Menahem Ben-Sasson | The Hebrew University of Jerusalem - Academia.edu

This article includes translation of a "new" Vision of Daniel as it survived, albeit incomplete. ... more This article includes translation of a "new" Vision of Daniel as it survived, albeit incomplete. It reflects a "meeting point" between three monotheistic religions in the ninth and tenth centuries CE. A comparative study of the work enables the reconstruction of its missing parts. The Vision may have been composed in the area where al-Muʿtaṣim battled Theophilos in the 830s CE, namely, northern Syria and southeastern Anatolia. An "updated" appendix was added around 1000 CE. Towards the end of the Vision, exact times are replaced with "flexible times," a moderate expression of the cosmic changes found in similar eschatological works. The two * This research was supported by the Israel Science Foundation (grant No. 2087/18). Translations from the Hebrew in this article are by by Elli Fischer; I have incorporated some of his notes on the text, and they are marked [EF]. Translation of numbers follows the originals, which alternate between the use of letters and words to represent numbers. I studied this text during my stay at the Einstein Center Chronoi, Berlin. I would like to thank the members of its executive board, Eva Cancik-Kirschbaum, Christoph Markschies, and Hermann Parzinger, and our very skilled research associates, Irene Sibbing-Plantholt, Eva Rosenstock, Stefanie Rabe, Yosef Elharar, as well as Chronoi's dedicated team for their daily assistance. The contributions of Chronoi's fellows (especially Emmanouela Grypeou) to thinking about time in the context of this work are unique, matched only by their willingness to give generously from much of their own time to clarify many of the subjects discussed below. Israel J. Yuval, Oded Irshai, Meir Bar-Asher, Michael Stone, and David B. Cook read a draft of this paper and shared their thoughts with me; the latter's notes are signed [DBC]. I want to thank the teams of the Oriental reading room, Olga Vasilievskaya, Boris Zaykovsky, and the Electronic Document Delivery Service of the NLR, St. Petersburg for their permission to publish the text and their dedicated professional accompaniment of my work. The anonymous reviewers are thanked for critically reading the manuscript and suggesting substantial improvements.

Messiahs and Anti-Messiahs in a “New Vision of Daniel”

Messiahs and Anti-Messiahs in a “New Vision of Daniel” by Menahem Ben-Sasson The article includes... more Messiahs and Anti-Messiahs in a “New Vision of Daniel”
by Menahem Ben-Sasson
The article includes a publication of a ‘new’ Vision of Daniel that was found in Firkovich collections of the RNL in St. Petersburg. It also compares related versions of a parallel work enabling to reconstruct missing parts of the Vision. The Vision reflects a ‘meeting point’ between three monotheistic religions of the Middle East in the 9th-10th centuries. 
The vision begins with a detailed list of Caliphs, towards its end exact times are replaced it with “Flexible Times”, building the hope that waiting times for redemption will be shortened.
Special attention is given to two Anti-Messiahs figures facing two Messiahs, built as integration of Jewish-Christian-Muslim traditions of the apocalyptical devils.

INVERTING THE IMAGE OF THE REDEEMER AND HIS ENEMIES IN THE APOCALYPTIC LITERATURE: AN EXAMPLE OF ... more INVERTING THE IMAGE OF THE REDEEMER AND HIS ENEMIES
IN THE APOCALYPTIC LITERATURE: AN EXAMPLE
OF INTERRRELIGIOUS DISCOURSE
by Menahem Ben-Sasson (pp. 313–333)
The article discusses five mediaeval apocalyptic visions centering on the figure of Daniel:
two of Syrian Christian provenance – ʻDaniel the Syrianʼ and ʻLittle Danielʼ [Daniel z’ura] –
written in the seventh century; two Jewish ones – ʻDaniel’s Storyʼ [Qissa-ye-Daniel], written
in Judeo-Persian, and a new ʻVision of Daniel,ʼ [Ḥazon Daniel] written in Hebrew; – and a
Muslim apocalyptic tradition mentioned in Nuʿayim Ibn Ḥammād Al-Khuzāʿī Al-Marwzī’s
Kitāb Al-Fitan, the three last-mentioned written in the ninth century.
It is suggested in this article that the two anti-messianic figures that appear in all these
visions demonstrate a close mutual affinity among traditions in the three religions. In all of
them except for Qissa-ye-Daniel, the first enemy of the redeemer descends from the tribe of
Levi and the other enemy’s name is known from parallel sources (Antichrist, Armilus, Son of
Belial, Dadjdjal). The two enemies of the redeemer are depicted as Satanic figures and exhibit
similar features: skin tattooed with weapons of war; consistent details of a breastplate, a bow,
a sword, a spear, an iron dagger, and chariots of war; a face like a burning furnace; eyes like
burning coals; and a broken horn with a serpent emerging from the space between his eyes.
In the Christian and Muslim traditions, the Levite anti-messiah is a Jew. In the Christian
ones, he may reflect the tradition of the false Jewish messiahs named Moses. The Hebrew
Vision of Daniel uses the same name for the enemy of the messiah – the Son of the Daughter
of Levi – but inverts it to the image of Jesus in his second coming near the End of Days,
according to Christian and Muslim traditions.
The Vision of Daniel internalizes the Qur’anic view that identifies the son of the daughter
of Levi, Maryam, with the Christian concept of the second coming of Jesus (the Parousia) in
the End of Days, thus turning it on its head. It also shapes the demonic figure of anti-messiahs
by inverting the two principles that are most emblematic of Jesus in Islam and Christianity –
miracle-working and the messiahship. These demonic elements are found in ancient Christian
and Jewish traditions that describe Gog and Magog and Armilus.
Thus, this Vision of Daniel exhibits a familiar polemical technique in the Jewish, Christian,
and Muslim apocalyptic literature and offers a Jewish inversion of the Christian and Muslim
Thus, this Vision of Daniel exhibits a familiar polemical technique in the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim apocalyptic literature and offers a Jewish inversion of the Christian and Muslim anti-messianic concept. Jesus will reveal himself again in the future, not as a messiah (Christos) but instead as an “anti-messiah” (Antichrist).
The combination of these two figures in the Vision reflects the shifting of the identities of those who are considered messiahs who will reveal themselves once again (the Parousia) in Christian and Muslim literature; they become demonic antichrists in the eyes of the author of the Vision. The Son of the Daughter of Levi is the inversion of the Christian image of Moses/Jesus.

This article includes translation of a "new" Vision of Daniel as it survived, albeit incomplete. ... more This article includes translation of a "new" Vision of Daniel as it survived, albeit incomplete. It reflects a "meeting point" between three monotheistic religions in the ninth and tenth centuries CE. A comparative study of the work enables the reconstruction of its missing parts. The Vision may have been composed in the area where al-Muʿtaṣim battled Theophilos in the 830s CE, namely, northern Syria and southeastern Anatolia. An "updated" appendix was added around 1000 CE. Towards the end of the Vision, exact times are replaced with "flexible times," a moderate expression of the cosmic changes found in similar eschatological works. The two * This research was supported by the Israel Science Foundation (grant No. 2087/18). Translations from the Hebrew in this article are by by Elli Fischer; I have incorporated some of his notes on the text, and they are marked [EF]. Translation of numbers follows the originals, which alternate between the use of letters and words to represent numbers. I studied this text during my stay at the Einstein Center Chronoi, Berlin. I would like to thank the members of its executive board, Eva Cancik-Kirschbaum, Christoph Markschies, and Hermann Parzinger, and our very skilled research associates, Irene Sibbing-Plantholt, Eva Rosenstock, Stefanie Rabe, Yosef Elharar, as well as Chronoi's dedicated team for their daily assistance. The contributions of Chronoi's fellows (especially Emmanouela Grypeou) to thinking about time in the context of this work are unique, matched only by their willingness to give generously from much of their own time to clarify many of the subjects discussed below. Israel J. Yuval, Oded Irshai, Meir Bar-Asher, Michael Stone, and David B. Cook read a draft of this paper and shared their thoughts with me; the latter's notes are signed [DBC]. I want to thank the teams of the Oriental reading room, Olga Vasilievskaya, Boris Zaykovsky, and the Electronic Document Delivery Service of the NLR, St. Petersburg for their permission to publish the text and their dedicated professional accompaniment of my work. The anonymous reviewers are thanked for critically reading the manuscript and suggesting substantial improvements.

The Maghrib and Egypt

The Cambridge History of Judaism, 2021

Las universidades del siglo XXI

Italy and Ifriqia from the Ninth to the Eleventh Century

Les relations intercommunautaires juives en méditerranée occidentale, 1984

Al-Andalus: The So-Called ‘Golden Age’ of Spanish Jewry—a Critical View

Proceedings of the International Symposium held at Speyer, 20-25 October 2002, 2004

... Stroumsa, 'Dawud ibn Marwan' (1989). ... in all parts of the Muslim empire,... more ... Stroumsa, 'Dawud ibn Marwan' (1989). ... in all parts of the Muslim empire, even before the eleventh century: the Netiras and the sons of Aharon in the East, the Tustaries and the sons of Qazzaz in Egypt, and Al-Israeli and his disciple, the sons of Musa b. Elazar and Ibn Ata in the ...

Remembrance and Oblivion of Religious Persecutions: On Sanctifying the Name of God (Qiddush ha-Shem) in Christian and Islamic Countries during the Middle Ages

Jews, Christians and Muslims in Medieval and Early Modern Times

Qiddush ha-shem - self-sacrifice for the holiness of the God of Israel and his law - is a command... more Qiddush ha-shem - self-sacrifice for the holiness of the God of Israel and his law - is a commandment whose purpose is to glorify the name of God publicly, to the point of willingness, under certain circumstances, to sacrifice one's life. In Jewish law and morality, qiddush ha-shem should be performed with maximum devotion in the presence of witnesses. This chapter focuses on the Jews of Islamic countries, with a brief look at the experiences of forced converts in other regions. It outlines the main approaches used to understand self-sacrifice and qiddush ha-shem as well as more general ways to understand relations between minority Jewish communities and majority society and the behavior of Jewish communities in times of crisis. Scholarship has taken four major approaches to explaining those differences: an empirical approach, a tradition-based approach, a legal-religious approach, and a social-historical approach. Keywords: Islamic countries; Israel; Jewish communities; Qiddush ha-shem

This article includes translation of a "new" Vision of Daniel as it survived, albeit incomplete. ... more This article includes translation of a "new" Vision of Daniel as it survived, albeit incomplete. It reflects a "meeting point" between three monotheistic religions in the ninth and tenth centuries CE. A comparative study of the work enables the reconstruction of its missing parts. The Vision may have been composed in the area where al-Muʿtaṣim battled Theophilos in the 830s CE, namely, northern Syria and southeastern Anatolia. An "updated" appendix was added around 1000 CE. Towards the end of the Vision, exact times are replaced with "flexible times," a moderate expression of the cosmic changes found in similar eschatological works. The two * This research was supported by the Israel Science Foundation (grant No. 2087/18). Translations from the Hebrew in this article are by by Elli Fischer; I have incorporated some of his notes on the text, and they are marked [EF]. Translation of numbers follows the originals, which alternate between the use of letters and words to represent numbers. I studied this text during my stay at the Einstein Center Chronoi, Berlin. I would like to thank the members of its executive board, Eva Cancik-Kirschbaum, Christoph Markschies, and Hermann Parzinger, and our very skilled research associates, Irene Sibbing-Plantholt, Eva Rosenstock, Stefanie Rabe, Yosef Elharar, as well as Chronoi's dedicated team for their daily assistance. The contributions of Chronoi's fellows (especially Emmanouela Grypeou) to thinking about time in the context of this work are unique, matched only by their willingness to give generously from much of their own time to clarify many of the subjects discussed below. Israel J. Yuval, Oded Irshai, Meir Bar-Asher, Michael Stone, and David B. Cook read a draft of this paper and shared their thoughts with me; the latter's notes are signed [DBC]. I want to thank the teams of the Oriental reading room, Olga Vasilievskaya, Boris Zaykovsky, and the Electronic Document Delivery Service of the NLR, St. Petersburg for their permission to publish the text and their dedicated professional accompaniment of my work. The anonymous reviewers are thanked for critically reading the manuscript and suggesting substantial improvements.

Messiahs and Anti-Messiahs in a “New Vision of Daniel”

Messiahs and Anti-Messiahs in a “New Vision of Daniel” by Menahem Ben-Sasson The article includes... more Messiahs and Anti-Messiahs in a “New Vision of Daniel”
by Menahem Ben-Sasson
The article includes a publication of a ‘new’ Vision of Daniel that was found in Firkovich collections of the RNL in St. Petersburg. It also compares related versions of a parallel work enabling to reconstruct missing parts of the Vision. The Vision reflects a ‘meeting point’ between three monotheistic religions of the Middle East in the 9th-10th centuries. 
The vision begins with a detailed list of Caliphs, towards its end exact times are replaced it with “Flexible Times”, building the hope that waiting times for redemption will be shortened.
Special attention is given to two Anti-Messiahs figures facing two Messiahs, built as integration of Jewish-Christian-Muslim traditions of the apocalyptical devils.

INVERTING THE IMAGE OF THE REDEEMER AND HIS ENEMIES IN THE APOCALYPTIC LITERATURE: AN EXAMPLE OF ... more INVERTING THE IMAGE OF THE REDEEMER AND HIS ENEMIES
IN THE APOCALYPTIC LITERATURE: AN EXAMPLE
OF INTERRRELIGIOUS DISCOURSE
by Menahem Ben-Sasson (pp. 313–333)
The article discusses five mediaeval apocalyptic visions centering on the figure of Daniel:
two of Syrian Christian provenance – ʻDaniel the Syrianʼ and ʻLittle Danielʼ [Daniel z’ura] –
written in the seventh century; two Jewish ones – ʻDaniel’s Storyʼ [Qissa-ye-Daniel], written
in Judeo-Persian, and a new ʻVision of Daniel,ʼ [Ḥazon Daniel] written in Hebrew; – and a
Muslim apocalyptic tradition mentioned in Nuʿayim Ibn Ḥammād Al-Khuzāʿī Al-Marwzī’s
Kitāb Al-Fitan, the three last-mentioned written in the ninth century.
It is suggested in this article that the two anti-messianic figures that appear in all these
visions demonstrate a close mutual affinity among traditions in the three religions. In all of
them except for Qissa-ye-Daniel, the first enemy of the redeemer descends from the tribe of
Levi and the other enemy’s name is known from parallel sources (Antichrist, Armilus, Son of
Belial, Dadjdjal). The two enemies of the redeemer are depicted as Satanic figures and exhibit
similar features: skin tattooed with weapons of war; consistent details of a breastplate, a bow,
a sword, a spear, an iron dagger, and chariots of war; a face like a burning furnace; eyes like
burning coals; and a broken horn with a serpent emerging from the space between his eyes.
In the Christian and Muslim traditions, the Levite anti-messiah is a Jew. In the Christian
ones, he may reflect the tradition of the false Jewish messiahs named Moses. The Hebrew
Vision of Daniel uses the same name for the enemy of the messiah – the Son of the Daughter
of Levi – but inverts it to the image of Jesus in his second coming near the End of Days,
according to Christian and Muslim traditions.
The Vision of Daniel internalizes the Qur’anic view that identifies the son of the daughter
of Levi, Maryam, with the Christian concept of the second coming of Jesus (the Parousia) in
the End of Days, thus turning it on its head. It also shapes the demonic figure of anti-messiahs
by inverting the two principles that are most emblematic of Jesus in Islam and Christianity –
miracle-working and the messiahship. These demonic elements are found in ancient Christian
and Jewish traditions that describe Gog and Magog and Armilus.
Thus, this Vision of Daniel exhibits a familiar polemical technique in the Jewish, Christian,
and Muslim apocalyptic literature and offers a Jewish inversion of the Christian and Muslim
Thus, this Vision of Daniel exhibits a familiar polemical technique in the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim apocalyptic literature and offers a Jewish inversion of the Christian and Muslim anti-messianic concept. Jesus will reveal himself again in the future, not as a messiah (Christos) but instead as an “anti-messiah” (Antichrist).
The combination of these two figures in the Vision reflects the shifting of the identities of those who are considered messiahs who will reveal themselves once again (the Parousia) in Christian and Muslim literature; they become demonic antichrists in the eyes of the author of the Vision. The Son of the Daughter of Levi is the inversion of the Christian image of Moses/Jesus.

This article includes translation of a "new" Vision of Daniel as it survived, albeit incomplete. ... more This article includes translation of a "new" Vision of Daniel as it survived, albeit incomplete. It reflects a "meeting point" between three monotheistic religions in the ninth and tenth centuries CE. A comparative study of the work enables the reconstruction of its missing parts. The Vision may have been composed in the area where al-Muʿtaṣim battled Theophilos in the 830s CE, namely, northern Syria and southeastern Anatolia. An "updated" appendix was added around 1000 CE. Towards the end of the Vision, exact times are replaced with "flexible times," a moderate expression of the cosmic changes found in similar eschatological works. The two * This research was supported by the Israel Science Foundation (grant No. 2087/18). Translations from the Hebrew in this article are by by Elli Fischer; I have incorporated some of his notes on the text, and they are marked [EF]. Translation of numbers follows the originals, which alternate between the use of letters and words to represent numbers. I studied this text during my stay at the Einstein Center Chronoi, Berlin. I would like to thank the members of its executive board, Eva Cancik-Kirschbaum, Christoph Markschies, and Hermann Parzinger, and our very skilled research associates, Irene Sibbing-Plantholt, Eva Rosenstock, Stefanie Rabe, Yosef Elharar, as well as Chronoi's dedicated team for their daily assistance. The contributions of Chronoi's fellows (especially Emmanouela Grypeou) to thinking about time in the context of this work are unique, matched only by their willingness to give generously from much of their own time to clarify many of the subjects discussed below. Israel J. Yuval, Oded Irshai, Meir Bar-Asher, Michael Stone, and David B. Cook read a draft of this paper and shared their thoughts with me; the latter's notes are signed [DBC]. I want to thank the teams of the Oriental reading room, Olga Vasilievskaya, Boris Zaykovsky, and the Electronic Document Delivery Service of the NLR, St. Petersburg for their permission to publish the text and their dedicated professional accompaniment of my work. The anonymous reviewers are thanked for critically reading the manuscript and suggesting substantial improvements.

The Maghrib and Egypt

The Cambridge History of Judaism, 2021

Las universidades del siglo XXI

Italy and Ifriqia from the Ninth to the Eleventh Century

Les relations intercommunautaires juives en méditerranée occidentale, 1984

Al-Andalus: The So-Called ‘Golden Age’ of Spanish Jewry—a Critical View

Proceedings of the International Symposium held at Speyer, 20-25 October 2002, 2004

... Stroumsa, 'Dawud ibn Marwan' (1989). ... in all parts of the Muslim empire,... more ... Stroumsa, 'Dawud ibn Marwan' (1989). ... in all parts of the Muslim empire, even before the eleventh century: the Netiras and the sons of Aharon in the East, the Tustaries and the sons of Qazzaz in Egypt, and Al-Israeli and his disciple, the sons of Musa b. Elazar and Ibn Ata in the ...

Remembrance and Oblivion of Religious Persecutions: On Sanctifying the Name of God (Qiddush ha-Shem) in Christian and Islamic Countries during the Middle Ages

Jews, Christians and Muslims in Medieval and Early Modern Times

Qiddush ha-shem - self-sacrifice for the holiness of the God of Israel and his law - is a command... more Qiddush ha-shem - self-sacrifice for the holiness of the God of Israel and his law - is a commandment whose purpose is to glorify the name of God publicly, to the point of willingness, under certain circumstances, to sacrifice one's life. In Jewish law and morality, qiddush ha-shem should be performed with maximum devotion in the presence of witnesses. This chapter focuses on the Jews of Islamic countries, with a brief look at the experiences of forced converts in other regions. It outlines the main approaches used to understand self-sacrifice and qiddush ha-shem as well as more general ways to understand relations between minority Jewish communities and majority society and the behavior of Jewish communities in times of crisis. Scholarship has taken four major approaches to explaining those differences: an empirical approach, a tradition-based approach, a legal-religious approach, and a social-historical approach. Keywords: Islamic countries; Israel; Jewish communities; Qiddush ha-shem