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Maimonides "Guide for the Perplexed" sent shock waves through the Jewish world. The main reason that it does not do that very much today, is that the real issues that it deals with are now non-issues. Aristotelian concepts of the eternity of the...
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The publication of Maimonides' Guide caused shock waves throughout the Jewish world. In Ashkenazi Franco-Germany, there was a sound rejection of the work. Their approach to Judaism was primarily based on the study of Bible and Talmud. Their...
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That group of Spanish Kabbalists which centered on theosophy, the pondering of the meaning of creation, the nature of G-d and His connection with Man, the meaning of Torah and Mitzvot, reached its heights in the late thirteenth century. As...
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The Kabbalistic interpretation of the mitzvot is far from the Mainmonist interpretation. Maimonides saw the mitzvot as primarily educational tools, to instill proper thought patterns and actions within us. For the Kabbalist, the mitzvot are...
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In Judaism, and especially in the Kabbalistic interpretation of Judaism, a great deal of emphasis is put on the Names of G-d. In Tanakh and Talmud, there is but one ultimate Name; the four letter ineffable Name. It is forbidden to be pronounced...
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As we have seen, the Kabbalah regards all of the Torah, indeed, all of creation, as combinations of energies, which can be expressed as letters, which ultimately are Names of G-d. Often these combinations are derived from a verse; often prayers...
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In order to truly understand the background of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel, indeed, of the entire Secular-Religious divide that has plagued the Jews in the Holy Land since the late nineteenth century, we need to examine the foundations of Jewish...
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Herzl organized a number of conferences for all who accepted the ideal of a Jewish State. The first meeting was held in 1897. It was a sort of congress of different factions within the Zionist movement, and eventually became The World Zionist...
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Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook (1865–1935) must be accounted as one of the most influential figures in Jewish history. Many love him, many hate him, but no one can ignore him. His father was a scholar in the Lithuanian "Yeshivish" tradition. He, too,...
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Following the First World War, which also saw the Land of Israel come under the control of Great Britain, under a mandate from the League of Nations, Rav Kook became Chief Ashkenazi rabbi of Jerusalem. He appealed to the leadership of the Zionist...
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