Confronting Mortality
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Significant Persons/Founders
Significant Persons/ Founders Historical Figures Abraham According to Jewish tradition, Abraham was born under the name Abram in the city of Ur in Babylonia in the year 1948 from Creation (circa 1800 BCE). He was the son of Terach, an idol merchant; however, from his early childhood, he questioned the faith of his father and sought the truth. He came to believe that the entire universe was the work of a single Creator, and he began to teach this belief to others. Eventually, the one true Creator that Abram had worshipped called to him and made him an offer: if Abram would leave his home and his family, then God would make him a great nation and bless him. Abram accepted this offer, and the covenant between God and the Jewish people was established. Abram was subjected to ten tests of faith to prove his worthiness for this covenant. God promised the land of Israel to Abram’s descendants. Abram was growing old and his beloved wife, Sarai, was past child-bearing years. She therefore offered her maidservant, Hagar, as a wife to Abram. (This was a common practice in the region at the time.) Hagar bore Abram a son, Ishmael, who, according to both Muslim and Jewish tradition, is the ancestor of the Arabs. When Abram was 100 and Sarai 90, God promised Abram a son by Sarai. God changed Abram’s name to Abraham (father of many), and Sarai’s to Sarah (from “my princess” to “princess”). Sarah bore Abraham a son, Isaac, who was the ancestor of the Jewish people. -
Sanctity As Defined by the Silent Prayer Benjamin Blech Sanctity Isn't
145 Sanctity as Defined by the Silent Prayer Sanctity as Defined by the Silent Prayer Benjamin Blech Sanctity isn’t meant to be an esoteric subject reserved solely for rabbis, theologians, and scholars. It is a theme that has been accorded a blessing that is to be recited by every Jew three times a day as part of the Amidah, the Silent Prayer composed by the Men of the Great Assembly, in order to give voice to our collective desire to communicate with the Almighty. The Amidah is the paradigm of prayer. It is what the Talmud and rabbinic commentators refer to as “[the] t’fillah.” It is the one prayer at whose beginning and ending we take three steps backward followed by three steps forward, indicating our awareness of entering and then subsequently leaving the presence of the supreme Sovereign. The wording and structure of this prayer are profoundly significant. Its text carries the spiritual weight of authorship by saintly scholars imbued with prophetic inspiration. All this is by way of introducing the reader to the importance (as well as the practical relevance) of the insights of the Amidah regarding the theme of holiness. It is within the context of the words chosen for our daily conversations with God that we will discover how the concept of sanctity helps us resolve two of the most pressing problems of life: How can we be certain that God exists? And if indeed there is a God, what does that mean for our mission here on earth? 146 Benjamin Blech Can We Ever Prove God’s Existence? Philosophers throughout the ages have debated this issue without coming to a universally agreed-upon resolution. -
Readings on the Encounter Between Jewish Thought and Early Modern Science
HISTORY 449 UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA W 3:30pm-6:30 pm Fall, 2016 GOD AND NATURE: READINGS ON THE ENCOUNTER BETWEEN JEWISH THOUGHT AND EARLY MODERN SCIENCE INSTRUCTOR: David B. Ruderman OFFICE HRS: M 3:30-4:30 pm;W 1:00-2:00 OFFICE: 306b College Hall Email: [email protected] SOME GENERAL WORKS ON THE SUBJECT: Y. Tzvi Langerman, "Jewish Science", Dictionary of the Middle Ages, 11:89-94 Y. Tzvi Langerman, The Jews and the Sciences in the Middle Ages, 1999 A. Neher, "Copernicus in the Hebraic Literature from the Sixteenth to the Eighteenth Century," Journal History of Ideas 38 (1977): 211-26 A. Neher, Jewish Thought and the Scientific Revolution of the Sixteenth Century: David Gans (1541-1613) and His Times, l986 H. Levine, "Paradise not Surrendered: Jewish Reactions to Copernicus and the Growth of Modern Science" in R.S. Cohen and M.W. Wartofsky, eds. Epistemology, Methodology, and the Social Sciences (Boston, l983), pp. 203-25 H. Levine, "Science," in Contemporary Jewish Religious Thought, eds. A. Cohen and P. Mendes-Flohr, l987, pp. 855-61 M. Panitz, "New Heavens and a New Earth: Seventeenth- to Nineteenth-Century Jewish Responses to the New Astronomy," Conservative Judaism, 40 (l987-88); 28-42 D. Ruderman, Kabbalah, Magic, and Science: The Cultural Universe of a Sixteenth- Century Jewish Physician, l988 D. Ruderman, Science, Medicine, and Jewish Culture in Early Modern Europe, Spiegel Lectures in European Jewish History, 7, l987 D. Ruderman, Jewish Thought and Scientific Discovery in Early Modern Europe, 1995, 2001 D. Ruderman, Jewish Enlightenment in an English Key: Anglo-Jewry’s Construction of Modern Jewish Thought, 2000 D. -
Salvation and Redemption in the Judaic Tradition
Salvation and Redemption in the Judaic Tradition David Rosen In presenting Judaic perspectives on salvation and redemption, distinction must be made between the national dimensions on the one hand and the personal on the other, even though the latter is of course seen as related to the national whole, for better or worse (see TB Kiddushin 40b). Individual Salvation Biblical Teachings Redemption and salvation imply the need for deliverance from a particular situation, condition, or debt. The Hebrew word for redemption, gəʾullāh, implies “the prior existence of obligation.” This word is used in Leviticus to describe the nancial redemption of ancestral land from another to whom it has been sold (see Leviticus 25:25); the nancial redemption of a member of one family bound in servitude to another family because of debt (see Leviticus 25:48–49); and the redemption of a home, eld, ritually impure animal, or agricultural tithe that had been dedicated to the sanctuary by giving its nancial value plus one-fth in lieu thereof (see Leviticus 27). In the case of a male who died childless, his brothers assumed an obligation to “redeem” the name of the deceased —that is, to save it from extinction by ensuring the continuity of his seed, lands, and lial tribute (see Deuteronomy 25:5–10; Ruth 4:1–10). In a case of murder, the gôʾēl was the blood avenger who sought to requite the wrong by seeking blood for blood, redeeming thereby, if not the “wandering soul” of the deceased, certainly the honor that had been desecrated (see Numbers 35:12–29; cf. -
Jason Yehuda Leib Weiner
Jason Yehuda Leib Weiner A Student's Guide and Preparation for Observant Jews ♦California State University, Monterey Bay♦ 1 Contents Introduction 1 Chp. 1, Kiddush/Hillul Hashem 9 Chp. 2, Torah Study 28 Chp. 3, Kashrut 50 Chp. 4, Shabbat 66 Chp. 5, Sexual Relations 87 Chp. 6, Social Relations 126 Conclusion 169 2 Introduction Today, all Jews have the option to pursue a college education. However, because most elite schools were initially directed towards training for the Christian ministry, nearly all American colonial universities were off limits to Jews. So badly did Jews ache for the opportunity to get themselves into academia, that some actually converted to Christianity to gain acceptance.1 This began to change toward the end of the colonial period, when Benjamin Franklin introduced non-theological subjects to the university. In 1770, Brown University officially opened its doors to Jews, finally granting equal access to a higher education for American Jews.2 By the early 1920's Jewish representation at the leading American universities had grown remarkably. For example, Jews made up 22% of the incoming class at Harvard in 1922, while in 1909 they had been only 6%.3 This came at a time when there were only 3.5 millions Jews4 in a United States of 106.5 million people.5 This made the United States only about 3% Jewish, rendering Jews greatly over-represented in universities all over the country. However, in due course the momentum reversed. During the “Roaring 1920’s,” a trend towards quotas limiting Jewish students became prevalent. Following the lead of Harvard, over seven hundred liberal arts colleges initiated strict quotas, denying Jewish enrollment.6 At Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons for instance, Jewish enrollment dropped from 50% in 1 Solomon Grayzel, A History of the Jews (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: The Jewish Publication Society of America, 1959), 557. -
Why Was Maimonides Controversial?
12 Nov 2014, 19 Cheshvan 5775 B”H Congregation Adat Reyim Dr Maurice M. Mizrahi Adult Education Why was Maimonides controversial? Introduction Always glad to talk about Maimonides: He was Sephardic (of Spanish origin), and so am I He lived and worked in Egypt, and that's where I was born and grew up His Hebrew name was Moshe (Moses), and so is mine He was a rationalist, and so am I He was a scientist of sorts, and so am I He had very strong opinions, and so do I And, oh yes: He was Jewish, and so am I. -Unfortunately, he probably wasn’t my ancestor. -Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon, aka Maimonides, aka The Rambam: b. 1135 (Córdoba, Muslim Spain) – d. 1204 (Fostat, Egypt): Torah scholar, philosopher, physician: Maimonides was the most illustrious figure in Judaism in the post-talmudic era, and one of the greatest of all time… His influence on the future development of Judaism is incalculable. No spiritual leader of the Jewish people in the post- talmudic period has exercised such an influence both in his own and subsequent generations. [Encyclopedia Judaica] -Best-known for Mishneh Torah and Guide for the Perplexed: -Mishneh Torah (Sefer Yad ha-Chazaka) codifies Jewish law. Gathers all laws from Talmud and adds rulings of later Sages. Clear, concise, and logical. No personal opinions. -The Guide for the Perplexed (Dalalat al-Ha'erin; Moreh Nevukhim) is a non-legal philosophical work, for general public, that bridges Jewish and Greek thought. -Controversial in his lifetime and for many centuries afterwards. Controversies concerning Maimonides 1-No need to study Talmud -He appears to downplay study of Talmud. -
If God Is Good, Why Is the World So Bad? by Benjamin Blech Simcha
Books If God is Good, God is not in control of the world, and sion that all of his proposals stem from Why is the World So Bad? that they suffer because God lacks the the Rav’s theology. By Benjamin Blech power to prevent it. The primary dissonance between Simcha Press Rabbi Blech opens with an anec- Rabbi Blech’s approach and that con- Florida, 2003 dote demonstrating that Kushner’s view veyed by the Rav is that Rabbi Blech is 250 pages is not only in contradiction to tradition- not at all hesitant to offer confident the- Reviewed by Shalom Carmy al religion, which is pretty obvious, but ological explanations for good and bad that it is therapeutically inadequate too. occurrences. Thus he writes: A woman, who had first been comfort- And how can we know whether our ed by Kushner’s assurance that her own suffering is divine punishment or child’s death was not punishment, now heavenly warning? When God intervenes, complains that the book gives her night- when He is sending you a message, you mares: “I now have two healthy chil- will know it. How? There is one sure way dren. We are so happy. But any minute to tell—God is very specific and leaves no now I expect something terrible to hap- doubt about His meaning if you merely pen. If God doesn’t run the world like give it a little thought. this book says….” And her voice cracks. Many of Rabbi Blech’s stories This woman, Rabbi Blech says, needs about unmistakable Divine communica- assurance. -
Maharam of Padua V. Giustiniani; the Sixteenth-Century Origins of the Jewish Law of Copyright
Draft: July 2007 44 Houston Law Review (forthcoming 2007) Maharam of Padua v. Giustiniani; the Sixteenth-Century Origins of the Jewish Law of Copyright Neil Weinstock Netanel* Copyright scholars are almost universally unaware of Jewish copyright law, a rich body of copyright doctrine and jurisprudence that developed in parallel with Anglo- American and Continental European copyright laws and the printers’ privileges that preceded them. Jewish copyright law traces its origins to a dispute adjudicated some 150 years before modern copyright law is typically said to have emerged with the Statute of Anne of 1709. This essay, the beginning of a book project about Jewish copyright law, examines that dispute, the case of the Maharam of Padua v. Giustiniani. In 1550, Rabbi Meir ben Isaac Katzenellenbogen of Padua (known by the Hebrew acronym, the “Maharam” of Padua) published a new edition of Moses Maimonides’ seminal code of Jewish law, the Mishneh Torah. Katzenellenbogen invested significant time, effort, and money in producing the edition. He and his son also added their own commentary on Maimonides’ text. Since Jews were forbidden to print books in sixteenth- century Italy, Katzenellenbogen arranged to have his edition printed by a Christian printer, Alvise Bragadini. Bragadini’s chief rival, Marc Antonio Giustiniani, responded by issuing a cheaper edition that both copied the Maharam’s annotations and included an introduction criticizing them. Katzenellenbogen then asked Rabbi Moses Isserles, European Jewry’s leading juridical authority of the day, to forbid distribution of the Giustiniani edition. Isserles had to grapple with first principles. At this early stage of print, an author- editor’s claim to have an exclusive right to publish a given book was a case of first impression. -
Guide to the Yeshiva
Guide to the Yeshiva The Undergraduate Torah Experience For answers to all your Yeshiva questions, email [email protected] Our Yeshiva has a long and profound history and legacy of Undergraduate Torah Studies Torah scholarship and spiritual greatness. Our roots stretch back to the Torah of Volozhin and Brisk and continue in WELCOME TO THE YESHIVA! our Yeshiva with such luminaries as Rav Shimon Shkop We have assembled in one Yeshiva an unparalleled cadre of roshei yeshiva, rebbeim, mashgichim and support staff to enable you to have an uplifting and enriching Torah experience. We hope you will take and Rav Yosef Dov Soloveitchik. As you enter Yeshiva, you full advantage of all the Yeshiva has to offer. will not only partake of the great heritage of our past but, Hatzlacha Rabbah! together with your rebbeim, will forge a glorious future. Rabbi Dr. Ari Berman Rabbi Zevulun Charlop President Dean Emeritus Special Assistant to the President Rabbi Menachem Penner Rabbi Dr. Yosef Kalinsky The Max and Marion Grill Dean Associate Dean Glueck Center, Room 632 Undergraduate Torah Studies 646.592.4063 Glueck Center, Room 632 [email protected] 646.592.4068 [email protected] For answers to all your Yeshiva questions, email [email protected] 1 Undergraduate Torah Studies Programs Yeshiva Program/Mazer School The James Striar School (JSS) of Talmudic Studies (MYP) This path is intended for students new to Hebrew language and textual study who aspire to attain This program offers an advanced and sophisticated a broad-based Jewish philosophical and text classical yeshiva experience. Students engage education. Led by a dynamic, caring faculty and in in-depth study of Talmud with our world- with daily mentoring from students at YU’s renowned roshei yeshiva. -
What's in God's Name
THOUGHT OF NACHMANIDES: VAYECHI: WHAT’S IN GOD’S NAME? Gavriel Z. Bellino – January 6, 2016 ספר שמות ו Exodus 6 )ב( וַיְדַ רבֵּ אֱֹלהִ ים, אֶ ל-מֹשֶ ה; וַיֹאמֶ ר And Elohim spoke unto Moses, and said unto (2) אֵּלָ יו, אֲנִי יְהוָה. )ג( וָאֵּרָ א, אֶ ל-אַבְרָ הָ ם ,him: 'I am YHWH; (3) and I appeared unto Abraham אֶ ל-יִצְחָ ק וְאֶ ל-יַעֲקֹב-- לבְאֵּ שַדָ י; ּושְמִ י unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, b’El Shadai, and My יְהוָה, לֹא נֹודַעְתִ י לָהֶ ם. )ד( וְגַם הֲקִ מֹתִ י name YHWH, I was not known to them. (4) And I אֶ ת-בְרִ ייתִ אִתָ ם, לָתֵּ ת לָהֶ ם אֶ ת-אֶרֶ ץ have also established My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their כְ נָעַ ן-- תאֵּ ץאֶרֶ מְ גֻרֵּ יהֶ ם, אֲשֶ ר-גָרּו בָ ּה. sojournings, wherein they sojourned. (5) And )ה( וְגַם אֲנִי שָמַעְתִ י, אֶ ת- תנַאֲקַ בְ נֵּי moreover I have heard the groaning of the children יִשְרָ אֵּ ל, אֲשֶ ר מִ צְרַ יִם, מַ עֲבִדִ ים אֹתָ ם; of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage; and וָאֶזְכֹר, אֶ ת-בְרִ יתִ י. .I have remembered My covenant פרוש הרמב”ן על ספר שמות ו:ב-ה Nachmanides on Exodus 6:2-5 AND GOD SPOKE UNTO MOSES. Rashi explains that He spoke to him harshly because he had been critical when he said, Why have you done evil unto this nation? AND HE SAID UNTO HIM: I AM YHWH, Who is faithful to recompense reward to those who walk before Me wholeheartedly. -
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). -
NACHMANIDES: VAYEITZEI: LOCATION of JACOB’S LADDER Gavriel Z
THOUGHT OF NACHMANIDES: VAYEITZEI: LOCATION OF JACOB’S LADDER Gavriel Z. Bellino – November 18, 2015 פרוש הרמב”ן על ספר בראשית כח:יז Nachmanides on Genesis 28:17 17. THIS IS NONE OTHER THAN THE HOUSE OF G-D, AND THIS IS THE GATE OF HEAVEN. This refers to the Sanctuary which is the gate through which the prayers and sacrifices ascend to heaven. Rashi comments, Rabbi Elazar the son of Rabbi Jose the son of Zimra said, “This ladder stood in Beer-Sheba and its slope reached unto the Sanctuary in Jerusalem. Beer-Sheba is situated in the southern part of Judah, and Jerusalem is to its north on the boundary between Judah and Benjamin, and Beth-El was in the northern portion of Benjamin's territory, on the boundary between Benjamin's territory and that of the children of Joseph. It follows, therefore, that a ladder whose base is in Beer-Sheba and whose top is in Beth-el has its slope reaching opposite Jerusalem. Now regarding the statement of our Rabbis: “This righteous man has come to the place where I dwell, (Chullin 91b)” and they also said, “Jacob gave the name Bethel to Jerusalem,” (Pesachim 88b) this place which he called Bethel was Luz and not Jerusalem! And from where did they learn to say so, [implying that Luz is identical with Jerusalem]? I therefore say that Mount Moriah [the Temple site in Jerusalem] was removed from its place and came here to Luz, and this is “the springing of the earth” which is mentioned in Shechitat Chullin, that the site on which the Sanctuary was later to stand came towards him to Bethel.