1 DAVID SHATZ PUBLICATIONS Books Authored Peer Review
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Rabbi Avraham Yizhak Hacohen Kook: Between Exile and Messianic Redemption*
Rabbi Avraham Yizhak HaCohen Kook: Between Exile and Messianic Redemption* Judith Winther Copenhagen Religious Zionism—Between Messsianism and A-Messianism Until the 19th century and, to a certain ex- tute a purely human form of redemption for a tent, somewhat into the 20th, most adherents redeemer sent by God, and therefore appeared of traditional, orthodox Judaism were reluc- to incite rebellion against God. tant about, or indifferent towards, the active, Maimonides' active, realistic Messianism realistic Messianism of Maimonides who averr- was, with subsequent Zionist doctrines, first ed that only the servitude of the Jews to foreign reintroduced by Judah Alkalai, Sephardic Rab- kings separates this world from the world to bi of Semlin, Bessarabia (1798-1878),3 and Zwi come.1 More broadly speaking, to Maimonides Hirsch Kalisher, Rabbi of Thorn, district of the Messianic age is the time when the Jewish Poznan (1795-1874).4 people will liberate itself from its oppressors Both men taught that the Messianic pro- to obtain national and political freedom and cess should be subdivided into a natural and independence. Maimonides thus rejects those a miraculous phase. Redemption is primari- Jewish approaches according to which the Mes- ly in human hands, and redemption through a sianic age will be a time of supernatural qual- miracle can only come at a later stage. They ities and apocalyptic events, an end to human held that the resettling and restoration of the history as we know it. land was athalta di-geullah, the beginning of Traditional, orthodox insistence on Mes- redemption. They also maintained that there sianism as a passive phenomenon is related to follows, from a religious point of view, an obli- the rabbinic teaching in which any attempt to gation for the Jews to return to Zion and re- leave the Diaspora and return to Zion in order build the country by modern methods. -
1 Beginning the Conversation
NOTES 1 Beginning the Conversation 1. Jacob Katz, Exclusiveness and Tolerance: Jewish-Gentile Relations in Medieval and Modern Times (New York: Schocken, 1969). 2. John Micklethwait, “In God’s Name: A Special Report on Religion and Public Life,” The Economist, London November 3–9, 2007. 3. Mark Lila, “Earthly Powers,” NYT, April 2, 2006. 4. When we mention the clash of civilizations, we think of either the Spengler battle, or a more benign interplay between cultures in individual lives. For the Spengler battle, see Samuel P. Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1996). For a more benign interplay in individual lives, see Thomas L. Friedman, The Lexus and the Olive Tree (New York: Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 1999). 5. Micklethwait, “In God’s Name.” 6. Robert Wuthnow, America and the Challenges of Religious Diversity (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2005). “Interview with Robert Wuthnow” Religion and Ethics Newsweekly April 26, 2002. Episode no. 534 http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/week534/ rwuthnow.html 7. Wuthnow, America and the Challenges of Religious Diversity, 291. 8. Eric Sharpe, “Dialogue,” in Mircea Eliade and Charles J. Adams, The Encyclopedia of Religion, first edition, volume 4 (New York: Macmillan, 1987), 345–8. 9. Archbishop Michael L. Fitzgerald and John Borelli, Interfaith Dialogue: A Catholic View (London: SPCK, 2006). 10. Lily Edelman, Face to Face: A Primer in Dialogue (Washington, DC: B’nai B’rith, Adult Jewish Education, 1967). 11. Ben Zion Bokser, Judaism and the Christian Predicament (New York: Knopf, 1967), 5, 11. 12. Ibid., 375. -
Jewish Thought Journal of the Goldstein-Goren International Center for Jewish Thought
Jewish Thought Journal of the Goldstein-Goren International Center for Jewish Thought Editors Michal Bar-Asher Siegal Jonatan Meir Shalom Sadik Haim Kreisel (editor-in-chief) Editorial Secretary Asher Binyamin Volume 1 Faith and Heresy Beer-Sheva, 2019 Jewish Thought is published once a year by the Goldstein-Goren International Center for Jewish Thought. Each issue is devoted to a different topic. Topics of the following issues are as follows: 2020: Esotericism in Jewish Thought 2021: New Trends in the Research of Jewish Thought 2022: Asceticism in Judaism and the Abrahamic Religions Articles for the next issue should be submitted by September 30, 2019. Manuscripts for consideration should be sent, in Hebrew or English, as MS Word files, to: [email protected] The articles should be accompanied by an English abstract. The views and opinions expressed in the articles are those of the authors alone. The journal is open access: http://in.bgu.ac.il/en/humsos/goldstein-goren/Pages/Journal.aspx The Hebrew articles were edited by Dr. David Zori and Shifra Zori. The articles in English were edited by Dr. Julie Chajes. Address: The Goldstein-Goren International Center for Jewish Thought, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, PO Box 653, Beer-Sheva 8410501. © All Rights Reserved This issue is dedicated to Prof. Daniel J. Lasker for his 70Th birthday Table of Contents English Section Foreward 7 Michal Bar-Asher The Minim of the Babylonian Talmud 9 Siegal Menahem Kellner The Convert as the Most Jewish of Jews? 33 On the Centrality of Belief (the Opposite of Heresy) in Maimonidean Judaism Howard Kreisel Back to Maimonides’ Sources: 53 The Thirteen Principles Revisited George Y. -
Q10 Other Jewish Study Topics Desired
A Survey of the Modern Orthodox Jewish Community in the United States September 2017 Responses to Q10. Is there anything new or different you’d like to see available to you in areas of Jewish study (topics, programs, speakers, learning opportunities, etc.)? A NOTE ON ANONYMITY: The responses are presented verbatim, without corrections of spelling or grammar. We value respondents’ anonymity very highly and treat it with the greatest respect and caution. To that end, all potentially identifying information (such as names of cities, shuls, rabbis, or other information that might identify a respondent) has been edited for purposes of anonymity [edits may be indicated by square brackets]. Please contact Nishma Research if you have any questions or comments on this matter. • I believe that the area most lacking in Orthodoxy is a that was intellectually engaging and interactive, formal program of structured stepwise learning for the bringing the community together that was integrated adult Baal teshuvah with limited or no formal learning into the Shabbat morning shul experience background, beginning with basic Hebrew reading and • More female speakers, and a wider range of speakers in progressing slowly and methodically to text based general. learning. There are myriad shiurim, chaburim, etc for • Learning through action instead of just reading from those with formal day school education; however, sources. This can engage community members to while there are Kiruv organizations that try to mekareiv better understand halachic issues. those unaffiliated, once they are brought into the fold, they are left to swim on their own. This is especially • Structured learning opportunities for women who have true for older adults who cannot pick up and go learn at already advanced past the programs available a kiruv Yeshiva in Israel. -
Lament in Jewish Thought Perspectives on Jewish Texts and Contexts
Lament in Jewish Thought Perspectives on Jewish Texts and Contexts Edited by Vivian Liska Editorial Board Robert Alter, Steven Aschheim, Richard I. Cohen, Mark H. Gelber, Moshe Halbertal, Geoffrey Hartman, Moshe Idel, Samuel Moyn, Ada Rapoport-Albert, Alvin Rosenfeld, David Ruderman, Bernd Witte Volume 2 Lament in Jewish Thought Philosophical, Theological, and Literary Perspectives Edited by Ilit Ferber and Paula Schwebel DE GRUYTER An electronic version of this book is freely available, thanks to the support of libra- ries working with Knowledge Unlatched. KU is a collaborative initiative designed to make high quality books Open Access. More information about the initiative can be found at www.knowledgeunlatched.org This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 License. For details go to http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/. ISBN 978-3-11-033382-4 e-ISBN (PDF) 978-3-11-033996-3 e-ISBN (EPUB) 978-3-11-039531-0 ISSN 2199-6962 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A CIP catalog record for this book has been applied for at the Library of Congress. Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data are available on the Internet at http://dnb.dnb.de. © 2014 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston Cover image: Les Lamentations de Jérémie (Lamentations, III, 1-9); Copyright: © Chagall® – SABAM BELGIUM 2014 Typesetting: Meta Systems Publishing & Printservices GmbH, Wustermark Printing and binding: CPI books GmbH, Leck ♾ Printed on acid-free paper Printed in Germany www.degruyter.com Acknowledgments This volume results from a fruitful collaboration, not only between us, the edi- tors, but among numerous friends and colleagues without whom the publica- tion of this book would not have been possible. -
The Legal Philosophies of Religious Zionism 1937-1967 Alexander Kaye Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for Th
The Legal Philosophies of Religious Zionism 1937-1967 Alexander Kaye Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 2013 © 2012 Alexander Kaye All rights reserved ABSTRACT The Legal Philosophies of Religious Zionism 1937-1967 Alexander Kaye This dissertation is an attempt to recover abandoned pathways in religious Zionist thought. It identifies a fundamental shift in the legal philosophy of religious Zionists, demonstrating that around the time of the establishment of the State of Israel, religious Zionists developed a new way of thinking about the relationship between law and the state. Before this shift took place, religious Zionist thinkers affiliated with a variety of legal and constitutional philosophies. As shown in chapter 1, the leaders of the religious kibbutz movement advocated a revolutionary, almost anarchic, approach to law. They (in theory, at least,) only accepted rules that emerged spontaneously from the spirit of their religious and national life, even if that meant departing from traditional halakha. Others had a more positive attitude towards law but, as chapter 2 shows, differed widely regarding the role of halakha in the constitution of the Jewish state. They covered a spectrum from, at one extreme, the call for a complete separation between religion and state to, on the other, the call a rabbinic oversight of all legislation. They all, however, were legal pluralists; they agreed that a single polity may have within it a plurality of legitimate sources of legal authority and that, even in a Jewish state, other kinds of legislation may hold authority alongside halakha. -
Introduction Welcome to Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish
Introduction Welcome to Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies. This Academic Catalog provides statements about policies and procedures which are currently operative and it is intended primarily as a source of information for graduate students. The School, however, reserves the right to change policy and procedures without prior notice and to notify all parties of such changes. In regard to curriculum requirements, students will be governed by the Academic Catalog in the year in which they entered the program. Students are ultimately responsible for knowing and observing all regulations and degree requirements that may affect their status at Bernard Revel Graduate School and paying all fees. For this reason, students should meet with academic advisors and the Office of the Registrar on a regular basis as well as read thoroughly the contents of this catalog. YESHIVA UNIVERSITY Now in its second century, Yeshiva University is the oldest and most comprehensive educational institution under Jewish auspices in America. It is an independent university that ranks among the nation's leading academic research institutions and, reflecting the time-honored tradition of Torah Umadda, provides the highest quality Jewish and secular education of any Jewish university in the world. Since its inception the University has been dedicated to melding the ancient traditions of Jewish law and life with the heritage of Western civilization, and each year we celebrate as future leaders make YU their home. In September 2003, Richard M. Joel was inaugurated as Yeshiva University's fourth president, succeeding Norman Lamm, who had held the office since 1976. President Joel's two other predecessors were Bernard Revel, president from 1915 to 1940, and Samuel Belkin, who served from 1943 to 1975. -
Modern Jewish Thought (In a Christian World) Spring 2017, T/Th 10:30‒12:10, Spence Pavilion 200
REL 384: Modern Jewish Thought (in a Christian World) Spring 2017, T/Th 10:30‒12:10, Spence Pavilion 200 Instructor: Geoffrey Claussen Office: Spence Pavilion 214 Office Hours: M/T/Th 1:30‒2:30, and by appointment [email protected] This course offers a historical and philosophical investigation of modern Jewish thought, focusing on influential Jewish thinkers writing in Christian-majority contexts in the 18th‒21st centuries. Our course will emphasize what’s often called “modern Jewish theology”—modern Jewish ideas about God, God’s relationship with the Jewish people and with the rest of the world, and the overall meaning of the Jewish tradition. This means that we’ll be considering big- picture questions of Jewish thought rather than more specific questions regarding Jewish practice, which are covered in other courses at Elon. Our focus on theology also means that we will give particular attention to what is often called “religious” Jewish thought, though we will also consider some “secular” Jewish thinkers. We will give particular attention to modern Jewish debates about the nature of God, chosenness, revelation, redemption, evil, law, spirituality, virtue, sacred space, religion and politics, and authority. Key questions that we will see debated throughout the course will include: 1. Who or what is “God,” and who or what is God not? 2. What (if anything) is God’s role in history, and how should one explain unjustified suffering in the world? 3. How should Jews respond to the classical idea that Jews are “the chosen people”? 4. What is the status of traditional Jewish law, and is it significant or obligatory for Jews? 5. -
Religious Zionism, Religious Violence, and Israel in the 21St Century
Macalester College DigitalCommons@Macalester College Religious Studies Honors Projects Religious Studies Department 5-4-2020 (Re-)Making the State: Religious Zionism, Religious Violence, and Israel in the 21st Century Abe Asher [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/reli_honors Part of the Jewish Studies Commons, and the Religion Commons Recommended Citation Asher, Abe, "(Re-)Making the State: Religious Zionism, Religious Violence, and Israel in the 21st Century" (2020). Religious Studies Honors Projects. 17. https://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/reli_honors/17 This Honors Project - Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by the Religious Studies Department at DigitalCommons@Macalester College. It has been accepted for inclusion in Religious Studies Honors Projects by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@Macalester College. For more information, please contact [email protected]. (Re-)Making the State: Religious Zionism, Religious Violence, and Israel in the 21st Century Abe Asher Macalester College May 4, 2020 Table of Contents Acknowledgements …………………………………………………………………………… 3 Abstract ………………………………………………………………………………………… 4 I. Introduction …………………………………………………………………………… 5 II. Jewish Violence ………………………………………………………………………… 7 III. Goldstein, Amir, & the Maturation of Kahanism ………………………………… 21 IV. Discussion …………………………………………………………………………… 50 V. Conclusion …………………………………………………………………………… 57 Works Cited ………………………………………………………………………………… 60 2 Acknowledgements On the first day of my first semester at Macalester, I walked into Barry Cytron's classroom. My recollection is that we read and discussed a Philip Roth story that morning, and while I may or may not have that right, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that my experience in Barry’s class changed the trajectory of my four years here and perhaps — who knows! — the trajectory of many years to come. -
Gershom Scholem's Critical Appropriation of Wissenschaft Des Judentums and the Necessary Fiction of Historical Objectivity
Gershom Scholem’s Critical Appropriation of Wissenschaft des Judentumsand the Necessary Fiction of Historical Objectivity by Rose Stair Abstract Gershom Scholem (1897–1982) portrayed modern Zionist historical scholarship as both a rejection and a corrective fulfillment of earlier eras of Wissenschaft des Judentums. Through attacks on his scholarly predecessors, Scholem detailed his vision for the po- tential of this renaissance of Wissenschaft to entail both objective research and a com- mitment to treating Judaism as a “living organism,” an approach that would ultimately ensure the scholarship could deliver value to the Jewish community. This article will explore the tensions that arise from Scholem’s commitments, his occasional admis- sions of these tensions, and his attempts to overcome them. 1. Introduction “The creation of a completely new image of our history in the broadest sense of the word – that is the task imposed upon the Science of Judaism during the generation of the renaissance.”1 The monumental challenge that Gershom Scholem (1897–1982) identified as facing contemporary Jewish scholarship was not only to produce a rigorous and vital body of historical research, but also to productively appropriate the flawed heritage of the scholarly movement at its origin, Wissenschaft des Judentums. Scholem’s presentation of the new mode of scholarship as both in opposition to and in continuity with earlier Wissenschaft portrayed the new scholarship as a corrective fulfillment of Wissenschaft potential. This article will explore 1 Gershom Scholem: Reflections on Modern Jewish Studies, in: Gershom Scholem / Avra- ham Shapira (eds.), On the Possibility of Jewish Mysticism in our Time and Other Essays, Philadelphia 1997, p. -
Jewish Ideas of God
1 JEWISH IDEAS OF GOD In Judaism, God has been conceived in a variety of ways. Traditionally, Judaism holds that YHWH, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and the national god of the Israelites, delivered the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, and gave them the Law of Moses at biblical Mount Sinai as described in the Torah. According to the rationalist stream of Judaism articulated by Maimonides, which later came to dominate much of official traditional Jewish thought, God is understood as the absolute one, indivisible, and incomparable being who is the ultimate cause of all existence. Traditional interpretations of Judaism generally emphasize that God is personal yet also transcendent, while some modern interpretations of Judaism emphasize that God is a force or ideal. Most of classical Judaism views God as a personal god, meaning that humans can have a relationship with God and vice versa. God as conceived by Judaism is not only the First Cause, the Creative Power, and the World Reason, but also the living and loving Father of Men. He is not only cosmic but also personal. Jewish monotheism thinKs of God in terms of definite character or personality, while pantheism is content with a view of God as impersonal." This is shown in the Jewish liturgy, such as in the Adon Olam hymn, which includes a "confident affirmation" that "He is my God, my living God...Who hears and answers." British chief rabbi Jonathan Sacks suggests that God "is not distant in time or detached, but passionately engaged and present.” Kabbalah According to the Kabbalah, every human action here on earth affects the divine realm, either promoting or hindering the union of the Shechina and the Holy One, blessed be He. -
The Religious Thought of Rabbi Yehudah Amital
Worlds Destroyed, Worlds Rebuilt: The Religious Thought of Rabbi Yehudah Amital Alan Brill Abstract: This essay presents an overview of the thought of Rav Yehudah Amital. Topics covered include his approach to ethics, spirituality, and history. The article points out Rav Amital's conception of natural ethics, natural piety, and natural sovereignty. It also highlights two tensions in his thought, that between the individual and the collective, and that between taking responsibility toward the past and embracing the future. Edah The Journal Biography: Rabbi Dr. Alan Brill teaches Jewish Philosophy at Yeshiva University. He is the Founder and Director of Kavvanah: Center for Jewish Thought, and the author of Thinking God: The Mysticism of R. Zadok of Lublin and has a forthcoming volume on Judaism and other religions. His previous contributions to The Edah Journal include the review essay, “An Ideal Rosh Yeshiva: By His Light: Character and Values in the Service of God and Leaves of Faith by Rav Aharon Lichtenstein” and “Judaism in Culture: Beyond Bifurcation of Torah and Madda.” The Edah Journal 5: 2 Edah, Inc. © 2006 Sivan 5766 Worlds Destroyed, Worlds Rebuilt: The Religious Thought of R. Yehudah Amital Alan Brill abbi Amital is a profound visionary driven by yeshiva study and military service. The exemption his memory of the past with a unique natural from army service granted to yeshiva students R sense of Judaism. 1 Yehudah Klein (later changed to Amital) was born in 1925 in Transylvania. As a boy he studied in heder and yeshiva and had only four There was no turning back: the secular state was a years of elementary secular education; his teacher reality.