The Exegetical Craft of the Zohar: Toward an Appreciation
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Load more
Recommended publications
-
Yaqub Al-Qirqisani: a Staunch Scripturalist? Karaite Literal Understanding and Scripturalism Under Islamic Rule
Yaqub al-Qirqisani: a staunch scripturalist? Karaite literal understanding and scripturalism under Islamic rule Anne van Toor- van der Zwaag Student number: S1015192 7 December 2017 First supervisor: Dr. C.E. Wilde Second supervisor: Prof. Dr. S.N. Mason 1 Abstract ...................................................................................................................................... 3 Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 3 Yaqub al-Qirqisani ...................................................................................................................... 6 Defining ‘Scripturalism’ .............................................................................................................. 8 Karaism ..................................................................................................................................... 13 Modern scholarship on the origins and development of Karaism ....................................... 14 Characteristics of Karaism .................................................................................................... 15 Elements of kalam and Mu’tazilism ................................................................................. 18 Political environment and questions of authority ........................................................... 22 The chain of tradition ...................................................................................................... -
The Participation of God and the Torah in Early Kabbalah
religions Article The Participation of God and the Torah in Early Kabbalah Adam Afterman 1,* and Ayal Hayut‑man 2 1 Department of Jewish Philosophy and Talmud, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel 2 School of Jewish Studies and Archaeology, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel; [email protected] * Correspondence: [email protected] Abstract: All Abrahamic religions have developed hypostatic and semi‑divine perceptions of scrip‑ ture. This article presents an integrated picture of a rich tradition developed in early kabbalah (twelfth–thirteenth century) that viewed the Torah as participating and identifying with the God‑ head. Such presentation could serve scholars of religion as a valuable tool for future comparisons between the various perceptions of scripture and divine revelation. The participation of God and Torah can be divided into several axes: the identification of Torah with the Sefirot, the divine grada‑ tions or emanations according to kabbalah; Torah as the name of God; Torah as the icon and body of God; and the commandments as the substance of the Godhead. The article concludes by examining the mystical implications of this participation, particularly the notion of interpretation as eros in its broad sense, both as the “penetration” of a female Torah and as taking part in the creation of the world and of God, and the notion of unification with Torah and, through it, with the Godhead. Keywords: Kabbalah; Godhead; Torah; scripture; Jewish mysticism; participation in the Godhead 1. Introduction Citation: Afterman, Adam, and Ayal The centrality of the Word of God, as consolidated in scripture, is a central theme in Hayut‑man. -
Hebrew Printed Books and Manuscripts
HEBREW PRINTED BOOKS AND MANUSCRIPTS .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. SELECTIONS FROM FROM THE THE RARE BOOK ROOM OF THE JEWS’COLLEGE LIBRARY, LONDON K ESTENBAUM & COMPANY TUESDAY, MARCH 30TH, 2004 K ESTENBAUM & COMPANY . Auctioneers of Rare Books, Manuscripts and Fine Art Lot 51 Catalogue of HEBREW PRINTED BOOKS AND MANUSCRIPTS . SELECTIONS FROM THE RARE BOOK ROOM OF THE JEWS’COLLEGE LIBRARY, LONDON Sold by Order of the Trustees The Third Portion (With Additions) To be Offered for Sale by Auction on Tuesday, 30th March, 2004 (NOTE CHANGE OF SALE DATE) at 3:00 pm precisely ——— Viewing Beforehand on Sunday, 28th March: 10 am–5:30 pm Monday, 29th March: 10 am–6 pm Tuesday, 30th March: 10 am–2:30 pm Important Notice: The Exhibition and Sale will take place in our new Galleries located at 12 West 27th Street, 13th Floor, New York City. This Sale may be referred to as “Winnington” Sale Number Twenty Three. Catalogues: $35 • $42 (Overseas) Hebrew Index Available on Request KESTENBAUM & COMPANY Auctioneers of Rare Books, Manuscripts and Fine Art . 12 West 27th Street, 13th Floor, New York, NY 10001 ¥ Tel: 212 366-1197 ¥ Fax: 212 366-1368 E-mail: [email protected] ¥ World Wide Web Site: www.kestenbaum.net K ESTENBAUM & COMPANY . Chairman: Daniel E. Kestenbaum Operations Manager & Client Accounts: Margaret M. Williams Press & Public Relations: Jackie Insel Printed Books: Rabbi Belazel Naor Manuscripts & Autographed Letters: Rabbi Eliezer Katzman Ceremonial Art: Aviva J. Hoch (Consultant) Catalogue Photography: Anthony Leonardo Auctioneer: Harmer F. Johnson (NYCDCA License no. 0691878) ❧ ❧ ❧ For all inquiries relating to this sale, please contact: Daniel E. -
Remembering David Goldstein {1933-1987)
REMEMBERING DAVID GOLDSTEIN {1933-1987) WITH the death of David Goldstein on 26 July 1987 the British Library lost one of its ablest and most productive curators. Nearly two years later this loss is still acutely felt by all his colleagues in the Hebrew Section, and in Oriental Collections, the department he had joined some twelve years earlier. The following is an attempt to record, briefly, his career, life, interests and achievements (both inside and outside the Library), to pay tribute to the inspiration he gave to all who worked with him and, sadly, to record the many unfulfilled promises and incomplete tasks left by his untimely death. David Goldstein was born in London on 31 January 1933, the youngest of five children, three sons and two daughters. His parents owned a drapery shop in Hackney. In 1939, when he was six years old, the family home was bombed and David, together with one of his brothers, was evacuated to the country. The two boys found a temporary home in the house of two sisters in the village of Upwell, in Norfolk. Both sisters were devout Christians but a gentleman's agreement was reached by which they undertook to abstain from any attempt to convert to Christianity the two little boys. They, in return, were expected to join the sisters at the local village church twice each Sunday; in David's case this also meant attending the Sunday school. The agreement was scrupulously adhered to by both parties. By the time David returned to London, at the age of eleven, he had not only gained firm and lifelong friends in the sisters who had recognized his intellectual potential, and who were to follow his subsequent career with interest and pride, he had most probably also received the basic grounding for an unswerving liberal outlook. -
Kabbalah As a Shield Against the “Scourge” of Biblical Criticism: a Comparative Analysis of the Torah Commentaries of Elia Benamozegh and Mordecai Breuer
Kabbalah as a Shield against the “Scourge” of Biblical Criticism: A Comparative Analysis of the Torah Commentaries of Elia Benamozegh and Mordecai Breuer Adiel Cohen The belief that the Torah was given by divine revelation, as defined by Maimonides in his eighth principle of faith and accepted collectively by the Jewish people,1 conflicts with the opinions of modern biblical scholarship.2 As a result, biblical commentators adhering to both the peshat (literal or contex- tual) method and the belief in the divine revelation of the Torah, are unable to utilize the exegetical insights associated with the documentary hypothesis developed by Wellhausen and his school, a respected and accepted academic discipline.3 As Moshe Greenberg has written, “orthodoxy saw biblical criticism in general as irreconcilable with the principles of Jewish faith.”4 Therefore, in the words of D. S. Sperling, “in general, Orthodox Jews in America, Israel, and elsewhere have remained on the periphery of biblical scholarship.”5 However, the documentary hypothesis is not the only obstacle to the religious peshat commentator. Theological complications also arise from the use of archeolog- ical discoveries from the ancient Near East, which are analogous to the Torah and can be a very rich source for its interpretation.6 The comparison of biblical 246 Adiel Cohen verses with ancient extra-biblical texts can raise doubts regarding the divine origin of the Torah and weaken faith in its unique sanctity. The Orthodox peshat commentator who aspires to explain the plain con- textual meaning of the Torah and produce a commentary open to the various branches of biblical scholarship must clarify and demonstrate how this use of modern scholarship is compatible with his or her belief in the divine origin of the Torah. -
ZOHAR QUESTIONS – DANIEL MATT 1) How Did You First Become Drawn
ZOHAR QUESTIONS – DANIEL MATT 1) How did you first become drawn to the mystical side of Judaism? My father, Hershel Matt, was a rabbi—a genuinely spiritual rabbi. He rarely used the word “mystical,” but I imbibed spirituality from him, from praying, singing, and studying with him. Largely because of him, I felt drawn to exploring the mystical dimension of Judaism. At Brandeis University I took courses in Jewish mysticism with Professor Alexander Altmann. Arthur Green, who was then a graduate student, taught an informal course in Hasidic texts. These courses inspired me to begin studying the Zohar, which I first undertook in Jerusalem at the Hebrew University during my junior year abroad in 1970. 2) How has the Zohar informed your life and what meaning can it have in our contemporary world—for Jews and other spiritual seekers? I see the Zohar as a celebration of the imagination. It shows how to discover radically new meaning in an ancient text. The Zohar, after all, is a commentary on the Torah, not an independent book. It challenges you to delve deeply into Scripture. Though it builds on all the previous layers of Jewish tradition, it also demonstrates a holy dissatisfaction with traditional formulations. Typically we read: “This verse has already been discussed, but…” It is that pregnant “but” that provides an opening for new discovery, for new possibilities of meaning. The Zohar has taught me to never stop questioning, to build on the past and to soar higher. Through its imaginative power, it has helped me cultivate a sense of wonder. -
Applied Peshat: Historical-Critical Method and Religious Meaning
Applied Peshat: Historical-Critical Method and Religious Meaning STEPHEN GARFINKEL Jewish Theological Seminary of America Yochanan Muffs is scholar of rare intellectual breadth. Since the range of topics in which he is interested and expert is so vast, one might appropriately write in his honor in any number if areas. Yet, the strand underlying, if not unify ing, his writings and studies is that of meaning. It is Professor Muffs' appreciation of "significance," therefore, which motivates this article in tribute to an esteemed colleague. I am all the more grateful for this privilege since it was Yochanan Muffs' teaching (nearly twenty years ago in a course on Jeremiah and Second Isaiah) that first induced me to pursue advanced biblical studies. I It is not clear whether ideas can exist independent of their formulation in language (even granting that the formulation may remain unverba1ized),2 but preparing this pa per has compelled me to articulate and refine some of the notions which I have accepted in an imprecise way over the past years. In a sense, this article is a response to a series of broadly-phrased questions, indirectly-voiced concerns, and perplexed looks that have been a refrain or undercurrent for many discussions in classes I have taught to un dergraduate, graduate, and rabbinical students during the past decade. The unasked, but motivating, question is this: aside from antiquarian interest, why study the peshat? Just below the surface of that question lies the following one: even for those to whom a peshat approach3 to biblical texts is not inimical, what is to be gained by using it? Will "historical-critical" analysis4 of the biblical text provide the sort of information that parallels religious inquiry but never intersects it? If so, peshat I. -
A Talmudist's Halakhic Hermeneutics: a New
JSIJ 10 (2012) 257-359 A TALMUDIST’S HALAKHIC HERMENEUTICS: A NEW UNDERSTANDING OF MAIMONIDES’ PRINCIPLE OF PESHAT PRIMACY* MORDECHAI Z. COHEN** לעילוי נשמת מורי ורבי פרופ ' מיכאל שו רץ זצ ל" , משכיל בדרך תמים "ע( פ תה ' )2קא )2קא While Moses Maimonides (1138-1204) is recognized as a profound Jewish philosopher and master talmudist, his biblical exegesis has received less attention and is generally viewed in isolation from the celebrated Andalusian exegetical school that had reached its zenith in his time, as reflected by his older contemporary Abraham Ibn Ezra (1089-1164). Fleeing from Spain in 1140, Ibn Ezra spent the rest of his life wandering from town to town throughout Italy, France and * Research for this study was supported by two Stern College Ivry Faculty Enhancement Awards and a Bernard Revel Graduate School travel grant to consult manuscripts in Jerusalem. I thank Baruch Alster, David Berger, Yitzhak Berger, Baruch Schwartz, Josef Stern, Eran Viezel and an anonymous JSIJ reviewer for their learned and helpful suggestions on earlier drafts of this essay. Michael Schwarz reviewed this essay in detail, generously sharing with me his profound understanding of Maimonides and wide-ranging knowledge of Arabic. Sadly, he passed away recently, and this publication is dedicated to his memory as a token of my appreciation. I thank Robert Gleave and Joseph Lowry for guiding my foray into the study of Muslim jurisprudence in preparation for this study. This essay is part of a series of studies of mine (some referred to in the notes below) that situate Maimonides within the so-called “ peshat school” of Jewish exegesis, a subject addressed comprehensively in my recently published monograph, Opening the Gates of Interpretation: Maimonides’ Biblical Hermeneutics in Light of His Geonic-Andalusian Heritage and Muslim Milieu (Leiden 2011). -
A Whiteheadian Interpretation of the Zoharic Creation Story
A WHITEHEADIAN INTERPRETATION OF THE ZOHARIC CREATION STORY by Michael Gold A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of The Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Florida Atlantic University Boca Raton, Florida May 2016 Copyright 2016 by Michael Gold ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The author wishes to express sincere gratitude to his committee members, Professors Marina Banchetti, Frederick E. Greenspahn, Kristen Lindbeck, and Eitan Fishbane for their encouragement and support throughout this project. iv ABSTRACT Author: Michael Gold Title: A Whiteheadian Interpretation of the Zoharic Creation Story Institution: Florida Atlantic University Dissertation Advisor: Dr. Marina P. Banchetti Degree: Doctor of Philosophy Year: 2016 This dissertation presents a Whiteheadian interpretation of the notions of mind, immanence and process as they are addressed in the Zohar. According to many scholars, this kabbalistic creation story as portrayed in the Zohar is a reaction to the earlier rabbinic concept of God qua creator, which emphasized divine transcendence over divine immanence. The medieval Jewish philosophers, particularly Maimonides influenced by Aristotle, placed particular emphasis on divine transcendence, seeing a radical separation between Creator and creation. With this in mind, these scholars claim that one of the goals of the Zohar’s creation story was to emphasize God’s immanence within creation. Similar to the Zohar, the process metaphysics of Alfred North Whitehead and his followers was reacting to the substance metaphysics that had dominated Western philosophy as far back as ancient Greek thought. Whitehead adopts a very similar narrative to that of the Zohar. -
Title Listing of Sixteenth Century Books
Title Listing of Sixteenth Century Books Abudarham, David ben Joseph Abudarham, Fez, De accentibus et orthographia linguae hebraicae, Johannes Reuchlin, Hagenau, Adam Sikhli, Simeon ben Samuel, Thiengen, Adderet Eliyahu, Elijah ben Moses Bashyazi, Constantinople, Ha-Aguddah, Alexander Suslin ha-Kohen of Frankfurt, Cracow, Agur, Jacob Barukh ben Judah Landau, Rimini, Akedat Yitzhak, Isaac ben Moses Arama, Salonika, Aleh Toledot Adam . Kohelet Ya’akov, Baruch ben Moses ibn Baruch, Venice, – Alfasi (Sefer Rav Alfas), Isaac ben Jacob Alfasi (Rif), Constantinople, Alfasi (Hilkhot Rav Alfas), Isaac ben Jacob Alfasi (Rif), Sabbioneta, – Alfasi (Sefer Rav Alfas), Isaac ben Jacob Alfasi (Rif), Riva di Trento, Alphabetum Hebraicum, Aldus Manutius, Venice, c. Amadis de Gaula, Constantinople, c. Amudei Golah (Semak), Isaac ben Joseph of Corbeil, Constantinople, c. Amudei Golah (Semak), Isaac ben Joseph of Corbeil, Cremona, Arba’ah ve’Esrim (Bible), Pesaro, – Arba’ah Turim, Jacob ben Asher, Fano, Arba’ah Turim, Jacob ben Asher, Augsburg, Arba’ah Turim, Jacob ben Asher, Constantinople, De arcanis catholicae veritatis, Pietro Columna Galatinus, Ortona, Arukh, Nathan ben Jehiel, Pesaro, Asarah Ma’amarot, Menahem Azariah da Fano, Venice, Avkat Rokhel, Machir ben Isaac Sar Hasid, Augsburg, Avkat Rokhel, Machir ben Isaac Sar Hasid—Venice, – Avodat ha-Levi, Solomon ben Eliezer ha-Levi, Venice, Ayumah ka-Nidgaloth, Isaac ben Samuel Onkeneira, Constantinople, Ayyalah Sheluhah, Naphtali Hirsch ben Asher Altschuler, Cracow, c. Ayyelet -
Yeshivat Har Etzion Israel Koschitzky Virtual Beit Midrash (Vbm) ******************************************************
YESHIVAT HAR ETZION ISRAEL KOSCHITZKY VIRTUAL BEIT MIDRASH (VBM) ****************************************************** GREAT BIBLICAL COMMENTATORS By Dr. Avigail Rock Lecture #12: Summary of Exegesis of Northern France Introduction to Spanish Exegesis A. The Peshat School in 12th Century France Over the past few lessons, we have become familiar with the school of northern French1 exegetes of the 12th century, and in the next few, we will address the exegetical school that developed in Spain. Before proceeding, we will summarize the exegetical path of the northern French exegetes, the men of the peshat school. The peshat school was founded by Rashi, who wrote his commentary according to the way of peshat alongside the Sages’ interpretations. Those who followed in his footsteps — R. Yosef (Mahari) Kara, student-colleague of Rashi; the Rashbam, Rashi’s grandson; and R. Yosef Bekhor Shor of Orléans2 — took this idea of peshat to an extreme, shunning use of the Sages’ words for purposes of biblical interpretation. The peshat school in northern France lasted for a short period of about a century. The critical literature has raised a number of hypotheses as to the causes of the development of the school during this period. M. Z. Segal claims that there is a connection between the involvement of these scholars in Talmudic interpretation and the nature of their biblical exegesis: It appears that this compulsion comes from the study of the Talmud, specifically the halakhic section of it, which flourished among them during these years. It is no coincidence that the great pashtan of Talmudic explication, Rashi, is also the first pashtan of Scripture. -
The Requirement of Peshat and the Challenge of Derash
133 The Requirement of Peshat and the Challenge of Derash By: ABRAHAM KELMAN וידבר אלקים אל משה ויאמר אליו אני ד'. (וארא ו:ב) “And God spoke to Moshe and said to him, I am Hashem.” Rashi (Va’era 6:2) explains that the Divine term Elokim is used in the beginning to indicate displeasure at Moshe for having asked so boldly, “Why did you harm this people?” and the name Hashem is used at the end to affirm “That He will surely reward those who walk before Him.” Then Rashi (Va’era 6:9) quotes from Sanhedrin 111a where the verse is explained somewhat differently. In the second interpretation Moshe is criticized more harshly and compared unfavorably with the Avot (Patriarchs). Hashem says to Moshe, “You have complained because of your apparent lack of suc- cess with Pharaoh, but the Avot did not see the fulfillment of all their promises, yet they remained ever faithful and unquestioning.” Hashem also says to him, “Alas for those who are lost and are not found.” ואין :Rashi (Va’era 6:9) then makes the following comment This midrash does not really explain the“— המדרש מתישב אחר המקרא verse accurately.” He then goes on to explain the difficulties. Rashi concludes, “Therefore I say, let the verse be explained according to the peshat, but the derash also has its place.” Now the question arises, if Rashi is not completely satisfied with the derash, the aggadic inter- pretation, why quote it altogether? Why not simply let the peshat stand as the only explanation? By including both the peshat and the derash, Rashi teaches us a very important lesson.