Toras Hadoros Nevi'im Rishonim
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TALMUDIC STUDIES Ephraim Kanarfogel
chapter 22 TALMUDIC STUDIES ephraim kanarfogel TRANSITIONS FROM THE EAST, AND THE NASCENT CENTERS IN NORTH AFRICA, SPAIN, AND ITALY The history and development of the study of the Oral Law following the completion of the Babylonian Talmud remain shrouded in mystery. Although significant Geonim from Babylonia and Palestine during the eighth and ninth centuries have been identified, the extent to which their writings reached Europe, and the channels through which they passed, remain somewhat unclear. A fragile consensus suggests that, at least initi- ally, rabbinic teachings and rulings from Eretz Israel traveled most directly to centers in Italy and later to Germany (Ashkenaz), while those of Babylonia emerged predominantly in the western Sephardic milieu of Spain and North Africa.1 To be sure, leading Sephardic talmudists prior to, and even during, the eleventh century were not yet to be found primarily within Europe. Hai ben Sherira Gaon (d. 1038), who penned an array of talmudic commen- taries in addition to his protean output of responsa and halakhic mono- graphs, was the last of the Geonim who flourished in Baghdad.2 The family 1 See Avraham Grossman, “Zik˙atah shel Yahadut Ashkenaz ‘el Erets Yisra’el,” Shalem 3 (1981), 57–92; Grossman, “When Did the Hegemony of Eretz Yisra’el Cease in Italy?” in E. Fleischer, M. A. Friedman, and Joel Kraemer, eds., Mas’at Mosheh: Studies in Jewish and Moslem Culture Presented to Moshe Gil [Hebrew] (Jerusalem, 1998), 143–57; Israel Ta- Shma’s review essays in K˙ ryat Sefer 56 (1981), 344–52, and Zion 61 (1996), 231–7; Ta-Shma, Kneset Mehkarim, vol. -
Office of Rabbi Sacks
Dear Sir / Madam, Please find the text below of a speech Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks made on the subject of antisemitism. This was the keynote address of “The Future of the Jewish Communities in Europe” Conference held at The European Parliament on 27th September 2016 in Brussels. I believe you might find the speech useful as you consider your report. Kind regards, Dan Sacker (on behalf of Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks) Office of Rabbi Sacks Dan Sacker Postal address: The Office of Rabbi Sacks, P.O. Box 72007, London NW6 6RW www.rabbisacks.org | ********************************************************************************* The hate that begins with Jews never ends with Jews. That is what I want us to understand today. It wasn’t Jews alone who suffered under Hitler. It wasn’t Jews alone who suffered under Stalin. It isn’t Jews alone who suffer under ISIS or Al Qaeda or Islamic Jihad. We make a great mistake if we think antisemitism is a threat only to Jews. It is a threat, first and foremost, to Europe and to the freedoms it took centuries to achieve. Antisemitism is not about Jews. It is about anti-Semites. It is about people who cannot accept responsibility for their own failures and have instead to blame someone else. Historically, if you were a Christian at the time of the Crusades, or a German after the First World War, and saw that the world hadn’t turned out the way you believed it would, you blamed the Jews. That is what is happening today. And I cannot begin to say how dangerous it is. -
Conversion to Judaism Finnish Gerim on Giyur and Jewishness
Conversion to Judaism Finnish gerim on giyur and Jewishness Kira Zaitsev Syventävien opintojen tutkielma Afrikan ja Lähi-idän kielet Humanistinen tiedekunta Helsingin yliopisto 2019/5779 provided by Helsingin yliopiston digitaalinen arkisto View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk CORE brought to you by Tiedekunta – Fakultet – Faculty Koulutusohjelma – Utbildningsprogram – Degree Programme Humanistinen tiedekunta Kielten maisteriohjelma Opintosuunta – Studieinriktning – Study Track Afrikan ja Lähi-idän kielet Tekijä – Författare – Author Kira Zaitsev Työn nimi – Arbetets titel – Title Conversion to Judaism. Finnish gerim on giyur and Jewishness Työn laji – Aika – Datum – Month and year Sivumäärä– Sidoantal Arbetets art – Huhtikuu 2019 – Number of pages Level 43 Pro gradu Tiivistelmä – Referat – Abstract Pro graduni käsittelee suomalaisia, jotka ovat kääntyneet juutalaisiksi ilman aikaisempaa juutalaista taustaa ja perhettä. Data perustuu haastatteluihin, joita arvioin straussilaisella grounded theory-menetelmällä. Tutkimuskysymykseni ovat, kuinka nämä käännynnäiset näkevät mitä juutalaisuus on ja kuinka he arvioivat omaa kääntymistään. Tutkimuseni mukaan kääntyjän aikaisempi uskonnollinen tausta on varsin todennäköisesti epätavallinen, eikä hänellä ole merkittäviä aikaisempia juutalaisia sosiaalisia suhteita. Internetillä on kasvava rooli kääntyjän tiedonhaussa ja verkostoissa. Juutalaisuudessa kääntynyt näkee tärkeimpänä eettisyyden sekä juutalaisen lain, halakhan. Kääntymisen nähdään vahvistavan aikaisempi maailmankuva -
A Fresh Perspective on the History of Hasidic Judaism
eSharp Issue 20: New Horizons A Fresh Perspective on the History of Hasidic Judaism Eva van Loenen (University of Southampton) Introduction In this article, I shall examine the history of Hasidic Judaism, a mystical,1 ultra-orthodox2 branch of Judaism, which values joyfully worshipping God’s presence in nature as highly as the strict observance of the laws of Torah3 and Talmud.4 In spite of being understudied, the history of Hasidic Judaism has divided historians until today. Indeed, Hasidic Jewish history is not one monolithic, clear-cut, straightforward chronicle. Rather, each scholar has created his own narrative and each one is as different as its author. While a brief introduction such as this cannot enter into all the myriad divergences and similarities between these stories, what I will attempt to do here is to incorporate and compare an array of different views in order to summarise the history of Hasidism and provide a more objective analysis, which has not yet been undertaken. Furthermore, my historical introduction in Hasidic Judaism will exemplify how mystical branches of mainstream religions might develop and shed light on an under-researched division of Judaism. The main focus of 1 Mystical movements strive for a personal experience of God or of his presence and values intuitive, spiritual insight or revelationary knowledge. The knowledge gained is generally ‘esoteric’ (‘within’ or hidden), leading to the term ‘esotericism’ as opposed to exoteric, based on the external reality which can be attested by anyone. 2 Ultra-orthodox Jews adhere most strictly to Jewish law as the holy word of God, delivered perfectly and completely to Moses on Mount Sinai. -
Orthodoxy in American Jewish Life1
ORTHODOXY IN AMERICAN JEWISH LIFE1 by CHARLES S. LIEBMAN INTRODUCTION • DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS OF ORTHODOXY • EARLY ORTHODOX COMMUNITY • UNCOMMITTED ORTHODOX • COM- MITTED ORTHODOX • MODERN ORTHODOX • SECTARIANS • LEAD- ERSHIP • DIRECTIONS AND TENDENCIES • APPENDLX: YESHIVOT PROVIDING INTENSIVE TALMUDIC STUDY A HIS ESSAY is an effort to describe the communal aspects and institutional forms of Orthodox Judaism in the United States. For the most part, it ignores the doctrines, faith, and practices of Orthodox Jews, and barely touches upon synagogue hie, which is the most meaningful expression of American Orthodoxy. It is hoped that the reader will find here some appreciation of the vitality of American Orthodoxy. Earlier predictions of the demise of 11 am indebted to many people who assisted me in making this essay possible. More than 40, active in a variety of Orthodox organizations, gave freely of their time for extended discussions and interviews and many lay leaders and rabbis throughout the United States responded to a mail questionnaire. A number of people read a draft of this paper. I would be remiss if I did not mention a few by name, at the same time exonerating them of any responsibility for errors of fact or for my own judgments and interpretations. The section on modern Orthodoxy was read by Rabbi Emanuel Rackman. The sections beginning with the sectarian Orthodox to the conclusion of the paper were read by Rabbi Nathan Bulman. Criticism and comments on the entire paper were forthcoming from Rabbi Aaron Lichtenstein, Dr. Marshall Ski are, and Victor Geller, without whose assistance the section on the number of Orthodox Jews could not have been written. -
1 Antisemitism Rosh Hashanah 5780 September 29, 2019 Rabbi David
Antisemitism Rosh Hashanah 5780 September 29, 2019 Rabbi David Stern Tonight marks my thirty-first High Holidays at Temple Emanu-El, a huge blessing in my life. In thirty-one years of high holiday sermons, you have been very forgiving, and I have addressed a diverse array of topics: from our internal spiritual journeys to Judaism’s call for justice in the world; relationship and forgiveness, immigration and race, prayer and faith, loving Israel and loving our neighbors; birth and death and just about everything in between in this messy, frustrating, promising, profound, sacred realm we call life. Except -- in thirty-one years as a Jewish leader, I have not given a single High Holiday sermon about antisemitism.1 References, allusions, a pointed paragraph here and there, yes. But in three decades of High Holiday sermons spanning the end of the twentieth and the beginning of the twenty-first centuries, not a single one about antisemitism. I’m hoping that doesn’t constitute professional malpractice, but it is strange. So I’ve asked myself why. Reason #1: I had almost no experience of antisemitism growing up. With one limited exception, I never even experienced name-calling, let alone any physical incident. All four of my grandparents were born in America, and our story was the classic trajectory of American Jewish integration and success. 1 Professor Deborah E. Lipstadt makes a compelling argument for this spelling. Lipstadt rejects the hyphen in the more conventional “Anti-Semitism” because it implies that whatever lies to the right of the hyphen exists as an independent entity. -
Moses: God's Representative, Employee, Or Messenger
JSIJ 14 (2018) MOSES: GOD’S REPRESENTATIVE, EMPLOYEE, OR MESSENGER?UNDERSTANDING THE VIEWS OF MAIMONIDES, NAHMANIDES, AND JOSEPH ALBO ON MOSES’ ROLE AND ULTIMATE FAILURE AT MEI MERIBAH JONATHAN L. MILEVSKY* Introduction In his Shemonah Peraqim, Maimonides refers to Moses' sin in Numbers 20as one of the “misgivings of the Torah.”1In a digression from his discussion of virtues, Maimonides explains that the sin was unrelated to the extraction of water from the rock. Instead, it was the fact that Moses, whose deeds were scrutinized and mimicked by the Israelites, acted 1Maimonides, Shemonah Peraqim, chap. 5. There are numerous ancient and medieval Jewish perspectives on how Moses and Aaron erred at Mei meribah. For the various interpretations, see Jacob Milgrom, Numbers: JPS Torah Commentary (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1990), 448.The wide variety of approaches can be attributed in part to a number of difficulties. These include the fact that it is a sin committed by the greatest of all prophets. Notice, for example how hesitant Shemuel Ben Meir is to describe Moses’ sin; making matters more difficult is the fact that Moses was not forgiven for what he did, as Joseph Albo points out, making the sin appear even more severe; also, the text bears some similarity to an incident described in the Bible in Exodus 17:6, which is why Joseph Bekhor Shor suggests that it is the same incident; further, the sin itself seems trivial. It hardly seems less miraculous for water to come from a rock when it is hit, than when it is spoken to, a point made by Nahmanides; finally, Moses pegs the sin on the Israelites in Deuteronomy 1:37. -
Religion and Science in Abraham Ibn Ezra's Sefer Ha-Olam
RELIGION AND SCIENCE IN ABRAHAM IBN EZRA'S SEFER HA-OLAM (INCLUDING AN ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF THE HEBREW TEXT) Uskontotieteen pro gradu tutkielma Humanistinen tiedekunta Nadja Johansson 18.3.2009 1 CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................... 3 1.1 Abraham Ibn Ezra and Sefer ha-Olam ........................................................................ 3 1.2 Previous research ......................................................................................................... 5 1.3 The purpose of this study ............................................................................................. 8 2 SOURCE, METHOD AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ....................................... 10 2.1 Primary source: Sefer ha-Olam (the Book of the World) ........................................... 10 2.1.1 Edition, manuscripts, versions and date .............................................................. 10 2.1.2 Textual context: the astrological encyclopedia .................................................... 12 2.1.3 Motivation: technical handbook .......................................................................... 14 2.2 Method ....................................................................................................................... 16 2.2.1 Translation and historical analysis ...................................................................... 16 2.2.2 Systematic analysis ............................................................................................. -
Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies
Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies Table of Contents Ancient Jewish History .......................................................................................................................................... 2 Medieval Jewish History ....................................................................................................................................... 4 Modern Jewish History ......................................................................................................................................... 8 Bible .................................................................................................................................................................... 17 Jewish Philosophy ............................................................................................................................................... 23 Talmud ................................................................................................................................................................ 29 Course Catalog | Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies 1 Ancient Jewish History JHI 5213 Second Temple Jewish Literature Dr. Joseph Angel Critical issues in the study of Second Temple literature, including biblical interpretations and commentaries, laws and rules of conduct, historiography, prayers, and apocalyptic visions. JHI 6233 Dead Sea Scrolls Dr. Lawrence Schiffman Reading of selected Hebrew and Aramaic texts from the Qumran library. The course will provide students with a deep -
Opportunity Statement
MAIMONIDES HEAD OF SCHOOL SEARCH 2022-23 OPPORTUNITY STATEMENT MAY 2021 “AT MAIMONIDES, WE ARE TAUGHT THE POWER OF KNOWLEDGE, SELF-IMPROVEMENT, COMMUNITY, AND RESPECT. THESE VALUES ARE NOT JUST ABSTRACTLY SPOKEN ABOUT; THESE VALUES ARE UNDOUBTEDLY DISPLAYED BY TEACHERS, STUDENTS, PARENTS, AND ADMINISTRATION.” MAIMONIDES STUDENT We are thrilled to share the Maimonides School Head of School Opportunity Statement with you! Over the last few months, we have engaged extensively with our school community through surveys and numerous focus groups to best determine our aspirations for the future leader of Maimonides School. The information we have gathered from students, faculty and staff, current parents, the Board of Directors, community rabbis, alumni, and community members at large has vitalized us with a sense of great enthusiasm and optimism about the future of our school. We have composed this Opportunity Statement together with our dedicated and talented Search Committee and Faculty Advisory Committee, and we believe that it is reflective of both the current state of our school and our community’s hopes, desires, and excitement for our future and our next leader. We hope you will enjoy learning more about our amazing school and the unique and incredible opportunities that lie ahead for our new Head of School! Sincerely, Amy Goldman and Cheryl Levin Maimonides Head of School Search Co-Chairs MAIMONIDES HEAD OF SCHOOL OPPORTUNITY STATEMENT Our School Maimonides School is proud to be the beacon of Modern Orthodox co-education in New England and welcomes and זצ״ל students from Early Childhood through 12th Grade. Established in 1937 by Rabbi Dr. -
RABBIS and SYNAGOGUE ADMINISTRATION Practice and Problems MEL MOGULOF Berkeley, California
RABBIS AND SYNAGOGUE ADMINISTRATION Practice and Problems MEL MOGULOF Berkeley, California A study of synagogues in the San Francisco area revealed several trends in synagogue administration: the emerging role of the rabbi as the CEO of the congregation and its leader in matters both spiritual and profane; the development of a professional position of synagogue administrator; and greater efforts to rationalize dues negotiation and collec tion procedures. The extent to which synagogues deepen their relationships with federa tions in efforts to enhance Jewish continuity will partly depend on their effective manage ment n pursuing its commitment to Jewish Hfe THE ADMINISTRATIVE ROLE OF THE In the San Francisco Bay Area, the Koret RABBI Foundation has recently made major grants In their rabbinic education, rabbis do not re in support of synagogues. One of these ceive much preparation for their role of pro grants makes available technical assistance viding administrative leadership and yet lay on issues related to synagogue administra congregational leaders seem increasingly tion. In preparation for this techrucal assis ready to see their rabbis as the chief execu tance Koret invited several congregations to tive officers (CEOs) of their congregations. participate in an effort to determine patterns Reference to the rabbi as CEO was made re of synagogue administration and to identify peatedly in my interviews with lay leaders. perceived administrative problems. Four And the larger the congregation, the more synagogues agreed to participate in this ef likely was the reference made. fort. These congregations range in size Occasionally reference was made to a from under 200 membership units to over model of rabbinic leadership in which the 1,000 and include the three major syna rabbi's domain is the religious life ofthe gogue movements. -
Holiness-A Human Endeavor
Isaac Selter Holiness: A Human Endeavor “The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to the whole Israelite community and say to them: You shall be holy, for I, the Lord your God, am holy1.” Such a verse is subject to different interpretations. On the one hand, God is holy, and through His election of the People of Israel and their acceptance of the yoke of heaven at Mount Sinai, the nation attains holiness as well. As Menachem Kellner puts it, “the imposition of the commandments has made Israel intrinsically holy2.” Israel attains holiness because God is holy. On the other hand, the verse could be seen as introducing a challenge to the nation to achieve such a holiness. The verse is not ascribing an objective metaphysical quality inherent in the nation of Israel. Which of these options is real holiness? The notion that sanctity is an objective metaphysical quality inherent in an item or an act is one championed by many Rishonim, specifically with regard to to the sanctity of the Land of Israel. God promises the Children of Israel that sexual morality will cause the nation to be exiled from its land. Nachmanides explains that the Land of Israel is more sensitive than other lands with regard to sins due to its inherent, metaphysical qualities. He states, “The Honorable God created everything and placed the power over the ones below in the ones above and placed over each and every people in their lands according to their nations a star and a specific constellation . but upon the land of Israel - the center of the [world's] habitation, the inheritance of God [that is] unique to His name - He did not place a captain, officer or ruler from the angels, in His giving it as an 1 Leviticus 19:1-2 2 Maimonidies' Confrontation with Mysticism, Menachem Kellner, pg 90 inheritance to his nation that unifies His name - the seed of His beloved one3”.