Download or read book Reinventing Maimonides in Contemporary Jewish Thought written by James A. Diamond and published by Liverpool University Press. This book was released on 2019-02-20 with total page 247 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first critical study of how Maimonides has been read by leading Orthodox rabbis in our time shows that some have tried to liberate themselves from his influence, others have built on his ideas generating vibrant controversy, and yet others have sought to recreate Maimonides in their own image.
Download or read book Reinventing Maimonides in Contemporary Jewish Thought written by James Arthur Diamond and published by . This book was released on 2021 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first critical study of how Maimonides has been read by leading Orthodox rabbis in our time shows that some have tried to liberate themselves from his influence, others have built on his ideas generating vibrant controversy, and yet others have sought to recreate Maimonides in their own image.
Download or read book Searching for a Distant God written by Kenneth Seeskin and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2000-01-13 with total page 265 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Monotheism is usually considered Judaism's greatest contribution to world culture, but it is far from clear what monotheism is. This work examines the notion that monotheism is not so much a claim about the number of God as a claim about the nature of God. Seeskin argues that the idea of a God who is separate from his creation and unique is not just an abstraction but a suitable basis for worship. He examines this conclusion in the contexts of prayer, creation, sabbath observance, repentance, religious freedom, and love of God. Maimonides plays a central role in the argument both because of his importance to Jewish self-understanding and because he deals with the question of how philosophic ideas are embodied in religious ritual.
Download or read book Maimonides the Rationalist written by Herbert A. Davidson and published by Liverpool University Press. This book was released on 2011-04-30 with total page 335 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In his own estimation, Maimonides was neither exclusively a dedicated philosopher nor exclusively a devoted rabbinist: he saw philosophy and the Written and Oral Torahs as a single, harmonious domain, and he believed that this view was similarly fundamental to the lives of the prophets and rabbis of old. In this book, Herbert Davidson examines Maimonides’ efforts to reconstitute this all-embracing, rationalist worldview that he felt had been lost during the millennium-long exile.
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 Maimonides the Universalist written by Menachem Kellner and published by Liverpool University Press. This book was released on 2020-11-04 with total page 413 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book Maimonides written by Moshe Halbertal and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2013-11-24 with total page 399 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A comprehensive and accessible account of the life and thought of Judaism's most celebrated philosopher Maimonides was the greatest Jewish philosopher and legal scholar of the medieval period, a towering figure who has had a profound and lasting influence on Jewish law, philosophy, and religious consciousness. This book provides a comprehensive and accessible introduction to his life and work, revealing how his philosophical sensibility and outlook informed his interpretation of Jewish tradition. Moshe Halbertal vividly describes Maimonides's childhood in Muslim Spain, his family's flight to North Africa to escape persecution, and their eventual resettling in Egypt. He draws on Maimonides's letters and the testimonies of his contemporaries, both Muslims and Jews, to offer new insights into his personality and the circumstances that shaped his thinking. Halbertal then turns to Maimonides's legal and philosophical work, analyzing his three great books—Commentary on the Mishnah, the Mishneh Torah, and the Guide of the Perplexed. He discusses Maimonides's battle against all attempts to personify God, his conviction that God's presence in the world is mediated through the natural order rather than through miracles, and his locating of philosophy and science at the summit of the religious life of Torah. Halbertal examines Maimonides's philosophical positions on fundamental questions such as the nature and limits of religious language, creation and nature, prophecy, providence, the problem of evil, and the meaning of the commandments. A stunning achievement, Maimonides offers an unparalleled look at the life and thought of this important Jewish philosopher, scholar, and theologian.
Download or read book The Bible and Zionism written by Nur Masalha and published by Zed Books. This book was released on 2007-08 with total page 386 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This text investigates the Biblical justification for Zionism & charts the historical rise of Zionism since its 19th century roots. Providing a contribution to the argument for a single democratic & secular Israeli state, it shows how the biblical language of 'chosen people' & 'promised land' is used to justify ethnic division & violence.
Download or read book In and Around Maimonides written by Y. Y. Langermann and published by Gorgias Press. This book was released on 2021 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In and Around Maimonides presents eight highly focused studies on Moses Maimonides and those around him. "In Maimonides" refers to close readings of passages from Maimonides' writings; "around Maimonides" refers to concentric circles, beginning with his own family (his father R. Maimon and his son R. Abraham), with whom Maimonides' views are in conversation; medieval Yemen, where Maimonides' writings were studied and glossed in their original language; Judah Halevi, a major figure in Andalusian Judaeo-Arabic culture with whom Maimonides is often contrasted; and, finally a wide range of Judaeo-Arabic figures, all of whom engaged with the vocabularies of religion. These studies offer new and important insights into the thought of Maimonides on a variety of issues, such as the capacity of humans to better themselves morally, the political nature of prophecy, and the proper way to approach God.
Download or read book Maimonides and the Shaping of the Jewish Canon written by James A. Diamond and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2014-10-27 with total page 329 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines a wide range of theologians, philosophers, and exegetes who share a passionate engagement with Maimonides, assaulting, adopting, subverting, or adapting his philosophical and jurisprudential thought. This ongoing enterprise is critical to any appreciation of the broader scope of Jewish law, philosophy, biblical interpretation, and Kabbalah.
Download or read book Jewish Theology Unbound written by James Arthur Diamond and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2018 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Jewish Theology Unbound challenges the widespread misinterpretation of Judaism as a religion of law as opposed to theology. James A. Diamond provides close readings of the Bible, classical rabbinic texts, Jewish philosophers, and mystics from the ancient, medieval, and modern period, which communicate a profound Jewish philosophical theology on human nature, God, and the relationship between the two. The study begins with an examination of questioning in the Hebrew Bible, demonstrating that what the Bible encourages is independent philosophical inquiry into how to situate oneself in the world ethically, spiritually, and teleologically. It explores such themes as the nature of God through the various names by which God is known in the Jewish intellectual tradition, love of others and of God, death, martyrdom, freedom, angels, the philosophical quest, the Holocaust, and the state of Israel, all in light of the Hebrew Bible and the way it is filtered through the rabbinic, philosophical, and mystical traditions.
Download or read book Holy War in Judaism written by Reuven Firestone and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2012-07-02 with total page 382 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Holy war, sanctioned or even commanded by God, is a common and recurring theme in the Hebrew Bible. Rabbinic Judaism, however, largely avoided discussion of holy war in the Talmud and related literatures for the simple reason that it became dangerous and self-destructive. Reuven Firestone's Holy War in Judaism is the first book to consider how the concept of ''holy war'' disappeared from Jewish thought for almost 2000 years, only to reemerge with renewed vigor in modern times. The revival of the holy war idea occurred with the rise of Zionism. As the necessity of organized Jewish engagement in military actions developed, Orthodox Jews faced a dilemma. There was great need for all to engage in combat for the survival of the infant state of Israel, but the Talmudic rabbis had virtually eliminated divine authorization for Jews to fight in Jewish armies. Once the notion of divinely sanctioned warring was revived, it became available to Jews who considered that the historical context justified more aggressive forms of warring. Among some Jews, divinely authorized war became associated not only with defense but also with a renewed kibbush or conquest, a term that became central to the discourse regarding war and peace and the lands conquered by the state of Israel in 1967. By the early 1980's, the rhetoric of holy war had entered the general political discourse of modern Israel. In Holy War in Judaism, Firestone identifies, analyzes, and explains the historical, conceptual, and intellectual processes that revived holy war ideas in modern Judaism.
Download or read book Hospital written by Julie Salamon and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2008 with total page 392 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A bestselling author and award winning journalist follows a year in the life of a big urban hospital, painting a revealing portrait of how medical care is delivered in America today Most people agree that there are complicated issues at play in the delivery of health care today, but those issues may not always be what we think they are. In 2005, Maimonides Hospital in Brooklyn, New York, unveiled a new state-of-theart, multimillion-dollar cancer center. Determined to understand the whole spectrum of factors that determine what kind of medical care people receive in this country, bestselling author Julie Salamon spent one year tracking the progress of the center and getting to know the characters who make the hospital run. Located in a community where sixty-seven different languages are spoken, Maimonides is a case study for the particular kinds of concerns that arise in institutions that serve an increasingly multicultural American demographic. Granted an astonishing “warts and all” level of access by the hospital higher-ups, Salamon followed the doctors, patients, administrators, nurses, ambulance drivers, cooks, and cleaning staff. She explored not just the action on the ground—what happens between doctors and patients—but also the financial, ethical, technological, sociological, and cultural matters that the hospital community encounters every day. Drawing on her skills as interviewer, observer, and social critic, Salamon presents the story of modern medicine, uniquely viewed from the vantage point of those who make it run. She draws out the internal and external political machinations that exist between doctors and staff as well as between hospital and community. And she grounds the science and emotion of medical drama in the financial realities of operating a huge, private institution that must contend with issues like adapting to the specific needs of immigrant groups that make up a large and growing portion of our society. Salamon exposes struggles of both the profound and humdrum variety. There are bitter internal feuds, warm personal connections, comedy, egoism, greed, love, and loss. There are rabbinic edicts to contend with as well as imams and herbalists and local politicians. There are system foul-ups that keep blood test results from being delivered on time, careless record keepers, shortages of everything except forms to fill, recalcitrant and greedy insurance reimbursement systems, and the surprising difficulty of getting doctors to wash their hands. This is the dynamic universe of small and large concerns and personalities that, taken together, determine the nature of our care and assume the utmost importance. As Martin Payson—chairman of the board at Maimonides and ex-Time-Warner vice chairman—puts it: “Hospitals have a lot in common with the movie business. You’ve got your talent, entrepreneurs, ambition, ego stroking, the business versus the creative part. The big difference is that in the hospital you don’t get second takes. Movies are make-believe. This is real life.”
Download or read book The Tragedy of Optimism written by Steven S. Schwarzschild and published by State University of New York Press. This book was released on 2018-01-29 with total page 337 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Steven S. Schwarzschild (1924–1989) was arguably the leading expositor of German-Jewish philosopher Hermann Cohen (1842–1918), undertaking a lifelong effort to reintroduce Cohen's thought into contemporary philosophical discourse. In The Tragedy of Optimism, George Y. Kohler brings together all of Schwarzschild's work on Cohen for the first time. Schwarzschild's readings of Cohen are unique and profound; he was conversant with both worlds that shaped Cohen's thought, neo-Kantian German idealism and Jewish theology. The collection covers a wide range of subjects, from ethics, socialism, the concept of human selfhood, and the mathematics of the infinite to more explicitly Jewish themes. This volume includes two of Schwarzschild's previously unpublished manuscripts and a scholarly introduction by Kohler. Schwarzschild shows that despite its seeming defeat by events of the twentieth century, Cohen's optimism about human progress is a rational, indeed necessary, path to peace.
Download or read book The Jewish Phenomenon written by Steve Silbiger and published by Taylor Trade Publications. This book was released on 2000-05-25 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With truly startling statistics and a wealth of anecdotes, Silbiger reveals the cultural principles that form the bedrock of Jewish success in America.
Download or read book A Covenant of Creatures written by Michael Fagenblat and published by Stanford University Press. This book was released on 2010-06-03 with total page 319 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "I am not a particularly Jewish thinker," said Emmanuel Levinas, "I am just a thinker." This book argues against the idea, affirmed by Levinas himself, that Totality and Infinity and Otherwise Than Being separate philosophy from Judaism. By reading Levinas's philosophical works through the prism of Judaic texts and ideas, Michael Fagenblat argues that what Levinas called "ethics" is as much a hermeneutical product wrought from the Judaic heritage as a series of phenomenological observations. Decoding the Levinas's philosophy of Judaism within a Heideggerian and Pauline framework, Fagenblat uses biblical, rabbinic, and Maimonidean texts to provide sustained interpretations of the philosopher's work. Ultimately he calls for a reconsideration of the relation between tradition and philosophy, and of the meaning of faith after the death of epistemology.
Download or read book Abortion Politics written by Ziad Munson and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2018-05-21 with total page 140 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Abortion has remained one of the most volatile and polarizing issues in the United States for over four decades. Americans are more divided today than ever over abortion, and this debate colors the political, economic, and social dynamics of the country. This book provides a balanced, clear-eyed overview of the abortion debate, including the perspectives of both the pro-life and pro-choice movements. It covers the history of the debate from colonial times to the present, the mobilization of mass movements around the issue, the ways it is understood by ordinary Americans, the impact it has had on US political development, and the differences between the abortion conflict in the US and the rest of the world. Throughout these discussions, Ziad Munson demonstrates how the meaning of abortion has shifted to reflect the changing anxieties and cultural divides which it has come to represent. Abortion Politics is an invaluable companion for exploring the abortion issue and what it has to say about American society, as well as the dramatic changes in public understanding of women’s rights, medicine, religion, and partisanship.
