A systematic attempt to understand the rabbinic world through its approach to confronting uncertainty In the history of halakhah, the treatment of uncertainty became one of the most complex fields of intense study. In his latest book, Moshe Halbertal focuses on examining the point of origin of the study of uncertainty in early rabbinic literature, including the Mishnah, Tosefta, and halakhic midrashim. Halbertal explores instructions concerning how to behave in situations of uncertainty ranging from matters of ritual purity, to lineage and marriage, to monetary law, and to the laws of forbidden foods. This examination of the rules of uncertainty introduced in early rabbinic literature reveals that these rules were not aimed at avoiding but rather at dwelling in the midst of uncertainty, thus rejecting the sectarian isolationism that sought to minimize a community’s experience of and friction with uncertainty. Features: A thorough investigation of the principles concerning how to behave in cases of uncertainty An examination of two distinct modes for coping with uncertainty
Ascensions on high took many forms in Jewish mysticism and they permeated most of its history from its inception until Hasidism. The book surveys the various categories, with an emphasis on the architectural images of the ascent, like the resort to images of pillars, lines, and ladders. After surveying the variety of scholarly approaches to religion, the author also offers what he proposes as an eclectic approach, and a perspectivist one. The latter recommends to examine religious phenomena from a variety of perspectives. The author investigates the specific issue of the pillar in Jewish mysticism by comparing it to the archaic resort to pillars recurring in rural societies. Given the fact that the ascent of the soul and pillars constituted the concerns of two main Romanian scholars of religion, Ioan P. Culianu and Mircea Eliade, Idel resorts to their views, and in the Concluding Remarks analyzes the emergence of Eliade's vision of Judaism on the basis of neglected sources.
A broad, systematic account of one of the most original and creative kabbalists, biblical interpreters, and Talmudic scholars the Jewish tradition has ever produced Rabbi Moses b. Nahman (1194–1270), known in English as Nahmanides, was the greatest Talmudic scholar of the thirteenth century and one of the deepest and most original biblical interpreters. Beyond his monumental scholastic achievements, Nahmanides was a distinguished kabbalist and mystic, and in his commentary on the Torah he dispensed esoteric kabbalistic teachings that he termed “By Way of Truth.” This broad, systematic account of Nahmanides’s thought explores his conception of halakhah and his approach to the central concerns of medieval Jewish thought, including notions of God, history, revelation, and the reasons for the commandments. The relationship between Nahmanides’s kabbalah and mysticism and the existential religious drive that nourishes them, as well as the legal and exoteric aspects of his thinking, are at the center of Moshe Halbertal’s portrayal of Nahmanides as a complex and transformative thinker.
Life makes warriors of us all. To emerge the victors, we must arm ourselves with the most potent of weapons. That weapon is prayer." --Rebbe Nachman of Breslov The "gentle weapon" of prayer can ease the soul and strengthen the heart, while bringing us closer to God and to a deeper understanding of ourselves. Two hundred years after he lived, the warm insights and generous wisdom of Rebbe Nachman of Breslov (1772-1810) continue to be a source of comfort for those in search of an uplifting perspective on life. "When you pray, hold nothing back from God. Pour out your heart with honest openness, as if you were speaking to your very best friend." --Rebbe Nachman of Breslov (1772-1810) A "little treasure" of prayers that will open your heart and soul and give voice to your deepest yearnings. Using the startling wisdom of Rebbe Nachman of Breslov, written two hundred years ago, The Gentle Weapon will help you talk with God and enable you to hear your own voice as well. This spiritual gem makes a loving gift to friends, family or to ourselves when words of comfort are what's needed the most.
A scholar and a thinker, Dr. Moshe Finkelman emerges as an expert on Jewish faith in his book God Is Not Dead: Man's Pursuit of Faith in Judaism. For the first time since the eighteenth-century's The Path of the Upright of Ramhal, there is a book that describes a system of growth in faith, from the initial level to the ultimate level of knowledge of God, leading to closeness to God. Dr. Finkelman gradually and convincingly takes the reader through steps of growth in faith, leaving no argument unsettled and no subject unexplained. God Is Not Dead: Man's Pursuit of Faith in Judaism conveys messages that resonate with the worldview of a contemporary believer. Finkelman's system of growth in faith gives anyone the ability to create a bond with God. It offers Jews of every level of commitment a clear and accessible path to deepen his or her faith, and to do so by mastering it as the art form that it truly is. Presented as an easy-to-grasp actionable process, this system of growth in faith was inspired by the author's personal religious evolution. He draws mainly from religious and philosophical sources of Judaism, including the teachings of the twelfth-century Jewish philosopher Maimonides, the principles of the eighteenth-century scholar Ramhal, and the beliefs of Yeshayahu Leibowitz, the twentieth-century Israeli intellectual, a leading authority on Jewish faith. The work is further enlivened with anecdotes about both historic figures and everyday people alike. Providing a compelling, achievable blueprint for growth in faith, this fascinating work serves as a timely, essential contribution to contemporary Judaism. For more information please visit the author's website at www.god-is-not-dead.com
Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, ztz"l, was one of the most prominent teachers of Modern Orthodox Jewry. Dr. Moshe Sokolow, Associate Dean of the Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education, collects fourteen articles and essays about how Rabbi Soloveitchik understood ideas central to Jewish life, such as the relationship between man and God, the role and centrality of prayer from historical and philosophical perspectives, belief in redemption, the role of Zionism in Judaism, and many others. Dr. Sokolow masterfully weaves in Talmudic, traditional, and modern sources to provide the reader with a deeper understanding of the Rav's position, and a broader grasp of the full range of Jewish approaches to these fundamental questions.
This book represents the first wide-scale presentation of a major Jewish mystic, the founder of the ecstatic Kabbalah. It includes a description of the techniques employed by his master, including the role of music. There is a discussion of the characteristics of his mystical experience and the erotic imagery by which it was expressed. Based on all the extant manuscript material of Abulafia, this book opens the way to a new understanding of Jewish mysticism. It points to the importance of the ecstatic Kabbalah for the later developments in mystical Judaism.
The book brings together the essays on Second Temple Judaism by Moshe Weinfeld, one of the leading figures in comparative literature and the history of religion in ancient Near Eastern studies. This integrated collection centers on the religious debates within Second Temple Judaism between the sectarian Qumran community and the Pharisees. It examines topics such as liturgy, law, theology and ideology; issues that established Jewish religious forms for normative, Rabbinic Judaism. It also sets these debates in the broader context of texts and ideas from the Bible and ancient Near East texts on one hand and the New Testament and Rabbinic Judaism on the other. The book comprises four sections. The first, 'Prayer and Worship' analyzes constitutive ideas reflected in the definitive prayers of Qumran and Pharisaic liturgy. The second, 'The Qumran Scrolls' engages various legal and hermeneutic issues in the literature of the Qumran sect. Section three, 'Theology and Ideology' treats a group of foundational Jewish concepts from the historical point of view. The final section 'The New Testament' brings several basic concepts and conceptions of Judaism into New Testament context. This is volume 54 in the Library of Second Temple Studies series (formerly the Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha Supplement series).
The English edition includes statements and speeches by various persons (pp. xvii-xxxviii), the stories of two more Swiss citizens nominated by Yad Vashem for recognition as Righteous of the Nations, and other lesser-known accounts of Swiss citizens who helped save Jews during the war. Some of them are published here for the first time.
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