Judaism Books - Page 12

Maimonides on Prophecy: A Commentary on Selected Chapters of the Guide of the Perplexed

David Bakan

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Customer Reviews:
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Reveals the Secrets of the Guide of the Perplexed 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

Maimonides' Guide of the Perplexed is a book purposefully riddled with false conclusions and dead ends to hide the author's intentions: the revealing of the two great secrets of the Torah. Bakan's book carefully examines these topics, and reveals for the reader unfamiliar with the techniques of Jewish Medeval Philosophy (inspired by Muslim philosophers like Al-Farabi) the heart of those secrets. Well written and concise, one should read the Guide first, and then Bakan's book second. All the pieces will then fall together.

Freedom and Moral Responsibility: General and Jewish Perspectives (Studies and Texts in Jewish History and Culture, 2)

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Editorial Review:

This book differs from other works devoted to understanding the concepts of freedom and moral responsibility. It aims to appeal both to readers interested in new approaches to these issues and to those who wish to know what major Jewish thinkers had to say about freedom and moral responsibility.

Interpreting Maimonides: Studies in Methodology, Metaphysics, and Moral Philosophy (Chicago Studies in the History of Judaism)

Marvin Fox

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An elegant, complex, yet accessible interpretation 5 out of 5 stars.
8 of 8 people found this review helpful.

This superb work is not merely a collection of the late Marvin Fox's essays on Maimonides: it is a synthetic, tightly-knit work that connects, as the title suggests, the themes of 1) how to read Maimonides; 2) the Rambam's theory of being; and 3) his ethical theory. This last subject is somewhat of a misnomer, as Fox insists that Maimonides HAS no ethical theory per se: Fox believes that Maimonides held that there is no such thing as moral reasoning. Instead, moral values must come from God. This is a minority viewpoint among Maimonides scholars, but if Fox is not totally persuasive on it, he makes a plausible case.

And he does so--as he does in all of these essays--with a writing style that is fluid, graceful, and above all, clear without being simplistic. Reading Fox on Maimonides is to be in the presence of a great teacher discussing a great thinker.

Fox is particularly compelling in his discussion of Maimonides' view of reason. The popular view is that Maimonides was a thorough-going rationalist, insisting that reason and faith were completely compatible. Fox shows that this is not true: instead, Maimonides held a complex and tension-filled view of reason and faith existing in separate spheres. Yet Maimonides also realized that separating these spheres was anything but easy.

Fox' close reading of the first two chapters of the Guide of the Perplexed is alone worth the price of admission. I read this book shortly after Kenneth Seeskin's Maimonides: A Guide for Today's Perplexed, and while I liked Seeskin's treatment, Fox's is truly the gold standard. Isadore Twersky's classic work on the Mishnah Torah is also recommended, but is much denser and longer.

Of course, to some extent that is the price one pays (and the benefit one gets) from interacting with the Rambam. The only way to begin to understand Maimonides is to read him. Before reading Fox, I read the Guide myself, cover to cover, and perhaps understood 20% of it. Maimonides himself probably would not have approved of modern readers simply diving in, but in our age, with a dearth of great teachers accessible to an educated readership, that is the only way. Studying Maimonides is a lifelong occupation: Fox's book is a crucial step on that road.

Editorial Review:

In this comprehensive study, Marvin Fox offers an approach to Moses Maimonides that illuminates the intersections of his philosophical, religious, and Jewish visions—ideas that have embattled readers of Maimonides since the twelfth century.

Moses Mendelssohn and the Enlightenment (S U N Y Series in Judaica)

Allan Arkush

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Philosophers and Scholars: Wolfson, Guttmann and Strauss on the History of Jewish Philosophy

Jonathan Cohen

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Editorial Review:

Dr. Jonathan Cohen brings together the views of three of the greatest scholar-thinkers in the area of Jewish philosophy of the twentieth century, including Harry Austryn Wolfson (1887-1974), Julius Guttmann (1880-1950), and Leo Strauss (1899-1973). Each thinker's construction of Jewish philosophy is presented through individual definitions of Judaism and philosophy, understandings of its historical development, and analyses of the canons used in interpretations of Jewish philosophical texts.

Judaism and Disability: Portrayals in Ancient Texts from the Tanach through the Bavli

Judith Abrams

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Customer Reviews:
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Judaism and disability 5 out of 5 stars.
5 of 5 people found this review helpful.

In this book you will find a review of the Jewish Bible or also called Tanach, the Mishna and the Talmud as it relates to disability. In the last chapter reference will also be given to more recent Jewish scholars and their work (Mishneh Torah, Zohar, Arbaah Turim and Shulhan Aruch). The author of this book is a female rabbi and founder of Maqom, a school for adult Talmud study in Houston, Texas. The book was published a few years ago, but it is still relevant today and will be for years to come, as a classic study of disability in Judaism. The book is devided into seven chapters (Introduction, Priestly perfection, Persons with disabilities, symbolism and collective Israel, Disabilities, atonement and individuals, Body, soul and society, Categorization, disabilities and persons with disabilities and finally The river flows on) with the focus to study the way disability affected Cohanim (priests) and their function in the Temple, how persons with disability were used as symbols of collective Israel, how individual life stories sometimes became literally object lessons in theology, how persons with disability were looked upon in Judaism and surrounding cultures and how the person with disability was categorized. One of the fundamental principles in understanding disability and Judaism is the term da’at (knowledge, understanding, intellect, cognition or consciousness). A person will have to have this in order to perform duties in Judaism, the person will have to be able to act upon his da’at and to put his da’at into action in the context of the society. The katan (the minor), cheresh (the person with hearing and speaking disabilities) and the shoteh (the mental ill, the intellectually disabled, the fool) are all in the same category of persons without da’at and therefore unable to perform a lot of duties in Judaism. You will in this book find these terms defined, discussed and related in detail. Throughout the book you will find very illustrative comparisons to life today in order to explain sometimes difficult concepts for the modern person not engaged in religious life. Like the comparison between the Marines and the Cohanim. Every American, at least, have heard the phrase “The Few, the Proud, the Marines” to give you a picture of the basic concept of able combat soldiers. When compared to the Cohanim, who also had to be an elite in a dangerous environment with many rituals and duties to perform in the Temple, it is easier to understand, why there were restrictions on who could perform this Holy Duty and therefore perfection without disability. In this bok it comes out that Judaism and Jewish Law have had a very functional approach to disability and intellectual disability with a flexible view on the complex issues involved during a long history. I would recommended this book for scholars, for students and persons interested in Judaism, it is well researched, with valuable notes and a good index. I was looking for some more information on the impact on modern Jewish life both in America, but especially in Israel after the establishment of a modern Jewish State, but I guess we have to wait for another book on that subject.

Joav Merrick, MD, DMSC Professsor of Child Health and Human Developemnt Medical Director Division for Mental Retardation

Maimonides' Political Thought: Studies in Ethics, Law, and the Human Ideal (S U N Y Series in Jewish Philosophy)

Howard Kreisel

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Editorial Review:

This book presents a series of studies that cover a wide range of issues relating to Maimonides' political thought, including the basis for political and ethical knowledge; the notion of the "good"; imitatio Dei; apparent contradictions in his position on ethics; the conception of God that he attempts to inculcate to Jewish society at large; and his novel approach to the love and fear of God. Taking into account his medieval Aristotelian and Jewish sources, these explorations also deal with some of the opposing considerations that Maimonides had to balance in developing and presenting his positions on such subjects as the nature of divine law, the static vs. dynamic dimensions of Mosaic law, prophetic and rabbinic authority within Judaism, the reasons for the commandments, and martyrdom. A close reading of the manner in which he formulates his views, in light of their literary and intellectual-historical contexts, allows us a better glimpse of how profound and subtle Maimonides is as a thinker and an educator.

Judaism as Philosophy: The Method and Message of the Mishnah

Jacob Neusner

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Editorial Review:

"The book is carefully organized and provides a clear, well-structured, and lucid expression of its theses." -- Dr. Marvin Fox, Department of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies, Brandeis University

The Mishnah is the first canonical writing of Judaism after the Hebrew Scriptures of ancient Israel (the Old Testament) and the foundation of the two Talmuds and of all Judaism thereafter. According to eminent religion scholar Jacob Neusner, the key to understanding the Mishnah is to read it as philosophy, in accord with the generally accepted understanding of philosophy in its time and place. In Judaism as Philosophy, Neusner studies a large sample of evidence, meticulously translated and carefully explained, and identifies the philosophical side of the Mishnah's system, method, and message alike.

The philosophical tradition in which the Mishnah takes its place, Neusner explains, utilizes the Aristotelian method of hierarchical classification to demonstrate the proposition (important to Middle Platonism and profoundly expressed by Plotinus) that many things really form a single thing: many species, a single genus; many genera, an encompassing, well-crafted and cogent whole. Through the systematic and orderly hierarchical classification of the things of nature, the framers of the Mishnah illustrate the ultimate unity of all being emanating from the One on high. Arguing that the document's writers chose a legal form for a philosophical proposition, this book completely changes a centuries-old way of reading the Mishnah. Judaism emerges as a sustained demonstration of the unity of all being under one God.

"What is the next phase in this ongoing history of the formation of Judaism in the classical period[?]... The analysis of the philosophical character of the Mishnah places into perspective what I believe to be the character of the first phase, and therefore points toward the development of the second and third phases, of the Judaism of the Dual Torah. The entire characterization of the first phase of the Judaism of the Dual Torah, that is, the system attested by the Mishnah in particular, rests upon the results of this book and its two companions, on economics and politics respectively."--from the Preface

Visiting the Sick: The Mitzvah of Bikur Cholim

Sharon Selib Epstein

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Customer Reviews:
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A Warm and Caring Book 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

This is a wonderful book about visiting the sick. It provides useful guidance and puts readers in the settings. The stories are very human, and the book reminded me in that sense of Tuesdays With Morrie. I would recommend this book very much to all those who wish to help someone in need.

The Mitzvah of Bikkur Cholim 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

This is an excellent introduction to the subject of 'Bikkur Cholim '(Visiting the sick) which is one of the fundamental religious duties of the Jew. It tells us in what conditions to visit, and how to visit . It teaches us a way of being kind and helpful to others . I learned from this book , and think that all those interested in understanding how to better serve G-d in this way will also learn from it.

Editorial Review:

This handy, one-volume introduction to bikur cholim assesses the role of visiting the sick in Jewish life and provides a complete guide for those who wish to undertake this obligation. This book reclaims bikur cholim's place in Jewish communal life, attracts potential volunteers to be inspired to perform this mitzvah, and provides guidelines for making current volunteer programs more effective.

Fifty Key Jewish Thinkers

Cohn-Sherbok

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Much more than a catalogue! 5 out of 5 stars.
5 of 5 people found this review helpful.

Educated persons will know at least something about such Jewish philosophers as Philo, Maimonides, Spinoza, Martin Buber, and Elie Wiesel. All of them have found their way into most major Western encyclopedias. This book offers much more. Cohn-Sherbok, a well-known writer of things Jewish, is an ordained Reform rabbi, and he naturally, and properly, concentrates on the religious aspects of his subject. Cohn-Sherbook devotes a two-page essay to each of the fifty thinkers included in this mini-encyclopedia. There are no footnotes, but numerous crossreferences. The author's deep involvement in his subject helps the reader apprehend the book as a unified whole. This becomes all the more evident if the essays are read in chronological order, which is easy to do, since the author includes a neat 2000-year chronological table of the names included. We thus get a fascinating view of how the Jewish religious landscape changed under the impact of several catastrophic events, from the Babylonian exile, over the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, to the Nazi Holocaust. The endurance of the Jewish people under such calamities is striking. So is the ability of the thinkers presented here to steer their philosophical and religious reflection into fruitful channels. This implies neither an easy optimism, nor a resigned submission to fate. Rather, we witness here a deep rethinking of the foundations of religion, obviously relevant to Jews and non-Jews alike.

Editorial Review:

This panoramic survey provides a first point of entry into the fascinating richness and complexity of the Jewish philosophical, theological and Kabbalistic tradition. Beginning in the first century with the Hellenistic philosopher Philo, Fifty Key Jewish Thinkers traces the major intellectual events of the last two thousand years, including the growth of Medieval Jewish philosophy, the early modern mystics, the radicals, the Hasidic leaders, the Enlightenment and secular and religious Zionism.

From Maimonides to Martin Buber, and from Baruch Spinoza to Elie Wiesel, this volume carries the standard found in Fifty Key Contemporary Thinkers (Routledge, 1994) and is ideally suited for anyone interested in Jewish thought or history.