Originally published in the Encyclopedia Judaica, vol. 14 (1972), pp. 74-5. Rabbinic Views. The rabbis are eloquent in describing the significance of repentance. It is one of the things created before the world itself (Pes. 54a); it reaches to the ... Continue Reading ➨
Peace, in post-talmudic Jewish thought; modern Jewish thought
Originally published in the Encyclopedia Judaica, vol. 13 (1972), pp. 198-9. In Post-Talmudic Jewish Thought. The medieval Jewish thinkers discuss peace under the two headings of world peace and of the avoidance of internal strife and contention ... Continue Reading ➨
Passover
Originally published in the Encyclopedia Judaica, vol. 13 (1972), pp. 163-9. PASSOVER (Heb. פֶּסַח, Pesah), a spring festival, beginning on the 15th day of Nisan, lasting seven days in Israel and eight in the Diaspora. It commemorates the Exodus ... Continue Reading ➨
Judaism
Originally published in the Encyclopedia Judaica, vol. 10 (1972), pp. 383-97. JUDAISM, the religion, philosophy, and way of life of the Jews. DEFINITION The term Judaism is first found among the Greek-speaking Jews of the first century C.E. ... Continue Reading ➨
Moses, rabbinic view; in medieval Jewish thought; modern interpretations
Originally published in the Encyclopedia Judaica, vol. 12 (1972), pp. 393-5; 399-402. RABBINIC VIEW A marked ambivalence is to be observed in the Jewish tradition with regard to the personality of Moses. On the one hand, Moses is the greatest of ... Continue Reading ➨
Montefiore, Claude Joseph Goldsmid
Originally published in the Encyclopedia Judaica, vol. 12 (1972), pp. 268-9. MONTEFIORE, CLAUDE JOSEPH GOLDSMID (1858-1938), theologian and leader of Liberal Judaism in England. Montefiore was a great-nephew of Sir Moses Montefiore and a grandson ... Continue Reading ➨
Liturgy, Reform
Originally published in the Encyclopedia Judaica, vol. 11 (1972), pp. 402-4. REFORM Dissatisfaction began to be felt with the traditional liturgy and the need to make it more relevant to the new conditions obtained after the Emancipation, ... Continue Reading ➨
The Messiah, in Modern Jewish Thought
Originally published in the Encyclopedia Judaica, vol. 11 (1972), pp. 1415-16. In Modern Jewish Thought. Classical Reform in the last century reinterpreted the doctrine of the Messiah in two ways. First, it substituted the belief in a messianic ... Continue Reading ➨
Hermeneutics
Originally published in the Encyclopedia Judaica, vol. 8 (1972), pp. 366-72. HERMENEUTICS, the science of biblical interpretation. The rabbis saw the Pentateuch as a unified, divinely communicated text, consistent in all its parts. It was ... Continue Reading ➨
Halakhah
Originally published in the Encyclopedia Judaica, vol. 7 (1972), pp. 1156-7; 1161-6. DEFINITION The word “halakhah” (from the root halakh, “to go”), the legal side of Judaism (as distinct from aggadah, the name given to the non-legal material, ... Continue Reading ➨
Moshe Idel, ‘Hasidism: Between Ecstasy and Magic’; Janet S. Belcove-Shalin, ‘New World Hasidism: Ethnographic Studies of Hasidic Jews in America’
Originally published in The Times Literary Supplement 4805 (1995), p. 12. How Hasidism began LOUIS JACOBS Moshe Idel, HASIDISM: Between ecstasy and magic. 1438pp. Albany: SUNY; distributed in the UK by Estover: Plymbridge. £60 (paperback, ... Continue Reading ➨
Ze’ev W. Falk, ‘Introduction to the Laws of Israel in the Period of the Second Temple’ & ‘Dine Israel: An Annual of Jewish Law and Israeli Family Law’, Vol. I
Originally published on 16th October 1970. INTRODUCTION TO THE LAWS OF ISRAEL IN THE PERIOD OF THE SECOND TEMPLE (Heb.). By Zeev W. Falk. DINE ISRAEL: An Annual of Jewish Law and Israeli Family Law. Vol. 1. By Z. W. Falk. Wahrmann, ... Continue Reading ➨
Jakob J. Petuchowski, ‘Contributions to the Scientific Study of Jewish Liturgy’
Originally published in the Jewish Chronicle, 10th September 1971, p. 41. UNDER THE MICROSCOPE The word “scientific” in the title refers to the fact that the practitioners of Juedische Wissenschaft represented, in the volume tried, in Huxley’s ... Continue Reading ➨
Hasidism, basic ideas of
Originally published in the Encyclopedia Judaica, vol. 7 (1972), pp. 1403-7. Creator and Universe. While it is true that many of the basic ideas of Hasidism are grounded in earlier Jewish sources, the Hasidim did produce much that was new if only ... Continue Reading ➨
Halakhah Le-Moshe Mi-Sinai
Originally published in the Encyclopedia Judaica, vol. 7 (1972), p. 1167. HALAKHAH LE-MOSHE MI-SINAI (Heb. הֲלָכָה לְמשֶׁה מִסִּינַי; “a law given to Moses at Sinai”). As part of the Oral Law, a number of laws, possessing biblical authority but ... Continue Reading ➨
Akedah
Originally published in the Encyclopedia Judaica, vol. 2 (1972), pp. 480-4. AKEDAH (‘Aqedah; Heb. עקדה, lit. “binding (of Isaac)”), the Pentateuchal narrative (Gen. 22: 1-19) describing God’s command to Abraham to offer Isaac, the son of his old ... Continue Reading ➨
Learning from Rabbi Jacobs: recording, reviews, and legacy
Dear Friends, This email actually marks the completion of my first year working for the Friends of Louis Jacobs! With that in mind, I have to make sure the content matches my own level of excitement… By all means, it does. Some of you might ... Continue Reading ➨
Vayeshev – Resistance to Temptation
Originally published in The Jewish Chronicle, December 1954. But he refused. . . . (Gen. xxxix, 8.) A non-Jewish author wrote a book called “Sermons in Accents,” on the signs used in the Hebrew Bible to indicate the traditional cantillation. He ... Continue Reading ➨
Vayikra – Bread of Shame
Originally published in The Jewish Gazette. A favourite theme of the Jewish mystics is the purpose of man’s creation. The conventional view is that man was created in order to enjoy God’s goodness forever. After a period of struggle in this life ... Continue Reading ➨
Passover – Religious Freedom
Originally published in The Jewish Chronicle, 13th April 1973. The festival of Passover revives the eternally relevant message of freedom. The Exodus from Egypt came about because slavery is an abomination and because every man has a right to ... Continue Reading ➨