Electronic Lectures -- The Goldstein-Goren International Center for Jewish Thought

E-lectures


	Between Matter and Spirit: Bread and Wine in the Ritual of Grace after Meals [Hebrew] by Keshet Shoval The rabbinic grace after meals has traditionally been examined by scholars in terms of its content and text, while the context in which it is performed has largely been ignored. Keshet Shoval suggests focusing on the blessing's context, rather than just its words. Using the work of V. Turner and C. Gritz, Shoval is able to explain the significance of bread and wine as non-verbal elements in the performance of the ritual of grace after meals.
	Jewish-German-Universal: Judaism in the Thought of Hannah Arendt and Hans Jonas by Avner Dinur Analyzing the thought of Hannah Arendt and Hans Jonas, Avner Dinur shows how these two secular Jewish-German thinkers identified their Jewishness with a moral-universal obligation. Dinur goes on to claim that like many of their intellectual Jewish-German contemporaries, Arendt and Jonas were part of what should be termed a German-Jewish-Universal "hyphen-culture".
	The Turn Toward the Letter in French Jewish Thought Since the 80's [Hebrew] by Rony Klein A new chapter in the history of Jewish philosophy began in France after 1945. Examining the issue of letter versus spirit, Rony Klein demonstrates how French Jewish philosophers squarely address the questions of contemporary philosophy by thinking through a Jewish textual worldview.
	Rabbi Haim Vital and the Secret of the Seventh Day of Passover [Hebrew] by Shifra Assulin It has been suggested that the kabbalistic secrets Rabbi Itzkhack Luria reveled to his student Rabbi Haim Vital brought about the teacher's death. Through a close reading of Vital's mystical diary, The Book of Visions, Shifra Assulin shows how these same secrets shaped Vital's messianic self awareness and explain strange cyclical periods during which the diary does not record his usual messianic dreams.
	Israel as a 'State for all its Citizens' in light of Hannah Arendt's Doctrine of 'Councils System' [Hebrew] by Avner Dinur The political thinker Hannah Arendt argued that since the Jews were victimized by the nation state, it was absurd that their response to their persecution should be Zionism. Surprisingly, Avner Dinur suggests that Arendt's "Counsils System" proposal can be help resolve the contemporary debate about Israel as a state for all its citizens.

	On Reason and Revelation: The Correspondence between Eric Voegelin and Leo Strauss by Yotam Hotam In light of the recent increased interest in the relations between politics and theology, Yotam Hotam presents the thirty year debate between Voeglein and Strauss over the relationship between reason and revelation. Hotam shows how the two thinker's views on the issue, illuminate their opposing positions on the roots of secular-modernity and what they both thought of as its collapse into the Nazi abyss

	Printing and Kabbalah in the Twentieth Century By Zeev Gries Looking at the history of printed Kabbalah in the twentieth century, Zeev Gries shows there has been a revolution in the field in the last three decades. The true story, according to Gries, is neither the innovations of R. Kuk and Ashlag, nor the much discussed New Age Kabbalah of Madonna, but the popularization of print among traditional Kabbalists. No longer available online. A revised and expanded version is forthcoming: Z. Gries, " Printing and Kabbalah in the twentieth century", Kabbalah 18.
	The Scholastics after Thomas Aquinas and the Thought of Rabbi Moshe ben Yehuda [Hebrew] הסכולסטיקה שאחרי תומאס אקווינאס ומשנתו של רבי משה בן יהודה By Esti Eisenmann Prima facie, the Jewish philosophical writings of Provence and Spain between the 13th and 15th centuries are solely a product of the Jewish-Arab tradition. Contrary to current scholarship that would recognize nothing less than quotes from Christian scholastics as proof of their influence, Esti Eisenmann demonstrates the similarities between their ideas are simply too great to be ignored.
	*Martin Buber's Introduction to The Tales of Rabbi Nachman* and the Early 20^th Century Construction of `Jewish Mysticism`** By Boaz Huss In his introduction to The Tales of Rabbi Nachman, in the begining of the 19th century Buber laid the ground work for what Gershom Sholem would later establish as the academic field of "Jewish Mysticism". Professor Huss lays out the background for the construction of the field of "Jewish Mysticism" in the framework of fin de siècle Neo-Romanticism and emerging Jewish nationalism. In so doing he questions the very basis of the field.
	The New Age of Kabbalah and Postmodern Spirituality by Boaz Huss The emergence of New Age Kabbalah in the last decades of the 20th century coincides with the emergence of New Age movements. Prof. Boaz Huss investigates the relation between contemporary Kabbalah and the New Age, demonstrating that central characteristics of New Age culture appear amongst contemporary and arguing that the similarities and relations between Contemporary Kabbalah and New Age are dependent on the postmodern nature of both these phenomena.
	The Writing and Printing of Hebrew Books Circa 1905 by Zeev Gries In the beginning of the 20th century several Maskilim set out to rejuvenate Hebrew literature. Prof. Gries describes a host of colorful people who took part in this revolution of Hebrew literature, including Ahad ha-Am and many others. But, as Gries shows, it was not the elitist path of Ahad ha-Am and his followers that played the major part in the revolution, but the populist approach of Avraham Avigdor Shalkovitz.
	Religious Cultures in the Early Modern Period: Tradition, Authority, Heterodoxy [Conference Abstracts] In its exploration of the Early Modern period, this international workshop emphasized the religious cultures and encounters of Christianity, Judaism and Islam in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The workshop took place on 23-25 May 2005. We are pleased to make abstracts of the lectures available.
	On the Portrayal of the Hero, as Illustrated by Maskilim Tales and Counter Hasidic Tales by Zeev Gries The Ba'al Shem-Tov is described in Shivhei ha-Besht as the ultimate Hasidic hero. Prof. Gries shows how maskilim made up stories in order to mock the Hasidic hero, but at the same time yearned for heroes themselves. The haskalah did indeed invent its own heroes, some of whom even had the same attributes as the Hasidic ones.
	Interpretation and Power: The Emergence of Zohar Hermeneutics by Boaz Huss Prof. Huss shows that while previous to the definition of the Zoharic corpus, cultural capital in the Kabbalistic realm could be obtained through collecting, editing, and possessing Zoharic manuscripts, once the Zoharic corpus was defined and published in print, cultural power was achieved through obtaining control over its meaning - i.e., through its exegesis.
	Interpreting Judah Halevi's Kuzari by Haim Kreisel How should one read the great intellectual works of the past? Prof. Kreisel examines different ways the Kuzari has been read, analyzing the "baggage" each approach brings with it, and suggesting a mode of reading that is both scientific and meaningful.
	When the Rabbis Meet the Doctors: How Medical Halakhah is Made by Daniel J. Lasker Although modern science and medicine raise many questions unknown to the authors of the classical Jewish sources, many of the issues are not entirely new, and some are particularly ancient. Prof. Lasker analyzes different rabbinic approaches to the ethical dilemmas that have arisen from modern technology and medicine regarding issues such as infertility and prolonging life.
	Rabbinic Conversion to the Hassidic Movement in its Inception: Acounts, Motives and Literary Representations [Hebrew] קונברסיה רבנית לתנועה החסידית בראשיתה: עדויות, מניעים ותדמיות ספרותיות By Niham Ross There are many stories about Jews who joined the Hasidic movement when it first began. Ross shows that according to William James' definitions these can be classified as stories of conversion. He goes on to deal with questions such as why the stories were presented this way, how mitnagdim and maskilim responded to them, and especially how and why such stories were told by neo-Hasidim.
	Parental Honor in the Musar Literature [Hebrew] כיבוד אב בספרות המוסר By Zeev Gries Rabbi Bahya bar Asher quotet Rabbi Saadia Gaon as saying: 'If you are saddened by your parents' longevity, know that it is your own longevity that you are pondering'. Although surprisingly the musar literature did not deal with the issue of parental honor extensively, as Gries explains, it did produce some very insightful observations on the matter.
	The Printing Press in 19th century Jerusalem in the History of Jewish Printing Press [Hebrew] מקום הדפוס בירושלים במאה הי"ט בתולדות הדפוס היהודי: עם הופעתו מחדש של ספרה של שושנה הלוי:ספרי ירושלים הראשונים, הוצאת אריאל, ירושלים תשס"ו By Zeev Gries A review of the newly republished The first Hebrew books printed in Jerusalem in the Second Half of the Ninteenth Century (1841-1890), By Shoshanah Halevy. What did Jews actually read? And where did they get their books? Gries stresses the importance of this meticulous work and shows how much important information can be extracted from its pages in order to answer such questions and many others.
	The Second Modi'in Conference The Second Temple: In Those Days, in this Time [Conference Abstracts] [Hebrew] כנס מודיעין השני על שם פרפ' יאיר פרג: בית שני -- בימים ההם בזמן הזה Where was the ancient city of Modi'in, the home of the Hasmonian family? What where their beliefs? What did their contemporaries think of them and how where they described in generations to come? These question, and many more, where addressed by the conference on the 27 Dec. 2005. We are grateful to the organizers of the conference for allowing us to post the abstracts of the lectures (and some full text) and happy to be service.
	Rabbinic and Kabbalistic Portrayal of Jewish Philosophers as Hellenists and its Motivation [Hebrew] אתונה וירושלים: הצגת פילוסופים יהודיים כמתיוונים בספרות רבנית וקבלית ומניעיה by Shoey Raz There has always been tension around Jewish acceptance of non-Jewish knowledge. Raz examines the stances of three Rabbis of the Middle Ages who all accepted the (non-Jewish) science of their day to some degree, and yet spoke out against accepting non-Jewish 'Hellenistic' knowledge. Raz goes on to claim that putting their objections in historical context may explain their motivations.
	*The Concept of Land Linked Commandments* in Second Temple Literature [Hebrew]** מצוות התלויות בארץ בספרות הארצישראלית של הבית השני by Ohr Margalit The Rabbis taught that the agricultural commandments should be practiced in the Land of Israel alone. Ohr Margalit examines the conceptual framework for such a position and points out that it is not a 'natural' development of biblical thought. Furthermore, seems neither Josephus nor the author of Jubilees held such a position. Finally he suggest it may have been present in Qumran and connected to the rejection of the temple.
	The Aristotelian Interpretations of the Rabbinic Rules of Torah Exegeses [Hebrew] פילוסופיה יהודית וספרות הלכתית: על הפירושים האריסטוטליים למידות שהתורה נדרשת בהן by Aviram Ravitsky Since the Middot Shehatorah Nidreshet Bahen (the rabbinic rules for Torah exegeses) were viewed over the generations as the basis for the oral law, it is not surprising that many interpretations of them have been written. Aviram Ravitsky examines a small, but important number of texts that interpret the rabbinic tradition in light of Aristotelian logic.
	Leo Strauss' Contribution to Jewish Thought Today [Hebrew] על תרומתו של של ליאו שטראוס למחשבת ישראל בזמננו by Ehud Luz Leo Strauss is known in the United States for his influence as a political philosopher, but his contribution to contemporary Jewish thought has not been properly recognized. Prof. Ehud Luz shows how the "Jewish question", according to Strauss, symbolizes the "human question" and that his agnostic stance, adamant objection to modern historicism and criticism of dogmatic atheism, are especially relevant to political and intellectual life in Israel today.
	*The Kabbalistic Interpretations of the Song of Songs* [Hebrew]** הפירושים הקבליים הקדומים לשיר השירים by Zeev Gries The Song of Songs inspired generations of kabbalists to express the love of God in terms of the sefirot. Prof. Ze'ev Gries tells the tale of the early kabbalistic commentaries on Solomon's book, and notes how, surprisingly, the Bible's song of love never became the vessel for expressing the central kabbalistic secret -- that of yihud between the male and female sefirot of tiferet and malhut.
	The Jewish Homelitical Literature: Between Written Literature and Oral Literature [Hebrew] ספרות הדרוש היהודית-בין מסורת שבכתב למסורת שבעל פה by Zeev Gries The number of Drush (homilies) books that have been printed, comes close that of Halakhic works. Prof. Greis points out the shortcomings of the academia in dealing with this written genre that has its origins in oral delivery. He focuses on 'Drushim on the Torah', giving enlightening amusing examples of the work that has yet to be done.