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Maimonides On The Decline Of The Generations And The Nature Of Rabbinic Authority
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Book Synopsis Maimonides on the "Decline of the Generations" and the Nature of Rabbinic Authority by : Menachem Kellner
Download or read book Maimonides on the "Decline of the Generations" and the Nature of Rabbinic Authority written by Menachem Kellner and published by State University of New York Press. This book was released on 2012-02-01 with total page 149 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Moses Maimonides, medieval Judaism's leading legist and philosopher, and a figure of central importance for contemporary Jewish self-understanding, held a view of Judaism which maintained the authority of the Talmudic rabbis in matters of Jewish law while allowing for free and open inquiry in matters of science and philosophy. Maimonides affirmed, not the superiority of the "moderns" (the scholars of his and subsequent generations) over the "ancients" (the Tannaim and Amoraim, the Rabbis of the Mishnah and Talmud) but the inherent equality of the two. The equality presented here is not equality of halakhic authority, but equality of ability, of essential human characteristics. In order to substantiate these claims, Kellner explores the related idea that Maimonides does not adopt the notion of "the decline of the generations," according to which each succeeding generation, or each succeeding epoch, is in some significant and religiously relevant sense inferior to preceding generations or epochs.
Book Synopsis Principles of Faith by : Isaac Abravanel
Download or read book Principles of Faith written by Isaac Abravanel and published by Liverpool University Press. This book was released on 1982-09-01 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A complete English translation of the classic work of 1504 by the renowned statesman and philosopher, Isaac Abravanel (1437-1508), concerning the philosophical ideas of Maimonides. A comprehensive introduction and notes are also provided.
Book Synopsis Maimonides' Confrontation with Mysticism by : Menachem Kellner
Download or read book Maimonides' Confrontation with Mysticism written by Menachem Kellner and published by Liverpool University Press. This book was released on 2006-09-21 with total page 364 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book חזון נחום written by Yaakov Elman and published by KTAV Publishing House, Inc.. This book was released on 1997 with total page 866 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Book Synopsis Dogma in Medieval Jewish Thought by : Menachem Kellner
Download or read book Dogma in Medieval Jewish Thought written by Menachem Kellner and published by Liverpool University Press. This book was released on 2004-07-22 with total page 329 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: ‘An important contribution to the history of dogma in Judaism and to the history of fifteenth-century Jewish thought in particular.’ Chava Tirosh-Rothschild, Critical Review ‘A work of serious scholarship. It will no doubt become the standard work on the subject for many years to come.’ Jewish Book News & Reviews ‘A detailed analysis of Maimonides’s position and its aftermath ... a scholarly analysis ... Kellner steers us deftly through the complex argument. His is the most thorough treatment so far of this still relevant chapter in the history of Jewish thought.’ Jonathan Sacks, L’Eylah
Download or read book Maimonides written by Israel Drazin and published by Gefen Publishing House Ltd. This book was released on 2008 with total page 356 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An examination of the remarkable penetrating mind of Moses Maimonides and to his rational eye-opening thoughts on many subjects. It includes ideas that are not incorporated in the usual books about this great philosopher because they are so different than the traditional thinking of the vast majority of people. It contrasts the notions of other Jewish thinkers, somewhat rational and others not rational at all. The reader will be surprised, if not shocked, to learn that a host of beliefs that are prevalent among the Jewish masses have no rational basis. This does not suggest that Judaism itself is irrational and absurd. Just the opposite. But many Jews have opted to believe the unreasonable and illogical conventional ideas what Maimonides would label non-Jewish sabian notions because they have not been acquainted with Maimonides correct rational alternatives and taken the time to reflect upon it.
Book Synopsis Piety and Rebellion by : Shaul Magid
Download or read book Piety and Rebellion written by Shaul Magid and published by Academic Studies PRess. This book was released on 2019-09-17 with total page 326 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Piety and Rebellion examines the span of the Hasidic textual tradition from its earliest phases to the 20th century. The essays collected in this volume focus on the tension between Hasidic fidelity to tradition and its rebellious attempt to push the devotional life beyond the borders of conventional religious practice. Many of the essays exhibit a comparative perspective deployed to better articulate the innovative spirit, and traditional challenges, Hasidism presents to the traditional Jewish world. Piety and Rebellion is an attempt to present Hasidism as one case whereby maximalist religion can yield a rebellious challenge to conventional conceptions of religious thought and practice.
Book Synopsis Rabbinic Authority by : Michael S. Berger
Download or read book Rabbinic Authority written by Michael S. Berger and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 1998-10-15 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Rabbis of the first five centuries of the Common Era loom large in the Jewish tradition. Until the modern period, Jews viewed the Rabbinic traditions as the authoritative contents of their covenant with God, and scholars debated the meanings of these ancient Sages words. Even after the eighteenth century, when varied denominations emerged within Judaism, each with its own approach to the tradition, the literary legacy of the talmudic Sages continued to be consulted. In this book, Michael S. Berger analyzes the notion of Rabbinic authority from a philosophical standpoint. He sets out a typology of theories that can be used to understand the authority of these Sages, showing the coherence of each, its strengths and weaknesses, and what aspects of the Rabbinic enterprise it covers. His careful and thorough analysis reveals that owing to the multifaceted character of the Rabbinic enterprise, no single theory is adequate to fully ground Rabbinic authority as traditionally understood. The final section of the book argues that the notion of Rabbinic authority may indeed have been transformed over time, even as it retained the original name. Drawing on the debates about legal hermeneutics between Ronald Dworkin and Stanley Fish, Berger introduces the idea that Rabbinic authority is not a strict consequence of a preexisting theory, but rather is embedded in a form of life that includes text, interpretation, and practices. Rabbinic authority is shown to be a nuanced concept unique to Judaism, in that it is taken to justify those sorts of activities which in turn actually deepen the authority itself. Students of Judaism and philosophers of religion in general will be intrigued by this philosophical examination of a central issue of Judaism, conducted with unprecedented rigor and refreshing creative insight.
Book Synopsis Maimonides, Spinoza and Us by : Marc Angel
Download or read book Maimonides, Spinoza and Us written by Marc Angel and published by Jewish Lights Publishing. This book was released on 2009 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A challenging look at two great Jewish philosophers, and what their thinking means to our understanding of God, truth, revelation and reason. Moses Maimonides (1138-1204) is Jewish history's greatest exponent of a rational, philosophically sound Judaism. He strove to reconcile the teachings of the Bible and rabbinic tradition with the principles of Aristotelian philosophy, arguing that religion and philosophy ultimately must arrive at the same truth. Baruch Spinoza (1632-77) is Jewish history's most illustrious "heretic." He believed that truth could be attained through reason alone, and that philosophy and religion were separate domains that could not be reconciled. His critique of the Bible and its teachings caused an intellectual and spiritual upheaval whose effects are still felt today. Rabbi Marc D. Angel discusses major themes in the writings of Maimonides and Spinoza to show us how modern people can deal with religion in an intellectually honest and meaningful way. From Maimonides, we gain insight on how to harmonize traditional religious belief with the dictates of reason. From Spinoza, we gain insight into the intellectual challenges which must be met by modern believers.
Book Synopsis Communication in the Jewish Diaspora by : Sophia Menache
Download or read book Communication in the Jewish Diaspora written by Sophia Menache and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2024-01-22 with total page 439 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Although Jews lacked a political locus standi for a communication system in the Middle Ages and Early Modern periods, their involvement in trade and the close relations among Jewish communities fostered the development of effective channels of communication. This process responded primarily to security and socio-economic considerations but it has important implications for the development of communication systems as well. Written by some of the most outstanding researchers in the field of Jewish history, this collection offers a rich and consistent picture of the main developments in communications in the Jewish world before the era of mass-media. This pioneering research reconsiders the principal means of communication among the Jewish communities in the Islamic world, Christian Europe, the Ottoman Empire, and the New World, from the seventh until the nineteenth centuries.
Book Synopsis The Philosopher-King in Medieval and Renaissance Jewish Political Thought by : Abraham Melamed
Download or read book The Philosopher-King in Medieval and Renaissance Jewish Political Thought written by Abraham Melamed and published by State University of New York Press. This book was released on 2012-02-01 with total page 291 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This original treatment of medieval and Renaissance Jewish thinkers expands the scope of Jewish philosophy and adds new depth to our understanding of Jewish culture of the period. While medieval Christian political philosophy was based on Aristotle's Politics, Muslim and Jewish philosophy adhered to the Platonic tradition. In this book, Abraham Melamed explores a major aspect of this tradition—the theory of the philosopher-king—as it manifested itself in medieval Jewish political philosophy, tracing the theory's emergence in Jewish thought as well as its patterns of transmittal, adaptation, and absorption. The Maimonidean encounter with the theory, via al-Farabi, is also examined, as is its influence upon later scholars such as Felaquera, ibn Latif, Narboni, Shemtov ibn Shemtov, Polkar, Alemanno, Abarbanel, and others. Also discussed is the influence of Averroe's commentary on Plato's Republic, and the Machiavellian rejection of the theory of the philosopher-king and its influence upon early modern Jewish scholars, such as Simone Luzzatto and Spinoza, who rejected it in favor of a so-called "Republican" attitude.
Book Synopsis The Jewish Law Annual by : Berachyahu Lifshitz
Download or read book The Jewish Law Annual written by Berachyahu Lifshitz and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2006-09-27 with total page 267 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This collection adds to the growing list of articles on Jewish law that have been published in volumes 1-15 of this series, providing English-speaking readers with scholarly material meeting the highest academic standards.
Book Synopsis The Cambridge Companion to Medieval Jewish Philosophy by : Daniel H. Frank
Download or read book The Cambridge Companion to Medieval Jewish Philosophy written by Daniel H. Frank and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2003-09-11 with total page 512 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Publisher Description
Book Synopsis Must a Jew Believe Anything? by : Menachem Kellner
Download or read book Must a Jew Believe Anything? written by Menachem Kellner and published by Liverpool University Press. This book was released on 2022-03-09 with total page 215 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The crucial question for today's Jewish world, Kellner argues, is not whether Jews will have Jewish grandchildren, but how many different sorts of mutually exclusive Judaisms those grandchildren will face. This accessible book examines how the split that threatens the Jewish future can be avoided. For this second edition, the author has added a substantial Afterword, reviewing his thinking on the subject and addressing the reactions to the original edition.
Book Synopsis An Introduction to Jewish Law by : François-Xavier Licari
Download or read book An Introduction to Jewish Law written by François-Xavier Licari and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2019-03-28 with total page 179 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the first book to present a systematic and synthetic introduction to Jewish law.
Book Synopsis Time and Eternity in Jewish Mysticism by : Brian Ogren
Download or read book Time and Eternity in Jewish Mysticism written by Brian Ogren and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2015-01-27 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Time and Eternity in Jewish Mysticism offers a multivalent picture of a central topic in Jewish mysticism by bringing together diverse academic voices. It offers variant approaches, which have stemmed from intense discussion amongst leading scholars in the field.
Book Synopsis A Kingdom of Stargazers by : Michael A. Ryan
Download or read book A Kingdom of Stargazers written by Michael A. Ryan and published by Cornell University Press. This book was released on 2012-03-27 with total page 231 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Astrology in the Middle Ages was considered a branch of the magical arts, one informed by Jewish and Muslim scientific knowledge in Muslim Spain. As such it was deeply troubling to some Church authorities. Using the stars and planets to divine the future ran counter to the orthodox Christian notion that human beings have free will, and some clerical authorities argued that it almost certainly entailed the summoning of spiritual forces considered diabolical. We know that occult beliefs and practices became widespread in the later Middle Ages, but there is much about the phenomenon that we do not understand. For instance, how deeply did occult beliefs penetrate courtly culture and what exactly did those in positions of power hope to gain by interacting with the occult? In A Kingdom of Stargazers, Michael A. Ryan examines the interest in astrology in the Iberian kingdom of Aragon, where ideas about magic and the occult were deeply intertwined with notions of power, authority, and providence. Ryan focuses on the reigns of Pere III (1336–1387) and his sons Joan I (1387–1395) and Martí I (1395–1410). Pere and Joan spent lavish amounts of money on astrological writings, and astrologers held great sway within their courts. When Martí I took the throne, however, he was determined to purge Joan's courtiers and return to religious orthodoxy. As Ryan shows, the appeal of astrology to those in power was clear: predicting the future through divination was a valuable tool for addressing the extraordinary problems—political, religious, demographic—plaguing Europe in the fourteenth century. Meanwhile, the kings' contemporaries within the noble, ecclesiastical, and mercantile elite had their own reasons for wanting to know what the future held, but their engagement with the occult was directly related to the amount of power and authority the monarch exhibited and applied. A Kingdom of Stargazers joins a growing body of scholarship that explores the mixing of religious and magical ideas in the late Middle Ages.