Judaism (Online) Summer 2020: May 4-June 16 Summer 2020
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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. -
Understanding the History of the Holocaust II
UNDERSTANDING THE HISTORY OF THE HOLOCAUST II Jewish Resistance, Miracles & Righteous Gentiles n the first Morasha shiur on the Holocaust, we developed a rudimentary Iunderstanding of the horrors of the Holocaust and its irrevocable impact on the Jewish people. We will now turn our attention to some of the glimmers of hope that appeared during those dark days. It is important to dispel the myth that Jews went to their deaths passively, “like lambs to the slaughter.” For reasons that will be mentioned below, Jewish resistance was often spiritual rather than physical; the manner in which they retained their human spirit, and even their Jewish spirit, demonstrates strength of character that we can barely imagine. Most of the stories of Jewish courage were lost with their heroes. Some have been passed on to us. It is our duty to remember these stories, and internalize their messages. Furthermore, while the Holocaust was a time of unimaginable suffering and darkness for the Jewish people, many of those who survived (and even those who ultimately did not) experienced moments of salvation that were nothing short of miraculous. Stretched beyond the limits of physical endurance and facing the merciless, overwhelming brutality of the Nazis, many Jews found that their lives were saved in the most improbable ways. The history of the Holocaust is replete with such miracles, evidence that God was still with us even during that time of suffering. Finally, it is important to mention some of the non-Jewish heroes who risked their own lives to save Jews from certain death. Even at a time in history when the entire world seemed to have turned against the Jewish people, there were still isolated individuals who demonstrated both mercy and courage by extending themselves to save Jews. -
November 2020
November 2020 | 14 Cheshvan 5781 – 14 Kislev 5781 | Volume 75, Number 6 2021 Annual Campaign Leadership By Jamie Richman Allan has provided David Eichholz Autumn has arrived, and believe years of service to the will co-chair the it or not, the 2021 Savannah Jewish community including Men’s Campaign. Federation Annual Community serving on the Jewish This father-son Campaign season is also here! We are Educational Alliance duo will be sure excited to announce the 2021 Campaign Board of Directors and to mix things up Leadership Team and thank them for teaching at Shalom this campaign Candle Lighting Times their commitment School. Hilary Kronowitz season with their David Eichholz to our Federation Hilary Kronowitz passion for and Friday, November 6 5:12pm and entire Jewish will chair the Women’s dedication to the Savannah Jewish community. Campaign. Kronowitz has community. David is currently the Friday, November 13 5:07pm Michelle Allan chaired the Lion of Judah Vice-President of the Federation Friday, November 20 5:04pm has graciously division for the past handful Board of Governors. Friday, November 27 5:02pm agreed to serve as of years, sits on the Federation When you get a call from the 2021 overall Michelle Allan Board of Governors and is one of them or one of our many Friday, December 4 5:01pm Campaign Chair excited to coordinate the dedicated volunteers, please after serving as Women’s Campaign entire Women’s Campaign. answer and give graciously. Chair for the 2019 & 2020 campaigns. Benjamin Eichholz and Benjamin Eichholz Creativity flourishes through COVID-19 In this Issue By Jennifer Rich who, prior to the shutdown, were timely topical conversations, access P2 Now More Than Ever When COVID-19-19 shut not able to come to the synagogue to curated resources to help with our down Synagogues in Savannah and due to limited mobility or health rea- personal, emotional, and spiritual P4 Greenberg Retirement throughout the United States in sons. -
Varieties of Authenticity in Contemporary Jewish Identity
[133] Contempo- Varieties of Authenticity rary Jewish Identity in Contemporary Jewish • Identity Stuart Z. Charmé Stuart Z. Charmé uch discussion about religious pluralism among Orthodox and non-Orthodox Jews, about assimilation and Jewish conti- Mnuity, about Jewish life in Israel and in the Diaspora, and about a variety of other issues related to Jewish identity all invoke “authenticity” as the underlying ideal and as the ultimate legitimizer (or de-legitimizer) of various positions. In an address to the graduating class of Reconstructionist rabbis in 1983, Irving Howe encouraged the next generation of rabbis to “try for an atmosphere of authenticity, wherever you find yourselves.”1 An Orthodox rabbi in Philadelphia recently encouraged liberal Jews to share a Sabbath meal at an Orthodox home in order to see “how special an authentic Shabbas really is.”2 Israel, claimed Daniel Elazar, is “the only place in the world where an authentic Jewish culture can flourish (at least potentially). Even the more peripheral of American Jews are touched by the Jewish authenticity of Israel, while the more committed find the power of Israel in this respect almost irresistible.”3 And in response to such typical Zionist authenticity claims, one of Philip Roth’s literary alter egos proposes that Europe, not Israel, is “the most authentic Jewish homeland there has ever been, the birthplace of rabbinic Judaism, Hasidic Judaism, Jewish secularism, socialism, on and on.”4 Authenticity has become the key term for postmodern reconstruc- tions and “renewals” of -
Sept08greenberg.Pdf
the opportunity to engage and to relate to the sources today, particularly during Yom sacrificial service. Kippur when the Seder HaAvodah serves as For modern Jews, sacrifice was anath- the climax of the entire sacrificial system. ema; those ancient forms of worship seemed The language of these sources expresses vital primitive and outmoded. The notion that ideas about relationship, closeness and God is to be found in one central place was distance, gift-giving, and the connection be- objectionable. The burning of animals in tween human behavior and God’s willing- service to God seemed unnecessarily cruel. ness to abide among us. The language of the Temple and sacrifice, We need new approaches to reclaim these which could have lent itself so easily to difficult texts. Although Temple and sacrifice metaphor, art, and poetry, disappeared, and have long ceased to exist, the imaginative, in- the vast number of sources that were rooted terpretive, and linguistic influence of these in such language were cut off. We need these texts can indeed last forever. Sorting Sins: When the Law Stays the Same and Everything Else Changes Steven Greenberg t has long been the claim of the Orthodox tus of Shabbat and its violation needed to be Icommunity that Jewish law does not or understood in a different light. Important or- should not change to accord itself with the thodox poskim (halakhic decisors) insisted that times. Among certain Jews, since the early Sabbath violators not be classified and treated 19th century, all new things are considered a as idolaters or gentiles whose touch disquali- priori forbidden. -
Judaism and Homosexuality: an Authentic
Book Review Compassion and Halakhic Limits: Judaism and Homosexuality: An Authentic Orthodox View by Chaim Rapoport Reviewed by Daniel Rynhold Abstract: In his comprehensive rabbinic study of homosexuality, Rabbi Chaim Rapoport argues that Orthodox leaders can and should take a compassionate approach that accommodates innovative policy suggestions without contravening any halakhic bottom lines. But does the very fact of his sincere compassion show once and for all how halakhic boundaries can never allow Orthodoxy to engage fully the personhood of The Edah Journal the Orthodox homosexual? Biography: Dr Daniel Rynhold is Lecturer in Judaism in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies, King’s College, London. His first book, Two Models of Jewish Philosophy: Justifying One’s Practices (Oxford University Press) is due out in March. The Edah Journal 5:1 Edah, Inc. © 2005 Tammuz 5765 Compassion and Halakhic Limits: Judaism and Homosexuality: An Authentic Orthodox View by Chaim Rapoport Reviewed by Daniel Rynhold In one of the most famous opening lines in argument of the main text, the illuminating English literature, we are reminded of ‘a truth footnotes are an outstanding work of scholarship universally acknowledged’: that a single man must in themselves, with many informative and fully be in want of a wife. The fact that Jane Austen is referenced discussions of tangential halakhic and famously pre-empted by the rabbis of the Talmud aggadic issues. One certainly cannot fault R. at Qiddushin 2b, and again with specific reference to Rapoport’s halakhic scholarship—at least as a men, seems only to reinforce the universality of relative ‘reed-cutter in the marsh’ in the halakhic this yearning, and while both quotes are found in a realm, I could not. -
Epoch of the Messiah by Rabbi Elchonon Wasserman
Epoch of the Messiah As Distributed By S. GOLDMAN - OTZAR HASEFARIM Inc. 33 Canal Street, New York, N.Y.1OOO2 Importers and Publishers of Hebrew Books Copyright 1985 by Rabbi E.S. Wasserman 851 North Kings Rd. Los Angeles, Calif. 90069 Rabbi Elchonon Bunim Wasserman, zt'l A Brief Biographical Sketch Reb Elchonon, zt'l, was born in 1874 in Birz, Lithuania. Circa 1889 his parents moved to Boisk, Latvia, at that time the Rabbinical Seat of Rabbi Cook, olov hasholom. From there he went to Telz where he studied under the illustrious gaonim, Rabbi Eliezer Gordon, zt'l and Rabbi Shimon Shkop, zt'l. In Telz, he was noted for his unusual diligence and profound mind. After many years of intensive study in Telz, he went to Volozin to become a disciple of the great Reb Chaim Brisker who was Rosh yeshivah of Volozin at that time. In 1898, he married the daughter of one of the leading sages of the day, Rabbi Meir Atlas, zt'l, who was then the Rabbi of Salant. Then came a period which impressed itself indelibly on the rest of his life. It began in 1906 when he went to Radin, the home of his master, the world-renowned Chofetz Chaim, zt'l where he studied until 1908 in the Kollel Kodshim. The Chofetz Chaim had founded this select institution for the future leaders of Israel. During the year 1908-1909, Rav Elchonon, together with the gaon Rabbi Yoel Baranchick zt'l started a yeshivah in Amsislav, Russia. In 1910, he accepted a call to become a rosh yeshivah in Brisk, the home of his teacher, Rabbi Chaim, zt'l. -
Guide to the Synagogue for Interfaith Couples and Families
GUIDE TO THE SYNAGOGUE FOR INTERFAITH COUPLES AND FAMILIES Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 2 What happens at a synagogue? ...................................................................................... 3 Daily Prayer ................................................................................................................. 4 Torah Reading ............................................................................................................. 5 Special Prayers For Holidays ...................................................................................... 6 Lifecycle Events (But Not All Of Them!) ....................................................................... 7 Study ........................................................................................................................... 9 Other Community Activities ....................................................................................... 10 What Kind of Synagogue Is it? Jewish Denominations ................................................. 11 Reform ................................................................................................................... 12 Conservative .......................................................................................................... 12 Orthodox ................................................................................................................ 14 Hasidic Orthodox ...................................................................................................... -
University of Southampton Research Repository Eprints Soton
University of Southampton Research Repository ePrints Soton Copyright © and Moral Rights for this thesis are retained by the author and/or other copyright owners. A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the copyright holder/s. The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given e.g. AUTHOR (year of submission) "Full thesis title", University of Southampton, name of the University School or Department, PhD Thesis, pagination http://eprints.soton.ac.uk UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON FACULTY OF HUMANITIES English Department Hasidic Judaism in American Literature by Eva van Loenen Thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy December 2015 UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON ABSTRACT FACULTY OF YOUR HUMANITIES English Department Thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy HASIDIC JUDAISM IN AMERICAN LITERATURE Eva Maria van Loenen This thesis brings together literary texts that portray Hasidic Judaism in Jewish-American literature, predominantly of the 20th and 21st centuries. Although other scholars may have studied Rabbi Nachman, I.B. Singer, Chaim Potok and Pearl Abraham individually, no one has combined their works and examined the depiction of Hasidism through the codes and conventions of different literary genres. Additionally, my research on Judy Brown and Frieda Vizel raises urgent questions about the gendered foundations of Hasidism that are largely elided in the earlier texts. -
Jerusalemhem Volume 91, February 2020
Yad VaJerusalemhem Volume 91, February 2020 “Remembering the Holocaust, Fighting Antisemitism” The Fifth World Holocaust Forum at Yad Vashem (pp. 2-7) Yad VaJerusalemhem Volume 91, Adar 5781, February 2020 “Remembering the Holocaust, Published by: Fighting Antisemitism” ■ Contents Chairman of the Council: Rabbi Israel Meir Lau International Holocaust Remembrance Day ■ 2-12 Chancellor of the Council: Dr. Moshe Kantor “Remembering the Holocaust, Vice Chairman of the Council: Dr. Yitzhak Arad Fighting Antisemitism” ■ 2-7 Chairman of the Directorate: Avner Shalev The Fifth World Holocaust Forum at Yad Vashem Director General: Dorit Novak Tackling Antisemitism Through Holocaust Head of the International Institute for Holocaust ■ 8-9 Research and Incumbent, John Najmann Chair Education for Holocaust Studies: Prof. Dan Michman Survivors: Chief Historian: Prof. Dina Porat Faces of Life After the Holocaust ■ 10-11 Academic Advisor: Joining with Facebook to Remember Prof. Yehuda Bauer Holocaust Victims ■ 12 Members of the Yad Vashem Directorate: ■ 13 Shmuel Aboav, Yossi Ahimeir, Daniel Atar, Treasures from the Collections Dr. David Breakstone, Abraham Duvdevani, Love Letter from Auschwitz ■ 14-15 Erez Eshel, Prof. Boleslaw (Bolek) Goldman, Moshe Ha-Elion, Adv. Shlomit Kasirer, Education ■ 16-17 Yehiel Leket, Adv. Tamar Peled Amir, Graduate Spotlight ■ 16-17 Avner Shalev, Baruch Shub, Dalit Stauber, Dr. Zehava Tanne, Dr. Laurence Weinbaum, Tamara Vershitskaya, Belarus Adv. Shoshana Weinshall, Dudi Zilbershlag New Online Course: Chosen Issues in Holocaust History ■ 17 THE MAGAZINE Online Exhibition: Editor-in-Chief: Iris Rosenberg Children in the Holocaust ■ 18-19 Managing Editor: Leah Goldstein Editorial Board: Research ■ 20-23 Simmy Allen The Holocaust in the Soviet Union Tal Ben-Ezra ■ 20-21 Deborah Berman in Real Time Marisa Fine International Book Prize Winners 2019 ■ 21 Dana Porath Lilach Tamir-Itach Yad Vashem Studies: The Cutting Edge of Dana Weiler-Polak Holocaust Research ■ 22-23 ■ Susan Weisberg At the invitation of the President of the Fellows Corner: Dr. -
The Lithuanian Jewish Community of Telšiai
The Lithuanian Jewish Community of Telšiai By Philip S. Shapiro1 Introduction This work had its genesis in an initiative of the “Alka” Samogitian Museum, which has undertaken projects to recover for Lithuanians the true history of the Jews who lived side-by-side with their ancestors. Several years ago, the Museum received a copy of the 500-plus-page “yizkor” (memorial) book for the Jewish community of Telšiai,2 which was printed in 1984.3 The yizkor book is a collection of facts and personal memories of those who had lived in Telšiai before or at the beginning of the Second World War. Most of the articles are written in Hebrew or Yiddish, but the Museum was determined to unlock the information that the book contained. Without any external prompting, the Museum embarked upon an ambitious project to create a Lithuanian version of The Telshe Book. As part of that project, the Museum organized this conference to discuss The Telshe Book and the Jewish community of Telšiai. This project is of great importance to Lithuania. Since Jews constituted about half of the population of most towns in provincial Lithuania in the 19th Century, a Lithuanian translation of the book will not only give Lithuanian readers a view of Jewish life in Telšiai but also a better knowledge of the town’s history, which is our common heritage. The first part of this article discusses my grandfather, Dov Ber Shapiro, who was born in 1883 in Kamajai, in the Rokiškis region, and attended the Telshe Yeshiva before emigrating in 1903 to the United States, where he was known as “Benjamin” Shapiro. -
What Is Jewish Renewal?
The Jewish Denominations A quick look at Reform, Conservative, Orthodox and Reconstructionist Judaism — and at other Jewish streams. By MJL Jewish denominations — also sometimes referred to as streams, movements or branches — are the principal categories of religious affiliation among American Jews. The denominations are mainly distinguished from one another on the basis of their philosophical approaches to Jewish tradition, and their degree of fidelity to and interpretation of traditional Jewish law, or halacha. Outside North America, the non-Orthodox streams of Judaism play a less significant role, and in Israel the vast majority of synagogues and other Jewish religious institutions are Orthodox, even though most Israeli Jews do not identify as Orthodox. Even within North America, the role of the movements has diminished somewhat in recent years, with growing numbers of American Jews and Jewish institutions identifying as “just Jewish,” nondenominational or transdenominational. The 3 Largest Jewish Movements Reform Judaism A participant marching with the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism in the Women’s March in Washington, Jan. 21, 2017. (Jason Dixson Photography/Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism via Flickr) The largest affiliation of American Jews, some 35 percent of Jews identify as Reform. The movement emphasizes the primacy of the Jewish ethical tradition over the obligations of Jewish law. The movement has traditionally sought to adapt Jewish tradition to modern sensibilities and sees itself as politically progressive and social-justice oriented while emphasizing personal choice in matters of ritual observance. Major institutions: Union for Reform Judaism, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institution of Religion, Religious Action Center, Central Conference of American Rabbis.