Download or read book The Concept of Ruach Ra ah in Contemporary Rabbinic Responsa 1945 2000 written by Leon Mock and published by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. This book was released on 2021-10-04 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The concept of ‘Ruakh Ra‘ah’ (Evil Spirit), is extremely rare in the Tanach, but is found much more frequently in post-Biblical rabbinic literature and even more in publications by rabbis of the last two centuries. This study focuses on the quite neglected period of responsa literature after the Second World War until the present. This literature consist fo answers given to questions about religious rules. The notion of the 'evil spirit' is strongly connected to the ritual of washing hands in the morning, but also before a meal, in connection with sexual relations and with visiting a graveyard. The washing of hands is supposed to be necessary to ward off bad influences. This ritual can be understood in between mysticism, gender studies, magic and embodied religion. This book analyses the meaning and role of the ‘Ruakh Ra‘ah’ in a corpus of almost 200 rabbinic orthodox response from 1945-2000. What happens to the term Ruakh Ra‘ah in these modern responsa? Does the ritual persist without being associated with the Ruakh Ra‘ah, or does the term continue to be linked to the ritual, but reinterpreted in cause of the possible tension between the traditional rabbinic paradigm and the modern scientific knowledge paradigm. The connection between this ritual and the stratification of the (ultra) orthodox society and cosmological representations offers a clue to the rationale of this practice. Questions of identity, gender and community boundaries that divide insiders from outsiders (Jewish and non-Jewish) seem to be related to the discourse in the corpus on this ritual. As the Ruakh Ra‘ah stands at the intersection between magical perceptions, religion (ritual), and premodern science (medicine) it is suitable as a possible test case for the way in which modern rabbinic responsa deal with other archaic terms and concepts that are related or comparable to the Ruakh Raah. This book is relevant to the debate on the relation of religion to the modern world as it provides insights into the ways contemporary believers deal with the modern world, and the various mechanisms to deal with potential discrepancies.
Download or read book The Concept of in Contemporary Rabbinic Responsa 1945 2000 written by Leon Mock and published by . This book was released on 2021-05-15 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: After World War II, Ernst Ludwig Ehrlich (1921-2007) published works in English and German by eminent Israeli scholars, in this way introducing them to a wider audience in Europe and North America. The series he founded for that purpose, Studia Judaica, continues to offer a platform for scholarly studies and editions that cover all eras in the history of the Jewish religion.
Download or read book Teaching and Tradition written by and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2023-10-09 with total page 191 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book focuses on the crucial role of teaching in the process of tradition. The various essays present case studies, written by specialists in the field, on themes drawn from the biblical, Jewish and Christian practice of ‘tradition’, the passing on of faith from generation to generation. Underlying these essays is the conviction that teaching is a privileged context for the study of tradition, since it always both preserves and renews tradition. There is no tradition without teaching, in which the past is interpreted in the present and the present is seen in the light of the past. Contributors are: Jan Bouwens, Rob V.J. Faesen, Leon Mock, Jos Moons, Krijn Pansters, Henk J. M. Schoot, Rudi A. te Velde, Archibald L. H. M. van Wieringen, and Ruben J. van Wingerden.
Download or read book Modern Reform Responsa written by Solomon Bennett Freehof and published by . This book was released on 1971 with total page 344 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Jews and Humor written by Leonard J. Greenspoon and published by Purdue University Press. This book was released on 2011-10-01 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Jews and humor is, for most people, a natural and felicitous collocation. In spite of, or perhaps because of, a history of crises and living on the edge, Jews have often created or resorted to humor. But what is humor? And what makes certain types, instances, or performances of humor "Jewish"? These are among the myriad queries addressed by the fourteen authors whose essays are collected in this volume. And, thankfully, their observations, always apt and often witty, are expressed with a lightness of style and a depth of analysis that are appropriate to the many topics they cover. The scholars who contributed to this collection allow readers both to discern the common features that make up "Jewish humor" and to delight in the individualism and eccentricities of the many figures whose lives and accomplishments are narrated here. Because these essays are written in a clear, jargon-free style, they will appeal to everyone—even those who don't usually crack a smile!
Download or read book The Sumerians written by Samuel Noah Kramer and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2010-09-17 with total page 386 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Sumerians, the pragmatic and gifted people who preceded the Semites in the land first known as Sumer and later as Babylonia, created what was probably the first high civilization in the history of man, spanning the fifth to the second millenniums B.C. This book is an unparalleled compendium of what is known about them. Professor Kramer communicates his enthusiasm for his subject as he outlines the history of the Sumerian civilization and describes their cities, religion, literature, education, scientific achievements, social structure, and psychology. Finally, he considers the legacy of Sumer to the ancient and modern world. "There are few scholars in the world qualified to write such a book, and certainly Kramer is one of them. . . . One of the most valuable features of this book is the quantity of texts and fragments which are published for the first time in a form available to the general reader. For the layman the book provides a readable and up-to-date introduction to a most fascinating culture. For the specialist it presents a synthesis with which he may not agree but from which he will nonetheless derive stimulation."—American Journal of Archaeology "An uncontested authority on the civilization of Sumer, Professor Kramer writes with grace and urbanity."—Library Journal
Download or read book The 13 Principles of Faith written by Moses Maimonides and published by KOL MENACHEM. This book was released on 2009 with total page 409 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Rambam (Maimonides, 1135-1204) is revered as one of the greatest Jewish scholars who ever lived. Among his vast contributions to Jewish scholarship is a series of thirteen core beliefs of Judaism. The brevity of this credo belies the depth of the ideas it represents.Now, Kol Menachem presents an extensive work of scholarship that will elucidate these principles for all those interested in the heart of Jewish belief. Organized into a sequence of user-friendly lessons, this series takes the reader on a journey through more than 150 traditional sources that influenced these beliefs through the ages. Added to this is the Toras Menachem commentary on the Principles, culled from the Lubavitcher Rebbe's extensive lectures and writings....
Download or read book The Theophaneia School written by Basil Lourié and published by Gorgias PressLlc. This book was released on 2009-04 with total page 538 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Scrinium. Revue de patrologie, d'hagiographie critique et d'histoire ecclésiastique, established in 2005, is an international multilingual scholarly periodical devoted to patristics, critical hagiography, and Church history. This volume is dedicated to Jewish Second Temple and early Christian mysticism.
Download or read book Out of the Iron Furnace written by Eliʻezer Ben Daṿid and published by Shengold Books. This book was released on 1975 with total page 152 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Flat Earth as Key to Decrypt the Book of Enoch written by Zen Garcia and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2015-09-26 with total page 406 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Shortly after accepting the flat earth as a model for the world, I decided to revisit the Book of the Courses of the Heavenly Luminaries to see if my new understanding would somehow mirror what Enoch was sharing as the motion of the sun and moon. As I began to read chapters 71-82, I found to my utter amazement that I was able to grasp those passages. I knew then that the vision that the angel Uriel had shown to Enoch could only be deciphered if one were to imagine Enoch's description of the revolution of the sun and the moon. As seen from above the flat circular plane of the earth as described by Isaiah; and that Enoch must have been taken up to perhaps where Polaris is, centered directly above the North Pole, and while looking down at the backdrop of the earth, was instructed on the motions of both the sun and moon. Without such conception, it is in my opinion impossible to apply these descriptions to the model of the earth as a spherical planet.
Download or read book Histories of the Devil written by Jeremy Tambling and published by Springer. This book was released on 2017-02-07 with total page 308 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is about representations of the devil in English and European literature. Tracing the fascination in literature, philosophy, and theology with the irreducible presence of what may be called evil, or comedy, or the carnivalesque, this book surveys the parts played by the devil in the texts derived from the Faustus legend, looks at Marlowe and Shakespeare, Rabelais, Milton, Blake, Hoffmann, Baudelaire, Goethe, Dostoevsky, Bulgakov, and Mann, historically, speculatively, and from the standpoint of critical theory. It asks: Is there a single meaning to be assigned to the idea of the diabolical? What value lies in thinking diabolically? Is it still the definition of a good poet to be of the devil's party, as Blake argued?
Download or read book Gnostic Philosophy written by Tobias Churton and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2005-01-25 with total page 480 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An extensive examination of the history of gnosticism and how its philosophy has influenced the Western esoteric tradition • Explains how the Gnostic understanding of self-realization is embodied in the esoteric traditions of the Rosicrucians and Freemasons • Explores how gnosticism continues to influence contemporary spirituality • Shows gnosticism to be a philosophical key that helps spiritual seekers "remember" their higher selves Gnosticism was a contemporary of early Christianity, and its demise can be traced to Christianity's efforts to silence its teachings. The Gnostic message, however, was not destroyed but simply went underground. Starting with the first emergence of Gnosticism, the author shows how its influence extended from the teachings of neo-Platonists and the magical traditions of the Middle Ages to the beliefs and ideas of the Sufis, Jacob Böhme, Carl Jung, Rudolf Steiner, and the Rosicrucians and Freemasons. In the language of spiritual freemasonry, gnosis is the rejected stone necessary for the completion of the Temple, a Temple of a new cosmic understanding that today's heirs to Gnosticism continue to strive to create. The Gnostics believed that the universe embodies a ceaseless contest between opposing principles. Terrestrial life exhibits the struggle between good and evil, life and death, beauty and ugliness, and enlightenment and ignorance: gnosis and agnosis. The very nature of physical space and time are obstacles to humanity's ability to remember its divine origins and recover its original unity with God. Thus the preeminent gnostic secret is that we are God in potential and the purpose of bona fide gnostic teaching is to return us to our godlike nature. Tobias Churton is a filmmaker and the founding editor of the magazine Freemasonry Today. He studied theology at Oxford University and created the award-winning documentary series and accompanying book The Gnostics, as well as several other films on Christian doctrine, mysticism, and magical folklore. He lives in England.
Download or read book Who Will Lead Us written by Samuel C. Heilman and published by University of California Press. This book was released on 2019-07-02 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Nearly decimated in the Holocaust and repressed in the Soviet Union, Hasidism has experienced an extraordinary revival. Hasidic communities, now settled primarily in North America and Israel, have reversed the losses they suffered and are growing exponentially. With powerful attachments to the past, mysticism, community, tradition, and charismatic leadership, Hasidism seems the opposite of contemporary Western culture, yet it has thrived in the democratic countries and culture of the West. How? Who Will Lead Us? reveals the answers in the fascinating story of five contemporary Hasidic dynasties and their handling of the delicate issue of leadership and succession. Revolving around the central figure of the rebbe, the book explores two dynasties with too few successors, two with too many successors, and one that believes their last rebbe continues to lead them even after his death. Samuel C. Heilman, recognized as a foremost expert on modern Jewish Orthodoxy, here provides outsiders with the essential guide to continuity in the Hasidic world.
Download or read book Lithuanian Jewish Communities written by Nancy Schoenburg and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 1996 with total page 516 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume lists, in alphabetical order, the major Jewish communities that existed in Lithuania before World War II. The name of each community is accompanied by information about it: when it was founded, the Jewish population in different years, shops and synagogues, and the names of citizens. An appendix locates each town on a map of Lithuania. Since most of the Jewish communities in Lithuania were destroyed in the Holocaust, this volume will be a valuable tool in recreating a picture of Lithuanian Jewry.
Download or read book John Zorn written by John Brackett and published by . This book was released on 2008-11-19 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Following his English edition of Alma Mahler-Werfel's Diaries 1898-1902, Antony Beaumont presents both the first comprehensive biography of the composer and conductor Alexander Zemlinsky (1871-1942) and a critical assessment of his works. "Zemlinsky--all hail to you!" wrote the young Alma. "All hail to you and your art." When she first met him, Zemlinsky was the most promising Viennese composer of his generation. In 1901, when Alma abruptly ended their passionate love affair in order to marry Gustav Mahler, the crisis served to transform Zemlinsky's talent into mastery. Only long after his death, however, did his music begin to receive its due. Zemlinsky was central to the musical life of Vienna and Central Europe, and this brilliant biography illuminates a social and cultural milieu that disappeared forever with the triumph of Hitler's Reich. The author details the composer's early years as a protégé of Brahms and Mahler, his complex friendship with his brother-in-law Arnold Schoenberg, the influence of his teaching on the boy-prodigy Erich Korngold, his kindly and helpful attitude toward the hypersensitive Anton Webern, and his heartfelt friendship with Alban Berg. Zemlinsky was one of the leading conductors of the interwar period, considered by both Schoenberg and Stravinsky the finest they had ever heard. The author charts Zemlinsky's career from Vienna to Berlin, St. Petersburg, and Prague, providing insight into his Catholic-Sephardic background and investigating his keen interest in esoteric aspects of music, including color symbolism and numerology. The author's analyses of Zemlinsky's major scores are accessible and fully contextualized.
Download or read book The Alchemy Key written by Stuart Nettleton and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2016-02-17 with total page 554 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Alchemy Key
Download or read book The Challenge of Chance written by Klaas Landsman and published by Springer. This book was released on 2016-06-09 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book presents a multidisciplinary perspective on chance, with contributions from distinguished researchers in the areas of biology, cognitive neuroscience, economics, genetics, general history, law, linguistics, logic, mathematical physics, statistics, theology and philosophy. The individual chapters are bound together by a general introduction followed by an opening chapter that surveys 2500 years of linguistic, philosophical, and scientific reflections on chance, coincidence, fortune, randomness, luck and related concepts. A main conclusion that can be drawn is that, even after all this time, we still cannot be sure whether chance is a truly fundamental and irreducible phenomenon, in that certain events are simply uncaused and could have been otherwise, or whether it is always simply a reflection of our ignorance. Other challenges that emerge from this book include a better understanding of the contextuality and perspectival character of chance (including its scale-dependence), and the curious fact that, throughout history (including contemporary science), chance has been used both as an explanation and as a hallmark of the absence of explanation. As such, this book challenges the reader to think about chance in a new way and to come to grips with this endlessly fascinating phenomenon.
