature (musar) printed during the early modern period. Currently, the EMMIP database comprises the basic bibliographical data of ca. 500 original compositions and over 2,100 entries for editions that fall under the rubric of musar. It is therefore the most comprehensive bibliographical list of Jewish moralistic writings to date. EMMIP is accessible to both scholars and the general public, and is an ideal teaching tool for the classroom. It offers teachers and students alike an intuitive way to communicate and learn about this pivotal topic in Jewish intellectual history and to visualize the production and dissemination of musar in the early modern period. Exploring musar first and foremost as a mode of thinking, and “books of musar” very much like their verbal counterpart as literary expressions of what a particular author recommends as morally appropriate or inappropriate in a certain setting and for a certain target group, the Emmy Noether group’s investigations have demonstrated that musar manifests itself in multiple genres, in multiple stylistic garbs, and in multiple languages. Musar may concurrently emphasize the importance of refining moral character (or virtue), duties and rules (deontology), and the consequences of human action (consequentialism) in order to consider an action good or bad. Musar can offer general principles for spiritual improvement or clear instructions for everyday conduct; it can provide strategies for change by deliberately triggering feelings of anxiety, and it can serve the function of an admonisher. Due to its great variety, the research conducted in the framework of the Emmy Noether group not only provides important insights into the different conceptions of morality in Judaism in general, but also sheds light on the different forms of the implementation of such ideals. With the Mus|ar|t Artist-in-Residence Program—a collaboration with Center for Art and Urbanistics (ZK/U) and the University of Fine Arts of Hamburg (HfbK)— the research group expanded its outlook in the final and sixth year, applying more experimental methodologies that facilitated a transfer through contemporary arts.

Publications

• Early Modern Musar in Print Database
  Koch, Patrick B. et. al.
  
• Adventurer, (Pseudo?)-Kabbalist, and Theosophist: Gershom Scholem’s Research on Ephraim Joseph Hirschfeld. Scholar and Kabbalist: The Life and Work of Gershom Scholem, 17-39.
  Koch, Patrick Benjamin
  
• “Disgust, Ethics and Etiquette in the Rabbinic Tractates Derek Eretz Rabbah and Zuta.” Materia Giudaica 23: 67–75
  Briata, Ilaria
  
• Of Stinging Nettles and Stones: The Use of Hagiography in Early Modern Kabbalah and Pietism. Jewish Quarterly Review, 109(4), 534-566.
  Koch, Patrick Benjamin
  
• “¿Qual madre a hijo comió? La storia di Maria di Eleazar nelle fonti spagnole e giudeospagnole.” Materia Giudaica 24: 161–171 («¿Qual madre a hijo comió? The Tale of Mary of Eleazar in Spanish and Judeo-Spanish Sources)
  Briata, Ilaria
  
• A Preliminary Study of the History of Sephardic Theatre in Italy. Zutot, 18(1), 65-79.
  Briata, Ilaria
  
• Mysticism, Pietism, Morality: An Introduction. European Journal of Jewish Studies, 14(2), 169-176.
  Koch, Patrick Benjamin
  
• Mysticism, Piety, and Morality. Special Issue of the European Journal of Jewish Studies 14.2
  Koch, Patrick B.
  
• Repentance through Fear: Cosmic and Body Horror in Sheveṭ Musar. European Journal of Jewish Studies, 14(2), 264-284.
  Briata, Ilaria
  
• ‘Many books on issues of divine service’: Defining musarin early modernity. Journal of Jewish Studies, 71(1), 1-24.
  Koch, Patrick Benjamin
  
• “Gathering the Dispersed of Israel”: The Evolution of a Kabbalistic Prayer Addendum for Tiqqun Qeri. Harvard Theological Review, 114(2), 241-264.
  Koch, Patrick Benjamin
  
• “I samaritani nei testi rabbinici.” Ricerche Storico Bibliche 33: 229–247 (Samaritans according to Rabbinic Literature)
  Briata, Ilaria
  
• Demons and Scatology: Cursed Toilets and Haunted Baths in Late Antique Judaism. Demons in Early Judaism and Christianity, 256-272.
  Briata, Ilaria
  
• Kabbalah and Knowledge Transfers in Early Modernity. Special Issue of the European Journal of Jewish Studies 16.1
  Koch, Patrick B. & Agata Paluch
  
• Kabbalah and Knowledge Transfers in Early Modernity: Foreword. European Journal of Jewish Studies, 16(1), 1-4.
  Paluch, Agata & Koch, Patrick B.
  
• Kol Nidrei in Nikolsburg, 1775: An Early Account of a Hasidic Sermon. Zutot, 20(1), 147-171.
  Moseson, Elly
  
• “THERE IS NEITHER FOOD NOR DRINK IN THE WORLD TO COME”:. Reaching for Perfection, 123-142.
  Koch, Patrick Benjamin
  
• “All My Thinking Has But One Focus”: Contemplative Seclusion in (Early) Modern Jewish Spirituality. Entangled Religions, 14(4).
  Koch, Patrick Benjamin
  
• “Las madres judías de la época bíblica di Semah Rabiner: modelli biblici di morale femminile.” In Presenza/Assenza. L’identità ebraico-biblica femminile nelle letterature moderne di lingua spagnola e tedesca. Edited by Paola Bellomi and Arturo Larcati. Firenze: Giuntina, 37–49 (Las madres judías de la época bíblica by Semah Rabiner: Biblical Models of Female Morality)
  Briata, Ilaria