Menachem Lorberbaum's Books

Politics and the Limits of Law

Secularizing the Political in Medieval Jewish Thought

By: Menachem Lorberbaum

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Politics and the Limits of Law

Secularizing the Political in Medieval Jewish Thought

By: Menachem Lorberbaum

This book explores the emergence of the fundamental political concepts of medieval Jewish thought, arguing that alongside the well known theocratic elements of the Bible there exists a vital tradition that conceives of politics as a necessary and legitimate domain of worldly activity that preceded religious law in the ordering of society. Since the Enlightenment, the separation of religion and state has been a central theme in Western political history and thought, a separation that upholds the freedom of conscience of the individual. In medieval political thought, however, the doctrine of the separation of religion and state played a much different role. On the one hand, it served to maintain the integrity of religious law versus the monarch, whether canon law, Islamic law, or Jewish law. On the other hand, it upheld the autonomy of the monarch and the autonomy of human political agency against theocratic claims of divine sovereignty and clerical authority. Postulating the realm of secular politics leads the author to construct a theory of the precedence of politics over religious law in the organization of social life. He argues that the attempts of medieval philosophers to understand religion and the polity provide new perspectives on the viability of an accommodation between revelation and legislation, the holy and the profane, the divine and the temporal. The book shows that in spite of the long exile of the Jewish people, there is, unquestionably, a tradition of Jewish political discourse based on the canonical sources of Jewish law. In addition to providing a fresh analysis of Maimonides, it analyzes works of Nahmanides, Solomon ibn Adret, and Nissim Gerondi that are largely unknown to the English-speaking reader. Finally, it suggests that the historical corpus of Jewish political writing remains vital today, with much to contribute to the ongoing debates over church-state relations and theocratic societies.

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Page Count

232

Publisher

Stanford University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0804780048

ISBN 13

9780804780049

Maimonides the Universalist

The Ethical Horizons of the Mishneh Torah

By: Menachem Kellner,David Gillis

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Maimonides the Universalist

The Ethical Horizons of the Mishneh Torah

By: Menachem Kellner,David Gillis

Maimonides’ Mishneh torah presents not only a system of Jewish law, but also a system of values. This study focuses on the moral and philosophical meditations that close each volume of his code. The authors analyse these concluding passages to uncover the universalist outlook underlying Maimonides’ halakhic thought.

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Page Count

397

Publisher

Liverpool University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1789628032

ISBN 13

9781789628036

Human Flourishing, Liberal Theory, and the Arts

A Liberalism of Flourishing

By: Menachem Mautner

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Human Flourishing, Liberal Theory, and the Arts

A Liberalism of Flourishing

By: Menachem Mautner

This book claims that in addition to autonomy, liberal tradition recognizes human flourishing as an ideal of the good life. There are two versions of the liberalism of flourishing: for one the good life consists in the ability of an individual to develop her intellectual and moral capabilities, and for the other the good life is one in which an individual succeeds in materializing her varied human capabilities. Both versions expect the state to create the background conditions for flourishing. Combining the history of ideas with analytical political philosophy, Menachem Mautner finds the roots of the liberalism of flourishing in the works of great philosophers, and argues that for individuals to reach flourishing they need to engage with art. Art provides us with wisdom, insight, critical social and political thinking, and moral education. Thus, a state which practices the liberalism of flourishing must play an active role in funding the creation and dissemination of art. Consequently, the liberalism of flourishing is better equipped than autonomy liberalism to compete with religion in the domains of meaning and over the shape of the regime, the political culture and the law in countries in which liberalism is contested. Political theorists and lawyers will enjoy engaging with this version of liberalism, as will students of social democracy and art policy.

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Page Count

350

Publisher

Routledge

Published Date

ISBN 10

1351182501

ISBN 13

9781351182508

Maimonides' Confrontation with Mysticism

By: Menachem Kellner

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Maimonides' Confrontation with Mysticism

By: Menachem Kellner

Maimonides’ vision of Judaism was deeply elitist, but at the same time profoundly universalistic. He was highly critical of the regnant Jewish culture of his day, which he perceived as so heavily influenced by ancient Jewish mysticism as to be debased. While focusing on that critique, Menachem Kellner skilfully and accessibly demonstrates how Maimonides used philosophy to purify a corrupted and paganized religion, and to present distinctions fundamental to Judaism as institutional, sociological, and historical, rather than ontological. In Maimonides’ hands, metaphysical distinctions are translated into moral challenges.

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364

Publisher

Liverpool University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

190982108X

ISBN 13

9781909821088

We Are Not Alone

A Maimonidean Theology of the Other

By: Menachem Kellner

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We Are Not Alone

A Maimonidean Theology of the Other

By: Menachem Kellner

Maimonides’ Guide of the Perplexed addressed Jews of his day who felt challenged by apparent contradictions between Torah and science. We Are Not Alone: A Maimonidean Theology of the Other uses Maimonides’ writings to address Jews of today who are perplexed by apparent contradictions between the morality of the Torah and their conviction that all human beings are created in the image of God and are the object of divine concern, that other religions have value, that genocide is never justified, and that slavery is evil. Individuals who choose to emphasize the moral and universalist elements of Jewish tradition can often find support in positions explicitly held by Maimonides or implied by his teachings. We Are Not Alone offers an ethical and universalist vision of traditionalist Judaism.

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Page Count

152

Publisher

Academic Studies PRess

Published Date

ISBN 10

1644696150

ISBN 13

9781644696156

Toward a Meaningful Life

The Wisdom of the Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson

By: Simon Jacobson

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Toward a Meaningful Life

The Wisdom of the Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson

By: Simon Jacobson

Toward a Meaningful Life is a spiritual road map for living based on the teachings of one of the foremost religious leaders of our time: Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson. Head of the Lubavitcher movement for forty-four years and recognized throughout the world simply as “the Rebbe,” Menachem Mendel Schneerson, who passed away in June 1994, was a sage and a visionary of the highest order. Toward a Meaningful Life gives people of all backgrounds fresh perspectives on every aspect of their lives—from birth to death, youth to old age; marriage, love, intimacy, and family; the persistent issues of career, health, pain, and suffering; and education, faith, science, and government. We learn to bridge the divisions between accelerated technology and decelerated morality, between unprecedented worldwide unity and unparalleled personal disunity. Although the Rebbe’s teachings are firmly anchored in more than three thousand years of scholarship, the urgent relevance of these old-age truths to contemporary life has never been more manifest. At the threshold of a new world where matter and spirit converge, the Rebbe proposes spiritual principles that unite people as opposed to the materialism that divides them. In doing so, he continues to lead us toward personal and universal redemption, toward a meaningful life, and toward God.

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Page Count

336

Publisher

William Morrow

Published Date

ISBN 10

0062856979

ISBN 13

9780062856975

Pirke Avot

Timeless Wisdom for Modern Life

By: William Berkson

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Pirke Avot

Timeless Wisdom for Modern Life

By: William Berkson

In Pirke Avot: Timeless Wisdom for Modern Life, William Berkson provides a fresh, insightful, and exciting approach to this central and compelling classical Jewish ethical text. He, with the assistance of Menachem Fisch, provides a clear and comprehensible translation of the tractate, and his historical commentary draws insightfully on the sources of Jewish tradition for its explication of its sayings. Most significantly, Berkson brings the ideas found in Avot into conversation with a wide variety of philosophical, psychological, and religious perspectives so that the reader can drink deeply from the wellsprings of wisdom that Avot offers for contemporary persons – Jews and non-Jews alike. This book is a most important contribution to Jewish conversation in our time! "-- Rabbi David Ellenson, President Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religon

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Page Count

240

Publisher

U of Nebraska Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0827609175

ISBN 13

9780827609174

The Book of Purpose

Meditations My Rebbe Taught Me

By: Tzvi Freeman

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The Book of Purpose

Meditations My Rebbe Taught Me

By: Tzvi Freeman

Short meditations based the Rebbe's words and thoughts, that uplifted and changed the lives of many thousands.

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Class One Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0968240852

ISBN 13

9780968240854

The Light of the Eyes

Homilies on the Torah

By: Rabbi Menachem Nahum Chernobyl

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The Light of the Eyes

Homilies on the Torah

By: Rabbi Menachem Nahum Chernobyl

This is the first complete and academic English translation of the Me'or 'Eynayim ("The Light of the Eyes"), a collection of Hasidic homilies following the order of the Torah portions, written by Rabbi Menachem Nochum Twersky of Chernobyl (1730-1797). First published in 1798, it has long been considered one of the great classics of early Hasidism"--

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Page Count

856

Published Date

ISBN 10

1503609855

ISBN 13

9781503609853

Book's by Menachem Lorberbaum

Politics and the Limits of Law

Politics and the Limits of Law

Maimonides the Universalist

Maimonides the Universalist

Human Flourishing, Liberal Theory, and the Arts

Human Flourishing, Liberal Theory, and the Arts

Maimonides' Confrontation with Mysticism

Maimonides' Confrontation with Mysticism

We Are Not Alone

We Are Not Alone

Toward a Meaningful Life

Toward a Meaningful Life

Pirke Avot

Pirke Avot

The Book of Purpose

The Book of Purpose

The Light of the Eyes

The Light of the Eyes

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