Nietzsche, Soloveitchik and Contemporary Jewish Philosophy

Nietzsche, Soloveitchik and Contemporary Jewish Philosophy PDF Author: Daniel Rynhold
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107109035
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 331

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Book Description
Presents Soloveitchik's philosophy as a conceptual response to Nietzsche's critique of religion that brings Nietzsche's life-affirming sensibility to halakhic Judaism.

Nietzsche, Soloveitchik and Contemporary Jewish Philosophy

Nietzsche, Soloveitchik and Contemporary Jewish Philosophy PDF Author: Daniel Rynhold
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107109035
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 331

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Book Description
Presents Soloveitchik's philosophy as a conceptual response to Nietzsche's critique of religion that brings Nietzsche's life-affirming sensibility to halakhic Judaism.

Nietzsche, Soloveitchik, and Contemporary Jewish Philosophy

Nietzsche, Soloveitchik, and Contemporary Jewish Philosophy PDF Author: Daniel Rynhold
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108619754
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 331

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Book Description
What does one do as a Jewish philosopher if one is convinced by much of the Nietzschean critique of religion? Is there a contemporary Jewish philosophical theology that can convince in a post-metaphysical age? The argument of this book is that Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik (1903–1993) - the leading twentieth-century exponent of Modern Orthodoxy - presents an interpretation of halakhic Judaism, grounded in traditional sources, that brings a life-affirming Nietzschean sensibility to the religious life. Soloveitchik develops a form of Judaism replete with key Nietzschean ideas, which parries Nietzsche's critique by partially absorbing it. This original study of Soloveitchik's philosophy highlights his unique contribution to Jewish thought for students and scholars in Jewish studies, while also revealing his wider significance for those working more broadly in fields such as philosophy and religious studies.

Love and Terror in the God Encounter

Love and Terror in the God Encounter PDF Author: David Hartman
Publisher: Turner Publishing Company
ISBN: 1580235921
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 231

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Book Description
The intellectual legacy of one of the twentieth century’s greatest religious thinkers—explained by a leading theologian of our day. “It is only through experiencing the contradictions in human existence, through being overwhelmed by the divine presence, through the finite human being feeling terror-stricken by the infinite majesty of God that one can develop an authentic religious personality.” —David Hartman (From Chapter 6) Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik (1903–1993) profoundly influenced modern Orthodox Judaism in the United States—and Judaism as a whole—by opening up a discourse between the tradition of Torah study and Western philosophical thought. The future of both religious Zionism in Israel and of Orthodoxy in America hangs to a great extent on how we interpret his intellectual legacy. Dr. David Hartman’s penetrating analysis of Rabbi Soloveitchik’s work reveals a Judaism committed to intellectual courage, integrity, and openness. A renowned theologian and philosopher, Hartman meticulously explores the subtlety and complexity of Rabbi Soloveitchik’s theological thought, exposing a surprising intersection of halakhic tradition and modern Western theology—a confrontation that deepens and expands our spiritual understanding. Hartman’s provocative interpretation bears witness to the legitimacy of remaining loyal to the Judaic tradition without sacrificing one’s intellectual freedom and honesty.

Becoming the People of the Talmud

Becoming the People of the Talmud PDF Author: Talya Fishman
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
ISBN: 0812204980
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 424

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Book Description
In Becoming the People of the Talmud, Talya Fishman examines ways in which circumstances of transmission have shaped the cultural meaning of Jewish traditions. Although the Talmud's preeminence in Jewish study and its determining role in Jewish practice are generally taken for granted, Fishman contends that these roles were not solidified until the late eleventh and early twelfth centuries. The inscription of Talmud—which Sefardi Jews understand to have occurred quite early, and Ashkenazi Jews only later—precipitated these developments. The encounter with Oral Torah as a written corpus was transformative for both subcultures, and it shaped the roles that Talmud came to play in Jewish life. What were the historical circumstances that led to the inscription of Oral Torah in medieval Europe? How did this body of ancient rabbinic traditions, replete with legal controversies and nonlegal material, come to be construed as a reference work and prescriptive guide to Jewish life? Connecting insights from geonica, medieval Jewish and Christian history, and orality-textuality studies, Becoming the People of the Talmud reconstructs the process of cultural transformation that occurred once medieval Jews encountered the Babylonian Talmud as a written text. According to Fishman, the ascription of greater authority to written text was accompanied by changes in reading habits, compositional predilections, classroom practices, approaches to adjudication, assessments of the past, and social hierarchies. She contends that certain medieval Jews were aware of these changes: some noted that books had replaced teachers; others protested the elevation of Talmud-centered erudition and casuistic virtuosity into standards of religious excellence, at the expense of spiritual refinement. The book concludes with a consideration of Rhineland Pietism's emergence in this context and suggests that two contemporaneous phenomena—the prominence of custom in medieval Ashkenazi culture and the novel Christian attack on Talmud—were indirectly linked to the new eminence of this written text in Jewish life.

Halakhic Mind

Halakhic Mind PDF Author: Joseph B. Soloveitchik
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 0684863723
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 148

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Book Description
From Simon & Schuster, The Halakchic Mind is an essay on Jewish tradition and modern thought from Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik. Discusses the conflict between philosophy and science, examines the growth of religious knowledge, and shows how the Halakha, Jewish religious law, can be used to formulate a new religious outlook.

A Philosophical Retrospective

A Philosophical Retrospective PDF Author: Alan Montefiore
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 0231153007
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 217

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Book Description
This title looks at the conflict between two very different understandings of identity: the more traditional view that an identity carries with it certain duties and obligations, and an opposing view in which there can be no rationally compelling move from statements of fact to 'judgments of value'. According to this second view, individuals must take responsibility for determining their own values and obligations. The book illustrates through personal experience the practical implications of this characteristically philosophical debate.

Leo Strauss and the Rediscovery of Maimonides

Leo Strauss and the Rediscovery of Maimonides PDF Author: Kenneth Hart Green
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226307018
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 218

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Book Description
In Leo Strauss and the Rediscovery of Maimonides, Kenneth Hart Green explores the critical role played by Maimonides in shaping Leo Strauss’s thought. In uncovering the esoteric tradition employed in Maimonides’s Guide of the Perplexed, Strauss made the radical realization that other ancient and medieval philosophers might be concealing their true thoughts through literary artifice. Maimonides and al-Farabi, he saw, allowed their message to be altered by dogmatic considerations only to the extent required by moral and political imperatives and were in fact avid advocates for enlightenment. Strauss also revealed Maimonides’s potential relevance to contemporary concerns, especially his paradoxical conviction that one must confront the conflict between reason and revelation rather than resolve it. An invaluable companion to Green’s comprehensive collection of Strauss’s writings on Maimonides, this volume shows how Strauss confronted the commonly accepted approaches to the medieval philosopher, resulting in both a new understanding of Maimonides and a new depth and direction for his own thought. It will be welcomed by anyone engaged with the work of either philosopher.

The Philosophy of Joseph B. Soloveitchik

The Philosophy of Joseph B. Soloveitchik PDF Author: Heshey Zelcer
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000368734
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 271

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Book Description
Providing a concise but comprehensive overview of Joseph B. Soloveitchik’s larger philosophical program, this book studies one of the most important modern Orthodox Jewish thinkers. It incorporates much relevant biographical, philosophical, religious, legal, and historical background so that the content and difficult philosophical concepts are easily accessible. The volume describes his view of Jewish law (Halakhah) and how he answers the fundamental question of Jewish philosophy, namely, the “reasons” for the commandments. It shows how many of his disparate books, essays, and lectures on law, specific commandments, and Jewish religious phenomenology can be woven together to form an elegant philosophical program. It also provides an analysis and summary of Soloveitchik’s views on Zionism and on interreligious dialogue and the contexts for Soloveitchik’s respective stances on issues that were pressing in his role as a leader of a major branch of post-war Orthodox Judaism. The book provides a synoptic overview of the philosophical works of Joseph B. Soloveitchik. It will be of interest to historians and scholars studying neo-Kantian philosophy, Jewish thought, and philosophy of religion.

The Genius

The Genius PDF Author: Eliyahu Stern
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300183224
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 380

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Book Description
DIV Elijah ben Solomon, the "Genius of Vilna,” was perhaps the best-known and most understudied figure in modern Jewish history. This book offers a new narrative of Jewish modernity based on Elijah's life and influence. While the experience of Jews in modernity has often been described as a process of Western European secularization—with Jews becoming citizens of Western nation-states, congregants of reformed synagogues, and assimilated members of society—Stern uses Elijah’s story to highlight a different theory of modernization for European life. Religious movements such as Hasidism and anti-secular institutions such as the yeshiva emerged from the same democratization of knowledge and privatization of religion that gave rise to secular and universal movements and institutions. Claimed by traditionalists, enlighteners, Zionists, and the Orthodox, Elijah’s genius and its afterlife capture an all-embracing interpretation of the modern Jewish experience. Through the story of the “Vilna Gaon,” Stern presents a new model for understanding modern Jewish history and more generally the place of traditionalism and religious radicalism in modern Western life and thought. /div

Critique of Halakhic Reason

Critique of Halakhic Reason PDF Author: Assistant Professor of Modern Judaism Yonatan Y Brafman
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0197767931
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 377

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Book Description
Critique of Halakhic Reason challenges prevalent ways of thinking about religion by revealing how religious traditions and communities reason about their practices. It examines the reasoning operative in the justification and jurisprudence of the Jewish commandments through fresh studies of twentieth century Jewish thinkers. It then constructs a novel account of the relation between Jewish thought and law in view of contemporary moral philosophy and legal theory. It then develops its consequences for theology, the study and philosophy of religion, as well as for moral, legal, and political philosophy.