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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. -
Personal Growth in Judaism I
PERSONAL GROWTH IN JUDAISM I Scaling the Internal Alps f asked to list the concepts with which Judaism is normally associated, we might Isuggest Sabbath observance, dietary restrictions, the Land of Israel, circumcision, and a variety of other ideals and mitzvot specific to the Jewish eligion.r There is, however, a concept that is common to many peoples and cultures which occupies a central place in Judaism: personal growth. Judaism’s comprehensive and unique approach to personal growth is grounded in a Divine mandate to strive to perfect one’s character. There are two Morasha classes that explore the Jewish approach to personal growth. This first class will discuss the centrality of personal growth in Judaism and explore the nature of the “personal growth” that the Torah calls for human beings to attain. The second class will explore the practical side of personal growth: how to pursue it and how to attain it. How does personal development and growth, embraced by many societies, play a central role in Judaism? What is unique about the Jewish approach to personal growth? In which areas is a person expected to achieve personal growth? Who is the ultimate role model to guide our personal growth? What is the ideal to strive for in our personal growth and development? 1 Personal Growth & Development PERSONAL GROWTH IN JUDAISM I Class Outline: Introduction. Scaling the Internal Alps Section I. The Centrality of Personal Growth in Judaism Section II. The Uniqueness of the Jewish Approach to Personal Growth Part A. Character Development and Personal Ethics are Divinely Based Part B. -
Posmvist Rhetoric and Its Functions in Haredi Orthodoxy
posmviST rhetoric and its functions in haredi orthodoxy AlanJ. Yuter Haredi, or so-called "ultra-Orthodox/ Jewry contends that it is the most strictand thereforethe most authenticexpression of JewishOrtho doxy. Its authenticity is insured by the devotion and loyalty of its adherents to its leading sages or gedolim, "great ones." In addition to the requirementsof explicit Jewish law, and, on occasion, in spite of those requirements, theHaredi adherent obeys theDaas Torah, or Torah views ofhis or hergedolim. By viewingDaas Torah as a normwithin theJewish legal order,Haredi Judaismreformulates the Jewish legal order inorder to delegitimize thosehalakhic voiceswhich believe thatJewish law does not a require radical countercultural withdrawal from the condition ofmoder nity.According toHaredi Judaism,the culture which Eastern European Jewryhas createdto safeguardthe Torah must beguarded so thatthe Torah observance enshrined in that culture is not violated. Haredi Judaism, often called "ultra-Orthodox Judaism,"1 projects itself as the most strict and most authentic expression in contempo as rary Jewish life. This strictness is expressed in behavior patterns well as in the ideology which supports these patterns. Since Haredi as in culture regards itself the embodiment of the Judaism encoded canon the "Book," or the sacred literary of Rabbinic Judaism, the JewishPolitical Studies Review 8:1-2 (Spring 1996) 127 This content downloaded by the authorized user from 192.168.72.231 on Tue, 20 Nov 2012 06:41:14 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 128 Alan /. Yuter canon explication of the Haredi reading of Rabbinic Judaism's yields a definition of Haredi Judaism's religious ideology. -
Rabbi Elliot N. Dorff Modest Communication Question
1 CJLS OH 74.2019α Rabbi Elliot N. Dorff Modest Communication Approved, June 19, 2019 (20‐0‐0). Voting in favor: Rabbis Pamela Barmash, Noah Bickart, Elliot Dorff, Baruch Frydman‐Kohl, Susan Grossman, Judith Hauptman, Joshua Heller, Jeremy Kalmanofsky, Jan Kaufman, Gail Labovitz, Amy Levin, Daniel Nevins, Micah Peltz, Avram Reisner, Robert Scheinberg, David Schuck, Deborah Silver, Ariel Stofenmacher, Iscah Waldman, Ellen Wolintz Fields. Question: How can a Jew promote oneself professionally and socially without violating Jewish norms of modesty (tzi’ni’ut) in communication? Put another way, in light of the fact that in social media people actively seek affirmation (likes, shares, etc.) for their posts and the fact that some jobs even require the generation of such quantifiable affirmations, how can and should a Jew living in this social and professional environment participate in it while still observing traditional Jewish norms regarding modest speech? Answer: Introduction Now that our colleagues, Rabbis David Booth, Brukh Frydman‐Kohl, and Ashira Konisgburg have completed their rabbinic ruling on modesty in dress,1 I intend in this responsum to continue their work in a related area, modesty in communication. In a companion responsum, I will also discuss harmful communication. In this responsum in particular it is important to note at the outset that many of the norms that are discussed could be understood, on the positive end of the spectrum, as either laws obligating a particular form of behavior or, in contrast, as aspirational modes of behavior (middat hassidut), and, on the negative end of the spectrum, some will straddle the line between legally prohibited and permitted but discouraged. -
Introduction to the Purpose of Man in the World
INTRODUCTION TO THE PURPOSE OF MAN IN THE WORLD he Morasha syllabus features a series of classes addressing the purpose of man in Tthe world. These shiurim address fundamental principles of Jewish philosophy including the relationship of the body and the soul, free will, the centrality of chesed (loving kindness), hashgachah pratit (Divine providence) and striving to emulate God. However, these principles revolve around even more basic issues that need to be explored first: What is the purpose of existence? Is there a purpose of man in this world, and if so, what is it? Why did God place us in a physical, material world? This shiur provides an approach to these questions which then serves as the underpinning for subsequent classes on fundamental Jewish principles. The evolutionary biologist and atheist Richard Dawkins (in River out of Eden) has the following to say about purpose: The universe that we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil and no good, nothing but blind, pitiless indifference. Judaism teaches that purpose is inherent to the world, and inherent to human existence. As the US National Academy of Sciences asserts (Teaching About Evolution and the Nature of Science), there is little room for science in this discussion: “Whether there is a purpose to the universe or a purpose for human existence are not questions for science.” In stark contrast to Dawkins, this class presents the Jewish outlook on purpose, and will address the following questions: Why did God create the world? Why are we here? Was the world created for God’s sake, or for ours? What are the “important things in life?” Do I have an individual mission in life? 1 Purpose of Man in the World INTRODUCTION TO THE PURPOSE OF MAN IN THE WORLD Class Outline: Introduction: In Only Nine Million Years We’ll Reach Kepler-22B Section I: Why Did God Create the World? Part A. -
Purifying the Impure?
בס“ד Parshiyot Shemini/Parah 23 Adar II, 5779/March 30, 2019 Vol. 10 Num. 30 (#408) This issue is sponsored by the families of Irwin, Jim and David Diamond in memory of their father, Morris Diamond z”l לזכר ולעילוי נשמת אבינו מורינו ר‘ משה בן דוד שלמה ז“ל Purifying the Impure? Ezer Diena In delineating the rules of purity and 1: The student may be right Rabbi Abulafia’s characterization of this impurity, the Torah warns us very According to Rabbeinu Tam (cited in person as one who is able to overcome a strongly to avoid defiling ourselves by Tosafot to Eruvin and Sanhedrin ibid.), challenge can be further split into two eating or otherwise coming into the student and judge meant to prove tests: the logical, and emotional. contact with the carcasses of only that a sheretz would not cause s her atz i m, literally “creeping impurity if an olive-sized piece were One test is to see a Torah ruling which creatures” [singular: sheretz]. (Vayikra transported, and this may have basis in seems illogical, even by the Torah’s 11:29-38, 41-44) Not only that, but the traditional sources. The ability to permit standards. Certain laws relating to sheretz gained special status as the a sheretz in this way simply indicates purity and impurity may very well fall paradigm of uncleanliness in the detailed knowledge and halachic into this category! In fact, one of the Talmud (Taanit 16a): acumen. However, other commentaries more challenging details of ritual purity, raise technical halachic questions which we read about in Parshat Parah “Rabbi Adda bar Ahavah said: A against this approach, and reject it. -
The "Other" in Judaism
KOL HAMEVASER The Jewish ThoughT Magazine of The Yeshiva universiTY sTudenT BodY THE "OTHER" IN JUDAISM REMEMBERING RABBI OZER GLICKMAN Z"L VOLUME X, ISSUE 3 MAY 2018 FEATURING: A Tribute to Rabbi Ozer Glickman Rabbi Yosef Blau, Dr. Steven Fine, Gabi Weinberg, & Ari Friedman Page 1 Symposium: Balancing Responsibilities Towards Medinat Yisrael Rabbi Daniel Feldman, Shayna Goldberg, & Rabbi Nathaniel Helfgot Page 11 Revisiting Classical Essays Avraham Wein Page 15 Book Reviews Matt Lubin, Tzvi Aryeh Benoff, & David Selis Page 19 EDITORS-IN-CHIEF Leah Klahr Avraham Wein THE "OTHER" IN JUDAISM ASSOCIATE EDITORS Brielle Broder KOL HAMEVASER KOL Reuven Herzog Mindy Schwartz Ilan Lavian Letter from the Editor 3 Avraham Wein COPY EDITOR A Tribute to Rabbi Ozer Glickman Z"L Eitan Lipsky Rabbi Ozer Glickman Z"L: An Unusual & Remarkable Rosh Yeshiva 4 EVENT COORDINATORS Rabbi Yosef Blau David Selis Doniel Weinreich Kad Demakh ha-Rav Ozer...Remembering my Friend, Rabbi Glickman 4 Steven Fine LAYOUT EDITOR Elana Rabinovich Refections from Members of the Chabura 5 Gabi Weinberg and Ari Friedman WEBMASTER Racheli Moskowitz Articles Why Did Ruth Convert? 6 Daniel Gottesman The Non-Jewish Soul 8 Issac Bernstein Symposium: Balancing Responsibilities Towards Medinat Yisrael The Challenges of Long-Distance Zionism 11 Rabbi Daniel Feldman Aliyah: Personal, Complex... and Wonderful 12 Shayna Goldberg Libi Ba-Mizrach and the Delicate Dance of Our Lived Reality 13 Rabbi Nathaniel Helfgot Revisiting Classical Essays: Rupture, Reconstruction, and Revolution: Dr. Haym Soloveitchick's Landmark Essay on the Contemporary State of Orthodoxy 15 Avraham Wein Book Reviews: Judaism's Encounter with Other Cultures: Rejection or Integration? Edited by Rabbi J.J. -
THE BENJAMIN and ROSE BERGER TORAH TO-GO® Established by Rabbi Hyman and Ann Arbesfeld • July 2018 • Av 5778
Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary • YU Center for the Jewish Future THE BENJAMIN AND ROSE BERGER TORAH TO-GO® Established by Rabbi Hyman and Ann Arbesfeld • July 2018 • Av 5778 Tisha B’av Dedicated by Rabbi Doniel Z. Kramer in memory of his parents, Rabbi Meyer and Rose Kramer of Philadelphia PA הרב מאיר בן הרב חיים מנחם ז"ל ורייזל בת יהודה לייב ע"ה Emunah in Spiritual Challenges in Difficult Times Times of Persecution Perspectives and insights Looking at the history of on dealing with tragedy and Jewish suffering from the growing from challenges. Crusades to the Holocaust. We thank the following synagogues which have pledged to be Pillars of the Torah To-Go® project Beth David Synagogue Congregation Ohab Zedek Young Israel of West Hartford, CT New York, NY Century City Los Angeles, CA Beth Jacob Congregation Congregation Beverly Hills, CA Shaarei Tefillah Young Israel of Newton Centre, MA New Hyde Park Bnai Israel – Ohev Zedek New Hyde Park, NY Philadelphia, PA Green Road Synagogue Beachwood, OH Young Israel of Congregation Scarsdale Ahavas Achim The Jewish Center Scarsdale, NY Highland Park, NJ New York, NY Young Israel of Congregation Benai Asher Jewish Center of Toco Hills The Sephardic Synagogue Brighton Beach Atlanta, GA of Long Beach Brooklyn, NY Long Beach, NY Young Israel of Koenig Family Foundation Congregation Brooklyn, NY West Hartford Beth Sholom West Hartford, CT Young Israel of Providence, RI Young Israel of Lawrence-Cedarhurst Cedarhurst, NY West Hempstead West Hempstead, NY Rabbi Dr. Ari Berman, President, Yeshiva -
The Best Part of Waking up Birchas Hatorah on Shavuos Morning Rabbi Shmuel Maybruch Faculty, Stone Beit Midrash Program
The Best Part of Waking Up Birchas HaTorah on Shavuos Morning Rabbi Shmuel Maybruch Faculty, Stone Beit Midrash Program The Importance of Birchas HaTorah One of the most significant berachos we recite throughout the day is the birchas haTorah. This series of berachos30 is not only a halachic requirement, but a powerful testament to the importance of Torah study. For example, the Talmud (Nedarim 81a) asks why Torah scholarship often does not pass from a father who is a Torah scholar to his children. Ravina explains that it is result of the scholar’s omission of birchas haTorah: ומפני מה אין מצויין ת"ח לצאת Why is it uncommon for Torah scholars to produce Torah scholars as ת"ח מבניהן? רבינא אמר... their children? Ravina said: Because they [the Torah scholars] do שאין מברכין בתורה תחלה. not recite the berachos [of birchas haTorah] prior [to studying Torah] The Beis Yosef (O.C. 47) quotes his Rebbi, Rabbeinu Yitzhak Abohav, who explains Ravina’s intent: ורבינו הגדול מהר"י אבוהב ז"ל Our great Rebbi, Mahar"i Abohav zt"l, wrote that the [explanation כתב שהטעם שאינם זוכים of the] reason [given by the Talmud] that they are not privileged to לבנים תלמידי חכמים מפני שאין have children that are Torah scholars “because they do not recite the מברכין בתורה הוא לפי שמאחר beracha [of birchas haTorah]” is that since they do not recite שאין מברכין על התורה מורה berachos on the Torah, it demonstrates that they are not studying it שאין קורין אותה לשמה אלא for its own sake, rather merely like a common occupation. -
The Challenge of Engaging Secular Culture
Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary • YU Center for the Jewish Future THE BENJAMIN AND ROSE BERGER TORAH TO-GO® Established by Rabbi Hyman and Ann Arbesfeld • December 2018 • Kislev 5779 The Challenge of Engaging Secular Culture Dedicated by Dr. David and Barbara Hurwitz in honor of their children and grandchildren We thank the following synagogues which have pledged to be Pillars of the Torah To-Go® project Beth David Synagogue Cong. Ohab Zedek Young Israel of West Hartford, CT New York, NY Lawrence-Cedarhurst Cedarhurst, NY Beth Jacob Congregation Cong. Shaarei Tefillah Beverly Hills, CA Newton Centre, MA Young Israel of New Hyde Park Beth Jacob Congregation Green Road Synagogue New Hyde Park, NY Oakland, CA Beachwood, OH Young Israel of Bnai Israel – Ohev Zedek The Jewish Center Philadelphia, PA New York, NY Scarsdale Scarsdale, NY Boca Raton Synagogue Jewish Center of Young Israel of Boca Raton, FL Brighton Beach Brooklyn, NY Toco Hills Cong. Ahavas Achim Atlanta, GA Highland Park, NJ Koenig Family Young Israel of Foundation Cong. Ahavath Torah Brooklyn, NY West Hartford Englewood, NJ West Hartford, CT Young Israel of Cong. Beth Sholom Young Israel of Providence, RI Century City Los Angeles, CA West Hempstead Cong. Bnai Yeshurun West Hempstead, NY Teaneck, NJ Young Israel of Hollywood Ft Lauderdale Hollywood, FL Rabbi Dr. Ari Berman, President, Yeshiva University Rabbi Yaakov Glasser, David Mitzner Dean, Center for the Jewish Future Rabbi Menachem Penner, Max and Marion Grill Dean, Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary Rabbi Robert Shur, Series Editor Rabbi Joshua Flug, General Editor Rabbi Michael Dubitsky, Content Editor Andrea Kahn, Copy Editor Copyright © 2018 All rights reserved by Yeshiva University Yeshiva University Center for the Jewish Future 500 West 185th Street, Suite 419, New York, NY 10033 • [email protected] • 212.960.0074 This publication contains words of Torah. -
Elegant Resume
RABBI DR. DAVID HORWITZ Address: 527 Central Place Cedarhurst, NY 11516 Tel. (516) 569-3098 (Home) (212) 960-5310 (Work) (917) 589-2125 (Cell) Home email: [email protected] OBJECTIVE Rosh Yeshiva at Yeshiva University (Rabbi David Lifshitz Professor of Talmud), Professor of Jewish Thought, RIETS, Yeshiva University (Mahshevet Yisrael program), Adjunct Instructor of Jewish Philosophy, Stern College for Women, Yeshiva University, desires to complement his current academic post with speaking and writing ventures where his commitment and devotion to the principles and ideals of Modern Orthodoxy and Religious Zionism can be expressed MOST RECENT RABBINIC EXPERIENCE: SUMMER 2008: Rabbinic Advisor for the Schottenstein Honors Trip to Italy: Lectured on Bavli and Yerushalmi, Berakhot, Chapter 5 PREVIOUS RABBINIC EXPERIENCE: SUMMER 2007: Rabbinic Advisor for the Schottenstein Honors Trip to Japan; Lectured on Bavli and Yerushalmi, tractate Berakhot, chapter 4. Educational Experience: Yeshiva College for Men: Instructor of Jewish History and Jewish Philosophy: Current Course at YC: (Spring, 2009) Jewish Medieval Intellectual History (With a focus on the Jewish Experience in Spain) Previous course (Fall 2008): Jewish Medeival Intellectual History. Previous course (Fall, 2007): Jewish Philosophy in the Middle Ages RELATED RABBINIC/ EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCE: STERN COLLEGE FOR WOMEN Course in SCW: (Spring, 2008): History of the Jews in Italy Previous Course in SCW: (Fall, 2007): Survey of Medieval Jewish Philosophy I: R. Saadiah Gaon Through the Maimolnidean Controversy Previous Course in SCW: (Spring, 2007): Survey of Medieval Jewish Philosophy II:Ralbag (Gersonides) Through Yehudah Abravanel Previous Course in SCW (Fall, 2006): Survey of Medieval Jewish Philosophy I: R. Saadiah Gaon Through the Maimolnidean Controversy RELATED RABBINIC/ EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCE RIETS: MAHSHEVET YISRAEL Current Course in RIETS: Mahshevet Yisrael (Spring 2009): R. -
Cultivating a Jewish Tax Ethic
ARI HART Civilization’s Price: Cultivating a Jewish Tax Ethic Introduction SUPREME COURT JUSTICE Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. famously wrote that taxes are “the price of civilization”. Judaism recognizes them as more. Taxes are a means of civilization, and their creation and collection reveals a tremendous amount about a society’s priorities and values. Recent scandals involving Jews shirking their tax responsibilities have led to much ink being spilled, in certain circles, on whether or not Jew must pay taxes. The Jewish ethical answer in a free democracy is unequivocally “yes”. 1 Does the Jewish ethical tradition have anything to say beyond this basic question? Aside from how they should be paid (regularly, fully), can we artic - ulate a Jewish tax ethic? The Torah contains several kinds of taxes and tithes in its economic sys - tem. p Terumah was levied to support the priests who did not own prop - erty and devoted themselves to the communal good including running the Temple. Terumah, was given, according to rabbinic mandate at a level of between a fortieth, fiftieth or sixtieth of total produce, depending on the generosity of the payer. p Ma’aser rishon , a tenth taken after terumah was taken, was given to support the landless Levi’im in their service educating and serving the Jewish people. RABBI ARI HART is Assistant Rabbi at the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale and Director of Recruitment at Yeshivat Chovevei Torah. 78 Ari Hart 79 p Ma’aser sheini is a share of produce that had to be eaten in the capital, Jerusalem, or sold and substituted with food bought in Jerusalem, to support its economy.