Maimonides On The Decline Of The Generations And The Nature Of Rabbinic Authority

Download Maimonides On The Decline Of The Generations And The Nature Of Rabbinic Authority full books in PDF, epub, and Kindle. Read online Maimonides On The Decline Of The Generations And The Nature Of Rabbinic Authority ebook anywhere anytime directly on your device. Fast Download speed and no annoying ads. We cannot guarantee that every ebooks is available!

Maimonides on the "Decline of the Generations" and the Nature of Rabbinic Authority

Author : Menachem Kellner
Publisher : State University of New York Press
ISBN 13 : 1438408676
Total Pages : 149 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (384 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

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.

Maimonides' Confrontation with Mysticism

Author : Menachem Kellner
Publisher : Liverpool University Press
ISBN 13 : 190982108X
Total Pages : 364 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (98 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

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.

Dogma in Medieval Jewish Thought

Author : Menachem Kellner
Publisher : Liverpool University Press
ISBN 13 : 190982142X
Total Pages : 329 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (98 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

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

Principles of Faith

Author : Isaac Abravanel
Publisher : Liverpool University Press
ISBN 13 : 1909821160
Total Pages : 272 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (98 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

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.

Time and Eternity in Jewish Mysticism

Author : Brian Ogren
Publisher : BRILL
ISBN 13 : 9004290311
Total Pages : 240 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (42 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

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 are concepts that have occupied an important place within Jewish mystical thought. This present volume gives pride of place to these concepts, and is one of the first works to bring together diverse voices on the subject. It offers a multivalent picture of the topic of time and eternity, not only by including contributions from an array of academics who are leaders in their fields, but by proposing six diverse approaches to time and eternity in Jewish mysticism: the theoretical approach to temporality, philosophical definitions, the idea of time and pre-existence, the idea of historical time, the idea of experiential time, and finally, the idea of eternity beyond time. This multivocal treatment of Jewish mysticism and time as based on variant academic approaches is novel, and it should lay the groundwork for further discussion and exploration.

A Kingdom of Stargazers

Author : Michael A. Ryan
Publisher : Cornell University Press
ISBN 13 : 0801463165
Total Pages : 231 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (14 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

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.

The Limits of Orthodox Theology

Author : Marc B. Shapiro
Publisher : Liverpool University Press
ISBN 13 : 1800858442
Total Pages : 279 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (8 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis The Limits of Orthodox Theology by : Marc B. Shapiro

Download or read book The Limits of Orthodox Theology written by Marc B. Shapiro and published by Liverpool University Press. This book was released on 2022-03-16 with total page 279 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book takes issue with the widespread assumption that Maimonides' famous Thirteen Principles are the last word in Orthodox Jewish theology.

Jewish Messianic Thoughts in an Age of Despair

Author : Kenneth Seeskin
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 1107017920
Total Pages : 233 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (7 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Jewish Messianic Thoughts in an Age of Despair by : Kenneth Seeskin

Download or read book Jewish Messianic Thoughts in an Age of Despair written by Kenneth Seeskin and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2012-02-06 with total page 233 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Belief in the coming of a Messiah poses a genuine dilemma. From a Jewish perspective, the historical record is overwhelmingly against it. If, despite all the tragedies that have befallen the Jewish people, no legitimate Messiah has come forward, has the belief not been shown to be groundless? Yet for all the problems associated with messianism, the historical record also shows it is an idea with enormous staying power. The prayer book mentions it on page after page. The great Jewish philosophers all wrote about it. Secular thinkers in the twentieth century returned to it and reformulated it. And victims of the Holocaust invoked it in the last few minutes of their life. This book examines the staying power of messianism and formulates it in a way that retains its redemptive force without succumbing to mythology.

Development and Discontinuity in Jewish Law

Author : Ruth N. Sandberg
Publisher : University Press of America
ISBN 13 : 9780761821656
Total Pages : 288 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (216 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Development and Discontinuity in Jewish Law by : Ruth N. Sandberg

Download or read book Development and Discontinuity in Jewish Law written by Ruth N. Sandberg and published by University Press of America. This book was released on 2001 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sandberg (rabbinics, Gratz College), ordained by the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, analyzes two divergent paths that Jewish law took as it proceeded from classical to medieval rabbinic sources in regard to such mitzvot (commandments/ good deed) as obeying Prophets, preserving trees, and corporeal punishment. Tables summarize the continuity/discontinuity development process of halakhic rulings on each mitzvah discussed. Indexed by biblical and rabbinic reference as well as subject. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

The Medieval Hebrew Encyclopedias of Science and Philosophy

Author : S. Harvey
Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN 13 : 9401593892
Total Pages : 552 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (15 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis The Medieval Hebrew Encyclopedias of Science and Philosophy by : S. Harvey

Download or read book The Medieval Hebrew Encyclopedias of Science and Philosophy written by S. Harvey and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-06-29 with total page 552 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In January 1998 leading scholars from Europe, the United States, and Israel in the fields of medieval encyclopedias (Arabic, Latin and Hebrew) and medieval Jewish philosophy and science gathered together at Bar-Ilan University in Ramat-Gan, Israel, for an international conference on medieval Hebrew encyclopedias of science and philosophy. The primary purpose of the conference was to explore and define the structure, sources, nature, and characteristics of the medieval Hebrew encyclopedias of science and philosophy. This book, the first to devote itself to the medieval Hebrew encyclopedias of science and philosophy, contains revised versions of the papers that were prepared for this conference. This volume also includes an annotated translation of Moritz Steinschneider's groundbreaking discussion of this subject in his Die hebraeischen Übersetzungen. The Medieval Hebrew Encyclopedias of Science and Philosophy will be of particular interest to students of medieval philosophy and science, Jewish intellectual history, the history of ideas, and pre-modern Western encyclopedias.

Maimonides, Spinoza and Us

Author : Marc Angel
Publisher : Jewish Lights Publishing
ISBN 13 : 1580234119
Total Pages : 226 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (82 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

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.

Exile and Otherness

Author : Ilana Maymind
Publisher : Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN 13 : 1498574599
Total Pages : 191 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (985 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Exile and Otherness by : Ilana Maymind

Download or read book Exile and Otherness written by Ilana Maymind and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2020-06-23 with total page 191 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Exile and Otherness: The Ethics of Shinran and Maimonides, Ilana Maymind argues that Shinran (1173–1263), the founder of True Pure Land Buddhism (Jodo Shinshu), and Maimonides (1138–1204), a Jewish philosopher, Torah scholar, and physician, were both deeply affected by their conditions of exile as shown in the construction of their ethics. By juxtaposing the exilic experiences of two contemporaries who are geographically and culturally separated and yet share some of the same concerns, this book expands the boundaries of Shin Buddhist studies and Jewish studies. It demonstrates that the integration into a new environment for Shinran and the creative mixture of cultures for Maimonides allowed them to view certain issues from the position of empathic outsiders. Maymind demonstrates that the biographical experiences of these two thinkers who exhibit sensitivity to the neglected and suffering others, resonate with conditions of exile and diasporic living in pluralistic societies that define the lives of many individuals, communities, and societies in the twenty-first century.

The Philosopher-King in Medieval and Renaissance Jewish Political Thought

Author : Abraham Melamed
Publisher : State University of New York Press
ISBN 13 : 0791487709
Total Pages : 291 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (914 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

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.

The Guide to the Perplexed

Author : Moses Maimonides
Publisher : Stanford University Press
ISBN 13 : 1503637220
Total Pages : 652 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (36 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis The Guide to the Perplexed by : Moses Maimonides

Download or read book The Guide to the Perplexed written by Moses Maimonides and published by Stanford University Press. This book was released on 2024-05-28 with total page 652 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A landmark new translation of the most significant text in medieval Jewish thought. Written in Arabic and completed around 1190, the Guide to the Perplexed is among the most powerful and influential living texts in Jewish philosophy, a masterwork navigating the straits between religion and science, logic and revelation. The author, Rabbi Moses ben Maimon, commonly known as Maimonides or as Rambam, was a Sephardi Jewish philosopher, jurist, and physician. He wrote his Guide in the form of a letter to a disciple. But the perplexity it aimed to cure might strike anyone who sought to square logic, mathematics, and the sciences with biblical and rabbinic traditions. In this new translation by philosopher Lenn E. Goodman and historian Phillip I. Lieberman, Maimonides' warm, conversational voice and clear explanatory language come through as never before in English. Maimonides knew well the challenges facing serious inquirers at the confluence of the two great streams of thought and learning that Arabic writers labeled 'aql and naql, reason and tradition. The aim of the Guide, he wrote, is to probe the mysteries of physics and metaphysics. But mysteries, to Maimonides, were not conundrums to be celebrated for their obscurity. They were problems to be solved. Maimonides' methods and insights resonate throughout the work of later Jewish thinkers, rationalists, and mystics, and in the work of philosophers like Thomas Aquinas, Spinoza, Leibniz, and Newton. The Guide continues to inspire inquiry, discovery, and vigorous debate among philosophers, theologians, and lay readers today. Goodman and Lieberman's extensive and detailed commentary provides readers with historical context and philosophical enlightenment, giving generous access to the nuances, complexities, and profundities of what is widely agreed to be the most significant textual monument of medieval Jewish thought, a work that still offers a key to those who hope to harmonize religious commitments and scientific understanding.

Power and Progress

Author : Alexander Green
Publisher : SUNY Press
ISBN 13 : 1438476035
Total Pages : 232 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (384 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Power and Progress by : Alexander Green

Download or read book Power and Progress written by Alexander Green and published by SUNY Press. This book was released on 2019-09-01 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Study of a fascinating medieval Jewish philosopher, focusing on his twin conceptions of history. The philosopher and biblical commentator Joseph Ibn Kaspi (1280–1345) was a provocative Jewish thinker of the medieval era whose works have generally been overlooked by modern scholars. Power and Progress is the first book in English to focus on a central aspect of his work: Ibn Kaspi’s philosophy of history. Alexander Green argues that Ibn Kaspi understood history as guided by two distinct but interdependent forces: power and progress, both of which he saw manifest in the biblical narrative. Ibn Kaspi discerned that the use of power to shape history is predominantly seen in the political competition between kingdoms. Yet he also believed that there is historical progress in the continuous development and dissemination of knowledge over time. This he derived from the biblical vision of the divine chariot and its varied descriptions across different biblical texts, each revealing more details of a complex, multifaceted picture. Although these two concepts of what drives history are separate, they are also reliant upon one another. National survival is dependent on the progress of knowledge of the order of nature, and the progress of knowledge is reliant on national success. In this way, Green reveals Ibn Kaspi to be more than a mere commentator on texts, but a highly innovative thinker whose insights into the subtleties of the Bible produced a view of history that is both groundbreaking and original. “Controversial in his day, and often denounced, Ibn Kaspi has fallen off the radar of contemporary scholarship. I know of one book in Hebrew, one old study from a generation ago in English (and a new book about which I learned from this book, but have not yet seen), and occasional passing comments in standard histories. There is thus plenty of room for this book and it will, I judge, stimulate further studies on Ibn Kaspi by others.” — Menachem Kellner, Shalem College

The Cambridge Companion to Medieval Jewish Philosophy

Author : Daniel H. Frank
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 1139826042
Total Pages : 483 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (398 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

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 483 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the ninth to the fifteenth centuries Jewish thinkers living in Islamic and Christian lands philosophized about Judaism. Influenced first by Islamic theological speculation and the great philosophers of classical antiquity, and then in the late medieval period by Christian Scholasticism, Jewish philosophers and scientists reflected on the nature of language about God, the scope and limits of human understanding, the eternity or createdness of the world, prophecy and divine providence, the possibility of human freedom, and the relationship between divine and human law. Though many viewed philosophy as a dangerous threat, others incorporated it into their understanding of what it is to be a Jew. This Companion presents all the major Jewish thinkers of the period, the philosophical and non-philosophical contexts of their thought, and the interactions between Jewish and non-Jewish philosophers. It is a comprehensive introduction to a vital period of Jewish intellectual history.

Judaic Sources and Western Thought

Author : Jonathan Jacobs
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0191618330
Total Pages : pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (916 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Judaic Sources and Western Thought by : Jonathan Jacobs

Download or read book Judaic Sources and Western Thought written by Jonathan Jacobs and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2011-06-16 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Judaic Sources and Western Thought: Jerusalem's Enduring Presence explores the significance and enduring relevance of Judaic roots and sources of important European and Western moral and political ideas and ideals. The volume focuses on the distinct character of Judaic thought concerning moral value, the individual human being, the nature of political order, relations between human beings, and between human beings and God. In doing so, it shows how Judaic thought contains crucial resources for engaging some of the most important issues of moral and political life. The currents of thought that have shaped the so-called 'Judeo-Christian' tradition involve diverse perspectives and emphases. The essays in this volume bring into relief the distinctly Judaic origins of many of them and explicate how they remain valuable resources for moral and political thought. These are not essays in Jewish intellectual history; rather, their purpose is to clarify the conceptual resources, insights, and perspectives grounded in Judaic texts and thought. To realize that purpose the essays address important topics in philosophical anthropology, exploring the normative dimensions of human nature and fundamental features of the human condition. The essays speak to scholars and students in several disciplines and areas of study. These include moral philosophy, religion, philosophy of religion, ethics, Jewish intellectual history, comparative religion, theology, and other areas.The volume draws the work of ten scholars into a coherent whole, reflecting the connections between fundamental insights and commitments of Judaic thought and ideals.