DOCSLIB.ORG

Leo Strauss on Maimonides

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Leo Strauss on Maimonides Leo Strauss on Maimonides The Complete Writings EDITED WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY Kenneth Hart Green THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS Chicago and London Leo Strauss (1899—1973) was one of the preeminent political philosophers of the In memory offour great teachers: twentieth century. He is the author of many books, among them The Political Philosophy of EMIL FACKENHEIM Hobbes, 1aturat Right and History, and Spinoza’s Critique ofReligion, all published by the University of Chicago Press. Kenneth Hart Green is associate professor in the Department AL LAN B L 0 0 M for the Study of Religion at the University of Toronto. He is the author ofJew and Philosopher: MARVIN FOX The Return to Maimonides in the Jewish Thought ofLeo Strauss. ALEXANDER ALTMANN The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637 The University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London © 2013 by The University of Chicago All rights reserved. Published 2013. Printed in the United States of America 22212019181716t51413 12345 ISBN-13: 978-0-226-77677-4 (cloth) ISBN-13: 978-0-226-77679-8 (e-book) ISBN-b: 0-226-77677-8 (cloth) ISBN-tO: 0-226-77679-4 (e-book) Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Strauss, Leo. Leo Strauss on Maimonides: the complete writings / edited with an introduction by Kenneth Hart Green. pages cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-0-226-77677-4 (cloth alk. paper) ISBN-b: 0-226-77677-8 (cloth : alk. paper) ISBN-13: 978-0-226-77679-8 (e-book) IsBN-to: 0-226-77679-4 (e-book) 1. Maimonides, Moses, 1135—1204. 2. Jewish philosophy. I. Green, Kenneth Hart, 1953— II. Tide. B759.M34S76 2013 181’.o6—dc23 2012022900 This paper meets the requirements of ANSI/NIsO Z39.48-1992 (Permanence of Paper). TWO / 172 on a religious position which is as radical as Spinoza’s critique. As such a position we must recognize that taken by Calvin. It is highly probable that Spinoza knew this position directly.7’ Whether he did or not, Calvin’s posi 3 tion, as the foundation of the orthodox position which Spinoza is contesting, is the predestined object of the critique. Cohen and Maimonides’ 71. [252] A Spanish translation of Calvin’s Institutio Christianae Retigionis [Institutes of the Chris tian RetigionJ was among the books in Spinoza’s library (see Freudenthal’s Lebensgeschichte, p. 160). EDITOR’S NOTE The first appearance in print of this German lecture, “Cohen und Maimuni” (1931), was in Leo Strauss, Phitosophie und Gesetz: Frlihe $chrften, vol. 2 of Gesammette Schrzften, pp. 393—436. The editor, Heinrich Meier, deciphered handwritten changes that were made in pencil to the manuscript by Strauss himself. The resulting edition by Meier represented an effort to produce a ver sion as close as possible to the original typescript, which apparently was used by Strauss as the basis of a lecture he was to deliver in the auditorium of the Academy for the Science ofJudaism in Berlin on 4 May 1931.1 say, “as the basis for a lecture,” since the form in which we possess the manuscript is undoubt edly much too long for any actual lecture; how he adapted it for delivery is not t. Lecture to be given on May 4, 5931. [The wording of the lecture, which Leo Strauss gave on 4 May 1931 in the auditorium of the Academy for the Science ofJudaism in Berlin, can no longer be recon structed with certainty, since Strauss must have shortened the overly long text considerably, and since, among other things, he for this reason replaced the first part of the original manuscript with a new in troduction. The new introduction is found on separate numbered pages that were added to the first of the two manuscript notebooks. The beginning in the manuscript notebook is crossed out (nn. 34 and 39), but Strauss evidently had the aim of still making considerably more extensive deletions in the first part (see n. 171). One place at which the older text may join the new introduction is designated in n. toi. Since only assumptions can be made about the final redaction—pages may have been lost, which, like the introduction, were put in the manuscript notebook—the complete text of the two manuscript notebooks is reproduced immediately after the introduction.] {We have used the text of the lecture “Cohen und Maimuni” and its editorial apparatus as found in Strauss, Phitosophie und Gesetz: FriThe Sckrtften, vol.2 of Gesammelte $chriften, ed. Heinrich Meier (Stutt gart:J. B. Metzler, 1997), 393—436. Numbers inside curly brackets { ) in boldface in the running text refer to the pages of this edition. In the translated text of the manuscript itself, rounded parentheses ( ) occur ring within quotations designate Strauss’s interpolations, angle brackets < > designate Strauss’s deletions, and square brackets [J designate interpolations of Meier’s (as explained in the notes) or else those of the translators. In the notes, square brackets enclose Meier’s editorial remarks, and curly brackets enclose the remarks of the translators or the present editor; unenclosed remarks are Strauss’s own. For the explana tion of other signs (angle brackets and asterisks) used in the notes, see nn. 6 and i—t. Generally, we have tried to retain the look of Strauss’s manuscript, except that lengthy quotations in Strauss’s text are refor matted as block quotations, abbreviated citations are expanded by means ofbracketed interpolations, and Greek (and Hebrew) fonts are transliterated (or translated, as in the Munk page number in parentheses in fl. 198, below). See also nn. 2,4, and 5 below} I THREE / 174 COHEN AND MAtMONtDES / 175 known to anyone. So far as I am aware, the only evidence available that this our having named Cohen, the later one, first, we gave it to be understood that lecture was actually delivered (in whatever form it may have been spoken) is we wanted to gain access to Rambam by starting with Cohen: Cohen is to in Strauss’s letter to Gerhard Kruger of 7 May 1931: see Hobbes Politische Wis open up for us the access to Rambam. senschaft und zugehorige Schrften—Briefr, vol. 3 of Gesammelte Schnften, If we put our trust in Cohen’s lead,3 this does not signify that we mean pp. 384—85. Hence, no one knows at what point Strauss made the changes of to follow him blindly. Blindly following [him] would lead, f we were ever the main text and in the margins, as noted by the original editor. The English misdirected by particular assertions of Cohen’s—and there are particular translation has been specially made for the present edition by Martin D. Yaffe fjg4} assertions of Cohen’s by which we would have to be misdirected—to and Ian Alexander Moore, in consultation with the present editor. The de our rejecting his lead totally. And with that, we would be robbing ourselves tailed notes to “Cohen and Maimonides” offer comments on the state of the of important insights. Instead it is a matter of our following the right track of text (which was not a finished literary work), provide Strauss’s specific schol Cohen’s and not allowing ourselves to be put off course by his aberrations. arly references or translate them, and frlrnish original editions as well as En We shall therefore have to criticize Cohen. That is why the discussion will glish translations ofthe works ofwhich he made use. Thus, the notes combine be more about Cohen than about Rambam, although for us it is first and the work of Heinrich Meier, and of Martin D. Yaffe and Ian A. Moore, with last a matter of the understanding of Rambam. One more reason for putting some very slight additional changes made by the present editor. The present Cohen’s name first. So much for the justification of the titie. Now on to the editor and the translators wish to acknowledge the scholarly work ofHeinrich issue! Meier, to whom we owe a great debt. Most ofhis notes on the state ofthe man Cohen dealt most thoroughly with Rambam in his essay “Characteristics uscript as well as on decisions made in editing it, as they appear in the origi of Malmonides’ Ethics,” which appeared in 1908 in the collection Moses ben nal German edition, have been directly translated. The notes not enclosed Maimon.4 The tide of this essay makes it appear as though only one part of in brackets are the work of Strauss himselfwho, although he did not provide occasionally make (in the Strauss’s use ofMereh has been clsanged to Guide; but readers should be aware that in this lecture Strauss the manuscript with proper and detailed notes, did referred consistently to the Hebrew (translated) tide of Maimonides’ book. This is the title by which the text or margins of the lecture manuscript) comments, references, or textual book Isas been known to mostJewish readers, especially until the most recent centuries. Its standard use already been moved by the German editor from the text relates to the fact that most of the Guide’sJewish studenta in the late medieval and early modern eras, until changes; these had perhaps the nineteenth century, read it in its Hebrew translation; and for many, this is still true. There have or margins (as they appeared in the manuscript) to the notes. The complex then been few readers other than specialized scholars—at least until the appearance of the Salomon Monk— layering of the notes in three components (i.e., those of Strauss, ofMeier, and IssacharJoel critical edition of the originalJudeo-Arabic text (5930—31)—who have read or been able to study it in its originalJudeo-Arabic, which was not readily available, and certainly not in a critical edition.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • 1 Jews, Gentiles, and the Modern Egalitarian Ethos
    Jews, Gentiles, and the Modern Egalitarian Ethos: Some Tentative Thoughts David Berger The deep and systemic tension between contemporary egalitarianism and many authoritative Jewish texts about gentiles takes varying forms. Most Orthodox Jews remain untroubled by some aspects of this tension, understanding that Judaism’s affirmation of chosenness and hierarchy can inspire and ennoble without denigrating others. In other instances, affirmations of metaphysical differences between Jews and gentiles can take a form that makes many of us uncomfortable, but we have the legitimate option of regarding them as non-authoritative. Finally and most disturbing, there are positions affirmed by standard halakhic sources from the Talmud to the Shulhan Arukh that apparently stand in stark contrast to values taken for granted in the modern West and taught in other sections of the Torah itself. Let me begin with a few brief observations about the first two categories and proceed to somewhat more extended ruminations about the third. Critics ranging from medieval Christians to Mordecai Kaplan have directed withering fire at the doctrine of the chosenness of Israel. Nonetheless, if we examine an overarching pattern in the earliest chapters of the Torah, we discover, I believe, that this choice emerges in a universalist context. The famous statement in the Mishnah (Sanhedrin 4:5) that Adam was created singly so that no one would be able to say, “My father is greater than yours” underscores the universality of the original divine intent. While we can never know the purpose of creation, one plausible objective in light of the narrative in Genesis is the opportunity to actualize the values of justice and lovingkindness through the behavior of creatures who subordinate themselves to the will 1 of God.
    [Show full text]
  • Holocaust & Catastrophe
    Volume VI, Issue 6 Lag ba-Omer April 28, 2013 18 Iyyar 5773 Kol Hamevaser The Jewish Thought Magazine of the Yeshiva University Student Body Responses to Technology Issue, p. 3-5 The Presence of Narrative and the Poland Trip Holocaust & Gavriel Brown, p. 6 The Wartime Activites of R. Catastrophe Barukh Rabinowicz Akiva Weisinger, p. 7 A Late Twentieth-Century Pogrom, Made in the USA: What We Talk About When We Talk About the Crown Heights Riot Chesky Kopel, p. 10 An Interview with Simon Goldberg, p. 15 Eliezer Berkovits’ Post- Holocaust Theology Yoni Zisook, p. 16 “Nose be-Ol Im Havero”: A Burden Worth Carrying Mordechai Shichtman, p. 19 Creative Arts Section p. 21-23 www.kolhamevaser.com EDITORS-IN-CHIEF 1 & CATASTROPHE HOLOCAUST Gabrielle Hiller Kol Hamevaser Holocaust & Catastrophe The Jewish Thought Magazine of Editors’ Thoughts: “A Time to Mourn and a Time to Dance” Chesky Kopel By: Gabrielle Hiller the Yeshiva University Student Body On April 7, 1959, the Knesset of the wished us to envision. The twenty-seventh celebrate on Lag ba-Omer, when the deaths grapple with the depths of our history, but ASSOCIATE EDITORS How Long Will You Limp Between Opinions?: On the Difference Between the State of Israel passed a law establishing of Nissan approximates the anniversary ceased. On Yom ha-Zikaron, we remember also fathom the heights to which we have Adam Friedmann Academy and the Yeshivah 3 the twenty-seventh of Nissan as the day on of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising,4 an event the soldiers who gave their lives to protect risen.
    [Show full text]
  • German Jews in the United States: a Guide to Archival Collections
    GERMAN HISTORICAL INSTITUTE,WASHINGTON,DC REFERENCE GUIDE 24 GERMAN JEWS IN THE UNITED STATES: AGUIDE TO ARCHIVAL COLLECTIONS Contents INTRODUCTION &ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 1 ABOUT THE EDITOR 6 ARCHIVAL COLLECTIONS (arranged alphabetically by state and then city) ALABAMA Montgomery 1. Alabama Department of Archives and History ................................ 7 ARIZONA Phoenix 2. Arizona Jewish Historical Society ........................................................ 8 ARKANSAS Little Rock 3. Arkansas History Commission and State Archives .......................... 9 CALIFORNIA Berkeley 4. University of California, Berkeley: Bancroft Library, Archives .................................................................................................. 10 5. Judah L. Mages Museum: Western Jewish History Center ........... 14 Beverly Hills 6. Acad. of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences: Margaret Herrick Library, Special Coll. ............................................................................ 16 Davis 7. University of California at Davis: Shields Library, Special Collections and Archives ..................................................................... 16 Long Beach 8. California State Library, Long Beach: Special Collections ............. 17 Los Angeles 9. John F. Kennedy Memorial Library: Special Collections ...............18 10. UCLA Film and Television Archive .................................................. 18 11. USC: Doheny Memorial Library, Lion Feuchtwanger Archive ...................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • THE PENTATEUCHAL TARGUMS: a REDACTION HISTORY and GENESIS 1: 26-27 in the EXEGETICAL CONTEXT of FORMATIVE JUDAISM by GUDRUN EL
    THE PENTATEUCHAL TARGUMS: A REDACTION HISTORY AND GENESIS 1: 26-27 IN THE EXEGETICAL CONTEXT OF FORMATIVE JUDAISM by GUDRUN ELISABETH LIER THESIS Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR LITTERARUM ET PHILOSOPHIAE in SEMITIC LANGUAGES AND CULTURES in the FACULTY OF HUMANITIES at the UNIVERSITY OF JOHANNESBURG PROMOTER: PROF. J.F. JANSE VAN RENSBURG APRIL 2008 ABSTRACT THE PENTATEUCHAL TARGUMS: A REDACTION HISTORY AND GENESIS 1: 26-27 IN THE EXEGETICAL CONTEXT OF FORMATIVE JUDAISM This thesis combines Targum studies with Judaic studies. First, secondary sources were examined and independent research was done to ascertain the historical process that took place in the compilation of extant Pentateuchal Targums (Fragment Targum [Recension P, MS Paris 110], Neofiti 1, Onqelos and Pseudo-Jonathan). Second, a framework for evaluating Jewish exegetical practices within the age of formative Judaism was established with the scrutiny of midrashic texts on Genesis 1: 26-27. Third, individual targumic renderings of Genesis 1: 26-27 were compared with the Hebrew Masoretic text and each other and then juxtaposed with midrashic literature dating from the age of formative Judaism. Last, the outcome of the second and third step was correlated with findings regarding the historical process that took place in the compilation of the Targums, as established in step one. The findings of the summative stage were also juxtaposed with the linguistic characterizations of the Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon Project (CAL) of Michael Sokoloff and his colleagues. The thesis can report the following findings: (1) Within the age of formative Judaism pharisaic sages and priest sages assimilated into a new group of Jewish leadership known as ‘rabbis’.
    [Show full text]
  • Two Models of Jewish Philosophy Submitted for the Degree of Phd in Philosophy at the London School
    Justifying One’s Practices: Two Models of Jewish Philosophy Submitted for the degree of PhD in Philosophy At the London School of Economics and Political Science Daniel Rynhold 2000 1 UMI Number: U120701 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Dissertation Publishing UMI U120701 Published by ProQuest LLC 2014. Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 773 ) Thesis Abstract Judaism is a religion that emphasises the importance of a set of practical commandments and in the history of Jewish philosophy various attempts have been made to rationalise or justify these commandments. In this thesis I try to establish a general model for the justification of practices through a critical examination of two such attempted rationalisations. However, the study is framed within the more general question of whether or not there can be such a thing as Jewish Philosophy as a genuinely substantive discipline. Thus, I take the particular topic of rationalising the commandments as a ‘case study’ in order to see whether we can do substantive Jewish philosophy at least in the practical sphere. In the main body of the thesis I look at the methods of rationalisation of Moses Maimonides and Joseph Soloveitchik and argue that despite being based on very different scientific models they share a central methodological presumption that I term the Priority of Theory (PoT).
    [Show full text]
  • FROM PATRIARCH to PILGRIM: the Development of the Biblical Figure of Abraham and Its Contribution to the Christian Metaphor of Spiritual Pilgrimage
    Cedarville University DigitalCommons@Cedarville Faculty Dissertations 1988 From Patriarch to Pilgrim: The evelopmeD nt of the Biblical Figure of Abraham and Its Contribution to the Christian Metaphor of Spiritual Pilgrimage Daniel J. Estes Cedarville University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.cedarville.edu/faculty_dissertations Part of the Biblical Studies Commons, Christianity Commons, and the Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons Recommended Citation Estes, Daniel J., "From Patriarch to Pilgrim: The eD velopment of the Biblical Figure of Abraham and Its Contribution to the Christian Metaphor of Spiritual Pilgrimage" (1988). Faculty Dissertations. 3. http://digitalcommons.cedarville.edu/faculty_dissertations/3 This Dissertation 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 Dissertations by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@Cedarville. For more information, please contact [email protected]. FROM PATRIARCH TO PILGRIM: The Development of the Biblical Figure of Abraham and its Contribution to the Christian Metaphor of Spiritual Pilgrimage Daniel John Estes Clare Hall A Thesis Submitted to the University of Cambridge for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy April 1988 TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 1 - INTRODUCTION 1 1 .1 The Concept of Pilgrimage 1 1.11 Pilgrimage as a Literary Theme 1 1.12 Pilgrimage as a Christian Theme J 1.2 Review of Literature on Abraham 4 1.J Rationale for the Study 10 1.4 Thesis of the Study 12 1.5 Plan for the Study 1) Chapter 2 - ABRAHAM THE SOJOURNER IN GENESIS 12-25 15 2.0 Introduction 15 2,1 Verbs of Movement in the Abrahamic Narratives 15 2.11 Verbs of Geographical Movement 15 2.12 Verbs Related to Tent Dwelling 17 .
    [Show full text]
  • Review Essay the Theological-Political Problem in Leo Strauss's Writings on Moses Mendelssohn
    Journal of Jewish Thought & Philosophy �� (�0�4) �9�-��5 brill.com/jjtp Review Essay ∵ The Theological-Political Problem in Leo Strauss’s Writings on Moses Mendelssohn Jeffrey A. Bernstein College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, MA [email protected] Leo Strauss on Moses Mendelssohn Translated, edited, and with an interpretive essay by Martin D. Yaffe. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2012. xxxiv + 322pp. It is impossible to do justice to Martin Yaffe’s edition of Leo Strauss’s writings on Moses Mendelssohn in the present context. It amounts to a philosophical optic that allows readers to glimpse, as if for the first time, the fundamen- tally theological-political character of Strauss’s thinking. This character is so stark that it can be said to function as the horizon on which all of Strauss’s other distinctions (ancients/moderns, philosophy/polis, philosophy/poetry, esoteric/exoteric) come into view. In translating all of Strauss’s introductions and annotations contained in the Moses Mendelssohn Gesammelte Schriften Jubiläumsausgabe—the Jubilee Edition of Mendelssohn’s collected writings (with additional correspondence between Strauss and Alexander Altmann and relevant primary source material by Lessing and Mendelssohn),1 Yaffe has not only succeeded magisterially in presenting readers with a “whole picture” * I would like to thank the journal’s two anonymous reviewers for their feedback. In order to assist readers of the journal, I have incorporated their suggestions largely into footnotes. 1 In addition to the materials contained in Leo Strauss on Moses Mendelssohn, Yaffe has pro- duced English renderings of Strauss’s German translations of two texts that Mendelssohn © koninklijke brill nv, leiden, ���4 | doi �0.��63/�477�85X-��34��56 192 bernstein of Strauss’s relation to Mendelssohn, he has also allowed readers to perceive the depth of this relationship as it opens onto Strauss’s overall work.
    [Show full text]
  • Moses Mendelssohn's Approach to Jewish Integration in Light of His Reconciliation of Traditional Judaism and Enlightenment Rationalism Robert J
    Cedarville University DigitalCommons@Cedarville History and Government Faculty Publications Department of History and Government 2005 Moses Mendelssohn's Approach to Jewish Integration in Light of His Reconciliation of Traditional Judaism and Enlightenment Rationalism Robert J. Clark Cedarville University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.cedarville.edu/ history_and_government_publications Part of the Cultural History Commons, European History Commons, German Language and Literature Commons, History of Religion Commons, Jewish Studies Commons, and the Religion Commons Recommended Citation Clark, Robert J., "Moses Mendelssohn's Approach to Jewish Integration in Light of His Reconciliation of Traditional Judaism and Enlightenment Rationalism" (2005). History and Government Faculty Publications. 208. http://digitalcommons.cedarville.edu/history_and_government_publications/208 This Essay 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 History and Government Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@Cedarville. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Fiske Hall Graduate Seminar Award* Moses Mendelssohn's Approach to Jewish Integration in Light of His Reconciliation of Traditional Judaism and Enlightenment Rationalism Robert J. Clark INTRODUCTION Prior to the eighteenth century, European Jews lived in separate communal structures at the discretion of their host countries. 1 A very few found places of influence and wealth as "court Jews" and lived as aristocrats, but their acceptance in society was limited, subject to official approval, and came at a price.2 There had always been opportunities for Jews to integrate into European society, albeit not without complication, via assimilation and conversion.3 But the ability to enter the social order as Jews and find a place to belong without rejecting their heritage and religion proved elusive.
    [Show full text]
  • The Ground Floor of Judaism: Scepticism and Certainty in Moses
    Ze’ev Strauss The Ground Floor of Judaism: Scepticismand Certainty in Moses Mendelssohn’s Jerusalem Introduction One of the central themes that Moses Mendelssohn’s Jerusalemoder über religiöse Machtund Judentum (Jerusalem or on Religious Power and Judaism)ispredicated upon is the notion of doubt.Yet in Jerusalem, Mendelssohn seems to employ not just one type, but rather awide array of varyingmodes of doubt. The following paper will set out to exploreMendelssohn’sequivocalapplication of doubtinJerusa- lem,and in so doing endeavour to demonstrate that he, despite his rather unfavour- able view of scepticism as a ‘disease of the soul’ (‘Krankheit der Seele’),¹ nonetheless drawsheavilyonit. Indeed, this is by no meansaforeign topic to Jewish thought: Alreadyinthe first century CE, the JewishPlatonist Philo of Alexandria resorted to Neo-Pyrrhonian and New Academicscepticism to substantiatethe ultimatemeta- physical truth of Jewish Scripture.² Similarly, we also find references to philosophical scepticism in the work of the medieval Jewish thinker Judah Halevi (1075 – 1141)and the Venetian Rabbi Simone Luzzatto (?1582–1663).³ Furthermore, the Jewish intellec- tual tradition can be understood as aconstant interplaybetween scepticism and dog- Moses Mendelssohn, JerusalemoronReligious Powerand Judaism,trans. Allan Arkus,Introduction and Commentary by Alexander Altmann (New England: University Press of New England, 1983): 66–67;idem, Jerusalemoder über religiöse Macht und Judentum,in, idem, Gesammelte Schriften. Ju- biläumsausgabe (JubA), vol. 8, eds.Ismar Elbogen, Julius Guttmann,Eugen Mittwoch, Alexander Alt- mann, EvaJ.Engel and Daniel Krochmalnik (Bad Cannstatt: Frommann-Holzboog, 1983): 134.Gideon Freudenthal has alreadypointed this out in his No Religion without Idolatry (Indiana: University of NotreDame Press, 2012): 22, 41– 42.Cf.
    [Show full text]
  • December 2019 Kislev - Tevet 5780
    Jewish Federation of Reading/Berks Non-Profit Organization Jewish Cultural Center, PO Box 14925 U.S. Postage PAID Reading, PA 19612-4925 Permit No. 2 readingjewishcommunity.org Reading, PA Change Service Requested Enriching Lives Volume 49, No. 11 December 2019 Kislev - Tevet 5780 ShaloThe Journal of the Reading Jewish Communitym published by1 the Jewish2 Federation1 of Reading/Berks9 Your Federation Supports: Jewish Education A chance to tell your story Food Pantry Each of us has a unique story to able to share it with family and Friendship Circle share. Federation’s My Story video friends and each week we’ll choose Chevra project is a new initiative for you one to share with the community. Community Shabbat to tell your story and speak about We’ll provide some guidelines to your connection to the Jewish help you tell your story. The most Reading Jewish Film Series community. important aspect of this project is PJ Library Many people, including that it is YOUR story. We are a Jewish Family Service family members, don’t know our diverse community and each of own story. How being Jewish us connects in different ways. We Jewish Cultural Center impacted us – good or bad, our want you to tell your story the way Lakin Holocaust Library family background, community you feel most comfortable. & Resource Center involvement, summer camp Time slots are limited. If Israel & Overseas experience and more. interested or for more information, Story videos will be between contact Richard at Federation Camp Scholarships 2 to 5 minutes and saved in 610.921.0624 or send an email to Israel Trips Federation’s archives.
    [Show full text]
  • Miracles in the Torah – a Study of Ibn Ezra and Ramban
    שנה טובה לזכר נשמת ר‘ ישראל יצחק בן ר‘ צבי גדליהו ז‘ל נפטר ד‘ תשרי תשנ‘ז שנה טובה שנה טובה This edition of Degel is dedicated by Family Gedalla to mark the 20th Yahrzeit of ז"ל Mr Cecil Isaac Gedalla 4th Tishri 5757 שנה טובה CONTENTS Editor 4 Notes from the editor Elana Chesler ELANA CHESLER Founding Editor 5 Message from the Chief Rabbi Ben Elton CHIEF RABBI EPHRAIM MIRVIS Front cover illustration 6 Fast Thinking: Examples from Masechet Yoma Yolanda Rosalki BEN SAVERY Yolanda Rosalki is an 8 Shaalei Tzion (V) - Questions and Answers from Alei Tzion artist and illustrator. RABBI DANIEL ROSELAAR For more information on how her designs can 13 Rosh HaShana in the Torah: Remembering the Terua and the Revalation at enhance your simha, or Sinai if you wish to purchase RABBI NATHAN LAUFER the original of the front cover artwork, email: 16 The Significance of Halakha for the Theory and Practice of Jewish Ethics [email protected] RABBI ANTHONY KNOPF Cover layout 26 Psalm 130 – Ascent from the Depths Jonathan Levy ELANA CHESLER 28 Miracles in the Torah – A study of Ibn Ezra and Ramban . MOSHE DOVID SPITZER 35 To be immortal: a peek into Tanakh MICHAEL BLANK Degel is a publication of the Alei Tzion Community. Views expressed are not necessarily those of the Rav, community or editors. | www.aleitzion.co.uk Schaller House, 44a Albert Road, London, NW4 2SJ | [email protected] DEGEL: TORAH AND JEWISH STUDIES FROM ALEI TZION | 4 Notes from the editor e are grateful to Family Gedalla who chose to Continuing on the High Holy Day theme, this edition of honor the memory of Mr Cecil Gedalla by Degel includes a review by Ben Savery of a number of Wdedicating this edition of Degel in his name.
    [Show full text]
  • The New Abraham
    7 The New Abraham Abraham the Missionary The Book of Abraham refers specifically to Abraham’s work as a missionary. “I . was sixty and two years old when I departed out of Haran. And I took Sarai, whom I took to wife when I was in Ur, in Chaldea, and Lot, my brother’s son, and all our substance that we had gathered, and the souls that we had won in Haran . and dwelt in tents as we came our way” (Abraham 2: 14–15). The corresponding Bible text reads: “Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran. And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls [lit., living things] that they had gotten [lit., made] in Haran” (Genesis 12: 4–5). The puzzling “living things they had made” was interpreted by the rab- bis exactly as it stands in the Book of Abraham, the Midrash explaining that it means the people converted in Haran.1 “Part 9: Setting the Stage—The World of Abraham” originally appeared in the series “A New Look at the Pearl of Great Price” in IE 72 (October 1969): 89–95; (November 1969): 116–26; and 73 (January 1970): 56–65; much of part 9 ap- peared in Abraham in Egypt, 2nd ed., CWHN 14: 163–218. 1. Genesis Rabbah 39: 14, in Midrash Rabbah: Genesis, trans. Harry Freedman, 10 vols. (London: Soncino 1939) , 1: 324; D. M. Eichhorn, ed., Conversion to Judaism (New York: Ktav, 1965) , 14.
    [Show full text]