Strauss, Spinoza & Sinai: Orthodox Judaism and Modern Questions of Faith

Strauss, Spinoza & Sinai: Orthodox Judaism and Modern Questions of Faith
Author: Alec Goldstein
Publisher: Kodesh Press
Total Pages: 344
Release: 2022-01-13
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9781947857728

More than three centuries after Baruch Spinoza's excommunication from the Jewish community of Amsterdam, his legacy remains contentious. Born in 1632, Spinoza is one of the most important thinkers of the Enlightenment and arguably the paradigm of the secular Jew, having left Orthodoxy without converting to another faith. One of the most unexpected and provocative critiques of Spinoza comes from Leo Strauss. Strauss grew up in a nominally Orthodox home and emigrated from Germany to the United States in the 1930s. He taught at the University of Chicago and was one of the most influential political philosophers of the twentieth century until his death in 1973. Though Strauss was not an Orthodox Jew, in a well-known essay that prefaced his study of Spinoza, he critically examines modern philosophy's challenge to traditional religion. There he argues that while the Enlightenment had failed to decisively refute Orthodoxy, at the same time, Orthodoxy could only claim to believe its core tenets were true but could not claim to know they were true. Strauss leaves the question at an impasse; both the Enlightenment and Orthodoxy rest on axioms that neither side can fully prove or fully refute. Curiously, Strauss never asks Orthodox Jewish thinkers if his approach to defending Judaism against the claims of the Enlightenment is the same as theirs. This volume poses the question to a group of serious Orthodox Jewish thinkers in an attempt to find out if Orthodoxy has a better answer to the questions raised by Strauss than the one Strauss advanced on its behalf. The seventeen essays in this volume use a variety of approaches, drawing on traditional primary Jewish sources like Scripture, Talmud, and Midrash; medieval rationalists like Maimonides; Enlightenment-era Orthodox sources; Jewish mystical writings like Kabbalah and Chasidut; modern philosophical movements including postmodernism and analytic philosophy; and contemporary Jewish Bible interpretation. While the answers differ, what unites these essays is the willingness to take Strauss' question seriously and to provide "inside" answers, that is, answers given by Orthodox Jews. Much of modern thought tries to square the circle of how to live in a world without belief. The better question is whether it is possible to recover authentic religious belief in the modern world. This volume is an Orthodox Jewish attempt to answer that question, one that no serious person can approach with indifference.

Strauss, Spinoza & Sinai

Strauss, Spinoza & Sinai
Author: Jeffrey Bloom
Publisher:
Total Pages: 331
Release: 2022
Genre: Enlightenment
ISBN: 9781947857759

More than three centuries after Baruch Spinoza's excommunication from the Jewish community of Amsterdam, his legacy remains contentious. Born in 1632, Spinoza is one of the most important thinkers of the Enlightenment and arguably the paradigm of the secular Jew, having left Orthodoxy without converting to another faith. One of the most provocative critiques of Spinoza comes from an unexpected source, the influential twentieth-century political philosopher, Leo Strauss. Though Strauss was not an Orthodox Jew, in a well-known essay that prefaced his study of Spinoza, he critically examines modern philosophy's challenge to traditional religion. There he argues that while the Enlightenment had failed to decisively refute Orthodoxy, at the same time, Orthodoxy could only claim to believe its core tenets were true but could not claim to know they were true. Strauss leaves the question at an impasse; both the Enlightenment and Orthodoxy rest on axioms that neither side can fully prove or fully refute. Curiously, Strauss never asks Orthodox Jewish thinkers if his approach to defending Judaism against the claims of the Enlightenment is the same as theirs. This volume poses the question to a group of serious Orthodox Jewish thinkers in an attempt to find out if Orthodoxy has a better answer to the questions raised by Strauss than the one Strauss advanced on its behalf. The seventeen essays in this volume use a variety of approaches, drawing on traditional primary Jewish sources like Scripture, Talmud, and Midrash; medieval rationalists like Maimonides; Enlightenment-era Orthodox sources; Jewish mystical writings like Kabbalah and Chasidut; modern philosophical movements including postmodernism and analytic philosophy; and contemporary Jewish Bible interpretation. While the answers differ, what unites these essays is the willingness to take Strauss' question seriously and to provide "inside" answers, that is, answers given by Orthodox Jews. Much of modern thought tries to square the circle of how to live in a world without belief. The better question is whether it is possible to recover authentic religious belief in the modern world. This volume is an Orthodox Jewish attempt to answer that question, one that no serious person can approach with indifference.

Modern Jewish Thought on Crisis

Modern Jewish Thought on Crisis
Author: Ghilad H. Shenhav
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
Total Pages: 336
Release: 2024-01-29
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 3111342883

This volume brings together scholars from a range of disciplines to explore the intersections between crisis, scholarship, and action. The aim of this book is to think about the “moment of crisis,” through the concepts, writings, and methodologies awarded to us by Jewish thinkers in modernity. This book offers a broad gallery of accounts on the notion of crisis in Jewish modernity while emphasizing three terms: interpretation, heresy, and messianism. The main thesis of the volume is that the diasporic and exilic experience of the Jewish people turned their philosophers and theologians into “experts in crisis management” who had to find resources within their own religion, culture and traditions in order to react, endure and overcome short- and long-term historical crises. The underlining assumption of this book is therefore that Jewish thought obtains resources for conceptualizing and reacting to the current forms of crisis in the global, European, and Israeli spheres. The volume addresses a large readership in humanities, social and political sciences and religious studies, taking as its assumption that scholars in modern Jewish thought have an extended responsibility to engage in contemporary debates.

When Jews Argue

When Jews Argue
Author: Ethan B. Katz
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 311
Release: 2023-10-06
Genre: History
ISBN: 1000969541

This book re-thinks the relationship between the world of the traditional Jewish study hall (the Beit Midrash) and the academy: Can these two institutions overcome their vast differences? Should they attempt to do so? If not, what could two methods of study seen as diametrically opposed possibly learn from one another? How might they help each other reconceive their interrelationship, themselves, and the broader study of Jews and Judaism? This book begins with three distinct approaches to these challenges. The chapters then follow the approaches through an interdisciplinary series of pioneering case studies that reassess a range of topics including religion and pluralism in Jewish education; pain, sexual consent, and ethics in the Talmud; the place of reason and devotion among Jewish thinkers as diverse as Moses Mendelssohn, Jacob Taubes, Sarah Schenirer, Ibn Chiquitilla, Yair Ḥayim Bacharach, and the Rav Shagar; and Jewish law as a response to the post-Holocaust landscape. The authors are scholars of rabbinics, history, linguistics, philosophy, law, and education, many of whom also have traditional religious training or ordination. The result is a book designed for learned scholars, non-specialists, and students of varying backgrounds, and one that is sure to spark debate in the university, the Beit Midrash, and far beyond.

The First Modern Jew

The First Modern Jew
Author: Daniel B. Schwartz
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 291
Release: 2013-12-01
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 069116214X

Pioneering biblical critic, theorist of democracy, and legendary conflater of God and nature, Jewish philosopher Baruch Spinoza (1632-1677) was excommunicated by the Sephardic Jews of Amsterdam in 1656 for his "horrible heresies" and "monstrous deeds." Yet, over the past three centuries, Spinoza's rupture with traditional Jewish beliefs and practices has elevated him to a prominent place in genealogies of Jewish modernity. The First Modern Jew provides a riveting look at how Spinoza went from being one of Judaism's most notorious outcasts to one of its most celebrated, if still highly controversial, cultural icons, and a powerful and protean symbol of the first modern secular Jew. Ranging from Amsterdam to Palestine and back again to Europe, the book chronicles Spinoza's posthumous odyssey from marginalized heretic to hero, the exemplar of a whole host of Jewish identities, including cosmopolitan, nationalist, reformist, and rejectionist. Daniel Schwartz shows that in fashioning Spinoza into "the first modern Jew," generations of Jewish intellectuals--German liberals, East European maskilim, secular Zionists, and Yiddishists--have projected their own dilemmas of identity onto him, reshaping the Amsterdam thinker in their own image. The many afterlives of Spinoza are a kind of looking glass into the struggles of Jewish writers over where to draw the boundaries of Jewishness and whether a secular Jewish identity is indeed possible. Cumulatively, these afterlives offer a kaleidoscopic view of modern Jewish cultureand a vivid history of an obsession with Spinoza that continues to this day.

The Nach Yomi Companion

The Nach Yomi Companion
Author: Rabbi Jack Abramowitz
Publisher: Xlibris Corporation
Total Pages: 358
Release: 2009-04-17
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1462809529

The Nach Yomi Companion comprises the daily synopses that have appeared online as part of the Orthodox Union´s Nach Yomi (www.ouradio.org/nach). Each and every chapter of the Books of the Prophets, from Joshua through The Twelve Prophets, is clearly summarized, incorporating the thoughts of Chazal, Rashi, the Radak and others. With this handy volume, written in clear and engaging language, readers can get an overview of the Prophets, decipher troubling passages, or prepare themselves for further, more in-depth study.

Ask Rabbi Jack

Ask Rabbi Jack
Author: Jack Abramowitz
Publisher: Kodesh Press
Total Pages: 298
Release: 2020-09-15
Genre:
ISBN: 9781947857469

Rabbi Abramowitz is a Judaic treasure and I know that you will love his new book of Jewish answers to questions we all have.- Rabbi Steven Burg, CEO, Aish HaTorahNot every single question out there has an answer that we can grasp, but if the answer is out there, Rabbi Abramowitz likely will have it.- Allison Josephs, Founder, Jew in the CityRabbi Jack Abramowitz is a virtuoso of Torah teaching. He conveys Torah concepts that require years to master in language that is understandable and enjoyable. - Rabbi Gil Student, Editor-in-Chief, Torahmusings.comFor two decades, Rabbi Jack Abramowitz has been the answer man for a number of Jewish organizations. Now, some of his substantive yet down-to-earth Q&A are collected in print for the first time. Ask Rabbi Jack includes material from the Jew in the City website along with several never-before-seen exchanges. Topics include Tanach, mitzvot, halacha, Jewish philosophy and much more, including timely questions regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ani Maamin

Ani Maamin
Author: Joshua Berman
Publisher: Maggid
Total Pages:
Release: 2020-02-20
Genre:
ISBN: 9781592645381

How Judaism Became a Religion

How Judaism Became a Religion
Author: Leora Batnitzky
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 224
Release: 2011-09-11
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0691130728

A new approach to understanding Jewish thought since the eighteenth century Is Judaism a religion, a culture, a nationality—or a mixture of all of these? In How Judaism Became a Religion, Leora Batnitzky boldly argues that this question more than any other has driven modern Jewish thought since the eighteenth century. This wide-ranging and lucid introduction tells the story of how Judaism came to be defined as a religion in the modern period—and why Jewish thinkers have fought as well as championed this idea. Ever since the Enlightenment, Jewish thinkers have debated whether and how Judaism—largely a religion of practice and public adherence to law—can fit into a modern, Protestant conception of religion as an individual and private matter of belief or faith. Batnitzky makes the novel argument that it is this clash between the modern category of religion and Judaism that is responsible for much of the creative tension in modern Jewish thought. Tracing how the idea of Jewish religion has been defended and resisted from the eighteenth century to today, the book discusses many of the major Jewish thinkers of the past three centuries, including Moses Mendelssohn, Abraham Geiger, Hermann Cohen, Martin Buber, Zvi Yehuda Kook, Theodor Herzl, and Mordecai Kaplan. At the same time, it tells the story of modern orthodoxy, the German-Jewish renaissance, Jewish religion after the Holocaust, the emergence of the Jewish individual, the birth of Jewish nationalism, and Jewish religion in America. More than an introduction, How Judaism Became a Religion presents a compelling new perspective on the history of modern Jewish thought.

Sefer HaYovel of Yeshivat Har Etzion

Sefer HaYovel of Yeshivat Har Etzion
Author: Yonatan Shai Freedman
Publisher:
Total Pages: 454
Release: 2019-07-08
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9781947857285

Yeshivat Har Etzion, founded in 1968 in Gush Etzion, has become one of Israel's outstanding institutions of learning, inculcating in its students intellectual excellence, spiritual growth and national commitment. For over four decades, the Yeshiva was headed by two of the most outstanding scholars and community leaders of our time - HaRav Yehuda Amital, zt"l, and HaRav Aharon Lichtenstein, zt"l. Merging the best in traditional Jewish learning with a formidable grasp of the modern world, the Yeshiva's am is not to cloister but to communicate, to educate a new generation of teachers and leaders. This collection of Torah essays from the Rashei Yeshiva and alumni of the Yeshiva is presented in honor of the Yeshiva's 50th Anniversary, its Yovel, which includes contributions from Rashei Yeshiva, HaRav Yehuda Amital, HaRav Aharon Lichtenstein, HaRav Baruch Gigi, HaRav Mosheh Lichtenstein, and HaRav Yaakov Medan. It includes additional contributions from Rabbi Dr. Michael Berger, Rabbi Nasanayl Braun, Rabbi Dr. Shlomo Brody, Rabbi David Brofsky, Rabbi Rafi Eis, Rabbi Yitzchak Etshalom, Rabbi Joel Finkelstein, Rabbi Dr. Ezra Frazer, Rabbi Daniel Fridman, Rabbi Dovid Gottlieb, Rabbi Yehoshua Grunstein, Rabbi Nathaniel Helfgot, Rabbi Dr. Yaakov Jaffe, Rabbi Ari Kahn, Rabbi David Nachbar, Terry Novetsky, Rabbi Dr. Moti Novick, Rabbi Dr. Shlomo Dov Rosen, Rabbi Dr. Michael Rosensweig, Gidon Rothstein, Rabbi Dr. Aaron Segal, Rabbi Tzvi Sinensky, Rabbi Mark Smilowitz, Rabbi Dr. Yossef Slotnik, Rabbi Moshe Taragin, Rabbi Michael Taubes, Rabbi Elie Weissman, Rabbi Reuven Ziegler, and Rabbi Shlomo Zuckier.