Hakhamyaakov Athias—A Portuguese Rabbi Facing the Winds of Enlightenment and Secularization
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Intermarriage in Judaism Rabbi David M
Intermarriage in Judaism Rabbi David M. Freidenreich Intermarriage in the Bible and Jewish History Abraham was now old, advanced in years, and the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things. And Abraham said to the senior servant of his household, who had charge of all that he owned, “Put your hand under my thigh and I will make you swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites among whom I dwell, but will go to the land of my birth and get a wife for my son Isaac.” (Gen. 24:1–5) When Esau was forty years old, he took to wife Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath daugh- ter of Elon the Hittite; and they were a source of bitterness to Isaac and Rebekah…. Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am disgusted with my life because of the Hittite women. If Jacob marries a Hittite woman like these, from among the native women, what good will life be to me?” So Isaac sent for Jacob and blessed him. He instructed him, saying, “You shall not take a wife from among the Canaanite women. Up, go to Paddan-ar- am, to the house of Bethuel, your mother’s father, and take a wife there from among the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother.” (Gen. 26:34–35, 27:46–28:2) Discussion Question: Why is it so important to Abraham and Rebekah—and also to Hagar (Gen. -
Moses Hayim Luzzatto's Quest for Providence
City University of New York (CUNY) CUNY Academic Works All Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects 10-2014 'Like Iron to a Magnet': Moses Hayim Luzzatto's Quest for Providence David Sclar Graduate Center, City University of New York How does access to this work benefit ou?y Let us know! More information about this work at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/380 Discover additional works at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu This work is made publicly available by the City University of New York (CUNY). Contact: [email protected] “Like Iron to a Magnet”: Moses Hayim Luzzatto’s Quest for Providence By David Sclar A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty in History in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy The City University of New York 2014 © 2014 David Sclar All Rights Reserved This Manuscript has been read and accepted by the Graduate Faculty in History in satisfaction of the Dissertation requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Prof. Jane S. Gerber _______________ ____________________________________ Date Chair of the Examining Committee Prof. Helena Rosenblatt _______________ ____________________________________ Date Executive Officer Prof. Francesca Bregoli _______________________________________ Prof. Elisheva Carlebach ________________________________________ Prof. Robert Seltzer ________________________________________ Prof. David Sorkin ________________________________________ Supervisory Committee iii Abstract “Like Iron to a Magnet”: Moses Hayim Luzzatto’s Quest for Providence by David Sclar Advisor: Prof. Jane S. Gerber This dissertation is a biographical study of Moses Hayim Luzzatto (1707–1746 or 1747). It presents the social and religious context in which Luzzatto was variously celebrated as the leader of a kabbalistic-messianic confraternity in Padua, condemned as a deviant threat by rabbis in Venice and central and eastern Europe, and accepted by the Portuguese Jewish community after relocating to Amsterdam. -
SHABBETAI TZVI the Biggest Hoax in Jewish History Nathan the Prophet and Tzvi the Messiah
1 SHABBETAI TZVI The Biggest Hoax in Jewish History While faith in the coming of the messiah is a linchpin of Judaism, Jews have traditionally taken a patient, quiet approach to their messianic beliefs. Since the devastation wreaked by false messiah Bar Kochba and his rebellion against the Romans, and the centuries of persecution caused by another messianic movement — Christianity — Jews have been understandably suspicious about anyone’s claim to be God’s anointed. The rabbis of the Talmud went so far as to introduce specific prohibitions against messianic agitation, instituting the “three oaths” which prohibited any attempt to “force the end” by bringing the messiah before his allotted time (Babylonian Talmud. Yet in the mid-17th century, belief in the false messiah Shabbetai Tzvi spread like wildfire throughout the Jewish world, sweeping up entire communities and creating a crisis of faith unprecedented in Jewish history. Shabbetai Tzvi was said to be born on the 9th of Av in 1626, to a wealthy family of merchants in Smyrna (now Izmir, Turkey). He received a thorough Talmudic education and, still in his teens, was ordained as a hakham — a member of the rabbinic elite. However, Shabbetai Tzvi was interested less in Talmud than in Jewish mysticism. Starting in his late teens he studied kabbalah, attracting a group of followers whom he initiated into the secrets of the mystical tradition. Shabbetai Tzvi battled with what might now be diagnosed as severe bipolar disorder. He understood his condition in religious terms, experiencing his manic phases as moments of “illumination” and his times of depression as periods of “fall,” when God’s face was hidden from him. -
Hakham Jacob Sasportas and the Former Conversos
STUDIA ROSENTHALIANA 44 (2012), 149-172 doi: 10.2143/SR.44.0.2189614 Hakham Jacob Sasportas and the Former Conversos MATT GOLDISH AKHAM JACOB SASPORTAS (1610-1698) is best known for his battle H against the followers of the messiah Shabbatai Zvi in 1665-66, but he was an important figure for many other reasons as well. Sasportas was, for example, the only rabbi to serve (or at least live) in all the major centers of the Western Sephardi diaspora: Amsterdam, London, Hamburg, and Livorno. Before he ever arrived in Europe he had a distinguished rabbinic career in North Africa. He left behind important responsa and letters which throw light on a number of historical topics. One of these is the encounter between the traditional rabbinate and the cadre of for- mer conversos who escaped the Iberian Peninsula to create new lives as Jews in Western Europe. Yosef Kaplan has made the exploration of these communities the center of his scholarly endeavors for four decades. He has demonstrated that the communities of Western Sephardim looked like other Sephardic communities but operated very differently under the surface. Sasportas was a thoroughly traditional rabbi who took the respect of the rabbinate and rabbinic tradition with the utmost serious- ness. What happened when such a figure encountered communities of people who had grown up as Christians and subsequently created their own version of a Jewish community as they saw fit? Life Sasportas’s biography is an important key to many aspects of his activi- ties and attitudes. He came from one of the most respected and influen- tial Jewish families in North Africa. -
The Minor Prophets Michael B
Cedarville University DigitalCommons@Cedarville Faculty Books 6-26-2018 A Commentary on the Book of the Twelve: The Minor Prophets Michael B. Shepherd Cedarville University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.cedarville.edu/faculty_books Part of the Biblical Studies Commons Recommended Citation Shepherd, Michael B., "A Commentary on the Book of the Twelve: The inorM Prophets" (2018). Faculty Books. 201. http://digitalcommons.cedarville.edu/faculty_books/201 This Book is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@Cedarville, a service of the Centennial Library. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faculty Books by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@Cedarville. For more information, please contact [email protected]. A Commentary on the Book of the Twelve: The inorM Prophets Keywords Old Testament, prophets, preaching Disciplines Biblical Studies | Religion Publisher Kregel Publications Publisher's Note Taken from A Commentary on the Book of the Twelve: The Minor Prophets © Copyright 2018 by Michael B. Shepherd. Published by Kregel Publications, Grand Rapids, MI. Used by permission of the publisher. All rights reserved. ISBN 9780825444593 This book is available at DigitalCommons@Cedarville: http://digitalcommons.cedarville.edu/faculty_books/201 A COMMENTARY ON THE BOOK OF THE TWELVE KREGEL EXEGETICAL LIBRARY A COMMENTARY ON THE BOOK OF THE TWELVE The Minor Prophets MICHAEL B. SHEPHERD Kregel Academic A Commentary on the Book of the Twelve: The Minor Prophets © 2018 by Michael B. Shepherd Published by Kregel Publications, a division of Kregel Inc., 2450 Oak Industrial Dr. NE, Grand Rapids, MI 49505-6020. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a re- trieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, me- chanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise—without written permission of the publisher, except for brief quotations in printed reviews. -
The Minor Prophets
The Minor Prophets by Dan Melhus A Study of the Minor Prophets Table of Contents Table of Contents INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................................................ 1 WHO ARE THE PROPHETS?................................................................................................................... 5 HOW CAN WE UNDERSTAND THE MESSAGE OF THE PROPHETS?.......................................... 7 OBADIAH..................................................................................................................................................... 9 BACKGROUND................................................................................................................................. 9 DATE............................................................................................................................................... 9 AUTHOR .......................................................................................................................................... 10 THEME ............................................................................................................................................ 12 OUTLINE ......................................................................................................................................... 13 QUESTIONS...................................................................................................................................... 15 LESSONS......................................................................................................................................... -
Of Malachi Studies of the Old Testament's Ethical Dimensions
ABSTRACT The Moral World(s) of Malachi Studies of the Old Testament’s ethical dimensions have taken one of three approaches: descriptive, systematic, or formative. Descriptive approaches are concerned with the historical world, social context, and streams of tradition out of which OT texts developed and their diverse moral perspectives. Systematic approaches investigate principles and paradigms that encapsulate the unity of the OT and facilitate contemporary appropriation. Formative approaches embrace the diversity of the OT ethical witnesses and view texts as a means of shaping the moral imagination, fostering virtues, and forming character The major phase of this investigation pursues a descriptive analysis of the moral world of Malachi—an interesting case study because of its location near the end of the biblical history of Israel. A moral world analysis examines the moral materials within texts, symbols used to represent moral ideals, traditions that helped shape them, and the social world (political, economic, and physical) in which they are applied. This study contributes a development to this reading methodology through a categorical analysis of moral foundations, expectations, motives, and consequences. This moral world reading provides insight into questions such as what norms and traditions shaped the morals of Malachi’s community? What specific priorities, imperatives, and injunctions were deemed important? How did particular material, economic, and political interests shape moral decision-making? How did religious symbols bring together their view of the world and their social values? The moral world reading is facilitated by an exploration of Malachi’s social and symbolic worlds. Social science data and perspectives are brought together from an array of sources to present six important features of Malachi’s social world. -
ALTERNATIVE KEVURA METHODS Jeremy Kalmanofsky
Kalmanofsky, Spring 2017 Alternative Kevura Methods ALTERNATIVE KEVURA METHODS Jeremy Kalmanofsky This teshuvah was adopted by the CJLS on June 7, 2017, by a vote of 10 in favor, 7 opposed, and 3 abstaining. Members voting in favor: Rabbis Aaron Alexander, Pamela Barmash, Noah Bickart, Elliot Dorff, Joshua Heller, Jeremy Kalmanofsky, Amy Levin, Daniel Nevins, Micah Peltz, Avram Reisner and David Schuck. Members opposed: Rabbis Baruch Frydman-Kohl, Reuven Hammer, David Hoffman, Gail Labovitz, Jonathan Lubliner, and Paul Plotkin. Members abstaining: Rabbis Susan Grossman, Jan Kaufman, and Iscah Waldman, Question: Contemporary Jews sometimes seek alternative mortuary methods in order to be more ecologically sustainable and economical. Can Jews utilize alternative methods or is burial required? What does Halakhic tradition demand for how Jews treat dead bodies? Answer: The Torah’s very first chapters assert that human remains should decompose in the earth. Describing human mortality, God tells Adam [Genesis 3.19]: “You are dust and to dust you will return.” -Jewish treatment for human remains has always been in [לכתחילה] In this spirit, the optimal ground burial. The Torah legislates this norm at Deuteronomy 21:22-23:1 לֹא-תָלִין נִבְ לָתֹו עַל-הָעֵץ, כִ י-קָ בֹור תִ קְבְרֶ ּנּו בַּיֹום הַהּוא The Committee on Jewish Law and Standards of the Rabbinical Assembly provides guidance in matters of halkhhah for the Conservative movement. The individual rabbi, however, is the authority for the interpretation and application of all matters of halakhah. 1 This commandment comes in the context of the rules for executing criminals. It might seem off-putting to base the treatment of all bodies upon this unfortunate paradigm. -
Hakham Yehudah Moshe Yeshua Fetaya (1860–1942)
Hakham Yehudah Moshe Yeshua Fetaya (1860–1942) Byline: Haim Ovadia The rabbinic roots of the Fetaya family can be traced back to Hakham Reuven David Nawi (1770–1821). Hakham Reuven was disciple of Hakham Moshe Haim, the father of the Ben Ish Hai, and was described by the latter as “the great scholar, master of the Torah, our master….” Hakham Reuven passed away at a young age, and only one of his halakhic works, Yehi Reuven, has been published. His grandson Hakham Moshe Yeshua Yehezkel Fetaya (1830–1905) was a mystic and a poet. He founded one of the first printing houses in Baghdad in 1866, with his brother Aharon and their partner Rahamim ben Reuven. Fifty-five books were printed by the printing house until 1882, but Hakham Moshe’s own poems, covering a range of themes from mysticism to stories of personal miracles and prayers for redemption, were printed only in 1909 by his son, my great-grandfather, Hakham Yehudah. I have heard the following story from my grandfather, Hakham Shaul Fetaya, regarding the initiation of his father into the wisdom of Kabbalah. Hakham Yosef Haim, better known as the Ben Ish Hai, who was 25 years Hakham Yehudah’s senior, used to deliver a sermon on Shabbat afternoon at the great synagogue of Baghdad, Midrash bet Zilkha, also known as Slat il-Kbiri. The Ben Ish Hai was a mesmerizing orator, and his sermons lasted several hours and included halakha, Torah commentary, ethical teachings, and Kabbalah. In 1869, when Hakham Yehudah Fetaya was only nine years old, he came home crying one Shabbat afternoon. -
Maharam of Padua V. Giustiniani; the Sixteenth-Century Origins of the Jewish Law of Copyright
Draft: July 2007 44 Houston Law Review (forthcoming 2007) Maharam of Padua v. Giustiniani; the Sixteenth-Century Origins of the Jewish Law of Copyright Neil Weinstock Netanel* Copyright scholars are almost universally unaware of Jewish copyright law, a rich body of copyright doctrine and jurisprudence that developed in parallel with Anglo- American and Continental European copyright laws and the printers’ privileges that preceded them. Jewish copyright law traces its origins to a dispute adjudicated some 150 years before modern copyright law is typically said to have emerged with the Statute of Anne of 1709. This essay, the beginning of a book project about Jewish copyright law, examines that dispute, the case of the Maharam of Padua v. Giustiniani. In 1550, Rabbi Meir ben Isaac Katzenellenbogen of Padua (known by the Hebrew acronym, the “Maharam” of Padua) published a new edition of Moses Maimonides’ seminal code of Jewish law, the Mishneh Torah. Katzenellenbogen invested significant time, effort, and money in producing the edition. He and his son also added their own commentary on Maimonides’ text. Since Jews were forbidden to print books in sixteenth- century Italy, Katzenellenbogen arranged to have his edition printed by a Christian printer, Alvise Bragadini. Bragadini’s chief rival, Marc Antonio Giustiniani, responded by issuing a cheaper edition that both copied the Maharam’s annotations and included an introduction criticizing them. Katzenellenbogen then asked Rabbi Moses Isserles, European Jewry’s leading juridical authority of the day, to forbid distribution of the Giustiniani edition. Isserles had to grapple with first principles. At this early stage of print, an author- editor’s claim to have an exclusive right to publish a given book was a case of first impression. -
On Talismanic Language in Jewish Mysticism
On Talismanic Language in Jewish Mysticism Moshe Idel Linguistic magic can be divided into three major categories: the fiatic, the Orphic and the talismanic. The first category includes the creation of the signified by its signifier, the best example being the creation of the world by divine words. The Orphic category assumes the possibility of enchanting an already existing entity by means of vocal material. Last but not least is the talismanic, based on the drawing of energy by means of language, in order to use this energy for magical purposes. While the fiatic view assumes the complete superiority of the creator over the created object, the Orphic presupposes a certain similarity between the subject-magi- cian and its object, whose role is to understand and follow the instructions of the magician. In these two categories meaning seems to be a crucial part of the magical linguistic activities. In the third category, the talismanic, linguistic powers are used in order summon higher powers which then descend to take possession of it. By talismanic I refer to the inherent ability of an entity, material, a moment in time, or a human act to draw upon these powers. Unlike amulets, which are usually taken to be objects that protect their possessor, the talisman is able to add power. Divine and Human Names as Talismans Ever since the Biblical interdiction against using the divine name in vain, an entire mystical and magical tradition related to this topic has developed. The holiness of this name has very rarely been explained in detail in the ancient Jewish sources. -
Lnformaîlon to USERS
lNFORMAîlON TO USERS This manuscript has been mpmûuœd from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly frm the ofigiinal or copy submitted. Thus, some Wsand dissertation copies are in typewriter fscs, wuhile athen may be fr#n any type of cornputer printer. Wqurîiiofthk n(noducbkn k deponâantupontheqwlityafthecopy submitteô. Brokm or indistinct cokred or poor quality iilustratiorrs and photographs, print bkdhrough, Mibstandatd margins, and impraper alignment can adversely affect reprioduction. In the unlikely event aiat aie author did riot send UMI a compîete rnariuscxipt and the- are missing pages, these wiH be noteâ. Also, if unauthorired copyright material had to be mmoved, a note Ml indiiethe deidon. Ovemire matsrials (0-g., maps, drawings. charts) are repFoduced by sectiming the original, beginning at trie u-r Mharid corner and uminuing frm left to right in equal wiai small overhps. Photographs induded in aie original manusaipt have beeri reproduœd xerogaphicslly in mis -y. Higher quality 6' x 9 blîdr and nitr'- photographie prïnts are avaibbk for any photogmphs or illusûaüons -ring in this wpy for an additional charge. Contact UMI diredly to order. Beil8 Haniiell lnfonnatian and Lemming 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Am,MI 481m1346 USA EXODUS 34:29-35: MOSES' C6HORNSnIN EARLY BIBLE TRANSLATIONS AND INTERPRETATIONS Bena Elisha Medjuck Department of Jewish Studies McGiiL University, Montréal, Québec, Canada March 1998 A Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree ofMaster of Arts Q Bena Medjuck 1998 National Lirary Bibliothèque nationale 191 of Canada du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibiiographic Services seMces bibliographiques 395 Wellington Street 395.