Michal A Ohana
Biographic Data
| ID | 1449175 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Michal A Ohana |
| GIVEN NAMES | Michal A |
| FAMILY NAME | Ohana |
| SIGNATURE | OHANA M A |
| AFFILIATIONS | Bar-Ilan University |
| ORCID | 0009-0007-8007-0154 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 9 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 1 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 9 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2018 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 1 |
“Let No One Suspect My Words of Contradicting the Ari”
This study seeks to expand the discourse on the reception of Zoharic literature and Lurianic Kabbalah in North Africa in the early modern period by considering non-kabbalistic scholars who espoused both a traditional worldview and, alongside this, philosophical and kabbalistic approaches. A eulogy by R. Samuel Ben-Zaken of Fez ( c. 1670–1733) illustrates how one such scholar reconciled the Zoharic and the Lurianic views on the issue of human perf…
R. Moses Edrehi
Introduction
I was asked by a clever gentile
A Moroccan Jew's journey into Anglican Christianity
This study outlines John Xeres' journey from a traditional Jewish upbringing in Safi, a Moroccan Atlantic coastal city, to Anglican Christianity in England, in the early eighteenth century. Through a close reading of his book An Address to the Jews (London, 1710) we will follow his Sephardic origins; the advanced Jewish education he received in Safi; his encounters with Christian merchants there; the religious doubts plaguing him over the years; …
Meshovah niẓaḥat
The fifth part of Rabbi Khalifa Ben-Malka's Kaf naki (Clean Hand), Meshovah niẓaḥat (Triumphant Response) portrays a series of interreligious disputations that he conducted with Christian colleagues in Agadir during the first half of the eighteenth century. A study of Meshovah niẓaḥat reveals that, while these debates represent a direct continuation of medieval interreligious polemic, occasionally the traditional arguments took on a new garb-for …
Jewish Thought in Fez in the Generations following the Spanish Expulsion
After the Spanish expulsion, the Jewish exiles sought refuge in the Ottoman Empire, Western Europe, and North Africa. Among the North African countries, Morocco harbored the largest number of refugees, many of them settled in Fez. The arrival of the Spanish exiles introduced a new wave of intellectual activity to the local Jewish community in Fez. While previous studies have shown their contribution in the fields of halakhah, poetry, and historio…
The Jewish-Christian Polemics in the Sermons of R. Shaul Serero of Fes (1566–1655)
R. Shaul Serero (1566–1655) served as the chief rabbi of Fes during the first half of the seventeenth century. Serero repeatedly devoted his annual sermons on the Sabbath preceding Passover to clarifying various aspects of the concept of redemption, one of the main subjects of the Jewish-Christian polemic. A review of these sermons reveals that Serero found it necessary to examine and refute the Christian dogma on three separate occasions on the …
Rabbi Eliezer Ashkenazi's Commentary on the Garden of Eden Story
This essay investigates Rabbi Eliezer Ashkenazi's commentary on the story of the Garden of Eden, first exploring his method of Bible commentary in general. In his interpretation of the Bible he vehemently distances himself from allegorical interpretation that abandons the plain meaning of the text, and holds that while biblical stories function as allegory ( mashal ), they all, without exception, actually occurred as written. Ashkenazi's interpre…
Meshovah niẓaḥat
The fifth part of Rabbi Khalifa Ben-Malka's Kaf naki (Clean Hand), Meshovah niẓaḥat (Triumphant Response) portrays a series of interreligious disputations that he conducted with Christian colleagues in Agadir during the first half of the eighteenth century. A study of Meshovah niẓaḥat reveals that, while these debates represent a direct continuation of medieval interreligious polemic, occasionally the traditional arguments took on a new garb-for …
The Jewish-Christian Polemics in the Sermons of R. Shaul Serero of Fes (1566–1655)
R. Shaul Serero (1566–1655) served as the chief rabbi of Fes during the first half of the seventeenth century. Serero repeatedly devoted his annual sermons on the Sabbath preceding Passover to clarifying various aspects of the concept of redemption, one of the main subjects of the Jewish-Christian polemic. A review of these sermons reveals that Serero found it necessary to examine and refute the Christian dogma on three separate occasions on the …
Rabbi Eliezer Ashkenazi's Commentary on the Garden of Eden Story
This essay investigates Rabbi Eliezer Ashkenazi's commentary on the story of the Garden of Eden, first exploring his method of Bible commentary in general. In his interpretation of the Bible he vehemently distances himself from allegorical interpretation that abandons the plain meaning of the text, and holds that while biblical stories function as allegory ( mashal ), they all, without exception, actually occurred as written. Ashkenazi's interpre…
Jewish Thought in Fez in the Generations following the Spanish Expulsion
After the Spanish expulsion, the Jewish exiles sought refuge in the Ottoman Empire, Western Europe, and North Africa. Among the North African countries, Morocco harbored the largest number of refugees, many of them settled in Fez. The arrival of the Spanish exiles introduced a new wave of intellectual activity to the local Jewish community in Fez. While previous studies have shown their contribution in the fields of halakhah, poetry, and historio…
A Moroccan Jew's journey into Anglican Christianity
This study outlines John Xeres' journey from a traditional Jewish upbringing in Safi, a Moroccan Atlantic coastal city, to Anglican Christianity in England, in the early eighteenth century. Through a close reading of his book An Address to the Jews (London, 1710) we will follow his Sephardic origins; the advanced Jewish education he received in Safi; his encounters with Christian merchants there; the religious doubts plaguing him over the years; …
Meshovah niẓaḥat
The fifth part of Rabbi Khalifa Ben-Malka's Kaf naki (Clean Hand), Meshovah niẓaḥat (Triumphant Response) portrays a series of interreligious disputations that he conducted with Christian colleagues in Agadir during the first half of the eighteenth century. A study of Meshovah niẓaḥat reveals that, while these debates represent a direct continuation of medieval interreligious polemic, occasionally the traditional arguments took on a new garb-for …
R. Moses Edrehi
Introduction
I was asked by a clever gentile
“Let No One Suspect My Words of Contradicting the Ari”
This study seeks to expand the discourse on the reception of Zoharic literature and Lurianic Kabbalah in North Africa in the early modern period by considering non-kabbalistic scholars who espoused both a traditional worldview and, alongside this, philosophical and kabbalistic approaches. A eulogy by R. Samuel Ben-Zaken of Fez ( c. 1670–1733) illustrates how one such scholar reconciled the Zoharic and the Lurianic views on the issue of human perf…
History (6 works) · Judaism (6 works) · Philosophy (6 works) · Historical and Linguistic Studies (5 works) · Medieval and Classical Philosophy (5 works) · Classics (4 works) · History (4 works) · Islamic Studies and History (4 works) · Philosophy (4 works) · Religious studies (4 works)